Back in the Saddle Again and Operation Gobble Jog

Meet the Mongoose, my bike.  The Mongoose and I will be spending a lot of time together in the next few weeks as my ankle heals.  Biking is a great way to maintain cardiovascular conditioning and to build quad strength (and to maintain some degree of sanity).  Now, to those of you who know me personally, you may be thinking to yourself that me riding a bike sounds about as safe as letting the Aflac duck drive a vehicle.  Never fear dear friends!  The Mongoose is set up on a stationary trainer that all but eliminates the risk of me acquiring new injuries while rehabbing! 

While training inside on a bike hitched to a stationary trainer is not as fun as running outside with this glorious fall weather, it is a safe and reasonable option for me for now.  By monitoring parameters such as heart rate, perceived exertion, and calories burned I can ensure that my work-outs on the stationary bike are comparable to running work-outs.  I found this Active.com article particularly helpful for "ball park" comparisons between calories burned running vs. cycling: Cycling to running calorie converter.  (Please note that the conversion chart in the article takes in to consideration wind resistance created by the bike and rider.  The stationary trainer that my bike is hooked to does create a comparable degree of resistance so for me the chart is a good guideline.  If you are using a different trainer or a gym-type stationary bike the conversions may not be accurate.)

My stationary trainer is an old CycleOps.  It does not have all the tech gizmos that the new ones have, but for anyone looking for a good indoor trainer I would recommend this brand.  It is easy to assemble and to break down (been through several moves with me)!  The only complaint I have is that the rumbling noise is a bit loud particularly when you are going at high speeds.  When using the trainer in the wee small hours of the morning I recommend a good set of headphones for you and ear plugs for anyone who might be asleep in the house!

In addition to maintaining cardiovascular fitness, I will focus this rehab period on increasing balance and foot strength.  I plan on doing this through a combination of physical therapy exercises and yoga routines.  The measuring bar for my "custom" rehab schedule will be the Marietta Gobble Jog 5K on Thanksgiving Day.  Let Operation Gobble Jog begin!

Happy trails everyone!