Bodythin percentage

I've had a huge incineration of bodyfat this week. I've dropped 1.5%! All this cycling and mag training has definitely made a huge dent in the vat of fat. Plenty more of the same should produce similar results - obviously it will all be at a higher intensity going forward, but I'm looking forward to more of the downward shift away from fatness!

The next couple of weeks will be very stressful. By the 10th of June I'll have worked 17 days straight without a day off as I've picked up a Tuesday long shift in membership sales with a view to dropping that nasty Friday morning! I just can't train when I'm that tired, it doesn't work!

My Dad is coming to stay for ten days from the 8th of June, sharing my poky little one bedroom unit. I haven't shared a house with anyone for that long in about ten years, and let's face it, it is going to be challenging. My kitchen is barely big enough to swing a cat's whisker in, let alone the whole cat. My bedroom is just big enough for a double bed and not much else. I'll be on a mattress in the lounge, sleeping next to my mag trainer. Hopefully my boss will still be able to lend me said mattress, or it's going to be airbed city.

On top of this, I'm training about 14-16 hours a week and I just found out today while on the mag trainer that the property manager wants to do an inspection next Monday. Yeah thanks, universe, just what I need on top of being a struggling person, amateur triathlete and busy personal trainer! As if I don't have enough to stress about. The housework had to be done anyway, but with Dad and the property manager coming it has to be extra super duper spotless but lived in.

I've just climbed out of the pool after another 200m of pain. I nearly did the last 100m non-stop, just to see what my shoulder would do (aside from bitching and moaning that is) but it wouldn't cooperate more than 50m and then only breaststroke. It seems to be getting slightly easier to swim and less painful which is good but it still hurts like hell. Hopefully after physio this week I'll be able to increase the distance maybe to 250m or even 300m. 

The shoulder continues to bitch and moan very loudly for a couple of hours after swimming, and it whines something chronic first thing in the morning. I think it's the cold, or the fact that I am sleeping on it a bit more. I have to - I'm a side sleeper, and sleeping on just one side isn't my idea of fun when there are two sides available. I'm trying to sleep kinda rolled back on that side so that I'm not crushing it but it doesn't really seem to make much difference. I refuse to sleep on my back and can't sleep on my front. So, I wait until I'm literally about to black out from tiredness and then go to bed.

I've done two training sessions already today - a hard hour on the mag trainer and then the 200 in the pool. Tomorrow it's a 2.5hr bike, Wednesday a run and maybe a tiny swim, Thursday a 1.5hr hard mag trainer session, Friday a 3hr bike, Sat a run, and Sun ride to and from work with a run off the bike. And then my training week starts all over again!

Right, off to work time so have a great day y'all.

Cold snaps and Km

The weather has been a bit daft for the past couple of weeks. On Sunday it was really warm, like "one jacket and no thermal top on under your shirt" warm. Last week was cold but slightly warmer than the week before. Today we've been hit by another cold snap, with bitey cold winds and big surf with showers and cold temps. I'm going to go for a run in the morning, so I can have a giggle at the surf and the waves crashing over the sea wall!

This is certainly not ideal riding weather - but I took a HTFU pill this morning and headed out anyway. I was wrapped up warm, my phone was inside two ziplock plastic bags, and I had money and my myki in case I needed anything! I figured if I got wet and blown around it would be just like riding in Auckland, and would be just like riding IMNZ this year! 

I took the train (well, trains) up to Hoppers and decided to ride the Federation trail back to Brooklyn, then ride on to physio, and then ride home. I figured it would be about two hours, but when I factored in the wind and the getting lost parts it was closer to three. I'm not sure where I went wrong - I followed the trail but apparently lost it somewhere. 

Next time I'll ride it in reverse, so I can get a clue as to where I went wrong! I was about 3km from Hoppers station before I think I lost the plot, but it could have been when I had to try and find another way across Old Geelong Road when I found the underpass was about two feet underwater!

I'd taken gels, an up and go energise, a small packed lunch and electrolytes with me, but it was so damn cold and windy that I forgot to do anything except drink. I had the up and go when I finally got to physio, slightly late. I stopped for five minutes on the way home to eat my chicken wrap and then came home for carbs - baked potato, a bowl of cereal with yogurt and milk, and a protein shake. 

It was after 4pm by the time I got home and I had to be at the club by 6pm for the weekly mag trainer session so I ate and went for a walk around the village. I came home, filled my bike bottles, got changed, watched a quick bit of TV and hit the club. The mag trainer session was harder than last week - 2mins solid race pace, 2mins tempo and then 1min flat out, followed by 2.5mins easy spin. We repeated this about four or five times, then hit the one legged cycling drills. I remembered to loll about on the floor and stretch but have just realised that I've forgotten my quads and calves!

Yesterday I tried to swim, being 0.25 of a 25m length. I forgot my cap but was in so much pain that I teared up my goggles. Epic Fail. Goodbye ironman.

Off to bed - well, off to stretch and then bed. More later - it's a big week and I'm tired and extremely sore after about 2hrs of riding today!

Where's your head at?

Since my tumble off the treadmill last month, I've honestly not felt like training most days. It hurts like hell no matter what I do, being injured is tiring in itself, and there was a small case of bung shoulder, major bruising and a festy knee. I've been banned from swimming for the past few weeks, I could barely walk for two weeks, I didn't have enough flexion in my left knee to bike for a week or so, and my shoulder still frigging hurts. 

I re-read some old blog posts and noticed a disturbing pattern. Whenever I get injured, I lose the plot. It takes a while to get the plot back - and for me to really want to train again. Identifying this is good, because I can talk it over with head coach and the whipper snapper, to find some solutions to my silly pattern around being injured and then the resultant slacking.

I really need to HTFU and get on with it. I really want to do NZ - it's been a dream for years. I currently only half want to do Yeppoon, which is worrying. It's a C race, which is probably accounting for half the state of mind around wanting to pull the pin on it. I'm not overly emotionally invested in this race, but  I have been telling all my PT clients and new gym members that I'm doing Yeppoon, I've bought airfares and entered the race, I've been training for months, I've jacked up a cheap cabin to share with another athlete in my squad, I've booked time off work, I'm refusing to sell my bike pod even though I need the money...get the picture?

The other half of this stupid state I think I can put down to fear - of failure, of success, of jellyfish, of rain, of crashing off the bike, of bonking and not finishing, of the pain after the race, of injury, of finishing, of not making the cut-off times, of not getting an official time, of my cleats and pedals, of aerobars, of my shoulder letting me down on race day, of my knees letting me down on race day, of my tailbone letting me down on race day, of me letting me down on race day, of my bike being left on a tarmac somewhere - the list goes on!

Many of these fears I can do something about - e.g. wearing my wetsuit to ward off jellies, training hard so that I can finish the race, doing time trials to make sure I can meet the cut off times, practising my clip in and de-cleat, doing my physio exercises, practising my nutrition, spending more time in the saddle, getting better knicks so my butt doesn't get so cranky, my shitty attitude right now, etc. 

Things I can't do anything about:

Rain, post-race pain, crashing on the bike course, the airline screwing with transporting my bike, jellyfish presence, race day conditions that are outside my control, etc.

I've been working like crazy for the past couple of weeks, picking up every extra hour / PT client / shift I can get my hands on. I've done mystery shopping, attended market research focus groups, cashed in airpoints for vouchers, and drunk instant coffee instead of espresso. I've not bought any magazines this month, I've not had a meal out and I've hardly left the house except for work and runs and bike rides. 

I'm also about to start a couple of direct selling opportunities, to try and get some eggs out of the fitness basket and into other baskets! I should also find a couple of dogs to walk for a nominal fee, or some pamphlets to deliver, or something to encourage me to do more foot km! I did walk/run from work to Southern Cross today, the long way, which was about 6km.

Why all this fiscal craziness? Because money is tight and my savings have finally run out. I've come to the realisation that my reality cheque has been cashed and it's time to knuckle down. I'm not earning megabucks anymore, and if I take a day off now I don't get paid for it. The cat refuses to get a job and I'll be damned if I'm getting a second job this side of Yeppoon. If I do, I'll have less time to train. It's bad enough that I have to go to NZ for three days and not get paid for the time off. That following fortnight is going to be VERY lean!

So my best hope is doing more PT off shift, and more evening work so that I still have at least half the day left to train during the week. I need to start building up reserves for the NZ trip, for Yeppoon and for Taupo. I've got a a few things to buy this side of Yeppoon (new cleats and pedals, aeros, etc).

Time to sleep - another day tomorrow and I'm meeting the whipper snapper for a ride at 9am.

Training, pain and freezing cold

Yesterday I did the whole three-hour shebang on the bike. I was meant to ride in the morning, but slept in and by the time I had breakfast, did the dishes, tidied the house, did the washing, ate lunch and got my bike off the mag trainer, it was 3pm. Day off? Pah!

I headed over towards Williamstown, on the shared bike/foot paths. It was great - a really nice ride with nice scenery. It wasn't too easy or too hard, with a serious headwind on the way back. I had to stop in Willy and get my tyres pumped up, because I rode all the way over with a low back tyre! No wonder it felt hard and was pretty slow. It was also kinda bouncy going over bumps!

Here's some scenery:

Sunset, looking back towards the city from just past Cresser Reserve 

The path around Willy Beach was concrete tiles, with constant bumps - I suspect between this, riding over bluestone pavers and being in the saddle for hours; it mimics the road surface around Yeppoon. I'm from NZ, so I'm used to nasty volcanic chip roads - but apparently Yeppoon gives even that a run for it's money. Should make for an interesting 90km or so I think. I need to map out yesterday's ride and see how far I went.

Aussie Pukekos - not sure what they're called over here.

I got my two hours done, with three laps of the old Williamstown racecourse included. I chased a guy on a mountain bike for a while, which helped me forget that my saddle was sore (LOL). I got home, had some crackers and a cup of soup, got changed and headed to the club for the mag trainer session my coach wanted me to do. 

After some technical issues with trainer skewers not locking and my bike (and me) falling off the mag trainer (not my fault!) I did half the session before my quads packed up with lactic acid burning a hole in my legs. Not fun! I tried to take on fluids and a gel and pedal at about 80 with no gear, but it was agonising. Next week, I'll do the morning ride early as, then go do the washing and cleaning, then do the mag trainer after a nap!  I think it was too much too close together yesterday.

I also tried my first Kakadu plum marinated skippy steak yesterday. I didn't think very much of it - not sure what I was expecting, but it just didn't rock my world. The cat ended up with the rest, which she threw around outside for a while before turning her nose up at it. Clearly it didn't rock her world either.

The shoulder has been good for the past few days, but was aching like mad yesterday on the bike. I did some triceps work, TRX incline rows, rotator cuff exercises and such like on Friday, and by Saturday my shoulder felt good. I think the TRX rows loosened up my pecs and traps a bit, which is always handy, but my delts hurt today along with my traps. I'll do some more upper body stuff today before work, to get it all moving again.  I'll try and get back in the pool next week, and will continue with the cuff exercises. Hopefully I can start swimming again properly, and soon!

It's really cold here at the moment. Apparently some nasty weather system has blown off Antarctica and hit us head on. It's definitely two-jacket weather, and I'm wearing two long sleeve tops, a hoodie, two beanies (one icebreaker double layer reversible merino skullcap and one lambswool), bed socks and slippers with my compression tights and trackies - and I could probably do with a blankie over my legs! We had the coldest overnight May temperature in three years this week, and guess what Kiwis, it's coming your way, so don't laugh at me just yet!

Time for a boiling hot shower and some lunch, then a nice three-train journey to work (thanks Metro Trains, I love wasting half a day getting to work on three trains because you can't run a piss up in a brewery).

Ciao.

Easter, gains and losses

I finally had a gain last week. 300g! I know where it came from too, so here's the whole sordid story:

After a week of not wanting to swim because my shoulder was incredibly sore and my knee all festy and gross from my treadmill tumble at work, I tried to swim last week. Epic FAIL. My shoulder was complaining the whole time, and after a plunge, spa and hot shower it was almost locked up. I rang my coach in tears - Yeppoon is less than four months away and I was totally freaking out.

Coach told me to hang up, ring the club-affiliated physio, get an appointment and we'd go from there. I went in the next day and saw Jacqui, who banned me from swimming for at least two weeks, and told me I'd probably need 4-6 weeks of physio - and that she suspected I had a SLAP tear (basically a cartillage tear in the shoulder joint, of the cartillage that cushions the ball and socket joint. If physio doesn't sort it, I have to go see a surgeon and get a scan!  Crikey!

I'm also banned from demonstrating press ups, lifting my arm overhead with weight, shrugs with weight, flyes, dips, pull ups, shoulder presses and anything else involving overhead movements or lifts from the shoulder with weight. Basically, if I have to demonstrate anything, it is to be one-armed or with no weight. Oh joy...!

My trigger points are all grumpy and my traps are really peeved. I've had headaches after treatment because of the referred pain and spasm messing with my traps insertion so my skull is also cranky. My neck is all cracky, and my traps won't budge. I've been icing my shoulder, heat packing my neck and traps, doing my theraband rotator cuff exercises and generally feeling sorry for myself and worrying about Yeppoon.

The weight gain came from eating like an athlete, but forgetting I wasn't training like one. I also had a dark Lindt bunny which sent me on a sugar high and then a severe sugar crash. Cleaning the house with one arm really wore me out and I ended up with a six-hour nap. Oops. I've been craving carbs for the past week, and now it seems I'm craving protein. I got on the scales on Sunday and BAM! There it was - a 300g gain!

I do have to say though, it's taken 5 months to experience a gain. I just ate too much and did too little exercise. It's not rocket science, I don't need to go back through my nutrition diary - mostly because I didn't fill it out after about Tuesday of last week - I just need to track all my nutrition, do more exercise and do less Easter eggs!

I get in this funk everytime I get injured. I start feeling sorry for myself, lose the plot slightly and eat a bit more. Of course, I'm not exercising as much so it sits still. Frankly I'm impressed it was only 300g, although in real terms it was probably more like 600g as I should have lost about 300g instead. Ah well...I know what to do to fix it and I just have to get out and do it!

With my not being able to swim, it's all about biking and running now. Last night my train was severely late on the way home and I was cold and tired so I decided to run home from the station, because I can. This morning I'm off to the laundromat so it's time for my laundry run - half my run on the way there, half my run on the way back, while pulling a market trolley weighing about 12kg with my good arm. I can be found most Tuesdays doing the laundry run when it's not persisting down with rain.

I've also worked the last seven days straight and today is my first day off. I'm going to run and mag train today, and do today's program on Thursday. I have to get the washing done and there's a few errands to take care of. Thursday I'm going to ride over to physio, and then ride home the long way. I've got a staff meeting at 4pm and a PT client at 6.30pm so in between I will get on the spin bike. I should be home by 8pm so will do some more mag trainer then. 

The schedule is a bit screwy right now as I'm trying to pick up extra shifts wherever possible. Two trainers are leaving at the end of this month and a third is going on holiday for 12 weeks, so I'll be busy from the end of this month with PT. That will be good - lots of experience and lots of clients plus a decent wage again...yay!

Anyway, gotta bail and go do the washing.