NO LOVE HANDLES ALLOWED!

'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.' Theodore Roosevelt 23 April 1910

Friday, 16 April 2010

"Houston, we have a problem"

OK, it's not a problem of Apollo 13 proportions, and it's actually a very nice problem to have. In short, my work trousers don't fit. I have 2 sets of trousers; my winter trousers that have some extra room to allow for my end of season 'growth spurt', usually caused by an excess of pizza, beer, wine, chocolate, cream cakes etc and a lack of exercise, and I have my 'race season' trousers. These are a size smaller and enable me to transition from 'fatty' to (relatively) 'skinny' without any fuss. But today I hit a new milestone and actually weigh less than when I did IM Germany in 2006. I did that race at 11 stone 4 lbs (71.8kg) and this morning the scales said 11 stone 3.6 lbs (71.6kg). OK, it's not much but it represents a loss of 9 lbs since I made my lifestyle changes some 6 weeks ago now (I think, although it may be 7) and it is the lightest I've been for a very long time and I reckon there is still another couple of pounds to go. The scales tell me my body fat is about 11% although it is acknowledged that these are not the most reliable means of measurement. And the result of all this is that without the aid of a belt even my 'race season' trousers would very probably be around my ankles! (There you are ladies, you can have that image for free!). You now understand my problem.

As for training, it's been a quiet week so far; it's the last week of the kids Easter hols so my evenings are spent relaxing and getting beat on Super Mario Kart on the Wii. I've also managed to test a few bottles of red wine but somehow manage to forget to take any notes by the end of the bottle ... erm ... glass. I've also tested a few different bars of dark chocolate ... mmmmmmmm. I have the New Forest Spring Sportive (83.3 miles) on Sunday so this will be the first chance of 2010 to see just what sort of shape I really am in.

Train smart folks.

7 comments:

Mark "Frank" Whittle said...

Good work T-Man. What's the lifestyle changes you've added?

Turbo Man said...

I've gone Primal. Im not 100% committed like Kelda but I've started following the general principles and I'm amazed at the difference it has made. I have never been at race weight in April before and I was amazed at how easy it was to achieve. I still enjoy wine and chocolate so I don't feel like I'm missing out too much, although I have had to give up bread, pasta, pizza etc, and that was really hard. It has also changed how I train, although I will judge the success of this aspect in October. It will either prove to be a success or a waste of a year; we shall see.

Mark "Frank" Whittle said...

How has it changed your training?

Sags said...

Well if you've gone all caveman don't worry about the trousers. Just kill another wild buffalo and create a new furry loin cloth!

Turbo Man said...

Training has changed because I now avoid the 75-90% of MHR zone; it's either long and steady or maximal, sprint style intervals. The first test of this new regime is tomorrow.

Turbo Man said...

LOL Sags! Was it not bad enough that I gave the ladies an image of me with my trousers round my ankles, you have now provided them with an image of me wearing just a buffalo loin cloth!

Cavegirl said...

Mate, I'll tell you about problems and trust me that ain't on, eh Frank!

See you tomorrow when we shall bother see if the proof is in the pudding ...

Kelda