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!

I thought I'd write up a quick review on my running shoes seeing as today is the first time I've been jogging in them and I've had some real issues with my legs when running before.

Straight out of the box they're comfy, they fit really nicely and my toes have plenty of room in. They were fitted by a specialist running shop and although they feel massive for casual wear, they are the perfect size for running in.

For the previous few years, I've had serious pain in my shins whilst running and also for a day or two afterwards. Having been to Advance Performance in Peterborough and having a gait analysis, I was told I was rolling my feet inwards slightly when running(over-pronating) which could be causing the shin pain.

I ran 1.5 miles in the Saucony's this evening and it's the first excercise I've done in a long long time. I had a bit of a twinge in my right shin during the first couple of minutes, and my shins felt quite "hot" whilst running. However, now that I'm back and have cooled down and stretched there is no soreness or stiffness in my shins at all.

The shoes were wonderfully cushioned and I could "feel" the road at the same time.

I'm not going to say I'd recommend them to everyone, obviously they won't suit everyones running style, but I would recommend that everyone gets their gait analysed and shoes fitted professionally. If I'd done that a few years ago, maybe I'd not have been in so much pain!

The shoes cost £70 at A.P in Peterborough with no extra cost for the gait analysis, however if you're not buying shoes on the day, they do charge £25 for the analysis alone.

Target time (1.5miles), 22yr old female = 14m 24s

My time = 13m 30s

Push ups (1 minute) = 10
Sit ups (1 minute) = 23

I'm quite chuffed with myself that I managed to do the run so quickly, I was really worried that I'd be nearer 15m 30s that I went out so quick I only just managed to run 3/4 of a mile without stopping.

Really enthusiastic to carry on with my training and keep improving my times now!!

Got a 25 minute bike ride tomorrow evening, no times or goals for that, it's just to keep my cardio fitness going.

Yay!!

So, after months of making excuses and putting starting the programme off, Monday is the day! My best friend is going to be doing the fitness programme with me so that I'm not fighting a losing battle mentally and she's doing an amazing job of keeping me motivated!

I've not done any excercise for a couple of years now, so I'm prepared for my initial 1.5mile time and push up & sit up numbers to be shockingly poor. This will just give me a lot more scope to improve though.

Tomorrow is my last day of eating as much as I want and of whatever I want too! I'm not going on a rabbit food diet along with the fitness thing, I'm just going to eat sensibly and not eat twice as much as I should. I'm also cutting down on sugary drinks and foods.

I'm working all day Monday, so after work I'll be doing a 1.5mile timed run, as many sit ups as I can in 1 minute and as many push ups as I can in 1 minute. It's an assesment day so that I can build on the basic fitness I have. From day 2 onwards, it's all hard work aiming towards running a sub 14min 24sec 1.5mile and doing as many situps/pushups as possible in a minute.

Wish me luck!!!

In the past I've had serious issues with pain down the front of my shins when I've been running. I've finally got off my backside and been to a specialist running shop called Advance Performance in Peterborough now though, wow, those guys and girls really know what they're talking about!

I went along not knowing what I needed or wanted and was met with the most honest and friendly shoe sales assistant I've ever come across! He asked me lots of questions about what I wanted to do in the running shoe, what kind of surface I'd be running (or staggering - in my case) on, how far would I be running etc etc.

After establishing what it was that I wanted and any medical issues or injuries that I have (the shin pain being the obvious one) he put me on a treadmill in a pair of "neutral" running shoes. Whilst I was jogging on the treadmill he filmed the back of my ankles, when I'd finished he talked me through what was on the replay screen. I was landing on the outside of my feet and rolling quite substantially inwards. They offer this filming service (otherwise known as Gait Analysis) free of charge when you buy a pair of running shoes, which I thought was excellent service!

He seemed to think this rolling action (Over Pronation if you want to get technical) could certainly be contributing to the shin pain I'd experienced. He went off and came back with two different pairs of running shoes. He let me try both pairs on the treadmill, again filming me running each time, talked me through what was different and then even let me run outside in the carpark in them!

Once we'd found the better pair, he then made 100% sure of the size and that was me sorted.

It took about an hour from start to finish, I've got the best suited trainer to my feet and running style and should hopefully find that my shin issues are lessened or totally eradicated! I've been wearing them in around the house but I'll be running in them for the first time on Monday, I'll post a progress report!

I would 100% recommend that any runner of any ability heads to Advance Performance or somewhere similar, because £70 spent on all that service and product means that I've now got exactly what I want and what my feet/legs need. Can't go wrong with that!

Right, the idea behind me getting a blog is so that I can document my progress as I progress through an RAF fitness regime in preparation to me joining up. I'm also working towards running the London Marathon, so my success (or failure) in this 6 week regime could make or break that dream!

I'm hoping to write on here either every day, or every other day and just update it with snippets of how I'm getting on and any problems I encounter. I've had a fair few problems with my shins when running in the past, so this could well be the focus of my early posts!

Might not sound like everyones idea of a fun blog, but it's mainly for me to view my progress