me, me, and me

One of my favorite phrases that I use often (and no, it's not, "Huh,") is that you learn something new every day. Today was certainly no exception.

Well, perhaps I should start with yesterday for the sake of uniformity.

Got home last night, a little later than planned, but rode the extended BCM. I knew I would be slower because I was trying to keep my heart rate under 160 bpm. It was a really nice ride - I can't believe how fortunate I've been with the cool weather this week. So I rattled off just under 20 miles.

I planned on riding the Chamblee-Tucker route today, which was 23 miles the last time Pinky and I rode it. Strangely enough though, it was only 16.2 miles today. I doubt that the route magically morphed it's distance between the two rides, yet I can't explain it. You know, quantum theory states that time is different for everyone (or something like that). Maybe that applies to distance as well, or we live in the Bermuda triangle of the Atlanta area. Seriously though, I don't know why our math was so off but today's ride was shorter than anticipated.

Back to what I learned today about me.

Today I realized that I have become more attune to my heart rate without looking at the monitor. I usually don't change the limits so the beeping means nothing to me - I just keep looking at it. But today I did change the limits to keep myself under 170 bpm. I could actually tell by how I felt, within 1 bpm, what the monitor said, without looking, almost every time. It was eerie, yet impressive.

The other thing I noticed about my heart rate this week is that I'm recovering a lot faster than I have been. I'm taking this as a sign that I'm getting better, whether it means that or not.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about merging the extended BCM and Chamblee-Tucker routes which I think should put me over 30 miles. But given my Nobel math skills and the Bermuda triangle scenario it will probably only be 6 miles and I'll end up in Alabama.