Power Cycle ROCKED!

My ride for the hour Tuesday evening :)

Power Cycle

That was the name of the game. Since this was only my second class I had no idea what to expect. Just what is a power test? What does she mean by watts?

Well, as it turned out, it didn't really matter. Yes, I pedaled for the time she stated, and yes I increased my watts every time. We went for 8 minutes the first test and dropped a minute each time, while trying to increase watts each time also. Here are my numbers, as well as I can recall: 57, 70, 97, 115, 137, 150, 183, 235. I have no idea what I was doing. I do know that my ankle did NOT hurt and that was the goal. I do know that next time I will start with a higher average and work up from there. I think I have fairly strong legs. I mean, I have been running over a year, and occasionally lift. It all helps. I was getting the hang of things by the end of class. Now I have a better understanding of what to do and what resistance level I should be using next time. I plan to attend this on Tuesdays regularly. I am also going to see about Sundays as well. At least until my bike is fixed. Then I can still keep Tuesdays.

Pain Assessment

Now onto the part where I talk to myself about how my ankle felt.

I was, of course, limping into the Y, and into the group cycle room. I got on the bike and felt great! There was no pulling, burning, or pain. I warmed up with everyone and got going. After the first 8 minute power ride, we were given a 2 minute recovery and were encouraged to stand and give our bottoms a break from the seats. That is where I had problems. I tried it again on the next break, and still felt the same discomfort. Like a dummy, I did it one more time, just to be sure. The two minute breaks were then just me pedaling slowly with little resistance to bring my heart rate back down.

As I left I had a worse limp for a bit, then tried to walk "normal" and hurt myself. I went back to my limping gait, and felt fine the rest of the night. I really did! It was amazing! I didn't need to ice anything!

I felt that I was making improvements and was headed in a positive direction!

~Happy Running!

*now wait for the summary of yesterday's events...