2014 is flying by

I was just looking at the calendar and realized that we are already 7 weeks into 2014.  Whee has the time gone?  I had big plans going into this year to put up some decent mileage number in both January and February to jump start my training and get moving towards my goal of 2014 miles for the year. Obviously that hasn't really happened yet as I sit here having only ridden twice so far this year for a grand total of 11 miles.  Not tearing it up by any means.

Part of the issue has been my health, first waiting on the doctor's OK to start exercising after my hospital stay and second the fact I had a nasty cold this past weekend when we had the nicest weather of the year, setting a record high temp of 81 degrees on Sunday.  Fortunately I am feeling much better and will be riding this weekend.  In fact I need to get my butt out there as there are only a scant 10 weeks until the Tour De Cure on May 3rd.

Not only does that mean I have to start putting in some serious miles to get my body back into riding shape, but it also means I need to get on the fundraising to meet my goal for the ride.  In the training department I am going to ride 28 of 31 days in March and 27 of 30 days in April.  I know better than to pledge to ride every day for 2 months straight as I would quickly burn out.  I need strategically placed rest days to prevent that.  In order to count for the above goals, each ride must be at least 5 miles in length.  Ii hope to do all of the ride outdoors on my bike, but in the event of inclement weather, 5 miles on the sin bike at the gym will substitute.

Diabetes is a terrible disease and I hope that my small efforts both in terms of fundraising and awareness raising through participating in the Tour De Cure will help to put an end to this disease.  Won't you please donate to help?

On a secondary note, I received a notice this week that the BIKE: MS VEGAS Challenge is not going to be held this year.  I really enjoyed that ride last year and was thinking about adding it to my calendar again this year, but apparently there wasn't enough turnout last year.  Bummer.

And the weight is coming off

Its not amazing, but it is remarkable.  The basic, simple truth is that if you eat less calories than your body burns in a 24 hour period, you tend to end up losing weight.  I can prove it by looking at what has been happening with me over the last 6 weeks or so.  I started the year at 470 lbs. and I am down to 429 lbs.

Now that is an impressive 41 lbs lost, but I have to be honest.  Not all of it was fat. In fact there was a significant amount of fluid weight that has been lost.  I was very swollen at the beginning if the year after my hospital stay.  That was slowly correcting itself, but my doctor prescribed a twice a day diuretic which has helped immensely.  Realistically, I would say that I have lost about 11  lbs. of actual fat and 30 lbs. of fluid.

Now its time ti increase my exercise so that I am getting a larger daily deficit which will aid in the weight loss.  It will also help me to increase my endurance and achieve better muscle strength.  My plan is to visit the gym 3 to 4 times a week for a little cardio and more strength training.  Then on the weekends I'm going to be riding my bike to get in additional cardio work, not to mention get into shape for my upcoming rides and ultimately Pumpkinman come fall.

Speaking of upcoming rides, I am once again participating in the Tour De Cure ride which is coming up on May 3rd.  Please donate what you can to help those afflicted with diabetes, like my mom and my Aunts.  Thank you.