Just a quick post to get this up to date.
I've still been trying to keep up getting in the gym and doing my work out and on saturday I weighed in at 13 stone 10 and half lbs, which means i've lost 5 lbs since starting back with training at the beginning of January. This is a big change considering i've been doing lots of weights, it may mean i've lost 8 lbs of fat and put on 3 lbs of muscle or 9 off 4 on or something... I think that's a bit ambitious, but i'm seeing results on the scales, on the machines and in the mirror. I expect the weightloss will slow down a bit now but i'm not really concerned with numbers as long as there is some kind of result. Hopefully I can get in to better shape bit by bit week by week
I'll post again when there's anything new.
Monday 27 January 2014
Thursday 9 January 2014
Don't call it a come back...
Wow, 4 months later... that has flown by!
So, to jump right in... why haven't I posted for 4 months? Does that mean I haven't trained for 4 months? Well, no it doesnt.
As I just reminded myself, by re-reading my last post, the last time I was posting about training was the give you the deets on the Wigan 10k, which I ended with a bit of flu and black toenails. The truth is, due to both these issues, I didn't keep up running in the immediate aftermath of the Wigan 10k, then when I was back to 100%, having no organised race in front of me made it harder to get out there running with no incentive, so September training never really happened.
In around October though, a new cheap gym opened near my house and my girlfriend persuaded me to join with her, so I did get back to training, mixing treadmill running with a bit of weights. There are some amazing people out there who run all year round and love it but I can't confess to being one of them, as soon as it got cold it was into the gym for me. When I got into the gym routine I wasn't monitoring my weight as closely as before so I don't really know how it was affected. I think I put a few lbs on from doing the weights and getting slightly bigger, which is no bad thing, but as a result I don't really know where I'm up to now. Once we got seriously into December, training went out the window and food and drink became constants. I piled the weight on and this time in flab not muscle. I've recently started back at the gym and to give me an idea of where I'm starting from and maybe for the purposes of the blog, I weighed myself the other day and came in at 14 stone 1 and a half lbs. Which looking back to September is a jump of about 7 or so lbs, but as I wasn't keeping track of my weight when I first got in the gym I don't know if that's an added 7 lbs fat, or 2 lbs muscle and 5 lbs fat or 4 lbs muscle and 3 lbs fat etc.
I'm hoping to keep up the training quite a bit now as I have an incentive again in that I have a big holiday planned in about 4 months. What i'm looking for from training at the minute is to first get "in shape" for the holiday, then when I get back, I'll switch specifically to fitness in the build up to Total Warrior etc. The hoping to get "in shape" bit means I want to add muscle and tone up a bit... not bodybuilding stuff, just not get skinny... so that means I can't really worry about weight being a number, I need to worry about fat. If I can shed some fat but my weight goes up then that's not a bad thing... I just need to train my brain to recognise that.
So this is where I'm up to... I say I've recently returned to the gym, what that means is I went on Sunday and on Tuesday... so it's very early days, I'm due there tonight and a couple of times over the weekend. If I can manage that i'll check my weight again. If it goes down i'll be happy as I want to shed the Christmas lbs, but if it stays the same or goes up I need to recognise that as an achievement and a good thing towards my goal of a decent body shape and muscle definition etc.
So there we have it, it's not a comeback to training as i've been doing bits off and on since September but maybe this will spur me on to make a comeback to blogging in order to track my progress again.
TTFN
Chris
So, to jump right in... why haven't I posted for 4 months? Does that mean I haven't trained for 4 months? Well, no it doesnt.
As I just reminded myself, by re-reading my last post, the last time I was posting about training was the give you the deets on the Wigan 10k, which I ended with a bit of flu and black toenails. The truth is, due to both these issues, I didn't keep up running in the immediate aftermath of the Wigan 10k, then when I was back to 100%, having no organised race in front of me made it harder to get out there running with no incentive, so September training never really happened.
In around October though, a new cheap gym opened near my house and my girlfriend persuaded me to join with her, so I did get back to training, mixing treadmill running with a bit of weights. There are some amazing people out there who run all year round and love it but I can't confess to being one of them, as soon as it got cold it was into the gym for me. When I got into the gym routine I wasn't monitoring my weight as closely as before so I don't really know how it was affected. I think I put a few lbs on from doing the weights and getting slightly bigger, which is no bad thing, but as a result I don't really know where I'm up to now. Once we got seriously into December, training went out the window and food and drink became constants. I piled the weight on and this time in flab not muscle. I've recently started back at the gym and to give me an idea of where I'm starting from and maybe for the purposes of the blog, I weighed myself the other day and came in at 14 stone 1 and a half lbs. Which looking back to September is a jump of about 7 or so lbs, but as I wasn't keeping track of my weight when I first got in the gym I don't know if that's an added 7 lbs fat, or 2 lbs muscle and 5 lbs fat or 4 lbs muscle and 3 lbs fat etc.
I'm hoping to keep up the training quite a bit now as I have an incentive again in that I have a big holiday planned in about 4 months. What i'm looking for from training at the minute is to first get "in shape" for the holiday, then when I get back, I'll switch specifically to fitness in the build up to Total Warrior etc. The hoping to get "in shape" bit means I want to add muscle and tone up a bit... not bodybuilding stuff, just not get skinny... so that means I can't really worry about weight being a number, I need to worry about fat. If I can shed some fat but my weight goes up then that's not a bad thing... I just need to train my brain to recognise that.
So this is where I'm up to... I say I've recently returned to the gym, what that means is I went on Sunday and on Tuesday... so it's very early days, I'm due there tonight and a couple of times over the weekend. If I can manage that i'll check my weight again. If it goes down i'll be happy as I want to shed the Christmas lbs, but if it stays the same or goes up I need to recognise that as an achievement and a good thing towards my goal of a decent body shape and muscle definition etc.
So there we have it, it's not a comeback to training as i've been doing bits off and on since September but maybe this will spur me on to make a comeback to blogging in order to track my progress again.
TTFN
Chris
Wednesday 11 September 2013
Wigan 10k... and build up
It's been over a week since I posted so I have to get things up to date now.
I think on the Monday I last posted I did 50 more step up chins up, then on Tuesday I went out to do hill sprints. Unfortunately my heart wasn't in it, I just didn't feel up to training properly, I got to my hill to do 15 hill sprints and quit after 7. Can't explain why, maybe I was just tired from work but I didn't have anything to give. Wednesday I had band practice so i'm pretty sure I did more chin ups on Thursday.
Saturday was my usual weigh in and I was 13 stone 8 and a half putting a lb on from the previous week. 13, 7 just seems to be a barrier i'll never break. Perhaps I should move my weigh in time from first thing saturday morning though. I know why I'd put weight on. Wednesday night I had some late night fried chicken after band practice as I hadn't had time to eat then on Friday night I had a few beers and cookies to celebrate the end of the week... not clever when I was going to weigh myself the next morning. I don't mind being 13, 8 1/2 though, as long as I don't go too much above that this week.
Sunday was the inaugural Wigan 10k. Having had the failed attempt at hill sprints on Tuesday night and done nothing since I didn't think I'd be anywhere near a personal best. I just wanted to get through it. The early morning alarm call and standing around in the cold in running gear hadn't cheered me up either. But before we get to the time I just have to talk about the event. It was organised in support of the Joining Jack charity (http://joiningjack.org/) which is a great cause which also led to great celebrity support particularly from the Rugby League community... for those who don't know, that's religion to a lot of people from Wigan (admittedly not all). As I arrived I saw Brian Carney and Kris Radlinski kitted out ready for the run alongside Andy Johnson who is Jack's dad. They were soon joined by Sir Bradley Wiggins who was starting the race. A few other faces I recognised going round were Denis Betts (former Wigan RL player and coach, current Widnes coach), Mick Cassidy (former Wigan RL player and currently fitness coach for Widnes) and Andy Burnham (Labour MP for Leigh). I'm sure there were others but I was focussing on the running.
The area around the start in Wigan was all well organised and kitted out. There was a stage where people were being interviewed and a warm up was done, a beer tent (for after the race, although I didn't stick around), merch stands and massage tables amongst other things. The route through the town was well signed with markers every 1k and there were people lining the full route clapping the runners. I was running with headphones in but it was good to see the faces cheering you on. On completing the race you got a bag full of freebies which included a great medal (see below)
I think on the Monday I last posted I did 50 more step up chins up, then on Tuesday I went out to do hill sprints. Unfortunately my heart wasn't in it, I just didn't feel up to training properly, I got to my hill to do 15 hill sprints and quit after 7. Can't explain why, maybe I was just tired from work but I didn't have anything to give. Wednesday I had band practice so i'm pretty sure I did more chin ups on Thursday.
Saturday was my usual weigh in and I was 13 stone 8 and a half putting a lb on from the previous week. 13, 7 just seems to be a barrier i'll never break. Perhaps I should move my weigh in time from first thing saturday morning though. I know why I'd put weight on. Wednesday night I had some late night fried chicken after band practice as I hadn't had time to eat then on Friday night I had a few beers and cookies to celebrate the end of the week... not clever when I was going to weigh myself the next morning. I don't mind being 13, 8 1/2 though, as long as I don't go too much above that this week.
Sunday was the inaugural Wigan 10k. Having had the failed attempt at hill sprints on Tuesday night and done nothing since I didn't think I'd be anywhere near a personal best. I just wanted to get through it. The early morning alarm call and standing around in the cold in running gear hadn't cheered me up either. But before we get to the time I just have to talk about the event. It was organised in support of the Joining Jack charity (http://joiningjack.org/) which is a great cause which also led to great celebrity support particularly from the Rugby League community... for those who don't know, that's religion to a lot of people from Wigan (admittedly not all). As I arrived I saw Brian Carney and Kris Radlinski kitted out ready for the run alongside Andy Johnson who is Jack's dad. They were soon joined by Sir Bradley Wiggins who was starting the race. A few other faces I recognised going round were Denis Betts (former Wigan RL player and coach, current Widnes coach), Mick Cassidy (former Wigan RL player and currently fitness coach for Widnes) and Andy Burnham (Labour MP for Leigh). I'm sure there were others but I was focussing on the running.
The area around the start in Wigan was all well organised and kitted out. There was a stage where people were being interviewed and a warm up was done, a beer tent (for after the race, although I didn't stick around), merch stands and massage tables amongst other things. The route through the town was well signed with markers every 1k and there were people lining the full route clapping the runners. I was running with headphones in but it was good to see the faces cheering you on. On completing the race you got a bag full of freebies which included a great medal (see below)
The run felt good all the way through. Myself and two other mates were taking part although we all set out do our own pace and not necessarily run together. Having said that I think I ran the first 5k probably slightly quicker than I would normally have as I used my mate as a bit of a pacesetter and thought just keep near him, not necessarily alongside but try to match his pace. Shortly after 5k he slowed to a walk briefly and I carried on, it got tough then as there was much more uphill on the way back around (the route was 5k out then back, near enough) but I just wanted to keep going. I felt a pinching of my toes in my running shoes which i hadn't felt before but I tried to ignore it and just get to the end. Once I got to about 500m left I tried to push as hard as I could to make sure I had a good time, but again I was just trying to get round in around an hour. I can't tell you my exact time but I know I definitely got a PB. The time I got from the organisers from my timing chip on my foot was 57:46 which is faster than i've run 10k before and the time strava told me for my fastest 10k was 55:32. I'd love to think that was right but I trust the official time much more.
Either way I was over the moon with a pb. The route was less hilly than my usual 10k route so that's why I managed to beat my time in the first place but it's little things like that that keep you into running.
Unfortunately there are a couple of unfortunate legacies of the Wigan 10k. Firstly, when I took my shoes and socks off after the race I was reminded of that pinching i'd felt by two black toenails. Both on the second toe of either foot. I'd never felt that before so I don't know why it happened but it may be worth me resting for a bit rather than keeping running on them. I also finished the race sick as a dog. I'd felt fine all the way round but as soon as I stopped running I felt a cold/flu coming on which just got steadily worse over the course of Sunday. I had Monday booked off work luckily but I was fit for nothing and had to have yesterday off work sick. I managed to get back to work today but I think it'll be a while before I do any running or chin ups!
Don't anticpate any weight loss on Saturday!
Monday 2 September 2013
Update
Just a few things to add today since posting on Wednesday.
I started properly doing a pull up work out on Thursday... well it's actually a chin up workout. Just stepping up on a chair to be the right chin up height, then stepping off and holding yourself up there and slowly lowering down. I did 5 sets on 10 on Thursday, then did the same again Saturday. All I can say about whether it's helping is that my lats hurt in between so it's definitely doing some good.
On Friday I went out to try hill sprints at a new park, unfortunately there wasn't a hill suitable there so it just turned into a short run. I'm not sure exactly of the distance as the ever reliable Strava decided i'd done 5.1km in 18 odd minutes (see below) which i definitely didn't, i'd guess at 3.1km.
I had another rest day sunday which means I definitely need to get out and do something today, a run or chin ups or both... I think i'll try to get some hill sprints done at my original location then maybe some chin ups when i'm back. I have the Wigan 10k on Sunday and i've not really been thinking about the training for that. As much as I don't really have too many goals for it, I was a bit disappointed to drop back to over an hour in my last 10k and I want to be able to better that.
In other news though, my Saturday weigh in came in at 13 stone 7 1/2 (189.5 lbs). Down 2 lbs from last week... i'll be happy with that every week!
I started properly doing a pull up work out on Thursday... well it's actually a chin up workout. Just stepping up on a chair to be the right chin up height, then stepping off and holding yourself up there and slowly lowering down. I did 5 sets on 10 on Thursday, then did the same again Saturday. All I can say about whether it's helping is that my lats hurt in between so it's definitely doing some good.
On Friday I went out to try hill sprints at a new park, unfortunately there wasn't a hill suitable there so it just turned into a short run. I'm not sure exactly of the distance as the ever reliable Strava decided i'd done 5.1km in 18 odd minutes (see below) which i definitely didn't, i'd guess at 3.1km.
I had another rest day sunday which means I definitely need to get out and do something today, a run or chin ups or both... I think i'll try to get some hill sprints done at my original location then maybe some chin ups when i'm back. I have the Wigan 10k on Sunday and i've not really been thinking about the training for that. As much as I don't really have too many goals for it, I was a bit disappointed to drop back to over an hour in my last 10k and I want to be able to better that.
In other news though, my Saturday weigh in came in at 13 stone 7 1/2 (189.5 lbs). Down 2 lbs from last week... i'll be happy with that every week!
Thursday 29 August 2013
Here come the pull ups
I'm just posting to keep the blog up to date. I did my run back from dropping my car off yesterday. It turned out to just be 3.6 kms so I treated it as a slow maintenance run to get my legs working again after the 10k. The strava report is as below, only 375 cals burned this time.
Also yesterday I went out and got my pull up bar. See below.
The reason I needed a pull up bar is because I'm terrible at them. I found during Total Warrior that my upper body strength is pretty nonexistent. Since getting the bar I can confirm I can only manage 1 pull up, maybe 2, but I have started slowly by stepping up to the bar then slowly lowering my weight down. I found this tip online and I am starting to feel it a bit in my lats so hopefully I will slowly start to improve.
That's all for now
Chris
Tuesday 27 August 2013
Hill sprints, weigh in & 10k
It's been a few days since I've posted so there's a few things to get up to speed with.
On Friday I did manage to get out and do some hill sprints following a short warm up run. I did 15 again but realised I was probably a bit conservative marking out a 10 second sprint in the past, I've probably been doing about 7 second sprints. This gives me something to work on and hopefully that will drive the improvement. I managed to get strava to record everything this time having realised the instagram integration was making it crash. It tells me I burned 486 calories though. And here is the pic which helped me discover that instagram made strava crash.
The weekend was a write off for training as I mentioned last time but I did manage to get my weigh in done. I was 13st 9 1/2lbs. So I'd lost half a lb. That's nothing to get excited about really but as the blog has shown I didn't manage to do much at all last week so any loss is a bonus!
After a very heavy and calorific weekend (I think we'll see the effects of that at the next weigh in!) I managed to get out and do a 10k yesterday. At 1 hour 30 secs it was about 2 minutes behind my personal best which I put down to a warmer temperature, the heavy weekend and choosing to fuel up with leftover Chinese food... never again! Either way every little helps and I burned 1,069 calories according to strava.
I was quite ambitious thinking I'd be ready to do something the day after a 10k so I'm electing for the rest day option today. I'll do another run tomorrow and start on some pull ups.
What I planned last week now looks like this
Friday 23rd August: hill sprints - done
Monday 26th: 10k - done
Tuesday 27th: Either slow run, hills or rest day - done
Wednesday 28th: Run back from car garage (MOT booked in), start pull ups (payday)
Thursday 29th: hill sprints
Friday 30th August: pull ups
Hopefully by Saturday morning all of the above will have got rid of all the food and beer I've taken in over the last few days and I'll have not piled on the weight
Oh and re the cup final, Wigan won by the way!!
Cheers
Chris
Wednesday 21 August 2013
So, about that run...
It's a few days since my last post and sadly the flat run hasn't happened. Not down to any injury or anything, just lack of energy. This last couple of weeks of work have caught up with me and busy evenings have meant I've been unable to catch up on sleep. I just don't feel I can run with good enough intensity at the moment.
I'm planning my next training sessions though. I'm busy tonight (Weds) and tomorrow night, Saturday I'm at Wembley for the Challenge Cup final (Play up Wigan!), and Sunday i'll have the obvious hangover. Next week though i'm off all week from bank holiday Monday, so that should help me catch up. The plan so far is the following (i'm writing it as a list so it's easier for me to look back on).
Friday 23rd August: hill sprints
Monday 26th: 10k
Tuesday 27th: Either slow run, hills or rest day
Wednesday 28th: Run back from car garage (MOT booked in), start pull ups (payday)
Thursday 29th: hill sprints
Friday 30th August: pull ups
What I did do the other day though to help me monitor my training was take some measurements of my body. I'm no expert in how to do this so I don't know how reliable it's going to be, I may be measuring incorrectly or not finding the exact right spot each time, but i'll put down what I got initally now and see if it changes
Chest 101cm/40 inches
Waist 92cm/36 inches (don't know how that works when I wear 34" jeans!)
Belly 95cm/37 inches
Bicep 35cm/14 inches
I don't anticpate my chest or biceps will change at all until I get heavily into the pull ups but hopefully I can shrink my belly down a bit with more hill sprints and longer runs.
Finally, just to mention a well done to my mate Andy Slater who ran the Birchwood 10k this weekend and set a personal best of 1:02:05 when he was aiming for 1:05:00. I'm sure you'll manage the Wigan 10k in under an hour!
I'll write again when i've got off my arse!
Cheers
Chris
I'm planning my next training sessions though. I'm busy tonight (Weds) and tomorrow night, Saturday I'm at Wembley for the Challenge Cup final (Play up Wigan!), and Sunday i'll have the obvious hangover. Next week though i'm off all week from bank holiday Monday, so that should help me catch up. The plan so far is the following (i'm writing it as a list so it's easier for me to look back on).
Friday 23rd August: hill sprints
Monday 26th: 10k
Tuesday 27th: Either slow run, hills or rest day
Wednesday 28th: Run back from car garage (MOT booked in), start pull ups (payday)
Thursday 29th: hill sprints
Friday 30th August: pull ups
What I did do the other day though to help me monitor my training was take some measurements of my body. I'm no expert in how to do this so I don't know how reliable it's going to be, I may be measuring incorrectly or not finding the exact right spot each time, but i'll put down what I got initally now and see if it changes
Chest 101cm/40 inches
Waist 92cm/36 inches (don't know how that works when I wear 34" jeans!)
Belly 95cm/37 inches
Bicep 35cm/14 inches
I don't anticpate my chest or biceps will change at all until I get heavily into the pull ups but hopefully I can shrink my belly down a bit with more hill sprints and longer runs.
Finally, just to mention a well done to my mate Andy Slater who ran the Birchwood 10k this weekend and set a personal best of 1:02:05 when he was aiming for 1:05:00. I'm sure you'll manage the Wigan 10k in under an hour!
I'll write again when i've got off my arse!
Cheers
Chris
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