Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - August is done so how have you faired in meeting your goals?

Me, August was not a success on most fronts. I added 134 miles to my total via 11 days of riding. Not even close to where I wanted to be for the month. Weight wise, I actually gained weight. A vacation plus lack of riding will do that to a person. I ended the month at 209, up from last months 205 and a low of 204 at the start of the month. This must change! My total for the year is 1932.56. So I'm just 68 miles short of my annual goal of 2000 miles.

I will say that even with these issues with my personal goal, this month has been highly successful in my life. August was the single biggest month in life events for my 4 year old. She learned to ride her bike w/o training wheels, learned to swim, and has hit the point where she' pushing herself to try things that scare her but are things she wants to do like use the fire pole at the playground and climb to the very top of the 30 foot high burger King playground. Anyway, I'm very proud of what she's done., and I can't wait for the funds to get here to purchase the tag-a-long bike so we can ride together.

My one other goal is to ride 3 centuries (100 mile type) this year. I did the first in July, and have trouble figuring out what to do next after missing the date for signing up for the Civil War Century. So I signed up (still need to send the check) for a 200k ride on October 18th. Hopefully this will give me the motivation to get back out there and put in the miles.

I lost some of the joy of riding in August. It was tied to the fact that it looked like I wasn't going to have a car and would have to ride my commute. For some reason, when I don't have a choice in an activity I loose my drive for it. Hopefully I can get it going again.

So how was your August?

2850 miles (roughly) total for the year. I'm going to fall well short of my original lofty goal of 5000 miles, which was an insane attempt from last year's 3000 mile total. I will definitely hit 4000 miles, which will still make me pretty happy.

I've already hit my secondary goals of completing a double century (July 12th) and at least 6 centuries for the year.

Didn't set any annual mileage goals but I did ride my first century on the 23rd which was pretty awesome. I've dropped a few more pounds and am now fluctuating between 205 and 210. So I may break 200lbs by the end of September. We shall see. I'm thinking I may do another Century later this month or later next month. May be challenging what with a move at the beginning of October but I find long rides are good at resetting my stress clock, for lack of a better term.

I bought my bike in late july, and since then have done about 300miles. My longest ride was 30 miles, and I have lost about 7lbs. I just picked up an old school raleigh road bike, so that might help me up the miles, but so far, even though its only been a month, I am having a ton of fun riding and pleased with my progress.

After a bad July (2 great vacations separated by 1 bad cold), I spent August getting back on track. Last week was the first 100 mile week since June :thumb: and it felt good. I'm well over 2,500 miles for the year (already 5 X last year's total) and commuting consistently. Feeling like I'll be ready to ride my age for my 49th birthday later this month to celebrate my 1 year anniversary of returning to cycling.

August was pretty good for me. I should say, by way of disclaimer, that my major life goals don't revolve around cycling, and that I don't really have goals within cycling. I don't have weight goals either. My main goals for the past six months or so, maybe longer, have all revolved around aikido. August ended with a rank test which I passed successfully -- didn't really have any doubts, there -- but there were a couple more significant milestones as well. One was "birthday ukemi". It's a kind of tradition in my dojo, that on your birthday the instructor uses you as a demonstration dummy for the whole class. It's a very strenuous experience, and taxing in other ways -- if your ukemi (ability to attack and then get thrown safely) isn't good enough, it's very easy to get hurt. For that matter, if your ukemi (and conditioning) aren't good enough, the instructor won't use you as a demonstration dummy at all, much less for the whole class -- so, doing "birthday ukemi" meant that my ukemi and conditioning don't suck, and that meant a lot. Another major milestone is that over the year since my last rank test, I was able to continue training consistently, averaging three times a week, even in the winter when I have two jobs and typically work seven days a week.

I used to have very discrete goals, and no doubt I will again, down the road somewhere. Right now I'm in a place that's...not exactly drifting, but a lot less discrete, I guess. I'm currently at a place where I don't need very concrete goals to keep moving ahead, although that will probably change at some point. It's been this way for a couple of years at least, and I'm okay with it. It took me a while, but I've made my peace with having as a goal only "keep on doing". The "...faster, higher, stronger" part seems built in, it happens in small incremental ways without my having to pay attention, and over time it adds up.

Gina: I figured this would be her 3rd consecutive year hitting 3,000 miles. Right now she's at 2,313 for the year with 4 months left. I think she'd easily meet the somewhat of a goal. We've increased our Sat and Sunday rides from 42 to 53 miles. She was 4 miles short of a 400 mile month in August, no bad. Bettered her last year's best average of 18.1 (42 miles) to 18.4 this year. She seems to be getting better and better!

This past Sunday, riding into the wind with a couple of SoCal forum buds looking for shelter!:D
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/83108A.jpg



I'm at 3,061 mile for the year. Was figuring on another 4,000 mile year but I think I'll easliy beat that with 4 months left. No big goals right now, just riding with the wifey!:D

Rode 418 miles in August bringing my total to 1988 miles. 4000 looks out of the question but I think I will break 3000 maybe....

I met and exceeded my mileage goal for 2008 (goal was 2008 miles, now at over 2100), and I'm a few days away from meeting my weight loss goal. August has been good to me.

OT at work is a blessing and curse. Its keeping me from riding everyday, but its allowing me to save for another bike.

Missed my weekly miles goal of 150 every week. Its not that I can't do the riding, its just that I can't ride and do the mandated OT. So I'm limping along at around 90-100 miles a week, and 40 miles of that is my Saturday commute to work! Oh well, I spend the other miles on hills that I get to cuss at and call dirty names.

Weight is down. Don't know by how much, due to the gym, work, and doctor office's scales all different. So, if you see me post a wide range of numbers, its not that I'm a liar with a bad memory, its what the scale said. I do go to the doctor Friday, so I should be able to compare to last months weight. But I'm into my 2X Big Dog shirts that I have been in for months! Pants are down a belt notch also.

Both girls are into school and doing well. The Princess's are really excelling. The Young Prince in into his second year of pre-k. He's alot better this year with a schedule.

Wife is starting to ride daily. Hope to get her a "comfy" bike and into rides for t-shorts in the spring!

Jerry

Both good and bad. I'm averaging over 100 miles a week now. I did 2 55 mile rides this past long weekend. 480 miles in August. I am a lot stronger than I have been in a very long time. In much better shape too. So my fitness level is really improving.

However, I only lost a couple of pounds. It's time to re-evaluate the diet and get back to loosing. Of course, it's possible that it's a fat to muscle thing.

My only real goals for the month of August were to ride in my first supported century (a metric), and to sell my house. I achieved both, but in this market I don't need to say which one was more difficult, AND more painful.

I didn't set any goals this year. In January I had a mini-stroke that kept me off the bike for a couple of weeks until the symptoms cleared up, in June I was off the bike for six weeks with a fractured rib, I lost other riding time from depression and mechanical problems, and so my mileage is actually below that of last year. So I've ridden less this year than any time in my cycling life!

That said, I went on a little ride mid-month that helped restore some of my confidence. I expect to match my 2007 mileage of 3005 miles by year's end. I have a century scheduled the end of this month, and a metric on the 13th. Weather permitting, I plan on riding my 'normal' 72 mile trip into Philadelphia and back on Saturday, the first time I've ridden it this year. Monday I have a bike fitting scheduled with Cadence, folks who fit pro teams, and I hope they will be able to address some of the discomfort I have when I ride.

My weight continues to be a problem. I didn't work to maintain properly over the winter, and between that and the health problems I've gained about 35 pounds from last year. I've returned to my gym, and as I better track what I eat, I expect to drop that weight, and then some.

My August started out pretty well, 230 miles in the first two weeks, but then some other things came up and I went 1.5 weeks without riding. I still ended up breaking 300 miles, which is the most I've had since I started riding again last summer, so I guess it was pretty good. Firsts, in recent history, included breaking 100 miles in a week and breaking 40 miles in a single ride,twice. And, while it wasn't done in August, my 50 mile ride on Labor Day, first time breaking 50 in a long time, put me over 1000 miles for the year, WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO.

I think Sept is going to be even better. In the first 2 days I've already got 71 miles and I'm scheduled to ride 22 or so tonight and 50+ on Sunday

3/4 to my mileage goal and only 2/3 through the year so that is looking good. :thumb:

Will wait till next spring to ride with any groups again at least on any longer rides.

My last long group ride consisted of:
- 5-10 minutes chatting with some folks I knew
- 10-15 minutes riding with the group of folks as they rolled out of town which was nice but a little too quick
- 5 minutes talking to the ride organizer after I had been dropped from the main pack where she sort of quizzed me on my experience before dropping me like I was standing still
- 570 minutes of riding by myself in the middle of no where hours from home on chipseal roads and finding they don't have cell phone service out there which would have sucked if I had a problem. The temps hit 105 per the weather service but the roads sure felt hotter and you could just see the heat rise along certain stretches.
- 730 minutes of total time by myself to wonder what the heck I was doing out there in the endless cornfields and chipseal. I never want to see corn again :roflmao2:
http://bp2.blogger.com/_4XFbiJK9oj0/SFqYvN4ailI/AAAAAAAAAAs/22bNy-yOKqI/s200/corn+im+in+everything.jpg

All that time on my own I came to the conclusion that I'm on my own after April except for in town group rides. I need to go with these folks early in the season when they still have the twinkie flu and are coming out of hibernation since I've been racking up miles over the winter so I have an advantage to even us out. I am glad I was alone though. I finished two hours after the rest of recumbent folks and I'd hate to have held them up for two hours to stay back with me.

Of course to top it all off I've gained a few pounds :twitchy:

i guess my ultimate goal is to ride as much as possible. in that, i guess i really can't ever "attain" it. that said, by early summer, it looked like i was on pace to hit 6000 miles this year. that sort of became a goal. as of yesterday, i was at about 3300 miles. i'll feel pretty good about this year if break 5000.

my other goal was to continue to increase my avg speed. that too is really just a constant work in progress. there's no "end" where i can look back and say "i did it."

Mileage is down overall because I've gone back to my original schedule at work, which cut 1 hour per day of riding before work, and some crazy-hectic weekends cut into the weekend rides. And up 1/4 pound for the month, when I'd hoped to make a mini-goal for the month.

MIleage is down because of the knee problem, my triple is off the table this year, too. :( I'm back in classes and things are going well for me, and I'm likely to have a research assistant slot that will credit at the Graduate level very soon. :D

My only goal this year to ride 100km almost hit that yesterday fell short by 13 km and I'm about 500km over last years total.

August was a total loss. I couldn't ride in the beginning of August because of the Tornado that ripped through our neighborhood and the resulting flooding in my basement cut one full week of riding out of August.
One Saturday ride of 130 miles saved my mileage somewhat for August as I only recorded 366 miles for that month :(
Then in the end of August my stem on my commuter bike broke and robbed me another week of a daily 30 mile commute :(

So all in all my August sucked.

My Goal is to get stronger at riding, without getting hurt.
I have done well at that.
Loosing 25 lbs was an extra benefit.
Completed 7075 miles on Monday.
My bike is fast but needs a fast motor.

So how was your August?

I've given up on trying for any big distances this year, the weather has been so awful. I plan longer rides for Friday and Saturday (thanks tom weird work hours), we have had only one such period where it didn't rain, thunderstorm, hail, snow, freeze rain, or in other words precipitate since last November..... While I don't mind warm rain, I hate cold rain. Rain at 25℃, wonderful, rain at less then 10℃ is a good way to get pneumonia. Of course every time it does rain at 25℃, it's usually a thunderstorm. Last year at this time, I had just passed the 1,600km (1,642 km) mark, This year I am 553km short of last year, any chances of surpassing my 2,057km total) from last year, have been washed away with all the rain.. And the forecast for this coming weekend, rain Friday and Saturday, none on Sunday, but returning Monday and Tuesday :troll::

Currently I am looking for an inexpensive trainer, if I can get some good trainer rides in January to mid-April, then I will be ready for the season to begin, rather then needing to take from November until Mid-April off, and needing to start all over then. I usually take November and December off, for bike maintenance and because we go through H*ll Month at work (which is actually six weeks :wtf:, I work for a courier company, so you can understand that it's a little busy from Mid-November until Christmas :notamused:).....

August started out really good with me doing my first metric :D But since then my month fell apart. My work schedule changed so that I am working four 12 hour shifts. Add in that we moved into our new house and are getting our old place ready to sell, so my bike has just been sitting.:notamused:

Let's see... I acquired a bike, starting riding, and am tackling fit problems while working on my diet. So far so good, although 'bents are calling to me.

Rode 531 miles in August. Increased weight on my bench press and bicep curls. Lost 8 pounds. Listened to a great audiobook Miss Bumble recommended and worked on my tan.

Me, August was not a success on most fronts.


You had lunch with The Historian. That counts as a success. :)

I'm using fit day (http://www.fitday.com/) to monitor my weight loss. Went from 101kg in July to 96kg in Sept. so far (I'm 5'8")


One thing that's nice is the additional riding I've been doing seems to have increased my metabolism - I did about 5 hard weeks and took it easy last week and was amazed to find I didn't gain back anything even though we hit a few bars and bar-be-ques over Labor day weekend.

A few months ago all I had to do was skip one day of riding and look at a doughnut and I'd gain five pounds. So maybe the snowballing effect is taking hold - but in the right direction!:)

Goals for the BEE - Well I don't think I set any goals. Could be the issue.
Weight
Basically I want to lose about a pound a week. I say that yet - I get disappointed when that is all I lose. So for August looks like I lost 5 lbs from 8/4 -9/1. But I got down in size clothes wise - or at least from where I began. I am fitting into clothes in normal stores - not the dreaded Women’s' section where they have clothes with sixes with a W attached for WIDE. Anyway - I know you guys may not be able to relate to the women issues stuff, but being a fat woman is no joy! So losing the weight is a big help in the joy department.

Bike
Even greater though is the Bike and the life of being a fit chick on a bike. I am enjoying the charity rides and the group rides and the friends I am making a long the way. There's a world out there - once I leave my couch behind.

100 Pushups
Oh wait - I did have 2 other goals - the 100 Pushup thread...well basically I quit. I could barely do a few girlie pushups. So gave that up but.....


Workout
Am doing a DVD called Slim N 6 (yup one day was up early and the darn thing leaped out of the TV). So the plan is to do the video for 6 weeks and voila you are thin. This is week 4 and I have been fairly consistent - except on the weekends when I am biking a lot. So that's something. Squats, Lunges, Leg lifts (ouch) Resistance bands, even some pushups.... A pretty good workout!

Social Life
Due to the biking and meeting people have made friends! Have been going out with these friends and even a dated a bit.I'd say witht he bike I meet people, witht he wieght loss I beleive in myself more.

Self Confidence/Self Love
Need to work on this more. Set some goals around this for next month!


OK probably more than y'all wanted to know....but a nice way to reflect on the month! Very grateful that I can ride a bike - am healthy have a good job and am enjoying myself.

You had lunch with The Historian. That counts as a success. :)

I even got to have a drink with you as well (well at least couple sips of water before dashing off to my board meeting) - definitely one of the few bike related highlights. The other bike related highlight was a 42 mile ride w/ an average speed of 17.8 mph that included 3K of climbing and me hanging w/ the local racers at 21 mph for the first 36 miles. I even did a couple pulls at the front when were were holding 26 mph for a 5 mile stretch of road. I road with these guys about 8 weeks ago and was able to hang with them at slower speeds for only 15 miles or so.

The two guys I were with regularly win local road and mtn bike races against a fair number of top end racers (Cat 1/2 types). Road racing around here is weird as the Expert level mtn bikers are all racing cat V or Masters on the road due to lack of road licenses.

MissBumble - I think we all get impatient with weight loss and feel we'd like to lose more weight at a faster rate. I have found myself getting manic when I lose a bit and want to lose more, so I start leaning towards starving myself, which is a no-no (unhealthy, and counter-productive).

You have to consider your health first. Remember it took a long time to put on the weight, it makes sense that it will take time to lose.

I'd say your results have been excellent so far and you should be proud. You should also stay on track and keep losing at this rate if you can. The weight will be off before you know it.

It sounds like you have all the pieces in place and I suspect that confidence goal is already being met. You just have to get in the habit of recognizing your own worth and your confidence about it. It sounds to me like it is already there.

Keep up the great work and keep us all posted!:thumb:

Since this is my first year back on the bike, I had no goal for myself, since I had no idea what a realistic goal would be... just ride more and get in better shape. Well I started in the beginning of May, and I have ridden almost 500 miles so far, and I have lost about 30 pounds. Since I have done 4 months and I have 4 months left in the year, I would like to break 1,000 miles and lose 60 pounds total. I think that is pretty realistic... that would put me at 285 by December. That would shock the old family. (I haven't been below 300 my entire adult life) not to mention it would make me a pretty happy Clydesdale

<sigh>
Where to start?
I've lost 12 pounds!
But, I think my scale is junk because it will consistently read the same weight day after day for a week, then magically it will change. I've probably gained weight actually.

My diet has gotten better!
I've gone from a 6pack+ of soda a day, to none, back to a more manageable 1can per day, supplemented by a gallon or two of tea.
I'll give it up eventually... I guess... If I have to... ;)

I really am eating better though. I've been watching my calorie intake, and I waffle between 1800 and 2200 a day. It depends on what I get hungry for, and how much self-control I can come up with.
The weight loss cravings are far, far, far worse than anything I've ever experienced, and I seem to be craving all those things that I'm not allowing myself to have. Like pizza, and beer, and chips, and beer, and nacho's, and beer, and whole-side-of-the-dang-cow-steaks, and beer, and... well ya'll have been there too I'm sure. ;)

I haven't ridden at all in almost 2 weeks thanks to a combination of working nights, which means I've been riding at 6am on work days, and not being able to fall asleep until noon when I have to be up at 4 at the latest to get ready. Sleep is more important so I said screw it, and quit riding on workdays. And non-workdays. I wasn't exactly being consistent prior to that, but I was still getting in 4 or 5 rides a week, but I just seemed to hit the wall a couple of weeks ago.

But, that's okay because I switch back to days in 9 (and counting down) more hours! (I can't sleep is why I'm here now).
Yes! Back to the land of the living, and sunshine, and little birds singing merrily on the hedge rows, and being awake at the same time as other people! A "normal" life!
Just in time for crappy winter weather, and sundown at 4pm and sunup at 8am. :bang:

But, I'm going to ride as much as I can between now and then... assuming my bike doesn't explode.
My (borrowed) bike is making all kinds of scary noises around the rear derailleur area (I think) and aside from re-lubing everything I don't know what else to do. I'm almost afraid to ride it, I can't afford to fix it if I break it.

Anyway, I'm definitely not where I wanted to be, but It's all about the ride, not the destination, right?

Ok - I took too many days off this week and ate like a piggie last two nights:o - went back up a kilo.:cry:

today I'm being good - so far.:innocent: I rode in to work even though it's gonna a hot & sweaty one here. Rode hard this AM (had to - left the house late) and will take it easy riding home in the midday sun, but point is - a little slip is not gonna de-rail my work of the past month or so.

<sigh>

Anyway, I'm definitely not where I wanted to be, but It's all about the ride, not the destination, right?

exactly - and on that note, I am finding it's much better to ride more frequently, even if say, half of those rides are lazy pootling spins. Blow out the lactid acid, watch some flowers and enjoy the day. There's always tomorrow to go out and hammer - but any riding is good.:thumb:

back down to 94 kg today. but feelin' faint:twitchy:

August was an off month for the exercise/weight loss journey. I only lost 3.5 pounds. I am several pounds behind my weight loss plan for the year, and I have had to face the fact that my goal of losing 104 pounds this year was probably too aggressive. I have lost 65 to date, and will probably only take off another 15 -20 through the end of the year. I rode 171 miles in August which was way short of my 250 mile goal. My bike spent almost two weeks out of service with busted spokes. I now have a new rear wheel and September is going to be much better. I did manage to run/walk 29 miles during August while training for a Duathlon in October.

September is here.. things have cooled off considerably and here in the North the horrid winter weather is but a few months away.

Have a racked up many a thousandths of miles this summer? Nope.
Century rides? Double Centuries? Nope.
Incredibly fast.. so fast that I might just start racing again? Hell no.

I did get into a regular routine of riding the bike when I could and now have found myself in better shape. I've had many great nature rides on the mountain bike and plenty of eventful rides on my road bike. I also found myself riding more often when others were inside eating junkfood and watching TV when they may have been perfectly able to go outside and RIDE.

I rode my bike this summer.. quite alot.

I filled my gas tank in April.

I've still got quarter tank left.

Not a bad summer at all and I didn't even list my busy work schedule or home improvement projects I had to complete. :)

August was an off month for the exercise/weight loss journey. I only lost 3.5 pounds. I am several pounds behind my weight loss plan for the year, and I have had to face the fact that my goal of losing 104 pounds this year was probably too aggressive. I have lost 65 to date, and will probably only take off another 15 -20 through the end of the year. I rode 171 miles in August which was way short of my 250 mile goal. My bike spent almost two weeks out of service with busted spokes. I now have a new rear wheel and September is going to be much better. I did manage to run/walk 29 miles during August while training for a Duathlon in October.

I don't see this as an off month at all. Plateaus are a common feature of weight loss, and it looks like you may have hit one. I wouldn't write off your goal yet. And 65 pounds of loss is impressive!

My year, you ask?

EPIC FAIL.