I Weigh In Tomorrow.....

.....and I hope it goes better that last week.

It's not just this week though, next week is important too.  And really the next several weeks.  I need to start seeing a downward trend instead of lose-gain-lose-gain.

See, I've been in this lovely little plateau for a year now.  I bounce up and down, but generally, I have been in the same place for a year.  Which, I suppose, could be considered comforting in a way.  When I get to maintenance, I will know exactly what to do to stay where I am.  I have got that part down.

A lot has happened in the last year, so I guess I am lucky that I didn't gain back everything I lost in the first 3 months I was doing Weight Watchers.  But it is so frustrating to stay the same for so long.  Not just frustrating, absolutely infuriating. For a large part of the last year I wasn't attending meetings, so I don't blame Weight Watchers for my issues.  I do have a doctor's appointment on Monday and I will be mentioning this to her, regardless of my weigh in tomorrow, but if I gain again it will be the first thing I ask her about.

I'm really beginning to worry there is some sort of medical issue that is inhibiting my weight loss.  I work out like a fiend, I eat really well and I just don't know what else to change.  And I'm tired of talking about it because I have thought about it and talked about it so much that I just cannot see it from a new angle anymore.

Enter the doctor.

Wish my luck, I'm going to need it.

P.S. This post was supposed to be more interesting, but today's Tour de France stage is very distracting!

What is Strong? Century Training Day 1

As I mentioned previously, Adam and I want to ride a century.  Adam already rode one a few months before we got married, but he wants to do longer training this time, instead of the short training he did before.  He told me the other day that he was 80% spent by the time he made the halfway point and did not want to do that again.

So, we started training today.  What better day to start training than the first rest day of the Tour? It was rather short, only 6 miles at an easy pace, but there was an element of excitement in training this morning.  We awoke to a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and the storm front was bearing down on us quickly. We ate and dressed quickly and headed out.  With what it seems 90% of Lansing under construction we had to zig zag a bit to get to the River Trail, but we rode 3 miles out and 3 back.  We rolled in about 2 seconds before the storm hit, whew!  It was a great ride.  I felt so good after.

And since I had a brand spankin' new cycling computer from Meijer it was great fun to watch how fast we were going and our distance.  I also was able to watch my heart rate closely too, since Adam found my heart rate monitor yesterday in a box (we are still not unpacked!).  That was a kick too.  If only we were able to get a cycling computer like the pros have and I would only have to look at one thing instead of three!

This weekend I also tried the iMapMyRide that they've been pushing for the Aquaphor Challenge against Levi Leipheimer.  It's an interesting app.  There are some things I don't like about it.  For example, I can't get it to stop automatically posting my rides/walks to Facebook without revoking it's publishing rights, but if I do that I can't post the rides/walks myself when there are ones I want to post.  Kind of annoying.  And when I try and log in on the website, I can't because I never got a password, I only have a username and they didn't ask for a email when I signed up, so I can't have them send me a password.  ARGH!

Other than that though, it's a pretty app!

Great ride, fun stuff to play with and I can't wait for the actual century!

An Open Letter to Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Matthew (the other announcer on the NBC All Access Pass)

Dear Messers Liggett, Sherwen and Matthew Announcer Guy,

Hi guys!  How's your experience at the Tour de France going? Well, I hope.  I just wanted to drop a line to you guys and say how much I enjoy listening to your commentary on the race, I really learn a lot.  You see, my husband and I are fairly new to the professional cycling world, we've been watching the Tour for four years now and we've become avid cyclists.

We love it here, it's a great place to be, active, fun, and highly entertaining.  I've found several blogs I like to read involving biking, including Fat Cyclist.  He's great, I've never met him in person, but he writes funny blog posts.

But, I digress.  Phil & Paul, without your commentary in past years and this year, the Tour experience just wouldn't be the same.  And Matthew, you are a welcome addition this year since where we live doesn't have VS so we hear your commentary before and after Paul and Phil go live on the All-Access Pass from NBC.  And you are all British, or at least sound that way, which is fantastic, I love a good accent.  I'm from Michigan (USA) and don't get to travel all that much yet, so I love hearing accents from around the world.

Because you are British you are seemingly pre-disposed to liking Mark Cavendish (I personally like Tyler Farrar much more), that's fine though, Cavendish's a great sprinter and an incredible athlete. But every time you talk about him, do you have to say all the versions of his nickname/birthplace?  I mean really!  He's from the Isle of Man, we get it!  And he can be kind of a jerk too sometimes, I know you probably feel the need to defend him, being a countryman and all, but sometimes, people are jerks and there are no excuses - which is unfortunate - I wish everyone could be nice all the time.

So, from your humble fans, please just say Cavendish's name once, we all know he's the Man from Manc.

Thanks, and keep the great commentary coming!

Sincerely,
Jenny

P.S.  He's not the only man on people's lips for this Tour, sorry.  I think a lot more people are concerned with the whole Schleck/Contador thing.  Not that it makes a difference, but I'm on Team Schleck.

What is Strong?

"What is strong?"

The answer is so varied.  What do you think is strong?

"Is it muscle?"

I'm not going to pontificate and try and answer it.

"....Or something more?"

I know that there is always more, more that you can give, 

more that you can do.  A well of determination to dip into.  

I'm trying to keep mine.  I start training for a century ride 

(100 miles) on Monday.  We have eight weeks of training 

before we rock out this ride.

"Is it measured in miles or milliseconds?"

It's going to take us 6 hours, at least, that's what we expect.

I'm nervous, incredibly so.

128.7499 miles.  It seems so insurmountable.

Lansing to Big Rapids.

"Is it your best time or your worst day?"

But training builds you up slowly, which is exactly what I need.

One turn of the cranks at a time.

".....Maybe strong is just what you have left when you've used up all your weak."

What Is Strong? (60 second) from Saucony on Vimeo.

Great commercial by Saucony, a shoe company based in the US and Canada. It is one of the most motivational commercials I have ever seen. I saw it this weekend for the first time while watching the Tour de France. Excellent commercial.

**Authors note: I am not sponsored by Saucony, this post is not, nor is this blog, affiliated in any way with Saucony.  I liked their commercial and decided to write about it.