Weekend of biking!

Well, last week was a bad week for running again. I fit one run in Sunday later in the day, but haven't had a full run for the rest of the week. I did a quick cooldown run on Tuesday, but that's it. I did, however, did quite a bit of biking. Here's the breakdown:

Sunday: Chest/back/abs, calf raises; run
Monday: None
Tuesday: Shoulders/triceps/biceps; cooldown run
Wednesday: None
Thursday: Pullups
Friday: Pushups/pullups, heavy weights, pushups/chinups
Saturday: Minuteman Bike Trail (Bedford to Arlington and back)

The long bike ride fell on Sunday, so that'll go on next week's update. I must say, after 60+ miles of biking, my butt is sore from the saddle. The long ride made me reevaluate my bicycle, too. I currently ride on a Trek 6500 mountain bike. Don't have all the specifics, but it's pretty decent. Mostly Shimano parts, three-gear crankset with a 9 speed cassette. It does have mountain bike tires on, and I've never minded it before. But after doing a 45 mile bike ride, there are some things I would definitely like to change.

For one, my tires are overkill for what I usually do with my bike. I have never gone on an actual mountain bike ride, so the tires are actually inefficient for what I usually ride. I do appreciate them whenever I find myself cutting through a dirt/gravel path, but most of my riding is on paved surfaces. So, I am planning on switching out my tires with some road tires. Also, my horizontal handlebar made supporting some of my weight on my hands a bit difficult. I get numb fingers once in a while. So to fix that, I will add some bar ends. I thought about swapping out the bar with some drop handlebars, but that would require new shifters, which may require a new drivetrain. Shifters and drivetrain components can be expensive, so not a cost-effective solution for me.

You're probably thinking why I can't just get a road bike or a hybrid bike. It's a fact that no matter how many parts I change on the bike, it'll never be up to par with a road bike. The frame just wasn't designed for that purpose. Well, there's the cost. A decent road or hybrid bike will set me back at least a few hundred dollars. A nice one, $1,000+. I'm also not at the point where I need/want a road bike. The tires confine me to certain road surfaces, and I'm big on flexibility. The road tires I picked out for my Trek are good enough for the road yet sturdy and grippy enough for the occasional dirt/gravel path. Another reason to just "hybridize" my mountain bike is that total cost of the "upgrades" will only set me back $89.00. Not bad huh? So, I'll tweak my bike first, then when I need another bike, I'll go shopping.

As for the rest of my fitness update, my weight workouts are doing fine. I did wind up at the gym for my shoulders and arms workout and discovered that my 30-lb dumbbells at home weren't quite comparable to the 30-lb dumbbells at the gym. Not sure which one's correct, but I sucked it up and went with the 25-lb dumbbells to preserve form. Form over pride, people. Without good form, your reps mean nothing. Pullups-wise, I'm up to 3 sets of 11 (though on the last set, the last couple reps really really kill). I've added some diamond pushups for my chest and back workout that I do with my heavy workout, so that's pretty cool.

I'm pretty happy with how my legs held up during the bike rides, and I largely attribute this to my running and stair climbing at work. So I will make more of an effort to run more and use the bathroom downstairs at work (I like taking the stairs two at a time back up when I'm alone). My heavy workout consists of squats and lunges, so that'll continue. I did skip last weeks leg section in anticipation of the demands on the legs from the riding. That was a great decision.

Diet-wise, I took one extra protein shake between my breakfast and lunch. I was feeling I'm under for my protein intake. I did wind up gaining weight, but my cousin came and we did three straight nights of drinking. So that skewed the effects of my diet change. I'll see how this week goes. I'm still taking glucosamine twice a day.


Last weigh-in:
172.0 lb