Mid Way Point for the Thinning of a Fat Man - Mid December
Although this is my first post on my new blog, it is midway to my goal for being fit and in my thin man cloths.
In the beginning: I started my quest last March when I received my tax check back and decided to start riding a bike to work as a mean to eleviate my Fibromyalgia and start my way back to being fit again. I purchased a commuter bike at Berlin Bike Shop here in Berlin CT - BerlinBicycle.com; A Sirus Sport from Specialized and decked it out with all the trimmings to make it to work and back. I wrote a website to track my progress called the BikeBlog - http://fitness1st.net/bikeblog . With this I can track my time, miles, speeds, and heart rates over time graphically for comparison purposes. Until April I was only able to ride 2-4 miles in one clip, and train during that time so that I could make it to work without too much fatigue.
Throughout the rest of the school year, (I am a PE Teacher in Hartford, CT), I was able to ride my bike only about 2 times per week, but loved the way I began to feel in my legs. The oxygination of my leg muscles helped me to walk and move better and feel less pain. This way very encouraging because no other form of treatment I had tried worked for me, and I tried them all from pills to acupressure. Not even Hot Tub stretching worked as it had for my neck injury.
In the summer, I began a more rigorous riding schedule of about 3 to 5 times per week, and lengthier rides with my brother on the weekends. My bike however did not cut it for the longer more rigorous rides to come, so I began to build my dream road bike. This time period I call my base fitness and adherence period. I was trying to lay down a foundation to build upon later and bring my weight under control with a complete change in diet. Eating more whole grains and vegitables with fewer trips to fast food and pizza joints. By Sept 1 I had lost about 40 to 50 lbs. down from about 295 in June. Hills were a nightmare though because of the extra weight.
I finished by Road Bike, a costly afair for me, but well worth it. It is a Tommaso Carbon/Alum mix with Ultegra groupo and Cane Creek Brakes (Black and White scheme) weighing in at about 17 lbs undressed. I was able to ride this bike on the weekends with Nick and by Myself and increase my distance to about 10 -15 mile/ride. Still riding to work on avg about 3 days per week using the Sirus. This meant I was riding 4 to 5 days per week depending upon weather, and went back to the gym to weight lift and begin my core training. My weight stabolized but began to loose more inches than lbs and finally had to change belts. NICE! People began to notice 'The Thinning of a Fat Man' without prompting.
In mid October I began a Yoga Class with my students during the morning 'Betances Bright Beginning' Program I developed and run. This helped tramendously with my flexibility by December. Mid November, I began to take Spin classes when I could not ride due to whether at Healthtrax in Newington, CT that helped me build stronger legs and gain intensity and lactate tolerance. So by now I was riding 4 to 5 days per week, spinning 1 to 2 times per week, and Lifting/Ab workout 2-3 days per week while still maintaining my diet.
At Thankgiving dinner I found out that local bike shops were offering free indoor trainig on trainers and tried one in Rocky Hill, CT at Cycle Concepts. This was exactly the right type of riding/training I needed to get over my platue. A friend told me that Newington Cycle also had trining on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also tried a Yoga/Pilates class called Cynergy at Healthtrax and loved it, but it was on Thursdays during the my indoor riding session. When I went to Cycle Concepts they told me that they do a Cycle specific core workout on Mondays. Last week I tried this Cyclo-Core class and it kicked my ass, but after a few days I felt the difference. Now I am training 5-6 days per week: Indoor Cycle on Trainers 3 days, Spin on Sat, Cycle-Core Monday, Yoga Monday and Wednesday Morning, and I have also began to swim again twice a week after riding. The swim has helped me lengthen my muscles and use different muscles because I do the breast stroke which is a lateral movement (ad and abduction of the legs). I do need to find one more ab workout somewhere though.
Today I feel great! No more Fibro and I can bend down to tie my shoes and whipe my butt on the toilet. NICE! A trade off from Fibro to Muscle soreness from working out is welcomed and feels normal to me.
Although I feel I am about 3 to 5 months away from my goal, this all would not have been possible without BIKING!
So get out there and ride. If only for 10 minutes at first like I did, the journey is well worth the effort!
Keep Pedalling!
T
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