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Now, back to rebuilding

05.17.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Just put my son and his girlfriend on the plane to head back to Minnesota. They were here for four days, which is why the posts have ground to a halt. We were pretty much going non-stop during that time, because the young lady had never been to Texas, and we wanted to show her a good time.

Luckily, I did get one bike ride in. Friday morning, everyone slept in, so I headed out for a tool around the Veloway and then did one Mopac loop for a grand total of 16-something miles. The Mopac loop is the site of a bi-weekly time trial, which some friends have been urging me to do. As I’ve said many times, I’m not a racer and am not really interested in it, but I’m thinking I might try the time trial once, just for the heck of it. So I tried to do Mopac at a time trial pace.

I do have a benchmark: my friend David is a regular at the TT, and his goal is to complete the eight-mile loop in 25 minutes. He hasn’t managed it yet. So I set out with that in mind.

Friday morning was warm, but not terrible. Then the sun came out and the heat built up quickly. A brisk southeast wind blew moist air in from the Gulf of Mexico. My southbound and eastbound legs ran smack into the wind, which kept me from hitting my best time — at least, that’s a convenient excuse if anyone asks.

So I finished at something over 26 minutes. Probably closer to 27. I didn’t get an accurate read, because I wasn’t certain of the TT finish point, so I guesstimated it. I guess if I do decide to enter the time trial, I’d better do a little more work, first.

Which brings me back to the notion of rebuilding, which I introduced in the headline. Because we were showing the kids around, lots of food was involved. And that means Tex-Mex and Texas barbecue. For this transplanted Yankee, Texas barbecue was different than what I was used to, but I developed a taste for it just like that.

saltlick_bbq2Family style at Austin’s famous Salt Lick Barbecue. This shot doesn’t even show the sausages and ribs! Because of odd blue laws, it’s also BYOB. And we did.

We had barbecue for dinner Saturday and brunch Sunday. We chowed down on juicy cheeseburgers and fries Friday while at the movies. And we washed it all down with copious quantities of beer.

Now, I’m betting some of you are wondering, “How the heck is this guy going to get in shape to ride a time trial?” Heck, I’m wondering how I’m going to get back in shape to ride, period. I sneaked a peek at the scale Sunday morning, and I’d picked up five pounds over the last three days. And that was before we went out to Sunday brunch. Which was the Gospel Brunch at Stubb’s BBQ in downtown Austin, so not only was there barbecue on the menu again, but some nice Tex-Mex, too, featuring migas — a mixture of scrambled eggs with tortilla chips, tomatoes, onions, cheese, lime and a little jalapeno — and music by the Aretha-esque Christianettes out of San Antonio.

I’ve been pleased that through biking and being a little careful about what I eat, I’ve dropped 12 pounds since February. This weekend put the brakes on that trend, though. However, the school year is over, and while I have plenty of work to do writing research articles and planning for my summer class, I’ll also have time to ride almost every day for the next three weeks. So my rebuilding will focus on two goals: re-lose all the weight I gained back and keep going, and see if I can actually get myself time trial-worthy.

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Categories // training Tags // food, training

What’s for breakfast?

03.22.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

Two weeks ago, we were on a group ride on a rolling hills route.  As usual, the A group riders left me far behind.  Although I felt fine, I turned back early, with another rider who couldn’t keep up either.  His friend tried to stay with the lead pack, but showed up at our Starbucks finish line about 10 minutes behind us.

“I just had nothing left,” he said.  “I could barely make it up that final hill.  I could hardly move my legs to pedal.”

That sounded like a classic bonk to me, and I asked him what he had had for breakfast.

360 calories -- From The Diet Blog
360 calories -- From The Diet Blog.

“An energy bar,” he said.  “How about you?”

“A bowl of Cheerios with raisins and bananas, two frozen multi-grain blueberry waffles, a glass of orange juice and half a cup of coffee,” I replied.

“Man, I wish I’d done that,” he said.

The breakfast topic came up again on this morning’s ride.  My friend David asked me what I’d eaten this morning.  It was essentially the same thing as last time, but substituting toast with jam for the waffles.

“I had two scrambled eggs, bacon and toast,” he said.  “Usually I like oatmeal dribbled with honey.”

Well, I’ve never been an oatmeal guy.  But I learned the hard way last year that you need to fuel up before a bike ride.

325 calories -- From The Diet Blog
325 calories -- From The Diet Blog

The obvious thing is to bulk up on carbohydrates.  My cereal and banana work there.  Lance Armstrong’s training coach, Chris Carmichael, said in USA Today during Lance’s last Tour de France win that his breakfast is a big one: Two bowls of whole grain cereal topped with skim milk and fresh fruit, a three- or four-egg omelet and some pasta, rice or potatoes.

“And don’t forget the two cups of Peet’s Coffee,” Carmichael said.

That might be why I was never in danger of bonking last fall during my century ride.  I stopped at a McDonald’s on the way there, and had two sausage-and-egg burritos, a hash brown potato patty (yeah, I know — greasy — not a good thing) and coffee.  It was filling, and got me off to a good start.

I’ve read that you need about 400 calories for breakfast on ride day.  The breakfasts David and I had this morning should meet that target.  My only problem is, I’d like some variety in what I eat.

What kind of eating strategy do you follow for breakfast?  And what do you eat?  Let’s try to get lots of different suggestions.

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Categories // food Tags // food

Watching what I eat

01.25.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

bacon-cheeseburger-friesNutrition is a topic that has never interested me. I eat what I like, pretty much, and have been lucky because not only is Mrs. Noob an excellent cook, but she does pay attention to nutrition, and cooks healthy meals. So my weight has never been the problem that it could be. I’m just heavy.

But I’m at the point where I’ve decided that watching what I eat has to be an integral part of my overall fitness regime. I jogged for 28 years before my knees gave out and I took up biking. During that time pounding the pavement, I learned that it doesn’t matter how much you exercise, if you eat like a pig, you’ll still gain weight.

My weight is probably 30 pounds higher than it should be. I can’t seem to crack the 200-pound threshold, although I came close while training for the century last summer.

The problem is, that in my late 50s, I need to bring down my weight. I’m already taking pills for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I know that if I embark on a regular exercise program — not just riding the bike when I feel like it, and the weather looks good — I will be able to bring those things back to their normal levels. What’s sad is, I’ve done it before, and then backslid.

Lately, I’m getting inspiration from my son. He’s set himself a goal of losing 150 pounds, and has already lost 60. He combines daily workouts with careful eating habits, and aims to drop only a couple of pounds each week. It’s working for him. Now, if I really put my mind and effort to it, maybe it can work for me, too.

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Categories // fitness Tags // food, weight

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