The Outlaw 2013

Posted on TriTalk 18 September.

My life is on hold for the next 9 months.

Ironman Wales was the goal. A whole year to train for it. Home turf, Welsh turf. Inspired by several clubmates completing it yesterday and then with a delay on the tracker worried that a couple wouldn't make the cut off, knowing how fit they were and how hard they'd trained and knowing a year wouldn't make me as good as them.

So...I asked a question of a very good mate of mine who happens to be be male, "If you were female, very overweight, unfit and almost 49, which IM distance triathlon would you do?"

The answer was the Outlaw but there were 1095 entries with a maximum of 1100. Huge dilemma.

So I did what any (ir)rational desperate to be an Ironman before her 50th Birthday would do. I entered.

So that's me. Dedicating the next 9 months of my life to being an Outlaw.

Transition Ted's wife says he'll do me a plan. He might after kicking my @rse all the way to Nottingham for entering.

Sue will hold my hand every step of the way and make sure I achieve this .

Please, please, please folks kick my @rse - that's the only way I',m going to achieve it and I need it so bad
_________________

Biggest Loser week 5

“You know how it feels to reach too high, too far, too soon
I saw the crescent. You saw the whole of the Moon”
~ The Waterboys

First things first. I’ve lost a pound in 2 weeks and a very lucky pound it’s been too.

I’ve felt yuck. Not ill just really lethargic and can’t get out of bed yuck. Coach Jim was on half term and he was far too busy socialising to pay any attention to his poor Mother . Now I know it would have been perfectly possible to do my planned exercise without him but to cut a long story short I didn’t.

There’s been a lot going on with my Mum, her health and sorting out her affairs which has been absolutely draining.

Last Sunday was far too icy to run so decided to walk the dog instead. I slipped on a manhole cover and twisted my knee. In fairness I have done upper body exercise this week but not nearly as much as I should have and I could have gone swimming but that didn’t happen either.

On Friday I went to Liverpool to see South Pacific with the girls from work. It was excellent. I drove and borrowed hubby’s car. I know for a fact he loves his car more than me. It was not such a good idea to bring it back with go faster yellow stripes courtesy of the car park wall. Let’s just say things are a tad fraught in our house at the moment. I am still alive though which technically I guess is a miracle.

Today was the Mold leg of the Borders League. I’d volunteered to marshall and as usual got there far too early. Was lovely to see some old familiar faces and great for Wrecsam Tri Club to see quite a few in team vests I didn’t recognise. The legend that is Ultraman Shaun O'Keefe welcomed me with energy bars from his sponsors Shotz. I’ve not tried them before but the Apple Berry Blast is by far the best tasting in all the world ever. I managed to get a 45 minute power walk in glorious sunshine before the start and worked up quite a sweat. We were marshalling on the first corner. I love the power of yelling at a field of 295 to “get on the pavement.” We walked back up to the finish and I had the pleasure of assisting a lovely 12 year old in handing out sinishing tokens. It was incredibly warm and I was gobsmacked to see the lead car coming back in 25 minutes. There were some fantastic and brave performances and many moments of humour especially Ian James of Wrexham AC who came 4th repeating and repeating “I am so unfit.” It was very disappointing that Wrecsam Tri didn’t have a single female competitor. I’ve said for years I want to race the Borders. I’ve “run” it on many occasions but it takes me 80 minutes. If I can get it under the hour, which should be possible with 6 stone of free speed, I will race it next year.

A race always inspires me and I can’t wait to get out there this week and rack up some serious mileage.

Biggest Loser Week 3

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven.
~William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

What I failed to mention in the last blog was that I developed a headache on my Saturday run. An absolutely banging, pulsating wanting to throw up headache. This lasted for a week. I did go to the Doctors. He diagnosed migraine. I, queen of self diagnosis (commonly called hypochondriac), diagnosed withdrawal symptoms of all the crap I’d been poisoning my body with for the past 48 years.

My 16 year old middle son is incredibly fit (did I mention he plays Academy Football and went to Benefice’s Academy last year and is off to Real Madrid’s Academy at Easter?) he’s off to college in September to do sports science so me in my infinite wisdom decided he could practice on me. He’s an absolute slave driver. I do the strength exercises until I physically feel I can do no more and he makes me do them all again, this time with “eye contact.” I’m really ready to divorce him. I am so close to tears. Never has no pain no gain meant so much to me. Physically my arms and legs are shaking when I’ve finished. I don’t enjoy it one bit. I love the feeling of satisfaction when it’s over.

I ran this morning and absolutely loved it.

Foodwise everything’s changed. Portion size has probably halved and I’m not hungry. The balance of the plate is completely different too. I made chilli last night and used half my regular amount of meat but bulked it up with extra tomato and beans. Snacking’s stopped and alcohol is banned from the house. I’m getting a bit OCD about the whole thing but I did go out with work on Wednesday for a fabulous meal. I just made informed choices and had a “couple” of glasses of wine. The difference was I was in control. Before I went I’d decided I wasn’t going to be a party pooper and because there was no guilt about “failing” the next day I got straight back on track.

I lost 4lb in week 2 and 2lb last week. That’s a stone in 3 weeks which equates to 5% of my body weight. I am currently ranked 124 of 768 in the Biggest Loser Fastrack Challenge of % weight loss, not that I’m competitive or anything.

Biggest Loser Week 1

“In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

Last post 24 October – dear me – not good. That just about sums up things in this life that is Lynne.

The Chest infection didn’t clear. Then I got a kidney infection. Then I got another chest infection. Worse was still to come and I got a serious dose of “cant be arsed” and that’s how I ended 2011.

2012 arrived with great expectations and still I barely shifted this fat hillbilly ass.

As if by magic a wonderful present fluttered its way into my Inbox. A Groupon offer for an 8 week Richard Callender Biggest Loser challenge for £40. Never one to resist a challenge I signed up there and then. Before anybody starts having a go about shakes and meal replacement bars… it’s not like that, honest.

Part of the Challenge was to clear the fridge and cupboards of all crap. This was such a satisfying task. I do believe the binmen of Mold have put in a complaint about the weight of a certain bin on Alexandra Road :-) Then there was the “big” shop. 2 ½ in Asda is enough to drive anybody to drink but the wine remained firmly on the shelf.

The Challenge itself started last Sunday. I weighed a horrific 17stone 11.2lbs. I got the kids to take proper Biggest Loser before pictures. Wearing only a sports bra and running shorts. Front, back and one from each side. They were absolutely horrendous and obviously, I bawled my eyes out. Then when I realised 1. nobody was taking any notice of me 2.it wasn’t doing any good and 3. the whole point in taking the pics is to show how bad I’ve got and how good I’m going to feel looking back did I stop the whinging and embrace the challenge with open arms.

There is a calorie restriction of 1200 and a sample menu which included lots of bread so that was totally out for me. The logic behind it is 45-65% of calories should come from carbs, 20-30% from fat and 15-25% from protein. I was introduced to the app myfitnesspal very early on in the week and basically I just scanned everything. It’s been the biggest eye opener ever to this person who’s tried every diet on the planet and thought I knew the calorific value of everything. I asked my boss to get me a “healthy” wrap and was chuffed when he brought back a prawn cocktail. I was horrified to find out it contained 495 calories and 24.9g of fat. I’m beginning to understand now exactly why I’m so fat.

Only on the prawn cocktail day did I go over my allowance and then it was only by 17 calories.

Exercise wise the challenge is to do between 400 and 600 extra calories a day which I’ve managed quite easily. There is a detailed exercise plan which I’ve tweeked a bit here and there to fit in with my triathlon training but lets just say I never new burpees were so painful, what a plyometric squat was and thought a downward dog was an Australian Dingo. I’ve hurt a bit (well quite a lot actually) but am absolutely delighted to report no pain no gain has given me a weight loss of 8.2lbs.

Onwards and upwards – Chirk 11 weeks and counting and I’ve entered the Chester half on 13 May

One Step Forward Two Steps Back

A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her. ~ David Brinkley Not exactly bricks but a setback all the same. Woke up on Monday with a tickly cough. Not a problem did my Stretch and Strength programme. Tuesday the cough was definitely chesty so did Claire Nadir Boot Camp DVD instead. Wednesday it was worse. Had my flu jab in work and did absolutely nothing. Thursday a definite chest infection, antibiotics off the doctor and a basic write off of the rest of the week. I’m not happy but I guess sometimes life throws you lemons. I’ve just mixed mine with honey and hot water. No work this week so plenty of time to play catch up.

Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. ~Henry Ford

Apologies for last week’s very rude re-launch. The logic behind it was once it’s on the Web you’ve got to do it haven’t you? Whilst it’s still in the head there are loads of excuses to bottle out.

Last Sunday was the Liverpool Marathon, the Chester Marathon and the Flintshire 10K. The plan this time last year was to do the Chester Marathon. The reality was I did nothing. The Helena Tipping (Wrexham) 10k was 8 weeks away a realistic goal but I know me and the least little excuse it’s “I can’t” or “I won’t”

I’ve been a member of Wrecsam Tri Club since I started my triathlon journey. I posted on the Forum asking for help to get me around. Emma, Queen of the Pirates sent me a text to say she was happy to help out, would write me a plan and was willing to meet up and kick my @rse if necessary.

I intend to run on Tuesday but when I got up it was blowing a hoolie. I don’t mind running in wind but a couple of months ago I ran in the wind. When I did the school run an hour later there was a tree blown down where I’d actually been running so it’s put me off a bit. Much as I hate treadmill running I headed off to the gym at lunch time to see my old friend Iain Davies-Moore and signed up for 6 months.

Wednesday I ran. Like I said I’ve faffed (can somebody please tell me how to spell this?) about since my disaster in the Divas in July 2010. I’ve probably run no more than a dozen times in the last 6 months and most of those runs were less than 2 miles. I left home with not much of a plan in my head then when I reached the end of our road I decided I had to bite the bullet and do one circuit of the Flintshire 10k (the race is 2) to give myself a benchmark of how much I’d have to do in 8 weeks. I took it really slowly but felt absolutely fantastic. I guess that’s the beauty of fresh legs.

Thursday I toddled off to the gym and did 40 minutes on the static bike. I obviously didn’t push hard enough because my legs felt fine. My back was absolutely killing though. I have an incredibly weak core. Then I tried to get off the bike and couldn’t. No mental pictures here. It was awful. When I eventually manoeuvred myself off I was walking like an egg bound duck which lasted pretty much the rest of the day.

The training plan arrived Thursday afternoon and thankfully scheduled a rest day for Friday.

Yesterday I dusted down the old hybrid and froze my bits off with a gentle 40 minutes around town.

Today I really struggled with the same circuit as Wednesday but took a minute and 15 seconds off so can’t complain.

Diet
For over a year I have had an undiagnosed stomach complaint. I was referred to a dietician who suggested a low FODMAP diet.

Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols
These are complex names for a collection of molecules found in food, that can be poorly absorbed by some people. When the molecules are poorly absorbed in the small intestine of the digestive tract, these molecules then continue along their journey along the digestive tract, arriving at the large intestine, where they act as a food source to the bacteria that live there normally. The bacteria then digest/ferment these FODMAPs and can cause symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome include abdominal bloating and distension, excess wind (flatulence), abdominal pain, nausea, changes in bowel habits (diarrhoea, constipation, or a combination of both), and other gastro-intestinal symptoms.

For 8 weeks I had to avoid wheat, onions, garlic, cauliflower, broccoli, beetroot, beans and a whole host of other things. It was surprisingly easy and my symptoms disappeared. I have gradually re-introduced everything except wheat and I feel fine.

On Wednesday there was a Groupon offer for “Celebrity Slim.” Whilst I would never go down the Lighter Life road I thought perhaps these shakes might give me the kick start I need.

So off I pop to Tesco to check the ingredients. They don’t do it it’s only available at certain pharmacies but as if by magic there were “Biggest Loser” shakes on offer at half price. Well it would have been rude to leave them. I’ve lost 9lbs. yes that’s right 9lbs. Unfortunately my “symptoms” have returned but it’s definitely given me the kick start I needed.

All in all a great week.

I'M Back

“She said his life would be like walking upstream in a rushing river. The secret was to take small steps and just keep moving forward. If he tried to take too big a step, the current would knock him off his feet and carry him back downstream”

Louis Sacher – Small Steps


Two weeks before my 44th Birthday, weighing 16 and a half stone I decided I was going to d o a triathlon. With fantastic support I lost a stone and a half and completed Chirk 3rd from last.

I’ve put back on that stone and a half plus another stone and a half and let my fitness slide.

Now 6 weeks before my 48th Birthday I’m starting again.

In 8 weeks I will do a 10K.

In April I will complete Chirk without walking any of the run and not coming in the bottom 10.

In June I will complete Bala whether my chip jets taken off me after the bike or not.

By the end of 2012 I will have run a Marathon.

Follow my journey. I can promise blood, sweat, tears and tantrums. There will be lows but the highs will be higher.

Tomorrow I take my first small step