What works for me

I'm a fat guy.  I used to be a fat kid, but then I grew up and now I'm a fat guy.  Irrespective of age, I'm still fat.



What do I mean by that?  It has nothing to do with BMI, weight, body type, body fat percentage or any other number you might want to use to define fat.  Here is what I mean by fat:

If I gave into my desire for food, I would be at least 350 pounds or more in a heart beat.  I would start eating and not stop until I died.

 

I could have a BMI of 20 and a body fat percentage of 12% and I would still be a fat guy.  Certain traits just ain't gonna change.  I love to eat and I love food and the sweeter the better.

 

Those basic facts needed to be stated to fully understand the rest of the post.



Over the last 14 months, I've been trying to figure out what works for me in regards to diet and exercise with a basic endpoint of getting to a healthy weight.

 

By the way, everything beyond this point needs to be prefaced by saying "This is what works for me".  Will it work for you?  I don't know.  I'm not you and  you are not me.

 

As a review, in the last 14 months I've lost about 20 lbs.  Since 2005, I've lost about 35 lbs total.  There has been no one steady plan during that time.  My weight has fluctuated pretty significantly, rollercoasting up and down.

 

The last 14 months have easily been my longest steady effort at bringing my weight under control.  When I started last January, I had no real goal except to lose weight.  I couldn't even have said there was a number I was shooting for.  I probably would have told you that I was trying to find a lifestyle that would lead to weight loss, whatever that looked like.  Without blathering on further, here is what I've discerned so far...

1. Eat less food - that one is not exactly rocket science.
2. Be able to recognize what you eat - if you don't know what the ingredients are then you probably shouldn't eat it.  This particular policy gets you away from a lot of processed food.
3. Eat more veggies.  Actually, eat a lot of veggies - eating veggies plays into #2 and #4.
4. Eat less sugar.  Eat a lot less sugar - when people say 'eat more fruits and veggies', it's easy to eat lots of fruits and a few veggies.  Fruit is good but it has a lot of sugar in it.  Now, if it is the choice between an apple and some Twizzlers, the apple needs to win.  It does have a decent bit of redeeming value in it.
5. Exercise is necessary but it is not how you will lose weight - losing weight through increased exercise alone has never, ever worked for me.  In the last year, there have been weeks where I've lost a decent amount of weight without much, if any, exercise.  There have also been weeks where I've been quite physically active and have not lost any weight or actually gained weight.
6. On the other hand, exercise can help you lose weight - a lot of my aerobic workouts last year fell under the umbrella of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).  The gist of this type of workout is that you break up periods of all-out effort with brief periods of relative rest.  A HIIT workout might not last more than 20 minutes but you cram a whole truckload of training into that time period.  They accomplish two things: they fit a good workout into a smaller amount of time and HIIT workouts are supposed to more effectively raise your metabolism than steady-state, long duration aerobic workouts, thereby burning extra calories even once  the workout is done.
7. Nuts won't make you fat - I hope that's true because I've eaten a lot of nuts in the last 14 months.  Low in carbs, high in good fats and high in protein.
8. Weekends have often been my downfall - the overall trend has been to lose weight Monday through Friday when controlling diet is easier and to gain weight over the weekend when splurging and snacking is easier.  The last few weekends, I've been able to control my self more and have actually lost weight from Friday to Monday.  This tells me that consistency is key.
9. Splurges are a necessary evil - If I were to say to myself that 'You're not going to eat anything sweet or tasty every again for any reason', I can guarantee failure.  In fact, I can guarantee you catastrophic failure.  I have ice cream about once per week although less than I used to.  If there is a birthday, I have cake and ice cream, although less than I used to.  If a special day comes around, I'll eat some of the sweets and snacks associated.  Complete deprivation seems to lead to monstrous, over-the-top gorgings of cakes and sweets.  Better to let off the steam occasionally.
10. Changes have to be gradual and livable - a lot of the changes I have made have been done one at a time.  None of them have been groundbreaking.  Looking back, all of those changes have added up to quite a lot but it was one small step at a time.  If I had tried to make all the changes at once, my guess is I would have had less success.  I wouldn't know what was really helping, what was hurting, and what made no difference.
11. Possibly the biggest reason for success? - I decided that there had to be a change and that I needed to make that change.  Going back was not an option.

Could I keep going with this list?  Yeah, probably but what I've listed covers most of what I've figured out.  What should be interesting is if I look back a year from now at this post, will I still agree with what I've written?  Will I still be doing well with maintaining a healthy weight?  Who knows, right!  Time will tell.


January 2016 - An update


It has now been almost 2 years since I published this post.  At the time, I weighed about 201 lbs.  Currently, I weigh 190 lbs.  People who have not seem me for a while consistently comment on my weight loss.  It feels pretty good, to be honest.


As I read through my original list, what struck me was how little I would change.  Diet is easily the #1 factor.  I would not be where I am without dietary change.  Small and gradual changes also stands out.  There are few, if any, changes I have tried that were so drastic that anyone would notice.


The only comment I would add is that I have been trying to maintain a focus on being healthy now and being healthy as I age.  By the time my youngest graduates high school, I will be about 55 years old.  There is a lot of life after that and I want to be able to enjoy it.  A few less cookies now seems like a pretty fair trade for better health later.

Aerotech Designs Top Shelf Cycling Bibs Review

Back in September I was amping up for a How-Many-Miles-Can-You-Cover-In-12-Hours ride (I did 145 miles on my first go at it, by the way).  Leading up to the big event, I was noticing that the two pairs of bibs that I owned were becoming less and less comfortable.

My two bibs were a pair of Specialized RBX bibs and a pair of Twin Six standard bibs.  Both had served my admirably over the last 2 years but it was obvious the pad in each was starting to get worn out.

The Specialized shorts had never really provide the leg compression that I wanted and both shorts were more than $100 when you factored in shipping.  Now, $100 is really not that much money for a good pair of bib shorts.  You can spend $250 for a pair of Rapha bibs and I've heard that Assos has a pair of bibs that go for something like $450.  I don't want to say that the Rapha or Assos bibs are not fabulously comfortable but there is no way on this earth I can justify that kind of coin for bike clothing.  If you give me a pair, I'll give 'em a go but otherwise it just ain't gonna happen.

So what's a guy to do?  New bibs were needed but I wanted to spend as little money as possible.  Often in this world, you get what you pay for.  Maybe I should just spend the $100-$150 to get a decent pair.  It really doesn't sound that unreasonable.

But what if you could get a good pair for $60?  If you look in the back of most bike magazines, you will likely see an ad for Aerotech Designs.  They advertise low cost, high quality, made in the USA bike clothing.  There is a lot of good attributes there.

Not expensive?  Always good.  Made in the USA?  You gotta support that.  High quality?  That's what we all want (assuming their definition of "High Quality" matches your definition of "High Quality").

They have a pair of bib shorts they call their Top Shelf Bib Shorts.  It would be nice if you could give a pair of bibs a test ride before you bought them but that is impractical and kind of icky, if you think about it.

I ordered up the Top Shelf Bibs in all black in a size large (I'm 5' 10" and about 200-205 lbs).  They were definitely on the snug side but not too snug.  I might go with an XL if I get another pair.  The straps seem reasonably well placed to not cause any undue nipple chaffage (EWW!).  The pad felt a little bulky when standing in them but felt fine once I was on the saddle.  One thing you will notice from the website is that there is no fancy detailing to these bibs.  There is no weird, funky looking panels with oddly noticeable stitching.  They are very plain jane.  For $60, I can take plain jane.

A brief pause to highlight a few points for comparison:

• As I said above, I'm 5' 10" and about 200-205 lbs (not skinny!)
• I ride a decent steel-framed road bike on a classic Brooks B-17 saddle with 23mm tires
• My rides are all on roads, 95% paved.
• I don't ride in the drops much.  My hands are typically on the brake hoods, the ramps or near the stem

My first ride was a planned 6 hour training ride.  This was an entirely flat ride (no hills to spontaneously get me out of the saddle).  As I normally do, I used plenty of Chamois Butt'r on the undercarriage before putting the bibs on.

I managed to cover 81 miles in those 6 hours.  I had no issues with sore spots or chaffage of any kind.  Was my butt a little sore during the ride?  Well, yeah but not to any great degree and certainly no more than with my other pairs of bibs.  I thought it was a pretty good first go for these bibs.

My next ride was, I kid you not, a 12 hour fundraising ride that covered 145 miles.  Once again, I used Chamois Butt'r (on 2 occasions, instead of one).  As part of my planning for the ride, I brought along my other 2 pairs of bibs to change into if I needed them.  I never did.  The Top Shelf Cycling Bibs performed admirably consider the number of hours I was in the saddle and my not-exactly-svelte size.

There was a little chaffage that developed but it never stopped me or made me change the way I was riding.  It completely cleared up within 36 hours of finishing the ride.  If I had to do 12 hours today, I would definitely reach for these bibs again.

When you look at the reviews on the Aerotech Designs website, you will see several customers comment on the pad holding onto moisture during hot weather rides.  Unfortunately, I cannot comment on that.  All the riding I have done has been cool to cold weather riding where it wasn't really and issue.  Starting next summer, I'll be able to comment on that particular issue, if there is an issue.

So to summarize the important points...

• Comfort - they were at least as comfortable as the Specialized and Twin Six bibs
• Cost - you can't beat $60
• Quality - I could not spot any quality issues out of the box
• Durability - no issues yet, but I really haven't put that many miles on them
• Style - pretty plain, but for $60 who really cares?

Leelanau, oh Leelanau

Michelle and I just spent a weekend away as a celebration of our 10th anniversary.  We did what a lot of folks in our area do...we went up to the Leelanua penninsula to do some wine tasting and leaf peeping.  I know, how pretentious.  The Leelanau peninsula is a beautiful place, but it exudes pretentiousness from its every pore.

During our 48 hours of childless-freedom, we cruised around the peninsula, visited some wineries, stayed at a nice B&B, and did some shopping in little places mostly full of high-class junk.

Quite possibly my favorite part of the whole weekend was driving around some of the backroads of the peninsula in search of wineries.  It is fall and the colors were truly spectacular.  Most of thes roads amble up and then over the peninsula in a winding fashion that was just perfect for leisurely driving.

I was always a little distracted though.  I couldn't help thinking of biking.  Many of these roads would be fantastic for riding.

Long meandering climbs followed by fast winding descents the likes of which don't exist around western Michigan.  Around here the roads are pretty straight and the climbs are not very long.  In order to get a good workout, I often have to do hill repeats.  Find a decent hill, then ride up it and then ride back down.  Repeat until you are tired of it.

This would not be necessary up in Leelanau.  I think I could spend hours climbing up one road and then descending down another and then ride to the next lovely climb.  Most of the internal roads had little to no traffic.  The two main roads are M-22 and M-204.  Both would be good roads to ride on, but traffic would get a little bothersome.

Our next venture up that way will need to involve bikes or I might just go nuts!

What should the next Crazy Faith look like?

It has been several weeks since the first Crazy Faith.  All at once, it seems like it just happened and it was a long time ago.  Strange how that is.

Almost immediately, I started to think about next year.  Crazy Faith was successful enough that planning v2.0 seemed to be a no-brainer.  The questions then becomes:

What do we do?

Do we do the same thing again?  Will the congregation respond as well as they did this year?  Should I include others more prominently?

Before those questions can be answered, a few points need to be considered.  There were several reasons I feel Crazy Faith was successful.

• It was pretty crazy.  I mean 12 hours on a bike!?!?  C'mon!  Really?  Probably 98% of the congregation had no conception of what it might be like to be on a bike for that long.
• It was a new and fresh idea.  Crazy Faith caught the attention of the congregation.
• It took place at the beginning of the school year when education and Christian Education is on the forefront of people's minds.
• The congregation wasn't asked to do much of anything other than donate money.  Most of the effort came from me.  All they had to do was pledge and write a check.
• Not to toot my own horn, but it was marketed well.  There was information given multiple times through multiple different formats to let people know what was going on.  No one could say they didn't know about it.
• The money raised went towards a cause that the congregation already supports and has been supporting for quite some time.  They were not asked to support some brand new charitable cause.

If the above points are accurate, that tells me we would need to do something different (but still crazy), near the beginning of the church/school year, and do something that doesn't ask too much of the congregation as a whole.

Here are some of the random thoughts and ideas I, and others, have had:

Two Man Team Time Trials

So here's the idea...we would have 2, two man teams that would ride an approximate 25 mile route.  Team One would start and try to cover the route as quickly as they could.  As they pull into the church parking lot, Team Two would then take off and ride the same route, trying to finish as fast as possible.  If you repeated the process for say, I don't know, 12 hours, how many miles could we cover?

100 Miles to Nowhere

Imagine running a marathon...on a treadmill.  Take that basic idea and apply it to the bike.  What if I set up my indoor trainer in the Fellowship Hall and rode 100 miles without moving even an inch?  A century ride is hard.  A century ride without actually going anywhere might just qualify as torture.  This idea could also be adapted for a particular length of time, maybe 8-12 hours.

Duathalon Repeats

Along with cycling, I dabble in running.  Not nearly as much as cycling but enough to do a 5K every now and then.  What if I picked a cycling route and a running route and I switched back and forth from one to the other for a set amount of time?  Maybe something like 25 miles of cycling and a 5K run done over and over.  That, honestly, sounds pretty crazy.

100 Miles to Nowhere Duathalon

How about combining the duathalon idea with the not-actually-going-anywhere idea?  Maybe we could set up a treadmill and a trainer and go back and forth from one to the other until we got to 100 miles.  That sounds like a fun kind of self-flagellation.

The Obvious Plan

If you just rode your bike for 12 hours, the most obvious next step would be something like 13-16 hours.  "You rode 12 hours.  Thirteen hours isn't that much more!"

The Overnight

What if we repeated the 12 hour idea but it was from 7 pm to 7 am?  The danger quotient definitely goes up for an overnight ride.  That makes the overnight option not terribly likely.  There is crazy and there is stupid.  We're going to avoid stupid.

Other Ideas

Several other little ideas have been floated about.  These could be done in conjunction with one of the "bigger" ideas above.

• Have a fun ride for church members and there families.  Maybe around Millenium Park.
• Set up a kids race course in the church parking lot and see who can record the fastest lap.
• Have a raffle of donated bike goods.
• If we do a 100 Miles to Nowhere format, we could set up a trainer next to me and charge people $10 for 10 minutes.
• If the duathalon idea comes about, let others do the running portion with me, since more church members run then bike.

Recently, one of our Westside Christian friends was chatting with Michelle about Crazy Faith.  She seemed to like the idea and suggested that I go to other congregations and see if they wanted to participate.  There is a world of possibilities that could come from that idea.

Maybe have one person from each church come up with their own Crazy Faith idea and do it on the same day.  Or maybe do the same thing together.  Maybe, just maybe, make it into a friendly competition between churches.

"Our church can go farther than your church!  Na-na-na-na-na!"

We'll try to avoid the above sentiment.  Yeah, that would probably be a good idea.

At this time, I'm keeping my mind open.  The sky's the limit.  There are lots of good ideas out there and I'll be doing some fishing with others to see what comes up.

Do you have ideas?  Write me a comment.



Crazy Faith 2013 - Riding for 12 hours

On Saturday September 21st, I rolled out of my driveway at 7 am and kept on pedaling until 7 pm.  During the intevening 12 hours I covered 145 miles.  This effort raised approximately $5200 for the Westend CRC Christian Education Ministry.  It would not have been possible without the generosity of the Westend congregation, several cycling buddies, the incredible patience of my wife, and, of course, God's blessing, guidance and grace.

Now, a lot can happen while pedaling 13.4 inches circles over and over and over again for 12 hours.  Here's the story...

It was 6:58 am and I had just posted on Facebook that I was about to start.  I was staring intently at my bike computer so I could hit the start button exactly at 7:00 am.  It was now 6:59 am.

Wait a minute, where are my water bottles?

Quick into the house, grab the bottles, and back outside.

The official start to Crazy Faith was 7:00:10 am.  The 10 second goof fact bothered me for all of about a minute as I rolled out of the driveway and up the street.  Oh well.

The first big loop of the day was the Tour de Christian Schools.  It was a ride I had done back on Labor Day weekend as a trial run.  Basically, I rode to Grand Rapids Christian High School, then to Calvin Christian, over to Unity Christian High School, up and over to Allendale Christian and back east to Westside Christian School and Westend CRC.  The loop was about 52 miles total.

On Labor Day weekend, this had been an uneventful and thoroughly pleasant ride.  For Crazy Faith, there was more traffic and a mechanical snafu.

As a little back story, over the last several years I've had some issues with rear wheels.  To keep it brief, I seem to be good at destroying them.  Why is that?  No idea really.  Going into Crazy Faith, I knew my rear wheel was not completely right.  Fingers were crossed and prayers were said to just make it through the day.

By the time I had made it to Unity Christian, I realized that the rear brake was rubbing because of the wheel being out of true laterally.  Nothing like starting a 12 hour ride with some brake rub.  When I opened up the brake calipers to stop the brake rub, the tire started to rub the fender.

Sigh.

The tire rub didn't seem bad so I kept on riding up to ACS and back to Westend.  Once back to Westend, I took the fender off (with help from my lovely wife) and made sure the brake caliper was open nice and wide to avoid brake rub.  This made my rear brake non-functional but that is ok since I never use the rear brake anyway (I would be happy to explain why, if you are curious).  Michelle was there with the kiddos and my Mother-in-law, Barb.  It was really good to see them because it reminded me of why I was doing this in the first place.

What to do for the next loop?  My only planned route was the Tour de Christian Schools.  After that, my route was up for grabs.  One factor that I needed to take into account was the wind.  If you remember, Saturday the 21st was quite a nice day.  No rain, moderate temperatures, and occasional sun.  The 15 mph wind from NNW did change my plans, however.  Battling the wind for several hours did not seem to be the best idea on a day where I needed to ride for 12 hours.

With that in mind, my second loop went towards Millenium Park, Indian Mounds Dr, Butterworth and up the new connector trail that goes from Maynard & Obrien to Rememberance.  Not a bad loop, overall.

Little did I know that Pastor Jeremy had been at church and was ready to ride with me.  As many of you will know, Pastor Jeremy is not someone with a whole lot of free time on his hands.  Just the fact that he was there and ready to ride speaks volumes.  He didn't have to.  It's not a job requirement.

When I got back from my second loop, there was Pastor Jeremy, all geared up and ready to go.  After a brief rest break and some more food, we took off.

Oh wait, is that Scott DeKryger coming up the drive?  Yep, it is.

Scott had just returned from le Tour de Donut (which I highly recommend, by the way) and wanted to put in a little time.  After a brief delay, we were off.  Pastor Jeremy had about an hour, so we rode west on Leonard to Linden and then turned around and rode back to church.

Not surprisingly, this was the fastest loop of the day.  Scott and Jeremy cut the wind (not the cheese) for me and basically pulled me along.  It is truly amazing how much a little companionship can make such a huge difference.  I have often heard it said that God shows his presence and care by sending others into our lives.  You've got a firm believer in me!  Michelle's effect on my life has long been proof of this.

When the Scott/Jeremy loop was done, I had to decide what to do next.  No one was around to ride with me.  Do I brave the wind or brave some hills or find some boring, flat loop to do?

What to do?  What to do?

I should pause to say that, by now, I was starting to feel it.  I had been riding for something like seven hours.  That's a long time in the saddle.  My neck was sore.  My back was sore.  My legs were tired.  I knew all of this was going to happen.  None of it surprised me, but that does not necessarily make it better.

The next hour and a half was not a ton of fun.  Most of my thoughts were focused on how many different things hurt, how much they hurt, and how much more time I had to go.  It was, truthfully, the lowest part of the ride.  It was here that I questioned whether or not I would finish the 12 hours.

"You've already done 9 hours.  That's good enough.  No one will blame you.  You've already done enough."

 

And then I saw Dave!

 

"You had me at 'Wanna ride?'"

 

Dave VanderSchaaf was waiting at church ready to pull me along for a little while.  His company was most welcome.

 

For nearly 2 hours we rode out towards and then up the Musketawa Trail and then headed back to church.  We bike dorked out and talked about wheels, pedals, shoes, DALMAC, bike touring and every cyclists favorite topic...the next bike!  There is no topic quite as a juicy sweet as the next bike.

 

Was I still hurting?  Yeah, I was.  Did I notice it as much?  No, not nearly as much.

 

When Dave and I got back to church, my lovely wife was waiting for us to help me along for that last hour of riding.  As my Facebook post said, "Just 66 minutes to go.  Just 66 minutes to go".

 

 Michelle and I left church with almost exactly one hour to go.  Due to the whole having-a-infant-thing, she hadn't been on the bike too terribly much.  This was, realistically, a good thing.  After having ridden my bike for 11 hours, there wasn't much of an all out effort in me.

 

As we got back toward church, I realized there was still about 5 minutes left before 7 pm.  My thought process was:

 



"C'mon, go hard for the last 5 minutes!"

 

So, I stepped up the pace as I was going around the block a few times.  Not surprisingly, I couldn't "go hard" for more than about 30 seconds before I had to back off some and regroup.  After 12 hours, your red line is kinda low.

 

At 7pm on the dot, I hit stop on my bike computer and brought Gimli to a halt.  One-hundred and forty-five miles.  Not bad.

 

I rolled into the parking lot where Michelle was waiting for me.  We snapped a picture, loaded up the bikes and headed to McDonalds!  Extra large, salty fries?  Yes, please!

 

By the time I got home, I was basking in the warm glow of endorphins, serotonin and lactic acid.  That period after finishing a long ride is really a great one.  Everything seems to be right with the world.

 

One might think that a person who had just spent 12 hours on a bike would want nothing to do with said bike for a long time.  To be honest, that's not the case.  By that Tuesday, I wanted to ride to work.  The only reason I didn't is because the work day really didn't allow it.

 

By Thursday, my body felt pretty normal.  In fact, by the day after Crazy Faith, everything except my quads and hamstrings felt just dandy.  That's one of the wonderful things about cycling.  Once your body has adapted to being on the bike, cycling really doesn't beat you up the way other sports can.

 

Next year?  I think there will be a next year.  Will I do the same thing?  No.  Will I still do something crazy?  Yep.  What about involving others?  That seems like a great idea.

 

More later...



Twitchy

I'm less than 24 hours from the start of my first 12 hour ride.  Unfortunately, I have a slow day at work.  A busy day would have distracted me from all of the quick-fire thoughts running through my head.

"Gotta make sure the bikes are ready"

 

"Do I have enough food?"

 

"How often should I eat?"

 

"How much should I eat at at time?"

 

"How much water should I drink each hour?"

 

"How much caffeine is too much?"

 

"Make sure Michelle knows what to bring to Church for me"

 

"How often should I stretch?"

 

"Should I eat 1 or 2 candy pumpkins per hour?"

 

You know, the important questions.

 

Here's the goofy thing...once I get riding, most of my twitchy-ness will disappear.  I'll be on the bike.  I know what to do there.

 



Tabata intervals

The following post will be my impressions of using Tabata intervals to improve fitness.  I have to be up front that this is not going to be a formal, scientific review of the effectiveness of Tabata-style intervals vs other types of endurance training.  All it will be is my impressions reflecting back to previous years of cycling in comparison to this year.  There will be no "proof" given.

Just so ya know.

When I first got back into cycling in 2009, I saw a big jump in my fitness during that first season.  In the spring, a 15 mile ride was quite an accomplishment.  In October, I rode my first 100 mile ride.  That is substantial change in about 3-4 months.

This isn't all that surprising.  If anyone starts a new exercise program, they will always see a big boost in fitness in the early stages.

I think of it like climbing a mountain.  Climbing the first 1/3 of the mountain will seem pretty easy compared to climbing the last 1/3 of the mountain.  Building fitness is easy when you don't have much to begin with.  The more fit you get, the more work you have to put in to see further gains.

During the 2012 cycling season I spent most of my time on the bike just riding.  There was no particular speed I was aiming for.  There was no "structure" to my training.  Hop on the bike and go ride.  This attitude was undoubtedly influenced by my experiment with barefoot/minimalist running, which, admittedly, took up most of my mental energy.

Don't get me wrong.  I have absolutely nothing against a good ol' fashioned bike ride.  However, there did seem to be a downside to that strategy.

I lost speed.  Even when I would push myself a little harder, it didn't seem like I could go all that fast.  My average speed really dropped.  Most rides were in the 15 mph range compared to the mid 16 mph range.  Who wants that?

For this cycling season, I knew I had to do something different.  There were several reasons for this:

• Leah - with an infant and two older children, I didn't anticipate getting in a lot of long rides.  This has turned out to be true.  My current mileage totals for the year can attest to the fact that I haven't been on the bike much.
• Crazy Faith - when I decided to do the 12 hour charity ride for my church's Chrisitan Ed Ministry, I knew I needed to find a way to get as much out of each ride or run.  Quality over quanity.
• I don't like slow.  Simple enough.

What I needed was good quality workouts to make up for the lack of mileage.

In the past, I have heard about and done a few Tabata intervals.  You can find a description at this link.  The gist of it is this...go all out for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds and repeat 7 more times.  It comes out to 4 minutes total.  Four minutes doesn't seem like too much.  You can nudge that 4 minutes into lots of different workouts.

I started using the Tabata intervals probably back in May or June.  The goal has been to do them either running or cycling a little more than once per week, which I have been successful at.

Has it helped?  I would have to say yes.  When I do a more casual ride, my pace is typically along the lines of 16.5 mph vs something in the mid 15's.  I certainly feel stronger on the bike.  Hills are still hills but it seems like I'm getting up them a little faster.

On several occasions, I have done rides between 15-25 miles which I treated like a time trial.  Basically, my goal was to go all out and see how fast I could go.  Those rides have been between 17.9-18.1 average mph.  I really don't think I could have done that pace last year.

As I mentioned above, I don't have any firm data to prove that I'm more fit.  I don't own a power meter so that I can compare 1 minute, 5 minute and 20 minute power outputs.  As cool as that would be to have, it is quite unnecessary.

What have the workouts looked like?  It has varied considerably.  Below are some examples:

• Jog to a nearby trail, do the Tabata, and jog back.  I usually take a longer route back home than I did to get to the trail.
• On the commute to work - a few times I have had extra time on my ride to work, so I've thrown in a Tabata.
• Long rides - I did one 30+ mile ride where I threw in a Tabata at around the 30 mile mark.
• Ride to a high school track, do a running Tabata, and ride home.  Once again, I have often taken a longer and more vertically challenging route home compared to how I got to the track.

This year has been the Year of Opportunity.  What I mean by Year of Opportunity is this...with a full time job, a wife and three little ones at home, finding time for workouts is tough.  I have had to take my opportunities where I can find them.  That is where the Tabata intervals have fit in so nicely.  I can think of one run that was about 22 minutes total between the warm up, Tabata, and the cool down jog home.  Twenty-two minutes.  That's all.  Many of these have been done after the kiddos are in bed.  I might not even start until 9 o'clock at night.

If I was in the mindset of "I have to do a least an hour or it won't be worth it" then there would be no workout.  I would end up being a schlub sitting on the couch.

Twenty-two minutes.  Done.

Do I want every ride/run/workout to be high intensity?  No.  That will lead to physical and mental burnout.  Sometimes you need to go out and Just Run or Just Ride.

In fact, I think that's what I'll do this afternoon.