Stronghold

Yngwie Malmsteen finished off the soundtrack to my first real workout in, well,  I don't know quite how long. Probably since my last commute last Fall. Ouch, that hurts when I say it.

I'll admit this wasn't biking. A few reasons — or you may call them excuses. I broke my trainer last year while cleaning the garage. Just snapped the resistance unit clean off. So, I now have a sort of back-up repair stand that fastens to the rear axle. Useful at times, I guess; but not useful for exercise during the winter.

I didn't get outside because I'm feeling like a wimp about the cold weather. Something about having snow the past few days that has kept me inside.

So, that left me with the choice of my wife's treadmill, or my hand-me-down NordicTrack. I chose the NordicTrack. Now, if you've not used one of these in a while or always thought they were too hard to use, you may want to reconsider. It's a great full-body workout with a mix of cardio and resistance training. There's even some core effort involved. (When your core is a soft as mine it's noticeable.) In 15 minutes I kept my heartrate smack in the middle of my target aerobic zone (about 140 - 160) and got some upper-body that I wouldn't have gotten on my bikes. I also prefer the NordicTrack to the treadmill because I just don't really enjoy running. Skiing I enjoy (although usually the downhill kind) and I can convice myself that I'm skiing instead of running. After all, there are boards strapped to my feet.

If I can start to make a habit of this I may do a few things: start losing some of those extra pounds, get in shape for biking, accomplish some resolutions, and get closer to the Trail of Faith thing the youth in our ward are doing. Oh, and my wife keeps asking when I'm going to exercise, so this helps with that as well.

Speaking of my wife, Nicole is training for a couple of 5k runs with friends in the ward. One of her friends, Malisa, has put together a training schedule to be ready to complete a 5k by the end of April. I wish them, Nicole, Malisa, and all their training friends, the best success in this. 

And, while I'm talking way too much about running, I should put in another plug. My sister-in-law, Alena, is a cancer survivor. She has put together a team for the Salt Lake City Komen Race for the Cure on 9 May 2009. If you want to run in this, you can join team Chick 'n Breast to support her and support cancer research. As my brother says, that's two good causes.

All in all, I enjoyed the guitar heavy soundtrack that kept me moving my legs and arms for that quarter hour this morning. It felt good to sweat a little bit and feel my muscles do what they are meant to do.

"You will never take my stronghold!" Rock on!