Deth

Since we got the assault bike and got it assembled a week or two ago, I have been really trying to focus on getting used to using that. For something that I didn’t want, and we only got because it was “free” with the Black Friday special, it definitely turned out to seem like it’s going to be a great addition for me.

The first time I used that thing, it was just brutal. It brought fire into my legs like I’ve never felt before. I couldn’t maintain my pace at all. At that moment, I decided that it was going to be a good fitness tool for me to use and that I would focus on really getting used to it. Unlike rowing, it doesn’t really allow you that brief period of rest on the recovery. I knew that if it hurt that badly, it must be good for me.

I have done a few WODs with it now where the bike portion was either fifteen or thirty calories. I noticed that each one was at least a little more tolerable. My first fifteen calories on that thing, I couldn’t even maintain a pace. Admittedly, I’m still a bit slow at it and completed the WODs slower than the goal time, but not by that much. My goal was to dive into the hell that is the bike. I look at it the same as if I were going to go heavier than normal on a WOD. Sure, I might be a little slower, but it’s making me better in the end. It’s a small sacrifice for now to make me better in the end.

This morning, my first order of business was to get my bench press done for my strength. That takes priority for me. That felt pretty good. It wasn’t heavy since it’s the week of five for my PR set. I ate and relaxed a little bit. While I hunted down a WOD. I knew I wanted to do a bike one.

I was thinking that one of Street Parking’s endurance WOD would be good to do on the bike. I wanted a simple but longer one and one that I’ve done on the rower just to get a general comparison.

I settled on one that was bike a hundred and twenty calories, rest five minutes, then do it again. While doing this endurance WOD, I actually surprised myself while doing this. I didn’t have to stop at all other than to look at the screen, which was more of a slowdown and the one time I had to pick up my towel during the second round. The bike is much taller than the rower, so I can’t reach the floor from without stopping and getting off it. By that time, I was basically pouring sweat, and of course, that’s when I dropped the towel on the floor. I was significantly slower than the times I did this WOD with the rower, but I’ve been using the rower for ten years. The bike for two weeks at the most. I was happy with it.

As luck would have it I don’t know what my actual times were. For both rounds I fucked up lapping my watch.

My main takeaway from the WOD today is that the bike is getting more tolerable for me, and I’m able to keep going better than I could at first. It’s feeling somewhat like it did when I did many longer rows a few years back, and then the shorter rows just felt more doable. Never easier, just more approachable. I feel like the bike, like the rower, will be one of those things where I control the intensity by how hard I push.