Charles A. Toupin

Joe,

You're much more in shape tan me. Maybe I should have said that I was a fat bastard

I started training on January 9th, 2012, weighting in at 240. I'm now at 212. Headed for 185, may be less, if I can (5'10 tall). So, I was not in shape at all. I eat better too. I need to do some weight lifting to make sure I don't loose to much muscle in the upper body. And I walk (fast) on the threadmill, so that keeps the strenght in my lower body muscles. 4 times a week, 1,5 hour at a time.

It works so far, but I'm still in my weight loss program. Once I'm done, I'll start concentrating on the cardio... Mostly through the biking, I like that.

c.

TraqGear

Wow! Hats off to you for the weight loss. That's a bunch of weight really fast.

TraqGear

I try to do this, but it is very difficult. I'm a former muscle-head, so even when I'm trying to take it easy, I find myself pushing heavier and heavier weight. More cardio for me.

jrgordonsenior

Along with a good exercise program for track conditioning, diet is equally as important if not more so. Hydration, proteins, staying away from sugars which isn't easy to do at a track event all ply in5to your physical and mental state to race. Oh did I forget to mention booze?....

BC

THIS is motivation. Not so much looking good but performing well. Hmm,

M758

Well maybe the first time after not doing for 2-3 years, but not really any after that. Maybe it is just me, but quads never get sore. I did one day of running 3 miles on treadmill and was sore for 2 days. I could barely walk up and down the stairs. That does not even mention all the punding from my knees and anlkes form the impact. The bike I can do 45 minutes hard with like 30 second ramp up 95% to pace/resistance and maintain it for the remaining 45 minutes. When I ceck my 15 min interval pace I find myself accelerating such that the second 15 minutes always are faster pace than the first 15. If I pull the thrid 15 even faster I try to push harder next time sooner cause I could have worked harder. I take a 1:30 to 2:00 cool down at 80% resistance and 60% cadence. That allows my breathing to reset and to stop the wobbly leg feeling. Now I should do more warm-up and probably more cool down, but it seems to work for me.

A good mountain bike ride for me 3 hrs and 15 miles or so. That does include a few stops to rest and such.

jakermc

Besides all the normal stuff mentioned I do a fair amount of work on heat conditioning. I'll go out and jog when it's 100 degrees out or hit the track intentionally without my cool box.

Then when it's time to race in the TX summer I feel great. Gives me a mental edge as well as I envision the other guys getting tired, boosting my confidence and resulting speed.

M758

Wow... Lost of weight lost really fast. Congrats. Stick with it and 185 should be possible.

At one time 15 years ago I was 202 lbs (5' 7"). Then started biking. Got down to 155 after 4 months. Then got married in stopped biking about 8 years ago. Last spring I grew to 170lbs and knew I had to get back in. So started back up and got down to 152 lbs. I also have been eating alot better. in fact better now than probably anytime in my life. Lots more vegtables and fruits. Still don't do weights. I like the biking because it is something I can relate to. I stationary bike allows me to mtn bike longer, faster an over tougher trails. Plus it gives me the cardio I need to drive my car 100% for 35 minutues and not really feel it. Plus less weight means more ballast so I can lower the CG. Since I got back in the bike I went over the scales once at 2601 and anothe time at 2604 after adding 10lbs more ballast to my car. (class min is 2600lbs with driver)

TraqGear

I was just thinking about nutrition JR. You can train to death without good nutrition and get nowhere fast. Randy Pobst did a great write up about caffeine intake a few months ago in the SCCA mag. He NEVER drinks coffee in the am before racing. I try to cut mine down, but still need a tad to get me going.

Ah the heat! That's a great idea to run in it..without cardiac arrest of course. It gets hot here as well and I do my cardio in the am in the garage, so I get 90 degrees fairly often when I run. It has to help with the heat aspect in the car. It's still boiling hot even with a cool shirt. How is the Ferrari?

SoClose

I've been training in MMA for 6 years. At age 51, I've had no back pain since I began, which was an issue both in and out of the car.
I am physically stronger at the end of any driving session compared to when I was doing a program of weights and aerobics (biking and running). Driving my '75 Gt car for 30 minutes is comparable to several rounds of sparring (usually without the bloody nose).

M758

Last fall I quite coffee all togther. Never drink any of it any longer. I replace it with juice. The wife and got one that fancy juicers and every day we drink 14-16 oz of juice. Not fruit juice, but green juice. Typical recipe includs kale, spinach, celery, brocoli, carrots, cucumber and an apple to sweeting it up.

Lots of great vitamins in there and once you get past the green color and used to the taste it is actually quite nice. A few times I have been out of town not able to juice and bought those bottled Naked juice instead. Ok, but very very very sweet for me these days. Still better than not having it. Plus we have not given up on meat, but really reduced the meat intake. Lots more mixed vegtables. Alot of this is due to my wife dealing with breast cancer and having the drive to eat more healthy, but I and happy to join in to support her and also because it seems to be good for me too.

We saw documentary movie "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead", about a guy from Austraila and a juice fast.(good watch, entertaing, informative and inspiring) We don't go that far, but did figure more vegtables would be better so gave it try. Movie is on Netflix instant if you are so inclined. For those a little more hardcore there is also "Food Matters" and "Forkes over Knives" These are little more pushy on raw food vegtable diet, but do have some good points. Like I said neither of us are ready to give up meat, but less process foods and more healthy vitamin rich vegtables seem like a fine idea.

Dave 86 930 Fl

Not a racer, but I find Yoga to be very helpful. I do it everyday ... Let the ball breaking begin.

f1rocks

Cardio and weights 6 days a week. Have my son (16) and stepson (13) training with me now which is good motivation.

At 47 I'm lifting more and joints feel better than when I was 25. Benched 390 last week, hoping to go back over 400 before Road Atlanta. Stairmaster for 30 minutes a day minimum 140 floors. Diet has been the biggest thing for me. Protein shakes immediately after a workout, 4 oz. of meat 5 times a day with baked sweet potato and fruit. Dropped 40 pounds hope it makes me faster on track, I need all the help I can get.

edit....Meat being chicken, turkey or fish.

BTW if y'all haven't tried Quinoa yet, it's a great alternative to rice and has great protein for a grain. Costco is carrying it now.

TraqGear

I've always been interested in an MMA training program, but not much available around this small town.
I tried the juicer thing a few years ago. No problem juicing, but what a pain to clean up. What time of the day do you drink it? I've also heard that if you juice it, you have to drink it right away as storing it in the frige makes it lose vitamins. Not sure how true that is. I sincerely hope your wife is doing well. I will pray for her also.

Charles A. Toupin

It's a state of mind. I'm just into it, I like the results and I changed my way of eating food. I was 185lbs when I met my wife... God she makes 5 stars restaurant food... My Dad imports wine... So, I was the fat result of that

When I'm at the desire weight, that should be before Watkins Glen, I'll post a picture of before/after of me wearing my racing suit...

c.