Planet Work – Motivation?!?

Quite frankly in all the time I have been taking part in long distance triathlon, work has not been the best place to gain motivation or support. Most people don’t know what you do (or don’t care) and then, when they find out – they just look at you like you are a few marbles short of a full bag.

But not this time.

I have starts working at a small financial firm, Victus Solutions UK, and I thought I’d try and get my work mates a bit fitter and get them going with a bit of team banter.

Enter the V-FOR-VICTUS Challenge

A fitness points league based on a similar thread on the runnersworld uk triathlon forum. People have a chance to win various points for training/exercise activities. And thus win that month’s league. The pointing I have used was designed to reflect the activities that those I worked with would (or could) take part in.

To my surprise all but 1 member of the team got involved in the challenge during the 1st month (along with a few people that we work with). Most saying that it motivated them to do more than they would have. (And for some this would have been nothing.)

We are now in month 2, and the V-FOR-VICTUS Challenge is under-way again. With handicaps of 20%, 10%, & 5% applied to last moths 1st 2nd & 3rd place challengers – thus giving more people a chance of monthly glory.

For me ... this has added to my level of motivation ... the same way as it has for my work mates: - There’s nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry and banter to get you out there. 

So Motivation can be found … even in Planet Work

For those who are interested here is our points scoring system:

Will

Two Months In …

Things are going well at the moment. I am managing to maintain consistency. I am enjoying my training. I am still varying my training due to it being my off season. And I am improving (a bit).

As stated above I have been varying my training.  This includes the use of pieces of gym equipment that I rarely go near. This includes the Versa Climber and the Concept 2 Rower.  I normally go on these bits of kit after a spinning session and set myself the target of, by Christmas, managing to do an hour on each. Well I managed to achieve this target this week: Monday I got up to the hour on the Versa and Tuesday an hour on the rower … well chuffed with that :)

On the weight front I have now lost a total of 15lb … this is making a massive difference on the bike. I am averaging higher speeds … getting close to the magical 20mph average for my 60mile ride. And climbing much better … something I never thought I’d hear my self say (or type in this case)

The Stats...

WEIGHT	197lb	(14st 1lb)(89.5kg)	Total Loss = 15lb
BODY FAT	16%	Combination of Scales and Calipers	Total Loss = 6.7%
WAIST	34.25in	(86.9cm)	Total Loss = 2.25in

Finally, my better half has decided it would be a good idea to enter me into a Marathon next month. All arguments to the effect that I have not been training for a marathon falling on deaf ears … so the 28th of October … I will be running a marathon in Newcastle … All good fun.

WW

Getting Faster

Yesterday was a planned hard training day for me and as part of it I repeated the 6mile cross-country time trial that I did earlier in the month.

The route itself is measured with my Garmin Forerunner to ensure that it is accurate and is a mixed bag of terrains. It includes riverside paths with various quality surfaces, woodland single tracks and routes across farm fields. Along with this I also have to negotiate steps, styles, locks, gates, railway crossings and bridges. So all-in-all a bit removed from racing a road based 10k.

Also, since I did the last test my training has been more consistent that at anytime this year. I have introduced a weekly long run. Plus I have been doing a couple of structured runs each week, such as Hill sprints or intervals.

Last time I did this test it kook me a disappointing 1:02:11 and that was pushing it at a high heart rate.

This week I forgot my HR strap so had to go by feel, and as a result over cooked it a couple of times and had to slow down. All the same this week I completed the Time Trial in 0:55:30.

That’s 6:41 faster … I’m over the moon with that :)

   

WW

4 weeks In

Well, it has now been 4 weeks since I initially weighed in and set off on the journey to try and get myself in better shape. In that time my training and general exercise regime has become more varied. Plus I have attempted to improve my diet.

When I talk about diet, I am not talking about going on a particular diet, as I feel these are all fads and unsustainable, but instead I have just considered what i put in my mouth.

For example

• I really like lucozade original, but found I was having a bottle every day, so now I only have 1 bottle in 2 weeks.
• I was drinking 10+ cups of coffee each day all with milk and sugar, now I'm down to 2 or 3
• I was having a can of coke each week day with my lunch, now stopped all together
• I was eating ready meals for lunch, now fresh salads
• Also I had a pint of Guinness with my dinner each evening through the week, now I have lime and soda

All these little things have added up to help me move closer to my goals. I don't want to give up the things I like; otherwise life would be too dull. 

Now for how things have gone

I had hoped to lose a half stone in the first 4 weeks and a couple percent of my body fat. To my delight I can report that I have exceeded these targets with a weight loss of 9.5lb and a drop of over 4% on the body fat.

This now looks like this

WEIGHT	202.5lb	(14st 6.5lb)(92kg)	Loss = 9.5lb
BODY FAT	18%	Combination of Scales and Calipers	Loss = 4.7%
WAIST	35.25in	(89.53cm)	Loss = 1.25in

Looking Forward

Over the next 4 weeks, I would like to drop 6.5lb and get down to 14st and drop another 2% on the body fat front, this should allow the shape of my abs to start to show ... well that's the plan   :)

WW

Testing Times

Since my slimmer / fitter / faster challenge is all about physical improvement, I thought I would do a couple of tests this week. This will give me some basic information that I can measure my progress from.

This week the two areas I tested were my run and my swim.

For the run, I had 30mins easy spin to warm up. Then I set my Garmin and set off on a 6 mile out and back trail run (turning when I hit 3 miles).

Because I train for endurance events I do very little short hard stuff. But back when I did I used to race 10k in about 45mins. But when I stopped my watch; it read 1:02:11, at an average Heart Rate of 82% (143 for me)

To say I was disappointed with myself is an under statement, both at the time and the ability to maintain a higher heart rate

----

The swim was a much sorter test, the standard 400m. I have not done a lot of swimming in the past year. So unless it took me a ridiculously long time I would be happy. My last race at the beginning of July, it took me 1:18:00, so an average of 8:08 / 400m.

After a warm up I set off, and even had the lane to myself. I felt messy in the water but pushed on. Stopping the clock in *:00, a pace of 2:00/100m. I was quite happy with that.

RUN	6 Mile	1:02:11	82% | 143bpm
Swim	400m	8:00	N/A

So

My aims going forward will be to: -

• Improve my time for a 6mile trail run

• Be able to maintain a higher average heart rate for the 6 miles

• Improve my time for the 400m swim TT

Watch this space

WW

Somewhere to Start

As I stated in a previous post elsewhere, I have set my self the goals of becoming slimmer, faster, and fitter by the time I add another candle to my birthday cake.

To do this I need to know where I am starting from. One of the easiest things to track will be my weight and related statistics. I am just back from two weeks vacation after the Outlaw triathlon and weighed in, details were as follows: -

WEIGHT :	212lb	(15st 2lb) (96.4kg)
BODY FAT :	22.7%	(according to my scales)
WAIST :	36.5in	(92.71cm)

All in all not good – I thought I had been feeling fat and bloated for some time and theses statistics confirm things. That and the fact that my jeans are starting to cut me in half. So now is a good time to get things going. After all I don’t want to end up looking like I have a loyalty card for McDonalds.

I intend posting an update on these statistics every four weeks or so. Plus I may add other measures from tests etc I take as things progress.

WW

One Hundred Push Ups

You may have noticed in my training updates that I quite often refer to the 100 push up challenge, and a number of people have asked me what its about so here is a brief explanation: -

The 100 push up challenge is all about getting to a point where you can do 100 non-stop good form push ups from whatever your staring point (try googling 100 pushups). It is a six week program and comprises of a number of workouts each week based on test results. With test carried out at the start and at set periods during the program.

Although it is meant to be a 6 week program, you also have the option to repeat a week if you feel you have not reached the required level to move on.

I am now just starting week 3 and the reason I am doing this is northing more than it’s a good challenge to do in the off season … I am currently crap at pushups …

Go on … have a go!