Striving for 100 - Part 3

 If a model train comes off the tracks....you don't throw it away. You pick it up, see if there is any damage, and put it back on the tracks. Seems simple enough. 

I am the train....and while sometimes I am a trainwreck.....I can still get back on track. You get it....

Anyway, here is my update on how things are going on my journey to losing 100 pounds. As of this morning I am down 86 pounds, leaving just 14 pounds to reach the century. 

Last week I had my follow up appointment with my nutritionist and behavioralist. These appointments came at precisely the right time for me. I have been struggling with things. Talking through them with the specialists was very helpful.

Nutritionally, I am doing what I need to do. However, I have been 'grazing' and adding in extra calories that have stalled my weight loss. Simple enough. Just eat what you are supposed to right? Well, I did just that the remainder of the week and thru the weekend. The result.....I feel better and I am actually less hungry than when I was eating too much. Wild. 

The bad habits that got me to 309 pounds are still part of my mental makeup. While I am aware of those negative habits, I also have not done a lot to fight them off. Talking with the counselor I was able to identify the habits and was reminded that it won't get easier. However, being aware is a big part of the battle. Stopping those habits is important. But, knowing that you can have one bad day and bounce back is also helpful. I just can't have a bad day and then say 'fuck it' and let those bad days pile up on each other....or I will end up back at 300 pounds. I had the self awareness to know that I was self sabotaging myself....and that I don't want to continue to do that. 

After these brief conversations I left the office feeling recharged. My sense of purpose renewed so to speak. I took that feeling into the rest of the week and managed a nearly 3 pound weight loss. Amazing what happens when I don't eat junk or pile in calories that I just don't need. My mood is better. I feel better. I am better.

I know I will have hard days. I know it won't be easy. I know some days the wheels will come off. All I can do is try to limit those days. If the wheels do come off, put them back on the next day. Don't let the days add up and stall my progress again. 

With my last race coming in less than 2 weeks I will have the focus to stay away from the junk. I would love to be a few pounds lighter going into that race and end the season with a high finish. 5 pounds lighter than now would awesome. But I am just over 2 pounds away from teens.....and that number can actually be reached this week. 

Just need to keep Striving. 

Traverse City Trails Festival Race Recap

 Sometimes it who you know....and not what you know. I happen to know people that live in the Fife Lake area. So instead of getting up a 4am on Saturday, I was able to get up at 6:30am. They own a small cabin on a pond. I headed up after work on Friday to cut my drive from 2:45 down to 30 minutes. 

With views like this....the accommodations were excellent. 

I made the drive up and stopped for Dinner at Fife Lake inn. I had some Shrimp Primavera. It was really good, what I was able to eat of it. After dinner I headed to the Pond House. After getting my stuff inside I camped out in one of these chairs and read some. No electricity. No plumbing. Nothing but nature. 

Here is a peek at the inside. 

Hard to see but there is a bed up there in the loft. Very cool little place that my friends graciously let me stay in for free. Saves me time and money. Very very much appreciated my friends! 

In the morning I was up, had some cereal, and headed the last jaunt to Timber Ridge. I wanted to get there early and scope out the finish of the course. I rolled in around 7:30. I found a place to park and tracked down the Start/finish area. Here is where the chaos started. The email said the plate pickup would be by the main lodge. Wrong. And there were zero signs showing the Start area. Just kind of stumbled across it. No big deal, just a sign of things to come. 

I got my plate and headed back to gear up for a warm up. I rolled out the start and found where the route rejoins on the way back in. This wasn't terrible....and I won't spoil the fun with any description here. lol. I was warmed up and just rolling around waiting for the start. When it got to be 9am I headed up to watch the Full Pint waves go. My start was wave 4 at 9:19 (remember this) so I had plenty of time.

The first wave headed out, and wave 2 was right behind them. A minute later, wave 3. Then I hear the announcer call Wave 4. I looked at my number plate again to make sure I wasn't delusional. I wasn't. Wave 4 was in the chute and ready to go. I saw a fellow Clyde names Chris and swung up to chat with him when the announcer says "3, 2, 1, GO"....and my response was "he is kidding right?". He wasn't....wave 4 started 15 minutes early. I wasn't really ready.....

I dropped my gel. Chris handed it back to me and we were off. If I had to guess I would say anywhere between 75-100 people shot off the line. The first part of the course is 2-track so there is plenty of room. But the sand was making people slow and weave and it was very chaotic. Making it thru unscathed, I spied Chris and took off after him. He had passed me a little bit before, but there were so many people it was hard to find speed. Eventually the traffic started to spread out, but it was far from gone.

The two tracks ended. As the bodies piled up in the singletrack I settled in behind a few guys. The line of people in the woods was long. I would guess I was probably 40-50 people deep in the line on this section. As you can imagine....it was slow...fast...slow...fast...slow....fast....as people were trying to find their rhythms. It was difficult....

After the first section of singletrack the roads opened again. I jumped on with another guy and we picked off 3 people before the next section of singletrack. Small gaps were forming now as we got a bit further into the race. I was locked in with a super awesome dude. We snuck past another ride and closed to the next group. At one point he got past a rider and it took me a bit longer. But I closed him down again after I got past. 

I stuck with the Blue Jersey guy for this section as we finally had space to ride. After a few minutes we bridged back to another big group. There was a lot of SLOWING.....and SLOWING...as the trail closed down. Someone crashed and you can hear a guy yelling for people to calm down. This rubber banding in tight quarters lasted for quite a while. We are pushing 6 miles into the race at this point. 

Not wanting to be part of the problem, we settled in with this group. It was smooth at points, but very chaotic most of the time. Tight races like this on narrow trails can be frustrating. When the people slowing you down are not part of your class....its more frustrating. I just settled in and did my best to stick to Blue's wheel. Eventually the trail opened up again to two track. I thanked Blue for letting me chase and took off.....but our day was far from over.

This is where the hills started. I was able to gain some ground on a few people and made some passes. We dropped down a hill before the climbing started. A mix of singletrack and fire roads followed. I actually hit a steep hill I had to walk. I was going pretty hard up to this point and just couldn't settle in. So I walked up a climb and got back on. At this point, Blue Jersey passed me again. We joined up with a woman and attacked the hills that followed. Eventually on a long climb she peeled off and I joined back with Blue. 

I found out he is 69 years young. He knew the course so well that I felt like I knew what was coming at all times. The Trail split (half pint, my race and full pint...the long race) and we made the left back into the singletrack. This is where we really started talking. Great guy and fun to hang out with for almost this entire race. 

This section of trail was amazing. Felt like we were flying. Even with the climbing starting to add up. We reeled in a few more people and a few passed us from time to time. Our group grew to about 10 and we hit some open section by the power lines. The miles were ticking by now. The VASA didn't disappoint. Awesome trails. 

We were rapidly approaching the finish section. Blue Jersey and I reeled in another ride on the two tracks leading into the final climb. There is a preview climb and then a nice down hill before the Wood Chip climb. Yes....that nasty climb at the end of Iceman. Finally the last climb was in sight. I passed my blue jersey friend and reeled in 2 more riders before reaching the top. Well, almost the top. It keeps going for a minute. Then you hang a right and are almost to the finish. One final little push to the line and I was done. 

I felt like I did pretty solid overall. The traffic was rough in the first part and then again towards the end we had some that could have slowed us down. I did have to walk a hill, but that was the only thing that went wrong. I feel like if they had started each group in their own wave that it would have been better....but....it is what it is.

I cross the line is 1:20 which was a full 9 minutes behind Chris. He is a beast, but he crushed me in the last 8 miles. With a chaotic start....I will take my results. I ended up in a solid 7th place. However, I do have one major fucking gripe. Had I started at 9:19.....with only 30 people.....the traffic would have been much much different. Instead, I was in a conga line for the first 5 miles. And then again the last 3 or so. I talked to another guy that started at 9:19 and he never said a word about traffic. So it does piss me off that the races were not considered equal. I will share my thoughts with the promoter and hope they make improvements. They did see entries double from last year....and they clearly were NOT ready for that. Unfortunately, I believe it did have an affect on my outcome. 

Anyway, I will say that this was a fun event. The VASA is such a great trail system, and the trails were in amazing shape. So kudos to the NMMBA for their work up there! I didn't do as good as I had hoped, but hey.....I will take my finish and move onto the next. I am planted firmly in 3rd for the series. I can possibly move into 2nd place....with one race to go....but we will let that play out the way it does.  

Speaking of the next......its coming in 2 weeks at Fort Custer. You better bet your ass that I will turn myself inside out to take another podium on my home course. I will have some videos posted soon. 

Until then.....keep moving forward. 

Next Event, Traverse City Trails fest

 It has been many many years since I have ridden north of Big M. The last time I did Iceman was well over 10 years ago. Before that was the Boyne Marathon......and I don't even know what year that was.

TRAVERSE CITY TRAILS FESTIVAL

Click here to check out the event and see what the Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association (NMMBA) is up to! 

This will be my first time for this event. From what I see on the site listed above it appears that this started back in 2017. You might think that isn't very long ago....but it is already 8 years.....ugh....time flies.

There are two distances to choose from with a Full Pint (30ish miles) and the Half Pint (15 miles). For the Michigan Off road championship the Sport riders must ride the Half Pint. So it looks like a mix of the Vasa singletrack and some connecting fire roads. I looked around for videos, but the latest versions were the original course layout. So, basically going to be flying blind.

The climbing doesn't seem terrible. There is only 696 feet of gain over 15 miles. This is about 46.4 feet/mile. In comparison, my last ride at Custer was 51.6 feet/mile. The course profile makes it seem like there is some climbing in the middle and then some at the end. This doesn't give me too much concern. 

The concern comes from other places. First off, riding a trail blind. I have a big of an idea, by watching videos of the Vasa trail system. The first few miles should be flat and crazy fast. From what I can see the trail isn't technical. It is flowy and open singletrack that just lets you ride. Nothing really sneaks up on you. This is a bonus, because at high speed with an elevated heart rate the vision isn't always the best ;). It makes it a bit easier when riding in a paceline too. Tight and twisty doesn't work well with groups. See Island lake recap for my reasoning there. 

Another concern is the amount of Clydes signed up. At the time of this post there are 12. I know for sure I can beat 1 of them. I know one is a beast and another is pretty even with me, as we are pretty close every race. The unknown locals will have the course advantage here for sure. I don't really know how the start will be. It could be wide and then narrow down to singletrack, or it could be narrow and cause a major issue right away. 

So what is my strategy? 

Seek out Chris......line up behind him.....and hold onto his wheel until I no longer can. This dude is a beast. He had beat me by 13 minutes at the Stampede (my 2nd lap was in the rain....he was almost done) and at the Luton TT by 6 minutes. I know he is stronger, and I have watched him ride away from me in nearly every race we have done together. I never saw him at Yankee, because he started way before I did. I just know he will be fast no matter what, and I know if I can hold onto his wheel that the group could be decimated in the first 5 miles. The longer I hold on, the better my chances are. As a historically slow starter this might not work.....but I have to try.

After my last ride at Custer I am feeling pretty good overall. My speed was good and my endurance was where it needs to be. I was able to push hard for 20 miles and carry a strong pace to the finish. I did an easy ride at the Allegan State game area on Monday. I did a zwift ride last night. Both of those rides were good to keep the legs moving. Now I will rest until Saturday.

So I will chase Chris. I will work with anyone else I can to get to the finish as fast as possible. Sounds perfect right....

Also....on Saturday morning I will scope out the start and finish so I have an idea of what is coming. I will figure out where to line up at the start (other than behind Chris) so I can take the right approach in the group. I want to see the last mile of the course too, so if there is a sprint situation that I will know when to go.

Goals

I have a few goals for this event. Mainly I want to win. I know with Chris there that it just got considerably more difficult, but that won't stop me from trying. Realistically I am hoping for another podium. With the unknowns......I will settle for a top 5. Again, I am going to try to win.....but my hard floor is 5th. 

Well.....there is one caveat to that 5th place finish. I need to be ahead of CP. He has beat me once, and I have beat him once. We are fairly even riders. He is a good dude, but I want to beat him. He is currently in 1st place in the MORC series. CP, Chris, and myself make up the top 3 for Sport Clyde. So we have a solid group of guys heading to this race as we get near the end of the series. I need to finish ahead of CP in the next two races to move up. We shall see!

I am heading up to Fife Lake tomorrow to stay at my friends cabin. This will pull well over 2 hours out of my drive in the morning. That means I can be up at a decent time, eat some food, and head over to do my recon. 

Check back next week to see how it goes! 

Striving for 100 - Part 2

 Well, it has been a couple of weeks and I suppose it is time for an update.

Short story.....not great. 

But the long story might explain why. Or maybe it won't. I am confident it will sound like a laundry list of excuses. So I will give the medium story.

Riding has been ok, but not as much as I would prefer. I had a good ride at Merrell. A solid ride with the guys at Kal-Haven. Then a decent ride at Cannonsburg. A few trainer rides were sprinkled in there as well. Overall, feeling decent on the bike. All I can do is hope for the best at the race coming in a few weeks.

Food. Bad. I eat too much. Or I eat what I shouldn't. I did better towards the end of last week. Today I have to stay on track. 

Weights...non-existent. I have to get back into this. It is important for longevity. 

In a nutshell, I am now 17 pounds away from that 100 pound mark. I am up a few pounds. Weeks of terrible eating and inconsistent exercise will do that.

So all I can do is try again. I am off to a good start this week. I had a good food day yesterday and I was able to get out for a quick ride. Today I will avoid those pitfalls of the vending machine and any unnecessary garbage that I don't need. I plan to ride the trainer tonight, just to keep moving.

Every day is a different challenge. I need to ride to those challenges and not get stuck in a downward spiral. 

Keep striving! 

Hard to explain

 It's really hard to explain where I am both mentally and physically these days. It feels like a roller coaster for sure. Its hard to even put it into words, but I will try.

August had my 2nd highest amount of training hours this year. This was also my highest amount of saddle hours since January. The trend has been more on the trainer than outside. Its odd, but it is what it is. 6 of the 11 rides were indoors. Crazy for August. And....only 11 rides out of 31 days.....also not great. 

September isn't going much better. A whopping 4 rides out of 12 days so far. 3 of those rides have been in the basement. I have a race coming in 2 weeks. Ugh, not great.

So what seems to be the issue?

I really wish I knew. I could chalk it up to bad habits. Being lazy. Lack of discipline. No motivation. Some weather. The list of excuses is never ending. I just can't seem to get going. Its not like my rides are going bad. I had a great ride with friends on Kal-Haven. I had a solid ride at Cannonsburg Ski area. My Zwift rides are all stable. I have even been going after routes with more climbing. 

But here I am.....

Weigh has fluctuated a bit. Nothing major, but its never good to see an uptick when you are trying to lose. Before you start harping on me about how "weight will fluctuate so just keep going" I already know. I have seen 4 pound gains from water weight. I have seen weeks where 7 pounds have come off too. My weight is directly related to what garbage I have been ramrodding into my stomach. Nothing good. I do great for a minute, but then I find myself eating ice cream. Then the next night its more. And more, and more and more junk. One little trigger where a sweet is allowed in.....and it feels like the flood gates open. 

This, I fully understand, is due to my lack of mental fortitude. My emotional state has been all over the place. Why am I being lazy and heading to the basement instead of outside in this gorgeous weather? I don't know. Laziness I suppose. Just easier to gear up and head to the bike than it is to load up, drive somewhere, and enjoy the outside. Its dumb really. All winter i want to get outside. Now I can be outside and I choose to head to the boring trainer. 

I do love being out there. My ride with Lisa was great. We did some Allegan State game area trails. Was good to hang with my sister and get some miles in. The Kal-Haven ride with Brian, Jay, and Scott was also great. The weather was awesome and the company just as good. Even my suffering ride at Cannonsburg was good. The ride at Merrell was solid. I have felt just fine on the bike. Maybe not as strong as I would like, but comfortable with how the rides have gone. 

What I do know is that I have had some additional stress these past few months. While that stress is starting to go away, I know I did a terrible job of managing it. Instead of powering thru, I let old habits resurface. Extra snacks on the way home from work. Snagging something out of the vending machine at work instead of eating what I bring from home. Letting those habits that landed me at 3 bills show their ugly fucking faces again. 

This week, I did finally put a stop to that. I had to. Empty calories are stupid. They are stupidly atrocious worthless life sucking and delicious. Bad combo. I made much better choices this week. I avoided the vending machine at work. I didn't stop to or from work for anything. I did get gas yesterday, and I grabbed a non sugar drink along with a beef stick. Better choice than a pop and bag of chips or candy bar. 

It has just been a struggle. I am hanging in there. My weight is a byproduct of my effort. My effort has been lacking. My effort is lacking because of my mental state. My mental state has been trash because I allowed it to. Instead of fighting, I let it sink in like a comforting hug. It is the path most chosen. Least resistance. Downhill. Easy.

....but its the wrong path.

Now I am here looking at the valley walls trying to make a plan to get out. I will not get stuck here. I will find a way to climb my way out. 

In the Dark Knight movie Bruce falls into a well. His dad eventually makes it there to rescue him. He asks a very important question....

"Why do we fall Bruce?"

The answer is "So we can learn how to pick ourselves up"

I am still learning. We will fall many times. We just have to keep getting back up. Rocky did it time after time. No quit. Even when things seemed bleak. He got back up and kept swinging. I am right there. I am learning how to pick myself up again. I know its not easy. But I have to take it one day at a time.

But I gotta go....my ride is here......