No Stamina.

I can’t believe how quickly my stamina level has dropped. I had been away from the gym for a little under two weeks and I could not sustain the levels of activity I was able to before my little hiatus. Admittedly it is off the back of a hard day on the mountain from Sunday and I still have a bit of a cold but I was still surprised.

Rowing machine 5 minute warm up.

Lat pull down. 3 sets of 15 at 39kgs. No problems really.

Cable row. Should have been 3 sets of 15 at 10kgs but turned out to be a set at 15 and two sets at 12 reps.

There were a couple of other exercises I should have done but I was getting tired quite quickly so I moved onto the cardio bit on the treadmill. I set the clock to 20 minutes and wound the speed up to 7.6mph. This speed is good and I can manage a good comfortable stride length. I increased the elevation every five minutes but 15 minutes in and I was done in.

I headed off to the pool, aiming to have a good long swim but there seemed to be something up with the water, it was sort of murky… So I showered and headed home. Not the most hardcore session in the gym but at least I am getting back into it.

Training Fail!

I haven’t blogged for almost a week now and I have probably trained less. I feel pretty crap about my lack of effort and I have had to give myself a good stern telling off about it.

First of all last week it snowed a lot on Monday so I evacuated Telford before I got snowed in. Tuesday was a similar story so I aborted any ideas of working out and fled home again.

Wednesday I had booked a day off work as there were a few things I had to get done in the afternoon. I did however have the morning to myself so I headed in for a post breakfast session.

It was as good as a week ago (must remember to keep this blog updated) so I can’t really remember what I did exercise wise but I do know that I didn’t really have the stamina for a heavy session in the gym and after about an hour of hauling weights around I gave up and headed for the pool. I did have a good hour long swim though.

I have tried to work out a few times in the morning and it just doesn’t work for me I don’t know if it is too close to breakfast or my body isn’t really prepared for working out in the am but I do seem to get more done in the afternoon.

Since Wednesday though I haven’t done anything at all. illness took me out of action for Thursday and Friday, Saturday we had a collection of small domestic disasters which saw us emergency shopping several times (though dashing around Sainsbury’s at one point I did get gifted a free Gillette sports water bottle which is going to get christened at the gym tonight) and on Sunday the wife and I went to London to take in a show, that was a long 20 hour day by the time we got back home, which meant that Monday I was shattered and had an early night.

Here I am at Tuesday now ready and keen to get back at it. I am going to get myself back into the routine though so I will have a good session tonight, Wednesday I will have my prescribed day off and then back at it Thursday Friday.

My ankle also no longer aches so I am going to try the treadmill again. Gently.

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.

Thursday 29/01/09

Rowing machine. 5 minutes. I thought I would try and make the rowing machine a bit more interesting by making a note of how many metres it claims I will have covered in the 5 minutes and then trying to beat that distance each time. Sadly, I have forgotten how far I went. I know it was a little over 1000 metres.

Chest exercises but without the pectoral fly machine as it was still broken.

Dumbbell bench press. 12kgs. 3 sets of 15. Is tough at the 9th rep but all three sets were done to completion.

Dumbbell shoulder press. 3 sets of 15 at 10kgs. I was supposed to do this exercise today and chose a weight I can actually lift this time out. All three sets to completion.

Twisted sit ups. 2 sets of 20 on each side. Twisting my body to the right I get some good crunches going but I can’t seem to get it right on the left had side and end up struggling.

Situps with the medicine ball. 1 set of 20. Stomach crunching over, I was feeling the pain by now.

Cardio time. I was heading back to the treadmill. I programmed in 30 minutes at 7.2mph. I increased the elevation a couple of times and managed about 15 minutes of running before my left ankle began to throb again. I aborted save doing myself some stupid injury.

Cardio was finished with 30 minutes solid swimming.

Wednesday 28/01/09

I had a day off on Monday (because of how hard a fitness session I put in on Sunday) so it didn’t seem right that I should also take off my new designated Wednesday rest day off too. I wish I had though, The gym was the busiest I have ever seen it.

The Pectoral fly machine has been broken for a couple of days so I have avoided my exercises that accompany that machine. So it was the turn of the back muscles last night.

Warm up Rowing machine. 5 minutes today I couldn’t face spending any longer on this accursed machine. I’m going to have to speak to Fitness Stu the next time we update my plan to see if I can have another more interesting warm up.

Cable Row. 3 sets of 15. 10kgs. My forearm muscles were stronger last night and I was able to carry out the sets to completion so now my trapezius muscles on my upper back are pretty achy.

While on the cable machine I did the weighted crunches, targeting my abs. 3 sets of 20 at 7kgs.

Lat pull down inverted grip. 3 sets of 15. 39kgs. Pretty easy. I might even try upping the weight a notch next time to see how it feels.

Abs again. Twisted sit ups. 2 sets of 15 on each side of my body.

And then sit ups with the medicine ball. 2 sets of as many as I can do… Which was about 20ish.

Cardio. Cross trainer 30 minutes. Increasing the difficulty every 5 minutes… Only I didn’t manage thirty minutes. I did ten. I was feeling crowded out so resolved to finish my cardio session in the swimming pool. This was also a mistake as the pool was packed as well. I sat in the steam room for 20 minutes instead and got jolly hot.

I am thinking my ankle is fixed. It no longer aches when I drive and the bruising seems to have gone. I am going to have a go with the treadmill tonight and see how I cope. I might alternate treadmill and cross trainer for a little while so the joint isn’t subjected to 30 minutes of pounding ever single day.

Tuesday 28/01/09

I had a bloody good thought while I was on the cross trainer last night. Currently I am struggling to find a suitable two man kayak. There seems to be nothing on eBay and the cost of a new boat is too much. This year I had already planned on going to Devizes to understand what will happen. Well I’m thinking of asking around (maybe with a leaflet campaign) to buy a boat that won’t be wanted after the 2009 race. There must be some people paddling the DW who are planning on getting rid of their craft or have a spare 2 man loitering in their garage. Here’s hoping anyway.

I have also been looking around on the internet to see who else is blogging their progress. I have found some goodun’s where I am going to keep up with their efforts, and I have found some absolute shockers. One of which made me chuckle. Within the space of two weeks this guy decided he was going to do the race, started a blog, did a bit of training and the ditched the whole enterprise.

For the last couple of weeks I have been wondering how I am going to shift the few inches of spare tyre that I have, in discussions with Fitness Stu his advice was simple. Cardio. So with that in mind I have been pushing on.

6 minutes on the rowing machine. I did the additional minute just for the additional 60 seconds of cardio. Still boring, made worse because the TV below the rowing machine didn’t have the text subtitles on so I had no idea how much that antique they found in the attic actually sold for.

Doing all of the exercises on Sunday turns out to have been a bit of a mistake as it messed up my routine, I started again with the arm exercises though.

Concentrated curl. 3 sets 15 reps. 2kgs.

Seated curls with dumbbells. 3 sets. 15 reps. 10kgs.

Shoulder press with dumbbells. First off I’m not sure if I should have been doing this exercise at all this day but I couldn’t remember what I should have been doing. I also couldn’t remember what weight I should have been doing and as I didn’t want to keep getting up to have a look at my card I guessed at 12.5kgs. I only managed 2 sets of 10 reps with the sudden realisation that my usual weight with the exercise must be much less.

Weighted crunch. 7kgs. 3 sets of 20.

Cross trainer cardio. I had to dig deep with this one for some reason last night. Started at level 6. Made my way up to level 10 (incrementally pushing it up a notch every five minutes) nearly burst a blood vessel and then wound it back to 6 for the last 5 minutes. The only thing that kept me going was the Fitness Stu’s words about cardio and the increasing worry that I’m not going to be physically able to complete the 125 miles of the race.

Weekend

Friday afternoon was the turn of my arms.

Concentrated curl on the cable machine. 15 reps. 3 sets. 2kgs. This builds the depth of the bicep.

Seated dumbbell curls. 3 sets of 15. I have upped the weight on this from 7.5kgs to 10kgs as I have been finding it easy for a few weeks. It makes me smile to think back when I first started this and I was barely able to lift half of this weight.

Triceps pull down. 3 sets of 15 at 5kgs. The triceps tire really quickly for some reason. First set no problem. Second set pain. Third set can’t finish.

Cardio. Avoiding the running machine I put myself onto the cross trainer. 30 minutes. Increased the difficulty level every five minutes until my heart was going to explode.

I had 20 minutes swimming before heading home.

Saturday morning we took the dogs up Pontesford hill. It was a leisurely hour long walk but my ankle was really sore again afterwards. I can’t blame it on the trainers this time as I was wearing my hiking boots which usually offer all the support I need. Rules are simple, I need to rest the joint until the swelling and bruising go down.

Sunday was another mission to the gym, this time accompanied with my other half and I did everything. Every single exercise that fitness Stu had on my plan I worked through.

I was struggling with fatigue though. My body seems more comfortable exercising at 5pm rather than at 2pm. I don’t know but I suspect that it has something to do with the level of food still making it’s way through my system, or it might be because I am in the throes of a cold at the moment (I’m not going to make a big thing of this cold as it isn’t very debilitating. I have a sore throat and I am sneezing a lot, that’s all).
Because I did everything I can’t actually remember the reps sets and weights from Sundays trip, I know I am pretty achy today so I worked hard (or this cold is getting worse).

Thursday 23/01/09

I can’t seem to do a full week. I ran out of steam on Wednesday. Partly because of the ankle pain but partly I wanted to spend a full evening at home. So from now on rather than planning on training and then letting myself down, from now on Wednesday is a rest day.

Warm up. 5 minutes. Rowing machine made slightly more tedious with no iPod, as I have neglected to charge it up until now.

Lat Pull down. Inverted grip. 3 sets of 15 at 39kgs. My gripping muscle in my forearm is where I feel the most burn and the third set is a killer.

Erector spinae on the ball. Basically lying on the ball and arching my back upwards, keep going until I can do no more. I feel quite self conscious doing this one so that I probably stop before I have reached my limits.

The cable machine was occupied so I moved across to work on the abdominal exercises for a bit.

Twisted crunches. 2 sets of 20 on either side. This looks a little bit like I am doubled over in agony and the last couple of crunches really do hurt, with a sort of white agony. No pain no gain though.

Sit ups with medicine ball. I quite enjoy these, in the same way I feel really daft doing the erector spinae things on the pilates ball, I feel really quite cool doing this. Kept going to failure which was about 20 or so sit ups.

Seated dips, working the triceps. I upped the weight one notch to 42kgs as the 36kgs has been very easy for a while now. 3 sets of 15.

Cable row. 10kgs, 3 sets of 15. again my forearm muscle which engages my grip was the part of me that began to feel the burn before any other muscle group. Managed to complete the sets though.

Weighted crunches to work the abs again. I upped the weight to 8kgs (from the 6kgs I started with a week or so ago) as I was finding it too easy. 3 sets of 20. No problem.

Cardio. I was conscious that my ankle was sore so I took it easy. 7.2mph planned for 30 minutes. 10 minutes in I had to stop though as my left ankle was starting to hurt a little bit.

I moved across to the pool and finished off the cardio with 20 minutes hard swimming instead.

This morning the left ankle was red, sore, and swollen and has me limping around. I am changing my cardio from the treadmill to the cross trainer so that I can keep the effort up but I am aware that I am not running, which is not great preparation for a half marathon. And more crucially, is my ankle strong enough to take the 13 miles of street pounding in this coming Half in March?

Tuesday 20/01/09

Shoulder and chest exercises last night.

Because I was watching the end of the inauguration speech on the TV above the rowing machine I set to row for infinity and was going to keep going until it finished. President Obama finished about 7 minutes after I had started though so my warm up wasn’t much longer than usual.

Seated dumbbell shoulder press. With the weights held either side of my head I push upwards. Pretty easy but I am struggling with the last couple of reps at the end of each set. 3 sets of 15 at 7.5kg.

Dumbbell bench press. 12kgs. 3 sets of 15. Lying on my back I push the dumbbells up as if they were barbells. Not too much problem with the weight but there is strained effort for the last couple of reps.

Weighted crunch. 7kgs, 3 sets of 20 last night. I have only been doing this for a week or so but already there is definition in the abs showing. It’s hard and it hurts but it is effective.

Pectoral fly. 3 sets of 15 (last set petered out at the 12th rep) 27kgs. This seems to be working the side of my pecs. I actually don’t think that this exercise has anything to do with kayak paddling but I can see no harm in having a broader chest so I shall persevere.

Cardio. 30 minutes. First 10 minutes I rocked on at 7.5mph increasing the elevation up to 3 but I was starting to flag and was almost going to quit so I dropped the speed to 7.2mph (which has now become my cruising speed) to the end.

When I got home I discovered that my ankles were a bit swollen and bruised, probably from the high impact running. I treated them with some mystical healing salve that my little sister got me for Christmas which seemed to do the job, but they are still sore today so I am undecided if I am going to hit the treadmill later on.

Monday 19/01/09

I nearly didn’t go last night. I arrived and the car park was rammed full. Apparently there was some kind of conference on, after a quick call to Nigel who gave me permission from the management to abandon my car I did finally get in there.

Today on the Fitness Stu training plan was arm exercises.

Warm up on the rowing machine. Dull but brought my heart rate up from rest to 140bpm.

Concentrated curl on the cable machine. 3 sets of 15 reps at 2kgs. This is the exercise where I pull the cable across my body. This works the top of the bicep.

Triceps rope pull down. Again on the cable machine this time with the cable set at high level. 3 sets of 15 at 5kgs. This, as you have probably guessed works the muscles at the back of the arms.

Seated dumbbell curl. 3 sets of 15 at 7.5kgs. I have no problems at this weight now and am probably ready to increase the weight some more. This works the long muscles in the biceps.

Abdominal exercises.

Weighted crunch on the cable machine. 3 sets of 15 at 7kgs.

Sideways sit. 2 sets of 15 on each side.

Medicine ball sit. 2 sets of 15.

I have really taken to enjoying the cardio bit on the treadmill. I don’t know why. 30 minutes. The first 20 minutes I charged on at a new high speed of 7.5mph, increasing the incline by 1 every 5 minutes. With 10 minutes to go I dropped the elevation and speed to walking pace so that I could have a drink before winding it up to 8mph at an incline of 1 for the final few minutes.

The swimming pool was packed so for the first time ever, I didn’t go swimming after a session in the gym and went home.

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.

Thursday 15/01/09

I missed the gym on Wednesday night. Don’t get me wrong I needed the rest and enjoyed doing other things but in the back of my mind I was aware that I wasn’t getting any fitter while I sat on the sofa, so I was keen to get back into it on Thursday night, and I have some new exercises to tell of.

Warm up, the standard five minutes on the rowing machine.

Dumbbell Bench press. When Fitness Stu went through this exercise with me for some reason we didn’t pick a weight to use so I started with the tried and tested 7.5kgs to start with. This was too light so I went for the 10kgs. Lying on my back I bench press the dumbbells in the same action that you would with barbell. 3 sets of 15reps.

Shoulder press. Seated this time with the 7.5kg weights I hold the weights either side of my head and push upward. This was surprisingly tough. 3 sets of 15, but I faded toward the end and couldn’t complete more than 12 reps.

Pectoral fly machine. Sitting, you pull the two pads together in front of your chest. This machine uses the deltoids but unexplainably a muscle in my neck and chin really hurts towards the end of the reps. 27kgs, 3 sets of 15.

Cardio. 30 minutes. Manual with the incline increasing 1 every 5 minutes. This time, with about 10 minutes to go I had a second wind so upped the speed to 8mph for a sprint finish.

This running malarkey is getting easier. I have only been hard at it for a week and already I am feeling that I can stretch the speed and distance. I am also planning on taking my running out onto the streets in the coming weeks.

Finishing off with a 15 minute swim and 10 minutes in the steam room.

Talking about running, I was notified today that I haven’t won a place with the Great North Run on the free ballot. There are still a few options on a couple of other free ballots to get into this race, but this could put paid to my running of this marathon.

You see, we need to spend a lot of cash pounds to take part in the Devizes to Westminster race as we still don’t have a boat and only have a fraction of the equipment that we need to compete. I am hoping to get sponsorship for some of this and I obviously want to raise money for charity too. To try and collect money for a Great North run charity too will I think be too much.

Tuesday 13/01/09

Another day at the gym and I hooked myself back up to the heart rate monitor.

Warm up on the rowing machine. 5 minutes.

Seated arm curls with the dumbbells. 3 sets of 15 reps. 7.5kgs. A month or so ago I was struggling with this weight but it seemed pretty acceptable last night.

Seated dips. An old exercise, and the one I am blaming for my shoulder injury. I am back up to 36kgs in 3 sets of 15 and am feeling a lot more confident and happy to do this now.

Concentrated curls on the cable machine. Hard exercise this one. The cable is set at ground level and I stand sideways onto it, pulling the cable across my body. My hand starts at my side and ends near my shoulder. This works the biceps and pectoral muscles. 3 sets of 15 at 2kgs for each arm. I think my last set I couldn’t do any more than 12 reps though.

Tricep pull down on the cable machine with the rope. This time the cable is set at high level with the rope handle (instead of the metal one). With my arms at my side I pull the rope down and when my arms are fully extended I twist my wrists out. 3 sets of 15 at 5kgs. Again, pretty tough with the last set I stopped short of the 15 reps.

Cardio. 30 minutes increasing the elevation every 5 minutes. Fitness Stu came in to see how I was getting on while I was sweating my way through this. I think he was thought I was slacking as he was going to increase the speed but seemed happy that I was pushing hard.

We had a bit of a chat about running (my half of the conversation populated with huffs and puffs) and Fitness Stu told me that road running was a better way to prepare for a half marathon and would get me fitter quicker because the treadmill doesn’t use the same muscles. Fitness Stu hasn’t let me down yet, so I’m going to slot in some street running into my exercising as soon as I can.

I finished the 30 minutes with relative ease this time, I think the ten minute chat distracted me so I didn’t end up watching the clock for 30 minutes thinking about the pain.

There was some hurt though, my calves are wrecked again.

I went for a swim for 15 minutes again but was hungry and not in the mood so I called it a day.

My heart rate monitor peaked at 170bpm when I was at full tilt on the treadmill and it averaged 138bpm over the 75 minutes I was in the gym.

I’m going to have a rest day today as I am cream crackered. Though I have a few moments ago been reminded that Nigel will be at the gym today, and will be missing out on a joint training session. Buggerit.

Monday 12/01/09

I’m not going to bring home that exercise card after all. If I do, I will leave it at work or somewhere and then forget what I need to do the next day. Instead I am going to try and remember the names for the exercises that I have done instead.

I dabbled with the upper body exercises last week, doing them a little bit out of order and was just getting used to them. This week I decided to start from the top.

Warm up, 5 minutes on the rowing machine. Piece of cake, just a bit dull.

Lat pull down with inverted grip. This is similar to the lat pull downs that I have been doing to date but my grip is closer together and turned around so that my palms are facing me to work different muscles. 39kgs. 3 sets of 15 reps.

Cable row. This is a cool exercise that works the back muscles. With the cable pulley at the bottom of the machine, I sit facing it and pull the weighted cable toward me until I finish with my elbows at my side. 70kgs, 3 sets of 15.

I was supposed to do some erector spinae exercises on the ball, but it was pretty crowded over in that corner and I wasn’t very good at that exercise, I am going to secretly practice this one at home before I unleash my technique at the gym, so I skipped it.

Cardio. 30 minutes, 7.2 mph. I increased the incline angle by 1 every five minutes. Until the last ten minutes where I dropped the incline to 0 and I walked out the last 3 minutes.

This is killing me. I need to keep running if I am going to do this half marathon in March and I’m sure that in a few weeks time 30 minutes will be a doddle but today my calves are wrecked and I have a killer blister on my right foot. It is a big compound blister which I am sure has other smaller blisters underneath it.

After that I swam as usual. Not for very long, only about 10 – 15 minutes but it was a good low impact warm down.

I’m back to the gym again tonight, and if the weather continues to improve am thinking about going for a run and/or kayak in the real world again over the weekend.

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.

first session of 09

This new and vigorous start to 2009 did not start too well. Monday night the wife had car troubles and I had to pick her up. So I started the new year on Tuesday instead.

I watched with a little bit of dismay through Christmas that my newly defined lines of muscle slipping back behind a layer of fat. No exercise and too much food and drink will do that apparently. I decided that the first thing I am going to have to do is burn that off before I get back into the routine so a cardio blitz was planned.

This was also my first real play with the heart rate monitor and my new iPod (with scientifically created music). I set off on the treadmill interval training. 7.2mph and for the first time managed to sustain that speed for the duration, this new level of endurance I will attribute to science music!

Heart rate very quickly made its way up to 140bpm and never dropped below that for the duration. For the three peaks in the interval routine where there is the most effort that is sustained for 90 seconds, my heart rate made its way to 175bpm.

After that I went straight across to the cross trainer and went for it. 20 minutes of intervals at level 8. Heart rate was sustained at over 150bpm for the duration and the 3 peaks of high effort I hit 180bpm.

To find out what all those beats mean, and if my work rate is any good I turned to the internet.

When at rest the average male should have a heart rate of about 70, which in my initial mucking about with the monitor that seemed to be about where I am, and then according to the Fox and Haskell formula on heart rates I was at the upper end of aerobic training for the duration of the exercise session with 6 bursts of anaerobic exercise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_exercise Reading around the subject a little bit, this combination seems to be a good thing.

After all of that I went for a bit of a swim. I was crowded out of the pool after about 15 minutes but I was pretty happy with my first effort of the year.

I have booked a session with fitness Stu for Wednesday night to get a whole new plan. I have told him of my new goal to go to the gym every night and that I could do with two different plans to alternate each day with. I will report back tomorrow.

Last weekend before Christmas.

Saturday was a day of rest. Well I say rest, it wasn’t very restful to be honest. I didn’t go to the gym is what I mean.

Sunday I had to go though. I am conscious that Christmas is less than a week away and commitments around this holyday will keep me from the gym (I think my next and only chance before 2009 will be Christmas eve). Coupled with the fact that I am going to be eating inordinate amounts of food I had to put a big effort in.

Today’s damage report. My Trapezius muscles ache, these are the muscles across the top of the shoulders and behind the neck. My Calves ache. My biceps ache. And I had a very large blister on my right foot that span the distance between my second and fourth toe, which when cleaned up and removed, revealed a second slightly smaller blister underneath.

I started out with the rowing machine for 20 minutes, I briefly interrupted myself by heading over and turning down the gym stereo a touch when the coast was clear (there is a big Staff Only sign on the door, and I’m not staff!) because it was so loud I couldn’t hear my own music, or in this case a podcast about the nature an origin of new strains of virus.

Reading back that paragraph it makes me sound like a bit of a bore but it was an fascinating podcast and the gym sound system can get impressively loud.

Anyway, 20 minutes of rowing machine at level 2 (and the biological mechanism by which Ebola jumped the species divide) for a warm up.

Abdominal exercises.
Side crunches. 2 sets of 15 on either side. The plank twice to failure. And 2 sets of 15Twisting sits.

Free weights.
1 set of 15 sitting chest curls with the 5kgs. 1 set of 15 reps of arm curls resting on the knee with the 5kgs. And then the same set of exercises with the 7.5kgs.

Triceps push down. 3 sets of 15 at 7kgs.

Leg press. 3 sets off 15 at 59kgs.

The banned machines.
Lat Pull down. 3 sets of 15 at 32kgs. Chest press. 3 sets of 15 at 27kgs. Shoulder press 3 sets of 10 at 23kgs.

It was about now that I hit a wall. I had been in the gym for a little over an hour and suddenly everything seemed really hard work. I had been checking my pulse every now and then since I arrived and I had pretty much kept it at or about 100 – 120 without much in the way of a break. I had a few minutes rest.

Back to it, I continued with the back extensions. 3 sets of 15 reps at 72kgs.

Arm curls. 3 sets off 15 at 18kgs.

Then 40 minutes of cardio.
Treadmill. Intervals at 7mpm for 20 minutes quickly followed by the cross trainer in intervals at level 6.

This took me nicely to 12 o’ clock. I headed pool side to discover that it was deserted. Goggles on I then swam solidly for half an hour before finally sinking into the Jacuzzi to relax.

Thursday 18/12/08

I am bored of the rowing machine. It is a dull exercise and without music I decided to skip it. Instead I started at the other end of the gym and worked my way anti clockwise around the room.

Leg press. 3 sets of 15. 59kgs.

The plank twice to failure.

Side crunches. 15 reps each side twice.

Seated dips. 2 sets of 15 reps at 36kgs.

Bicep curls. 2 sets off 15 at 18kgs.

Back extensions. 1 set of 15 at 66kgs. And then 2 further sets of 15 at 72kgs.

Chest press. 3 sets of 15 at 25kgs.

Shoulder press. 2 sets of 15 at 23kgs.

Treadmill next for some cardio. 20 minutes of intervals. I started at 7.5mph but after 10 minutes I was struggling so I finished the second half at the reduced speed of 6.8mph.

Cross trainer for more cardio. 20 minutes was planned. Level 9. after about 10 minutes I was cream crackered though. I can’t seem to manage anything above level 8 on the cross trainer at the moment. I aborted and headed to the pool.

Half an hour of swimming was briefly interrupted when Nigel came in to bemoan that he is working AFD’s for the foreseeable future and is only able to get to the gym once a week at the moment.

I have been investigating fitness on the internet since I started this and one thing that cropped up was how good swimming is. It works out all muscle groups in a low impact environment, and is good for the cardio vascular system too. Since reading that I have been swimming hard.

I feel pretty achy today. My upper torso is really feeling the workout at the moment. I don’t know if it is because I have started redoing the banned exercises, or whether my efforts in the pool are having an effect.

New Abs exercises

I saw Fitness Stu last night with the aim to add some abdominal exercises to my plan.

First of all we are going to keep the plank in the plan, twice to failure but the hand to knee sits are out. Instead he suggested that I try sit up twists, twice to failure. Also added are some leg raises twice to failure. And last but not least are these crunches with a sit up aid where I twist my body and roll forward. Hard to explain, almost as hard to do but work my external oblique muscles like nothing else.

Then while talking through how the rest of my plan is going Fitness Stu mentioned that by about week 12 we should be changing the whole plan to keep the body guessing. It seems that muscles get used to exercises and slow their growing rate after about 3 months. New exercises also trigger slightly different parts of the muscle group to give a more all over growth. So at some point in the next week or so we are going to ditch all of the exercises that I have been doing for some new ones.

After spending about 20 minutes with Fitness Stu, I was left to my own devices again.

10 minutes on the rowing machine at level 5 for a quick warm up.

Two sets of 15 reps with the 5kg arm curls. Two sets of 15 reps 7.5kg arm curls.

Chest press 2 sets of 15 at 23kgs.

Shoulder press 2 sets off 15 at 27kgs.

Back extension 3 sets of 15 at 66kgs.

Arm curls 2 sets of 15 at 18kgs.

Seated dips. 3 sets of 15 reps at 36kgs.

The Plank twice to failure.

Twisted crunches. Twice on each side.

Sit up twist. Once to failure. (my abs were getting really tired and time was ticking on, otherwise I would have done two sets).

Treadmill. 20 minutes intervals at 7mph. I’m really enjoying running at the moment and I think I could go longer and faster if it wasn’t for the intervals. When I hit an interval peak I think my heart is going to explode… I think I want to get one of those heart rate monitors so that I can see how hard my heart is working during exercise.

As always I finished with swimming. 20 minutes this time .