Time for Action

This is going to be the week when my riding finally gets back onto a regular schedule.

On the plus side of things, my eating has been much better the past couple weeks. I'm down from 188 to somewhere around 183. I've still got a long way to go, but I've definitely made a good start. Most import is healthy eating. Losing some extra weight is nice, but certainly not the primary goal.

I also spent two and half hours on a nice slow ride today. Up the coast to Leucadia, where I ran into Wells, one of my team-mates. He was riding south at that point, so I turned around and rode back south to Del Mar with him. We also passed the one and only Matt Marshall on our way back south. Nice guy, but he's got to get himself a better looking team kit. Something white and red, with a few yellow stripes are what all the chicks are digging these days, or at least that's what I'm told.

On the riding front I've been pretty regular with getting out to the Saturday SDBC Club ride, but I haven't been doing anything else. i.e. no base miles, no aerobic endurance, and in general very limited fitness. Now that work is winding down a bit, it's time to start making time to get out on the bike and get my aerobic base back.

I don't know about everyone else out there, but nothing frustrates me more than the feeling of having no aerobic base. It means that when you do get on your bike the littlest amount of effort causes your heart rate to quickly climb. Also, when you do ride hard, your heart rate races right past your lactate threshold and pegs at or near your maximum heart rate. I can't tell you how many times on the SDBC ride I look down and see that my heart rate is up around 195 (my max). If I were in shape it would be somewhere between 175 and 185.

Which then leads to the catch 22 of not being motivated to ride. I'm not motivated to ride because I'm frustrated about how far my fitness has fallen, plus when I ride my bike I see first hand how slow I need to ride to keep my heart rate under control. Yet, the only way to get it better is to ride.

Anyway, enough excuses, it's time for action. This week my goal is the following:

M - day off
T - 1 hour of endurance
W - 30 mins. of speed
Th - 2.5 hours of endurance
F - off (maybe do some weights)
Sa - 1 hour endurance
Su - 2 hours endurance

Let's see how I make out.