MistahSinclair - Less Fatter, Mo’ Faster!

Hobbes - your comment reminded me of an occassion where I used the word succinct and only one out of ten people in the meeting knew what it meant…being that I work in a shipyard the running joke “You Succinct my Battleship” was born.

I set a personal best today, being that it didn’t feel quite as cold(!), on my 9.6  mile route.  I went at it quite hard and ran out of steam on the final climb ending up limping home over the last mile.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/31/2007
• Time: 17:22:12
• Total Time: 00:33:55.00
• Distance: 9.6 miles
• Average Speed: 16.98 mph
• Max Speed: 44 mph
• Ascent: 933 ft

I put on an extra layer this morning and, strangely, it didn’t feel as cold!

Amazing!

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/31/2007
• Time: 07:30:00
• Total Time: 00:04:15.00
• Distance: 1.6 miles
• Average Speed: 22.59 mph
• Max Speed: 35 mph
• Descent: 283 ft

No, not the weather this time.

I just sat down to fill out my activity log and opened a browser window to www.last.fm and Sandstorm by DaRude was playing…one of my favorite workout tunes. It’s not everyones cup of tea, but it is mine! Made for an interesting blog title

On to the ride…a minute quicker than yesterday but still tough, cold and a bit windy. I tweaked my saddle a hair as soon as I got home. ISM suggests their saddle may work best for the individual with it turned just a little…not centered on the bike.

I had been paying a lot of attention to how it feels since I put it on. Today I tweaked it to the right a bit.

Handlebar tweak done this morning was near perfect.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/30/2007
• Time: 17:32:35
• Total Time: 00:35:55.00
• Calories: 420
• Distance: 9.6 miles
• Average Speed: 16.04 mph
• Max Speed: 44 mph
• Ascent: 933 ft

The freezy breeze is what I’m referring to.  That was cold this morning.  The frost on the grass suggests it was in the low 30s although my thermometer on my computer didn’t have enough time to drop all the way. 

It managed to go from 63F (temp in garage) to 43F when I got to the office, but it was falling all the way.

I tweaked my bars this morning before taking off.  I’d managed to adjust them too far yesterday, but they felt about perfect this morning.

GOALS

I need to come up with some.  For the moment I only have a weight loss goal (get to 189lbs) but that should be done within a couple of weeks and I clearly have more I can lose.

How low can I go?  I’m not sure how to figure that out without professional help.  I know at one point I had a body fat analysis done and that told me what my lean body mass was.  From there I could figure roughly where I want to be.

I’m not even sure that weight makes much of a difference to me.  At least not the number itself.  I guess I’m looking to get to the point where I’m happy with the shape I’m in…make sense?

Another goal is to trade in the 12-pack abs for the 6-pack version!

Beyond that there are some races/rides I’ve been looking at, but nothing I can commit to right now.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/30/2007
• Time: 07:30:00
• Total Time: 00:04:10.00
• Distance: 1.6 miles
• Average Speed: 23.04 mph
• Max Speed: 36 mph
• Descent: 283 ft

Gusty headwind today for the long stretch of my ride.

Steady wind isn’t much fun, but gusty just destroys any rhythm you might have.  This is normally an 18-22mph stretch but today was in the 14-17mph range.

In fact the first 6 miles were done on the 39 tooth chainring…I usually spend about half that on the 53.  That does tell you a whole lot since I was certainly using more of the cassette than normal.

The saddle adjustment I made seems to be good.  It’s now almost level and up about 1/4 inch from where I had it last week.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/29/2007
• Time: 16:30:00
• Total Time: 00:37:13.00
• Distance: 9.6 miles
• Average Speed: 15.48 mph
• Max Speed: 43 mph
• Ascent: 933 ft

I’m not sure if taking both weekend days off was a good thing or not.  I don’t feel particularly rested right now.

I did take a little bit of time yesterday to tweak my saddle and handlebar position.  Everything felt pretty decent this morning, but the proof of the pudding will be in the 9.6 mile eating.

Once at work I managed to bang my knee straight into the edge of a door (like straight on!).  If you ever get the chance to do this…don’t take it!

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/29/2007
• Time: 07:30:00
• Total Time: 00:04:17.00
• Distance: 1.6 miles
• Average Speed: 22.41 mph
• Max Speed: 34.6 mph
• Descent: 283 ft

The ride home today achieved a couple of milestones, or at least pseudo-milestones.

I hit 75 miles for the week  (my week runs Sunday - Saturday) and my odometer went through 400 miles.  I mentioned going through 300 miles in my blog early last week.  The 4th 100 came in only 10 days.  10 miles/day average is ok.

Next week I’ll be struggling to hit 50 miles as I plan to take the weekend off since I’ve ridden the last 6 straight days.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/26/2007
• Time: 16:30:00
• Total Time: 00:35:50.00
• Calories: 424
• Distance: 9.6 miles
• Average Speed: 16.07 mph
• Max Speed: 42.9 mph
• Ascent: 963 ft

On my run down to work I generally go a little over the speed limit and typically I’m passed by cars going a lottle over the limit.

Before making my one left turn I had to slow down to an idle to let a law obiding driver come past…I don’t have a lot of confidence in not being run over if I try to make the turn with a car or truck right behind me.

Tried on my kilt this morning…still fits and I think I should be ok even if I lose a couple of inches…any more than that might be a problem!

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/26/2007
• Time: 07:30:00
• Total Time: 00:04:23.00
• Distance: 1.6 miles
• Average Speed: 21.9 mph
• Max Speed: 36 mph
• Descent: 283 ft

Earlier in the week I was listing possible reasons for increased speed and decreased time one of them was temperature…I think that was a major factor.

Todays ride was a good one.  I pushed hard, stayed fairly aerodynamic, descended fast, ascended in the saddle, etc, but was still over a minute slower than my best.

The temperature today was 47F as compared to 66F the other day.  I think that’s the single biggest difference between the 2!

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/25/2007
• Time: 16:30:00
• Total Time: 00:35:25.00
• Distance: 9.6 miles
• Average Speed: 16.26 mph
• Max Speed: 44.7 mph
• Ascent: 963 ft

The following is a lot of rambling about a bunch of things as they come to mind… 

Continuing with my theme of ‘…est in 10 years’ I can now add lightEST to fastest, fittest, longest.

Earlier in the year (just before salmon season) I had weighed in just under 192 which was my lightest since in 10 years.  This morning I tipped the scales at 190.4!  This is teetering on what I considered my fighting weight when I was sailing competitively in the mid-late 90s (then I was around 13.5 stone - 189lbs, 86kg).  On reflection I wasn’t actually in particularly great shape then.  Today I might be a couple of pounds heavier than I was then, but I’m physically fitter.

Another item of note while I talking about 10 years ago is my kilt…

I’m Scottish, born, raised and lived there until I was 21, and have a kilt that I wear for special occassions.  Anyway, I was measured and fit for the kilt when I weighed just under 200.  I told the kilt maker that it should be adjustable down a little bit because I was planning to lose weight.  She told me “ok, I hear that all the time but it rarely happens”.  Well, it’s taken 10 years but it’s happening.

With that in mind I should really try my kilt on again…I don’t really want to shrink to the point where it doesn’t fit!  I suppose there are worse things that could happen.  It will certainly be a lot looser!

Recently my daughter has been fascinated with obscure World Records.  Hula-hoop record…longest time standing on one leg…longest leg hair…odd stuff!

On Sunday there was a deer (4 point buck) came out of the bushes in front of me when I was out riding my bike and bounded down the road in front of me like Pepe le Peu (all 4 feet bouncing) going at 18mph!  It kept that up for about 1/2 mile!!  I wondered to myself if that was a World Record…both speed and distance.

Earlier in the week I fed the puppy then watched as the kitten came over and they ate out of the same bowl.  It was all very cute…they’re both the same color and play well together…so I decided to take a photo of the scene.  Just as I turned the camera on the puppy decided it was time to chew the kitten (a popular game) but the kitten ducked between her legs.  The result was a very good impersonation of an elephant…see below!

Health:

• Date: 10/25/2007
• Weight: 190.4
• Mood: Normal
• Sleep Hours: 7
• Sleep Pattern: Disturbed