Jim's Place

Can't finish a Body-For-Life challenge?

I'm not feeling so well today...and won't be doing my planned workout...and camping added several extra free meals last weekend. So...I just started my 4th Body-For-Life challenge last week and it seems to make sense to restart C4 next week... But I'm not!

I've had issues with perfectionism all my life and just decided that once I start a challenge I will finish it! If it turns out to a disaster, then so be it! I see that other BFLers have some issues with perfectionism so I dug this out of one of my older posts that contained my perspective on it...

Sleep apnea no more? Maybe...

Last night was the first time since July 1998 that I slept without being hooked up to my CPAP machine. When you have sleep apnea your airways will collapse or become blocked causing you to stop breathing momentarily. Depending upon the severity it can really mess up your sleep and in some cases be life-threatening. When I was first tested in 1998 I averaged 52 events an hour in the sleep lab - meaning that I stopped breathing 52 times an hour. Since that was about as severe as sleep apnea gets, at that time my doctors assumed that sleep apnea was "THE" problem causing my severe fatigue.

After my first couple of months on the CPAP machine, I started one of my earlier comeback attempts in the fall of 1998, believing that my illness issues were under control. I had no idea then that the sleep apnea along with the asthma and allergy problems was just another complication related to my underlying and as-then undiagnosed pituitary disorder and by the summer of 1999, my body had crashed once again.

A key concern for my Body-For-Life program was how to stay on top of the sleep apnea issue. Effective use of a CPAP means that the air pressure being blown in through the mask must be exact. Too low and you still have the airways closing, but too high and it makes it hard to exhale. Either condition leaves you fatigued.

Challenge 3 is complete!

I just completed my 3rd Body-For-Life challenge in a row this last Sunday!   

Weight only dropped 11 lbs (213 ->202) but bodyfat decreased quite a bit (26% -> 20%). I also dropped 2 inches in the stomach and 1.5 inches from my waist. Chest dropped 2 inches but biceps, calves, thighs and forearms stayed about the same.

I was really anxious to get below 200 lbs in Challenge 3, but I'll get there soon. The most dramatic improvement was in getting leaner and big increases in my cardiovascular conditioning due to riding my bike about 100 miles a week.

The most important benefit was that I was able to stay mostly on track even with a lot of 'reality' lately with family emergencies, ending a 17-yr friendship and problems again with hormonal imbalances. Here's a couple of photos. Check out my other Challenge 3 photos in "BFL 2005" photo album on the left side of page or click here to go straight to them.

Also, check out my new BFL Slideshow (Windows Media player) which is updated with the latest photos . Click here or select it from the "Videos" column on the left side of the page.

Now on to C4 !!! Actually, I started C4 Monday but I'm still getting over a viral cold... so it doesn't feel like I started C4 but it will...

Proud of my funky tan...

Lately, I've heard a few comments about my tan. I have that funky looking bike rider tan. I've got white feet but dark legs. There's that dramatic tan line just above the knee that makes most folks suggest I sign up at the local tanning salon.

But more striking and I suppose disturbing to anyone who is even remotely style-conscious is that profound white band around my wrist where my watch is when I'm out bike riding.

Those tan-line imbalances along with my ebony-ivory tan line on my biceps are glaring and I guess nerdy indicators that this man is much more serious about putting in long hours on the bike than he is with his epidermal appearance...

I admit that I'm guilty on all counts... But damn I'm proud of it! For those who know me, you realize that those funky aspects of my appearance are in someways like the red badge of courage...

Every time I view those imperfections, I get giddy because I know what they really mean... They are bona fide evidence that this man has finally made it through the storm...keeping afloat after fighting chronic illness for almost 10 years...

My friends have made some good suggestions...buy some instant tan...go to the tanning salon to even things out...   

Good ideas, but I just don't think I can do that... To me it would be like taking your kid's A+ report card and painting over it with a dull even color...

This old bike...

Lately I've been riding my brand new Trek Madone 5.2 and enjoying the heck out of it... The beautiful candy apple red carbon frame soaks up the bumps and makes climbing fun even for my 200 lb 50-yr old body... The shifting of the Campy Chorus 10-speed is crisp and solid... Those newfangled compact cranks give an extra gear so that I can spin up climbs I used to bog down on. In a nutshell, this bike is a marvel of modern technology and I am so lucky to have it...

So my old 1994 Trek 2200 is now just a backup bike. After years of being a 'starter', it spends most of its days 'benched' in the garage... In its day it was the rage...carbon tubes with aluminum lugs...Campy Record shifters...Campy Shamal aero rims... Yep! It was a pretty sexy babe in its younger years... But at over 21 lbs with a flexing frame, it just can't hold a candle to the new kid in town...

But the other night I was out riding that 'old flame' on an easy recovery ride. I call it my night rider because I set it up specifically for night rides. And I realized it was now like an old friend that I could always count on...

When I bought it all those years ago, I had taken up bike riding to not only build my fitness but to recover from a devastating divorce... Every mile I pedaled was another mile forward in building a new body...as well as a new life... I believe that God not only brings people into our life to help us but sometimes He provides us a tool to make it through the storm. For me, that was a bicycle...

Yes! My new road bike is sexy and exciting, but every time I go for a ride on my old bike, it's like getting together with an old friend... reminiscing about the good old days and realizing how lucky I was that they came into my life when I needed a helping hand...

I suppose it might make sense to sell that bike, but that's not likely to happen. I just couldn't do that to an old friend...

My first Time-Trial bike race!

Yesterday I competed in my first Time-Trial bike race - the Fiesta Island 20K!!! And as I'm sure you can imagine, it was much more than just a race to me...

Man! This has been a long time coming... In fact, for years it just simply seemed unrealistic and even naive to think I would ever race in time trials. I don't blame people for being skeptical! Would you bet on someone who was over 300 lbs. with a chronic illness that left them too exhausted to do much more than sit on the couch? Perhaps, if you had known what was in my heart you would have believed that I wasn't just blowing smoke when I confidently stated that someday I would race my Rocketwing in the time trial races on Fiesta Island...

But there I was yesterday at the starting gate with the timer ticking down the last 10 seconds to my 7:55AM start time. I was focused and ready... and I suppose I even looked like a serious time-trialist...the red racing jersey...the red gloves and socks...wearing my metallic silver Rocket aero helmet...and standing in the launch position on my bright red Rocketwing...

As the race timer counted down the last 5 seconds, I felt all the frustration of the last several years being channeled into my veins...supercharging my body to push it harder than it had ever been pushed before. For a moment, I felt a jolt of concern as I thought of the ambulance on standby just a few feet away. I knew that it was mainly just a precaution but I still wondered if I was really ready physically to do this... But I had done my best to cover all the bases and my doctors had given me the thumbs up. After all the setbacks and disappointments over the years, nothing could stop me now...

Check out my new bike!

I have some GOOD news...and some more GOOD news!   

First, I feel like I'm finally getting my energy back after being out of commission since last weekend due to what the doctor said was a sinus infection and severe cold.

Also. about 6 weeks ago I ordered a new road bike. The Rocketwing is great for time-trial races and fairly flat courses but not well-suited for hilly courses and group rides since it has aero-bars rather than regular road-bike style handlebars.

Well, yesterday I  picked  up my brand new gorgeous candy apple red Trek Madone road bike! I went for a quick 5-mile ride just to check everything out and I'm really jazzed!

Certainly it's a great bike but what is even more significant is what buying this bike means...   

It's means that I've been well enough consistently enough to rebuild my body to a point where a new bike is even warranted.   

It means I'm truly blessed to have the financial means to not only support myself but buy such an expensive bike. Although I was covered at my previous job with great Long-Term Disability insurance, I was fortunate that after 2 years of being denied, that I was finally granted benefits.
Click on the thumbnail for a  larger picture and check out additional pictures in the My new Trek Madone photo album.

Can you imagine...

To my Body-For-Life buddies...

Lately, I've seen quite a few posts from people feeling rather apprehensive about their Body-For-Life program. Some are newbies and some are just folks who either fell off the wagon or simply are struggling to stay focused. Although I've been following Body-For-Life for over 8 months now, I can still remember feeling a little fearful and having a few doubts about achieving my goals. It seems like it was only yesterday...Duh! That's because it was yesterday!!! Yep! even us old timers who have had great progress occasionally STILL have to sit down and figure out a way to get that spark back...

With the scale hardly moving the last couple of months I have to admit that I've had quite a few times where I just didn't have that same giddy excitement I had when I first started Body-For-Life. I wanted to share some things I've done that have helped me to regain my excitement and sharpen my focus during those inevitable 'slow' times...

Yeah...That's a new profile pic!

Well, I decided I needed a new picture. The other studio picture was from 1999. Not quite current! I took this picture this afternoon sitting on the couch. It's nice to no longer have the puffy face of prior years....

Check out my heart-rate charts!

I just created a new photo album containing a few heart-rate charts from my bike rides since I began Body-For-Life back in January. My Polar S725 HRM (heart-rate monitor) lets me record my workouts and upload them to my computer. I can then create graphs showing my heart-rate (the red line), bike speed (blue line) and altitude (brown line) as well as other useful info such as total distance, avg heart rate, avg speed, altitude gained and temperature. These graphs are vey helpful in monitoring my progress and fitness improvement. And it simply adds more fun to my whole training program! Take a look at the charts in the Jim's Heart Rate Charts photo album. The last photo in the album shows an example of the training diary/calendar that keeps track of all your workouts and lets you generate various summary reports. If you have an interest in getting your own HRM you can check out Polar's USA website for more info.