178.33.77.24.14. 900. 28

Nope, this is not some sort of IP address, or some cryptic code. They'll make sense in a moment. I've decided to post about them because they have been front of mind this week.

This is a whole bunch of numbers that has suddenly taken on more significance for me since I've been giving it horns at the gym. Rambler's been suffering today 'cause of his spinning class. I wouldn't say I'm suffering, but I know I've been training quite aggressively.

So what are all these numbers??

178: My approximate height.. if it's not actually that, then that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;0)

33: My age till Sunday, then I'll be 34 *sigh*... I have made NO plans and I intend doing something I enjoy more than anything else, spending uninterrupted time with mah man CV. It was also my waist size before I started gyming - but than now seems like a distant memory. I'm somewhere between a 30 and 31 depending on where the waistband's sitting.

77: my weight in kg's (not lbs). Well it see saw's between 76.3 and 77.7 week in and week out. I'm not too sure that actually qualifies as see-sawing, but there you have it anyway. I'd like to be 80kg's but that will require a bit of effort it seems. If I get it right, me thinks it'll be post worthy.

Now the numbers 33 and 77 have a ritual for me, because that's what I've been entering as my basic stats into the orbital walker every time I hop on. From Sunday, I'm going to have to break that habit and enter 34! Geepers - 34! And when I was sixteen I thought that was VERY OLD. But honestly, I've never felt better. My life (and my body too as you can tell) is finally starting to take shape - YAY!

24: The mysterious BodyMassIndex rating. It's a calculation of a weight to height ratio and used to estimate your general well being. 24 is apparently on the upper end of 'healthy' for my height, but perilously close to overweight! In fact, if I get to 80kg's my BMI will read as overweight. They (the mysterious all seeing, all doing people who make great scientific discoveries when 'they' are not stealing cars or burgling houses) do have a disclaimer though, the BMI works for people who are not 'in training'... Basically, I'm not covered by the BMI because I'm an official gym 'bunny' - So, I can ignore it. YAY! I do not like the idea of being overweight.

14: Shock horror! - is my supposed body fat percentage according to a terribly complicated and scientific looking calculation, factoring in waist size, weight and a few other dimensions. Again, I'm not convinced and am inclined to go with the 'fancy liar' at the gym that never get my weight right, but must be telling the truth when it declares I'm in the 11% zone. According to CV (and a few other people to boot) when you're around 10% you can see ab's. And I do. (for pictorial proof follow this link to a previous post about sunburn).

900: The distance I swam this morning. I love swimming as a part of my cardio training. I can get by breathing and heart rate up to astronomical levels without getting all hot and sweaty. Hmm - but that's got me thinking about the salt chlorinated pool at the gym... It really is very very salty. I shant go further with that one - sies! Fortunately, when I'm swimming, I generally don't think much. It must be something about being in water, I'm thinking of Dorey in Finding Mimo's (oops - someones craving Pizza again) - Finding Nemo. I will look at the tiles below me, and think how the cleaning gadget they use missed a spot, then I'll think briefly about swimming Midmar one day, and then I'm wondering why the jets in the water don't bubble, but will push me off my line and then I'm back to the tiles again.

I digress!

28: The number of minutes it took me to complete the said distance above. When I first took to the pools, I could manage only 500 meters in half an hour and I thought I was going to die by the time I was done. Now I'm aiming to be able to do 1000m (40 laps) in the 30 minutes. It's going to be a stretch but achievable. 28's also the average time I now do my cardio training for. The folks at the gym have pre-programmed the machines to only do 20mins. So I start with a 5 minute warm up, then immediately start a new program for 20 mins, plus a three minute cool down at the end.

I know this is a very arb post about numbers - but it makes sense for me. I think I'm lucky I didn't decide include kilojoules, calories, grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat...

There it is - it's out there - the kind of things that fill the mind of a thirty something gay guy who grows flowers for a living and used to DJ in his 20's. Have a great weekend! I plan to.

Ciao4 now!