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).
About Me
- Jay (Red John)
- Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
- Hi I'm Jay and I am training to run the London Marathon 2012 for Asthma UK.
Yes I am running the London Marathon, Yes I am mad, and Yes I plan to raise masses of money for Asthma UK.
So please follow me, and support me, with your help I can make it over that finish line.
My sponsorship page can be found by clicking here PLEASE support me by sponsoring me to run the London Marathon for Asthma UK.
And now a very short history about me... I am asthmatic myself and until a few years back was pushing on being obese, not only does running the Marathon give me the opportunity to give something back to such an important organisation, but it will be the crowning glory of my fitness regime, Asthmatic and overweight running 26 Miles for charity!
To find out more about what Asthma UK do visit their site by clicking here.
Thursday 25 August 2011
Saturday 20 August 2011
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).
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).
Wednesday 17 August 2011
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).
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).
Wednesday 10 August 2011
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).
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).
Tuesday 9 August 2011
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).
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).
Friday 5 August 2011
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).
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).
Thursday 4 August 2011
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).
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).
Wednesday 3 August 2011
Warming up for the next long run...
So I was up at 6:00 again this morning, packing my gym bag, tripping over the cats and arriving at the gym, yup you guessed it a little late :)
I arrived at the gym and headed to the desk to grab my program, as I did I bumped into my PT, who asked how it was going… I said I thought I was doing very well and mentioned how I managed to run 10K in 1hr 5 minutes, and that this was the first time I had ever run this far or for this long… She rubbed her hands together and informed me in an almost evil manner that she would have to make it a lot harder next time, erm… do you think I can retract that statement “Oh no, actually it’s going terrible” I somehow don’t think she would believe me.
Anyway I digress, even though I was running late I had an amazing gym session and managed all but one of my resistance exercises, the one I didn’t was the chin up mainly because every time I headed in that general direction someone was using the chin up machine, having said that had I got on there I would have been late for work!!
After the resistance I headed for the treadmill, and although I didn’t do a huge run, I managed about 3K in 20 minutes, at this point I felt it was time to stop and I needed to be heading off for work, and I didn’t want to overdo it before BIG RUN THURSDAY!
I also ordered my next batch of Protein shake, I usually have a shake in the mornings after a gym session, firstly it helps stop me feeling massively hungry so I don’t sit at my desk eating biscuits all day like the fat piggie I have been, and secondly it really helps the muscles to recover, I’ve been using it ever since I have been going to the gym (well not quite but for some time now) and it does make a HUGE difference, The other half also bought home some fitness mags for me to look over, and there is an offer I can’t resist… 3 issues for £5 and a free tub of Breakfast Oats with Protein how can I turn that offer down… I’ll let you know how it tastes :)
PLUG ALERT!!
As I sit here typing this, my feet are currently resting and getting massaged by a foot spa with warm sea salted water to ease the pain and prepare them for tomorrow, so why am I putting myself through all this pain?! Well because I am raising money for a cause I really believe in, Asthma UK take a look at what they do and how they help millions of asthma sufferers every year here http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you’ve decided you would like to help them out pop along to my Virgin Money Just Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me, how about pushing the boat out and sponsoring me £1 per mile?!
See you all soon,
Jay (Red John).
I arrived at the gym and headed to the desk to grab my program, as I did I bumped into my PT, who asked how it was going… I said I thought I was doing very well and mentioned how I managed to run 10K in 1hr 5 minutes, and that this was the first time I had ever run this far or for this long… She rubbed her hands together and informed me in an almost evil manner that she would have to make it a lot harder next time, erm… do you think I can retract that statement “Oh no, actually it’s going terrible” I somehow don’t think she would believe me.
Anyway I digress, even though I was running late I had an amazing gym session and managed all but one of my resistance exercises, the one I didn’t was the chin up mainly because every time I headed in that general direction someone was using the chin up machine, having said that had I got on there I would have been late for work!!
After the resistance I headed for the treadmill, and although I didn’t do a huge run, I managed about 3K in 20 minutes, at this point I felt it was time to stop and I needed to be heading off for work, and I didn’t want to overdo it before BIG RUN THURSDAY!
I also ordered my next batch of Protein shake, I usually have a shake in the mornings after a gym session, firstly it helps stop me feeling massively hungry so I don’t sit at my desk eating biscuits all day like the fat piggie I have been, and secondly it really helps the muscles to recover, I’ve been using it ever since I have been going to the gym (well not quite but for some time now) and it does make a HUGE difference, The other half also bought home some fitness mags for me to look over, and there is an offer I can’t resist… 3 issues for £5 and a free tub of Breakfast Oats with Protein how can I turn that offer down… I’ll let you know how it tastes :)
PLUG ALERT!!
As I sit here typing this, my feet are currently resting and getting massaged by a foot spa with warm sea salted water to ease the pain and prepare them for tomorrow, so why am I putting myself through all this pain?! Well because I am raising money for a cause I really believe in, Asthma UK take a look at what they do and how they help millions of asthma sufferers every year here http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you’ve decided you would like to help them out pop along to my Virgin Money Just Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me, how about pushing the boat out and sponsoring me £1 per mile?!
See you all soon,
Jay (Red John).
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Spin like mad, and 100mile cycle...
So up I got this morning at 6:00 ready for my spin session, considering I had a rather late night I seemed to be quite lively, however I didn’t have time for a coffee this morning just time to make one for the other half before running around like a mad fool trying to find the TomTom that was a requirement of the day (unbeknown to myself until this point) so as usual I arrived a few minutes late (there is a distinct pattern evolving here isn’t there) so everyone was settled on their bike and already pedalling away when I burst in the room, luckily as it’s school holiday there are allot of people away, with exception to the regulars of course, who will always attend (like me) come hell or high water!!
So there we were pedalling for our lives, and again Track 5 killed, although I felt there was a marked improvement… I did well today, although I did feel dead at the end of it, and as I had done on track 5 a few weeks back as it’s so manic, the poor guy next to me who was really going for it responded to the instructors shout of “SCAT” by pedalling furiously and knocking his water bottle off witch promptly rolled under my bike… all I could think was “YESSS, I’m not the only idiot to have knocked my bottle off during this track” sadly though when I had my bottle incident it travelled two rows back :(
But what a session, I felt tired, worn out and yet glowing, always a good sign!
So then I was off to the Jacuzzi for my bubble, and today one of the other regular spinners was in there, and we got to talking, turns out that on Sunday she got up at about 4am Sunday morning and cycled up and down the A12 doing time trials, she did something silly like 100 miles… THEN comes into the gym for a spin session today, I am well impressed!!
For breakfast today I had nothing but a protein shake, this was NOT by design and I was intending to pick up some fruit or something but that didn’t happen either, but lunch was nice, more salad (there was a big bowl left from Sunday still) and some flavoured rice, very nice… this evening I had homemade chicken and vegetable soup (made by me other half) on pasta! :)
And phew it’a a hot evening, so hot I am struggling to concentrate on this blog!
So down to business, 17% of people with asthma say that sometimes work makes their asthma so bad, they have to take time off, Asthma UK are working hard to try and make the symptoms more bearable for everyone with Asthma, to find out more take a look at http://www.asthma.org.uk and then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon 2012 for Asthma UK, why not sponsor me per mile?!
See you all soon,
Jay (Red John)
So there we were pedalling for our lives, and again Track 5 killed, although I felt there was a marked improvement… I did well today, although I did feel dead at the end of it, and as I had done on track 5 a few weeks back as it’s so manic, the poor guy next to me who was really going for it responded to the instructors shout of “SCAT” by pedalling furiously and knocking his water bottle off witch promptly rolled under my bike… all I could think was “YESSS, I’m not the only idiot to have knocked my bottle off during this track” sadly though when I had my bottle incident it travelled two rows back :(
But what a session, I felt tired, worn out and yet glowing, always a good sign!
So then I was off to the Jacuzzi for my bubble, and today one of the other regular spinners was in there, and we got to talking, turns out that on Sunday she got up at about 4am Sunday morning and cycled up and down the A12 doing time trials, she did something silly like 100 miles… THEN comes into the gym for a spin session today, I am well impressed!!
For breakfast today I had nothing but a protein shake, this was NOT by design and I was intending to pick up some fruit or something but that didn’t happen either, but lunch was nice, more salad (there was a big bowl left from Sunday still) and some flavoured rice, very nice… this evening I had homemade chicken and vegetable soup (made by me other half) on pasta! :)
And phew it’a a hot evening, so hot I am struggling to concentrate on this blog!
So down to business, 17% of people with asthma say that sometimes work makes their asthma so bad, they have to take time off, Asthma UK are working hard to try and make the symptoms more bearable for everyone with Asthma, to find out more take a look at http://www.asthma.org.uk and then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon 2012 for Asthma UK, why not sponsor me per mile?!
See you all soon,
Jay (Red John)
Monday 1 August 2011
Low on fuel… But amazing news!
I start this blog on an AMAZIN note, I have today received a donation of £50 from my good friend Sue, so a HUGE thanks to Sue and I hope to do you proud :)
I also received my Asthma UK running vest today, it’s a little smaller than I had hoped however so I may need to purchase a slightly larger one, in case I don’t loose all the weight that I want to during my training, it does fit but leaves nothing to the imagination!
To the training, Today I was low on fuel. I’m not 100% sure why but figure it is the combination of an interesting diet over the weekend with very few complex carbs and quite allot of fast burn sugar’s (Left over cheesecake mainly… oops) so that left me a little low on energy but I still managed most of my resistance, with exception of “The Plank’s” (Yeah plural, I have to do two different types and more sets than I care to remember) and I ran a good 4k in total too, but I had no more energy to carry on, so I headed to the Jacuzzi…
When I got down there the Jacuzzi was still open as was the steam room and the sauna, but the pool was closed “Due to unforeseen circumstances” Having discovered what these were later I was not surprised, but I have to admit sitting in the Jacuzzi at the end of a huge empty pool was a little surreal, it just didn’t seem right with no people swimming up and down and the odd person bobbing along doing their Aqua Walk exercises… I actually have no idea if that’s what it’s called but it sounds a good name for it, what they do is literally walk slowly up the pool bobbing along, some people have their hands out the water, some in the water, when they get to the other end, they then walk backwards up the pool… I have often thought that what with people swimming towards them concentrating on their breathing and staring at the floor of the pool, and them walking backwards (not always in the straight line) not really looking, maybe they should have a reverse warning, not only this but I also wonder if they choose this pool specifically as it has no deep end, could be interesting if they suddenly put one in ;-) but then I think I am just a little cruel!!
Breakfast today consisted of an Apple and a couple of Bananas, lovely… I do think though that I need to get some cereal in me in the mornings… perhaps Fruit and Fibre… I used to love that stuff, Lunch was Cheese and salad sandwiches… and more salad on the side, again yum… although I did feel like a bunny rabbit afterwards, but plenty of fruit and veg in me today, and this evening I am out for a meal with the theatre group I am a member of, so not sure what I will be eating then, but I can say I am a little peckish now.
Now down to business, 5.4 Million people in the UK alone have asthma, Asthma UK is campaigning for free prescriptions in England
Catch you all soon,
Jay (Red John).
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