The end is nigh!

It's not as bad as it seems, but suddenly I'm going to be 50 years old. End of the month and that's the end of my 40s. It's been a roller coaster, but the biggest change this decade has been in coming to terms with some home truths, that I'd like to share.

I spent too long in the company of people who hold facts in disdain. The scales, tape measures and stopwatches don't lie, you can kid yourself on if you like, but eventually things stack up and you'll know you were the architect of your own downfall.

1. Just because England's world cup forwards were all technically obese doesn't mean you can discount the notion of BMI. I'm not saying it should be your be all and end all, but if you can't match the beep test scores of those guys, you shouldn't be referencing their weights in relation to yours.

2. The waist size of the jeans that you can squeeze into and hang around your hips isn't actually your waist size. Get a tape measure out and do it properly :

• Start at the top of your hip bone, then bring the tape measure all the way around your body, level with your belly button.
• Make sure it's not too tight and that it's straight, even at the back. Don't hold your breath while measuring.
• Check the number on the tape measure right after you exhale.

If you are a man and it's over 40" in old money or 101cm - best you do something about that starting  today and keep on doing something about it until it's right back under control. It will take time, you weren't born with a 40" waist, but you certainly could end up dying with one if you don't deal with it.

3. Alcohol - I love alcohol, but it's very easy to slip into some seriously bad habits. Make sure you have more Alcohol Free Days (AFD) than drinking days in a week. 

• Try not to drink 2 days consecutively
• Try not to get involved in drinking in rounds
• Try doing frequent periods of abstention to know that you can go without any time you need to
• Do dry months
• Melvin Bragg used to have a great rule not to drink in the first 10 days of any month, I like that. It's simple.

4. Cycling - get a bike! You won't believe what you can see from a bike or how far you can go, but be seen and be safe.

5. Doctors - get to know your doctor and go over stupid things that bother you with them. Unless you're a doctor yourself, you've no idea how daft wee symptoms can build a story that might help them identify potentially bigger issues - like life-threatening blood clots, for example.

6. Vanity - It's not a bad thing to want to look good. There's a pretty natural reason why fit and healthy bodies are attractive. If that's your motivation, don't be afraid to use it. Get buff!

Bronco Test

A pretty tough fitness test used by a lot of senior rugby clubs to check where everyone is fitness wise.
Starting at the baseline it's a sequence of shuttle runs 20m, 40m and 60m. Repeat 5 times and you've run 1.2km. You've got starting from standing position them 29 changes of direction thrown in.

week 1 - 8 mins 30 - Tough one, hadn't run in a while and wasn't quite sure what to expect
week 2 - 6 mins 54 - bloody delighted with that, didn't expect to improve that much, but I knew what to expect, so that was great
week 3 - 6 mins 20 - Woohoo! Did a wee bit training and have been losing weight, but that's dramatic improvement.

So there you go. Just experiencing the test was enough to make dramatic improvements for the 2nd week, but to take 2 mins 10 sec from a baseline is pretty good going. Delighted with that... dare I dream of getting below 6 mins before I turn 50? 2 weeks to go.... tick tock!!!