Category Archives: Fat Gamer

Fat Gamer: Chapter Four

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog and I’m guessing this is going to be a lengthy one, so if I were you I’d  pop the kettle on and make yourself a tea or any hot/cold beverage of your choosing… That’s obviously if you are thirsty, you may indeed be peckish, so perhaps a small snack would be suitable? Crisps, nuts, apples, etc.

I’ll just let you grab your chosen mouth stuffing and wait right here for you…

Right. Ready? Let’s do this.

The beginning of November saw me heading off on a family holiday (first one in about ten years!) to Centre Parcs. I’d been looking forward to it as a chance to get some proper training in before the Guts and Glory race which was on the 20th. I had been slowly improving my 5k speed but still hadn’t beat my goal of 5k in 30 minutes. I needed some inspiration, I needed Nathan Skipper.

My younger brother has lost over 5 stone since January and currently has the Skipper record of running 5k in 25:28! I am proud of him and am continually impressed by his determination and will power, which has always been my downfall. This was proven yet again when we ran together and he set the pace. I was struggling from the start and had to stop a few times, much to my own disappointment, but I just couldn’t keep up with his pace! I failed to beat my time or even my personal best, but the week still served as a good kick up the arse, as we were active pretty much all day every day, with swimming, badminton, cycling and running.

And then it happened.

Skyrim.

72 hours. So far I have spent 72 hours in the world of Skyrim. My first session was late on the Sunday night I returned from holiday. I was up playing quite late but knew I had the whole week ahead of me off as well, so I would have plenty of time to play and decided to hit the hay.

Somehow I was able to resist the game the following morning long enough to get myself out and running for my Monday session but I swear as I shut my door behind me I heard my Xbox yell “DOVAKHIN!! Get back here and play!” but I ignored the shouts… And I ran.

The Monday session wasn’t great but Wednesday proved to be a great improvement as I smashed my PB and finished in 32:08. Every run that week was fueled by me wanting to hurry back and play Skyrim!

The training would prove insufficient though. The Guts and Glory race was absolutely brutal. As you can see in the pictures below, I look destroyed in comparison to the other members of Team Skipper!

Guts and Glory 5k November 2011

The race started well enough and we managed to pass quite a few people on the hill running sections, but it was when we hit the mud where it got tricky. Several waist deep mud swamps followed by steep, short hills made for a real tough time for my thighs! I got stuck on one slope and just couldn’t get any purchase as my trainers were literal mud stumps. I had to claw with my fingernails, I was on my hands and knees, crawling and fighting and was then pulled up by my team mates at the end. There were several moments like this but I kept ploughing forward. Past the group of women with fairy wings, past the little chubby boy and his mum.. And pass the lone fat man, who was walking, defeated.

We finished the race under the average finishing time (there were 276 runners) with my Dad and my brother 166th and 167th respectively with the same time of 1 hour 5 minutes and 45 seconds and me trailing behind at 185th with a time of 1 hour 6 minutes and 53 seconds. To be honest I was just glad I made it to the finish line!

It was a shock to my system and I immediately wanted to get back to training so I could perform better in the next obstacle/adventure run that we tackle. My last few runs have been great and I have a new lease of life and more motivation and determination than ever before. This week I have beat my personal best twice, with the current time standing at 31:27. My aim is to hit 31 by the end of this week and then get under 30 the week after.

I have found that having a really specific goal is the best way to get results and keep yourself wanting to train more. It’s probably the best  piece of advice I’ve had and I would pass on to anyone wanting to achieve something in their life. Be specific and be realistic with your goals. You know how much you are capable of and you have to be 100% honest with yourself at all times. That’s not to say you can’t have an overall aim, but just don’t focus on that for now, just take things one step at a time. Don’t be ashamed of however small your goal is. Running 5k in 30 minutes is by no means an impressive feat of athleticism, but I know myself and I know that a year ago that would be a near impossibility for me and the fact that I get closer with every run keeps me going.

I am now aware that I have rambled on for quite some time so I shall leave it there and will report back once I hit my 30 minute 5k run! (also, it’s late and I haven’t even played Skyrim today!)

If you’ve not had enough personal fitness stories for one day, then I will refer you to my padre’s blog  – theurbanspartan.wordpress.com

Good night all!

AROO!

Fat Gamer: Chapter Three “Motivation”

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“For some reason I can never reach what I’m aiming for and I always fall short of the finish line… Those that know me can see this. I rarely finish things that I start and whenever I set myself a goal I always end up settling for the…….”

 

No word of a lie, that above quote was what I found when I opened up the last draft of this blog that I wrote about 3 weeks ago. I think it proves my point perfectly, doesn’t it? I’m never really good at finishing what I start.

Despite this, I have actually surprised myself by keeping up with the weekly runs since the last time I blogged and have constantly managed to fit in at least 3 runs a week. I started to lose motivation last week and really felt myself getting bored with running, but after choosing a brand new route and downloading some new music I was ready to run again. Sort of.

The first run went ok, but I’m still struggling with keeping myself motivated as I run. I’ve read countless things on keeping yourself motivated and it basically all boils down to ignoring the little man in your head who’s telling you to stop. The voice is telling me it’s too hard and I’m too tired. He’s telling me “At least you’re out running a little bit, it doesn’t matter how fast or for how long, it’s better than nothing, right buddy?” and I try to fight against him but he’s arguments are always smarter than mine!

“Why are you out here running for? You don’t need to lose weight, it’s not as if you have women to impress? You have a lovely girlfriend who loves you for who you are. She likes you being snuggly. You’re her big cuddly bear.” He says. I try to argue with him and explain that she’s probably just being nice because she loves me. I’m not an idiot, I know she would like me slimmer and more attractive, who doesn’t want their partner to look their best?

Then he pipes up with “Man, you’re so vain. Since when have your looks got you anywhere anyway? It’s personality that counts and you know for a fact the slimmer you get, the less funny you get. It’s been proven.” I’m inclined to agree with him, as it does seem to be that way. Exercise and watching what you eat certainly makes you feel boring. “That’s right”  he says, nodding his head and grinning at me. I look at him and tell him that can’t be true, I’m just the same no matter what weight I am, in fact I’m happier when I’m slimmer and far less likely to be grumpy and a lot more amiable.

He sneers at me and spits on the floor.

I gain some confidence and begin my own argument; I say to him that surely the most precious thing we have is our health, and by getting fit I’m improving my chances of living a long and happy life, I get to spend more time with the people I love and grow old.

He silently watches me then begins laughing out loud, right in my face. “You really think that’s the meaning of life? To grow old? Sure, you get to live longer and you get to spend more time with the people you love… But you also get to stick around and see them die. One by one. You only lose things as you get older, why the hell would you want to stick around for that? You want to die at age 52, face down in an apple crumble, that’s the way to go.”

He’s mental.

….

Is he?

….

Am I?

….

 

You probably think so, by now. But this is what goes on in my head EVERY TIME I RUN.

I think sometimes I’m too smart to argue with myself. Which is possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever said, but I’m still going to leave that sentence in.  Fuck it.

 

Next run: Wednesday 14th September.

 

Wish me luck.

 

 

Fat Gamer: Chapter Two

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Another week has passed and I’m already failing at becoming a “healthy gamer”…

My soul feels drained of life, I feel undernourished and I just don’t feel like myself any more… I haven’t touched any “real” games in a week… This is not good.

I’ve managed to squeeze in a couple of games of Street Fighter: Volt on my iPhone, but it’s not enough. I did manage to get as far as booting up Steam once, in an effort to continue my reign of terror in Civ 5 and finally crush the French under my English boots, but then I got distracted by something else… Something that surely couldn’t have been more important than bringing the English nation into yet another Golden Age, could it?…

Oh yes, that’s right… the real English nation was collapsing in on itself.

Despite the riots going on around me, I still managed to remain on track with the running, with 3 more runs under my slightly looser belt! A little self-centred, I know, but you came here to read about a diet, not a riot. The “diet”, if you can call it that, is going well. I’m remaining under my calories for the week, despite slipping up a couple of days, and I’m feeling much more energised and much less hungry. I’ve even received a few comments this week about looking a little slimmer, although I can’t let these go to my slightly-less-fat head and get complacent, there’s still a long road ahead.

My current goal with regards to the running is to be able to run 5k in under 30 minutes. It’s not a massively difficult task for most people, but I’m still looking forward to the day I achieve it and will be proud of myself when I get there. In order to step up my training I’ve mapped out a 5k route for my run, as I was previously only covering about 3k whilst doing the Couch to 5k runs. I want to cover 5k with every run I do from now until I reach my goal, even though I may not run all of it, I want my body to know the distance and doing the same route will allow me to keep track of my progress, as opposed to just blindly running down whichever street looks like it goes down-hill…. In fact, I’ve deliberately made my course difficult in some places, with one killer hill near the end that I can’t even get halfway up at the moment!

The week ahead will present some different challenges for me, as I’m taking on quite a bit of overtime at work. I’m doing a couple of 13 hour shifts and a couple of 8 hour shifts, which turn to 16 hours and 11 hours with the 3 hour round-trip commute I have to take, meaning there will be very little time in my day for exercise, let alone gaming. I really can’t see myself picking up a control-pad until at least Friday, when I am doing a slightly shorter day…  This sucks.

Gaming provides a kind of mental stimulation you really can’t get anywhere else and allows you to truly escape for a few hours. Not that I’m saying I hate my life or anything, but I think we all need a break sometimes and games, for me, provide escapism in the most purest sense. Well, not as much as heroin would, I imagine, but it’s still pretty satisfying.   Films, for example, allow you to escape and to see a new world and perhaps a new point of view. You learn about new characters as they unravel in front of you and bare their soul.  With games, however, they allow you to step into a world and actually participate and change the world around you. You lend a part of yourself to every game you play and invest much more than you do whilst watching a film. You not only learn about new characters and points-of-view, you can sometimes learn things about yourself, about how you would react in certain situations that you would never usually come across in day-to-day life.  I need these experiences in my life. I crave the stimulation you get from playing a game and I’m going to miss out for yet another week…

My exercise will not suffer though, because I must keep my short-term priorities in check and continue to run. I am determined to stick to my Monday, Wednesday and Friday runs this week. It is Week 5 of the program and it looks like it’s going to step up the pace in a big way and I need to be 100% focused. I must force myself to get proper sleep each night and eat well and not get lazy with meals. I’m already failing at the sleeping part tonight as I’m staying up later to type this bullshit up. But I must not let any excuses creep into my mind, no matter how easy it’ll be next week, when I’m spending an ungodly amount of time dealing with angry customers and staring at a computer screen…

There is one advantage to all these hours at work – my food intake. I tend to not really think about food much at work, not as much as when I’m at home with a full cupboard and a full fridge to tempt me…  I also find that I can pack quite a healthy lunch and plan all my meals before I set out, meaning I’m less likely to impulse buy a 6 pack of Cornish pasties and ram them down my throat… Plus I’m broke anyway, so it’s packed lunches all the way this week! Wahey!

Wish me luck for the week ahead, readers, and I shall return next week, when I will be stronger, faster and fitter in body but probably malnourished and broken in mind…