Team McAlister

I rode to work. I RODE my BIKE to WORK . For some reason, after I used 70% of my iPhone battery to track the ride, Fitnio decided not to record it. But it was right around 45 miles, and took just over three hours. Pretty slow, but I’m happy with it since I haven’t done a real ride (or even been on a bike, really) since the summer. For anyone interested, here’s the link to the route. It says 42.5 miles, but instead of the Foster City route we took a bike path that added about two miles. Aside from being freezing cold until the sun came up, and completely worn out at the end, it was extremely pleasant.

I plan on doing this once a week for a month or two, and then moving up to at least twice weekly.

I am completely exhausted, so that’s all I’m writing.

Tags: bike, cycling, san francisco

Yes, it’s been a long time since this thing was updated.  Motivation has been hard to come by.  Too much heat?  Too much work?  Too much humidity?  Too much weight?  Too much junk food?  Too many excuses?  Probably.  The dream is still alive though.  Seeing it may be a little difficult, but it makes appearances from time to time.  I find that getting external sources of inspiration and motivation are much more necessary sometimes than others.

Anyway, I’ve been working on that motivation thing.  Hitting some group rides to find company on the road.  Remembering that sometimes a nice social ride is just the ticket.  Racing around isn’t always necessary.  Getting some good music to help push you along is also good….just gotta be safe with the earbuds and the traffic!  Also, varying the training routine AND (big news) getting back to eating properly for energy during training, recovery from training, and to begin to shake some of this weight.

Just for the record, when I started cycling 3 years ago (and some 9000 miles), I tipped the scales at a svelte 282 lbs (128 k or 21 stone).  Got that down to 229 lbs. and was in pretty good shape – BMI etc – until The Wreck.  Long story short.  The Wreck took me out for long enough that 25 lbs jumped right back on.  Even though I got back into fair riding condition, the weight didn’t come off (poor eating, anyone?) and for good measure I went ahead and added 10 more pounds.  So, now my friendly scales insist on showing me around 264 or so.  Say it ain’t so!

Suffice to say that everything is out of whack at 260 lbs.  Low motivation.  Ill-fitting clothes.  Loss of confidence, hair, teeth, nails.  (Just kidding.)  Seriously, though with that much weight all sense of focus on training and the pain that goes with it are right out the door.  When someone talks about a downward spiral in their behavior, I know exactly what they mean.

It is with a renewed sense of mission that I am taking charge again.  Making a training plan.  Sticking to it.  Making an eating plan. Sticking to it. Taking one step at a time (is this anything like a 12 step program?) on the road to putting together a serious attempt at this triathlon goal.  I figure that for the tri to be achievable, that I must be much, much lighter.  Must have a different body composition.  I don’t think being below 200 lbs is truly practical.  Afterall, that is college track scholarship territory for me.  There was a time in my early 30’s when I did weigh about 205-207, depending on how much ice cream I ate in a week.  I’m thinking that 205-210 is a good place to be, even though it still places me in the clydesdale category.

As of today, I am on Day 2 of a better eating regimen.  More fruits, veggies, lean protein etc.  No choco chips, Oreos, powdered doughnuts, Famous Amos, etc.  More water.  Less coffee.  Fewer bagels.  More oatmeal.  Fewer chips.  More red peppers.  Fewer Cokes.  Ouch!  And the amazing thing?  I swam a half yesterday, cycled for 1.5 hours (with 4 big climbs), and ran for 30 minutes and today I feel great!  I ate correctly yesterday (especially post-workout); importantly, I have eaten correctly today.  Now, I am ready to do some spinning just to loosen up and shake out my legs a little bit.

I’m back!

Tags: cycling, running, swimming, triathlon, weight

is paved with good intentions, I’m sure.  I really meant to make the open water swim yesterday.  But, I was tired and over-worked, the weather was threatening, and the water nasty. So, I skipped it.  And, the weather was bad this morning, so I missed the Tri Training group ride.  BUT, this afternoon I did get in a nice little 20-mile ride in the first stages of a thunderstorm.  Didn’t get struck by lightning (obviously) and barely got sprinkled by the rain…but I was still leg weary from Thursday’s ride.  It was good to get that in though!

Tags: cycling, Weather

Okay, the weather has stunk!  And, the riding has been confined to elliptical rollers.  But, today the rain broke so I jumped out there for one of the usual 40-milers.  Great roll out…about 20 miles in the first hour.  I hadn’t counted on 100% humidity though, so I was totally under prepared.  No food… dumb.  Plain water… double dumb.  Hit the wall on the return and dark caught up with me… had to be sagged in.  Did I mention that I had to fight with my computer?  My usually reliable Garmin appears to be losing its mind and is practically useless recently.

Tomorrow has a 1000 yard open water lake swim available to the CARVE members that I’m thinking about.  I hear the lake is pretty nasty though.  yuck.

Tags: cycling, Weather

Last week was sort of lost due to a trip to LA. The highlights were crummy bikes in the Marriott workout room, a tour of dts Digital Cinema’s engineering department, and the porn convention at the hotel….seriously, there was an internet porn show at the hotel. Trés bizarre! Anyway, it was a good op to let my knee recover some….the trip, not the porn show. Since my last entry I’ve had a couple of good rides. Last Sunday was about 32 miles, decent pace, good rolling terrain. Nothing too strenuous and the knee held up well. Today was the bad boy though. 48 miles. 3:21 and change, about 3,000 feet of elevation gain with a westerly wind that nearly made forward progress impossible. Going East, I was a star. Knee is fine even after 4 significant climbs that averaged in the 11 -12% range – and 2 of those were directly into the teeth of the wind! It’s great to be back in the saddle and getting some quality miles in. The dodgy knee continues to improve.

Tags: cycling, health, injuries

something valuable – power, wisdom, Ding Dongs? Well, whatever else may accrue to me, I’ve learned that running as a recreational activity is not in my future. Here’s the deal: I know I can make a half-marathon distance at a 14 minute or slightly better pace. I also know that a shorter, faster run jacks up one knee pretty badly, at least right now. So, the plan now is to continue training on a very moderate program. “Real running” will only occur as an element of an actual competition. I need to have a much deeper running base and a lot less weight to stay serious about this. Today was a nice, short little ride that helped recover some athletic motion in the bad knee. About 18 miles. EZ pace. Nothing spectacular, but it was better than sitting on the sofa.

Tags: cycling, health, injuries, running

Getting back into a comfort zone is good. Today, I was able to get in an easy 3 hour ride and it felt great! About an hour in, I ran into a couple of regular riding buddies and we cruised for about an hour before I split off. There really isn’t anything special to report. It was just a fine day to be out and a fine way to spend 3 hours. Beats the stuff out of running.

Tags: cycling

I know this is not Chicago, but it was 28 degrees out there officially today. I think in the shade by the river (where I was) it was much colder than that. Today was scheduled for an easy 6 miles. I did a moderate, okay maybe it was easy, 5. All I know is that I was freezing at the end as well as in the middle and at the start. I think the new shoes help. I think the training is beginning to help. I think the activity is still ridiculous. Give me a bike any time! It’s been over 4 hours since I finished and I’m still cold. Please tell me that it gets better.

Tags: cycling, fitness, health, running, triathlon, Weather

In an effort to loosen up after yesterday’s insanity, I hit the rollers for about 40 minutes. It was a good spin; just the ticket to warm up some tired muscles and get the kinks out.

But, my toe is pretty sensitive. Guess this nail is coming off. It took having the bike shoes a little loose and some easy spinning to get comfortable, but at pace everything was fine. A little post-ride stretching and all’s right with the world.

Tags: cycling, injuries, rollers, running, toes, triathlon

In baseball circles, the catcher’s equipment has been called the “implements of ignorance.” (Apologies to Joe Garagiola, Bob Uecker, Yogi Berra, or Tim McCarver for a misquotation or misattribution.) If whoever said something like that thought they were describing the ultimate in athletic futility then they obviously had never ridden bicycle rollers. I wish I could spout off some pithy Elizabethan curse about the inventor of these things. If working a sudoku is an intellectual Sin of Onan (which it just may be), then riding rollers has to be the athletic version of old Onan’s bad habit.

Apparently, engaging in riding rollers helps one’s cycling – balance, stroke (sorry Onan), smoothness, etc. You can also kill yourself. You might not go blind, but you can sure mess yourself up.

Today the score is: Rider 1, Rollers 0. I rode those bad boys for 50 minutes and didn’t have a single wreck or close call (very unusual!).

So much for my day off….tomorrow is a 6 mile run day.

Tags: baseball, cycling, Onan, triathlon

In the last post, I was optimistic about the beautiful day and the promise it held for strong training. That was the triumph of hope over experience! By the time I made it to the parking lot down by the river, the wind was brutal. Naturally, I was not completely kitted for the conditions. At any rate, I logged a decent ride with a nice climb and some tough head winds. It was a good day to get the cadence up and keep it smooth.

After a short break to give a driving lesson to a friend’s daughter, I got back out to do the running.

It was slow and sloggy, but it’s done now. The good news? No injuries.

Tags: biking, cycling, running, triathlon

It’s beautiful out there today! As soon as the aquarium water change is finished, I’m getting out to ride and run.

The danger is in trying to do too much. Ideally, I’ll get about 3 hours of cycling in plus the ever-present 30 minutes of running/walking. Three hours of cycling right now is a load though,so we’ll see how it goes.

Tags: biking, cycling, injuries, running, triathlon

You gotta love a place where the temperatures vary by 30 degrees from one day to the next. Thursday’s run in 23 degree weather was pretty special. That was Thursday wasn’t it? Well, today it was 50 and windy.

Today’s plan was to stick with the 30 minutes of walking and running as prescribed by Hal Higdon – sort of. I’m not a slave to his program, but I am being careful since it’s been a long, long time since I ran seriously. I completed 2.23 miles at a 13:30 pace and didn’t feel as though it was a push at all. That’s probably as it should be. These old knees were just a wee bit cranky at the end, but not too bad. (A doc looking inside my knees once said that I had the knees of an 80 year old man! And that was over 25 years ago.) This is my biggest concern, but I figure that in the final analysis, it’s just pain. And, pain can be overcome.

Being able to finish up the run and get on my bike was a fine reward. Slammed down a banana, aired up, and got to rolling. Had a nice 1:45 with some hills and lots of wind. Plenty of opportunity to work on smooth stroke and balance.

I’m lovin’ this!

Tags: biking, cycling, health, masters, triathlon