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My bike has actually arrived! Yay! Today we went to pick it up in the pouring rain XD
As per usual I felt a bit intimidated by the bike shop with all the clothes that would never fit me and a lot of bits and bobs that I could not figure out what to use for. I didn't dare to try the bike out in front of all the members of staff who presumably spent most of their time cycling and thankfully no one insisted. I did try out the demo bike that the shop had lent me at my mum's only to find that the seat kept slipping down - presumably of my weight. I expecting someone to ask me my weight and inform me that the bike I am buying is really meant for people who don't weigh that much, but thank goodness it didn't happen.
We successfully got the bike home and I summoned the courage to give it a try. It rides beautifully - even for a biking beginner like me! Absolutely not comparable to my old bike. I really enjoyed myself and raced up and down the street! I even managed to get up the hill without feeling like I was about to die which was great. Yay for a working gear box (and figuring out which gear does what - for the record the lowest gear is for up the hill and the highest for down the hill).
When i started feeling sweaty and a bit light headed I stopped and we went inside. Poor G couldn't get his bike out of the backyard because the lock has yet again a new combination no one knows, so he spent his time running after me. I wish I was fit enough to do that. I felt like I had been riding for AT LEAST halve an hour only for G to tell me proudly that it was 17 to 18 minutes. *sigh* I guess it is quite an improvement from my original 10 minutes which grew to 13 minutes over time, but still not even close to what I am aiming at.
After coming in I felt my usual symptoms of getting really cold and my migraine hitting in, so I quickly had a smoothies following the recommendation of my counsellor. I finished off the M&S one I had bought for breakfast which had figs, banana and grain in it... And felt my blood pressure immediately normalizing again! O.O I need more of that smoothie! If grain and banana is the magical combination then that is what I shall drink. I am still wrapped up in a thick blanket and about to drink some tea and my head is still fairly sore, but this is nothing compared to my usual sugar crush followed by a depression attack. My stomach has still filled up with air, so the tea in question is peppermint, but that I can definitively live with.
Having settled down I did what I always do when starting a new venture: I looked for advice from people more experienced than myself. However, several google searches and quite a few articles later I found myself rather frustrated. There doesn't seem to be much out there for real beginners! Even a program that was specifically written with overweight couch potatoes of fitness level zero in mind seemed exceedingly unrealistic to me and I do Yoga, Zumba and weight exercises regularly! Obviously not as regularly as I should - especially not lately as I have been really ill with this crazy weather, but I wouldn't classify myself as a true coach potato and while I am overweight (with no real improvement in sight) I know a lot of people - especially online - who have much more to fight with. It almost seems as if fit people want to keep their magical fitness to themselves, teazng us non fit people with promises of higher energy levels and an improved sex drive, knowing that with the tools provided we are really unlikely to succeed.
Or may be the problem is simply that fit people don't know what it is like to be not fit. I assume if you are enthusiastic enough about a hobby to write articles in your spare time for sport blogs, then you have likely always enjoyed sport in some shape or form and your idea of overweight is getting rid of a few extra pounds for the bikini season. May be I am being harsh, but I have so far only found one strength program that actually caters for absolute beginners and provides options for people who can't do a single full press up, let alone 10 and it looks like my search for a reasonable cycle program will take about as ling, but might not be se fruitful. Chances are I'll just have to start cycling, try my best and see what happens. Sadly there are no real cycle paths in the village and I hate cycling in traffic :-/ We shall see how it goes - not as if I am likely to get far in my 18 minutes.
As per usual I felt a bit intimidated by the bike shop with all the clothes that would never fit me and a lot of bits and bobs that I could not figure out what to use for. I didn't dare to try the bike out in front of all the members of staff who presumably spent most of their time cycling and thankfully no one insisted. I did try out the demo bike that the shop had lent me at my mum's only to find that the seat kept slipping down - presumably of my weight. I expecting someone to ask me my weight and inform me that the bike I am buying is really meant for people who don't weigh that much, but thank goodness it didn't happen.
We successfully got the bike home and I summoned the courage to give it a try. It rides beautifully - even for a biking beginner like me! Absolutely not comparable to my old bike. I really enjoyed myself and raced up and down the street! I even managed to get up the hill without feeling like I was about to die which was great. Yay for a working gear box (and figuring out which gear does what - for the record the lowest gear is for up the hill and the highest for down the hill).
When i started feeling sweaty and a bit light headed I stopped and we went inside. Poor G couldn't get his bike out of the backyard because the lock has yet again a new combination no one knows, so he spent his time running after me. I wish I was fit enough to do that. I felt like I had been riding for AT LEAST halve an hour only for G to tell me proudly that it was 17 to 18 minutes. *sigh* I guess it is quite an improvement from my original 10 minutes which grew to 13 minutes over time, but still not even close to what I am aiming at.
After coming in I felt my usual symptoms of getting really cold and my migraine hitting in, so I quickly had a smoothies following the recommendation of my counsellor. I finished off the M&S one I had bought for breakfast which had figs, banana and grain in it... And felt my blood pressure immediately normalizing again! O.O I need more of that smoothie! If grain and banana is the magical combination then that is what I shall drink. I am still wrapped up in a thick blanket and about to drink some tea and my head is still fairly sore, but this is nothing compared to my usual sugar crush followed by a depression attack. My stomach has still filled up with air, so the tea in question is peppermint, but that I can definitively live with.
Having settled down I did what I always do when starting a new venture: I looked for advice from people more experienced than myself. However, several google searches and quite a few articles later I found myself rather frustrated. There doesn't seem to be much out there for real beginners! Even a program that was specifically written with overweight couch potatoes of fitness level zero in mind seemed exceedingly unrealistic to me and I do Yoga, Zumba and weight exercises regularly! Obviously not as regularly as I should - especially not lately as I have been really ill with this crazy weather, but I wouldn't classify myself as a true coach potato and while I am overweight (with no real improvement in sight) I know a lot of people - especially online - who have much more to fight with. It almost seems as if fit people want to keep their magical fitness to themselves, teazng us non fit people with promises of higher energy levels and an improved sex drive, knowing that with the tools provided we are really unlikely to succeed.
Or may be the problem is simply that fit people don't know what it is like to be not fit. I assume if you are enthusiastic enough about a hobby to write articles in your spare time for sport blogs, then you have likely always enjoyed sport in some shape or form and your idea of overweight is getting rid of a few extra pounds for the bikini season. May be I am being harsh, but I have so far only found one strength program that actually caters for absolute beginners and provides options for people who can't do a single full press up, let alone 10 and it looks like my search for a reasonable cycle program will take about as ling, but might not be se fruitful. Chances are I'll just have to start cycling, try my best and see what happens. Sadly there are no real cycle paths in the village and I hate cycling in traffic :-/ We shall see how it goes - not as if I am likely to get far in my 18 minutes.
