April B7 Challenge Update

April 11th, 2007

April B7 Time Trial Heart Rate

Another month has rolled around and that means time to weigh in for the B7 Challenge and also to do the 3 mile time trial again. Actually we were supposed to do the time trial last week but with my crazy week, I didn’t get it done.

Now a good question would be “So what about your March update?” I was busy and had other more interesting things to write when I had a chance. Of course my update would have been more interesting if I hadn’t been slower than in February. That’s right. My time trial time in February was 16 minutes and 47 seconds. In March I was 4 seconds slower. My excuse was that I was still recovering from my Eiseman Hut ski trip. My weight had dropped to 198 pounds. I was at 200 the beginning of January but peaked out at 204 pounds.

On April 1st I weighed in at 194 pounds so my weight was headed in the right direction. Unfortunately I’ve gained a little back in the last week. I haven’t been tracking my food with Diet Power and I haven’t gotten much exercise. I don’t even really think about it but when I’m keeping track of my food I tend to make better food choices.

After the cold, snowy weekend, we had great weather on Monday. The temperature made it all the way into the lower 60s. It was a perfect day to go see if my speed had improved any. I hadn’t been on my bike in almost a week so I was well rested. I felt good and got in a good warm up before starting the time trial. I felt much better during the time trial than I did during the first two. My time was 14 minutes 39 seconds which was encouraging.

I was able to keep my heart rate higher this time. In March my average heart rate was only 171. This time it was 180 with a maximum of 190 at the end. When I’m fit I can actually hold a slightly higher average heart rate. I still just barely feel like I have some base fitness and am still a long ways from having race fitness.

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Banjo Brothers’ Big Bad Bulky Biker Bodyfat Challenge

February 9th, 2007



Since the Race Across America last summer, I’ve gained over 25 pounds. I’ve always had trouble with my weight and this winter it’s been worse than normal. For one thing I got used to eating a lot when I was training 20-30 hours a week. After RAAM I realized just how much I had put off while training and so I was hardly riding. At the same time, my doctor decided my medication was too high for my thyroid so he reduced it. It turned out that I really need to be in between the dosage I was on and the next lower strength pill. Being on too little thyroid medication makes me gain weight faster. Then to top it off I got injured just after Christmas. I wasn’t getting much exercise before that but at least I was get a longer more than none.

I need something to get me to be careful what I eat and get my weight back down. That’s where the Banjo Brothers’ Big Bad Bulky Biker Bodyfat Challenge (B7 Challenge) comes in. It’s a challenge that The Fat Cyclist is putting on that ends on August 1st. The final score consists of two things. The first one is the percentage of your weight loss goal that you achieve. The second one is how much faster you get for a 3 mile cycling time trial. If I end up with a better score than The Fat Cyclist, I get a free jersey from him. If I lose I have to give him what I wagered.

Last year I did basically the same challenge except that it only went until June 1st and was called the B5 Challenge because it didn’t have a sponsor. I tracked my food intake and my weight very closely with Diet Power and made my weight goal. It was while I was training for RAAM so I was burning plenty of calories. I wrote a post last April about what was working for me that has a screen shot of my weight loss.

Hopefully I will be able to get back on track and lose my goal of 25 pounds. The problem is I’ve actually gained a little weight since the start of the B7 Challenge. although I’ve actually gained a little bit. Since I was injured, I didn’t do my time trial the beginning of January so I did my initial one this last Tuesday. It was the first time in a long time that I’ve actually gone all out. There’s good pain and there’s bad pain and for the time trial I was deep into the bad pain zone. My guts so big it felt like it was keeping my lungs from expanding as far as they should. My HR wasn’t quite as high as I can hold when I’m fit. I still felt like I was going to blow a couple times and I didn’t have anything left at the end. I did it in the Air Force Academy. This is a different course than what I used last year during the B5 Challenge so I can’t compare my time to last year. I certainly felt like I was slow. The Air Force Academy was closed after 9/11 and was only reopened last fall.

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