Five, four, three, two, one!

I was shopping one day in PriceSmart in Costa Rica (like a Sam’s Club or BJ’s), when I passed an aisle of workout equipment.  I had passed such displays before but I had never seen a recumbent bike available.  I had sold mine before we moved, and I missed it.  My hips don’t do well on a regular bike.  A recumbent bike actually helps my hips. I feel less pain and best of all I get a workout!!  Needless to say I bought it and was lucky to have someone put it together for me.  That was in late May and I have now enjoyed riding it almostevery day, having  logged in 71 rides.

“Five, four, three, two, one…. Now take the speed up higher and the resistance too!  Ride at a higher cadence with higher resistance for a minute!  Five, four, three, two, one… OK back to a slower pace with less resistance for a minute before we go again.”   These are typical instructions from the IFit trainer.  The bike is designed to go with programs produced by IFit.  I had a 14-day free trial and after that I didn’t hesitate to sign up to continue on a monthly basis.  A fun side benefit is that not only is the coaching excellent but the rides are filmed in locations all around the world.  I have done rides in Fiji, Hawaii, National US Parks, Costa Rica, Italy and Turkey!

Now why am I writing about this?  Recently, a writer was in residence at my home as part of the Artist in Residence program I offer.  At the end of her residency she led a writer’s workshop and gave us the prompt of writing about transitions.  First she asked us to list seven transitions that we had experienced in our lives and then to select one to write about.  No problem, I certainly had lots of major life transitions to write about, several of which were very recent, like moving to Costa Rica and losing my life partner of fifty-six years.  But what fascinated me at that moment was the little transitions I make each day related to aging, and I found the transition from slow to fast on the bike, and then back again to slow, a good metaphor.

In the last blog I wrote about finding a model of someone who has done new things in their 80’s.  That is very important for me and equally important is how to do them. What I am taking away from the writing prompt, and using the bike experience to write about, is a way to pace myself.  I want to be able to enjoy new and challenging things in a safe way. The bike exercise is  a strong reminder that a push, whether it is physical or mental, needs to be balanced with a time of lower energy and relaxing!

In the biking workout it has been an equal balance of pushing heavily for either a half minute or a minute and then pedaling easier for the same amount of time.  I do not know quite how I will carry this over into my life but I do know it is important and something I will keep in mind!

As I get nearer my eightieth birthday, questions on how to make this a quality time of life are often on my mind.  I wonder what other readers might want to share about this, whether it is turning eighty or experiences they have had at a younger age. I welcome your feedback and thoughts in the comments!