Final Results & Measurements

As you all know I had my final measurements today, I thought I would post the results in here rather and then link to them through Facebook & twitter. So at the beginning they tested me across a range of factors relating to certain health measures. I've tried to pick out the most relevant ones. I'll comment on any I'm not happy with, no comment you can assume I'm happy. Cholesterol Level; Start 4.7 Finish 4.16. Blood Pressure; Start 136/90 Finish 126/82 Aerobic Fitness Test; Start 1.64 Watts/Kg Finish 1.64 Watts/Kg(I'll admit I'm surprised not to have improved this) GIRTH Measurements Right Arm;Start 42cm Finish 37cm Left Arm; Start 43.5cm Finish 39cm Chest; Start 136.5cm Finish 123cm Waist; Start 147cm Finish 117.5cm(quite disappointed about that 0.5 there just quietly) Hips;Start 134cm Finish 127cm Right Leg; Start 73cm Finish 68cm Left Leg; Start 70.5 Finish 67cm Right Calf; Start 50.5cm Finish 48cm Left Calf;51cm Finish 47cm SKINFOLDS Bicep; Start 21mm Finish 9.6mm Tricep;Start 28mm Finish 24mm Subscapular;Start 25mm Finish 23mm Supralliac; Start 41mm Finish 31mm I don't actually know how to convert this number into body fat, but I guess it was lots now its less. On core stability I went from being able to hold a plank for 16 seconds to holding it for 90 seconds(they stop you at 90 because thats the maximum score and clearly they didn't have all day). I also went from 14 sit ups in a minute to exceeding 26(once again they stop you at the top score). Finally, my weight loss, I weighed in at the first session at 152kg(though I had been as high as 156 in the weeks prior), today I was 130.9kg. All in all, I'm really happy with my results. I've got an excellent base to keep going to the next level and feel this has been excellent reward for the hard work I've done. Now I just need some new clothes.

Running Long

As most people know, tomorrow is my final assessment for fitfans, the end of a long journey that I am certain has changed me physically and mentally. Physically I've lost about 25 kilos, reached a level of fitness that has me running regular half marathons and have shaved about 5 minutes off my parkrun PB. I've also not had a drink in almost 6 months, avoided fast food and a range of other salty fatty snacks. In short I've maintained focus over 23 weeks at a level I didn't believe was possible. I know tomorrow there will be a slight relief that it's over but I'm also bracing for the disappointment that comes form finishing any event, the feeling of what's next? I also have an overwhelming concern that a couple of days of relaxing the intensity will turn into a few weeks and my good work will be undone. So I have a three pronged approach to this, firstly to give myself a lighter more relaxing week staring tomorrow, secondly to ask all of my friends to keep me accountable, to pull me up if they think I'm not trying hard enough, not striving for the best I can do, not pushing myself as if a trip to the grand final was on the line. I can handle it, I'm a big boy, so feel free to give me a tap if I get out of line. And the third thing is to replace this long term project with another one, it's time to train for another marathon. So on top of the goals I put up here last week there is another one, to finish another marathon, this time in under 5 and a half hours. I haven't decided yet whether to aim for Bunbury or to go for Perth, either way that's the rough timing. As always you'll hear about how I go tomorrow, and I'll keep you posted on the progress of my new goals. Don't feel bad for me if I don't win the trip, I'm very happy with what I have achieved.

I'm talking to myself at night because I can't forget

A few days have gone by since the City to Surf half, I've read a whole bunch of peoples run reports and have thought how much I needed to write mine. The thing that amazes me with each report that I read is how much recall people have of the whole race, where things hurt, where seconds where won and lost, where gels where consumed and what conversations where had and who with. I cast my mind back over my race and realise I'm exactly the same, the recall is almost GoPro like, so much so that I've spent a fair bit of the last 3 days rolling over the footage and looking for the missing 2 minutes that would have given me a PB. I've come to peace with the result and as such this will not be a race report however if I can give any aspiring distance runners one tip, it is this: DO NOT WALK DOWN HILLS. I was fiddling with my iPod chasing a tune to bring me home and suddenly realised I was walking downhill. I shall speak no more about this other than to say it has focussed my mind on the future and the next set of achievements. If there is one thing missing a PB will do it is drive you on to front back up and have another crack, if I had a dollar for every runner that's told me they have unfinished business with a course or distance I could give up my day job. And so it is I think I'm good enough to go a bit quicker, as such I'll be fronting up at the Freo half, an event that everybody I know seems to be doing despite it being universally friendless(please point me to any positive reviews of this event, I am yet to see one), the intention is to crack 2 hours and 30 minutes on this course. And if that doesn't happen I may well have a chance at redemption the following weekend in Busselton. Your possibly seeing a pattern here, that the fatboy wants to get to as many half's as possible and I can confirm that it is true, with the fitfans competition coming to an end, I'm looking at stacking the goals high in order to keep the focus that I've had. To keep me accountable here are some of my main goals for the next little while: 1. A 2 hour 30 minute half(this year) 2. A 2 hour half(within 12 months) 3. A 30 minute parkrun(ASAP) 4. A 60 minute 10k(this year) So that should keep me busy for the next little while, that and deflecting invitations to the 6 inch, not a chance people.

The Pointy end

The approaching end of the AFL season also means that the fit fans competition will soon be ending too, in fact the official end is City to surf day on the 31st of August but in reality my final assessment is the 10th of September so thats the real end date for me. Which means I have a little over one month left to affect the result. A lot of people have asked along the way how I was going in relation to my competitors, the truth is I have no idea, aside from a few snippets on twitter, meeting a few of them at an AFL9's game earlier in the season and reading some profiles on the Eagles website I'm pretty much in the dark. Which is possibly a good thing, after all if I knew I was 10 goals down going into the last quarter I might fold and go down by 15, or conversely if I was 10 goals up I might be taking my foot of the gas. Of course at this point I should say something like: "That's not how I roll", but being totally honest with you, its exactly how I roll, so now you know. Don't judge me. So where does this leave me at the minute? Well first of all, nervous, have I done enough?, should I have gone harder earlier?, have I tried everything?, Can I still do more?, I even contemplated seeing the Doctor about prescription weight loss drugs. I soon came to my senses on that one, I want my achievement to be sustainable and based around my own hard work and that seemed a little too close to cheating. Given my attitudes about drugs in sport I know I've made the right choice. I've also been thinking about my possible reactions to the competitions results. If I win, well that's easy, I'll be super happy and packing for Melbourne. If I lose, that's a different thing altogether, I know I'll be disappointed,I'm a competitive person, it's natural and I've put a fair heap of work into it. But I have to be philosophical about this, the people I've met who are also doing the competition have all been really nice, and no doubt would all make deserving winners. So I have to force myself to focus on the positives, the weight loss, the improvement in my running,the clothes that now fit, the five months without a drink, and all the other little milestones that I've achieved along the way. I also really need to make sure that win or lose I keep going, faster runs, further runs and still lower weight. But I still really really want to win, so this next month could well be the most intense of all. Watch the Fatboy Run.

You Only Live Once

You only live once and bucket list are two statements I wish I'd never heard, I hate them both and yet I hear them all too regularly. Why have I titled this blog, with it then, well it's also the title of a Strokes song which happened to be the song playing on my iPod today when I realised that I'd nailed the half marathon, that absolutely nothing could derail me, that things where just going right. And right they went, to the point of crossing the line 35 seconds quicker than I had hoped to do and running easily the most consistent long run I have ever completed. Am I happy? You bet. I have to give a fair amount of credit to the pacing function on my new Garmin, going at the start at a more manageable pace meant that I ran consistently all day.My support crew where great, making sure I had a fresh drink and gel whenever needed, I also have to give some massive credit to all the park run crew, people who are always happy to smile and wave out on course and where waiting at the end to cheer me over the line. They are some seriously good runners, but most importantly really good people. It's fairly safe to say that without parkrun today would not have happened for me. Anyway back to the point of this post, I know plenty of people have been through dark times on long runs, I posted about this recently, but surely there must be plenty of times when things go really well, when the preparation pays off and even when that song comes on and you're only at the 11km mark you suddenly know that the next ten is just a matter of staying the path, there is no doubt, no darkness, just people running towards you wondering what the hell that fat guy is so happy about.

What's your story?

As many of my running friends did, I completed the HBF Run for a Reason on Sunday just gone. I must admit it was a lot more enjoyable than I had expected it to be, after swearing off mass participation, close the city type runs after my one and only City to Surf experience in 2010 I was expecting the worst. By the worst I mean roads congested with people in onesies & tutus, zigging and zagging around walkers who seem to have time travelled. That sort of thing. Sure I saw a bit of that but not nearly as bad as I thought. I managed to arrive at the finish in one hour, thirty three minutes and five seconds. I'm happy with that as at about the 6km mark I was feeling like I would be out there all day. In fact I told myself several times that I was cooked, and was only going to get slower from here. It was only when some parkrun friends came alongside at the 7k mark and started talking to me that I got my act together(many thanks Theresa & Ann). I ran with them for a while but I couldn't keep up, though I managed to keep them in sight until they entered Gloucester park. Why does our self talk, our inner voice give us so much grief, is it creating excuses for not reaching goals? Is it our subconscious trying to excuse us from doing the work we need to do, because after all these things are hard, thats the whole point of doing them. I sure don't know, when I do I'll let you know, but I do know one thing, what we tell ourselves has a massive effect on our success or otherwise. So try and keep your story positive. My next challenge is the Perth Marathon relay, then the Masters Athletics club marathon. I'll be stepping up the training for both but hopefully I'll be stepping up the frequency of these posts, if not for my readers(should that be plural?) then at least for my own continued motivation. I'm also thinking about the possibility of a podcast because I really do love the sound of my own voice, but I'll need some help with that one. Watch this space.

The Magic of parkrun

So although plenty seems to be happening, most of it is not sitting at a keyboard writing down my thoughts. Which seems like a shame because I reckon I've been having some rippers. Can I think of any of them right now, not one. Well thats not quite true, I have a couple that will probably come up during this post but if they don't, trust me, they were off the scale brilliant. Anyway I've been wanting to write about the magic of parkrun, a free weekly timed 5km run at a park near you. And although I don't believe in anything remotely mystical or magical, unicorns or fairies, there is something quite magic that happens when these groups get together every Saturday morning at 8am. I first heard about park run through my mate Jeremy Savage's posts on Facebook, I'd met Jeremy through riding bikes and he's been mentioned on this blog before in reasonably glowing terms. Jeremy loves parkrun so much that he got involved in setting up a new park run at Canning River, then one in Gosnells. I started going along about a year ago when Jeremy was involved in starting up Canning River, it's hard to explain but the vibe is so good at these events, the encouragement, the general feeling of a group of people doing something they really enjoy. I usually attract my fair share of encouragement wherever I go, mainly because I'm a big guy having a crack, but the encouragement I see going to everybody, the applause as someone finishes, whether first or last is quite amazing. Now it seems like there are park runners wherever you go, at events all over the state, high fiving and supporting each other on to greater heights of running stupidity and achievement. I still don't know why it works and probably don't need to, but I'm glad it does. So for the moment it's the only magic I believe in.