Really rather pleased

I now have my splits vs. category and a whole bunch of other stats...

Category Rank Percentiles (Female 35-39):-
Swim -  92.35%
T1 - 92.35%
Bike - 85.2%
T2 - 41.33% (oops!)
Run - DNF



Gender Rank Percentiles (all competing women):-
Swim - 91.28%
T1 - 90.2%
Bike - 82.66%
T2 - 40.7%
Run - DNF



So yeah.  Rather good at swimming and not toooo shabby at cycling in a very competitive category.  I'd expect my run to be way down compared with swim and bike, but I'll have to wait for next year to find out :o)

I aten't ded

4,495kcals of exercise this week and I'm not dead.  Nothing like the week I first started to cycle to work which had me exhausted by the weekend, though I did bike to work and back 4 days that week.  This week I "just" did 2 gym sessions, 3 two-way commutes and a medium ride today, but it was enough for a post-race week :o)  I've been eating less carefully than usual, and having more than a couple of drinks; last night we had veal escalopes for dinner in a roasted garlic, lemon, mustard, shiitake mushroom and cream sauce with bashed new potatoes and broccoli, as an example of a pretty good meal, but then there was the day I had a packet of crisps in the morning -and- takeaway pizza for dinner, plus I've had beer a couple of times and wine a couple of times too.  It'll take a while for any adverse effects to show in terms of either weight or fat gain and with a non-standard week next week it won't exactly be clear after that.

Next week is a lowish exercise week as there's a wedding to go to and I need to work around that whilst not overdoing it on the other days.  So, the plan is:-

Mon - cycle to work, weights session at lunchtime, cycle home
Tue - cycle to work, cycle home
Wed - swim at lunchtime (less to pack than gym kit), head to wedding
Thu - wedding/rest day
Fri - late finish/rest day
Sat - weights session
Sun - run

And that leaves one final week of actual proper cycling and weights before the taper week into the final TTT race, then 3km open water swim.

Last week:-
Exercise count: 11
Exercise time: 08:01
Exercise kcals: 4,495
Kcals difference from loss for the week: +3181
Kcals difference from maintenance for the week: -319
(+ is excess vs. quota, - is deficit below quota) 

Since 15th June 2009:-

Exercise count:326
Exercise time: 223h
Exercise kcals:122,033

Day		Quota	Exercise	Total	Consumed	Difference	Difference for Week
Mon		1297		1297	1757	460	460
Tue		1293	782	2075	2417	342	802
Wed		1287	402	1689	2240	551	1353
Thu		1292	730	2022	2665	643	1997
Fri		1300	1018	2318	2710	392	2388
Sat		1296		1296	2224	928	3316
Sun		1288	967	2255	2119	-135	3181
Total		9053	3899	12952	16132	3181

Weekly roundup

Last week...  it was always going to be a heavy week due to tapering and carb loading and recovery.  So

Day		Daily	Exercise	Total	Consumed	Difference	Difference for Week
Mon		1299		1299	1750	451	451
Tue		1292	369	1661	1970	309	760
Wed		1287		1287	1881	594	1353
Thu		1287		1287	1710	423	1776
Fri		1284	370	1654	2015	360	2136
Sat		1280		1280	2386	1106	3243
Sun		1285	691	1976	3599	1623	4866
Total		9014	1430	10444	15310	4866

So I was1366kcals over maintenance for the week, which could translate into about 200g weight gain in the overall scheme of things.  Pretty good for a pre-race week really.

Weekly roundup and sensible planning

This week was a complete mess, as you can see.  If I'm going to cycle this much, I have to work out how to sort out my nutrition to match it properly.

Last week:-
Exercise count: 10
Exercise time: 07:41
Exercise kcals: 4,408
Kcals difference from loss for the week: +2594
Kcals difference from maintenance for the week: -906
(+ is excess vs. quota, - is deficit below quota)

Day		Quota	Exercise	Total	Consumed	Difference	Difference for Week
Mon		1285	1214	2499	2890	391	391
Tue		1289		1289	1564	275	666
Wed		1296	1155	2451	2147	-304	362
Thu		1295	733	2028	2018	-10	352
Fri		1292	762	2054	1959	-94	258
Sat		1285		1285	3318	2033	2291
Sun		1296		1296	1599	303	2594
Total		9038	3864	12902	15496	2594

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 312
Exercise time: 212h
Exercise kcals: 115,881

What's weird is that my lovely blue M&S silk&linen dress was pretty loose yesterday even though the scales are saying "umm... you're eating less than you're expending are you? really?".  I can't do a body fat measurement to see if there's something else going on because I'm retaining water like a so-and-so today.  Everything is just totally in flux, too many changes at once, I need to look after myself in order to take part in the Thames swim next Sunday, and I need to re-think how I approach the next 5 weeks.

So.

Next week I'm focussing on the Thames swim on Sunday.  This means the following:-

• winding back the cycling to probably zero (over 100km in a week is a bit much right now)
• -IF- my groin feels OK on Monday I'll do a weights session
• on Tuesday, I shall take the 3rd open water training session
• -IF- my groin feels OK on Wednesday, I'll do a weights session
• I have a deep tissue massage on Thursday at which I shall ask for focus on my thighs
• -IF- my groin feels OK on Friday, I'll do a weights session
• I will aim for roughly maintenance kcals throughout the week
• I will carb load on Saturday, which -will- involve going over maintenance kcals for that day
• I will enjoy late lunch out on Sunday after the Nokia Thames swim in the morning
• I will be 1lb heavier on Sunday and Monday than I am on Friday, mostly due to carb loading

 Then from the week after, I will wind up the cycling again, keep the weight training in place, but aim for roughly maintenance kcals over the week for the following 4 weeks, trying to keep it even throughout the week rather than bulges and holes.  The 4th week, I will taper exercise down for the final Thames Turbo Triathlon of the year.  Once that's over I can start to re-focus on fat loss.

Weekly roundup

(as inspired by Laura)

It's been a while since I posted the weekly numbers roundup, probably since before we went skiing and I had a couple of months of enforced rest and wasn't feeling like shouting about it.  So, given that my current crusade is still to get back on track from when my weighing scales broke back in June of last year it's time to start finding more ways to help keep myself on the path.  That problem with the scales was quite a blow to my maintenance and getting back the 5kg that I'd put on without knowing it (mm, that's how much the old scales were under-reporting by!) has been slow work with a couple of set-backs along the way.  I'm almost back to where I thought I was before I discovered the scales were broken, but I want to finish getting there and work on body fat loss so the last remaining wobbly bit stops being quite so wobbly.

Here goes...

Last week:-
Exercise count: 8
Exercise time: 07:14
Exercise kcals: 3,856
Kcals difference from loss for the week: +185
Kcals difference from maintenance for the week: -3315
(+ is excess vs. quota, - is deficit below quota)

Day		Quota	Exercise	Total	Consumed	Difference	Difference for Week
Mon		1291	286	1576	1602	26	26
Tue		1285	821	2106	2388	282	308
Wed		1291	482	1773	1867	95	402
Thu		1289	374	1663	1427	-236	166
Fri		1290	850	2140	1880	-260	-94
Sat		1290	502	1792	2128	336	242
Sun		1288		1288	1231	-57	185
Total		9024	3316	12340	12525	185

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 301
Exercise time: 204h
Exercise kcals: 111,160

It's been a slightly disappointing week.  I've not seen the results I should have given the numbers above.  I have been honest (god knows, I know how important that is, go see my article on how to lose weight)  and I've actually done more exercise than I'd usually do.  Normally, I'd do 3x weights, 1x swim or run during the week and something at the weekend.  This week I've done 3x weights, 1x big swim and 4x cycles.  So, the lack of loss may well be due to the fact that I've been eating more (still keeping pretty much to the quota allowed for loss, including the kcals earned through exercise) so there's more in transit when I'm weighing in the morning.  this means I -should- see a comparitive loss next week of the correct amount (i.e. 500g or 1lb) as there'll be roughly the same amount in transit but I should have lost the right amount of fat.

Today goes like this (a rest day, the only one this week!):-
B - toasted wholegrain seeded Food Doctor bagel with Marmite and a poached egg
L - salad; tuna, mango, chilli, lime and iceberg lettuce
S - half a banana and strawberries
D - salad; chicken breast, new potatoes, plum tomatoes, romaine lettuce and  boiled egg

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	1312 1788]
Protein (g)	111.1 (35.1%)
Carbohydrate (g)	143.1 (42.4%)
Fat (g)	31.7 (22.6%)
Fibre (g)	16.6
Fruit & Veg	7.1

Round up round up

Not done this for a while... mostly because of the shameful weeks while I was recovering from injury.

Last week's numbers:-
Exercise count: 3
Exercise time: 03:39
Exercise kcals: 2,170

Totals since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 249
Exercise time: 160h
Exercise kcals: 87,563

It looks like I won't hit 100,000kcals in a year; I possibly could have done had I not had pretty much 2 months off due to injury.  Hey ho!

Weekly roundup (boring stats)

This week... ohboy!

This week:-
Exercise count: 6
Exercise time: 05:20
Exercise kcals: 3094

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 200
Exercise time: 113h
Exercise kcals: 62,821

First run of the year

With not very many weeks to go to the first triathlon of the year, it was about time I hauled ass outside and did some running. So, suited up in semi-cold weather gear; long running tights, t-shirt, hoodie, hat and gloves, I headed out on a familiar just-over-5km route; thinking "this is going to be horrible". As I crested the first little hill (over the railway line), I looked at my HRM and it was flashing "180". That's BPM. And I tend to keep it 170-178 running, or rather I was doing when I was running at least once a week. I felt fine though. Odd. Hey ho. So I kept on trucking at the same pace and checking on my heart rate every km or so. I felt totally and completely fine and it was staying at or just above 180 all the way. Usually I feel a bit rough if it stays up there and if it stays over 182 for more than a couple of minutes I feel pretty sick. But not this time. Nope. Fine. Well, I'm not arguing, so. Pace was 9:14/mile, or speed of 10.45km/h which is slightly faster than I was doing in the 10K race last year. Yes, quite pleased indeed.

Nommy chocolate orange shake post-run and a hot bath.

Lunch today - pea and ham soup (made with a tin of mushy peas and chopped ham :o)) with rye bread:-



Snack - beef jerky and an apple ('cause they're so nice I can't resist them!):-



Dinner- chicken in spicy black bean sauce (more commonly known as BEEP) with noodles:-



Exercise - 5.35km run (HRmax 185, HRavg 179)

B - toasted wholemeal seeded bagel with Marmite
S - banana
*run*
S - 1 scoop chocolate orange whey in semi-skimmed milk
L - pea and ham soup with rye bread
S - beef jerky and an apple
D - chicken in spicy black bean sauce with noodles

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	1797 2151]
Protein (g)	153.5 (35.6%)
Carbohydrate (g)	213.6 (46.4%)
Fat (g)	34.4 (17.9%)
Fruit & Veg	7.5

Totals this week:-
Exercise Count: 6
Exercise time: 03:55
Exercise kcals: 2,392

Totals since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise Count: 184
Exercise time: 103 h
Exercise kcals: 57,259

The last 6 months

...since I bought my heart rate monitor, I've racked up 102 hours of recorded exercise (there were a few sessions that weren't recorded, but that's just tough). That's 3 hours 55 minutes average per week. And there's 56.5K kcals (56.5 million calories!) recorded too (the odd session recorded with time but not kcals burned, but again that's just tough). That's an average of 2,200 kcals burned per week.

I'm pretty pleased with that.

I'm more pleased with the results of taking on weight training as the major part of my weekly exercise as that's had more palpable results; shape change and body fat % drop. Of course, the festive season set me back a little, but I'm almost back on track and ready for a routine change which always shakes things up a bit. Targets set, locked and loaded. Here's to the next 6 months!

Weekly roundup (boring stats)

Totals this week:-
Exercise count: 5
Exercise time: 03:20
Exercise kcals: 1,894

Totals since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 176
Exercise time: 99:35 <- uh oh! Gonna go over 100 on Monday!
Exercise kcals: 54,744

And for today... I made a chicken Vindaloo for dinner (took a Jamie Oliver recipe and tweaked it a bit :o))



Exercise - rest day

B - toasted wholegrain bagel with Marmite and a poached egg
S - yogurt with fruit compote
L - spicy butternut squash soup
S - toasted rye bread with ham, sliced tomato and mustard
D - Chicken Vindaloo (totally home made) with rice, peas and sweetcorn
S - 1 scoop whey in semi-skimmed milk

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	1728 1798]
Protein (g)	122.3 (29.3%)
Carbohydrate (g)	219.3 (48.6%)
Fat (g)	40.8 (22.1%)
Fruit & Veg	7.1