Cycling and Fitness

I didn't do much cycling last week. This was because I went to rose bowl last last Sunday but was SO tired that I only did 1 lap and left. I thought it must be you know what was coming, but I waited for 5 days and still nothing. Then I realized that I must have been tired that morning from having had a bad nights sleep. I felt so groggy and like a chocolate factory (I eat a lot of chocolates) from not exercising for 5 days. So last Saturday even though it was the first day I went to rose bowl and surprisingly I had a lot of energy and felt that I could do more. I've been reading Joe Friel's cyclist's training bible and taking training strategies from there - you should go away from a workout feeling that you could do more, putting too much stress on your body and feeling exhausted from workouts is counterproductive. This is easy to achieve! I like the adrenaline rush after the ride not the exhausted feeling.

It says in the book that it's important to keep track of your progress, so I am getting a cycling log book. I wonder what I will write in there? Perhaps heart rates, speed and miles. I think I'll need a GPS and heart rate monitor. But these things are expensive and bulky to wear. Or I could get a speedometer but I don't want to add extra weight on the bike. So for the time being, I may just record how I FEEL during and after each ride instead (since 'training shall be based solely on feel' :P)

In any case, I am more interested in becoming healthier due to cycling and being fast is a way of proving that I am getting fitter (but of course being fast alone is always nice). So I decided to get a BMI scale to keep track of my body changes. The scale records your weight, % body fat, % total body water, % muscle mass and bone mass. I have the option of selecting either female or athletic female (+10h strenuous/aerobic exercise per week). I measured everything just then, 56.1kg, 17.7% body fat, 60% TBW, 40.9% muscle mass, and 2.3kg bone mass if I select female. However if I select athletic female it becomes 12.7% body fat, 67.2% TBW, 43.2% muscle mass and 2.4kg bone mass. Not sure which body fat I should read but both measurements are below the healthy limit for women. Yet for female athletes body fat is 14-20%. So perhaps I can call myself an athlete?! Wow...