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Old 01-10-19, 03:12 AM
  #13  
canklecat
Me duelen las nalgas
 
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Texas
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Bikes: Centurion Ironman, Trek 5900, Univega Via Carisma, Globe Carmel

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Cyclemeter is a good app for folks who don't care for the social media/data sharing aspect of Strava. Cyclemeter is private by default -- you have to choose to share any data with Strava or other apps/sites.

You can also set all Strava data to private. It's still a useful app even if you don't care to share data or compare with other cyclists. Very handy for comparing our own performance against efforts on the same segments and routes.

I'm fairy meticulous about logging all my rides and walks to Strava, but I don't share all of them publicly or with friends/contacts. Helps me track my overall fitness. I'm just now beginning to get back to my level of fitness pre-injury and illness last spring.

If I tracked everything more meticulously I'd get discouraged by the apparent lack of progress. For awhile I kept a health journal, including headaches, etc. (I've had chronic, severe headaches since childhood, never found a neurologist who knew for certain what causes them). It gets depressing to track all that stuff too meticulously. I'd rather remember the good days. And the memorable bad days aren't as bad in my memory as they seemed when fresh. When I have revisited my health journals it's startling because I don't remember having been that miserable. But at the time I was. If I don't write it down the unpleasant details fade. Maybe it's for the best.

Most stuff I do is a more casual approach. Lots of stretching and physical therapy at home (still recovering from a shoulder injury last spring, still haven't completely recovered from thyroid surgery in November). I stretch at least two or three times a day, especially the upper body, neck, back, shoulders. I'll stretch the legs on days after hard workout bike rides, sometimes more often if I think about it.

I don't track what I eat, I'm just fairly careful about what I buy. Once in awhile I'll binge a bit -- a chocolate malt at Braum's, a donut, etc. But I don't keep that stuff at home so it's easier to avoid overeating junk carbs and sugar.

If I just keep moving, keep breathing and eat reasonably healthy, I'm ahead of most of my family. They tended to become sedentary with age, moving less and less, eventually doing almost nothing. The joints seized, the muscles atrophied, the lungs became congested, the heart failed, they became obese. I understand why. It takes more effort to keep moving as we age. We wake up achy and tired every day. Seems easier to not move. But I know I'll feel better if I do move around and get the blood pumping.
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