60 days

Got some training in today on the bike stand - a metal triangle gizmo that lifts the rear wheel of the bike off the ground. I borrowed a bike to do the training.

So I rode 1/2 hour at a CADENCE of 90 RPM to reach THR of 138. Cadence? THR? RPM? What's all THAT mean?

CADENCE in bike lingo means how-many-times-I-pedal-per-minute. By setting a cadence low, you don't work very hard. A low cadence is around 60 RPM, or Revolutions Per Minute, or about one time around for your right leg for every second. Riding fast means a cadence of 90. Then you are really moving along, and you really work your heart harder.

Your heart is the engine driving you - you are just a machine. The faster you need to go, the faster your heart needs to run, just like a car, just like a plane or a boat - your body is just an organic machine. The CADENCE RPM simply tells a cyclist how hard they are stepping on the accelerator.

The THR is the Target Heart Rate, how many beats-per-second your heart runs. Every person is different, so every person has a different THR. For example, for me to pedal at a CADENCE RPM of 90 takes a THR of 138 beats-per-minute. WOW! My heart is beating faster than two times every second!!! However, for an athlete who is in top shape, the THR could be much lower, say 110 beats-per-minute, because the athlete keeps the machine in tip-top shape. They have a stronger heart that delivers more blood and oxygen per beat than an out of shape person (like me) can.

One of the things I will learn over the next 60 days is how my THR changes as my body gets into better and better shape. Perhaps by the time of the first race, my THR for the same 1/2 hour at cadence 90 will be 120 or less. That would be a great achievement.

Oh yeah, it's now about an hour after the exercise, let's see what my blood glucose is. Hope it's low.

(be right back)

Excellent! It's 122. Within 2 hours after a meal, glucose should be less than 140 according to new ACE guidelines (American College of Endocrinologists), so 122 is a great number. (The American Diabetes Association has recommendations on this as well).

Off to bed. Lance's program calls for at least 8 hours of sleep to let the body recharge.

Goodnight K&J.