Once Upon A Time

c - 13

Once upon a time there was an overweight man called c - 13. c - 13 kept fitness logs on the Fitness logs board that monitored his progress but due to several factors due to work, family and drinking too much beer his progress was all lost and he returned back to where he as before he started and then some.

c - 13 lives in a desert and travels a lot for work and as a result used this to help him feel justified about not dieting and working out properly.

In short c - 13 needs to get his **** together (yet again I hear all you fitness folks groan).

One day c - 13 stumbled across a website about something called a warriors run a race now celebrating its 25th year, the same as c - 13 was. Well it was obviously fate and the man who had never run in his entire life whipped out his credit card and signed up so fast that it left burn marks on his jeans.

c - 13 then recieved an email telling him he was runner 52, an anagram of 25, whooooo, spooky.

Now c - 13 has exactly 4 Months and a Day to get ready to complete this race (or 123 days if you prefer), he doesnt care about coming first (or placing at all) and just wants to complete this race.

He will complete this race.

Here his tale begins (and wont end prematurely).

Ill stop talking in the third person now too. Promise.

c - 13

I'm stranded in a country at the moment for a few days due to Visa issues so I will be back to all my running gear and weights kit in a couple of days I hope. I have no gym access here so that puts me at a bit of a disadvantage but i've started eating right and will go for a walk or do some bodyweight stuff later.

I've become very weak and have topped my highest weight ever at 110.6 KG. Very bad. My tape measure isnt with me at the moment either so i cant take measurements.

The reason for the weight ballooning so much was a bout of depression which lasted nearly two months where I spent every evening drinking and eating take away, I developed a slight eating disorder - Binge & Purge & Binge but that's behind me now.

Todays food was a bit rushed due to having no time due to fyling in yesterday evening but I took the time to bake protein powder based bars/biscuits that work out to about 250 K/Cal a pop so I took some of those with me to work. They're made out of Protein powder, oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, natural yoghurt, some 100% peanut butter and a little milk, basically a bastardisation of the recipes found here. They're probably not ideal by a long shot but will do for now.

Todays eating is as follows -
06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
12.00 - 2 Tins Tuna (Sunflower Oil, Drained)
15.00 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
18.30 - Homemade soup (Basically blended veg and a little water)
Chicken Stir Fry (about 1.5 chicken fillets, onion, pepper, chilli, Fajita seasoning)

I have to run up my calculations later today and will post them back here along with calorific values from fitday.

Towards the running side of things my personal best was when I was running in Jan/Feb 2009 - 8K/5 Mile in 60 Mins. Slow, but still my best going. I hit that after one month of training. I have to make my way back to that and then double it. Then factor in hills, of which there are few in the desert, I think theres some dunes near where I live that could be of use though.

For lifting I will be sticking mostly to Starting Strength (ill have to find a substitute for pullups though, landlord wont let us put up a bar), with possibly some additions (if I can).

For the first few days though this will be mostly a diet only log until I get back to my gear.

BossArky

Good to see you back!

Best of luck with prep for the Warriors race. Had a look at the site - it looks like an interesting 15km.

c - 13

Didnt get anything done last night. Got tied up with unpacking my gear.

Found out my plans to get back to me gear in that other country may be disrupted and I may be without gear for a while longer - even my running shoes and that are there so ill have I have no gear. Bloody typical.

This is my main problem, inconsistent access to gym (and my own equipment).

Ill have to see about remedying that ASAP.

Food for today is the same as it was yesterday pretty much -

06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
12.00 - 2 Tins Tuna (Sunflower Oil, Drained)
15.00 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
18.30 - Homemade soup (Basically blended veg and a little water)
Chicken Stir Fry (about 1.5 chicken fillets, onion, pepper, chilli, Fajita seasoning)

I might change the 18.30 meal to some salmon with the soup if I can pick some up on the way home.

Malteaser!

Great to see you back logging again!!! Best of luck!

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Hey man, have you done the Warriors before?

I have run it the last 3 years, this will be my forth year. There are a few other people running it this year for the first time, thread here.
Also links to previous years threads in there too.

I have met up with T runner and a few others the last few weeks to run the new course
(due to the volume of people expected this year they're changing the course, slightly shorter in distance but it takes longer and is a lot tougher).
If you're local to Sligo (I don't know when you plan on getting back) there is also a thread in the Sligo forum, where a few of us have arranged meeting up to train for it, thread. You'd probably find this very helpful as there are some absolute beginners doing it, and some very experienced runners helping out with their training.

c - 13

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Hey man, have you done the Warriors before?

I have run it the last 3 years, this will be my forth year. There are a few other people running it this year for the first time, thread here.
Also links to previous years threads in there too.

I have met up with T runner and a few others the last few weeks to run the new course
(due to the volume of people expected this year they're changing the course, slightly shorter in distance but it takes longer and is a lot tougher).
If you're local to Sligo (I don't know when you plan on getting back) there is also a thread in the Sligo forum, where a few of us have arranged meeting up to train for it, thread. You'd probably find this very helpful as there are some absolute beginners doing it, and some very experienced runners helping out with their training.

Thanks man, i've been popping in and out of the athletics board threads trying to see what i've gotten myself in for :pac: but I hadnt seen the ones on the sligo forum. This is my first year but i'm determined i'm going to finish it. Dont care where I place as long as I make it to the finish line before the broom wagon gets me.

I was trying to make it to the Easter run/prep that T Runner was organizing while I was home but things went against it and I wont be back in Ireland until August so I wont make it to another one unfortunately.

Having trouble finding decent hills here to run on is my biggest problem, the entire country is rather flat.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

I'm the same, no hills round my parts so if I'm not home I try to do as much hill training on a treadmill as possible.
After I'd established a good baseline I was doing 2 hill sessions and 2 long runs per week, just leading up to the race. Most of my hill sessions were done on the treadmill. It's not as good as the real thing but it'll keep you in good form untill you can get in some dry-runs!

Khannie

where are the carbs!?

I couldn't live on what you're eating and I'm 63 moxy kilos!

celestial

Hey man,

Good to see you back round these parts! Great stuff on starting training for Warriors - have recently got into running myself and loitering around the Athletics forum.

If I can offer some feedback, kinda echoing Khannie's point above - I've noticed in the past that you seem to lurch from diet to diet without much success (I think the V diet was one, really low carbs are another) - simply because they are all unsustainable and not pleasant really. To lose the flab you really don't need to be too strict - a good diet based around wholegrain carbs to fuel training, protein and good fats will see you right - especially given that you will be training hard regularly (plus keeping the junk/alcohol to low levels, obviously).

I'd suggest:

Breakfast: wholegrain cereal (if you can get it?!) / eggs /oats

Snack: apple

Lunch: wholegrain pasta/rice, meat / fish / veg

Snack: nuts/fruit

Evening meal: scaled down version of lunch - emphasis again on good carbs, good proteins, good fats

Take it a bit easier on yourself dude and the results will come naturally!

c - 13

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

I'm the same, no hills round my parts so if I'm not home I try to do as much hill training on a treadmill as possible.
After I'd established a good baseline I was doing 2 hill sessions and 2 long runs per week, just leading up to the race. Most of my hill sessions were done on the treadmill. It's not as good as the real thing but it'll keep you in good form untill you can get in some dry-runs!

Good advice thank you. Ill definately be doing that once my running picks back up to where it was.

Khannie wrote: »

where are the carbs!?

I couldn't live on what you're eating and I'm 63 moxy kilos!

celestial wrote: »

Hey man,

Good to see you back round these parts! Great stuff on starting training for Warriors - have recently got into running myself and loitering around the Athletics forum.

If I can offer some feedback, kinda echoing Khannie's point above - I've noticed in the past that you seem to lurch from diet to diet without much success (I think the V diet was one, really low carbs are another) - simply because they are all unsustainable and not pleasant really. To lose the flab you really don't need to be too strict - a good diet based around wholegrain carbs to fuel training, protein and good fats will see you right - especially given that you will be training hard regularly (plus keeping the junk/alcohol to low levels, obviously).

I'd suggest:

Breakfast: wholegrain cereal (if you can get it?!) / eggs /oats

Snack: apple

Lunch: wholegrain pasta/rice, meat / fish / veg

Snack: nuts/fruit

Evening meal: scaled down version of lunch - emphasis again on good carbs, good proteins, good fats

Take it a bit easier on yourself dude and the results will come naturally!

Both correct, thanks lads. I have some sort of mental block in my head where I think if I dont feel a bit hungry throughout the day its not working, ridiculous and incorrect I know

I straightened things out yesterday and my eating went like -
06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
12.00 - 2 Tins Tuna (Sunflower Oil, Drained)
16.00 - Chicken Stir Fry (about 1.5 chicken fillets, onion, pepper, chilli, Fajita seasoning),
18.30 - 200g Rice (Only white in the press at the time) & can kidney beans
21.00 - 2 Chicken fillets with spices

I could probably have done without the chicken at 9PM but it was to kill the want for a bottle of beer (Weekend here).

Today was a bit off kilter since I slept in a bit -
Morning - 6 Eggs Scrambled

Then made a batch of Fajita mix using 6 chicken fillets, 4 peppers, 2 onions and 5 large chillis and salsa. 2 Chicken fillets worth was put into a lunchbox for work tomorrow, the rest is being eaten in 2 - 3 meals over the course of the day.

Ate 3 wraps with the Fajitas today which I could probably have done without.

I've discovered the joys of Blairs sudden death sauce to give rices and stuff a bit of a kick without being too dry from adding loads of spices, two or 3 drops in the water does the business. Lovely

Had to go out and buy more runners to get running now last night since I dont know when I can pick the others up.

Went for the first run this morning, made it about 1.2 - 1.5KM before my heart/lungs told me to stop. THats normal for my first time after a break, it will go back the rest of the way quicker (I Hope).

Heat is a bloody killer here at the moment, was around 35 Celcius there when I was out and that was at 10 this morning.

c - 13

Eating for today went/is going as follows -

6.20 - 4 Eggs Scrambled (I should probably replace this with oats but I love eggs)
Break - Missed due to meetings
12.20 - Yesterdays Fajitas 2 (Including Wraps, wraps weren't full size)
3.30 - Protein Bar thing I made (need to eat these theres loads in the fridge)
6.30 - Salmon (270g) baked with Baby sweetcorn (125g) and one largeish potato, 'erbs & spices.
8.00 - Chicken Fillet

Going out for another run tonight, want to increase on yesterdays miserable attempt.

UPDATE -
Corniche where I usually run was full of cars, people and camels. Something on up there so too packed to go for a run there and it was getting dark and the streets busy so I hit the treadmill upstairs. Covered the readouts on the machines and just went for a mix of jog, sprint, etc for approx 20 mins.

Not too worried about figures at the moment my theory is if I can get out every night up until friday then ill have kind have pushed myself int othe routine so I can concentrate on uping figures then.

Also the slmon dinner - bloody delicious.

c - 13

Only been eating properly for a couple of days now but i'm feeling better for it already, sluggish bloated feeling is lifting and I feel like I have more energy.

Was even out of bed exactly one minute before my alarms this morning to go for a run Went out and did approx 2.5 KM jog and then walked another 2 KM back home.

Day off work today, some local holiday or something, which is nice.

Also turned 25 today, not going to let it effect my eating for the day though.

Just about to have breakfast
5 eggs scrambled, small glass low fat milk

For the rest of the day I think ill do like I did with the Fajitas and cook a batch of curry up and use it over the course of the day. Ill go beef this time since I have 3 pieces of steak in the fridge and no other ideas what ot do with them. It will do the lunch tomorrow as well.

Big scalding hot curry, yum.

Right time to eat breakfast.

BossArky

c - 13 wrote: »

Also turned 25 today, not going to let it effect my eating for the day though.

Happy bday!

c - 13

Everything went as planned for yesterday, I had an extra chicken fillet about 8 ish and put a few drops of a sauce I have called "100% Pain" on it. Unfortunately I mistook it for another sauce I have that's not as hot and slightly overdid it.

I'm only kind of able to taste things again now. Agony.

Talks of being out of the country for a while from tomorrow so here's where the challenge really starts. Its a bitch buying in and cooking decent food when your only there a few days and the place doesn't have more than primitive cooking facilities.

Eating for today is pretty much the same as the last few days -
06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
12.00 - Yesterdays Leftover Curry
15.00 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
18.30 - Homemade soup (Basically blended veg and a little water)
Chicken Stir Fry (about 1.5 chicken fillets, onion, pepper, chilli, Fajita seasoning)

Hopefully the corniche will be back to its usual quietness tonight so I can go out for my jog without having to avoid cars flying at me.

Stepped on the scales this morning and it said 108.6, that's down 2 KG from the start. I somehow doubt thats accurate but at least its moving in the right direction (not using the scales as a basis of my measurements but its the only indicator i have for now). I'm thinking ill set my first mid term goal as making the scales go under 100 KG.

UPDATE -
Just back in the door now
3KM Jog followed by 0.5KM Walk Followed By 1KM Jog followed by 0.5 - 1KM Walk

Tired now, the heat really takes a bit more out of you

c - 13

Feeling good again this morning, a little excercise and proper food goes a long way. Eating for today is as follows -

06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
12.00 - 100g Wholewheat (or is that wheatflour ?) Pasta + Tin Tuna in sunflower oil, used a tiny amount of a jar pasta sauce on the pasta because I didnt have a can of tomatoes to make sauce and the shop was closed (Approx 1/5th Jar)
15.00 - Protein Bar/Biscuit
18.30 - Most likely Pasta/Tuna Combo again if I cant get to the supermarket today.

Running again tonight obviously.

Had someone here in the office recommend Hindu Squats, Hindu Pushups and back bridges to me to build endurance. Anyone know if they're worth a toss ? I really do need to start on some sort of body weight training because I've decided its probably not worth my time renewing my gym membership due to all the travelling. Link on T-Nation I found while googling them for those who are unacquianted

UPDATE -
Tonights run was bloody horrible. I dont know why but it was really uncomfortable for the duration, even my spit turned to paste in my mouth, it was disgusting.

Cooked a cajun chicken dish from the following -
4 Peppers, 2 onions, chillis, tin of tomatoes, tin of kidney beans, 6 chicken fillets, spices and herbs, bash of hot sauce, dash of blairs "after death".

Divided into 4 portions and had one for my late meal instead of planned pasta/tuna combo with a few slices of turkey breast. Tasty and a delightful burn off it too.

c - 13

Feeling fairly tight up the back of my legs there today.

Eating for today -
06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Apple
12.00 - Leftover Cajun Chicken
15.00 - Apple
18.30 - Leftover Cajun Chicken + Tin Tuna (Was bloody starving) + Glass Low Fat Milk

Threw out the rest of those protein bars I made. they dried out and it was like eating dirt. Blegh.

UPDATE -
Was a bad dust haze out tonight so had to go for the treadmill. Upped Incline ot full and alternated between jog and walk. Wasnt too long before I was bolloxed. I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this run.

c - 13

Found out ill definitely be in and out of the country from Saturday on. This may prove to be problematic.

06.00 - 4 Eggs Scrambled, tiny amount butter
09.30 - Apple
12.00 - Leftover Cajun Chicken
15.00 - Apple
18.30 - Baked Potato, Steak, Onion & Homemade Pepper sauce (Maybe)

Heat is going to be well up today. Could feel it on the way into the office.

Might try and go for a swim tomorrow just for a change of pace.

Need to get out today for my run and then thats my first short term goal achieved.

Tried one or two of those hindu pushups, squats and bridges last night just to see what my form was like. The bridges especially I found very hard to hold.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

c - 13 wrote: »

Tried one or two of those hindu pushups, squats and bridges last night just to see what my form was like. The bridges especially I found very hard to hold.

I used to do a lot of Hindu squats / push ups as part of my circuit training. TBH I found them great but only really as a change from regular squats / push ups / BW training. Are you doing these after your run as a way to build up endurance?
The bridges are tough alright, I used to be able to do push ups from that position (more of a military press), don't think I'd be able to manage it now though....
I used to be able to do 150 squats, I notice on T-nation they recommend building up to 500!!! :eek:
Don't worry about upping the treadmill incline to max, work on getting a strong baseline first. Gradually introduce the hills into your session. Also I've noticed you're not including distance run / time it took in any of your posts - it'd be a good idea to track your progress.

Good work so far though!

c - 13

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

I used to do a lot of Hindu squats / push ups as part of my circuit training. TBH I found them great but only really as a change from regular squats / push ups / BW training. Are you doing these after your run as a way to build up endurance?
The bridges are tough alright, I used to be able to do push ups from that position (more of a military press), don't think I'd be able to manage it now though....
I used to be able to do 150 squats, I notice on T-nation they recommend building up to 500!!! :eek:
Don't worry about upping the treadmill incline to max, work on getting a strong baseline first. Gradually introduce the hills into your session. Also I've noticed you're not including distance run / time it took in any of your posts - it'd be a good idea to track your progress.
Good work so far though!

Cheers for that. I havent introduced them at all yet I just decided i'd try handful last night to see if I could actually do them. Ill probably start introducing them after the run in the next few days.

I'm adding in the run distance (but its not entirely accurate because i'm trying to measure it in my car) ill be collecting my GPS watch again on saturday so ill be able to put up more accurate data from then.

The purpose of this week was more to try get myself into the habit of getting my gear together and going for a run after work. That's what killed me the last couple of times I tried to make progress.

I think you're right about the hills too, I may hit it to the maximum every now and again though just to see if I'm making progess.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Cool stuff man, the point I was making about loging distance and times was more for yourself, you can look back and say "Well it used to take me 30 mins to run this route but now it only takes me 25".
Also from talking to T Runner, he recommended taking it really easy on the hills - taking really small steps but more concentraiting on spending as much time on the hills as possible, rather than distance covered.
That'll help build up your endurance when your starting off

c - 13

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Cool stuff man, the point I was making about loging distance and times was more for yourself, you can look back and say "Well it used to take me 30 mins to run this route but now it only takes me 25".
Also from talking to T Runner, he recommended taking it really easy on the hills - taking really small steps but more concentraiting on spending as much time on the hills as possible, rather than distance covered.
That'll help build up your endurance when your starting off

I agree 100%, I just ened up in a situation where I was stuck without my gear for a while and just wanted to make some sort of a start instead of losing a week to nothing.

Thanks for the help, all much appreciated !

c - 13

Just back from my run there this morning and it was hell. Its scorching outside and theres no shade at all where I run. I was making good progress and then the heat got to me. I didnt help that I went running pretty much straight out of bed. I'm going to have to work out some system to make sure I have water in me before I go running and start bringing some with me.

Think I did about 4K in all. Ill have accurate figures from tomorrow on anyway.

Didnt get a chance to get out for the run yesterday so I did a spot of skipping and did about 2 x 10 of the Hindu Squats and push ups with 2 attempted back bridges, ill up those again later. I have a fear of falling on my head doing those back bridges.

Did a load of cooking to freeze yesterday to make sure theres food available here so I wont be tempted to call take away when i'm just passing through.

Made -
4 Fajita Portions
3 Curry Portions
6 Chilli Portions

Should be enough for a while.

Just going to do breakfast now so ill update later on with food for the day.

c - 13

Back in Qatar (just today) picked up GPS watch again so figures should be more accurate going forward. Unfortunately it ran out of battery just near the end of my run today so I didnt get the time. Jogged 5 KM today.

Eating today was a disaster, Breakfast was 4 egg scrambled and didnt get anything again until 8PM due to traveling and availability of food on site.

Now had -
Handful cashews
4 cheese slice (Processed crap but was starving while waiting for food to cook this was all else was in the house that wasnt frozen)
3 Chicken fillets with herbs and spices
(possibly tin tuna)

Ill do better tomorrow. Traveling interrupting eating is a pain.

Deadlift
6 x 40 KG
5 x 50 KG
5 x 60 KG
5 x 80 KG
5 x 90 KG
2 x 110 KG (Tough, couple seconds pause between reps)
Ran out of weight

There was no reason behind those deadlifts. Just the weights were in the sitting room, curiosity and I was waiting for chicken to cook ...

c - 13

Currently not going the best.

Yesterdays eating -
Breakfast - Oats, Handful cashews
Snack - Chicken Fillet
Lunch - Chicken Chilli thing
Snack - Chicken Fillet
Dinner - Steak Sandwich w/ Onions

Missed my flight back to Bahrain yesterday evening so was later getting back so never got for my run.

Todays eating -
Breakfast - 4 Eggs, little butter
Lunch - Chicken burger and few fries - Bad, but it was that or nothing until I get back to Bahrain tonight (its all is available in the offices here in Saudi)

Hoping to get for a run tonight. Shoulders still sore from deadlifting the other day.

Weight this morning was 106.7 KG, down from 110.6 KG so thats not too bad. Seem to be on track for getting it under 100 KG in the next few weeks.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

c - 13 wrote: »

I have a fear of falling on my head doing those back bridges.

When I do the back bridges my hands constantly slip out - damn flexibility! But what I'd do is lie down in front of the wall so my hands are pressed up against it and can't slide out from under me.
Also well done on the 4KG loss!

c - 13

Been a rough past few days i'm working in the middle of nowhere on a military compound, the only shop there doesnt have much food wise so i've been limited and I haven't gotten out for a jog due to long hours and the fact that there's nowhere to run (No room in compound and compound opens out onto a highway).

Going back to Bahrain for the weekend today so ill get out today and tomorrow anyway. Ill have to start doing something from the place from saturday though because ill probably be here most of next week too.

c - 13

Not the best weekend, sporadic connection to the net in my flat, sandstorm on Thursday and gym at the flats (generously calling it a gym, one treadmill, one bike and some little pink weights) was being painted so got nothing done.

Friday went out for a 4KM Jog, took 31:28. Not great.

Back in Saudi, hideous sandstorm blowing at the moment, never seen one as bad. Think I might have access to a gym for the few days i'm here. Hopefully.

On a guarded compound so cant really run around outside either, presuming the sand in the air would ease off first anyway.

Also Scales said I was 105.6 KG on Friday morning. Getting there now. Getting into double figures is the next achievement for me.

c - 13

Saturday -
2.5 Miles Treadmill @ 2% Incline

Yesterday -
2 Miles Treadmill @ 2% Incline
Would have done more but was quite sore up the shins (shin splints?) so left it off at that.

c - 13

Wasnt in the gym since the last entry because I was bolloxed from work. Ill remedy that this week.

Eating was going okay though. Weighed in at 103.9 today so thats a stone down anyway. Not too bad. Wonder how much of that is muscle.

I seem to be having trouble bringing my distance on the running up, thats a bit discouraging.

c - 13

Wasnt working yesterday so had plenty of time to go to the gym, i'd make loads of progress if i didnt have to go to work

Jogged 5 KM in a little under 45 mins (Very slow)
Hit the various machines and small amount of freeweights there twice (once in the AM and once in the PM), no particular pattern which was probably a bad idea.

Weather outside is hitting 40 degrees most of the time so very difficult to get running outside. Even the gym isnt properly airconned and you tend to be dying of the heat in no time.

Will go for another jog tonight, try to up the distance. Starting to get a bit worried about being ready for this at this stage.