I start this blog with trepidation since the fact of writing it presumes (a) that I have something worth writing about and (b) that someone will read it - I have little confidence in either. Nonetheless, here I am.
The trigger for beginning this blog is a culmination of events that began last fall. That is when mid life crisis angst overcame self indulgent inertia and I decided I needed to lose weight and get fit. More correctly, that is when I took action since the deciding part happened once a week, every week for the previous three years.
Beginning in October (or "Q4" as I think of it), I stopped eating junk, started eating healthy foods and reduced portion sizes. Over the winter I lost 43 lbs and today I am at the top end of a healthy weight range for my height. My goal is to lose another 10lbs over the summer.
As my weight came down, I also started exercising. I set up my bike on an indoor trainer and started watching back episodes of Heroes, MI5, and Battlestar Galactica - hmm, what kind of fantasy land am I living in? One day in January I was boasting to my sister Paula about my weight loss and new found fitness. She caught me off guard when she challenged me to join her in running the New York marathon. Now, I can think of few things in life I enjoy less than running so, being the clever negotiator that I am, I countered with a bluff-calling challenge I knew she could not accept - "lets do a century ride instead", i texted. And this is where it all went wrong, she accepted.
To answer my sister's question, yes, it is 100 miles and, yes again, it is in 1 day. So, at the beginning of May we signed up for The Flattest Century in the East (TFCE) http://www.nbwclub.org/events/2009-TFCE/2009-TFCE.html. We persuaded some friends and family to join and our merry group is now 6.
Although I have been training consistently on the bike, it has mainly been indoors. Yesterday, I rode 51 miles through Bedford, Carlisle, Acton, and Concord. As I collapsed on the couch last night, I realized I have some work to do before TFCE on September 13th. I also realized I have an experince to blog about. Perhaps noone will read it but I think it will be therapeutic to write about, so here i go....
Day 1: Today is a rest day :-)
Excellent! I have a similar story after our first child was born. I went from 215 to 160 (and back up to present weight of 179). Eating healthier was 90% of the weight loss. I jumped back into cycling after losing weight and it is helping keeping the weight off. I am pretty confident in saying that I am in much better shape at 40 that I was at 30.
ReplyDeleteMyself and some fellow riders are also doing the TFCE. I did it for the first time last year and it was a blast.
Read about it here: http://martysbikerides.blogspot.com/2008/09/nbw-flatest-century-in-east.html
We should definitely connect before this years TFCE ride.
Also, I know the Charles River Wheelmen have training rides up in your neck of the woods. you should check out their site: http://www.crw.org
I am not on Facebook that often but glad I checked it out today - very inspirational Marty as I need to lose just about that after I had my two kids and with both ACL ligaments torn from volleyball and basketball back in the day (before kids), I am thinking biking is the only way to do it...Take care and GOOD FOR YOU - 100 miles Wow!
ReplyDelete