Week 5

This last week has been a bit hit and miss, thanks to the good old British weather again! Now I remember why in the last couple of years I didn’t start training till springtime! Maybe also explains why I’ve never been able to run that fast until well into the running season before!

Anyway, Monday night’s Spin class was cancelled, unsurprisingly, because of the snow. Even if it hadn’t been cancelled we wouldn’t have gone anyway, driving conditions were terrible! Did my weights in the house instead to at least feel I was doing something!

Luckily on Tuesday the weather had improved so I got to my Body Balance class. The first girl who took it was back again, and I found I am starting to enjoy it more and more (as I figure out what I’m actually doing!) Still have slight issues with my balance, i.e. I fall over. A lot. But I think I am maybe not quite as bad as I was when I first went!! Body Balance is all about your core strength and I’m hoping that if I keep going it will help my overall fitness and improve my running, because of my core stability or whatever they call it! The stuff they talk about on Dancing on Ice!

Wednesday night was back to doing weights again, then didn’t get a chance to do anything else again until Saturday morning. I went out for a run and for the first 2.5k I felt great, was running about 10.6kph, feeling happy with it, then started running back up the hill on my usual route and nearly gave up! It was such a struggle to keep going, in the end I pushed myself into doing a 5k in just under 29 and a half minutes, ave about 10.2kph. I must have done a really slow second half of the run! However, although I really struggled I can take some positives from it. Firstly, although I wanted to give up, I kept going right to the 5k. I used to give up far too easily when running, so I am proud of myself for not stopping. I think now I am better at knowing my limits, and knowing how much I can push my body. I am aware that when I start feeling tired I do usually have a bit more in reserve! Secondly, I ran the 5k about 30 seconds faster than I did my previous 5k about 3 weeks ago. Therefore, I have improved!! Thirdly, it was a freezing cold day therefore not ideal running conditions, and finally I woke up the next day not feeling that great so was probably starting to not feel well on the Saturday!! So there, four good reasons why I should be pleased with my run!! I feel better already! (I was hoping for a 5th reason, one for every kilometre, but can’t think of one unfortunately!) Actually just thought of one, the first part of my run was at a really good speed, so at least it wasn’t a totally slow run! Did my weights after my run, then had a nice long soak in the bath! I remember when Saturday mornings used to be about having a lie in….!

Sunday: as I said above I wasn’t feeling too great, tried to go a run but made it to a kilometre but my legs were feeling like lead so decided not to push myself. I’m a great believer in listening to your body and if you are not feeling 100% you shouldn’t push yourself and risk getting more unwell (despite what the other half says about me being a quitter!! (This coming from the guy who spend the whole Saturday lying on the couch because he had the sniffles!!)

One thing I’m finding at the moment is that I do feel really motivated to go running! I’m not sure if its from writing this blog or because, due to the weather, I’m not getting to exercise as regularly as in the summer months. I actually felt jealous when the other half ran a 5k on Tuesday night when I was at my class because I wasn’t out running! Hoping this feeling of motivation continues for a while longer anyway!!