Heart of an athlete

[marni]

both of my parents died before I lost my weight and started bicycling which makes me very sad but I feel their spirits glowing at me in pride, especially when I push myself a bit extra. When I first started riding, it nearly wiped me out to ride a mile. Now I routinely do 30-60 mile training rides at least twice a week, and train with a trainer as well as work out in the gym with weights and resistance for the rest of the week.

I will confess to a intense feeling of pride and perhaps a bit of superiority when someone asks me how far I ride and their jaw drops when I reply with a goodly distance.

My GP bless her heart is a sensible older Irish lady who continually comments on my bp (122/55) and my resting pulse rate which is usually about 45-50. I have been asked by her nurse if I am actually alive every time she takes my pulse.My cholesterol is slightly above normal but that's because my good cholesterol is high!

I thank the spirits that led me to a healthy diet, realizing that I needed help, getting that help and discovering cross country bicycling and road biking.

[PscyclePath]

Like it says in the People for Bikes ad, "If I ride... I will grow a heart so strong that hospitals will have to start taking Tuesdays off."

Sounds good to me, anyways...

[Catrin]

My trainer just called me an athlete today He isn't the kind to say something like that to make you feel good - though he is great at positive reinforcement. It did me good to hear that

[Crankin]

Marni, your comment about your cholesterol resonated with me; my total is very slightly high also, for the very same reason: my HDL is so high that one practitioner told me he had never seen a number that high before. That's why the ratio is so good, too.
Emily, yes, I think you are right. There's too many of us here that were "last picked" as kids for it to be chance. Since just about everyone learns to ride a bike, it's not surprising that it is a sport people start later in life, even when we haven't had that much success in other athletic endeavors.

[Eden]

Emily, yes, I think you are right. There's too many of us here that were "last picked" as kids for it to be chance. Since just about everyone learns to ride a bike, it's not surprising that it is a sport people start later in life, even when we haven't had that much success in other athletic endeavors.

Hmmmm sounds familiar... at 5' nuthin most running, jumping net based sports were a bit harder for me.... (I can walk under a regulation volley ball net without ducking) - basketball... a bit of a farce.... track... I'm not super slow, but I have to take two steps for each one a taller person does.... a bike OTOH even things out a lot and my size can even be an advantage at times.

I'm getting my cholesterol checked for the first time pretty soon. I hope and expect it will be pretty good, since I exercise quite a bit and eat pretty well. I already know my blood pressure tends to low

[Karma007]

Emily, yes, I think you are right. There's too many of us here that were "last picked" as kids for it to be chance. Since just about everyone learns to ride a bike, it's not surprising that it is a sport people start later in life, even when we haven't had that much success in other athletic endeavors.

This was me- short, chubby, bad vision. Not exactly a coaches dream girl. It's why I love cycling. I can excel, at my own speed, on my own terms. I can be part of a group, and yet my performance is based only on me, and what I would like to achieve.

[WindingRoad]

Marni and Crankin I'm right there with you on the HDL. My ratio is basically all HDL the LDL is so low it doesn't even show up on the test.

Due to cycling I have been diagnosed with non-pathogenic bradycardia which is a slow overall HR. I found my resting HR to be 45. Apparently all those years of playing a wind instrument gave me the lung capacity of an adult male, lol. That part amuses me for some reason. My BP is consistently low and I feel good even during these stressful times. I agree we are all athletes and we don't even have special chefs, coaches or dietitians at our disposal.

[jessmarimba]

I've never really thought of myself as an athlete - I'm not good at anything I do sports-wise, but people who know me apparently think I'm athletic. I'm a slow runner, fearful cyclist, ok snowboarder, etc. I haven't had many comments from doctors (besides my good balance getting me out of the hospital last summer!) but I used to work with a woman who would shriek about my food every time she saw me eat something remotely fattening (she was forever dieting but extremely inactive). I guess she never made the connection that running 30 miles a week could buy me a piece of cake every now and then!

[Velocivixen]

I have lost over 100 lbs and have kept it off for 16 months. I just turned 47 this month. As a kid I was always chosen last for sports (but always first for academics), so was never athletic. I changed what & how much I ate and started with a modest 30 minutes twice a week at the gym (yoga). Now I do a little of everything in and out of the gym and burn between 3,000-4,000 calories per week. I will never win a race, but I assure you I always finish! So, I guess, In a way, I'm an athlete.