Went for another run today, did things a bit differently today though.

What I normally do, is to do a few stretches in the house, walk to the end of the drive (about 20m), stretch my thighs and calfs again and off I go running. What I did today, was to walk to the end of my road (about 3/4 of a mile), stretch everything for about 30secs, jog for 15 mins, turn around, walk back up my road and stretch when I got in.

I think it worked pretty well! I prefer running on the road that leads off of the road I live on. It's quieter (living in the countryside with no pavements, tractors and buses are a real danger along my road), the road surface is a lot smoother with less potholes and more definate edges to it, it's also flatter so running on a camber is less of an issue.

I got 20 mins into the run and my right shin was agony, it got to the point where the muscle/tendon/ that runs down the outside/front of my leg was so tight I couldn't actually move my foot at all! I had to stop, stretch, play around with my foot/ankle/knee a little bit and try carrying on. This all made no difference as everytime I started jogging instead of walking it would be agony again.

I got rather annoyed at myself, and it's just as well I live in the middle of nowhere because I probably would have been arrested for the kind of language I was shouting at myself in a built up area!

I was walking along chuntering to myself and getting rather irate, when I started to remember how I ran when I was at school. I always had a stupidly long and goofily "bouncy" stride pattern. At the exact same time I remembered the man who sold me my running shoes and he kept on saying "lengthen your stride out".....

So I did....

....And it worked!! I started to jog really slowly, but with that long a goofy stride again and it didn't hurt one bit! It takes up a hell of a lot more energy and I'm running out of puff a hell of a lot sooner than I was yesterday, but I can work on that. I can run relatively pain free again and that's all I care about!

Off for a cycle tomorrow, nothing majorly long but it will be at a good pace, want to work my cardio and stamina as much as I can now. =D

Today I had to go for a 25 minute run. I've not done a great deal of excercise over the last week.....Okay, I've not done anything over the last week and have been eating crap again.

The run was unbelievably hard and my shins were agony again, so I've made the rather earth shattering decision not to have a rest day.

It's a big step, and one that could quite possibly leave me exhausted, but it'll force me into eating the correct foods and drinking the right amount of water daily. It'll also mean that my cardio fitness and stamina will improve rapidly (that's the plan anyway).

I used a heart rate monitor for the first time whilst running today and I was horrified by the end totals/averages. It made me realise I am a scary amount unhealthier than I originally thought.

My resting heart rate is 80bpm
My average heart rate during a 14 minute run was 165bpm
My maximum heart rate during the 14 minute run was 189bpm

I am stunned, I never imagined I was that unfit and it has scared me, a lot....I'm desperate to turn my health and fitness around and am going to give it a fair shot.

Off for a cycle tomorrow as well as doing circuits....

No rest for the wicked....

So, yesterday I went for my run. I got about 200m down the road from my house and rolled my ankle rather spectacularly in a pothole! I tried to carry on but about 5mins later I had to admit defeat. I limp-jogged home and got straight into the ice/heat rotation on my ankle and shin.

Today my ankle was a bit sore, but a lot better than last night. Got home early from work and went straight out on my 35 minute bike ride. The weather is shocking this afternoon, at one point it was raining so hard I could barely see 20m ahead of me!

I had amazing fun though, I ended up actually aiming for puddles trying to see how much of a splash I could make!

I did however find one downside to GoreTex trainers. They're fabulously great at keeping water out of shoes, but once the water is in them it's an entirely different ballgame! I had half of The Wash in them by the time I'd finished!

I even got some pictures to prove I went out and did it!

This is me looking rather soggy and tired, but pretty chuffed with myself (I don't always stick my tongue out at people taking pictures.....Okay, I do, but what the hell!)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Weedy23/IMGP0569.jpg

This is the water being tipped out of one of my trainers!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Weedy23/IMGP0571.jpg

Also, check out the awesome running gear! Fluro vest, bright blue top and camo shorts!! What a good look it is!

Off for a run tomorrow if my ankle will hold out, I'll write about what happens!

So....Long time no write huh?

Last weekend (23d, 24th and 25th May) I went away camping with some friends. We went out to the zoo on the Saturday and I got VERY sunburnt. The following day I had sunstroke, dehydration and the beginnings of a virus passed onto me from my parents. Regardless of feeling like I was dying, on the Sunday I did a high wire assault course in Thetford Forest (Go Ape for those of you who know it!). It was certainly a work out, doubly hard considering how ill I felt!

Needless to say, the past week I've done next to nothing as I've slowly been recovering from the mixture of a virus and sunstroke/serious dehydration. I did my circuits, but no running or cycling.

Strangely enough, I feel utter sh*t this week for having done no excercise. I almost can't wait to get back into the "gruelling" routine of working 9 hour shifts, coming home and going for a run!

So, today I'm feeling a little bit more like myself again and am determined to stick to my time schedule. I'm hitting the road again later, straight back into week 4 of the training regime.

I know it's going to be hard carrying on with the training after missing a week, but I'm determined to carry on with this and get fit!

I'll write later on today to make a record of how difficult/easy the run was! It's 25 mins at a moderate intensity, should be interesting!

Laters!!

Today was a 20 minute run at a moderate intensity.

Well, it was supposed to be. What it actually was, was shit!

I'm really mad at myself because I ate crap yesterday (lots of chocolate etc) and then had a fair bit of alcohol in the evening. Didn't drink enough water yesterday or today, had complete crap for breakfast and lunch today and as a result my run was horrible.

Nothing felt right. My right shin and thigh were insanely tight on the last half mile, my pace was irratic (it's normally barely more than speed walking, but at least it's a pace of sorts), I was all over the place in the literal sense on the road and as a result almost got killed my a bus!

I am mildly happy with the fact that I got further than before (only by about 500metres). However, I am increasingly aware that I can't carry on eating the kinds of foods that I have been and expect the running/cycling to work miracles.

I'm sitting down this afternoon and examining my average daily food and liquid intake, what form it comes in, what quantities and at what time. I think I have to make some further changes to my lifestyle in order for this to work as I want it to.

I'm hoping tomorrow's cycle is a bit better for me and I don't hate it anywhere near as much as I hated that run!

So there's the end of Week 1 of the training programme!

I can't say I'm noticing any difference at all in my fitness or strength, I don't know if I was expecting to or not though, so it doesn't really make a massive difference!

I have noticed after my two runs and rather epic 30 minute cycle ride, that my cardio fitness seems ever so slightly improved. Only a little bit, but I've noticed it and it feels like the first teeny achievment on the way to the bigger picture!

I can't believe the fist week has been and gone either, I never thought I'd even complete the first week because my self discipline is crap and I'd wimp out the first sign of things getting even the tiniest bit difficult!

One of the biggest things I'm pleased with this week, is the timed run on Day One. Not only did I finish the 1.5miles in a time that would enable me to get into the RAF, but I didn't have the slightest pain in my shins, and that is something that was really worrying me!

Despite the positives that I've bought out of the first week, I am REALLY dissapointed in myself for my rest day and yesterday. I let my "careful" eating and choice of food slip rather seriously on those two days and in turn it affected my running. I've given myself a talking to and a slap on the wrists and will try not to let it happen again. If I'm tempted, I'll remind myself of just how ill I felt when I was running after fish & chips, a bottle of coke and a rather large chocolate bar!

Wahey! Onto Week Two!!

Done my cicuit training for the day and I'm still finding that I'm struggling. Maybe that's to be expected, I'm not sure.

I've always been rather proud of the fact that I can do situps, and I've always been rather proud of the stomach I've had because of them, I'm finding that I'm struggling on the second rep of 20 though. I get to about 10/11 and then really start to struggle to get to 20. I do it, but it's hard.

I should also be completing 7 "full" pressups. This is where you lower your chest to 10cm off the floor and then push back up again until your arms are straight. I can't do this, at all, not even one! So what I'm now doing, is 10 "half" pressups. This is where you use your knees instead of your feet. I'm not quite getting down to 10cm, but I am managing to do them, which is something. I'm also maintaining a daily weights programme focussing specifically on my chest and shoulder muscles. Hopefully this will speed up the result I'm looking for and enable me to do the full pressups!

Getting there though, feeling a bit stronger and fitter already!

Today all I had to complete was a 20 minute run. There was no time goal or anything, just to do as well as you could. I managed to "run" 3/4 of a mile non-stop in about 9mins. Not the fastest time in the world, but I did it non-stop, that to me is a big deal!

I did have to walk a little bit, but at no point did I stop dead and just stand still, I kept on moving and pushed myself to jog as much as I felt I could.

I did 21mins in total and "ran" about 2 miles, so again, I'm not moving anywhere near quickly, but I'm carrying out the jogging motion instead of walking fast!

Interestingly, I tried a different kind of energy drink today. I have used Glucose based drinks and products before excercise in the past and I have been physically sick on two occasions. Needless to say they don't agree with me. On day one of this programme I hydrated myself 100% with plain water and found running quite "easy" in terms of how i felt and how my mind felt.

Today I used a carbohydrate energy drink in powder form that you mix to make the desired amount of drink. I found that within 3 mins of starting my run I had a stitch. Within 8/9 mins I was feeling a bit "yucky" and a little bit sick. By around 15 mins I was feeling fairly horrible and my mind was a little bit buzzy and I was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on breaking the jog down into "baby steps" (I will make it to that lampost etc). When I got back I felt very drained and shakey, which I've never had before, even with the glucose based products.

I think I'll be sticking to plain water in future and making sure I eat the correct foods to give me the energy I need instead of "relying" on energy drinks of any kind!

Week one of the fitness programme and the RAF would like me to do TWO circuits of the following:

15 Tricep Dips
20 Sit Ups
7 Press Ups
15 Dorsal Raises
25 Step Ups

Tricep Dips - Done pretty easily
Sit Ups - Started to struggle after 15
Press Ups - Couldn't even do one, how pathetic....Also rather concerning
Dorsal Raises - Pain in the arse, literally, but again, fairly easy
Step Ups - Wow, these hurt my legs, but again, fairly easy

So, the general idea I've got from todays session, is that I desperately need to work on my arm strength and get Press Ups down to a tee. If I don't, I'm in big trouble....

On Tuesday (Day Two) I was meant to go for a gentle cycle lasting approx. 25 mins.

What I actually did was cycle 8 miles in half an hour, into the wind the whole way and was then too knackered to cool down. I half heartedly stretched when I got home, but obviously it wasn't enough. Yesterday I could barely stand, my thighs felt like I'd ruptured the muscle and my stomach was agony too! I went too hard at the cycle and was paying for it at work the next day!

I was supposed to do some circuit training on Day Three (Yesterday), but half way through my first sit up, it felt like someone was stabbing my abdominal muscles, not good.

I gave up on them and decided to bring my rest day forward and do the circuit training on Day Four (Today) instead. I used the afternoon and evening to keep stretching my thighs and stomach (as best as I could) and prayed that I'd feel a bit better today.

Woke up early this morning and immediately my legs and stomach are feeling better than yesterday! They're still a little sore, but I can cope with it. I'll be warming up, stretching, doing the circuits, cooling down and stretching again a little later on!

Moral of this story, don't try and do too much on Day Two of a fitness programme! You'll pay for it for the rest of the week!