Training? I'd love to!!

I certainly haven't been doing my blog justice of late in more ways than one. I have hardly gotten out of the house in the last week or so, I have been blaming the weather and everything else. I've been tied to the computer doing regatta entries for the clubs regatta, but even the hell that that has been is no real excuse. The lack of a plan seems to have been the the main reason, plus I am just plain tired and not getting caught up with a sleep deficit.

How do I cure this? Why blog about it of course. At least my fingers will have been on the move :o)

Back to training...

After the forced break from all things rowing and training brought on by being flaming ill and so weak. I managed two ergo sessions this week and tonight a 30 min run. It's feeling okay, though I can tell the stamina isn't quite there - as expected I suppose.

On my second erg session I hit upon doing a benchmark 2k test to see where I was fitness wise... the result was 7m 17.4s

Splits

7:17.4 Aver. 1:49.3 Aver. 27spm

500m 1:49.3 27spm

1000m 1:48.7 27spm

1500m 1:50.2 26spm

2000m 1:49.3 30spm

Given recent weeks I was pretty pleased, I did manage some consistency (apart from a wobbly last 500m) and didn't fall off the machine at the end so wasn't truly killing myself (probably a symptom of erg'ing alone).

Also, been cycling to work every day this week which has been fantastic to get back to.

Warm, settled weather, no rain in days - watering plants regularly.

Update, update, down weight

Update of my weight chart...

My weight progress chart.

One of those occasions when I update the chart [to which there is a permenant link on the right side of this blog, in the link list!]. I thought it was about time, especially in light of the recent (albeit, slightly due to adversity) weight change.

The news is that the summer / winter bounce looks to be shaping up nicely for 2007.... oh, if I could break that trend and keep the numbers good through Christmas and into next year. Just have to wait and see what Santa brings on that one!?!

Feeling under the weather

Over the last week to ten days I've been suffering from an unknown stomach bug and then a moderate fever... all of which left me feeling a bit pathetic and weak. I had to drop out of rowing training or any training for a week, and miss a whole regatta weekend. I would like to report that I missed the training, but given the hap-hazard training and lack of a complete crew of late I actually ended up enjoying the break.

Of late I have been feeling that I have done too much behind the scenes stuff rather than dedicated training. I am trying to re-balance things so that I get the enjoyment of the actual sport back.

A by-product of being ill with a stomach bug has been a weak appetite so even without training my weight has dropped somewhat... I am once again below 15st, although I have no idea for how long that will last once my appetite returns.

Scattered showers, strong gusting winds, generally mild.

Evesham regatta

Well one regatta down. We made the semi-finals on day one (the Saturday), only to crash out of two events on day two. The crashing literal, as we hit a bunch of swans and got a re-row only to lose. I can only put the Sunday losses down to the penchant my colleagues have for getting trolley'ed on the middle night of a regatta weekend, but then I suppose we'll never know now.

It wasn't an awful start to the season, but I did kinda hope for a little more. Having my the migration to the bow seat and now seemingly attached to one side I only hope the year will go from strength to strength from here ;o)

2k erg: the details, details

Well it seems that someone transferred the data from the erg into an excel spreadsheet... I fear a graph might follow soon!?!?!

The breakdown was...

Split times:-
0-500 : 01:39.2
500-1000 : 01:44.2
1000-1500 : 01:45.8
1500-2000 : 01:46.0
Average 500 Split : 01:43.8

Time at set markers:-
01:39.2 500m
03:23.4 1000m
05:09.2 1500m
06:55.2 2000m

Two quotes from my wife about my effort...
"I reckon, you need to reign in your first 500m, and then keep your next 500m splits steady"
"Maybe you take a little too much out of yourself in the first 500m...?"
Pretty accurate comments I'd say ;o)

New PB - 2k erg

Well that was an improvement - I have tonight set a new personal benchmark of 6min 55.1secs for the 2000m ergometer test. I was only partly happy, I'd set myself a higher target, but then I suppose it was that ambition that helped get me below the 7min barrier for the first time.

The winter has it seems been very useful, but as a first erg of the new year I hope to take the PB a fair bit further yet ;o)

Strim-tastic

These and other great post titles can be yours with the "on the move" blog :oP

Spent yesterday afternoon on our allotment, strimming tidying and marking out planned veg beds... nice day for putting up an old sun shade you find in the back of your patch - it looked like a storm victim but it worked and was a nice bright colour - our greyhound was loving crashing out near it but was enjoying the spring sun too much to actually lie under it! We had a few allotment visitors each with a tale or two, or indeed three, oh okay four!! Time well spent, though much digging is promised next time... I shall call that adapted weight training!?!

On the training front, rowed a mixed eight in the morning, I had a side of the boat change that did for my tired body, thus while it was a good row I hurt a fair bit during and after. More hard training ahead, including a devised training plan... given the man with the plan is a former decathlete I am a little scared - though probably in a good way - I think?

Overcast, mild, breezy - days getting longer, yippee!

Saturday double row session fun

Today we did two back to back bursts on the Bay, doing race pieces against other crews in other boat formats... I have to confess that through the hard work I could feel the confidence returning after a winter of musical seats it was really very nice to have two sessions back to back on the same boat in the same seat in the same crew. I know that I'll have to work very hard to keep that seat, and that further changes and combinations are inevitable but today did my spirits the power of good.

On other fronts, the days are getting longer, and tomorrow is our first full day 'playing' on our allotment... been looking forward to it for days. We have a plan and loads of lovely seeds to try out ;o) We have a ground anchor for the dog to come and enjoy the fun. Will no doubt blog all about it soon enough, hehe!!!

Sunny, moderate wind, cool but a calmer than many of late.

Friday, oh Friday!!

Crickey oh Reilly its Friday again... last week was a mixed up all-sorts bag of a week. Racing in the Taff Head with various success, training to destruction on Sunday, cross-country trains on Monday, Granddad's funeral on Tuesday, getting back to normal Wednesday with meetings a-go-go and trip to the new building (work not home), work / riding bike / training Thursday and a mixed bag on Friday... bonkers!!

As diaries go this one has gone a bit random, but there we are... still moving (in many directions)!?!

Clear, windy, mild, spells of warm sunshine.

Blimey, it's Friday

Blimey, it's Friday, that was quick, who stole my week. Plenty of training this week, 20-20-20, circuit class, ergo / technique training and water work... and then work was pretty busy too (training courses, reading, planning, meetings, lab safety, the works)... and I have a funeral to go to next week for my grand-father... have a feeling next week may also be a crazy one!?!?!

Might even get to the lovely new allotment this weekend if we're lucky... aside from the Cardiff Head of the River Taff tomorrow, where I compete in two divisions, in two different boat classes, on two different sides of the boat!?!?

Call me Mister Utility, anybody??? Ah, no call me Mister on the Move ;o)

Overcast, showers.

Take a brake

Whoops, well it seems I've been rubbish lately, busy doing organising stuff for rowing club entries, actually rowing and training. And a myriad of other stuff to long winded to recap

Suffice to say a few things suffered, I did not make my lose a stone target though I did lose some :o) I haven't been riding my bike all that much because I didn't get around to getting my brakes fixed, I've had lots of meetings to attend which have made the train more attractive on work days, and lots of other stuff.

Still I have remembered my blog and will try to update more frequently again, especially as we now have an allotment to blog about also :o)

Off to make a cup of tea and think about all things work, and how wet I'll get riding home - yes, the brakes are fixed, back on the biking vibe ;o)

Cloudy, windy, showers.

News and more news

Well what a week so far, meeting and presentations a go-go! Back-to-work, back to training, into meetings and probably into coaching. Everything has gone a bit nuts really, and I am suitably shattered... still it is all very much in the spirit of Andy on the Move :o)

Where to start? To be honest the whole thing would be the size of "War and Peace", and I don't consider that I have that much time...

The breakdown...

Work - back to the grind stone, and New Year of hard work ahead.

Rowing - after a quiet phase due to the weather and Xmas, things are all on again, refining the years plans. I have gotten involved with the fringes of some of the clubs committee structure, and worked out that a coaching course would be a good idea.

Personal - I have found a potential counsellor (more by proxy than going and looking, but that's still better than nothing), we are planning our holidays for the year, and we have put our names down for an allotment (lots of blogging potential there I feel!!).

Other - I haven't yet ridden my bike to work, that will come next week, still easing into the New Year ;o)

Christmas revovery ;o)

Well it seems that perhaps Christmas wasn't as bad as first feared, I woke up to be 15st 2.5lbs this morning. Thus I seem to be getting back to my pre-festive state fairly swiftly, fingers crossed. I am toying with delaying my target date for losing that stone from the start of February to the end of February... but I think I may still wait and see how I get on before moving it (I'm hoping a return to training will do me a power of good!!).

Weight blip and training boost

Despite the mis-adventures of Christmas eating (or over-eating), well actually it was new years over-eating, but anyway it was festive over-eating that led me to gain 3.5 pounds roughly. I am not at all troubled by that kind of gain, as it could have been worse and I have done little - okay, no - training over the same two week festive holiday. Getting back to work and training should sort that out and hopefully get me somewhere within shouting distance of my lose a stone by February target :o)

The training boost came from an outing in the eight this morning, it went pretty well, rocking to both sides rather than down on one side consistently... my well rested frame felt like it would do what my brain was asking it to through the stroke. Mentally at least I got to tinker with my action with some small successes, notably balance wise, with occasional squaring early success thrown in, yipee.

"Uno" new year!!

Its the new year what will the first weigh on of the new year produce tomorrow morning, after some last minute over eating today I now fear the worst.

Discovered great new game last night as new year was ushering itself in "Uno" (I had played as a kid, but this was the full version with scoring and everything) - lets just say as a game its very sedentary and you nibble too much whilst playing but it is very addictive even if your not the best player, ahem... never mind!!

New year "on the move" plans now include a potential allotment (heaps of blogging potential there I fear, hehe), should keep me moving and productive for this year... which although not strictly mapped out yet looks like one of my busier ;o) As I have been known to mutter, "bring it on"!!!

PS. musing over joining "join me!"... random acting of kindness have a certain appeal :o)

2007's eve

Well I wonder just how many blog entries around the globe will be doing exactly this and commenting on the eve of 2007?? More than a couple I'd wager... is a New Year really all that? You can make resolutions any time, you can see old friends and family any time, you can get plastered (blind) drunk any time, you can get caught up in mass excitement / depression any time... why is one day any better for all of the above than all other 365 days a year?

I read a great holiday book this festive season... Danny Wallace's "Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident"... quite the inspiration about how to make a difference every day, and how he gave many people the 'excuse' / 'nudge' into committing random acts of kindness in their daily lives. I reckon its well worth a read, and highlights just why actions on one day isn't terribly valuable its what you do every day.... ah, but anyway "Happy New Year" should you find this amongst those millions of New Years blog entries!! ;o)

End of the year summary

Well I can't seem to migrate my blog to the new blogger just yet, but maybe in the new year I'll get hold of those new blogging tools.

This year, delivered rowing ups and downs, very little running, an awful lot of movement (not just cycling to work nearly every day), getting married and posting really quite a bit (a few too often from work probably). My blog began the year getting visitors but a brief dilly-dally with AdSense put an end to that, perhaps they thought I'd sold out... I don't think I was trying to do that I was more curious about it than anything... it was so rubbish I ended the experiment and re-gigged my blog (complete with new title, i.e. "on the run" to "on the move").

The main (and in fact) only regular reader is now my wife... who I seem to entertain with a high degree of success ;o) Perhaps the new year will entertain a few more 'customers'... the blog will continue to chart my activities as I try to get fit and even that little bit slimmer (not sure about that goal, fitter may have to do).

My goal of losing a stone of weight by my birthday had stalled as predicted with the festive feasting, but the damage doesn't look too bad (more on that to follow...).

Continuing progress ;o)

The great weight challenge is still moving in the right direction, with a lovely 14st 13.5lbs this morning, sneaking below the 15st mark, nice! The real question remains though... how long will I stay below the 15st threshold?

Historically I haven't been able to stay below 15st for more than a few weeks... hopefully with the training having stepped up with the rowing squad at the moment, my biggest fear though is Christmas excess. Even eating less than normal the calories in most Xmas food is higher than in average fodder!! We'll just have to see where I get to by the first week in January I guess.

Training is going well, although the politics of the place get a little grating, but its all part of the merry go round I guess... I'm just gonna keep on training and keep on getting fit and staying on the move :o)

Progress ???

Well on Sunday I measured progress and I am moving in the right direction, 15st2lbs is lighter than I've been in quite a while. Its not going to be easy getting below 15st, I've only dipped down there in the last 5 years, and not stayed there very long.

Cutting out the snacks and doing some core exercises to target the male pattern fatness around the middle / kidney area, seem to be doing the trick. If I manage to keep this going it would be something a bit special as Christmas is normally a gaining rather than losing period. Its nice to be in the positive feedback loop of losing a little weight and feeling the benefit of exercise at the same time, each reinforcing the other :o)