Weight, Weights, Wheels & Whatever

One of my goals for the first half of this year was to shed the weight I accidentally-on-purpose gained last year ("The Year Of Fat Assening"). After several weeks of losing a pound followed by regaining that pound, it seems like my body has finally shifted into weight loss mode. I've now lost 10 pounds this year, and 18 since April of 2014. I'm closing in on where I want to level off. Maybe another 3-5 lbs. will do it. Now that the momentum has kicked in, I need to make sure I can pull up the nose of the plane before crashing. The semi-controlled diet plus being more active (mostly via cycling) is finally working. I may yet have some abs to show sometime this summer.

I've also been lifting weights a little more intensely. I've decided to keep the weight relatively light, while focusing on my form and reducing rest time between sets. I'm not doing a cardio workout with weights, but I'm trying to be as efficient as possible. I'm starting to see some results, which is always motivating, even though I'm only lifting 1-2 times per week.

The cycling seems to be going well, although I do get bored riding the same course, alone, over and over. I do plan on addressing both of those issues soon. I've got a couple of friends I can probably ride with on occasion, and I'll probably venture away from the Centennial Trail and onto the local roads more often. It's been quite windy here lately, so I've had some interesting rides. I rode 32 miles yesterday (16 out, 16 back). The first half was into a headwind. I averaged 16.7 mph for that portion. On the way back, I averaged 20.0 mph thanks to the tailwind.

Since my knee screamed at me last week, I haven't attempted any more running. As I mentioned before, I probably won't be getting it checked out anytime soon. Something I haven't decided yet is whether or not I want to achieve my 10,000 lifetime running miles this year, even with the bad knee. If I do, I'll have to do it with short, infrequent runs in order to avoid the excruciating pain that shuts me down every time I try to run more regularly. Not a very sexy way to achieve that goal, so I'm still undecided.

Spring is definitely here in the Inland Northwest! In fact, this week it's starting to feel like early summer. Upper 70's to low 80's. Very nice! Better keep those wheels rolling!