Operation sub30 5K

Since my return to running, it appears that I'm actually quite good at it! I have to give credit to the spin/RPM classes as I know that’s what kick-started my improved fitness but also losing the weight has had a massive impact.

Myself and my running friends (Jo, Sharon and Clair) or as Jo called us "The Regs" have entered a 5k race on 17th November and the goal is to get sub30.

I think if I can achieve this then I can safely put myself in the 'proper runner' category. I've had great fun since my return to Regency Runners, running with my friends again is great and I'm so happy I had a long break so I could appreciate it again. It has also helped that my sister Helen has started running again after having a baby, she's doing amazingly well and has joined "The Regs" at the back as she builds back up to her usual 24minute 5k! According to Jo, the back is where all the cool kids hang out, I reckon she's right! Well she must be as secretly all the fasties love running with us Regs!

As I agreed with Oli I'm running with group just once a week, which means I don’t get any over kill. Regency Runners are really great with running sessions that keep you on your toes, so over the last few weeks I've been joining in with the out and back sessions, hills, pace runs and 3k runs so I've been able to work on my pace.

I have also been using the treadmill to help me with pacing, running at 10kph and increasing the distance by 500m at a time. There has been a couple of near misses with this, firstly I started running and came close to losing my running bottoms (I decided to scrap that run) and during my next visit I decided to do my 10 minute warm up on the treadmill, this turned into an attempt at a PB for a mile, I surprised myself and managed 8.57, which  is great, but I must remember that when I press the cool down button, that the treadmill doesn't stop, as I nearly came belting off the back of it!

I'm on track with this pacing, up to 3k at just under 18minutes, and I felt like I could carry on as I felt really comfortable. So it's all going well just now, I'm just hoping that I don't get my usual shit Race Day where everything just seems to go out the window and I limp home with yet another shitty time! My friend Paul experienced that last weekend when his chain broke on the Grim Dualthlon totally wrecking his race! At least I know it’s not just me!

The lastest

It seems I'm getting a bit rubbish at keeping these posts up to date, as it has been pointed out to me by Paul that it has been 4 weeks since my last post so to be quite honest, I don't know where to start, there's far too much to say about what’s been going on recently!

During the last post, I talked about how my training had been centred around spin/RPM classes and I had just started running again after a long break due to shin splints, well, things have changed, again! I'm now running again, I'll post about that separately I think, but I'm no longer concentrating on spin/RPM classes, after a little (MASSIVE) bit of a telling off from Oli!

So I took myself off to my PT session (financial constraints mean that I am having one session a month now) where I was due to be weighed in and to be honest I was feeling pretty confident as I knew that I had dropped quite a bit of weight since my last weigh in. I had done all sorts to keep myself motivated and to stay focused, including this on my lounge wall: (I'm not mental......honest!! OK maybe a bit!!)

Unfortunately my confidence was shattered with the results of the weigh in, I had dropped weight, 15lbs, which you would think would make me happy, but the remaining results were not such happy reading! I had gained 4% body fat and lost a massive 4kg of muscle! My resting metabolic rate had dropped from 1750 to 1625.

Oli knew immediately without me having to tell him what I had been doing, he rightfully suggested that I had been sticking the diet well (with maybe a couple of slip ups), neglecting my strength training and upping my aerobic activity. I knew that I was risking losing muscle but not as much as I actually did! It was gutting, all that hard work building muscle and I had blown it, all of a sudden the drop in weight meant nothing to me, all I could see was that 4% gain in body fat, not something I can afford to do at my weight!!

Oli was really good at explaining to me what had happened, I would try to explain it to the rest of you but I would most likely get it wrong, but in short the spin/RPM was eating away at my muscle, not my body fat, so it was agreed (reluctantly by me) that I would drop the classes and go back to strength training, apparently what I do best as I am constantly reminded by Oli that for "a lass" I am actually quite strong. It was agreed that I should keep to running with Regency Runners once a week to do 3 strength training sessions a week. My immediate response was that surely this wasn't enough but Oli basically said, if you can do more than 3 strength sessions a week, you're not working hard enough!

So, Oli put me through my paces, starting with those f@%£ing walking lunges that I love so much! (I don't love them, that was sarcasm, just to be clear) Oli noticed that my form had improved (I was faking) so handed me a couple of 3kg weights and was told to go and do it again.
It was to get better when I had done that, straight into press ups, 4 sets. The next set of exercises were squats (ass to ankles) holding a 12.5kg kettle bell - nice, then straight into lat-pull down, I don't know the weight I did, as Oli keeps it hidden from me (probably to stop the whining), again 4 sets, and then 3 sets of kettle bell swings, with the 12.5kg. This doesn't sound very much I know, but at the end of it I was done! Oli had really kept the intensity up had been quite strict on my form so I was a bit battered when I stumbled out of there!

I spent the next few days trying to a) walk and b) get my head around the no cardio thing. The worst thing about this was I know damn well why I need to concentrate on strength training and not cardio, but I still convinced myself that there was no possible way that I was ever going to lose any weight by doing this....crazy I know! I don't think it helped that Oli told me my weight loss might slow down as I gain the muscle again. After spending the entire weekend whining to Paul about it I decided to go down and see Oli for a chat, I just needed everything confirmed and explained again to me which Oli did, this really got me focused again and ready for losing the next chunk of weight.

Since then, I have chucked out the size 18 pair of jeans that were constantly falling down (what a great feeling) and I'm now back in a pair of 16's, a teeny bit snug but it won't be for long, the goal is to get to a size 14 for Christmas, and then a size 12 for April.

The strength training sessions are going ok. They're bloody hard and are made that little bit harder by my stupid gym not having any kettle bells and having stupid shaped dumbbells that dig into my wrists! I'm remembering my "unless you faint, puke or die, keep going" from Jillian Michaels, which helps keep my focus in the gym and stops me slacking and taking too long a rest in between sets! I've managed to adapt from the equipment at Peak Fitness to the stuff that’s in my gym, and am much more confident in there now I know exactly what I need to do, and of course now I have dropped some weight and I don't feel as self-conscious!

I have managed to keep my weight pretty stable since my last weigh in, which I can only see as a good thing and I hope that means that I am building muscle and losing fat. My next weigh in is 5th November where Oli will also switch up my program, although I'm guessing that as he has successful in "switching my glutes on" that I can expect more of the same, just in a even more evil way!!

Back in the Game

As I posted a few months back, the hours and hours of relentless pounding away while training for this year’s London Marathon took its toll on my body and I had the joys of suffering with shin splints, although I really do like my physio Cathy, having my shins 'ironed out' is not something I enjoy at all!

Strangely think this injury came at the right time for me, I had really had enough of running and I was struggling to enjoy running with Regency Runners, so I decided to concentrate on losing weight and come back to the running at a later date. Unfortunately this meant dropping out of the Great North Run and Great Birmingham Run, it was no easy decision to pull out but sometimes you just have to make these sacrifices. I really didn't want was to injure myself to the point where I couldn't do anything at all!

As I posted last week, I've now lost a stone. It's not a great deal as ideally I need to lose another four but it's a great start. A lot of the training I have been doing recently has been focused around spin/RPM classes so I have been working on my level of aerobic level of fitness. These classes are great fun, and really push you to your limit. I do moan a lot about my gym (pretty much endlessly), it's one of those chains that only seem to care about the money and don't value their members, but what they do very well is the range of classes they do and the instructors they have are excellent. I had started to look around for a new gym to attend but I just can't find one in the area that run a spin/RPM programme that is anywhere near as good, so I shall stay put, for now.

Last week I started to notice a real change in my fitness levels during classes, after the sprints when I slowed my legs, I was surprised with the resistance that I had on, whereas not so long ago I was 'free-wheeling'. I also started to notice that during the climbs I couldn't get my resistance right, I thought the bike had broken at first, but soon realised that I'm getting stronger, so I need to find the next level to challenge me again. I have since made sure that I turn the resistance up even more so I get the most out of each track and I have really been feeling it!

This past weekend was spent getting frustrated as I had a stinking cold. I had convinced myself last week that it was hay fever and that it would soon pass but as it got worse I realised that it wasn't going anywhere. I trained really hard last week, so by Saturday I was done, I woke Saturday morning and couldn't breathe, so I forfeited my training session and rested, thinking I would be ok to train the following day, I was wrong! I was so determined to go but after a conversation and a good telling off from my friend Paul and a big strop from myself I decided to go back to bed. I didn’t wake up after midday, so I really must have needed it! I hate it when Paul is right!
I felt loads better that evening so decided that I'd set my alarm for the next morning and try a little run. The park behind the house is roughly a mile and as I didn't want to go too far I thought once round would be just right. I woke up and it was chucking it down, this is my favourite running weather so off I went after a fair bit of whining to anyone who would listen.
I only had to run to the end of the road to remember why I love running so much, I felt great! I was wearing my Garmin but made a point not to check it, I didn't want to chase a time just see how I got on and if I would get any pain. Before I stopped running a few months ago, my pace was a very slow about 12 minute miles, on a good day.  Today’s run, short as it was, was at a much improved 10:24min mile pace, and it didn't really feel like I was pushing it so when I got home and looked at my watch I was chuffed.

I have always run because I love it, and although at times I would get frustrated with my slow pace I was just happy to get out there and do it. Paul has always called me a proper runner; to be honest I don't know why as he thinks that a 2 hour half marathon is slow! But anyway, recently I have started thinking about my pace and realised that this is now really important to me, I want to become that 'proper runner' that Paul seems to think that I am, and of course to beat him in the 2014 Regency 10k, yes, that is how long I will need to get the pace!

So, in every session I will be channelling Jilian Michaels to myself!

 

Building the base

Again, I seem to have left it way too long since my last post but rather than excuse myself I thought I'd just get on with it!

So, since my mental decision to compete in a 70.3 triathlon next year, the realities of that challenge have started to sink in, along with how much this thing is going to cost! As I am neither made of money or have a money tree in my back garden (actually I haven't even got a garden so that doesnt really work) I am really having to think about where the money to pay for it is going to come from, so, while I think about that I am using my time wisely and kicking my own arse at the gym, building the base for the training that will no doubt take over my life!

Since I started this blog, the weight hasn't come off as quickly as I may have liked, in fact I think it has come off rather slowly considering how hard I am working and the changes that I have made to my diet (just 14lb, and that has been a little up and down with a recent holiday to Sicily) But hey, they do say the longer it takes to come off the more likey it is to stay off, apparently. I also think that I am still building muscle as the majority of my workouts are resistance based. My sessions with Oli and Phil at Peak Fitness have come to an end (see above for my lack of cash flow!) so I am now doing it alone, which was ok at first but I am now finding it quite difficult to keep focused during sessions. My friend Paul seems to think that I find my focus easily when I am in the gym, but its not doing the exercise that I lose focus on, I just get on with that, it's the variation and lack of knowledge to think of new and effective things to do that I find difficult. So, basically, tell me to do something and I will do it, and I will try my hardest, but thinking of new things, I'm just shit!

My focus on diet is pretty good. I'm still doing self hypnosis every night and now I am into a routine I know where I am and am finding the choice of food when eating clean is actually really varied, you just have to be a little creative! I am finding it amazing how much better I feel, none of that bloating that I always got before, my skin, hair and nails are in really good condition and I have so much more energy! And they say that energy comes from carbs? Rubbish! I'm also enjoying learning about this choice of diet and it completely makes sense to me now, I'm starting to understand what the food that you put inside you does to your body. I tried to explain to some work colleagues who were eating 'low fat' yoghurt and checking the calories on their every bite that the body needs fat and its the sugar content that they need to be concerned with. They looked at me like I was an alien, well, they are on this Slimming World diet, enough said!

When it comes to working out, I am in the gym five days out of seven, minimum (I even took my small weights and Davina DVD with me on a works overnight stay).

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I am still doing plenty of spin classes and do my weights sessions beforehand so I can get the best out of it and burn more fat. I have continued to follow Oli's plan and do lowerbody straight into upperbody, 30 seconds rest and repeat x 4 before moving onto the next two exercises, so some examples being walking lunges (my nemises) straight into pressups, squats straight into shoulder press with 8kg dumbells, single leg squats straight into lat pull down, I think you get the picture! I am able to mix these up and add in new ones as long as it is lowerbody going into upperbody. I think for a girl I am doing pretty well with the weights, I am now able to chest press 40kg (although I think I did way more weight with Oli but like I said the focus is hard when there is noone stood next to you pushing you on) and I am getting 45kg on the lat pull down.

I'm starting to get more interested in the reasons behind each workout and as I need to be tailoring my own workouts now I don't have a PT, I am doing lots of reading and research on this. I am even tampering with the idea of training to become a PT and completing a Level 3 Diploma, using myself as a project but again, this again will all boil down to money! I really want to do it though and I think I will be pretty good at it so I will keep persuing this, so hopefully come January I will be able to enrol.

70.3, can I drive it?

I know that I haven't written a post for some time, but to be honest I have been pretty busy concentrating on getting rid of the weight rather than writing about it! This is mainly as I'm panicking, because I now have a target. I thought I had a target with London Marathon, but as I have admitted before, I didn't take London Marathon as seriously as I should have and although I did the training and worked hard, I didn't drop any weight. Not good enough.

So, my new target. I'm entering the world of triathlons. Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to dive straight into Ironman distance, I'll leave that to my friend Paul (you can read his mental blog here!) but I have had my arm twisted into a half iron (70.3) distance triathlon, and I have given myself a year to get ready for it. So, next summer, I will be swimming 1.2 miles, riding 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles. Apart from the obvious issue of I'm still carrying way too much weight; there are a couple more factors that I need to address to prepare for the race. 

Firstly, I swim off of Nans. I am as I have been called before, part of the "dry hair brigade" so this needs to change pretty sharpish. I have however been working on this over the last few weeks in the pool at my gym, the process I fear is going to be a long one! I have mentioned before that I have a fear of water, which is why I'm a bit (a lot) shit at swimming. I am trying to get over this by just getting on with it and so far it seems to be working, I'm now confident to go swimming on my own and I am forcing myself to go for it and get under water. Luckily I have a friend, Tracey that I met at Regency Runners who has competed in triathlons who has offered to give me some help with my swimming technique, and how to breathe properly, as this is what I am finding really difficult at the moment.

Tracey has also come up trumps just as I was looking to buy a bike. As she is looking to buy a road bike, she is selling her old bike, to moi! Bonus! Now, the next factor I need to address, I haven't ridden a bike since I was 12 and I failed my cycling proficiency test (they tricked me into failing!) so I might need to fix stabilizers to the bike for the time being! I am hoping that I pick this up quickly as I think the stabilizers may slow me down on the day, although I have to admit I am a bit apprehensive about riding on the roads but I have plenty of friends in Warwick who ride so I won't have to go out on these rides alone. I can also gain some confidence with them before I have to start the really long rides early next year.

I'm not too concerned about the run; I know I can run that distance so I can train for it again. I am having a bit of a break from running at the moment, which has forced me to drop out of the Great North Run, something that was a really tough decision but I think for the best. My legs aren't enjoying running at the moment and I am still getting awful pains in my shins after runs. I figured that I would concentrate on gym work for the next few months and give them a proper break, then start up again once it has cooled down and once I had dropped some weight, as I am aware that my weight isn't helping the situation.

So that's the challenge, I'm sure many of you are reading this and thinking "is she stupid? Of course she's not going to do it" and to be honest, I can see your point, but you really don't want to bet against me, I can be a stubborn cow when I want to be (all the time) and I have never felt so focused as I do now.

The next thing I need to do is book my place. I have kind of decided which event I want to do, so the 70.3 Galway, Ireland is a hot favorite. This is mainly as both the ride and run are on a flat course, and I hate hills, although, the swim is in the sea.......and I think this is why I am hesitating to get my name down. Swimming in the nice safe pool is one thing, but swimming in the sea is one hell of a different ball game! I'm hoping that my friend Paul will help me a bit with this, well, seeing as this was all kind of his fault, I will make him!

So lastly, a quick update on how my training is going. I have spent the last few weeks trying to work out a schedule that suits. I have got back into spin class which I love, as there are a few different spin instructors and I have now tested most of the classes and worked out which ones are more challenging so will be more beneficial to me, my weight and my fitness, so now I attend 3-4 spin classes a week. I have also started Zumba, something that I thought I would try out for the hell of it and actually, I really enjoy it, so have decided to keep it in my programme for the time being.  

I am still seeing Oli at Peak Fitness for personal training sessions; he is still working me really hard and now has an accomplice in Phil. During my last session which I had with Phil, after killing me with 250m rowing sprints he bought out a mat and a 7.5kg kettle bell, and I was told to do 15 swings then straight into a plank. A plank? I can't do a plank (well I couldn't a few months ago!) I heard laughter from the other side of the gym as Oli told Phil to expect some Angry Planks! I think this proves how well Oli knows me, knowing that when I can't do something I get angry and act just like a child; I throw a bit of a tantrum! But, I knew I had to try it, and all three attempts were over 30 seconds. Not great, but certainly better than the 5-10 seconds I was expecting, and much better than Phil was expecting, as I think after my initial reaction he thought/hoping he was going to see me face plant the mat!

I am also carrying on with the programme that Oli and Phil have set for me in my gym, and I am really pleased with the results. I can see myself getting stronger, and I am able to do things now that I just could not have done a few months ago. I tend to have quite a good attitude when I am working on my own in the gym; I decide what I am going to do before I get there and make sure I follow it through. It's really hard work but such a satisfying feeling when I have finished!

I have also got my diet sorted. Switching to "clean eating" is really hard and I have had to do it gradually, so although it has taken some time I now find it really easy. It may not suit everybody and there are a million and one opinions about what’s healthy and what’s not, but this suits me  I am now another 8lbs down and I am starting to notice some clothes becoming a little looser which is a start.

Things are feeling really good at the moment, being focused feels great and I feel I have the tools to keep me there, I continue with self hypnosis every night, I notice such a difference if I miss a night, the next day being such a struggle. I also wake up with this every morning, and if I get any thoughts on missing a gym session or eating something I should, I repeat to myself:

The decisions you make today change the shape of the person you become tomorrow