Ok….so I am slacking and combining 2 days.  I could just say day 10 was an off day and leave it at that.  Actually, I hit the pool while Steph tried out the treadmill as she recovers from her fractured hip.  Its a long road for her but at least she stuck through it and the worse is over…and I SURVIVED!

Now, on day 9 I mentioned I was going to try something different.  It was a Bike Power to Weight Ratio Challenge put on by Coach Jon Metz of TriVault Multisport Coaching and Training.  Basically, this consisted of riding the bike compu-trainer flat out for 30 minutes.  During that entire time, my wattage is monitored.  The wattage refers to the amount of pedal power.  The ratio consists of the average watts over my weight.  Lets just say that I barely managed to power more than I weight…just barely.  My ratio came to 1.06.  Not bad for an fat old geezer like me but far from the 4s and 5s that are typical achieved by the pros.  The next time I am measured will be in April.

Now, the purpose of this is to translate power into efficient use of energy based on the individual’s body size.  Clearly, large folks like me are at a disadvantage comparing to smaller ones.  The best way to get the ratio up is to lower the bottom number or the weight.  For example, 3 watts/2 lbs. = 1.50.  Lower the weight to 1 lb. and you get 3.00.  Conversely, keep the weight the same but raise the wattage to 4 and you’ll get 2.00.

Raising wattage is much harder than lowering weight but only to a certain extent.  You only want to lower weight so long as it doesn’t involve muscle.  After all, you need muscle for wattage.  So the goal is to reduce the weight gradually but at the same time, work on increasing the wattage.  Ideally, Coach Metz thinks I could get up to 1.15 by April.

Day 11…today…an easy 4 on the treadmill while 5 lunatics named Colin, Lynn, JoJo, Kathy and Nate brave the wind and blowing snow to keep true to the word of the Thursday morning gang.  I’ll give them credit for being out there but I’ll take the warmth and comfort of the Y in this kind of weather!

Sentiment of the day (and borrowed from Mary Eggers Facebook page.  Check out her blog here)…“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.” ~John Wooden