The first was “Skinny Water“…I mean come on. Okay, so it’s flavoured water that apparently has no calories, helps metabolise fat and boosts immunity. I’m sorry but that sounds like a big crock of sh*t. If you want low calorie water, how about drinking water?

The second amazing new weight loss product that I saw was advertised on the underground. It is a new shoe which Skechers have release called “Shape Ups“. Apparently they have the following benefits:

1. Weight loss
2. Body composition
3. Glutei strength
4. Low back strength/endurance

Haaibo, now that is amazing…shoes that make you fit. So for the second time…what a crock of sh!t!

What about just eating healthy food, drinking good old tap water and doing exercise in a normal pair of running shoes? I suppose that is just too difficult for the majority of the world’s population. It’s not a wonder that obesity levels are at an all time high.

Tip for the day: Stop being so lazy, get off your fat arse and do some exercise!

On Sunday 9 August 2009 I took part in the Swanage Olympic triathlon in Swange(obviously) which is close to Poole/Bournemouth.

I travelled to Swanage on the Friday evening and stayed at the Herston camping site, which was not the best camp site I’ve ever stayed in and was incredibly overpriced. I paid £20 a night for a 2 man tent and the ablutions blocks were abysmal to say the least. Also, the other campers were pretty bleak when our crew of about 20 people work up on Sunday morning at 05:00 to get ready for the race, but I suppose that was to be expected anyway.

Registration took place on the Saturday and was very conveniently located close to the main promenade and beach, and offered exactly what an athlete wants before race day…a hassle free registration. There was a store at the registration tent offering a few bargains, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I really enjoyed the race on Sunday and ended up switching waves so that I could race against two of my training partners, which made for some exciting moments in the final few metres of the run where I was involved in a sprint finish that I lost

The swim was fantastic, except for the middle section where we had to clamber up some slippery steps and run down a slipway before heading back towards the main beach. The water temperature was ideal and being a relatively small race I didn’t feel like every other triathlete in the race was on top of me.

After the swim there was quite a challenging run along the promenade and up a few steps to the transition. Then it was on onto the bike which was also really enjoyable, although it would have been better if they roads were closed. If the event gets bigger it would be great if the organisers could request some police marshalling from the council. The bike leg offered one challenging decent with 3 s bends, one or two climbs requiring some effort and lots of rolling hills where one was able to keep the one’s speed pretty constant. Also, there was quite a lot of beautiful scenery to look at during the 40km route.

Then it was into transition again and onto the run, which was a BEASTY to say the least. There was 400ft of climbing in the first few km’s and I have to admit that I did walk at one stage when I was running up the first big hill. Once the hill had been conquered one was rewarded with a fantastic view across the bay and of the country side, which did make it worth it . Then there was a steep decent and a loop in the country side before heading back to town for the finish.

Swanage is a lovely little town and I hope that the triathlon gets more popular as it was a really enjoyable although the organisers could the following improvements:

• To realize that I changed numbers and waves and am not still waiting to start
• Road closures for the bike course
• Finishers medals
• A proper timing system with timing chips

Here is a link to the event

Thanks to Megan for taking such cool photos…I hope you don’t mind that I’ve used them on my blog

A man was out jogging in the forest one day when a frog called out to him and said “if you kiss me I will turn into a beautiful princess” he bent down and picked the frog up and put it is his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said “if you kiss me and turn me back into a beautify princess I will tell everyone how smart and brave you are and hoe you are my hero” The man took the frog out of his pocket smiled and return the frog to his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said “if you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I’ll stay with you for a year and do anything you want” Again the man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and put it back in his pocket.

Finally the frog asked, “whats the matter? I’ve told you I’m a beautify princess and that ill stay with your for a year and do anything you want. Why wont you kiss me?”

The man replied, “look I’m a triathlete. I don’t have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool.”

When my longest run was 13 miles, a marathon seemed nearly impossible.
When my longest run was 26 miles, 50 miles seemed nearly impossible.
When my longest run was 50 miles, 100 miles seemed nearly impossible.
When my longest run was 100 miles, 50 miles seemed like a nice, long training run.

Don’t let the distance scare you; run from aid station to aid station and the distance will take care of itself.

I am always on the look out for new training routes to cycle and I recently came across the route finder on BikeRadar.com. Once one becomes a member of the site one is able to add new cycling routes which are then displayed publicly on the website. It seems to be a pretty popular as there are loads of good routes available, all of which have been added by avid cyclists…brilliant!

The search tool is easy to use and once you have entered a few keywords for a route, a list of possible results is displayed. I recently did a search for a ride from London to Windsor as this is what I got:

Once you click on one of the listed routes you get taken to a page which has a google map embedded in it with the route neatly mapped out. Here is a picture of the route:

Apart from being a great place to find new routes, BikeRadar is a great place to find out anything about cycling. The site has the latest cycling news, reviews, tips, training programs and loads more. It is just a great place for information about cycling and has been bookmarked in my delicious account.

Keep up the good work guys!