Last time I had a disaster in the gym it was all down to a drop of Belgium’s finest ale. This week it’s been the “revenge of the salt and vinegar TWIST!”

I concluded after my last vomiting fiasco in the gym that booze and keeping fit don’t mix. It’s a bloody obvious statement but some people can get away with it….Ricky Hatton likes to drink “The Black Stuff” in his down time and then sheds the pounds weeks prior to a big fight! The Arsenal team of the late 80′s early 90′s liked the pop and still won games! Freddie Flintoff likes to have a pint whilst working on his quads on a pedelo…….All of the above are/were at the top of their game and got away with a beer here and there!!!

I however, have discovered that it ain’t gonna work for me. So after Gordon and I went out to watch Noel G at the Royal Albert Hall and drank the bar dry, the following gym session, as I hope you will have read, was a total nightmare……Puke everywhere!!

Since then I have greatly reduced my beer intake in order to A) Train properly and B) Try and get rid of this pot belly that just won’t go away! Fellas I’m sure you know what I’m talking about… It’s not a big fat belly; it’s not noticeable under a shirt. It’s just there, sat nice and comfortably on top of my belt.

James (our PT) and I are now getting into a rhythm in the gym. Ok I admit that work travels are getting in the way of regular sessions but I feel I’m coming on strong with the stuff we are doing. This pot belly is doing my head in, we are doing lots and lots of core training as the three disciplines in the triathlon require you to have a good strong core, swimming, cycling and running all require a six pack!

So how do we achieve the perfect abs…? Simple – Exercise and a good diet. James is insistent that the right exercises and a good healthy intake of the right foods will almost guarantee the perfect physique for the Tri!

So rewind to Tuesday morning, up early with the girls no time to snatch breakfast as I’m on the school run, so a grab a toasted tuna sarnie with some salt and vinegar twists on the side. I think you will agree a mega tasty snack! However in hindsight I doubt that it’s Lance Armstrong’s snack of choice prior to going into the gym!

Once again the gods of the Triathlon were not happy…45mins into the session (James was really going hard!) I felt a slight twing in the stomach region. Nothing to be worried about, a sip of water and back on to the mat to continue with the circuit of stomach exercises. Job done……

“Let’s move outside onto the kerb and do 50 little jumps on and off”……Sounds pretty easy? You try it!!!!!! I never thought that something I found so easy as a kid would be such a nightmare in my 30′s…As soon as I finished the 50th little jump the twing came back. This time more painful and very messy! Third wretch in and it was time to say hello to the tuna and salt and vinegar twist’s……..ALL OVER THE GYM FLOOR!!!!!

What a nightmare….The smell was grim. It went all over the gym matt, dumbbells and work out bench……How embarrassing!

I’m learning a lot because of this Tri, mainly that if you don’t commit 100% it’s not gonna happen!! No more beer, and no more salt and vinegar twists!!!!

Vern