Tuesday, June 9, 2009

No More FREAKING Excuses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up yesterday morning & decided that there were NO MORE EXCUSES (except for an injury) for not getting on the bike, doing my core work, & using the Bowflex any more. I just finally got tired of just flat out being LAZY instead of putting in the effort required to getting in better shape. My friend Will gave me a Bowflex at the end of last year. I started out using it quite regularlly, but other things started creeping in on my workout time & I just let it happen. I also had bronchitis for the month of January. I couldn't ride, but that was no excuse for not doing any kind of core workouts. I was just too darn lazy to put in the effort. Through out the first have of the year, I would be consistent when things were going well, but when a monkey wrench was thrown into my plans, I let it get the better of me. Well that's not going to happen any more. I went for a 2 hour ride yesterday & felt good. I just kept a steady pace & averaged 18.45 mph for 36 miles. Later in the day I did a workout on the Bowflex (I cleared the area around it to use it) & finished the day doing some stretching from Cyclo-Zen. Today I commuted to & from work & did the recovery yoga workout from Cyclo-Zen & the cool down & stretch routine from Cyclo-Core. I set a goal to try to be 170 by January 1, 2010. My current weight is 209 lbs. I'll post my progress weekly at the very least. Thanks to everyone who reads this & feel free to comment to keep me honest in my endeavor.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.

Well, I'm using the title of one of my all time favorite movies for this post. I know it's been a loooonnnngggg time since my last post & for that I apologize. I have no one to blame but myself for that. Well, let's start with the good. I rode the American Diabetes Associtation's Tour de Cure on May 17th. The weather really wasn't looking that great, it had been raining most of the weekend & I thought it would be another year of riding in the rain. Riding in the rain really doesn't bother me as long as it's not pouring down rain, thundering, or lightning out. It was overcast the entire ride, but it seemed that the rain was going to hold off. I was riding with a good group of people & we were going at a good pace, each rider was taking a turn at the front & we were doing around a 20 mph average. I wanted to stay with this group, but Mother Nature had other ideas. I had to stop at a rest stop to use the rest room & lost the group. I then rode solo for about the the next 20-25 miles, passing people along the way. I invited them to hook on to me & I'd be more than willing to pull them with me, but most of them didn't want to ride at the pace I was riding at, which was cool with me. As I was on the way back to the start of the ride, I caught up with the group I had been riding with at the start of the ride. I hooked onto the back of the group & rode with them. I certainly felt stronger this year climbing than I had in the past couple of years. I was able to stay with the group on the climbs & there were some short, steep kickers on the way back. The rain, which had held off for most of the ride, started again with about 5 miles left on the route. It was a light & steady rain, nothing bad, so I just had to deal with it. I got back to the starting point, had my lunch, then the rain started to come down harder. I felt sorry for the riders still on the route, having to deal with the rain, but I was glad I wasn't one of them. All in all it was a good ride. My computer or their measure of the route may have been a bit off, because I did about 64 miles in what was supposed to be a 62 mile route. My average speed was 19.55 mph. I'm pleased with that, seeing as I didn't meet one of my target goals for this ride. Now it's time for the bad. I really only had one goal before this ride started & that was to get under 200 lbs. Needless to say I didn't meet that goal. I'm stuck at about 205 for some reason & can't seem to get off this plateau. I'm staying away from the junk food (as much as possible) & trying to eat better. I guess I'll have to figure out why I'm stuck here & get down to losing more weight. Now comes the ugly. A few weeks ago I did a week of leg spinning work on the bike. Ever since that week, my left knee has a tendency to become sore during a longer ride. It usually doesn't bother me for rides that are less than 2 hours, but anything longer than that & I start to feel it. I did feel it on the Tour de Cure. After about 2+ hours on the ride, I felt a slight pain in the knee, but it really wasn't that bad, at the time. Come about the 3 hour mark, I felt it a bit more. I just took some pain releiver for it after the ride was over & thought it would be fine. I rode the trainer on Tuesday following the Tour de Cure & could still feel some discomfort with the knee. I thought if I rested it the rest of the week, it would get better, but for some reason, it still was hurting throughout the week. I rode this past Memorial Day with some friends & after about 2+ hours, it started up again. I had to get a friend to give me a ride home since I didn't want to push it any further with a sore knee. I'm going to have the guys at Epic Bikes check out my position on the bike to see if it needs any kind of adjustment which might be causing the knee to hurt. Well that's about all I have for now, thanks to everyone who reads this & I'll do my best not to be so lazy & post more often.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Back on track again.

Today I got on the scale & it was reading 207 lbs this morning. I lost 1.6 lbs this past week for a total loss of 4.2 lbs. I realized that I need to watch what I eat & still keep exercising. This past week I was on the bike just about everyday. Today it was raining all day, so I decided I needed to work on my tight back. I did the 30 minute Recovery Yoga workout from Cyclo-Zen. It felt good to stretch again. I admit I've been pretty slack at my stretching & flexibility training. I'll have to find a way to incorporate them at least 3 or more times a week. That's about all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading......

Saturday, April 11, 2009

A Small Step Back & Some Changes

This past Monday I got on the scale & found out that I had actually gained some weight back. I weighed 208.6 lbs last Monday for a slight gain of 1.8 lbs. That means I've lost only 2.6 lbs total. I'm disappointed that I gained some of the weight back, but I know this can happen from time to time. The thing to remember is to stick with what was working before. I wasn't able to ride as much as I wanted to last week due to other commitments. This past week was much better for riding. I've been able to get the workouts I needed to get done this week finished. This upcoming workout schedule is for building up my endurance. I'm glad to get finished with the power part of my workouts for the time being. They do work, but they are some of the hardest workouts I've done on a bike. I'm looking forward to just riding and not killing myself like it felt I had been doing for the past couple of weeks. I'm also hoping that the weather will co-operate so I can commute to & from work all next week.
As you've probably noticed by now, I've changed some things on the blog. I thought it was time for a change & wanted to change the layout from the previous one to the current one. I've also added the Everyday Cyclist Podcast to the blog to listen to if you want to. The final addition was a weather forecast so you can check the weather in your area. I hope everyone will enjoy the new layout & continue reading. Thanks for all your support.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I'm getting lighter

Got on the scales again this past Monday. I'm down to 206.8 lbs. Lost another 1.2 lbs., that makes a total of 4.4 lbs since I started about 4 weeks ago. I've been doing my best to eat right, but I occasionaly have weak moments just like everyone does. I've been trying to be as steady with my exercising as I can. I've finally got the job situation sorted out, so that's one big stress out of my life for the time being. I'm able to start being consistent about riding & doing some of the workouts from the club. I've started doing the Fix the Back - Stretch 3 times a week & doing the Core in 5 at least twice a week when I get up before leaving for work. I'm hoping the weather gets better so I can commute to & from work, to help get some much needed base miles in. I've been pretty consistent with working out this week. I had 5 x 5's to do on Monday. I warmed up using Warm in 5' , then used Cool in 5' after the ride. I also did the Fix the Back - Stretch before going to bed. Yesterday was doing Core in 5' before heading to work. I commuted to work, but the rain came early & had to get a ride home. I did a pyramid workout on the trainer & boy did it hurt. I think that should be considered cruel & unusual punishment. My legs are certainly feeling it today. Tonight was a tempo ride on the trainer to work out the soreness from yesterday's workout. I'm hoping the weather lifts tomorrow to get out on the road for a recovery ride, but only time will tell. I feel I'm getting stronger & using the workouts from the club & on the road workouts, it's only a matter of time. Thanks for all the support from everyone who reads this.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Lost again....

I know this post is late, but I got on the scale this past Monday & the scale said 208 lbs. I lost .8 lbs last week for a total of 3.2 lbs total for the past 3 weeks. Over the weekend I had 2 good rides. I was able to do just short of 40 miles of Saturday. The ride was great & the weather matched the ride. On Sunday I was able to ride with a friend. We did about another 40 miles, but we did 3 10 minute medium/hard efforts. My legs felt pretty good after the ride. Monday was a hill ride. I really need to work on my climbing. It hurt going up hill. I'm going to try to get more hill climbing this weekend if the weather co-operates. I've been checking out the new format of Cyclo-Club & like it so far. I'm going to work on a week's workout this coming week to see how the new format works for me. Thanks for reading.....

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sore & tired legs!!!!!!!

I have 2 tired & sore legs from the past 2 days. Yesterday was a pyramd workout. I've done them before, but this one had a twist to it. Once I got to the 5 minutes hard, instead of dropping down to 4 minutes, I had to do 2 more 5 minutes hard with 5 minutes rest. I was able to get down to the 2 minute interval on the way down, but when I put it in the big ring, my mind said let's go, but my legs said heck no. I ended up just cruising the rest of the way home. This morning was a commute to work, my legs actually felt pretty good on the ride in. The ride home from work was just as good, my legs felt good on the bike. Once I got home, I switched bikes & did a mock sprint workout. That consisted of 10 sets of 15 seconds out of the saddle with 2 minutes rest in between. My legs are certainly feeling it today. I'm glad tomorrow is an easy day. Thanks to Graeme for the Cyclo in 5 series, it's a life saver.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Losing more of me

I got on the scale again first thing this morning & the scale read 208.8 lbs. That's another 1.2 lbs gone this week for a total of 2.4 lbs lost. I was able to watch what I ate most of the week, but at the end of the week I was out of town & it made it harder to choose good things to eat. I made sure I didn't go overboard with what I chose to eat. I was able to ride Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday last week. I also used the Warm in 5 & Cool in 5 before & after each workout. I had to ride the trainer for an hour today due to rain that was just coming down too hard to ride in, that & I didn't feel like spending hours cleaning the bike & drying out my shoes & helmet from riding in the rain. I need to incorporate the Core & Core Advanced in 5 during the week, just to help out with strengthing the core muscles. I'm looking foward to a better week weather wise & getting able to get outdoors and ride more. The on the bike workout schedule this week is going to be a hard one. I know I'll be feeling it, but it will make me stronger in the long run. Thanks for reading.......

Monday, March 9, 2009

Lost this week

I got on the scale this morning & my weight was 210.0 lbs. I lost 1.2 lbs this week. It's a good start to getting back on track. This afternoon the weather was great & I was able to get out & ride. I got in a good 23+ miles today. I started with the Cyclo in 5 Warm program, then went out riding. After the ride I cooled down using Cyclo in 5 Cool program. My legs actually felt better than I thought they would. I was able to do a few steady efforts & it was encouraging to see how I felt. I did register for the Tour de Cure & now it's just a matter of training & fundraising for the ride. I really enjoy this ride. I had to miss it last year & I felt bad about it. I decided that I wasn't going to miss it this year. Tomorrow the workout will be challenging, but I'll manage to somehow survive. I'm glad the time change has taken affect, I'll be able to get out & do the workouts instead of having to do them indoors. Thanks for reading.

Monday, March 2, 2009

A new week

Here we go, off to a good start to a new week. I got on the scale first thing this morning & my weight was 211.2. I have a goal to be under 200 lbs by May 17th for the Tour de Cure. I rode the trainer today for an hour, just spinning my legs, getting back into the flow of things. I used Cyclo in 5 Warm before the ride & then used the Cool after the ride. I'm hoping to be able to stay with my workout schedule this week & even throw in some commuting this week for the extra miles. We'll just have to see how the week unfolds. Thanks for reading......

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Life & other things

I know it's been quite a long bit of time since my last post, but life just has a way of taking good plans & throwing monkey wrenches in them whenever it can. I've been out of town for work & thought that the hotel I was staying in would have at least a stationary bike to ride, but that was one of life's monkey wrenches. All they had were 2 treadmills & an eliptical trainer. I brought along a small dvd player & the Core & Zen dvd's to workout, but once again, another monkey wrench. The buttons of the dvd player had been covered with something & were either sticking or not working at all, so needless to say I got no workouts in at all that week out of town. Last week I was able to learn to ride rollers & actually used them one day for an hour. Riding rollers is a harder workout than using a fluid trainer. I rode for only an hour, but I was totally exhausted after that hour. I was able to do 20.2 miles in that hour & only had to touch the walls twice while reaching for a water bottle. I'm going to try to ride the rollers at least twice a week & get better on them. I'm also going to start posting my weight each Monday to keep me accountable on watching what I'm eating. I hope that this will help me watch what I eat & will help me get my weight under control. I'm hoping that I will hear from people that read this blog for support on my good weeks or get on my case for not sticking with things. I have a scale so each Monday night I will post my weight & the following week will have the amount of weight I've either lost or gained. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog & thanks for all your support.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Finally able to get back on the bike.

This past week, I was finally able to get back on my bike. I can't tell you how good it felt to get out & finally ride again. I was going totally stir crazy the entire time I had been under the weather. I haven't really been pushing it, but I was able to ride 3 days this week so far. My legs really were feeling it the first ride back, but on the last ride I did, they felt pretty good. I rode the road bike home from work for the last ride & had a headwind the entire time, but my legs stayed with me the entire ride. I was surprised that my average speed was as high as it was considering the headwind I had on the way home. I just bought me a couple of new toys to help me get back to where I want to be. I bought a new adjustable fluid trainer that should be much quieter than my old wind trainer. The other new toy is a set of rollers. I've never ridden rollers before but a friend told me he can teach me to ride them in 20 minutes. I'm planning on going up to see him & let him teach me how to ride them. I've heard that they help your bike handling skills & improve your pedal stroke. I certainly hope that they do what I've been told they do. I need all the help I can get. I'm going out of town next week for work, but I'm planning on taking my bike & new fluid trainer with me to keep back in the routine. I'll let everyone know what's going on. I'm sorry I haven't posted in some time, but really haven't had anything to say while being sick & didn't want to whine on here. Thanks to everyone who reads & you're feedback is greatly appreciated.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Sicker than I thought

I thought I only had a cold, but I was wrong. I took it easy all day Saturday, hoping to feel well enough to go out & ride on Sunday afternoon. It turned out that I didn't really sleep much at all that night & felt even worse on Sunday morning. Early Sunday afternoon, I went to the med stop nearby to get checked out. It turns out I have a case of bronchitis. The doctor gave me a prescription for some antibiotics & some Tussin X cough medicine with codine. I was able to get some sleep last night & just took it easy today all day long. I'm feeling a bit better, but I told my boss I was going to take a sick day tomorrow just to give me one more day of rest. I'm hoping to be better by the weekend, so I can hopefully get back on the bike. I really do miss riding. Oh well, such is life, but I should be better here soon & back on track again. Thanks for reading.

Friday, January 23, 2009

I really hate catching a cold!!!!!!

I thought after the ride I was able to do on Monday I was on my way to feeling much better. Boy was I wrong!!!!!!!!!! This whole week has been a total wash for doing any kind of training. Instead of getting better, this cold has gotten worse. I'm able to survive the workday, but when I get home, I'm just totally drained. I was hoping this was going away, but it seems like I get tired sooner & sooner each day. I almost called sick into work today, but somehow I was able to finish the day. When I got home, I pretty much took a shower & laid in the bed to take a nap. I feel a bit better now, but still quite tired. Doesn't look like I'm getting much riding in this weekend with the way I'm feeling, besides the forecast for tomorrow doesn't look that promising anyway. Maybe with resting all day tomorrow, I might be able to get a ride in sometime Sunday for a bit. I'll just have to wait & see how things go day to day. Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Weekend Wrap-up

This past weekend really sucked for doing any kind of workouts. I wasn't feeling well the entire weekend. I don't know if it was the flu or not, all I know is that I felt really rundown & tired the entire weekend. I just took it easy & rested. The rest was needed greatly. Yesterday I was feeling well enough & the weather co-operated enough to let me get in a 2 hour ride. It really felt good to be on the road again. My legs felt pretty good the entire ride. I had a headwind on the way out but the tailwind on the way back certainly was fun. I was supposed to be off totally, but seeing as I missed all weekend, I thought doing a outdoor ride was certainly a good way to make up for the weekend. Today was the 30 minute Recovery Yoga routine from Cyclo-Zen. The workout is getting a bit easier, but it's still challenging for me. That's about all I have for now, thanks for reading.

Friday, January 16, 2009

I'm feeling it still

My legs are certainly still feeling the workout from Tuesday. On Wednesday my workout consisted of warming up for 10 minutes on the bike, then doing Body Weight Conditioning Circuits #2 & #3, then it was back on the bike for 30 mintues, the first 10 minutes warming the legs back up, then 2 x 5 minutes in a big gear with minute rest between sets. After that it was 5 minutes at a high cadence with 10 seconds of super-spinning inserted in each minute in the small chain ring. The rest of the workout was just cooling down. Yesterday, it was just a totally bad day. Things started bad early at work & just stayed that way the entire day. By the time I got home from work, I was tired & really didn't feel like doing a workout. I feel kind of guilty about not doing it, but my mind wouldn't have been into it, so I would have really not gained anything from the workout. I possibly would have hurt something by not really paying attention to the workout. Today was a much better day. I did today's workout which consisted of doing Resistance Training - Funcitonal Circuit #3 from Cyclo-Core. That workout is challenging for me, it definately works my balance doing some of the exercises. The last part of the workout was doing Cyclo-Zen's Fix the Back Core Training Program: both the Strength & Flexibility workouts. I feel much better now that I was able to get the workout done. I was hoping to get outdoors & ride tomorrow, but the weather isn't looking that great to ride outdoors, so I guess it will be trainer time. I also got a surprise in the mail today. I received my Walz cycling cap for winning last month. I must say it really is a nice looking cap, especially with The Everyday Cyclist Challenge logo stitched on the side. I can't wait to show it to my friends. Thanks for reading & the comments, they really are a help to me.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Today was tough!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was the other workout I dread doing besides the Ab & Core workout from Cyclo-Core. Today started out with the 45 minute Yoga Spin workout from Cyclo-Zen. The yoga parts of the workout are the easy part, it's the spin part that will flat wear you out. The harder the gearing got, the lower my cadence became. I tried to keep up a good quick cadence, but by the time you are in a 53 x 15 or 53 x 14, it's just flat out hard to pedal 100 + rpms in that gearing. As I was watching the spin part of the video, I noticed something each time they did a close up of the back of Graeme's bike. Maybe I was just delirious from the workout, but it seemed to me that each time they showed the rear wheel of his bike, it was in the same gear on the rear cassette. As I progressed to the harder gears, it seemed that Graeme was having no problem with a high cadence in the same gearing. I guess I was just suffering more than I thought I was during the spinning part of the workout. If anyone else has noticed the same thing, please let me know. If you haven't noticed that, I'll just chalk it up to my semi-insanity. As if the Yoga Spin workout wasn't enough torture tonight, the program called for one time through the Power workout from Cyclo-Zen also. That workout may only last 8 minutes, but it's certainly 8 minutes of pain, torture, & total agony. I actually was happy to be able to do all the exercises in that workout, but I know I'll be feeling it later this week. The workout ended with the cool down & stretching routine from Cyclo-Core. That certainly was a welcome relief after all that torture!!!!!!!!!!! I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow not too sore, but we'll just have to wait & see.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Catch up time

I'm sorry there hasn't been any posts since last week, but they changed my work schedule on me, so by the time I get home, eat, let the food settle for a bit, then do the workouts, it really doesn't leave much time for posting as often as I would like. I'm going to have to re-schedule some things so I can try to post more often. Last week I did pretty good following the workout schedule. The only workout I really had problems with was the ab & core bonus workout. I was sore from doing it last Tuesday, so when it came time to do it again on Thursday, my abs were still quite sore. I did the best I could, but had problems with some of the exercises. After that it was Body Resistance workouts #2 & #3. I was fine with them except for having to do more crunches. As if I wasn't sore enough from working abs on Tuesday, doing the same workout on Thursday, I had even more ab work to do with Body Resistance #3. Needless to say, I wasn't very successful completing that part of the workout. My abs were just too sore & I was planning on going for a long ride on the weekend. I did the best I could for that day. On Saturday I was able to get a nice long ride in. I was able to spend over 4 hours on the bike. After getting home & eating some food, I did the 30 minute recovery Yoga workout from Cyclo-Zen. Today I was able to get a Bowflex workout in & did about an hour spinning on the trainer. I'll do my best to update more often. Thanks to everyone who reads this & those who leave comments. Your comments & support are greatly appreciated, more than you'll ever know. Thanks again for reading.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Time for an overdue update

Sorry for no posts lately, but the new year has been quite hectic already. I was able to get in all the workouts for last week. It took some doing & sacrifice to get them all in but I managed somehow to get it done. I was able to get out & ride on Sunday with my friend Eddie, we just did a 2 hour steady effort ride, it was a good ride with a great companion. I've learned a lot from Eddie & take what he tells me in, whether it be good or bad. I trust him when it comes to cycling & racing, seeing as he's been at it for much longer than I have. I wasn't able to get a ride in yesterday like I wanted to, I had so much stuff to finish up after the holidays, that yesterday was the only time I was going to have enough time to get it done. Today was the workout I probably hate the most. Today started out with the Bonus Ab & Core Conditioning workout from Cyclo-Core. I'm always sore for a few days after that workout & I know it's really going to hurt seeing as I haven't done it for quite sometime. During the workout it certainly showed how far off I had gotten. After that suffering was over, it was time to do the Body Weight Resistance workouts #2 & #3 from Cyclo-Core. I managed to do the Static Body Pike exercise 3 times today & I was certainly feeling it the last time. I had to skip the Twisting Crunches & Standard Crunches from Body Weight workout #3 because my abs were starting to hurt already. I'm hoping to get some miles in tomorrow but it will probably be on the trainer. The forecast calls for 20-30 mph winds tomorrow. I'll just have to see what the weather brings & go from there. That's about all I have for now, stay tuned for more posts....