Italy ride 6/19/10

My first rally this year! It is funny they have a small town called Italy, just south of Waxahachie, about 40 miles south of Dallas. They call it
Tour d'Italia and it sounds like some kind of European classic! Tony and I wore 25th anniversary jersey. The design is so cute; confused with Italy, the country and a small Texas town. (We could not find a single Starbucks.) I like their T-shirt design, too. From what I read, the event is well-organized. Plenty of volunteers taking care of registrations, pancake breakfast and after ride treats. Another thing I read beforehand was about roads being bad. I was imagining maybe it was not paved. It was paved, but not with tar, but small little pebbles. Not only this is not exactly kind to the bike and the body, it also slows me down a bit. Shoulder of highway, strange enough, was paved more flat. So everybody was trying to get to a good spot in flat paved part before the first turn, trying to find a right pack to be in and to be at the right speed. There were a couple of big hills and first rest stop didn't come as early as I wanted. Once I got there, I refilled the drink and grabbed a cookie. This cookie finally fixed my carbohydrate level and after the rest stop, it was a breeze! Once I made a turn for 30 mile route, I only saw a handful figures ahead. Felt like most people were riding 45 and 60. From here, it was like riding alone. After a while, I passed a guy and then saw two ladies way ahead. Eventually I passed them, too, and I saw nobody ahead. At the second stop, I had half banana, filled drink and got some ice and had two cookies. There must have been something about those cookies. The last 10 miles or so, I was pretty much alone. Luckily the route was simple and well-marked and VERY fast guy came behind after seeing ÅgItalyÅh sign, so I was not worried I was lost or anything. I came back to high school and Tony said there were only a couple of people came before me from 30 mile route. Because Tony didn't ride, Lady came with us and she loved getting attention. Tony used flipcam to record the event and I created my first video!

My request to Takami sensei 6/17/10

AP Reading is done and I am heading back to Dallas. AP Reading is turning to be big reunion for me that I look forward to every year. I met Takami sensei two years ago when I was serving as a Table Leader and she was working as a rater in my group. She didn't come last year and when I saw her this year, I noticed her face was slightly smaller. I asked and she said she had lost 10 pounds, but hit the plateau. But it was all without exercising. She adjusted some diet and did it over a year. It is a good way to lose, but of course, there is a limit. Two years ago, I weighed probably around 160, so she immediately noticed. So I decided to give (hopefully) solicited advice.

1) Get an exercise journal
I have been using The Ultimate Workout Log by Suzanne Schlosberg, so I showed my log to her. I explained I don't use the space exactly the way it is designed for, but the book itself has been working for me. I write down weight first thing in the morning for Morning rating section and write weight throughout the day in notes and workout data in nutrition section. Journals vary in style, size and some comes in combination with nutrition notes. I asked her to physically go to the bookstore to look around.

2) Go to shape.com and spend two hours
After reading first pages of any exercise journal, Takami sensei will get a lesson on goal setting, but she probably needs plans and exercise ideas. I was not sure if she had a gym membership at all and what her goal could be. Shape.com has tools to calculate calories (even it is guestimate), simple test to determine your fitness level and even customize your exercise plans, giving you choice of how much time you could spend and complete with photos sometimes with video. I can spend hours at the site, so I hope Takami sensei likes it, too.

3) Look at FDA label
I just asked her to look before she buys food and eats food.

I am curious what she comes up with and look forward to seeing her again at the next year's reading, if not before.