Exploding heart in 3, 2, 1...

The Pub
1

So on Wednesday I up and decided to ride a bicycle to work.  I haven’t been going to the dojo lately and have been pretty sedentary, so it seemed like a good idea.

I couldn’t walk when I got there.  And had chest pains for about 5 hours.

8 hours later I was fully recovered, and the ride home was a LOT easier.  Be mindful this is a hilly area, so I’m forever coming up a hill and then going down another one; it couldn’t be uphill there and a nice, smooth, downhill ride home, huh?    >:(

Today wasn’t so bad, I actually made it, instead of making it 1 mile and forcing the rest of the way.  I could even walk the bike up that last hill! (it was like dragging a tank last time; I can’t pedal up the hill).

My odometer says 24 miles total for the three trips.

So I guess it’s 8 miles each way huh?  Takes me an hour; 40 minutes in the car.  I’m only doing this on Mondays and either Thursday or Friday though.

One thing I found out:  it’s about 15 degrees hotter outside if a bicycle is involved.  ???

2

Good for you (Except the chest pains, of course!  Hope they’re nothing major.)

My issue is exploding GUT!  lol  I have plans to start an exercise program in May - what was I thinking?  Seattle Beer Week is in May!

We’ll see how I do…

3

Uh, maybe you should check with your doctor before getting back into something this quickly?

Chest pains are not a good thing…ever!!!  If you’ve been out of the game for a while, try easing back into it instead of pushing yourself to the limit.

4

I recommend some Yoga (you can Wii Fit Plus this) and maybe push-ups and sit-ups…  If you engage in about 15 minutes of meditation a day, you can leave off the Wii Fit and do Yoga independently as a moving meditation (this is, by the way, incredible in every possible way), and cut the independent meditation down to 5 minutes if you like (meditating while doing Yoga is actually better).  Ignore actual time for that stuff, just have a Yoga routine and do whatever feels like “enough” if you’re just meditating.

So this comes out to what

  • 5 minutes meditation
  • 10 minutes Yoga
  • 10 minutes push-ups

About half an hour.  Do these in that order:  the meditation (after you’ve taken the week or so to figure it out) will actually wake you up immediately from a dead sleep.  I usually do this in full Lotus (can you?!) or Seiza on the floor; but just Agura (cross-legged, no lotus) works, although it’s notably imbalanced (Lotus is perfectly flat and balanced).  It takes me roughly one minute to be completely awake, although I can also do it to relax before first sleep or in the period between.

It’s a start.  The hard part is actually finding the time, because Yoga is a good way to wake up, or maybe push-ups, or whatnot; but you always wake up and shower first because you’re tired, then you wanna eat, then you wanna leave, and oh it’ll take too long… but you wander around in the shower and spend half an hour there “waking up,” you eat slow, and you waste half an hour or so just fooling around before work.

I know because I waste about 2 hours in the morning-- I wake up at 6:30 and I leave around 9:00, and in between I cook breakfast and eat.  I used to wake up at 6:30, shower, shave (damn fine shave with a straight razor), 30 minutes of Wii Fit (including Yoga, light aerobics, a little strength), cook and eat, and get out at 8:30, be at work around 9:00.  It may sound like a military drill, but it’s not; I power up and set up the Wii while I’m cooking and eating, which only takes me 15 minutes (it takes about 5 to get into Wii Fit Plus and set up a routine to start out; I don’t pre-plan).  It’s mainly leisure, not trying to squeeze every second out rushing from room to room; I don’t do stress.

Taking up a martial art is a better way to waste 2 hours than getting a gym membership, btw.  It might be lighter than power-lifting or whatever, but a good martial arts class will make you warm up and do strength training for 10-15 minutes.  If you want a gym, get home gym equipment and skip the commute; if you want to drop a ton of fat, take up kickboxing (no, not kidding, talk about sudden heart failure…).  Some places market “Aerobic Kickboxing,” which will have you drowning in a puddle of your own grease until your BMI is only a little above normal :wink:

I’ve always considered “fitness” a waste of my time.  If I have to waste 2 hours of my day to stay in shape, I’m doing something wrong; that’s why I head for martial arts.  It’s mental training, and the “fitness” thing is a side-effect.  Morning and before-bed things I do simply to set my body into a state of awakeness or relaxation (these are both pretty close) so I can get up easier or go to sleep faster and sleep better.  It’s efficient, in the same way that keeping your car tuned up is more efficient than letting it die from ill maintenance (poorly maintained cars are slow and fuel-hoggish, and take a lot of time and money to keep running).

What’s a doctor?  There’s no such thing as medical records for me; they simply aren’t on file, I have no medical history.  I’ve been out of the system long enough that I dropped out of the archives.

5

[quote=“bluefoxicy, post:4, topic:5863, username:bluefoxicy”]

I recommend some Yoga (you can Wii Fit Plus this) and maybe push-ups and sit-ups…  If you engage in about 15 minutes of meditation a day, you can leave off the Wii Fit and do Yoga independently as a moving meditation (this is, by the way, incredible in every possible way), and cut the independent meditation down to 5 minutes if you like (meditating while doing Yoga is actually better).  Ignore actual time for that stuff, just have a Yoga routine and do whatever feels like “enough” if you’re just meditating.

So this comes out to what

  • 5 minutes meditation
  • 10 minutes Yoga
  • 10 minutes push-ups

About half an hour.  Do these in that order:  the meditation (after you’ve taken the week or so to figure it out) will actually wake you up immediately from a dead sleep.  I usually do this in full Lotus (can you?!) or Seiza on the floor; but just Agura (cross-legged, no lotus) works, although it’s notably imbalanced (Lotus is perfectly flat and balanced).  It takes me roughly one minute to be completely awake, although I can also do it to relax before first sleep or in the period between.

It’s a start.  The hard part is actually finding the time, because Yoga is a good way to wake up, or maybe push-ups, or whatnot; but you always wake up and shower first because you’re tired, then you wanna eat, then you wanna leave, and oh it’ll take too long… but you wander around in the shower and spend half an hour there “waking up,” you eat slow, and you waste half an hour or so just fooling around before work.

I know because I waste about 2 hours in the morning-- I wake up at 6:30 and I leave around 9:00, and in between I cook breakfast and eat.  I used to wake up at 6:30, shower, shave (damn fine shave with a straight razor), 30 minutes of Wii Fit (including Yoga, light aerobics, a little strength), cook and eat, and get out at 8:30, be at work around 9:00.  It may sound like a military drill, but it’s not; I power up and set up the Wii while I’m cooking and eating, which only takes me 15 minutes (it takes about 5 to get into Wii Fit Plus and set up a routine to start out; I don’t pre-plan).  It’s mainly leisure, not trying to squeeze every second out rushing from room to room; I don’t do stress.

Taking up a martial art is a better way to waste 2 hours than getting a gym membership, btw.  It might be lighter than power-lifting or whatever, but a good martial arts class will make you warm up and do strength training for 10-15 minutes.  If you want a gym, get home gym equipment and skip the commute; if you want to drop a ton of fat, take up kickboxing (no, not kidding, talk about sudden heart failure…).  Some places market “Aerobic Kickboxing,” which will have you drowning in a puddle of your own grease until your BMI is only a little above normal :wink:

I’ve always considered “fitness” a waste of my time.  If I have to waste 2 hours of my day to stay in shape, I’m doing something wrong; that’s why I head for martial arts.  It’s mental training, and the “fitness” thing is a side-effect.  Morning and before-bed things I do simply to set my body into a state of awakeness or relaxation (these are both pretty close) so I can get up easier or go to sleep faster and sleep better.  It’s efficient, in the same way that keeping your car tuned up is more efficient than letting it die from ill maintenance (poorly maintained cars are slow and fuel-hoggish, and take a lot of time and money to keep running).

Thanks for the write up, but I’m going to be joining my wife’s gym. She’s lost over 150lbs in the 10 years since we got married - so she’s gonna be my ‘personal trainer’ to help get me in shape.  I need a ‘kick start’, and I’m not in shape enough to start with martial arts - I need to get at least into decent shape before that.

For now, I need to focus on cardio.  I’ll be spending a lot of time on the eliptical machine!

6

As someone who’s had a heart attack, allow me to say that you’re an idiot.

7

Congrats, dude.  Riding a bike to work kicks ass, I can’t imagine a sedentary life of not biking where I go.  I feel so lazy and crappy when I don’t ride to work.  I don’t own a car, it’s the only way I get around most times.  I ride 5 or so miles each way every day of the week, rain or shine.  The only days I don’t ride are when there’s about a foot of snow on the ground or super icy (even though I have studded tires, they only provide you so much traction).
And yes, you definitely have to dress lighter than you would normally.  For me, I wear a tshirt down to about 50F, then I put arm warmers on down to about 40-45F, then it’s a wind proof rain jacket down to about 20F, then my nice windproof winter jacket down below zero.  Shorts usually go on, when it’s above about 60F in the morning.

8

How old are you?
8 miles per trip and your having chest pains, dude put down the fork & crack pipe.

oh, you may want to start eatting some aspirin it just might save your life.

9

Used to ride everywhere as a bicycle was my only transport. Was in the best shape of my life. Now that fuel is going up a bicycle might be in order and the ride to work is about 8 miles. That’s not far on a bike.

10

False :P  You can always start a martial arts class, but if it’s too hard you can also stop and set out.  Usually such things are relatively light intensity, long endurance; but as I said, kickboxing == cardio.

But good plan anyway :)  Anything is better than sitting on your ass all day, even something like just plain old Yoga (i.e. with nothing else) will keep your joints and ligaments healthy, though you won’t lose any weight or keep your heart in good shape that way.

… in the rain?  Seriously I’m like, what do I do if it’s raining?

Hmm I have to get a Thudbuster from a friend… also going to ask him what he thinks about tube protection (i.e. anti-puncture things you shove into the tires).  A few vendors make these, and I have been rolling over a lot more broken glass than I’d like lately (without incident, so far); I don’t have a way to get anywhere if I blow a tube…

25.  I’ve been out of it since like January… sit in my chair at work, go home, sit on the floor, go to sleep, get up, repeat.  I only made it like a mile before I was struggling.

My heart’s fine.  As long as I don’t pass out I’ll be okay.  The first time I joined a martial arts dojo I somehow ended up starting on a night when the silat guru decided to do some intensive warm-ups for 15 minutes and had serious arrhythmia, which was …interesting.  (I collapsed)  The damn thing hasn’t actually died on me yet, so I doubt it’s going to.

… yeah I probably should have sat that one out.  But hell, I wasn’t any worse off than the guys who have been there for 8 years (Guru tries to push us enough that you simply can’t build that kind of stamina; it never gets “easy”, just “survivable”).

11

That’s awesome, but how do you get your beer and brewing bits?

12

I go by the saying, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”.  Riding in the rain is no problem.  A good rain jacket and rain pants are pretty important.  What I do is wear my rain pants as my normal pants, stuff another pair in my bag, and change when I get to work.  Doesn’t happen very often, so I’m okay with doing it on occasion.  Typically, I change into a button up kinda shirt when I get to work anyway just to show my boss and coworkers I care a little more about my job :slight_smile:
As far as getting my brew stuff, I order the big stuff online.  I have a pretty large size messenger bag that will fit a dirty 30 of PBR in it, so it will fit quite a bit of brewing stuff like specialty grains, etc.  The place I buy that stuff from doesn’t carry any bulk stuff, and has a limited amount of specialty grains, so I don’t go there often.
Otherwise, I get by just fine by bike.  It’s a definite lifestyle change, one I choose to live.  It makes me a little more patient, slows life down a bit because you can’t just hop in your car and be somewhere in 5 minutes, it maybe takes 10 instead.  I don’t mind it.  It also makes me think about what I’m doing.  Sure I can I drive to wherever, but do I really need to?  I don’t feel like biking that distance right now in the rain, I’ll stay home.  Simple lifestyle choice.

EDIT: Greg LeMond said once, “It never gets easier, you just go faster”.  Totally true.

13

I had a couple panniers on my mountain bike. Could fit a lot of groceries in them and a back-pack for regular stuff. Weather isn’t much of an impediment except high winds and heavy rain.

I hate riding in the rain. Watch out for manhole covers, railroad tracks and painted cross-walks. All will put you on the ground quicker than you can react due to their slippery nature when wet. I hate riding in the rain. :frowning:

14

Those are all issues for motorcycle riders too. I hate riding my cycle in the rain.

15

As someone who’s never had a heart attack, allow me to say that I like turtles.

16

I’ll second what Denny said, if you’re having issues like that at the age of 25, you’re either severly overweight or possibly have a hereditary issue. Do you have a family history of heart disease or anything along that line? Judging by stories I read in the paper every few months, kids either in HS or college dropping dead after exerting themselves (sporting events) had enlarged hearts… its a serious matter… it could be very likely for you… but you need to see your Dr then a cardiologist to make sure… if you feel you don’t need to see a Dr, all I can say is that will be more hops/grain for me at some point…

17

and I have a turtle head poking out…

18

I suppose so.  60 minutes to work instead of 40 by car (that includes a walk up a hill though, which takes 10; on the bike I just ride up the hill, oddly it’s easy even though it’s the LAST hill in a long series ???).  And this is “dead most of the way” riding, even coming downhill I ride my brakes trying to stay somewhere under 15mph (oh, yeah, I have 24 gears and hit 15 on level ground in FOURTH, wtf mate?).  On level ground I cruise around 6mph-9mph, on hills it’s 3-4mph up if not a tad slower.

This is not “serious pedal-pumping.”  If I’m actually pedaling more than 20% of the time, I’m not going 9mph; I’m going like 15, easy, on level ground and yes, even up gentle hills.  I just can’t sustain it, don’t have the stamina at all.  It’s a lot more work; that bike has so very little rolling resistance though, my God it’s fast.  If only the seat was more forward; but then, I’m scared enough doing 15.

TBH I spend a lot of my time pulling off the road to let cars pass, or getting hit by cars (or state-funded buses…), etc.  No kidding, 6 people bumped me on the way home the first time, and I had a bus run me right into the gutter (I was 3 inches from the curb, with one hand trailing along the side of the bus, trying to stay perfectly straight so I wouldn’t hit it).  They blare their horns while approaching at full speed–without slowing down.  They go around me by moving 6 inches left in their lane.  Hell, they run stop signs–I’m right at the intersection already, and they pull through and force me to stop (I stop for signs, but if it’s not an all-way stop I pass through if I have right-of-way).

Bicycles are legally considered road vehicles here.  I have to stop for traffic signs and signals and school busses, I have to ride on the right side close to the edge of the lane OR in a dedicated bike lane OR on the shoulder if the shoulder is smooth and debris-free (yeah, if it’s not convenient, I’m allowed to ride in the road).  I have to have safety equipment-- a bell/horn, reflectors or lights, the only thing I don’t need to have is a mirror and I’m buying one today.  I pull off the road to let cars pass, but really there’s no law that says I have to yield to traffic; they kind of have to not hit me, it’s in the law.

Maryland actually is a pretty crappy state; but there are laws that require bicycle lanes to be preserved by construction (bicycle lanes, sidewalks, and shoulders!), they require all public education institutions and state institutions to provide bicycle parking, and the text of the law even says “drivers of motor vehicles must exercise due care when near bicycles. (Note: Fear of being sideswiped limits full access to roads with narrow lanes.)” Maybe they should have passed House Bill 143… (you gotta love Section 1-C)

Some of my coworkers are telling me to abandon bicycling because people will hit me and eventually injure me or kill me; yeah, okay, and their insurance company is going to love that one.  I try to stay out of the way of traffic, but really, it’s not my fault people want to be dicks.

19

Don’t fucking listening to those kooks.  Find alternate routes to work.  I take a longer route to work by about 2 miles, but it’s low traffic and not as many stops.
It’s a lifestyle, man.  You can’t just give up.  Cars need to be aware of you.  Obey all traffic laws, stop signs, lights, etc.  If you see someone driving poorly, let them know about it.  If someone passes you too closely and you get a chance to catch up to them, kick their bumper.  There’s NO EXCUSE for idiotic driving and disrespect towards cyclists. 
I’ll leave it at that as you can tell this is a subject I’m very passionate about.  Good luck and keep riding dude.

20

Man I’ve missed these threads!  :smiley: