I'm still upright & breathing!

I dont' know if anyone is still following here, but I felt it was time to start posting here again.  It's been over 4 years since my last post here & I won't go into details about what's been happening since my last post.  Let's just say it's time to get my act together again & start training to get in shape to control my Type 2 diabetes.  This blog is mainly for me to post my status as I try to get into good shape for the Tour de Cure here in Atlanta towards the end of May 2014.  My goal is to have my weight down to at least 180 lbs.  I currently weigh 205.  My first target is to try to be down to 190 by my 51st birthday on March 5, 2014.  If I manage to be below 180 by Tour de Cure, that's great.  I've started seriously training again earlier this week.  I have been doing on the bike workouts using my rollers & my fluid trainer depending on the specific workout scheduled.  I also have been doing a light strength workout routine using my Bowflex Extreme.  I don't plan on getting huge up top, just want to tone up so I won't be using large amount of weight.  I also have been starting the Cyclo-Core & Cyclo-Zen workouts again.  I would eventually like to get Cyclo90, but that will have to wait till I have the extra money.  I forgot how challenging the Cyclo-Core workouts can be seeing as it's been quite some time since I have done any of them.  I am staying somewhat in my comfort zone until my body acclimates to the exercises once again.  I hope that will only be a couple of weeks.  After that, it's full gas with the workouts.  I have told other family members that I'm tired of having my time to workout interruped & that I am doing this for my health.  I don't want to end up having open heart surgery like my father had to have years ago.  I also don't want my Type 2 diabetes to turn into Type 1.  I am going to do what I have to do to regain control of it & lose the weight I need to lose.  My long range goal is to lose the weight & being racing in 2015.  I saw a saying somewhere & I have adopted it for my mantra.  It goes like this

If it's important, you'll find a way, if not you'll find an excuse.

Well I am tired of making excuses for not taking better care of myself.  I want to be around when my youngest granddaughter at least graduates from high school if not college.  I will try to post at least weekly & post my status of my challenges.  If anyone is reading this I hope you will leave a comment or that my struggles will encourage you to take a challenge & change your life & health for the better.

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.

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.

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......

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.

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.

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.....