Some amendments.....

I need to post some amendments as I commence this blog again.  Gyms are not bad, Lycra has its place and bells and whistles are OK.  Particularly if the bells are kettle and whistles are appreciative.

Houston we are good to go...

Today I got back in the saddle after Mrs L conquered the London marathon I figured maybe just maybe it was my time.  I always said that a marathon was for 40+ athletes and I am about to enter my 40th year so yesterday I applied for the Virgin London Marathon 2013 ballot.  It is crazy because 110kg of me running 26.2 miles is a world of leg battering but I took a spin this morning and was banging out sub 10 minute miles......which brings me to confession number 1.....I have been using a gym - The Olympiad in Chippenham to be precise and I have enjoyed the services of a personal trainer and it seems to have done me some good. Not only has the interval training paid of but an element of circuit weight means I feel stronger and have better local muscular endurance. So no more excuses we are marathon training.

Today 3 miles steady - 28 minutes - with splits around 8.30 9.30 and 10.16 - not a bad start and not as sore as I though and still a little gas in the tank for some burpees.  The key is not to hammer it to quickly which is my usual problem.  The diet is pretty strict - wholefoods only so no breads or pasta to bulk out that empty feeling.  I am allowing myself the odd for goodness shale post trainig as I have found that this is the best product I have ever used for recovery but, as with this morning, it replaced breakfast after the 3 miler.  My target weight is 99 kilos and my commitment is high....although I have been sneaking raisins all afternoon.

I will keep you posted.........

Completely forgot to blog....was out running.

Nike + GPS is rocking my world.  I get times, pace, distance and encouraging words.  Makes the iphone 4 this weeks most useful training aid.  I have managed 4 runs in a week and I have lost 4 pounds.  I should point out that there has been some pretty lean eating going on.  Tuna salad, no mayo, minimal olive oil dressing and no additional carbs.  Target weight is 16 stone.

So joy of joys I am starting to fit back into clothes that I had always thought I was hoarding never to wear again.  Don't get me wrong I still have what i believe the ladies call muffin tops (lads call them love handles) but I am getting there.  Todays run was my first 5k run in a while and I managed 6 minute kms which is not bad as there was a big ole hill right in the middle of the route.

I will change route to see if I can get a decent 5 k time down but the hill stays in the training program at least once a fort night to try and strengthen up my running.  In other good news the bike is fixed and we'll probably be doing a 30 miler once a week...who know I might start swimming and enter a triathlon.  Summer is not so far away and it could be a bit of a giggle.

Bazza

Well I am back on the horse, not a literal horse of course as my sturdy 112kilo frame would do said stead absolutely no good.  Part of the reason for me being absent was a quick trip to Haiti for work, this is not a place of great fitness opportunity although in the mountains of Cange I see a potential run or two. Anyway enough of this nonsense.

BAZZA!


Bazza is the septagenarian who trained beside me at my first ever body pump class.  I have decided that gym classes are the way forward, as being supervised by an adult is always wise.  Now I don't know Bazza's reasons for staying in shape whether he likes to keep mobile or he likes the ladies in lycra but he has obviously got this body pump thing taped.

Yes you guessed it I got my ass handed to me by the old guy.  He was pumping more weight than me with better technique with fewer breaks in form.  Bazza is a hero and I regret suggesting he may just like ladies in lycra as he is for seventy odd an accomlished gym athlete.  Qudos to Bazza.

In other news


Belt news, i am now four holes in on the old belt test which is confusing as I have not actually lost any weight.  I am perfectly happy to be heavy and lean but it surprised me.

Core news, all core stability is gone!!!!  I don't know where or when but it is bust, gawn, dissappeared just not there which suggests this is a long road back to fitness.

Mike-the-Bike, today completed a personal best to Tetbury knocking ten minutes off his time only to find he had had a 20 mile an hour tail wind assisting him, the ride home was 'tiring'.

Diet going well, eat sensibly all week and blow out at weekends a little - I am hoping the pounds will start to drop off.  I'll keep you posted.

Funny things, backs.

People say things they don't really think through the sense of, like "it is too cold to snow" or "he won't get there any faster by speeding".   Both of these statements are balderdash*, the Arctic and Antarctic both regularly see snow and we invented cars in order to speed past horses and get to places sooner.

Another thing people will say to you when you are suffering with a back injury is "funny things, backs".  NO.  Sorry did I shout, it's just that there is nothing humorous about backs at all.  They are amazing and when you have injured one you find all the things that you use your lower back for which you had no idea about, these include such mundane things as going to the toilet, sneezing, coughing and well pretty much everything.  I have been prescribed a number of drugs to assist the rehabilitation of the facet joint more recently identified in the post "injury" but a short lived attempt to walk briskly to the post office highlighted we are some way off.

Backs just aren't funny, I even googled to find jokes where backs are funny and they aren't.  They are the straight man, the Ernie Wise, the Tommy Cannon, Sid Little of body parts.  So please don't say "funny things, backs" unless you really do have a rip roaring tale of hilarity involving a back.





*Balderdash interestingly has no known etymology it is a word that exists on it's own, unlike poppycock, an alternative for senseless speech, which is derive from old german for "soft dung".  Please season your conversation and writing with this apparently original word.

Training Partners

Training Partners come in many shapes and sizes, todays was four legged and small. I took Pickle the Jack Russell Terrier running with me. Pickle is 7 months old and full of energy, she can pull me round the 2.5 miles quicker I thought...... but no. Running with dogs is not easy for the following reasons:

1. They don't appreciate the route you want to take.

2. You don't appreciate how interesting that field of sheep is.

3. They have no idea that a ten minute mile pace should be even and consistent.

4. You have no idea how good the faeces of other species smells.

5. They don't keep to the unspoken agreement that humans have to not suddenly fling themselves at your ankles on a slippery downhill section.

6. You don't appreciate that hosing down a muddy terrier at the end of a run is a miserable task.

Pickle kept up a good pace and thankfully did not need carrying although I have been practising the over the shoulder "sheep carry" with Joel, my son. That said I feel fairly sure she would have bitten my ears. Other than the Pickle factor the run went quite well. I felt a little sore after yesterdays weight and I think I may substitute some kind of circuit training in until all these muscles get used to the new regime. I am however feeling up beat about the whole process, I almost want to run again tomorrow despite it notionally being a rest day.......you know I must just do it crazy though it sounds.

I had a sneaky interim weigh in before Saturday and I have lost .9 of a kg (2lbs) which is the notional healthy weight loss speed so no bad thing there a few days before the weigh in. Other positives are better sleep, general well being and a better head space, you have to love those endorphins!!!!

Today's run is at mapometer - http://gb.mapometer.com/en/running/route_1066524.html

Weights

I used to be a personal trainer and the hardest thing to do was convince both men and women that weights won't turn you into Arnie over night. Men used to believe that after two weeks they should be seeing massive growth and women couldn't seem to get that the beanpoles walking around their local gym had been pumping iron for months and still looked like Nicholas Lyndhurst in the build department.

Weights are a great means to lose weight and get in shape. The rules for not bulking are about high repetitions with reasonably low weights just so you start to struggle to do the exercise between 10-12 repetitions. The other up side of weights is that they tone the muscle and pull the bits in and up that need to be. Opinions vary but for every kg of muscle built you burn an extra 60 - 70 calories a day. If your aim is only weight loss then this is perhaps not for you, but if you are more interested in a healthy bodyshape, health benefits, better posture, stronger bones, better balance and co-ordination then weights are for you; don't drop cardio but season it with weights. I didn't go out and join a gym, because frankly I don't have the money for it but I scouted around the garage and attic and found enough kit to carry out a decent work out.

Equipment needed:

1 x Stability Ball (bought at argos for my wife when she was pregnant)

1 x Barbell set (also bought at argos when I was younger but hanging around in the loft for a while)

1 x Dumbell set (bought as above)

1 x IPhone

1x Ipod dock

The Workout:

Bench press on the stability ball making sure that the weight of the bar is over my shoulder which are centred on the ball. 2 x 3 sets of 12 at around 30kg

Shoulder Press on ball, sitting square on the ball pushing upwards 3 sets of 12 at 20 kg

Concentration bicep curls sat on the ball 1 set at 10 kg

6 Burpees, 3 press ups with hands either side of the ball (this was mostly experimentation for the next session)

3 sets of 10 crunches on the stability ball.

Why use a stability ball? Straight answer because I don't have a bench but there are real benefits to using stability balls. The requirement to balance pulls all that tummy bit in and the stabilising muscles also work to keep you level burning more calories bringing more tone. Can't be bad can it.

MIKE THE BIKE

Well the latest from Mike the Bike is that he has stepped up distances to a massive 32.13 see his route at mapometer - http://gb.mapometer.com/en/cycling/route_1066520.html - This is a 30 percent increase in distance but he is going to need it if he is to make the 97 miler in June.

Curry and flexibility...rest day.

OK so I had soup and a cheese sarnie and still went for the curry. I guess what i am trying to say is that it may take longer to reach my goal than I intended but if my whole objective is slim then I am probably quite dull. I can't get hung up on an unsustainable diet because I will quit, a curry with mates is good once in a while; tuna and salad at home is also pretty good. There are lots of fit people with a belly, Jason Leonard comes to mind, Mad Dog Metcalfe who I used to trog up and down the Himalayan foothills with the man was superfit but always carried lunch.....maybe it was the weight of lunch that made him fit. So anyway I had a curry, Chicken Dhansak, Chicken Korai, Palak Badami (spinach and butter beans) but Jef and I skipped the rice and the naan because .....well the don't add alot to the flavour of the meal and they fill you up and you end up leaving vital curry. So we went the chapati and popadom route. Thinking about it curry isn't so bad if done in moderation, chicken is good protein, chilli will speed your metabolism and I feel sure all those other ingredients must contain some trace elements.

Anyway about flexibility, I am not talking about the type of flexibility which allows you to touch your toes or put your head under your left knee. I am talking about a flexibility of mind; today was supposed to be a weights day but it was a late night with a couple of Guinnesses and frankly what with dropping Jef off, going to look at rental properties with my wife and looking after Junior it just wasn't going to happen. So I am doing weights tommorow, you see I have been training less than a week and I am already more flexible. The rule in my head is don't flex more than a day if it is rest but swap freely with weights, cardio or sport to keep the whole process fresh and happy.

Variance - Monday's Run

This morning is another run this one a little bit longer, about 2.5 miles done in about 23 or so minutes which means i am doing roughly ten minute miles. Now this isn't going to break any olympic records but it is the starting block for another target: 7 minute miles or less. So targets to date are -

95 Kg

7 minute miles or less.

The rain persisted this morning and it was colder than the last run and whilst that doesn't really make you want to get out of the door once you are on the move it is much nicer to run in the cool. I titled today's entry variance because I have been looking to make the route a little longer and a little more challenging but also to stop me from getting bored. I cut across the bridleway between West Yatton and Long Dean and was rewarded by seeing a deer bobbing across my path; moving a fair bit faster than I was. There were consideraby more uphills than in the previous run tough on the legs but in only two runs I feel stronger.

http://gb.mapometer.com/en/ - this tool has been so valuable in not kidding myself about how far, how fast and how many calories I am burning, (444 calories today) - it can even tell me how many feet of ascent and descent. 138 up and 131 down for the altitude focused out there. It is perhaps at this point that i should introduce Mike-the-Bike. Mike-the-Bike is my 62 year old father in law who has decided this year that he wants to complete this years London to The Bell Pub ride (all 97 miles of it). We went out and bought a good bike, a Trek.....erm thingummy, and he has graduated over the last few weeks from 7 mile runs to the all new 32 mile long run scheduled for Wednesday. Periodically Mike-the-Bike will be making appearances on The "F" files....in the mean time Jef my bezzie mate is down from sunny Dundee so it may be a curry night to night, so I will probably balance that with a salad for lunch. Tomorrow is a weights day!!!

REST DAYS

Rest days are important and whilst it seems crazy to have a rest day the day after I start this thing, it allows me to assess just how hard that run was, and the truth is it wasn't too bad. I mean it left me panting at points but it was manageable.

More importantly about rest days it allows you to ponder the important questions of life like why do sportsmen eat bananas? Allegedly it is for carbohydrate and potassium, the truth is that it is unlikely that you will digest a banana quick enough to get the energy before the end of an activity. The reason they wan't potassium is as it stops them cramping. Apparently mashing the banana helps to break down some of the complex digestible material, my one year old son Joel would probably not agree he loves his 'nana" pure. I on the other hand quite enjoy a mashed banana on toast for breakfast.

Extras

....oh and I might have snuck a little bit of macaroni cheese and a glass of sparkling rose wine slipping in those extra calories just where I don't need them.

Saturday's Run

This morning was miserable weather, overcast and wet. It is almost as though someone was working against me but the truth I is he is working with me as I pulled on my kit and headed out. Now I am not one of those lycra monkeys that insist because they are running it makes it perfectly acceptable to have the family jewels outlined "a la Linford Christie" circa 1992. I wear a day glo t-shirt courtesy of Vermont Medical Response Team, combat pants courtesy of the US Army Rangers and Brooks Fusion trainers, this not only protect my modesty but also limits the expectation of onlookers. I look as though I can manager a reasonable trudge even with a pack on. The only pack I carry is my North Face - Sports Hiker which has my Ipod in. Playlist: Third Day - Offerings ii (favourite track ....hmmmm it is a toss up between Creed and Offering)

My wife was positive and said it didn't look that bad, the truth was that I was drenched by the end of the road. I kind of liked the drenched look and it keeps me cool. Now according to http://gb.mapometer.com/en/ I covered 2.29miles in 25 minutes burning a meagre 401 calories. Kind of a lot of effort for 401 calories.

Now if I add that 401 to my standard 2500 calories that gives me a grand total of 2901 calories out....how about calories in.........

Half a bowl of porridge

1 apple

1 bannana

2 boiled eggs

5 slices of pizza hut pizza (BBQ Deluxe...thanks for asking)

1 pizza hut salad

2 cokes

Smoked mackerel salad.

hmmmmmmm......probably should have dropped the pizza!