Training journal while learning to unicycle

[lillestrøm_uni]

Having read the How to learn unicycling thread I was quickly redirected to reading the Journal of a New Unicycler and I thought that was a pretty neat idea, so I decided I wish to post my own thread as I learn this. Hopefully I can add a few videos like that of BurnerDave as well.

If you don't want to read this then at least you are now warned :-)

All right, so let's get started.

Background

I ordered my first uni last week at UDC UK, and then after reading and discussing more here I realized that I would need another one. So currently I am discussing with Roger about what to buy, and getting lots of excellent input from the others on that thread. I am currently wavering between a 24" and a 26" Nimbus ISIS Muni, which would be better for learning and also for later activities other than commuting and racing.

Meanwhile, I am trying to exercise a bit to get in shape and prepare myself for the Big Task(TM) of learning how to unicycle.

Actually, getting a uni in the first place is something that came out of three things; 1. I need to find some sports to do in order to get in better shape, and I don't like any of the conventional ones; 2. I have wanted to get a bike for several months for commuting to work; 3. My chiropractor said I should find some good activities for my back, like swimming or running in the forest.

Now, I figured, getting a uni would be so awesome compared to getting a plain old bike, plus sitting upright on a uni must also be better for my back than crouching forward on a bike.

My inspiration for getting a uni and more specifically a coker came from watching this video on YouTube - Unicycling In The Streets of Manhattan. Obviously these guys are pros, but I don't think there's anything wrong with being inspired by pros

Pre-Uni Training

I've read that having strong abs help you maintain a good posture and control on top of the wheel, and so I am happy that I have already been doing some exercises for a good while. Today, like almost every day for the last few months, I did 50 push-ups and 600 crunches.

Then I have understood that having strong legs is useful, since a lot of other uni learners say they get exhausted from riding (and because they are not sitting down properly on the seat, but I have to assume I will make the same mistake). So I try to run a bit, and today I surprised myself by running for no less than 73 minutes, covering 10,2 km - I planned to do just a half hour so it will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow... I was running on grass, actually down in the ditch along a nice country road which goes straight for probably at least 3 km quite close to my house. The ditch runs between the road and a nice bike path where I expect to unicycle a lot once I get going.

Today I met lots and lots of bikers, two people on rollerblades and no other people on foot. Shortly after turning around I noticed that my feet were hurting a little - so I expect nice blisters tomorrow. Makes me feel like I did some real exercise :-)

I already mentioned that the uni is part of a larger scheme to get in better shape, and losing weight is part of that plan. So I intend to keep track of my weight here as well. Hope this doesn't get too boring for you, if so then don't read it

Anyway, before I started my diet today I visited a friend's house and after having some nice BBQ food on Saturday evening I weighed in at 97 kg. Then, after taking laxatives yesterday and starting a liquid only diet, I was down to 93 kg this morning (so that would be my "dry weight") and 92 kg after the run (so I lose a liter of sweat in one hour, this is consistent with previous experience).

Now my goal is to be down between 90 and 95 kg normally, this means I have to get down between 85 and 90kg now while I don't have any food in my system. Obviously I will not lost 5-7 kgs just like that - but I do hope to manage over the coming weeks and months. Unicycling will be an important part of this.

Until I get started, however, I am doing my other exercises, the daily routine for building strength as I mentioned, and then for endurance I try to run once a week and swim once a week. The last two Thursdays I managed to swim 2000 meters in 50 minutes, and I hope to keep doing that, while also running. If my knees and feet are with me, it would be great to run another 10km next weekend.

Preparations for Unicycling

Unicycling is not just about strength and aerobic endurance, but also a lot about balance. It seems most of the UPDs when learning to unicycle is due to loss of balance and this is caused by the lack of mental preparation to do the impossible balancing act on top of a wheel, and due to the lack of muscles trained to do just that. I've read about this need to train the muscles and I look forward to do that.

Meanwhile I can practice my balance. My friend happens to have one of those new Wii Balance boards, and I've tried it a couple of times the last two weekends. It has lots of nice balancing games, and I've done fairly well on them. So far, so good.

I was also very inspired by the video of Kris Holm in the Discovery channel program More than Human, and I figured the balance board they used to measure how far he could lean to each side resembled the Wii Balance board more than just a bit.

The other important test (other than unicycling, of course) they made him do was the blind one-legged balancing, and so I tried doing that today as well, on both feet. I didn't last long, but I expect to be able to train this as time goes by. This is also the topic of this nice thread where Kris himself, John Foss and others discuss this topic.

So that's about as far as I've come for now. My aim is to keep posting here as I progress, adding some pictures and videos if I manage to work out the technical details

PS: I am not sure if "Just Conversation" is the right place for this thread, but I couldn't really find any other forums that were more suitable. If necessary, I assume the admins will move my post to the appropriate place.