Health and fitness

[Coastalraider]

Have an awesome week EJ, enjoy the trip, and enjoy the experience.

[EJ]

Cheers mate! Somewhere in China now. Think I'm about 24 hours away from Iceland, but not really counting.

[EJ]

Ahhh, just seen this. First teaser pics of race site!

[Coastalraider]

Man that looks cold....

[EJ]

I didn't even think of it when coming over but Icelanders like our viking on my beanie.

[Coastalraider]

Best of luck EJ, hope you have an amazing experience and embrace the emotional rollecoaster that a 23 hour event would be.

[EJ]

Thanks again! Boarding the shuttle to race site soon.

**** is now real and all the nerves that go with it.

[Coastalraider]

Nerves are your body's way of letting you know you are about to do something amazing. Embrace it!

[gerg]

Good luck EJ.

We're moving into our new place on Monday and finally able to get some routine into our life, which means I can train properly. My training shoes and bikes.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

[Coastalraider]

How did you go EJ? I've been keeping a eye on spartan website for results but they don't seem to have posted yet?

[Dibbers]

OK so no where near as full on as these guys doing marathons, triathlons running around iceland etc...

A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to see how much my 2 and a half year old weighs... he wouldn't stay on the scales long enough so i stood on them while holding him, then handed him to my wife to see the difference... (he's 14kgs btw)... I got a bit of a rude shock when i realised i weighed 112.7kgs...

So for the last 6 or so weeks, i've made a few changes to my diet. No more soft drinks or take away (with the exception of maccas before Cricket, thats my cheat once a week), no more chips or chocolates for snacks at work, healthier lunches etc.

So far I've lost 6.5kgs... i'll probably add a bit back on over Xmas, but plan to keep it going in the new year. We're also going to buy a home gym for the spare room (my wife exercises daily so will use it too). My goal is to get down to 90kgs at least before soccer starts in April. Or at least go down a couple of waist sizes by then.

I don't enjoy running or cycling, so i'll use sport as my cardio (play Cricket in summer, soccer in winter), but i want to get my weight back under control.

Next item on the agenda is to quit smoking.. besides the health implications it's costing me an arm and a leg!

[Coastalraider]

OK so no where near as full on as these guys doing marathons, triathlons running around iceland etc...

A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to see how much my 2 and a half year old weighs... he wouldn't stay on the scales long enough so i stood on them while holding him, then handed him to my wife to see the difference... (he's 14kgs btw)... I got a bit of a rude shock when i realised i weighed 112.7kgs...

So for the last 6 or so weeks, i've made a few changes to my diet. No more soft drinks or take away (with the exception of maccas before Cricket, thats my cheat once a week), no more chips or chocolates for snacks at work, healthier lunches etc.

So far I've lost 6.5kgs... i'll probably add a bit back on over Xmas, but plan to keep it going in the new year. We're also going to buy a home gym for the spare room (my wife exercises daily so will use it too). My goal is to get down to 90kgs at least before soccer starts in April. Or at least go down a couple of waist sizes by then.

I don't enjoy running or cycling, so i'll use sport as my cardio (play Cricket in summer, soccer in winter), but i want to get my weight back under control.

Next item on the agenda is to quit smoking.. besides the health implications it's costing me an arm and a leg!

Dibbers congrats on making the choice to change things mate, that really is the hardest part.

I know your pain - when my son was born, I thought being a good dad was spending every waking moment with him - and health took a massive back seat. I topped out at 113 like you, and it was a big, big reality check.I started having fatty liver issues as well, which was alarming seeing as I hardly ever had a drink. These days, while training is in reality a very selfish thing to do, it gives me much better QUALITY time with the family, as Im happier and healthier, and can play more with them etc.

Im down to a comfortable 88, and cn drop a few extras for a big race, but I found low 90's was actually very achievable with a few hours of exersize each week (sounds like you will get that through sport) and really paying attention to what you are putting in your body. I still eat **** food every now and then (think 3 times a week.....) but I make sure I earn it. Like you say, maccas on game day is ok. I usually devour a families worth of food after a race, as that is my treat to myself.

If you ever need any tips, yell out!

[Dibbers]

Cheers mate.

Yeah it was a bit of a shock really... I didn't want to do too much at once or I'd never sustain it... so I figured I'd sort the diet first, then try to give up the smokes... if i tried to do both at the same time i'd probably have failed massively.

Diets significantly better, so time for a new years resolution... I don't have a great deal of time to train during the week, so i figured if i can get a half hour in each morning before the family wakes up, then it'll make a massive difference.

[Coastalraider]

I was also a 40 a day smoker for about 15 years, best advice I can give to quitting is, dont force it. When you are ready, it will be easy. If you are fighting it, it wont last.

I tried champix for 1 round, by the time I had finished I didnt even get a repeat.

[EJ]

Good on you, Dibbers. I think the gradual but consistent approach is the right way to go about it. Good luck and stay strong

[EJ]

Trying to copy/paste my Iceland race report but I'm getting an SQL error. Doesn't work from my phone either.

Trying with some formatting changes...ok it worked! It was the emojis...

[Very long post ahead. For those who don't care for the details...

tl;dr - Extremely difficult course and conditions. Saw Northern Lights. Covered about 70km. Team Australia are truly awesome.]

Spartan Race's inaugral 24 Hour Ultra in Iceland was incredible. I've had quite a bit of time to digest it now, but am still finding it difficult to put into words. In my quiet moments, it's still all I can think about.

I spent three days prior to the race sightseeing Iceland and that truly blew me away. Honestly, all of that was blown out of the water by the race itself. At the start line, conditions were mild. It was overcast, there was a bit of a breeze, but pretty sure temps were sitting above freezing. After a 5km prologue through the town, Hveragerði, we hit the actual course.

Everything was about as expected until we started climbing the mountain. Not only were we taking an extremely steep route up, but a lot of it was over scree (loose rocks) and at least for the first lap, that scree was covered in ice. So if the rocks themselves didn't roll under your shoes and then tumble down the mountain (often at racers behind you), you probably lost your footing from the ice anyway.

About halfway up, it became pretty exposed and that's when we met Iceland wind. I've never experienced wind like it. It was violent and relentless. I remember the machine gun rippling sound our jackets were making. At the top of the mountain, we entered a sleet storm which enjoyed maximum velocity into our faces, courtesy of the wind. For the first two laps, up on that mountain, we enjoyed skin-ripping wind, defoliating sleet, and iced-over scree covered terrain that you couldn't trust step by step. Welcome to Spartan Iceland.

<see attached video for an idea of what the wind was like. This video was taken low on the mountain, it was considerably worse up the top. No surprise that I've yet to see a video emerge of the conditions up top when the wind and sleet was at it's worse>

While it was a sleet storm up on the mountain, down lower it just rained on us. This lasted for about the first 6 hours, then mercifully, we had pretty good conditions for the rest of the race. I should say weather conditions, because the rain turned previously solid ground into slick mud, then when it stopped raining, that water soon turned into more ice so previously sure-footed terrain was now an ice-skating rink. Therefore, the course was ever changing and ensured there was never a dull moment. That's without mentioning the 20 hours of darkness Iceland is in at this time of the year.

I happily admit, at times during the first 6 hours especially, it was absolutely horrible. My resolve was tested. I couldn't see myself being a 24 hour finisher if conditions stayed the same.

Amazingly, only one person that we know of was seriously injured and had to be rescued off the mountain. It's heresay, but I've heard she was knocked unconscious after falling on the ice on a steep downhill descent in the dark.

I did my first 3 laps too fast (about 38km all up including the 5km prologue through town). My legs were ok because it was such slow going, but my grip strength for the obstacles was gone. Unlike regular Spartan races where if you fail an obstacle, you do 30 burpees at that obstacle, I had (nonchalantly) registered for the "Elite" category and so had to get a "passport" tag punched at each obstacle and saved up all my burpee penalties for the end of each lap. We had a designated Burpee Hurt Zone, which was of course on gravel and as we entered, we faced a bright light and a camera, shouted our bib number and how many burpees our penalty was and did them in front of the camera so Big Brother could keep count and make sure we did every single one. As my grip strength failed me, I accrued 120 burpees per lap for two laps. The pain witnessed on that gravel patch was horrible, hilarious and exciting at the same time.

I learnt to start managing my race more wisely after 3 laps and had longer rests in the transition area to let my grip strength recover. For the rest of the race I only accrued 2 burpee penalties per lap and that was much better.

Aside from the course itself, there was a quite magical period of the race that will definitely stay with me forever. At about 2am, roughly 14 hours into the race, the Northern Lights unfolded itself across the sky. Easily the brightest showing I witnessed my whole time in Iceland, parts of it flickered rapidly with greens and pinks. I'm sure that will be the first and last time I see racers stop in their tracks and just stare at the sky in unison. A very special moment.

All up, I finished with 6 laps plus the prologue, which totalled just over 70km. It was far less than I thought I might end up with (was hoping to break 100km), but after meeting the course, I knew I had to adjust my distance expectations and whilst I'm probably not completely satisfied with my effort, I'm not ashamed of it either. It was by far the hardest race I've done, and it's hard to imagine what could top it. It was unforgettable and I'm sure will prove to be a landmark day in my life. I'm just very thankful to have been a part of it.

The race itself was awesome, the Lights were magical, but what I'm honestly most appreciative of is the genuinely awesome members of Team Australia. Tania Bates, Jane Fischer, David Syme, Melanie Currey, Simon Bernie, Marion Mcrae, Amanda Green and Andrea Bell. I met most of you pre-race and spent nearly every waking minute with at least one of you post-race until I left Iceland. We obviously all had this race in common and so had something to connect with straight away, but as my planning all along was to do this solo, I didn't expect the level of cameraderie we had out there. You enriched my experience immensely and I can't thank you all enough for your company. I'm really looking forward to seeing you all again. I think most of us are looking at the 24 Hour OCR Championships in Sydney in June, yeah? If not, I'll definitely be at the Picton Spartan in March, and if finances allow, I'll try to make the 8 Hour night Toughest Mudder in Brisbane in May

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Spartan race lost 6 drones trying to video the race because they got blown away in the wind and smashed into the mountain

Also, official results have yet to be posted. They've had a lot of trouble because 10,000ft of timing mat cables froze. Update 24/12: Results are now in and it looks like I finished 38th overall.

Another detail is I accidentally stopped my GPS, probably while doing my first lot of 120 burpees. I don't think I really lost too much in the way of distance, and maybe less an hour in time before I started my second track. Strava for whatever reason has both trackings as 6 hours something when my watch and on Garmin Connect it correctly says my second tracking was just under 13 hours.

[greeneyed]

That’s probably because you have characters that are not alpha numeric.

[EJ]

It was emojis, weren't the same as this board's. Now, can't we do attachments here anymore? I'll link some stuff instead then...





This is the windy video I referenced in my race report...

[-TW-]

Non ascii characters tend to screw things up

[gerg]

Wow looks and sounds amazing. It's races/events like that that make it all worthwhile.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

[Shano]

OK so no where near as full on as these guys doing marathons, triathlons running around iceland etc...

A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to see how much my 2 and a half year old weighs... he wouldn't stay on the scales long enough so i stood on them while holding him, then handed him to my wife to see the difference... (he's 14kgs btw)... I got a bit of a rude shock when i realised i weighed 112.7kgs...

So for the last 6 or so weeks, i've made a few changes to my diet. No more soft drinks or take away (with the exception of maccas before Cricket, thats my cheat once a week), no more chips or chocolates for snacks at work, healthier lunches etc.

So far I've lost 6.5kgs... i'll probably add a bit back on over Xmas, but plan to keep it going in the new year. We're also going to buy a home gym for the spare room (my wife exercises daily so will use it too). My goal is to get down to 90kgs at least before soccer starts in April. Or at least go down a couple of waist sizes by then.

I don't enjoy running or cycling, so i'll use sport as my cardio (play Cricket in summer, soccer in winter), but i want to get my weight back under control.

Next item on the agenda is to quit smoking.. besides the health implications it's costing me an arm and a leg!

Keep it up Mate, well done

[Coastalraider]

It was emojis, weren't the same as this board's. Now, can't we do attachments here anymore? I'll link some stuff instead then...





This is the windy video I referenced in my race report...

EJ, so glad you had a good experience, that looks epic! It's going to be hard to top!

[EJ]

It was emojis, weren't the same as this board's. Now, can't we do attachments here anymore? I'll link some stuff instead then...





This is the windy video I referenced in my race report...

EJ, so glad you had a good experience, that looks epic! It's going to be hard to top!

Yep, already pre registered for next year's! December, hopefully Norway.

What's everybody looking at for 2018?

I've got Six Foot Marathon early March, Sydney Spartan late March. Will do another 24 hour race in June in Sydney.

[gerg]

Have you thought about the Canberra centenary (?) 100k? I think it's in September. I haven't specifically picked any races yet but I'd like to do a HIM next summer and then try for a full the year after. Maybe I'll do a half marathon next year? Also the Canberra times funrun and I've never done the City to Surf so maybe that is an option.

[EJ]

Sri Chimnoy? Yeah, started out as 100km for the centenary and goes up 1km each year to keep up with the age of Canberra.

Not sure I'll ever do a 100km(+) again. My knees don't seem to last.

If you run, City2Surf has to be done at least once. Pretty great event.

[gerg]

Yes Sri Chinmoy is the one. The local trail out the back of our new home is the Bicentennial Trail which the race is on. It's absolutely spectacular. Almost makes me want to do it.
If I did choose to do it would you be interested in running the last 25k with me EJ or CR? If you reach the last section after a particular time you need to run with a pacer for the last section. I haven't made a decision and don't have to for a while but the thought is in the back of my mind.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

[EJ]

You want to do it in 2018?

But yes, I will make myself available if you do choose to do such an epic event.

I'll be down there anyway for our home Prelim

Oh no, that's right, our stadium isn't big enough for Prelims. I'll make it happen anyway.

[-PJ-]

Health and fitness not good this morning.

HNY everyone..

[EJ]

Feeling pretty lazy today. Will squeeze out a short garage work out soon.

I read about a great workout from an online OCR coach (he coaches athletes who podiumed at Iceland), and did it yesterday.

Basically, it's a 24 minute workout split into 3 minute sets of 8. Best done on a 400m track.

Each 3 minutes, you run 400m then do as many burpees as you can until the 3 minutes is up. So if it takes you 2 minutes to run 400m, you've got 1 minute to do as many burpees as you can.

Repeat for 8 total sets to finish with 3.2km and your score is however many burpees you did over the 24 minutes.

I did 200 burpees. Had that figure in mind before I started. Was behind that target going into final set but managed to pump out 27 burpees in under 75 seconds to finish. It's a pretty brutal workout but a great one.

[Coastalraider]

Feeling pretty lazy today. Will squeeze out a short garage work out soon.

I read about a great workout from an online OCR coach (he coaches athletes who podiumed at Iceland), and did it yesterday.

Basically, it's a 24 minute workout split into 3 minute sets of 8. Best done on a 400m track.

Each 3 minutes, you run 400m then do as many burpees as you can until the 3 minutes is up. So if it takes you 2 minutes to run 400m, you've got 1 minute to do as many burpees as you can.

Repeat for 8 total sets to finish with 3.2km and your score is however many burpees you did over the 24 minutes.

I did 200 burpees. Had that figure in mind before I started. Was behind that target going into final set but managed to pump out 27 burpees in under 75 seconds to finish. It's a pretty brutal workout but a great one.

Ouch mate, that sounds brutal. I just did 2 bike sessions on the smart trainer and watched Brooklyn 99....

[-TW-]

Did a 1000cal bitsa session today.. don't feel that flash afterwards

Deads

1 x 12 50kg
1 x 8 90 kg
1 x 3 110kg
2 x 1 130kg
2 x 1 140 kg

Clean and jerk

4x4 40kg

Squats

1 x 12 50kg
2 x 12 80kg

Battlerope
20 on 30 off x 4

Ski erg/over shoulder ball toss
4x 30/10 (12kg)

Sled push
Sled + 25kg plate

Bike L12 22 mins

1001 cals total 101 mins

[EJ]

Wow, Tim! Think I'd struggle with some of those weights.

Skierg is a great machine. If I could own just one machine it would be a Skierg.

[Coastalraider]

I have no idea about weights, as I do all my strength stuff in a home gym, but those sets still look crazy mate! No wonder you feel flat afterwards!

I've just had a great session - I have a huge man-crush on Lionel Sanders, the ironman, and I've just had a live training session led by him on Zwift. That dude knows how to hurt, he's pushing interval sets up to 580 watts!!!! For reference, my vision was going blurry peaking at 420...

[dubby]

Some impressive deadlifts Tim

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[-TW-]

I'd like to hit 200 this year that's the aim