My lungs hurt.

Twenty-four Km run since last post.

This week was the first week of training. I've successfully completed four of the five runs in my schedule this week, with the final one tomorrow. The runs have generally been ok though a little slow when I start. It isn't that surprising given this week was Christmas and I haven't stopped eating since last post. Today though, I hit sulphite induced wheezing ridiculousness. My scheduled run was a mere 3km and I considered stopping after 1. As usual I can't put my finger on what caused the reaction all I know is that my lungs hurt. To illustrate the difference in timings - my 6km average pace of last post was 5'43, today on my 3km run it was 6'07.

I'm reading a book at the moment on ideal weights for endurance athletes, I don't consider myself an endurance athlete but given I'm doing a spot of endurance racing next year I thought it might be a useful read.   Essentially I am told the ideal body fat percentage for a female triathlete is 12-16%. Given my current body fat percentage is about double that the book tells me to perhaps be a little more realistic, leaving me with an 'ideal for me' percentage of 23.7.. only 7% body fat to lose then. Brilliant.

The stats as they stand today:

Weight: 64.2 Kg (+500g) 

Body Fat: 30.9% (-0.1%)
Muscle: 42.1 Kg (+400g) 

Once again using the excuse of Christmas I can't really complain much, a spot of extra muscle is better than a spot of extra wobble.

Other general highlights from running this week:

The Chapel Allerton windmill in Somerset. I had to run a lap around it to make up my 5km that day.


Jane Austen's house in Chawton, Hampshire.

Let the training begin.

Training since last post: 6km run. 

I wasn't really planning on a run today, I just jogged to the post office hoping to pick up a couple of parcels. As is standard this time of year they were both lost somewhere in the backroom of a post office, probably never to be seen again. To calm my post office rage I decided it was probably best to continue running for a bit before heading home. I struggled a little on the first portion of the run with a tight chest - the culprit could have been any number of the processed foods eaten yesterday, unfortunately my gut instinct is leaning towards a bag of raspberry sweets covered in white chocolate.  Luckily they come from a chocolate factory in Tasmania so I am only treated with them once or twice a year. 

The general stats of the run are 6km with a pace of 5:42. Not too bad considering I was carrying a Christmas sack (for the parcels.. not a standard piece of my running kit) so, combined with my green jacket I looked a little like a rogue Christmas Elf.

Also weighed myself this morning, I've been a little slack with food recently so the current stats are:

Weight: 63.7 Kg (at 5'1 this makes me about 3.7kg overweight)

Body Fat: 31%
Muscle: 41.7Kg  

Hoping to sort this out with increased training and sulphite reduction. We'll see. 

The problem of sulphites

My name is Coops and I am about to start training for a marathon and shortly after a 70.3 triathlon. I've a training plan ready and am all set to go, I like training for events and am pretty excited but there is another factor at play that seems to hold me back: I'm allergic to something called sulphites.  

Sulphites are a preservative, first used by the Roman's, who discovered that adding them to food preserves colour and flavour making it last longer. Naturally this is appealing to producers of food who can use them to increase shelf life, reduce waste and all importantly increase profits. As a result sulphites can now be found in many common foods.

What I am getting at is that it is very difficult to avoid sulphites, particularly when most people have never heard of them and even less know the effect they can have on someone with a sulphite sensitivity.

The idea is that this blog will help me log the troubles I have avoiding sulphites and the resulting symptoms that impact on my ability to train. Then, maybe, eventually, it will help raise a little awareness about what I really think is an unnecessary and dangerous additive that has become all too common in modern food.