Hazy Days of Thermidor

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 12% BF
Blood pressure: 122/70, 61 BPM

Gym last night, followed by dinner at Which Brew. I kept myself under control, had a cheeseburger & two beers, turned down the dessert & left hungry, but I'm down by another pound today... Pleasant evening, several friends were there, it was actually crowded when I got there (say, 9:30), but things cleared out pretty quickly.

Tonight is another road ride -- if the weather cooperates, otherwise it's a rest day -- followed by a trip back to WB: it's "meet the brewer night," and the brewer is Magic Hat!

Tomorrow is probably either the gym again, or yoga, I haven't decided. Also, it's time for a haircut, and I'm getting a new (new to me, anyway) dryer.

Winding Up, Winding Down

Morning weigh-in: 180.5#, 12.5% BF
Blood pressure: 133/75, 57 BPM

I notice that when my pulse is low, the systolic pressure is higher -- as if my heart is just squirting all the blood around in one big push...

Uh-oh: Looks like Floyd's in a bit of trouble, one of his preliminary doping tests came back positive. It was from Stage 17 too, the amazing "comeback stage." I'm hoping it was a false positive -- I hear he's allowed to be on cortisone for his hip, and he tested positive for steroids -- but if he's busted, oh well.

My ride last night wasn't nearly as dramatic (or drug-enhanced), but I did cut six minutes off my previous benchmark time. I did my "northern benchmark, short version" ride: up 611, over on Mud Run, back along Rt 191 & Bushkill Drive. Time was 1:30, and I was kind of holding back a little... Hills didn't feel so bad, either. I spent most of my time (after the warmup) in HR zones 3 & 4, with the bulk of the remainder in zone 2. My HR maxxed out at 173 BPM, and my average was 150; total calories burned was about 1600.

Dinner was broccoli-and-cheese couscous, plus black beans & garlic. Another excellent post-ride meal (totally nailed the glycogen window too), even though it was driven mainly by my recurring failure to go food shopping.

Tonight is the gym, followed by, um, food shopping.

A Quick Fly-By

Morning weigh-in: 182.5#, 12% BF (taco hell)
Blood pressure: um, I forget... nothing bad though

Gave that dude John a ride home last night, no traffic craziness this time (thank goodness), then went to yoga, then did laundry. An easy night...

Things Come Together

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 12% BF
Blood pressure: 124/75

Got a call from Doug last night: he was home from the hospital and he sounded a lot better already, though his dog sounded like it was having a meltdown in the background. We got onto the subject of hospital food, and the observation that a lot of people don't seem to be connected to their lives (lack of empathy with others, lack of appreciation of nature, indifference to the quality of the food they eat). I told him I associate all that with libertarianism and the fifties.

Meantime, or rather, before that call, I did a towpath ride. It was so nice out -- and nice evenings seem to be so rare right now -- that I decided to take today's yoga class (chance of showers) instead of yesterday's, and do today's gym workout on Wednesday rather than ride (possible thunderstorms), to make the most of the good weather. I noticed, early in the ride, that my heart rate wouldn't go very high no matter how hard I seemed to be pushing; this is a sure sign of overtraining so I backed off the pace & just took it mellow. Ride time was 1:47, not all that bad for active rest. I can't figure out the "overtraining" thing though, I'd swear that I'm not getting out riding all that much; my only guess it that I need to get in more base work before trying the harder offroad rides -- that, and I'm carrying more weight than I should up those MTB hills...

Dinner was New Orleans style rice & beans, with tuna. In other words, I have to go food shopping, but it was actually a very good meal, tasty & super-nutritious bike-wise. Just what the doctor ordered. I ate on the porch, and had a nice conversation with my neighbor.

Reading: Steven Runciman's Byzantine Civilization. By the way and speaking of the Byzantines, today is the anniversary of Constantine the Great being proclaimed emperor by his troops in 306, and of Michael VIII Palaeologus recapturing Constantinople and re-establishing the empire (in 1261). Wikipedia rawks.

Things Fall Apart

Morning weigh-in: 181.5#, 11.5% BF
Blood pressure: 138/84 (forgot to take meds Sunday)

My friend Doug's in the hospital: he had an abscess "in a very uncomfortable area," sudden high fever and emergency surgery on Friday, I.V. antibiotics, dressings and packing and an unpleasant weekend at Easton Hospital (I am so glad I was at Muhlenberg for my surgery). I talked to his wife on Friday night -- he was still in recovery, but things went well -- then visited Saturday evening. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper, but I hope & expect he'll be getting back to his old self soon, probably as soon as he's out of that place.

So anyway, Friday night I went out to WB (surprise), made it an early night, then Saturday was trailwork at Allamuchy, followed by a disconcerting ride (I was very tired and riding like shit), followed by the visit, then another night at WB and also Porters, and not very early this time, then another disappointing ride at Sals, followed by a disappointing hike on the AT at Wind Gap. Hmmmm....