Athena/ Clydesdale Official Mentor Group (Page 13)

I wear a 15 and found that online was my only option for bike shoes.  This site is a guy who had our problem and updates it to let you know where online has large sizes in stock.  Lots of brand names and respected manufacturers.

http://www.squidoo.com/size14-16CyclingShoes

Hope this helps if you choose to go to clips.

One thing to keep in mind also when it comes to back shoes when you get into running your might get bigger due to muscle and what not.  I am so happy I got a 52 bike shoe over the 50 bike shoe because how that I had to through out my 15 shoes and go 16 I can still wear the shoes.  It might not happen for you but it happened for me. 

Hey there Bleautumn17..  Keep at it, I started at 325 and I'll be competing in my third sprint of the year in a couple of weeks.  It's fun, It's awesome..  I used to get winded tying my shoes or walking up the stairs, and now I look forward to my workout mornings..

Welcome, blueautumn17, I really like your username.  Patience and perseverence  will serve you well.  Know that change doesn't happen quickly, but know that your efforts to move more will be beneficial to you.  Soreness will eventually fade as you get used to extra activity.  Your 30 minute walk is a great start!

Leatherneckpa - bike shorts will help, but also getting your butt 'broken in' and used to riding is part of it, too.  It takes time for rumps to get used to bike seats, and while painful at first, it will be fine after a few weeks.

I am frustrated because I am seeing some gains with my training but no losses on the scale.  I suppose I need to really hone in on my daily food intake.

add me to that list... swim, bike and run fitness improving, weight remaining the same...

I make my interim goals performance related, you will always see more incremental improvements in that range.

Also consider taking weekly measurements and using the navy bodyfat calculator.

I dropped my bodyfat percentage from 28% to about 24% percent before I had any overall weight loss.

If I focused only the scale, I would have missed that I took an inch off of my waist.

At my size, I see a +/- of 3-4 lbs just on time of day or hydration.

I just started hiding the scale.

I started rubbing off on the kids in a bad way, my kids were weighing themselves 3-4 times/day.

Nothing like seeing your kids taking on your habits.

I found the same issues over the last few weeks as I have begun my training program.  I spoke with several friends in the medical and nutrition fields.  They gave me a glimmer of hope.

After beginning my training I realized I ate at every meal, because my body was so unaccustomed to the caloric load I needed to train.  Therefore my body "said" it needed the extra calories, but it was not ready to actually utilize everything it was telling me it needed.  The brain's version of eyes bigger than stomache. 

Secondly as someone else may have mentioned, initially there are a large number of transformations occuring that are not directly seen on a scale.  You are converting fat mass into muscle mass which is denser and therefore heavier than fat, but eventually this will level off.  I liked someone's recommendation that focus on the body proportions rather than weight at first. 

Biggest thing is not to get discouraged and stick with it. 

I'll have to go online for the shorts.  NONE of the LBS carry my size.  In the meantime, I'll just have to suck it up, Marine Corps style.  Will shoot for 9 miles again on Saturday.

As disappointing as my ride was, my swim today was just as  ,,,,,  encouraging?  invigorating?  pleasurable?  I jumped up 200 yards instead of only 100.

• 4-50's rest 30s
• 2-100's rest 55s
• 2-200's rest 45s
• 2-100's rest 50s
• 4-50's rest 30s

Bush Gardens, I haven't been there in a long time, glad to hear you had a good time!

Was going to go for a run but it was pretty rainy and gross out so I logged an hour and a half on our old beat up stationary bike. Hopefully I can get out for a run tomorrow, pretty happy with eating today as well, hopefully I'm getting on track fully!

Grrrrr!!  This new bike has me feeling like I am starting all over again!

Friday I went to a different bike shop and was actually able to get one pair of Pearl Izumi bike shorts that fit.  The "kid" who was helping me turns out to be the same "pro" who does the fittings.  After talking to him for a while I regret not speaking to him in person before I bought the Bianchi.  I made an appointment for Thursday and he's going to fit the bike to me.  The shop that I bought it at was going to do what I call the "by guess and by golly" method.   Tweak this, ride it, tweak that, ride it, and hopefully get it right someday.  That "kid" said the positions he set it at last time were good for 99% of average riders.  Well, I learned long ago there is nothing average about me.  So anyway, Thursday I'll spend three hours or so with Kenny and should have the bike maximized for me when I leave the shop.  Should have spent the money for this right up front.

Kenny also talked me into a cushier seat (temporarily, he says).  That was the problem with the ride this morning.  I installed it level, the way he said (I actually put a torpedo level on the seat.)  The nose was riding too high and so the pressure was on a point just behind the boys, rather uncomfortable.  I adjusted it downward a little bit when I got home.

Two things to note about today.  That 24m time is not actual pedaling time.  I lost a good bit of time having to go back, gather the pieces of my cell phone, put it back together, and then saddle back up.  (I was actually able to get into the cages rolling!  Woo-hooo!)  I need to put a rubber band around that cell phone carrier.  Second, not only did the Motorola Droid 3 still work, the mapmyride app never lost time or position, even when the phone lost it's back and battery.  How is that possible?  (Oooooh, raining like crazy out right now.  I was considering going back out for another loop on the adjusted saddle.  Not now!  Glad I got my ride in already!)

Woot I earned two Demerit Badges today.

Jogged in Rain and Walked in Rain.

Went for an hour and did 3.6 miles.

Tough weekend here.  I was in Albany at a wedding all weekend.  Snuck out for a run around University at Albany only to find the NY Giants have their pre-season training there and tons of media, fans, etc.  Still kind of fun to to run through, especially as a NE Patriots fan, although I'll be the first to admit they've got the best of us lately.  Since I was already about 2.5 miles into the run while I went by the drove of fans I decided against yelling anything that would have got me chased.

Leather, sounds like a live and learn with the bike fitting.  I know everyone says "fit fit fit" but I guess from now on you know?  I know I haven't been properly fit for mine, just a quick look on the trainer to adjust the stem and seat, but I also don't have any pain or discomfort so I was kidding assuming it was ok.  Maybe that's not the case.  Let us know how it turns out with the "real" fitting.

Hi all,

Been a tough week or so for me, I have had a sick wife and child, followed by me catching it, so coughing, snoting and finally a sinus infection certainly slowed me down a lot more than i wanted to be. At least a few walks got in, but as I recover i will have more to report i am sure.

Um, I am pretty sure those are two MERIT badges   NIce!

Hey kids.  It was a big week for me, training wise. I am gearing up for Ragnar and thus cannot skimp on my runs.  Fortunately the weather is being cooperative so I managed all but one mile (ok a tiny skimp) of my weekly mileage goal.  Saturday started with a 43 mile bike and ended with a wedding, then Sunday morning another bike, and my "long run" of the weekend.  I didn't bail on anything, which was really tempting.  I finished the day totally satisfied and feeling accomplished, which was worth the effort.

Here's to a good start to the new week!

BikerGrrrl, nice dedication there.

Walk - 3.7 miles - 1h 3m 49s - 3.5 mph - Okay, Valley Rd out and back is my old 2 mile route, followed by the 1.7 mile Hillside Drive loop UP the hill.  That gives me 3.7 miles, up 1 mile from last week's workouts.  Best of all is that I maintained my 3.5 mph pace, even over the greater distance.  This was my first time with over 1 hour of effort and I have to say, it felt GREAT!