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TREK 13 - AND THAT'S ALL FOLKS
TheEdge949
Member Posts: 5,686
So with Christmas and the New Year barreling in at breakneck speed I sat down and thought about what I could do to push myself in the coming year and hopefully do a bit of good at the same time.
After a while spent perusing various challenges I decided upon the Trek 26 challenge organised by the Alzheimers Society. They have several of these events through the Summer months and I have registered for the Trek 26 Devon event on Sept 9th 2023.
Why Devon?, well nothing more sinister than it's the last one on the calander so I have longer to train and prepare and believe me training and prep will be vital for a completion. The 26 mile trek starts and finishes just outside Brixham, which has pleased the missus as we have booked a week in Paignton, and follows for the most part the South West Coast Path. There will be check points and cut off times so it's not something to be taken lightly and hence why a training programme shall commence Jan 1st culminating in the successful completion of the challenge.
Coming out of Long Covid and having had several health scares and issues, this will not be easy. I can currently manage a very slow mile, however I am now at the gym regularly trying to improve all aspects of my fitness including working with a P.T.
To show how seriously I'm taking this I have been back at Slimming World for 5 weeks and have a loss of 15 lbs to date started at 24st 12lb now 23 st 11 lb, ideally I'd like another 70 - 80 lbs of lard shifting prior to this event but it's the ability to walk 26 miles over undulating and sometimes broken terrain that is the primary focus, I'm going to keep on top of my calories and macros and the rest should sort itself out.
With all this in mind I shall be posting a weekly update with anecdotes, pictures and the opportunity to roast me. Here's an example, every Weds I don a pair of Lycra leggings and attend a legs, bums and tums class as part of my basic fitness goals.
The other class members, all ladies, comment on how refreshing it is to see a man with no ego in a gym, I think its more a case of a man with no shame.
Speak in the New Year.
Live, love, laugh.
Mark
After a while spent perusing various challenges I decided upon the Trek 26 challenge organised by the Alzheimers Society. They have several of these events through the Summer months and I have registered for the Trek 26 Devon event on Sept 9th 2023.
Why Devon?, well nothing more sinister than it's the last one on the calander so I have longer to train and prepare and believe me training and prep will be vital for a completion. The 26 mile trek starts and finishes just outside Brixham, which has pleased the missus as we have booked a week in Paignton, and follows for the most part the South West Coast Path. There will be check points and cut off times so it's not something to be taken lightly and hence why a training programme shall commence Jan 1st culminating in the successful completion of the challenge.
Coming out of Long Covid and having had several health scares and issues, this will not be easy. I can currently manage a very slow mile, however I am now at the gym regularly trying to improve all aspects of my fitness including working with a P.T.
To show how seriously I'm taking this I have been back at Slimming World for 5 weeks and have a loss of 15 lbs to date started at 24st 12lb now 23 st 11 lb, ideally I'd like another 70 - 80 lbs of lard shifting prior to this event but it's the ability to walk 26 miles over undulating and sometimes broken terrain that is the primary focus, I'm going to keep on top of my calories and macros and the rest should sort itself out.
With all this in mind I shall be posting a weekly update with anecdotes, pictures and the opportunity to roast me. Here's an example, every Weds I don a pair of Lycra leggings and attend a legs, bums and tums class as part of my basic fitness goals.
The other class members, all ladies, comment on how refreshing it is to see a man with no ego in a gym, I think its more a case of a man with no shame.
Speak in the New Year.
Live, love, laugh.
Mark
Comments
Great stuff Mark, & well done on the weight loss.
You might bump into @GaryQQQ in that Trek26 thing. He does marathons more usually but he lives that way I believe so he might give it a go.
I’ve only managed 10 miles at one go on the SW path….but happy to sign up and join you!
26 miles it is….
I haven”t done any of that section but it’s all breathtaking scenery so well worth it
See you then
PP aka MP aka Danny
Hi everyone and a heartfelt Happy New Year to you all.
Trek 26 have sent the training plan to me, a well laid out 16 week programme incorporating a 5 training days and 2 rest days regimen.
Two things sprang to mind when I perused it, firstly, this is a serious undertaking and secondly, where's the blooming plan to get me in shape for the actual training plan?
Ok. I jest somewhat, however after an exchange of emails with the coaches behind it, they are confident that my gym programme of 3 cardio and 2 strength sessions a week will ensure that I have ample fitness to complete the training plan.
How serious am I taking it ?. well at 8.15 this morning, yup that's as in New Years Day, I was up, clear headed and ready for a half hour beasting at a spin class, and yup it was a brutal one.
Due to the vagaries of the Bank Hols next weigh in is on Thursday. The last one pre Christmas revealed that the total lost to that point was 17 lbs. Now as I am not going to have a miserable Holidays and I've been away in Powys since Boxing Day I am expecting a gain of maybe 7lbs. I'll take that.
So it's all systems go and the hard work begins. This week looks like this,
Mon - Rest (Go and watch Stoke)
Tue - Strength 60 - 90 mins
Wed - L.B.T. 45 mins
Thur - Cardo 75 - 90 mins
Fri - Rest
Sat- Cardo 75 - 90 mins
Sun - Spin 30 mins
Have a brilliant week, be lucky, stay safe and live, love and laugh.
Mark
Good luck Mark, you can do it.
Morning all and I hope the weekend finds you well.
This mornings spin session was another toughie but brought the curtain down on what's been a successful week training wise with 2 strength, 2 cardio and a core session all done.
There is a little muscle soreness from working long neglected bodyparts but no pain so that's really good although I think some knee supports for the squats and leg press may be an advantage.
The only incongruous note was the technical failure that prevented a weigh in, which means this will now take place tomorrow morning 09/01/23 update to follow, but that aside managed to hit all my goals for the week.
The great wall Challenge now only has some 56Km left until completion so that should get finished this week at some point as part of the cardio training and indeed I'm eyeing up another Challenger mission to incorporate into my training, there are a few walking based ones that appeal.
So the goals for this week look like this.
Mon - Weigh in. / Cardio 60 mins
Tue - Strength total body 75 - 100 mins
Wed - L.B.T. - core
Thu - Cardio - 90 mins
Fri - Strength upper body 75 - 90 mins
Sat - Rest day
Sun - Spin - 30 mins / Walk 45 mins
Well, that's the best laid plan etc, so hopefully will update the weight tomorrow and then speak next week.
Have a great week everybody, live, love, laugh and be happy.
Mark
I look forward to tomorrow's weigh-in Mark.
I'm in a different path to you, but my weigh-in day is Monday too.
This mornings Slimming World weigh in showed 23st 11lb which means that I only gained 2lb over Xmas and the New Year so bang happy with that. Current loss is 15lbs .
Already done todays cardio session, was actually planning on doing it this evening but due to me messing up my physio appt time I had a couple of hours to kill and the gym seemed a better option than McDonalds or Costa.
Message ends.
Another week of training in the bank and things are progressing nicely.
This mornings weigh in showed a 2.5lb loss so that's clawed back the increase that Christmas and New Year accounted for.
Spinning and stationary bike sessions have now accounted for the last of the Great wall challenge and so I'm really happy that it's out of the way although well outside my initial time range although given my health in August and Sept I am just pleased to have completed. I don't know what difference the 5 trees planted as I did this challenge will make to the World in the big picture but hey it's got to be better than cutting 5 down eh?
I'm definately going to start another challenge to complement my training and news on that to follow.
The rest of the training is looking exciting and this week sees me with a Personal Trainer which I'm hoping means that sessions after are even more beneficial.
Food and Nutrition looking good so let's go.
This week looks like this.
MON - Circuits 45 min
TUE - P.T. Session 1hr, Cardio 45 min
WED - Strength 75 min, LBT 45 min
THUR - Cardio 90 min
FRI - Strength 90 min
SAT - REST
SUN - Spin 30 min, Walk 60 min
Have a great week, live, love, laugh and stay safe yeah.
Mark
Good to see the weight loss continuing. Keep it going Mark, it makes a big difference if you can shed a bit of surplus timber.
Good afternoon everyone and I hope you are all well.
Last weeks training went really well and the week was topped off with a rampant display by the mighty Potters and a very hard spin session yesterday.
However this week started badly as the weekly weigh in revealed a 2lb gain. Now there are a hundred reasons I could claim that are the root cause of this from a really disrupted sleep pattern to a change in training routine etc etc.
Whilst there may be some validity there, the real reason is I got sloppy with my diet, calorie tracking and macro numbers which meant that I alone am responsible for the gain. Memo to self, pay attention you pillock.
Ok, so that's accepted and we move on. A new regimen now means a more balanced approach with Monday, Wednesday and Friday being the strength days, Sunday is the spinning session and any other cardio fitted in around that. I'm currently trying to recover sufficiently from this mornings Personal trainer session to attend a 45 min circuit session tonight.
The next 15 weeks are crucial to develop a base level of fitness, strength and durability so that the official 16 week Trek 26 training Programme can be followed precisely.
That programme will see most of the current strength work replaced by endurance training specific to the Trek so it's important to have that core component nicely completed by then.
Already I have posted personal bests in deadlift, squat, and glute bridges and whilst they are not even moderate totals by most standards they represent a gradual improvement. It is vital for the T26 Training that I have a strong core and with the amount of walking that is going to be undertaken it goes without saying that the stronger my quads, hamstrings, calves and glutes the easier that training will be.
So this week sees L.B.T. replaced by a mixed cardio/strength session on the Weds and Saturday sees me running around an abandoned prison near Peterborough shooting people for 8 hours or so. Friday is heavy weights and Sunday the leg trashing Spin.
Have a banging week all, stay safe and remember. Live, love, laugh.
Mark
"the real reason is I got sloppy with my diet"
I always think with dieting that we need to have zero tolerance to "bad" foods, no "cheat days", just stick at it. It's so easy to undo a week's dieting with a few sloppy days.
That apart, you seem to have renewed zest, it shines through your post. Keep it going Mark.
PS - Stoke City 4, Reading 0. WTF?
Last weeks training went really well with 3 strength and 4 cardio sessions in the bag. 16 weeks today will see the start of the official 16 week training plan provided by Trek26 designed to make sure that the challenge is achievable, so I am now going to start introducing an endurance element into my weekly sessions.
This will start small and gradually build through progressive increments and tasks, all the while complementing the current regime, so that development in one area does not hinder progression in another.
Another full on week beckons with 2 strength, 4 cardio and 1 endurance session planned before Sunday evening.
This mornings weigh in saw a loss of 7lb for a total loss to date of 1st 8.5lbs so very happy with that especially after last weeks blip.
Well that's about all, sorry there's no stories of hardship yet, no pain, no epic fails, just a man who feels better than he has in ages and loving it.
Speak next week. Til then, live, love, laugh and stay safe.
Mark.
1st 8.5lbs
Epic work.
When I'm dieting (almost permanently) I find it hard to imagine x stones & lbs, so I translate it into something I can picture. So I turn it into 2lb bags of sugar, & you've lost 11 of them. Imagine carrying those 11 bags around with you full time in a carrier bag- you'd soon get tired. Or stuffing them inside your trouser waistband. You must be a good few belt notches down already.
Keep it going Mark.