I have been tired... But I seem to have energy!

Good Evening Blofolers,

It’s been a little while since I blogged so I thought it was time that I should, since my last blog I have been Christmas shopping, and of course training interspersed with that thing we all must do… Work!

Following my bad back you will all remember I was stuck with for a while, I have also decided that now is the time to start doing Pilates, I have been to two sessions now, and I can tell you BOY does it work, you feel like a bit of an idiot standing there initially moving about slowly thinking what can this ever do to help me, but then somewhere about 10 minutes into the session things start ache, muscles that don’t normally get used this much OR controlled this much, that’s right the aim here is to control every movement, piece by piece, bit by bit, you want to sit on the floor you don’t just drop to the floor like a baboon, you bend the knees, you begin to roll up your back, you balance for a moment, and you just lower yourself (without assistance of your hands) onto the floor, first time you will fall over, but one you realise what muscle groups you need to tighten and when you soon get the hang of it… There is also no rigidity here, the workout is very much your own thing, the instructor shows you what to do and explains what it’s doing to your body, then you do it, if you need to stop you just stop and go into a relaxing stretch ANY time you need to, if it seems a little easy the instructor is always on hand with modifications or additions for a move.

NOT ONLY do you end every session feeling like you are walking taller with a stronger core, but you have an overwhelming feeling of calm, something I think we could all do with a little more of in our lives!

So what of this week, well this week I have been tired every day it seems, I am not sure if it’s just the winter, the cold, the dark, the damp, or if I have been recovering from a cold I never really developed, I have been sneezing allot today but still I have been tired… But I seem to have energy! I seem to be managing to get up most mornings and get to the gym, although this is probably partly owing to the fact I have been heading to bed at like 9:00pm… I mean SERIOUSLY?!

The rest of the training has been going well, I haven’t managed to get out with the running club as of yet, I think I am a little frightened about running in the dark, I mean yes I know there will be other people there but the very idea of getting out in the dark and cold does not appeal, I think I need to try it at least once and see how I get on with it, but it’s not easy to get past that mental block.

I went for a resistance session this morning, and amazed myself, not only did I work hard, but I worked fast and push on to achieve a full session in just one hour, I did everything on my list and finished with time to have a 10 minute call down in the spin room on a bike, this seems to have benefited my legs no end, they were screaming in pain following the long power plate sessions but I think getting them on the bike with a low-ish resistance and keeping them moving for 10 minutes at around 100RPM has flushed out all the lactic acid, normally after using the power plate, by this time of the day I wouldn’t be able to walk, today I feel fine… so in future, I am cooling down on a spin bike :)
You all set for Christmas then? Me? Oh I’m far from it or at least I feel VERY unprepared but that’s just the normal me really, I have baked my Christmas cake and have been slowly feeding it, I have also made the puddings, and we have ordered the meat and veg, Decorations are up and I think *most* of the presents have been bought, but who really knows, I have a feeling I will run out of money before I run out of presents to buy… ho hum.

Back to business, I am running this thing to raise money for Asthma UK, to find out more about what Asthma UK get upto visit http://www.asthma.org.uk and when ya ready to sponsor me and help me support the amazing work they do pop along to http://www.clitherow.co.uk and pop on some money :)

What a fantastic day! Read all about Issacs and how VERY cool they are!

Good Evening Blofolers,

Well… what a fantastic day! Some of you locals may well have heard of, and even been to Issacs on the Quay, well last night in response to a post they made on Facebook to “Advertise on our screens” I sent them an email, I explained that I was training for the London Marathon to raise funds for Asthma UK and wondered if they would consider supporting me by placing a piece on their TV’s to advertise my blog and my sponsorship pages with a little bit of info about me and what I am doing… I had a response… Not only have they VERY kindly said they are more than happy to help me and put some information on their TV’s throughout the premises BUT they have also gone one step further and pledged some money to my cause… what an amazing response, a local business, supporting a local man and his quest to raise money for charity, and at the end of the day, if even a tiny cross section of their customers saw my information, followed my link and sponsored me just £1… together we could make a HUGE difference to Asthma UK and asthma sufferers everywhere!

To find out a little more about Issacs On the Quay take a look at their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/isaacsonthequay or checkout their website http://www.isaaclord.org and next time your down there, keep an eye on their TV screens you might just see someone you know ;-)

So other than that fantastic news I have had what can only be described as a busy day, I got up and went for a gym session this morning, just before I left the house I remembered that today I had an optician’s appointment at 9am, having cancelled before and knowing they were busy till Christmas I did not want to cancel again.

Anyway… my training went very well considering I have done no resistance work for a long while, I will say however doing lunges and squats on a power plate was killer, my muscles in my legs tightened up so much I struggled to walk afterwards, I was in the gym for a good 45 minutes although I didn’t do a full workout as I was getting worried about the time and being late for the opticians PLUS my legs were making me look like a monkey as I walked around the areas of the gym, at this point my back started to ache just a little and I thought that now was a good time to stop… so I stretched out and hobbled downstairs, showered and changed.

Now this is where I show how blonde I really am, I walked to the car, stretching my legs as I went to keep them moving. I got in the car and looked at the clock 8:10, knowing that my appointment was at 9:00 for some reason I panicked “ONLY 20 MINUTES” I shouted, it wasn’t until I was almost all the way into town I suddenly looked at the clock again and realised I actually had nearly 40 minutes and I was just about to park, ho hum… I went to the coffee shop and had a hazelnut latte, and a cinnamon swirl for breakfast.

From there I have had a busy day at work, nose deep in the phone system for most of the day… this seems to be the trend of late pending a new VOIP trial into a store, all very exciting stuff!

Soo food wise today I have had a Latte (Yeah I class this as a food seeing as it’s packed with calories and is a “treat”) Protein shake and Cinnamon Swirl for breakkie, Ham Mayo sandwich for lunch followed by some nuts, and for dinner this evening, I have no idea what I am having, I would say Brussels Sprout and Caramelised Onion soup, as that’s what is in the fridge, but we will see… I’ll let ya know tomorrow… Oh and I may finish that little bit of chocolate cake on top of the microwave :) and once again today I have drunk far too much coffee.

Tomorrow I have another spin session booked, I hope to find the energy I seem to be lacking this afternoon to get on that bike and push myself hard, but we will see!!

I am running this Marathon to support AsthmaUK, without people like me, and people like you sponsoring me, Asthma UK could not achieve what they do, to find out more visit http://www.asthma.org.uk and to get involved visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me as much as you can, perhaps £1 a mile??

Run Well,
Jay (Red John).

This is why I don't swim very often!

Good Evening Blofolers,
That’s my new word for Blog Followers, its pronounced Blof-o-lers you like?

So Blofolers, what have you been up to today? Exercising, or working, or researching, or maybe all three like me :o)

This morning I chose to go for that swim, I got to the pool about 6:50 and started my lengths, initially as it seemed fairly busy I jumped into the “Intermediate” lane, it was empty so I wasn’t bothered, I am also a reasonably quick swimmer but I am never sure if I am quite up to the standard of these lanes so I usually stay away, however today one was free and that was a green light seeing as there were people walking up and down the other bit slowly chatting about what they had for dinner the night before.

I made a good start, and managed to keep the lane to myself for the first 15 minutes or so, but then was joined by a “serious” swimmer, you could tell by the speedo type trunks he was sporting, but I still held my own for a while seeing as I was only doing breast stroke he was only catching me up every 6 lengths or so, and there was plenty of room for us to pass, then we were joined by a third and I started to feel that unless I picked up the pace I was going to get in their way, and I didn’t want to swim like a mad fool this morning, so I waited for a lull in the traffic and swam under the lanes to the chat lounge, Oh sorry I mean open pool section.

10 minutes or so were spent here, swimming up and down, dodging people who seem to be oblivious, struggling to get past when they swim left to right at the same time as making slow progress down the pool, I know everyone has their limits, god only knows there are people better than me, but I like to think that when I am swimming for instance (as I was this morning) I make the effort to stay out of the way of those better than me, so they can get their best use of time out of their training, but some of these people in particular, would swim straight for you, when you had nowhere to go, people would even get in the pool and swim in your line where you were already and expect you to move… I got bored of this and left before my mile was complete… This is why I don’t swim very often, but I was reminded of my old mantra, Anything is better than nothing, and let’s face it I swam ¾ of a mile that’s more than most people today!!

While I was at the gym, I picked up a leaflet from the Sweatshop in the foyer about a running club, they are offering this free of charge every week (starting yesterday) to go off and do a 5K run, having had a little chat with them today it seems they have a front runner, someone at the middle and someone at the back, the back runner will be doing 5 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, and the front runner will be constantly running at a steady pace to make the 5K in about 35 minutes (Basically a little slower than my current pace) so I am thinking for the fun of running with others I might give it a go :) Anybody else who fancies it… it’s totally free and starts at David Lloyds Sweatshop (Ipswich I am mumbling about here by the way, and NO you don’t have to be a member) it’s 6:30 on a Tuesday evening… Just bring you, trainers, oh and some shorts I guess, don’t want anyone getting arrested! If you like it and you stick around you can earn free stuff :) HOW GOOD IS THAT!! To find out a little more pop along to http://www.sweatshoprunningcommunity.co.uk hope to see ya there!

Now a good friend of mine today reminded me that I need to start charting my food intake here again, this not only stops me from eating rubbish as I am not going to want to type things like “Today I had 12 iced donuts with hundreds and thousands, several packs of digestives, a MuckDonalds, and a Chicken Biryani“ for all of the world to see, not only that but when I have a good few days I can look back over it and see what I was eating and thus begin to build a picture of the foods that my body requires to sustain the exercise that I am doing.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The mentioning the name of MuckDonalds was in no way referring to that food chain of a similar name, but a fictional restaurant created by myself to emphasise the poor quality of foods available, however MacDonalds is still shit and does make me feel ill when I eat there, im not kidding it’s true I have some odd allergic reaction to their food, but they do provide free newspapers… although that statement made this whole disclaimer pointless.. hmmm.

So anyway back to the point, before I go into what I have and haven’t been eating I think it’s important to point out that I am NOT following a diet, there are no foods that I can’t eat, I am just being sensible… As Davey Wavey talks about in one of his posts http://www.daveywaveyfitness.com/nutrition/how-to-eat-french-fries-and-stay-fit-sorta/ I try to follow the 80/20 rule, that being I eat healthy 80% of the time, allowing the odd treat 20% of the time, fundamentally it’s just like my Dad used to say, everything in moderation!

So… Yesterday I had two crumpets for breakfast, followed by a morning snack of protein shake (to follow the training) and a small box-o-dried fruit and nuts, lunch was a portion of my home made scrummy Cottage Pie, and dinner was a not so healthy portion of chips… Oops!!

Today so far I have had crumpets before the gym, a protein shake post gym with Babybel, then I had a Ham a Coleslaw sandwich and another Babybel, as for this evening I am not so sure yet, but I think it’s likely to be Brussels Sprout and Caramelised Onion Soup… it is lovely although may not sound it. But today I have had bucket loads of coffee, this is not great and I need to cut this down and up my water intake again.

Tomorrow I am hoping to get to the gym for some resistance training, I figure a careful session paying attention to my back should be good, and if I have to stop I have to stop… Anything is better than nothing!

Don’t forget Blofolers that were here for a very important reason, I am working hard to train myself up to run the London Marathon in aid of Asthma UK, Did you know that on average there are two children with asthma in EVERY classroom in the UK? Asthma is a debilitating medical condition that can strip a child of a normal childhood, help asthma UK to research and develop treatments and therapy to make these children’s lives better, and who knows maybe one day to even find a cure?! To find out more visit them at http://www.asthma.oug.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me anything you can, perhaps £1 a mile, or even just 50p… every little penny really does help… AND don’t forget to gift aid :)

I’m doing my bit to help people with asthma, Are YOU??

Live Strong, Run Long!
Jay (Red John).

It’s been a while, but I am back!

Firstly I would like to start by saying, thanks for reading... and PLEASE follow my blog, a "Follow" button / Link is above to follow using facebook, or at the bottom of the page you can follow on email, I mention this as I have had several people who a regular readers say they don't know how to follow me :o) Anyway... let the blog commence!

Well today I got back to the gym after what can only be termed as an extended absence, having been away on holiday and thus not going to the gym, I returned home and continued my “Gym Holiday” for a further few days, I’m not really sure why I did this but at the time I didn’t think it would be an issue.

The following weekend I commenced operation clean up the garden for winter, nothing strenuous (or so I thought) just cutting the grass, tidying up and emptying the water feature and upturning it, easy right? WRONG… the water feature is solid granite so is a little heavy but this did not deter me and I lifted each of its bits one at a time myself then continued to bend over and clean it all out.

Monday morning loomed and with a twinge in my back I got up and headed to the gym, I thought to myself “I’ve done this before, bad back off to the gym anyway, usually loosens it up” and initially it did, my back eased and I completed my spin session, as I sat at my desk that day my legs and my back slowly stiffened more and more, until getting up from my desk for any reason was becoming really very painful.

The next morning I struggled out of bed, by this time getting in the car was bringing tears to my eyes, I just couldn’t bend in the right places to fit through the door, it became a game of get as far as the pain would allow, then just drop myself and scream  I struggled through Tuesday in agony, moving around was just too much, I was propping myself up on anything and everything, and not only was I not able to stand for long, I couldn’t sit for long either, so I was in a horrible sort of limbo. By this time, I felt like someone had moved the floor away well out of reach, if I dropped anything I was basically screwed!
The long and short is it got worse and I found myself unable to make it to work the rest of the week, with one morning in particular where it took me 1 ½ hours just to get out of bed and down the stairs, at one point I was trapped, if I moved a millimetre in any direction the back would just begin to spasm, I’m sure you have all experienced this as some point and can sympathise with how debilitating it can be!

A few days of film watching and keeping my back warm lying on the sofa, or sitting bolt upright, whatever made my back feel the most comfortable that day ensued, and by the following week I was really feeling like this should all be over now, but it wasn’t so off to the doctor. She did a few tests and wasn’t happy with my range of movement so signed me off for the rest of the week with some advice on pain control and light exercise.

So here we are, nearly 3 weeks from my last spin session, and nearly 5 weeks since my last full on week of training, It’s been a while, but I am back!

I arrived at the gym raring to go, ready for my spin session… I asked the instructor where we were and she said “Were mixing it up” when I left last time we were mixing it up ready for the new release, when I went back before my bad back they were on the new release, and now they are mixing it up again, so I have effectively managed to miss one whole spin release, this didn’t really make me feel good but I got my bike set up and began the spin session, all I can say is WOW, I don’t remember it being quite this hard. But I held my own and had a great session even though it felt really very tough, I consoled myself with the fact that I was one of VERY few people who were there on this cold winter morning… it seems since I have been away the numbers have dropped substantially, the instructor tried to tell me it was due to the cold weather, I corrected her and said it was clearly my absence and that people only come to see me… Somehow I don’t think she believed me!

So all in all it’s been a while, but I am back, and glad to be back, I think for tomorrow, I will take a day off so as not to stress the back, or even if I do go I will make sure it’s for something gentle like a swim, or a gentle weights session, either way it won’t be full on tomorrow.

Oh… and if anybody wants to know what to get me for Christmas, I will have a new gym bag please… Preferably this one… http://breaktheillusion.acmeprints.com/product/good-vibes-gym-bag tehe.

Anyway, onto a much more important note, sponsorship!

Several people have said to me since I have been off with a bad back that “I would just give it up” and “you ain’t gonna run that” you know what I say… I say PFFFFFTTTTTTT I am going to run this thing, or die trying, that was my mantra when I started this and it still stands, and if you lot don’t believe me sponsor me… if I don’t make it across the finish line I will PERSONALLY give you a full refund of anything you put in.
So, this is all in aid of Asthma UK… did you know An estimated 75% of hospital admissions for asthma are avoidable and as many as 90% of the deaths from asthma are preventable, on average 3 people per day die from Asthma, Asthma UK is the charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the 5.4 million people in the UK whose lives are affected by asthma, to find out more visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me anything you can, why not sponsor me £1 per mile, and as I said if I don’t cross that finish line I’ll give it all back!!

Live Strong,
Jay (Red John).

Who moved the floor?

Good morning all,

Today was re-program day, but after my run yesterday I seem to have managed to make my back very sore, so last night I had a bath and relaxed a little trying to make the pain subside ready for this morning, I don’t think my office chair helps either, but hey what you gonna do?

So 5:30 this morning I rolled out of bed my back was so sore that it kept tensing and making itself 100 times worse, I was trying to get my gym kit on as I was determined that I was going to go, at one point I had to stop, stay still and mentally think relax the back, relax the back.

Once I got downstairs I had my usual Chorus of “Feed ne mow” from the three mog rats, sadly though someone had snuck into the kitchen last night and moved the floor further away from me, the cat bowls were a VERY long way down, but I got them filled them and managed to find a floor to put them back on, all the time giggling, I am not sure if this is something that just I do but when I have any kind of severe muscle pain it seems to make me laugh, maybe I am just laughing at how hard it is to do the simplest of tasks? But anyway, Who moved the floor?

Things started to ease up so I headed off to the gym for my re-program, I figured it would be an easy morning as most PT’s don’t really push you on your program they just show you how it’s done… How wrong can a man be?

We started off with a chat and I told him how things had been, I also warned him I had a sore back but that I was willing to keep it moving and work through some of the pain, so long as it wasn’t terrible… Well what a session, as my back warmed up the pain subsided almost totally, but he pushed me hard, I had a full workout did full sets of most everything, it was brilliant… and I only felt a twinge from time to time, but he was working me hard, twisting lunges with medicine ball on the Power Plates (These are things that vibrate and make the exercise more intense) and some other lunges on the power place without the ball, then we have a chest crunch thing (I can’t remember it’s actual name) followed by leg press, followed by a single arm row with a free weight on a bench, then onto the assisted chin-ups, followed by 3 sets of the following three moves Mountain Climb, Swedish ball things, exercise ball things… so quite a workout, and I have the next step of my new goal, as I have achieved 10K in under an hour, before I next reprogram I have to be hitting 10K in 50 minutes, not only that but I have to increase my average speed and do the odd 30 second to 1 minute sprints… I am going to die!

Okay so that’s a slight over exaggeration, I am not going to die, and I was actually really happy with everything we went through, but I did think while I was in the shower (finding like those cat bowls my feet were a long way away) if you had of asked me to do all this just a couple of months ago I would have laughed in your face and had another chocolate bar, but now…

So here’s to the new program and the hope that I can fulfil all my goals this time around too!

What’s all this about then? Well I am a fat bloater, who likes food, so simplistically I need to burn off plop loads of energy, but on a slightly more serious note I am and was severely as a child as asthma sufferer, I am now un-medicated and since I have been working out at the gym on and off for the last few years of my life I have only ever needed medication once when I had a very bad flu, but when I was a child I had allot of support from Asthma UK who used to send out child friendly information packs about asthma and how to cope with it, as a child with asthma life can be hard, you don’t like doing sport because you just can’t… and the steroids make you eat like a horse… until you are the size of one.

It’s up to us to make a difference; we need to support Asthma UK so that they can help others deal with asthma… To find out more about what they do pop along to http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you have decided you are going to sponsor me pop along to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow or if you prefer giz a shout and I can come see you with an old fashioned piece of paper type sponsorship form.

Run strong, even if it’s just for the ice cream van,
Jay (Red John).

Easy come, easy go?...

I woke up with a twinge in my back STILL this morning but I was determined to get to the gym and try to run something, or at least I was after I had turned over and fallen asleep for another 15 minutes… Oops!
Still I was up with the lark, well actually I have no idea if they were larks but they were making a racket singing at the rising sun and the cats were lined up in the kitchen (Yes all three without any arguments or hissing) waiting for their breakfast, this was where the first school boy error came, Bobble will not continue eating once disturbed, I put her food down, she tucked in, I realised the pan I wanted for breakfast was in the cupboard in front of her… Pants, so I made the coffee first instead :)

While I was stirring I started to worry, would all the hard work I have put in be gone? Is it easy come, easy go? Or rather with me, Painful and hard work to come, easy go? They say you lose it faster than you can gain it… I was worried!

Breakfast done, I headed to the gym… arriving just about 7… I went straight for a treadmill and started to walk while I was putting on my headphones increasing the speed about 1KPH every minute or so, just to get me warm.

So… Easy? Well not exactly easy but I was making real good headway keeping up the pace pushing through and my back seemed to ease the more I pushed on running, the warmer it got… 15 minutes in and I hadn’t even really started sweating, don’t get me wrong I was warm and working hard but my body was coping well, But then it seemed to hit me, and I had to have a break, I didn’t walk but I slowed the pace still running and still following the beat, I found today that I also struggled to keep my speed under control, my feet just kept wanting to speed up and I was having to consciously slow myself down, I got to 30 minutes in and I was on about 4K, a little behind where I wanted to be but okay, I upped the speed and covered the screen with my towel, the trainer on my track said this next section was 10 minutes at 165 beats per minute, so I knew I didn’t want to stop or slow for at least the next 10 minutes and I needed to stick with the beat, not being able to see the screen always seems to help focus me.

The 10 minutes passed in what seemed like a flash and I checked out the screen, 6K so far I was soo chuffed and with a bad back, I pushed on and managed another 1.5K a total of 7.5K… impressive for someone with a bad back and allot of body fat, what made me feel even better was the fact I felt like I could have carried on, and completed my 10K but sadly time was ticking and I just didn’t have that extra 10 minutes to push but I felt like I could so in my mind that’s a bonus!

Just to recap (I am rather pleased seeing how my health has been) 7.5K today, so seems I haven’t lost ANY of my fitness levels.

I cooled off and did a few stretches, my back was feeling okay if a little stiff, but my feet were hurting more to be honest, having said this as I now sit at my desk and my back is hurting rather allot, but I am keeping it moving and I have my fluffy jacket on just to keep my back warm, I think it’ll be okay, what doesn’t kill it will make it stronger :)

Tomorrow is re-program, so I do hope that my back is okay for that, I will be with trainer at 6:30 tomorrow to run through a new schedule and see how he feels I have been getting on with the current one, am looking forward to the change!

Why am I doing all this? Well frankly it’s because I want to be an underwear model, and wear speedos in the pool, Stop laughing I am serious!!!

Aside from wanting to look like a Greek God, and walk around in nothing but pants all day I am also (well my main reason really) doing this to earn money for Asthma UK by running the Virgin London Marathon, Asthma UK work tirelessly to help people who have to live with asthma and even more importantly to save lives… I suffered with asthma seriously as a child and I can tell you it isn’t pleasant.

To find out more about Asthma UK visit http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you have taken a look pop along to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the Virgin London Marathon, why not sponsor me £1 per mile?

Live Long, and prosper,
Jay (Red John).

The panic is really setting in…

All weekend I have had a bad back, and I have been walking around yelping just trying to attempt the simplest of tasks, it seems to be gently easing but the panic is really setting in…

I have been at this training for a couple of months now, and while the first month got off to an amazing start, and everything was going really well, this last month I seem to have been struck down with everything going, a self-inflicted weekend that took longer than anticipated to recover from (although I did manage to get to the gym at least) followed by a bout of never ending Man Flu, to clear up and have an amazing spin session Friday only to develop a bad back, I have been taking Ibuprofen like it’s going out of fashion.

Still yesterday morning I managed a short swim and a soak in the Jacuzzi, followed by a steam, seems to have helped my back a little but as I sat at work I could feel the odd twinge, And this morning I had a spin session booked, I was a little late to bed so did struggle out of it this morning… Downed a bowl of porridge and a mug’a’coffee and headed for the gym, I was determined that even though my back was still a little tender I was going to give it a go and just be gentle.

Well actually I have to say I did very well, I kept up mostly in a room that felt like there was no air, and I only had to slow and nurse my back once or twice, today was a good day :)

I have a re-program booked for Thursday morning, so back permitting I am intending to get up tomorrow morning and TRY to run a 10K, having not done it for about 3 weeks I am not expecting it to be easy but I need to give it ago, I need to know that I can still achieve it before I go for my re-program.

This week, my diet will mainly consist of soup… I have another HUGE cauldron of homemade Chicken and Vegetable soup so that should keep me going and apparently, soup is one of the keys to loosing weight!

So then why am I running the London Marathon… Well did you know that 69% of GPs agree that asthma knowledge could be improved among GPs, this could save lives… Asthma UK are working not only to educate people living with asthma but also GP’s so that they can better understand and treat asthma sufferers, BUT… they can’t do it without our support!!

Pop along to their website http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you are ready jump over to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon in aid of Asthma UK… Why not sponsor me £1 a mile?

Laters,
Jay (Red John).

More, more, more...

Today was spin, and what a spin session, taking the class today was Sue, and Sue is VERY motivational, and I was actually feeling quite good today, until that is I had finished the session!!

About half way through when the going was getting tough and people were starting to tire out, the intense interval hill track came on, it was Rebel Yell – More, more, more… every time the lyrics more, more, more came up in the song we were out of our seats and climbing, pushing hard, after the lyrics we sat and power climbed, even harder, then up a gear and climbing for the next set or “More, more, more”, the purpose being to get our gears the highest they had been that morning, I think I hit about 19 or 20 by the end of the track, an all-time high to be honest… But doing this alone was hard enough, but she wanted “More” she wanted us shouting, we sounded a little like a rugby team chanting, out to breath and climbing and yet shouting “More, more, more” to the song, strange as this may sound it is AMAZINGLY motivational and really does make you push more, more, more!

After the session I felt good, worn out but good, I was feeling a little more like my fitness levels have got back to where there were before the cold, although now I do seem to have an achy back, ho hum.

So I have another spin session booked for Sunday, and then next week we will be back onto a full week of training… and I hope to book in a re-program too!!

I am keeping this blog short and sweet as I don’t have a great deal more to say, other than onto the business bit as usual…

Did you know 33% of children with asthma (or their parents) say that asthma can result in being left out of sports activities at school, this happened with me and contributed to my overeating, that coupled with the steroids I was on to treat my asthma was likely the biggest cause of my massive weight, to find out more take a look at http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon.

Take Care,
Jay (Red John).

Anything is better than nothing!

I’ll keep this blog short as I can’t really stay awake long enough to write much… zzzZZZZZ Oh sorry dropped off there for a few minutes…
Urgh… I was a little late to bed last night, and boy did I suffer for it, I woke up this morning unable to move for the first 5 minutes or so, I had a headache, I was coughing like mad and just wanted to throw in the towel and go back to sleep, alas I did not… I got my kit on and dragged myself to the kitchen and began to make my porridge, I could tell today was going to be a tough one!

When I got into the spin class, it was actually really busy again and the regulars were all scattered or unable to even book as it was so busy, this “Spike” does tend to drop off again after the kids have been back a few weeks, it’s a bit like the January spike that most gyms experience I guess, ya get used to it after a while.

Anywho, back to the class, Well… What a struggle, firstly the atmosphere wasn’t quite right, they have removed two speakers as they are (I believe) putting new ones in, so it was rather quiet compared to normal and this just seemed to take the edge off, you don’t just want to hear the music in Spin, you need to feel it, immerse yourself in it, loose yourself… if you can’t you don’t perform as well, this aside I pushed on as best I could, but the cough and the lack of energy took it out of me… I wish this cold would go away now, I’m too well to be at home, and yet apparently too ill to work at my normal physical fitness level, I feel stuck in Limbo!

But I did push on and I did complete the session, but feeling a little disappointed, I wasn’t able to sustain the speed at some of the racing sections and I wasn’t able to power climb as normal and had to slow off beat, such a shame but I must remember I have been ill and my body still needs to recuperate, besides as I have always said… Anything is better than nothing!

So far today I have had porridge and at lunch will be salad again (there is still loads to use up) and I got some sausages out the freezer so I am thinking sausages and veg tonight :) and of course there will be the usual morning snack of mixed nuts and fruit and either apples or another pot of nuts in the afternoon!

Now for the business bit, I am training to run the London Marathon for Asthma UK, the work they do to help people who suffer with asthma and to prevent deaths from asthma is immense, but they can’t do it without our support, Did you know that 61% of people with asthma say that their asthma stops them from getting a good night's sleep, could you live your life without a proper night’s sleep?! I know I couldn’t and when my asthma flares up, I can’t…

To find out more about AsthmaUK and what they get up to visit http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you have decided it’s time to part with some reddies pop along to my Virgin Money Giving Page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the whole 26 miles of the Virgin London Marathon, why not sponsor me £1 a mile?!

See you all soon,
Jay (Red John).

Is a mile, jus a mile?

So I have had a week off the training with what felt like a terminal illness… Okay so that’s a slight exaggeration but let’s just say it was a bout of Man flu that saw me sitting at home for the first three days of the week feeling sorry for myself and watching DVD’s and things that had been Sky+’d this to an extent was actually quite nice, I enjoyed the break and the quiet and the cats seemed to enjoy my company to, cats being cats, this was only because it meant they were allowed in the lounge during the day to sleep on the sofa or lay across my warm legs without a care in the world, what a life… although I soon tired of the running nose, tickly couch and looking like Rudolph.
What’s worse with this cold Monday morning saw me unable to even talk, I could croak by the evening after having my magic potion, let me explain… you see as coincidence would have it, I had left over chicken, bones, and veg that I had boiled up at the weekend… I waste nothing you see and I hoped I would make something with the stock, I started to feel ill on the Sunday, and when I woke up Monday morning feeling rather like the Grim Reaper sitting on a radiator, I decided I would make it into a Soup. After a return to bed and some recuperation (About 6 hours sleep, until the phone rang) I woke up still feeling dead and unable to speak but able to stand and stem the running of my nose just long enough to blend up all bits (minus the bones) and make the most amazing Chicken and Vegetable soup AKA Magic Potion, I had at least one bowl of this for the next 4 days, not only was it tasty but is the PERFECT thing for a cold… Fulla goodness!

My week followed this pattern all the way through really, I wasn’t well and seemed to get worse for a couple of days, Thursday I thought I was well enough to go back to work, although thought the gym would just be a STUPID idea, well it seemed work was to, I sat at my desk feeling rather sick all day but I did manage to sit it out and come back the following day.

Anyway enough of the dramatics in relation to the Man Flu, that is gone and my Chicken Soup cured all, well not totally all, believe it or not I was still feeling ill on and off over the weekend, colds don’t normally linger with me, but this one is a hanger on!

I have also decided that I am going to use this blog as my ‘food diary’ I need to be putting all this stuff down somewhere so I figure here is the place… Let’s start with yesterday as I can remember what I had, the Morning saw me munching peanut butter on toast while poking a cat with my foot, Then it was off to Mafia’s in Clacton for lunch, I had grilled goats cheese on a bed of salad, followed by chicken in a mustard sauce… wonderful, then came the evening and whilst watching X-Factor I had a rather large piece of something referred to as “Death By Chocolate” I am not sure this really counts as one of my five a-day but it was nice!

Back to training then… I was up at 6:00am this morning, I felt it was a little bit of a trade-off to my normal 5:30, I would get an extra half hour in bed and so long as I got to the gym for what I wanted to do by 7, I would be fine… So there I was in a rather cooler than usual kitchen stirring my pan of porridge and supping my coffee looking forward to my first session back at the gym, I had already decided I was going to ease back into the training as opposed to just hit it hard and kill myself, so todays chosen activity was to swim a mile… with as many tumble turns as I could stack up!!

I arrived at the pool pretty much bang on 7, so in I got and began my session… It became apparent after the first tumble turn that due to how lose my shorts were (even though I had tightened them as much as the string would allow) I would be doing less tumble turns than anticipated, otherwise I would be giving my fellow swimmers a little more to see than they might like…however…as I swam it seemed that pushing off anyhow at any speed short of slow would cause this issue… unless I dived as I did it, so tumble turns with a slight dive and a more gentle push off was the order of the day, still I managed my mile a whole 64 lengths and in just over 40 minutes, not to bad I thought, but it got me to thinking is every mile just the same… if it took me 40 minutes to run a mile I would be completing the Marathon in 17 Hours, as opposed to the 4 I would like to achieve, but then I settled into the steam room thinking I am sure running 1 mile burns allot less calories and requires allot less effort than swimming a mile, I hope so anyway.

What’s next? Well I am just munching through my mid-morning snack of mixed nuts and fruit, and at lunch time I will be having an organic mixed salad… maybe with fish fingers, I’ll have a fruity snak this afternoon and dinner will be more mixed salad (it needs using up) with a slice of quiche, and tomorrow I’m booked onto a Spin session, and if I have my dates right we will now be on a new program so I should expect to be exhausted, But I will let you know!

Time for my sledgehammer like gentle reminder, aside from the fact that I want to get fit, lose weight and look like an Adonis, there is another important reason I am doing this, I am running the London Marathon next year to raise money for Asthma UK, who work tirelessly to help save and improve the lives of asthma suffers everywhere… Did you know:

There were over 79,794 emergency hospital admissions for asthma in the UK in 2008-09. Of these, 30,740 were children aged 14 years or under.

An estimated 75% of hospital admissions for asthma are avoidable with help from Asthma UK

To see exactly what Asthma UK get up to and how they help asthma sufferers pop along to their website http://www.asthma.org.ukonce you have then decided to hand over your hard earned cash pop along to my Virgin Money Giving website http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherowand donate as much as you can, I have £150 in to my £1,700 target, so get ya wallets out!

Love, peace, and happiness…
Jay (Red John).

Quarter of a Marathon, and before work!

Good Evening Blog Followers,

Well I still haven’t touched a single ciggie, and only wanted one once, so that’s all good, but I think maybe a little more hypnotherapy is in order just to make sure things are all spot on!

So how has the training been this week, well let me tell you… I have had allot more energy, and I have also been eating breakfast without feeling sick, I don’t know if the increase in energy is to do with the correct diet or even the regulation of that diet, or even the no ciggies, but the energy levels have been much higher than normal and I have felt more able to push myself further.

Sunday was my day off (and this was really needed) but I did head off to the O2 in London and totter around the Titanic Exhibition with a friend, seeing as I had done a 10K the night before my feet actually felt fine, although just to be safe I made sure I wore very comfy trainers.

Monday saw the training start up all over again, and I was in the gym for my resistance training, this went very well and I clocked up a 2K run as well, I still struggle with chin ups, but this will come with time I guess.

Tuesday was spin, and what a spin session, the instructors have mixed it up again as we are nearing the end of this set, well I am not sure if the instructor meant to but she had chosen some epic but hard tracks, there was little time anywhere through the workout to slow down and recover but it was good, and I felt great, I pushed it hard for an hour and then headed off to the Jacuzzi after the required cleaning of the bike ceremony.

Wednesday and it was back in the gym for some resistance training, and I had a pancake covered in sliced banana for breakfast, this seemed to sit VERY well in the gym, I seemed to have more energy and never once felt the food there… This, I liked allot! It allowed me to really concentrate on my training, I did a full set, and increased some weights, but that chin up is still to hard… grr, think I need someone standing under me with a cattle prod!

I had already decided this week that Thursday was back to long run day, mainly due to the fact I really had no choice as I am away this weekend, and thus running on Saturday isn’t really an option, so because of this I did pretty much total resistance and very little cardio, I had a short jog and a cool down, I doubt I even reached 1K but I wanted to keep my energy high for tomorrow, I wanted to crack this 10K again.

That brings us nicely to this morning, I was late to bed last night, and thus was late up this morning I overslept by nearly half hour but I didn’t let this put me off, I climbed out of bed, got my kit on and headed for the kitchen, I had a pancake again, smothered in slices of banana, I then sat in front of the news as I cut carefully around the bananas one by one and fed them into me gob… Yum. So I got to the gym late but I was determined today was going to be 10K like it or not, I jumped on a treadmill, then jumped straight off, it seemed to be a faulty one, and with every few foot falls the belt just stopped dead and I nearly fell off… so I moved down one and started again, warm up for 4 minutes and off I went, feet to the beet.

Today I kept the pace very well and energy seem to not be an issue, and breath wasn’t an issue, once I was in a rhythm and remembered to breathe that is, I got all the way up to 5K without stopping once, I was so excited and soo elated that I had achieved this I forgot to breathe properly, lost my stride and screwed it up, not to worry I slowed to a walk took on some water and plodded for about 40 seconds, and off I went again back up to speed, feet to the beet, 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. I pressed on running tall and strong, breathing rhythmically, loosing myself in the moment, well as much as I could anyway!

I was nearing the 6K mark, my arch nemesis! I took my sweat towel, mopped my brow, then folded it neatly over the display so I couldn’t see how far I had run, I pushed on, and actually sped up just a little, next time I needed my towel I couldn’t help taking a peek, and I was at 7K only 3K left, I had past that mark, my arch nemesis was defeated! My feet were agitated by now, I could feel my plasters I spent so long placing this morning had moved, but I couldn’t feel any blisters just soreness nothing to worry about I kept on pushing through.

I moved the towel and 8K just passed, I wanted to do this, so I pushed the speed up a little, and started to stride a little wider, still running with the beat of the music, I started watching the distance tick away, I soon reached 9K, that was it, I was already happy, but I wanted to do it and do it quick, so I upped the speed again 11.5KPH, pushing it a little but okay, I had already been running for 50 minutes… I got to 9.5K and I pushed the speed up again 12.5KPH compared to the steady 10.5 I had been doing for a while it felt like a sprint, but not long now I just had to push it…. 13KPH, I was gunning for it now… Then I was there, I ran over the 10K mark faster and stronger than I ever have 10K in just over 55 minutes and I only walked once for no longer than 45 seconds, maybe next time I won’t need to walk at all?

So again I had done it, I had run Quarter of a Marathon, and before work… and the time seems to be coming down, once I get to the stage where I don’t need to slow down at all I can look to bring that time down even more.

I then proceeded to spend my day at work, on my feet most of the day for a change running around a big warehouse sorting out various IT Issues, and I am still standing… Just :)

Well then what have we learnt from today? I think we have learnt that Banana Pancakes do well and can get me to 10K no problems!

Tomorrow is spin day, so I will be up and eating again at 5:30 and sat on a spin bike by 6:35 ready for Instructor Dan to kill a room full of people, but we know what Spin is don’t we? It’s Spin off the pain Friday… So by the time I fall off the bike and get in the Jacuzzi I will be refreshed and ready for a nice weekend resting the body :)

Now for the important bit, I was told by a friend who is raising some money for me, that her cousin died from Asthma, this just shows how close this can be to us all, Asthma UK are working tirelessly to prevent this, so that our friends and relatives and even ourselves can stay fit and healthy and live with asthma without it holding us back, or taking our lives. To see how Asthma UK do all this visit http://www.asthma.org.uk but remember they can’t do this without our help and support, so once you have seen what they do, pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the Virgin London Marathon.

See you all soon,
Jay (Red John).

The 10K Run, Flip me… but it’s done!

So, I get to start this Blog with some more amazing news, more sponsors, 1 from a good friend at work, and one, from a friend in another Theatre group who myself and Ken helped out just recently… fantastic thanks guys :)

I sit here typing this fresh from the gym… Yes my gym is open from 6:30am right through to 11:30pm, and yes I am mad enough to be there and arriving home at this time of night… but more on that shortly!

Now to the training, I last spoke to you on Wednesday, after I had an amazing spin session (having missed my Monday resistance) and a great resistance on the Wednesday, I had then promised you all that I was going to run 10K on Thursday, but sadly it would appear that I lied, I was late to bed on Wednesday and I was just unable to function as a normal human being Thursday morning let alone get up and run 10K, so I stayed in bed a while had breakfast and headed to work, feeling very disappointed with myself.

Friday bought the spin session, and I have to say that was pretty good, I pushed on hard, I kept my strength up, and I made a messy puddle of sweat, I know this is a gross thing to talk about but what can I say, seeing it there, even though it’s a total disgusting mess, that I then have to mop up before I leave the room… someone it still makes me feel amazing, look… I did that, my body… working hard, did that… Am I sad?! Yes… Very!!

Then to Saturday, I had already decided that as I had missed a running session on Thursday that I was going to get on and run at some point on Saturday, I wasn’t sure or worried when but I knew it was going to happen at some point, but in the afternoon I had an appointment, I had a Hypnotherapy appointment!!!!

A good friend of mine had told me she was a qualified Physiotherapist as well as a Hypnotherapist, and that to support me through my training and running she would help me out where she could with some sessions, I needed a session, as I had a guilty secret… The smoking had crept back in and I was finding it hard to resist them, I still wasn’t back up to my old smoking levels but still, I needed help, and having never tried any kind of Hypnosis before I thought it was time to give it a go… and give up the smoking.

What can I say, I came away feeling relaxes, and energised, we had concentrated on the smoking, but also looked into energy and stamina, and trying to get me past this mental block I seemed to have for running the longer distances, I arrived home happy, shocked, not 100% sure what I have just experienced but know if was relaxing if nothing else, when I walked in the door, I immediately had a whiff of cigarette smoke, and my immediate reaction was not that of “Oh god I fancy one” as I normally would, but more along the lines of “God lord that stinks” this is feel is a brilliant start!

I think my strange happy feeling and yet my inability to really explain my experience well seemed a little confusing to my other half, whom I then proceeded to totally ignore and cook just for myself as I seemed to be in this daze and felt strongly for some reason he had already eaten… Oops… I was wrong, I think maybe I was concentrating a little to hard on my experience and had maybe blocked out the surrounding world a little to much, this is something I do have a tendency of doing at the best of times… we all have our faults!!

So then after dinner, and even a second helping (Provided by my better half after having cooked HIS dinner) and a relax on the sofa for a while I headed off to the gym for about 8:30, by the time I was in there it was pushing on for 8:45 but it was deserted which I found novel and pleasing… I began the run, iPod in… staring at the TV Screens!!

I ran, 10 minutes past and I was on track feeling strong, feeling okay… 20 minutes past, sweating, but still feeling okay, by 25 minutes my feel were screaming, I wasn’t listing to much I think it was “OUCH, OUCH, OUCH, OUCH” with each contact with the floors, it seems no matter how I put plasters on they move and the feet before a little sore in a particular place, I walked for a couple of minutes put then pushed on.

I started to struggle, it was 38 minutes and about 5.5K, the 6K wall I have come to know was starting to appear, I pressed on… POO… I was out of water.. What to do… I realised if I pressed the pause button I would have 60 seconds to run fill up my bottle and return to the treadmill without it cancelling my program… so I hit pause, and ran across the gym, filled up… ran back jumped on and hit enter… off I went again, the short break had seemed to revive me, I kept running, I hit 6K and that was it something said your done, I slowed, for a moment just walking and thought about today I thought about my therapy and what I had been told, How I could return to my trance like state, recharge so to speak… I did it more a moment, just walking ever so gently closed my eyes, I was back where I needed to be looking around, feeling good, feeling happy, I opened my eyes, and ran… my eyes were fixated on the distance 7… only 3 more left… 8… only 3 left…. 9… nearly there, and I even picked up the pace a little…. 10… I will not lie here, what followed was a shameful, it was like I had scored a goal on the most important football match in the world, I was running like mad arms held high in the air and I said “Hell yeah, I’m there, I’m da dude” I then checked the gym was still empty and nobody actually say any of that, I was quite safe!

So a cool down, some stretches and a Jacuzzi later here I am sat here tell you all about it, and as I write this sentence my neighbour has just entered his garden and lit up a horrible smelly thing, and I have no desire for one at all :)

I will leave you all there now, I think I have waffled on long enough, and my excitement can't sustain me for much longer, and I really need to get to bed and let my body repair ready for next weeks training… oh and I am off to see The Titanic Exhibition tomorrow at the O2 Bubble… cant wait… lets hope I can still walk!!

Just a quick plug and reminder before I go, all this pain and effort is for one thing, because I want to raise money for Asthma UK so that they can continue to support people who suffer from Asthma, see how Asthma UK do this and find out more about at http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me as much as you can, or as little as you can afford, everything helps, 1000 people giving me just £1 is £1000 (Even I can work that out) so go on, what you got to loose?

Good Night All,
Jay (Red John).

Buckingham Palace, and the painful legs!

Good Evening Blog Followers!!
Well it is clearly apparent I have been a little quiet of late, no specific reason for this other than a little writer’s block I think!

Let’s start back in last week, Friday I had a very good spin session, I was again a little lacking in energy but kept up well and managed a really good session before I went and finished the week in the Jacuzzi.

Then a little off the fitness track, but Saturday I found myself feeling quite ill in the afternoon, I am not sure why if I had picked up a bug or what but I was dizzy and really not feeling good, My better half had a hunch I may not have eaten enough Saturday and stuffed a square of chocolate in my gob, this I followed with a few Celebrations (noting along the way that there is never very many Twix in the boxes, but LOADS of snickers… go figure) and I did begin to feel better, So I think I need to be a little more carful at the weekends that I don’t leave it too long before meals.

Sunday was Buckingham Palace, we headed for London, parked up at a tube station and headed off to Marble Arch, once there we wandered through the park taking many photos along the way until we reached Buckingham Palace, once I had picked up the pre booked tickets we had plenty of time before our allocated entry time, so we sat on a wall and I pulled out my first box of nuts and fruit (Yes… I even took food to London with me) this to MANY people seemed Alien, as I sat there on the little wall out the front of the Queens Gallery people kept staring at me eating my nuts and fruit like this was an unusual thing to see!? Personally I always see plenty of fruit and nut cases wandering around London so why is it so strange to see someone eating some?! The mind Boggles!!

After a short wander around the gift shop in the Queens Gallery and a rather crowded walk around the fountain at the front of the palace we headed in and began our tour, I can tell you this year’s exhibitions are well worth the visit!!

After Buckingham Palace we headed for Covent Garden for a wander, followed by a short mince around Soho before taking some lunch in China Town (Listen to me… Taking lunch!! HA) By this time I thought it might be an nice idea to head off to the London Eye and see if we could “Take a flight” as it wasn’t too busy, after a short queue we were rotating slowly over the London skyline, after the Eye, and a total of 440 photos taken in one day it was time to find a tube station and start heading home…

So why am I telling you all this I hear you ask, it isn’t about training… Well no, but it’s a little insight into how I relax and not only that but it did some kind of workout for my legs as by this time they were killing, my calves especially were killing and I was wishing I had worn trainers (I decided trainers was not something to be seen in at the palace, how wrong was I, everyone else was dressed in shorts, scruffy t-shirts and flip flops… well I know for next time) I was so fidgety when I got home, I couldn’t get comfortable as my legs were just constantly aching, I was shocked by this seeing as I can supposedly run 10K and not be in much pain at all, and yet a day toddling around in London had really taken it out of me, I was shattered and legs were hurting!

So come Monday I didn’t go to the gym, I woke up with legs still aching but much, much better, still I had already decided the night before I was going to let them rest and repair before I hit the gym again.

Tuesday however was a different matter, I headed off to my spin session and got in on time having eaten breakfast too, and I have to admit the whole breakfast thing is becoming MUCH easier than I thought but I do still find sometimes it feels like it sits there a little longer than I would like, but I had a fantastic session and even managed to keep pace most of the time through track 5, the killer one!!

After the session I had a chat with the instructor who said she would be mixing the tracks up soon, they do this before the finish of an old set, this is to give a little variety before the new set, but before I had hardly even opened my mouth she said however track 5 would stay and will continue to stay while people (including herself) as still struggling with it… Ho hum, guess I just need to work harder at it :)

So what of today, well I got up a little late, as after shouting at the cat who was scratching at the door at 4:30 I fell back into a deep sleep, but hey I had some brekkie and headed to the gym and had enough time there to fit in a full resistance workout and about 25 minutes of cardio, I listened to my Sennhiezer track and just ran like mad, I cooled down on an exercise bike, never again, they are nothing like real bikes or spin bikes, there darn uncomfortable and the handle bars are far to close to your body, you feel like your hands are in your chest, so… I will be sneaking into the spin room if it’s empty and using one of those bikes to cool off next time.

So that’s my last few days, eventful yes?! What’s to come?! Well I am glad you asked that, Tomorrow is long run day, and I am hoping and praying that I can complete 10K in 1 hour, fingers crossed… I am planning to eat well today and have something in the carbohydrate group this evening before I head out to the cinema… OR… Maybe I can smuggle in a box of pasta to eat while I watch? Hmmmm… Then Friday is Spin off the Pain!

Now for the plug… Why am I doing all this… well… I am running the London Marathon to raise money for Asthma UK so that they can continue their work to save countless lives and improve the lives of Asthma suffers, to find out more visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me :)

See you all soon,
Jay (Red John).

10K Run, Still no dice!

I wrote a song for today, Sing it to “Im into something good”…

Woke up this morning not feeling fine,
had something heavy on my mind,
Last month I hit a new high, In the Gymnasium,
Whoa Yeah!
Since then I just can’t seem to hit that goal.
         -Since then he just can’t hit that goal.

Gyms the kinda place that makes you sweat,
You hope every time you don’t get to wet,
I ran so hard today, like I knew that I could
Whoa Yeah!
Still I just can’t seem to hit that goal.
         -Still he just can’t hit that goal.

Anyway you get the jist no doubt, I woke up this morning and I was tired and lethargic, and yet I had a very good night’s sleep, and was in bed early but clearly it wasn’t enough, but hey ho I pressed on and headed to the gym.

To start with I felt great, I soon woke up and was running tall, running strong, and I hit the 5K mark with relative ease, not slowing down once, but then it all fell apart, I struggled on pushing, pushing and could just not make it, as hard as I tried, I eventually gave up at 7K, so still no dice and 3K short of my goal, but 1K more than I managed last week, Again I felt a little defeated and started to head for the door.

I got to the desk to sign my sheet (To keep a record of when I have been in the gym) and a PT grabbed me and asked how my training was going, I told her, okay I think but that I was a little disappointed with my inability of being able to hit my 10K again this week, she thought for a moment then said, How’s your diet, I explained about the 5 meals a day and trying to keep it all evened out, she listened in interest and said “And for breakfast?”… “Ahh well I don’t really do breakfast before gym, I can’t work out on food have never been able to” she looked at me and said “Well would you drive to Edinburgh on an empty tank?” my response was “Well me being the prize idiot that I am it sounds like something I would do, but I see your point!” We then discussed that I need to be getting up at about 5:30 (Yeash) and having breakfast as soon as I am out of bed, I was assured that when I first start doing this I will likely feel a little ill as like me she never used to be able to handle food first thing, but she assured me that very quickly my body will start to want and crave that meal, and it will soon become second nature, get up, eat!

So starting tomorrow, I will probably be up at 5:45 (Middle Ground) and eating eggs on brown toast, not sure what type of eggs but I’ll let ya know lol… However this may be a challenge as I am having a rather late night this evening lol.

Why am I doing this to myself I hear you ask, well I am working my bits off to raise loads of money for Asthma UK, so that they can continue to work to improve the lives of people who suffer with Asthma, so see just what they do to help visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon!

Live long, Live strong,
Jay (Red John).
 

Grim morning, turned good…

Here we are, Monday, the training week begins again, Although clearly the Blogging week is late as this didn’t go out on time! Oops!

Sunday Night, just before bed (After playing around with our new wireless router) I started getting my food together for today, this is to fit in-line with my new 5 meals a day regime, I felt 5 was more realistic than 6, plus I didn’t like another chaps idea of waking up in the middle of the night just to eat. So here is my mound of food (And this doesn’t include lunch as I will be home for lunch)

From left to right, My water bottle (Nothing in it, it’s just there so I don’t forget) Next is my protein shaker, with “Smooth Banana” flavour shake powder in it already, then you see the big box with a couple of Bananas in that’s breakfast for after the gym (I can’t eat before I go I am afraid, makes it to un-comfy for me to workout), and on top of that are two small boxes, these each contain a portion of Dry Roasted Peanuts and Sultanas (One for mid-morning and one mid-afternoon) Plus for lunch I had a sausage sandwich and for dinner I had Pesto Pasta :)

Phew, after all that food you would think I would be stuffed, but I am not… I’m not hungry but I am not stuffed, I feel just about right and what will have happened is that my metabolism will have been burning at a higher rate all day processing these small intakes of food on regular basis thus burning more calories AND more fat, now this brings me onto an interesting point I did some research on this, Everyone is burning fat all the time, none of this “You need to do X to burn fat and workout for X amount of time” Everyone does, however when you understand how the body burns Calories and where they come from (I.e. Calories from Fat and Calories from Carbs (Fast Burn)) you start to understand how you have to work out to achieve the best result, When sitting you burn almost 50/50 fat/carbs, but obviously at only a handful of calories an hour you’re not going to loose much of the jiggly goo, when you begin to exercise the ratio’s change, and you end up burning initially more carbs than fat, this is because the body goes for the energy source that’s easier to get hold of, and burns quicker, cold muscles need fast energy… It’s only once we have been on the go like running for 20 minutes or so that the ratio switches back over and you start to burn more fats than carbs, this is because the fast energy is now becoming more scarce and the fat provides a better fuel for endurance and now the muscles are warm, You don’t need that huge burst of fast energy… Not only this but once your into the fat burning zone, and you end your workout, your metabolism is now much higher, but begins to tail off and start to fall back to normal, it’s while the metabolism is at this high that you are going to be burning calories in the hundreds rather than the tens even when sitting, hence my fascination with keeping my metabolism higher, keep the body working on something all day (yes even food) keeps it busy and keeps the metabolism working and ticking away the calories, all day long!

So that’s enough of the food, and the science behind it, I think more than anything I just wanted to show you that I am not just a greedy sod and there is actually science behind my 5 meals a day… and they are all small meals :)

And now we get onto the morning, I went to bed last night a little later than I would normally in the week at the moment, it was about 10:30 I believe, I was feeling okay but ready for sleep, my body and my mind seemed to have other ideas, and so I couldn’t sleep, I lay there for a good couple hours, last time I noticed the clock it was about to hit the 1am mark, so when the alarm went off in the morning I WAS NOT ready by any means to get out of bed, so I lulled there for a bit, considered not getting up at all but staying there and just going straight to work, I considered how good I had been getting things ready for the morning, by bag was packed, my gym stuff ready to fall into as I climbed out of bed, food ready to pop in my bag, and “The Havens” was calling (Yes that’s actually what the gym is called, well more where it is but it has this on the side of the door, in case you forget where you are I guess) so I climbed out of bed, and got dressed, however I started to feel quite ill by the time I had got downstairs, I guess this was probably my mind trying to discourage me from going and to head back to bed, I pushed on and made a cuppa, and took my morning vitamins and glucosamine. I had decided however, if I was going I was going a little late, and I would just forego the Jacuzzi today, IF I had the energy to do a full workout… The Morning was looking grim.

I stuffed my food into my bag and headed for the car, all the way to the gym I kept on with my Workout Mantra, repeating it out loud “Anything is better than nothing, Anything is better than nothing” expecting to get there and struggle to even climb the stairs to the gym.

But then the morning gone an turned good, I got on the treadmill and started to plog along doing my warm-up, nothing to heavy just a walk I picked up the pace a little, after a minute of fast walking the music in my ear kicked up a notch, so I did to and broke into a fast jog, okay coping with this well so far, for my warm-up it’s supposed to be a brisk walk for 5 minutes,… but then the music kicked up again, and off I went this energy flew in from somewhere the fog cleared and I just ran, well 10 minutes of running late I thought I was warm enough.

From here I moved onto a full set of resistance training, the only thing I missed was the Chin-ups, and this was not intentional just because every single darn time I turned around to use the Chin-up Frame someone was on it, no one used to use it before it suddenly seems to have become very popular lol.

Treadmill time again, so on I hopped and started my “Sennheiser – Thru The Gears” tack (No I haven’t intentionally gone all hip on you the title of the track is spelt that way) this is about a 15 minute run, starting with a low intensity and increasing with pace until you are running like someone being chased by a BIG snarly dog, or like me following the Chocolate cake, just before it all suddenly calms again and you slow to a gentle jog then a walk, just before the electronic woman says “Well Done, Training Complete” love it :) It was now 8:00am time to stretch and hit the showers before I was late for work, But Monday… Mission Accomplished and a total of about 3K run… not bad for a non-run day!

On the way to the changing rooms I bumped into the PT, she asked how it was going and I recounted my disappointment of my run last week, just like the other PT she said that sometimes we have to listen to our body, she also said that the first week of training went very well and it was bound to not run that smoothly, and then went on to say before this week’s run maybe drop it down and have a day or two off before hand, Initially this wasn’t my plan Tuesday morning I had planned to get up and go for a spin session, however my body had other ideas, I was to bed early Monday night and I woke up on time after an brilliant nights sleep… and felt straight back asleep again, only to rise about 40 minutes later (havening already missed the Start of the spin) still in a daze and feeling unable to manage a Spin or Gym session, I decided today was to be my day off and Tomorrow I will go for my next long run!

So the end of another Blog draws to a close… I would like to just pause here a minute to say thanks to all that have sponsored me thus far, but for everyone else… I have a LONG way to go so dig deep so that Asthma UK can keep working to improve the lives of Asthma sufferers everywhere. To find out more about what Asthma UK are up to visit their website at http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me whatever you can.

Until next time,
Jay (Red John).

Epic Spin...

Oh my god, today was AMAZING!!

I got to the gym, having got up as normal at 6:00am and headed into my spin session I had boundless energy and stamina and had an amazing workout, I couldn’t have asked for better, the regulars were all in and all in a very motivational mood, it was brilliant, I worked out hard and fast and loved every minute, and just to prove I had done my work, after the session there was a larger than usual fallout puddle surrounding my bike that seemed to take an age to mop up… I hope they go in there later with a mop and bucket!! But yeah, I did good!! However my knee is a little tender now, but it does have 2 full days of recovery :)

So after my amazing spin session I headed for the Jacuzzi, and as usual the outdoor one first, so I could sit and watch the clouds flying across the sky, once the bubbles stopped I headed for the indoor Jacuzzi, I sat in one corner lounging there like I was in an arm chair, and a couple of swimmers (who are often training as a group) decided to have a race up the pool… and what’s the stroke they chose? It was Butterfly! My god, I am in awe of anybody who can swim the butterfly, it’s not an easy stroke to co-ordinate, I have tried it once or twice and I just can’t get it, and yet they rocketed up the pool like scolded cats… Very impressive!

Then I was off to the Steam Room, I have taken to doing this almost every day now to, I tend to find warming myself up again and drawing more sweat out gets rid of the pungent Chlorine smell that often lingers even after a shower, It’s also good for the respiratory system and as it makes the heart beat that little faster trying to cool you off, it moves more blood around and this has to be good to help recovery and remove Lactic acid from the muscles doesn’t it?! Listen to me, maybe I should train to be a PT? haha.

So what now? Well this weekend I hope to figure out my new diet, getting my 5 odd small meals a day into the equation so that I can start off next week with even more vigour and work my way up to the next 10K run on Thursday, fingers crossed this week I will find more energy and the stamina to stick at it to the end of the 10K, and lets push for just under 1 hour… why not eh?

Did you know… 3 people die EVERY DAY in the UK from Asthma, Asthma UK are working tirelessly to help prevent this, but they cant do this without our support, I am supporting them by running the London Marathon to raise money for this cause, I need all you to sponsor me just a little! To find out more about Asthma UK and what they do to help prevent these unnecessary deaths please visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving site at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and donate even just a small sum, or if you would prefer to do it the old fashioned paper way, give me a shout and next time I see you I will wave a sponsorship form under ya noggin :)

Until next time, Live long, Live Strong and have an amazing weekend!
Jay (Red John).

10K Run cut short!!

Today got off to a really bad start, today started at 1am when the new neighbour decided loud TV was in order, I don’t know if he had the window open but I could pretty much hear every word, he was watching a news channel, and by the 5th time I heard the weather report I was getting ever so slightly miffed off, said neighbour (we shall call him Bert) has never done this before, Bert has woken me up at 6 or 7am on a Saturday or Sunday doing this but that’s not so bad as 1am… but anyway I managed to drift back off to sleep, only to wake several times in the next few hours to hear various segments of news or weather, I was not impressed, Bert is often not home, and has had he TV very loud before on the odd occasion but never past a reasonable hour in the evening, maybe he is an insomniac, but does that mean the rest of us around him have to be?!
By the time the alarm did go off, all was quiet next door, but I was feeling a little worse for wear, I have no conscious knowledge of how many times I woke up or how long the TV was on, but I know when it first work me up it was 1am, and my better half said this morning it work him up at 3 am so was clearly still going then, but hey not deterred (that is a lie, I was deterred, I wanted to stay in bed and do nothing this morning) I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed, plastered my feet (to stop the blisters forming) and headed off to the gym, still in a foul mood knowing I had gone to bed early purposefully and ended up woken up… GREAT!

On the treadmill and the run began, I felt almost immediately that I was pushing my luck, I had no energy, no stamina, nothing, things were hurting I was still feeling tired, I was not impressed, but I pushed on… I ran up to 3K and had to pull back for a moment, but not too long I was good to go again in a minute and off I went, still feeling every single foot fall, and every leg movement being an effort I pushed on, keen to get as far as I possibly could, Then the boot camp went outside, this gave me a distraction for a short while but I couldn’t seem to focus on anything, not even the running, my music got louder and louder and I tried to block everything out totally, I pushed on harder and harder but it was no good I had to slow to a walk, cool down and stop, my 10K run was cut short :(

I managed just 6K today, 4K short of where I wanted to be, I did however manage this in 40minutes, even at my “slower” pace so this is good it sets me on track to achieve the 1 hour mark, but I wasn’t impressed I felt defeated… I spoke to a PT on the way out and she asked what I was training for and how I was getting on, I said I was doing well until today and explained, she made me feel a little better though as she said the body will sometimes not be able to handle what you want it to do, especially this early on in your training and it’s best to listen to it as you have done and don’t push it, I was still feeling a little defeated, but I won’t let it get me down, I did something, and as I have always said something is better than nothing where exercise is concerned. However what I will say is if I am ever woken up in future by Bert’s TV, I will be getting out of bed and having words… witch words I will choose I am not too sure about, but when I am tired, I am like a bear with a sore head and frankly at that time in the morning, I won’t care who I offend, having said that it looks like he is away this evening!

So all in all a struggle today but still, I went and I am not going to let it de-motivate me, tomorrow I have a spin session and then the weekend at rest, and next week, we try all over again, I have another two whole long running sessions before my next re-program.

What can I say, we all knew this wasn’t going to be easy, today shows it indeed is not :(

As for my plasters on my feet, the one I placed on the left foot perfect, but it didn’t really need it, the one on the right foot, that was more painful and the blister from last week having not healed properly… useless, it moved and came off and ended up crumpled in my sock under my heal, although I still managed to avoid any blisters this time, so that’s great but I think I need some better plasters for future, my right foot must move around more in my trainer than my left foot… Or maybe I just have abnormal feet!?

On a plus note I received my Protein powder today, along with my Thermobol… what’s Thermobol you ask? Well its something to give me a little boost and keep my metabolism ticking just a little higher to help with the weight loss (It’s orange peal and herbal stuff), and I also received my 7-Day Pill Pot for my multi-vits and Glucosamine (For me joints) so I am all set (Provided I am allowed to sleep).

After a little discussion and some reading, I have also decided to change my diet, I did this before when I lost the majority of my weight when I was an Elephant, so I think I need to go back to it, not only does it keep the metabolism up, it gives you more sustained energy levels and stops you from over eating in any one meal, so henceforth (or at least once I have figured out a meal plan of sorts) I will no longer be having 2 or 3 meals a day, but I will be having 5 to 6 small meals a day, suits me down to the ground, I’ll spend most of my day eating :) haha... a little more research required I feel!

So... Tomorrow = Spin session, lets hope I have a little more stamina tomorrow!

Its time for the important stuff, like the credits if you will, but I hope you don’t turn off at this point and you spend a little time to read what I have to say… I’m doing this to raise lots of lovely money for Asthma UK, who among other things produce a quarterly magazine, Asthma Magazine will keep you well informed and help you to better manage your or a loved one’s condition. Our asthma nurse specialists are also on hand to answer your questions. Celebrities like Bill Bailey (comedian), Mutya Buena (singer) and Jenni Murray (broadcaster) discuss their asthma and careers in depth, to see what else Asthma UK do visit http://www.asthma.uk.org and once you have pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and giz a donation!

Until next time,
Jay (Red John).