2006 - November

[Sweder]

I don´t like eating the same food all day long either. It´s very boring.

Crikey Antonio . . . if you eat all day long you'll never lose weight!

I heartily commend the Guinness diet.
After several days of dedicated drinking you no longer care about your weight

[marathondan]

Rewind a week or so to Andy's last blog post - I'm quick off the mark as always. T S Eliot is also an anagram of a literary term. The first person to spot it wins an unused Brighton 10K timing chip.

Lovely to meet all the members (and associates) of the RC South-East England Chapter yesterday - I'll try and bring my running legs next time. :o

[El Gordo]

Rewind a week or so to Andy's last blog post - I'm quick off the mark as always. T S Eliot is also an anagram of a literary term. The first person to spot it wins an unused Brighton 10K timing chip.

Litotes looks a good bet... but I don't have much use for the chip. Won't they want them back?

[William_Shakespeare]

Litotes looks a good bet...

Aye Andy, that was no mean feat. To be sure, that was not badly done at all

[El Gordo]

Thanks bard, and thanks for reminding me what it means. Haven't had to use it since I was at school, and I'm no spring chicken.

[El Gordo]

I know everyone's been anxious to know, so...

Figures:
Week 1, ave weight: 228.2 pounds
Week 2, ave weight: 224.0 pounds (-4.2lbs, -1.9kg)
Week 3, ave weight: 221.7 pounds (-2.3lbs, -1.0kg)

Honest, I know no one cares very much, but I need to shame myself into losing enough weight to have half a chance in Cape Town. :o

[Antonio247]

Congratulations on your Brighton race, amigos and on your weight loss, Andy!

As for my weight, this week I have lost only one kilo but I´m feeling fine. I keep having fruit for breakfast, mandarins or an apple at home, a cup of “poleo” , that is, a sort of mint tea with a teaspoon of sugar. I´ve tried to have healthy meals for lunch and dinner and fruit or yoghurt at teatime.

I´ve been for a run four days, doing 6, 6, 9 and 6 kms. In all, 27 kms in three hours fourteen minutes.
My aim for this week is to shed another kilo. My weight on Monday morning was 83, 8 kgs.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Honest, I know no one cares very much...

Oh but we do Andy - you're our very own personal running-flavoured virtual sit-com (or maybe that should be reality TV programme). We were there with you when you broke 5 hours at Zurich, and we'll be there e-cheering when you dip below 200lbs.

But of course, don't feel under any pressure, or anything...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well sorry you lost your money there Andy. Obviously your guys are good enough, and if they'd batted as well in the first innings as they did in the second, you would have had your draw and money in the bank.

So what England need to do now is simple - for the Adelaide test replace Harmi with Parmesan, I mean Panesar, and you have a real chance of winning that one.

Positives for Ingerlund are several:

* 370 is a massive 4th innings total on the Gabba pitch (on any pitch really, but especially the Gabba).
* Bell (despite his 2nd innings duck) is clearly a vastly improved player from last year.
* Giles has recovered brilliantly from his operation and I thought bowled really quite well.
* Collingwood and Pietersen both clearly have the goods and Cook showed considerable promise.
* Jones has improved considerably as a keeper since last year.
* Your team is relatively young and injury-free.

Take two spinners to Adelaide and you're in with a chance... remember this is how the series started last year as well. The only real worry is that your pace bowlers lacked penetration - even Flintoff struggled in the second innings. But if Harmison could get over the yips, that would change things considerably.

I still think this is going to be a difficult, and interesting series

[Antonio247]

I´ve lost another kilo this week. I stick at my diet which consists of fruit in the morning, salad, some protein and yoghurt or fruit for lunch, some fruit in the afternoon and a light dinner such as an omelette, some vegetables and yoghurt.

I´ve been for a run four days, doing 7, 6, 9 and 21 kms ( Benidorm half ). In all, 43 km in 272 minutes.

6th November 2006 87 kg
13th November 2006 85 kg
20th November 2006 83, 8 kg
27th November 2006 82,8

My aim for this week is to lose between half a kilo and one. I´m looking forward to seeing a 7 at the beginning instead of an 8.

Good luck! ¡Buena suerte!

[El Gordo]

Well sorry you lost your money there Andy. Obviously your guys are good enough, and if they'd batted as well in the first innings as they did in the second, you would have had your draw and money in the bank.

So what England need to do now is simple - for the Adelaide test replace Harmi with Parmesan, I mean Panesar, and you have a real chance of winning that one.

Positives for Ingerlund are several:

* 370 is a massive 4th innings total on the Gabba pitch (on any pitch really, but especially the Gabba).
* Bell (despite his 2nd innings duck) is clearly a vastly improved player from last year.
* Giles has recovered brilliantly from his operation and I thought bowled really quite well.
* Collingwood and Pietersen both clearly have the goods and Cook showed considerable promise.
* Jones has improved considerably as a keeper since last year.
* Your team is relatively young and injury-free.

Take two spinners to Adelaide and you're in with a chance... remember this is how the series started last year as well. The only real worry is that your pace bowlers lacked penetration - even Flintoff struggled in the second innings. But if Harmison could get over the yips, that would change things considerably.

I still think this is going to be a difficult, and interesting series

Indeed, the second innings was much much better for England, but even so, I was still exasperated that we lost key batsmen at critical times (if there's ever a good time to lose a wicket....). If we'd made it to the close of play on the 4th day with just the 3 wickets down, we may just have made it, but
with Colllingwood and the talismanic Flintoff gone, Pietersen was the only realistic hope. When he went in the first over on the final day, that was it. After the pathetic start to the match, I think England were shamed into performing better. Will they carry that forward? Who knows.

Highlight for me so far is off the pitch: Geoffrey Boycott and Henry Blofeld on the BBC radio commentary (Test Match Special) are just hilarious. Don't know if you can get it over there, but well worth a listen if you can. I always wake a couple of times in the night, and I drift off to sleep again to a few minutes of TMS. It's more fun than the game, that's for sure.

[El Gordo]

I´ve lost another kilo this week. I stick at my diet which consists of fruit in the morning, salad, some protein and yoghurt or fruit for lunch, some fruit in the afternoon and a light dinner such as an omelette, some vegetables and yoghurt.

I´ve been for a run four days, doing 7, 6, 9 and 21 kms ( Benidorm half ). In all, 43 km in 272 minutes.

6th November 2006 87 kg
13th November 2006 85 kg
20th November 2006 83, 8 kg
27th November 2006 82,8

My aim for this week is to lose between half a kilo and one. I´m looking forward to seeing a 7 at the beginning instead of an 8.

Good luck! ¡Buena suerte!

Well done Antonio, your frugivorous existence is paying dividends.

Here's my story for the week:

Figures:
Week 1, ave weight: 228.2 pounds
Week 2, ave weight: 224.0 pounds (-4.2lbs, -1.9kg)
Week 3, ave weight: 221.7 pounds (-2.3lbs, -1.0kg)
Last week: ave weight: 219.9 pounds (-1.8lbs, -0.8kg)

Didn't quite make my 1 kg weekly target but I'm still 1.7 lbs ahead of where I aimed to be at this point, so I'm happy.

Also, remember that I measure weekly averages which don't tell the whole story. The very first day of the 4 week period, I was 232 pounds. Yesterday I was 218, so that's a 14 pound loss, even though the weekly averages suggest only an 8.3 loss.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well done Antonio, your frugivorous existence is paying dividends.

Here's my story for the week:

Figures:
Week 1, ave weight: 228.2 pounds
Week 2, ave weight: 224.0 pounds (-4.2lbs, -1.9kg)
Week 3, ave weight: 221.7 pounds (-2.3lbs, -1.0kg)
Last week: ave weight: 219.9 pounds (-1.8lbs, -0.8kg)

Wow, very similar weight loss for you both there. Well done guys, keep that up and you'll be hitting your targets in no time

[Sweder]

Well done Antonio, your frugivorous existence is paying dividends.

Here's my story for the week:

Figures:
Week 1, ave weight: 228.2 pounds
Week 2, ave weight: 224.0 pounds (-4.2lbs, -1.9kg)
Week 3, ave weight: 221.7 pounds (-2.3lbs, -1.0kg)
Last week: ave weight: 219.9 pounds (-1.8lbs, -0.8kg)

Didn't quite make my 1 kg weekly target but I'm still 1.7 lbs ahead of where I aimed to be at this point, so I'm happy.

Also, remember that I measure weekly averages which don't tell the whole story. The very first day of the 4 week period, I was 232 pounds. Yesterday I was 218, so that's a 14 pound loss, even though the weekly averages suggest only an 8.3 loss.

Is it just me or are these weight-loss facts and figures not remarkably akin in intricate detail, incomprehensible nature and astounding fascination to those of cricket?

Conratulations to you both.
My diet of Guinness is going extremely well - managed 2 pints before departure from Heathrow and another four last night in The Fireman's Arms. It's a tough job . . .

[Bierzo Baggie]

Really enjoyed reading your last entry. Nice mind map too, must try drawing one up after a run some time (although it could prove disturbing... )

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Not sure about this mind mapping, although I've done a bit of map minding before... probably not quite the same thing though

But I'll give it a go - could be useful for determining my training strategy over the next few months. Now, where'd I put my crayons?

[El Gordo]

Thanks BB.

MLCM - I'm not evangelising. If you prefer making notes on the back of an envelope, then why not? It's essentially the same thing. But a structured form of note-taking is often more productive because it encourages you to make connections, and to identify patterns, that simple lists don't always reveal.

Try it. If it works for you, great. If not, no worries mate.

[Antonio247]

I´ve lost 1.3 kg this week. I´ve continued with a healthy diet but I haven´t been hungry.

My weight is 81.5 kg. I´ve been for a run five days doing 6, 8, 6, 12 and 6 km each day. In all, 38 km and 266 minutes.

6th Nov 87 kg
13th Nov 85 37 km 260 min
20th Nov 83,8 27 km 194 min
27th Nov 82,8 43 km 272 min
4th Dec 81,5 38 km 266 min

My aim for this week is to lose between half and one kilo.

Best of luck
Antonio

[El Gordo]

Well done Antonio, another good week for you. I'vve not had a great week. Too much partying, not enough running. I've put my figures on the December 2006 thread.