once bitten

Weights

5 mins cycle
5 x 5 Sq – 20,22.5,25,30,30,30
5 x 8 C & J @ 25
5 x 5 45 LP @ 90
5 x 5 SLDL @ 25
10 mins cycle

49:05

457c, 33%

AHR: 137

MHR: 180

When I returned from my weights, and got on the bike, there was a kerfuffle at the treadmills behind the bikes.  A little sticky revealed that there was a woman there, who had previously been ‘working out’ (cardio junkie) and a ‘trainer’ (6week ‘this is your leg’ course) attending to some guy who was looking all passed out on the treadmills.  I’d seen him earlier in the day, while I was warming up, and he was struggling.  It wasn’t just that he had the complete wrong idea about the stepper (no, it is not correct to stand, will all your body weight pushing the bloody step down) but he just looked fatigued; like he was going to fall over.  So the straw that broke his back must have been the treadmill.  Perhaps, and this is just what he looked like (and a complete stereotype, deduced from the thousands of people I’ve met in my gym career) that he might be the type of guy that is desperate to lose weight, so he comes to the gym without having eaten all day.  Fasting guys, we should call them.  Anyway, I’m assuming that he got an attack of the hypoglycemia bug and took badly to it.  He musn’t have fainted though as sure as shit if he fell over the two girls with him wouldn’t have been able to get him back up again.

Post gym I stretched for a good 10 minutes, which is pretty much unheard of for me.  I think I’m going to be less sore cause of it, and hence should, finally, learn that lesson.  Stretching is good.  After coming home and having a shake and a little food I played 18 holes at Innes Park.  Not too bad.  Actually better than I thought I would.  Still need work on lots of my game, and think I can be more aggressive with the chipping, though I’ve more confidence with my 60 now that I have previously.

2:25

1319 c, 35%

AHR: 135

MHR: 160

 

Rilex has found out that he can open things, like containers, by biting on them (like on the side, you get the picture).  Well…my finger didn’t ‘open’ so he just kept biting harder and harder. little fecker.   All the while he was hanging onto my other finger (on the other hand) so I couldn’t get him off.  I actually had to shake my hand, with quite a bit of force mind you, to get him to let go.  Then chucked him out of the pool real quick.

the lesbian and the kids

Today wasn’t nearly so bad. The ginger was a bit grizzly, but nothing as bad as I’ve seen him in the past.  Bloody horrible would be the only way to describe it, and he certainly wasn’t that.

Training this morning was good.  Consisted of an hour in the pool.  Not a bad effort.  Managed to get a bit of a lie in before having breakfast, making lunch and washing up.  The usual routine.  I wasn’t feeling overly tired this morning, just had enough sleep that I woke up when I was ready, although I did hear the first couple of squeaks from the other side of the wall.

Swam for an hour – my usual 100m on 3 minutes was completely blown out of the water, and I rolled 1k in about 25 and a half.  Was pretty impressed, and just managed to squeeze out another 200m before I hit 30.  Definite improvement.  I’m not actually swimming faster, just having less rest, and continually doing more work in the same amount of time – result!!

A couple of the guys at work asked me why I wasn’t aiming to swim a certain number of laps each time I went – and I think today proved that point.  When I set out, I had no idea that I wanted to swim for so long, or that I wanted to swim 2k in total.  I just felt in the groove, so I kept on going.  I think that that’s how it has to be with my training.  I also think that that approach works for me cause I’m not the type to give in.  I like to give training a bit of lip, and to keep going when times get tough.  I like to beat what I did previously.  Set out to improve each and every session.  I know that at some point that’s not going to be possible, but it’s something that drives me to keep working, to keep getting better.  Think my AHR was also a bit higher this time round – makes sense really.

1 hour

768c, 17%

AHR: 165

MHR: 185

Work wasn’t so bad.  Just bloody counting, counting and more counting.  Went quick enough, but every two hours I was looking round for something to eat.  Was all good though, and well within the diet.  Just sitting here and I’m actually thirsty.  The lesbian and the kids were in today.  Someone I potentially would have hooked up with once, I was just standing, overhearing their conversation thinking that I was a bit weirded out by her child (perhaps only 6 months old) not wanting ‘boob’ anymore.  That, or perhaps the image of being with someone who’s breastfeeding (and said breastfeeding’s implications on fucking) was making me crazy.  As much as I love boobs, I’m not into that at all.

Gym session after work, even though my eyes were well tired.  Went and did my strength work.  I still don’t feel that I’m pushing as hard as I can with the weights at the moment.  Think I’m still in a bit of an adjustment phase being in a new gym and all.  It’s like they’ve tried to cram too much shit in the space and it feels cramped, and you have to negotiate your way around pieces of fluffy equipment to get to the good, and worthwhile stuff – like the single power cage they have in there.

40:10

405c, 30%

AHR: 143

MHR: 166

For the moment I’m concentrating on big exercises – nothing isolation.  I’m doing at least one powerlifting move per workout, although not heavy.  I’m going to have to write myself a program and get into the routine of lifting heavy again.  Shit.  Bring on the mental strength.  The scales were mighty tempting tonight, but I wasn’t really wanting to see what’s going on there.  I feel as though the weight isn’t shifting, although I know I’m getting leaner around my head.  Sounds stupid; but I am seeing weight loss from my face.  Perhaps it’s the little bit of a tan that I’ve going on now.

Done.  Absolutely done.

sleep

Today was one of the worst days I’ve had, feeling wise, for a while.  I was up early enough, considering the number of beers we had last night, and headed for the gym.

R.I. – 30:30 (5 @ 40:20) 10kph, 3% – 18mins

Clean & Press – 3 x 8 @ 20

Leg Press – 3 x 8 @ 80, 1 x 8 @ 90

Narrow pulldown – 3 x 8 @ 25

Straight leg DL – 3 x 8 @ 20

cycling – free spin – 4 mins.

50:00

631 c, 18%

AHR: 163

MHR: 198

After that I went home and we headed out for some fishing.  Was a really nice day, although there wasn’t much about – we kept losing the fecking bait.  Probably some massive crabs just kept snitching it.  During my morning workout I started to feel as though I was going to throw up, which isn’t entirely why I headed home after 50 minutes, I was nearly done anyway, but I wasn’t feeling good, and my post workout shake didn’t sit all that well in my stomach either.

Got over it and we went fishing, then back to work; but by the time I was going to work I had a massive headache, the sickly feeling had returned and I was feeling a pain across my lower back.  Not good.  Perhaps just dehydration as I filled up on food and water while at work and it seemed to get better.

Ginger and I had a game of chasey when I got home which was class.  It was great to see him running about having fun.  MG didn’t like it much as he was getting razzed up before bed, but G was laughing her head off – bit of a release for her I think.  Was going to do some work with G, but just end up doing 20 minutes on the bike by myself.  Went pretty hard, mostly strength stuff, not speed.  3 minutes @ 2, 2 @ 3, 1 @ 4 & 1 @ 5 – then repeating that pattern, although timing was different with a 2 minute cool down cycle.  Feeling much better after having a good sweat session this afternoon.  Was only 20 minutes, and not really enough to be called a second training session, but was something anyway.

20:54

236c, 24%

AHR: 154

MHR: 172

All good, but I’m so tired.  Fatigue is starting to kill me at 10pm – at least now I know when to go to bed.

Warrior Training

Today was something unexpected, but completely extraordinary.  Spectacular even.  I was in a great mood all day; just chilling out at work, foot off the pedal.  Half 4 comes and I stick at work an extra couple of minutes reading this book the BFG brought in with him - Training for Warriors by Martin Rooney.  It’s all about training tips and techniques from and for MMA fighters & generally people who want to be able to beat the shit out of others.  Lets face it, not many people you’ve heard of; but the stuff they can do is pretty impressive.  I’m not one of those who wants to beat the shit out of people on a regular basis, but looking and feeling like I can is certainly my thing. 

Although I’m not sure about the technical content of some of the stuff he’s written in there it does seem to have quite a sound base.  I haven’t read it completely, but it’s obviously derived for combat athletes who are pretty hardy, injury wise.  There’s a lot of stuff that looks like the 7th level of hell, should you get the combination right; and there’s a lot of really creative stuff, and plenty of room for movement in there, however he throws some pretty iffy technical photos in there, with little description on how to do the movement; so you’re never exactly sure on what to do.  I wouldn’t be 100% confident about a person’s ability to replicate the movement as intended.  Or safely.  I’m not sure that this is the type of training you could give to many people, or that many people could stick it; I dare say it’d induce a lot of spew - and be bloody fun to watch.   I’m not sure that it’s the greatest book in the world, but it certainly made me want to train hard.  And train hard I did.  Like a warrior-in-training.

The workout

25 mins Run intervals.  10%, 15:15 @ 10.5 x 3 minutes; then 2 reps at 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4% & 3%.  30:30 at 3 @ at 10.5, 11, 11,5, 12, 12.5, 13, 14 (15sec) & 15 (15 sec).

5 mins bike

BW squats – bar.  3 x 10 with 10 breaths between.

DB Bent Leg Deadlift – 3 x 10 @ 16, 14, 14

DB Pushup & Twist – 1 x 4/side

Bench Reverse Crunches – 3 x 12

DB Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift – 1 x 8 @ 8

DB Straight Leg Deadlift – 2 x 8 @ 12

DB Squat to Press - 3 x 10 @ 9

Cable High Row – 10@ 32.5; 8 @ 37.5; 10 @ 35

FB Crunches – 3 x 15

Side Crucifix Hold – 2 x 20sec

5 mins walk to cool down

The result

1:05:40

753 cal, 20% fat

MHR: 101%

AHR; 79%

Zones: H: 36:08; M: 14:40; L: 14:23

 

I absolutely ran the legs off me.  A quick look at my watch at the end of the intervals, well nearly the end of the intervals, told me that I’d cruised through 300cal in 21 minutes.  That is the shit!!  The squats, at first were ok, but doing the 10 breaths between each set made it more cardio & by the time I got to the end of the deadlifts my legs were absolutely ragged.  Great workout though.  I’m really pumped about how I worked out today.  The run was tough as hell, but the 30 sec splits at the increasing speeds weren’t all bad.  Pretty happy with them actually.  I felt I really, really worked hard today.  All the exercises, well the majority, were compound exercises, all requiring lots of big muscle groups and virtually all needing the entire body. 

 

I was switched on today.  Focused.  One of the guys from the gym said to me, after I’d stopped with the ‘get out of my way’ face that I had on while working hard, that he could tell I was in the zone – that I was working out hard and that I was intent on finishing what I started.  That’s the way I need to be!  She was there today, sexy shoes and all, but I was totally into my training.  I feel 100% motivated tonight…it’s so class.

 

I’m now home, sitting showered ready for bed.  I’m getting dinner on soon, then it’s away to bed for me.  I’m tired, didn’t really sleep all that well last night; but well enough all the same.  I’m loving the fact that I’m showered already.  This is a new change that, I feel, is going to make it so much easier to get to bed early; and to get up early.  Now I’ve sat I’m actually tired.  Time to go to bed, relax and sleep well.  Can not wait.

 

Split shift again. 15 Hours Down

Yet another split shift.  Feel more used & abused than I really want, although how can one tell the difference between being a good person, kind hearted & doing the right thing and being just plain walked all over?  Sometimes I feel as though I get stuck in the middle of that great big abandon.  I won’t see them stuck, but I feel as though I really can’t say no.  I’m too close.  I live to close.  I’m too nice.

 

To be fair GI Joe is very good to me at times, like letting me off work early to play golf, then giving me the hours, saying that I make it up anyway.  Which I do.  Simone the big man would never have considered that to be fair but GI Joe knows I put in.  Knows I earn what I get.  Loads of people have said to me that the place will fall apart when I’m gone.  K-C reckons she’s leaving.  No motivation to come she says.  Is that me, or the program?!  Hmmm.

 

I was surprisingly busy at work today.  Not so busy, but every time I was just getting into something someone was lookin me for something or other, just generally being high maintenance.  Me being tempermental…  Ma’s mate phoned me twice, once to say that Big Pelier could come to the spin-a-thon (bloody good thing too or I would have had to call and shout at him).  So I mentioned that one of us would be in contact with him.  Then she called again to tell me that I shouldn’t phone him, that he was busy at work & he said to her not to phone him at work.  Bloody hell – I can imagine why – no doubt he doesn’t want her rabbitting on at him while he’s doing his copper thing.  I briefly wondered if she phoned him to ask if she could take a crap.  Probably.  GI Joe and I laughed about that, she’s a nutter – harmless but an absolute numpty head.

  

Today was the beginning of the end of the spin-a-thon challenge, or Saturday from hell as I’ve begun referring to it as.  My god, I can not believe what I’ve signed up for.  So, it’s currently all systems go on the eating front.  7000cal in a day.  Shite.  Actually, that might be a great weight management plan…do one of them a month & bada-bing bada-boom, all of a sudden you’re maintaining the athlete look no worries.  Insane thought.  Definitely saner people locked up…

 

 

The new Polar is awesome.  FT60 training computer it’s officially known as.  I’ll just say it’s class.  It is clear, does everything one could ever want and looks smashing.  And at £184.50 it costs more than most can afford, or will pay, making it kinda exclusive.  I love my Polar.  I’ll be sad to get rid of the orange one, but I kinda need the 50 quid.

 

Training today was light.  Just a quick spin to empty the glycogen out of my legs before I load up again for Saturday.  After the spin I did K-C’s new weights program, somewhat to see what it was like, somewhat out of boredom & somewhat to tell her that I can do it, to push her further.  Was a bit easy, I must say.  Although I think a lot of it was cause of the fatigue from spin, that I probably didn’t push as hard as I could have.  That I just set out to do what she did…only a little more weight.  GI Joe stretched the hell out of my hammies & calves before I spun.  Was surprised by the flexibility still in them, even though they felt as tight as hell.  Also getting pretty happy with the development in my legs, some nice shape coming through above my knees.  Although still not as good at K-Cs.  I love her legs.  Could look at them all night long, all day & for, well, just such great definition in her quads - absolutely class!

 

SPIN (Maximise performance & improve fitness)

1:00:27

554 cal (23% fat)

AHR: 153

MHR: 183

Zones: H: 25:04; M: 22:52; L: 12:30

 

WEIGHTS (fat burn & improve fitness)

00:23:34

158 cal (36% fat)

AHR: 131

MHR: 185

Zones: H: 00:41; M: 07:49; L: 13:59

After I’d trained & rested for an hour I was back at work for shift 2/2 today.  K-C was in looking through her program – we had some great craic.  I love working with her…cause I can tell her what I think & she takes it.  Cause I don’t have to baby her.  I just like hanging out with her.  In so deep.  Feck!

Just went off to get some food before.  Loads of protein, stuff for sangas – cooked chicken, turkey, avoes etc.  Steak, broccoli & loads of fruit.  Also got some of my favourite greek yoghurt and some of the wonderfully delicious and zingy Intense burn energy drink – 2 for £1.50 woot.  Bring on Saturday of hell. 

 

 

 

Poached Eggs

 

Today – 72.9kg

0820 – Detox, Thermobol

0920 – Green Tea

0940 – Training – 20 mins bike – 5 mins warm up. 5 x hill intervals (100m @ 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 50m @ 9), 9 mins speed intervals (100 on, 200 recovery @ 7).  Legs – 3 x 8 OLS, 3 x 12 step BW Squats, 3 x 10 LP @ 75. 10 mins walk cooldown.

1130 – 2 poached eggs on 1 slice granary bread, 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp tomato sauce.  Green Tea.

 

Training today was pretty good.  Happy with the intensity on the bike hills – and definitely happy with my one leg squats.  Pushed hard, balance is improving.  Feel a bit tired, but not too bad.  The poached eggs were great – heaps of butter in 1 tsp, and it gave a v different, but nice taste.  More F & V today!

 

Top Gear

Sad. Depressed. All alone. That’s me. Still hurt by the ex lying to me – took it out on the treadmill and felt great after a banging workout.

0945 – Thermobol, Detox
1000 – Training – 15 x 35:25 Run intervals – 12.0kph, 2% (6), 3% (9). 3 x 10 DB Bench (16s), VT (37.5) DB Lat Raise (5s), Cable Straight arm pulldown (12.5), Leg Press (70, 80, 70). 15 mins bike. Stretch – Hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings, calves, quads (by GI Joe). 1 lit water
11:30 – Thermobol, Promax Diet shake on 250ml Water
12:00 – Hot tub – stretch whole body + some hot/cold shower stuff. 1 lit water
12:40 – I’m knackered!
1530 – Oats, 2 scoops natural yoghurt, 1 plum, 1/2 nectarine. Coffee.
1600 – Coffee. 4 x 2 finger kit kat
1730 – 2 small packets of crisps
1830 – Golf – walked 11 holes – 2 hours. Approx 800cal.
2130 – Small packet of crisps, 150ml skim milk.
2200 – Grilled chicken & green veg, 1/8 avocado, 3 tsp balsamic dressing.

Cracking workout. Really pleased with my run intervals. Feel a lot stronger now running at 12. I think I will max out the speed there for a bit, work on volume – longer intervals and more of them. Sweat was pouring out of me today. After my run I was sitting on the end of a bench, composing myself (“come on, you’ve got to lift this weight”) & a puddle accumulated under where I was hanging my head. Was fair roasting in the gym this morning though. Worked hard, pushed through. Can definitely do more weight on a lot of the exercises I feel. Grip strength is the main issue with VT I think; but my shoulder is giving a little curry at the moment. Feels uncomfortable when I’m at full abduction, elbow just about above my head. Leg press I felt my lower back form giving a little at 80, which is why I dropped the weight for the last set – form over load.

Went out for a bit more of FLOG. I went round the back 9 in 41 shots, which got me 25 points. Absolutely astounding considering the crap I’ve been producing on the last couple of occasions. I did really well…focused on shots, concentrated. Putting was much better. I’ve no idea what the fuck is going on. It pisses me off that I can’t be as good as I want to be. Fucking shit! Why am I swearing so much?

Bit of a headache. Should probably come up with some meat & veg for dinner. I’ve some chicken thawed – just about getting the motivation up to cook it. After Top Gear. Right after Top Gear.

Things that have made me laugh this week:
1. Fies (feesh). Irish dancing competition. Hmmm.
2. NU’s Ireland jumper. Worn to Carnalea. I’d forgotten if I’d given it back to Mrs U. This was mentioned in the gym; to which she replied “We have it at home. I’ve washed it and all”. For a couple of moments there was sheer terror – I didn’t undress in the carpark did I? Finally remembered I wore my pink shirt home – phew. Terror over.
3. Radio Quiz. Q. “What’s the capital of Hungary?”. A. “Germany”. Enough said.
4. African children. HF kindly offered that I should give my curry stained clothes to SW to have washed. “She’s washing everyone’s clothes”. “Why”. “She’s African children”. “What; to wash her clothes?”.

Train relentlessly – never quit, never cheat and never give up.

Reunion

Woke up feeling tired, so slept an hour later than I’d planned. Didn’t get to bed early enough last night – really need to fix that. Habits kicking in though. Got up and straight off to the gym. Had planned to do legs – haven’t done them for a while, 4 days till I play golf again – should be alright. School reunion date was posted today. Can’t go as won’t be in Australia. Somewhat sad about that – but not entirely. I’m not flying home for a school reunion.

Today: 73.6kg (with shoes). 73kg (no shoes). Body Fat – 29.9%
0910 – Detox & Thermobol
0930 – Training. 5 min bike, warm up. 3 x 12 BW squats. 3 x 10 VT (37.5) SS 3 x 10 Leg Press (70). 3 x 10 DB SLDL (16s) SS 3 x 12 Cable Row (27). 12 x full squat with step (16s). 3 x 12 FB Reverse Flyes (5s), 1 x 12 FB Back Extn (no counter weight). 2 x 12 DB Biceps Curl (6s. Sitting on FB). 45 mins
1020 – Medium Banana
1100 – Oats, 2 & 1/2 scoops Greek Yoghurt, 1/2 mango, 10 raspberries
1345 – 150g carrotts, 150g cottage cheese, coffee
1600 – Salad with tuna, medium bowl mushroom soup, 2 small white rolls, 2 tsp butter
1900 – 1/2 coffee
1930 – Promax Diet Shake
2045 – Training. 5 mins run, 11 run intervals – 2%, 12kph – 1 x 30:30, 10 x 35:25, 15 mins bike – 10 mins lvl 4, 5 mins lvl 3. Approx 350cal.
2125 – Thermobol
2220 – Bowl fruit salad (nectarine, kiwi, apple, raspberries)+ 2 & 1/2 spoons Greek Yoghurt

Training today was good, although I didn’t smash my legs. I’ll be sore enough anyway. Plan to do some cardio then have a hot tub tonight to help alleviate soreness over the next few days. Legs felt a little fatigued after the spin yesterday; but good still. Felt that I worked pretty hard on legs, concentrating on good form more than huge weights. Right move to start off with. V happy with my weight. I think a little bit of dehydration as I probably didn’t drink enough yesterday really contributed to it. Still feeling the effects of the crapping that I had yesterday – maybe the detox will kick that out of me. Literally. Updated the ticker & see that I’ve just pushed myself into the ‘Healthy’ BMI range. Feel quite happy about that, even though I think BMI is a load of bollocks.

Had initially planned to take a Promax shake immediately after training; but forgot to bring it up with me – stupid. Hopefully the banana will do something towards replacing glycogen stores & alleviating soreness. Shit. I didn’t kill my legs, but know I’m going to be sore enough anyway. Training tonight was good. Didn’t feel like doing anything, but pleased I still got 30 mins cardio done. Was good. My right shin’s a bit sore; so not happy about that…shit!

Results? Starting to see more definition in my back, when perving in the mirror. Also I feel that my thighs are starting to show some improvement in definition – can see definition around distal part of quads, also through my adductors. Happy enough. Just can’t wait for the fat to shift off my fucking stomach.

Found another class website -> http://stronglifts.com/ it’s grand, and packed with helpful info, a lot of which flows exactly with the theories that I’ve developed through experimentation & experience. Some people in the gym have started saying that I look well, or that I look like I’m losing weight. It’s class, such a great feeling when you don’t really tell people about it, but they start to notice and it comes out during conversation. 2 people today. Fuck it feels great. My weight & body fat levels today have really just spurred me onto being ‘gooder’ than I normally would be. Thinking about my eating; dedication to training.

Committment, intensity, persistance & dedication. Class.

Uninspired

Today I feel uninspired, so it’s going to be short. Everything below my right knee feels sore – tight like. Sure, probably just the way I’m sitting…the run the other day shouldn’t have hurt it.

4 mins treadmill – walk – 12.7kph
Leg Press, 12 @ 70, 10 @ 90, 12 @ 80 / 30 sec row (<136m)
3 x 20 DB Walking Lunges (6s)
1 – 10 MB Thruster Breathing Ladder
Time: 35 – 40 mins maybe.

Uninspired. I really tried hard, I just feel uninspired today at the moment…not so much during my workout…although it was well short. Pretty tired now…away to bed!

Rowing Legs

A morning to try a new style of workout. Rowing/Legs circuit. Knackered. Shagged. Tired. Stoked!

Warm up: 5 min hill walk (graduating), 2 x 20 Walking Lunges (UW), 20 BW Squats, 2 x 20 side skips. Bring it on!

3 x 10 Walking Lunge (14kg) / Leg Press (90 (2) + 80) Superset with 150m row (under 00:36) between each.
3 x 10 DB SL Deadlift (14kg) / Step Ups (5/side) (14kg) Superset with 150m row (under 00:36) between each.
Squat Breathing Ladder 1 – 10 – 1 with 5kg MB. 150m row (under 00:36).
5 DB Push Press (6kg); 10 x 5kg MB O’Head Squats, 150m row (under 00:36).
10 x 5kg MB O’Head Squats, 150m row (under 00:36).
Legs stretched out by Kenny. I hate stretching!

00:53:51
685cal 30% fat
MHR 98%
AHR 86%
42:18 in HIGH HR Zone

Feel so stoked at my workout today. Something completely new, completely exhausing yet something so exhilariting. Not quite to the extent that I was last year; or was I? Again it comes to the question that I always seem to ask myself… I honestly can say that I put in 100% today. Although now I question if I could have worked harder… I dropped my last set of leg press – I couldn’t do 90 while keeping good form. I could not have done it. During the Deadlift/Step ups my forearms killed – nearly lost the weight…had to take a small break, it killed me. Weak point. I am determined that I can not let my work ethic and devotion to the plan be questioned…it’s me who does the majority of the questioning. I will not let my standards slip, I will work harder than I have the session before.

Determination, drive, committment and sacrifice.

*******************************************

Tonight, towards the end of work, I’ve been given a preview of tomorrow…ouch! My legs are so, so fatigued! Stiffness setting in as I walk, bend, sit, rise from sitting, squeegy out the spa area, brace myself to lift, walk to see someone. Absolutely everything! I love it to bits though – everything about it screams hard work. It shouts that I’ve done my work for the day, that I’ve earnt the wonderful, wonderful calories that I’ve ingested.

Speaking of calories – the most awesome salad today. Lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, grapes and salmon. Some light balsamic & vinegarette dressing and I’m done. It was awesome! I took it for both lunch and dinner, it made mostly only lunch. It was so great – delicious, filling…I’m so going to make it again! I ate the rest with a protein shake for dinner. Yoghurt for supper when I got in from work…mmm, Sainsbury’s thick yoghurt. 200cal per pot, but worth every single one of them!

All is good, all will be good! I love feeling that I’ve achieved something today. Said to Ms G about the feeling I get when I’ve come out of a workout, so tired that I literally have to lie down for recovery. I feel elated. I feel pumped. I feel as though I can achieve anything! I feel atop the world.

I want to feel that every time I train. That feeling comes from giving 100%. I want to give 100% in every session. I will give 100% in every session.

Peace out.

We train with the same commitment we take into competition — if you are not willing to give it everything you have, to go until there is nothing left to give then you should not bother competing. The only outcome of value is that which is realized by utterly committing all of one’s resources to the task at hand.