Way back in time (2002) I went on a trip to South Africa for a friend’s weddding. I finally got around to putting the pictures online today. Click the camera on the top-right, or go straight there.

I’ve just added the photos from the party at the weekend. Click the camera icon at the top right, or just go straight there.

Getting a little lazy at the moment. Don’t really have the same enthusiasm for going out running in the dark. I’ll ahve to get my shit together and at least do something this week!

Weighed in at 87.6kg yesterday, though body fat is down to 17.6%. Still heading in the right direction, though a little slower after the last week sitting on my arse in Canberra. It’s getting dark so bloody early now. Obviously an hour of that is as a result of gaining an hour, but it seems like it’s getting darker almost 2 hours earlier. 3 weeks ago it was dusk around 19:45. Now it’s 18:00. I can’t ride my bike now until I get some lights. I was going to get some heavy-duty liights which would do duty off-road as well, but I reckon I’ll stick with the brightest flashers I can find for the moment.

Well I’m down in Canberra this week and training is out the window. It’s dark a LOT earlier down here, so that rules out cycling after work as I haven’t gotten around to buying a set of lights for the bike. I decided I’d get up this morning and go for a cycle. Set the alarm for 6.40, dressed, hopped on the bike and set of down the street. Second problem: it was bloody freezing! Here’s me dressed for usual daytime weather of 20C plus and it was less than 10C. A quick about turn and back into bed. I’m going for a run in the gym tonight which will have to do.

Weigh-in on Monday: 87.2kg

No training at all this weekend. Kirsten’s birthday on Friday, boat party on Saturday afternoon, Graham’s birthday drinks after the boat party, then white-water rafting at Penrith for Nick’s birthday. The rafting was good fun. Not as hard as the Zambezi obviously, as it’s a man-made course, but fun nonetheless.

Up bright and early for a swim this morning. Went pretty well. Quite slow compared to what I’m used to, but that’s only to be expected at this stage of the game. Left the bike at home as I’m off to the movies after work. It will give my legs a break as well.

200 FS easy
20 * 50 FS on 60 (avg: 41, stroke count: 34)
200 FS easy

B: 20km – R: 3.3km – S: 1400m

Just another exercise day today. I’ve just finished my run and it felt pretty good. My calves were a little sore at the start and I was tempted to stop just in case I was going to aggravate them, but I continued on. I ceased trying a Pose-type style, which is known to strain the calves initially, and reverted to a shuffle style and all went well. I’ll have to take my bike out and use the bike computer to measure out some of the run route so I’ve a rough idea how far I’m going.

B: 40km – R: 6.6km

Back on the bike today for the commute. A bit windy this morning, but my legs felt fine after last night’s run, so it wasn’t too bad. Cycling home was quite good. I was trying to practise pedalling correctly, applying power all the way around the stroke, rather than just pressing down. It felt easier for a while, then my hamstrings got sore, probably because they’re not used to doing much work on the bike.

B: 20km – R: 3.3km

I wanted to figure out how quickly I could burn a kilo of fat by doing various amounts of exercise. I found a site which gave a lot of figures for the caloric cost of various forms of activity. So, I messed around in Excel a bit and did up a spreadsheet which allows you to enter how many hours a day of each activity you do, and it will tell you how many weeks it will take you to burn off a kilo of fat, assuming that you stick to the schedule and that you don’t eat more to compensate for increased activity. It also points out that having too great a defecit between the amount you eat and the amount you burn off is also not healthy.

Anyway, if you want to use it you can download it from here. Naturally, you will need Excel to use it.