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.