F-athlete

That is supposed to be fat-hlete but doesn't really work due to the "th" sound.

Anyway, I have had a major rethink of the training situation and come to the conclusion that weight loss is going to be the single biggest thing that will help my tryathlon time. I've looked through all my times over the last 2 months and there doesn't seem to be much of a change. Obviously I've been doing that thing of "hey I've just exercised therefore I can eat anything I want now" and that sort of self-justification isn't healthy - literally.

In 1997 I went from 15 and a half stone to 12 stone 10lb in 2 and a half months by cycling every day. Although that's a bit to dramatic to be long term it still tells me that decent weight loss is possible. So what was the difference there?

Well, firstly I cycled EVERY day. I was on a mountain bike which takes more work than the racer and I was doing between 200 - 250 miles every 7 days. At the moment I'm probably doing around 100 with a bit of leisurely indoor trainer thrown in for good, but perhaps fruitless, measure. Also I was eating only 2 small meals per day and I wasn't snacking AT ALL. From the alcohol point of view, I would only drink when I was going out (which was rarely as I was staying at my parents) and then I would only have vodka and diet coke - which now would turn my stomach actually.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I was committed to dropping fat and that regime worked. It stayed off for quite a while but lack of will power and reduced commitment lead to it all coming back. I have to put some blame in the court of the GUU with all the free beer and free crappy food during the 2 years I was on the Board there. However, ultimately the fault is mine and I need to get that mind set back into my head.

I was reading that every extra kilo you carry requires an extra 3 watts of energy per meter to get you up a hill on the bike. Therefore, I am about 30kg over my ideal body weight so for a 100m stretch of climb I have to generate (3w x 30kg x 100m) 9000watts. If I did a 10km climb I would require almost a megawatt worth of extra energy. Crazy when you look at it that way. I'm sure that if I lost even 10kg by the triathlon then my times would be drastically better so that's the plan.

Absolutely no snacks

2 or 3 small meals per day

Moderate, low-cal booze if required

Plenty of water daily

Some exercise EVERY day

Mix together, cook at 36.5C for 9 weeks and serve up with your favorite sports drink on a platter of Stirling Triathlon - remembering to keep fingers crossed at all times.

Cloch Lighthouse and Back - Split 10km 22min - Total 20km 44min

Not very impressive. At least it was 4C today instead of the freezing 1C yesterday.

I tried to do this at "race-pace" and this was all I could manage so it looks like I'll barely manage to do the cycle segment in under 45 minutes. Every time I've had a split of around 40 mins I've had a huge tail wind and from the look of the route it's going to be a loop so tail winds will become head winds and vice versa.

I suppose it'll at least be a bit warmer and I'll not be wearing a big wind-catcher jacket at the time. As I remember though, Stirling is quite hilly in places and it could be a total nightmare on the road bike. I guess weight loss is where it's at. If you think that people pay thousands of pounds for lighter bikes when all they really need to do is shift a couple of their own kilos it kinda puts weight into perspective.

Bullring and Back - 20km split 45min - total 40km 1hour 30min

Did this again yesterday. I don't really know what the problem is. I just can't get my legs to pedal any more. It's not that they are tired and I'm not out of breath - it's just that they feel weak.

What's worse is that my time isn't changing at all. Strange.

Today is a bank holiday - perhaps I should get on the road again? Dunno, thinking about the indoor trainer instead. More importantly though that that I've done no running in over a week. Bad.

Bullring and Back - 20km split 50mins - 40km total 1 hour 29 min

In total this was slightly faster today but given that I did a long cycle yesterday too, perhaps it could have been faster. The way up was awful again and it seems that for the first 20km my legs have nothing in them. That's going to be an issue on the day of the triathlon surely as the cycle stage is only 20km.

On the plus side, the second 20km was 39mins and that is my fastest 20km to date.

Nice.

Bullring and Back - 20km split 48min - 40km total 1 hour 30 min

This was a bit of a disaster today. It took 48 mins to get to the 20km mark which is the longest time so far and I was so upset that I decided to come back the same way - adding 5km to my normal 35km loop but at least giving me the chance to try and beat 48 mins.

It wasn't hard although on the way back I still only managed 42min so all in all I'm a bit disheartened with the performance today but I suppose on the up side, I added some extra distance. I think I'll try it again tomorrow morning and see if I can do a bit better. Here's hoping.

Another thing that is frustrating to say the least is that there is very little in the way of improvment going on and I don't know why. I'm running or cycling 6 times a week now and yet I don't seem to be making much head way. Shame. Perhaps I need leg transplants...? I think the bloke in the picture is browsing the real life catalogue!

Skelmorlie Loop - 5km - 30:05

Frustratingly, this time ties with my second fastest time but is still half a minute slower than my fastest. What I find most perplexing is that my legs felt good and I wasn't out of breath at all. The hill at the start was no trouble and I rocketed down the slope to Weymss Bay and I was expecting to cross the finish way under my PB.

Why then was I so slow? There was no wind to speak of and the weather wasn't that cold. It wasn't raining and my cadence felt good. I just don't know. I realise that the day I did the 29 and a half minutes I had a massive tail wind for most of it but still I can't help feeling disappointed when everything felt in tune but still the time wasn't my best.

Them's the breaks I guess. Oh well, can't worry about it anymore as I've got my interview for GP training today and that's the only thing that should be on my mind.

West End Loop - 5km - 36:08

Qudos to Adam. A very respectable time today and we had some very long stretches of constant running. More important than the time though was the fact that we were able to chat the whole way round which I think means things are getting easier as well as faster.

Nice One.

Shawlands Loop - 5km - 36:35

So after that horrible cycle this morning I went up to Glasgow to run with Adam. For a bit of a change of scenery we ran round Shawlands and Victoria park which was good fun until the "Hill" and the return of the rain. Also there was one or two massive puddles that we ended up having to wade through.

All in all, not bad - and again a few more seconds shaved off the runs avec Adam.

Greenock Via Gourock Loop - 20km split - 40min, 35km total - 1 hour 20 min

Well the temp on the speedo went from 7C to a glorious 4C today. This happening in the middle of a downpour that soaked me. My jacket kept me dry but despite my over-shoe cover (which are supposed to be water proof) my shoe filled with rain and my toes and feet froze.

It was unbearable. At one point I rode past another cyclist who had taken refuge in a bus shelter. I felt his pain. Perhaps I should have joined him and waited for the storm to pass but my feet were in such agony by that point I decided just to try for home ASAP.

I have to say I was quite pleased that I made the 40min mark again without as much of a tail wind as last time but I was sorely disappointed with the final time. I suppose that's not all that important and the weather played a big part in that but still it sucks.

One thing that was interesting though - as I was on the way home I had to get off my bike at the IBM dual carrage way to move a huge bucket some moron had left in the fast lane. The process of running those few meters was horrible and I'm dreading the feeling in my legs the first time I do a trail run of the second transition. It's going to be very strange trying to run any distance after a 20km road cycle.

Giffnock Hills - 7km - 47:17

Tried this route with Sophie tonight and it was hard. Mainly because I was chatting so much about the new Xbox I've just bought but also because of the damn hills in Giffnock. Therefore I'm calling this, not only over-distance training, but also hill training.

I might try and do this route with her more frequently as it's good for my triathlon training but she's quite a bit fitter and faster than me and although I managed to keep up (barely) today, it's her first run of the year and I'm sure in a couple of weeks she'll be soaring ahead.

Better to train with people that are better than you though?!?!

Skelmorlie Loop - 5km - 30:05

Although today's time was not my fastest it certainly is the biggest victory as it was -2C when I went out and it was snowing. That's devotion for you. Actually the legs felt OK but breathing in that cold air was a nightmare for the first 500m and I thought I was having a major case of angina.

Got back in one piece thankfully, despite a fairly trecherous bit of icy down hill I had to contend with. Then spent half an hour on the indoor trainer - low gears though and a DVD to take my mind off the RPM so not much in the way of effort. Might try to run every day now. Not sure, but soon with have to go onto the over-distance training which I'm dreading.