Well the past few weeks have been ticking past nicely. I am now over my ‘down’ phase good and proper and fully back on board with the programme. Let me explain a little what the down phase looked like – it was pretty self destructive. I have throughout maintained my physical training, my problem relates to my relation to food. I would go a whole day sticking to the plan and eat really healthily, then in the evening I would binge eat on junk.
Zoe must have been pulling her hair out with me, I suppose I was too down to admit to anybody what was happening. It would always follow the same pattern; one biscuit or sweet, then once the seal was broken I would eat the remainder of the kids supplies! I was told I couldn’t out-train a bad diet, well that was exactly what I was trying to do. I have now realised that I need to follow the programme 100%.
Its no lie, but the past couple of months of restrictions and lockdown certainly corroborated these unhealthy feelings. But alas – I’m past this wobble, time to evaluate the damage. The harsh reality is my weight has stayed the same the past 8 weeks give or take a few pounds op and down. I haven’t lost the weight that I had been getting used to. This is a shame and I have come to realise I am not going to meet my end of year targets. For that I am sad. But also proud as I am not going to give up! I will use this set-back as extra motivation to push me forward.
My project to build a gym in the garden that started back in April is now complete, just in time for these colder months. It has also become a haven for the kids, we put a sofa and TV in there and they love it. In-fact we don’t see much of them now! I may have to disconnect the Wifi so I can see them more 😊.
Next weekend is a big deal for me too. I have got my rescheduled Half Marathon on the Saturday morning – hopefully my mate Sam will be able to join me.
Zwift, I cannot do this post without mentioning Zwift. Wow! I am honestly blown away by it! About 2013 I bought my first Turbo, where it probably got used a handful of times before being relegated to the shed. At the time of buying it some new turbos were coming out that interacted with a device to change resistance as you rode. Now me being me, instantly dismissed this as a fad and waste of time. Now for the past 12 months I have watched on Strava as friends have been posting their rides on a new platform called Zwift. I naturally ignored it and thought of it as being quite sad if I’m perfectly honest.
Now several of my friends have been rattling on about it for some time and I finally bowed to the pressure and bought a 21st century Turbo. I was still not completely excited, I thought it would be interesting and add a new dimension to my indoor training. I was not fully prepared for what was to happen next. I set my bike on the direct drive turbo I had purchased and configured it with Sebs laptop. It invited me to go for a cycle round the streets of Bologna. I was blown away by the feel of the system, the resistance changed with every incline and even rumbled to simulate uneven road surfaces! I was knackered, had had a full workout and didn’t realise how long I had been riding. Perfect, this is something worth exploring more.
Queue the weekend following, Seb wanted to have a go. Problem was he didn’t have a bike and mine was too big for him. I did however have a bike gathering dust in the garage. My old Bianchi – I handed it to Seb and told him he can have it. He now is using my old turbo hooked up with a cadence sensor so he can do the basic functions in Zwift. Isaac has also been getting involved, he has been training using the free weights.
Bipolar Ironman 