June 2006

New Challenge Events

Here is just a collection of endurance style events, I need to pick one to aim for:
The 2-Day Polaris Challenge - I've fancied this since I was a kid and saw photos of grimey women crawling knee deep in mud with their bikes.
MTB Orienteering or Trailquests

June 2006

New Bike Dreams

I am just teetering on the age of buying my new bike. That will be about the 6th bike purchase this year and leave me living with another bike in my shower for a while. Ah well - it is another beauty.
The bike in question is a Specialized Epic. Yes I have moved over to the other side - mountain biking! Well at least at the weekend, for the rest of the week I'll be happy on my Sirrus Pro.

I've started collecting together a load of reviews on the Epic:
Bike Mag review
Bike Magic Review
MTBR user reviews

Continue reading "New Bike Dreams"

June 2006

Inspiration

Whenever I go on a new fitness buzz, I like to look around for inspiration that will keep me motivated for just a bit longer. This almost inevitably means spending money on either books or assorted gadgets, and this time round has been no exception.

So this time the book is called "Survival of the Fittest" by Mike Stroud who most famously ran with Sir Ranulph Fiennes on his 7 marathon runs, across 7 continents in 7 days. Flipping nuts!

I haven't finished it yet but the most inspiring story so far is of a woman called Helen Klein. This woman is truly inspirational, she is a great grandmother, well into her 80's and her motto is "I want to wear out, not rust out". She started running when she was 55 having had a completely non sporting life. She is now a world record holding ultra distance runner.

I have taken the excerpt from a book called "Fitter after 50", I don't have a copy myself but I reckon its a must for anyone feeling a bit depressed about the advancing years. I provided the link if your interested.

"In 1982, at the age of 59, she entered the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon (the epic swim, bike, and run-a-marathon competition). In 1989, now a 66-year-old grandmother of 9, she completed the Grand Slam of 100-mile mountain-trail runs (the Vermont 100, the Wasatch 100, Colorado’s Leadville 100, and the Western States 100); plus one more to grow on, the Angeles Crest 100, all in just a 16-week time period. In 1995, in her prime at 72, she ran the Marathon Des Sables, a grueling 145-mile stage race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco; then just 2 weeks later (with hardly time to catch her breath), she competed in AND finished the first annual Eco Challenge, in Utah, a 370-mile multi-sport, multi-day, race (including horseback riding, canoeing, and rock climbing -- 1200-foot vertical cliffs) in which over half the competitors (most just half her age) could not complete this rugged event."

I'd really like to know more about this woman, she seems like a marvel. I've seen pages on the web confirm she is still running multiple marathons back to back at the age of 82!
Wow!

June 2006

First Goal Knocked on the Head

I was told this morning that I was arsey, something that I attributed to my restrictive diet but it's got to lunch time and I am now on a high!

No, I haven't gone on a major blowout and gorged myself on bangers and mash. Nope I have been to the gym.

I went on the treadmill, and after my usual 20 min run I decided to keep going. For the first time ever I managed to run 5 km non stop! Yeah, my first goal completed already. It has to be said, I only managed this, because my occassional gym buddy came to tea this morning, boasting that he had run 2.5 km in 15 mins. I am so god damn competitive I had to find someway to top it. Lets hope he doesn't do 10 km tomorrow or I'll be stuffed.

Anyway, I now have a yardstick to measure my progress by:
5 km treadmill run: 40 mins

June 2006

PocketBFL

As any casual reader of my site will realise - I am a terrible, gadget freak, come spendaholic. It is therefore no surprise that I have managed to find a purchasable product that will be absolutely invaluable /an absolute necessity in my latest project - the Body For Life challenge.

Continue reading "PocketBFL"

June 2006

Body For Life Challenge

Today is the official start of my latest fitness drive. Not content with the results I'm getting from cycling, jogging and kick boxing, I am now about to embark on Bill Phillips "Body For Life" regime.

The BodyforLife program is a 12 week challenge, which you can complete either privately or take it as part of a competition, requiring before and after photos and measurements. Some of the results seen by earlier challengers are truly inspirational.

The program consists an intense exercise program and a strict nutritional component. The exercise involves alternating your days with weight training and 20 mins of intense interval aerobic exercise. You can find out more on the Body for Life website.

The nutritional component requires you to eat 6 meals per day (whoa!), although they are relatively small, comprising only 1 portion of protein and 1 portion of carbohydrate per meal. It's all about the portion control and for a self confessed carb addict, it is bloody hard to find enough protein to eat at every meal.

Given that there is only a 12 week slot to record my bodily transformation - enter the competition - and win loads of super prizes (PositiveMentalAttitude), I have taken a few weeks to prepare or to practice living with the regime. I have been trying out all of the weight training exercises and got myself sorted out with dumbells and a gym membership. I just didn't want to waste time when the program had actually started and find that I didn't know what weights I could shift to reach a maximum effort.

Also the food aspect is really novel to me, so it helped to practice here too. I've got a few recipes sorted out, things like protein smoothies for breakfast and tried out egg white omelletes. So today I can start out with a well stocked fridge and a clear idea of my weekly dietary routine. At least half of the key to success is ensuring that you plan well in advance.

Wish me luck!