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).