Whoa!

I found out this weekend that our ultimate frisbee games were picking up again starting last week. I was invited to go play tonight at 6, but turned it down because I wanted to get a bike ride in. Today was my only real day off in the evening, and it's also supposed to be the only nice day all week. I took my bike over to the river path and started out with about a 20 minute spin to warm up. Once I got warm, I started doing some intervals that Bicycling Magazine recommended for somebody who is training for a century ride (me). It was 3 eight minute intervals, each followed up by a six minute recovery. During the interval, you were to be doing about 90-95rpm and a 7-8/10 effort. After the first 6 minutes in each interval, I was dying, but I kept at it and figured, if I'm exhausted, my 7-8/10 effort is still the same even if I'm slowing down... because my current 10 is maybe my former 8.

Anyway, I went the same distance I normally do with my goal being to cut some time off and average over 15mph. On the way home, I saw a guy wearing a bright yellow jersey way ahead of me on the path. I decided, I've got about 3.5 miles left before I'm finished. I'm going to catch that guy. I got myself up to about 21-22mph and rode until I got close to him, then I kicked it into high gear because I could see my turn off approaching. I passed him, and then slowed down because my legs were shot. We talked for about 200 yards and then I pulled off. Great ride.

Here are my stats:
Time: 1:35:46
Distance: 25.53 miles
Avg Speed: 16.0mph
Max Speed: 24.5mph

3 Rides, 1 Day

Today, I went on 3 rides. I started off by myself, went for 50 minutes and then got in my car and picked up my fiance at the train station. She came with me for my second ride. We went for an hour together. We came home, and I went for my third ride with my buddy. We went for about 25 minutes and I was SHOT.

Totals:
Time: 2 hours, 14 minutes
Distance: 31.86 miles
Avg Speed: 13.83mph
Max Speed: 27.9 (25.2 on flat)

Update

Turns out, my meeting got out at around 5:30, I made it up to the bike path and got about half an hour in. I rode down around the river and started feeling something hitting me and then heard some *tink* sounds as things hit my helmet and my jacket. I thought at first, is it raining? No... is something falling from the trees? No... there are swarms of gnats! GROSS. I rode a mile and a half through these swarms of gnats. It was gross... then I had to turn around and ride through them again.

On the way back, I stopped at a sign to see where the path I was on went because there were some ways I'd never gone before. As I was standing there, two guys passed me. I figured, I'm running out of light, I should probably head back to my car. I turned and started riding. I figured, lets make a game of this... I'm gonna catch those guys before I have to turn off. Once I got around a turn, I started pushing and got my cadence up to 90rpm and going about 18mph. I wasn't making up much distance on the two guys. I turned it up a bit and started going about 20mph, and started gaining slowly. By the time my turn off came, I was right behind them... I even had about 30 yards to slow down before I turned off. Decent ride.

Here are the stats:
Time: 32:29
Distance: 7.87 miles
Avg Speed: 14.5
Max Speed: 22.2

Rollercoaster Day

Today, I got a text from a friend of mine from college saying he donated money for my City to Shore ride. When I got home, I checked my e-mail to see how much he had donated. Turns out, Mr. Money Bags gave me $100! I was so thrilled I had to call him to say thanks instead of sending out a generic e-mail. Thanks, Kev.

Even though it's only 50 degrees out today, it feels so warm and I want to go ride. Unfortunately, I have to be at a meeting tonight at 5:00. The sun sets at 7:20. The path I ride is at least 45 minutes from my office. The meeting is an hour long. By the time I get to the path, it will be too dark to ride. I'm bummed. Tomorrow I have class and won't be done until 7:15. Again, too late to ride. Friday I've got a good shot at a ride, but I want to get one in today so badly! I called the office to see if I could skip the meeting or do my part on the phone with the director. She asked why, I told her honestly, and then she said no. I told her I'm showing up in my spandex. She seemed excited. haha. I hope the meeting gets out early so I can rush up to the path and maybe got half an hour or so in. I'm wearing my spandex and bringing my bike with me. I'll let you know how it goes.

A Trend

I noticed a trend in my weight loss. For the last few weeks I've been up and down. My biggest gain was made during vacation, I came home, was very strict on myself, and lost a lot, and then last week I gained again because I ate dinner out every night during the week. Sad, but true. I simply need to focus myself on eating like a normal person again. It's only Tuesday, but I ate dinner at home last night and tonight. Tonight I ate more than I should have and I'm sure my weight will suffer a little bit this week as a result, but I want to maintain a normal lifestyle. I like to eat, I like to drink. I can do them both in moderation, or treat myself every once in a while, but I still need to find the balance.

I do attribute my weight loss thus far to being very strict and tracking my calories. I stopped doing that a few weeks ago because I felt like I could estimate my calories at this point in time. I've been successful in that, but I'm eating too much. I am realizing that I have a lot of time to lose the weight that I want to lose. I'm going to set my goal officially... 215 by the time I ride my century in October. I've got plenty of time.

It's starting to get warmer so I can get outside and ride which is great. I hope that helps me lose some weight as well... but the thing I need to change the most? Eat more veggies!

First Ride with my Fiance

Today, my fiance and I went for a bike ride. We loaded our bikes onto the car, packed water and food, and took the bikes over to the Schuylkill River Trail, and then took off on our first ride. We went down to the end of the path, right before it turns into gravel. We didn't want to risk going on the gravel and didn't want to take the other option, the road. So, we turned around and rode back. Good thing we'd made that decision. We ended up riding into the wind for most of the way back. We practiced drafting a little bit so we didn't both have to cut the wind on our own. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again.

Here are the stats:
Time: 1:46:29
Distance: 25.53 miles
Avg Speed: 14.4mph
Max Speed: 23.6mph

YES!

I made my goal of losing all of the weight I gained on vacation, with an extra pound to throw in there for good measure. I WIN VACATION!

I've also been able to get out and ride a few days recently which is great. The fiance and I are planning to go for a ride on Sunday. Hopefully the weather is better than it's calling for right now. They're saying 50. That's a little cold. I'm hoping for a 55-60... but I think we'll probably go regardless. It'll be our first ride together, and that's exciting! I'll get to show off a little bit. ;-)

New Shoes and Good Decisions

Today after I finished my paperwork for work, I went to Performance Bike and picked myself up a pair of Shimano R076 road shoes, water bottles for the fiance and myself, and some socks.

I got home, looked up how to install my cleats into the shoes on youtube, practiced clipping in and out a little bit while holding onto my couch and watching TV, and then got changed. I took my new shoes and my new bike for a ride, and it was great. The best part? My mom had asked me to come out drinking with her work friends after she got off work today. I went for a bike ride instead. I turned down free beer. I'm proud of myself.

OH, and guess what else! I weighed myself this morning; 250.5. That's 8 pounds in 5 days. I guess all that weight I'd gained on vacation was mostly water. Whatever, I'm not complaining, I'm still almost under 250. I hope I can keep the weight off for the whole weekend!

Weight

OH NO!!!

I guess that's what a free vacation with delicious food and lots of alcohol gets me... a 5.5lb weight gain. The way I see it, if I can gain it that fast, I can lose it that fast. I've learned my lesson.

Weight goal: 253 by 3/16.

Back From Vacation

My dad took the family (including my fiance) to Florida for a 5 day trip to celebrate his birthday. We ate at fantastic restaurants, went to Disney, Universal, and Sea World. My fiance was good... she didn't drink more than one drink a night, she got up every morning to work out, and she controlled herself at meals. Me? What do you think? I drank and ate my face off, and had no inspiration to get up in the morning to work out. When we had time in the afternoon to work out, I preferred to sit in the hot tub with my fiance. I mean, it's vacation, right?

When I got home today, it was SO much nicer outside than I had anticipated. When we left home, there was 6 inches of snow on the ground. In Florida, it was mid-70's to low-80's the whole time we were there with no rain. I was aching to ride my new bike. After catching up on my e-mails, I checked the tire pressure in the new bike, and took it out for it's first outside ride. Although I didn't go very far, it was something, and it felt great.

I came back from the ride, before dinner, and before my shower, and I got on the scale. Things aren't looking very good.

I've come to realize that most of my posts here are about my failures, so I'm going to try to change how I view my accomplishments and forget about my failures (or try not to fail, haha). I need to get strict on myself real fast. I'll try to remember to post my weight tomorrow morning and then I'll set a goal for weight loss... hopefully I can get back to where I was before vacation by the end of the week.