On 18/11/04 11:55 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Gregster"
Quoted message said:I'm a rather unfit 27 year old. Having raced through the juniors,
doing 400-500 miles per week from the age of 13-19, combined with
football and rugby (and bowls....) Got married at 19, bugger! Now I'm
nearly double my racing weight which was 9.5stone, at 18stone.
I've still got my Ribble which I bought about 4 years ago when they
started using the Dedacacci framesets which has done less than
500miles. So I've got a decent bike.
My main problem is that when I was in Liverpool up until the age of 18,
if I didn't fancy going on the bike I could do, and still rack up
milage on flat roads. Now I live in South Wales, it's bloody hilly and
I know I've got to suffer no matter which way I go.
My resting heart rate has risen from 44bpm to 85bpm, and last time it
was measure d at 16, my lung capacity was over 7litres. I'm almost
depressed by the change, even though it was my own fault. My diet
nowadays is healthy, plenty of fruit/veg/rice/pasta. I've cut fizzy
drinks out in recent weeks, even drinking the water from the tap.
I have shared custody of my daughter so one week she's here 4 days, the
following week 3 days. My job very often involves staying till nearly
7pm and starting at 8.30. I need to try and squeeze any training
around this.
How far from work?
Actually, the main depressing thing is that when you are seriously
overweight you find teh hills are really nasty and long. The trick is to not
worry about speed. At all. Worry about time and heart rate and weight.
The key thing is to make time, at least half an hour several times a week
(though once or twice is still better than none.) Can you ride to work?
Then jsut get out on the bike. You will not go anywhere near as far as you
used to, or as fast. The hills will be murder. But your friend is the
scales. They really motivate me. Weigh yourself every morning just after you
get up. Record the weight one day a week on the same day. You might be able
to persuade your daughter to help nag/encourage you in the weight loss.
Now the mechanics.. the gears you rode as a fit, light eighteen year old on
the flat will be unsuitable now. You'll need low gears and patience to spin
up the hills. A triple is probably essential. And then it is a question of
monitoring the heart rate and keeping it going for the appropriate amount of
time. Don't worry about speed. Speed doesn't matter.
You'll find it takes a couple of weeks to start noticing the difference,
then, with a bit of self discipline in the diet, the weight will come down
and the fitness will go up. In three weeks you'll feel better than you have
done for a long time. In six weeks people will start to comment on the
weight you have lost. In three months you'll be completely different
physically.
But the second week is the worst. The first week is bad, the second is
worse, the third so-so, then you start to feel good.
Best of luck and do let us know how you get on. I was 16.5 stone at 5'6" and
very unfit. I lost eight inches around th ewaist and was fit enough to start
time trialling again and get close to my PB. So hopefully this will
encourage you.
...d
