Couple of quiet days training wise with no epic runs or anything to report.

At a suggestion from my Dad, I have acquired a skipping rope though. It is a really good one, leather rope with weighted handles. As far as ropes can be engineered, this one is the pinnacle of design.
I have rarely skipped. I have seen boxers doing it and they make it look easy, crossing their arms and everything. I got the rope going round at a fair speed after a little practice but the crossing arms thing resulted in a whip injury.
It’s bloody exhausting though, I spent no more than a couple of minutes leaping over the rope but I really felt my heart rate leap up. This is going to get added to my exercise regime I feel.

Earlier last week I started to work my upper body with dumbbells. This has now developed into two sessions, a quick one in the morning before work and then a longer session in the evening after work. This is already making an impact on the muscle definition.

I also played on the Wii Fit last night for the first time in ages. My fitness needs exceeded what the Wii could offer so it has sort of fallen by the wayside but it still has been keeping track of my weight and BMI. I haven’t done this for a while but I now weigh 70.9kgs with a BMI 23.15. The last time I weighed myself was way back in December and I was 69.9kgs, so I have gained not a lot. I seem to have reached a bit of a plateau.

This weekend has the potential to be filled with good solid training. Hopefully I will have much to report.

Hit the road again last night this time by myself and keen to work up a sweat to make up for the steady jogging days I have had with the missus.

I extended my usual route a little bit and have a new 4.8mile route which is pretty nice country lane running. I pushed my pace for the duration trying to maintain a balance of speed but still holing back something to be able to complete the route. I did have to stop at one point because a greenfly decided to throw itself at my eyeball and I had to fish the flailing critter out from my eyelashes.

It was a warm and humid evening yesterday and I worked up quite a sweat and I was glad that I have taken to running with a bottle of water because I would have dehydrated quickly.

In the end I rolled back to my front door 42 minutes 26 seconds after I had set off feeling thoroughly knackered but happy with my effort. Working out my speed that’s an average of 6.8mph.

Schoolboy error though. I didn’t warm down properly so this morning my left calf, only my left mind you, is a bit tight. So I’m sort of trotting around like a horse with a stone wedged in a hoof at the moment.

Dragged the wife out for a run again last night. the same 3.7 miles. Just a smidge over 50 minutes again. I enjoy running with company but the pace which we are able to run at currently is a bit frustrating, and although she is completely shattered, I am not elevating my heart rate much above normal.

She is now suffering from various fatigue aches, and the more we run the less capacity she has to run the next time out. I have prescribed for her some lighter exercise for the next few days to enable her to recover but still stick with the program. I will have a few days of solo running. Might even have a stab at some personal bests for some of the routes.

Run again on Saturday morning with the missus. Same route. Same time. Similar stop start approach to covering the miles. She did feel better though and had more in the tank as far as cardio-vascular and muscle capacity. What she didn’t have was a decent pair of trainers and blisters and stunned feet forced us to walk the final part.

With that, we went off and abused the credit card for a pair of decent running trainers to suit her running style. There is a plan to go running Monday night though looking at the weather it will take some persuasion to head out into the torrential rains that seem likely to be in when we go after work.

The wife declared that she was getting unfit so I suggested that she come running with me. Despite having not run since the time of school sports days she was game and last night after work we donned trainers and set off. I didn’t know how comfortable she would be running so I had several routes planned, in the end we took the shortest at 3.7 miles, though considering that she wanted to turn back after about half a mile we did well.

When we first set off she ran quickly but that soon came to an end and we did a form of interval training where I would bully her into running until she could run no more and we would walk for a bit until my incessant nagging bullied her back up to running speed.

Her aches and pains and complaints reminded me of my early days running. The horrible ache in the neck area, the metallic tasting spit, the raw burning pain in the calves, the blisters. It made me realise how far I had come in my running ability.

She hated running and probably me for pretty much the whole distance. But when we got back and she had finally crashed out on the sofa she claims she enjoyed it and in theory we will go for another jog on the weekend.

Nothing major to report today. I have become aware that I have been neglecting the upper body so last night I dug out the dumbbells and worked through some of the exercises that Fitness Stu had given me when I was regularly at the gym. I did find the exercises pretty hard but I haven’t done them for a long time so these muscles have gone a bit floppy. No matter I will drag them back into shape no problems. I have to, I am going to be wearing a running vest for the Great North Run and at the moment I look a bit like that bloke on the Mr. Muscle advert.

Also other news. The racing boat is going to get a paint job next week, after that we are good to paddle.

I have left the running for two weeks to let my legs recover from their painful shins and for the last couple of days they have felt fine so this morning I set off for a short run before work.

Setting off my legs gave me a twinge on the front of my shin but I kept my pace down and managed the wear on my legs.

4.2 miles completed in approx 45 minutes (I didn’t time myself but had half an eye on the clock to ensure that I was back in time to get ready for work) so averaged about 5 and a half miles an hour. I had not too much of a problem and I have to say, it is a joy running early in the morning when the air is cleaner and there is little road traffic.

I feel a bit of ache in the shins again though not half as debilitating as the last time. I will give it a couple of days rest before donning the running shoes again.