It’s been a while - put that down to a difficult and busy few weeks. That’s not to say I haven’t been sticking to the plan.
I had a comment from a guy called Tony, who did weigh 152kg, and got himself down to 122kg. He’s lapsed in the last couple of months, but reading my blog gave him the incentive to get back out on the bike. Ironically, my blogging hasn’t been great recently, and his comment gave me the spur I needed to get typing again.
Firstly, I’m down to 17 stone 13 lbs, a total loss so far of 4 stone 5 lbs. If you can’t visualize that, imagine carrying 27 1kg bags of sugar around your waist.
Diet wise, I’m pretty much consistent - a filling breakfast (museli, porridge, etc), a mid morning museli bar and apple, soup with seeded bread for lunch, and a good healthy tea (chicken, turkey, tuna or salmon with cous cous, pasta, jacket potato or brown rice).
Cycling wise, things have changed. The lighter nights and fairer weather mean I’m not glued to the turbo trainer shifting around in the saddle avoiding numbness. I’ve had a few trips out, but it’s difficult to be as consistent in heart rate monitoring and cadence as it is on the trainer. Nonetheless, I’ve weaned positive results. I have a weekend route of around 30 miles, which at the moment doesn’t involve any hills (I’m still not much of a hill person) but due to the North East wind and coastal roads, is still challenging for someone of my weight and fitness. I’ve also found a route of 10 miles, allowing me to focus on my 10 mile quest outside. Again, no real hills but I shouldn’t try and run before I can walk.
My indoor 10 mile time may well be just over 21 minutes, but outside it’s a different story altogether. I’ve ridden the 10 miles outside twice in the last week, posting a time just under 37 minutes and a time just under 36 minutes. Clearly a long way to go on that front. Not that I’m not hopeful. KB Cycles have given me a brand new (still in bubble wrap) 2006 model Trek Equinox 9 frameset. The idea is to build the bike up over the year ready to start racing in 10 mile time trials in Spring/Summer 2010.
I had the chance to watch a time trial on Saturday, the Barnesbury 21 mile hilly. It was inspiring to watch these guys in their TT gear on their aero bikes getting into the tuck position and racing against the clock. It made me realise that this journey of mine doesn’t have to end with weight loss, as some of the guys racing weren’t what you’d call slight of figure. The winner of this race was KB Cycles’ very own Dominic Munnelly, with a time of 45:37.
One thing I have noticed out on the roads is how quickly my legs fill with lactic acid, which has led me to researching lactic threshold. It’s obvious that my lactic threshold isn’t great, and my legs tire quickly mainly because of the weight I am carrying around when going all out. I would hope that as the weight drops, I will not only become faster, but my lactic threshold will improve. In the meantime I need to consider my training to ensure it covers both consistent fat burning zone training for weight loss, and interval training at 90-95% of maximum heart rate to increase that lactic threshold. On that note, after today’s 10 mile ride my heart rate monitor showed a maximum heart rate of 195bpm, a new high.
On a final note, I’ve been weighing up my options in joining a cycle club, in order to get training advice and joining in group rides. I have a favourite in mind, but I’ll not say anything just yet!
Happy cycling!