Summer fading.

The summer weather is definitely fading to fall. No sign of change in the leaves so far but the evening temperatures have been lower. The cooler temps make riding way more comfortable for me though. The first day of this "training week" my weight dropped to 221.5. I was up and down but finished this week, #6, at 221.5 this morning. This was also a good week for power with more routes finished at > 18mph, including Tuesday's 21.8 miler at 18.6. Monday's route included 2 nice climbs with average power for the entire ride of 192 watts/213w NP and 20 minute peak of 213w avg/238w NP. Last night I had a strong start but got hammered by wind which slowed me down but my average power was 186. All of my rides for the past week have showed IF values > 1.0, so I certainly need to re-estimate my FTP. I've been using an estimated value of 180 since June, but based on 7 day distribution charts its probably closer to 190. My 60 min peak NP has been consistently around 200 watts, so that's what I'm going with.

Food control still going well. Still not hitting the weights though.

My appointment with the cardiologist was rescheduled for 9/28 which gives me 4 full weeks to shed a few more pounds. I'd like to be 215 or less for that appointment. If I get sufficient warm weather into October or perhaps even November, I think I'll climb Thatcher to Wolf Hill and see how it goes. I'd like to try it as close to 200lbs as possible.

Vacation update

Pretty quiet around here this week as Iain is attending The Running School in the Catskills. I started and ended the week at 225, but had been as low as 223.5 mid-week probably from some consecutive dehydrating rides. We've eaten out quite a bit but only last night's dinner was really rich. We did stop into the spumoni shop for gelato, better not do that very often.

It was a very good week for power output. Today I rode my medium out and back route (25.5 miles) in 1:25:11 (18.2mph) at average power of 182 watts, 202 watts NP. Yesterday I finished a 23.7 mile route with a few climbs at 17.3, average power 169 watts, 208 watts NP.

Got home from fencing tonight and Sandy had brought home a vanilla/peanut butter/chocolate sundae. Almost went for it but I decided to leave it for breakfast ; ).

Week 4 wrap up.

Finished up the last 4 weeks with a weight of 227 giving me a net loss of 8.5lbs, 1.5lbs short of my goal. Not a problem for me though. I've avoided the late night snacking and binge eating demons and have been getting out to ride regularly and frequently. During week 1 I was putting out 160-170 watts avg for an hour. Tonight I averaged 173 watts over ~90minutes, 60 min peak was 178w/208w NP. Decent progress in a month.

So my new goal is another 8 lbs in 4 weeks. Day one I was down to 225 and this morning was down to 224.5. I'm going to try and keep my weekly mileage >120 and try to finish a short out and back with an average speed > 18.0. Best out and back time so far is 1:03:30.

Before the riding season ends I want to pick up one of these. I think it'd be cool to video some of my rides so I'll something interesting to watch when I'm on the trainer.

I've also been thinking about one of these. Don't really know why. Maybe it'd be fun to ride around the neighborhood during the off season.

Mirror vs Scale

I was talking to my buddy and coworker Chris about body weight today. I asked him if he weighs himself everyday and his answer was "I used to. Now I just look in the mirror." I laughed.

It's Wednesday and I'm one day from the end of a 4 week period for which I set myself a goal to lose 10 lbs. Sunday morning when I stepped up on the scale I was happy enough to see the number 225.0. The number I dreaded seeing a month earlier, 235.0 shocked me out of complacency and I've rededicated myself to living longer, if not lighter. Unfortunately my weight bounces up and down, I guess like everybody else' does so yesterday the number shot back up to 227 and this morning was 228. Looking in the mirror today I have to be happy with what I'm seeing, but I really want to be down to 220 when I see my cardiologist for my annual check up. Since I'm scheduled to see him on the 26th I doubt that's a reality.

I continue to experience the odd twinge in the same place, which tends to get a bit distracting. If these sensations were absent I would reschedule for a month or so down the road but I guess that would be pretty silly given my history.

So, after feeling pretty elated this past Sunday morning I felt really motivated for the day. We had just decided to hit OG for lunch and it was clear I wouldn't have time for a pre-lunch ride. I figured I'd go in the afternoon but decided to work up a bit of an appetite by pushing some iron and maybe get a short run in. I jumped into a circuit of dumbbell presses, squats, blast-strap pull ups and leg lifts in the ab straps. After 15 minutes I stepped onto the treadmill and ran for ~15 then finished with another set of squats. In all I must've done 4 or 5 sets of 10 squats light and fast. Lunch was good, but the lactic acid dessert in the quads was not and the ride never materialized. Monday morning I was nicely crippled.

It took some stretching over the course of the day but I was able to fence then hit the KK for an hour, finishing at midnight. Last night Iain and I hit the MHBW so he could run and I figured I'd spin and give the legs a gentle workout. Rode easy to the RR tracks then turned around and hammered back to the parking lot. Averaged 18.4 inbound, then tooled around for another 10 minutes spinning out the slag. Legs feel good today so far. Hopefully Iain will feel like going out tonight, in which case we'll go to the campus. If not I'll head out over Tawasentha.

Still no snacking or binging. Improvement needed on getting enough sleep.

Had a pretty good week. Iain has wanted to do some riding on days he's not running cross-country so we've been out a few times. First two times we hit the MHBW west of SCCC. Last night we rode laps at the campus. This morning we rode the MHBW east of downtown Sch'tdy past Blatnick Park. After our ride I went out on my short out and back loop and put out better numbers than I have all season. Avg power/NP was 175/191.

This is early in week 4 of my summer 2009 weight reduction effort. Down to 227 this morning after a late dinner last night, 2 lbs to go. Still no late night snacking or binge eating. Have been getting out on the bike on a regular basis, but haven't been very good about doing any lifting.

Found this blog during the TdF in one of LA's tweets. Felt moved after reading much of Fatty's story about himself and Susan. Had to make another donation to the LAF in honor.

I keep thinking about getting a new bike, but I want my next one to be a gem. See the link to my dream bike. So if I can't afford a titanium IF, maybe I'll pick up something for tooling around the neighborhood at night or during the winter. Performance had a couple of simple single speeds that look interesting, and a track bike with a reversible free hub/fixie. Fit that out with cross tires, hmmm.

Wow, feeling pretty damn tired now ; )

Monsoon season

Had a good ride yesterday in the late afternoon. Went out Old State to Fuller, then down Carman to 20/146 and up Tawasentha. No speed record yet up the hill, but was comfortable out of the saddle up the middle third. It was pretty damn windy and I wound up with an avg speed aroud 16.7. Another ride at 159w/182 NP. Peak20/NP was 178/211.

Tonight I spent an hour+ on the KK, didn't feel too bad. Set the rollers up in the garage but they're still too awkward. Maybe after a ton of practice and some mods, like a flywheel and bumpers.

Still no snacking ; )

Late-ish dinner last night as a treat. Sandy and I went to the R. Villa. Nice.