It's conference time! I pretty much won't get to train this week.
I'll be in Vegas, staying at a hotel that charges $20 for every time you want to use the gym. I'll be 3 hours off from my normal sleeping pattern, so I expect to be a bit of a mess. Perfect for a rest/recovery week from the bike.
At once point, I made the comment here that my weight could be "as low as" 177 by this time. As of this morning, I'm 176.2. I'm very happy about that. That's a loss of 17.8 pounds since July.
Fatigue-wise, I'm really ready for the break. The last few days, I could feel all the accumulated stress in my legs from riding pretty intensely for the last 6 weeks since vacation. I got a little bit of a break the week of the hurricane, but not much. My legs really need this.
I'm hoping not to gain too much weight back this week. I put it on the training plan as 1.4 pounds. I know, it's a lot, but I figured I'd plan for the worst.
Keeping in mind that I'll be off training for 10 days around Christmas and will probably gain weight then, I'm still looking at being at 170 by my birthday. After that, I'll slow down the loss and focus more on being race-fit (165 or so) for the races in April.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Defining My Best
My recent record-breaking rides have me wondering: how do I define "the best shape ever"?
Going by weight, I'm not even close. I'm at 178 pounds and 19.4% body fat right now. My best there was 161 pounds and 13%.
Going by sprint power, that was 1300 watts for 5 seconds. I'm barely hitting 1100 these days (though I sprint maybe once every 2 weeks in the winter).
Beyond that, the numbers have gotten more interesting.
Below are a few numbers: The best I had ever done until July 2012 (when I started my current training program, which is focused on FTP and VO2 intensities) and the test numbers from the last
week:
So... am I in the best shape of my life? Maybe.
If nothing else, I can definitely say that my new training program is working very well.
PS: That might be the last table I ever post. That was a major pain in the ass to get it to format right!
Going by weight, I'm not even close. I'm at 178 pounds and 19.4% body fat right now. My best there was 161 pounds and 13%.
Going by sprint power, that was 1300 watts for 5 seconds. I'm barely hitting 1100 these days (though I sprint maybe once every 2 weeks in the winter).
Beyond that, the numbers have gotten more interesting.
Below are a few numbers: The best I had ever done until July 2012 (when I started my current training program, which is focused on FTP and VO2 intensities) and the test numbers from the last
week:
| Pre-July 2012 | Nov 2012 | Wattage | Percent | |
| Best 5:00 | 320 watts | 341 watts | 21 watts | 6.6% |
| Best 8:00 | 295 watts | 324 watts | 29 watts | 9.8% |
| Best 20:00 | 268 watts | 282 watts | 14 watts | 5.2% |
So... am I in the best shape of my life? Maybe.
If nothing else, I can definitely say that my new training program is working very well.
PS: That might be the last table I ever post. That was a major pain in the ass to get it to format right!
Saturday, November 10, 2012
On the Podium
It's no secret that I'm a bit competitive. Recently, I took part in a different kind of competition.
I was in a weight loss competition.
My office had a weight loss competition in which 24 people participated. Each one of us paid $10 and the money was paid out to the three people who lost the highest percentage of their body weight over a 10 week period.
Of course, some people stayed the same. Some people gained weight. Some people lost a whole bunch in the first few weeks. Others did not officially weigh in, so no one knew how they were doing.
I was doing the slow-and-steady loss (with a slight slip for vacation).
In the end, I lost 5.6% of my body weight, or about 10 1/2 pounds. That was enough to finish in 3rd place. The winner lost 9.6% of her body weight and the second place person lost 7.6%. When it started, I figured I was planning to lose the weight anyway, so why not see if I could make some money doing it? It worked (for a princely sum of $48).
As of today, I'm 178.6 and 19.2% body fat. I had mentioned before that I could make it to 177 before I go to the conference in two weeks, and now I think it's almost a certainty.
How low can I go? I don't know. Since I'm sticking to the 12-week at a time strategy, it's hard to say.
I'd like to be 170 for my 39th birthday at the end of January. I might even like to be in the lower 160's by racing season. If I could stay in the 168 to 172 range, which I have often fondly referred to as my "skating weight", I'd be really happy. Even better, if I could stay at that weight for a full year until I turn 40, then I would have built the habits to stay at that weight.
I can't imagine a better 40th birthday present to myself than being really fit when I turn 40.
PS: I also set two new personal best power numbers:
Best 5:00 329 watts
Best 10:00 306 watts
I was in a weight loss competition.
My office had a weight loss competition in which 24 people participated. Each one of us paid $10 and the money was paid out to the three people who lost the highest percentage of their body weight over a 10 week period.
Of course, some people stayed the same. Some people gained weight. Some people lost a whole bunch in the first few weeks. Others did not officially weigh in, so no one knew how they were doing.
I was doing the slow-and-steady loss (with a slight slip for vacation).
In the end, I lost 5.6% of my body weight, or about 10 1/2 pounds. That was enough to finish in 3rd place. The winner lost 9.6% of her body weight and the second place person lost 7.6%. When it started, I figured I was planning to lose the weight anyway, so why not see if I could make some money doing it? It worked (for a princely sum of $48).
As of today, I'm 178.6 and 19.2% body fat. I had mentioned before that I could make it to 177 before I go to the conference in two weeks, and now I think it's almost a certainty.
How low can I go? I don't know. Since I'm sticking to the 12-week at a time strategy, it's hard to say.
I'd like to be 170 for my 39th birthday at the end of January. I might even like to be in the lower 160's by racing season. If I could stay in the 168 to 172 range, which I have often fondly referred to as my "skating weight", I'd be really happy. Even better, if I could stay at that weight for a full year until I turn 40, then I would have built the habits to stay at that weight.
I can't imagine a better 40th birthday present to myself than being really fit when I turn 40.
PS: I also set two new personal best power numbers:
Best 5:00 329 watts
Best 10:00 306 watts
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Forced Recovery
This week's training plan didn't exactly work out.
Monday is normally my day off. Tuesday we didn't have power due to the hurricane. Late Tuesday, I started coughing.
Wednesday I was still coughing. I tried to get a workout that morning and my heart rate was running VERY high.
Thursday and Friday I took off from the bike and from work. I felt terrible.
Saturday, I got on the trainer and felt a little better. I still kept it relatively easy. Today I did a little more normal Sunday workout, which is to say still pretty easy but for two hours.
So, I pretty much did a recovery week when I had not planned on it. As a consequence, I'll do the planned workouts from last week this week instead.
Surprisingly, I lost a good bit of weight this week. As of this morning, I'm 179.8 pounds and 20.3% body fat. Even though I was sick and barely training, I kept a close eye on what I ate and it still worked out pretty well.
Monday is normally my day off. Tuesday we didn't have power due to the hurricane. Late Tuesday, I started coughing.
Wednesday I was still coughing. I tried to get a workout that morning and my heart rate was running VERY high.
Thursday and Friday I took off from the bike and from work. I felt terrible.
Saturday, I got on the trainer and felt a little better. I still kept it relatively easy. Today I did a little more normal Sunday workout, which is to say still pretty easy but for two hours.
So, I pretty much did a recovery week when I had not planned on it. As a consequence, I'll do the planned workouts from last week this week instead.
Surprisingly, I lost a good bit of weight this week. As of this morning, I'm 179.8 pounds and 20.3% body fat. Even though I was sick and barely training, I kept a close eye on what I ate and it still worked out pretty well.
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