Revenge on me

The fickle hand of the weigh-in has struck back...

Not surprising given the recent mind farts on my eating...

Forcing it

After the forced PT session on Wednesday, I forced myself to go for my planned run yesterday and felt good for doing it - at the time. In the evening I was dog tired and still very weary this morning.

So I've forced myself to declare today a rest day and shifted my swim/bike session back to tomorrow. This will involve getting the mooselets to the pool with me, and finding time to get the mountain bike out for at least half an hour.

Weigh-in confusion

Yesterday was weigh-in day as part of my regular Wednesday PT session. I managed to persuade myself at the time that 2 weeks ago, my previous weigh-in with the PT had been at 115.9kg, so when 116.0kg came up I was somewhat disappointed. This spurred me on to give full effort in the PT session. The answer to the question "More weight, Moose?" is always Yes.

Imagine how relieved I was to get back to my desk to find the printout from the scales from 2 weeks ago and find it was at 117.0kg. So I have indeed lost 1kg...

The confusion arises because I also weigh-in at home on Saturdays - and last weekends result was a 115.9kg.

The PT is planned into my triathlon schedule so that I have no other triathlon training on a Wednesday. It's my haven in the week when I am completely free to do other stuff (obviously, free in the sense I am free to do whatever the PT says!) that doesn't involve swimming, cycling or running.

Today is planned for a run session. I ache from yesterday and feel weary. So it's going to be a real motivation test to see whether I can get off my backside and get into the gym at lunchtime...

Maybe a rocking workout track of the day will help: let's go for "Wake up Boo" by the Boo Radleys (145bpm - running pace)

Temptation

This weight loss journey of ours would be so fantastically easy - if it wasn't for temptation.

Take yesterday evening as an example. Swimming was my planned triathlon training session. The local pool is 2 miles from where I'm living. The big decision for me was how to get to the pool.

I considered running: too much risk of injury in the cold weather.

I considered cycling: not too sure about leaving my brand new bike outside the pool - and it was damp and dark so too much risk of crashing.

I considered driving: too lazy.

So I walked. I strapped on my backpack and my i-pod and strutted my stuff at 120 bpm all the way there. 30 minutes walking there, 30 lengths (and this pool is 33.3m long, not my usual 25m) of mainly crawl, 30 minutes walking back.

While walking I felt fit and even, dare I say, a little lithe and toned.

And then there was the temptation...my walking route took me past 3 Fish & Chip shops, 3 Chinese take-aways, 2 curry houses, 1 KFC, 2 Chicken & Pizza places, 1 Chinese restaurant with all-you-can-eat buffet, and 5 pubs. So on the whole there-and-back journey I had to walk past 6 Fish & Chip shops, 6 chinese take-aways...well, you get the picture.

Last night I resisted the temptation, and returned home hungry for my lean protein and salad dinner.

But what about next time? The thought is now with me that the walk is a great idea to add some calorie burn and movement and make me feel great but with the way littered with so many points of temptation to eat badly, I'm not so confident that I will be able to resist every time.

Or even next time.

Triathlon training starts here

Yesterday saw the start of my new 12 week triathlon training programme, the aim of which is to prepare me for a triathlon I want to do on 1st May 2011.

The programme has 6 grades, each of which lasts 2 weeks.

Each grade has 7 exercise sessions...each possible combination of the three triathlon disciplines, with 3 "easy" sessions of 1 discipline, 2 medium sessions of 2 disciplines and 1 hard session with all 3.

These sessions form the basic training - the minimum if you like. I can then add anything I want to on top. As the sessions spread over 2 weeks, that's 4 sessions in week 1 of a grade, and 3 sessions in week 2. On Wednesdays I do my PT sessions, so that's on top. Also, once the session is done I can carry on, but free to do what I feel like.

Yesterday was the easy start with Cycling only. The target is 30 minutes of alternate slow and fast music tracks. Slow tracks are at c. 90 bpm while fast ones are at c.100 bpm. Around 8 tracks are needed in total to fill the 30 minute slot. I did about 35 minutes on the spin bike in total, then foam-rollered my calf, then hit the treadmill for 15 minutes.

Today I start swimming again...I haven't swum for quite a long time. The target is 30 lengths, alternate crawl and breaststroke.

I am considering running to the pool and back (about 2 miles each way) as extra training, but will probably take that as it comes this evening when it's time to head for the pool.

Future grades step up the interval pace each time, so grade 2 is the same as grade 1 but with 1 slow track followed by 2 fast tracks (for cycling and running) and 1 breaststroke/2 crawl for swimming. After 3 grades, the distance steps up instead of interval ie up to 40 minutes/40 lengths. By grade 6 and the end of the programme I will be on 1 slow/5 fast at 40 minutes. On my hard session at the end that will be c. 2 hour training session...so I reckon that should have me ready to go for the real thing.

Workout track of the day: None. I don't have a waterproof MP3 player (yet!). Need to lose another 2kg for that one!

Although if I do run to the pool it will be: "All over again" by Kate Rusby (70 bpm - can double up for a 140 bpm running pace).