Saturday morning was the designated 4M slow warm-up jog in preparation for the Sunday run and following a rest day on Friday. Plotting a loop online during the week I took to the frosty streets. The route I chose was hilly to say the least, thinking back now I don’t remember more than 200m that was flat, however this did not come as a suprise as I had done stretches of the route before. Easy 4m under the recommended time, perfect!

Sunday was billed in the diary as the first ‘race’. Having not been able to find an organised run to enter at the required distance (10km) I realised I would have to do it alone. I was also very aware of how quickly I was supposed to do it and wasn’t overly confident of my own ability to meet the target of sub 47mins. During the last summer I ran the British 10k in 46mins so know I can do it, however it wasn’t to be the case on Sunday.
» Continue reading “W4 D4 & D5 – Gentle jog and ‘Race’ day”

This blog is way overdue and probably should have been put up a couple of months ago when I really was in my peak fitness, since then I have let it slide a bit. That said I am still fairly fit and if anyone ever fancy’s a 10k run or spinning session I’ll join you and hopefully keep up with you! Anyway this is a little post as I thought it rather appropriate during a time where another great story of a man who lost 15 stone through running is being released.

Whilst my achievement may be nowhere near that scale and Mike had to overcome far more hurdles than me I still have a sense of pride as to where I have got over the last few years in particular the last 12 months…

The picture on the right shows me at a work 2005 Xmas party . This was around the peak of my weight, I did nothing in regards to keeping fit and ate 2 ‘big’ meals a day. Weight gain was inevitable and a lazy lifestyle just speeded that up. At this time I reached a waist of 36inches and think (although can’t remember) these may have sometimes been tight. Unlike others I can’t blame alcohol, curries or late night kebabs it was just a case of snacking and ultimately eating poor food. During a sequence of events that saw my life change over the next few months I was given a reason for change, and slowly this started to happen.

Initially taking up squash with a colleague and occasionally hitting the gym I got a bit fitter but not much it wasn’t until a few of us started running at work and I got my Nike+ kit did I really start to really enjoy keeping fit. From March 08 I started running in a pretty big way. Having been the kid who was ready with the excuse as to why not to run cross country at school this came as a bit of a surprise to me and probably anyone who knew me back then. I genuinely enjoyed running and with the Nike technology I could be geeky with it too. Perfect!

As the months carried on and I was routinely doing a couple of runs a week at minimum I decided to get into a 10k, being the moneysaver that I am I entered a challenge with my Nike+ and after 30days of racking up the most miles I could (including runs in Florida!) I managed to blag a place in the 2008 Capital 10k. By this point I was already significantly fitter and had started to shed some weight. I was still enjoying running so it was perfect. I completed that run in a very respectable 53 minutes but deep down I wasn’t happy. Others around me had done better and I could be just as good as them!

For most people I know 10k would be the point they gave up, not me. I like a challenge, from a young age I have always been a trier and from that age I also got used to not winning and not being particularly good at anything but I would always give it my best. I think it is this competitive and never wanting to fail mentality that pushed me into my most extreme challenge of my life.

Now I can quite remember the sequence of events but around October 2008 I got the rejection marathon magazine but was also scheduled to run the Great South (another Nike+ competition!). I was upping my weekly mileage all the time and following the 10miler I had to decide whether 09 would be my first marathon year. Again by this point my fitness was still getting better, a gym membership for fitness first which resides quite literally across the road also kept me in shape with the option of quick lunch break sessions.

Following a sad family event with my girlfriend I was introduced to Fairhavens. This is a large hospice which is based in Southend, at the time I found out they had charity places and decided to sign one of those scary contracts confirming I’d raise the necessary funds in order to gain my place. Once I signed my contract I was in and running was now to consume my life for the next few months.

As a reader of runners world I knew how important it was to follow a schedule but what they suggested seemed to involve at the min 5 days of running a week. I could fit it 3/4 but to be honest I enjoyed spinning to much to take up another night with running so I proceeded to ignore all schedules and go it alone. I ensured, pretty much without fail, that every weekend I would do one long run ranging from 10 up-to 20 miles during the peak. I was dedicated, over the next few months I could probably count on one hand the amount of miss runs I did due to the typical feeble excuses.

Around Xmas Laura introduces me to Jon Robson, a personal trainer. Forking out a fair amount of money I was to add a fairly intense gym session on top of my already hectic running schedule. It was from October – March I really felt my weight come off but still amazingly I was having fun. Obviously marathon training is tough and eats away your time you need to factor in long runs which ontop of you have to remember how much it will take to recover.

In April, on a stupidly hot day (for England) I put on my running shoes and pounded the 26.2 miles of London streets. Perhaps my ignoring of the running schedule came back too haunt me but I was not in anyway prepared for the heat and 4:34 later I crossed the finish line. Slower than I hoped but more incredibly more than a stone lighter than when I started!! (obviously that weight went back on quickly).

So by April 09 I was down to around 12stone 8, a weight I have maintained till today. No doubt I could be lighter if someone assessed my diet. Whilst I have cut out a lot of rubbish from what I eat, I still enjoy bad foods too much to cut them completely. I have found what I think is a healthy balance between being a super fit 6 pack mens health guy and enjoying my life enough and being healthy enough not to care!

Recently a few of my mates went out and did a 10k, it was this event that really reinforced that I was probably quite fit. Completing a couple of minutes faster than my closest friend and also not far of 45mins I was almost at that next level of running! Foolishly after that run I stopped for a bit, but my shoes are back out and I have ideas as to where my next runs will be…

Anyway, I think what is probably due is a “then and now” photo to compare side by side and here you go, hopefully the difference is noticeable…

Ok so I have been away for a week on a cruise. Some people may think I’m a little young for this but this ship wasn’t targeted for the oldies, so Laura and I made the most of her last week off before starting her new job to cruise the med.

For anyone who hasn’t been on a cruise before there seems to be this common theme of ’24 hour dining’ or otherwise known as eat till you explode, being healthy does not seem to be an option. Judging by their size for a vast number of people this cruise wasn’t their first as there were some real biggies on that boat (Mike – if only I had your book, I’m sure I could have offloaded a number of copies!). Anyway, not wanting to feel like I had paid for something and not used it I indeed proceeded to eat and, baring one short 5k run on day two, do no form of physical exercise for a week. Sure there was a lot of walking and across the week we must have covered in excess of 25k but that was about it…

After coming back I allowed myself one day off before hitting the gym in style with an afternoon spinning session, wow it was hard, harder than I remember for a long period of time. I also thought I’d hit the sauna after and it appears a combination of the two which left me coming out to get changed fealing sick and very week. I can only remember one other gym session like this and once again I headed for the lucozade. This time it seemed to make no difference and 2hours later, whilst I write this blog I still feel fairly quesy and to be honest this is keeping my mind off it.

What does this mean? Can my fitness really change in the course of a week? If so what will it take to get back to where I was before? Another oddity is I am aware my stomach capacity is growing again meaning the lunch which whilst marathon training would fill me, now leaves me hungry, what can I do to reduce this again?

Think I’m going to have to put myself down for another run to work towards again because at the moment I don’t feel particularly motivated to keep fit and go for runs, naughty Neil! So on that note watch this space for information of my next run.

It’s been a while since I updated this thing, rather unsurprisingly with no fitness event to focus my efforts on my gym sessions have all been rather mundane with nothing really to report. That said, contrary to what it may seem I am still going to the gym and I have actually had a couple of really testing sessions…

Deviating away from the gym and fitness stuff a little, the week before last I went White water rafting. This was really great fun however it was very testing on the upper body strength. Obviously they don’t expect rowers like Redgrave and Pinsent and to be honest I could have sat there and given no help with paddling but I didn’t. I put a fair bit of effort in and realised at this moment maybe I should fit the rowing machine back into my gym circuits at some point. It’s a machine I used to use but when I started running I began to skip it (think I did that because it is both a dull machine and also fairly demoralising!). So with that a new machine has been added to my workout which leads me nicely onto one of the tougher sessions…

Using the lunchbreak to head over to the gym is great however we only really get an hour and that has to fit in a shower as well thus realistically we have 45mins of gym time. Usually I do a 25min run, 10 mins or so on the mats working on core strength – plank, bosu ball work, sit-ups etc a goodish workout with the focus on a tough treadmill hill or interval session. Last week I changed this a bit. Cutting the run down to a fast 2.5k then straight onto the upright bikes at a fast rpm, this was tough. 10mins without letting the machine get below 120rpms, the sweat was pouring down me. It is by no means an exaggeration when I say there were large puddles around my bike. I don’t really know why I seem to sweat so much more than others but dad tells me he is the same, I have gone beyond feeling embarassed mainly because the sweat comes when i’m clearly putting in a lot of effort! 10 mins later and I was straight over to the rowers. A short 1km on that left me having worked most of my body from a cardio perspective and this took under 25 – the same as a run! I still had time to do some core work and also ‘treat’ myself to a quick sauna and be back at my desk before the hour is out (or very nearly!)

In the last couple of weeks I have also put time in at the swimming pool, I like swimming but it’s really dull anyone have suggestions how to improve this!! Also been spinning twice, twas crazy Keith. Keith mixes riding and upper body work to create a class which really seems to target the whole body…tough, really tough!

I need to work out what I’m doing next I potentially maybe hitting the gym again with my old trainer for a 13 week session which could be *interesting*! I’m not overly bothered I’m not training for a specific event it’s just these do keep my mind focused and my dedication up.

Due of the lack of motivation my weight is currently flapping up and down. Nothing significant, few pounds here and there. Having dropped to 12 1/2 stone at my peak I now seem to be hovering at about 12s8lb, not a massive biggy but would like to get back to 12.5 – perhaps need to self discipline myself when it comes to food a bit more!

If anyone out there routinely reads my blog they would know that Sundays tend to be my day to do a street run. I have tried to maintain this habit since the marathon albeit a lot shorter sessions. This weekend however was to be different, booked out weeks ago for a stag do on Saturday in Ipswich then driving down the a12 at silly o’clock Sunday morning to head to Brands Hatch to watch a day of classic motor racing, I knew I wouldn’t get in a run.

I already put in a session on the treadmill on Thursday but with the weekend 10k coming up and also having a far from healthy diet this weekend (revolving around alcohol snacks and an Indian) I didn’t really want to skip another run opportunity but Mondays are also spinning days – oh the dilemma! Given the title of this blog I guess you can probably guess what I did!

At 1230 there is a spin class (annoyingly the only lunchtime spin during the week), leaving the office as late as possible to avoid using more lunch break than was really nesc I got to the class to find the instructor was different. John, who has been likened by others to one of the sissor sisters, had been replaced by Emma (I think that’s her name anyway) so I was already slightly off guard – nevermind, I have done her classes before too and I know for certain she is not a mentalist! The session today felt odd, I don’t know whether my Sunday runs loosen my joints a bit hence helping these classes, but today my legs where achy and not for lack of trying I really struggled to be able to find the strength in them to either break to much of a sweat or raise my heartrate. I normally find it difficult to get my heart rate in spinning over 170bpm but today it was a challenge to even break 160bpm. I don’t know why I found it difficult part d me thinks I should go back to basics and read up about the body, I feel perhaps the time spent messing around in biology as a kid was perhaps foolish! anyone know any good books on health, body, muscles etc?

Spin class out of the way I had to still go for a run so after a late finish at work trying to put final touches on a project I went back to the gym for session no 2, the treadmill run. I was not intending on doing anything others than the treadmill and steam room meaning it was to be a relatively short session. 5k ish was decided and like the other day I set the mode to random, which appears to mean hills and racked the speed upto 12km/h and away I went. I didn’t stay at 12 for long, over the next few kms it was to be my base speed.

The program went upto an incline of 8% and over the next few kms i fluttered between 12km-15km, I attempted 14km/h at an incline of 7.8% – that is tough! I did 5kms in 22mins and 6km at just over 26mins. That’s a fast time – I know for certain i couldn’t maintain that pace for 10kms but maybe I can based on that hit 48mins on a good day…oh well, will find out in a few days time if I really push myself!

I know on the whole this blog has focused on my running. To be honest I suspect even that is a fairly dull read, hence a while ago I decided not to blog every gym session I took. However, on my tube journey home tonight I decided to write a little post about my spinning classes.

I joined FF almost a year ago to the day, I was getting fitter and by this point had completed my first 10km and felt joining a gym an appropriate next step. I was by no means a gym virgin having been a member on and off since 6th form but had in the past thrown money down the drain on 1 visit a month memberships and with London adult prices this is not a good thing to be doing! Anyway, when I started running I didn’t do it to bulk up muscles it was more about increasing my general fitness etc so not long after I started having got bored of the machines I decided to head into a ‘spinning class’ and ever since then I have been hooked – going once or twice a week for an intense cardio workout.

What is spinning? Well put simply it’s an instructor led class with music and a bike with a gear that can be adjusted to increase resistance. There is a music playlist and then the instructor guides you through varying ‘terrains’ all by telling you to increase/decrease resistance. To give a simple example if the terrain was mountain climb the instructor would yell you to increase the bikes reaistance thus making it harder to pedal whilst in the meantime there is a song playing which has a beat on it that yuh are supposed to keep your legs in time with. It’s entirely upto you how you change your gears so if you are really struggling and the instructor says to turn you don’t have to but at the end of the day it’s supposed to be a 40min intense workout (and for me this is ALWAYS the case!). Hopefully that all makes a bit of sense?

Why do I do spinning? Well I’m no scientist I’m not going to start preaching about what you should and shouldn’t do whilst running mainly cause whatever I have picked up accross the year has come through mags etc read whilst half asleep on a rush hour morning commute. However, when I took my marathon training schedule to my trainer a few months ago he seemed perfectly fine for me to carry on spinning (whilst informing me to ditch pump as soon as possible). I guess logically cycling should complement running, it’s low impact and has a controlled mechanism whilst working the thighs, quads and glutes and some of the classes have elements which work on the core – all of these elements should feature high on where a runner should train. Regardless of the scientific benefits I really enjoy it – its a 45min session that is not easy, every week there is a puddle of sweat around my bike (apparently the same is the case with my dad) and the sense of a thoroughly worthwhile workout. Other than the nike+ training runs I do nothing else I do in the gym compares to these classes in respect to effort.

Basically if you are a member of a gym that offers spinning classes, go try it out – I suspect if there is a competitive element in you, you will enjoy it. I know I certainly do!

It’s a Monday again – and its time for a spin. These blogs are going to become very dull soon – if not already!!! Did an evening spin so i could spend lunch with Laura – just made it to the class in time, but not many bikes left and the one i chose was broken.

Foolishly I persevered on the broken bike instead of moving – the gear on the bike only rotated one revolution meaning that it was very difficult to ramp up the settings – it was either tough, extremely tough or nothing at all with nothing in between. Meant that i did stick the setting on tough/ext tough all night and hence probably was beneficial but all in all a little annoying.

Was too late to get the heart rate monitor on so no idea whether it was a particularly stressful one or not?

As per the schedule, monday is spinning day. Shuffled the event to lunch time as have evening plans to see Avenue Q. The lunch spin session is taken by John, the guy who took my first spin lesson, so I quite like it for that reason…

Class went pretty well, my legs were a little tender following the 12.5miler the day before but still felt like good exercise and ultimately a healthy way to spend my lunch break.

First spin session of the new year. Didn’t feal it was as hard as usual – think I may need to adjust days and get a different instructor as I struggle to motivate myself as much with this one.

45min session – not much more to say on this one. Useful cardio training but could possibly have pushed harder