What's Your Secret?

There was a period of about 2 years where I was asked regularly, often in confidence, "So, really, tell me, what's your secret?"

Aug 2011 to Aug 201

I'm one for playing jokes, but the desperation exposed in the question is a sign of a truly desperate person.  To deceive them for my own amusement wouldn't be a joke at all, it would be a level of cruelty that I'm certain must be outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

I could have easily said, "Kale ... I mix kale in everything ... oh, and I avoid anything with carbon."

Or, perhaps, "I only eat laying on my back with my legs propped up on the couch.  Sounds weird, I know, but it forces more blood flow to the stomach, which quickens digestion and promotes nutrient uptake."

But when I said, "Diet and exercise," people looked at me as though I was insulting their intelligence.  They'd have written down, word for word, "Don't, EVER,  eat anything with the letter R in its name, and avoid any food that requires a spoon. And cooking things for more than 185 seconds promotes fat accumulation on your butt!"

When pressed to expound on my method I'd say, "Do more, eat less," to which I'd often be left watching the other person flip around and walk away without as much as a thank you.

I see how so many diet books sell, why fads are so exciting.  People really want to lose weight and will be willing to devote great focus and attention over a short period of time.  But weight loss takes change.

Coming out of the gas chamber in basic training 1992

I'm around 200 pounds, or was when I got hurt a few weeks ago, and for someone built like I am and my age, that's a healthy weight.  Of course, not on the BMI scale, but body fat and general health tell me, I'm pretty thin.  This is the weight I was in the military and could run 2 miles in 11:30, and the weight I'd work to maintain if I wasn't a cyclist.  Two hundred pounds is a lot, on paper, for a dude about 5' 9", but at 200 I'm pretty fit.  

But 200 pounds, as a cyclist, is a lot of weight to push around, regardless of how much of it is muscle.  And since I live in a very hilly area, and like to ride hills, the weight is a limiter!  I want to drop to 175 with the idea that I can still keep my power at that weight, that I can lose only fat to be there.  In fact, I'll go ahead and throw this out there, I want to have more power at 175 than I did at 200 pounds.  I think that's possible in my situation because I'm not anywhere near my potential on the bike, I only trained for about 6 months before all this fell apart for me.  I was still experiencing big gains, no where neat a plateau.  

I'm writing to share with you, in detail, "my secret."  You know, the one people asked me about in the past.  The secret I'll be pressed for in the future, if I'm successful.  But, I'm writing ahead of time, so you can read in all glorious detail what led to my success or failure in this endeavor.

This time it's different though.  I've never done a "diet" before.  I've always done practical, long term changes.  But now I want to drop some weight for racing, hold that weight through the season. 

Here we go:

I shared my nutrition plan in my previous post.  There's a pretty strict menu from which I will eat.  It basically follows the idea to fuel the day's activities.  So carbs in the morning, smart lunch, and minimal dinner (since sleep needs little fuel).  If I'm in a situation where I'm out and it's dinner time, I'll have to try my best to pick something appropriate.

In the mornings I'll be going to the gym three times a week doing StrongLifts 5x5 program (usually takes about 30 minutes).  Then in the afternoons I'll be doing trunk exercises (pushups, pull ups and such), my physical therapy routine for my back, all followed by an hour workout Tuesday through Friday, following Sweet Spot Base, High Volume in TrainerRoad.

For those that don't know, TrainerRoad is great.  Select a program, do an FTP test (or select your own FTP manually), and start a program.  The software will walk you through each workout and the program, day by day, and track your progress.  An idiot like me can use it, so I know it's easy!

If possible I'd like to start running again, but that possibility will take a back-seat for now (but I do have permission from my back surgeon to run.)

For tracking caloric intake and weight loss I'll be using MyFitnessPal's app.  I'll use their software to come up with a deficit of 1,500 calories a day, which should lead me to around 3 pounds a week.  I'll give it a few weeks to see if it's accurate enough and adjust where needed.

For those that don't know what I mean, here's how it works.  The app will calculate how many calories you need to lose a certain number of pounds a week based on questions you answer (age, activity, gender and so on).  You enter your activities and food consumed, it estimates the caloric demands and values and it tells you if you've hit your target, eaten too little, or eaten too much for the day.  So, if I'm on target, and the software works, I should average 3 pounds a week, at least at the beginning of the 12 weeks.

That's a lot of calories a day, a big negative hole.  But, because I have a fairly high FTP, each of those hour workouts will burn about 850 calories.  Add to those calories burned the strength training and high level of activity I wish to maintain on a daily basis (walking around all day), I think 1,500 is a number I can hit regularly.  (One key will be to eat satiating foods!)

I cannot start the program yet, I have a lot of healing to do still.  Heck, I've not even returned to work yet.  Well, I did, but just one day.  My concussion is still making me dizzy, though I don't think the confusion is there anymore.  Ribs still hurt, especially when laying down and I fear my right hand may be broken.  I return to the doctor Tuesday for a check-up.

So I cannot say exactly when I will begin this 12 week program, but I've got it fleshed out in detail.  If it works, feel free to steal my ideas.  If it fails, use it as a counter-example.  Either way, I hope this has been informative and perhaps entertaining.  

What's Next?

Starting 4/24 I'm starting a nutrition plan.  As soon as I'm able to start training again I will launch a 12 week weight-loss program.  I'll outline both of them here now with the hopes that it will help me be accountable and perhaps it can help you, the reader, to see if this might be worth while for you.

But first, my goals:  By the end of 2017, I want to be at least 180 pounds.

Nutrition plan:

Breakfast:  Oatmeal (the steel cut variety), with blueberries and maybe some fruit.
AM Snack:  Apple
Lunch:  Salad (two varieties to choose from ... one with cottage cheese and salmon, another with nuts, craisins, a boiled egg and a little dressing), and maybe a sweet potato depending on caloric requirements of the day.
Dinner:  One of the following:  Eggs, protein shake, meat and veggies
PM Snack:  If needed, peanut butter or boiled egg


Rules:

• No food after 7 PM.  
• Alcohol - None 
• Sweets - None
• Avoid things with added sugar
• At least a gallon of water a day (drunk consistently, not large volumes in short times)
• On-bike nutrition:  fruit and nuts (will be doing mostly sweet-spot intensity)

Exercise Program:

Since I'll be stuck indoors for a while so I'll be hitting up TrainerRoad again.  I really like their program and with Netflix, Hulu and YouTube at my fingertips, it's not half as bad to train indoors as I once feared.   The program with TR that I'll start is the Sweet Spot, High Volume plan.  It's two parts, each part being 6 weeks long.  The nice thing about this program is that each workout burns a lot of calories and while taxing, isn't quite intense enough to require a lot of recovery!

At the same time I start the TR program I will also begin StrongLift's 5x5 program at the gym.  This is a quick workout, done three times a week, just 5 total exercises!  Each time you're in and out of the gym in 30-ish minutes.  It's a great strength building program.

Now along with the weights I may go ahead and start a couch to 5K program as I believe bone health is an important thing to maintain as a cyclist.  But, that one will take some exploration.  

I'll do one of the programs in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

So while I'll be working out twice a day, both workouts will be very focused and pretty short (TR sessions mostly 1 hour long).

I'll be shooting for a deficit of about 1,500 calories a day, between exercise and nutrition.  That should get me at the very aggressive 3 pounds a week mark.  This should not be an issue at the onset of the program, but later in the program I will have to evaluate how that is working.  

On 4/24 I will post my weight and do a weekly write-up of how things have gone in general.

Anyhow, that's the plan.  Wish me luck!

Not All is Lost, Not At All

While  canceling the preparations for Tour of the Gila I began thinking about all of the sacrifices I made to prepare for the race.  Hanging out with friends some weekends, hiking with my wife on Saturday mornings, staying up late to watch football games or movies, treats in the breakroom...not to mention the early mornings where you feel beat and drained, but the training window is ever-shrinking and you must go or get caught short.  And that doesn't even consider the pain and suffering of training!

For the briefest of moments I was sad, thinking, "It's all for not because I'm not going to Gila."  (Yes, I've known this for a few days now, but my concussed brain has the perpetual spinning worry wheel, like a computer app that's slow to load.)  I quickly realized that this was not the case at all, it's not a waste.  True, Gila is out the window, at least for this year, but so much good has come from those sacrifices I made, even the tough ones.

I have gotten far more from the preparation for Tour of the Gila than I could've imagined.  I raced a lot, and learned even more.  I love racing, so I got to do a lot of what I love is perhaps the better way of saying, I raced, a lot!  I made a lot of new friends, and reconnected with old ones.  I found myself on the podium quite frequently, even winning a couple of road races.

I told myself that regardless of the outcome of Gila, it was a win for me because I'm able to participate again.  Well, I can't participate right now, or for a few months, but this is temporary.  I am able to ride and race again.  Because of that, missing out on Gila is not a waste of the sacrifices made.

My new plans are to use this down time as an opportunity to further rehabilitate some of the lingering issues from my back injury (muscular imbalances, neuro-muscular inefficiencies), as well as focus on weight loss for a few months.  I'm going to try to get down to 180 before the end of the summer.  I'll participate in races that fit my schedule in the remainder of 2017, but I'm not training for any of them.

So, missing out on Gila doesn't mean anything has been wasted.  To the contrary, this is a win.  I discovered I can still ride and even race, which is no slight miracle of an outcome, regardless of how well I can race I'm spending time with great people, I am making the most of the opportunities presented to me, learning a lot about something that interests me, and enjoying life.  If that's a loss, well, I'll be a loser all day long!

Thanks for reading.

Week 14: Here comes next year!

Week 14 didn't turn out as I hoped.  The training during the week witnessed new power and speeds for me, again!  I was getting stronger and stronger, blowing past my old best efforts.  My biggest weakness was short burst power, but I hit well over 1,200 watts on a warm up sprint Thursday!

But it all changed on Saturday.  Saturday I did the shootout, and planned on meeting up with some teammates to go up Madera Canyon.  The last time I did the shootout healthy, I got spit out the back.  But, that was a while ago and I thought today would be much different.

Well, different, it was.

I had no trouble staying with the group to the bridge or the next few miles after the bridge, both sections are difficult for me in the Main Shootout because I'm fat.  I was getting ready for Sprint Hill when some dude two wheels to my right just came in to his left for no reason at all.  Originally I thought he was swerving to miss a pot-hole or something, but I have GoPro footage of it...there was NOTHING there.  He bumped the rider next to me, who would've gone down if I wasn't there to take his fall.  I leaned into him, he straighted up and then left me to counterbalance and overcorrect and slam into the pavement on my head at 26 mph.  (Keep in mind all of that happened in a split second and I'll post the video here in this entry.)

The vinyl coloring is all that holds the helmet in one piece!

Long story short, two ambulance rides and two ER visits, a chest tube to inflate and drain the lung, a sponge bath, 2 CT scans, 14 x-rays and four days later I'm finally home.  From the crash I suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a concussion, a bone bruise on my left knee, extensive roadrash and bruising of course, and the general aches and pains that go with 26 to zero mph on the pavement in zero seconds.  My right side, where I went down, is pulverized.  Everything is tender. But ... I'll recover.

Monday, though, Monday was dark.  It was one of the worst days I've ever had.  I won't go into details because I would really rather not relive it.  Eventually I was able to sleep deep and that provided a bit of a reset for my body.  When I woke in the afternoon I saw that my sister had set up an account where people could donate money to help me with some of the medical expenses.  At this point, people have donated about $1,500!  It's not the money, but the support that turned my ultimate bad day into one of the best days of my life.  I am deeply touched by the outpouring of support, be it in social media, phone calls, text messages, visits in the hospital or financial donations!  I had so many people, many of whom I barely know, go out of their way to provide encouragement and company and money ... it's truly humbling.

So what's next?  A lot.  I've got six weeks off of the bike.  I can ride on the indoor trainer as much as I like, and I made huge gains last winter doing just that.  So my plan is to focus on healing first, get to a point where I can start training at an intensity where I can focus on weight loss and work hard to get down to 180-ish.

Now I feel horrible for putting my family and friends through the heartache of watching me in the hospital and suffering like that.  I'm not insensitive to those things.  I don't ever want to put them through anything of that sort again, which is tricky because riding a bike is dangerous, especially racing.  In the coming weeks I'll talk with my wife about racing in the future, but she was ready to go out and buy me a new bike on the spot if mine was destroyed in the crash (which it wasn't).  So I think she knows how good racing is for me mentally and emotionally.

I will try and learn from this crash, though I really don't see what I could've done differently.  I was just riding along and got slammed into from the right, and hard, going over 25 mph.  I know I got hit hard because I get bumped a lot in these rides and I almost never get moved.  That's one up-shot of outweighing other cyclists by 50 pounds!

I currently am suffering from a lot of confusion and what-not from the concussion, but wanted to write about what happened and give a brief teaser of what's to come for me.  In the near future I'll flesh out what I'm doing next and will keep this blog updated with those plans and they progress they provide.

If you don't want to see pictures of blood, or images that might be disturbing, like my head sliding against the pavement, go ahead and leave now.

Here's the video.  I cropped it pretty short, can't see much, but you CAN see Bryan Little, who was behind me, save his own neck with an incredible bunny hop over me and my bike!  Unfortunately he still went down, but wasn't seriously injured! He must be a ninja!

Collapsed lung and abnormal diaphragm 

That's my head and hand on the pavement.

Week 13: Persistence, not Perfect ... Gila is coming!

I believe strength training is very important for endurance athletes, but especially those that have had over-use injuries (which perhaps should be called muscular imbalances), or a history of chronic injury to an area.  So every morning I have the following routine.

In my tiny little narrow kitchen I prepare my lunch and do lunges, then squats, one-legged squats and calf-raises.  I do pushups and pull ups, too.  I often use the counter to help keep me stable with the one-legged squats and calf raises, if I'm having a "bad day," meaning my balance on my left leg is off a bit.

Week 13 started off just, eh ... I was tired from the previous three weeks of racing.  In fact, Tuesday I cut my workout short after the first interval.  But, the week turned out to be a time where I witnessed a lot of new cycling prowess on the bike as a result of all of that hard racing the previous three weeks!

I ended up with 14 personal bests on Strava segments, 13 of those were KOMs, and while the weather helped with some of the time splits, the power was up for all of them!  Saturday I traveled to Tucson and did the Bicycle Ranch ride and then had an informal team get-together after the ride.  It was a lot of fun.

So, all told, I'm too fat and heavy for Gila, but I'm excited about going anyway.  It's too bad that I won't be going with Tim, but I'll make the most of it.

A short post this week because I have a lot of irons in the fire at the moment, but wanted to let those following along know how things are progressing.

A shirt and logo I'm working on.  

Week 12: Nogales Bicycle Classic

Racing bicycles is a lot harder than normal people think.  One thing that makes bike racing different than other endurance sports is that in bike racing much of what happens is in reaction to other riders.  You cannot control or predict when you're going to have to do a maximum effort, or for how long.  Plus, you have no idea when you'll have to do a maximum effort again.  Put enough of those maximum efforts together in close enough succession and people break.  The strange thing is, often people break because of the unknown factor, not because they're unable.

Shane, Greg, Rich and myself at the start of the NBC.

That's why it is important to be the person dishing out those attacks, instead of responding to them.  If you can dictate how the race unfolds then it's so much easier emotionally and mentally.  You pick how hard to go, when and for how long.  You decide how to rest and when to go again.

This past week was the Nogales Bicycle Classic, my hometown "race."  It's not a sanction raced, it's classified as a Gran Fondo by the USAC.  But, in my opinion, a race is when you have two or more people riding together.

For NBC (Nogales Bicycle Classic) I had three teammates with me.  Since it was my hometown race and my anniversary, they picked me as the guy to work for.  It was my job to win, their job to set it up for me.  We had a few contingency plans for the race, but as the race unfolded, I ended up in a break away about 3 miles into the race.  Around mile 5 or 6 another rider caught me and we worked together until I started to hammer on him.  I dictated those attacks, the duration, location and frequency.  And I'm glad I did, it really sucks responding to those things!

Our plan was to break up the race on the first hill, about 3 miles in.  Shane, Rich and Greg set a furious pace up the hill and I was sitting in.  It was hard just following their wheels.  But, when I saw my friend Jacobo on the side of the road taking a video on his phone, I had to belt out, "ROCK AND ROLL!" as loud as I could.  Here's a video of that:

Steeper than it looks and I was actually hurting pretty good...but I had to belt out a little rock and roll! #aggressrides #fearthebeard #nogalesbicycleclassic

A post shared by Philip Brown (@gruveb) on Mar 25, 2017 at 5:24pm PDT

So I got away on the downhill part and my teammates blocked.  One guy got up the road and caught me.  We had a long way to go!

The thing is, I actually feel bad about how it all unfolded.  Because I had two teammates riding behind me, trying to bridge up, I didn't need to really work with Alfonso, the guy who caught me.  But if I could stay away and break him, then I win.  If we don't stay away, then we have a 3 on 1 situation and we break him.  Either way, I'm in a good spot and he's in a bad spot.

So, when we "worked together" I made sure I went a mile or two per hour slower than he was pulling.  I also made sure he pulled on the uphill portions and I did so on the downhill.  Then, when he could see me, I hung my head and looked tired.  When I was behind him I coughed and spit and coughed and coughed and coughed and coughed.  I wanted him to think I was dying.  And that deception, is what makes me feel bad.  I don't like to deceive people for personal gain, even though it's perfectly acceptable in this application.

When the time came to go, I went.  I attacked and attacked and attacked.  Eventually, Alfonso, who is recovering from knee surgery, had enough and called Mercy.  He told me to go ahead, "You win," he said.

Alfonso came in 2nd and my teammate Shane came in 3rd to round out the podium.  It was a good day on the bike!

Originally I had planned on racing the 112 mile version of the NBC, but because Tour of the Gila is about a month away I need to really dial in my training these next few weeks.  I can't totally trash myself on a brutal route and distance like that because I would miss several days of training to recovery.

Here's the gopro footage of the race:


These next few weeks I need to really dial in my diet and training, especially my sleep.  I'm not going to step on a scale until after Tour of the Gila.  At this point I need to be as strong as I can be.  That doesn't give me license to pig out, but the weight doesn't really matter at this point, nothing I can do about it now without losing power.

I appreciate your time reading and I hope it's been informative and or entertaining.

Until next time!

Oh, and here are the last two videos from last week's TBC.

Week 11: Tucson Bicycle Classic

There's something that normal people (should read, don't race bikes) don't understand about bike racing.  Their misconception is exposed in the common question, "How long is your race?"

The Tucson Bicycle Classic begins with a short time trial, or prologue, just over 3 miles long.  However, that 3 miles is the most painful racing I've ever experienced, both times I've done it!  It's all about intensity.

99 degrees, time to go!

This past week I participated in the TBC (Tucson Bicycle Classic), Men's Category 4 race.  We had a huge field, 58 riders!  Most of the riders were teenagers, split up between four teams.  I was in for some punishment.  Unlike a lot of masters teams, these kids are well coached, in similar levels of fitness and willing to sacrifice themselves for their team.

Stage 1 is the short time trial, about 8 minutes of hell!  It's a tricky course, some hazards in the road, but the roads twists its way through the Sahuaro West National Monument, which is beautiful.  There's a positive elevation gain, and the second half of the race is uphill and that's where a good time is made or lost!

I used the advice from a veteran racer and the information I got from Best Bike Split (bestbikesplit.com) to come up with a plan for stage 1.  Basically, punch it at the start (totally different than a 40K TT), and then ride sub-threshold on the flats, just working to maintain the high speed, conserving momentum on the small undulations in the road over the first half of the race.  The idea is to have only burned one match, at the start, to punch that speed up high.  The rest are needed for the last half.

I maintained my speed well, didn't work too hard to do it, and when I hit the hills I had a lot in the tank.  Over the next 5 minutes though, that tank was drained!  Once the hills hit I made sure to spin smooth and quick, keeping the power numbers up high without loading my legs up with lactic acid and what-not.  At the two steepest parts I stood up to get my momentum going and spun at a high cadence and high power as each hill was crested.  I ended up getting up to 37 mph on the short stretch between the two climbs!

So, I feel that nailed the TT, finishing in 8:11 according to Strava, but 8:20 according to the officials.  Most people reported extra time added to their results, so I think that's fair enough.  My average power on the time trial was 379 watts, I'm very happy with how it went, especially since it was well into the 90 degree range, with crazy hot sunshine!


The time was good enough to put me in second place and was a good time on the day regardless of category.



Day two was the road race, three lumpy laps about 20 miles each around the mines in Green Valley, Arizona.  My grouped started last on the day and it was HOT, again!  The racing was hard, just like I wanted it to be, and I wasn't having to do the work.  Late in the race a small group of riders got off of the front and I let them go.  The thing I didn't know was that the 3rd placed rider had flatted.  He wanted to win overall, and would've been chasing this down!

After the TBC Circuit Race I was TOAST!

So I sat and watched them go, just worrying about being the guy in 1st and the guy in 3rd to try and hold my 2nd place, maybe even move up to first.  The belief I had, at the time, was that if I tried to bridge to the breakaway, I'd just end up towing the group up, which would cost me some matches and lessen my chances of beating my closest competitors.

In the end, the break had about 15 seconds, plus a time bonus and one of those in the break jumped from 4th to 2nd, moving me down to third.

To make it worse, my friend and training partner, Tim, had crashed out bad in the Cat 3 race ... concussion and broken pelvis!

Day 3 was the circuit race.  I felt okay when I woke in the morning.  I spoke with some teammates before the race and we devised a plan that involved the help of some other riders.  After the 3rd lap I was to break away with a small group and some other riders would help block, instead of chase.  But, once the race started I felt horrible.  I was dying to just hold on for the first 4.5 of 6 laps.  Once we got to the end of the race I felt fine, finished 10th with the lead group, believing I'd held onto my 3rd spot.  But, the race officials said there was a 2 second gap between the 4th and 5th rider.  Whether they're right or not, it's my own fault for not being up there.

The racing these past two weeks was very hard, hot and exhausting.  But, I had so much fun.  It's great meeting new friends, connecting with old friends, and hanging out with like-minded people.

At work someone asked me about my results.  I said I was happy with them, it's all icing.  He said, "Yup, remember where you were a year ago at this time?"

I wasn't riding at all, was barely able to walk.  So yeah, it's all icing!

Now this week is all about recovery...I need to absorb the training stress of 6 days of racing in a 10 day window, all in unseasonably hot temperatures.  This coming week is the Nogales Bicycle Classic, my hometown race.  I'm doing the 51 mile version with my new teammate Greg and maybe my brother-in-law, Gene.  It will be my only difficult workout of the week!

Anyhow, thanks for reading.  Here are some great pics from this past weekend's races.  Special thanks to Damion Alexander for his work with the cycling community and his amazing pictures!