Allora! Just when you start to form plans, along come a few set-backs. Stomach upset, dodgy hip and a cold. Kind of off-putting, and a blight to the plan (no swims this week, and didn't cycle/run yesterday, though I did have an hour's walk so at least something healthy). But on the very bright side, I've caught up with a friend I've not seen since college, which was just brilliant. (On the downside I've started dreaming about stuff that I can't do and am missing - specifically adventure racing, which didn't set me up for the day too well.)
I nearly didn't return to this blog, as the descent into self-pity is all too easy. I am skilled at introspection. Then I realised that if I didn't come back to it I would be giving myself a hundred and one excuses not to do anything today, whereas I can go get stuff out of the way, ready for when I'm a little bit more sound in body. Dull but worthy stuff. Planting out tomatoes (kindly donated by my OH's colleague), doing Work work - again! at a weekend! - and the usual rubbish of tidying/cleaning. And the other job for today - a conditioning plan. I've been promising to sort my core strength out for years, I've been a slouch, it has to be done if I want to continue to train I think.
So where have I got to?
Plan 1: lose weight
Plan 2: run/cyle every day plus 3 swims a week 'til I'm 40 (as far as possible!) I still *could* do this for a 3 month period, running up to the glorious 12th (I share my birthday with the start of the grouse shooting season, hurrah)
Plan 3 to be made: core conditioning.
Today's jobs:
- Plant out tomatoes
- Devise the core conditioning plan
- Do some Work work
- Tidy up
To the (mundane) fray!
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
02 May 2012 #3 oh yes, the other little plan
Just one more thing.... since 13th April (and planning to do this 'til I'm 40) I have made sure I have done some exercise every day. The challenge is to do a run or bike every day, plus three swims a week, to prepare to actually train. Seeing as I've done so little for so long. As I'm injured, these are really small amounts of training - my rule is a minimum of 10 minutes counts for a run, and 20 minutes counts for a bike. As for a swim.... getting wet? I've failed on one day, when I didn't manage to run or bike, but I had swum, and I did dance for a couple of hours so I hope that absolves me.
The first week totalled a whole 5 hours of exercise, so you can see I'm really not doing a lot.
Today's was probably not a good plan on the back of a stomach upset even though it was (yet another) easy effort - I feel a bit sick now, and somewhere between virtuous and stupid. Stubborn maybe.
So there we are - laying the groundwork for real plans.
The first week totalled a whole 5 hours of exercise, so you can see I'm really not doing a lot.
Today's was probably not a good plan on the back of a stomach upset even though it was (yet another) easy effort - I feel a bit sick now, and somewhere between virtuous and stupid. Stubborn maybe.
So there we are - laying the groundwork for real plans.
02 May 2012 #2 a little plan
Well I do admit to a plan on the weight loss. Using these people: www.weightlossresources.co.uk I'm going to do the whole writing down what I eat and what exercise I do - tedious but worked for me before. And because my calorie intake has to be stupidly low to lose weight at the rate of 0.75kg/week (1100 kcals) it does prompt me to exercise too. Though an injured hip is a bit of a problem right now.
So that's that. If I stick with it, I should make it just in time, although sticking with it is likely to be a bit tough.
On the bright side, I'm currently off work with a bad stomach (less details the better, though the problem developed during work yesterday, and I thought it prudent on the journey home to make a 'safety stop' at a garden centre part way back). So that's some kind of kick start I guess.
So that's that. If I stick with it, I should make it just in time, although sticking with it is likely to be a bit tough.
On the bright side, I'm currently off work with a bad stomach (less details the better, though the problem developed during work yesterday, and I thought it prudent on the journey home to make a 'safety stop' at a garden centre part way back). So that's some kind of kick start I guess.
02 May 2012 floundering
Of course it's because I'm 40 in a few months that I feel the need to blog. Well, it's not so much needing to blog as feeling the need to plan and achieve. I don't mean I've a tonne of stuff to do before I'm 40; I mean I'm lost, and I want to know where I'm going before I hit it.
There's only one particular, unremarkable, predictable) target I have before the big birthday - and it's weight related. I am so ordinary. So the goal is 52kg, which is around 114lbs or 8st2ish. For me that would be skinny, but hey let's see.
And I suppose this is why I'm writing in a blog - to keep myself honest with no excuses. Ordinarily I keep any goals and ambitions close to me, for fear of failure & humiliation. But it means that I don't get support - how could people support me if they've no idea what I'm trying to do? I imagine that people have no idea some of the things that are most important to me - I almost pretend disinterest. Especially if (like now) there's something preventing me from working towards what I want to do. So sport is a really big deal to me, but with a year or so of injury, and not able to train properly, I'm more and more frustrated. So I avoid talking about it and laugh it off.
This is an interesting process - I was expecting to write light-hearted stuff (although with little pretention to wit)but it's become deep introversion already.
Ok. I'll finish with things that are in my head that I'd like to do - or work on - at some point but normally wouldn't dare tell people. Some of these don't have specific goals, but I will put down what's in my head for the ones that I have thought of, even though they may be Wildly Optimistic. Capitalised because Wild Optimism would be a lot better than worrying.
In no particular order:
o running a sub 3hr15 marathon, running a sub 1hr30 half marathon, running a sub 40min 10k. (A couple of years ago I did sub 1hr33, and sub 42, if I remember correctly...)
o cyclocross
o time trialling - improving on previous times, which weren't great
o triathlon - at least get an Ironman done, though I'd like to do some Olympic distance at speed
learn German
o work on job/career - lots of learning to do, and need to be in a less stressed mindset than I am now, through whatever means is needed
o then there's the house and garden to work on!
o and I've some sewing projects to do too
o and a fancy to do some DIY/woodwork
o oh gosh, nearly forgot piano & cello - long neglected, used to be good at cello, reasonable at piano
Enough. Quite obviously I'm a muddle of things I must do and no plan to get there. So this is the start.
There's only one particular, unremarkable, predictable) target I have before the big birthday - and it's weight related. I am so ordinary. So the goal is 52kg, which is around 114lbs or 8st2ish. For me that would be skinny, but hey let's see.
And I suppose this is why I'm writing in a blog - to keep myself honest with no excuses. Ordinarily I keep any goals and ambitions close to me, for fear of failure & humiliation. But it means that I don't get support - how could people support me if they've no idea what I'm trying to do? I imagine that people have no idea some of the things that are most important to me - I almost pretend disinterest. Especially if (like now) there's something preventing me from working towards what I want to do. So sport is a really big deal to me, but with a year or so of injury, and not able to train properly, I'm more and more frustrated. So I avoid talking about it and laugh it off.
This is an interesting process - I was expecting to write light-hearted stuff (although with little pretention to wit)but it's become deep introversion already.
Ok. I'll finish with things that are in my head that I'd like to do - or work on - at some point but normally wouldn't dare tell people. Some of these don't have specific goals, but I will put down what's in my head for the ones that I have thought of, even though they may be Wildly Optimistic. Capitalised because Wild Optimism would be a lot better than worrying.
In no particular order:
o running a sub 3hr15 marathon, running a sub 1hr30 half marathon, running a sub 40min 10k. (A couple of years ago I did sub 1hr33, and sub 42, if I remember correctly...)
o cyclocross
o time trialling - improving on previous times, which weren't great
o triathlon - at least get an Ironman done, though I'd like to do some Olympic distance at speed
learn German
o work on job/career - lots of learning to do, and need to be in a less stressed mindset than I am now, through whatever means is needed
o then there's the house and garden to work on!
o and I've some sewing projects to do too
o and a fancy to do some DIY/woodwork
o oh gosh, nearly forgot piano & cello - long neglected, used to be good at cello, reasonable at piano
Enough. Quite obviously I'm a muddle of things I must do and no plan to get there. So this is the start.
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