Third week of October - Update

October 24, 2023

Update

I had a couple of stressful days this week at work. Nothing too crazy, but definitly things that would have really thrown me off longer term, but I was able to recover relatively quickly, especially when trying to use exercise to burn away the frustration as it were.

Anyway, how about we look at the data. In the past 7 days, I have ridden my bike(s) 10 times and completed 7 low-aerobic target exercises. In those 7 days I have mountain biked 17.74 miles, thereby burning 4,161 calories! During the low-aerobic exercieses I burned 2,996 calories. I find it noteworthy to include some of my road specific activities, although that's not my ideal senario, it's a lot easier to get those exercises in. On the high-aerobic road biking side I burned about 1,650 calories.

In that same time period I consumed approximately 12,116 calories. My goal is to consume around 1,600 - 1,800 calories a day but allow myself up to 2,120 per day depending on how I am feeling. I try to let my body guide my needs.

Although I am trying to focus on fitness, it is also important for me to hit some weight milestones. I started the year off at 310 pounds. I lost a decent amount in the spring, and mostly kept it off. Then this fall I have been hard at it. In the past 7 days I hit a major weight milestone when I weighed in at 271 pounds! which is about 39 pounds of weight I have lost since March! Just in case you're curious, that's about the same weight as FIVE male Maltese dogs - or a 3.5MH mercury outboard motor.

A few more milestones come from tracking through Garmin Connect. I decreased my fitness age, nearing my actual age which will be a major milestine when I get there. I have an elevation goal for November that I nearly met on my last two rides of the week each, (today I hit that milestone, but that update is for next week 😉).

Lastly, I raised my accute training load to above 2k. That is a huge accomplishment for me, which I think showcases the mental dedication I have in achieving these goals.

Some more biking facts:

My average ascent was 311 ft
My max ascent was 838 ft
My total ascent was 3,419 ft
My average speed was 8.6 mph

This month’s goals:

Average ascent >450 ft
Max ascent >650 ft
Average speed >8 mph