Too much, too soon

[marni]

when I started riding it killed me ride a mile a day 2x a week. I was totally out of shape and way way overweight, not quite morbidly obese but close enough as made no difference.

When I finished the cross country ride a year ago, I spent five extra days in St. Augustine recovering, which consisted of me sleeping in very late, getting up, staggering out to find some breakfast, sitting and staring blankly with a cup of coffee, giving up, going back to the motel, sleeping until mid /late afternoon, then staggering out for a lunch/dinner- spending another hour or so with a cup of coffee staring blankly and then going back to the motel and going back to bed.

Mostly on the days I ride my schedule is to eat breakfast, ride, come home, prep my bike for the next ride, have lunch and then nap for 2-3 hours. Of sourse I do this on gym days as well so...

I guess the point I am making is that at a certain age, (I'm 63)you learn to pace yourself a bit and finally learn how to be gentle with yourself.

marni

[zoom-zoom]

I agree that a fitting is in order. You will be amazed by how much further you can go with the same level of effort on a bike that FITS (ask me how I know...).

Can I just say how proud I am of you? My mom is 66 and has given up. She is fragile. We joke about what a klutz she is (a year ago she broke her neck tripping on a step while going into the house), but it's really sad. She is physically so weak. She has asthma, yes...but so do I. I refuse to let it make me an overweight invalid (Ok, I am overweight, but I'm kinda kickass, too).

I hate that she won't even try to make herself stronger and healthier. Her excuses always start with "at my age..." There are people her age who have started running and ended up running marathons into their 70s and 80s. She is throwing away so much. And she fails to realize that so many of her ailments are because she is inactive. Her asthma would be better if her lungs were given regular workouts.

I love seeing women 10 years either direction of my mom who are not using age and/or weight as an excuse. I wish my mom had internet access so I could send her links to threads like this. She needs to see for herself that her only limit is herself.

[Velocivixen]

First off, congratulations on getting out there and doing something. I had been sedentary and overweight for years, and one thing I am reminded of is that I didn't get that way overnight, so I can't expect to lose weight and get fit overnight (I've lost over 100 lbs through eating less/better and moving more). So Rome wasn't built in a day.
My yoga instructor often reminded us to respect our bodies and recognize and accept that they are not the same each and every day. Our energy levels are different, or balance is different, etc. So recognize it, embrace it, be thankful for what your body is able to do today and don't compare to yesterday or tomorrow. Love yourself in the state you are in at this moment.
Hang in there and keep up the inspiring work.

[Bike Chick]

Hang in there, goldfinch, you are doing great. I'm 3 years younger than you, 10 pounds overweight, and have been riding about 6 years. The first ride I went on, DH got me 3 miles from home and I was freaking out because I didn't think I could make it back. We got home and crashed our exhausted bodies on the couch. Three years later, I started running and swimming and did my first triathlon.

I did my first time trial and road races two weeks ago in the Senior Olympics and it was a blast. I got beat in one time trial by a 74 year old! She was very strong, very fast and the same age as my mother (who is sedentary and failing terribly). There were a lot of us over 50's out there who are just getting started so don't let that stop you. It sure beats letting roots grow out your rear because you are sitting around so much!

I would agree that you need a bike fitting and maybe a new saddle. It might be the way the bike is set up and not you or you may even be riding the wrong size bike! Keep plugging along and stay with it.

[goldfinch]

Thanks all! I found a bike shop in Burlington Iowa that does fittings (according to the Internet). I'll call them this morning and see if I can get it and get some help. I am pretty sure that my bike is the right size. I did get help buying the right size bike from bike shops in Minneapolis and I have an extra small, 26 inch wheel, Quick 4. But I did not pay for the fancy bike fit process when I bought the bike.

[goldfinch]

Can I just say how proud I am of you? My mom is 66 and has given up. She is fragile. We joke about what a klutz she is (a year ago she broke her neck tripping on a step while going into the house), but it's really sad. She is physically so weak. She has asthma, yes...but so do I. I refuse to let it make me an overweight invalid (Ok, I am overweight, but I'm kinda kickass, too).

I hate that she won't even try to make herself stronger and healthier. Her excuses always start with "at my age..." There are people her age who have started running and ended up running marathons into their 70s and 80s. She is throwing away so much. And she fails to realize that so many of her ailments are because she is inactive. Her asthma would be better if her lungs were given regular workouts.

I love seeing women 10 years either direction of my mom who are not using age and/or weight as an excuse. I wish my mom had internet access so I could send her links to threads like this. She needs to see for herself that her only limit is herself.

I started my weight loss without thinking about it at all. Somehow I knew that if I started with a plan of attack I would never execute the plan. Instead, when I headed to Texas this past winter I started experimenting with food. My husband was not going to be with me for two months and he is a vegetarian. I though it would be fun to try to eat low carb by eating a bunch of meat and see what that did to my appetite. Well, it worked amazingly well. After a while I began counting calories as I knew that I would not remain low carb once spouse and I were hooked up again. I didn't weigh myself for three months and at that point I was shocked to see how much weight I had lost.

In my retirement I am a birder and photographer. This winter I spent the mornings for hours lugging around equipment and being on my feet. I was getting exercise and not really even knowing it.

I had tricked myself into losing weight and therefor motivated myself to lose more. I had found that activity is pleasurable without forcing myself into activity.

If I had thought about self motivation by "pulling myself up by my bootstraps" or "just doing it" or whatever kind of slogan is used to try to force yourself to do something I would fail. I can only succeed by doing what is pleasurable to me. Maybe your mother can find something that brings her pleasure and also helps towards good health.

[zoom-zoom]

I can only succeed by doing what is pleasurable to me. Maybe your mother can find something that brings her pleasure and also helps towards good health.

I think that's part of her problem...the things that bring her pleasure all involve sitting still for hours and eating...scrapbooking, reading, watching Packer games at the bar with friends. She refuses to try anything outside of her comfort zone and her history of injuries and lack of coordination (she broke her tailbone XC skiing 20 feet from our house and broke her arm tripping over a parking stone) keeps her from trying anything new.

I'm with you on low carb. I lost a ton of weight eating that way. I have 20 still to lose, but low-carb and intense aerobic exercise are hard to balance. I hate carefully counting carbs (or calories, for that matter), but it's easy to dip too low and then bonk during workouts if I don't make sure that I'm in a safe range.

Even though your DH is a vegetarian that shouldn't stop you from eating meat and lower carbs if that is what helps you to be healthier.

[goldfinch]

I understand. When I first retired things that brought me pleasure were doing bead work while watching HGTV and reading novels.

I got into birding through my sister. She got me outside identifying birds when I went to visit her in SoCal. It was addicting and appealed to the scientist that still remains in me that likes studying and categorizing.

So, I guess I should thank my dear sister for inspiring me to move around and do things.

Good news: My bike and I have an appointment tomorrow in Burlington, Iowa for a bike fitting.

[goldfinch]

I went for my bike fit session today. The cost was $85 and he spent two and a half hours with me and my bike, a Cannondale Quick 4.

I had my seat way too high. By about an inch. I think I was making up for the handle bars which were as low as I thought they could go. He lowered the handlebars further by turning the stem upside down. He moved the seat back substantially. Now I know why I always would try to scoot backwards. I needed to move back! He cut off a half an inch on each end of my handlebars and moved the grips inward. I always felt splayed out on the bars. That was the biggest comfort difference for me. Huge.

I rode about 2.5 miles at the shop trying out seats and the changes.

I got a new seat. This is the risky part of the day as I bought a Terry Butterfly carbon. He gave me a good price, much better than the online prices. It feels a lot better than the stock seat but I can't really tell until I put a bunch of miles on it. It matches up OK with my sit bone differential, which was larger than I expected given that I am a very small boned person. For the first time I am riding with a level seat and not squirming around.

It does feel a bit odd to have dropped my seat down. I guess I got used to being stretched out too much.

Things that I learned:

--I told the place where I bought the bike that I felt the handlebars were too wide. It was my only complaint about the bike and it was a complaint I had about every flat bar bike. They did not suggest cutting them down. That is disappointing.
--The rough fit done at the place where I bought the bike was a seat height adjustment only and removal of a spacer on the handlebars. I have no idea if they originally set the seat at the right height because I messed around with it a lot trying to get comfortable. I should have sprung for a real fitting when I bought the bike as the seat has always been too far forward. But I was passing through town and in a rush. But I've only had the bike a month so I guess it is not so bad to have waited.
--The stock seat on the extra small women's specific Quick 4 is a men's seat and is very long. Gee thanks Cannondale. The seat was unlikely to fit anyone that would fit this very small bike.
--I bought the correct size bike by getting this very small frame. Props to Cannondale for making such a small frame available. My arms are short. The smallest comparable Trek, which I also looked at, would likely have been too big. Several bike stores tried to sell me the smallest Trek. One even tried to sell me one size up from the smallest Trek.
--The stock handlebars are too wide and not proportionately reduced on the very small frame size. Even if I would have bought the most expensive Cannondale Quick the bars would be too wide.

Interesting learning experience! I hope it pays off. I'll know more when I ride over the next few days.

[Velocivixen]

Oooh, I'm so happy that you got fit. I'll be interested to hear how you like your new ride after you've had a chance to try it out some more.

I had my bike for about a month before I got a professional fitting and I noticed a difference right away (seat higher, and back, shorter stem).

Good job and thanks for sharing.

[Grits]

Sounds like you are on the right track: a fitting and being mindful of resting when needed. Also, please be sure that you fuel adequately- especially on your riding days. I know I am most exhausted on the days when I did not take in enough calories during my ride.

Sometimes when we have lost weight and are still trying to drop some more pounds, we skimp on what we need to give our bodies enough energy to do what we are asking of it. Nancy Clark's The Cyclist's Food Guide can give you some useful information.

Great job with your weight loss and cycling achievements!

[KatzPajamas]

Goldfinch, Forgot to mention that our new cyclist friends on the Team Estrogen Forum were EXTREMELY HELPFUL! Through the whole process they were happy to share good advice, encouragement, and generally welcome me to the world of cycling! There were several close calls, where I was ready to hang it all up, but the TE Fam came to be my SAG team via internet forum threads! Trek helmet-64.00 dollars, Cannondale Synapse-1,299.00 dollars, Team Estrogen TLC- PRICELESS!

[goldfinch]

For sure that Team Estrogen forum has been extremely helpful! And encouraging!