Workouts, Cell Phone’s, MP3’s and a fun Ride

I recently started cycling more and running less, as my right foot has been bothering me.  I was born with very flat feet (not much of an arch) and I pronate badly (foot rolls to the inside.)  My feet have never bothered me until the last couple of years when they started to hurt when snow skiing.  The pain is excruciating, but it never has bothered me in everyday life, until a few weeks ago.  So, I have been icing in the evenings and cutting down on running which has really seemed to help. 

Cycling is fun as well, especially where I live as the terrain is challenging and beautiful.  I am surrounded by monster hills in every direction, which is fantastic when I am feeling ambitious and aggressive, but not so condusive to a relaxing, steady ride.

I recently bought a new phone, a Samsung Rogue, which I really like.  I won’t get an iphone unless Apple contracts with someone other than AT&T.  Around here, their coverage is awful.  I had AT&T for 6 or 7 years and would drop multiple calls EVERY SINGLE DAY!  (I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating that was.  Every time I saw an advertisement on televsion boasting about AT&T’s coverage I wanted to throw a brick through the tv screen!)   I switched to Verizon, which has fantastic coverage in our area and have dropped just 2 calls in the past 6 years.  When your phone is essential to your business, and you live in my area of West Linn/Lake Oswego which is hilly and wooded, coverage is huge.  Most of our area does NOT work with AT&T, consequently nearly ALL the professionals I work with in this area use Verizon.  NO COMPARISON.

Anyway, the Rogue phone is also an MP3 player, like many new phones and I loaded the 16 GB micro memory card so it can store thousands of songs and even full length movies.  I downloaded songs from 83 of my favorite CD’s over that past couple of days onto the phone, and now I plug it in when driving in my truck and listen when I am working out.

I am very late to get on this bandwagon, I realize.  I do enjoy using the phone as my MP3 player, and it saves a few hundred bucks in buying an iPod.  Why would you spend money on an iPod or other MP3 player when most new phones do the same thing?

Anyway, today it is very dark, cold and pouring down rain.  A perfect day for a tough bike ride!  I left my house for the ride with headphones in, and hit the “shuffle” button on the phone.  The first part of the ride is flat, then about a mile of slight down hill before a very difficult climb of about 4 miles up the back side of Pete’s Mountain.  The first song that came on was “It’s a long way to the top” by AC/DC, which I though was very appropriate for the route I was taking.  As soon as I hit the climb, “Free Bird” by Skynard came on, and it’s great because the song is about 10 minutes long.  Perfect for the grinding rhythm up the long hill.  The climb is steepest right neer the top, and Billy Squire came on with “Stroke.”  Great song for that last push.  As I started to get just over the top, the rain lessened, the sky became brighter and “In the light” by DC Talk came on.  Seriously.  What a fun series of songs that came up randomly as I was riding.  I must admit that having the tunes playing made the workout easier, and more fun.

I still don’t like it when (typically younger) people walk around in their daily lives with headphones on, shutting you and the rest of the world out.  I do see the value in MP3 players for specific activities though.  Technology can be a wonderful thing, helping motivate us to achieve our goals.

The real challenge for my workouts these days is finding the time.  Between running a business and raising 2 children it is tough.  But I do manage to make it work, and that’s really important to me.  When I am working out I feel stronger and more energetic and more positive.  That is a good influence on my family, and it’s good for my business too.  I hope you can come up with a routine that works for you, and if you do, be sure to give the MP3 thing a try (if you haven’t yet.)