2026-01-09 Friday The Zwift stationary bike app provides a nice controlled way to manage an aerobic exercise regime. This week’s plan allowed a 129_bpm maximum heart rate, which is getting close to the 80% maximum of 135_bpm where the LRB will spend the rest of the year tootling around at a level 2 ride. Today was the LRB’s first quality ride since stent day. Good heart rate management gave a 1 hour ride with an average of 121_bpm. He briefly hit 138_bpm during a 10 second loss of discipline as he sprinted for the top of the Col du Peyresourde. Overall power was 130W or in cycling terms, about ⅓ of a Tadej Pogacar. The LRB said “That’s a win”.

2026-01-07 Wednesday The LRB had his first check-up with the cardiologist. To score at least one “who’s a good boy” point, he meticulously printed out all the data from the last 3 month of heart, diet and exercise information. The cardiologist interpreted the echo-cardiogram results so that the LRB’s drug-addled brain could understand. Basically she reported that the LRB has only a tiny bit of muscle damage in the top left part of his heart and has achieved a quite remarkable recovery 😁. The LRB therefore asked if he could exercise at his previous level. The cardiologist gave him a very silent, very hard stare that would have made Paddington cry. Guess he’ll be taking it gently then!

2026-01-04 Sunday The LRB’s super flowing blood and thin skin picked a fight with the bag of coffee beans. Apparently, if you snip the bag with scissors and then hold the bag at just the right angle, you can slice your finger sufficiently badly to require 4 band-aids and over 48 hours of compression to stop the bleeding. Curiously, the LRB’s keyboard now looks like a prop from a Quentin Tarantino fight scene.