Picking up speed

I have continued to learn a lot during these first few weeks of biking. I was concerned at first about distance, but what I have been realizing is that distance is not important if you don’t factor in time. For example, a one-hour bike ride at between 12 – 13.9 mph burns about 674 calories. A one-hour bike ride between 14 – 15.9 mph burns 867 calories. Of course, that’s based on a guy my size, but that’s still almost 30% more calories in the same hour. You see, at first I was setting goals like ”I want to make it from my house to the archway and back”. Although that is admirable, it’s very important to do it within a set time frame. Logically, I always knew that the speed mattered just as much as the distance, I just didn’t realize how much. You simply can’t separate time and distance when you are setting goals. Seems glaringly obvious now, but that wasn’t the case during the first week.

Fitday.com, which is where I keep my exercise journal, classifies speed like this:
10 – 11.9 mph = Light
12 – 13.9 mph = Moderate
14 – 15.9 mph = Vigorous
16 – 19.9 mph = Racing with drafting
20 mph = Racing without drafting

I thought that those speeds sounded a bit low, but after a few rides, I realized that I was wrong. I can hit 30 mph in a straight sprint on my bike, but we are talking about sustained speed over the course of one hour. Go 30 mph all you want in a dead sprint on a flat stretch, but I dare you to maintain that speed going up a 30-degree hill, or into a 15 mph head wind.

My first few rides were averaging 11-12 mph. So, I plotted out a 14-mile course, and set a goal of traversing it in 1 hour, thus raising myself into a higher calorie category. To my surprise, I made it. I would have never made that ride a week ago. I have been stunned by how quickly my body has been strengthening up, and how much more I am able to do as the days go by. I was very, very pleased with myself. My body is responding wonderfully to this whole routine. I felt great at the end too. It is the first time that I have felt anything close to the ‘runners high’.

I have been noticing all kinds of small physical improvements. I have been breathing deeper and slower lately. I have been sleeping deeper, and not waking up at all at night. I used to have these lulls in my energy levels around lunchtime everyday. They have become almost unnoticeable these past few days. If I feel this much better after 9 days, I can’t wait to see how I feel after a few months. Tonight I am going to try the same course and shoot for a better time.