The fitness challenge

Part of the point of this blog is to document the challenges of getting/staying fit within the scope of a normal, busy family life.  The decision was made on 1 Jan - since then we have had one week of a child being ill and three weeks where I have been traveling.  Maintaining any sort of routine is extremely difficult and this is exactly the point.

So the diet first - I feel I am still doing well, under the circumstances, but having started off too fast I am now behind target, but on Sunday morning I was down to 79.5 kgs, only 1.5 from my target and, if I am honest, 2.5kg from my ideal.  So not bad.

I managed to go out for one ride on Saturday in a howling gale!!!  The wind was so strong that at one point I was riding on the flat at 16kmh with a heart rate of 170bpm - it should have been 150 normally.  The high heart rate continued with my first attempt at a proper climb this year.  I went for the 500m climb to Galilea and was at an unhealthy 180bpm all the way up (about 17mins).  Clearly I am not yet fit enough for such challenges - partly a consequence of the disruption.  Still, I managed 30 mins in the gym in the hotel last night and some bodyweight work in the room as well.

The stats from the ride:

2:06.27 ride time

159 ave heart rate  - 185 max

1:07 in zone between 150-170

28.04 above 170

30.36 below 150

1810 calories burned

53.4 km distance 

25.5kmh  ave speed

59 kmh max speed

bad weeks

I feel a bit like I am neglecting my blog, and that is a good thing.  It is really great the way that having the blog keeps you honest with these things.

So here is what is happening.  I was in Denmark last week Monday to Friday, in the UK this week Monday to Thursday and am back in the UK Monday to Thursday next week.  Great for business - bad for fitness and weight loss.

Then last Sunday I managed to squeeze out the time for a quick ride on Sunday, went to my bike to find that the tyre was flat and that the tyre itself had split, causing the flat.  With no spare tyre I was relegated to the mountain bike and went out for an hour.  No computer on the mountain bike means not data.

The first 20 mins was all uphill and I probably pushed too hard, because I felt fairly flat after that, but at least I got out.  I had good intentions of training while I was in London, but what with all of the work and being away from home I just didn't feel motivated.

I did manage to stick to the diet more or less, but I am badly behind target because of the lack of exercise - 79.9 kgs this morning, which was my target for last Monday.  Maybe I can get to 79.5 by next Monday, but that is still way off the target of 78.7.  Still I am making progress.

After next week I am back at home for a while - so I will get back on top of it all.

Catching Up

After loosing a week of focus and training while one of our children was unwell I had a good weekend with two rides.  1 hr 45 on Saturday and 1hr  on Sunday.  I paced my self well on Saturday and felt the unfamiliar distance but felt strong at the end.  On Sunday I could feel the Saturday ride and paced myself less well, backing right off for the last couple of kms.

My weight loss program also took a knock during the week and having been well ahead of target at the beginning of the week, I was only just on target by the end of the week.  

This week I have been away lecturing at the KaosPilots business school in Denmark.  Which is great, but puts another dent in the training and makes the diet more difficult too.  Still - I have been slacking on my bodyweight circuit training, that I have to do to strengthen my back and core for cycling - so I can do a little of that in my hotel room :-)

Perhaps that is what this blog is all about and the challenge of our time.  The challenge of following the path to our physical, spiritual, intellectual, financial and evolutionary potential all at the same time.  Fitness, learning, working and having a family is the personal challenge of our time.

I have a touch weight target for Monday and I have managed to be pretty good with my eating while I have been away.  No alcohol, no potatoes, no sugar and just one white flour sandwich in the plane on the way here.

Below are the ride times for Saturday and Sunday

16 - 01

Total time 1:45 02

MAX HR 174 AVE HR 151

ZONE - 150 -170bpm

IN ZONE 1:09

BELOW 33

ABOVE 1.41

1361 CALS

46 KMS Total distance

AVE SPEED 26KMS

57.6 MAX

TIME TO CAPDELLA  32.27 (halfway point of one hour ride)

17 - 01

Total time 1:01.22

HR AVE 160 MAX 177bpm

42.54 IN ZONE

08.44 BELOW

9.53 ABOVE

882 CALORIES

30 KMS

AVE SPEED 29.3

MAX 49.9

TIME TO CAPDELLA 31.28

the realities of combining fitness training, parenting and running your own business

Our daughter (6) was coughing and uncomfortable over the weekend - so off to the Doctors on Monday, suspected pneumonia, off to hospital, X-Ray.  Pneumonia confirmed.  So Mum and daughter in hospital means visits, food parcels, looking after son at home and keeping up with food, washing etc.

Luckily she was not feeling too bad and recovered quickly - two nights in hospital, I was on the night shift for the second one.  She quite enjoyed it - plenty of attention and a fun bed that goes up and down at the press of a button were the highlights, but inevitably training, work and diet all get deprioritised.  I am not complaining it is just the reality of doing it all at once - kids and work always take priority.

And of course we are both tired now with all the extra work - so back to training after a good nights sleep tonight - hopefully.

Sleep please

I managed my circuits yesterday evening and I do find it astonishing just how quickly the body adapts to repeated stimulus.  After the first of these circuits (you can see details on the circuits here) I was stiff and achy, the next two or three sessions were hard work - last night it was easy and that is after just six sessions.  Time to make it harder :-)

We have had two nights of badly disrupted sleep in a row, on Sunday night both kids were unwell and last night our daughter (6) got scared and ended up in our bed.  As a result I feel less than 100% today and am not sure if it is wise to do my training session on the bike this evening - I will have to see how I feel.

Next week I am in Denmark teaching at the KaosPilots business school, where it is very cold and there is no gym at the hotel.  So I will just have to see what I can do with the bodyweight circuits - I won't be taking any weights in hand luggage ;-)

The Amazing Dawn Diet

My target for the first week of Jan was to go from 82.3 kilos to 81.4.  In fact this morning I weighed 80.9 for a one week weight loss of 1.4kgs or just over 3 pounds!.  I have found losing my winter kilos harder and harder over the last few years, but The Dawn Diet is just amazing!!!  I might just be able to get to 76-77 kgs, which would make climbing those Mallorca hills so much easier.

I have been pretty good with my training too - managing another hour on the indoor trainer sticking between 150 and 160 bpm.  I maintained motivation with Cyclocosm.  Looking forward to the weather improving slightly and doing a time check on my 30km course.  Although the good thing about the indoor trainer is that there is much less temptation to overdo it and get sick - which I am very good at!

Training

Even in Mallorca the weather is a bit pants at the moment.  Last weekend was lovely and I was able to set a benchmark time of 1.03.30 around my 30km loop.  For anyone who knows the area I start in Santa Ponsa and via El Toro, Son Ferrer, Magaluf, Son Bugadelles, Capdella, Paguera and back to Santa Ponsa.  The first half is pretty flat, In the second half there is a small steepish (10%) climb of about 1.5kms.

This week on Thursday I did one one hour indoor session using the download training video from The Sufferfest.  Great fun, but a bit intense for this time of year/level of fitness, especially as my lungs are still playing up a bit.

This morning I did another hour on the indoor trainer, watching YouTube clips of various races from last year and listening to a Genius Mix on iTunes, to maintain motivation.  I kept it to a steady 150/160 Bpm to give my lungs a chance to recover.

The Dawn Diet is amazing!  Every spring I go through the same challenge of needing to shed a few kilos, this year more than usual!  And I can safely say that I have never had an easier or more effective diet - I have lost 1.2kgs in six days!!!  I have not felt especially hungry or that I am depriving myself in anyway.  You can find more details at Being The Best.

What is really surprising is that  usually when you start training you put on weight as you build up muscle, which is heavier than fat, so that 1.2 kgs lost is in a way more as I will have added muscle too.

As well as the bike training I am also doing some work on my core, arms and shoulders.  The core never really gets much of a work out on the bike, but if it is not strong you will get back pain on longer rides. The arms and shoulders get quite a workout on the descents around here, every time you brake hard into a hairpin your bodyweight is thrown forwards and your arms have to hold you back.  On a long descent with hairpins every 500m that can be quite tiring.

I have started with 3 x 15 reps of back raises, press ups, sit ups, 5kg arm raises and a spring chest expander.  I am also doing 3 x 15 seconds of air cycling (on your back legs in the air with bum and shoulders raised) and the "Pike" body straight supported by toes and elbows.  Hopefully I will get a road ride in this week.

Happy New Year

For the second winter running I got ill in October and stayed ill, colds, coughs and lurgy. Since we moved to Mallorca in September 07 we have been completely flat out busy, with very little time for anything beyond necessities.

It was time for a change. I consulted my friend Dawn http://www.thedawndiet.org and got a diagnosis that my Mitochondria were worn out. Mitochondria are very clever little fellows who make a substance called ATP and ATP is the stuff that our muscles use for fuel - no wonder I felt so tired.

Dawn said - eat rainbow coloured food. Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple etc. She also said that until I got my energy back I need to take supplements, Multivitamin, anti oxidants, extra vitamin C, fish oil, acidophilus and a magic tablet called Total Mitochondria. Plus - cut down/out sat fats and sugar.

I did - big improvement and with lots of rest by New Year I had the energy to start getting fit and training again.

In cycling weight is a big deal. The heavier you are the slower you go up hill and up hill is where the challenge lies. Bradley Wiggins went from 124th to 4th in the Tour de France by losing 6kgs.

I checked the scales - 82.3 kgs - about 5kg over my optimum weight. I think of that in terms of packs of butter. 5kg is like carrying 20 packs of butter up every hill with you - not good. I consulted Dawn again and she gave me the magnificent Dawn Diet. Disturbingly simple and effective (for the diet industry) simply cut out sugar, alcohol, white flour and potatoes, all the 'empty' calories in other words - easy!

I started on the 2nd of Jan - this morning I weighed 81.3 kgs - one kilo lost in five days, amazing, and so easy!

I also started training, I have found a suitable early season route from our new house, it is 30kms and is not too hilly so, not too hard for my poor fitness. My first bench mark run was 1hr and 3 mins - so I need to get that down to 1 hour for starters.

In March I am running a Leadership Lessons from Cycling course here in Mallorca - so I need to be fit for that. I am also going to look for some events to target during the year. So that is what this blog is about, it is about regaining fitness on a bike, at 46 with kids and my own business. More details on my training plan in the next post.