Richard Ha writes:

I’ll be posting my training updates here on Mondays. Here are my first week’s results.

At 8:00 am on Sunday, May 28:
Starting weight 214.6 lbs.
Week’s target weight 213.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight 211.4 lbs.
I am 2.2 lbs. ahead of schedule

Goal 175 lbs.
Weight loss since 5/23: 3.2 lbs.
Starting resting heart rate 65
Today’s resting heart rate 63 beats per minute.*

* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong is said to be at 32 beats per minute. My lowest was 52 beats per minute many years ago.

I’m 2.2 lbs. ahead of schedule this week. I lost 3.2 lbs. this week when my goal was to lose 1 lb.

Although I am not dieting, I find myself looking up the caloric content of what I might be eating. And because I’m exercising, I find myself eating more apple bananas and snacking on cocktail tomatoes a lot, which have zero penalty points on the Weight Watchers list of foods. Fortunately, we grow these things at Hamakua Springs, and we grow the ones we do because of how great they taste.

Losing this weight by exercising means I’ll be stronger and in better shape than I am now. I won’t be able to keep up with “the boys” on the Kulani trails. But maybe I can soon keep up with our mountain-biking President if he joins them.

The leader of “the boys” is Chris Seymour, owner of Hilo Bike Hub. He is featured with Chris Clark and Ray Brust from Oahu in the Hawaiian Airlines in-flight magazine Hana Hou. He is a friend of mine; I went with him to the bank to vouch for his bank loan when he started his bike shop, though he didn’t need me at all and had it well under control.

His riding is at a total different level than most people’s. Mike Tanabe is up there as well, relative to his age group (he’s 58). That’s an indication of how fun the Kulani trails are—something less challenging wouldn’t keep their interest.

When I can easily do the long ride from the farm to the oceanfront and back, then I will be ready to try Banana Hill. The bike riders named it that: it’s the uphill Kaupakuea Homestead Road ride in Pepeekeo, straight up from the farm to the forest line. If I can do this ride without weaving back and forth in first gear searching for flat ground, I will be making good progress.

This coming week, I’ll start to ride from the farm down to the ocean and back.