I've always been a bit of a hit and miss blogger, and usually get enthusiastic when I'm "doing" something - either running or cycling. So my long-term absence from here would suggest that I've been eating pies and getting humungously fat. Well (as Bill Beaumont used to say on Rugby Special), nothing could be further from the truth, Nigel.
I've been cycling. A lot. More than I've ever done before.
In my last period of writing this thing I was doing some running with The Reverend Hinsley, who had dropped a significant amount of weight and was spanking my bottom on the track. He'd been using what he described as "a revolutionary weight-loss technique consisting of eating less shit and doing more exercise". And in May, always one for a faddy diet, I gave it a go.
I've been using an app and website called MyFitnessPal, which simply allows you to record what's going in and what you're using up. It gives you a calorie allowance depending on how much weight you're looking to lose and how active your job is. Mine is "sedentary" and I was looking to lose 2lbs a week, so I only got 1200 calories a day - but what made the big difference for me was that you can "earn" extra calories by exercising. The website has some calories usage calculations in it (so 8min mile running for 30 minutes earns you about 600 calories) that are reckoned to be a bit generous, but I was taking every one I could get.
So what this meant is that I went from doing almost no exercise to doing something pretty much every day - and by June I'd lost about 15lbs and my calorie-earning exercise of choice had become almost entirely bike based. It was a really virtuous circle - riding my bike helped me lose weight, and losing weight helped me ride my bike, and as it got easier (and, if I'm honest, I got faster and started to keep up with and eventually drop people I'd struggled to ride with) it got more fun - so I did it more. A twenty mile ride after work became a pleasurable way to wind down rather than an effort. My mate Bob has also lost a shedload of weight, and got miles quicker on his bike, which is also a real help.
Herb and I did the White Rose medium route in about 5 hours 30 on a mega hot day - got a Gold standard and were in the top 30 times out of over 300 riders. I did the Coast to Coast in a day, 127 miles at an average of over 16mph. I hired a bike every day we were in Mallorca in the summer and rode over 300 miles on holiday. And then went to Mallorca in September and absolutely smashed (and I mean out of sight) my times on all the main climbs, including taking nearly 25 minutes off my time up the biggie of Puig Major. I had a blast on Sa Callobra, chasing about forty city-boy charity riders, and generally had a fabulous time.
And then it got to the autumn, when I traditionally "rest", drink too much and generally go massively backwards. Only this year I didn't.
A new winter bike, some inordinately expensive lights and a determination not to lose what I've gained (well, gain what I've lost, but you get the picture) has seen me maintain pretty good mileage (never less than 150 miles a week and usually nearer 200) and keep most of the weight off.
I actually hit my low point weight wise in September and October, when I was around 12st 4lbs (78kg) - which is a full stone lighter than I was in 2009 when I got a glowing report at my medical. Over the festive season I put maybe 10lbs on, but a week into the New Year and I'm back at 12st 8lbs, and back to eating sensibly and of course still riding the bike.
The weather's been vile recently, but there is a perverse pleasure in getting out in the dark and the rain and the wind - this week's mileage will be pretty low - it's Friday and assuming I get another 20 or 25 in this evening I won't have hit my magic "100 miles for the working week", and as it's Skipton CC's inaugural Saturday Chaingang tomorrow (which will be about 30 miles or so) then I don't expect to be much over 170 for the week. But that's still almost inconceivable mileage from a year ago, when if I did 75 miles in a week I'd think I'd done well.
I've been running a bit - I'm trying to do one run a week now, but if I'm honest I don't enjoy it as much as the bike, although it's a good thing to do when time is short or I'm travelling.
So - what am I going to do with all this fitness? Well I've entered the Fred Whitton AND the Etape du Dales - we find out about the Fred this weekend. They're only a week apart, so that'll be an interesting seven days, assuming we get into the Fred. I'm going to do some time-trials, and might even have a go at road racing. Mallorca 2014 is booked for September, and my bike's booked on the flight to summer hols in July. But before any of that I've got another half a stone to lose.
Best get back to it...
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