After the trial run for the "Big Ben Nevis" Triathlon, my right knee has been giving me serious amounts of discomfort. So much so, that I've not really used it for 16 days (barring a drunken 6.8k jog home from the pub). I'm chomping at the bit to get some excercise done! Last night I thought I'd experiment with a short 5k run to test how the recovery is progressing.
The recovery was not progressing very well. I went to bed with a throbbing knee and awoke with a similarly throbbing knee.
Having previously arranged a cycle ride for tonight with an attractive member of the opposite sex, I was fully planning to stuggle through the pain. But after a no show, I ended up in the gym. 3 minutes on the elliptical runner resulted in a sore knee. A switch to the reclining bike and a further 3 minutes later, a sore knee. FFS.
I switched to some staight leg, quad strengthening excercises, but got bored pretty quickly, so I decided to attempt some step ups as an experiment. Well, it was almost like something snapped back into place and the pain all but disappeared. I did bench step ups with 20kg weights. Then I did some plyometric jumps. Then I rested, satisfied that I had achieved some good this evening.
I awoke the next morning with a sore knee! It must have been the ibuprofen.
Bugger.
Physio next Sunday.
Current weight is 13 stones (182 pounds / 82.5 kg).
Wednesday 27 August 2008
Wednesday 20 August 2008
Whisky, 7 pounds
No, not pounds Sterling. Unfortunately.
Another wedding weekend, meaning 3 days of *ahem* "binge" drinking and eating. This is closely followed by another few mornings carefully positioning myself on the scales to try and elicit a weighty white lie from them, thus reducing the annoyance factor. Curse German precision manufacturing.
It always takes until Wednesday to recover, weight wise.
Another 4 days of festivities are fast approaching. My favourite drinking buddy arrives on Friday for a long weekend of low and high brow Fringe Events followed by an "all you can eat" BBQ.
All these days off, whilst very enjoyable, and actually beneficial towards the recovery of my knee, are not really helping my training for the "Big Ben Nevis Triathlon". In fact, my trainer's face turned paper white when I told her of the impending workload. That was before I even informed her of my temporarily handicapped knee. You can imagine what she thinks of my own mental state.
The conversation went something like this. "You need to train me for a mammoth swimming, cycling and running event in 4 and a half weeks. Oh, and I can't use my knees."
"You are a *** ... expletive removed ... *** idiot."
Well, at least the swimming should be OK.
Current weight is 13 stones 2 pounds (184 pounds / 83.5 kg).
Another wedding weekend, meaning 3 days of *ahem* "binge" drinking and eating. This is closely followed by another few mornings carefully positioning myself on the scales to try and elicit a weighty white lie from them, thus reducing the annoyance factor. Curse German precision manufacturing.
It always takes until Wednesday to recover, weight wise.
Another 4 days of festivities are fast approaching. My favourite drinking buddy arrives on Friday for a long weekend of low and high brow Fringe Events followed by an "all you can eat" BBQ.
All these days off, whilst very enjoyable, and actually beneficial towards the recovery of my knee, are not really helping my training for the "Big Ben Nevis Triathlon". In fact, my trainer's face turned paper white when I told her of the impending workload. That was before I even informed her of my temporarily handicapped knee. You can imagine what she thinks of my own mental state.
The conversation went something like this. "You need to train me for a mammoth swimming, cycling and running event in 4 and a half weeks. Oh, and I can't use my knees."
"You are a *** ... expletive removed ... *** idiot."
Well, at least the swimming should be OK.
Current weight is 13 stones 2 pounds (184 pounds / 83.5 kg).
Monday 11 August 2008
Sore knees and 1,200 calorie snacks
Being a typical male and fearing the worst, I think I have developed patellofemoral syndrome, or runner's knee. Now that didn't take long, did it. The fact that it's notably most common among post-pubescent girls gives less than slight comfort to my ailing right patella. It's actually bloody sore, leaving my right leg pretty redundant when it comes to moving around. Camping in a small tent doesn't particularly lend itself to the recouperation process either. Of course, this would never had happened if I hadn't lost all the weight and decided to do things that quite simply put, "aren't normal".
It was on the upward leg of Ben Nevis when I overheard an ambling couple, who had already peaked, chatting about the virtues of hill walking. The man declared to his partner, "The whole point is that you've climbed the UK's highest mountain". She just just didn't get it, but I wasn't long enough in passing to witness the follow up discussion.
Quite frankly, on the way up, I didn't get it either, ascending for more than one hour over the massive of depressing, mist drenched mountain. Approaching the summit of Ben Nevis in cloud is much like life in the trenches as portrayed in old black and white war movies.
But the way down, oh boy! It's quite amazing how you can draw the crowd's attention when you are bounding down the hill like an escaped lunatic. I can still see each and every rain soaked, bemused and bewildered look as I elegantly and delicately slipped, slided and crashed my way down the hill at speed. I daren't even turn around to inspect the amusement adorning those who witnessed my full commando roll, the result of stumbling and losing my footing over a drainage trench. Thankfully, my half full (yes, The Editor, still half full) camel-back offered sufficient protection that I simply bounced out of the daring manoeuvre on the up-stroke and carried on. Well, I did come to a hobbling stop 50 yards later to inspect for blood, but was swiftly heading downwards again when I confirmed all the bones were still in the right place and my skin was still keeping almost everything inside. The only 'damage' of note to property was discovered at the bottom, where my spare fleece was damp and smelling decidedly orangey following a slight expression from my drinks bladder.
Having completed this weekend's training exercise, I found a particular issue with food intake. Researching dietary requirements during long distance events, a competitor can often burn over 7,000 calories during such day of training or competition. I can confirm that I have barely managed to contain my appetite, more than 24 hours after the event. After eating considerable amounts of chips, cheese, noodles, more pasta than you could imagine, crisp snacks, an entire shoulder of lamb, more cheese, a huge packet of chocolate and an entire bottle of whisky, I am barely satisfied. That doesn't even include the high calorie intake during the training either!
Current weight is 13 stones 4 pounds (186 pounds / 84.4 kg).
It was on the upward leg of Ben Nevis when I overheard an ambling couple, who had already peaked, chatting about the virtues of hill walking. The man declared to his partner, "The whole point is that you've climbed the UK's highest mountain". She just just didn't get it, but I wasn't long enough in passing to witness the follow up discussion.
Quite frankly, on the way up, I didn't get it either, ascending for more than one hour over the massive of depressing, mist drenched mountain. Approaching the summit of Ben Nevis in cloud is much like life in the trenches as portrayed in old black and white war movies.
But the way down, oh boy! It's quite amazing how you can draw the crowd's attention when you are bounding down the hill like an escaped lunatic. I can still see each and every rain soaked, bemused and bewildered look as I elegantly and delicately slipped, slided and crashed my way down the hill at speed. I daren't even turn around to inspect the amusement adorning those who witnessed my full commando roll, the result of stumbling and losing my footing over a drainage trench. Thankfully, my half full (yes, The Editor, still half full) camel-back offered sufficient protection that I simply bounced out of the daring manoeuvre on the up-stroke and carried on. Well, I did come to a hobbling stop 50 yards later to inspect for blood, but was swiftly heading downwards again when I confirmed all the bones were still in the right place and my skin was still keeping almost everything inside. The only 'damage' of note to property was discovered at the bottom, where my spare fleece was damp and smelling decidedly orangey following a slight expression from my drinks bladder.
Having completed this weekend's training exercise, I found a particular issue with food intake. Researching dietary requirements during long distance events, a competitor can often burn over 7,000 calories during such day of training or competition. I can confirm that I have barely managed to contain my appetite, more than 24 hours after the event. After eating considerable amounts of chips, cheese, noodles, more pasta than you could imagine, crisp snacks, an entire shoulder of lamb, more cheese, a huge packet of chocolate and an entire bottle of whisky, I am barely satisfied. That doesn't even include the high calorie intake during the training either!
Current weight is 13 stones 4 pounds (186 pounds / 84.4 kg).
Sunday 3 August 2008
Vicious circle
It's fair to say that July hasn't been the best month for weight loss so far. In fact, I haven't lost a pound. Not a single one.
Many would consider that a great disappointment, but I am viewing it a little more philosophically. Looking at the situation with rose tinted glasses, it shows that I can maintain a steady weight quite easy, and in doing so, can stuff my face with Salt and Vinegar Rice Pringles, Belgian Chocolate covered nuts, home made scones, clotted cream, jam, chocolate, whisky, more whisky, even more whisky and generally all things nice. But I wouldn't want to take this too far.
In fact, to maintain my current weight and regain some fitness after a couple of weeks of enforced lightened training with unenforced increased eating, I have significantly stepped up the calorific expenditure. It still amuses me that I'm actually enjoying it too.
Monday: 10km off road teaser, to see if I could do it.
Tuesday: 25 minutes on the treadmill at up to 13.5 km/h, followed by a 40 minute upper body workout.
Wednesday: worked all*&%$££* day and evening.
Thursday: I can now happily report that my very first 10km time trial on a road route ended in 51 minutes and 28 seconds. Then I went to Swim Club.
Friday: A day of rest.
Saturday: I cycled 22.5 km to a Munro, ran 5.7km up it, ran back down and cycled home.
Sunday: I decided that my knees needed some recovery time!
It was a week of self discovery. I discovered that when I exercise a lot, my body screams for more fuel, especially in the form of carbs, and my mental state is currently too weak to oppose.
Judging by my current weight of 13 stones 6 pounds (188 pounds / 85.3 kg), either I've really got to return to a stricter eating pattern or step up the exercise again.
Many would consider that a great disappointment, but I am viewing it a little more philosophically. Looking at the situation with rose tinted glasses, it shows that I can maintain a steady weight quite easy, and in doing so, can stuff my face with Salt and Vinegar Rice Pringles, Belgian Chocolate covered nuts, home made scones, clotted cream, jam, chocolate, whisky, more whisky, even more whisky and generally all things nice. But I wouldn't want to take this too far.
In fact, to maintain my current weight and regain some fitness after a couple of weeks of enforced lightened training with unenforced increased eating, I have significantly stepped up the calorific expenditure. It still amuses me that I'm actually enjoying it too.
Monday: 10km off road teaser, to see if I could do it.
Tuesday: 25 minutes on the treadmill at up to 13.5 km/h, followed by a 40 minute upper body workout.
Wednesday: worked all*&%$££* day and evening.
Thursday: I can now happily report that my very first 10km time trial on a road route ended in 51 minutes and 28 seconds. Then I went to Swim Club.
Friday: A day of rest.
Saturday: I cycled 22.5 km to a Munro, ran 5.7km up it, ran back down and cycled home.
Sunday: I decided that my knees needed some recovery time!
It was a week of self discovery. I discovered that when I exercise a lot, my body screams for more fuel, especially in the form of carbs, and my mental state is currently too weak to oppose.
Judging by my current weight of 13 stones 6 pounds (188 pounds / 85.3 kg), either I've really got to return to a stricter eating pattern or step up the exercise again.
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