Unleashing The Beast :: FitBob

March 3 – April 6, 2011

Timeframe: 35 days
On Plan: 26 days
Missed: 9 days

Exercise Time: 19 hours
Total Calories: -13465
BodyFat Equivalent: 3.74 pounds!

All in all, a good month. I missed more training days than I would have preferred, but life has a way of happening. The important takeaway for me is that I accomplished a solid month of base training and can now move on to the training I like better.

By charting my training, I am now able to look back and see a distinctive pattern/flaw: Rest days. In March, they were momentum killers – most of my missed days occurred after a scheduled rest day. Methinks I need to change the program and add a bit more structure.

So for April I’m switching to a different routine – the old standby that has served me well for years: Train Mon-Fri, with weekends “off.” Since month two is the strenght phase of my plan, I’ll lift one body part a day Monday-Friday, followed by some core work and at least :30 min cardio. Typically:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Arms
Friday: Legs

Training legs on Friday gives me two off days over the weekend to recover from blasting them, so I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.

And while weekends are technically non-training days, I’ll still do rides for fun or with friends. Now those rides become “bonus” workouts – a key mental distinction.

Diet remains the same: eat healthy six days a week, with one cheat day to eat whatever I want.

(BTW – Cheat days are great! No only do they give you a mental break from restriction, they provide a short term, achievable goal. I usually put them on Sundays so I have a week-end target: “I can’t eat that today, but I can have as much as I want on Sunday!” And by putting it at the end of my week, I can choose to enjoy it earlier in the week and just eat healthy on Sunday instead.)

My weight has remained pretty constant over the month, but I can see the changes in the mirror and feel it in my clothes. Don’t get hung up on the scale – this past month my body has burned off fat and replaced it with muscle. So, while I may weigh the same, I look and feel different. THAT’s the important thing, not the pounds.

1hr on spin bike

FM/low target HR

Calories: -568

Baseback ride

53 min

Total calories: -574

DAM Loop

1:00 ride up the steep side

Total calories: -870

(video coming)

Weight: 210
Time: 11:00am

2 hour, 29 mile bike path ride to downtown Denver and back with Jay

Total calories: -1227

Finally back out on the bike – woot! Took advantage of a nice day to make the first ride to Confluence Park this year.

Nice & easy two hour ride bordering on the edge of chilly. Need to do a new fit test to determine proper HR ranges for training.

Weight: 210.2
10:00 am

Total calories: -650

Took advantage of a free hour to grab a quick ride. Nothing major, just got out on the bike path and spent the first :30 focusing on high-cadence pedaling (avg. 103) followed by :20 of free ride/flush/cooldown.

Body weight is going up, which is a good sign that I’m not overtraining. (And I’ve been eating carbs at night, which always makes my weight jump a pound or two overnight.) Recovery and fueling the body paramount at this point, so I fret not about it.

Cadence is a funny thing. I had been conditioned by years on the exerbike to keep cadence down near 70. When I started riding regularly a few years back, I had to make a concerted effort to raise my cadence up. After the first year, I was spinning at 85. After the second, 95. Now it seems my bod naturally wants to spin at 105 and it takes some concentration to keep it lower – and I can sit in the saddle and spin at 120 rpm with relative ease. On days where my target cadence is 75 (climbing days, usually), not only does it feel unnatural, but I feel a bit mentally drained.

I’ll try to start posting ride pics, as some have requested, but I generally get in the zone and am so focused on the ride that I don’t think to take ‘em until afterwards.

Weight: 209.4
2:15 pm

Ride: 17.3 miles, 1:05

Total calories: -1010

Yesterday’s long session did the trick for sleep! Not only did I grab a power nap after the workout, but I went to bed at 10:30 and slept through til 8:30. SO nice to get a full, uninterrupted night’s sleep.

It’s absolutely gorgeous out today, and I took advantage of it by doing the dam loop – down the bike path, up Chatfield dam (the steep side) and back. Tried to keep the HR fairly low, but given how pumped I was to be riding outside, I didn’t worry too much about it and just enjoyed being alive, outdoors, and moving along.

I can feel my body tightening up, muscles are starting to get strong again, waistline is pulling in… Body weight is staying pretty consistent and I’m further buoyed knowing that fat weight is being replaced with muscle weight. I figure another week or two and body weight will start dropping consistently. Historically, I can drop 1-2 pounds of fat a week and not lose any energy – it’s just a matter of time at this point.

Took advantage of a break in the weather to get in a short ride, a bit of a late start rebuilding aerobic base for the season, but game on!

Weight: 210.2
12:00 pm

Bike path 11 miles to 470 and back + cooldown spin

Total calories: -580

Weight: 206.8
9:00am

60 minute recovery ride

Total calories: -664

Mellow recovery ride to base of Chatfield dam and back. Still some intermittent numbness in left hand, but improving overall.