The Noob Roadie’s Guide To The Century
There has been an ongoing discussion about whether or not a Century ride equates to a running Marathon. I certainly won’t be the one with the perfect on-liner that ends the debate. In fact, from where I sit, the debate itself is a little silly.
Having been a runner for more than a decade and having just gotten into cycling a year ago, the comparison has merit but riding a century is definitely less taxing on the body from a “pounding” perspective. I can recover from a century in a day and ride one every other week (if not much sooner) easily. However, taking the energy and time required to complete a Century vs. a Marathon into account, the Century wins by a handy margin. A decent marathon can be run in 4 hours while decent century takes 5. Also, running a marathon will burn about 3,110 calories (considering weight, height and fitness – I’m fit, 6’0″ and weigh 157 154.5 lbs) and I would have to drink about 100 ounces of fluid* to keep from dehydrating. A century on the other hand, with a 5-1/2 hour time, will burn almost 5,290 calories and require a whopping 270 ounces of fluid*. Where the two are almost identical is that both the ride and run have a “wall” that must be run/ridden through somewhere around 80% mark (at least for we noobs). As far as the debate goes on which is tougher, I’ll leave that to brighter people than I, or possibly leave it at; does it even matter?
The question I seek to answer is how. How can one get in shape for a century, how long does it take to prepare for one, how do you prepare the day of, and so forth.
First of all, anyone who tells you that you can simply hop on a buddy’s bike and jump right into the high mileage rides is unbelievably fit, lucky – or both (maybe we could throw “crazy” in there instead of lucky). You’ve got to be in good shape to ride that far, unless you plan on dogging it – in which case, you’re still on a bike for upwards of 10 hours. Moreover, your bike has to fit you. Some people are into the torture thing and while I do agree with the “pain is weakness leaving your body” mantra, we don’t need unnecessary pain which would most certainly be afflicted by a bike that doesn’t fit the rider. Having a bike that has been properly fitted to you is the key to the successful Century. I’ve ridden 33 miles on a bike that doesn’t fit and I hurt a lot worse after that than after a century on my bike.
Next is the saddle – the seat. Many people are of the mistaken belief that those tiny saddles with the ultra-thin padding are uncomfortable. It’s simply not true – if the bike fits and your saddle height is correct. This is doubly so once you start breaking into the higher mileage. The funny thing about padding is that, while it does cushion, it also restricts blood flow. On a 12 mile leisure ride with the kids, that’s not a big deal – on a century, it’s huge. In addition to the blood flow issue, there is also friction to deal with. The more padding to the saddle, the more friction it creates. Over the course of a century, with the proper cadence, you will turn the pedals around 27,000 times. Considering that there are several body parts that reside in the area where the pedal stroke originates that are highly susceptible to friction, it makes sense to reduce that as much as possible. The main trick is to get your saddle height properly adjusted, then dial it in over a few longer rides (mine is dialed in within a millimeter or 39 thousandths of an inch).
From there, I’d recommend some clip-less pedals and cycling shoes. They absolutely make pedaling easier.
Beyond that, it’s all up to the training.
The training does not have to be too intense, depending of course on how fast you want to complete your century and the amount of hill/mountain climbing you’ll experience on the course. If you’re looking for a 6-7 hour finish, we can assume 20 minutes worth of stops to top off water bottles and maybe have a snack, so that would leave 5:40 to 6:40 of ride time which works out to an average speed of about 17.5 mph for the quicker time and 15 mph for the latter. Assuming you’re actually able to ride a bike in the first place and that you understand the rules of the road, the training to get to 100 miles is pretty straight forward – put the miles in. Now I was a complete noob when I started riding again after 25 years without a real bike. I started at 4 miles, 3 times a week. From there, I increased my weekly mileage, then speed, then added more days. I had a fair base built up in three months and had run a couple of Olympic length triathlons after only training for two (I’d been running for years – the ride is just short of 25 miles). I bought my first road bike less than a year ago and rode that for a couple of months before the weather started getting too nasty. I rode my bike on a trainer in my office to stay in shape through the winter and hit the ground running as soon as the weather broke in March and April. I had a metric century planned for April 29th so I started upping my daily and weekly miles. I’m an everyday rider – back then I was at 13.5 miles a day with two 30-35 mile rides a week. When I showed up at the starting line for the ride, 39 miles was as far as I’d ever ridden. I finished the ride in 3:30 minutes at exactly 18 mph under my own steam (no drafting). After that, I started turning in 50 mile days on Saturdays, bumped up my normal daily rides to 16 miles, then added in a couple of 25 mile days and began riding in a club ride every other Tuesday (35-39 miles). On July 4th, I went on a new longest ride ever – 80 miles, and I rode out to the meeting place and back home to make it an even 90. I completed the 80, with drafting help, in 4:09 or at an average of 19 mph. After that, I continued with my normal weekly schedule and rode in my first century on August 4th. With drafting help for the first half, I finished in 5:12, at an average speed of 18.8 mph (the course was two miles short).
So, the trick to breaking into the longer distances is to understand the special advantages there are to riding in lieu of running. In short, if you run out of energy on a bike, you can dial it back considerably and still make pretty decent time. You can rest for a mile or two at the slower pace, eat a few energy bars and drink some water/Gatorade and you’ll be right as rain before you know it. If you blow up on a run and have to walk – especially a long run – your muscles will tighten and you will begin to feel the pain of your effort…and walking to the end will take forever. The ramifications of trying to bite off more than you can chew are greatly reduced when riding.
Now, I also have a set plan for how I prepare for the ride, day of. I’m going to skip over the maintenance items associated with making sure the bike is ready – that goes without saying. Equally important though is eating enough (and early enough) that you’re ready to ride. For anything under 40 miles I don’t worry about on-board fuel, but for the long rides I stock up on Clif Bars and Jelly Belly Energy Beans. Specifically, the walnut/raisin/oatmeal Clif Bars and the Extreme Cherry energy beans. I also recommend bananas if they are available at rest stops.
For liquids, I have two different setups – for extra hot days, 95+, I go to a backpack hydration system and two bottles of Gatorade. For anything below 90, I’ll go with a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water.
With the on-board stuff sorted, it’s time to deal with pre-ride meals. I eat big the night before, whatever sounds good within reason. Morning of, it’s a bowl of healthy cereal, vitamin D milk and two bananas. Half an hour prior I eat a Clif bar. Fifteen minutes before the start I drink a Gatorade Prime, I love that stuff.
The main thing to remember, is to eat what works. Nothing too crazy as you won’t want an upset stomach while you’re cruising down the road…and don’t overeat. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you want to puke for 50 miles. Balance is key grasshopper.
For the ride, strategy is everything. Do you want to ride alone, or in a group? If you want to ride alone and sight-see, just watch your speed early on so you don’t overdo it too soon. Figure dropping 1-2 mph from your average on a 30-50 mile ride and maintain that, you should be fine. If you want to ride in a group, which is quite a bit more taxing mentally because you have to keep constant vigil with where you’re at in the group, you’ll have to find a group that you can keep up with and won’t be too slow. To do this, if it’s not a race or a timed event, simply leave early. Pay attention to groups as they pass you. When you see the lead rider closing on you, speed up so you can latch on at the end. When you’re safely on as a part of the pace-line, stay with it a few miles. If they’re going too fast for you to keep up in the back, you’ll blow up after your turn at the front. It’s best to drop before you get there – just do it carefully. Don’t leave a big gap between any riders behind you and the person directly in front of you – give anyone behind you the courtesy of being able to latch on when you drop. To do that, wave those behind you up and then speed up as if you’re going to pass the person in front of you – this will eliminate the gap between them and the draft, because once you’re out, you are out. Just be sure to announce your intentions so the people around you aren’t caught unaware.
If that group didn’t suit you, and you’ve pulled out of line, wait for the next group to pass and repeat the process until you find one you’re comfortable with. Pace-line riding is excellent in helping you to finish quicker and less taxed physically than going it alone. In a long group, when you’re at the back, you can go faster at half the effort than you would be able to on your own. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time for sight-seeing that way.
Another option is to ride a good percentage of the ride in a pace-line and then drop off the back at a random mile marker to spin back alone and site-see for the rest of the trip. I, for obvious reasons, do not recommend trying to do that the opposite way, site-seeing first followed by latching onto a group later – the good groups will be long gone by the time you’re ready to latch on (unless you’re fast enough not to need any of this advice anyway – in which case I can’t believe you’ve read this much of the post).
The rest is up to you. Having completed two centuries in two weeks, the sense of accomplishment and the friends you’ll make along the way make the ride and effort well worth the time investment. Add to that the strength that comes with completing long rides and riding a century makes even more sense (you will become abundantly stronger and faster for your shorter rides and club rides after just a century or two, after you’ve recovered from the effort of course).
Finally, there is no hard and fast rule, ride so many miles per day and you’ll be ready to go. My training mileage, solo, was around 50 miles once a week for three weeks with a bunch of 16 mile and 25 mile rides scattered in there… Why 50? If I can ride 50 on my own, then double the distance at half the effort (in a group) seemed reasonable.
If you like riding, I highly recommend the century… The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that awaits you at the finish line is incredible.
*Fluid requirements according to Endomondo figures.
Slim Kicker Day Three – Success, Finally
I’ve completed my third day of Slim Kicker for my review of the app and I’m finally having some success.
In reviewing the app, I went into the endeavor eyes open… I already happen to be Slim and I am absolutely an @$$ Kicker on a bike (in case you didn’t know, I’m kind of a big deal around here). The point is, I don’t need motivation to stay thin or to get out and exercise – I find my peace on a bike. I wrote a post about my first day that can be accessed here (it also has my disclaimer).
I also already had a great diet going – I’ve maintained my weight 155-157 for several weeks now after I finally started eating more – I brought my weight back up. And I have the added bonus of loving almost everything I eat.
The problem I had was that I never knew how balanced my diet actually was, I had to guess. Slim Kicker has provided the guide. My first two days were benchmark days, to get an understanding of where I’m at. My sodium and carbs were through the roof, almost double where Slim Kicker says they should be. I’m not worried about sodium, I sweat a lot on my bike – every day, so I need more than most and if I had to guess (and I do), Slim Kicker is probably based on a low sodium diet and we now know that too little sodium is worse than too much. Based on how much I sweat, on a daily basis, I can’t stick to a low sodium diet – my performance would tank (I experienced this last year). I’ve got an email into the staff requesting further details on their sodium count.
Beyond that, what did have me concerned was the carbs and protein – for the first two days I was way low on protein and way high on carbs. If I’m reading the pros correctly, too many carbs makes the body burn carbs – not fat. So I was able to make an adjustment to bring that balance back into check by adding a two-scoop protein shake or two.
Also, and this was a little puzzling, I was low on cholesterol and fat (even with that huge Burger King dinner on Tuesday night). Those were also raised yesterday to acceptable levels.
So while the program may not be designed for someone of my awesomeness (I’ll be leveling up on Saturday – only five days into the program), it is proving to be an invaluable tool in understanding my diet. Another excellent feature of the program is the ability to tweak on the fly. For lunch yesterday I ate a Jimmy John’s roast beef sub (I wanted to see if that was enough to boost the protein without killing the carbs – it worked so I’ll be sticking to homemade meat sammiches from now on) – I got an iced tea and a bag of sea salt and vinegar chips with it… I loaded the chips in after the sub and watched my sodium soar past the acceptable level so I simply didn’t open the bag and took it off of my list. Sodium back to acceptable. As well, I can change portion sizes to match my needed intake for the day. I can’t say enough about that – it takes the guesswork out, and that I love.
I have already recommended it to my running buddy Dennis, he’s struggled for some time to get control of his weight even though he does run quite a bit. Slim Kicker will be perfect for him. He won’t get into the level-up game aspect of it (he is an old fart) but I have no doubt the easy tracking of his diet – and it is incredibly easy – will be right up his alley.
For others, especially for those just getting into healthy lifestyle changes, I highly recommend this app. It’s not perfect but, as far as I can tell, it will absolutely get the job done.
The Club Ride Gets FAST (Again)…
I went on a hill climbing expedition last Saturday in hopes of getting stronger and thereby faster for the effort. I obviously wouldn’t see actual results in a matter of days so there’s that, but I was expecting better results on Tuesday and I got one to an extent. As has been the case for some time, I get dropped on the same set of hills every Tuesday. Part of the problem was pointed out by Mrs. BDJ last night – I always end up pulling going up a certain hill, we hit a false flat and I’m too beat to latch back on as everyone peaks and coasts down the other side… So the wife says, “wouldn’t it be easier to be more towards the back?” DOH! Actually, the answer is a little more nuanced than that – most of the mediocre riders (myself included) get dropped on the same series of hills every week. If I’m too far back, I’ll get lost in a gap if I’m not careful or I blow up trying to bridge a gap going up a climb. Of course, if I’m up at the front, I blow up before I get to the top of the hill and can’t latch on.
Now, this is all relative and I’m really splitting hairs – if I get stronger and can ride faster with a lot of the stronger riders, I’ll be able to keep up regardless, BUT, for the time being it would be nice to keep on to the end and the trick to that is making it passed the set of hills that we get dropped on. I’ve got it on authority that once they get beyond those, they calm down a bit – and that makes sense now based on the ride last night…
We had a small group Tuesday night and we had quite a few of the stronger guys but I figured they’d take it easy with the size of the group. I was wrong. We started out deceptively easy at 19 mph but kicked that up to between 20 & 22 after the first mile. By the eighth mile we were up to 24 where we stayed for the next four miles and just before 12, we kicked it up to 25-27. I wasn’t exactly smiling, but I was holding on just fine – no worries. We hit the first series of hills on mile thirteen at 22 mph and climbing (they aren’t huge, but they sure ain’t tiny either), at the peak we were over 23. We then had a nice mile with just a touch of downhill to it and kept that from 27, climbing to 29. Still ok, which is a big improvement – a few weeks ago I’d have been off the back. We hit the second set of hills between miles 15 and 16 and maintained 20 mph over those… It was the third set that bit me. We hit them at 26 mph and I just blew up heading up the hill. I spent the next couple of miles catching up to one of the other guys who fell of the back and we picked up one more when we started working together and then the three of us picked up one more. The four of use ended up cruising back at 22-24 mph for the last seven miles. Our ride was 29 miles. We did it in 1:22. The fast group got back about a few minutes after we did and they went three more miles. They ended up somewhere near a 23 mph average.
Overall, with stop sign stops included we managed a 21 mph average (two other guys ended up with 21.5 & 21.6 with wheel magnet speedo’s). Without the stops, it was easily 22 or a little better. The point is, I’m absolutely getting better, faster and stronger. All of the work is paying off – especially the centuries and the hill quest from last Saturday (which I plan on repeating). Of course, being able to hang on for even most of the ride makes it a lot more fun.
A New Challenge Awaits
Checking the Genesee Wanderer’s web page I saw something that piqued my interest, they have a 100k (50 out and 50 back) planned for September 15th on the Pere-Marquette rail trail starting in Midland with a lunch stop in Clare. I originally read it improperly and thought it was 62 out and 62 back and got all fired up about doing a 200k – so that’s what I’m going to do.
The ride starts at the Tridge in Midland and goes out and back from there. Unlike the other riders though, I’ll continue on beyond Clare on the Pere-Marquette State Trail until I hit 62.4 then head back – call it a prep ride for next year’s ride across Michigan (145 miles) – which I may or may not do. It’s the day before the Assenmacher 100 so if I do, it’ll be a good prep for the DALMAC… 245 miles in 2 days…
Fortunately, Mrs. BDJ will be camping with my mother-in-law for a girl’s camping excursion that weekend so I’ll have plenty of time – and nowhere better to be. I’ve had the Pere-Marquette trail in my sights since last summer, I literally can’t wait. Now all I have to do is see if I can enlist a few of the other guys to do the longer ride, though if I can’t I’ll be just fine by my lonesome.
Cyclist Shot In Self Defense – For Running INTO A Truck And Beating Driver…
Where to begin with this story, and lessons abound… This is going to be messy – I can see it now. First, this is why cyclists get a bad rap. I’ll do the reporting that the reporters were either too lazy, or inept to do in the first place. Here are the facts as reported:
The cyclist was riding either on or near Telegraph and Northline Roads in Taylor, Michigan – Telegraph, a road that only a complete idiot would try to cycle on or across, especially at speed – having done a fair amount of business in that area and being an avid cyclist myself, I know what the hell I’m talking about. According to reports, and they’re leaving out a bunch of pertinent facts as reports normally do, the cyclist was going straight and a pickup truck turned right – in front of him. According to an eye-witness, the cyclist “ignored a ‘do not cross’ pedestrian sign”. The cyclist, after hitting the pickup, got up and began beating on the driver through the driver side window – he punched the driver upwards of seven times before the driver pulled a legally carried pistol and shot the assailant who later died in surgery. The driver waited on the scene for police to arrive.
So, here’s what they’re missing – and I’ll get to the National AP Report, another report entirely that seemingly purposely misinforms its readers of what happened – because one can’t piece together what actually happened based on the shoddy reporting:
Under every circumstance that I can think of, the cyclist was at fault for the accident. That’s right, way I read this (having not been there, but knowing how to ride the roads) the accident was the cyclist’s fault. All corners of both roads have sidewalks and dedicated right turn only lanes – “dedicated” for the purpose of this post, means if you are in that lane, you must turn right. There are three possible scenarios here. The cyclist was riding on the sidewalk and blew through the pedestrian light – he was foolishly applying road rules to the sidewalk and blew through the pedestrian light hitting a legally turning truck. The second was that the cyclist was on the road, riding in the dedicated right turn lane and continued straight – into the side of the truck. Had the cyclist (who was obviously riding straight through the intersection) been in the proper lane (the right thru lane, not the right turn lane), he wouldn’t have been able to hit the truck. The third scenario has a shared culpability. The cyclist is riding in the right turn lane (the wrong lane) hoping to go straight through the intersection. The driver of the pickup truck overtakes the cyclist in the thru lane and turns right, in front of the cyclist causing the cyclist to run into him.
Northline – Heading West thru Telegraph
If you look at the image, the camera would be in the right lane of Northline heading west (I believe, the direction does not matter – the same rules apply for all four corners of the intersection – even though Telegraph is a Boulevard). You’ll see the black car making a right turn from the right turn lane, and ironically enough, a red pickup truck next to turn. In the second image of that same intersection, only facing East on Northline, you can see the marking on the road dedicating it a right turn only lane. So the facts are the facts – the cyclist messed up, and then beat the driver – SEVEN times because of the cyclist’s mistake, before the armed motorist, defending his life, shot the cyclist. It’s a God forsaken shame – meaning at some point in this altercation, God was left sitting on the curb instead of one of those two yahoos bringing him into it – but it is what it is. That cyclist is dead and there ain’t anything bringing him back. Without being there, if I had to make a judgement call with the information I have, I’d have to side with the driver of the pickup though. I would have to say, judging on the facts as presented, and taking into account what I know about that intersection, the cyclist beat an innocent man because of his own ignorance of bicycle safety. Did he deserve to be shot? That’s
a tough one…
Northline, heading east. Notice the markings for the dedicated right turn lane.
Now, to the AP Story that I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Here it is in its entirety:
Police: Driver fatally shoots bicyclist in Mich.
TAYLOR, Mich. (AP) — Police say a motorist has fatally shot a bicyclist who caused a traffic accident in suburban Detroit by riding into the driver’s path.
Taylor police say the bicyclist died during surgery following the Wednesday night shooting and the 46-year-old motorist from Taylor was taken into custody.
Police say the pair began arguing after the bicyclist disregarded a “Do Not Cross” signal, causing the motorist to strike him. Witnesses told police the motorist pulled a pistol and fired one round at the bicyclist, striking him in the chest. The motorist stayed at the scene until police arrived.
The bicyclist was identified by police as a man, possibly in his late 30s to early 40s. The motorist was being held pending possible charges from prosecutors.
Now, this report follows the left/liberal narrative – What’s missing? As always (amazingly) is the case, the fact that the cyclist beat the hell out of the motorist before he was shot is completely left out of the story… So all the AP readers (all across the country) have is that a cyclist was shot for arguing with a motorist. This follows a narrative, the idea of which is that guns should not be carried by mere citizens of the United States, so to sway public opinion, any chance they can, they leave the reason for the use of a firearm out of the story. Don’t buy it? When’s the last time you ever heard of a national news story that went too far in justifying a shooting? I’ve never seen that, but you see hackery like this all the time.
2013 Goals Calendar – Swinging For The DALMAC Fences
I’ve been kicking around a new goal for 2013 after one of my new cycling buds from the Tuesday night club ride invited me to join them on this year’s ride the other day. It was too close to try this year (the ride starts this morning), but I’ve got plenty of time to get ready for next year.
I’m referring to the DALMAC (Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinaw Bicycle Tour)… It’ll be a challenge right up my alley – Four Centuries in four days – 404 miles. It’s a camping tour, so the accommodations are cheap, and the gear is toted from the start to the finish in semi’s… Unless Mrs. BDJ wants to bring the kids on a camping adventure to Mackinaw, which would be right up her alley – a road trip and four days of camping, in that case I’d have her SAG our stuff. I’ll be checking that out with her over the weekend to begin plans.
The group I would ride with averages 20 mph on the first and fourth day and 18 (give or take) on the two middle days. That won’t be a problem at all – I’m already in good enough shape to handle that (I think). The thing that really appeals to me with the ride is that it’s quite over-the-top. Four hundred miles in four days? Now that sounds like fun.
To put my short cycling career in perspective for folks who may be afflicted with the “I can’t do that” bug… After a decade of running to “not get fat” (slow – 8-9 minute miles I wasn’t some 6 minute marathoner), I started riding a year and two months ago because I wanted to do a Sprint Triathlon. Two weeks into training I realized I was in way too good a condition for a Sprint so I upped that to an Olympic length. Two months later I’d done two – on a mountain bike. Two months after that I had my first road bike and started upping the miles – riding every day. My longest ride last year was in the neighborhood of 35 miles. Four months after that I bought a used properly sized racing bike. I rode on a trainer in my office through the winter to maintain my fitness. In March I hit the ground as soon as the weather broke and the weather became warm enough to ride… My longest ride through March and into April was 35 miles. On April 29th I did my first Metric Century 63.3 miles, beating my 4 hour goal by a half an hour. I continued cycling every day, 16-35.5 miles until I did an 80 mile ride (technically 90 – I rode to and from the bike shop) on July 4th. Then this month I participated in my first Centuries and beat my time goal from January by more than an hour for each. I’m up to 50 miles on Saturdays, and 16-35 on Sunday and week days. I take at least one day off every two weeks, whether I need it or not. I’m not particularly strong, though I am driven when I find enjoyment in something (and I love cycling almost as much as breathing).
This may sound like a lot – it is – but riding like this doesn’t actually take a lot of time… 50 minutes to an hour and a half during the week and on Sunday and 2 to 2-1/2 hours on Saturdays. What’s 50 minutes out of 1,440? The answer is not, “I can’t do that”. The answer is to figure out how I can.
With the season at the mid-point (March to November or December depending on snow), I’ll continue with the daily cycling until it becomes too nasty and then I’ll get the trainer going in my office again through the winter. Next year will look a lot like this year with the exception of the DALMAC capper. I can’t wait.
Search Term for the Week… You Got Here – HOW?
Holy cats, Batman what did you search to get to my blog: “i have a sword good for seppuku”
I’m sure you do, just point that thing…uh, err… Oh, now that’s gonna leave a stain… “Hello, 911? I have a problem… Yeah, the nature of my problem is that some dude just committed seppuku on my carpet… Huh, no, you can’t clean that up with with paper towels… Yes, I know you can’t just call 911… Listen lady, some dude just cut his guts out to get to my blog… S-E-P-P-U-K-U, ritual suicide – not septic poo!!! Can you please send somebody? No, I won’t touch anything… Hey, is that flinching thing normal? Thanks…. Man that’s kinda cool lookin’, in a gross way. What? Two hours? Damn.
Oh, now I get it… I forgot about that post. Man that was funny. If you haven’t seen “Emails from an @$$hole”, do give it a look – it’s funny for about 20 minutes but gets a little old.
Oh, and one more: “25.4 mph on a mountain bike”.
Yeah, downhill – with a tailwind… Or you just happen to be riding with Lance Armstrong and he lets you tie a rope around his waist and drags you around to add a little resistance.
Bgddy Goes On A Diet For Slim Kicker – Kind Of…
I was contacted by a person working for a diet/fitness tracking app called Slim Kicker and asked to review it, good or bad, on my blog. The comment/request appears on my “About the Author” page. Now there are a few things that I don’t like in life, and one of them is watching what I eat. I’ve always tried to outrun my diet even though most professionals in the industry say it can’t be done. One look at the laundry piled upon my washboard abs leaves me with the understanding that they’re right – to an extent. Everything in life, as I see it, comes down to definitions. In the case of my physical appearance, just how much is good enough – the key words to define are “good” and “enough”. In the end I’m pretty happy with my balance – I don’t necessarily eat great, but I eat well and I get to enjoy what I eat.
That notwithstanding, I decided to give the app a try, if for nothing else than to get an idea of where the folks at Slim Kicker think I’m at and maybe get a better understanding of how I eat, because I really haven’t a clue…oh, and to see if the app actually crashes when I enter in my post Tuesday club ride dinner. Yesterday was my first full day with the app which is only available for the iPhone right now. It seems easy enough, you enter in a bunch of information; height, weight, age, activity level – the simple stuff, and it kicks out a profile for you based on what you enter. The app interfaces with a web page where you can change your photo, tweak your profile and view your progress (it’s based on a “level-up” game).
From there I started entering in everything I ate immediately after finishing… Banana, apple, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, burger, burger (I cooked them on the grill Sunday and made two extra for lunch), Coke (just had to see what would happen – I never stop for a Coke on the way home from work) – STOP… Right there I was over my alloted sugar for the day – a banana, an apple and a 16 oz Coke… I knew right then and there, this is not going to be easy. When I entered the Coke, a nice little message popped up on the screen: “There is no place for soda in a healthy diet”… Oh boy, here we go.
I earned points for entering in what I ate and it tabulated that against my overall profile target calorie consumption goal for the day: 3106 calories – and more on that calculation in a minute.
From there, I went home, packed up the bike and headed over to the meeting place for the evening ride. And this is where we start getting into trouble… The exercises listed in Slim Kicker are not set up for someone who already happens to be fit to the point of amazingness like me. Their hardest cycling effort is 17.5 mph and that is listed as “very fast”… That’s recovery pace for me. Last night’s ride averaged out to 21 mph (though 2 other guys came up with 21.5/21.6) – I burned calories at a rate of 56 per mile according to Endomondo (though that admittedly doesn’t take drafting into account). The best Slim Kicker’s got is 50.6 calories per mile… Over ten miles that’s not a big deal – over 230 miles in a week it is.
Now, here’s where the water gets muddy. The 3,106 calories that they give me is supposed to include what I burn daily. If I do the math (and I can) for last week, according to my calculations, my basal caloric intake needs to be around 17,080 for the week, but I burned 8,590 calories between riding and running – I needed to consume 25,670 calories last week. With the Slim Kicker as my guide I’d have consumed 21,742… That’s a little more than a pound less than what I really need.
That notwithstanding, I’m going to stick with the Slim Kicker for a week to see how I do – it’s got some excellent features to it. It calculates my daily needs in terms of calories, carbs, protein, fat, cholesterol, sodium, fiber, and sugar and gives me a nice little graph for each one based on the food I eat/enter so I can actually see where I’m at for daily allowances – and that’s really cool.
So, to finish, for dinner I went to Burger King (aw yeah!) and entered in the following: 1 Whopper, 1 Classic Chicken sammich, Small Onion Rings and (2) 12 oz Cokes (I got a large but only drank half – I think that works out to 16 oz, but whatever). This is how my day ended (have mercy Elisa):
Might have to do something about the sugar…
Now, I’m not worried about the sodium – even though I almost doubled what they recommend, I know for a fact that I have to consume that much or I’ll end up deficient – that happened last year and it wasn’t pretty. My sweat ended up tasting like water and my performance went in the tank until I figured out what was wrong and started downing Gatorade like it was going out of style… In addition, every other Tuesday is a big salt day for me because it’s a huge fast food day – I only eat like that once every other week on club ride night. What does have me concerned is the sugar and the carbs… Way too high, and I got a nice little chiding about that from Slim Kicker – something about too much sugar adding to the waist line… I did have a chuckle over it.
There will be more to come on this subject later in the week, as I get into it a little more but for now I can tell you; I wish I’d had this 12 years and 40 pounds ago. Starting out in my lifestyle change this would have saved me a lot of time, effort and trouble in dropping the weight. Slim Kicker would have been a fantastic tool for managing weight loss and fitness. Even now, with my balance figured out quite well on my own, it can be a great tool for fine-tuning my diet.
I’ll post more as new things pop up.
Disclosure: I did not receive anything to review this app. It is a free app available for the iPhone. The person who contacted me did offer to allow me to review their new pay app for free when it comes out early next year but I figured I’d take the initiative and start with the free app first. I have written a few follow-up emails to Sue at Slim Kicker with some suggestions, but was not influenced in any way, shape or form to write a positive review of their product. The opinions expressed in this post are mine alone and were not guided or tinkered with by anyone at Slim Kicker – they didn’t try to influence me either. Her initial request is available on my “About the Author” page as linked above (scroll down to the comments) for anyone to see.
UPDATE: WTF!!! How do you diet people live like this!!! I can see the folks who want to lose weight, but good GOD! It’s lunch time and I’ve just blown through my entire carbs for the day – and it’s Pizza Wednesday. 😀
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: UNCLE!!! Sodium’s through the roof too – Where’d that come from? Somebody pass the damned Chia seeds already! You ever wonder who looked at a Chia Pet and said, “Damn, I’ll bet those seeds taste GOOD!?
Cut the lunch in half to save on the carbs, but I’m already over on sugar… Two apples and a banana… Really? Rode hungry today – first two miles sucked but my stomach didn’t bother me so much when my legs were protesting the abuse. 😉
Thank You Beyer For The Best Pain Reliever EVAH!!!
Being an exercise junky I tend to run into some painful discomfort from time to time. Whether it’s a sore neck, shoulders or my guns, because I don’t take very many days off during the summer, I can run into a day or two a month where I’m hurting too much to rest comfortably. In fact, prior to cycling and wearing a bite guard at night, I’d run into a couple of days a week that I’d have to deal with back pain that was too unbearable to even sit in a recliner with… The bite guard, I wrote about here and has given me a new lease on life, a level of pain-free enjoyment that was previously impossible. On those uncomfortable days, usually days off when the guns finally get a minute to stop smoking, I reach for – every time. I love Aleve. I love the fact that I can literally feel it the second it kicks in, the pain melt away. It works every time, never fails.
Last night was a rest night. I’ve been going for 13 days in a row and I was finally beat. Long about 5 pm I started tensing up. First my neck, then my shoulders, then my back and legs – it was an all-over kind of hurt. Two Aleve and 20 minutes later and I was smiling.
Aleve isn’t without its problems… One of which I must be accutely aware. It’s very hard on the liver, and as a recovering alcoholic the last thing I want to do is mess with my liver any more (I’ve put that sucker through enough). In the days before my night-time bite guard this meant following the dosing instructions on the bottle. Today I don’t have to worry about that so much as two is all I’ll need for the pain to go away completely.
Sure enough, here I sit at my desk, good to go for tonight’s club ride. Thanks Beyer.
Fit Recovery 