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Old 06-21-22, 11:57 PM
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VegasJen
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So what *else* do you do for exercise?

Since I've started doing the triathlon thing, I've expanded my exercise regime to include multiple different disciplines. One reason I don't put a ton of miles on my bike(s) is because I only ride once or twice a week. I also swim, run, elliptical train and weight train (upper body). And I try to mix things up so I don't get too comfortable with one element and lose skill in another.

I have an older Precor that came out of a gym, so it's good quality even for its age. I use it when it's excessively hot or cold, or just sometimes I use it for "generic" cardio work out.

I always thought I was a pretty good swimmer, and I'm a strong swimmer, but I have come to accept that I'm slow. This has become most obvious in my triathlons. I am always one of the last people out of the water. When I was younger, I mostly spent time swimming in lakes and rivers, much more rarely swimming in a pool. I don't think my high school even considered the idea of swimming as a competitive sport. Even if they did, the school simply did not have the resources ($$$) to build and maintain a pool. I'm starting to swim more as part of my training now but we only have one public pool in town and it's only open for about three months during the summer. I asked why that is, especially out here in the desert, water temperature should keep the pool open 7-8 months a year, but the manager explained the problem is they can only get high school kids to be life guards so the only time the pool can be open is during the summer break.

As for weights, I just do some regular curls and shoulder exercises to strengthen and tone my upper body, and I do that mostly for my swims. Low weight (relatively speaking), high reps. I try to save my legs for the ride and the run so I swim almost entirely with upper body. I really only started with the weight training last fall but I can already tell a significant difference when I swim. The last triathlon I did, I knocked almost 10 minutes off my swim time and I was nowhere near as tired when I got out of the water. In fact, going swimming tomorrow morning. Public pool is open from 7-10:30am for laps.

I grew up lower middle class Miss'ippi girl so any bike I had came from a ____-Mart store. Hell, until just a few years ago, I thought there were only two bike sizes: children and adult. And being short and of "limited means" I often rode hand-me-down or used bikes that didn't fit, but I didn't know it at the time. The first *real* bike I got was a 54cm Cannondale about five years ago. It was too tall for me but that's when I discovered the difference between a China-bomb crap bike and a real bike. I have since sold off the Cannondale. Great bike but it was definitely too tall for me, and have replaced it with a small collection of 49 and 50cm bikes from Specialized, K2 and Trek. These actually fit me and now that I know the difference, I can never go back.

I often tell people that I grew up in a skating rink, which is only slightly a hyperbolic statement. I tell people that from about the time I was 7 until around 19, the local skating rink was both a hang out and "baby sitter" for me. I would often go skating after school on Friday afternoon, most of the day Saturday and a lot of Sundays as well. I grew up in the South so it was all hard wood rinks. I grew up on the "quad" skates but made the jump to inline skates in the 90s and today I have a hard time with the old quad skates. I've ice skated a few times. Just the fact that I have as much experience skating as I do, especially the inline skating, transfers a lot of skill to ice skating, but I definitely am not as comfortable or proficient on ice as I am on hard wood or asphalt.

And even at 52 I still speed skate regularly. I have a course mapped out at the local high school parking lot and I do 500m and 1000m sprints. Even now, I can do 500m in about 80 seconds. My 1000m average is obviously a little higher, around 2m,45s. Certainly not setting the world on fire but I think that's a decent pace for an old woman. I have a pair of Bont 110mm speed skates I bought a few years ago that I really need to replace, and I probably will when (if) I get my finances a little more secure.

I try to stay well-rounded, and not just my figure. I was not blessed with an athletic build. Quite the opposite in fact. My whole family is kind of that way. "Tree stump" and "fire hydrant" are common descriptors of both the men and women in my family. All of the athletics I do is sheer force of will, it does not come naturally.

So what other disciplines do you incorporate to stay in shape? Or do you stick mostly to riding?
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