1000 Miles

“So here I am, short of two months after Christmas and about 25 rides in and I’m feeling better than I have in years. Hopefully I’ll keep this up.”

Some time in the last few days I logged my 1,000th mile on Peloton. I’ve been riding for about five
months, finished well over 150 rides and I’ve lost more than 20 lbs. since I started riding, and about 40 lbs. since my heaviest. My average cadence and resistance are both steadily increasing, but my
heart rate and calorie burn is decreasing. Basically I’m becoming stronger and more efficient, and
because of that, I feel better in my regular day-to-day routine. Walking doesn’t hurt anymore.  

I’m a little discouraged to see my calorie burn drop, but it’s important to keep perspective.

1. Obviously it’s going to happen, you get used to working hard and it gets a little less hard.

2. I still burn a ton of calories, probably because I’m huge. I’m trying to go harder each
week to keep my burn level where it’s been and so far so good.

3. My story has seemed to resonate with people who have also decided to give the Peloton a go,
so now I've got some friends to work out with (and some sweet free gear thanks to their referral
program.)

I’m also starting to notice some strength and mobility in muscles that hadn’t worked for years due to
the issue in my spine, so that’s encouraging. I’m not sure that i’ll ever feel “normal” but it seems to
be improving slowly.

I'll be sure to keep you all updated - but more importantly, I'm pretty sure my next few updates will
have to do with beer and food.

Diamondback Brewing Green Machine

Yo - It's the Green Machine. Read more.

Troegs Nugget Nectar

It's that time of year. Troegs Nugget Nectar is here. Read more.

Staaaaaats

I figured out a way to make my google sheets auto-update stats to this website. Yeah I'm a nerd about this kind of stuff. So now my stats will always be on the side of the page. It looks like this:

Introduction/About Me

I don’t like working out. I don’t like moving. I don’t like walking. None of those things feel good. At best, they feel very weird and uncomfortable - and that’s because my body won’t do what I tell it to do.

Six years ago I figured out I had an issue with my spine, which led to some nerve damage and due to that, a lot of leg weakness and numbness. I can’t feel my legs below my knees much, or my feet really at all. So even though I was pretty active when I was young, I hit a sharp decline in my mid- to late-twenties.

So with that all going on in the background, my life is still pretty normal. I love cooking, I love eating, and I love beer. I like going to breweries and trying as many new things as I can. 

But, mix all of that with being inactive - and I really began to feel run down, sluggish, heavy, and just old. 

Fast forward to this past Christmas. My wife, Cassie, starts hinting that she’d like a Peloton. This isn’t surprising - Cassie loves to work out - running, spinning, boot camps, lifting, TRX, you name it. Plus, she was a spin instructor when we lived in Harrisburg, so she knows what she’s doing and I had zero doubt that the thing would get used. 

Trying to deter a giant purchase, I joked with her saying “Uhh, didn’t you hear their commercials are degrading to women?” 

“Not if you’re a woman who likes working out,” she said. 

Point taken - I knew what I was buying her for Christmas. Sure, the Peloton is a little pricey, but if you take into account what we were spending on gyms and pop-in spin classes, it really wasn’t that bad.

What I didn’t expect is that I would enjoy it. Not only that, but very surprisingly, I could get a sweat and feel like I was pushing myself without being in pain. I’ve tried so many things over the years - Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu, running, yoga, and that’s on top of months, if not years, of cumulative physical therapy. Somehow spinning is the only workout I’ve tried in years that didn’t make me feel like I was trapped in a body that was betraying me. I guess the muscles needed for spinning are the ones on me that are still strong. 

So i kept going - and I’ve found that the data you get through the app on your workouts kept me coming back. I’m a bit of a data nerd and I’m really into numbers and trends. I need to see progress to keep going, and with Peloton I get what I need. 

So here I am, short of two months after christmas and about 25 rides in and I’m feeling better than I have in years. Hopefully I’ll keep this up. I have a wife and a 2-year-old son to keep up with and they deserve the best version of me possible. Check back here often and follow me on instagram to see how it’s all going.