tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68856197865441405102011-07-31T18:30:47.555+12:00Watch, and wince, as Chris takes on the 20 week challengeCrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-16146667492260195342010-07-08T09:04:00.006+12:002010-07-12T10:04:17.483+12:00

Last night was awards night. We had spent 20 weeks training hard, being active, watching our food (in one way or another) and persevering, focusing on the goals we had set ourselves, either out loud or just inside our own heads. Wednesday night was the finale, the celebration, the awards!Awards are a funny thing for me, because I really, really like winning, but I don't mind if I lose. I had

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-43445884065998714172010-06-28T09:08:00.003+12:002010-06-28T10:11:02.233+12:00

The final stage in my 20 week challenge was an ascent of Rapaki Track.Last done almost 20 weeks ago, with dog in tow, we managed the somewhat unbelievable time of 30minutes exact. On that occasion the sun was shining, the skies were blue, and the dog pulled me up half the hill and I dragged him up the other half. We were overtaken by joggers, runners, cyclists and my heart rate was scarily high

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-66921298355167893182010-06-25T10:00:00.006+12:002010-06-25T13:59:26.523+12:00

I'm all about numbers, so this morning I did the first stage of my testing, the main tests really. Strength and girths. I think I have done OK, I was surprised in some areas, and not actually disappointed in any, which is a bit of a shock. TimeStartTodayPush Ups1 min733Squats1 min3153Plank (prone hold)to failure34 sec1 min 6 secCrunchies1 min2249Chin Ups1 min or failure0.7515Side-to-side1

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-20334282926402586342010-06-24T10:36:00.002+12:002010-06-24T10:53:27.958+12:00

Thankfully I am almost back to 100% fitness after a few days of disability. My final fitness tests will be tomorrow and Saturday, with Friday being the big one, the one I have been cramming and working hard towards. Saturday will be a re-run of the Rapaki hill to see if my cardio has improved enough to get me up there in under half an hour.We're at the 99% mark now, and I know I could have done

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-36635345909454217122010-06-21T12:30:00.006+12:002010-06-21T13:07:48.592+12:00

What a weekend. We had visitors descend from the north and they stayed for several days and we ate food, drank wine (and limoncello) and did very little. OK, not quite true. On Friday I still did the session in the park at lunchtime, dragging one of the visitors along for the ride. They enjoyed it, despite it being more than they had done for a long time. We followed that up with lunch out, which

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-82428427824486034882010-06-16T15:30:00.002+12:002010-06-16T15:44:36.541+12:00

Week 19 of 20 and I fully intend to almost do myself harm this week.Sunday - hell session, weights @ homeMonday - even heller session, more weights @ homeTuesday - DropAndGiveMe20 session in the park, focus on upper body (ouchies)Wednesday - Bike to work (and back) + another session in the park, focussing on legs (more ouchies)And in-between I have been sneaking in some dumbell raises before bed

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-32587360160206534112010-06-14T16:10:00.005+12:002010-06-14T16:33:49.378+12:00

On Saturday we started the last 2 weeks of the diet plan, meaning I could eat some dairy again, and have a glass of wine with dinner. I don't miss my potatoes, pasta, rice or bread, but it's often damn hard to snack without the carbs. Stupid convenience. We did some measurements and I'm still losing my tummy, which is good news, and my weight has remained under 100KG, which is also good news. My

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-86687724426240514322010-06-11T13:33:00.002+12:002010-06-11T14:18:49.244+12:00

Wow, two weeks left. Much like when I was gaining my 'higher education' I think I may have left it too late to get a 100% pass mark. For the next two weeks I'm going to be cramming for my final exam!The two categories I entered were Best Change in Abdominals and Best Increase in Strength. While I know I have improved (dramatically) in both these areas, I'm not sure I have done enough to warrant '

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-41478356688076319832010-06-09T14:40:00.004+12:002010-06-11T13:32:10.030+12:00

Nope.Depending on what that good this is of course.I only have two and a half weeks left of my 20 week challenge, and also my 6 week gut-buster diet plan. It seems like I've been doing this for ages... Well, that's not quite right. It feels like this is a habit that I have always had. It's not like I have been dragged kicking and screaming out of bed each day to climb on my bike and ride to work,

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-79880774798308709022010-06-06T16:02:00.003+12:002010-06-06T17:51:01.074+12:00

The week has been filled with many goings on, most of them have been good too!Meat week #1 has passed pretty much without incident. We have consumed a truck-load of eggs, knocking off over 70 in a few days between the 3 of us. Lots of sausages, lamb chops, chicken every-which-way, bacon, mince, seafood and more. I likes me meats, so for me it has been a tasty and fun week. Thankfully the markets

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-39008522847971041452010-05-31T11:15:00.002+12:002010-05-31T11:53:51.747+12:00

Now we're bacon!Yes, with a sigh and a heavy heart, on Saturday morning we pretty much ran out of the protein shake mix, and decided that rather than dashing out to buy a couple of days supply, we'd get a head-start on the 'meat weeks' instead. I was rather excited, as 'meat week' also means coffee is back. And the occasional glass of wine too! I did celebrate this news with a nice hot cup of

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-85329751979476247172010-05-25T18:28:00.004+12:002010-05-27T12:51:57.642+12:00

The golden weather has well and truly come to an end this week:It's probably rained more in the last few days than it has for the entire yearTemperatures are holding in the low teens, and sometimes struggling to achieve even thatSunrise and sunset seem to coincide with arriving at work and leaving workPeople are adding more layersLess people are seen out jogging or ridingMoods darkenSo, with a

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-45403524732814882322010-05-24T14:24:00.002+12:002010-05-24T15:07:45.010+12:00

7 days of shakes and dinners and have I gone mad yet? Well, maybe... Depends on your definition I guess.I have been attending the regular 20 minute sessions in the park, doing some weird and wonderful things, and continuing to commute every day (and it's getting colder and colder in the mornings too!) plus I went for another jog with Logan one evening. We picked a larger park with an almost 1km

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-71848192074300311512010-05-18T15:50:00.002+12:002010-05-18T16:47:28.234+12:00

I went for a night jog with Logan last week. We only did about 2.5km around a small park, but it was to try out a lead and follow approach, and see if I could run at his pace. While I didn't race away, I did hold a good pace and kept it up for the whole time, only being distracted by the blind bugger behind me potentially going off-course due to his following-by-ear. A new method required, which

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-6052601255359679592010-05-13T13:45:00.003+12:002010-05-13T14:26:09.372+12:00

In the early weeks of this 20 week challenge I was being hit left, right and centre by new ideas, new food options, new schedules and new ways to do what I have already been doing. We're well past half way now, on the ragged downward slope to the finish line, and it seems that routine has started to set in. This is both a good and bad thing.It's been over a week since I last updated, and I have

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-29285874865981596942010-05-03T10:27:00.003+12:002010-05-03T11:14:52.135+12:00

Last week was a bit of a blur. The days keep coming and going so fast it's hard to keep track of them. I'm up to my eyeballs in work and the piles never seem to diminish. My knees got real sore, so I attempted to rest them as much as possible for a week, and thankfully by the weekend they had mostly recovered.The sessions in the park last week were the usual hard stuff, with a squat & pushup day

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-28511218726267192572010-04-27T13:36:00.004+12:002010-04-27T14:17:37.659+12:00

I'm over half way towards my 20 week deadline. This whole exercise thing has become a bit of a habit now, and without it I get a bit sad. The same thing happened when I started riding to work each day. After doing it for a few years now, I tend to be a grumpy sod if I drive to the office, even if it's raining. I'd much rather ride my bike on a cold, dark, cold, wet, windy morning than drive with

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-40565586835564887072010-04-15T09:10:00.003+12:002010-04-15T09:58:08.074+12:00

It's was a (now) typical weekend and early week. We climbed up Castle Rock on Sunday from the track that starts half way up Bridle Path, ascends hundreds of meters skywards, then loops around Castle Rock for magnificent views. And then we came down again. And then we went to the French Bakery again. So long as Tracey goes with me, it's part of the training OK!This week I have been suffering on my

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-72191196038498404212010-04-09T14:28:00.003+12:002010-04-12T13:27:51.776+12:00

Tracey has always been annoyed that she can put me through my paces and exhaust me physically (and often mentally too) and yet the next day I am fine. No sore muscles, not aches, no pains. Her other victims clients all seem to be in some lesser of greater stage of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness but I have been getting away scot free. Well, not this week. I'm not sure which exercises did it, but

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-50276602933806499082010-04-06T10:42:00.002+12:002010-04-06T11:10:25.843+12:00

Welcome to a new month. One filled with challenges and hurdles. This month is the half-way month - where we'll cross the 10 week mid-point, and maybe do a retest on our week 1 fitness test and see if we're improving.Daylight savings is over, but that's not so bad. Logan is keen to do a lot more riding, which is great news! Easter (or zombie jesus day, you pick) has passed, and I ate way too many

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-16788767150597160662010-03-31T14:22:00.002+13:002010-03-31T15:12:21.947+13:00

It's a short week - yay! I have done 2 x 20 minute sessions in the park - yay! I had my diabetic checkup today, and the doc is very happy indeed - yay! It's Easter this weekend - gulp!I'm an eater. I like to stuff food in my face well after I'm full. I don't crave food, I just eat it when it's about. I don't have hankerings for things, I just swing open the fridge or pantry and consume. I can

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-22380584056594817332010-03-28T14:47:00.003+13:002010-03-28T17:05:08.868+13:00

It was quite a few months ago, maybe even a year ago, that I last scaled the giddy heights of Bridle Path. Back then it was because Tracey was doing the 20 week challenge, and now it's me. It's a damn boring track. Long, steep and not much fun. Especially if you just head up from the gondola, ascend the 280m to Summit Road, cross over, drop down the 200m descent on the other side, then turn

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-88459379622400588822010-03-24T14:24:00.003+13:002010-03-24T14:58:18.458+13:00

I did four of those 20min sessions last week, and felt I deserved a weekend off. Thankfully, I had plenty of work to do, so spent most of it hunched over my laptop smashing the keys randomly. Tracey had organised for some of her clients to do the annual City 2 Surf walk/run that weekend, and I was roped in as courier, chef and welcoming committee on the Sunday. What I envisaged as being a

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-74619569693255035632010-03-19T11:55:00.002+13:002010-03-19T15:05:47.580+13:00

Tracey's clients often mention soreness of their muscles on the days following their sessions with her. I have not experienced this after any of the sessions we've done, much to her extreme disappointment. It could be because I'm super fit and an exercise machine - highly unlikely.  Or it could be because I also ride to work & back, thereby keeping my muscles moving and fresh - plausible, but

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-3252888349897122162010-03-17T13:58:00.002+13:002010-03-17T14:18:48.308+13:00

Tracey is planning on doing lunchtime intensive session in the park. In just 20 minutes she can work you harder than an hour in the gym could match. A warm-up brisk walk or jog to get there, 20 minutes of hard out, relentless activities, then a jog/stagger back to the office. Nice, compact, fun.Today we had the 3rd session in 3 days. Each day has been completely different, like some kind of

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-78761451737980784542010-03-15T15:01:00.003+13:002010-03-15T15:15:54.026+13:00

Today was the first of what I hope will be many more session in the park.One of the goals of DropAndGiveMe20 is to do power-session for 20min in the park for small groups at lunchtime. I was the guinea pig today, putting my body on the line to further Tracey's desires to make grown men cry. The concept is simple, get there, do 20 minutes of hard exercises and then go away again. With a different

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-8936558704250270312010-03-15T08:42:00.005+13:002010-03-15T15:22:19.939+13:00

Ahhh, the weekend. The birds chirp as the sun gently rises on a calm and still day. You can hear gardens growing, flowers opening, and a day full of promise beginning. Or rather, on this particular morning, I awoke as the sun pierced the curtains sending a dagger of light into my skull, erratic and jittery due to the cold wind shaking them apart randomly with the early morning cold snap. The dog

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-34201002867509045382010-03-12T10:13:00.002+13:002010-03-12T10:26:01.891+13:00

Things got harder. I'm not sure if she was tired and angry, or just got up on the wrong side of the bed, but todays morning session was maybe the hardest one so far.Blood shunting was fun, circuit was fun, but after both of those I was still fully functional. Even as the day(s) passed I was not feeling drained or in pain. Today will be a different story. Focussing on the upper body today. A

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-83946918317166158772010-03-11T10:05:00.006+13:002010-03-11T11:22:42.141+13:00

It's been a bad week. Filled with sadness, madness and red wine. When you mind is occupied with stresses and disasters, it's hard to focus on doing exercises, or even finding the time to do them. It almost feels rude to do them when you know that time could be better spent, or at least it seems so inside you head.First, the sadness. Last week we lost a good friend, Sam, and on Monday, Tracey took

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-47537451339205572182010-03-08T09:49:00.005+13:002010-03-08T16:17:45.262+13:00

We've been doing this for almost a month now, 4 weeks in theory, although I was a bit of a late starter... But it's time to start making it harder and harder, testing my limits, finding my failure point, that sort of thing.I don't remember Friday's session, but pretty sure it was weights after a brief 1km jog. It was another drive-to-work day, and I was sad because I had now driven to work twice

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-13737688238978982122010-03-04T14:34:00.004+13:002010-03-04T15:08:37.766+13:00

Since Monday, little has happened as far as exercise goes. But, before you (probably correctly) judge me, let me explain.Monday went fine and well, but on Monday evening I got a phone call and was invited on to TVOne Breakfast the next morning. So obviously I couldn't do a workout in the morning and then smarten up and head to the studio. That evening, Tracey was out apparently learning about

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-52961527584437802882010-03-01T10:21:00.002+13:002010-03-01T10:45:47.939+13:00

The weekend passed gently. It was another of those busy-doing-nothing weekends. We went out for a very nice BBQ on Friday night, a superb dinner on Saturday night and a hill walk on Sunday morning. We met in the usual spot on Sunday, but an hour earlier to beat the heat, and discovered we should be heading to higher ground! Quite timely and ironic that we should be heading up a hill at the same

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-63790467167120578962010-02-25T22:24:00.003+13:002010-02-25T23:07:30.434+13:00

Another Thursday rolled round, which means another all-over session. I'm feeling tired, but not sore. Bag packed, ready to roll.Again I start with a short jog, about 800m with the dog, to warm up and get the lungs moving again. Previously when running a distance like that my shins start to get real sore, and anything over 1km expands the pain massively step by step. After this short run my legs

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-9386655209210732772010-02-24T09:36:00.001+13:002010-02-24T10:03:38.936+13:00

Tuesday is supposed to be the most productive day of the week. Apparently. However my Tuesdays start with a frantic bag-packing and then what seems like hours of torture before heading to work.Tuesday was a good workout. I know it must have been good because I could hardly maintain a decent speed on my bike afterwards. Not a lot of leg strength left... It started nicely enough, just a quick jog

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-88319509779972087962010-02-22T09:12:00.005+13:002010-02-22T09:57:30.294+13:00

Friday morning saw a quick session on the floor, making me hurt and then on my bike to work. I remember when I used to arrive at work tired, hot and sweaty. Now that's how I am before I get ON the bike!Saturday was a quiet day, I took the dog for a romp at the dog park and in the river for a post-mud-wallow rinse. Otherwise, not a lot happened. It was the kind of day where you seem to have lots

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-36432210344370428072010-02-18T09:09:00.002+13:002010-02-18T09:35:25.799+13:00

Wednesday morning I awoke with reminders of the previous days exertions. Not enough to make me weep, but enough to remind me I'd recently done some activities my body had not done for some time, if ever. Foolishly I had asked Tracey for a quick ab-centric session to do on my 'off' mornings. Her eyes lit up and she began planning some quick exercises to do before heading off to work.Now, one of my

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-8797125295177168862010-02-16T09:18:00.002+13:002010-02-16T10:03:20.428+13:00

So, after I failed my fitness test on Thursday, it was time to start some real exercise sessions. Well, something more than the 6.5km each way ride I do pretty much every day.So, it's Saturday morning and I'm doing a timed ride around McLeans Island. It's 15km of easy one-way singletrack through the forest. My best time for the old 10.5km track was about 26 minutes, so I was hoping to keep under

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-2673449383240281692010-02-11T08:38:00.005+13:002010-02-24T10:04:36.518+13:00

And so it comes to fruitionThis morning, as the sun struggled through the overcast skies, I stepped onto the scales. It had been a hellish and stressful week before this moment, so my hopes were not high for my starting point. However, stress and lack of movement seems to have done me some benefits in the weight department!Weight: 107.1KGFat: 25.9%Muscle: 44.5%So, scales done, time for the tape

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-68394790411246438582010-02-10T09:00:00.001+13:002010-02-22T16:27:56.912+13:00

Yep, far too much time working, at the office and at home, and exercise and diet took a backseat to sleep. So, still fat, only now a bit fatter, lazy, only more sedentary than before, and we're 2 days in! Gulp.So, now that CheckOutMyFriend has been launched, I can get some sleep and get some exercise! Honest, Wednesday will be a busy one again, but Thursday AM - weigh-in and fit-test time!What a

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-73393259321725326052010-02-09T09:00:00.001+13:002010-02-09T11:56:10.151+13:00

Well, I had organised a test, weigh-in and PT session for early Monday morning. All systems were going well and enthusiasm was high! We had a 20week meeting on Sunday evening and keenness was mustard flavoured.However...On that Sunday I was working hard on a project and before I knew it, the sun was rising on Monday morning and I was very unprepared for any physical activity. This continued

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885619786544140510.post-5172743506877676852010-01-22T06:00:00.007+13:002010-06-15T11:28:45.086+12:00

Recently I signed up for the 20 Week Challenge as I have deluded myself over the past few years that the cycling I do (almost daily) was enough to keep me fit, healthy and be the key to long and happy life. Sadly, it's not that easy. It never is.  Yes, I commute by bike the 6.5km each way to work and back most days, and enjoy riding through the hills, but I have always known I was not the fastest

CrazyChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17124746511408745443noreply@blogger.com0