Passing time on the trainer

When I'm on the road, there's no limit to how long I can ride, mentally anyway. But when I'm stuck on the trainer it's another story. I don't have any cycling videos, so I usually just watch TV while I ride. But I've been finding that I get bored and am all too aware of how long I've been riding based on the commercial breaks. I had yesterday off from work and daytime TV wasn't cutting it, so I picked up my self-teaching Italian book and before I knew it, an hour had gone by! I wasn't trying to do a real hard ride, just going for cardio. Maybe I'll lose those last 5 and become fluent in Italian:D Got me wondering what some of you do to pass the time when you can't be outside?

I don't have a trainer, but I do take spinning classes. The music makes the hour fly by, so maybe music would help. I like the language idea, though, as I'm plowing through Rosetta Stone spanish these days.

Do you wear a heart rate monitor? I like them because I can focus on being in a target zone for a certain amount of time. It breaks up the workout into sections and it's not so boring.

Like tulip when I ride indoors it's in one of my gym's spin classes. They are a blast! The instructors always have some great tunes playing on their ipods. They just plug their ipods into the gym's sound system in the spin room and off we go! Many times, to mix things up, our instructors will divide the class in half and we "compete" against each other. But when the side that's doing intervals or sprints is going all out the other half has to cheer them on! The instructors claim it helps to build up the lungs! LOL The hour and sometimes extra minutes (20 - 30 sometimes) zoom by quickly! I come out dripping wet wondering where the time went!

Before I joined the spin classes at my gym this winter I had been using my at home trainer but like NoNo I was bored after 10 minutes. I guess I need the "crowd" to keep me motivated. So far it's working and I've noticed on my outdoor rides on the weekends that my legs feel strong and powerful. I think it's safe to say that I owe this to my spin classes that I've been taking since late October four times a weekday!

I also found I got to bored and timed crawled by when I road on the trainer in front of the TV. I do better with just my mp3 player and some good rocking music. Time goes by much faster!

My limit is 10 miles with music if there is nothing good on TV. One night a week my best friend comes over and we ride trainers together watching TV. That is when it is least boring and the time flies. Sometimes we ride 12 miles.

My idea is to keep it consistant at least a few times a week. This has worked well for me during the years and once I hit the road I was in decent shape, not top shape, but at least I wasn't starting at the beginning again. I also use a treadmill this year for fitness walking and use it on the days that I don't use the trainer. Like the trainer, I walk to music if there is nothing on TV.

~ JoAnn

I actually just got a HRM for Christmas, but I haven't been aiming to stay in any one particular zone. Perhaps I can try that on the days when I'm pushing harder. I really need to work on controlling that more, I spike with the least bit of exertion. I'll try some music, that generally helps when I'm on the elliptical, but my brain isn't really engaged, so eventually I go back to looking at the time. I can see how being in a gym and having people around would help move things along.

Ohh I appreciate all of your comments ... have been there several times myself! I have been riding the trainer for the past 23 years... that's the fun of living in the Northeast HA! I have tried several different approaches,and have finally come up with something that seems to work.(at least for me) I have turned a spare bedroom into a trainer room. On the walls, I have posters of riders, races/rides that I have either rode in or plan to in the upcoming season. If I'm trying to lose an extra 5 pounds then perhaps I'll find a photo of what I want to look like... all of this of course is for motivation. I also have plenty of trophies or ribbons hanging around to keep the motivation up as well. I do NOT watch regular tv while on the triainer... it's too boring and my pace drops off to that of a snail. Instead, I will watch pro races, use training tapes, watch old cycling movies(Breaking Away, American Flyers)... nothing like seeing others on bikes as well! And finally, I have the trainer set up next to a a window... it reminds me how I need to keep working so that I'll be ready for when the outdoor season starts. The last step is to write down all of your workouts... it seems to give some credibility to all of this madness!

Like someone else has mentioned, it's great to have others join in on rides with you...much more fun and more motivating!

Keep up the good work!

I have a whole collection of Spinervals. Coach Troy can be annoying, but it does make the time go quickly. I also find that I work a lot harder with him than I would myself.

I've used one spin DVD twice - and really didn't like that one. Of course, there are a million out there, need to get around to buying or borrowing more to find ones that motivate.

I'm fine with music - so long as the music list is custom & inspires me to work hard and harder. I'm able to manage 90+ minutes this way... but it's a stretch. The best trainer rides for me are when I have a specific HR or Watt goal, and time, and a great DVD that I can pop in. That way I can be aware of my body & work hard, while giving my mind something to easily distract. Putting in a movie that is longer just than my goal helps keep me going thru the end, and not cut the cool down short. Of course, my husband likes to jump on the trainer next to me - and it's helpful to have that instant accountability sitting there, motivating me to keep going.

There is another thread going on podcasts. Podrunner has started putting some together with interval training though I haven't tried one yet.

Before I bought a Spinervals DVD, I used to listen to my iPod while watching t.v. with the sound turned down. I tried to read lips. :)

Maybe I can learn to read lips while I'm learning Italian!:eek: Then I'll be doubly skilled:D

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Originally Posted by NoNo

Maybe I can learn to read lips while I'm learning Italian!:eek: Then I'll be doubly skilled:D

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Netflix and Netflix on-demand have movies in Italian....you could be reading them Italian lips :rolleyes:

Seriously, when I was learning Spanish, I'd put on Univision or Telemundo with the closed captioning for the deaf subtitles. I've also put on my Pimsleur tapes, but after an hour those get old. Now, I'm a Spinervals fanatic. ECT--I just love to hate him.

But, NoNo, what are your good Italian learning references? I'm finding Italian to be really difficult. I've done my usual...used the Pimsleur tapes, worked my way through Harry Potter 3 in Italian, surfed Italian web sites, rented Italian movies, but the language just seems out of my grasp.

I have the Rosetta Stone software, but find it difficult to sit in front of the computer after being parked here all day. I'm borrowing my dad's Berlitz Self-Teacher book and that seems pretty good, though I get a little confused at times with some of the tenses. I think my dad let me borrow some CDs that I never got around to listening, I should look for those. It helps that I'm 100% Italian, though :p I'm familiar with the cadence and we still use certain words for everyday things, so it's not totally foreign to me. I also took 4 1/2 years of Latin, which I'm finding helps occassionally. I find that I'm getting good at reading Italian, I can pronounce things correctly, but it's still hard for me to follow what a native-speaker is saying or to put together a sentence on my own. Now, if you want a tough language, try German! I couldn't make ANY sense of that!:confused:

If you know one Romance language, the others will be easy...but I've found that to be only partly true. I'm fluent in French. I've dabbled in Italian and Spanish, and I put in a good effort with Portuguese several years ago. Now I'm working on Spanish again, and I'm finding that I must have retained alot more of the Portuguese than I thought.

When I get going fast, French comes out.

I like Rosetta Stone alot, but I'm not stuck in front of a computer all day since I work from home and can easily distract myself (too easily sometimes:rolleyes:)