oh bugger, another fat newbie.....

5 weeks is a perfect time between Outlaw half and full

Lard I would say it's perfect as well but the half is pricey a little. Oh and just in case just been talking to anouther newbie on messages about next year and if you havn't throught about it yet take a look at wetsuits now the ex-hire ones are dirt cheap at the moment and will be £200 + for the same quility stuff come March might mean you can afford some more pints at the bar in July.

sgtlard, well done how you manage to skip pudding though, I don't know. I have no self control for things like that. Hence why I am still overweight despite loads of training I guess

Regards wetsuits, Sgt L, a snug fit is important. I would be anticipating that (how might I put this politely) you are going to be a different shape in 6 months time. Losing a stone or more will make a significant difference, and a hired suit gives you the options of getting a smaller one each year. At Tri UK they are £35 for the hire, and just £50 end of season. They even let you buy the one you hired.

Meanwhile, I'm playing about on ebay and the general internet as we speak. 2XU T:2 new for £115, Orca S4 £125, Foor classic £100 (or is it £75 if you phone the shop?).

no need to put it politely.  If i'mnot a different shape, Ill be a sad fat loser. Dropped 6lbs - but gained some muscle, shapes changed and im runnin ( 1hr15mins today )...something I wasnt doing a month a go.

going to rent one in april and buy one next october - ready for ironman events 2014 along with a flash bike and other bits n bobs.

Now that sounds like a sensible plan.

Well, as sensible as any zero to hero plan can possibly be.

Congratulations on the run. I found through trial and error that there was a particular distance/time/pace of run that was optimal for weight loss. I'm not going to refer to my distances here, but under 45 min, no wt loss. I was just drawing off the energy in the blood stream. Over 2 hours, counter-productive, as whatever I'd just burned off I was so hungry I'd often over compensate during the rest of the day.
60 to 90 minutes, the difference was measurable. It was at a steady pace and ate into the long term larder. Don't confuse instant weight loss (that's all fluid) with long term though. You need to replenish the lost fluid. Within a day or two the fluids will be stable and you'll see the difference then.

I'm not saying that the other distances/times are a waste of effort, they all have places in the overall programme. Just those were my optimal burn sessions.

BTW, I've just bought a wettie on ebay, it claims to be new, £88. About half price.

 Thats where I've been going wrong most of my kit's from Lidl  sarah said I was like compo of last of the summer wine the other day.

Me too. I tried out the cycle top and that was spot on. The rain jacket has yet to be tested. Call me a wuss.

some nice training in the bag with a long run today and a bit of swimming. ( Really need to do rather more swimming - so I will ).

Been window shopping ~ tt bike, computrainer, silly wetsuit, garmin910 ..... wife didnt freak. ( SO, thats a big red flag isnt it. She knows something, and I'm about to find out how much its going to cost )

LOL.

I'm sure that you don't need a fully fledged time trial bike just yet. Remember that it's all about the engine. There's usually bike sales in January when manufacturers are thinking about the new ranges and bike shops are trying to shift anything. Even Halfords have come up with good deals.

Wetsuits, similarly. £100 should do it comfortably.

Meanwhile, get to work on that engine.

mmmm..... interesting swim session. coach set a time trial to allow us to benchmark progress...

9.06 for 400m, 4.20 for 200m ...... a line in the sand.