The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

Trainer Session Bravo

Yesterday, I spent 45 minutes on the trainer. Today, after a job interview in San Francisco, I came home for a short nap. Today’s track day, but that short nap turned into 2½ hours. I woke up at 7:30 and knew there wasn’t going to be enough time for me to get dressed down, walk to the track, run my two miles, and walk home without doing so in the dark.

I was Googling around and read an article about the Fat Burning Zone. In another resource, I learned that at 60% MHR, 80% of the calories you burn are from fat. At 80% MHR, 50% of the calories you burn are fat. So, I decided to try a long workout and stay in the “Light” zone (110 – 128 bpm). Since the day was lingering on and the light was fading, I hauled out my 2100, set it up, turned on my headphones and started my spin.

It doesn’t take a very fast spin to exceed 128 bpm. At a slow rate of speed, it feels really jerky if I don’t concentrate on my ride, but after a while I remembered one of the consequences of 9 months off the bike. Yesterday’s 45 minute continuous spin made my sit bones pretty sore. Bicycle seats are supposed to be stiff and they don’t make you sore if you’re used to them. I’m not used to mine. My hour workout turned into 30 minutes.

Today’s Numbers:

• Time: 30:00
• Time in Zone: 20:44
• Heart Rate Max: 139 bpm (76%)
• Heart Rate Avg: 126 bpm (68%)
• Energy burned: 300 kCal (55% fat)

Comparing fat burns with previous recent training sessions:

1. Run A: 445 cal (10% fat) = 45 cal fat
2. Run B: 417 cal (10% fat) = 42 cal fat
3. Run C: 446 cal (15% fat) = 67 cal fat
4. Run D: 436 cal (15% fat) = 65 cal fat
5. Run E: 484 cal (10% fat) = 48 cal fat
6. Run F: 464 cal (10% fat) = 46 cal fat
7. Trainer A: 716 cal (25% fat) = 179 cal fat
8. Trainer B: 300 cal (55% fat) = 165 cal fat

So one of the sessions on the trainer burned more fat calories than any of the runs. I think that’s because I have such a hard time not going over my max heart rate. Tomorrow, I’m going to try three or four miles of walking around the track, in addition to walking to get lunch and coffee (instead of driving, as usual). Only the track miles count.

Weigh-in time!

Apollo’s Statistics

Height: 70 inches (1.778 m)

Weight: 191.5 lb (86.86 kg) [-4.5 lb]

BMI: 27.48 (-0.65) [Overweight]

Goal Weight: 165 lb (74.84 kg) [23.67 BMI]

[…] Since the Tuesday trainer session made me sore, I thought I’d try the first of today’s workouts (other than pushup/dip sets of 10 whenever I feel like it) as a very light intensity stroll. I also wanted to burn a lot of calories and have a significant percentage of them count. I figured out the issue with my heart rate monitor not picking up the signal (moisten the contacts, yo) and decided to stroll over to Peet’s and get some coffee. […]