Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Cloud 9

I biked last night. 35 minutes on the trainer. It was torture. I think my next biking workout will be outside. Trainers are boring. At least I got to watch Sex and the City while I biked. I wore my heart rate monitor and made sure it stayed between 130 and 150. Good base building. During the commercials, I did 1 minute sprints and stood up in the saddle to get my heart rate up. Then, I pedaled at 95 rpm during the show, reaching a nice, steady-state pace. It worked out pretty well. Except that it was really, really hard! Probably because I can't even remember the last time I rode Bluebell (the nickname for my bike; Jason's is Asphalt).
After the bike, I did a ton of ab and abductor exercises while watching the Shield (awesome show, b.t.w.). I slept like a baby. Except that it's hard to sleep in my favorite position b/c of the stitches in my shoulder. But, oh well. I compensated.
This morning, I met with my committee chair. She was so positive! She said I had done a Ph.D.'s worth of work and could defend in December with no more meetings. She said my work was elegant and publishable and that I was very focused. Jeez. I'm starting to get a big head with all these compliments. Plus, did I mention the progress report I had last week? My P.I. called me into her office and complimented for 10 minutes! I'm a hard worker and organized and thinking independently about my project. All sorts of good stuff! I feel like I'm floating on Cloud 9 right now. I wish it could be like this forever.
Plus, I've been getting to bed at a decent time and waking up a little bit earlier and exercising this week. Maybe I'm finally getting back on track. Oh! And no more 16 hour days for awhile b/c we're nixing the protein purification project! I'm using an alternative approach hidden up my sleeve. It will be A LOT easier. It's another beautiful day to match my mood. 70s, sunny, crisp, clear, and gorgeous. Windows open. Light breeze. 50s at night. Can it be like this all year? Oh, yeah. That's San Diego.

3 comments:

Kevin Yates said...

Rock on Rach!!! I am glad that everything is going better for you. It is so wonderful that you are getting so much great encouragement from those whom have some authority concerning your work.

concerning heart rate...how high is to high. you wrote in a previous post, a long time ago, about your 10 mile run, that when your heart rate started getting around 170 you slowed down. is 160-165 too high?

also, i know how it is about being frustrated with your sleeping position. i had to change mine as my shoulder healed this past month too. i couldnt stand it...and i wasnt able to even flip over and face the other way some nights...which also drove me crazy.

Rachel said...

As far as heart rate goes, it really depends on the individual. There are formulas to determine your max h.r. but it is debatable how accurate these are. Generally, I try to maintain 60-80% my max h.r. when I do cardio. I listen to my body. When it feels really uncomfortable, I'm gasping for air, and can't keep it up for very long, I've gone anaerobic, which isn't very productive for long-distance purposes. I try to keep anaerobic sprints to a minimum and maintain an aerobic pace which increases my stamina and also my VO2 max. For running, 180 is my max. For biking, it's more like 170. For swimming, it's probably a little bit slower than this. I try to keep my h.r. below 170 when I run and below 160 when I bike. That feels about right. You can play it by feel pretty accurately. Your body knows what it's doing.

Kevin Yates said...

Thanks for the insight...that is basically what i have been doing, but i wanted to make sure that i wasnt pushing the envelope too much.