PLANT BASED DIET

     This very short entry announces my (our, Marilane has agreed to see where this takes both of us) beginning into the world of no meat, no fish,no dairy, no oil, no refined sugar.  That leaves fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains.  Because we are frugal folks, we haven't tossed all our non-compliant food, but rather have eased into the program.  Today we will start restocking the pantry.  It might take several weeks to be 100%.  The meat and dairy were the easy part and are gone already.  Holidays might be a difficulty, we will see.
     The catalyst for this humongus change is my inability to lower my LDL cholesterol sufficiently with medication.  In the last eight years I have gone from zero plaque in my arteries to being in the 58 percentile for people my age.  Given the amount of physical activity I do, it is unwise to have a major artery blocked.  But there are other reasons.  I won't beat up on meat and dairy, who knows, I may be back ingesting it.
     Here is my plan: a month on the strict diet to see if there is any movement at all in my cholesterol (it doesn't have to reach my goal by then, just go in the right direction); three months to see how my overall body reacts.  If all goes as the proselytizers promise, they will have a new acolyte.  Check back regularly to see how I'm doing.

POST, POST MORTEM

     I took Sunday and Monday off from any exercise.  Tuesday I did push-ups (Day 2 of Week Six of onehundredpushups.com)  attended Body Flow at Golds, and worked the weight machines.  Wednesday we had a multitude of appointments and thus I didn't ride on the most gorgeous day of the year.  My Thursday appointment cancelled, leaving me an opportunity to finally get back on the bike.
     Eventually, I'll get to the point of this entry.  Wednesday was gorgeous, Thursday was clear, but quite breezy.  I could not believe the computer readout of the heart-rate.  It was ridiculously low.  I had the wind at my back, mostly, on the way out, so speed was high (but nowhere close to a record).  It blew in my face on the way back, dropping my speed considerably.  Overall, this was the slowest ride for this course in several years.
     But, as hard as I worked on the way out and especially on the way back, my heart-rate remained low.  Average for the whole ride was only 118.  So, even if the leg muscles were complaining, the heart didn't have a hard workout.  If I had not taken a few days off, I would have worried that my Saturday TT had been too much for the heart.
     Today I went to spin class.  The wind that yesteday blew so hard in my face, had doubled by today and I happily exercised inside.  The first thing I noticed was the heart-rate read-out showing 52.  I briefly saw 48 but suspect that to be erroneous.  Even so, 52 hadn't been seen by me in maybe ten years.  As I warmed up on the bike, it remained low and only after about five minutes into the class did it even hit triple digits.  Again, with sweat rolling off me and screaming quads, my heart blissfully remained in zone 3.
   
So, TT results notwithstanding, it appears I have benefitted greatly from Saturday's race.  We will see if this is a very short term situation, or if I can continue to train and keep my new low.

POST MORTEM

   

 Results are in and are worse than expected.  Unfortunately, I had my the correct time, at 33 minutes, 43 seconds.  In September my average speed came in at 22mph and one month later I only managed 18.6mph.  Ouch.  Last year, my time was faster than whole bunches of people.  This year, I'm toward the bottom.
     Clearly, my heart-rate was too high and my cadence too low.  In my practice rounds, average cadence was in the 82-84 range but in the race I only managed 78.  Ah well, that gives me something to work on this winter/spring.

TOUR DE GRUENE, 2012 EDITION

     After previewing the course a few weeks ago, I immediately dropped my average speed 1.5mph for this 10.5 mile course.  The departure order is based on your speed estimate, and back in August when I first signed up to ride, my practice times were consistently 22mph.  So, at 20.5mph, I estimated a 30 minute time trial.
     We are talking about November 3.  I didn't expect the temperature to be in the mid-80s with a high humidity.  I had my trainer to warm-up on, but first did a 30 minute loop around part of the course.  That may have been a mistake, because even though I didn't push very hard, I consumed a whole bottle of electrolyte and felt bushed as I came back to the car.  Plan A called for me to do 10 minutes on the trainer, getting my HR back up, and leaving another 10 minutes before the start to recover.  As it turned out, I was still recovering an hour after my warm-up.  Parking was a half mile from the start, and required going up a 10% climb, but they provided a shuttle, which kindly took Marilane and I to the start.
     Because I do my warm-up on my road bike, I took a few minutes to make sure all was well on the TT bike, riding around the park loop and shifting gears, etc.  I arrived at the start line about ten minutes prior to my appointed time.  My heart-rate just prior to the start was 108.
     The first mile is on level, smooth asphalt across Canyon Lake Dam.  Today the wind was more or less at our back for the start.  I was determined not to get overly excited and push too hard, thus leaving me out of gas half way through the race.  Even so, as I approched the end of the dam and an incline and left turn, I glanced at the computer and saw I was at 150 (90% of maximum).  This was to be expected, but I also expected it to drop to about 145 on the approaching downhill.  Alas, it never did.  I finished the race with an average HR of 153 and a max of 161 (95%) which wasn't even on the final climb.
     Back to the race.  Not even two miles into the race I passed a rider who had started 90 seconds ahead of me.  He was struggling.  Three miles into the race I got passed by the rider who started 30 seconds behind me.  Bummer!   I kept him within sight for the next four miles, but at a climb, right turn into Sattler, into the wind, he was able to accelerate on the level road and I couldn't.  One more right turn brought me to a long climb.  It is about seven-tenths of a mile long and tops out at 7%.  It was on this climb that I maxed the HR.  Then came the downhill.  On my road bike, not trying too hard, I topped 37mph, and anticipated  40mph during the race.  I had the same gears and more aerodynamic equipment.  My excuse is the wind had come up, generally in my face, but whatever the reason, my max speed was 35.4mph.
     Then came the left turn into the finishing climb.  It really is brutal.  I used all my gears and kept a steady, slow cadence.  Two folks passed me in this final stretch.  Happily, I eased over the finish line and continued onto the warm-down loop.  I kept doing the loop and monitoring the HR.  It dropped quickly to 80%, but even after five minutes wouldn't drop below the mid 120s.  Most of my training results in HR under 100 within three minutes.  I coasted back to the trailer area and Marilane called out as I passed.
     After depositing my bike on the fence, I sat down on the ground and accepted a cup of water, my Camelbak being empty.  Another five minutes and I stood and was ready to go back to the car.
     It will be a few days before the final results are posted.  Unlike last year, I didn't wait around for hours until the announced results.  Janet indicated she would stay and whatever place I finished would pick up the trophy (or medal, whatever).  As I write this the next morning, I'm still lacking energy, although not quite as sore as expected.  It was, afterall, only 10.5 miles of heavy riding, so other than the heart, the rest of the muscles didn't have that difficult a time.
   
Postscript, my time was about 33:45 and speed around 18.9, quite a bit slower than even my adjusted estimate.

DAYLIGHT IS NOT SUNLIGHT

     Regular readers will know that my minimum temperature for a recreational ride is 40 degrees (5C).  Also, my Sunday ride (when doing solo) is the 42 mile 360 Loop.  The forecast low for this morning was 40F and at 6am at our house it was 41.5 and dropping.  I had loaded the car and set out clothing last night in preparation.  The forecast included clear skies and a light wind out of the north.  Perfect!
     In the summer, I plan for wheels down 10 minutes before official sunrise.  It is still light enough to navigate safely, and gets me finished before the sun begins to bake the body.  In the winter, I plan for departure at sunrise.  Since we are still on daylight savings time for another week, 7:30am was my estimate.
     There is method to my madness.  In the first 30 minutes there are three decents and I can count on a marked drop in temperature, maybe as much as 10 degrees.  But then come the hills of Loop 360 and beautiful sunshine beating my back.  Usually, after climbing to Bee Cave Road, I can stop and divest myself of extraneous outer garments.  Now you have the background for today's narrative.

What it felt like

     Getting dressed was a chore.  Upper body (in order): heart rate monitor, base layer, jersey, wind jacket.  Lower body: socks, bike shorts, tights (today, fleece).  Head: wide ski headband (hand-me-down from son, Kurt), helmet, sunglasses.  Hands: long-fingered gloves.  Lips: vaseline.  No way was I going to be chilled.  Somehow, I lost track of time and left the house at 7am and arrived at my departure spot at 7:15am.  It only takes five minutes to park and be ready.  As I adjusted my sunglasses, I knew something wasn't right.
     Warming up through the neighborhood, I realized that in my calculations of when to leave (should have checked the weather channel), I blithely arrived at 7:30 because it was light out at that time yesterday morning.  Actual sunrise today was 7:42am.  Ok, now we see that I'm twenty minutes ahead of schedule.  Since very little of my body was exposed, the downhills just served to make my eyes water.  The remaining body parts worked fine and handled the temperature drop without complaint.  But when it came to the hills, no actual sunlight was hitting the highway.  Therefore, no clothing was removed.
     About 75 minutes into the ride, I finally stopped and switched out the headband, mainly because the wide ski band started to slip over my eyes.  My ears complained for about five minutes, but after that all was well.  I had regular bike gloves and a space in my pocket for the wind jacket, but, sunshine or not, it remained chilly.
     All during the ride, I was comfy.  But I wasn't fast.  The computer tells me my heart-rate was above average, but the speed was not.  I had zero oomph in the legs.  Ergo, my time came in twenty minutes slower than average.  I'm going to hypothesize that the extra ten heart beats went to keeping me warm; that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

TT PREVIEW RIDE

I'm sitting at the computer Sunday morning, rather than doing my usual 42 mile 360 Loop ride.  The 50 (F)degrees didn't deter me, I had on my tights, base layer, jersey, with a jacket in reserve.  But there is no sun and the cold wind bending the trees had me closing the garage door just seconds after I opened it.  Today's ride will be in the kitchen doing a Carmichael TT workout.  I have long since worn out the video, but really no longer need it.

Last Friday Marilane and I drove down to Gruene, Tx, me to preview the ITT (Individual Time Trial) because it is new this year, and TTT (Team Time Trial) courses, she to browse the shops.  The two-man team course is a 26.6 mile loop that starts and ends in Gruene and the individual course is a 10.5 mile loop beginning and ending at the Canyon Lake Dam.  Think of a figure 8, with about a mile of road constituting the intersecting part.  I estimated doing both loops, slightly modified, at 40 miles and that it should take me about three hours. 

Last year the ITT consisted of 15 miles of the TTT course, then a bit of a sting to the top of Canyon Dam.  Therefore, being defending age-group champion, I was familiar with this really great ride down the River Road to Sattler.  I had been looking forward to racing it again and mourned the change.  Anyhow, I rode my road bike and meandered my way to Canyon Dam, remembering the undulations and gear shifting needed for maximum speed.  There is a slight chance I may be asked to substitute in the TTT, so I wanted to be prepared.

The ITT course starts with .8 mile across the dam, on new, smooth asphalt, followed by a mile through a park (more of a wilderness area with a slight downhill and uphill loop).  The course map indicates severe turns; and the main reason I wanted to preview the road.  The turns aren't all that bad and hopefully they will blow the gravel before the race, allowing me to remain in the aero position.

At about 3.5 miles there is a turn onto Rt 306.  This is a major two-lane road with lots of traffic and at the turn it had a teensy-weensy shoulder.  But it also had a middle turn-lane and generally I don't mind riding in the middle of the road.  This lane had a lot of road debris and all too soon I saw that it petered out.  This brought me to a stop to consider my options.  I could return on the river road and skip the 4 miles of preview, or I could gird my loins (for the younger generation: suck it up) and continue on.

Once the turn-lane stopped, the shoulder widened (to about half what I thought was safe).  Truthfully, the shoulder was about six feet wide, but three feet of it was littered with road crap, and the other three was rough as a cob.  Giving thanks for my 25mm Continentals, I soldiered on.

In my turn-lane deliberations, I determined I would skip the intersecting part of the figure 8, and I had already ridden the last portion of the ITT,  so that left 4 miles of ITT and about 10 miles of the TTT.  All uphill and against the wind.  Perhaps a slight exaggeration.  Yes, the wind was in my face the last 14 miles.  My computer shows 4 climbs of around 4% before what would have been the turn for the ITT (the course map profile indicates only slight inclines, once again proving you need to preview a race course).  It shows a 5% and a 10% (what is billed as a long climb of 13% in the race propaganda), plus some minor 2-3% for the TTT portion.  And, all the while, traffic buzzing too close to my ear.  I am not adverse to riding in traffic, and no one got close enough for me to give them a salute, but I won't be doing this again. 

Needless to say, going too fast never became an issue.  Statistically, on the River Road portion, I averaged 15.7mph (I did 21mph in the race last year).  For the 17.9 mile return trip, mostly on Rt 306, I averaged 12.1.  Because I'd cut several miles from the course, the total time of 2hrs 35 minutes exactly coincided with the amount of time Marilane browsed, and we arrived back at the car within a minute of each other.

I changed clothes and we wandered over to the River House Tea Room for a superb lunch,  then  drove home.  Now to training for four more weeks and hoping no one gives me a call to substitute for a team member.

TEXAS STATE ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP

     Be careful what you wish for....  Having had the experience of finishing last on this course two years ago, and knowing my own strengths and weaknesses, when I signed up to ride several months ago, I hoped for a strong north wind.  Regular readers know that I regularly whine about riding in anything more than a slight breeze.  However, I knew the only way to stay with the peloton (made up of 60-64, 65-69, and 70+ riders) after the second hill would be to have the leaders slow down to my speed as I hid behind guys.
     Gale force might be a tad strong, but the wind was quite stiff out of the north.  Unfortunately, we still had a few lingering showers in the area.  Saturday's racers had to contend with steady downpours.  Be that as it may, unlike my previous experience with a south wind, the peloton kept a reasonable pace for the first two miles, mostly a slight downhill.  The first climb caused a sharp increase in heart rate, but everybody made it over in good condition, and the wind kept the young guys from haring down the other side.
     The second hill, two tiered at 10%, separates the men from the boys, and once again I came up short.  But, I stayed with the guys longer than some of the others, and when finally I got gapped, I had some company.  Michael, in the 65-69 age group and Fred, in mine, found ourselves about 20 yards behind the group and unable to close (indeed it continued a bit faster than us), but ahead of the rest of the old guys and possibly one or two younger ones.
     The course heads north for 16 miles, then south for about 14, then west for about 3.  Even though the two tough climbs were behind us, the trio still had 10 miles and 7 minor climbs against the wind before getting some relief.  Trading places leading, we pushed on as fast as we could without going into the red zone.  Fred and I were putting time into the other guys in our group, Michael hoping to pick up stragglers in his group.
     The turn to the south finally came and we enjoyed the wind at our backs pushing us up what is usually a challenging climb.  I topped 40mph twice and spent a lot of time in the mid-30s on the downhills.  But in order to do a downhill, there were the climbs to conquer.  About twenty miles into the race, a 13% grade loomed up at us.  We took it as gentlemen, easing up without trying to bust it.  I began to feel the effects of racing.
     A few miles further and a horn sounded behind us.  The young ladies started 15 minutes behind us and apparently the leaders were approaching.  It took another couple miles before the lone lady passed, quickly leaving us behind, as she did all of her competitors (they were not in sight and never did catch us).  Well, we just enjoyed the heck out of this leg, but soon enough came the last right turn.
     The last few miles has two hills, the last one 7%, then is only slightly up, like 1 or 2%.  As we approached the first hill, the last, lingering shower caught us.  The rain was cold and sharp, with the wind coming into our right shoulder.  My left shoe quickly filled with water coming from the wheel, while the right shoe was merely wet.  On the second climb I stood to test my quads for the upcoming sprint.  They quickly told me that if I tried that again, they would shut down.  Sitting down and easing off a bit cost me 20 yards and I couldn't close the gap.  That is how we finished.
     During the whole race, Fred was clearly stronger than I.  I learned later he rides a bunch (obviously) and had raced the Leadville 100.  I was happy just to hang with him to the end.  Rain notwithstanding, I had a good time celebrating my 70th birthday.