Motley Health's Fitness and Weight Loss Community

Today I almost did not run home. I got changed into my tracksuit bottoms and t-shirt at work, and then hopped on the train. My wife called to say that we needed to do some shopping in Tesco, and that she could pick me up at the station. I agreed, but by the time we got to Tesco I was feeling really tired, and just did not fancy running at all. I wanted to just get in the car and curl up on the sofa.

I have finally increased my exercise. I have started what I am calling my credit crunch health and fitness plan. I am doing the following to save money and get fit at the same time:

1. In the morning, I buy a single bus ticket to the station, rather than a return.
2. I am no longer having my morning Medium Black Americano from Starbucks.
3. I am eating a smaller breakfast - usually sausage sandwich
4. I am running home from the railway station.

The goal I'm working on is to get my running time up to 6mph (able to keep up with Devon). Right now I'm running comfortable at 5.5mph. 4.1 miles is my longest run since I've started back up in Feb. I still want to loss 10 or 15 lbs to be healthy and to help with the running time. I have till mid-July to get my time up. I have been running 5 days a week, one day complete rest and one day doing something other than running. I have seem several results so far. My time has increased from 4.5mph and from running 1 mile w/o stopping. I've also lost 24 lbs. I'm loving it!

This evening I went for a run around the village. It was my first run since before Christmas, so I was not expecting to go far. I decided that I would do the short route, which usually takes about 15 minutes. But as I ran, I felt good. I actually felt fitter than I did the last time I ran. Obviously all my muscles were fresh, and I am about 7kg lighter. This must have helped a lot. I ended up running the "long" route, which is still only a few miles. It took me 29:26 minutes, which is a reasonable time for me.

Quick review of past times on this route (here's a map):

30 Dec 2007 - 32:03 minutes
11 Dec 2007 - 25:27 minutes
05 Dec 2007 - 27:40 minutes
24 Nov 2007 - 27:34 minutes

I went for a run this morning, I knew it would be hard. I spent Christmas pigging out and have done no exercise since Christmas Eve. I decided to run before eating, as I have read that running on an empty stomach can help to burn fat. Ni idea if this is true, but worth a try!

I started out slow, taking my longer route, and stayed slow, being force to walk at two points. My calves gave up on me first, as usual, so I really did not get an excellent cardio session. On the final stretch home I did force myself to increase the pace a little, so I was at least slightly out of breath when I finished. 32 minutes is a slow time for this route.

I decided to have a bath after, as my back has been aching recently, and I do feel more relaxed and loser now.

It has been 13 days since my last run. Pretty poor really. Last week I had a bad back, and my legs were aching all week too. But this morning I decided I had to go for a run, so it was the first thing that I did. I took my short route, and did not time it. Felt good to be out running. All getting a bit hectic here, making preparations for Christmas dinner tomorrow!

I managed to drag myself out for a run again this evening. I was very close to not going out tonight, but luckily I was feeling strong willed this evening.

I put on three layers tonight, my thermal vest, the Nike dry-shirt and the Tchibo running top. Also had my thermal long Johns under my tracksuit bottoms. But it was still cold. My thumbs soon started to feel really cold, and I realised that I need a pair fo running gloves now. Also my feet got cold, but no idea what to do about that.

Last night I managed about 90 minutes of martial arts, with 30 minutes of kick boxing followed by an hour of kung-fu. It was enough for one night. The kick boxing involved a lot of intensive cardio work, and the kung-fu was relentless as usual.

Last night I started weight training again. It was not actually intentional. I had to take some things to the garage, and while I was there, I decided to lift some weights. I did a quick session, and hardly warmed up. I started with seated shoulder presses, warmed up with empty bar, then did 3 sets of 8 at 30kg.

I then moved on to inclined bench presses, again, 3 sets of 8 at 30kg. The last two sets were close grip bench presses, which I had never done before, but as I was using a lighter weight than normal, I decided to give them a go.

Then I finished with barbell curls with 20kg, 2 sets of 8 drag curls then 1 set of 8 standard standing curls.

What a terrible run! Today I bought some new clothes to go running in as the weather has got a lot colder since I started my new running regime in the summer. This afternoon I headed to JJB Sports in Chelmsford and bought a Nike Dri-Fit short sleeved shirt for GBP20.00. I was a little disappointed with the selection, and could not decide on any other items of clothing, so I headed back to the coffee shop where my wife and son were waiting.