Toughening It Out

Another ride this morning, and this one was a pain in the ass.

We started late, I got a serious neck ache, I was winded, I was out of sorts.........

We started late because of me. I had gotten a call from someone in Harbour View last night who told me it was raining pretty heavily with lightening and thunder. After the soaking yesterday I wasnt looking forward to getting wet again, so I didnt set my alarm. Good thing Antoinette was awakened by her Aunt who wanted to know where we were as she had already started walking. We quickly got up, got on our sweats and went out the door grabbing a couple fruits as left.

The going was tough and my ass was still hurting from yesterday and I got winded pretty easily on the way back in for some reason. It was torture but I stuck it out. When I passed Antoinette on the road she commented that she always could tell when it was me riding up behind her as everybody whizzed by while "I pokied on by". I couldnt care less, nearly everybody out there is faster than me, nearly everyone out there been riding much longer than me also. As long as I get over an hour of aerobic workout, push myself hard and do the work, I know I will improve.

Walking tomorrow evening


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January 23, 2010

Miles Today - 11.7

Miles Ridden MTD - 63.1

Target for Month - 75

Miles Needed for Target - 11.9

I Fought the Wind and WON !!

This morning was hell, but I fought the rain and the breeze and I won !
My routine is taking shape. Walking 3 days during the week and cycling 2 days on the weekend. It might not always go according to plan but I have to make sure that I get minimum 3 days of aerobic workout per week.

I've already posted about my Monday evening walk, on Wednesday we upped the ante by doing 10 laps of the football field before heading back home. I didnt push the pace as I still had the small blister from Monday. Andre enjoyed it though and texted me to say he felt very energetic the next morning. Friday evening didnt happen as Andre was out of town working and couldnt make it back in time, and I was very distracted with the T20 match on tv.

Missing Friday evening convinced me to head out Saturday morning for a make up. Normally I would be up and out before 6am but the warm bed and wifey felt so good, so I left an hour later. It was overcast so I figured I could do 24 miles easily..........
NOT SO !!!






On the way back on my first ride, the wind kicked up fierecely and I knew that rain was close by as it got chilly very quickly. Half way back it started pelting. Normally I would struggle against heavy wind but since coming back I have been getting into a decent rhythm, pedalling more, coasting less, feeling much better. This morning I just powered through and made it back to the car, exhausted but ok.

The wind kicked the shit out of me though and I really didnt feel like going back out, I was soaking wet and cold, but that didnt stop me from picking up apples, bananas, some cashew and trail mix for the house and a nice piece of jack fruit for Antoinette. On second inspection the jack fruit looks a bit young, hope its edible.

I am determined to get as much refined crap as possible out of my diet, the refined crap that will still have to be consumed will be controlled - STARTING RIGHT NOW WITH PEPSI COLA ! Sodas are now a thing of the past, I have to get my sugar intake down and stopping soda with all the carbon and caffine and God knows what else is a good way to start. Cashews, peanuts, hazel nuts, trail mix, etc. are what will keep me company during the days, now I will just have to find a way to buy in larger packages for a better price (I wonder if Pricesmart has cashews ?)

Walking again Monday evening

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January 22, 2011

Miles Today - 11.7

Miles Ridden MTD - 51.4

Target for the Month - 75 (revised up from 50)

Miles Needed for Target - 23.6

Adding Walking to the Mix !

I've added walking to the exercise mix and know that this will help with the getting fit plan I have for 2011. My best friend Andre who's pushing 300 plus has from time to time worked out with me and really just need someone to keep him company while walking. Back in 05 he and I worked out at a private gym for about 6 months leading up to my wedding and he was very disciplined, lost quite a bit too. Like me, work stress inevitably gets in the way and we retreat to inactivity.

Andre's pushing 320lbs and I am at 235lbs, we have been friends since high school so we have known each other for about 26 years, he was one of the groomsmen at my wedding and have always been very involved in my life, we are both pushing the big 40 now and I know if we dont start getting active we wont live to see the big 50 !

40 minutes of very brisk walking was enough for the first day out. We walked through his neighbourhood to a football field and did 5 laps, then we walked all the way back to his house. We got a pretty good workout and having my phone there with about 2 days with of music helped, we just dialed up some hip hop music and just stepped to the beat.

The plan is Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings for an hour of intense walking (time will probably increase the fitter we become). I got a small blister on my left foot during the walk and have to make sure that I lace up my sneakers pretty good so my feet dont move around while I'm walking, its feeling better this morning and I am hoping that it will be all healed by Wednesday.

One thing I have found is that brisk walking leaves you winded pretty quickly and building up stamina walking will definitely help with my riding. Andre used to hike a lot years ago, gonna see if we can get involved in that again, and he's very interested in getting a bicycle.

Making Steady Progress

This was the Palisadoes Road this morning. We have a serious pollution problem in Kingston, whether it be dust, garbage, rundown ram-shackled buildings, water pollution, etc.

Kinsgton Harbour in this vicinity is disgraceful with garbage floating along the shoreline. I read an article a year or two ago that stated that Kinsgton Harbour in the vicinty of Harbour Head is stagnant as before the erection of the Causeway bridge on the opposite side of the bay, the Rio Cobre entering Hunts Bay created currents that circulated throughout the entire basin allowing for it to cleanse itself. Progress usually interfer with nature and sadly we usually find out too late. This dust nuisance can be controlled though and we need to hold the authorities accountable in making sure that corporate Jamaica clean up their messes.

This morning's ride was very good. Earlier start by about 10 minutes and a steady ride out to Port Royal, I covered the distance faster than last week (I dont have a bike computer and am in the process of getting one) and came back in feeling good. As I passed my wife on the road I told her to meet me in Harbour View, which is another 3 1/2 miles on the Palisadoes Main Road.

I stopped, had a drink, circled down by the airport and headed past The Jamaica Maritime Institute and onwards towards Harbour View. The road surface was great and made riding easier, but the garbage pollution on that side of Kingston Harbour got me a bit down. A bit further on I stopped for about 5 minutes, my lungs had started to burn a little on nearing the section pictured above. A couple of guys rode through and told everything would be fine, so I hopped on and rode onwards. Luckily the dust wasnt dense and within 20 seconds I was through.

I rode on to the roundabout and onwards another half mile (not counted in my mileage) to my mother-in-laws house where I was rewarded with callaloo, ham, dumplins and nice soft yams.

A good ride, more miles than last week and I still felt good.

Hopefully 20 miles next week, and enough time to maybe do 75 or 80 miles.


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January 16, 2010

Miles Today - 15.7

Miles Ridden MTD - 39.7

Target for the month - 50

Miles needed for target - 10.3

On Tackling 100 Miles.

12.5 miles this morning and all in all a good ride.

It's almost like the 8 months break didn't occur except that I am a little more winded than before, I could have gone more but Antoinette and her Aunt being there curtails that as her Aunt has to get to work by 8am. I love the fact that Antoinette is going walking while I ride as the before and after time is good for us. She just got her pass to go jogging at the Mona Dam, so during the week she and her other Aunt will be jogging around the dam during the week.

I haven't stared walking yet, I wanted to on Monday morning but a couple of gunshots not too far from the house Sunday night at about 11pm convinced me otherwise. I am hoping to get out for 2 -3 days of intense walking to back up my weekend riding this week. Also I will now ride on Saturday and Sunday with Saturday designated as my "long" day (25 miles and up)

The title of my thread probably gives you an idea of what I want to do this year, which is to ride 100 miles (a century) in one day. We are in January and with consistent riding (2-3 days per week) and walking plus some weight training, I am thinking that I should be able to do 100 miles by the end of April (4 months). Riding 100 miles ( 6-7 hours) isnt easy and one has to plan breaks for eating and drinking (refueling) and make sure some sort of support is close by. Riding 20-30 or even 40 miles can be done on 2 bottles of water and gatorade each but your body will need food to replace energy expended so it takes some planning.

Main priority for January into February will be to get myself up to as close to 50 as possible, March will be the month to ride 60 to 75 miles, mixing it up with shorter rides and April will be the century month (100 miles with breaks every 25 miles).

So the Goal has been set and all I have to do is "Just Do It !!"

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack !!

Not a bad comeback at all. I was able to ride 11.7 miles without passing out or puking, as a matter of fact the second half hour was way better than the first as I sort of found a rhythm pretty quickly.

It was quite a good morning, although many people who had expressed an interest in joining us on our walk/run/cycling journey abandoned us when it came time to head out. I know that getting up at 5am is not the easiest thing to do, but damn.......... Antoinette and the kids got up and got ready to join me for fun.

I went off for my ride while they along with an Aunt of hers went walking. The journey out was choppy as I got used to the tough seat and also pacing myself so I didnt get too tired too quickly. As I said before the ride back was better than the ride out, but it was really great getting back on the road. I will make sure that I dont stop for any extended period again as starting back is really hard, plus I can only imagine how far along I would be if I had not stopped.

Antoinette and the kids had fun, although Shari found the distance a bit tiring and Auntie Carol ended up out-walking all of them.

Next Saturday for another ride/run/walk for the family


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January 2, 2011

Miles Ridden - 11.7 miles

Target for month - 50 miles

Miles Needed to achieve target - 38.3 miles

Goals for 2011

Plain and simple.


1. Weight from 240lbs to 210lbs by August 1
2. Ride 2,000 miles for the year
3. Walk and ride 3 times per week
4. Take part in a 5K run
5. Get my waiste down to 36"
6. No soda, elimanate as much refined sugars as possible


January 1 is a good day to start on a journey, there's no big difference between it and say January 2, or March 14, or July 14, its just another day like any other.........


except



it actually denotes the beginning of a new year.

I tend to not make New Years' Resolutions but I have found if I dont set goals I usually dont accomplish what I want, and a significant date at that helps even more.

I want to be in Toronto by the end of August and want to surprise my sister, what better way than a newer, slimmer, fitter me...

I am also taking this opportunity of renaming my blog. Mutterings from Near and Far was just a name I came up with when I decided out of the blue to do a blog. It really didn't mean anything apart from the fact that at times I might go off on a tangent and talk about movies or comic books or the weather, basically anything that tickled my fancy. I can still do that but I wanted a title that would be inspirational and what better title than borrowing one from Nike "Just Do It" (without the swish)

So its a new design, a new name and a new mission (well, not entirely new but you know what I mean) that will lead to a better me.


Happy holidays everyone, enjoy yourselves, cherish those closest to you and make 2011 a wonderful year.

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January 2010 Goal

Ride 50 miles