Back to the treadmill

Treatment is over ! Had final scans (all clear) and told to go out and enjoy life. So not much more coming from me about the treatment now - there will be follow up scans every 4 months for a year, every 6 months in the following year, and then annually for another 8 years. But these are merely precautionary, so it's time to get back to...

Health ! I was doing pretty well, pulling my weight down to around 17 stone before all of this started. And after the surgery (dropping to 14 stone) and the chemo (keeping my weight level as it burned up caloires) I've now got back to a healthy state but a less healthy size again (over 18 stone). On top of this, been getting an inflamed back, probably from the lack of exercise, and not assisted by my tummy muscles recovering from 2 bought with the surgical knife.

So back to weekend running, weekday cycling to work and yoga for me ! And the dreaded Monday weigh ins - you should see a little graph on the right hand side now, nothing like a bit of public shame to kick start a good habit. On top of which, I feel a little winter snowboarding might be in order this season - one trip booked so far on Feb (to St Anton in Austria), but I feel another trip either State-side or Euro, would top that off nicely ! Anyone interested ?

Weighting for a silver lining

Have now been home for almost a week and so far recovery from the operation has gone well. I am eating most foods again, having cautiously avoided hard to process foods for a few days, and even treated myself to a small glass of wine last night - gosh. Digestion is almost back to normal too.

Mimi is still looking after me quite a bit - too much moving around gets my back muscles quite tired as they overcompensate for my weak belly muscles. But I am trying to do more of the light household chores and take a short walk each day for exercise. Walking is also fairly easy on the stomach muscles these days, but there is still a problem that none of my trousers fit, and my belt pushes unpleasantly against my scar.

Pre and post op, I was not eating for a few days to facilitate medical exams and the operation, and this has all caused me to drop just over 1 and 1/2 stone - I am now 15 stone 1, 25% lighter than I was a year ago, and only 6 pounds from my target weight (14 stone 9, or BMI < 25). Not a recommended way to drop weight by any means, but I am glad to see it go in anyway. Expect to put a few pounds back on as I continue to relax and eat my way to recovery, but it is still scary to be this new size. I look lanky, not big, and feel almost skeletal in places !

Unable to make it to shops, I will just have to find temporary solutions for upcoming weddings and other events that require trousers (so many do, these days). Then toward the end of my few weeks recovery, I may need to do a quick wardrobe update so I can return to my workplace with at least fitting clothes.

Spoon and Belly

Long time readers might recall a post over a year ago proclaiming Spoon one of the most awesomest bands ever. Well, nothings changed. The last album was released around a year ago, and is still one of my favorite listens. All the tracks are also still available to listen to free of charge on there "jukebox" website as well. Plus they are Adam Buxton's favorite band too !

My belly (another great band) has felt like there is lead (the metal, not the dog thing) in it today. Ouch - cramptastic. Keep thinking it might still be that penny I swallowed a year ago ! Will find out what the next step is after my appointment (now set for a week Wednesday).

Have "frozen" my gym membership today (about 1 month later than I should). I am now paying about 25% of the cost for the privilege of not attending the gym now ! Silly really, but it preserves the good membership rate I have when I rejoin, which is quite a few quid below the cost should I "rejoin" later. I figure back into winter, with hopefully a restored tummy, I'll be heading down for vital happy-chemical inducing lunchtime runs. And maybe some training for this 10 mile run in October, which is looking less and less likely going forward.

Running beyond targets

Last weekend, whilst stretching my back out to try and ready myself for the 10K run and looking at the weather forecast of heavy rain, I had a lot of mixed feelings about the run itself. But rather than just focus on the negative, I had a rather fun BBQ and Eurovision night on Saturday - I tell ya, those Latvian singing pirates shoulda won - and a great family get together where aunts, cousins and family alike we locked in constant battle to hold my now more expressive little nieces (apologies, new pictures going up soon !)

So the day of the run came, and I headed out garbed in my running vest and extra waterproof layers (including the essential "discard it by the starting line" bin bag vest !). It was cold and wet and took a couple of kms to get my system feeling warmer again, after which it welcomed the rain to keep cool. I kept as modest a pace as I could, cheered on by Mimi and my running mate's partner around the 1km. Of my running mate, I saw noting - a clerical error with running numbers put him near the back with the charity runners (people in animal costumes mainly) which meant even at his better pace I finished a few minutes ahead of him. Water stations did a poor trade during the run, and I kept myself fuelled without needing to join the long queues for the toilets (pre-race fluid consumption is a finely balanced thing !)

Around the 7km I felt tired, but had been keeping pace just under 6 minute a km - so making excellent progress for a sub-hour time. Worried that I might have slowed pace, I glanced at the stopwatch and realised I was due for the 8km mark soon, but a couple more minutes on I still had not seen it. Reaching 48mins (8km x 6 mins) I was getting quite annoyed indeed, all of which had probably pulled my pace up as I soon hit the 9km mark at 50 mins ! A little burnt out after my worried acceleration, I took a modest jog uphill toward Trafalgar square, eager to make sure I jogged the whole thing without walking (when I did this 7 years ago, I felt the need to walk around the 8km mark to prepare for the final 2 km). I also wanted to be sure to be putting on a good jog for the final run down the Mall, where people would be cheering runners on. As I rounded the corner, I heard my name called out from the girls who had managed to get a good photo spot near the final 400m mark, rounding the corner from Trafalgar square into the Mall, encouraging me to push hard for the finish. A slight burst of energy faltered near 200m, where I saw I had just crept over 55 minutes (my initial "ideal" time), but I pushed hard to ensure I kept it within a minute of that, and came over the line in 55 minutes and 47 seconds.


I was very pleased about just finishing the race at the time, and in good spirits down the pub later, after a quick change at home into warmer, dryer clothes ! But I think it's this week, now the legs have recovered and my back feels better post-painful physio involving elbows and vertebrae, that I am looking back and feeling the accomplishment more.

Another great achievement came after a few more post-race donations bought me over my charity target as well. Thanks to everyone who helped me reach what was an ambitious target. Knowing that the run was adding so much support for charity helped mentally both leading up to the day and on the day itself, as both a stick of not wanting to let people down and a carrot of knowing so many people were supportive of my little run. Hopefully I can keep the running and training going over summer in time for our 10-mile run in October (the Cabbage patch 10), but more on that later.

And finally, this all came together this month as I stood onto the scales. 16 stone 13 (and a quarter) - finally breaking through the 17 stone mark. Again, good encouragement to try and keep up with healthy eating, often quite hard in a city that seems to rob you of spare time and has so many easy eat out / take away options ! All the more reason to avoid restrictive diets and stick to the great "moderation is everything" philosophy - pizza and sofa evenings should always be allowed - now and then :)

Up and running

After a little scare last weekend with some pretty sharp belly pain, which pretty much has kept me off training for the last two weeks, I am pleased to say that I am feeling a little better and should still be on for the BUPA 10K run, which is this coming bank holiday Monday.

Thanks again for everyone who sponsored me for this - it really added a lot of weight and encouragement to getting back into shape to ensure I can get around the course. Still hoping to break the 1 hour mark with my run, but essentially just looking to keep jogging for 10km this Monday, hopefully avoiding cramp which has been a problem for many previous runs.

Will be equipping m'ladyfriend with camera to grab a "before and after shot" to post up here, dressed in my wonderful running vest of course. Might even catch an "in action" shot too, pending being able to work out a good point for Mimi to shoot from !

As for the pain ? Possibly a bit of bad gas :) Not so life-threatening...

A dedicated follower of fashion

Thanks lots of those who have sponsored me so far - I am currently just over halfway toward my target and looking for other ways I can try and make the full amount.

So I sent my details off to Diabetes UK, who kindly sent me back a pack of information and fund raising ideas for me to read through (most of them mentioning "the London Marathon" - I think they had a few packs to get rid of !). But the crowning glory of this pack was... the Diabetes UK Pink 'n' Black running vest !!!

I think both the fetching cut and colour of this top deserves a little support, so therefore to add incentive to wavering sponsors of my athletic efforts, should I reach my target I pledge to wear this fine outfit along the run, as well as provide all pictures of myself in this fine getup on the blog after the run (assuming I can get a photographer on the day !)

In training, I managed to run / walk / slow jog the race route last weekend, overall in a reasonable time, but I was plagued by cramp from what might of been a too fast starting pace. Such is the peril of training with my slightly faster friend ! Hopefully I can work on setting an even pace over the next month so I can get around the route in under my target time of 1 hour (hoping for 55 mins, at a push).

So hopefully I will find more capers than this simple crime against fashion to help get to the final fund-raising figure, but if you haven't already, then please offer your support at http://www.justgiving.com/runfatbenrun and keep tuned to the blog for more news and progress.

10000 metres for charity

Most blog readers will probably have already seen via other channels that I have decided to run the BUPA London 10,000 road race on behalf of Diabetes UK. I settled upon this charity as it's currently a condition my father lives with, and it was his encouragement that got me started on my current route to better fitness. The run takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, May 26th. If you would like to offer a donation to help me reach my target, then I have set up this charity page for online donations, and can also accept offline donations too (although I cannot claim the 28% Gift Aid on such donations currently). In fitness news, I reached 17 stone 8 (~112kg) this week, which finally brings my BMI under 30 - this equates to me being medically classified as "overweight" rather than "obese". This is a landmark I have been looking forward to for a while, and hopefully along with the 10K run can bolster my determination to keep going toward my ultimate goal of BMI 25.

Suddenly, from nowhere... an update !

Ok, three people commented on the lack of posts here - which is a lot in the micro-world of blogging. Besides, one of them was my mother, so what kind of son would I be to ignore my own mother ;)

I am assisted with getting today's blog going with the handy firefox plugin ScribeFire, which offers you a little pop-up writing panel, which allows you to quickly start typing when the mood strikes, as well as easily adding links to the page you are looking at. Recommended to all firefox bloggers out there... yes, both of you :) - or maybe not - I just finished this blog post, clicked the wrong thing, and lost everything without a warning message. So it's a power tool without a safety catch :(

Today's post will be sidestepping my #1 project of weight-loss with a simple "click the Traineo link" comment. Things are going pretty well, I'm feeling healthy, and have gym sessions, cycling to work and now an occasional swim at weekends going for me. I have also signed up for the BUPA London 10,000 run next May, which is the furthest I have ever ran (and then that was almost 6-7 years ago !)

Moving on to more important housing news. Mimi has moved in with me, and along with Jon and his girlfriend we are cosily filling our 2-bed / 1-bath house. Not TOO cosy yet, although occasional morning waits for bathrooms and tripping over drying suggests that 1 month is the longest we can sustain this these days ! At the end of this month, Mimi and I move onto out new rental place in Barnsbury (which is located here). It's a basement flat with a large bedroom, kind of modern interior, good storage space and a large shared garden at the back. There is also a large park space infront of the house, which might be fun next summer. The garden is shared with the house above, which I am led to believe has a lady occupying it who is often away and quite friendly, so that sounds like things should get on fine. We have men and large vans hired for the move, otherwise it would be just me lifting the heavy things, which wouldn't be great, not with my back...

Yep, more back problems for me. Nothing major, just a slight stoop which was quickly "popped" out a large and brutal Aussie Physiotherapist. It has caused me a bit of neck pain, which became aggrivated at a recent trip to "the electric ballroom" rock / metal club in Camden. I probably didn't need to be rocking out TO THE MAX, but when in rome... Anyway, it's all on the mend now, and I'm sitting much straighter at work, the threat of a post-rugby victory trip back to the defeated antipodean physio filling me with dread. All that neck twisting, if done a little too hard, might... &lt;shudder&gt;

Well, I had some more here (before losing it) about writing (still ticking along a little), coding (not ticking along at all) and finaces (£240 mystery transaction with Tesco being disputed - people, check your bank statements every 2 months, it can pay off !) but they will have to remain part of my signing off paragraph for now. Apologies for the break from blogging, hopefully I'll have some more news closer to the BIG housemove. And once Royal mail stop sitting about drinking tea, they might deliver my camera from the repair shop so I can get pictures too !

Going down...

Ok - diet plan is on for a good start. I got some scales, which kindly placed me much closer to 19 stone than 20, and then got a little more serious on exercise. Three to five times a week is the plan, with cycling into work and the gym offering the best chances for exercise.

So far I am hovering just under 19 stone, but hoping to see that continue to drop slowly. It's easy to get disheartened - weight loss of more than 2lbs a week is quite unsustainable so not likely to happen. Need to keep vigilant on bad foods and getting to the gym (always tricky to fit in around work) especially as winter rolls in...

[EDIT] ---> Come celebrate in voyeuristic web2.0 style by tracking my fitness and weight loss at Traineo (click the button in the sidebar, or click here).

A lot of large projects on the go

Having gotten home at 4:40pm after a financial derivatives training course, I really thought I was going to make good headway on virtual vampire. It's now 10:15pm and I've just cleared my plate !

Eating up that time in fairness was cooking a nice dinner, doing the homework for the course and a big gym session. I am trying to get fit for a number of reasons - firstly there is a 5.8km run coming up in July (the chase challenge) and I would like to be able run it in around 35-40 minutes. Secondly was a warning for a friend of mine that 30-45 years old is "heart attack alley" so really not the time to be neglecting exercise, and finally a had a health test last year that reported all was fine except for two things; firstly my anerobic / lung capacity was a little sub-par and secondly I am medically obese.

A little shocked that I was in this category, I looked at the statistics, and anyone with a BMI (Body mass index) of over 30 is obese. His chart was nice enough to have an extra "obese II" category for BMI in excess of 35, which I am far from, but being in any of the bright red areas doesn't strike me as a good thing long term. I am used to having a weight around 18 1/2 stone (118kg) for much of my adult life, but to drop to the (still orange coloured) overweight section I would need to drop to 17 1/2 stone (111kg). So I was a little shocked to find that using two different sets of scales, both confirmed my current weight to be 20 stone (127kg) putting me at BMI 34... nearly obese II.

Ok, so it's early days with the gym - around 8-10 weeks so far I think - and coming into Summer there should hopefully be some seasonal weight drop to help me along. But I think I am going to need to look at the little things more harshly now, and look at other opportunities for exercise to supplement the gym sessions.

Right - might get 30 mins on virtual vampire now. As long as each day I work towards goals (gym, writing the blog, software projects) then it shouldn't get me down, because I know what I'm working towards and I know it's things I enjoy and want to improve. It's a lot of investment of time, but cutting out the distractions of life (computer games, idle TV) and working more efficiently at work should all give me the time I need to fit it all in.