Higgins in vivid 2D

Well Here are some new revealing pictures of my self. I'm about 2 1/2 weeks into the program now. I did a comparison and you can't really notice that much of a difference yet. Although I do notice that my arms are a little bigger and that the exercises are getting easier.

Here are my current measurements:

• Body Fat: 15.6%
• Weight: 151. 2 pounds
• Chest: 37 4/8"
• Waist: 32 1/8"
• Hips: 33 3/8"
• Right Mid-Thigh: 21"
• Left Mid-Thigh: 20 3/4"
• Right Upper Arm: 12"
• Left Upper Arm: 12 1/8"
• Blood Pressure: 120/67
• Resting Heart Rate: 62 beats per minute.

I think the most impressive thing is that my Body Fat percentage is down almost 0.7%. My physical measurements are almost the same and my weight is a little less. I think what this indicates is that I'm losing fat and slowly replacing by muscle.

Can someone help me find my legs? I think they fell off.

Well I survived my Century ride. For those curious about my masochism here are the details

Distance: 105.2 miles
Average Speed: 16.9 mph (Grr this really annoys me. I could have pushed it and made it 17mph)
Max Speed: 43.6 mph (Wheeeeee!)
Time my butt was in the saddle: 6 hrs 12 min (.. ouch)

I'm really excited about my accomplishment. I was aiming for 15mph on my first Century Ride but 17mph 16.9mph (Grrr..) is awesome.

Riding my bike all day

Wow I just finished my training ride for the Century I'm doing next week. I have to admit it was quite an ordeal. I managed 102.15 Miles today 8-o. That's the farthest I've ever ridden my road bike and I think I'm happy with that record holding for quite a while. I averaged 16.4mph over the entire ride. I was physically on my bicycle seat for 6hrs and 13mins and amazingly don't have to get a new bottom. I have a professional bicycle fitting to thank for that.

Friday I went to a very elite bicycle shop that does professional bicycle fittings for athletes (Contes). It cost a small fortune ($150 + Addl Parts) but it was well worth it. I used to have all sorts of problems after a long ride; Ass I couldn't sit on, sore back, stiff neck, wonky knee. Also my road bike was real touchy. I wouldn't dare let go of the handle bars, even for my victory salute to the crowds ;-). 2hrs of professional consultation, a new seat, a new stem, 3 different inserts/shims in the shoes, many bicycle adjustments plus too much money and all is well. I believe I'm justified in the expense considering how much time I'm spending in that saddle.

On the down side my 90 Challenge pretty much got completely derailed today. My diet was completely in the trash because of me trying desperately to get enough calories to keep up my energy level. I calculated that I burt 4000 additional calories today 8-o. That's twice what the everage person eats in a day. I had 3 breakfasts and decent lunch and put away almost an entire large chicken supreme pizza for dinner and I'm still in the hole 2000 calories. And today was a cardio day for P90. Well I guess I definately met the cardio requirement. But since I'm anal and didn't actually do the DVD I'm not counting it.

Loong Day

Yawn. Just finished the workout for today. Obviously starting your workout at midnight is less than ideal. Sometimes there literally aren't enough hours in the day but I'm determined to keep this up. In other news my Diet was a little worse for wear today due to a previous dining engagement.

I think the solution to always having time to do the workout is to make sure I get to work at 9am or so and then I should have several hours between getting home and going out. Also this should allow me to follow the instructions for taking the supplements. The Performance Formula I will actually take at work before heading home (You're supposed to take it 30min before the exercise). Then the Creatine supplement I will take immediately following the workout (You're supposed to wait 30min to eat after taking this one).

So to summarize:

• Performance Formula at 5pm
• Workout at about 5:30pm or maybe 5:45pm to be realistic
• Creatine at 6:15pm
• Dinner at 7pm
  

Power 90 Challenge!! We're on!!

OK. P90 is a go. Here is my ugly before picture complete with slight grimace. If you notice people's before pictures always have them with a frown and then there after picture has them smiling.

For the internet stalkers out there here are my before measurements ... just in case you would like to order me a mankini that will fit me.

• Body Fat: 16.3%
• Weight: 152.4 pounds
• Chest: 37 5/8"
• Waist: 33 1/4"
• Hips: 34"
• Right Mid-Thigh: 21"
• Left Mid-Thigh: 20 3/4"
• Right Upper Arm: 12"
• Left Upper Arm12"
• Blood Pressure: 112/62
• Resting Heart Rate: 47 beats per minute
  

Hurry up and Weight

I got my technologically keen dumbbells in the mail the other day. When I approached my front stoop I was a little annoyed to see a large box sitting front and center. Normally the delivery guy will at least put large boxes on the back stoop so would be thieves aren't tempted. The box clearly had "Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbells " written on the front. I thought to my self, why don't they just write "STEAL ME!" in big red letters on it. I soon discovered why so little attention was paid to deterring driveby clepto's. The damned box wouldn't budge from where it was delivered. I huffed and I puffed and started chanting "I think I can, I think I can, etc ..." but my dumbbells seemed very happy where they were. So the "552" in the model number has some significance if you happen to be mildly dislesic. Each dumbbell is adjustable, via a fancy dial, from 5lbs to 52.5lbs. Well the package had 2 of those puppies for a grand total of 105lbs. Well luckily I only had to move it about 3 feet to get it in my front door so I just rolled it end over end. I pitied the poor delivery guy who had to drop that off. I should leave him some asprin or a card for a good chairopractor next time he comes around.

Well now that they're in and unpacked I'll be excited to try them out. These Dumbbells are really the bees knees because they really do replace an entire set of regular Dumbbells and are much faster to adjust than Dumbbells that use screw on plates. Basically each dumbbell has a dial at either end. To use then you simply turn both dials to the selected weight and pick them up. There is a mechanism inside that rotates and grabs the right combination of plates out of the stand/holder. When you lift up the dumbbell it takes the weights needed for what you have dialed and the rest remain in the holder. They were fairly expensive but I think that it's money well spent in terms of space saved and ease of use.