Analysis Paralysis (Or Why I Gained Weight)

You can analyze the past, but you have to design the future.

---Edward de Bono

I've been whacking my brain for a few days now trying to find out why I have gained weight since around late October this year. Prior to that, I was averaging around 167-168lbs but have gained around 3 lbs on average every time I weight most mornings ---despite continuous training.

I have a good idea that one major culprit is the weekend eating at restaurants and weekday lunch outs but I needed to get further info based on my training logs.

Good thing I use Trainingpeaks, which has kept a record of all my training logs since I first signed up (2014).

After a little Excel-ling, hehe, what I found confirmed my hunch.

Before I show you (7 or so faithful followers) the charts, take note that I have noticed the weight gain around early November.

Below shows my run and bike distance per week:

If you look closely, the bike distance (orange) started tapering off around August and has not gone back up to the 100km per week that I had on most weeks prior to that. The run distance (blue) remained constant up until mid-October which was a day after my first 21k race for the year. It hasn't come back up to pre Nutriasia 21k mileage after that.

Next up, we have the calories burned per week. It was hovering at around 3500-4000 calories per week up until that drop in mid October ---same time as mentioned above--- and has not recovered decently since then.

With that in mind, recall what I mentioned earlier that I noticed the weight gain around early November, gaining roughly 3-4 lbs (which I can't seem to bring down since then).

Next, I looked at the average for certain time frames for this year as I needed to get further proof of the drop. I was able to find the root cause (which only stated the obvious):

The decrease in run and bike volume per week since mid October to deprived me of about 613 calories that I could've burned. The run distance per week loss (-6.5%) was very minimal but the rides (-15.8%) may have done the damage. 

I am able to back this bike distance per week deficiency due to Saturday am family obligations that I needed to attend to during that period ---which was the same sked as my weekly long ride (that contributes about 50% of my target ride distance).

What I needed for more analysis is the calories taken in per week (unfortunately I couldn't/wouldn't log my daily calorie intake) which could've made for a better study but the above will have to do for now. Of course, eating less would have to be a given due to the 80/20 diet/exercise theory but I guess I will have to be more conscious of it moving forward (bad timing now though due to the Holiday season, hehe) along with increasing my run and ride weekly volume back up again.

As family obligations will still be around and CANNOT be deprioritized, I will have to find my way around it to get my training done. Maybe wake up at an earlier time or work out during the evenings would be possible? Hmmmm....

As they say, knowing the problem is half the solution. Acting on it would be an entire thing on its own.

Training for Taipei 21k & Trainerroad

My runs have been quite successful pace-wise lately, but much has has to be said for my long runs. As I am about 2 weeks away from race day, I would have to start tapering off by next week. My long runs have been wanting (16k was my max a few weeks ago) so I would have to log a solid 18k this Sunday to prep me mentally and physically for Dec 30th.

The endless kainan (parties, lunch outs, weekend binging, etc.) are not helping to resolve my weight problem ---I have even gained 3-4 lbs. Ugh. I am trying to do some semi Keto eating but the semi part of it is just not making it lower my weight (I love desserts too much).

This festive season will definitely add more pounds but what's keeping me from falling off the wagon completely (I am still clinging onto it for dear life) is that I am still motivated to run, which burns more calories vs rides, due to my upcoming race. At least, somehow I think, it offsets the calories I put in.

Hopefully, I get to resolve this mindless eating soon so that my running pace is not affected dramatically.

***

I am 3 weeks into the Low Volume Sweet Spot Base plan from Trainerroad (TR) that I started subscribing to since Oct (as a bday slash motivational gift to myself) along with an Elite Qubo Smart Trainer. It was either I bought a new bike frame (aero road) vs the smart trainer. After endless debates on my head, I opted for the latter due to a cheaper cash layout and, hopefully, a better way to increase my FTP instead of improving my rides aesthetically.

TR is a software used for indoor cycling training similar to Zwift and The Sufferfest.

Having been a user of The Sufferfest (video download versions) for the past 3 or so years, I decided that I needed to improve on my cycling for races. Sufferfest (video download versions) don't have that structure for me as I just tend to put it on my training schedule as I wished. There had to be a better way I said to myself.

Recommended by a friend slash semipro cyclist, I found TR to be more "present" in terms of training structure. Its dashboard is pretty basic, i.e. not much to look at except for the ride data. It doesn't have the "badass" theme that The Sufferfest has but TR makes up for it by way of endless number of workouts, and a very structured Base-Build-Specialty phase workout plans that you can follow on your own. Plus, the dashboard grows on you eventually. ;-)

Screenshots from the phone version c/o bikerumor.com

The on-workout messages prepared by the people at TR is very good as it guides you throughout the workout. It "talks" to you on how to improve form, how you breathe, and what the workout is for. It helps you on what to do should similar difficult situations are encountered once you ride outside. It teaches you to be relaxed even if deep within you are suffering, to pay always attention to your form, and guides you through improving your own pedaling with consideration of the 4 quadrant phases of the pedal cycle.

You can play YouTube videos that you like (especially for 1.5 hour workouts) on the background and minimize the TR screen so that the two (YT and TR) share approximately 75/25 of your screen which is good enough for me. Alternatively, you can also install Spotify on your phone or laptop and play it while you do the TR workout.

I hope to see increases in my FTP in the coming months as I prepare for my 2018 racing season. Even without an aero frame or a tri bike (for now, hehe), the training that TR will provide will hopefully give me that edge to improve on my bike race speed and mental toughness.

Podcasts I Follow

The drive from/to the office is a daily arduous task, averaging almost 1.5hrs one way. Aside from listening to music tunes, I try to keep myself sane by listening to various iTunes podcasts as I make my way thru rush hour traffic from QC to Ayala, Makati and vice versa.

Below is a list of podcasts that I follow so far that have helped me on my daily training in one way or another:


THAT TRIATHLON SHOW

A straight-up informative podcast created by Mikael which I presume to be from Finland, the podcast covers everything you need to know in the sport of triathlon. Yeah I don't do tri but I still find the podcast helpful for my duathlon and running races. He gets to invite regular guests who are very expert in their respective fields so I find this as a free means to get good training advice. He often has these Q&A episodes as well, answering Qs sent by his followers which he is more often than not able to respond to satisfactorily.







TRIATHLETE TRAINING PODCAST

A podcast from Trainingpeaks Coach Eric Schwartz, this is very similar to That Triathlon Show podcast. Aside from inviting experts, he also gets to chat with the athletes he's coached on their training and racing journeys.











STAGES PODCAST

This has to be one of my favorite podcasts to listen to. Run by Lance Armstrong together with JB Hager, it gives listeners a very different and personal view of the different world tour cycling competitions around the world. He started this podcast last July during the Tour de France and it was warmly accepted by the podcast world ---including me. Lance said he will try to do more Stages episodes next year as they'll try to cover more events in 2018. Yup, I will keep my ears glued to this most definitely.









ASK A CYCLING COACH - TRAINERROAD PODCAST


I've been following the podcast trio of Chad, Jonathan, and Nate of TrainerRoad for quite a while before I made a recent Smart Trainer upgrade ---and consequently a TrainerRoad subscription (which I will give a review of in weeks to come). Just listening to their tips has helped immensely in my (ongoing) cycling development. The testimonies of people posting immense FTP increases in their regular episodes had me take a bite onto the TrainerRoad mania so I hope to improve my FTP in months to come. As to their podcast, it posts of a very relaxed vibe as they invite experts and other triathlete/cyclists as guests to provide answers/comments. Parang barkada lang, as my friend +paolo castaneda would put it in terms of how the mood of this podcast is. But Chad, Jon, and Nate's inputs are quite helpful in itself, with or without the TR subscription.


WORK ON YOUR GAME PODCAST

Created by retired Pro basketball player Dre Baldwin, this offers daily mental tips on how to improve on your "game" which could be how you approach work, your training, or just about anything that your trying to achieve at the moment. Duathlons and run races don't just need physical preparations. Your mind also needs to be conditioned to meet (or exceed) the goal. Dre has this covered, and it has helped me a lot in the Nutrilife 21k race that I joined last October by keeping all systems checked physically and mentally as I went on to accomplish the goal that I've set.





So those are the podcasts that I can recommend so far. If you have podcasts that you can recommend, do let me know via the comments section below.

See ya!

Year End 21k Coming Right Up!

And so, I signed up for this (blindly, hahaha):

It reads "Good Evening Taipei City Invitational Half Marathon"

Reg fee for the 21k race is around PhP1,300.00 when converted to our currency. It took a while for me to reg online as I had to read everything carefully (after Google Translate did a good job on the Chinese language conversion). Racekit can be picked up in the race venue (I hope, hehe). The nice thing about this race is that the 21k gun time will be at 4:30PM with a 3.5hr cutoff time so no pressure on waking up early. The weather should be nice and cold by end December there (I think...and hope) so that should be a good thing for all of us running the half marathon.

I am not sure how the elevation profile for the route will be so I may have to check it out with mapmyrun.com. Hopefully it'll not be a hilly one.

Please be flat :D

So this means I will have to draw up my weekly long run sked until race week (which I've already done) and commit to completing them every Sunday. What's going for me mentally is that I had a good 21k race last month so I just have to recall and improve the way I will approach the training and execution for this race be it pacing and nutrition wise.

Off Season

Trainingpeaks CTL value has dropped to 50 as of today (from a high of 56 mid Oct due to my 21k race). Laziness and family obligations (birthday and vacations) have crept into this latter part of the year so training volume has really decreased a lot.

As usual, I will need to up the training as my weight is nearing 170lbs again. Yup, I have yet to reach my target 159lbs before the year ends. Keto is an option as most of my officemates are seeing remarkable results, but I love the carbs too much so that it's definitely out. Hehe.

I think I will have to hit pause on off-season mode to get motivated to train again. An option could be the Nov12 National Dua championships but I am in no condition (bike wise) to finish that in good time. Logistics will have to be considered as well since the venue is in Subic.

There's also the annual BGC Cycle event which I can join in the 40k race ---still undecided though.

Another one is a 21k Dec30 sundown race in Taiwan which is highly possible since we already booked plans to spend our Christmas family vacation there this year. This one looks possible since I have enough time from now to bring my running volume up. This is still on the drawing board though so let's see if I will have the balls to register before the Nov16 deadline.

Then again, the cold BER months just want to make you curl up under your blanket and doze these calories away. Hahaha...

Oh well. :D