In the last 4 weeks much has happened.
I have done a couple of home to Hutt rides, one of which was over 65km, both were on nice sunny days. I have also spent considerable time on the static bike after work, getting my legs used to the long spin cycle. I can't wait till we move the office and I can start commuting again, I really miss my morning rides.
At the end of Jan a whole lot of people pulled out of the radle, meaning that only a few of us were left behind. I was already in a blind panic about the length and difficulty of the daily schedules, so was slightly relieved when it was postponed (to spring?). I was wondering about cancelling my leave when I decided I would instead go and ride the Central Otago Rail Trail. I have been wanting to ride this for a few years, but never had the time or companions to do it with. Now I do have the time, just no companions, so I have decided to do it solo.
OK, yes, a diabetic doing a 150km ride in the 'outback' of Otago solo does seem a little mad, but the rail trail is well populated, and it's a cruise not a race, so I do not foresee any issues. Flights have been booked, accommodation sorted in Dunedin, Lauder and Waipiata, shuttles organised and now I just have to sort my packing and provisions and get going. I'm heading to Dunedin in just over a week and to Clyde on Monday morning. I'll leave Clyde at midday and arrive in Middlemarch on Wednesday afternoon. 3 days seems a nice pace, about 50km/day should allow plenty of sightseeing and visiting the various vineyards and taverns along the trail :)
My sugars have been consistently good recently, probably due to an improved diet, and I have lost a bit of weight. I'm still a fat bastard, but less fat than a month ago. I'm looking forward to my ride, and after a few test rides, I know I'll be capable at least. Plenty of photos to probably follow.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Getting into it
I'm into week #3 now. My week-day diet has been good, my blood sugars have been great, my exercise has been improving, and my excesses getting less but more concentrated.
After last weeks hill climb, I hooked up a decent bike to the indoor spinner and it's much more comfortable in the saddle when I can stretch my legs properly and not hit my knees on the handlebars! However, I was still only doing 40mins at a time and knew I had to get my time in the saddle up. If I'm going to be doing hundreds of km over sequential days, I need to be able to spend large amounts of time peddling. More saddle time required, so I'll be adding some this week - let's try for 60 minute sessions now and continue to build each week.
The weekend saw in influx of relatives, and a major influx of red wine. So, Saturday night was a late one, and while I was OK on Sunday it did make for 2 days of no exercise, and poor decisions.
Monday was a holiday, and despite the southerly blowing and grey skies I decided there were not enough excuses not to get my bike out and ride to Mums place along the river. It's about 35km with only about 6km of motorway exposure and mostly flat, or downhill. With bag packed I headed off, and by the time I was half way the skies were blue, the breeze was at my back, and I was feeling good.
This ride was a test case - I wanted to monitor my blood as I went, timing for when my sugars bombed, so I made several short stops to test, and managed to detect when they were dropping, and get them back up again. Unlike the last time I did this ride, I felt really good during it. In fact, I was at mums place in under 2 hours, so I was very happy indeed. Because it was sunny in the valley, I also got a bit sunburnt, not something that has happened on my bike for quite some time!
This weekend we're heading to Christchurch for Buskers Festival so I have no weekend plans for fitness. Maybe I should put in some extra hours on the bike this week instead? The weekend after might be a good time to have a crack at a long ride, something with more of a challenge in it. No sense if living in a false sense of ability and it's only 5ish weeks till the radle!
After last weeks hill climb, I hooked up a decent bike to the indoor spinner and it's much more comfortable in the saddle when I can stretch my legs properly and not hit my knees on the handlebars! However, I was still only doing 40mins at a time and knew I had to get my time in the saddle up. If I'm going to be doing hundreds of km over sequential days, I need to be able to spend large amounts of time peddling. More saddle time required, so I'll be adding some this week - let's try for 60 minute sessions now and continue to build each week.
The weekend saw in influx of relatives, and a major influx of red wine. So, Saturday night was a late one, and while I was OK on Sunday it did make for 2 days of no exercise, and poor decisions.
Monday was a holiday, and despite the southerly blowing and grey skies I decided there were not enough excuses not to get my bike out and ride to Mums place along the river. It's about 35km with only about 6km of motorway exposure and mostly flat, or downhill. With bag packed I headed off, and by the time I was half way the skies were blue, the breeze was at my back, and I was feeling good.
This ride was a test case - I wanted to monitor my blood as I went, timing for when my sugars bombed, so I made several short stops to test, and managed to detect when they were dropping, and get them back up again. Unlike the last time I did this ride, I felt really good during it. In fact, I was at mums place in under 2 hours, so I was very happy indeed. Because it was sunny in the valley, I also got a bit sunburnt, not something that has happened on my bike for quite some time!
This weekend we're heading to Christchurch for Buskers Festival so I have no weekend plans for fitness. Maybe I should put in some extra hours on the bike this week instead? The weekend after might be a good time to have a crack at a long ride, something with more of a challenge in it. No sense if living in a false sense of ability and it's only 5ish weeks till the radle!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Off to a flying(?) start
It's been 10 days since I started back on the wagon.
It was off to a good start on Monday morning when I packed my lunchbox and jumped on my bike and headed off to work. However, after a few kilometres, I noticed my back tyre was too soft to be safe and I had to turn around and ride home again!
Over the next few days it was cold and wet, so I had plenty of excuses not to ride, but still took a good healthy lunch, and stayed off the booze too. Well, until Friday of course.
One massive change however has been my blood sugar readings. I had been waking up very high every morning, and was using a lot of insulin every day, but over the last 10 days, my use has been low and readings have been great!
The weekend was good food-wise, poor exercise-wise, and had a few wines in it too.
And then Monday rolled around again. Bad weather means more excuses not to ride, so after work I jumped on the static bike in the garage and did a 45 min ride. Then I did another 40 minutes yesterday. The bike is way too small and the seat is horrid, so today I decided to do a wee hill climb rather than a static ride, seeing as how it was sunny for once. A short ride, just 1.5km, but it's up a pretty steep hill (and then down again) and 7 minutes after I headed off, I was home again.
Man I am so unfit!
And now I'm in a panic as well - in 7(ish) weeks I have put my name down to ride in a radle. Sounds like fun, except it's 8 days of riding, and over 600km! Eek! I can't do 40km let alone several 100km days one after another!
So, more diet, more exercise, less weight and more fitness is on the cards. I'm not tempted to eat any crap in the near future, that's for sure!
It was off to a good start on Monday morning when I packed my lunchbox and jumped on my bike and headed off to work. However, after a few kilometres, I noticed my back tyre was too soft to be safe and I had to turn around and ride home again!
Over the next few days it was cold and wet, so I had plenty of excuses not to ride, but still took a good healthy lunch, and stayed off the booze too. Well, until Friday of course.
One massive change however has been my blood sugar readings. I had been waking up very high every morning, and was using a lot of insulin every day, but over the last 10 days, my use has been low and readings have been great!
The weekend was good food-wise, poor exercise-wise, and had a few wines in it too.
And then Monday rolled around again. Bad weather means more excuses not to ride, so after work I jumped on the static bike in the garage and did a 45 min ride. Then I did another 40 minutes yesterday. The bike is way too small and the seat is horrid, so today I decided to do a wee hill climb rather than a static ride, seeing as how it was sunny for once. A short ride, just 1.5km, but it's up a pretty steep hill (and then down again) and 7 minutes after I headed off, I was home again.
Man I am so unfit!
And now I'm in a panic as well - in 7(ish) weeks I have put my name down to ride in a radle. Sounds like fun, except it's 8 days of riding, and over 600km! Eek! I can't do 40km let alone several 100km days one after another!
So, more diet, more exercise, less weight and more fitness is on the cards. I'm not tempted to eat any crap in the near future, that's for sure!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
A poor showing
Not a new years resolution, just a convenient time to test and compare to 2-3 years ago. Not looking great...
So, the numbers are in and it's a mix of horror and surprise. My weight has blown way out. Over 13kg heavier now than when I started the 20 weeks challenge. Much more girth, which I was aware of as most of my pants don't fit any more. So, fat & heavy, no shocks there.
My strength stuff was where it gets weird, and horrific. I'm worse than I was at the end of the challenge, but I have done very little exercise in the last 30 months, although I have (on occasion) tried to re-engage. My muscles still seem to be hiding under the fat layers as my pushups, squats and side-to-side were better than before the challenge, but nowhere close to my best. The plank and wall sit however showed how that extra weight is counting against me big time!
But what made me the most worried was how exhausted I was after these few tests. Puffing, panting, sweating and aching after such a small effort.
Next step, an honest appraisal of my blood sugars. I have some blood tests lined up in the near future, so it would be good to get a before/after from them too - totally impartial.
| Jan 2010 | June 2010 | Jan 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight (kg) | 107.1 | 99.2 | 120.3 |
| Guts (cm) | 104 | 90 | 120 |
| Pushups (1 min) | 7 | 33 | 13 |
| Squats (1 min) | 31 | 53 | 41 |
| Side to side (1 min) | 67 | 143 | 120 |
| Prone hold (to fail) | 0:34 | 1:02 | 0:31 |
| Wall sit (to fail) | 0:33 | 0:53 | 0:26 |
So, the numbers are in and it's a mix of horror and surprise. My weight has blown way out. Over 13kg heavier now than when I started the 20 weeks challenge. Much more girth, which I was aware of as most of my pants don't fit any more. So, fat & heavy, no shocks there.
My strength stuff was where it gets weird, and horrific. I'm worse than I was at the end of the challenge, but I have done very little exercise in the last 30 months, although I have (on occasion) tried to re-engage. My muscles still seem to be hiding under the fat layers as my pushups, squats and side-to-side were better than before the challenge, but nowhere close to my best. The plank and wall sit however showed how that extra weight is counting against me big time!
But what made me the most worried was how exhausted I was after these few tests. Puffing, panting, sweating and aching after such a small effort.
Next step, an honest appraisal of my blood sugars. I have some blood tests lined up in the near future, so it would be good to get a before/after from them too - totally impartial.
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