I'm just a lightweight

I did a gym session Friday morning: the same one I'd started a week earlier and plan to do for several more weeks.  Some bicep curls, some front and lat raises, and some core stuff on the stability ball.

A few months ago the battery in my bathroom scale died, and since then I've been completely out of the habit of checking my weight.  I finally got a new battery for it yesterday, and when I stood on it my weight registered at 153 pounds (69.4 kilograms).  Though I've never kept particularly precise track of my weight, I know that's about 10 pounds lighter than my all-time maximum, and I can remember being up around 159 or 160 pounds during a period several years ago when I was racing very well.

So, I have a feeling that I'm a bit underweight these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if that has something to do with my low-energy feeling for much of this year.  Actually, putting on weight is something I've had difficulty with my whole life, and while I'm sure many people would love to have that problem--believe me, I prefer it to being chronically overweight or obese--it's a health concern in its own right.  If there are any physiologists or sports nutritionists or dietitians reading this who can suggest healthy ways to put on a few pounds, I'd love to hear them.  In the meantime, I need to start remembering to weigh myself each day, and I should probably keep better record of it so I can see what correlation it has to good athletic performance.

Yesterday morning I did an 80-minute paddle down on the riverfront.  I maintained a moderate pace with a few long surges in the second half.

This morning I got on the bike to ride some distance.  I rode from my house to the south end of downtown, where I crossed the Mississippi River via the Harahan Bridge.  Then I rode a loop in Big River Park before re-crossing the river and returning home.  In not quite two hours I covered 36.5 kilometers (22.7 miles).  I pushed the pace at times but most of the time I kept it comfortable.

It's been cool but not cold this weekend: mostly in the 50s Fahrenheit.  It's a rainy afternoon today.  While I was riding this morning the rain mostly held off, but I did ride through a solid shower on my way downtown and had to spend the next ten minutes feeling chilly while my clothes dried out.

For more information on what this blog is about, click here.