BettyBlog

I did mention that I don't believe in diets anymore, and obviously this includes liquid diets.

I went away for the weekend with the girls from work to stay at one of our friends places - this consequently involved copious amounts of wine, with games of croquet (how very British) in the back garden, snooker & pool.

Ok, ok, so it isn't the same as my ridiculous exercise the night before, but I needed the break - my gluteus maximus was killing me!

Back to it from next week though - hopefully my aches would have gone by then....

Steady run day - this time to an accompanying cricket team and spectators! I'm to run this at a 6/10 effort, whereas the long run is 4/10. I set off and though I have to vary my speed (we're talking tortoise time here) I manage to jog/fast-jog for the whole 15 minutes. Blimey I'm tired!

So, today is the weights day. Now the chap at the gym must have thought I'm fitter than I am, as he said to do the following:

25 - 30 repetitions x 2/3 sets, at a 7/10 effort;

Chest press
Lateral pulldown
Lunges
Squats
Calf raises
Double crunches

I decided to try 30 x 3 sets of each (more fool me) and I managed to do the chest presses and lateral pulldowns without much troble, and even the calf raises though my calves tightened up like steel in between each set - but the squats and lunges did me in.

The squats I've done in my step class, so I knew what to expect, but I was already tired. I managed to finish them, then came the lunges. Boy that hurt, really hurt. I did 30 on my left leg and had to stop for 3-4 minutes to get my breath back and stop my muscles from burning. I did the same number on the other side, then took another breather and decided to try one more set, but of 25 each side this time. I did it, but had to keep stopping and when I finished the second set I had no energy left for the double crunches, I was shaking and starving. It was also going on for 8pm by this time,I'd not eaten and still had a 30 minute walk in front of me, so I left!

I can only think of a couple of times I have ever felt so exhausted in my life! I'm not doing that again - I'm not fit enough. So to tackle this session my plan is:

1) Do only 1 set per exercise
2) Do only 25 repetitions (maybe 20 - I'm seeing how I do)
3) Eat a larger lunch so counteract the longer session, with a light pm snack
4) Drive the car in (I walk to work) and pay for parking, or walk home first then drive to the recreation ground & leisure centre

If I follow the above I can still get the benefit from the session, but I won't be so exhausted and I can then increase the number of sets / repetitions as I get fitter.

I won't let myself feel that bad again.

Stoolball (for the uninitiated) is a random Sussex game, which is a cross between cricket & rounders. www.stoolball.co.uk is a great site for those who're interested.

The reason I mention this is that I've now found a better location for my running. Still on grass but this time a maintained recreation groud, which also doubles as a stoolball & cricket pitch. After work I changed into my kit, and walked to the rec ground to see 3 games of stoolball lined up - oh perfect - I'll have a crowd to cheer me on!

Today's session was interval training - meaning I jog at a ranking of 4/10 for 60 seconds, then the next 60 seconds I do at 8/10 and keep switching till I've done 10 minutes. The ranking is based on how I feel - 1/10 being a couch-potato style on the sofa and 10/10 being I'm dizzy, throwing-up and have done too much.

Ooh I think as I do some stretches, this should be ok, only 10 minutes and varying effort/speed. Piece of cake. Now I know why the saying "famous last words" came about. I started on the slower/less effort minute, this is ok I'm thinking, I can cope with this, then came the time to knock it up a gear - OH MY GOD! I felt like I'd fall over, my heart was pounding, I was stuggling for breath, then back to the slower 60 seconds - time to catch my breath but before I knew it, it was the fast 60 seconds again. I managed to survive till about 6 minutes then I had to stop as I was too out of breath and my legs felt like lead.

During this, the stoolball players had happily hit a couple of 6's (like cricket) and 4's, whilst I plodded on around the field and tried not to get inside their boundaries. One teenage girl had given me such as look of pure dislike it's a wonder I didn't vaporise on the spot!

I got my breath back and did the next 4 minutes - feeling toward a 8/10 when I finished. I walked along to the leisure centre to do my cycle for 20 minutes at "easy" 5/10 and came away with legs that felt even heavier than before. I had to walk home as well so that was another 30 minutes - all in I was shattered when I got in though quite smug-worthy at my super-energetic evening

In order to build up my ankles from running on the uneven ground and also not develop something called shin splits that you get from running on pavement, I decided to do my first 20 jog on a dog-walkers path on the South Downs, just 5 mins walk from my place. The weather wasn't too bad as I started my jog, however many a dog-walker obviously had forgotten those handy plastic bags.

The hills are alive with doggy-do-do!

I'm pretty sure the sheep contribute quite a bit too, as no doubt the rabbits do - regardless of the culprit, the do-do made my jog very interesting. Imaging me in my fetching shorts and t-shirt, hands clenching my mp3 player in one hand, and water bottle & keys in the other, trying to run on this field, keep to the path (which is on a slant) and dodge the poop at the same time... It must have been like watching some strange dance routine...and one two three, to the left - jump! to the right, quick grapevine, and back again - ooh, just missed it!

My antics ended up with my running faster than I'd planned and getting winded quickly, plus a lovely stitch in my side. Then to get out of the downs I ran to a gate only to find the little track to the road overgrown with nettles and me with bare ankles. I stood there, pondering if I could do a long-jump style hurdle to the road, or brave the overgrown path next to it - I decided that my long-jump skills weren't much better than my hockey skills were, so I took the path.

At first, this seemed like a good idea..then slowly the plants started to narrow the path, my route began to weave back and forth, leaping brambles, side-stepping nettles and hurdling more poop! Finally I cleared the path with only a couple of scratches, finished my 20 minutes and did the walk home. Week 1, session 1 over relatively succesfully though I'm now on a quest for an easier route....

I'm a Virgo, and a good friend of mine Kate often points out my Virgoan tendancies. One of these is the need to PLAN! Going with this in-built control-freak nature, I decided to purchase some running magazines before I started my 12 week training plan for the big day.

This experience scared yet excited me - all those healthy people - maybe I'd end up looking like Julia Roberts?! Anywho, loads of the articles kept mentioning exercise other than running , so I booked an appointment with the instructor at the leisure centre I belong to and he helped me work out a plan to get fit enough that I can run - yes run - for 50 minutes and the race should take me about an hour, so basically the last 10 minutes is sheet bloody-mindedness!

His plan has 4 sessions a week:

Session 1: Long Run (jog in my case) = 15 min
Session 2: Interval Run (60 sec slower / 60 sec faster - alternate) = 10 min. Cycle easy 20 min
Session 3: Steady Run = 15 min (slightly more effort than the Long Run). Weights
Session 4: Steady RUn = 15 min. Hard cycle for 30 min

If I can manage all this, then I will be a super-fit human being who can tackle anything! My main problem is doing week 1.....

Now the world of the blog is new to me. I've never been great with keeping up my own diary, let alone one which is posted for all to see - but - it's time to give it a go. My motivation is my new-found love for running!

Those of you who know me of old will realise that sport has never been at the top of my agenda. At school I did ok with discus and the like, but running and hockey (which brings back memories of my ankles being hacked!) were not my forte. My inspiration to start to run was signing up for Race for Life in Brighton on 1st July - which I ran for a loved one close to me who fought and survived breast cancer (you know who you are).

The race was a great motivation - I raised £250 for Cancer Research and - I got the bug! I actually enjoy running, I like the buzz and I've decided that diets are a waste of time - so exercise is the way forward.

Still on this high, I've signed up for a 10k race for Cancer Research on 14th October at Leeds Castle in Kent - this Blog is my way of keeping my motivation, and hopefully providing you with some amusment at my experiences on the way!

Thank you for visiting my Blog and I hope you'll enjoy following my progress and musings.