Changing gears

After much procrastination I finally got round to hiring a bike and a wetsuit for my little triathlon. At the time there were only 7 weeks to go until the day so I thought it was probably time. My procrastination stemmed from the thought that I imagined the ordering process would be a pretty in depth and time consuming process trying to get the right sizes. In reality it only took me 5 minutes from beginning to end which left me wondering why the hell I hadn't done this back in March. If that wasn't efficiency then having the bike and wetsuit arrive in 2 days most certainly was.

In the meantime I'd challenged myself to a swim - a distance of 100 laps of the 25m pool. I smashed it in 68 minutes. Ok well when I say "smashed" I actually mean I "completed" the challenge. The last 20 laps required considerably more effort. What I don't understand is how other swimmers glide at twice my speed almost effortlessly whilst I'm thrashing around. I think someone's going to get knocked out in the race.

Fast forward to today. Gem was taking the boys to the zoo with a friend so I took the opportunity to test my new bike out on the open road. I'd left the bike at work so I took a brisk jog (1.8 miles) to collect it and then headed off.

Now you have to remember that I haven't ridden a road bike since I got knocked off my mountain bike by some old duffer in a car probably 8-10 years ago. The bike I have hired is a road race bike. The wheels are the width of a cats whisker, the seat has been cast directly from the devils own red hot poker and it comes complete with something like 16 gears. As I ventured wobbly out of the business park I suddenly realized just how vulnerable I was.

As a car driver I'm like most other people - I hate cyclists. I mean really hate them. But hold on a minute here - I'm now the cyclist. Can we all just suspend our hatred for a couple of hours... please?

As I ventured across my first "junction" a car pulled out and then screetched to a stop to avoid hitting me. Great, what a start. I can almost hear my wifes voice already. So I gingerly (if I'm allowed to say that) pedaled down the dual carriageway, changing up the gears whilst desperately trying to ignore the proximately of the anti-cyclist-cars who were doing their best to scare the shit out of me.

All was going ok until I felt a clang. I very quickly realised that the noise was my right pedal falling off. This, I thought, is a quality bike. No matter how I tried I couldn't get the pedal back on so resorted to walking the bike the 4 miles home. When I got home the repair took 2 minutes to fix and I tightened everything up just to be safe. Perfect I thought and hit the road. Just like an efficient satnav I recalculated a new route via the beach and left.

My next problem was only seconds away. The bike wouldn't change gears so I was stuck in a high(?) gear. Not to worry I thought, I'll work it out along the way. To compound issues I was struggling to get my foot into the foot belt holster thingamy (if that's what you call it). Obviously as long as I didn't have to stop then this wouldn't be a problem. The problem soon showed itself - the annual "Race for Life" was taking place on the seafront and I was stop-start in it. Every light was red, a million cars were coming in and out of everywhere and a billion people thought they had the right of way. Fan-bloody-tastic.

But then I got out of town and with the exception of a few dickhead drivers (are we really that selfish?), a couple of rogue dogs and one woman who i swear saw me coming and parked her mobility scooter in my path... apart from them I managed to keep on pedaling. I never did manage to change gear and towards the end of the route my back and bum were sore and it felt like the wind was constantly against me but I finished.  Here's my route and stats;

Route:       http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6346247
Weather:   Dry and sunny - probably the hottest day of the year
Time:         Around 2 hours I think but I have no idea

Distances

Ran 1.8 miles
Cycled: 2.2 miles
Walked: 4 miles
Cycled: 28.747 miles

The London Triathlon - 50 days to go

I'm always full of good intentions. My plan at the beginning of the year was to write a weekly blog - I have so many ideas all the time I thought that if I just started writing stuff in my blog then at least I'd have some record of them. Instead work happened. Instead kids erupted. Instead life happened and here we are 6 months later and hardly a word has been written.

But what has this got to do with the London Triathlon? Not a lot really but I just wanted you to understand why this blog has been so thin on the ground. My training, however, has been going ok. Well when I say ok I actually mean that I'm pretty much on target after realising about a month ago that I hadn't long left until the big day.

Back at the beginning of April my wife and I had started a healthy eating plan. This is something that I have been trying to implement for the last 14 or so years but without the proper support of my wife it was rendered almost impossible. I mean I'd do all the training an then come home to a cupboard full of crisps, chocolate, cake and other sugar and fat laden foods. Fortunately when I was younger I had a great metabolism and reasonable genes so the bad portion of my diet was easily cancelled out by everything else I was doing.  When I hit 36 Reece was born, my metabolism slowed, sleepless nights crept in, my 4 times a week workouts and exercise regime pretty much halted and fatigue took over. As a result the body which I was once proud of left me for a body I didn't recognise.

When I hit 40 I decided to do the London Marathon. Not only was it ticking something of my bucket list but I also thought I'd get shredded ready for a "total rebuild". Instead I didn't lose a single lb but after the marathon I piled the weight on. I was horrified. Then Lincoln was born and we spent the first year of his life nursing him in rotating shifts almost 24 hours a day. Life was stretched to say the least.

In almost an act of desperation to get fit again Gem signed up for the Brighton half marathon and I signed up for the London Triathlon. After she completed her half marathon she started on personal training sessions. She found these sessions so gruelling that the last thing she wanted to do was to come home and stuff her face with unhealthy food. Instead she wanted to support her training with the correct nutrition.

Hold on a minute - isn't this exactly what I have been harping on about for the last 14 YEARS?!!!

And that was April. Since then she's become fit and lean (she's down to 19% bodyfat with a metabolism of an 18 year old!) and I've dropped a stone of mainly manly fat and am back to training 4 times per week. For the first time in about 7 years I'm finally ready for the summer.

My triathlon training is currently up to;

60 lengths of the pool (half breast stroke, half front crawl)

25k bike

2k run

I train Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then again on the weekend. 2 week day workouts are weights (so I look good stripping out of my wet suit) and 1 week day shorter swim/cycle/run and then the weekend is the big push. Tomorrow I'm going for 70 lengths, 30k bike and 5k run. It's very time consuming but with only 5/6 weekend sessions left I've got to go for it.

Your time is now...

Life... it never seems to get easier does it but believe me, you just get better at it.

A friend recently told me though that we as humans, are problem solvers. With that in mind we shouldn't look at life as just seemingly lurching from one "disaster" to another but from one challenge to another. An obstacle arises in your path and you have to solve the problem to move on. That's what we do and we can be very good at it.

Just recently I have started to understand that the key to the rest of your life is what you do right now. That could be getting fitter; losing or gaining weight; being more healthy; working harder or smarter. It could be simply spending more time with your family or being a better mother, father, brother, sister or friend. It could be starting a project or hobby that you've been putting off but whatever it may be it's what you do now which determines and holds the key to the rest of your life.

I believe that every stage in your life is a chapter. We are constantly changing and evolving. None of us are the same person that we were 10 years ago and none of us are the same person what we will be in 10 years time. People change - we all change. Embrace it and change for the better.

You have 3 choices: give up on it, give in to it or give it your all. Your time is now - make those changes, take control and see the difference.