Majorca!

I'm just back from my cycling trip to Majorca! What a paradise that is! There were more bikes than cars on the road. Sea, mountains, farmland... you couldn't ask for anything more! I rode 511 kms in 6 days. My two longest rides were 105K and 113K. Lots and lots of climbing!


The weather was cool, especially at the start of the rides in the morining, but got up to about 20-22C by the afternoon. Perfect riding weather. Mostly sunny, though we did have two overcast days. Luckily, no rain until late Saturday afternoon (and I wasn't riding then).

This is the sunrise over the Mediterranean the first morning we arrived. This was the view from my balcony. Gorgeous!










We had one rest day mid-week, so we took the bus into Palma, which is the main city, about an hour away from where we were staying in Alcudia.










I ate like a pig while I was there, but it was worth it.

The Yellow Line

Yes, I realize I've been AWOL for a while. I have an internet running forum that I post regularly on, and now with "Crackbook", it's hard to find time to update blogs like this. Anyway, here's where I'm at.

I've managed to break through my long-time fat barrier and post a new low of 157.6 pounds! The great news is that I started 2008 a full 10 pounds lighter than I started 2007, so 164 on Jan 1/08. But with some diligent eating/exercising, I'm now just below 160. My short-term goal is to get to 155 by the time I go on vacation (cycling in Spain) in early April. I'm pretty sure I can do it.

The thing that helped me break through the old barrier of 165 was to exercise less, which also allowed me to eat less. Instead of the 1800-2000 calories I was eating before (in order to fuel my ultra-long workouts), I am now only eating about 1500-1700 calories per day (excluding those I take in during long bikes/runs in the form of sports drink or gels). And I increased the intensity of my workouts, but kept them all in the 40-60-minute range. Once I start going longer than 60-90 minutes on a workout, it starts to wreak havoc on my appetite. That's partly why after flirting with 157, I am now back up to 159-160 without any new weight loss in the last two weeks: my mileage has increased in preparation of a 30K race I'm doing at the end of March.

During this weight loss process I've also borrowed from The Biggest Loser and implemented my own "yellow line." This is the weight that I cannot allow myself to go above. Over the holidays I set it at 165 and I did get very close to it in early January. Now I've lowered my yellow line to 161, so I don't leave myself much wiggle room. Mostly because I don't want to give myself too much license to slack off.

So, I'm only 4 pounds away from my short-term goal, but those four pounds seem very, very far away at this point. My long-term goal (by end of summer) is to get to 150 and be able to wear a two-piece bathing suit in public. I'm not sure if I want to go any lower than that - I don't want to give up my Clydesdale/Athena status - ha ha!

Races for this year: Two long-course tris (June & August) and a 70.3 in September. By July, I'll also have to decide if I want to do Ironman again next summer. I'm on the fence at this point.

Ciao for now!