Friday and Sunday.

Internet diagnosis (which I appreciate is a flawed form of medicine) has identified the cause of my sore ankle as either under or over Pronating. My running gait is at fault but can be corrected with gait analysis and shoe inserts… It sounds costly though. It’s a good job all this training is for a canoe race, rather than a running race.

I have also come across a kayak that seems to tick all my want boxes. It’s also a fair bit cheaper than other boats I have seen. It is still the best part of £700 but is my preferred option at the moment, all I would need to do is find 14 people who are prepared to lend me £50 quid and we are on the water.

Anyway, Friday night saw both me and Nigel in the gym, the first time for a while for Nigel.

Rowing machine. We both went for 5 minutes. I was secretly having a race with Nigel, keeping an eye on his time and distance and when we were done I was quite public in “noticing” that I had rowed 110 more metres than Nigel. We did row the same number of reps though so we suspect it is down to my technique pulling more of the rope.

Nigel then set off around the gym doing the same exercises that he had been working on for the last 18 weeks.

I was working on my arm muscles so it was Concentrated curl on the cable machine, 3sets. 15reps. 2kgs. And seated dumbbell curls. 33 sets of 15 reps at 10kgs. I also did some (can’t remember how many) abdominal crunches, but it was Friday so I wasn’t wholly in the mood.

Onto the treadmill but 5 minutes in and the ankle let me know that it also wasn’t in the mood for running. Cardio was finished off in the swimming pool with 30 minutes.

Sunday we were back at the gym. Nigel was working but joined us eventually.

I had completed my warm up on the rowing machine and was messing around with the free weights when Nigel made his way in. After he had also warmed up Nigel wanted to play with the dumbbells too.

Seated curl with dumbbells. 3 sets of 15 reps at 10kgs. For both me and Nigel.

Shoulder press with dumbbells. 3 sets of 15reps. I used 12.5kgs and coped. Nigel used the 10kgs. He did struggle but it was the first time he was using these muscles with this exercise.

Chest press with dumbbells. 15kgs. 4 sets 15reps. I did an extra set as Nigel distracted me when I first started. Nigel had a go at this exercise too, opting for the 12.5kg weights. Again he struggled, this time with his balance rather than the weight.

Cable row. 10kgs. 3 sets of 15 reps. No problems now, and the gripping muscles in my forearm don’t seem to fatigue as quickly.

Concentrated curl with the cable machine. 3 sets of 15 reps 2kgs. Nigel had a go at this one too and quickly could see why I pull my constipated face by the time I am up to the last rep.

Weighted abs crunch. 8kgs. 3 sets off 20 reps.

Cardio. I joined Nigel over on the cross trainer (treadmill is off the menu for a while for me) and we set off for 20 minutes. Nigel was working intervals at a moderately tough level 7. I set off on manual setting increasing the level every five minutes up from a starting level 6. I have to be honest, I got bored towards the end and aborted with a couple of minutes to spare.

I wanted to swim lots but the pool was pretty packed so after only a few lengths I went off to the steam room. Nigel closed the top vent which was great and filled the room with a lot of steam but we all nearly cooked like cabbage.

Saturday only.

Turns out I couldn’t muster the will to train on Friday after all.

Saturday was a different matter though. Nigel, myself and our respective better halves met up in the afternoon at the gym.

I have worked out which muscle groups Fitness Stu has been targeting with his 3 day exercises. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to work it out, but Saturday it was the back exercises.

Warm up. 5 minutes on the rowing machine. Nigel and his missus also started on the rowing machine so it was not so boring.

Lat pull down with inverted grip. 15 reps in 3 sets at 39kgs.
I have a problem with a muscle (identified on this musculature chart as the Flexor Carpi Ulnaris) in my forearm which starts to really ache with a lot of the resistance exercises I do, and by the 3rd set of reps it was this muscle not the lats that started to give up.

Cable row. 5kgs. 3 sets of 15. Again, it was this forearm muscle that failed before my back muscles.

Erector Spinae on the ball. This is where you lie belly first on the exercise ball put your hands behind your head and arch your back upwards. I haven’t been doing this exercise as Nigel took the piss last time I did but I had a bit of a practice at home on the Pilates ball and now I don’t wobble around as much. It still looks like I am humping the thing but at least I look like I know what I am doing now.

Those were the back exercises. I am supposed to do exercises that work my abs as well but as you may have noticed I have been a bit lax in that respect. It’s not because I don’t want to, I just run out of time in the day. Saturday I had plenty of time.

Cable stomach crunches. (this is the only one I have been doing) 3 sets of 20 at 7kgs. I had been doing these at 6kgs but decided to up the weight just a little bit as 6kgs was no problem at all.

Sideways sit ups. Using the Ab-Roller I twist my legs to the side and sit up. 2 sets of 15 on each side.

Medicine Ball Crunches. Like a sit up but this time I am holding a medicine ball away from my body. With my arms fixed in position I then sit. 3 sets of 15.

Then 30 minutes of Cardio. Treadmill 7.2mph for 20 minutes, increasing the inclination by 1 every 5 minutes. After 20 minutes I dropped the incline back to zero but after a few moments my hear rate dropped and I was able to up the speed to 8mph for the final 5 or so minutes. I walked out the last three minutes as a bit of a warm down.

Nigel was also putting some time in on the treadmill. He was running 6.8mph on the interval setting for 20 minutes. He was knackered but survived.

Finished in the gym we moved to the swimming pool. There was a girl in the lane next to me and she was quick. Not wanting to be beaten by a girl the race was on. After half an hour of trading fast laps I was knackered and was glad when she finally stopped so that I could too.

Sunday became a lazy day staying at home but I have prepared to hit the streets running in the very near future. A hydration pack has been purchased and I have also invested in some Carbo-Gel. Science food designed to increase my endurance and performance.

Weekend training

I ache today. I really do, this is the ache I suffered when I first started training, every muscle group feels bruised.

I didn’t remember to pick up my exercise card on Saturday so I am still going to be vague about what I actually did. There are so many things I now do I can’t remember what I did, all I know is that it is hard.

Fitness Stu has split the routine into bits and pieces. The warm up, the abs exercises and the cardio bit I am to do each time I go to the gym, and then the upper body exercises are broken into three days of work, each working a different muscle set and gives the muscles a chance to recover.

Friday night Nigel and I hit the gym and it was my first go at the new routine. 8 minutes on the rowing machine to warm up, followed by assorted (and still unnamed) upper body exercises, followed by the cardio bit.

The cardio bit as I have already mentioned is 30 minutes on the treadmill at 7.2mph. Every five minutes I add to the incline until the last ten minutes where I am at incline 4 (whatever that means. I think it might be a 1 in 4 gradient but I’m not sure.) And this is killing me. First 10 minutes is fine, second 10 is hard and I can feel my legs and chest heaving and the last 10 is agony.

But I faired a little better than Nigel. After finishing his routine of weights and things I still had 20 minutes to run on the treadmill so he hopped up onto the machine next to mine and programmed in 20 minutes of his own. He went for interval training at a hearty 7.5 mph. five and a half minutes later Nigel had to stop, clutching his chest, all red and sweaty. After a few minutes breather he gamely started again though this time at a polite jog of 6mph.

Nigel accepted that it was the cigarettes that saw him stop, he is also making noises about how he will quit someday. He also admitted that he had held off sending in his application for the upcoming half marathon because he wasn’t sure he could run the distance.

Finished off the session with a swim and a steam in the steam room.

And then on Saturday after shopping for some new sports clothes, I did the same again accompanied by the wife this time. Nigel too was training.

Long story short.
Warm up, some upper body exercises followed by cardio and a swim, followed by being knackered.

Sunday I had the day off, and I truly needed it. I still ache now. We shall see how well I do at going each and every night this week. I might end up having a rest day just because I am so tired.

So many machines.

Nigel was at the gym with me last night. This was the first time since before Christmas that we were both there and it was good motivation again. Hopefully his workload will give more nights off now.

Anyway, I have a new plan. I saw Fitness Stu yesterday to revise my training regime to keep me progressing in the right direction last night.

We had a bit of a chat first so that he could get an idea if the goals I am aiming for have changed and to get an idea of how well things have progressed to date. The only new things are that I am now also training for a couple of half marathons this year and that I am planning on hitting the gym every day.

The new plan has been broken down into 3 separate days of exercises, to ensure that muscle groups get a rest and last night basically comprised of Fitness Stu showing me how to use lots of machines. The gym was packed (with new year resolutions) so there are still some things Fitness Stu wants to show me becuase we couldn't get on the weights benches, I will be seeing him again on Saturday to finish off the program.

I would love to be able to tell you what I get to do in the gym now but I have to be honest I can’t really remember everything, there were so many different exercises, so after the plan is finished on Saturday I will nab my card so I can give a full rundown here.

Basically though, a gym session is going to be broken down into the warm up, various upper body exercises, and then a cardio stint. The warm up will be 5 – 8 minutes on the rower. The upper body exercises I can’t remember at the moment but it involves quite a lot on the cable machine, and then cardio is 30 minutes at 7.2mph on the treadmill set to manual and I am to increase the incline every 10 minutes.

That cardio bit will be hard, but I need it to be because today I have put my name down for two different half marathons. Spurred on by my dads training to run the Ironbridge half marathon I have sent off my application form for that event, and then as I was that way inclined I filled out the ballot for the Great North half marathon too.

Marathon running goals are simple. For the Ironbridge half I intend to finish the thing. I’m not aiming for any particular time or place other than to get round the course before the marshals go home. And they go home after 2 hours and 45 minutes. So as long as I am able to maintain a little over 5mph for the duration I am good.

For the Great North I have declared that I will complete the race in under 2 and a half hours. As my starting position in the melee at the beginning of the race is determined by my guestimated time, my goal for the Great North is to finish sub 2 and a half hours. Easy.

There will be no gym today due to other things planned but will be back at it on Friday.

Back on the river

A cracking weekend of training. Saturday was a solo trip to the gym. I had a mind to have a long session so made a point of having a high carbohydrate breakfast about an hour before.

I started out with my usual warm up on the rowing machine. This time out I did 20 minutes at setting 6 though.

I then worked my way around the room. Starting with 3 sets of 15 at 66kgs on the erector spinæ. I headed across to the floor and did the plank and hand to knee sits, both twice to failure. I did some curls with the weights 3 sets of 15 with the 5kgs.

Then back for some more cardio. 20 minutes on the treadmill. I started at 7.5 mph but at the halfway mark my heart was set to explode, so I slowed to walking pace for me to catch my breath before continuing the rest of the distance at 7mph.

The shoulder injury seems to be about gone, and I want to start reinforcing the joint with some muscle mass so I headed off to the banned machines. The chest press, 3 sets of 15 at about 23kgs (I can’t remember the weight I just found one that was well within my ability) the shoulder press, 3 sets of 15 at about 23kgs. The arm curls 2 sets of 15 at 18kgs. And finally the seated dips, 3 sets of 15 at 36kgs.

I followed this up with a bit more cardio work. 20 minutes on the cross trainer at level 8. I had pretty much run out of machines to play on so I headed to the pool. 20 minutes of swimming and I was done.

Sunday morning saw me and Nigel get onto the water again. It was another frosty affair but unlike last Sunday the sun was shining and it was quite pleasant.

Nigel had to borrow my dads boat again as we still haven’t tracked one down for him, this time we pushed the footrests to the bottom of the boat to see if that would be more comfortable.


The river was in high flow, Wales must have had a fair volume of rain over the course of the week, a little bit higher and I wouldn’t have considered going out but it was safe enough, just very hard going upstream.

Nigel needs to get miles in the kayak under his belt. His paddling is fine, he has the basic technique but he doesn’t yet have the boat control or feel for how his strokes are affecting his progress. Like last time he found himself inexplicably turning around every now and again. This was exaggerated by the fast flow of the river which gladly spun him every time he executed an uneven stroke.

It was so cold that ice was forming on the deck of my boat and at one point when I took my gloves off to take a photo the gloves stuck to the ice on my spraydeck.

We travelled from the tile museum slipway to alongside the power station which is about half a mile against the flow of the river. It had taken us about 40 minutes or so and Nigel was getting cold hands as he kept dipping them into the water, to add to the discomfort the footrests were digging into his ankles as well. We headed back.

With the flow of the river, that 40 minute journey upstream became a 10 minute blast back to the launch point.

Nigel was happy with the session and he is learning fast but we both need to be in a boat more than we currently are.

Flat Battery

Another lesson about human physiology was learned last night. On Tuesday I had blitzed the gym, an hour and a quarter of full blown cardio-vascular exercises was enough to get a sweat on but that seemed about it. The muscles were not really protesting, and Wednesday morning I did not feel any ill effects, no aches, nothing. So I went back to the gym on Wednesday.

Nigel has the week off and was already on the rowing machine when I arrived. He was 7 minutes into a 20 minute stint, so I set my clock to 13 minutes so our end time would coincide. That knackered me out.

I then went off and played with the weights. I decided to vary the lifts a little bit. Sets of 15 curls with the 5kg weights, interspersed with sets of about 10 curls with the 7.5kg weights. My thinking is that the 5kgs are easy to lift so I can bang out some quick repetitions to build stamina. The 7.5kg weights are harder to lift so will encourage building muscle mass. I did many sets of both, I lost count but spent about 20 minutes with the free weights.

To follow that up I did the triceps push down exercise. 7kgs, 15 reps, 2 sets. No bother just that shaky, gritted teeth, veins standing out on my neck for the last could of pushes.

Weights done, I thought I should make a showing on the running machines. I headed over, set the treadmill and set off at 7.5mph. Approximately two minutes into the jog I discovered I was well and truly fatigued.

It was a strange tired too. My muscles were all revved up and keen to pound on, my heart and breathing were regulated and even, but I had just run out of steam. It felt very much like I had run out of fuel. My batteries were flat.

I called it a day, and due to Nigel’s hangover, he didn’t really protest when I suggested that the gym was not for us any more. So we made our way to the pool, and after showing off my new goggs, I had a go at swimming but I had nothing left. There was no fuel in the tank.

I got home and consumed many carbohydrates to refuel the obviously dwindled stocks and today I am not going to the gym.

The lesson learned that the rest day that sports scientists bang on about is not just to allow the muscles to recover and grow, it also is a chance for the fuel stocks that have been burned off to be replenished. I will bear this in mind in the future.

Not very knackered

I had planned the Thursday night gym session to be a killer, I wanted to be aching at this moment and to really know that I deserved this rest day. However, despite my best efforts, I feel no activity aches.

I arrived at the gym at the usual time of about ten past five. Met up with Nigel (he had a rare day off) and set to the machines. I joined Nigel on the rowing machines first to work that group of muscles, it also seems a decent way to warm up for other higher impact machines. I set the resistance level to 3 because although my shoulder is feeling okay, I didn’t want to aggravate it, and rowed on for 15 minutes. Nigel was set to level 7 and pressed on for a further five minutes.

Nigel ended the 20 minutes rowing with a bit of a surge, and as long as he has that amount of effort left spare at the end of the DW, I’ll be able to sit there and sleep for the final few miles.

Feeling pretty knackered by now I then headed off to the cross trainer. 20 minutes, interval work, level 8. It was hard work, especially on my iPod as it started to play the opening bar of each track before skipping onto the next. I think sweat was starting to get into the inners of that seemingly impregnable case.

Meanwhile Nigel worked his way around the various resistance machines and by the time I was done, he was as good as finished. Now I was really tired at this point but I elbowed the usual muscle men off the weights benches and pumped some iron.

I am hoisting the massive 7.5kg weights, and I’m fairly certain I didn’t look weedy in any way as I sat next to Mr. 30kgs on the other bench. I curled 7.5kg weights to failure before moving onto the triceps push down at 7kgs, which I again did to failure.

By now Nigel had finished his routine and had gone for a jog on the treadmill. His machine was broken as it was claiming that he was doing 10.5mph, yet he seemed to be only just jogging, to prove the point I wound up the machine next to him to 10.5mph and was at a full blown run.

Despite this mucking about I was finished, I was really tired and I think Nigel had had enough too. So we headed to the swimming pool. I had a bit of a second wind and swam for 20 minutes before relaxing in the Jacuzzi and sauna.

All told, the workout and swim (not including the sauna and Jacuzzi bit) took about an hour and a quarter. I thought that would be enough to give me that workout ache but it wasn’t. I sit here on my rest day feeling that I don’t have to rest for much. I think for the weekend session I am going to have to try and go for two hours of activity to earn the glow of exercise.

The Photo.

I think it only fair to warn you that I have posted a photo of my injury at the foot of this page. If you get a bit squeamish at the thought of seeing my naked collar bone, look away now..

This week we planned a Wednesday night and Thursday night session in the gym but Nigel’s rota changed. He is now working AFD’s pretty much ever day this week. Did that stop him from joining me in the gym at 5pm last night? Nope. Though he was already bushed from the 6am start, he was a bit lack lustre on the rowing machine and after having a half hearted go at most of the weights he called it a day and went for the Jacuzzi. Just for good measure, he had to head back into work to finish at some point in the small hours.

I didn’t see fitness Stu yesterday to create a new, shoulder friendly fitness plan, so I kind of had to make up my own.

Treadmill. 20 minutes at a faster 7.1mph on the “fat burn” setting. The fat burn setting elevates the angle of the treadmill and it is surprising how much more effort it takes to keep the same pace. It saves the highest incline for the last 4 minutes and is a bit of a killer. I did maintain the 7.1mph throughout though there were a few times that I contemplated slowing down. I finished completely done in with shaky legs and I nearly ran myself sick. Not sure if I pushed myself too far.

I then went off and had a chat with Nigel for a bit to get my heart rate down a bit. I did the spine exercises and then headed off to the Cross Trainer. I set it to power level 10 (whatever that is worth) and started on another “Fat Burn”. The cross trainer works the same muscles as the treadmill (and a few more in the arms) but is low impact so I was getting on with that machine really well and got about five minutes into the cycle before Nigel called it a day and headed for the pool.

It was always going to happen. The day I am not allowed to go for a swim, is the day that the pool is empty. I couldn’t help myself, and I had a bit of a swim, nothing excessive. Just a few lengths.

Last night I had an awful nights sleep with this arm, and today my shoulder really does hurt. Is it because I swam? Is it because I used the arms bit of the cross trainer? Is it because I slept badly on it? I have to be honest, I don’t really know but I am getting a bit racked off by this limb at the moment.

So. Do you wanna see the wonky collar bone?



I thought it only fair to annotate the photograph, as it isn't really obvious at first glance that there is anything wrong. If over the course of these last few weeks I had built up an image of the injury for you that was more impressive than that which you see, I apologise but I assure you that it does hurt in a nagging dull ache sort of way.

Sunday dinner

Nigel and his lovely missus offered to play host on Sunday for me and the wife. “Both of you come to the gym, and then after we’ll cook you a nice roast” was the offer I couldn’t refuse so we both came down for some gym work this week.

While my better half set about the treadmill, Nigel and I hit the rowing machine, we both cranked up the difficulty level to 6. Set the timer for 15 minutes and set off at a fast 34 strokes a minute pace. We kept this up for about 7 or 8 minutes when I started to feel the burn of an exhausted muscle in my forearm. (I have just google searched and it was my wrist flexors that were giving up. I could no longer grip with my hand.) I had a few moments rest before plugging on matching Nigel’s pace once again. I dropped 10 strokes from Nigel over the 15 minutes becuase of that rest, I need to work on that group of muscles.

I also bought some super fast mega running sports trainers over the weekend which are specifically designed for running at near hypersonic speeds, as opposed to my previous trainers which I suspect were more designed for fashion. I hit the treadmill and I felt my performance instantly improve by probably about 5%. 20 minutes at a constant and steady 7mph. Nigel joined me on the treadmill for a bit but 5 minutes later he was feeling short of breath. He might have a strength advantage over me at the moment but that will be for nothing if he can't sustain it.

I might not be ready for hypersonic super fast sports running trainers yet though. I discovered a blister in a really bizarre place on the sole of my foot later on in the day, I fear that I might have become so sedentary in my lifestyle prior to this training that I was getting flat feet.

Day was topped out by a roast dinner of epic proportions (thanks guys).

I’m not going back to the gym now until Wednesday as Monday (today) I am going to my GP after work to see if he can shed light on this shoulder injury. And then Tuesday night we have an appointment with the wedding photographer to get the photos sorted. I intend to work doubly hard at the end of the week to catch back up with the fitness plan.

A touch of apathy.

A complete lack of motivation struck me yesterday. I had a hard day at work, a proper brain grinder and come 5pm I was finished. It was getting dark outside, and it had been a wet and grim day all day. I just wanted to head home and crash out with the playstation and a bottle of wine. Unfortunately for my apathetic side, my ego had kicked into gear, and it wouldn’t let Nigel go to the gym and get fitter than me, so off I went.

I have nothing really new to report. Exercises were done as per our instructions. I didn’t record the rowing machine reps this time but my forearms really were hurting by the end of the fifteen minutes. My shoulder twinged again so I didn’t push too hard on the arm based bits of the routine. Swum loads, sauna’d a little, and headed home.

Upon reading my post so far it sounds as though I didn't enjoy the workout, I actually did and felt much better for it, heading home re-energised and ready for anything.

I have tried to self diagnose this nagging injury on the internet and it is either really serious and I might have to amputate or it is nothing at all and I am being a bit of a girl. So I have made an appointment with the doctor on Monday so that a professional can tell me what the prognosis is.

missing in action

I haven't updated for a few days. I have been at home sick and not really in the mood for updating the blog. But now I am.

The weekend saw a surprise (for all concerned) trip to the gym. I didn't intend to after pushing up the Wrekin on Friday but I was actually missing the exercise so off I went. Nigel was still working when I got there so I started to plod through the routine as per standard. (434 strokes on the rowing machine btw. not as many as last time but it was non stop for the full 15 minutes).

I started to work my way through the shoulder and arm exercises but my dodgy limb gave me a twinge so I quit and stuck to the core work and stamina stuff.

Nigel turned up eventually and a I was as good as done so I decided to hit the treadmill. while nigel was rowing (495 strokes) I cranked the speed up to 6.4mph and set about running for 20 minutes. It was pretty easy, though I was puffed out and had worked up a sweat by the time I was done.

As the gym was empty I then started to mess about on the treadmill, and while Nige was over doing the core stuff I wound the treadmill up as fast as I could go. Only I didn't take into account the fact that the machine would take a bit of time to speed up. So made my way up to 10mph and thought I could handle a bit faster, 12mph. Still okay. 15mph... It was at about this moment that the machine reached my peak speed, and at a full pelt sprint I was barely keeping up with it, and it was still getting faster. I don't know if you have ever tried to press a button that is just out of reach while you are sprinting faster than you have ever sprinted before... It's really quite difficult.

Surviving the treadmill we swam for 20 minutes and then sauna'd for about 5 minutes before I nearly passed out with the heat.

All in all a good session.

I haven't done anything for two days now, though there are unconfirmed reports that Nigel gym'd on Monday. I will investigate and report.

Deep Heat!

The smell of exercise, that’s what Deep Heat is. I slathered the miracle balm onto my strained shoulder, gave it an experimental twirl and jogged into the gym going “hut-hut-hut-“ Tried lifting a weight. Screamed a tortured scream, and promptly limped out of the gym sobbing… You see the problem with Deep Heat is it gives you a feeling of invincibility, and you somehow think that you know better and that you can defy medical advice. I have learned an important lesson here and will now rest my arm as advised.

I did get some exercise done though.

Rowing machine. The full fifteen minutes is getting easier and easier. We left it on the wimpy resistance notch 4 (justified because I have a poorly arm) and we started out at the same time. Nigel and I kept pace with each other, which I think increased our pace a little bit. I had to break first for a drink, and Nigel stopped a few minutes later. But we got back in sync with each other and in the end completed 471 strokes, and Nigel completed two more than me at 473. I am now not going to bother recording the metres covered, because we had swapped machines and this time it recorded me as having covered considerably less distance, indicating that this reading isn’t particularly reliable.

I also worked on my legs and did 2 full sets of 12 on the prescribed weight. And then after some goading from Nigel’s old boss, did a set of twelve at 66kgs.

I then followed the whole lot up with another 30 minutes swimming.

I don’t feel that I pushed the boundaries of physical exertion last night, and certainly beyond the strained arm, I am not feeling any worse for wear today. So tonight I am going to go charging up the Wrekin again. Nigel is working so this is a solo effort. Ten days since the last effort. How much faster will I be this time?

The Ghost of Eric Phelps.

It has transpired that Nigel has a little bit of provenance on the water. Eric Phelps, an Olympic sculling champion in the 1930’s (who even had his visage printed on a collectable cigarette card) is related on his mother’s side. Not quite kayaking, but close enough.

Anyway, we met up at the gym again. With thoughts of past rowing champions we hit the imaginary water and set the rowing machines to power level 4. I completed my 15 minutes of sculling a few minutes before Nigel so I sat there counting down his meters compared to mine and generally hassling him to go faster for his last hundred strokes. (This is a taste of things to come for Nigel as I know I will nag just like this on the DW race. Come on. Faster. Only 120 miles to go. just a little bit further.)

I had left my tatty exercise card in the car so I scratted around looking for something to write on, in the end I settled on a scrap of paper hand towel which I have here in front of me.

Fifteen minutes of rowing machine. I managed 3220 metres, with 451 strokes. Nigel achieved 470 strokes, but only pulled out 3008 metres. Curious… I can only assume that I am doing a longer more powerful stroke whereas Nigel is pulling a faster stroke overall but isn’t pulling as far.

We both worked through our sets of weights again. We did pretty much the same as last time, though we did move the weights around a bit.

Leg press 45kgs 2 sets of 12. I did the same weight as Nigel this time without too much additional strain. I think I will keep it at 45kgs for next time.

Erector Spinae 39kgs. 2 sets of 12.

Lat pull down 32kgs. 2 sets of 12.

Shrugs 15kgs. 2 sets of 12. Nigel did the correct weight this time though. ;)

Shoulder press 27kgs 2 sets of 12. I completed it on an increased 27kg weight. Nigel had to drop it back down to the 23kgs to complete his sets. Though he had just worked through other shoulder exercises so he has a good excuses for lifting less than me.

Arm curl 18kgs 2 sets of 12. Nigel didn’t believe me when I told him it was a paltry 18kgs but after completing the first set, he agreed that 18 was more than enough for our spindly arms at the moment.

Chest press 25kgs 2 sets of 12.

Seated dip 36kgs. 2 sets of 12. I loved this machine and did a third set of twelve.

The plank. to failure for 2 sets and the hand to knee to failure for 2 sets. Nigel again suffered on these I am able to hold the plank for more and do more hand to knee reps though.

All of that took a little under 50 minutes, and we followed it up with 20 minutes swimming and a short while in the sauna. I have no idea what health benefits the sauna offers, it seems to be just a load heat to me, but it gives us a chance to have a chat about stuff so I have no issues with it.

After all that I have strained a muscle in my left shoulder though. I’m hoping that today’s day of rest will see it feel better tomorrow but I may have to go easy on the weights on Thursday.

Better, Faster, Stronger.

I have been suffering with a perpetual full body ache since I started this whole enterprise a little over a week ago. Despite going to the gym yesterday and working even harder than I did last time, I feel fine today (there is a bit of a dull ache in my upper arms when I stretch I suppose). I don’t know if my body has given up complaining about the stresses and strains I am subjecting it to, or whether I am already starting to get fitter but either way I feel better than ever before.

Sunday, I met Nigel after he finished work and we hit the gym. And this time I lifted my exercise card to record our efforts here on the blog. (only trouble is I have scrawled all over it and it got crushed in my bag and is now looking a bit tatty. I might get Nigel to half-inch a new one for me so that I am not the only person in the gym with a weather beaten score card)

Training with Nigel is a blessing and a curse. There I am doing my weights, and he strolls on over and goes
“Only 39kgs? Hmmm. I did it on 45kgs and it wasn’t too hard”.
At which point I am forced to say “Huh? Oh? How did that happen? I thought it was on 45kgs but the pin must have slipped. I was going to put it on 50kgs anyway”. at which point I up the weights and burst an artery.
Machismo is going to be the death of me.

The Rowing machine.
Both of us achieved the full 15 minutes. With a couple of minor 30 second breaks for a glug of water about halfway through form each of us. I started and completed the duration with the resistance set to about 4. Nigel started out at resistance setting 7 but was forced to drop it down to setting 4 after about 8 minutes.
The machine records a few stats, and I love stats so I jotted them down for future reference. I covered 3048 metres with 238 reps. Nigel covered 2842 metres with 234 reps. All in all we were pretty much on par and although I did a few more metres and a few more reps, I didn’t start at such a high difficulty setting.
Next time out we are going to start on the same setting at the same time and see if we can keep pace with each other.

Leg Press.
Sit down and push a plate forward. This plate is obviously attached to weights via a complex pully system. We both worked through 2 sets of 12 reps. Nigel moved the pin up to 45kgs for this exercise, I didn’t and stayed at the 39kgs suggested by Fitness Stuart.

Erector spinæ.
This is an exercise that works the muscles in the lower back, Nigel has had a long standing back problem and hopefully working this area will improve the situation. We both moved the weight up to 39kgs and then worked through 2sets of 12 reps without too much difficulty.

Lat Pull down.
This works the large flat muscle on the back below the shoulder blade and also the biceps. I find that when I start this exercise I find it really easy but by the time I get to the 12 repetition I and starting to feel the burn. Weight was set at the recommended 32kgs and again we both did 2 sets of 12 reps.

Shrugs.
These are great. With a 15kg free weight in each hand you just shrug. This works the neck muscles and again we do two sets of 12 reps. This is a surprisingly effective exercise. Nigel accidentally (so he claims) used the 12.5kg weights instead of the 15’s on Sunday though.

Shoulder press.
You kind of push a bar connected to weights upward with this machine. And as the title suggests. It works the Shoulders. I start to struggle with this one, and by the 12th rep I am all a tremble. But we both worked 2 sets of 12 reps at 23kgs.

Chest press.
Similar to the shoulder press only instead of pushing upward, you push forward instead. Again I really start to struggle towards the end of the sets and if we had to do 13 repetitions I don’t know if I could do that last one. 2 sets, of 12 reps. I had the weight set to 25, nigel moved the pin up to 32 though.

Arm curl.
A strange contraption is this machine. But basically it is a really complicated device that gets you lifting weights using biceps and triceps. (I have no idea what is wrong with doing this using free weights) 18kgs and 2 sets of 12 reps. Nigel tried to up the weight but aborted that idea quite quickly but we both managed the full sets at 18kgs.

Seated dips.
I like this machine. You sit down and push down on a pair of really ergonomic moveable arms. Fitness Stuart didn’t show us this machine when we had our induction thing, but we worked it out fairly easily. We both found that 36kgs was a good weight. And again we worked through the 2 sets of 12.

Then there were the core muscle exercises. The power while kayaking comes from the group of muscles in the trunk and it is going to be really important for endurance paddling if we work these.

The Plank.
Laying face forward on the floor, you support your bodyweight on your toes and elbows. Sounds easy, looks easy, really isn’t. We do two of these to failure (keep going till you drop to the floor in a ball of stomach muscle agony). I have no idea how long we hold that, but I recon I maintain the position longer than Nigel. I also suspect Nigel thinks he is able to hold the Plank for longer than me. :D

Hand to Knee.
This is basically a sit-up but you don’t take the effort off the stomach muscles at all (in a sit-up you lay down at the end of each repetition). Again we do two sets to failure. I don’t mind these too much and I will do many before I have to stop. Nigel readily admits that he really struggles with these because of his dodgy back. I’m hoping that the situation with his back will improve over the course of weeks and months because the last thing you need is a duff back on a 125 mile kayak race. (No actually the last thing you would need would be a hole in the bottom of boat on a 125 mile yak race but you catch my drift!)

45 minutes of gym work, and then to finish off all of that we went for a swim. I aimed for and achieved 30 minutes of splashing around. Only to be shamed out of the pool by a 12 year old girl who clearly was in training to be a torpedo.

Monday is a day of rest (and the piano tuner is coming round) but back to the gym on Tuesday.

Oh. P.S. I didn't win that Kayak for Nigel on ebay. It went for more money than it should have. I have spotted a couple of other likely boats so will keep trying.

Official. I am unfit

Nigel had arranged for us to go to the gym and be given a training regime by the fitness dude Stuart, designed to get us ready for the DW. And Stuart knows his stuff, he had picked out muscle groups that are worked hard while kayaking. I know that time in the kayak is the best way to focus on the correct muscle groups but getting to the gym is a lot less hassle.

I try but I can’t quite remember the names of the machines or the muscle groups we are working on at the moment, I can remember the pain though.

We worked our way through the different machines that worked various different muscle groups. One for the legs, one for the triceps one for the biceps, one for the back, one for the neck, one for the shoulders and pectorals. And then we did some simple exercises which focused on the core muscles, the plank was my personal favourite. All of it a piece of cake. Don’t get me wrong, I could feel the muscles burning afterwards, but in a good way and I felt pumped. And then we moved across to the Rowing machine.

We are going to have to spend some time on the rowing machine to build up our cardio work because I am sure that a non stop race is going to need some endurance. I have discovered to my dismay that my endurance threshold is about two minutes.

We sit down and get given the rundown on the machines. Stuart sets the rowers to 15 minutes and me and Nigel start sculling down an imaginary river. For about 30 seconds I am thinking that 15 minutes was going to be easy, half an hour would have been more of a challenge. Then after about a minute my mouth has gone dry, and I can’t seem to keep up my work rate. Suddenly the resistance on the rowing machine seems a bit high. At about two minutes I am spent and I have to stop to rest for a moment while Nigel infuriatingly keeps going. I row on and off for another five minutes but I can’t do anymore. I have no stamina. Nigel doesn’t finish the full 15 minutes either but just like the Wrekin, it is little consolation as he is going to be my crewmate for the DW. We call it a day in the gym after that and head to the swimming pool to wind down.

Stuart suggests that to improve we will need to be going through these exercises three times a week, and I have vowed to go Monday Wednesday and Friday without fail. The rowing machine is going to be my nemesis I think but it will not beat me next time.

Forward Paddling.

Full steam ahead with the DW preparations. I hadn’t planned to do anything until Monday (today) but following a Friday and Saturday which were marked notably by excesses in food and drink, Sunday afternoon we managed to get onto the water.

Nigel doesn’t have a boat so I borrowed my dads and after failing to launch from Ironbridge (due to some kind of festival) we put in at Frankwell.

First problem is that Nigel is a giant. He is six foot something tall, my dad and I on the other hand are normal height which meant that the footrests in my dads boat were not set for someone who is longer of leg. Unable to adjust them any further down the boat Nigel was forced to bring them all the way to the top so he could get his legs in. For a first paddle I didn’t think it would be a problem that Nigel would have no footrests.

Nigel’s not really a bad paddler at all. He was quite nervous wobbly to start with, and nearly threw himself in at one point but quite quickly he got his confidence up and had spells of good solid forward strokes.

As we went along I tried to doctor his stroke technique, pointing out when he moved his hands on the paddle shaft and showing him how different strokes moved the boat but I think I turned into a bit of a nag. (I must remember to temper my bossy side. He’ll work the strokes out in good time.)

We spent about an hour on the water, and managed to get to the Agricultural Showground which is about two and a half miles round trip. Nigel was starting to get frustrated with the boat as it kept unexplainably turning him around, and the moved footrests were digging into his shin so it was not a bad time to stop.

For me it was a chance to get back onto the water after not lifting the paddles for well over two months. There were a couple of motorboats about on the river as well, which upset Nigel’s rhythm but gave me a chance to wash hang and play about in their turbulence.

I think (hope) Nigel enjoyed it and he did say that he would have to pick up a cheap boat on Ebay so that he can tailor it to suit his lanky frame.
He can have my spare set of paddles. If I remember, tonight I will put some markers on the shaft with elastic bands and insulating tape, so that he can feel when his hands move out of place. That should help a lot. All in all I’m pretty happy.

Tonight I am running the Wrekin as part of the seven day fitness plan, the bonus is Nigel isn’t working tonight either so he has agreed to come. Time to see how fit we really are I guess.