Human Bean

3km running machine 11.2 km/h
20 mins exercise bike hills level 11
stretching


breakfast: baked beans and black pudding.
dinner: cold meats and olives then steak and chips with chilli jam
booze: evening out with John and Jo worth of Stella and wine
weight: 82.7 kg

9:32:99

Swam 300m in 9:32:99 while Ben had his lesson which was another big improvement, then did lengthe of breast stroke until the end.



breakfast: fruit juice
tea: Burger King double Whopper
booze: 4 Stellas
weight: 82.6kg

The Twist

30 deadlifts, 30 squats, 28 incline bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 30 pull ups, 30 incline sit ups with twists.


breakfast: sweetcorn fritters with black pudding
dinner: satay and pickled vegetables followed by beef rendang and rice
supper: kebab (tsk tsk)
booze: 5 Stellas bottle of white
weight: 83.1 kg (tsk tsk)

The patron saint of quality footwear

You know I said I was going for a lunchtimer yesterday ?
Well, in a way, I did.
I had intended to go to the house of pain but instead I went to the Plough and Harrow! I stayed there for half a dozen with Dave White and then regrouped in Skewen for an assault on the booze fridge which was celebrated in traditional style with a nourishing Ruby !
Beers a go-go - the only semblance of training was a discussion about Chi-Running with Dave who is himself something of a Dustin Hoffman going to the Dentist.
Apparently I have to increase bone density if I am going to complete the Swansea 10K without injury. I had a more general approach to increasing density yesterday afternoon and evening and I feel as though this will have to continue with a full monty breakfast shortly !

Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

25 mins exercise bike, hills level 11.
10 mins XTPro
3x10 left and right oblique raises then prone cobra on same equipment
3x10 curls and tricep extensions with 10kg dumbbells



breakfast: porridge with dried apricots
lunch: tuna and sweetcorn baguette
dinner: egg mayonnaise and sausage in a wholemeal pitta
booze: 6 Stellas, one glass red
weight: 82.2 kg

Muay Way

2 hours Muay Thai

breakfast: serdelki in a wholemeal pitta
lunch: KFC Wrapstar
dinner: jerk chicken thighs with cauliflower and broccoli
booze: 2 Stellas
weight: 82.6kg

Artie Fufkin

Kicking Arse !
I enjoyed a Friday afternoon and evening on the pop though the afternoon did involve 3.5 hours of walking around Cardiff so that counts as exercise. The rest of the weekend was taken up with panic and running hither and yon so, in essence, I had 3 days of R&R.
Back to the fires of training last night to continue forging forward with some semblance of fitness.
Bike level 11 (in all honesty that was merely a tribute to Nigel Tuffnel even though this one actually goes to 20 !)
20 Pull ups (unassisted), 20 Right and left dumbbell clean and press (18Kg), 30 dead lifts (70Kg), 10 press ups and then just 5 minutes on the cross trainer.
A lunchtimer is on the cards for this very day !

No Discipline

7.5 km exercise bike hills level 10, stretching, sit ups

food: munched serdelki sausage with mustard all day then sneaked a Mars bar and a Cadbury mini roll
booze: sipped Stella all day
weight: 82.0 kg

Roundhouse

3km treadmill 11.1 km/h
30 bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 34 deadlifts, 30 squats, 30 pull ups, 30 incline sit ups.
100 thai roundhouse kicks on heavy bag (alternate 5 sets of 10 each leg)

breakfast: mixed vegetable frittata
dinner: Sri Lankan chicken byriani
snacks: kit kat, pork scratchings
booze: red wine, 4 Stellas
weight: 82.0 kg

XTPro

SMR
10kg exercise bike hills level 10 (but with at new weight and age)
stretching
5 mins XTPro - caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror after that and the pattern of sweat it induced looked like a bra. Not the look I was aiming for.

breakfast: mixed vegetable frittata
dinner: kebab
booze: Friday night out worth of lager
weight: 82.2kg (changing units for the last charge to 80kg)

Day # 4 ( Pub ! )

I'm back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again
Ridin' the range once more
Totin' my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

I went to the gym first - 4.5Km run, 30 minures bike, hills, level 10.

What's the Time?

500m swim while Ben had his lesson. No time as I forgot my watch.

breakfast: porridge with chopped apricots
lunch: tuna and salad baguette
dinner: Burger King large Whopper
booze: 4 Stellas
weight: 12 st 13

Day # 3

A walk in the park - just as predicted.
Rather strangely when taking a gander around the shop before work this morning I was struck and taken aback by all of the wonderful deals currently on offer in the Beer and Wine aisles !
One would be a fool not to take full advantage of such attractive offers !
I managed to leave with bread, milk and detergent but I fear that I may have to return !!
I did exercise yesterday but time constraints were such that it was more to maintain momentum rather than to achieve any benefit.
15 minutes bike, 15 minutes X-trainer, 10 bench presses and that was that !
I will exercise again tonight but then I will be drawn to the pub !

13 Stone Tumbles

breakfast: porridge and chopped dried apricots
lunch: 2km treadmill @ 11.1km/h; 7.5 km exercise bike @ hills level 10; SMR calves, inner thigh stretches
tea: social cricket
dinner: post-cricket social barbecue
supper: tin of pichards in a wholemeal pitta
booze: 5 social post-cricket Stellas
weight: 12 st 12

Day # 2

No booze - very little in the way of fingernails left - but another day off the sauce achieved !

Training involved 20K on the bike, 3K run, 3K X-Trainer and 50x40Kg Military presses. After a shower I found myself standing at the bar without any concept of how I got there ! I was like the shop owner from Mr.Benn ! When I roused myself from this daydream I turned on my heel and slipped away leaving confused bar staff in my wake.

Try a Dry Tri

Thrown a day off training by life yesterday as I had to stay at home for the afternoon waiting for a plumber and take the New Ninja Bomber to the new Fantastic Four movie in the evening.

Yesterday's Fuel - just a Burger King Tuna Salad
Booze: None
Weight: 13 st 0

Progress or Remission

Muay Thai with Woytek. Normally my right ankle hurts after Muay Thai. This morning both my ankles hurt. Does that mean I'm getting better or worse?

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: BLT Baguette
lunch: lamb shawarma
dinner: jerk turkey and sweet potato
booze: 3 Stellas, 3 Screwdrivers
weight: 13 st 1

Day # 1

No Booze ! I mean like none ! All day, all night. As dry as a bone, like footwear in the desert, a yard from the Sun, 24 hours of Alum, sand and sawdust. In short ~ alcohol free.

I popped to the house of pain for a jaunt on the bike and a boy's Agoge Spartan. Less than an hour in all but I still felt worthy after completion. Under normal circumstances I would have celebrated with a Brewski. This will not be a normal week on that front.

Rethink

Friday afforded a rare opportunity for a quiet meal and a drink. Mambo for cocktails was followed by Elio's ( Casual Style - Serious Dining ). My training involved consuming quite enough to fill an Olympic sized pool in which one could comfortably complete a 500m swim.

Saturday morning found me at work in the garden and on the decking - erecting rails this time ! That turned into another day of rest.

Fathers day was as hectic as ever and did not allow time for the gym.

My plan for the week is to hit the gym and leave the bottle alone until Thursday at the very latest !

From the sublime to the ridiculous

Body Combat class

SMR

30 bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 34 deadlifts, 30 squats, 30 lats pull downs, 30 barbell shoulder presses, 30 incline sit ups.


breakfast: porridge with honey
lunch: Indonesian spicy lamb with fried rice.
dinner: jerk turkey with sweet potato, broccoli, and spring onion mash
booze: 3 Stellas, red wine
weight: 13 st 2

Ram Muay

3km on the running machine at 11km/h.
15 km on the exercise bike hills level 10.
3oom swim.
A Virtual Reverse Afan Forest Off Road Novice Triathlon in other words.

breakfast: 2 sausages, 2 eggs, chips and beans at the Commonwealth Cafe
lunch: Thai food at the temple
dinner: 3 sandwiches from a garage on the motorway
booze: 5 Stellas at the fights
weight: 13 st 2

The "204"

Upped my weights for 30 bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 27 deadlifts, 30 squats, 30 pull ups, 27 barbell shoulder presses, 30 incline sit ups.


breakfast: soft cheese and smoked salmon in a wholemeal pitta
dinner: bolognaise
booze: 8 Stellas
weight: 13 st 4

I stood there absolutely Agoge !

Lunchtimer today - good for the soul but less good for the timesheet !

15 minutes of cycling, stretching, warm up followed by an Agoge of only little boy stature. I have some way to go before I reach the full 300 rep Hoplite status !!

Wasted and Wounded

I ended up dropping the box jumps from the schedule as there was no suitable surface upon which to leap. I was not overly disappointed with that turn up for the books !

I managed to complete two circuits of the rest of the Agoge and finish off with 20 minutes on the X-trainer before retiring to the comfort and solace of the pub where I ate and drank my fill in the certain knowledge that I had earned it !

Initially I felt proud of my exertions though my back slapping was halted rather abruptly when a geezer wandered in and reeled off around 50 pull ups and 50 dips with around 50Kg weights suspended from a rope around his waist ! I have some way to go after all !

9:59:32

I swam as usual while Ben had his lesson and got my time down to under 10 minutes (9:59:32) before finishing off with drills, so I have hit the target I set myself on May 25. I have celebrated by creating a label - Swimming - that I can use to link aquatic posts.



Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: marmite on a muffin
dinner: BK large Whopper and fries
booze: 4 Stellas
weight: 13 st 1

Name The B Movie Competition

My plan for today.

10 x Pull Up's
10 x Dead Lifts @ 40Kg
10 x Push Up's
10 x Box Jumps
10 x Floor Wipers with 40Kg Bar
10 x 14 Kg Barbell Clean and Press ( per arm Barbell touching floor
between reps )
10 x Pull Up's

The B movie is of course called ????

After that I may have a little cycle or perhaps a X-train. I may even follow it with a dive in the pool ?
Those are all possibilities but there is one certainty for this Thursday evening - The Pub !!

Another Day at the Office

30 bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 30 deadlifts, 30 squats, 30 pull ups, 30 barbell shoulder presses, 30 incline sit ups.

breakfast: wholemeal muffins with soft cheese and smoked salmon.
dinner: Colombian Food
booze: evening out worth of lager and red wine
weight: 13 st 3

Even Stephen !

Back to the futility of resistance yesterday after work. By way of a change and a warm up I did a cheeky 20 minutes on the bike with a little but of stretching as I went along. This was followed by some shoulder work in an attempt to assist the levelling of ability.
I punctuated the pushing and pulling with a study of the exercise regimes, utilising an inflatable gym ball, which are dotted about on the wall.
I will give them a whirl but any such campaign will have to start when the room is relatively empty until such time as my balance and timing improves.
Rounded off with a splash about in the pool.
I am going to make a concerted effort to limit the frequency of my boozing. The amount per outing will remain constant, of that I am quite sure, it is the frequency which is my first target !

Softcore

hour core stability and flexibility

breakfast: soft cheese and smoked salmon on wholemeal muffins
dinner: portk chop, carrots, green beans, peas and sweetcorn followed by pear
snack: toast
booze: 6 Stellas
weight: 13 st 2

Every little helps

Just back from a cheeky half an hour of resistance work. I will have to design a little routine and keep a note of my progression and pitfalls.
I am quite some distance from the "300" workout at the moment but it is a goal ( perhaps a Don Quixote dream ) to aspire to !
Aerobics could be on the cards later - be it a little swim or a jaunt on the cycle. Nothing too drastic at this repeat of the early stage !

My limbs ache

2 hours Muay Thai

breakfast: diced pear in porridge
lunch: Sainsbury super naturals vegetable pasta
dinner: tuna, ricotta, and tomato sauce with wholemeal pasta
booze: 3.5 Stellas
weight: 13 st 3

Pain Again

I have fostered a new determination and I will return to the weight room later today. I was appalled at the comparative weakness of my left shoulder yesterday - an old rugby injury which I suspected had all but fully resolved. How wrong I was !
I have not shifted any weights for years and the uneven distribution of strength, dexterity and ability is now more manifest than I have ever known.
Pull up beam and parallel bars are in order for some little while - then I will have a shot at the Kettlebell !
Resistance training before lunch and perhaps the odd aerobic session in the morning or the evening seems the way for me at the moment !

Pain

It has been too long - now it has become time for pain, for burning limbs and exhaustion !!
I will pop to Tesco's first !

Pressed for Time

30 bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 30 deadlifts, 30 squats, 30 pull ups, 30 barbell shoulder presses, 30 incline sit ups, roundhouse stretches.

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: hoi sin chicken and noodles
lunch: chicken and cauliflower
dinner: chicken biriani
weight: 13 st 3
booze: 3 Stellas, red wine

Stitch

exercise: ran 3km swam 300m cycled 12.5 km. Runing and swimming first thing in the morning, and cylcing while Ben had a drawing lesson in www.arttes.co.uk.

food: chicken leg, pears, bananas, peking duck pancake

booze: 3 Stellas, red wine

weight: 13 st 0

Core Blimey

An hour of core stability exercises.


breakfast: vegetable frittata, toast, fruit juice.
lunch: banana
dinner: steak and mushrooms
snack: pear and chicken wings
booze: red wine
weight: 13 st 2

Swab the deck landlubber !

I appear to have synchronised with elder Ski. I too made a splash yesterday and used the floats to hone arm and leg techniques to graceful perfection.
I am so very poor at swimming it beggars belief !
Exercise for the weekend will entail finishing the decking off completely ( other than lights ! ) and levelling areas of the garden as best I can without having top festoon the place with retaining walls !
BBQ and spadework tonight. I will have to put off any drinking until I have had my wicked way with the chopsaw currently at bay in my garage ! I would not like to be a breeze block or a piece of wood in my garden when I fire up that baby !!

Bobbing Along

Swam 300m in 10:09:41 (just over 23 seconds than last time) while Ben had his lesson. After that I tried some drills with floats alternating lengths on arms alone and lengths on legs alone. I am very very slow on just legs, that is an area to address.

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: vegetable frittata
lunch: banana
tea: KFC Zinger tower burger meal
snack: banana
booze: bottle of white wine
weght: 13 st 2

Liquid Lunch

Yesterday I had occasion to attend a fare-the-well luncheon thrown in honour of a staunch Unionist and a good man to boot !
My initial intention was to drive too and from the Gig but with the bus services being so very cheap and reliable it was churlish to completely abandon the idea of having a little drink to assist in preventing any hint of choke when eating.
It is sufficient to say that I fully availed myself of the opportunity I had presented myself and tucked in to the liquid with gay abandon for the whole afternoon.
It is also sufficient to say that this had a limiting effect upon my training for the day !

Any Old Iron

30 bench presses, 30 barbell rows, 30 deadlifts, 30 squats, 30 pull ups, 30 barbell shoulder presses, 30 incline sit ups, roundhouse stretches.

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: bacon sarnie
dinner: red red and Ghanian meat stew
booze: evening out's worth of Stella and red wine
weight: 13 st 1

Unstable

An hour core stability with Gordon

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: vegetable frittata
tea: Burger King
supper: vegetable frittata
booze: 5 Stellas, half a red wine
weight: 13 st 1

Put the pain in a box

Two hours Muay Thai last night. Tuesday morning's shower ritual is now checking my body for new bruises. I am seldom disappointed.

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: none
lunch: cornish pasty
dinner: jerk pork chop and cauliflower
booze: 4 Stellas
weight: 13 st 3

In a Nick Stylee !

Digging, filling 9 wheelbarrows, dumping earth. Same with 2 barrows of rocks.

Yesterdays Fuel.
Breakfast : Kenco
Lunch : Tuna'n Slaw Sarnie, Chili con Carne pastry.
Snack : Burger in a bun and a Hamlet
Dinner : Rocket and Braised Fennel with Garlic, Rosemary and Olive. Garlic Bread. Spirali and a Bologna's sauce. Apple Turnover. Artichoke hearts, sun dried Tomato's, roast mixed peppers in Olive oil. Parmesan Cheese.

Booze : ( wait for it ........ ) None !

Weight : I would not like to even hazard a guess ! Though I am confident that I too am in excess of the 13Stone mark !

All Hands on Deck !

Whilst I neither ran, nor lifted a weight nor pushed a peddle this weekend I do feel as though I have exercised, trained and learned.

Nothing like physical labour to build up a thirst and a crate of Bow or two to quench it !

The Decking is now, finally, taking shape. The area dug out, the foundations laid, the frame constructed and the platform is down. Just the spindles, bannisters, fencing, side panels, garden levelling, lawn laying, plant and tree potting, garden design and shaping, chipping laying, the building of a summer-house designed shed, laying of ornamental flagstones and the design and construction of a central fung-shui water feature to do and we will be there or there abouts !!

Looks like I am going to have quite a few Bows in the hot sunshine of summer before I return to the gym in ernest !!

It all adds up

30 bench presses, 30 deadlifts, 30 barbell shoulder presses, 30 pull ups, 30 leg presses, 30 barbell rows, 30 incline sit ups, roundhouse stretches.

breakfast: corned beef pasty
lunch: sweet chilli chicken and vegetable fried rice

dinner: oat cakes and stilton
snack: cereal and fruit
booze: red wine, 2 Stellas
weight: 13 st 6 (tsk, tsk)

Relaxing in the garden

exercise: laying 30 square metres of decking
breakfast: barbecue surplus chicken and sausage plus a banana and an apple
dinner: bolognaise with penne and garlinc bread
booze: 30 sq m of decking worth of beer breaks
weight: no scales on tour for the last time on this trip.

Faster Pussycat

Broke 30 minutes on the standard Cardiff run for the first time since Triathblog was born.

Yesterday's Fuel
breakfast: bacon rolls
dinner: Barbecue at the Howells
booze: one barbecue worth of Stellas - 7:30pm until after midnight.
weigh: no scales on tour.

Bog Standard

Standard Cardiff 3 mile run.


breakfast: bacon baps
snack: crisps
dinner: sasuages, leeks, greens and carrots
booze: 5 Stellas

Spade of destiny !

No exercise in the gym once again ! Man Oh Man I am a lazy bugger !
I found fitness solace in the garden slinging a spade, a breaker bar, a hammer and a drill for the best part of 7 hours yesterday and a few hours dotted about over the last few days.
The concrete should be set by the time I get home today. That leaves only a couple of strengthening beams to bolster the already solid frame and away to go with the decking boards themselves !
I rounded the exercise session off with gallons of Bow and very little in the way of sustenance while Nick ran, cycled, ate and slept. I fear the worst for the Argoed !