Heart Racing

Pimp new gloves. Thanks Dad!

I decided to do a quick loop in Majik Forest after work today. When I got home after work I reckoned I had about 40mins to an hour of sunlight. So I quickly jumped into my fun MTB attire (read baggies and full finger gloves) and set off to Majik. With the sun setting fast  I klapped the hill something silly. I forced myself to stay in the middle blade in front and two down at the back. This makes for a lekker ratio to really crank it about halfway up I glanced at my watch and saw that my heart was beating at 200bpm. I dropped a gear and forced myself to accelerate even more till the end of the first climb. I forced my heart rate up to 208bpm. Theoretically my max should be at 196 (220-age) but I have managed to push it up to 210 in the sportslab before.

It feels weird pushing this hard. Besides not being able to get in enough air ( I swear it feels like I'm sucking in air through my ears as well) you get tunnel vision, my hands and shoulders go a bit numb and your legs and lungs are burning like crazy. Make no mistake, this is fun. In a sado-masochistic way.

The next climb I pushed myself again, again up to about 200. at the top of the singletrack I had to stop and rest. A good sign of fitness is how fast you recover and thus how fast your heart rate decreases after strenous activity.  Mine definitaly isn't where it needs to be but the season is only starting. After getting my heart and breathing under control I dropped into the singletrack. Majik has an awesoem downhill singletrack that is great for just having fun. What a brilliant way to unwind after a hard day. The only way someone can understand this is by riding. Only a surfer might know the surfing feeling, but only a MTBer will experience what I did this afternoon.

I might do the same tomorrow after work but I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm rather going for a sunset cruise on the Sea Point Promenade.Apparently some of the girls that frequent the area are very pretty.
That will also get my heart rate up...

Happy trails everyone

 Peace

P