Wednesday 30 September 2015

Nine Months on the "Exercise Diet" - a quick update

9 months on the "Exercise Diet"
Blue line is the "raw" data from my morning weigh-ins
Green line is a simple 3-day average
Red line is a "trend" line, using the 90/10 formula.

Monday 28 September 2015

Thinking About "Brevet" Routes

A route for the future. I can put a "stop" in at Great Missenden, but it adds only 100m to the route distance, so I left it out.
A good Audax route has enough, but not too many, stops!
I've been thinking about "brevet" routes recently.
about 5 weeks ago, I went on my first "brevet" - a 208km "solo" ride under the auspices of Audax UK.

Audax UK offers an award for a set of rides of 50km, 100km, 150km and 200km.
Next year, I think I might go for that award (they call it a "Randonneur 500")

I already did a lot of such intermediate distance rides this year, and with a bit of thought I could easily make next year's traing rides into my "Randonneur 500" material!
Indeed, I did 8 "half-century" rides, and 5 "century" rides this year,
The longest of those "centuries" was actually a 138km effort.
So all I have do do next year is the same as this year, plus stretch that 138km ride into a 150km ride and I'm there.

But I enjoy more than just endlessly going around the same pre-set route time after time.
I like the variation and exploration of cycling.
I like getting lost sometimes, and finding things I would have otherwise missed.
So it is time to think up some new routes.

Sunday 13 September 2015

Weight loss and running speed

Calories expended per mile are pretty much the same however fast you run.
Faster runners merely cover the distance quicker!
Data from Harvard Medical School
horizontal axis is speed in mph, vertical axis is calories used
Does running faster make you lose weight faster?
A good question.
I took a reputable data source (Harvard Medical School), and plotted out the data on the chart above.
I used the dataset for the 185lb person, because that is the closest to what I weigh (actually I weigh more like 200 lbs!)