Weight loss/training for L-C-L

[Alan O]

I want to do at least one 75% distance ride in the first half of the month.

Exceeded that today with 87.7 miles. I stopped checking Strava at around 60 miles and kept it for a surprise for when I got home, hoping to reach 80+. I could fairly easily have done the extra few miles to reach the 100 too, so I'm quite pleased at this stage

 

[si_c]

Decent ride there with a fair bit of hills, especially that one at the end!!

Pretty much ready I'd say!

 

[Alan O]

Decent ride there with a fair bit of hills, especially that one at the end!!

Pretty much ready I'd say!

Thanks, but I think you're being a bit generous about the hills . It was mostly pretty flat, and the 1,500 feet of elevation is a fair bit short of the 4,000+ feet of the LCL. But the final climb from the river front up to Childwall was pleasing - even though it's relatively gentle, being comfortable with it at the end of a long ride was nice.

Also, around 50 miles of the ride was off-road, including Cheshire Lines, canal path, Formby-Crosby coast path. And after a good sleep, I feel fine today - rest day, then a gentle stretch tomorrow (which should also bring up my 1,000 miles for 2018 - not a lot for slim, young things, but not bad for fat old me)

I've got rides of about 70 miles and 50 miles lined up for the next two Mondays, plus a couple of short evening ones each week. And with that, yep, I'm feeling ready for it.

 

[mjr]

I also had the ''my scales have been underweighing me'' 2 days ago when i went to the doctors...mine are under by 7 kg that, or my clothes and anything in my bladder/bowels that isn't usually for my morning weigh was quite more substatial than expected.

Some clothes are surprisingly heavy. A while ago, I did actually weigh what I wore to a hospital winter weigh-in by weighing myself with and without once I got back home. It wasn't 7kg but near to 5 IIRC.

 

[Biking4Heart]

It must be an Alan "Thing".
Part of my HBP issue is my weight.
December of 2017 I weighed in @ 209Lbs.
My appointment the other day has me @ 197Lbs.

This wasn't even done with riding. Mine was solely done by diet modification.
Hopefully, the bike helps.

The U.S.Alan

 

[Alan O]

Some clothes are surprisingly heavy. A while ago, I did actually weigh what I wore to a hospital winter weigh-in by weighing myself with and without once I got back home. It wasn't 7kg but near to 5 IIRC.

I have my annual checkup in a couple of weeks, which involves weighing. I'm hoping the weather will stay warm enough for me to wear my lightest t-shirt and a pair of shorts - and I'll wear sandals so I can easily kick them off for the weighing

 

[mjr]

I have my annual checkup in a couple of weeks, which involves weighing. I'm hoping the weather will stay warm enough for me to wear my lightest t-shirt and a pair of shorts - and I'll wear sandals so I can easily kick them off for the weighing

Do they disinfect the sweaty foot pad?

Take it to its conclusion and turn up in the full Borat.

 

[Alan O]

Do they disinfect the sweaty foot pad?

Take it to its conclusion and turn up in the full Borat.

Ah, good point - maybe I'll take a small bottle of TCP in my bag. And I quite like the nurse who'll be checking me, so I'll probably spare her the horror of a Borat

 

[Biking4Heart]

Ah, good point - maybe I'll take a small bottle of TCP in my bag. And I quite like the nurse who'll be checking me, so I'll probably spare her the horror of a Borat

One problem with the Nurse theory.

If you like her enough... It might elevate your BP. Don't want to go there

 

[Alan O]

One problem with the Nurse theory.

If you like her enough... It might elevate your BP. Don't want to go there

Hehe, another good point!

 

[si_c]

If you like her enough... It might elevate your BP. Don't want to go there

Depending how much you like her, it may end up lowering your blood pressure...

 

[Alan O]

Possible change of training strategy, and opinions would be appreciated...

I've done two long rides the past two Mondays - 87 miles on 4 June, and 72 miles on 11 June - and I have a 50-mile one scheduled for 18 June. After that I was going to have two relative rest weeks, with maybe just a handful of short rides (20-ish miles) to keep my legs moving, before the big day on 1 July.

But I've just seen a really nice ride scheduled with the group I ride with, on 24 June - 7 days before the LCL-100. Including getting to and from the start/finish, it would be around 80 miles, and I'm finding it hard to resist.

Given that I've felt just fine the day after each of my past two big rides, I reckon doing an 80 and then having a week's rest should be no problem.

What do folks think? Sensible idea, or too risky just a week before the big day?

 

[Alan O]

After closer examination of that last scheduled ride and noticing that its intended pace was probably a little too much for me, I gave it a miss.

With only 4 days to go, I'm ending June at approx 350 miles - with maybe just a 5-10 mile stretch tomorrow evening after I clean and relube the bike today, just to make sure it's all fine.

That's far more than I managed last June, with a paltry 31 miles (hampered by personal things), and with 1,226 miles so far in 2018 I'm way ahead of the 278 miles I'd done in 2017 at the same stage. I won't tempt fate by saying any more than that ;-)

 

[Alan O]

All complete, with a total distance of 105 miles, and finished feeling a lot better than last year. And today, the morning after (and after a very good sleep), my legs feel fine.

It was a scorching hot day, but plenty of fluid did the trick (a massive 8 litres, with only about 300ml of pee to show for it). There was a breeze for most of the route, which helped keep me relatively cool.

Very hard to eat in the heat, and I only managed to consume about a third of what I carried with me, but even after my weight loss I still have plenty of kcals in reserve ;-)

Do it again next year? Well, this year was mostly a comeback from my poor fitness and inadequate preparation last year, and subsequent struggles, and I really just wanted to do a better job of it. Mission accomplished on that score. (As an aside, had last year's ride been in the same heat, I wouldn't have come close to finishing.)

I'm also still not a great lover of hills, and 4,500 feet of climbing is a lot for me - but the hills were considerably less hard this year (I almost said "easier" there, but that might imply some degree of easy ;-)

Still, I'll be 60 for next year's ride, and I quite like the idea of doing it with my bus pass in my bag :-) And I'll be significantly lighter again in another 12 months. We'll see.

 

[si_c]

All complete, with a total distance of 105 miles, and finished feeling a lot better than last year. And today, the morning after (and after a very good sleep), my legs feel fine.

It was a scorching hot day, but plenty of fluid did the trick (a massive 8 litres, with only about 300ml of pee to show for it). There was a breeze for most of the route, which helped keep me relatively cool.

Very hard to eat in the heat, and I only managed to consume about a third of what I carried with me, but even after my weight loss I still have plenty of kcals in reserve ;-)

Do it again next year? Well, this year was mostly a comeback from my poor fitness and inadequate preparation last year, and subsequent struggles, and I really just wanted to do a better job of it. Mission accomplished on that score. (As an aside, had last year's ride been in the same heat, I wouldn't have come close to finishing.)

I'm also still not a great lover of hills, and 4,500 feet of climbing is a lot for me - but the hills were considerably less hard this year (I almost said "easier" there, but that might imply some degree of easy ;-)

Still, I'll be 60 for next year's ride, and I quite like the idea of doing it with my bus pass in my bag :-) And I'll be significantly lighter again in another 12 months. We'll see.

Nicely done! Especially in that heat! There are also plenty of forum rides of similar or less distance for you to get your teeth into, just have a look in the recreational rides subforum see if anything takes your fancy! Would also help keep your fitness up if you have something else to look forward to.