Altitude training

The altitude here is 1800 m and I have been feeling the effects for the last few days. The time zone change has been a challenge and I am going to bed early and getting up in the wee hours. It is also very dry and dusty here.

Today I decided it was time to stop sitting around on my butt and get to the gym. Started off with an easy workout on the treadmill 5 km in 30 min (avg speed 10 km/h). Didn't have any problems so I went to the weight room and did 3 sets of 20 Vsits and 2 sets of arms. After this short set I was sucking wind pretty hard so called it a day and hit the showers.

The gym has a good selection of cardio and weight equipment in it. The only challenge will be finding time to go when there are not a lot of other people in it using all the equipment. I'll see how things go and will get into a steady routine soon. There is no scale in the gym so I can't track my weight but I'll use the measuring tape to see if I gain or lose inches as this trip goes on.

The food here has been pretty good so far. It is not as good as at home, of course, and some foods are limited. Milk is only available in the UHT containers (long life) and I haven't seen any cheese yet, but yogurt is available. Fruit and vegetables are available but are not served at every meal. Fruit and salads are only served at lunch, but cooked veggies are served at both lunch and supper. Breakfast is the usual Brit meal so I have been choosing cereal, eggs and toast. I did try a bite of the fried bread just to say that I had done it but the taste didn't agree with me at all. Treats like peanut butter and granola bars are plentiful as well as lots of junk food.

In the interests of healthy eating I have been staying away from desserts. This has been a shock to the system but I am going to try to keep a schedule of six days healthy eating balanced with one cheat day. I'll keep you informed how this goes.