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Training Progress For Everest Challenge 2-Day Stage Race
I’m sure glad that the Everest Challenge 2-day stage race is in late September, because I have at least 20 pounds of fat to lose, and 7 pounds of muscle to gain.
Late February and nearly all of March was a steady downpour that made training a challenge, but the weather has turned nice, and I’ve cranked up the training time.
The increase in training volume in late March, and attention to diet has paid off, with a distinct downward slope to the daily weight points.
As I note in my DEXA scan discussion, rapid weight loss must be both a decrease in body fat and a gain in muscle, or at least no loss of muscle. Which is why most scheming calorie-cutting diets fail as a vicious cycle. For an athlete, “weight loss” is a self-defeating term, because only by maintaining or increasing muscle mass (a weight gain) can performance be improved. Drop the fat, keep the muscle.
The accelerating downward weight trend seen above is consistent with the increased training volume, along with an aggressive 20% calorie deficit each day, with attention to increasing protein intake to avoid muscle loss.
(calories = 1.04 * kilojoules)
I’ve had to resort to watching caloric intake to make sure I generate a caloric deficit each day, and also for reference to ensure that I am eating a reasonable diet with enough protein. This day was much too heavy on the chocolate and candy. But not really an issue in context I think.
