23rd Day

It was about 40 degrees here today but it was a comfortable 67 degrees in Phoenix which is where I happened to be today. I had to take some oxygen tanks down to have them filled so I figured I might as well make a day of it. A friend of mine who is training for something like his 5th Ironman met me at the base of South Mountain. It's a 7 mile climb with about a 1700ft gain in elevation, a beautiful ride this time of year. It was nice to wear shorts for a change. I hit a heart rate of 179 which hasn't happened in a while. I felt really good except for the typical burn I get in my gut. It doesn't ever hurt when I eat, just when I maintain a high heartrate for a while. It's in the epigastric area right below the bottom of my ribs. I usually have the legs and lungs but this burn really holds me back. It's very frustrating.

The diet is going well. I've managed to stay away from the coffee and have done pretty good staying away from sugar. I'm actually about 4 lbs ahead of schedule. I was hoping for at least 5 lbs a month so this is really good. I started at 182 and I'm currently at 172. My goal was 165 by May but I may go even a little lower if I can. It's definitely made a big difference on the bike.

Here are some pictures of todays ride. This is a view from the bottom. We ended at the towers.

Its a quiet road to the top. Very little traffic on a weekday.

Here's Rick headin' up. How anyone climbs in AeroBars, I have no idea.

The view from the top. Sometimes you can't see anything because of the smog, but today was a good day.

And then me, being useless as usual. The gut is slowly disappearing.

Thanks for reading

PS: In regards to the weight loss challenge. "Big and Beautiful" is right on my tail. She's lost 8 lbs. "Just Me" and "Siomha" is on her tail both with 5 lbs lost.