Jim's Place

Big changes in my Body-For-Life program!

As most of you know I like to ride bikes. One of my dreams for years has been to compete in time-trial races. That's where it's just you and your bike against the clock for typically a 20k or 40k course. I held on to that dream during those years when I was too sick to pursue it, but finally the time has come... My initial test runs show that I can be competitive with the right training. I averaged 23mph for my 10-mile test. 25mph is the gold standard for competition and the feedback from other racers is that with the proper training I should have no trouble getting to 25mph and faster. They told me to just go for it... I also signed up to do a 100-mile ride Oct. 2.

I've been riding about 80-100 miles a week but will need to increase that to 120-150 or more. I've decided to cut back my weight-training to maintenance mode for the next several weeks. Once the riding season is mostly over, I'll go back to a regular BFL schedule.

My new training schedule will be one upper-body workout a week with another workout for abs and back. I'll be training on the bike 6 days a week: time-trial training on Tuesdays and Thursdays(20 miles); easy rides Wednesday and Friday (10-20 miles); a long 60+mile ride on Saturdays and then an easy short recovery ride on Sundays.

2 out of 3 ain't bad...

Sometimes a workout is about more than just physical fitness...   

I have been having a rough time the last several days due to illness. I don't know exactly what is going on - I just have felt very tired and just plain miserable with nausea. It seems like I need 12 hrs of sleep to feel rested. Something is definitely wrong but I simply don't know what - and neither do my doctors. My guess is that it is related to my underlying hormonal disorder (pituitary failure). So right now I'm just having to slug it out...

As you can imagine, it has made it very difficult to get my workouts in. I missed yesterday's upper body workout because I just didn't have any energy left after I got home from my doctor's appointment. Today, I didn't get up until noon but still felt absolutely miserable. I felt like I had a terrible hangover but I haven't had a thing to drink since I started Body-For-Life in January! No fair!!!

My usual workout on Thursdays is a 10-20 mile bike ride with a few big hills thrown in to improve my climbing ability. I came downstairs somewhat in a fog, feeling like I had just been run over by a truck. I sat down on the couch, frustrated and overwhelmed by it all...

"Man Jim! I'm sorry buddy...but I just don't know what's going on... I've done everything I can to try to figure it out but, I simply don't know why you feel so bad. I'd like to think it is something as simple as a cold or allergies but I'm afraid it might be more serious than that..."

But I WANT to!

Talk about a change in perspective compared to when I started BFL......   

Today, I found myself needing 12 hrs sleep and even then I still didn't feel energetic. I've had a little stuff in my sinuses so I figured it is just something in the air making my allergies flare up. So I had some doubts about doing my planned bike ride this afternoon...

"I don't know Jim...you feel pretty wiped out. And besides, it's already late afternoon and you've got other things to take care of. It's probably just an allergy thing, but maybe you ought to skip your ride and we'll get back on track tomorrow. That sounds like a good plan don't you think?"

But then I found myself responding as if a parent had just told his kid that he wasn't going to let him go out and play...   

"But I WANT to! I WANT to ride my bike! My allergies aren't THAT bad. PLEASE!!! I promise I'll take it easy! PLEASE! It won't hurt anything..."

"Well, OK... but keep your heart rate below 140...and only 5 or 6 miles."   

Body-For-Life Challenge 3 Week 6 Photos!

I planned on posting week 4 pics but didn't feel up to it, but week 6 pics are now up. I went through quite a bit of frustration with some of my hormone medications but I still made measurable progress. Actually, my aerobic conditioning improved dramatically - my resting heart rate dropped from the mid 50s to 48. I also increased my strength and leg power significantly. I used to climb a 3-4% grade on my bike at about 11mph. I'm now climbing it at 15mph with a lower heart rate. My lung capacity now measures 720 on my peak-flow meter. My allergist said only Pro athletes without asthma score higher. So I've been able to almost completely get off my asthma medications! I only dropped 5 lbs but my bodyfat dropped 2%. And my abs are finally starting to emerge!

A key thing I learned is that my cortisol medication has been way too high for months and high cortisol promotes fat storage and increases appetite (that's crummy!). But now that I've got that figured out, watch out! I'm ready to join the 'Under 200 Club'!!! Here's the stats:

Weight: Dropped 5 lbs (213 -> 208)   

Bodyfat: Dropped 2% (26 -> 24)   

Neck: Dropped .25 in. (16.5 -> 16.25)   

Chest: Dropped .75 in. (45.5 -> 44.75)   

Stomach (measure at the navel): Dropped .5 in. (42.5 -> 42)   

Waist: Dropped .25 in. (41 -> 40.75)   

Hips: Stayed at 45 in.   

Thigh :Dropped .25 in. (28 -> 27.75)   

Calf: Increased .25 in. (15.75 -> 16)   

Bicep: Stayed at 16 in.   

Forearm: Stayed at 12 in.

You can click on the photo for a larger version or see all my Body-For-Life photos in the BFL 2005 Photo Album

   

Keep on pedaling...

Yesterday, my training plan called for doing a 50-60 mile bike ride. I had some doubts because for the last week I had felt such an energy drain - apparently due to an allergic response to the unusually hot and humid weather here in San Diego lately. But I was too excited about the ride I had planned to not give it my best shot...

The route follows the San Diego coastline from Carlsbad through Oceanside turning inland at Camp Pendleton and then on to the San Onofre Nuclear Plant - and then back to Carlsbad. The last time I did this ride was almost 10 years ago. I especially liked the long stretches of open roads going through the base and the uncrowded bike paths along the coast leading to the San Onofre campground. It's the kind of ride where it's just you and your bike - a time to crank it up and cruise....a time to leave the noise and distractions of everyday life behind... and a time to clear your mind and just enjoy being alive...