62 Days to go... Everything will be alright in the end

Good evening blog followers,

I am starting this blog with another apology, it’s again been sometime since my last post, and so the food diary is all off again and it seems I didn’t manage to ever make a note of what I have been eating, but I can assure you where possible it has all been good decisions AND new ideas, and even smaller portions, and Porridge seems to be the way forward!

So I have been really busy at the training, I am still going more times a week than there are days in it, so I figure it’s all good that I am getting to the gym this much, working harder than ever before and not feeling so much pain, but then as the PT pointed out the other day pain is good and he gave me some killer exercises to get on with for the next couple of weeks on their new TRX A-Frame thing in my new program.

On Thursday I thought it was really time to test my steel with the new program, so I arrived at the gym nice and early, just late enough to miss the usual stampede of the regulars and get myself up to the gym with minimal fuss.

I started off with a warmup and moved on to my TRX Circuits, These consist of TRX Squats that involve holding onto straps on this A-Frame leaning back a little then squatting right to the floor then up again with a little jump, then I have walking lunges with weights (We all know about these and they KILL) followed by more squats on a BOSA ball, this is kind of a half of an exercise ball mounted onto a base, so basically you are balanced (well more teetering) on top of this ball thing and doing full squats and back up 15 times, without falling off, the theory is not only is this strengthening the legs it’s also strengthening the core as it’s having to work VERY hard to keep you upright and stop you from falling off, all I know is it’s allot harder than it looks and IT HURTS, but once the BOSA ball is done I get a short rest before I start all that again.

In my first rest period, I took a quick look around the gym, as I am getting fitter I tend to be finding I seem to be able to look up and around as I recover, previously I have been Dying / Sobbing into my gym towel, but as I looked around it struck me that the only person with a smile on his face, was me! I was the only happy person stood in the middle of a whole flock of miserable sheep, I didn’t get it, all these people were a sea of new faces to me, we were short on regulars but still, if you don’t enjoy it and if you don’t want to be there why ever are you there? If you’re not passionate about it in some way, shape or form, or even you don’t crave that AMAZING feeling you get when you do really well, why get out of bed… I mean commendable on one hand that they do it, but even myself, if I didn’t enjoy the gym and the workout and the feeling I get from it, there is no way on this earth I could get myself out of bed at 6:30 in the morning, It also worries me as I look around some days that many of these people, especially the new faces are doing exercises incorrectly or using machines incorrectly, not only can this reduce the life of the machine, but watching some people it WILL cause some serious damage to their body, perhaps they don’t think they need to see a PT once a month for a program, but even if you don’t do everything they suggest, it’s good to see what you are doing right and wrong and speak to someone who knows more about your body than you probably do, sometimes I feel I want to intervene, to help, to stop them doing any damage and show them how to do it correctly, but then the question is, if they are already doing it wrong, and clearly haven’t asked for help and advice thus far, do they really want a slightly overweight sweaty blokes help and advice? I tend to guess not, so generally I opt to tut under my breath and carry on my own merry way.

Then after my short break and my I carried on with my Circuits with a smile on my face and a few odd looks from bored looking people.

After 3 sets of the circuits, it’s time to do some ab work, again this is on the new TRX frame, I basically have to extend the straps, get down on my hands and knees and put my feet in the straps, then I use my core to lift me off the floor like an elevated plank and begin to crunch, trust me it DOES NOT take long for your abs and core in general to tire out from this, but it’s 15 reps and 3 sets… once this is done I stay on the floor and do something very similar only instead of crunching both legs… I “Mountain Climb” that is crunch one at a time… then comes the really fun and MOST challenging bit of the whole set, getting back out of the sodding straps, you now have no strength left in your core, your desperate to stretch and you can’t lift your feet out… Will take some practice I think.

The rest of the program is similar to before, I have 3 sets of circuits consisting of Mountain Climbers, Swiss Ball Roll-out, and Russian crunch things (Sorry the correct term eludes me right now) so basically MORE abs, then single arm row, and assisted pull ups, this about wraps up the resistance stuff.

So then it was onto Cardio, he wants me as well as getting on with endurance stuff, to be pushing some interval training to, so I hopped onto a treadmill and set-up some speed interval training, you set two speeds, slow… and fast… slow was 6KPH this is a brisk walking pace, the treadmill describes it as a “Jog” but my stride is bigger so for me it’s a brisk walk, and my fast pace was 12KPH, this is probably about an 85% - 90% effort for me, I can sprint faster but not on a continual interval basis.

I started off setting it for 20 minutes, already being warm I wanted to kick off with 1 minute low, 1 minute high and so on… sadly the treadmill couldn’t tell I was already warm and made me wait 3 minutes before I could up the pace, but then I was off… the first few intervals were okay, I even upped the speed a little, but once I reached the 10 minute mark the minute sprints were feeling more like 5 minutes and the minute rest as such was feeling like 5 seconds, but I kept pushing, walk 1 minute, hit the button.. sprint 1 minute… hit the button walk one minute… hit the button sprint one minute… by the end of the 20 minutes my heart was going, the blood was moving and I felt great… I cooled off on a spin bike just to flush out my legs and finished with some “Ahhhh that’s good” stretches :)

Then Friday morning it was spin off the pain time, so again I was up bright and early and attached to my spin bike, sadly our brilliant Friday / Sunday instructor is leaving soon, but because of this he is breaking the rules and mixing it up already, they usually mix tracks before a new release, just to get you used to a different workout and so that people can choose tracks they really enjoyed training to, well his choices today were epic, and I noticed they tended to favour mountain climbing, and as we know I am much happier climbing with masses of pressure and resistance on my legs that trying to get my “Rugby Player” legs moving fast, it is possible but it hurts allot, although even this is getting easier.

So an amazing spin session was had we even did out last climb to “Phat Bass” in the dark with just the disco lights, it’s a brilliant way to train as you don’t look at the actual number on the screen (i.e. your gear) you just concentrate on how it feels if it’s killing your legs your okay, if they feel okay you need more resistance so you push it up, if you can’t keep to the beat and they are killing AND you can’t breathe you need to pull it back just a little.
Two more spin sessions have followed since Friday, and I am ready and raring to go again tomorrow morning, I am really starting to think this becoming a spin instructor would be a great idea, I love it... So why not get paid to do it lol. 

Now here is a little motivational speech for you…
“Everything will be alright in the end, and if everything is not yet alright, then it is not yet the end”

So more to come, and more hard work, but I can assure you I am feeling the benefits and so is my running... I will be fitting in another long run this week too, and I am hoping even a road running session.

As for the food, I will carry on in the same vein, with the help of my new secret weapon, Cayenne pepper... It's a huge metabolism booster, but watch out... a little to much and you'll sweat like mad!

Now for the business bit, I NEED you support, I need to raise £1600 for Asthma UK, a much overlooked charity who's work save millions of lives, they need our help, that's why I am pushing my training to the very limits to find out more about Asthma UK and how they save the lives of people suffering from this debilitating condition visit their site at http://www.asthma.org.uk then when you are ready to sponsor me, pop along to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and give anything you can... OR  shout me and I'll come and find you with my sponsorship forms.

Live well,

Jay (Red John).

73 Days... Cycling, it's a wonderful thing!

Good Evening Followers,

Sorry I know it’s been a little while since my last blog, it has been SUCH a busy time I am really trying to step up my training, so I am finding less energy for the rest of life’s little things at the moment.

• So what have I been upto that has made me so busy, well the last few days went something like follows… Monday 30th: Spin
• Tuesday31st: Resistance Training
• Wednesday 1st: Pilates
• Thursday 2nd: Resistance Training
• Friday 3rd: Spin
• Saturday 4th: Group Cycling (More on this shortly)
• Sunday 5th: Resistance Training & Walking to and from the gym in the snow...
• Monday 6th: TWO (Yes two) Spin Sessions
• Tuesday 7th: Resistance Training
• Wednesday 8th: Pilates
• Thursday 9th: Resistance Training

And then tomorrow (Friday 10th) I have another two spin sessions booked, one in the morning and one in the evening... I think I must be MAAD, and then there is the rest of my life that has to fit in around all that training, I can tell you, right now I am sleeping like a Bobble... And she sleeps with very soundly at the end of the bed, purring all night!

Anywho, you may have noticed on Saturday I tried something a little different, as opposed to a Spin session I did a “Group Cycling” session, I just thought I would try summat a little different and there was a space available, well it pushed you but in a whole different way… I would say that Spin is more like Interval Training, it gets you heart rate through the roof, then allows it to drop a little before it’s up there again, this can be sprints or hill climbing or a combination of both… Group Cycling however is more of an endurance thing, there is much less out of the seat climbing, and much more on pace at 140rpm for 3 minutes, so its more of a gears lowers, and push for longer, still to music and still amazing fun, so I have booked another… I do think Spin is still my favourite, mainly because there is lots of on the beat climbing, I love this part, it makes me feel really good.

But still Group Cycling, or even Spin… while you are doing them you often hear yourself say “God isn’t it over yet” almost as soon as it’s finished and you have cleaned your bike your thinking “When is my next session” this is the feeling I love... Cycling, it's a wonderful thing!

Now I am afraid that the food Diary has kinda fallen by the weigh-side this week as I haven't been blogging quite as regularly, and I can't remember that far back... I am therefore going to start a paper food diary for future use :)

BUT I can tell you dinner tonight will be Cottage Pie... and last night it was chips (Naughty I know but the amount of work I am doing... and I had a hair cut to be ready for).

So I will leave you all there this evening, with a little reminder of what all this is for, I am running the London Marathon to raise money for AsthmaUK, find out more here http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to http://www.clitherow.co.uk and sponsor me!!

Love, and Fitness,

Jay (Red John).

86 Days Left, and a breakthrough!

Good Evening Bloggers,

Well it's Friday, and I think I have finally recovered from my heady heights as a BBC Radio Suffolk star, people didn’t seem to think that it gave me the right to walk around like I was a celeb, couldn’t they have humoured me for a couple of hours?? Or at least sponsor me… Hey ho… If you would like to listen again to my Interview with Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk… You can find it here, I turn up at about 54 minutes in http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00n2qp5/Lesley_Dolphin_Rene_van_den_Oort_and_John_Clitherow/

So this morning I was up nice and early again, breakfast down and heading to the gym, I was a little late again on account of de-icing the car so they had already started the warm up, but I didn’t miss much.

The session was great, surprisingly so in fact as my knees have been a little achy from the run on Thursday, but it was great, I kept pace, I sweated loads and I worked HARD… And we got to do our interval track in the dark, sounds silly but it’s brilliant, lights off, Disco lights on and pedalling like mad to the beat, I love spin more and more every time I do it... but trust me it never gets easier it just keeps getting harder and harder, apart from the fact that they change it, and make each release harder anyway… as you get used to it you tend to put up the resistance, and push it harder, these two facts just make for a tougher workout, LOVE IT!

I also had a small breakthrough today, I picked up the wrong jeans and packed them in my gym bag, why is this a breakthrough you ask? Well I grabbed these jeans and pulled them on, realised they were tighter than the ones I should have had on and thought “Oh no, It’s the wrong trousers Gromit, I’ll never get these done up” I pulled them up, fastened the button and did up the zip… I was in shock it was a big WOW moment, I stood for a minute in awe… you see these jeans have always been too small for me, but I kept them in the hope that one day they would, and today they did, by the time all this had run through my head people were giving me an odd look from staring at my jeans, But hey here I sit in my fitting designer jeans, another small breakthrough.

Today food diary follows:

• Breakfast: Two slices of toast, with Marmalade
• Lunch: Left over Vegies (Broc & Leaks) and some baked beans
• Dinner: Plain fried rice, Chicken and Veg in black bean sauce

So yes, dinner is a takeaway but I have made it reasonably healthy, and after the run an the spin this week I think i'm okay, and im quoting the 80/20 rule :)

Right now onto the important bit... As most of you will now know I am training to run the London Marathon to raise much needed funds for Asthma UK, to find out more about what they do visit their website at http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me whatever you can!

Live Strong,

Jay (Red John).

87 Days Left, A long run, And the radio show!

Good Evening Readers,

Firstly… Yes you are right that was me you heard talking to Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk this afternoon, missed me… you can always listen again here  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00n2qp5/Lesley_Dolphin_Rene_van_den_Oort_and_John_Clitherow/ I turn up at 54 minutes!! It was amazing and a real confidence boost to speak to Lesley and to talk about my blog, this blog, and what it means to me.

Well last night after I posted my blog I got very tired very fast, I put this down to a lack of a certain black fizzy drink that I tend to enjoy in the evenings, this week I have been cutting it down and last night I didn’t have a drop, just water… So I was in bed and long asleep by 10pm, if a little grumpy as my partner pointed out!

I awoke this morning and climbed out of bed at 6am, after breakfast I headed off to the gym to begin my long run.

First thing on today’s agenda I applied my “Body Glide” anti-chafe stick to the soles of my feet, and also my thighs where my shorts seem to rub, I got on the treadmill and began, first a walk while I was getting the music lined up on the iPod, gradually increasing the pace bit by bit until I broke into a gentle jog, I stayed here for 9 minutes, I then found my training tracks, now I haven’t used these new ones much yet, but they are on the beat training, you run to the rhythm, and as you go it tells you how long you have been running and how many beats per minute, it starts at 165… that is 165 foot falls per minute, it’s about 10 – 10.5KPH from this point the speed gradually increases through the workout, the music is upbeat and the rhythm is easy to follow, and a trainer keeps giving you motivational information and encouragement, and you just run…

20 minutes into the session is where I normally start to feel sore feet, blisters forming… I know it’s probably time to look into some new trainers but they aren’t that old… but I think maybe they could be a better fit, but nothing, this anti-chafe stick I had applied to the soles of my feet was stopping it, no blisters forming, no pain… then I realised my shorts weren’t rubbing, this was REALLY novel, and it just meant that now it was me, and the run.

I pushed on to 30 minutes, I was finding myself short of breath now, this wasn’t a surprise as I have only just recovered from a chest infection and this is the first long run since then, I have been putting it off rather for this reason so I wasn’t surprised, I slowed the pace to recover a little and took some deep breaths before picking up the pace again, it felt quite hard going from this point on, my breakfast felt like it was “Just there” I clearly didn’t get up early enough before I ran, but I carried on all be it at a little slower pace than I wanted to be at.

I hit 50 minutes, usually by this time I have done my 10K, this morning I was at 8.5K so not to bad seeing as it’s the first time back since the chest infection, and saving grace I did feel like I could have carried on at that pace up to the 10K, but sadly I was out of time, I needed to cool down and stretch out and take a shower before work, but all in all I was really pleased, Spin session tomorrow… then I intend to run at the weekend too!

Once I got to work I spent most the rest of the morning thinking about my Radio interview with Lesley, I think I was a little nervous as we all would be but also very excited, I couldn't wait to speak with her, and hopefully show you all how passionate I am about this, about my fitness, about running the London marathon, and raising money for Asthma UK.

So what have I been eating today:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs on home-made Wholemeal bread (yeah it's the same loaf still going)
• Post Run: Protein Shake and an orange
• Lunch: Bubble and Squeak patty
• Dinner: Bubble and Squeak patty (this is the last one) and some spicy beans... Oh, and a lil bit of Chocolate cake, I figure today I am allowed!

All in all I think it's been a pretty amazing day, Good food, Great workout, brilliant chat with Lesley, my confidence and my enthusiasm is running high... I am having a real buz!

So what's all this about, well right now my goal is to run the London Marathon to raise much needed funds for Asthma UK, Did you know that 75% of hospital admissions for asthma are preventable, and 90% of all deaths caused by asthma can be saved? Asthma UK are working towards this, but they need our help, to find out more visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Giving site at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon, why not sponsor me just £1, maybe £1 a mile? Whatever you can afford, anything is amazing!

Live Strong, and see you all VERY soon,

Jay (Red John).

88 Days Left, and BOY it's hot in here...‏

Good evening readers,

Firstly I will start with a little reminder... listen out for me on BBC Suffolk Radio tomorrow at 1:30ish on Lesley Dolphin's show, All About Suffolk :)

Well this morning I was up at the usual time and heading into the gym for my Pilates session, it went very well today I am starting to feel stronger and find some of the moves much easier than they were a few weeks back… and finding it easier to stand up straight and hold myself correctly, although I still seem to have a habit of slouching at my desk… oops.

So after Pilates I headed to the Jacuzzi where I met my friend from yesterday, who commented “See I recognise you now your in your trunks” I had a bubble in the still rather foamy Jacuzzi and then went to steam my aching muscles, all good.

Now I know that some people feel the cold more than others, and I do understand that sitting in an all-male office I have the luxury of the thermostat staying on a constant 22’C summer or winter, and granted my Muscles are always warm at the moment and my metabolism burning like mad, but today I had to nip up to another office, I walked in the door and already felt the heat hit, it was like an oven… when I then started doing what I needed I felt REALLY embarrassed, all I had to do was move one piece of furniture, open up the back of a desk and plug in a few cables, well I was pouring with sweat, drenched, I was sweating more than I do in a spin class, I was protesting “Honestly I am not unfit, I go to the gym every morning this is mad” luckily the lady who sits in this office agreed it was usually far to hot up there and that she just dresses accordingly, i.e. for summer… I finished up my job, put the desk back together and left, a little embarrassed and soaked, I then just stood outside in the wind for a good 5 minutes before I returned to my desk, back to normal… I have always known that my body is great at keeping itself warm, with the exception of my feet that I usually cover up of an evening, and my partner is often saying “It’s cold” when I am feeling fine, but I did think that was a little over hot, to be honest I can’t imagine how they stay awake up there in the afternoon.

It did make me think though, if I was unfit I would have been up there doing that work sweating like mad, and struggling with the heat the work would have taken me longer as my muscles wouldn’t have been able to cope, and my body probably wouldn’t have been able to regulate the temperature as fast as it did, I decided it was testament to how fit I actually am that my body with its muscles being hot from the gym, being thrown into a hot environment still managed to allow me to happily move furniture while trying to regulate my temperature, well this is my excuse and I am sticking to it!! But if it’s always that warm up there I am surprised there aren’t more ill people floating around.

So now that I have cooled off, I am sitting here feeling good from my Pilates, all I can feel at the moment is a slight muscle ache in my shin’s and shoulders, but nothing that will stop me, and as I think I have probably said before DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscular Soreness) left over from exercising is often a very nice feeling, you see to grow muscles we have to “damage” them… well that is lifting the weights or working out causes very small micro-tear’s, the body then rebuilds this damage only making it stronger, hence our muscle mass grows, the body is making an effort to say “Oh, I don’t want that to happen again, so I’ll make it better” This is how our muscles grow… and this is why we get this gentle ache, and that makes me feel good, it means I have worked hard enough for my body to need recovery, this means at I sit here “Repairing” myself, every minute I am getting stronger… HOW COOL IS THAT!? You know maybe I should become a Personal Trainer? This stuff AMAZES me!

Time to discuss the food…

• Breakfast: Eat Natural Bar
• Post Workout: Protein Shake
• Morning Snack: Apple
• Lunch: Sausage sandwich (Made using my home-made bread)
• Dinner: Bubble and Squeak, And a Protein Shake

Notice I have added in Post workout, I have been neglecting this... Generally I have a Protein shake after each workout as it just helps the muscle recovery, I haven't been putting this down but technically this too is a food, or should be classed as such.

I am really starting to get into this food diary thing, there are two main reasons for this, as I tend to write this blog throughout the day, 5 minutes here, 5 there, I means that to an extent I have to plan what I am cooking for dinner, so I don't have to change the blog, it also means that I am not deviating from my food and snacking on things I shouldn't as I would feel VERY guilty putting on there "Snack: Masses of Chocolate" so actually creating this food diary is giving me strength to say no to stuff that I shouldn't eat.

As you have all guessed by now, I am currently training to run the London Marathon to raise money for Asthma UK, this is an organisation that I have a great deal of admiration for, not always in the limelight but really out there saving lives, and they need our help... To find out more about what Asthma UK do, visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Virgin Money Just Giving Page here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me, so toghether we can support Asthma UK.

Live Strong,
Jay (Red John).

89 Days, And I didn't recognise you with your clothes on!

Good Evening friends,


So the date and time is set for the live chat about this very blog, Yes that's right, All being well I will be speaking to Lesley Dolphin on her "All About Suffolk" show on BBC Radio Suffolk at 1:30pm, Thursday afternoon... I am really looking forward to it, but at the same time I am a little nervous so listen in please, then feel free to call me afterwards and laugh at how awful I sounded :)


Back to the training, I was up this morning at 6:00, and getting myself ready for the gym... Sadly I realised I didn't have my lucky gym cap, well it's not really lucky as such but I have to wear a cap to cover the mess that is my hair at that time in the morning... I usually wear it until I've warmed up then just carry it around like my security blanket, sad? Yes a little!


So I don another cap and head to the gym with the intention of stopping at reception to claim back my cap, I arrived and sauntered up to reception where another regular was sorting something out, while someone was checking to see if my cap had been handed in the regular clocked me and said "Oh Hello, Didn't recognise you with your clothes on" at this point you could hear a pin drop and I went bright red, she bust out laughing before I could answer and said "oh, sorry, it's because we only ever see each other in the Jacuzzi so he has his trunks on" I think it made my morning I was giggling all the way to the changing room and I think it brightened the receptionists day to... Always happy to make people smile :)


Once all the frivolity was over, I got my iPod on and got up to the gym, where I popped my head in the door to the spin room and was re-united with my cap, this morning was gonna be a good one!


The workout went really well, It wasn't a full workout but I warmed up with a jog on the treadmill for 10 minutes, followed by chest press, I then grabbed a medicine ball and made a bee-line for the power plates, you will know from my previous blogs that this normally REALLY hurts, and I was ready for the pain, I stated off with my lunges an nothing, all was good, so I carried on and here I am now sitting here an my glutes are fine, I have a slight ache in my calves but thats it, nothing more... I was pleased, this means that my body is finally getting used to the power plate, and this means I am gaining strength, and therefore muscle mass... all good for burning more calories, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn, even when your just sitting here typing your blog with a cat on ya lap!


I carried on with the workout, Single arm row was next... sadly I had to drop the weight on this, I normally lift 18KG a side but today it just felt a little to heavy so I dropped to a 16KG and finished the workout, sadly I was now running out of time, so I had a cool down on the treadmill and stretched out... then hit the showers... I was feeling rather good, and very energised!


Tomorrow is a nice relaxing (yeah right) Pilates always good to stretch out and brilliant for building up the core muscles, it's funny to think that you can break a sweat not doing Cardio or lifting heavy weights, but if you are doing it right Pilates really does make you sweat.


Over to today's food diary:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, with Salmon
• Mid-Morning Snack: Dried fruit and nuts
• Lunch: Home-made Onion and Butternut Squash soup, and two small slices of Home-made wholegrain bread
• Dinner: Sausages, Mash and Cabbage

I have also been drinking mostly water today (always good to shed the lbs).

I also managed to re-stock on my Protein powder today, I had the last this morning after the gym, luckily I ordered some more and picked it up from the delivery depot today on my way home from work, it's a HUGE help for the muscles to recover and also keeps the apatite down as Protein is key for the body to recognise it's full.

So all in all a good day, and I have settled down with a glass of water to watch the biggest looser, I would love to pull big losses like they do each week, but the fact of the matter is they have people telling them what to eat, and when... AND they workout up to 4 time a day, something I can't manage with a full time job.

Now for the shameless plug, why am training so hard I hear you ask, well apart from my strong desire to get fitter and loose more weight I am also training to run the Virgin London Marathon to raise money for Asthma UK, to find out more about what they do take a look at http://www.asthma.org.uk then pop along to my Sponsorship page http://uk.virginmoneyjustgiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me whatever you can, how about £1 a mile?!

Take care,

Jay (Red John)

90 Days to go, and the LONG sleep... Plus some AMAZING news!

Good Evening friends,

Well I left you on Friday having had a jam packed week, and let me tell you I am hoping to fit more in this week, although right this moment I am feeling like I will be to tired for the next month to do anything but by tomorrow morning, after a nice sleep I am sure I will be fine :)

So the weekend seemed to come and go in a flash and I didn’t manage to get to the gym as I planned, I went to bed Friday night aching from the week of exercise and didn’t climb out of bed until midday Saturday, as my partner commented this is VERY unlike me, I woke up once or twice but with no energy to more I turned over and went back to sleep… However once I was up I felt energised and my aches and pains were almost completely gone… clearly just what my body needed… however this did mean I was behind on the housework I had intended to do that morning!

Sunday again seemed to go in a flash, I was out of bed a little earlier at 9, having been awake but just comfy since about 7:30 but I had some errands to run so instead of taking the car I walked to a couple of shops and wandered back through a deserted industrial estate, this was harder than you might think as I seemed to spend most of the time walking against the wind, but that’s all more good exercise!!

Today I was up at 6ish (Later than I had planned) so I got myself going and headed off to the gym for my Spin session, I arrived just on time, but my card wouldn’t let me though… ARGGHHH… Turned out that the gym are cracking down on people without Photo’s on their account, a total oxy-moron seeing as it’s them who take the photos and thus if it’s not on the system it’s their fault… ahem… anyway, she insisted that she would just take a quick photo, Now she was lovely and it wasn’t her fault at all but like 6 minutes later and I don’t know how many fake smiles we got there, but those 6 minutes meant I had missed about 3 minutes of the warm up, and this morning I needed the full warm-up to ease into it but still I worked and I worked hard, Sue was as always amazing and kept us all motivated to the end, although I think everyone was feeling the fatigue this morning as Sue was struggling to get us to respond or answer back, in fact I think we were slow to respond to any stimuli, but we did it a good session, not my best, not amazing but still very good :) After that I went off for a bubble in a VERY foamy Jacuzzi!

The rest of this week is looking pretty busy, It's resistance training tomorrow, Wednesday is Pilates, Thursday may be a run if my "bodyglide" has arrived (this is to help stop blisters forming on my feeties) but if not then some more resistance training and a short run, and Friday spin… I am also hoping to catch my mate down the gym and arrange a swimming evening, he assures me with correct technique I can swim a mile in half an hour, we’ll see... and if I have any energy left an outdoor run at the weekend :)

Now onto the foodie bit… The weekend was a little messed up with my late sleep in but here goes:

Saturday: 

• Breakfast (A very late one): Protein Banana Pancake. 
• Lunch / Dinner: Homemade Onion and Butternut Squash soup, with 2 slices of Homemade Wholegrain Bread (Even the chicken & veg stock for the soup was homemade, HOW GOOD ARE WE? 

Sunday:

• Breakfast: Small bacon sandwich, made with homemade Wholegrain bread. 
• Lunch: Slice of homemade Wholegrain bread, with some spread. 
• Dinner: Roast Chicken, Roast Pots, Yorkie Pud, LOADS a broccoli and some leaks, with 1 glass of wine, OH and homemade Gravy.

And that takes us onto Today (Monday):

• Breakfast: Cereal Bar (Well I was running late) 
• Lunch: Baked beans on a left over yorkie pud 
• Dinner: Homemade Onion and Butternut Squash soup and another couple a slices of homemade bread. 

Verdict? Well I don’t think there is anything in there to bad so were looking good, and I am sticking to my homemade only bread, this way I have allot less as it's only when I make it, AND I know exactly what's in it, not only this but today biccies were opened at work, and even with much goading to "Eat them" from my colleagues I didn't touch a single one of the 150 calorie delights! 

I've also had some AMAZING news today, BBC Suffolk Radio are doing pieces on blogs, and they are interested in featuring my blog, so all being well I will be featuring on Lesley Dolphin's "All about Suffolk" show... How amazing... but watch this space, you'll read more as I know!

So then, what's this all about, well I am blogging my progress as I train to run the London Marathon to raise lots of money for Asthma UK, I feel Asthma UK is a largely overlooked charity, Asthma UK's work is extremely important in helping the millions of people who suffer with this debilitating condition, to find out more about Asthma UK visit http://www.asthma.org.uk then please PLEASE pop along to my fundraising page here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Marathon, Anything you can afford is amazing, how about £1 a mile, or even just £1, if everyone who reads this gives just £1 i'll be MUCH closer to my fund raising goal!

Love Strong,

Jay (Red John)