Trainer

Not much to blog about when I use the trainer. There are no tough hills, headwinds, traffic, inclement weather ... just how many minutes I rode. It is nice to watch a movie on netflix while I ride though.

Today and tomorrow look like the rain will stay away for a bit, so I'm hoping to do a noon or afternoon ride today and maybe a ride to and from karate tomorrow (18 miles each way).

out of the wind

Lots of rain lately, but I now have the bike set up on a trainer in the office. Today was my first day on it; it's a bit awkward, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. And I'll still be riding outside on whatever sunny days are left this year before the cold really settles in.

into the wind

An 8-mile ride yesterday felt like more of a resistance workout than cardio. I was fighting strong headwinds and crosswinds for all but about 1.5 miles of it.

Then today loomed, windy and drizzling, and I'm catching a cold, so I stayed in. Maybe tomorrow lunch will be better. Definitely plan to ride Saturday and Sunday this week with no work travel looming.

*burrpp*

I hit moments of repetitive belching when I'm riding -- does that mean I need to pay more attention to my breathing, that I'm just gulping in air at times?

A good ride today, 8.5 miles at lunch. I was maintaining good speeds on some of the flat areas, between 18 and 20 mph. It felt great, especially after missing the past few days.

brr

My fingers have just warmed enough so I can type again. Cold one this morning. I cut the hour ride I was planning down to 15 minutes and a 3.5-mile route. I'll have to go out again at lunch after it gets out of the 40s and up into the 60s.

I may be down to my last few morning rides now when it's warm enough to do so, and going out after the sun's been out for at least a few hours.

Looks like the swimming portion of training is coming up, plus putting the Trek on a bike trainer in the office.

30 minutes

A 30-minute, 7.25-mile ride this morning. Beautiful morning, autumn just hit and it's only about 64 degrees out so far. I'm at half my distance for last week already, but I only get to ride two more mornings this week because of a work trip this weekend.

Maybe I'll get inspired and take a quick ride at lunch too. But I don't want to overdo it and cause injury either. ...

Good start

A great 11-mile ride this morning, in about 45 minutes. A good way to start the work week, breaking a sweat before eight in the morning.

Feeling good

Got a 14-mile ride in this morning, and it felt good. I was never too winded, and I didn't feel especially slow at any point either. Some decent hills mixed in with rolling terrain, and made it in 58 minutes. The mileage also put me a couple miles over last week's total, into the upper 30s for the week. Next goal: try for a 50-plus mile week.

Good ride today

I did a new route today at lunch, 8.5 miles in 35 minutes (14.5 mph avg.) Overall it was mostly flat, but with one killer hill just past the midway point. In case I don't get to pedal out tomorrow, this was a good one to finish the week on. When I was on some flats in headwinds, I was able to pace at about 13 mph. Once I got away from the headwinds, I was keeping closer to a 16 mph pace. Some days out there, I even impress myself.

Just saw there is an official Ford Ironman tri in Madison on Sunday. Hopefully I can work out a way to go cheer on some of the racers at some point during the day and get inspired.

Distracted

This week has been hard to keep my head on the task at hand whether at home or work. I also haven't ridden since Sunday. I went out for a 7-mile ride today at lunch, and now let's see how well I focus this afternoon.

Discouraged

I went for a nice long 15-mile bike ride yesterday, from my local bike shop in Whitewater back to home. There were a couple of tough hills along the way, and it was hot and muggy out. My water went from refreshing to warm awful quick. I completed the ride in 1:04 and felt pretty good when I got home.

Then I got on the scale this morning. Last results were pretty good on Monday, about a 2.4 lbs. loss over the previous eight days. Then today was a 2.6 gain, negating that entirely. It makes me want to chuck the whole thing. It feels like this is the body I'm stuck with no matter what I do.

I know it's not all going to change overnight, but the lbs. ups are extremely discouraging and the lbs. downs seem few and far between. Overall I'm still lighter than when I started this whole thing almost two months ago and I guess I need to use that as the big picture.