Quick Gains and Early Pains

Well this blog has only been running since 24 July, so a touch over two weeks and amazingly we have some early gains.......7 pounds of them.  Sure enough just getting out there on Sally is making a big difference very quickly as is a bit of a change of eating habits.  And when I say change of eating habits I actually mean eating more on occasions.

So people wonder why I call my bike Sally?  Sally gets her name due to my lack of discipline in cleaning her after rides on the road.... Sale is french for dirty hence Sally came about.  Sally and I have been doing predominantly functional cycling.  Instead of jumping in the car or taking the train I have been leaving for appointment a little earlier and  taking the bike.  Sometimes this has mean a couple of hours in the saddle once you count the return trip.  Cycling is great for me as isn’t an impact sport but my love of it and the challenge it offers has lead to some sore knees and and aching muscles.  I have to remember I am not Bradley Wiggins, but puffing my way up some of the hills around here in the spinny gears has actually lead to Tour de France like elation.

"942 feet of climbing!  Then the reverse profile on the way back"

I use Adidas Mi:Coach to track my workout but you can get plenty of stuff that is compatible with your iPhone or other smartphone.  I think the product needs some calibration which I have yet to do as it shows me as training beyond the red zone and whilst some of those climbs were certainly hard I wasn't going Jonny Brownlee over it.

"What is beyond the red zone?"

When I say a change in eating, this is not a diet.  When presented with a cup cake baked and iced by my two year old son....I am going to eat it and my mother in law is always popping round with "a little treat" or something calorific.  What I have done is be more thoughtful about what I eat and when, sometimes this has meant eating more.  Like directly after a long ride I have taken to knocking back For Goodness Shakes - now when I used to play rugby and all the boys were doing creatine I steered well clear and maybe that explains why I never made an international player...that and a lack of application to training.  What I have found since using For Goodness Shakes is that I don't get the munchies later on in the day, as I have topped up my bodies protein and carb reserves in a calorie controlled way rather than grabbing handfuls of the children's cereal straight from the box.

Anyway I have a few aches and pains from jumping back into activity with out always remembering to stretch, warm down or go easy on myself but the happiness that a 7 pound loss brings numbs them a little.  I may schedule a little running in this week to celebrate......

It's not about the kit it is about getting started....

"love him or hate him
you can't deny his excellence"

Lycra...... it's just not meant for men.  No matter how you look at it......(and don't ever look at it who can forget Linford Christie's Olympic exhibition) lycra is just not for men.  That said as you look through the pages of Trail Running or Outdoor Fitness there is a lot of clingy clingy, stretchy stretchy garments on the market......and let's not talk about skimpy skimpy shorts!  Cycling gloves alone are a world of technology and if you don't have the techknowledge it becomes very difficult to choose between your kangaroo leather palm and your synthetic gel enhanced carpal protection band (I made that last one up before you go looking for it).

The thing is I think we are all gear junkies and often not even informed ones.  At least one advertisement I read offered me the saving of an eighth of an ounce on a head torch........I am 18 stone for goodness sake, shaving my head will save me an eighth of an ounce but I will still be pushing 18 stone around.  These small margins are for the pros for the people where the marginal differences mean seconds, my margins are currently to be measured in minutes or perhaps even quarter hours.

No at this point it is all about getting started, the gear may not be the best but let's face it neither is the current performance!

"You may not see the exclusive features of "Sally" on Bradley Wiggins bike below"

"I give you the Pinarello D2...I wonder what I would name such a bike"

Strangely Team Sky don't see the need for bike lock hanger, child seat mounting points, commuter panniers, front shocks (somewhat rusted stiff), 2 inch tyres, comfy saddle cover (as I lack padded shorts) and the cross country gearing.  Mayb they'll retro fit them to next years bike??? That said Sally and I have been bashing out the miles around about 100 or so a week and she creaks, moans, clicks and rattles but we can bash out a steady 15-16mph average over 20 or so miles and our distances are increasing slowly.

"Asics Cumulus 13"

There is one are which you can't skimp on, particularly at 18 stone, training shoes. I have always come back to Asics as the suit my gait perfectly.  Someone once tried to convert me to another brand which shall remain anonymous and they were OK but I am back with Asics.

Training shoes you can't afford to get wrong.  The gait analysis and the expense  is all worth it to be able to run comfortably for any distance.  I use these cumulus for on road and mild off road running including sprint and recovery sessions in my local park.

Well the olympics are on now and there is a fair amount of inspiration knocking about on the TV so I am going to hop off now and watch....purely for performance tips.

40tude

"40 is not the limit!"

40 - tude   - I don't even know what I mean by 40 - tude.  Is 40 - tude getting woken up by your kids at 4am and seeing the benefit of being able to strap them into bike carry seats and go for a ride at 0730 or is it an equal and opposite reaction to  hearing that the main competitors at the Olympics and La Tour de France this year were "nearing the end of their career" in their early to mid 30's.  I guess 40 - tude is a number of different attitudes to heading into your 40's.

The Big Four Oh (heavy on the OH) is not what it used to be people are living longer, achieving more at later ages and generally 60 is the new 40 but it is nonetheless a way point in our lives so I thought I would mark this year with a few challenges.  Things to do before you are 40:

"Oh yeah I am going to look this buff"
Photo from SPEEDO

1. A marathon (Ideally London but any marathon will do)

2. An open water swim

3. A bike ride of significant proportions (100 miles+)

So the journey begins....well actually it should have begun 27th June this year when I turned 39 and stepped into my 40th year but I actually spent the 27th flying from the US to the UK and then spent the next 3 weeks struck down with some sort of virus.....(not man flu....even my wife acknowledged this was a real virus....honest) So here we are almost a month later and I am just getting round to starting the 11months that will lead me into 40's

I am blogging about this because I want to raise some money for charity in the process, I figure the trials of training and competing are a little easier if you have a goal in mind.  My goal is 40,000 for my 40th and that is a huge £3637 a month for the next 11 months. I have yet to settle on the charities and when I do you will see some donate buttons appearing on the side bar of this blog.

I want to complete this for inspirational causes and inspirational people.  People like Claire Lomas who completed a marathon this year; despite being paralysed in a horse riding accident, 16 days it took her and reading about it will move you to tears.  I am just a slightly tubby 39year old indulging himself in a few challenges of his choosing I hope that this whole process will benefit people who face much bigger challenges that weren't necessarily of their choosing.

With any luck these 11months will turn fat and flab into fit and fab and raise £40000 on the way.  Any ideas for inspirational causes would be more than welcome.