Since it's cold and raining this morning, we had our team ride at Breakaway Bikes as an RPM class. Charlie Zamastil organized the ride and created a custom course that he thought would be fun.
Let me tell you, when someone who is 5'10" tall and 134 pounds makes a course that he thinks is fun, it will have a lot of climbing in it. Long, steep climbing. For example, he put in a 3 mile, 6% climb, which took us about 20 minutes to climb. He also had a couple climbs at 9% and 13.5%. It was brutal. My legs were dying, especially after yesterday's ride.
Half the group didn't even finish the course. Of course, the funny part is that our group did the course that Charlie designed. The group that Charlie was riding in did a much easier course (the one that we did yesterday, actually).
My legs are freaking killing me. Good job, Charlie :-)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Life is like a box of chocolates....
You never know what you're going to get.
This morning was my first RPM class in 3 weeks. Two weeks ago I was in Colorado, last week I locked myself out of my apartment, so this week I was back. I didn't know what to expect.
I haven't been riding much the last few weeks. I was in Colorado for 5 days and Vegas for 4 days, and got no exercise short of walking the whole time. I just got back in the gym this week once for the first time in almost a month. I rode the trainer a few times this week and was generally winded and felt like crap. I didn't expect much in today's ride, so I planned on going easy. Yeah, right.
We had seven people in class. Within the first few miles, we saw how the groups would form. We had 3 higher category riders who took off fast early. The second group of 3 riders held back a little. One guy was good and actually rode a steady base ride pace.
I was in the second group of three, with my teammates Steve and John. Steve and I took off pretty fast and had a little gap on John. On the first couple climbs, I pulled away from Steve and got a decent gap on him. About 40 minutes into the ride, Steve and John got together on the course and were able to start working together. The Computrainer software allows drafting, so they could benefit from working together to bring me back. Anything within 40 feet is considered drafting (it sounds like a lot, but I guess it makes sense for riding indoors). I held them off for about a half hour, but I knew they were gaining and I was getting tired.
I had to make a decision. Do I try to hold them off on my own or do I let them catch up? Each one had risks. If I tried to stay on my own and they did catch me, I might be too tired to stay with them. If I let them catch up, I might not be able to get away in the end. I decided that letting them catch up was less of a risk.
With about 8 miles to go in a 38 mile course, they caught me. I stayed with them, trying to stay in the draft as much as I could. A couple times I tried to the front and get away, but they immediately followed. I knew this was going to come down to the finish.
The end of the course was a steep 4.5% climb that lasted about 4 minutes. I felt terrible already and that climb would hurt like hell at an easy pace. Now I was counting on it to get me away.
When we hit the base of the climb, I gave it everything I had. My heart rate was already at 170 BPM, so I was already breathing hard and sweating like crazy when I made my move. My heart rate spiked to 180 BPM. I was pulling away... 10 feet....20...30... 40.... they weren't in my draft anymore. I shifted up and jumped out of the saddle. I was only doing 13 mph, but it was enough. My power was at 350 watts. I knew that was a little too high, so I sat back down. I looked across the screen. Steve was trying really hard, but he was losing ground to me quickly at about 11 mph. I had 200 feet on him. John was 200 feet behind him doing 10 mph. All I have to do it hang on....
What the hell kind of thinking is that?!?! I jumped out of the saddle again, giving it everything I had. My speed surged a little to 14 mph... then I hit the change in grade where it levels out. I gritted my teeth and pushed as hard as I could. I could barely see or breath, but I could see the distance numbers between me and Steve still ticking upward.
I cross the finish line and thought I was going to pass out. I finished in 1:51:10 (1 hour, 51 minutes, 10 seconds). I shifted into a lighter gear, took a drink, and grabbed my towel to wipe my face. I saw Steve cross the finish line, 40 seconds behind me. John finished about 40 seconds behind him. My gamble had paid off.
By comparison, the faster guys finished like 8 minutes ahead of us!
As my heart rate came down, I noticed my power numbers. I had averaged 241 watts, the best power I've ever held that this duration. By comparison, a month ago I held 247 watts, but for 20 minutes less.
Of course, my weight is still more of less plateaued. I was 174.8 this morning. Hopefully I can be a little more consistent this week and burn off a pound or two.
This morning was my first RPM class in 3 weeks. Two weeks ago I was in Colorado, last week I locked myself out of my apartment, so this week I was back. I didn't know what to expect.
I haven't been riding much the last few weeks. I was in Colorado for 5 days and Vegas for 4 days, and got no exercise short of walking the whole time. I just got back in the gym this week once for the first time in almost a month. I rode the trainer a few times this week and was generally winded and felt like crap. I didn't expect much in today's ride, so I planned on going easy. Yeah, right.
We had seven people in class. Within the first few miles, we saw how the groups would form. We had 3 higher category riders who took off fast early. The second group of 3 riders held back a little. One guy was good and actually rode a steady base ride pace.
I was in the second group of three, with my teammates Steve and John. Steve and I took off pretty fast and had a little gap on John. On the first couple climbs, I pulled away from Steve and got a decent gap on him. About 40 minutes into the ride, Steve and John got together on the course and were able to start working together. The Computrainer software allows drafting, so they could benefit from working together to bring me back. Anything within 40 feet is considered drafting (it sounds like a lot, but I guess it makes sense for riding indoors). I held them off for about a half hour, but I knew they were gaining and I was getting tired.
I had to make a decision. Do I try to hold them off on my own or do I let them catch up? Each one had risks. If I tried to stay on my own and they did catch me, I might be too tired to stay with them. If I let them catch up, I might not be able to get away in the end. I decided that letting them catch up was less of a risk.
With about 8 miles to go in a 38 mile course, they caught me. I stayed with them, trying to stay in the draft as much as I could. A couple times I tried to the front and get away, but they immediately followed. I knew this was going to come down to the finish.
The end of the course was a steep 4.5% climb that lasted about 4 minutes. I felt terrible already and that climb would hurt like hell at an easy pace. Now I was counting on it to get me away.
When we hit the base of the climb, I gave it everything I had. My heart rate was already at 170 BPM, so I was already breathing hard and sweating like crazy when I made my move. My heart rate spiked to 180 BPM. I was pulling away... 10 feet....20...30... 40.... they weren't in my draft anymore. I shifted up and jumped out of the saddle. I was only doing 13 mph, but it was enough. My power was at 350 watts. I knew that was a little too high, so I sat back down. I looked across the screen. Steve was trying really hard, but he was losing ground to me quickly at about 11 mph. I had 200 feet on him. John was 200 feet behind him doing 10 mph. All I have to do it hang on....
What the hell kind of thinking is that?!?! I jumped out of the saddle again, giving it everything I had. My speed surged a little to 14 mph... then I hit the change in grade where it levels out. I gritted my teeth and pushed as hard as I could. I could barely see or breath, but I could see the distance numbers between me and Steve still ticking upward.
I cross the finish line and thought I was going to pass out. I finished in 1:51:10 (1 hour, 51 minutes, 10 seconds). I shifted into a lighter gear, took a drink, and grabbed my towel to wipe my face. I saw Steve cross the finish line, 40 seconds behind me. John finished about 40 seconds behind him. My gamble had paid off.
By comparison, the faster guys finished like 8 minutes ahead of us!
As my heart rate came down, I noticed my power numbers. I had averaged 241 watts, the best power I've ever held that this duration. By comparison, a month ago I held 247 watts, but for 20 minutes less.
Of course, my weight is still more of less plateaued. I was 174.8 this morning. Hopefully I can be a little more consistent this week and burn off a pound or two.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
And now for something completely different....
Today I had planned on doing our group ride. The logistics of getting into the city with the Philadelphia Marathon going on kind of killed that. I left too late and couldn't get anywhere near the start of the ride in time. So I tried something else.
I went home, dropped of my road bike, and picked up my mountain bike, then went out to Tyler State Park. It's actually a lot closer to my new place. I got out there and realized it's a lot different than I'm used to.
First off, it's a network of trails. I'm used to a simple out-and-back, so I had to pay a little more attention to where I was. On those trails, there are a LOT of people with dogs. They don't pay attention and they don't even all walk to the same side of the trail. So I had to pass them pretty slowly and call out my approach a lot sooner.
Most of all, it's freaking hilly. I'm not a climber. Not even remotely. I'm way too muscular and still have too much fat left on me. Not to mention, my road bike, fully loaded with drinks and tools, is 24 pounds. My mountain bike, also fully loaded, is 41 pounds. So not only did I have to climb some pretty steep hills, I had to carry an extra 17 pounds with of bike up them. This was NOT an easy ride.
It was fun though. It felt good to be outside on a cool fall day and get in a ride, even if it's not the ride I really wanted to do.
My weight is not really moving. I'm still 175 pounds.
UPDATE: Now on Monday, my arms are KILLING me from the added vibration and shock from being off-road. It's pathetic, really. I was on a paved trail most of the time and was on a gravel/packed dirt trail for 15 minutes. Ugh!
I went home, dropped of my road bike, and picked up my mountain bike, then went out to Tyler State Park. It's actually a lot closer to my new place. I got out there and realized it's a lot different than I'm used to.
First off, it's a network of trails. I'm used to a simple out-and-back, so I had to pay a little more attention to where I was. On those trails, there are a LOT of people with dogs. They don't pay attention and they don't even all walk to the same side of the trail. So I had to pass them pretty slowly and call out my approach a lot sooner.
Most of all, it's freaking hilly. I'm not a climber. Not even remotely. I'm way too muscular and still have too much fat left on me. Not to mention, my road bike, fully loaded with drinks and tools, is 24 pounds. My mountain bike, also fully loaded, is 41 pounds. So not only did I have to climb some pretty steep hills, I had to carry an extra 17 pounds with of bike up them. This was NOT an easy ride.
It was fun though. It felt good to be outside on a cool fall day and get in a ride, even if it's not the ride I really wanted to do.
My weight is not really moving. I'm still 175 pounds.
UPDATE: Now on Monday, my arms are KILLING me from the added vibration and shock from being off-road. It's pathetic, really. I was on a paved trail most of the time and was on a gravel/packed dirt trail for 15 minutes. Ugh!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
A Different Crowd
This week's RPM class, I was in with the big boys. Most of the riders were at least one or two categories above me, making them much stronger and faster than I am.
It started out with a lead group of four who I was able to stay with. That eventually split into two groups of two and I was in the trailing group just watching the other group's lead grow. Joe Wentzell started a little late and was chasing us for quite a while. When he caught up to my group, I hopped in his draft and held on for dear life.
When I'm really stressed in life, one of two things happens when I get on the bike: I completely wimp out and start complaining to myself about how hard it is to ride, how I shouldn't be there, how I really should be home in bed, how I don't want to do this.... you get the point. I'd be looking all over the place, thinking about whatever is bothering me instead of cycling. The alternative is that my conscious brain pretty much shuts down. All it does it process numbers and tactics. It looks at my heart rate, power, speed, perceived exertion, and the location of other riders. I think in short declarative phrases, like "a couple RPM more" or "downshift" or "he's gaining, speed up." My attention goes from being really scattered to razor sharp focus. Usually, in order to achieve that higher state, I've got to really push HARD, which is not easy when your attention is scattered.
Joe going by me was all that I needed. Chasing him, even benefiting from being in his draft, my heart rate skyrocketed from 155 - 160 up to 178 - 180. I was working as hard as I could and my brain just shut down. All I focused on was keeping my distance away from him close enough to stay in his draft.
The other guy in my group was not able to hang on. Over the next several minutes, I gained almost a mile gap on him.
On the next hill, Joe pulled away from me, leaving me stuck alone, but with a mile lead. All I had to do was hang on.
Joe pulled almost two miles ahead of me by the finish. He won, of course, sprinting to a solo finish on his own. I finished fourth out of seven.
What was interesting was that my average power was the second highest of the group, yet I finished second. How can that be? I'm still dragging too much weight. Every hill, I'm fighting my extra weight. I need to get my ass in gear and lose that last 10 to 15 pounds.
Once I was off the bike, the rest of my worries gradually came back and the reality of life sets back in. At least it was a good morning on the bike.
It started out with a lead group of four who I was able to stay with. That eventually split into two groups of two and I was in the trailing group just watching the other group's lead grow. Joe Wentzell started a little late and was chasing us for quite a while. When he caught up to my group, I hopped in his draft and held on for dear life.
When I'm really stressed in life, one of two things happens when I get on the bike: I completely wimp out and start complaining to myself about how hard it is to ride, how I shouldn't be there, how I really should be home in bed, how I don't want to do this.... you get the point. I'd be looking all over the place, thinking about whatever is bothering me instead of cycling. The alternative is that my conscious brain pretty much shuts down. All it does it process numbers and tactics. It looks at my heart rate, power, speed, perceived exertion, and the location of other riders. I think in short declarative phrases, like "a couple RPM more" or "downshift" or "he's gaining, speed up." My attention goes from being really scattered to razor sharp focus. Usually, in order to achieve that higher state, I've got to really push HARD, which is not easy when your attention is scattered.
Joe going by me was all that I needed. Chasing him, even benefiting from being in his draft, my heart rate skyrocketed from 155 - 160 up to 178 - 180. I was working as hard as I could and my brain just shut down. All I focused on was keeping my distance away from him close enough to stay in his draft.
The other guy in my group was not able to hang on. Over the next several minutes, I gained almost a mile gap on him.
On the next hill, Joe pulled away from me, leaving me stuck alone, but with a mile lead. All I had to do was hang on.
Joe pulled almost two miles ahead of me by the finish. He won, of course, sprinting to a solo finish on his own. I finished fourth out of seven.
What was interesting was that my average power was the second highest of the group, yet I finished second. How can that be? I'm still dragging too much weight. Every hill, I'm fighting my extra weight. I need to get my ass in gear and lose that last 10 to 15 pounds.
Once I was off the bike, the rest of my worries gradually came back and the reality of life sets back in. At least it was a good morning on the bike.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Hardest Things
I said this blog would only be about weight loss and fitness, but here I am writing about my divorce. This week I've had to do several really difficult things relating to that and thought I should mention them. Maybe someone else can benefit from my mistakes and experiences.
On Tuesday, I had to pack the remaining items at the apartment that my wife and I shared. I left on pretty short notice at her request and still had quite a few items there that were too large to carry out on my own. My wife's stuff was all gone, leaving only a random collection of items. To see my things without hers next to them just felt wrong. A couple times it completely overwhelmed me. At one point I found myself sitting on the stairs sobbing. OK, it was more than once that I found myself sitting somewhere random in the place sobbing. Usually someplace where I had a random happy memory hit me. Once I just dropped to my knees and smacked into the hardwood floor hard enough to see stars.
People who know me know that I'm not easily shaken emotionally. Being there again shook me to my core. It was so hard being in a place with so many memories, so many sweet little moments, so many hopes and dreams. All of them are just memories and failed hopes now.
I had thought about sleeping there on the couch and then getting up to meet the movers the next morning. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't stay there without her. It felt wrong and it hurt too much. The fact is that I have a gaping wound in me as a person that will probably take a while to heal, no matter how much of an act I put on at work and with my friends. Spending that much time there would have just hurt too much.
So I threw a few things in the car and went back to my apartment, which I still can't say feels like home. I tried playing some XBox to get my mind off it all.... no luck.
I came back the next morning and watched as the movers took my stuff out to the truck. I had to really try not to break down in front of them. It felt like they were taking all my memories of the last few years away. I know there are bad memories too, but it's the good ones that you miss.
The first couple weeks, I was more or less OK. I don't think it had all set in yet. Now, I can barely function. I'm depressed. I'm hurt, stressed, I can't focus my attention on anything, and I sleep but wake up a lot and never feel rested. I miss her a lot and hate myself for the pain I caused her.
Perhaps the hardest thing I've had to do is to make myself feel that emotion. I'm not drinking, I'm not burying myself at work or at the gym or on the bike, and I'm avoiding anything that might get me in trouble.
I didn't start that way. Believe me, the first few weeks I did everything I could to distract myself and I did some things I'm not proud of. So now I'm here facing it head on. And it hurts.
A piece of advice to all you married folks out there: recognize a good thing when you've got it. As frustrated as you might be, as hurt as you might feel, whatever faults or slights you perceive.... just be ready to deal with how hard it is to live without them. I was really unhappy in the final months, but not a day goes by that I don't wonder what would have happened if I'd done something more or something sooner. Maybe we could have worked it out before the major damage was done.
Living without someone who you thought you would never be without is harder than I ever thought it could be.
On Tuesday, I had to pack the remaining items at the apartment that my wife and I shared. I left on pretty short notice at her request and still had quite a few items there that were too large to carry out on my own. My wife's stuff was all gone, leaving only a random collection of items. To see my things without hers next to them just felt wrong. A couple times it completely overwhelmed me. At one point I found myself sitting on the stairs sobbing. OK, it was more than once that I found myself sitting somewhere random in the place sobbing. Usually someplace where I had a random happy memory hit me. Once I just dropped to my knees and smacked into the hardwood floor hard enough to see stars.
People who know me know that I'm not easily shaken emotionally. Being there again shook me to my core. It was so hard being in a place with so many memories, so many sweet little moments, so many hopes and dreams. All of them are just memories and failed hopes now.
I had thought about sleeping there on the couch and then getting up to meet the movers the next morning. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't stay there without her. It felt wrong and it hurt too much. The fact is that I have a gaping wound in me as a person that will probably take a while to heal, no matter how much of an act I put on at work and with my friends. Spending that much time there would have just hurt too much.
So I threw a few things in the car and went back to my apartment, which I still can't say feels like home. I tried playing some XBox to get my mind off it all.... no luck.
I came back the next morning and watched as the movers took my stuff out to the truck. I had to really try not to break down in front of them. It felt like they were taking all my memories of the last few years away. I know there are bad memories too, but it's the good ones that you miss.
The first couple weeks, I was more or less OK. I don't think it had all set in yet. Now, I can barely function. I'm depressed. I'm hurt, stressed, I can't focus my attention on anything, and I sleep but wake up a lot and never feel rested. I miss her a lot and hate myself for the pain I caused her.
Perhaps the hardest thing I've had to do is to make myself feel that emotion. I'm not drinking, I'm not burying myself at work or at the gym or on the bike, and I'm avoiding anything that might get me in trouble.
I didn't start that way. Believe me, the first few weeks I did everything I could to distract myself and I did some things I'm not proud of. So now I'm here facing it head on. And it hurts.
A piece of advice to all you married folks out there: recognize a good thing when you've got it. As frustrated as you might be, as hurt as you might feel, whatever faults or slights you perceive.... just be ready to deal with how hard it is to live without them. I was really unhappy in the final months, but not a day goes by that I don't wonder what would have happened if I'd done something more or something sooner. Maybe we could have worked it out before the major damage was done.
Living without someone who you thought you would never be without is harder than I ever thought it could be.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Bad Ride
Today, I felt absolutely lousy on the trainer. It could be the lack of sleep, from stress, from a change in my diet, or some other factor, but today was the first time since I came back to training that I can really say I had bad day.
How bad? My heart rate was between 15o to 160 BPM when I was only generating 150 watts or so. I'm usually doing 200 watts at that heart rate.
I should have known that I'd have a bad day eventually. It's just a part of training. I guess I should be happy that it took me this long before I had one.
My weight didn't really move this week. I'm at 173.6 pounds.
How bad? My heart rate was between 15o to 160 BPM when I was only generating 150 watts or so. I'm usually doing 200 watts at that heart rate.
I should have known that I'd have a bad day eventually. It's just a part of training. I guess I should be happy that it took me this long before I had one.
My weight didn't really move this week. I'm at 173.6 pounds.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Full motor
Yesterday's RPM ride was the kind that makes me glad to be alive.
It was a decent warmup followed by a 13 mile course that looked U-shaped. A steady descent followed by a flat stretch followed by a really vicious steep finale. It took 52 minutes to finish, so you know it was not an easy climb. At some points I was moving at 6 mph.
It was the end that made it exciting. I went all out in a way I haven't done in years. My power levels were holding at about 280 to 300 watts. It's not a high level of power, but my threshold is only about 220 watts. I was purely anaerobic for about the last 12 minutes of the ride. By the time I hit the finish , my heart rate was at 182 BPM. I was sure that I was about to puke all over my bike.
I know, I know, it's the foundation time of year and I'm supposed to be going easier than that. Tough shit. Most people are coming off a long season of training and racing. I'm coming off 2 years of being a fat slob and the mental boost from knowing that I still have that kind of fight in me is well worth it.
Today on the trainer, I can't say that I felt it at all. I was able to spend about 90 minutes on a rolling CompuTrainer course and felt great.
This week, I'm going to try and get back into the gym. No, I'm not going for any new records (though that 1200 pound goal is seriously taunting me!), it's not the time of year for that. By the end of the year, I want to get back under 165 pounds and I'll need to be doing the kind of weight work that I was back in the summer.
This morning, I was at 173.6 pounds and 19.8% body fat.
It was a decent warmup followed by a 13 mile course that looked U-shaped. A steady descent followed by a flat stretch followed by a really vicious steep finale. It took 52 minutes to finish, so you know it was not an easy climb. At some points I was moving at 6 mph.
It was the end that made it exciting. I went all out in a way I haven't done in years. My power levels were holding at about 280 to 300 watts. It's not a high level of power, but my threshold is only about 220 watts. I was purely anaerobic for about the last 12 minutes of the ride. By the time I hit the finish , my heart rate was at 182 BPM. I was sure that I was about to puke all over my bike.
I know, I know, it's the foundation time of year and I'm supposed to be going easier than that. Tough shit. Most people are coming off a long season of training and racing. I'm coming off 2 years of being a fat slob and the mental boost from knowing that I still have that kind of fight in me is well worth it.
Today on the trainer, I can't say that I felt it at all. I was able to spend about 90 minutes on a rolling CompuTrainer course and felt great.
This week, I'm going to try and get back into the gym. No, I'm not going for any new records (though that 1200 pound goal is seriously taunting me!), it's not the time of year for that. By the end of the year, I want to get back under 165 pounds and I'll need to be doing the kind of weight work that I was back in the summer.
This morning, I was at 173.6 pounds and 19.8% body fat.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Back on
OK, so I'm finally starting to get some semblance of normalcy again.
After the chaos of moving and trying to get settled into a new place, I'm finally at a point where I can say that I'm getting some kind of routine again. The miracle is that I didn't gain any weight during all this since I was not training much the last few weeks.
I had a really good ride at RPM on Saturday and I got in solid workouts Tuesday and Wednesday. I was up too late doing homework to get up and ride this morning.
I'm still not back in the gym yet, even though I live like 2 miles from the closes branch of my gym. I figure I'll need to get caught up with my school work before I can pull that off.
I should have known when I started this weight loss project that sometimes life gets in the way. I never would have expected something as major as a divorce, but here I am anyway. So now, on top of the challenges I already had (traveling for work and getting my MBA), I now have the added emotional strain of being completely on my own again and rebuilding a new life. I've avoided talking about all the problems going on since that's really not what this blog is about, but I realize that I should mention it since things like this do happen in life.
I couldn't do it alone. I've managed to reconnect with some old friends who I lost touch with and made some new friends who have made the whole experience a much happier one than it would have been otherwise.
I kind of fell off from blogging since I didn't know quite what to write or how. I realize that I should keep writing. It helps me keep all my thoughts and goals in order.
Despite all this, my weight is still dropping slowly. This morning I was at 174.2 and 19.1% body fat (I forgot to mention, I got a nicer used Tanita body fat scale really cheap!). A month or two ago, I had bought some pants with a 36" waist and a smaller belt and they are now getting a little looser. I'm guessing at around 170 pounds I'll need to buy smaller pants again.
I'm throwing down this goal right now: my major target is to win a crit race in the spring. I don't know which one or anything yet and I realize it may be a matter of doing several and learning from each one until I can pull it off. But there it is: I don't just want to be thin and lean again. I want to win again.
After the chaos of moving and trying to get settled into a new place, I'm finally at a point where I can say that I'm getting some kind of routine again. The miracle is that I didn't gain any weight during all this since I was not training much the last few weeks.
I had a really good ride at RPM on Saturday and I got in solid workouts Tuesday and Wednesday. I was up too late doing homework to get up and ride this morning.
I'm still not back in the gym yet, even though I live like 2 miles from the closes branch of my gym. I figure I'll need to get caught up with my school work before I can pull that off.
I should have known when I started this weight loss project that sometimes life gets in the way. I never would have expected something as major as a divorce, but here I am anyway. So now, on top of the challenges I already had (traveling for work and getting my MBA), I now have the added emotional strain of being completely on my own again and rebuilding a new life. I've avoided talking about all the problems going on since that's really not what this blog is about, but I realize that I should mention it since things like this do happen in life.
I couldn't do it alone. I've managed to reconnect with some old friends who I lost touch with and made some new friends who have made the whole experience a much happier one than it would have been otherwise.
I kind of fell off from blogging since I didn't know quite what to write or how. I realize that I should keep writing. It helps me keep all my thoughts and goals in order.
Despite all this, my weight is still dropping slowly. This morning I was at 174.2 and 19.1% body fat (I forgot to mention, I got a nicer used Tanita body fat scale really cheap!). A month or two ago, I had bought some pants with a 36" waist and a smaller belt and they are now getting a little looser. I'm guessing at around 170 pounds I'll need to buy smaller pants again.
I'm throwing down this goal right now: my major target is to win a crit race in the spring. I don't know which one or anything yet and I realize it may be a matter of doing several and learning from each one until I can pull it off. But there it is: I don't just want to be thin and lean again. I want to win again.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
No heroics
this week, I don't have any major heroics to report other than this: I'm still here.
I didn't have any great adventures in the gym or on the bike. Today was kind of nice: I saw a small group of QCW riders and their friends on the road and had brunch with them on a sunny day outside, probably one of the few remaining for the year.
Mostly, this week was just about hanging on through adversity. The stress showed, as I dropped 2.2 pounds this week, mostly from not eating much. I'm down to 175.6.
I didn't have any great adventures in the gym or on the bike. Today was kind of nice: I saw a small group of QCW riders and their friends on the road and had brunch with them on a sunny day outside, probably one of the few remaining for the year.
Mostly, this week was just about hanging on through adversity. The stress showed, as I dropped 2.2 pounds this week, mostly from not eating much. I'm down to 175.6.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Another Record Falls
There was really no reason for me to believe that I'd set a personal best in anything today.
I had planned on doing a 42K TT just to see what I could do, but I can't say that I've been doing any specific training that was aimed at improving my time in that distance. I've only been riding an hour or so on weekday mornings, lifting weights, and doing and occasional group ride on the weekends. None of that screams "long distance speed record."
A 42K time trial is a pretty long and difficult event. A 42 kilometer ride is really close to 26.2 miles (It's like 26.09). I've always done mine as a 26.2 mile ride just because my bike computers are all set to miles, not kilometers. I just call them a 42K because it's easier.
My best time previously was just over an hour and eight minutes. You have to go hard the whole time but not so hard that you wear yourself out. I do them on West River Drive, which is about 4 miles from end to end, so I have to turn around six times in order to do a 42K. I have to be really efficient in the turnarounds so I don't lose too much time, not slowing down too early, making the turn smoothly, and then getting back up to speed quickly.
I've always liked using the 42K time as a test because it's so hard to do. You have to be mentally focused and can't let your attention wander. It's not something that you can do if you've been training hard for several days in a row and it's not something that you can do just a little of and go home (like I've been known to do on the leg press at the gym).
For today's ride, I set a target for myself of 220 watts. For an effort this long, I figured I could hold a few watts under my threshold.... but I don't know what that is right now. My last threshold test was four weeks ago, when it was 215 watts. I figured that I had improved a little since then, and maybe I was at 225 now, so 220 would be a decent goal, both hard to accomplish and within reach if I tried hard enough.
Boy, was I wrong.
I didn't even know what speed that would be equal to. It was a little cold, a little windy, and there were leaves all over the road, so I figured my speed would be a little low.
I was wrong again.
My previous record, 1:08:16, was an average of 23.1 mph. Today, I did 1:06:57, for an average of 23.5 mph. My power was the real shocker. I averaged 232 watts. I had no idea that I'd be that strong. That means my threshold is probably up around 240.
By the end of the first lap, I knew I was having a strong ride. My average power was 226 watts and my average speed was 23.6 mph. The winds picked up on the second and third laps, but my power increased (which is normal, it's usually a good plan to slowly increase power during a long time trial). With the winds as strong as they were, my speed ranged from 21 mph all the way up to 26 mph.
When my computer ticked over at 26.2 miles and I saw my finish time, I almost cheered. I couldn't believe that I'd beaten my all time record by over a minute. I beat it by 1:19 to be exact.
While I'm sad to see the end of the riding season approaching, I am overjoyed to see such an important record fall.
It's almost a footnote after all that, but my weight this morning was 178.2 pounds. I'm creeping up on that 20 pounds lost marker of 177 pounds. Probably another week or so...
I had planned on doing a 42K TT just to see what I could do, but I can't say that I've been doing any specific training that was aimed at improving my time in that distance. I've only been riding an hour or so on weekday mornings, lifting weights, and doing and occasional group ride on the weekends. None of that screams "long distance speed record."
A 42K time trial is a pretty long and difficult event. A 42 kilometer ride is really close to 26.2 miles (It's like 26.09). I've always done mine as a 26.2 mile ride just because my bike computers are all set to miles, not kilometers. I just call them a 42K because it's easier.
My best time previously was just over an hour and eight minutes. You have to go hard the whole time but not so hard that you wear yourself out. I do them on West River Drive, which is about 4 miles from end to end, so I have to turn around six times in order to do a 42K. I have to be really efficient in the turnarounds so I don't lose too much time, not slowing down too early, making the turn smoothly, and then getting back up to speed quickly.
I've always liked using the 42K time as a test because it's so hard to do. You have to be mentally focused and can't let your attention wander. It's not something that you can do if you've been training hard for several days in a row and it's not something that you can do just a little of and go home (like I've been known to do on the leg press at the gym).
For today's ride, I set a target for myself of 220 watts. For an effort this long, I figured I could hold a few watts under my threshold.... but I don't know what that is right now. My last threshold test was four weeks ago, when it was 215 watts. I figured that I had improved a little since then, and maybe I was at 225 now, so 220 would be a decent goal, both hard to accomplish and within reach if I tried hard enough.
Boy, was I wrong.
I didn't even know what speed that would be equal to. It was a little cold, a little windy, and there were leaves all over the road, so I figured my speed would be a little low.
I was wrong again.
My previous record, 1:08:16, was an average of 23.1 mph. Today, I did 1:06:57, for an average of 23.5 mph. My power was the real shocker. I averaged 232 watts. I had no idea that I'd be that strong. That means my threshold is probably up around 240.
By the end of the first lap, I knew I was having a strong ride. My average power was 226 watts and my average speed was 23.6 mph. The winds picked up on the second and third laps, but my power increased (which is normal, it's usually a good plan to slowly increase power during a long time trial). With the winds as strong as they were, my speed ranged from 21 mph all the way up to 26 mph.
When my computer ticked over at 26.2 miles and I saw my finish time, I almost cheered. I couldn't believe that I'd beaten my all time record by over a minute. I beat it by 1:19 to be exact.
While I'm sad to see the end of the riding season approaching, I am overjoyed to see such an important record fall.
It's almost a footnote after all that, but my weight this morning was 178.2 pounds. I'm creeping up on that 20 pounds lost marker of 177 pounds. Probably another week or so...
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Four Month Marker
May 23, 2009 was my first day back training.
For months before, I was going to the gym occasionally, lifting once in a while, and watching what I ate only when I was full. I kept talking about losing weight, but never really did anything about it.
In early May, I decided the only way to lose the weight was to plan it out. I had to make up a menu of foods I should be eating (and ones I should stop eating) and a workout plan to help me burn off calories.
At first, I was really only trying to lose weight. I wasn't thinking about racing or riding with the team. I was just sick of being fat and the toll it took on my self esteem.
I started out using my bike only as a training tool. When I rode, I was in uniform but it was only because my QCW/Breakaway kits were the only cycling clothes I had.
After I'd ridden for a few weeks, I decided to try one of my favorite rides. My first couple attempts at the West River Time Trial were kind of tentative. I just wanted to see what kind of shape I was in. I didn't have any goals of smashing old records or anything, I just wanted to do something that I knew I used to enjoy. I think seeing my teammates there and the feeling of being one of them might have helped inspire me to do more.
I can't say exactly when my approach switched from "get fit" to "get fast", but it happened pretty quickly. Looking back over my training logs, by July I was starting to set more aggressive goals and, more interestingly, note attacks, breakaways, and strong riders that I was trying to beat n training rides.
When I was riding before, I never really felt dedicated as a cyclist. I was fanatical as a speedskater and I'd often used cycling as a cross training method when my ankles and back hurt too much from skating. I don't think I ever made the mental switch to believing it was my primary sport. Mostly I rode a lot and dabbled in training ideas, but none of them serious or for any length of time. I had some decent success, but I think that was mostly from genetics and hold-over fitness from skating.
This time is different. My dedication is much stronger and my training is as efficient as I can make it. It has to be, since my MBA schoolwork and traveling for work take up so much of my time. Most of all, I have regained my drive to win... no let me rephrase that. I've regained my drive to beat people, even if it's just my own past performances that I'm beating.
Over the last 4 months, I've dropped from 197 pounds to 178 pounds. I love fitting into better clothes, I love feeling attractive again, and I love looking in the mirror and seeing someone I almost recognize. But none of that compares to the feeling of being fast on the bike again, which is the best feeling I've ever known.
I used to be really pumped up any time I'd had a good performance. Now I almost want to cry afterward, since I know just how fleeting those moments are and I know how miraculous it is when I have one.
Four months from now (or so) is my 36th birthday. The best presents I can possibly give myself will be to lose my remaining extra weight and be even faster than I am now.
For months before, I was going to the gym occasionally, lifting once in a while, and watching what I ate only when I was full. I kept talking about losing weight, but never really did anything about it.
In early May, I decided the only way to lose the weight was to plan it out. I had to make up a menu of foods I should be eating (and ones I should stop eating) and a workout plan to help me burn off calories.
At first, I was really only trying to lose weight. I wasn't thinking about racing or riding with the team. I was just sick of being fat and the toll it took on my self esteem.
I started out using my bike only as a training tool. When I rode, I was in uniform but it was only because my QCW/Breakaway kits were the only cycling clothes I had.
After I'd ridden for a few weeks, I decided to try one of my favorite rides. My first couple attempts at the West River Time Trial were kind of tentative. I just wanted to see what kind of shape I was in. I didn't have any goals of smashing old records or anything, I just wanted to do something that I knew I used to enjoy. I think seeing my teammates there and the feeling of being one of them might have helped inspire me to do more.
I can't say exactly when my approach switched from "get fit" to "get fast", but it happened pretty quickly. Looking back over my training logs, by July I was starting to set more aggressive goals and, more interestingly, note attacks, breakaways, and strong riders that I was trying to beat n training rides.
When I was riding before, I never really felt dedicated as a cyclist. I was fanatical as a speedskater and I'd often used cycling as a cross training method when my ankles and back hurt too much from skating. I don't think I ever made the mental switch to believing it was my primary sport. Mostly I rode a lot and dabbled in training ideas, but none of them serious or for any length of time. I had some decent success, but I think that was mostly from genetics and hold-over fitness from skating.
This time is different. My dedication is much stronger and my training is as efficient as I can make it. It has to be, since my MBA schoolwork and traveling for work take up so much of my time. Most of all, I have regained my drive to win... no let me rephrase that. I've regained my drive to beat people, even if it's just my own past performances that I'm beating.
Over the last 4 months, I've dropped from 197 pounds to 178 pounds. I love fitting into better clothes, I love feeling attractive again, and I love looking in the mirror and seeing someone I almost recognize. But none of that compares to the feeling of being fast on the bike again, which is the best feeling I've ever known.
I used to be really pumped up any time I'd had a good performance. Now I almost want to cry afterward, since I know just how fleeting those moments are and I know how miraculous it is when I have one.
Four months from now (or so) is my 36th birthday. The best presents I can possibly give myself will be to lose my remaining extra weight and be even faster than I am now.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Cat 4/5 Ride
This morning we had a ride for the QCW/Breakaway categories 4 and 5. We had a couple guests from other teams, but it was mostly a smurf parade.
It was kind of cold this morning, so I was all whiny about having to dig out my arm warmers. Luckily it was warmed up enough by the start that they were all I needed (about 58 degrees). I don't like riding when it's below 55 since then I need long pants and a heavier jersey.
I was a little worried about the ride since I didn't know how where my fitness was. It's no secret that my fitness has been rapidly improving, but it's one thing to compare me to myself when I was fat and laying on the couch all the time. It's quite another to compare me to my teammates who have been actively racing most of the year. I know I held on for the Labor Day ride, but I was HURTING by the end of that ride. I wasn't sure I had it today.
It was a really fun ride. I wish I could say where all we went, but I don't know the roads that well. It was about a 45 mile ride with a fair bit of climbing and one SCREAMING fast descent where, according to my PowerTap, I topped out at just shy of 48 mph. That's the fastest I've ever gone on a bike in my life.
The oddest thing I noticed was that I felt kind of sluggish on the first few climbs and really struggled to hang on. As the ride progressed, I felt stronger on each climb. I know the group had slowed down, but the power tap does not lie. I was feeling better at the same power numbers.
Sometimes, we see ourselves as we reflect in others' eyes. At one point, my teammate Alfonso made a comment that I was riding well. I looked at myself differently for the rest of the ride. I thought "maybe I'm really doing well." After that, a couple times I worked my way to the front of the group and tried pushing the pace a little bit.
Towards the end, on the road back into Manayunk, I decided it was time to go. Not quit and go home, I mean it was time to move. I kicked up the pace on the switchback climb from River Road up to Shawmont. I felt good climbing for the first time in years. As the road leveled out, I backed off a little and some guy from another team (who was not on our ride, but just happened to be on the same road) went by me. I smiled as I shifted into the big ring. "Let's play," I said to myself.
Out of the saddle, pouring on the speed (about 28 mph), I blew by the guy and kept on the heat. He got closer, then I pulled away again. I backed off near the Umbria/Main Street zig-zag because it's a pretty dangerous couple intersections. He didn't and got ahead.
At the bottom of Main Street, I waited for my teammates and we cruised back to West River Drive. Once there, I decided it was time to chase down Other Guy again. I was off like a shot, holding 26 mph for almost a mile to catch him. He had slowed down (which takes some fun out of it), so I got in his draft and waited for the boys in blue to catch up. My teammate Mike Coyle, who's fighting a bad cold, caught up. I was about to make a move with him, when he asked me to wait for him to catch his breath. After a minute, we made a move. Into a decent head wind, we worked together to hold about 23 to 24 mph to the end of the drive, where Mike shot by me. Other Guy was pretty far back.
I was really happy with how the day went. I started the day worrying whether I was fit enough to finish the ride. I ended up finishing strong and feeling the best I've felt after a group ride all year.
I'm looking forward to the foundation/base rides this winter, getting to know my teammates better and building a strong foundation for the 2010 racing season, during which I want to win my first crit race.
Oh yeah, and I weighed in at 179 pounds this morning.
FYI, for those not familiar with QCW/Breakaway Bikes, our team colors are black and smurf blue, hence the "smurf" and "blue" references.
It was kind of cold this morning, so I was all whiny about having to dig out my arm warmers. Luckily it was warmed up enough by the start that they were all I needed (about 58 degrees). I don't like riding when it's below 55 since then I need long pants and a heavier jersey.
I was a little worried about the ride since I didn't know how where my fitness was. It's no secret that my fitness has been rapidly improving, but it's one thing to compare me to myself when I was fat and laying on the couch all the time. It's quite another to compare me to my teammates who have been actively racing most of the year. I know I held on for the Labor Day ride, but I was HURTING by the end of that ride. I wasn't sure I had it today.
It was a really fun ride. I wish I could say where all we went, but I don't know the roads that well. It was about a 45 mile ride with a fair bit of climbing and one SCREAMING fast descent where, according to my PowerTap, I topped out at just shy of 48 mph. That's the fastest I've ever gone on a bike in my life.
The oddest thing I noticed was that I felt kind of sluggish on the first few climbs and really struggled to hang on. As the ride progressed, I felt stronger on each climb. I know the group had slowed down, but the power tap does not lie. I was feeling better at the same power numbers.
Sometimes, we see ourselves as we reflect in others' eyes. At one point, my teammate Alfonso made a comment that I was riding well. I looked at myself differently for the rest of the ride. I thought "maybe I'm really doing well." After that, a couple times I worked my way to the front of the group and tried pushing the pace a little bit.
Towards the end, on the road back into Manayunk, I decided it was time to go. Not quit and go home, I mean it was time to move. I kicked up the pace on the switchback climb from River Road up to Shawmont. I felt good climbing for the first time in years. As the road leveled out, I backed off a little and some guy from another team (who was not on our ride, but just happened to be on the same road) went by me. I smiled as I shifted into the big ring. "Let's play," I said to myself.
Out of the saddle, pouring on the speed (about 28 mph), I blew by the guy and kept on the heat. He got closer, then I pulled away again. I backed off near the Umbria/Main Street zig-zag because it's a pretty dangerous couple intersections. He didn't and got ahead.
At the bottom of Main Street, I waited for my teammates and we cruised back to West River Drive. Once there, I decided it was time to chase down Other Guy again. I was off like a shot, holding 26 mph for almost a mile to catch him. He had slowed down (which takes some fun out of it), so I got in his draft and waited for the boys in blue to catch up. My teammate Mike Coyle, who's fighting a bad cold, caught up. I was about to make a move with him, when he asked me to wait for him to catch his breath. After a minute, we made a move. Into a decent head wind, we worked together to hold about 23 to 24 mph to the end of the drive, where Mike shot by me. Other Guy was pretty far back.
I was really happy with how the day went. I started the day worrying whether I was fit enough to finish the ride. I ended up finishing strong and feeling the best I've felt after a group ride all year.
I'm looking forward to the foundation/base rides this winter, getting to know my teammates better and building a strong foundation for the 2010 racing season, during which I want to win my first crit race.
Oh yeah, and I weighed in at 179 pounds this morning.
FYI, for those not familiar with QCW/Breakaway Bikes, our team colors are black and smurf blue, hence the "smurf" and "blue" references.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The New Ink Project
I spoke to Mony today. He's going on vacation soon, but will be back to work December 1. When he gets back, we'll be starting tattoo work on my right leg (incorporating or covering the small tattoo I've already got).
I expect this tattoo to be a little bigger than the one of the left leg and will probably go slightly above the knee. Once it's done, we are talking about extending the left on above the knee as well so both designs end similarly at the top.
I expect this tattoo to be a little bigger than the one of the left leg and will probably go slightly above the knee. Once it's done, we are talking about extending the left on above the knee as well so both designs end similarly at the top.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Even worse....
Last night's adventure has me walking with a limp today. My right knee is pretty sore from being bent so far under so much pressure. We'll see what this does to me going to the Pine Grove Time Trial this weekend...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Lesson in Humility
I really wanted this blog post to be just a short phrase: some huge new weight record on the leg press and the number of times I lifted it. It's too bad that my body wasn't quite keeping up with my ego.
Some moments, it feels like I can fly around with a big S on my chest with John Williams' score in the background. Then there are moments when I feel Lex Luthor's goofy sidekick.
Today was a little of both.
First off, I did set a new leg press record. The same weight as before, but more repetitions: 4 reps at 1120 pounds.
Mind you, at this point I was seriously worked up. I had Five Finger Death Punch on the iPod (thanks Mickey!) and practically bounded out of the seat to get more weight. I had been like that for the last few sets and was walking all big and bad like some motorcycle gang member (I've been watching Sons of Anarchy and was channeling Jax a little bit).
My mistake was getting cocky. I wanted to try a heavier weight that would only allow me 2 repetitions. Instead of just going up a few pounds, I took a shot at my season goal of 1200 pounds. I added 90 pounds (because it makes it easier by just adding two 45-pound plates) and tried for 1210. It was a little too much.
I lifted the weight off the blocks, released the brakes and started lowering it.... and lowering it... and ..... f@ck. It went past the point where I had any hope of lifting it, so I slowly lowered it onto the safety stop.
For a split second, I was seriously worried that the safety stop could not handle that much weight, so I got my ass out of that seat FAST once the weight was down.
Adding insult to injury, the safety blocks are so low that I had to remove almost all the weight from the machine before I could keep lifting at a lower weight. By the time I got all that weight off, I was beat and not in the best of moods, so I did a couple other lifts and called it a day.
A new record and a failed attempt at an even higher one. Maybe next time I'll just add 20 pounds instead of 90!
Some moments, it feels like I can fly around with a big S on my chest with John Williams' score in the background. Then there are moments when I feel Lex Luthor's goofy sidekick.
Today was a little of both.
First off, I did set a new leg press record. The same weight as before, but more repetitions: 4 reps at 1120 pounds.
Mind you, at this point I was seriously worked up. I had Five Finger Death Punch on the iPod (thanks Mickey!) and practically bounded out of the seat to get more weight. I had been like that for the last few sets and was walking all big and bad like some motorcycle gang member (I've been watching Sons of Anarchy and was channeling Jax a little bit).
My mistake was getting cocky. I wanted to try a heavier weight that would only allow me 2 repetitions. Instead of just going up a few pounds, I took a shot at my season goal of 1200 pounds. I added 90 pounds (because it makes it easier by just adding two 45-pound plates) and tried for 1210. It was a little too much.
I lifted the weight off the blocks, released the brakes and started lowering it.... and lowering it... and ..... f@ck. It went past the point where I had any hope of lifting it, so I slowly lowered it onto the safety stop.
For a split second, I was seriously worried that the safety stop could not handle that much weight, so I got my ass out of that seat FAST once the weight was down.
Adding insult to injury, the safety blocks are so low that I had to remove almost all the weight from the machine before I could keep lifting at a lower weight. By the time I got all that weight off, I was beat and not in the best of moods, so I did a couple other lifts and called it a day.
A new record and a failed attempt at an even higher one. Maybe next time I'll just add 20 pounds instead of 90!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Then Again...
Today was Bike Philly, a HUGE cycling event with a whole lot of cyclists all over the place. Once I finally found a parking spot, there were way too many people on the road to get up any speed.
I just did a few laps at an easy pace. Let me tell you, it's not fun just cruising on a time trial bike. The gloves I wear for that bike have no padding at all, so it was pretty uncomfortable sitting upright that whole time.
If it's nice next week, I'm doing the Pine Grove TT on Saturday (though right now it's supposed to be 57 and raining at the start). Next Sunday, Philadelphia will be swarmed with runners and fans for the the Philly Distance Run, so it will be at least two weeks before I can try for a 42K TT again. Of course, one way to look at that is that it's two more weeks of training and preparation to try to set a new personal best.
I just did a few laps at an easy pace. Let me tell you, it's not fun just cruising on a time trial bike. The gloves I wear for that bike have no padding at all, so it was pretty uncomfortable sitting upright that whole time.
If it's nice next week, I'm doing the Pine Grove TT on Saturday (though right now it's supposed to be 57 and raining at the start). Next Sunday, Philadelphia will be swarmed with runners and fans for the the Philly Distance Run, so it will be at least two weeks before I can try for a 42K TT again. Of course, one way to look at that is that it's two more weeks of training and preparation to try to set a new personal best.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Within Striking Range
I'm so close to my next weight target, I can almost taste it.
This morning, I weighed in at 180.4, down a pound from last week. Not bad for a week on the road. I wasn't sure just how close I'd be able to get to 180, but I kind of knew that I would not be under it.
It should not be hard to be under 180 by the next Saturday. Ideally, I'll be at 179.2, assuming that I follow the training program and eat right all week.
To put this in perspective, the last time I was under 180 pounds consistently was July 19, 2007. I've been over 180 for over two years now.
To me, the 170's represent a huge mental shift. When I was racing seriously, my weight never went above 178 pounds, even in the worst, most demotivated winter I had. Once I'm back under 178, mentally I'll be able to say that I'm back within a training weight range. Of course, once I'm back under 170, I'll be able to say I'm back withing a racing range again, which is what I really want. I know I've set an ideal weight target of 159 pounds, but seriously anything in the lower half of the 160's will be an amazing accomplishment. Assuming I can stay on-target, I should be under 170 by Thanksgiving and at my final target of 159 by my 36th birthday, on January 27. That's about 20 pounds in 20 weeks, which is pretty realistic.
I'm starting to resemble my old self again. Most noticeably, my face has slimmed down a lot. My cheek bones are visible again. I no longer have a protruding gut and my man boobs are pretty much gone. I don't look ridiculous in my racing uniform anymore. I'm able to wear clothes that I haven't fit into for two years.
Tomorrow, assuming the weather is decent, I'll be riding 42K on my time trial bike to see how my endurance is coming along. I'm sure I'll be posting more about that tomorrow. I'd like to see around 215 watts average and a time of about 1:08:15 (23.1 mph avg). Why such an odd time? Because my personal best ever was 1:08:18 and I think I just might be able to beat it.
Oh yeah, and I think my reward for getting back down to racing weight will be to get my right leg tattooed a little more so I don't look so unbalanced. I've already started to research designs I like again and, to be honest, I'm probably going back to the artist who did my other leg (Mony at No Ka Oi Tiki in Philly) since he did such an amazing job and his portfolio just keeps on getting more impressive. I'll probably start design work once I'm back under 170, so it will be done right around the time I'm around 160 (the last one took me 4 sessions spread over quite a bit of time).
This morning, I weighed in at 180.4, down a pound from last week. Not bad for a week on the road. I wasn't sure just how close I'd be able to get to 180, but I kind of knew that I would not be under it.
It should not be hard to be under 180 by the next Saturday. Ideally, I'll be at 179.2, assuming that I follow the training program and eat right all week.
To put this in perspective, the last time I was under 180 pounds consistently was July 19, 2007. I've been over 180 for over two years now.
To me, the 170's represent a huge mental shift. When I was racing seriously, my weight never went above 178 pounds, even in the worst, most demotivated winter I had. Once I'm back under 178, mentally I'll be able to say that I'm back within a training weight range. Of course, once I'm back under 170, I'll be able to say I'm back withing a racing range again, which is what I really want. I know I've set an ideal weight target of 159 pounds, but seriously anything in the lower half of the 160's will be an amazing accomplishment. Assuming I can stay on-target, I should be under 170 by Thanksgiving and at my final target of 159 by my 36th birthday, on January 27. That's about 20 pounds in 20 weeks, which is pretty realistic.
I'm starting to resemble my old self again. Most noticeably, my face has slimmed down a lot. My cheek bones are visible again. I no longer have a protruding gut and my man boobs are pretty much gone. I don't look ridiculous in my racing uniform anymore. I'm able to wear clothes that I haven't fit into for two years.
Tomorrow, assuming the weather is decent, I'll be riding 42K on my time trial bike to see how my endurance is coming along. I'm sure I'll be posting more about that tomorrow. I'd like to see around 215 watts average and a time of about 1:08:15 (23.1 mph avg). Why such an odd time? Because my personal best ever was 1:08:18 and I think I just might be able to beat it.
Oh yeah, and I think my reward for getting back down to racing weight will be to get my right leg tattooed a little more so I don't look so unbalanced. I've already started to research designs I like again and, to be honest, I'm probably going back to the artist who did my other leg (Mony at No Ka Oi Tiki in Philly) since he did such an amazing job and his portfolio just keeps on getting more impressive. I'll probably start design work once I'm back under 170, so it will be done right around the time I'm around 160 (the last one took me 4 sessions spread over quite a bit of time).
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A little more Tempo
Today was an interesting ride. I spent 2 hours and 10 minutes at 195 watts average (with one little attack where I hit 932 watts for 2 seconds and another where I hit 844 for 5 seconds). The ride was over mostly flat roads with variable ~10 - 15 mph winds, for an average of 18.6 mph
Just 8 weeks ago, that average power was above my threshold and I could have just barely held that intensity for an hour.
I can't believe how fast my fitness is coming back. I know this speed of progress won't last forever, but it's still exciting while it lasts.
Just 8 weeks ago, that average power was above my threshold and I could have just barely held that intensity for an hour.
I can't believe how fast my fitness is coming back. I know this speed of progress won't last forever, but it's still exciting while it lasts.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Last West River Time Trial of 2009
Today was the last West River Time Trial of the year. I was hoping to finally get my finishing time back under 21:00. I had every reason not to.
On Tuesday, I put in a really hard training day, with threshold intervals in the morning and a really hard weight workout at night. I set another new leg press record for myself, getting 2 reps at 1120 pounds. Wednesday, I was pretty stiff.
Thursday, I spent 40 minutes at Tempo intensity, which takes a lot out of you.
Monday through Thursday, I was running a training class at work, so I was talking for 7 hours a day each day. That's a lot, even for me.
It was cooler this morning, which makes the air denser and tends to slow down time trial results, and there was a pretty solid wind blowing against us on the way out to the turnaround.
I started #4. I used the PowerTap to pace myself into the head wind, knowing that it would take a lot out of me if I pushed too hard. I caught my teammate who started in front of me about 3/4 of a mile before the turnaround and I caught #2 just at the turnaround. I actually slowed down at the turnaround for a few seconds so I wouldn't run over the #2 rider. I probably lost 10 or 15 seconds there.
The way back was a lot faster. The tail wind pushed me a lot faster and I used the Power Tap to make sure I kept my power levels up. My heart rate was creeping into the upper 170's and I could barely breathe. I was pushing as hard as I could, with my speed holding around 25 to 26 mph. I kept kicking myself for waiting for that other rider at the turnaround. If I missed my goal time, it would be all because of that.
With two miles to go, I saw that I was at about 15:50. In my oxygen starved mind, I thought I had 6 minutes to go and I panicked, trying to go even harder. You see, 2 miles at ~24 mph should be 5 minutes, not 6, but I was not in any mental shape to do that math. So I went so hard that I thought I was going to pass out when I hit the finish line.
I hit the finish line and looked down at the Power Tap. My time was 20:38.
My total data:
Morning Weight: 181.6 lbs (82.5 kg)
Distance: 8.25 miles
Time 20:38
Avg Speed: 23.99 mph (ah, so close!)
Avg Power: 241 watts
Avg Watts/kg: 2.92
Avg Watts/lb: 1.32
Avg Heart Rate: 175 BPM
It was a great way to finish off the season. I'm debating doing a couple races in the next few weeks, like the PA Masters Time Trial and the Blueberry Road Race, probably just depending on the weather the days of the events. For now, I'm really happy!
On Tuesday, I put in a really hard training day, with threshold intervals in the morning and a really hard weight workout at night. I set another new leg press record for myself, getting 2 reps at 1120 pounds. Wednesday, I was pretty stiff.
Thursday, I spent 40 minutes at Tempo intensity, which takes a lot out of you.
Monday through Thursday, I was running a training class at work, so I was talking for 7 hours a day each day. That's a lot, even for me.
It was cooler this morning, which makes the air denser and tends to slow down time trial results, and there was a pretty solid wind blowing against us on the way out to the turnaround.
I started #4. I used the PowerTap to pace myself into the head wind, knowing that it would take a lot out of me if I pushed too hard. I caught my teammate who started in front of me about 3/4 of a mile before the turnaround and I caught #2 just at the turnaround. I actually slowed down at the turnaround for a few seconds so I wouldn't run over the #2 rider. I probably lost 10 or 15 seconds there.
The way back was a lot faster. The tail wind pushed me a lot faster and I used the Power Tap to make sure I kept my power levels up. My heart rate was creeping into the upper 170's and I could barely breathe. I was pushing as hard as I could, with my speed holding around 25 to 26 mph. I kept kicking myself for waiting for that other rider at the turnaround. If I missed my goal time, it would be all because of that.
With two miles to go, I saw that I was at about 15:50. In my oxygen starved mind, I thought I had 6 minutes to go and I panicked, trying to go even harder. You see, 2 miles at ~24 mph should be 5 minutes, not 6, but I was not in any mental shape to do that math. So I went so hard that I thought I was going to pass out when I hit the finish line.
I hit the finish line and looked down at the Power Tap. My time was 20:38.
My total data:
Morning Weight: 181.6 lbs (82.5 kg)
Distance: 8.25 miles
Time 20:38
Avg Speed: 23.99 mph (ah, so close!)
Avg Power: 241 watts
Avg Watts/kg: 2.92
Avg Watts/lb: 1.32
Avg Heart Rate: 175 BPM
It was a great way to finish off the season. I'm debating doing a couple races in the next few weeks, like the PA Masters Time Trial and the Blueberry Road Race, probably just depending on the weather the days of the events. For now, I'm really happy!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Threshold Test
I'm pretty buried in final assignments for this semester's MBA classes, but I need to post some good news: My lactate threshold test with Joe Wentzell at Breakaway this morning showed a 16% increase in threshold power from the test 8 weeks ago (increasing my MLSS from 185 to 215 watts). That is a HUGE improvement.
Of course, my target will be to increase by 15% again in the next 8 weeks (aiming for 250 watts by Oct 24).
While my body weight has stabilized due to traveling for work 3 out of the last 4 weeks (hovering around 182 pounds), my body fat percentage was under 20% this morning! (19.8% to be exact, and it helped to use a much higher quality body fat monitor than I have at home, which still says 23%).
Of course, my target will be to increase by 15% again in the next 8 weeks (aiming for 250 watts by Oct 24).
While my body weight has stabilized due to traveling for work 3 out of the last 4 weeks (hovering around 182 pounds), my body fat percentage was under 20% this morning! (19.8% to be exact, and it helped to use a much higher quality body fat monitor than I have at home, which still says 23%).
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
A New Record
It's been so long since I've set a personal performance record that I've almost forgotten what it feels like. I never expected to break this record, and certainly not at age 35 (I set my old record when I was 28). I didn't wake up this morning planning on it. I didn't peak or taper for it. I just figured "Hey, I'll stop at the gym after work tonight."
I was feeling pretty good on the Stair Mill warming up, cruising from level 7 up to level 10. I only stay on for 15 minutes since I'm only on it to warm up. I hate that thing, but I think it's a decent workout and is a little more fun than being on a stationary bike.
When I got to the leg press machine, I knew it was going to be a good day. My first set, at 490 pounds, felt like it didn't have any weight on it at all. I did 15 reps of it.
I added more weight, expecting to aim high now, and bumped it up to 630. I did 12 reps without much effort. A few sets later, adding more weight each time, I was looking at 1000 pounds on the machine. That's a lot of weight: ten 45 pound plates on each side, plus a couple 25's and 10's to even it all out. I really wanted that nice big 1000 in my training log.
I was able to lift 1000 pounds for 3 reps. As soon as I locked the weight back in place, I practically bounded out of the chair. This was the time to make a decision. Do I add more weight, going for the record and making this a workout worth noting, or start to take weight off?
What the hell kind of question is that? I knew my old record was 1 rep at 1050 pounds and I was going to try to beat it.
I loaded 1055 pounds on the machine. I flipped through my iPod to find something really aggressive and motivating. I sat down in the machine, braced myself, and lifted off.
1...... 2..... I'm done. I locked the weight back in place. I had done 2 reps at 1055 pounds, a new record for me.
I did a few more sets, each with less weight than the last, focusing on moving the weight as quickly as I could to build a little speed/power in my legs. I worked my way back down to 12 reps at 540.
I should also note that I've lost 2 pounds since I weighed in on Saturday. I know it's not humanly possible to lose that much fat in 4 days, but I've got a theory. I was really sure that I was keeping an eye on my food intake the whole trip and I should not have gained weight. I should have lost a few ounces, really. I think the change in time zones and sporadic sleep made my body retain some water. As soon as I got back home and into a routine, my weight returned to "normal" and leveled out where it should have. I've been hovering right around 181.8 lbs and 24.8% body fat yesterday and today.
So, not only did I break an all time performance record, I'm also now down 15 pounds. Not bad for a random Wednesday!
I was feeling pretty good on the Stair Mill warming up, cruising from level 7 up to level 10. I only stay on for 15 minutes since I'm only on it to warm up. I hate that thing, but I think it's a decent workout and is a little more fun than being on a stationary bike.
When I got to the leg press machine, I knew it was going to be a good day. My first set, at 490 pounds, felt like it didn't have any weight on it at all. I did 15 reps of it.
I added more weight, expecting to aim high now, and bumped it up to 630. I did 12 reps without much effort. A few sets later, adding more weight each time, I was looking at 1000 pounds on the machine. That's a lot of weight: ten 45 pound plates on each side, plus a couple 25's and 10's to even it all out. I really wanted that nice big 1000 in my training log.
I was able to lift 1000 pounds for 3 reps. As soon as I locked the weight back in place, I practically bounded out of the chair. This was the time to make a decision. Do I add more weight, going for the record and making this a workout worth noting, or start to take weight off?
What the hell kind of question is that? I knew my old record was 1 rep at 1050 pounds and I was going to try to beat it.
I loaded 1055 pounds on the machine. I flipped through my iPod to find something really aggressive and motivating. I sat down in the machine, braced myself, and lifted off.
1...... 2..... I'm done. I locked the weight back in place. I had done 2 reps at 1055 pounds, a new record for me.
I did a few more sets, each with less weight than the last, focusing on moving the weight as quickly as I could to build a little speed/power in my legs. I worked my way back down to 12 reps at 540.
I should also note that I've lost 2 pounds since I weighed in on Saturday. I know it's not humanly possible to lose that much fat in 4 days, but I've got a theory. I was really sure that I was keeping an eye on my food intake the whole trip and I should not have gained weight. I should have lost a few ounces, really. I think the change in time zones and sporadic sleep made my body retain some water. As soon as I got back home and into a routine, my weight returned to "normal" and leveled out where it should have. I've been hovering right around 181.8 lbs and 24.8% body fat yesterday and today.
So, not only did I break an all time performance record, I'm also now down 15 pounds. Not bad for a random Wednesday!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Race Day
I woke up looking at my clock in confusion. Ten out of the last twelve days, I've woken up in a hotel for work. For the last five days, I've been in the Pacific Time Zone.
Making matters worse, road construction outside my hotel in Portland kept me up the last three nights, so I slept the whole flight back. My body is pretty exhausted and has no idea what time it is.
Waking up in my own bed was a bit of a shock.
My weight was up a little this week. I'd eaten out with coworkers most nights this week and only worked out a little bit. My weight 183.2, up from 182.8 last week. It's my first setback since I started losing weight, but it's not a bad one. I didn't let it bother me. I couldn't or it would throw my whole mental game off for the race.
I dragged myself downstairs, got breakfast, packed my stuff, and just had to top off my bike tires. The pump I have just did not want to work with the valve extenders on my 808 wheels (the rim is so deep that the tire stem is completely inside it, and needs an extension). It took me 10 minutes of messing around and fighting with it to get it to work. Finally, I was off to the race!
It was about a 45 minute drive to Hammonton, NJ. I got my number, changed into my racing gear, and got in a good warmup. I pulled up to the line about 3 minutes before my start, with a good sweat going.
A time trial (or TT) is a relatively simple thing. Riders start every 30 seconds, they ride the course, and get a time. It's not like a pack race where you just have to beat the guy next to you. In a TT, you have to go as hard as possible and just hope that you went faster than everyone else. You really don't know. Anyone who you pass, you have beaten by at least 30 seconds. Anyone who passes you has beaten you by at least 30 seconds.
As I waited for my start, I noticed they were using a "held" start. In most time trials, an official holds you upright while you sit on your bike with both feet clipped in at the start line. It's been a couple years since I've done that and it was a little nerve racking waiting for my turn. I was pretty convinced that I'd fall over on the start line. Still, once that guy had a hold on my bike, something clicked in my head.
The whole world went away, and everything in my head focused on the race. It's like in the movies, where everything goes into slow motion and the focus narrows in on the task at hand.
I grabbed my brakes hard and reverse-pedaled until my left foot was in the start position, I hit the interval button on the Power Tap. I stood up with all my weight on that front foot and my brakes locked. All I saw was the road ahead. The clock beeped. 10 seconds to go.
I took a couple more deep breaths as the clock beeped out the last few seconds 5.....4....3...2..1.. I let go of my brakes and all my weight on one pedal shot me forward.
Over the first mile, I settled into a rhythm. I quickly realized there was a tail wind and that I'd have to pay attention to keep my power output high. With a tail wind, it's easy to look at your speed and think you are doing great, when you are really coasting a little. I actually started out a little too hard the first few miles and had to dial it back. I reminded myself that there would be a head wind on the way back, and I'd need to be ready for it physically and mentally.
The course was 20.25 miles. It's mostly flat with two turns and a turnaround. There are only two climbs, both of them highway overpasses. The latter overpass is pretty steep and short. I hit almost 35 mph going down it.
Throughout the race, I tried to pace myself. I knew that my leg muscles were a lot more developed than my lungs right now, and I tried to take advantage of that. I generally pushed a bigger gear at about 85 RPM. When my legs would start to burn, I'd shift to a lighter gear at 95 RPM. After a few minutes, I'd switch back. My speed and power didn't vary by much from either style, so I'd say it seemed to work.
I knew I was not going to win any prizes in the race. At least 3 or 4 people passed me before the turnaround, which is a sure sign that you're not winning. My only goal was a decent power output (I was hoping to average around 215 to 218 watts) and to do a race.
With just a few miles to go, I was struggling. The headwind was up and the course that I thought was dead flat had a very slight incline to it. My power was right where I wanted it to be, but I wanted to see some speed!
At the start, I thought it was a 19 mile race. When I passed the 19 mile marker and didn't even see the finish line, I was a little annoyed. At the 18 mile marker, I poured on all the speed I had left (which was not much). When I hit the 19 mile marker, I was really hurting. I really worked to hold on to that speed.
Finally, at 19.6 miles, I saw a 1 K to go sign. "Gee, thanks...." I thought. I gritted my teeth and tried to hang on.
I shot across the finish line at about 25 mph. My whole body ached from having so much lactic acid coursing through my body. I pedaled lightly for about 5 more miles, gradually cooling down and trying to get my body to clear out all the waste products in the muscles.
When I got back to the car, I finally looked at my data for the race:
Distance: 20.28 miles
Time: 52:38
Average Speed: 23.08 mph
Average Power: 222 watts
Since I was aiming for 215 watts, I was really happy with that number. What struck me most about it, though, was that two weeks ago I did a time trial at 224 watts that was only 8.25 miles. Granted, I'm better rested now, but to hold 2 watts lower for two and a half time the distance really surprised me.
I'm pretty sure I finished near the back of the group (maybe even last?), but I am really happy with my performance. I hit the power targets I wanted and showed a level of fitness I would never have thought possible when I got back on the bike just 12 weeks ago!
Besides.... it's all intel for doing this race next year and maybe aiming for some real results.
Making matters worse, road construction outside my hotel in Portland kept me up the last three nights, so I slept the whole flight back. My body is pretty exhausted and has no idea what time it is.
Waking up in my own bed was a bit of a shock.
My weight was up a little this week. I'd eaten out with coworkers most nights this week and only worked out a little bit. My weight 183.2, up from 182.8 last week. It's my first setback since I started losing weight, but it's not a bad one. I didn't let it bother me. I couldn't or it would throw my whole mental game off for the race.
I dragged myself downstairs, got breakfast, packed my stuff, and just had to top off my bike tires. The pump I have just did not want to work with the valve extenders on my 808 wheels (the rim is so deep that the tire stem is completely inside it, and needs an extension). It took me 10 minutes of messing around and fighting with it to get it to work. Finally, I was off to the race!
It was about a 45 minute drive to Hammonton, NJ. I got my number, changed into my racing gear, and got in a good warmup. I pulled up to the line about 3 minutes before my start, with a good sweat going.
A time trial (or TT) is a relatively simple thing. Riders start every 30 seconds, they ride the course, and get a time. It's not like a pack race where you just have to beat the guy next to you. In a TT, you have to go as hard as possible and just hope that you went faster than everyone else. You really don't know. Anyone who you pass, you have beaten by at least 30 seconds. Anyone who passes you has beaten you by at least 30 seconds.
As I waited for my start, I noticed they were using a "held" start. In most time trials, an official holds you upright while you sit on your bike with both feet clipped in at the start line. It's been a couple years since I've done that and it was a little nerve racking waiting for my turn. I was pretty convinced that I'd fall over on the start line. Still, once that guy had a hold on my bike, something clicked in my head.
The whole world went away, and everything in my head focused on the race. It's like in the movies, where everything goes into slow motion and the focus narrows in on the task at hand.
I grabbed my brakes hard and reverse-pedaled until my left foot was in the start position, I hit the interval button on the Power Tap. I stood up with all my weight on that front foot and my brakes locked. All I saw was the road ahead. The clock beeped. 10 seconds to go.
I took a couple more deep breaths as the clock beeped out the last few seconds 5.....4....3...2..1.. I let go of my brakes and all my weight on one pedal shot me forward.
Over the first mile, I settled into a rhythm. I quickly realized there was a tail wind and that I'd have to pay attention to keep my power output high. With a tail wind, it's easy to look at your speed and think you are doing great, when you are really coasting a little. I actually started out a little too hard the first few miles and had to dial it back. I reminded myself that there would be a head wind on the way back, and I'd need to be ready for it physically and mentally.
The course was 20.25 miles. It's mostly flat with two turns and a turnaround. There are only two climbs, both of them highway overpasses. The latter overpass is pretty steep and short. I hit almost 35 mph going down it.
Throughout the race, I tried to pace myself. I knew that my leg muscles were a lot more developed than my lungs right now, and I tried to take advantage of that. I generally pushed a bigger gear at about 85 RPM. When my legs would start to burn, I'd shift to a lighter gear at 95 RPM. After a few minutes, I'd switch back. My speed and power didn't vary by much from either style, so I'd say it seemed to work.
I knew I was not going to win any prizes in the race. At least 3 or 4 people passed me before the turnaround, which is a sure sign that you're not winning. My only goal was a decent power output (I was hoping to average around 215 to 218 watts) and to do a race.
With just a few miles to go, I was struggling. The headwind was up and the course that I thought was dead flat had a very slight incline to it. My power was right where I wanted it to be, but I wanted to see some speed!
At the start, I thought it was a 19 mile race. When I passed the 19 mile marker and didn't even see the finish line, I was a little annoyed. At the 18 mile marker, I poured on all the speed I had left (which was not much). When I hit the 19 mile marker, I was really hurting. I really worked to hold on to that speed.
Finally, at 19.6 miles, I saw a 1 K to go sign. "Gee, thanks...." I thought. I gritted my teeth and tried to hang on.
I shot across the finish line at about 25 mph. My whole body ached from having so much lactic acid coursing through my body. I pedaled lightly for about 5 more miles, gradually cooling down and trying to get my body to clear out all the waste products in the muscles.
When I got back to the car, I finally looked at my data for the race:
Distance: 20.28 miles
Time: 52:38
Average Speed: 23.08 mph
Average Power: 222 watts
Since I was aiming for 215 watts, I was really happy with that number. What struck me most about it, though, was that two weeks ago I did a time trial at 224 watts that was only 8.25 miles. Granted, I'm better rested now, but to hold 2 watts lower for two and a half time the distance really surprised me.
I'm pretty sure I finished near the back of the group (maybe even last?), but I am really happy with my performance. I hit the power targets I wanted and showed a level of fitness I would never have thought possible when I got back on the bike just 12 weeks ago!
Besides.... it's all intel for doing this race next year and maybe aiming for some real results.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
After the Recovery Week
Another week passed, another pound lost.
I am happy to report that after spending a week on the road for work, I have managed to lose another pound, putting me at 182.8 lbs (down 14.2 pounds since I started trying to lose weight).
It was a recovery week, so I only did two 45 minute easy workouts this week. I had to make sure I cut my food intake as well in order to balance the lower level of exercise, and it worked.
I did everything I could to relax this week. I spent a lot of time after work in the hotel reading and doing homework, usually with my feet up or while laying down. In this morning's time trial, it paid off.
One of the joys of training with a power meter is that I have a much more objective way to look at my results. With speed / time alone, all I see is the time, not whether there were massive head winds or not.
Today, we did a slightly shorter course than usual to avoid a walk-a-thon registration line that was forming for an event later in the morning. It cut the course down by about 0.2 miles or so, with my bike computer reading 8.1 miles for the total course.
On days like today, with a slightly different course and higher winds in the last mile, it's nice to be able to compare my performance against last week.
The recovery week did me a world of good.
Last week, I did the time trial with an average speed of 23.3 mph at an average heart rate of 163 BPM and an average power of 224 watts.
This week, with high winds in the last mile, I did the time trial with an average speed of 23.6 mph at an average heart rate of 170 BPM and an average power of 240 watts.
The real number of interest is the average power of 240 watts. To increase by 16 watts (about 7%), in one week is HUGE.
It's also interesting to see how much higher my heart rate was when I was well rested. That's a sure fire sign that I was pretty tired last week.
This is an image with the kind of data I get from the Power Tap, with both a summary and a chart of speed, cadence, heart rate, and power. It has a TON more data for analysis, but this is as much as I feel like describing right now :-) :
(click on the image to see it full size)
Next week, I'll be doing the 19 mile Blueberry Time Trial, so I'll be training harder early in the week then taking it easy later in the week. My biggest worry is that I'm on the road again this week and flying home from the west coast on Friday. I should be able to get a few good workouts in at the hotel gym. I'm more worried about Friday. Nothing like a 5 hour flight the day before a race!
I am happy to report that after spending a week on the road for work, I have managed to lose another pound, putting me at 182.8 lbs (down 14.2 pounds since I started trying to lose weight).
It was a recovery week, so I only did two 45 minute easy workouts this week. I had to make sure I cut my food intake as well in order to balance the lower level of exercise, and it worked.
I did everything I could to relax this week. I spent a lot of time after work in the hotel reading and doing homework, usually with my feet up or while laying down. In this morning's time trial, it paid off.
One of the joys of training with a power meter is that I have a much more objective way to look at my results. With speed / time alone, all I see is the time, not whether there were massive head winds or not.
Today, we did a slightly shorter course than usual to avoid a walk-a-thon registration line that was forming for an event later in the morning. It cut the course down by about 0.2 miles or so, with my bike computer reading 8.1 miles for the total course.
On days like today, with a slightly different course and higher winds in the last mile, it's nice to be able to compare my performance against last week.
The recovery week did me a world of good.
Last week, I did the time trial with an average speed of 23.3 mph at an average heart rate of 163 BPM and an average power of 224 watts.
This week, with high winds in the last mile, I did the time trial with an average speed of 23.6 mph at an average heart rate of 170 BPM and an average power of 240 watts.
The real number of interest is the average power of 240 watts. To increase by 16 watts (about 7%), in one week is HUGE.
It's also interesting to see how much higher my heart rate was when I was well rested. That's a sure fire sign that I was pretty tired last week.
This is an image with the kind of data I get from the Power Tap, with both a summary and a chart of speed, cadence, heart rate, and power. It has a TON more data for analysis, but this is as much as I feel like describing right now :-) :(click on the image to see it full size)
Next week, I'll be doing the 19 mile Blueberry Time Trial, so I'll be training harder early in the week then taking it easy later in the week. My biggest worry is that I'm on the road again this week and flying home from the west coast on Friday. I should be able to get a few good workouts in at the hotel gym. I'm more worried about Friday. Nothing like a 5 hour flight the day before a race!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Results and Rest
This was a great week for results for me.
I'm down another 1.2 pounds, putting me at 183.8 pounds (down from 197.0 when I started, not to mention I've gone in two belt holes!).
In the gym, I was able to leg press 2 sets of 4 reps at 940 pounds. That's not a typo. Nine hundred and forty pounds. I've always had huge legs, ever since my speedskating days. I'm just reminding all that muscle how to work. It's hard to believe I've gone up 130 pounds in a week!
In the time trial this morning, I roared in at 21:11, down from 21:53 two weeks ago. I wish I could claim all that was fitness, but the new racing wheels (Zipp 808 with a Power Tap installed) were probably a huge help. From the Power Tap, I learned that my average power was 224 watts. It also helped me pace myself better, especially with a tail wind (when I was going too easy). I'm sure they will make quite a difference in the Blueberry Time Trial in a couple weeks.
Thanks to Joe Wentzell at Breakaway Bikes for getting the Zipps to me so fast!
After the time trial this morning, I did two more half-laps (for some reason I love doing hard efforts on the way back from the turnaround) in times of 9:53 (248 watts) and 10:05 (238 watts). I'm still a long way from my personal records, but I'm very happy with the speed I'm seeing.
I'd like to get my full-lap time down below 20:40 and my half-lap time down to 9:40 before the end of the year. With 5 weeks to go before the end of the season, I just might make it.
This week coming up will be a recovery week. I'll be in Cincinnati for work and I'm just aiming for easy, low-end aerobic workouts this week, probably no longer than 30 minutes and maybe one light weight workout. My body needs a break!
My training for the next month will be kind of funky. I need this recovery week, then I'm in Portland, OR for work the week after. I can't train too hard since the time trial is at the end of the week. I'll spend 6 hours on a plane then have to do a TT the next day. I'll have to spin a little on the trainer when I get home to work out the kinks.
After that, I have two weeks before my next blood lactate test at Breakaway Bikes, so I'll have about 10 days to train before I need to start resting up for that. I'm setting my weight loss goals a little lower this month, only aiming for 4 pounds instead of 5, which should put me at 179.8 pounds just in time for the next threshold test. That will put me back down to the weight I was in for most of Summer and Fall of 2007 and set me up for the last ~20 pounds to go to reach my ultimate goal of "below 160".
I'm down another 1.2 pounds, putting me at 183.8 pounds (down from 197.0 when I started, not to mention I've gone in two belt holes!).
In the gym, I was able to leg press 2 sets of 4 reps at 940 pounds. That's not a typo. Nine hundred and forty pounds. I've always had huge legs, ever since my speedskating days. I'm just reminding all that muscle how to work. It's hard to believe I've gone up 130 pounds in a week!
In the time trial this morning, I roared in at 21:11, down from 21:53 two weeks ago. I wish I could claim all that was fitness, but the new racing wheels (Zipp 808 with a Power Tap installed) were probably a huge help. From the Power Tap, I learned that my average power was 224 watts. It also helped me pace myself better, especially with a tail wind (when I was going too easy). I'm sure they will make quite a difference in the Blueberry Time Trial in a couple weeks.
Thanks to Joe Wentzell at Breakaway Bikes for getting the Zipps to me so fast!
After the time trial this morning, I did two more half-laps (for some reason I love doing hard efforts on the way back from the turnaround) in times of 9:53 (248 watts) and 10:05 (238 watts). I'm still a long way from my personal records, but I'm very happy with the speed I'm seeing.
I'd like to get my full-lap time down below 20:40 and my half-lap time down to 9:40 before the end of the year. With 5 weeks to go before the end of the season, I just might make it.
This week coming up will be a recovery week. I'll be in Cincinnati for work and I'm just aiming for easy, low-end aerobic workouts this week, probably no longer than 30 minutes and maybe one light weight workout. My body needs a break!
My training for the next month will be kind of funky. I need this recovery week, then I'm in Portland, OR for work the week after. I can't train too hard since the time trial is at the end of the week. I'll spend 6 hours on a plane then have to do a TT the next day. I'll have to spin a little on the trainer when I get home to work out the kinks.
After that, I have two weeks before my next blood lactate test at Breakaway Bikes, so I'll have about 10 days to train before I need to start resting up for that. I'm setting my weight loss goals a little lower this month, only aiming for 4 pounds instead of 5, which should put me at 179.8 pounds just in time for the next threshold test. That will put me back down to the weight I was in for most of Summer and Fall of 2007 and set me up for the last ~20 pounds to go to reach my ultimate goal of "below 160".
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
My first race back
I've just registered for the Blueberry Time Trial, a flat 19 mile TT in Hammonton, NJ on August 15.
It will be my first bike race since the Clark's Valley TT on July 8, 2007. It's hard to call 2007 a racing year since I only did two races that year and wasn't in great form for either.
I'm not hoping for any miracles in the results, I just feel like it would be good to get back out there sooner.
It will be my first bike race since the Clark's Valley TT on July 8, 2007. It's hard to call 2007 a racing year since I only did two races that year and wasn't in great form for either.
I'm not hoping for any miracles in the results, I just feel like it would be good to get back out there sooner.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Dreaded "3"
Anyone who uses a 4-week periodized training system has learned to dread the third week. The first two weeks build in intensity but the third is the most intense and difficult week. Week 4 is a beautiful recovery week as your body rests and adapts to the new intensity.
This week that just ended was a 3-week for me. It started with the brutal 2 1/2 hour Tempo ride last Sunday. I had two Maximum Strength Workouts this week, two lactate threshold interval days, and a 42K time trial this morning.
My weight loss for this week was only 0.4 pounds since I had to eat quite a bit in order to train this hard. I'm realizing that some weeks I will have to choose between performance and weight loss. I probably should be more focused on the weight loss, but the performance part is just too fun sometimes!
Despite my joints creaking like a door in an old horror movie, I feel great.
On Tuesday, during my first Maximum Strength workout of the week, I was able to build up to 6 reps of 810 pounds on the leg press. I was overjoyed. I never thought that at 35 I'd be able to press that kind of weight.
On Thursday, in my second MaxStr workout of the week, I really surprised myself. I started to wonder about my old records. My previous bests, from 2000, were 2 reps at 1010 pounds and 1 rep at 1050 pounds. I'm now wondering that really was my maximum or if that's just as much as I could fit on the machine so I assumed that it was my maximum. The reason I was wondering is because on Thursday, I was able to press 4 reps of 900 pounds.
Keep in mind that I've only been back in the gym for 7 weeks. When I started, I struggled like crazy to press 12 reps at 270 pounds.
I realize that all of this gain is from neurological adaptation of the muscle I already have and it will top out at some point. As quickly as I have been gaining, I am seriously beginning to wonder if I will break my old records.
This morning was my first 26.2 mile time trial on the bike in about 2 years. The last time I did it was on June 30, 2007, when I did the same course, but with a more aero setup, in 1:10:13 for an average speed of 22.39. It was only a few weeks after that when I stopped racing. This morning, I did the course in 1:12:17 for an average speed of 21.75 mph. I was really surprised at how much speed I had, especially considering that I still have 25 pounds to lose.
With my hectic travel schedule for work, I am actually going to be doing a second "3 week" this week coming up, expecting that the week I am on the road for work will act as a recovery week. It will only slightly skew my training plan but I think it's a better use of my week.
As of this morning, I'm 185.4 and 26.0% body fat. I know that's up a little from Sunday's post, but I use Saturday as my "official" weigh in day since it's after a rest day and Saturday's time trial tends to be intense enough to cost me a little in muscle glycogen stores. Last Saturday I was 185.8.
After losing 11.6 pounds, I probably need to re-assess my BMR and calorie intake anyway since I want to avoid any extended plateaus in weight loss.
This week that just ended was a 3-week for me. It started with the brutal 2 1/2 hour Tempo ride last Sunday. I had two Maximum Strength Workouts this week, two lactate threshold interval days, and a 42K time trial this morning.
My weight loss for this week was only 0.4 pounds since I had to eat quite a bit in order to train this hard. I'm realizing that some weeks I will have to choose between performance and weight loss. I probably should be more focused on the weight loss, but the performance part is just too fun sometimes!
Despite my joints creaking like a door in an old horror movie, I feel great.
On Tuesday, during my first Maximum Strength workout of the week, I was able to build up to 6 reps of 810 pounds on the leg press. I was overjoyed. I never thought that at 35 I'd be able to press that kind of weight.
On Thursday, in my second MaxStr workout of the week, I really surprised myself. I started to wonder about my old records. My previous bests, from 2000, were 2 reps at 1010 pounds and 1 rep at 1050 pounds. I'm now wondering that really was my maximum or if that's just as much as I could fit on the machine so I assumed that it was my maximum. The reason I was wondering is because on Thursday, I was able to press 4 reps of 900 pounds.
Keep in mind that I've only been back in the gym for 7 weeks. When I started, I struggled like crazy to press 12 reps at 270 pounds.
I realize that all of this gain is from neurological adaptation of the muscle I already have and it will top out at some point. As quickly as I have been gaining, I am seriously beginning to wonder if I will break my old records.
This morning was my first 26.2 mile time trial on the bike in about 2 years. The last time I did it was on June 30, 2007, when I did the same course, but with a more aero setup, in 1:10:13 for an average speed of 22.39. It was only a few weeks after that when I stopped racing. This morning, I did the course in 1:12:17 for an average speed of 21.75 mph. I was really surprised at how much speed I had, especially considering that I still have 25 pounds to lose.
With my hectic travel schedule for work, I am actually going to be doing a second "3 week" this week coming up, expecting that the week I am on the road for work will act as a recovery week. It will only slightly skew my training plan but I think it's a better use of my week.
As of this morning, I'm 185.4 and 26.0% body fat. I know that's up a little from Sunday's post, but I use Saturday as my "official" weigh in day since it's after a rest day and Saturday's time trial tends to be intense enough to cost me a little in muscle glycogen stores. Last Saturday I was 185.8.
After losing 11.6 pounds, I probably need to re-assess my BMR and calorie intake anyway since I want to avoid any extended plateaus in weight loss.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Allegrissimo Tempo
I had a great day on the bike today, spending two and a half hours at a tempo pace (alone), working on my aerobic base.
I did 49 miles in 2:36:15 (18.89 mph and 147 BPM avg) with a few miles of warmup and cooldown on each side for a total 55 mile and 3:00:00 day.
Oh yeah, and I finished with a sprint, hitting 30.1 mph with 50 miles in my legs! The fitness is slowly coming back.
I got to see my teammate Alfonso Bellacosa on the ride. It's been so long since I've seen him, I didn't recognize him at first. He and I had a great result at one of our early Cat 5 races together at the 2006 Diamond Crit course (in the pouring rain no less!). It was great to see him again.
As of this morning, 185.3 pounds and 26.0% body fat.
I did 49 miles in 2:36:15 (18.89 mph and 147 BPM avg) with a few miles of warmup and cooldown on each side for a total 55 mile and 3:00:00 day.
Oh yeah, and I finished with a sprint, hitting 30.1 mph with 50 miles in my legs! The fitness is slowly coming back.
I got to see my teammate Alfonso Bellacosa on the ride. It's been so long since I've seen him, I didn't recognize him at first. He and I had a great result at one of our early Cat 5 races together at the 2006 Diamond Crit course (in the pouring rain no less!). It was great to see him again.
As of this morning, 185.3 pounds and 26.0% body fat.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
1st & 10
Just a quick note to say that I''ve lost 10 pounds since I started this effort.
As of this morning, 186.8 pounds, 26.4% body fat.
As of this morning, 186.8 pounds, 26.4% body fat.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Change of Plans
Last week's Lactate Threshold test definitely is cause for change in my training program. Learning that I was very high in muscle strength/endurance but low in aerobic capacity changes everything. Before I had planned on some maximum strength work and some sprint work later in the summer.
Now I realize that I need to focus more on aerobic endurance and power than anything else.
First off, that's going to mean watching my heart rate and power output a lot closer than before, making sure that I get in some solid foundation training. In other words, I need a little self control to go, as the old training cliche goes, "easy enough on my easy days and hard enough on my hard days."
My major goal for the next 16 weeks will be to build a solid aerobic foundation, giving me several benefits:
Notice that I'm completely backing away from Maximum Strength. In the last 6 weeks in the gym, I've developed enough neurologically that the muscle I already have has the strength to leg press 720 pounds for 6 reps and squat 300 pounds for 4 reps. Given more time, I could develop that further, but it's not my biggest limiter. I need to improve my aerobic endurance; muscular endurance is a good complementary workout. It's still not easy. I'll be starting out leg pressing at 250 pounds for 3 sets of 50 reps and increasing the number of reps each week.....
As of today, I'm at 188 lbs and 26.2% body fat.
Now I realize that I need to focus more on aerobic endurance and power than anything else.
First off, that's going to mean watching my heart rate and power output a lot closer than before, making sure that I get in some solid foundation training. In other words, I need a little self control to go, as the old training cliche goes, "easy enough on my easy days and hard enough on my hard days."
My major goal for the next 16 weeks will be to build a solid aerobic foundation, giving me several benefits:
- increased slow-twitch muscle fiber strength
- increased capillarization of the muscle
- increased mitochondria count
- decreased resting heart rate
- increased power at moderate intensities
- increased muscle glycogen storage capacity
- Foundation/Base 1: Bike: Easy endurance pace workouts, some work at ventilatory threshold (about 80% of functional threshold power). Weights: Anatomical Adaptation and Long Muscular Endurance.
- Foundation/Base 2: Bike: Longer easy endurance pace workouts, more work at ventilatory threshold. Weights: Anatomical Adaptation and Long Muscular Endurance.
- Preparation 1: Bike: Longer easy endurance pace workouts, some work at ventilatory threshold, some closer to threshold. Weights: Anatomical Adaptation and Maximum Strength.
- Preparation 2: Bike: Longer easy endurance pace workouts, some work at ventilatory threshold, some closer to threshold and some above. Weights: Anatomical Adaptation and Long Muscular Endurance.
Notice that I'm completely backing away from Maximum Strength. In the last 6 weeks in the gym, I've developed enough neurologically that the muscle I already have has the strength to leg press 720 pounds for 6 reps and squat 300 pounds for 4 reps. Given more time, I could develop that further, but it's not my biggest limiter. I need to improve my aerobic endurance; muscular endurance is a good complementary workout. It's still not easy. I'll be starting out leg pressing at 250 pounds for 3 sets of 50 reps and increasing the number of reps each week.....
As of today, I'm at 188 lbs and 26.2% body fat.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Test Day
Today was Lactate Threshold Test day.I met with Joe Wentzell at Breakaway Bikes at 10:00 AM for the test.
It was fun being back in the shop. I used to do their weekend RPM classes all the time. The classes I did were, in essence, structured group rides on a large clusters of Computrainers. They offer classes with more individualized programs during the week, but I had a harder time fitting them into my schedule. It's an awesome way for new cyclists to get into the sport or to stay fit in the winter without riding in the cold. They've made a number of improvements since I'd been there last. There's now an alcove to peel off outer layers and change your shoes, plus a set of cubes to keep all your stuff in.
The test itself looks for when lactic acid begins to accumulate in my bloodstream. When I cross 5.0 mmol, that's my threshold. We're also looking for other more subtle data, like how my heart rate reacts to increased exertion.
The test isn't all that bad. Joe set me up at 150 watts to start and would increase the resistance ever four minutes. Just before he increased the resistance, he would take a small blood sample from my finger (using something like the diabetic finger-stick pins) and put it in a scanner that showed my current level of lactic acid accumulation. It's not a maximal test, so the intensity never really gets that hard (if you're used to threshold work, anyway).
After I had obviously gone past threshold (not just from the lactic analyzer, you could almost see the deflection point in my heart rate and hear it in my breathing), Joe had me cool down while he started entering data in the computer. It's kind of neat cooling down while plugged into a computerized ergometer, since you can see your heart rate and power drift down.
Joe plugged in the data and showed me some interesting results. I had estimated my threshold to be 160 BPM and 232 watts. I was close on the heart rate, but WAY off on the power.Joe showed me the graph and the data that my threshold was 157 BPM and 192 watts. It's 40 watts lower than I had expected.
I was stunned. In a couple exertion tests on the Computrainer, I turned in power number that should have put my power at threshold higher. But the blood test doesn't lie.
Joe explained that as someone who was coming back after a long training gap, my muscles remembered how to do this and could push pretty hard. He had not doubt that I could do a 20-minute time trial test at 230 watts or well above. The problem is that the cardiovascular system doesn't run off muscle memory. It runs off a bunch of processes at the cellular level, and it had lost a lot of development in the last two years. Basically, my muscles were fit and ready to go, but my heart and lungs didn't have the capacity to provide them with the resources they needed to go all out. That explained why I was seeing such high numbers in the gym (like a recent day where I did 6 reps each of 720 pounds on the leg press and 275 pounds on the squat) but had such a low threshold power.
If I had kept training at the power levels I saw in my exertion tests, I'd be pushing too hard. Like so many other athletes, I was training too hard for my own good and didn't even know it. Aerobic development is a strange thing. It actually gets better at lower intensities than it does at higher ones. I would have been training for speed and power without having the endurance to back them up. I'd be like a strong sprinter who can't keep up with the pack long enough to outsprint them.
So what does this mean for my training? If I were training just off heart rate, it probably would't mean much. Since I'm training with power, though, it means my training power levels will be a good bit lower than I had anticipated.
This will mean a few changes in my training plan. I'll be repeating my last 4 weeks of training on the bike with the new power levels. Looking ahead at my schedule, it probably means that instead of sprint & power training in September, I'll be just starting to do long Threshold work.
I highly recommend this kind of testing for athletes. It's so easy to incorrectly estimate your own performance. We all want to be better than we are and to train as hard as our bodies will tolerate. A test like this gives you some cold hard facts about where you are and how you might improve.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Big Picture Plan
So, I want to be 168 pounds and 16% body fat by Oct 31, so I can hit winter training at a decent point, then get down to 159 pounds and 12% body fat over the winter.... how?
(Before I go any further.... yes, I keep making my goal weight lower!)
I started out by figuring out what I wanted the weight and fitness targets to be.
Starting at 197 pounds in early May and losing 5 pounds per month, that gave me 6 months to lose 30 pounds. Perfect.
The fitness was another story. I haven't been to the gym seriously since 2003 and haven't ridden my bike consistently since 2007. I knew I would have to go through some level of adaptation getting my body ready, then building as much strength and endurance as I could before October.
When I stated my power goal of 1.5 to 1.6 watts / pound (252 to 268 watts at my target weight for October), I kind of pulled it out of thin air. I hadn't looked up any of my old training numbers yet or anything but I knew it would be hard. As it turns out, it's not such a bad target
I'm a huge fan of periodization. It's hard not to be when every major strength and cycling coach on Earth promotes it. For resistance training, Tudor Bompa is really the master. For cycling, Joe Friel and Chris Carmichael are major influences. I've actually been coached by someone one Carmichael's coaching company before (Josh Seldman, who I respect as an amazing coach more than he'll ever know) and studied Bompa's multiple books for years. I've also worked with Joe Wentzell from Breakaway Bikes, a local amazing coach and great guy. I'm a little too broke right now to pay for full coaching, so I developed my own plans.
A lot of this is built on 4-week cycles. Each cycle builds in volume and/or intensity (for both on-the-bike and in-the0-gym workouts) over the first 3 weeks, with the first two being tolerable (with the second being harder than the first) and the third being a true stretch of your ability to recover, bordering on overreaching. By the end of the third week, performance is often noticeably lower from fatigue and depletion of fuels in your body. The fourth week is a recovery week, with reduced volume of training and nothing over moderate intensity. This is when your body recovers from the torture of the last three weeks and adapts to a new higher level of performance. You learn to love the recovery week after a while, but they come with a price: the recovery week usually ends with some sort of performance test to see how you are progressing.
My resistance training starts off with 6 weeks of Anatomical Adaptation training, getting my body used to weight lifting again. After that, I'll go through four 4-week cycles with the following goals/focus points.
I allowed myself an easy month of recovery and transition to let my mind and body relax (I'll still be training, just at a lower level) before I hit it hard again.
So where am I trying to go? I don't know exactly. I want to get my WRTT time (the 8.3 mile time trial) back down to under 20 minutes. I want to get my 42K time down under 1:05:00. I want to get my old sprint & recovery back. I love time trialing, but I love dropping people in a breakaway even more. Maybe that means I'll be doing a couple crits or maybe that means that I'll just be having fun dueling random cyclists on the road. As long as I'm back in the saddle and riding strong, I'll be happy.
Oh, and as of this morning, I'm 189 pounds and 26.4% body fat. Saturday is my Blood Lactate Test, so I'll find out exactly where my threshold is (I'm guessing 232 watts right now).
(Before I go any further.... yes, I keep making my goal weight lower!)
I started out by figuring out what I wanted the weight and fitness targets to be.
Starting at 197 pounds in early May and losing 5 pounds per month, that gave me 6 months to lose 30 pounds. Perfect.
The fitness was another story. I haven't been to the gym seriously since 2003 and haven't ridden my bike consistently since 2007. I knew I would have to go through some level of adaptation getting my body ready, then building as much strength and endurance as I could before October.
When I stated my power goal of 1.5 to 1.6 watts / pound (252 to 268 watts at my target weight for October), I kind of pulled it out of thin air. I hadn't looked up any of my old training numbers yet or anything but I knew it would be hard. As it turns out, it's not such a bad target
I'm a huge fan of periodization. It's hard not to be when every major strength and cycling coach on Earth promotes it. For resistance training, Tudor Bompa is really the master. For cycling, Joe Friel and Chris Carmichael are major influences. I've actually been coached by someone one Carmichael's coaching company before (Josh Seldman, who I respect as an amazing coach more than he'll ever know) and studied Bompa's multiple books for years. I've also worked with Joe Wentzell from Breakaway Bikes, a local amazing coach and great guy. I'm a little too broke right now to pay for full coaching, so I developed my own plans.
A lot of this is built on 4-week cycles. Each cycle builds in volume and/or intensity (for both on-the-bike and in-the0-gym workouts) over the first 3 weeks, with the first two being tolerable (with the second being harder than the first) and the third being a true stretch of your ability to recover, bordering on overreaching. By the end of the third week, performance is often noticeably lower from fatigue and depletion of fuels in your body. The fourth week is a recovery week, with reduced volume of training and nothing over moderate intensity. This is when your body recovers from the torture of the last three weeks and adapts to a new higher level of performance. You learn to love the recovery week after a while, but they come with a price: the recovery week usually ends with some sort of performance test to see how you are progressing.
My resistance training starts off with 6 weeks of Anatomical Adaptation training, getting my body used to weight lifting again. After that, I'll go through four 4-week cycles with the following goals/focus points.
- Develop strength in the muscle I've already got. I've still got the old speedskater thighs, so I've got some muscle that needs to get to work.
- Build muscular endurance. Taking a weight of about 30 to 35% of my maximum, I'll be doing leg presses and squats for increasingly long times. The body builder idea of "endurance", about 20 to 30 reps, is not even a starting point. I'll be starting with 50 reps, and building to 5 minutes straight of exercise. That's one set, I'll be doing 3 or 4 sets.
- Return to maximum strength. Squeezing a little more performance from the muscle I've already got.
- Acceleration power development. Take the strength I've got and convert it into rapid acceleration on the bike.
- Build power at Ventilatory and Lactate thresholds
- Build power at Lactate threshold
- Build power above Lactate threshold (approx 105%)
- Build VO2Max power (major efforts, about 3 minutes in duration)
I allowed myself an easy month of recovery and transition to let my mind and body relax (I'll still be training, just at a lower level) before I hit it hard again.
So where am I trying to go? I don't know exactly. I want to get my WRTT time (the 8.3 mile time trial) back down to under 20 minutes. I want to get my 42K time down under 1:05:00. I want to get my old sprint & recovery back. I love time trialing, but I love dropping people in a breakaway even more. Maybe that means I'll be doing a couple crits or maybe that means that I'll just be having fun dueling random cyclists on the road. As long as I'm back in the saddle and riding strong, I'll be happy.
Oh, and as of this morning, I'm 189 pounds and 26.4% body fat. Saturday is my Blood Lactate Test, so I'll find out exactly where my threshold is (I'm guessing 232 watts right now).
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Program
For the next 3 weeks, I'm on a program that looks like this (with definitions below):
Monday: Rest or Active Recovery
Tuesday AM: 1:00:00 to 1:15:00 Trainer ride, Pedal Speed intervals, 10 minutes of core/BOSU work
Tuesday PM: 15:00 Stair Mill warmup; Weight lifting, Anatomical Adaptation.
Wednesday AM: 1:00:00 - 1:15:00 Trainer ride, Heart Rate Ceiling of 140, 10 minutes of core/BOSU work
Wednesday PM: Some other aerobic exercise, spinning, elliptical, walking, etc.
Thursday AM: 1:00:00 to 1:15:00 Trainer ride, Pedal Speed intervals, 10 minutes of core/BOSU work
Thursday PM: 15:00 Stair Mill warmup; Weight lifting, Anatomical Adaptation.
Friday: Rest or Active Recovery
Saturday: 2 hour ride with Long Intervals (possibly one of them will be the West River Time Trial).
Sunday: 2 to 3 hours, "Ride as I feel". If I feel tired, take it easy (cut it short, if necessary). If I feel good, go harder, just avoid any structured interval. It's a great day for group rides, dueling with random riders on the road, or just a long scenic recovery ride.
Active Recovery: VERY easy riding, meant to loosen up the muscles and promote blood flow to them. Heart rate ceiling is 120 BPM, though below 115 is better.
Anatomical Adaptation lifting: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps. Once I can do 3x15 of a certain weight, increase the weight and go back to 3x12. Normal progression is often 12-12-12, 15-12-12, 15-15-12, then 15-15-15. Lifts cover the whole body, alternating between upper and lower body and recovery times of 60 to 90 seconds between sets to achieve full recovery between exercises and include:
Squats
Chest Press (bench press with dumbbells)
Leg Press
Fly
Leg Curl
Shoulder Press
Calf Raise
Lat Pull Down
One-arm row
For all upper body exercises, remember to keep core tight!
Goal of this phase is to toughen tendons and connecting tissue and to "remind" muscles how to lift correctly and generate more force. Done properly, this phase will help in preventing future injuries, a sort of "prehabilitation". No exercise is done to failure or exhaustion. Proper form and technique must be maintained at all times.
To help me out when I travel for work, I have a membership with LA Fitness, which has branches in most major cities. As a backup plan, I've worked out a dumbbell only routine that could be done in most hotel gyms.
The lifting/strength work is based on Tudor Bompa's books on Periodization, which I cannot recommend strongly enough for anyone interesting in increasing performance.
Pedal Speed Intervals: intervals of 6 to 10 minutes (start at 6:00 an increase 2 minutes per week) of 110 to 120 RPM, keeping below a heart rate ceiling of 150 BPM.
Long Intervals: Progression from Ventilatory Threshold to Lactate Threshold, always with recovery equal to time of one interval. Start at 2x15:00 at Ventilatory Threshold. Build to 2x20:00, 3x20:00. 2x30:00, then, if successful on all previous intervals, attempt 1x60:00. Restart with Lactate Threshold intervals, 3x8:00, then 3x10:00, 4x8:00, 3x12:00, 4x12:00. 3x15:00, and so on.
After this, I move to on a combined Adaptation and Max Strength Phase, while continuing a Long Interval riding routine (more on that program when it starts).
Monday: Rest or Active Recovery
Tuesday AM: 1:00:00 to 1:15:00 Trainer ride, Pedal Speed intervals, 10 minutes of core/BOSU work
Tuesday PM: 15:00 Stair Mill warmup; Weight lifting, Anatomical Adaptation.
Wednesday AM: 1:00:00 - 1:15:00 Trainer ride, Heart Rate Ceiling of 140, 10 minutes of core/BOSU work
Wednesday PM: Some other aerobic exercise, spinning, elliptical, walking, etc.
Thursday AM: 1:00:00 to 1:15:00 Trainer ride, Pedal Speed intervals, 10 minutes of core/BOSU work
Thursday PM: 15:00 Stair Mill warmup; Weight lifting, Anatomical Adaptation.
Friday: Rest or Active Recovery
Saturday: 2 hour ride with Long Intervals (possibly one of them will be the West River Time Trial).
Sunday: 2 to 3 hours, "Ride as I feel". If I feel tired, take it easy (cut it short, if necessary). If I feel good, go harder, just avoid any structured interval. It's a great day for group rides, dueling with random riders on the road, or just a long scenic recovery ride.
Active Recovery: VERY easy riding, meant to loosen up the muscles and promote blood flow to them. Heart rate ceiling is 120 BPM, though below 115 is better.
Anatomical Adaptation lifting: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps. Once I can do 3x15 of a certain weight, increase the weight and go back to 3x12. Normal progression is often 12-12-12, 15-12-12, 15-15-12, then 15-15-15. Lifts cover the whole body, alternating between upper and lower body and recovery times of 60 to 90 seconds between sets to achieve full recovery between exercises and include:
Squats
Chest Press (bench press with dumbbells)
Leg Press
Fly
Leg Curl
Shoulder Press
Calf Raise
Lat Pull Down
One-arm row
For all upper body exercises, remember to keep core tight!
Goal of this phase is to toughen tendons and connecting tissue and to "remind" muscles how to lift correctly and generate more force. Done properly, this phase will help in preventing future injuries, a sort of "prehabilitation". No exercise is done to failure or exhaustion. Proper form and technique must be maintained at all times.
To help me out when I travel for work, I have a membership with LA Fitness, which has branches in most major cities. As a backup plan, I've worked out a dumbbell only routine that could be done in most hotel gyms.
The lifting/strength work is based on Tudor Bompa's books on Periodization, which I cannot recommend strongly enough for anyone interesting in increasing performance.
Pedal Speed Intervals: intervals of 6 to 10 minutes (start at 6:00 an increase 2 minutes per week) of 110 to 120 RPM, keeping below a heart rate ceiling of 150 BPM.
Long Intervals: Progression from Ventilatory Threshold to Lactate Threshold, always with recovery equal to time of one interval. Start at 2x15:00 at Ventilatory Threshold. Build to 2x20:00, 3x20:00. 2x30:00, then, if successful on all previous intervals, attempt 1x60:00. Restart with Lactate Threshold intervals, 3x8:00, then 3x10:00, 4x8:00, 3x12:00, 4x12:00. 3x15:00, and so on.
After this, I move to on a combined Adaptation and Max Strength Phase, while continuing a Long Interval riding routine (more on that program when it starts).
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A New Beginning, a Glimmer of Hope
This morning, I did one of my favorite training races: The West River Time Trial in Philadelphia.
It's an out-and-back course on mostly flat roads. It follows a bend in the river, giving it a boomerang shape on a map, and the winds are always a little odd. The course is about 8.3 miles round trip.
This is my first time doing it in two years. Heck, it was the first time I was on my time trial bike in two years.
Warming up, I was a little wobbly. Not being on aero bars for a long time can have that effect. I felt strong, though. I was surprised to see numbers like "23 mph" while warming up at my intended heart rates.
At the start, it was good to see my old teammates and meet some new ones. Guys like Ted Slack and Rob Brothers gave me a warm welcome back. To be honest, it felt really good that someone noticed I was back riding. Dave Harwi kindly noted that I'd "bulked up." Thanks, Dave ;-)
When I stepped up the the starting line, Rob was timing. His words echoed in my head. "It's a new beginning. You know how to do this, man!" He counted me down. 5...4...3...2...1...
For those of you not familiar with it, a time trial is a bike race where one rider starts every 30 seconds. You ride the distance as fast as you can, not really knowing how anyone else is doing. 30 seconds is a LONG way, considering most cyclists are riding at 20 to 25 mph. If the riders are evenly matched, you barely see anyone the whole race, except people going the other direction. It's all a matter of discipline to keep the pace high, self-knowledge of your thresholds so you don't go too hard and burn yourself out, and tolerance for pain as the lactic acid accumulates in your muscles. I, being the sick person that I am, love them. The other draw, is that as you lie on the aero bars, it almost feels like you're flying.
I barely remember the time trial itself. I remember the start, the turnaround, catching the guy who started 30 seconds ahead of me, and getting passed by two other guys who started behind me. I had two goals: keep my heart rate near threshold (about 160 BPM) and my cadence 90 - 93 RPM. I have a bad habit of pushing too big a gear at a lower cadence.
For my first day back, I can't complain. I covered 8.3 miles in 22:34, about 21.9 mph average.
Waking up at 191 pounds and 26.6% this morning, I still have 26 pounds to lose before I hit my target weight. I can only imagine how much faster I'll be able to cover that course carrying less weight.
It's an out-and-back course on mostly flat roads. It follows a bend in the river, giving it a boomerang shape on a map, and the winds are always a little odd. The course is about 8.3 miles round trip.
This is my first time doing it in two years. Heck, it was the first time I was on my time trial bike in two years.
Warming up, I was a little wobbly. Not being on aero bars for a long time can have that effect. I felt strong, though. I was surprised to see numbers like "23 mph" while warming up at my intended heart rates.
At the start, it was good to see my old teammates and meet some new ones. Guys like Ted Slack and Rob Brothers gave me a warm welcome back. To be honest, it felt really good that someone noticed I was back riding. Dave Harwi kindly noted that I'd "bulked up." Thanks, Dave ;-)
When I stepped up the the starting line, Rob was timing. His words echoed in my head. "It's a new beginning. You know how to do this, man!" He counted me down. 5...4...3...2...1...
For those of you not familiar with it, a time trial is a bike race where one rider starts every 30 seconds. You ride the distance as fast as you can, not really knowing how anyone else is doing. 30 seconds is a LONG way, considering most cyclists are riding at 20 to 25 mph. If the riders are evenly matched, you barely see anyone the whole race, except people going the other direction. It's all a matter of discipline to keep the pace high, self-knowledge of your thresholds so you don't go too hard and burn yourself out, and tolerance for pain as the lactic acid accumulates in your muscles. I, being the sick person that I am, love them. The other draw, is that as you lie on the aero bars, it almost feels like you're flying.
I barely remember the time trial itself. I remember the start, the turnaround, catching the guy who started 30 seconds ahead of me, and getting passed by two other guys who started behind me. I had two goals: keep my heart rate near threshold (about 160 BPM) and my cadence 90 - 93 RPM. I have a bad habit of pushing too big a gear at a lower cadence.
For my first day back, I can't complain. I covered 8.3 miles in 22:34, about 21.9 mph average.
Waking up at 191 pounds and 26.6% this morning, I still have 26 pounds to lose before I hit my target weight. I can only imagine how much faster I'll be able to cover that course carrying less weight.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Diet
Almost any expert out there will tell you that losing weight is part what you eat and part exercise.
I'm hesitant to call it "diet", since most people associate the term with something short term to lose weight or some latest fad. I'm trying to do more than that. I'm trying to adjust my eating in a way that I can maintain the rest of my life. That means keeping in a few things that are bad for me, because I just won't give up chocolate forever. Sorry.
I started by figuring out how many calories I needed to eat. To get that, first I needed my basal (or resting) metabolic rate to figure out how many calories I needed just to stay alive and healthy. Using my weight and lean body mass, I used the formulas at http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html to come up with 1754 calories.
I'll write more about my training regiment in a later post. For now, let's just say it's a little more than "moderate." ;-) Based on that, using the same site, I used a multiplier of 1.9
1754 * 1.9 = 3332 calories per day.
Assuming a target of losing 5 pounds per month and 3500 calories per pound of fat, I need to consume 17,500 calories less per month than I'm burning. Dividing that over 30 days, I need to eat 583 calories less per day. 3332 - 583 = 2749 calories per day
Now I have a target. Shockingly, that's more than I was eating when I gained all this weight. The difference is that I'm training again. With that in mind, I don't want to put my body in starvation mode and I'm training hard enough to worry about replenishing muscle and liver glycogen between workouts. Of course, I'm keeping an eye on this and will make adjustments as necessary.
I started off working on portion control. No more classic three meals per day. I'm now eating 4 to 5 meals a day, never going more than 4 hours without eating. Instead of going from "stuffed to capacity" to "hungry enough to eat my desk", now I go from "just satisfied" to "just thinking about food."
Each meal will be 550 to 680 calories per day (depending on how many I eat, 4 or 5, plus some will be larger and some will be smaller). Trust me, that's not a big meal.
Eating such small meals, I'm now eating more from the grocery store and less from the restaurants. Sometimes a meal is just a bagel with peanut butter or jam and a glass of apple juice.
As far as what I'm eating, it's all just normal foods. I love Golden Grahams for breakfast. I eat a lot of bagels (usually with strawberry jam), English muffins (usually with peanut butter), oranges, carrots, rye toast, yogurt, turkey sandwiches, and canned tuna (usually on the toasted rye, with relish). When I'm riding, sometimes I'll have a PowerBar (the good old kind that you can leave in your car for a month and it's still fine) and, like most cyclists, I'm addicted to Cytomax.
I still have a Coke once in a while or a Hershey bar. As long as they fit within the day's calorie intake, why not? I'm planning on eating like this for the foreseeable future and I want to have something good once in a while. I'm not going to cut out everything I like. Part of being thinner is a better lifestyle, which includes a candy bar once in a while!
Let me mention, none of those are "low fat" or "low cal" versions of something else.If I'm eating yogurt, it's the real deal. I'm not getting "light" bagels or anything like that. My Coke is the bright red labeled Coca Cola, with lots of empty sugar calories. At least I can burn the sugar on the bike!
I picked these things because I like them. Everything on the list I like. I'd never stick with it if I were eating a bunch of things I hated.
That said, I am eating less soda, cheese, and candy than I was. Kicking the soda habit was hard. I had a caffeine headache for about two weeks. I'm eating less often at fast food and casual "junk on the wall" restaurants.
I've almost completely cut out mayo, butter, and potato chips. I could have them in moderation, but I'm not a moderation kind of guy. I figured off I was better off just ruling them out.
As far as supplements, I'm not taking any. The closest I come is Cytomax (a sports drink) while riding and a daily multivitamin (the kind you get the store brand of for about $8 for a 6 month supply). I've long believed that any supplements that really work are banned in sport anyway. No point in using them to get ready to ride again.
That's probably enough on diet for now, though it's really a huge topic!
Just as an update, as of this morning, I'm down to 192, a loss of 5 pounds in 4 weeks, so I'm on target so far!
I'm hesitant to call it "diet", since most people associate the term with something short term to lose weight or some latest fad. I'm trying to do more than that. I'm trying to adjust my eating in a way that I can maintain the rest of my life. That means keeping in a few things that are bad for me, because I just won't give up chocolate forever. Sorry.
I started by figuring out how many calories I needed to eat. To get that, first I needed my basal (or resting) metabolic rate to figure out how many calories I needed just to stay alive and healthy. Using my weight and lean body mass, I used the formulas at http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html to come up with 1754 calories.
I'll write more about my training regiment in a later post. For now, let's just say it's a little more than "moderate." ;-) Based on that, using the same site, I used a multiplier of 1.9
1754 * 1.9 = 3332 calories per day.
Assuming a target of losing 5 pounds per month and 3500 calories per pound of fat, I need to consume 17,500 calories less per month than I'm burning. Dividing that over 30 days, I need to eat 583 calories less per day. 3332 - 583 = 2749 calories per day
Now I have a target. Shockingly, that's more than I was eating when I gained all this weight. The difference is that I'm training again. With that in mind, I don't want to put my body in starvation mode and I'm training hard enough to worry about replenishing muscle and liver glycogen between workouts. Of course, I'm keeping an eye on this and will make adjustments as necessary.
I started off working on portion control. No more classic three meals per day. I'm now eating 4 to 5 meals a day, never going more than 4 hours without eating. Instead of going from "stuffed to capacity" to "hungry enough to eat my desk", now I go from "just satisfied" to "just thinking about food."
Each meal will be 550 to 680 calories per day (depending on how many I eat, 4 or 5, plus some will be larger and some will be smaller). Trust me, that's not a big meal.
Eating such small meals, I'm now eating more from the grocery store and less from the restaurants. Sometimes a meal is just a bagel with peanut butter or jam and a glass of apple juice.
As far as what I'm eating, it's all just normal foods. I love Golden Grahams for breakfast. I eat a lot of bagels (usually with strawberry jam), English muffins (usually with peanut butter), oranges, carrots, rye toast, yogurt, turkey sandwiches, and canned tuna (usually on the toasted rye, with relish). When I'm riding, sometimes I'll have a PowerBar (the good old kind that you can leave in your car for a month and it's still fine) and, like most cyclists, I'm addicted to Cytomax.
I still have a Coke once in a while or a Hershey bar. As long as they fit within the day's calorie intake, why not? I'm planning on eating like this for the foreseeable future and I want to have something good once in a while. I'm not going to cut out everything I like. Part of being thinner is a better lifestyle, which includes a candy bar once in a while!
Let me mention, none of those are "low fat" or "low cal" versions of something else.If I'm eating yogurt, it's the real deal. I'm not getting "light" bagels or anything like that. My Coke is the bright red labeled Coca Cola, with lots of empty sugar calories. At least I can burn the sugar on the bike!
I picked these things because I like them. Everything on the list I like. I'd never stick with it if I were eating a bunch of things I hated.
That said, I am eating less soda, cheese, and candy than I was. Kicking the soda habit was hard. I had a caffeine headache for about two weeks. I'm eating less often at fast food and casual "junk on the wall" restaurants.
I've almost completely cut out mayo, butter, and potato chips. I could have them in moderation, but I'm not a moderation kind of guy. I figured off I was better off just ruling them out.
As far as supplements, I'm not taking any. The closest I come is Cytomax (a sports drink) while riding and a daily multivitamin (the kind you get the store brand of for about $8 for a 6 month supply). I've long believed that any supplements that really work are banned in sport anyway. No point in using them to get ready to ride again.
That's probably enough on diet for now, though it's really a huge topic!
Just as an update, as of this morning, I'm down to 192, a loss of 5 pounds in 4 weeks, so I'm on target so far!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Opening Thoughts
I thought this was an experience I might want to record.
Right now, I'm pretty fat I have been for the last year, with my weight mostly fluctuating between 190 and 198. I never crossed 200, but I've come pretty close.
Why? There's a number of reasons. I was sliding for a while, but I think the real killer came when I did the double-whammy: took a new job near Princeton and moved to New Jersey. Suddenly, I went from walking 2 1/2 miles a day and living right next to some great cycling areas to not walking at all and living in a place with terrible roads for cycling. Making matters worse, I was traveling for work a lot and eating with a group of people a lot, so I was more likely to eat huge portions of restaurant food instead of a sandwich.
More than anything, I didn't have any motivation to get on the bike and I was completely outside the culture where I was influenced to get back on.
I slowly grew over about six months. By the time of my wedding and honeymoon, I had topped off at about 199 pounds. I stayed in that same realm for about a year, but never crossed 200 lbs.
When I started my MBA in September 2008, my amount free time got even smaller. When I got back into firearms in December and started going to the range, I had a hobby to keep my busy.
In February 2009, I got a membership at a local gym. It was small, but at least it had weight equipment and a couple elliptical machines. I started workout out there a couple times a week. Within a couple months, the gym moved into the same building as the bike shop owned by the same guy. The new location made it REALLY small, with just a couple cardio machines, a few weight machines, and a dumbbell rack. The gym was not a great fit for me, but at least it got me moving. I found one elliptical machine that I liked, and rode it about four times a week.
A couple weeks ago, I finally decided that to lose the weight I had gained (about 30 pounds from where I'd really like to be), I'd have to plan it like I used to do with my training. I based my plans off the local gym, thinking that using dumbbells would give me more of a workout than machines anyway. I also figured that I could find dumbbells at most hotel gyms. I was thinking that I could ride the trainer 3 mornings a week, ride outdoors on the weekends, and lift 2 or 3 nights a week.
My first week, while great in the training log, was brutal. I rode 7.7 hours and lifted twice. The first night lifting was mostly upper body and left me so sore that I was sure both my arms were broken. It really was excruciating.
That night left me thinking that I didn't have the right gym. I realized that any time I had been there to workout, if anyone else was around, the room felt crowded. I knew that I would need a little more space. So, I went and found a new gym.
There is a branch just up the road, so I went to check it out. As soon as I walked in, I knew it was for me. They had a squat cage, an incline leg press, a spinning studio, and stationary bikes with fans built into them. I knew it was time to make a change.
Last weekend had me thinking about racing again. I got in 2-hour rides on both days, and even though I'm a lot heavier, I was still able to hold 20 mph or so at Tempo intensity and 17 mph at a cruising pace. When I lifted for the first time at the new gym on Friday, I was doing squats and leg presses, not at the mega weights that I used to, but still not bad (12x135 lbs on the squat and 15x270 on the leg press). I'm nowhere near the performance I had before, but I hadn't lost as much as I had expected to.
What do I really want to do? First off, I want to get rid of the gut, slim my face back down, and get back into pants with a 32-inch waist. I'd like to at least tone up my arms and build some core strength, which I was always bad about. I'd like to get my body fat percentage below 15% (I really want 12%, but we'll see about that).
Performance-wise, I'd love to get some racing speed back. Ideally, long-term, I want to get back into doing the 8.3 mile West River Time Trials with a time of less than 20 minutes (less than 19 would be better ;-) ).
While I love the sensation of crushing people on the road, I know I'm not nervy enough to do criteriums all the time. I like my skin reasonably intact. Crits tend to have a lot more crashes than I'm ready for.
The 2010 racing season is a long way off, but it helps to have goals. One closer performance goal is that I want to do the Breakaway RPM classes this fall (starting in October) and I want to be able to hold my own in there, not get killed with a high body weight and low power output. I'd like have a threshold power of 1.5 to 1.6 watts per pound by winter, then maybe up to 1.8 by spring.
I'm also looking for rewards for myself if I can get down to 165 pounds again. I've kicked around a few ideas, but I know I don't really need (and can't really afford it anyway!). I'd love to get my right leg tattooed like my left one is, but that's expensive too. Maybe something like a new suit for work?
I've been loading myself with motivators. I just renewed my membership to QCW/Breakawaybikes.com, bought myself a new team uniform, I'm blogging about weight loss, I'm telling everyone I know that I'm doing it, I've joined Traineo, and I'm reading up on fitness again (including renewing my membership to NSCA).
So, yes, I'm diving in with both feet. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit in all the workouts I want each week. I've modified my diet, eating five small meals a day and not going more than four hours without eating. I'm eating less cheese and fewer potato chips cheese, cut out mayo, and a lot more English muffins and tuna.
As a start, as of May 17, when I decided to do this:
197 pounds
28.2% body fat
38 inch waist
I plan to get about a month of training in before doing any testing. I don't want to set too low of a bar for myself.
Right now, I'm pretty fat I have been for the last year, with my weight mostly fluctuating between 190 and 198. I never crossed 200, but I've come pretty close.
Why? There's a number of reasons. I was sliding for a while, but I think the real killer came when I did the double-whammy: took a new job near Princeton and moved to New Jersey. Suddenly, I went from walking 2 1/2 miles a day and living right next to some great cycling areas to not walking at all and living in a place with terrible roads for cycling. Making matters worse, I was traveling for work a lot and eating with a group of people a lot, so I was more likely to eat huge portions of restaurant food instead of a sandwich.
More than anything, I didn't have any motivation to get on the bike and I was completely outside the culture where I was influenced to get back on.
I slowly grew over about six months. By the time of my wedding and honeymoon, I had topped off at about 199 pounds. I stayed in that same realm for about a year, but never crossed 200 lbs.
When I started my MBA in September 2008, my amount free time got even smaller. When I got back into firearms in December and started going to the range, I had a hobby to keep my busy.
In February 2009, I got a membership at a local gym. It was small, but at least it had weight equipment and a couple elliptical machines. I started workout out there a couple times a week. Within a couple months, the gym moved into the same building as the bike shop owned by the same guy. The new location made it REALLY small, with just a couple cardio machines, a few weight machines, and a dumbbell rack. The gym was not a great fit for me, but at least it got me moving. I found one elliptical machine that I liked, and rode it about four times a week.
A couple weeks ago, I finally decided that to lose the weight I had gained (about 30 pounds from where I'd really like to be), I'd have to plan it like I used to do with my training. I based my plans off the local gym, thinking that using dumbbells would give me more of a workout than machines anyway. I also figured that I could find dumbbells at most hotel gyms. I was thinking that I could ride the trainer 3 mornings a week, ride outdoors on the weekends, and lift 2 or 3 nights a week.
My first week, while great in the training log, was brutal. I rode 7.7 hours and lifted twice. The first night lifting was mostly upper body and left me so sore that I was sure both my arms were broken. It really was excruciating.
That night left me thinking that I didn't have the right gym. I realized that any time I had been there to workout, if anyone else was around, the room felt crowded. I knew that I would need a little more space. So, I went and found a new gym.
There is a branch just up the road, so I went to check it out. As soon as I walked in, I knew it was for me. They had a squat cage, an incline leg press, a spinning studio, and stationary bikes with fans built into them. I knew it was time to make a change.
Last weekend had me thinking about racing again. I got in 2-hour rides on both days, and even though I'm a lot heavier, I was still able to hold 20 mph or so at Tempo intensity and 17 mph at a cruising pace. When I lifted for the first time at the new gym on Friday, I was doing squats and leg presses, not at the mega weights that I used to, but still not bad (12x135 lbs on the squat and 15x270 on the leg press). I'm nowhere near the performance I had before, but I hadn't lost as much as I had expected to.
What do I really want to do? First off, I want to get rid of the gut, slim my face back down, and get back into pants with a 32-inch waist. I'd like to at least tone up my arms and build some core strength, which I was always bad about. I'd like to get my body fat percentage below 15% (I really want 12%, but we'll see about that).
Performance-wise, I'd love to get some racing speed back. Ideally, long-term, I want to get back into doing the 8.3 mile West River Time Trials with a time of less than 20 minutes (less than 19 would be better ;-) ).
While I love the sensation of crushing people on the road, I know I'm not nervy enough to do criteriums all the time. I like my skin reasonably intact. Crits tend to have a lot more crashes than I'm ready for.
The 2010 racing season is a long way off, but it helps to have goals. One closer performance goal is that I want to do the Breakaway RPM classes this fall (starting in October) and I want to be able to hold my own in there, not get killed with a high body weight and low power output. I'd like have a threshold power of 1.5 to 1.6 watts per pound by winter, then maybe up to 1.8 by spring.
I'm also looking for rewards for myself if I can get down to 165 pounds again. I've kicked around a few ideas, but I know I don't really need (and can't really afford it anyway!). I'd love to get my right leg tattooed like my left one is, but that's expensive too. Maybe something like a new suit for work?
I've been loading myself with motivators. I just renewed my membership to QCW/Breakawaybikes.com, bought myself a new team uniform, I'm blogging about weight loss, I'm telling everyone I know that I'm doing it, I've joined Traineo, and I'm reading up on fitness again (including renewing my membership to NSCA).
So, yes, I'm diving in with both feet. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit in all the workouts I want each week. I've modified my diet, eating five small meals a day and not going more than four hours without eating. I'm eating less cheese and fewer potato chips cheese, cut out mayo, and a lot more English muffins and tuna.
As a start, as of May 17, when I decided to do this:
197 pounds
28.2% body fat
38 inch waist
I plan to get about a month of training in before doing any testing. I don't want to set too low of a bar for myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
