I was originally gonna call this chronicles of fitness and then gave myself a slap.

I’ve hardly written for a while, for a number of reasons and then you just kinda stop, think the last blog was February last year.

So I’m back for 2017 (Hiya) and I’m gonna do 52 episodes with a twist.

In the past I’ve blogged on all things fitness with tips and hints on training and food (yep I’m a PT and gym owner so it’s kinda expected).

This time round I’m gonna blog about me and my journey through 2017, warts and all including my struggles.

Here’s a bit of truth, I’ve got a fat guy inside wrestling me to get out and I’m not particularly in love or obsessed with fitness.

You might think that’s kind of weird doing what I do, when the truth is I actually help people which is the bit I love (anyway I’m not here to preach).

I’m gonna give you the inside scoop from my bubble, what I see going on, what I’m doing and my full experience of it.

Don’t know about you but my newsfeed is constant with fitpros (that’s what we call each other in personal trainer land) all preaching, shouting and contradicting each other to the point I’ve unfollowed most of them (shoooosh don’t tell them).

Does anybody actually watch the videos of people telling you what you should do?

Now I’m defo not here to bash anyone, basically I’m gonna blog how I plan to ditch my dad bod along with my struggles for the entire year.

What’s in this for you, you’re wondering?

Well your getting to see the inner workings and struggles from a very experienced personal trainer who knows exactly what he needs to do (and still struggles), and you might even get some laughs at my expense.

We all have a reason for wanting to shed some timber and I’ve probably at some point experienced most of them…

Here’s my top 5 reasons

Get laid
Live longer
Keep up with kids
Improve confidence
Stay / feel young

At the moment I’m about 15 kilos over my fighting weight, that’s 33lb in old money and I’m starting to jiggle, man boobs are starting to fill out and the muffin top is back.

I’ve not properly trained for 3 months in terms of lifting weights and I’ve not ran in over 6 months and even then it was less than 5k. I’m out of breath walking up the stairs and I actually feel like shit (also got the man flu which doesn’t help).

Basically life got in the way, work, moving house, work, holidays, work, you get the picture and the thing is there will be more of the same next year too.

So I’ve gone ahead and taken some drastic action which might actually be either a bit psychotic or pure genius.

Now I did promise not to preach but if your reading for some tips I’m gonna help you out – you need something to train for.

If your still turning up and being consistent without any real goals then kudos and high five but I’d bet the hair on my legs there’s no real focus or intensity to your training.

There’s nothing quite like having the fire lit under you to actually get your arse up off the couch to stop watching the reruns (yep you’ve already seen it) and actually train with some purpose.

Me I’ve signed up for a 1000 mile challenge from 01 Jan – 31 Dec which involves me completing 1000 running miles either through training or events.

WTF that’s a bit extreme and works out around 83 miles a month which is a lot for a non runner who’s biggest distance in his peak was a 1/2 marathon (13 miles) but wait there’s more…

It’s easy to actually sign up for stuff like this and miss a few weeks then before you know it fuck it, doesn’t matter anyway didn’t really want to do it in the first place (yeah right).

So tip number 2, how do you eat an elephant?

1 bit at a time, I’ve broken down the massive beast into smaller more palatable chunks… Kinda

I’ve also signed up to do at least 1 event every single month and sometimes 2, so far I’ve signed up for:

10k Road Race – January
Half Marathon – February
Tartan Warrior 5K Obstacle Race – March
Edinburgh’s Toughest Hill Run – April
Edinburgh Marathon – May
Tough Mudder Scotland – June
Spartan Beast 22K OCR – July
Spartan Sprint – July
Rough Runner OCR 15k – August

Ive also got a few more pencilled in for later in the year.

I know what your thinking, he said he doesn’t like fitness and stuff but this is the actions of a fitness freak. I’d probably think the same, but the truth is other than the Edinburgh marathon I’d never heard of any of those events I’ve signed up for until last week.

You see I’m pretty compulsive and when I get an idea I just go all in, quick google search and I’m signed up till August and on track, right now I don’t have the fitness levels to do a 5k never mind a full marathon. You can bet your ass I’ve got a fire lit under me, my arse is burning just thinking about it.

To add a bit more petrol to the flames I’ve set up a justgiving page, I thought I may as well raise a bit of cash doing something this crazy and people can help, I’ve also registered as a team for most events so anyone else can get involved if your crazy enough.

What you can expect from me during the next 52 blog episodes:

A summary of the previous weeks escapades including training and food (simple, convenient, easy to follow and no boring complicated meals)

Tears and tantrums because I won’t want to do most of the events or training, I already don’t want to do the marathon.

How I’m feeling and how I cope with social events, holidays, work and everything else that WILL happen this coming year.

Summary of each event, how I did, preparation, recovery and tips if I was to do again (hypothetical of course).

My fitness and hotness results, ill take some before and after pics and show how this much training actually affects my body.

*Disclaimer there will be a link to my just giving page at the bottom of each blog just like this*

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ReactiveTraining

I’m kinda scared, kinda excited… Scared of all the pain and excited about all the extra calories I get to eat :p

Robert “signed more than 1 death waiver” Clarkson

P.S. I’d love some company and all events are open to everyone, you can choose just 1 and join me or push the boat out and do a couple ;)