Triathlon Here I Come - beware some of the pics may make you feel sick (they do me)

I have decided to start triathlon training for several reasons. 1 - to lose the last bit of weight and get my body shape back. 2 - to get fit. 3 - to achieve something sporty again. When I was in junior school I was a really sporty kid, I was on the school netball team, rounders team and swimming team and outside of school I did swimming club and karate but somewhere along the way it all fell flat. I was a chubby pre-teen only losing weight when i became vegetarian at 14. In the February (when I went veggie) I was a size 16 and by the Christmas I was a size 10. It stayed that way until about 16/27 thanks to swimming, yoga, the gym and 6 shifts a week in a nightclub. Then disaster. The migraines I had suffered from since I was a kid got steadily much, much worse, until it got to the point that they were a daily occurence.

During this time it was so bad that I couldn't go to the gym and the do the exercise I had been and I guess my eating habits also suffered and I put on a stone. Eventually the doctor put me on preventative medication called Pizotifen. It worked - great. But it also has a listed side effect of weight gain, 1st month = 1 stone, 2nd, 3rd and 4th months 1/2 stone each. That is 2 and 1/2 stone in only 4 months, plus the previous stone. I wasn't the only one who suffered at the hands of Pizotifen, lots of people had the weight gain problem; I Googled it. So there I am 3 and 1/2 stone heavier and several dress sizes bigger. At first I don't care because I am just so happy that my head is not in constant agony, but then the weight becomes the main problem. It's not just the size you are, it's the loss of confidence, it's the comments from people who are supposed to care about you but seem to be missing the sensitivity gene, the completely demoralising act of having to buy clothes in a bigger size, the extra pressure on your body and how it's not so easy to do things as it used to be, the humilation of being described on a mystery customer report as having a 'heavy build'. Time to start losing the weight and get back to normal.

I join the gym, I go swimming, I do Body Balance, Body Attack, Body Combat and diet. Nothing works, it won't shift, with all the dieting and exercising I am doing I should look like Victoria Beckham, instead I look like Michelle McManus. Despair. I give up, eat as much choclate and crisps as I want and reduce the exercise, doing just enough to keep me from feeling like a couch potato.

About a year after I started taking Pizotifen it stops working, migraines come back. No point in taking it if it doesn't work, so switch to a different medication. 6 weeks later I am 1 and 1/2 stone lighter and have gone down 1 to 2 dress sizes. After trying a few different kinds I finally find a medication that works and has no side effects but with all my fundraising for my Raleigh trip to Borneo I don't do the exercise to lose the rest of the weight. 14 weeks in Borneo and I lose another stone so when I move to Cyprus in Jan 09 I have lost the medication weight but am still carrying the orignal stone gained. THE CYPRUS STONE. No one warned me, only after I had gained The Cyprus Stone did people start talking about it's existance. So now I am 2 stone heavier than I should be in my fantastic new life in the sun. I join Slimming World and it starts to come off, I go down 1/2 a stone then get stuck, I spend a few months bouncing up and down the 1/2 stone but the weight won't go any lower, and not only that, I feel ill, all the time. I am so tired that my social life suffers as I have no energy to go out and am relying on chocolate and caffeine to get my through the working day. Something is very wrong here. A blood test at the docs reveals a Vit B12 deficiency, easily rectifed and within weeks I am feeling much better and have bundles more energy. So, long story I grant you, but now you are up to date, Oct 09 and 1 stone and 5 lbs over what I used to be. Time for action. The Cyprus/RAF base life is very sport orientated and very outdoorsy. I don't want to join one of the many teams out here, netball, hockey, football, rugby, volleyball, basketball as I am not physically competitive at all. Put me on a quiz team and I want to win. Put me in front of a Connect 4 board and I want to win. Put me on a sports team and I couldn't care less, I am a just play for fun person. So what can I do that will get me really fit but doesn't have a whole team of people relying on me to 1-be any good, and 2-care! Yay for Triathlon. Triathlon, as the name suggests is an event with 3 discipines. Start off with a sea swim, then a road cycle and finally a road run. Swimming I love so all good there. Cycling I haven't done since an accident when I was 14 and spent a week in a wheelchair. And finally running. My nemesis. I have tried before several times and even did 2 5k charity run/walks but I just can't conquer it. This time I shall. Now I know what you are thinking, Triathlons are competitive races. Well, yes and no. Of course I want to do the best I can but I don't care if I come last everytime I do one as long as I can finish and improve. So I talk to the Triathlon club (K1) coach, explain how crap I am and commit myself to start the swimming coaching, I warn him I have absolutely no front crawl technique and he promises to fix me. The season is about to close and restarts in April by which time I shoudl be in a position to do the Try-a-Tri and take it from there. Stay tuned to see how I get on with my training.