Streaking (No, Not Like That)

I’m not sure what’s come over me.

A week ago, I was doing one yoga session a week and barely getting out of the house.

Today will now be my eighth day of an activity streak! Here’s what it’s looked like:

Friday: Gym – treadmill, bike and cross-trainer for a total of about 40 minutes

Saturday: Gym – treadmill, bike and cross-trainer for a total of about 45 minutes

Sunday: Yoga video at home (about an hour)

Monday: Yoga class (an hour)

Tuesday: Gym – cross-trainer and treadmill for a total of about 40 minutes

Wednesday: Yoga video at home (about an hour)

Thursday: Gym – all treadmill, 40 minutes in total but with much more running

Today: Planning on another hour long yoga video.

I’ve also got gym/yoga plans going up to Monday – this ish is bananas.

I’m really surprised with how well my lungs are coping with starting to run again. I thought I’d be coughing and spluttering all over the show, but it’s more my stamina in general that’s the problem. It’ll come back though. I’m trying to do different kinds of  runs to get me back up to speeds and distances I used to be capable of. I started off with trying to start at 8 km/h and running for a minute before adding 0.1 km/h until I got to 9 km/h or thereabouts and then coming back down, but couldn’t manage it and ended up doing some really haphazard speeds, running fast and walking slow whenever I felt I needed it.

I then figured that the problem with that was also partially mental: I was trying to run faster every minute and didn’t think I could do it. So yesterday I tried running two minutes at 9, then took off 0.1 every two minutes – same thing overall, just in a more mind-friendly order. It worked! Yeah, I had to walk for between 1 and 3 minutes every now and again because I had stitch (and am pretty unfit at the moment), but I did every rep I set out to do. I even got the Runner’s High at the end and wanted to keep going!

So I think I’ll be sticking with a routine like that for a bit, switching it up when I’m starting to master it. Probably the best part is that in that 40 minutes (which also included a 5 minute warm up walk and a 5 minute cool down walk), I got to nearly 5K, so I’m pretty hopeful that I can put in a respectable time for the Virtual Run coming up next month.

Any bets on how long I can keep this streak going?

New Gym Member Right Here!

Yep, I’m officially a gym member once again!

We live between two gyms here, so as I had a bit of free time at the beginning of the week (work was still pretty slow coming in – assuming nobody wrote anything over Christmas that needed translating), I decided to look into them.

The nearest one is literally over the road, but it’s a national chain that’s notorious for being expensive. They don’t even put a price on their website, kind of like the old “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it” saying, but I decided to ask anyway. A very enthusiastic sales guy tried to sell me on all their facilities, but all we wanted are the basics. Eventually I got the price out of him, and it was of course stupidly high!

So I checked in with the gym at the hotel down the road my parents sometimes stay at when they come to visit. I called up on Wednesday and the instructor invited me in for a look on Thursday. I’d had a look on the website and it seemed quite little (it’s only a small hotel), but it turns out it’s just what we need. There are treadmills and bikes, crosstrainers, rowing machines and all sorts of weight stuff, and a pool. OK, so the pool is tiny, but I can see myself going for a cool-down dip after a workout. Rob and I went back in last night to have a free trial and decided to sign up on the spot. This gym also has the benefit of paying month to month instead of by direct debit so we can have some time off if *touch wood* we injure ourselves or get sick.

I had my first proper session today and decided to see just how unfit I am. Surprisingly enough, not running for four months has really affected my stamina, but I did around 35 or so minutes on the treadmill, changing up the speeds to what I used to do at my old gym (pre C25K) and what I managed during C25K, with a fair amount of fast walking. I wouldn’t say it’s comfortable by any stretch, but I don’t think it’ll take me too long to get right back into it. I then had a wander around doing 5 minutes or so each on the bike and crosstrainer. We’ve also booked in for an induction on the weight stuff for next week as I’ve never done that before. I’m figuring at the moment that multiple shorter bursts in the gym are better for me than a couple of big ones a week – I don’t have the attention span or the stamina!

Atmosphere-wise, it’s so much nicer than my old gym back in Birmingham. It’s properly quiet, over the three times I’ve been there (mid-morning Thursday, mid-evening Friday and early Saturday afternoon), I’ve never seen more than three people in at once. You don’t have the big hulking guys showing off or instructors buzzing around trying to get you to come to classes, the music is quiet so you can just stick your headphones in and go. The only thing I miss is being able to plug my headphones into the machines and get the feed from the TV – I’ll tell ya, watching Embarrassing Fat Bodies really gets you going on the treadmill!

So there you go, my first gym wrap-up! I’ve also got another goal to add to my ones from last week! I’m going to take part in Kirsten’s Virtual Run Fundraiser. I’ve been following Kirsten as she’s gone through the C25K programme and now she’s going for her first 10K. She’s asking people to sponsor her while completing a 5K or 10K of their own, and she’s giving out medals! I’ll probably go for a 5K as the event is next month, but who knows!

This has gone on a bit now, so I’ll just say that yoga was great this week! My instructor has managed to start the Yoga Flow class, which I really enjoyed! I’m still going to try and do yoga at home tomorrow too to make up my 2 a week goal.

Happy running!

Christmas and New Year Round-Up and 2014 Targets!

So the festive season is over for another year and it’s time to get back to work and normality.

I had a fantastic time over Christmas. We were aiming to travel down to stay with my family in Portsmouth on the evening of the 23rd, but unfortunately the weather put paid to that. It just wasn’t safe to be driving and everyone agreed we made the right decision to get up early on Christmas Eve and drive the 3 and a half hours then. Our little Corsa was stuffed to the brim with our presents, with a bit of space for 2 small suitcases and our slightly carsick gerbil, Skippy.

We got to Portsmouth in time to go out for lunch with my parents and then spent most of the rest of the day watching Friday Night Dinner. My Dad always reads us ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas just before bed on Christmas Eve, and despite me and my sisters all being in our mid-20s, we still gathered round! My middle sister, Jen was round at my best friend’s flat with their boyfriends, so we had them all on Skype too 🙂

Christmas Day came and went in aflurry of wrapping paper and non-stop noms. We were still eating turkey and gammon way for days! Here’s a pic of me with my two favourite presents.

My youngest sister, Anna, made me a Christmas dinosaur jumper which I absolutely love! I’d sent a picture to my family of a similar one I’d seen online with a shark on, but didn’t think any more of it! And hiding under the tree (yes, our tree topper is Darth Vader), you can just make out Alistair – Rob bought me a Kindle Paperwhite but decided to wrap it up like a penguin! Trying to unwrap it with Anna doing a non-stop commentary of pain from Alistair’s point of view was awful, but what a great idea!

We spent the rest of the week seeing friends and my side of the family and after spending New Year’s Eve being soundly beaten by my parents at Cards Against Humanity, we travelled back on New Year’s Day. We stopped off at Rob’s parents in Birmingham as we hadn’t had a chance to see them over the holidays, and to pick up Rob’s birthday presents as his birthday’s on the 2nd! We spent that day having a nice walk along the Trent before heading into a pub for a massive burger for lunch, then another pub on the way back.

Rob’s parents came up to see us on Saturday and we took them to Homemade in Nottingham city centre, where they do absolutely delicious sandwiches and cakes! I thought I was going for a light option with a goats’ cheese and roasted pepper sandwich, but it was absolutely huge!

We both went back to work on Friday and it’s been relatively quiet for me so far, which is good in that it’s a slow introduction back into work, and bad because with freelancing if you’re not working, you’re not getting paid!

I started back up with yoga on Monday, then did a yoga video as recommended by Ashley on Tuesday.

It was a bit tougher than I’m used to, but that’s got to be a good thing. I’m currently doing Hatha yoga, but my teacher’s planning on starting a Yoga Flow class which I really want to do! Which leads me on to my 2014 fitness targets:

• Re-join a gym – Rob and I are planning on doing this as soon as I get rid of a cough I’ve been carrying around for weeks which makes it difficult for me to breathe (damn you, asthma!). I’m too much of a wuss to run outdoors in the cold, and I really need to get my fitness back up. I feel like I’ve been ill or injured since September, but I hope that if I can find a gap where I’m well, starting to exercise more will improve my immune system. As will being around other people and their germs more frequently – the perils of working from home!
• Increase yoga practice – Try to do two sessions per week, either as a class or by following a YouTube video.
• Run a 10k – Hopefully this will be in the summer at the Portsmouth Race for Life.
• Get a FitBit – or something of that ilk! I love looking up stats, and if they help me get fitter then that can only be a good thing.
• Blog more – This will be directly influenced by the other targets – the more I do, the more I’ll have to say! I also want to write posts on stuff other than fitness, it’s just about getting the time and motivation!

I think that’s enough for now, hopefully I can post a “Back to the Gym” blog before too long! What are your goals for 2014?