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).

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)

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, funding research into cures and treatments and providing information and advice to help people manage their asthma… Around 250,000 people have severe Asthma meaning they don’t respond to conventional treatments and their lives can be a constant battle against the symptoms of asthma, Asthma UK with our help and support are working to make their lives easier, to find out more please visit http://www.asthma.org.uk and please pop along to my virgin money giving fundraising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me, OR if you prefer the old fashioned way let me know and next time I see you ill stick a sponsorship form under your nose… Hey, why not even sponsor me a sum per mile?! It’s 26 miles incase you wondered ;)

Catch you all soon,

Jay (Red John).

That Friday feeling...

Today was spin off the pain Friday, I’m not 100% sure that this is quite what happened this Friday but none the less I was there at 6:30 in my seat and pedalling hard for an hour, today however I was lacking in energy and it showed, I tried to push it as much as I could but the energy just wasn’t forthcoming, but I pressed on and ended up having an okay session and even got on okay with the dreaded track 5, although I did slow at one point through track 5, and found it hard to catch up again, but managed it… Just!

I put this low in energy down to 3 things...
     1) I did 10K yesterday for the first time in my life, gotta sap a little energy no?
     2) I didn’t have a proper dinner last night, it was just two cheese rolls and a hand full of crisps!
     3) I had a late night…

Well actually when I say I had a late night, and my other half will be chuckling at this no end, I mean I didn’t get to bed until about 10:30ish, since I started the training I have been more inclined to get to bed at 9:30ish, this is so I am asleep by 10 and getting my 8 hours in before I have to get up at 6… last night it just didn’t happen, this is my excuse anyway and I am sticking to it… although to be honest I had been looking forward to this evening when I could stay up as late as I want, although right now bed is starting to call, and it’s getting to loud to ignore for very long, but we will see!

Once spin was over I was bubbling away in the Jacuzzi as usual, and today I was enjoying it even more than usual I really had that Friday Feeling, not only had I finished a full week of training, every day for 5 days, it’s also the end of a working week, so pretty sweet day really, I was so pleased with what I have achieved this week, going to the gym every day and still managing to run 10K in just over an hour for the first time ever, I think that’s a good week… well done body, and well done brain for the motivation, We start it all over again on Monday :)

So this evening I have been making an Amaretto and White Chocolate Cheesecake, no it’s not for me to stuff over the weekend all myself it’s for me to take to a party tomorrow where I hope to feed it to some un-suspecting people then pounce on them for some sponsorship money for my Marathon, and this brings me to an interesting point, I am running the London Marathon in aid of Asthma UK who for the last 5 years, have supported a number of projects through the Challenge Fund, which has awarded grants to healthcare professionals and community groups or individuals for initiatives that will identify, develop and promote good practice to improve the lives of people with asthma, to see what else they do and how they help Asthma sufferers visit them at 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 Virgin London Marathon, or if you would prefer I can pop along and see you and take your money in person?! Choice is yours :) (Not giving is not an option, and I will be “Sendin round da lads” if you don’t, please note for those whom it may interest I will ensure these lads are not at all attractive and will just look like large club bouncers) Fank Youuu!

Until next time,
Jay (Red John).

10K Done, and i'm still standing!!

I was late again this morning *Shock Horror* so didn’t settle onto the treadmill until about 6:55, but undeterred I started to set-up my run.

I decided at this point, that as I was running late I would limit my run to 1 hour as opposed to 10K, and of course 5 minutes on the end for a cool down, so I began to run… I was fine for the first 10 minutes, and up to quite a pace, just under 11 KPH, but I soon realised this was a hard pace to sustain, luckily the training music I had piped into my brain slow just ever so slightly that I was about to drop to 10.5 KPH doesn’t sound allot but boy did it feel it, again I was okay until I got to my 4km, at this point, I felt the need to slow a little more and came to a fast jog, I only stayed here for a minute however and soon upped the pace again as frankly I got a little bored, well at this point the people I was watching outside doing their Boot Camp looked like they were standing around just drinking water, as opposed to the dramatic throwing of tyres that had been going on up to this point!!

So with the music in my head and the gym around me blocked out I carried on running at a steady 10.3KPH, I ran on without to much problem until I got to the 6.5K mark, things started to hurt at this point, mostly my feet, but also muscles, it is rare for my legs to ache WHILE I am running so this for me was a first, but then running 10K and even running for an hour are a first for me, so I am not surprised… I pushed on through, the Boot camp were a welcome distraction, watching them hoist heavy things around and run up and down seemed to keep me entertained, and the music I was listening to by AudioFuel kept me focused and with it, I was refusing to give up.

I got to 9K, by this time I had been staring at the screen the whole way through the last K and had thoughts of hitting the “Cool Down” when I got to 9K, but some little voice in my head said “No, do it, keep it up, keep going, this is the first of many small goals, don’t give up” so with 9K on the clock and about 3 minutes left, I upped the speed just a tad and turned the music up, I blocked everything out, all that mattered was running till that treadmill slowed down, all that mattered was doing the best that I could I was losing myself in the moment, totally…

Next thing I know there is a beep, and I slow, to a gentle jog… 9.7K at this point, I still had 5 minutes of “Cool down” I knocked it upto 6 minutes and 3 of those were a jog, so over the 10K mark I jogged just as the machine beeped and slowed to a fast walk, I had done it... 10K in 1 hour and 5 minutes… not bad for an overweight asthmatic who only gave up smoking 2 weeks ago and has never run 10K before, and never run for 1 hour before… and to be only 5 minutes off reaching the goal my PT set is an amazing feeling, so hopefully over the next three weeks I can work on making this run more stable and make my body more accustomed to it so I don’t even have to slow down once, and come off with less hurty feet :)

Sadly all of this losing myself in the moment, and the fact I needed to spend a LONG time stretching to ensure I didn’t make myself cease up totally meant that a long shower later and I ended up being nearly ½ hour late for work… Oops… so to compensate I was at work until 5:30 today as opposed to my normal 5:00.

As for my body, I seem to have fared very well, I have the odd ache but nothing serious, and no joint pain, but feet hurt a little, and I did have a blister or two. So all in all good… tomorrow is a spin session which will give my legs a rest, apparently… but we all know from last week that whatever it does, it does seem to “Spin off the pain!” so if I wake up tomorrow a little achy the spin session followed by my bubble in the Jacuzzi should get rid of that, and finish off the weeks training nicely!

So why am I mad enough to run the London Marathon I hear you all ask, well I am running to raise money for Asthma UK, who among many, MANY other things organise the ever popular Kick Asthma Holidays, Asthma UK's week-long Kick Asthma adventure holidays are for children and young people with asthma (and other related conditions). Combining physical and social activities such as abseiling, kayaking, discos and quizzes, with educational sessions that teach the youngsters more about how to control their asthma, the holidays give kids a great confidence boost and parents the chance to relax for a week, to find out more, and what else Asthma UK get upto pop along to http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you have and want to show your support pop along to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the London Matathon 2012.

Until next time, hopefully still not aching!!

Jay (Red John).

Psyching up for the first long run…

Well yesterday saw a very successful Spin session in the morning, With the usual side order of banter… Sadly Track 5 seems NO easier at all, well I say that I was able to stick with it a little more this time without slowing down, so maybe it is getting easier?!

As usual post Spin I was found bubbling away in the Jacuzzi happily chatting to others who have completed the Marathon, I am starting to feel more and more like I could actually do this, a good thing I suppose seeing as I have made that commitment J

I did also have a little more exercise last night, that of cleaning a swimming pool, it’s harder work than you might think but for some strange reason I really enjoy it, so Spin done, and pool clean… and I ate mostly salad stuffs… can’t be bad!

Today I hit the gym a little later than usual, I was a little slower getting out of bed and pouring coffee down my throat than usual, not sure why but I think as I didn’t have a specific class booked at a specific time I was just being a rebel, so I arrived a whole 15 minutes later than normal and began a full resistance workout, I started on the treadmill just to warm up, then it was legs, arms, lunges, more arms, chin ups, the dreaded plank (Holding your body still for 30 seconds like that, my god… sweat was pouring off me) then I had a short jog / cool off on the treadmill, and did many stretches, this was to try and stop the aches and pains I felt last week, so far it’s worked with the exception of a small dull ache in my Glutes and stomach area. But by this time I was still 15 minutes behind, but I still managed to cram in a little Jacuzzi and a steam!!

So this leaves me ready for tomorrow… and psyching myself up for the first long run… I am hoping (but am not guaranteeing) that I will make 10K and I am interested to see how long this takes me, seeing as my goal is to do it in 1 hour in 4 weeks’ time… I intend to do one of these long runs once a week, so this will be my first of 4 before the next re-program, when the PT will no doubt ramp the sessions up even harder.

I was just discussing the 10K run tomorrow with a good friend, we came to the conclusion that to do this before work and that early in the morning I was mad, and that I would probably die (yes we are a little dramatic) however then more seriously we were discussing how much I was going to ache all day Thursday no matter how much I stretched, she then told me that the secret to not aching is to have an ice bath straight after to get the lactic acid out of your muscles, Oh course, me being me immediately poo’ed on this idea from a great height, to then be presented with this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/treatment_room/features/newsid_3097000/3097114.stm detailing how and why this works and that she is correct (As women always are) She is likely reading this now chuckling to herself, I did however say that 10K or 40K I would not then put myself through the torture of sitting in an ice bath until as the link above suggests “Your legs go numb” ho hum.

So for tea tonight I will be having Sausage and tomato pasta, notice how I am stuffing in the Pasta the night before a long run, I figure I will need the energy.

Over to the business bit, there will be no jokes about plugs tonight (I feel I need to get this one a rest for a little while, or at least until I can think of a few more anyway). So I am running the London Marathon for Asthma UK who among many other things are pioneering a new Asthma and Allergy friendly certification program, Asthma UK will award this certification to products that have been subject to rigorous independent scientific testing to verify their ability to help people with asthma and associated allergies restrict the number of allergy triggers they come into contact with, this type of work is fundamental to people who are trying to live with asthma and can make their everyday life easier to deal with to see what else Asthma UK do take a peek at their website http://www.asthma.org.uk and please sponsor me whatever you can to help, my Virgin Money Giving page can be found here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow or if you would prefer to give me the case and add your name to an old fashioned piece of paper, let me know and I will swing by and collect ya money!!

So until tomorrow when I blog how I get on with my first 10K, or at least as close as I get to it this time!!

See you all soon,

Jay (Red John).

Nibble, Nibble little fishy's‏

Well hello,
So Monday, and after a weekend of staying off the exercise as instructed, unless you class some walking to the buffet table from my seat and back again at a party exercise, I did as I was told.

I did actually venture to the gym on Sunday, but this was not to work out, more to sit and bubble away in the Jacuzzi, although it wasn’t exactly warm, so the steam room and the hot coffee warmed us up afterwards, and while I was sitting there sipping my hot latte, I thought… Why not give those Gurra Ruffa fish a go and get a pedicure, so I wandered off to reception to enquire, no more than 5 minutes later she said “See what’s it like and stick your hand in” all these gentle little fish swimming in every direction you can imagine like they didn’t have a care in the word, my fingers broke the surface of the water and almost immediately they swam to nibble… this intrigued me even more, so money was on the table, I collected my coffee and positioned it aside me, sat on the seat on the edge of the tank and dropped my feet in… well what a feeling, it’s kind of a cross between a tickle that doesn’t annoy you and a 9V DC current across your skin (Come on we’ve all played with those batteries), not only is it a nice feeling, it’s also relaxing just sitting watching the fish, especially with a coffee close at hand J And feet removed feeling much softer and happier, and was much easier to run on this morning, however, there is still allot of work to be done on them so I may go for an old fashioned pedicure next, just use the fishies as a maintenance and relaxation thing.

Slightly off course there, but all relevant, I need my feet in good condition to take to the roads, nothing worse than running on a painful foot!

Well now to the training, It’s the start of my 5 day program, and having sat thinking about it at the weekend (probably while being nibbled) I decided that my idea of “Hey I will run my first 10K on a Monday and all Mondays from this point forward will be known as LONG RUN MONDAY!” was a silly idea, mainly because I have been instructed on a long run day not to do any resistance training on my core muscles at the same time, or even on the same day if I can help it, this would have meant if I ran today, then did Spin on Tuesday followed by resistance on Wednesday, as Friday is a spin day I would have ended up doing resistance training on Thursday making it two days back to back, perhaps not the brightest idea I have come up with… So today I did some resistance training, with a good splodge of running, mixed up with a Jacuzzi (Sounds like baking a cake really doesn’t it) so Tomorrow will be Spin, Wednesday I think Resistance, Thursday a LONG run (Eek) and Friday, Spin… let’s see how I get on, sounds like a full on week… and I feel a pasta night coming on Wednesday in preparation for my Thursday run.

Interesting point that raises… I haven’t yet started that Training and food diary, perhaps tonight is the night?

Another “off point” note, I discovered today that my gym have a new treadmill, apparently you can play Solitaire on it… When I commented “HOW… Running fast, poking screen” I was informed that for safety it cuts off the game when you get close to 7KPH (a fast walk really) and thus is pretty useless for me, not that I can play Solitaire anyway, but it made me chuckle.

Ooh… Did I mention to, I lost 1lb last week, okay not ground breaking but a good start I feel lol, that’s 1lb less to drag around 26.2 miles J

So then, what do I do with my iPod at the end of a tough workout… I plug it in to charge… (Know where this is going?) Here comes my “plug”…. I am running the Virgin London Marathon to raise money for Asthma UK, who among many other things fund research into all aspects of asthma, from scientific studies into the biology of our lungs, through to the creation of new treatments and investigating its causes, many of which are still unknown, to find out more and what else they get up to, visit http://www.asthma.org.uk and once you have seen the amazing work they do and want to help pop along to my Virgin Money Giving page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JohnClitherow and sponsor me to run the 26.2 Virgin London Marathon!!

I thank you,

See you all here soon,

Jay (Red John).