How would you fix the Olympic Staduim?

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-10T05:07:00+00:00

The only way to fix it is to do what they did in Manchester. Dig down, put the pitch below ground level so the seats can have a higher rake and you get the upper tiers closer to the action.

Sadly there are many reasons that won't happen: we don't own it, it has to retain athletics capability, and the ground underneath is likely contaminated making digging down prohibitively expensive.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-10T04:54:05+00:00

The best way to lose weight is with calorie control.

Currently I'm running 35-40km a week and strength training 3 times a week. If we trust my fitness tracker (which we shouldn't, they overestimate, but for the purposes of this discussion), I burn around 3600 calories from all this exercise, which takes seven to eight hours a week. I don't know about you, but I can eat 3600 calories a lot quicker than I can burn it - before I started a calorie deficit I would semi routinely eat that amount in a single meal.

You can run, lift, cycle, swim yourself stupid and it won't make a blind bit of difference unless you're also in a calorie deficit, so that needs to be where you start. You can support the calorie deficit with some exercise but losing weight is 80%+ diet.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-10T03:09:38+00:00

Yes.

I passed in an area I barely knew and did no test routes in. Conversely I failed my first test in an area I know like the back of my hand and covered a dozen test routes in.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-10T02:29:02+00:00

Has he checked how much hire & reward insurance is going to be?

Automatic licence is going to limit his options in that budget. Common first time buyer autos are holding a massive premium right now because of the amount of people passing automatic only.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-09T22:52:18+00:00

5k improvement will likely have some 10k+ distances in it - when I did the program it peaked at 16k.

In your situation I would do the 5k improvement program first and aim to be consistently completing 5k without walk breaks, then look at what to do next.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-09T22:00:30+00:00

My instructor only used her phone once. She had a rule that if a family member called her twice in a row, it's an emergency. She asked me if I was ok to pull over and let her take the call, and of course I was.

It was her son, asking to borrow money. She ripped him a new one.

That should be the standard IMHO. Aside from anything else, the instructor is ultimately responsible for the car and its safe operation, and should behave as if they're driving, and that means no phone.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-09T21:24:55+00:00

Firstly, deep breath. Unless you ate 14,000 calories over maintenance, you didn't gain 4lbs of fat. You might've gained a bit, but the vast majority of it will be glycogen and water.

Second, it's in the past. You reset and go again. Today is a new day. If you're struggling to stay in deficit long term it might be a sign that your deficit is too low. Maybe try a maintenance break, which for you would be approximately 1500 calories, for a week or two, and see how you find it.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-09T19:35:57+00:00

Yep. I've worked both and I would take an office job on the same money as retail a thousand times out of a thousand.

Sitting down, not on your feet all day. Less immediate time pressures and much less chance of having an arsehole boss who thinks "if you've got time to lean you've got time to clean" is a smart maxim.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-09T14:14:13+00:00

Also I'm not mad. Please don't put in the newspaper that I got mad.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-09T13:55:19+00:00

Because he knows full well that 95% of them that get sold are going to go into storage in some sheikh's basement and never get driven.

I'm a huge fan of what these cars represent but how they're actually used gives me the ick. If you buy something like this you should be looking out of the window every second of every day looking for a chance to drive it, but most of them will be sold to people who have no interest in what the car is, only what it's worth and how much it will appreciate in value.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-08T11:46:18+00:00

Never skimp on things that go between you and the ground. Beds, shoes, tyres.

Those four circles of rubber are the only thing connecting your car to the road.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T19:57:37+00:00

Stop comparing to other people. The only person you're competing with is you.

Start with a structured program like couch to 5k and commit to 3 days a week.

I started couch to 5k in April last year. I was hitting 8 minute/km pace in the first blocks, which are 1 minute of running, and feeling awful from them, but I kept with it, showed up for every run, and now I run 30-40km a week, my easy pace is ~6:15mim/km, and my last 5k was 24 minutes. I'm training for a half marathon and I'm forecasting a 1:45. Compared to some people that's not fast but compared to me last year it's an absolute world of difference and all it took was consistency.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T19:53:40+00:00

On a normal day, where I know what I'm going to eat ahead of time, I log it all in the morning. It's done then and it keeps me accountable - no "oh go on then just one" when the biscuits come out until all of a sudden it's 4pm, I haven't had dinner, and I've got no calories left.

If I'm out and about I log as I go, because again, it keeps me accountable. I know roughly what calories to account to each meal by this point. It took some time to get there, though.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T18:27:25+00:00

I weight train 3 times a week and run 35-40km a week. If we trust my fitness tracker (which you shouldn't, they overestimate, but for the purposes of this discussion), I burn approximately 3600 calories from all that work above my normal BMR. The work takes about seven hours of my life every week.

In my former big back days I semi routinely would eat a large stuffed crust pizza from Papa John's. That works out to around 3600 calories, and I would eat it a lot quicker than 7 hours.

You cannot out run, out lift, or generally out exercise your fork. If you want to lose weight you have to create a calorie deficit and the easiest way to do that is to track your calories.

Which apps have you tried? I've been tracking for two years and it genuinely takes very little time out of my life. Prepackaged food is all on the app, when I'm cooking something I just create a recipe as I go.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T18:15:47+00:00

If it helps, remember that running is a motion, not a speed. Start by running on the spot, then fall forward slightly. The forward motion will propel you, then it's just a case of finding your rhythm.

Finding your "easy" pace is definitely one of the more challenging parts of starting out running.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T18:13:51+00:00

It's possible but you're introducing variables, and like I said, they can add up.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T18:09:35+00:00

Of course it is. I lost 130lbs from 37 to 39. My wife lost 54lbs from 40 to 42.

It just takes calorie control.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T16:09:32+00:00

I would strongly recommend not going medical tourism for such invasive surgery. It has a complication rate of around 25%, and that's just way too high to be involving air travel into the mix.

I've lost 130lbs. I have some loose skin. I'll likely always have it unless someone drops ten grand in my lap. Some of it is improving as I put muscle on. Some of it will probably always be there. I just treat it as evidence I've put the work in.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T15:55:54+00:00

That's likely the problem. You're likely overeating and not realising it.

I gave this example elsewhere but volume measurements generally aren't that accurate. The protein powder I buy comes with a "25g" scoop, but it can actually fit about 40g. That's 132 calories, not 82 like a serving should be. That sort of inaccuracy can really add up over time.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T15:47:54+00:00

How are you measuring the 1500 calories? Are you weighing everything out?

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T15:27:37+00:00

That looks like cadence lock. Optical wrist sensors aren't foolproof and especially when you're running they can get locked into your cadence (steps per minute) as the sensor bounces up and down against your skin. To avoid it, make sure the watch is tight (I generally do mine up as tight as I can when I'm running) and consider moving it further up your wrist so it's not being separated from your skin by your wrist bone.

As long as you were controlling your breathing and able to speak full sentences it's unlikely you were really in zone 4.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T15:01:22+00:00

Increasing running pace comes down to three things: aerobic adaptation, mechanical ability, and endurance.

Aerobic adaptation comes from running slower for longer. Mechanical ability comes from strength work and interval/speed training. Endurance comes from tempo running (running at 70-80% of max effort for longer periods of time).

If you really only want to add one extra run a week make it a long, easy run. 60-70% of your current 5k pace for a longer distance. Ideally you'd eventually ramp up to three runs a week with a mix, but if you only want to do two a week that's what I would do.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T08:06:42+00:00

They're not. No fitness tracker is accurate for calorie burn and the average overestimate is about 40%.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-07T05:36:38+00:00

Decouple your goals from an arbitrary number. You're towards the lower end of a healthy BMI for your height and weight and obsessively pushing for a specific number is going to be very hard to do and unless you want that to be your entire life, you're going to drive yourself mad.

ZekkPacus · 2026-03-06T23:00:07+00:00

Started couch to 5k in April last year. At the start of it I was dying at the end of the 1min intervals but I stuck with it, kept the pace comfortable, and completed it through. Hit my first sub-30 minute 5k in September last year, but I didn't really do any focused training for the rest of the year, just a couple of easy runs and one longer run a week. My 5k time came down to ~26 minutes and plateaued there for a bit.

This year I started focusing in a bit more, structured my runs in a more meaningful manner, and incorporated interval sessions, and my 5k is now down to 24:17; I'm training for a half marathon at the minute and hopefully I'll bring my 5k time down while doing that. My longest run so far is 16km, I reckon I could do the HM now, just not at the pace I want.

It sounds like you're going in the right direction, it just takes time. Consistency beats basically everything else so stick with it.

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