A quarter of the way there!

I'm finding sometimes with this mission that sometimes it's taking the message (or reality slap)
you're sent and the opportunity you're given.  

The message:  in this case, it was standing on the scales two Mondays ago and discovering I'd put on 1.5kg since returning from New Zealand, including 1.2 kg in one week.  I figured there'd be some bad weeks along the way - food tends to be a coping mechanism, but that was appalling.  Thankfully, there was no interrogation or extra work at class that night.

The opportunity:  my wonderful wife was away for a week.  Rather than living the life of a bachelor on the couch, I pretty much wrecked myself walking or at the gym.  One hundred km in six days, just over 50 walking and just under 50 in RPM classes.  It meant walking around my town every day for at least an hour, usually in the dark.  Damn it was cold too...beanie, gloves, torch, iPod and fast walking. Other than the exercise, largely stuck to diet too (shock, horror!).

I'm really happy that it paid off - lost 1.7kg in a week, meaning I've lost 10kg since May.  Nice to be in double figures and aiming for a 11, rather than a 12, in my weight next week.

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Of course, there's still a way to go...need to find a way to resist the sneaky snacks - to paraphrase Homer Simpson "That Kit Kat was so good.  I wish I was eating it right now."  It probably isn't a good idea that I'm typing this while cooking chocolate brownies.  For a work afternoon tea...really!

Hitting the Wall

Well it just ain't right

That it's something I can't fight

I can't stop going out and having fun

Well I tried to be good

But I knew I never could

Billy Fields "Bad Habits"

There's not other way to put it...I hit the wall this week.  I was surprised at weigh in on Monday that I'd lost half a kilo during the previous fortnight, but by Thursday night, I was gone.  I skipped my usual Thursday night spin class - I was heading towards a migraine - and despite waking up for a 6am walk on Friday, I couldn't face it.  

Not just the exercise...some old habits have come back - the diet's gone out the window, including my love of hash browns.  

I'm not entirely sure what to do other than to knuckle down and get back on track.  I expect to have put on some weight when I weigh in on Monday, and get flogged at training as a result - it will be deserved!

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It's been a bit of a rollercoaster month or so - makes it harder to stay on track when food is a response mechanism for me. But it has shown the importance of getting out in the bush - either with the bushwalking club or by myself (with iPod).  

Last weekend I went walking down in the mountains south of Canberra - several hours of off-track walkng with some great views. 

Mount Karioi

We've just come back from a few days in sunny and warm (compared to Canberra) New Zealand.  I was looking forward to the chance to get a day's worth of bushwalking while my gorgeous wife was enjoying some horseriding with a friend of ours, Sig.  

I was keen to do some walking, not only because I love bushwalking in New Zealand, but also to keep up the exercise regime as part of the mission, and was joined on the walk by Sig's partner, Phil.

The walk we picked was the track to the summit of Mount Karioi, near Raglan.  The 756m high mountain is an extinct volcano that has two tracks to the summit - the Mount Karioi Track from the northside, and the Wairake Track from the southside.  According to the description on the NZ Department of Conservation website, the Wairake Track is the shorter and easier track - Wairake it was.

The first 40 minutes or so was walking through private farmland (with permission) to the forest edge, before going uphill through the forest to the summit.  There was no view on the way up - the path was very muddy, lots of tree roots, but easy to follow.  On the way up I only slipped once, discovering what's it's like to get a shock from an electric fence :(

Despite the cloudy day, the view from the summit was impressive.  It was blowing a gale at the top so didn't stay up there long.  Only managed to fall over once more, though it took several handwashes to clean the mud off my trousers and boots. 

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A note of thanks:  I posted a link to this blog on my Facebook page and got wonderful responses and encouragement from my friends there, especially Tim.  Thanks everyone - really appreciate it.

One week fast...one week slow

This week's weigh in was a bit of a disappointment.  Only lost 400 grams, which was still a loss but would have preferred it to be more.  The diet has changed somewhat as planned.  I'm now eating some carbs, usually with lunch, along with eating fruit with the protein shake at breakfast.  Haven't quite had the burst of energy I was expecting from the extra calories.
  
I'm very much looking forward to cracking the 10 kg loss total :)

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It hasn't been hard to notice how much fitter I'm getting.  Not just with running on the treadmill, where I'm managed to run for 10 minutes without falling off the treadmill.  But out bushwalking as well.  

Last weekend was walking out in the Tinderry Nature Reserve near Canberra.  The walk was a mixture of everything - fire trail, steep ascents and descents, bashing through the bush, and rock scrambling.  There was also quite a bit of ice and even a bit of snow to be negotiated.  Made for a beautiful walk with a nice degree of diversity and a fabulous view at lunchtime. 

 

2.6? What the...??

I was going to just write a general post about the week or so just passed but I got a shock standing on the scales this evening.  I usually aim for a kilogram but the scales showed I lost 2.6kg in the last week.  Seriously?  I stood on the scales three times in disbelief.  

The result has inspired me to keep up the hard work.

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It's been a busy week.  I took my favourite fitness test on Sunday walking up Mount Tennent near Canberra.  It's a great challenge but I tend to spend most of the walk - it's a 700 metre climb in the 7km to the summit - muttering.  I managed to finish the walk in under four and a half hours, which is probably the quickest I've done the walk.

I had to stop at the supermarket on the way back home and who should I bump into?  The trainer from the Men with Guts programme.  He inspected the contents of my shopping basket and thankfully all was okay, except for having reduced fat milk instead of skim milk (I didn't know there was a difference).  I'm relieved I didn't have any contraband - chocolate or iced coffee - in the basket!

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The walk up Mount Tennent followed a bushwalk I took while I was in Adelaide.  It had been a while since I'd done an organised bushwalk - this walk was in and around Mount Lofty with Friends of the Heysen Trail.  Despite growing up in Adelaide, I've never really walked around Cleland Conservation Park and the Mount Lofty Botantic Gardens.  

Growing up in Adelaide, I thought the Mount Lofty Ranges were impressive but, after years in Canberra looking at the Brindabellas, the Mount Lofty's aren't as impressive.  I was made to pay for my lack of faith - in the 15km we walked, we climbed over 800 metres.  There was some fabulous scenery on the walk, a number of animal sightings, and the company was great too.

Next stop...

Okay...time to get serious.  I've been messing about since my last post, doing some exercise here or there, but eating a whole lot of rubbish.  

But I've also just turned 39.  If I'm going lose 40 kilos by 40, I really need to get my backside out of confectionary aisle and into the fruit and veg section. 

With the support of my wonderful wife, I've started the Men with Guts programme at the YMCA (http://www.canberra.ymca.org.au/healthfitness/weight%20loss/Pages/Men%20with%20Guts.aspx).

Wow it's a tough programme. Twice a week, a whole bunch of us get flogged at the gym - boxing, cross fit, PT...all the things that I usually manage to avoid.  It's great having a bunch of blokes in the same room going through the same journey and trying to achieve the same thing.

The most challenging part is the diet.  For the first four weeks, protein shakes for breakfast and lunch (and they're not too bad), protein and veggies for dinner, and fruit/veggies as snacks.  I've got from 2000 calories a day to around a 1000.  Think I sleep walked most of the first day due to a lack of energy.  

Now, the hardest part is not the lack of calories, it's hanging out in places where I wouldn't typically eat healthy.  Like at the food court where my wife and friends are eating Maccas...just cruel.  Or at the football.  Occasionally I stray from the path...mmmm, kitchener buns...then realise how many calories I've consumed and workout the walk needed to burn them off!

But I'm loving the exercise, including the gym sessions.  Dusted off the Fitbit and doing my best to meet the goal of the programme of 10,000 steps per day, and one extra solid workout a week.  Spin classes, running on the treadmill, discovering different walking routes around my town.  It's amazing how much fitter I've got in the last three weeks...

Those 40 kilos are going to be history!

CBR100 Challenge - walking 50km in one day

I'm writing this blog to write down my experiences of losing 40kg by the time I turn 40.  Truth be told, not doing so well at this point, but I'm stoked to have set myself another challenge and succeeded - walking the 50km walk of the CBR100 Challenge.

The challenge went around central Canberra, taking in some of the great sights of the city.  I've worked 50km a couple of times before but I was still nervous.  Training had been a lot of fun and taken in many parts of the walk but hadn't cracked the magical 50km.

One of my fellow bushwalkers, John, kindly lent me his spare room rather than getting up at 4am.  I'd patched up my feet to try and prevent blisters - and decided to walk in sneakers rather than hiking boots.

Apparently, there were 1000 people registered to participate in the inaugural event - a fantastic turnout.  We got there early enough to see John and his team, plus a couple of others from the bushwalking club, start their 100km walk.

Our walk started at 6:30, under the first rays of the morning sun, and headed straight for Mount Ainslie - the jumper came straight off and was carried for the next 40-odd kilometres. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to use the transition points along the way.

The walk took in the very well used track up Mount Ainslie, where there was the first water and toilet stop. It was a great morning to be out walking, but no time to dilly dally and take in the view.

We got to bypass the climb of Mount Majura and stopped at the first transition point after 12km.  The organisers kindly provided some fruit, lollies and fruit buns.  As per my standard dietary habits, I enjoyed the fruit but skipped the fruit buns (really don't like fruit in bread).

The next 12 km or so wasn't that interesting, walking across from Mount Majura to Black Mountain.  It was necessary but other than the flypast of an RAAF Hercules and a couple of Army helicopters, it was just head down and walk.

Next stop was Black Mountain and it nearly killed me.  The route taken was one I haven't walked before and normally, I suspect it would be quite gentle, but not today.  Took a while for me to reach the hat band track just below the summit.  Not sure why the track followed the hat band track before heading to the summit, but we found a nice place for lunch at 28km.  Black Mountain was the only place I stacked it during the day.

Lunch spot on Black Mountain

We took the long way out of the Black Mountain reserve before finding one of the hidden gems in Canberra, the Cork Plantation.  From there, we went through the Himalayan Pines and the new planting in the National Arboretum, which will be an amazing place in 10 or 20 years.  

The route followed the zig zag track down towards the Tuggeranong Parkway and the next transition station near Scrivener Dam.  I'm going to hazard a guess that everyone cut out the zig zags ;)  

The transition point at Scrivener Dam, at 40km in, was the best equipped of the lot.  Other than stacks of toilets, there was quite a bit of food and a podiatry table for walkers.  I was going to sorely regret not taking advantage of the opportunity for someone to look at my feet.

The volunteers there (who did a great job) said there was at least another 12 km left, not to mention climbing Red Hill. 

It was 9 km to the summit of Red Hill and it nearly did me in.  I was gutted to see my GPS saying 49.7km at the top of Red Hill...I was wrecked.  I wasn't going to let the walk beat me no matter how much my feet hurt or how disappointed I was at still having 5 km to walk.

Love the view from Red Hill

By the time we got to the finish of the walk at Regatta Point, we'd walked 55 km in just under 13 hours, the longest I'd ever walked in one day (longer than the 4 day Milford Track).  We got to finish the walk under one of the best Canberra sunsets I've ever seen, and seeing my gorgeous wife at the end of the walk was great.

I'm still chuffed at having trained for and successfully finished the walk, along with my wonderful team mates Chris and Cynthia.  I'm also still in awe of the people that walked and run the 100 km.  I'd love to try and do that next year...but until then, time for another challenge.

On Black Mountain...and no, it wasn't!

Thoughts on the event:  it's a great event, well sign-posted and organised.  It was disappointing the event was ten per cent longer (GST?).  To cut down the distance, I would suggest going directly to the summit of Black Mountain (rather than the hat band track) and cutting out the zig zag part of the arboretum.  My feet would have loved to have seen a podiatry table at the end of the walk also.


PS:  my feet were badly blistered afterwards - worse than anything I've ever encountered before.  After a visit to my GP, antibiotics and nurofen did wonders!