Tearful Symmetry

“Burning bright?” Not so much.

As the Year of the Tiger begins, I am so fat I almost could cry. I do a weigh-in on the first day of every month and today’s did not go well. I knew it wouldn’t. The needle started to move in the wrong direction during the 3 weeks I was off the bike following my crash in October and I have not been able to reverse the trend. I am 4 pounds heavier than I was on this date last year. I don’t feel like I’m eating any more than I do during warm weather months, but without the calorie burn of 12- to 15-hour weeks on the bike I just can’t keep the winter weight off.

No, I’m not doing 12- to 15-hour weeks on Zwift. Even combining Zwift with regular strength training and occasional walking I am not approaching 12 to 15 hours of activity per week. But I did lace up the walking shoes yesterday and today in pursuit of a couple of minor Garmin Connect achievements:

What can I say? January was cold. We were almost never above freezing and very frequently below zero. We had a 40° day on January 12 but didn’t see another one until this afternoon. Despite the cold, we had almost no snow. I was never tempted to break out the snowshoes. Friends with skis appear to have enjoyed January, though, as there was enough of a base for them.

Today’s above average warmth will be short lived. We probably won’t see another day above 32° until Sunday at the earliest. And suddenly 32° feels like my lower limit for outdoor activity of any kind. That’s how soft I’ve gotten. Historically, the date on which West Bend’s daytime high gets back to up 32° is February 16. It’s weird to be looking forward to so small a milestone.

In the meantime I’m committing to more hours on Zwift. I enjoy it when I do it, so it’s inexcusable that I haven’t been doing it more. It’s probably also true that I have been doing Zwift the wrong way. With no competitive goals in the near future, right now I should be concentrating on endurance efforts. Instead I am riding for no more than 1 hour at a time and I’m going too hard. Riding with other people—even if they appear only as cartoon characters in a virtual world—encourages me to chase anyone in front and to run away from anyone behind. I’m riding harder as I approach sprint points and course finish lines. I’m trying to beat my previous best times on courses I have ridden before. All of this is fun but it’s not what I need in the middle of winter.

At least I’m getting a lot of reading done. Cold weather can’t stop that; it rather encourages me to read more. I’m already on my 4th novel this year. And I saw a robin on a snow-free patch of grass in my yard today. Mom assures me that’s a sign of spring, which can’t get here soon enough.