Almost saw an alien

"Do you really like it, do you really like it
We're gymin' it, gymin' it, gymin' it
We're gymin' it like this"

Back down the gym this morning, but i didn't go swimming last night although the whole world was trying to make me, I decided to go to the cinema instead but it wasn't to be

Firstly, couldn't decide on either 'Cowboys and Aliens' or 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' went for Cowboys, then Dani said that she was going to take us out for dinner so we looked up vouchers for cheaper dining out and found 40% off Pizza Express, awesome! Then the printer wouldn't print the voucher, Grr, then it did, awesome, then on route to the cinema, we remembered that we forgot to take our vitamins to take with dinner, Grrr, then when we got to the cinema I forgot to get the 'Pay and Display' Ticket, Grr, ran back and paid for it, Grr, while Dani went to get the Cinema tickets, awesome, then my unlimited card couldn't be used for Deluxe showings (Hmmm, yeah we also used the phrase 'doesn't sound very unlimited does it' and got greeted with a confused look) So we had to pick another showing, the lady behind the desk didn't know what the other showings were and appeared to just make up a few times on the spot, Grrrr, went to another register and asked for the next non-deluxe showing, it was only 40 mins after the one we wanted to watch so we said we'd have that one then, awesome, then the unlimited card won't go through, Grrr, so they said that they would call head office for us to clear up the issue, awesome, then they came off the phone and said the direct debit hasn't been setup yet (Note: i have been using the card for over a year now on direct debit) Grrrrrr
Took my very limited 'unlimited' card from the 12 year old (looking) 'service guy' and went to blockbuster instead and rented 'Your Highness' and had a good night in

On the up side I'll be saving £15 each month by not paying for an unlimited card now

400 meters done!

Back down the pool last night and I wasn't taking any prisoners this time 400 meters or bust

I didn't want to tackle the full 400 meters straight away so I started with 130 meters then another 130 meters then 2 more 130 meters, so by now I'd done more than I needed to but they were broken up into chucks with short breaks between them, why the strange 130 meters lengths? well the pool that I am swimming in is 33.3 meters long so each 4 lengths takes me to slightly under the 130 meters mark

After a quick trip to the loo I was back and ready to tackle the big one, I took it very slow at first and I just concentrated on each lap individually, not focusing on how many I had left just feeling great after each one I completed, I counted to 10 laps and knew that I could do another 2 easy so I carried on and didn't stop, I'm not sure exactly how many meters I swam in the end but it definitely over 400 meters, I still don't know how long it took me but at least I'm confident that I can actually do it now and what 400 meters straight feels like on the body

So I just need to combine that with a 20km cycle and finish it off with a 2.5km run and it's happy days

My recovery time is my most surprising aspect of all this training, I remember when I was going down the gym before and pushing myself I would be dead for the next few days, but now I'm going to the gym in the mornings and then going to work then going swimming later on, I'm doing 3 Herbalife shakes around workouts and training and I'm never feeling tired, I'm pushing myself harder and harder and I'm feeling stronger and can see my muscle growth getting bigger in such a short amount of time, My stamina is getting longer and longer, when I first started swimming I was struggling to do a length and last night they had to kick me out of the pool because I wouldn't stop swimming, everyone else had left 10 minutes before the end

Monday Mornings

So how did you start your Monday morning?

Well I went down the gym and done some more training for the triathlon

BORING!!!!

Okay so I flew a space shuttle around the world and saw 2 monkeys arguing over a peanut both in mid-fart, when I saw a flash of light as a giant bouncy castle exploded on the surface of Mars which insidently made a thousand stars implode simultaneously and leave behind exactly 15 versions of the very same puffin book that I read when I was at school

Does that sound more interesting?

---

Don't ask where that came from, Had a great weekend went to see my girlfriends uncle get married, didn't get to witness any fights though, sorry

I was caught off my training guard by some Pimms mixed with fruit and lemonade before I remembered about my healthy body and then stuck to water for the rest of the night, wasn't bored though, had a really good time, great company, food and location

I've not done any form of training since Thursday nights swim, I started to notice less and less people coming to the gym in the mornings, there used to be at least 10 people there, i'll put it down to Monday morning today

I'll need to start timing myself on the swimming soon so that I can judge how fast i can swim 400 meters

Lost, Dazed and Bewildered

"...And I wonder...When I sing along with you...If everything could ever feel this real forever...If anything could ever be this good again..."

This is my new intro song when I walk into a room (It's Everlong by the Foo Fighters), much like the "dum-dum-dum  dum-de-dum  dum-de-dum" that Darth Vader has whenever he is close by

Anyway, last night I found myself walking the corridors of a strange building my body ached all over and I was staggering left to right and right to left, I looked the shattered remains of someone left in the desert and who had had to make their way to the nearest oasis, I had just completed an hour of nearly non-stop swimming, all I can say is "Damn that Will Smith"

If you haven't seen the inspirational video of Will Smith on YouTube you need to look it up, i'll see if i can post it on here soon, in the video he talks about work ethic and setting yourself goals and sticking to them no matter what (well thats what i got from the video and i know what you're going to say, didn't you know that already? well yes but he says it in an inspiring way, seriously look it up)

I'm not sure how long i swam for in distance but I definately done over 400 meters, it wasn't easy mind, at the end of every length i had to argue with myself to do "just one more length" following this strategy i managed to keep on going

---

Which brings us to this morning, it's strange i used to love lie-ins, the alarm would wake me up at 7:30 and i'd snooze it all the way till 8:00, don't ask me why i didn't just change the alarm to 8:00 in the first place, i guess i liked the feeling that i should get up earlier but "sleeping in" till eight made that extra sleep feel so much better

However when the alarm went off at 6:30 i knew it was time to get up and off down the gym for me, i managed to get a full hour in doing resistance training and then a 10 min power cycle set to almost the highest resistance level, it was hard work and my body told me to stop after a minute had gone by but i kept pushing on, i used the same strategy as i did in swimming the night before "just one more minute"

Had a shake before and after and it's almost time for my third of the day, feeling awake energized and raring to go

I'm back for more

Well my holiday was great, I tried to get some short distance runs in between the opening of the locks (I was on a canal boat for a week) the week started off well with shakes for breakfast and niteworks for my night-time drink but eventually the holiday spirit got the better of me and along came the fried breakfasts and ciders for my night-time drinks, D'oh!

But now that I'm back I've kick started my training off again, an almost hour long swimming session last night and an almost hour long gym session this morning before work, I now get to see 2 x 6:30's in my day

I've hit the shakes again after my workouts, I asked my team of experts for some shake tips (Thanks BIG team) and I'm feeling energized and ready for the triathlon again

I probably should have done my stats before and after my holiday to see what happened to my body while resting but I didn't (Note to Self: do this on your next holiday)

I weighed myself at the gym and I'm showing as 70 kg so I've probably lost some muscle so I'll need to build this back up again

Well it's good to be back and i'll keep you updated as the date gets ever nearer, argh!!

New Speedos and Haircut

That's right i got me some Speedos, photos are below...












Why what were you thinking?

Also does anyone know a half decent (that's right not even a fully decent) hairdresser? i only went in for a trim and i feel as though I've been scalped, i knew there was a reason that i don't like my hair being cut and it's because unless you go for the full wash, cut and color (not that i have) i appear to get the useless grunts that seem to have passed hairdressing school on a technicality that they do possible know how to do it they just can't be ar$ed anymore, and by the way hairdresser lady that 50p tip from the tenner i gave you was to go towards training and also to get mr the hell out of there as quickly as i could

All that aside i'm off down t'gym

My achey achey arms

On Friday i thought I'd push myself a little

I'd watched a video on YouTube of Will Smith quotes and he says that he pushes himself everyday to do his best and when he sets his mind on a goal he will achieve that goal no matter what

So i was down the gym and going on the running machine i noticed that my stomach muscles couldn't continue much after the 1km mark so i stopped running to ensure that i didn't get injured, feeling slightly let down by my abs i got on the resistance machine (the one where you push your arms up above your head whilst sitting down)

I had the machine on the 5kg setting (the lowest one) and began to do 100 reps, once I'd finished those i thought that i could do another set, i got to about 20 before my arms asked me to stop, when i got to 50 my arms asked again, by 80 they were screaming at my me but i got to my goal of 100 again (yeah thanks Will)

After my arms were loosened up i thought I'd better get my legs moving again with engaging my abs too much so i went on the sit back cycle machine, it's like the normal cycle machine but you sit back in the chair and let your legs do all the work

For my triathlon i need to do a 20km cycle route so i set myself the goal of getting to 20km just to see if i could and then to see how long this was going to take me

When i got to 5km i thought i should probably stop but that damn Will Smith video echoed in my ears and i just couldn't stop at 5 km i had to go all the way to 20km, it was thought going but i did it and i felt so happy that i did, i got a real sense of achievement form it, setting a goal, struggling with the goal then finishing the goal

It took my 35 Min's to do the full 20km but afterwards and even now my legs are fine with it, it's just my arms that are a little stiff this morning (it's always the day after the day after a workout for some reason)

On Saturday i rested my body and ate healthily to help recover, this morning i was going to go to the gym for a swim but the way my arms are I'm leaving it till tomorrows early morning session

Here's the Will Smith video: http://youtu.be/pfWGoLj1JCM

Where have you gone?

OK I'm still here, you can relax now
I should have gone swimming this morning but by going to bed at about one this morning i took the executive decision to sleep more instead of lose sleep for more training

I know I've got a long way to go to be able to swim the 400m comfortably with enough energy to then cycle 20km and then run 2.5km but as I'm doing this around a full time job as well i figured that i didn't want my training to cause problems with my job, being tired from training or not fully concentrating

Anyway that's my excuses out of the way, i got my first family recognition yesterday, i was round my pops' and he noticed that i was already looking slimmer, now he can be very sarcastic sometimes but I'm sure he was being genuine this time, now i haven't noticed a considerable difference myself  in regards to weight loss but hey if it shows then i must be doing something right, cheers pops

I'm going to get to the gym later for either some swimming, running or secret fitball training before the next lesson

My 1st fitball class

Attended a fitball class at my gym today
They are really good at building core strength and stability

I
was
useless!

OK let me re-phrase, I felt useless, I was wobbling all over the ball and at one point the ball bounced across the room, still i had fun and learn about muscles that i didn't even know that i had

The instructor was good with clear beginners like myself, showing us how to perfect each movement and showed us how to progress to the more advanced workouts

I did mean to get to the gym earlier to go for a run to burn some calories but it turns out that the class was more than enough

I still took a shake and a Niteworks, then afterwards i had another shake with vitamins and protein powder to help rebuild my muscles

I'll let you know tomorrow if I've got any aches as I'm getting up early for a swim to get ready for my 400m leg of my triathlon

Stats and more

Back from gym
Okay before i get into my workout i've been getting some stats of my body from Dani's Tanita scales:

04/04/2011 (taken for a laugh)
Weight = 166.2 lbs
Body Fat % = 19.3
Hydration % = 56.1
Muscle Mass = 127.4 lbs
Physique rating = 5
Basal Metabolic Rate = 1796 Cal
Metabolic Age = 29
Bone Mass = 6.6 lbs
Visceral Fat Reading = 4

06/09/2011
Weight = 157.6 lbs
Body Fat % = 15
Hydration % = 59.6
Muscle Mass = 127.2 lbs
Physique rating = 5
Basal Metabolic Rate = 1780 Cal
Metabolic Age = 18
Bone Mass = 6.6 lbs
Visceral Fat Reading = 3

Okay beforehand i had a Niteworks and a fruit juice shake

Workout:

Walk 5 Min's
Run 15 Min's
Walk 5 Min's (3.3Km Total)
Back resistance machine (1 set of 100 reps)

Then I asked an instructor to some us some exercises for the back and abs on the exercise balls

He suggested we use a 65cm ball instead of a 55cm, then showed us a few different things we could do and you could really feel them working, due to having to keep balance as well as do the movement it works more muscles, he said that working the core would also automatically help with whatever other sports we were doing

He also said that he is running a fit ball session tomorrow for an hour so we might go along to that as well

afterwards i had a Soy milk shake with multivitamins and fibre and herb tablets

i feel exercised but no aches, yay

Gym and Swim

OK went back down to the gym last night
Took on board a Niteworks and shake beforehand again

Workout

10 Min's Walk
10 Min's Run (3km including walk)
4 x 100 (5kg each) arm and back toning on a resistance machine
20 Min's Cycle machine (over 5km but didn't log how much in the end)

Took a shake and vitamins for afterwards

My recovery time is improving and I'm finding a better breathing pace for my running as well, i now breath in for four steps and out for 4 steps, before i was doing in for 2 and out for 2

---

Found myself wanting something healthly for a supper snack, so went to the supermarket and get various tinned sardines in tomato and bbq sauces, had the bbq one on toast, very nice, and good for you, i don't think that i'd even had sardines before that

---

Went for a swim this morning as well, no aches or pains from yesterdays gym session and i took my goggles

With my goggles i could really start to concentrate on my breathing and arm technique

We did get asked to leave the fast lane though as i was swimming a bit slow and kept getting ion the way of this other guy, Sorry, saw him in the changing rooms later and found out that he's also training for a triathlon and will be going to do the Emberton triathlon this Sunday, just looked it up here: http://www.big-cow.com and this must be the triathlon he's doing:

Date: 05-Jun-2011
Location: Emberton Country Park
First Sprint of the Series
750m Swim ; 20km Bike ; 5km Run

I think this is a sprint triathlon, actually i've just looked it up and it is, so sorry for getting in your way


Note to self: look into getting a nose blocker for swimming

Gym and Hangover

Went to the gym pretty much straight after work yesterday
Took on board a shake and vitamins before as well as a Niteworks (Nitric Oxide supplement)

Workout:
5 min walk
15 min run (almost 3km including walk)
10 min cycle (almost 6km)
1km on rowing machine
5 min walk

also walked to and from the gym, 10 Min's there and 15 Min's back

After the gym i took on board another shake, then off to the cinema for Hangover 2

after waiting 2 and a half hours due to a combination of half term off for kids and Hangover 2 being Full up till 9:50

Had some cooked chicken and whole bunch of blueberries

Felt fine with my workout no aches or pains well only from laughing too hard at the Hangover 2

All smoke no cigar

So i really did intend to go swimming this morning, I'd got my toothbrush packed and my goggles, i guess something must have happened at half 6 this morning when the alarm went off and my whole body said "Nah, no thanks, I'd like some more sleep please"

It seemed to really convince me as i didn't go in the end :(

But i feel better for the extra sleep so might go to the gym later to make up for it, the gym lady set a kind of challenge on the climbing wall machine that most people find it difficult to do more than 30 seconds on the first go so i'm going for it, it can't be that bad can it, it's supposed to work your whole body