Hello Monday, how lovely to see you again so soon :S The weekend has disappeared in a blur of exercise, food, socialising and tissues, and it seems I have emerged the other side with my fighting spirit in tact. 'Why the tissues?' I hear you ask. Well firstly I had a bit of a romantic setback, initially sending me into the arms of Ben and Jerry, but once I had finished the half-eaten tub left in the freezer from Christmas and discovered the answer wasn't actually at the bottom of it, I got off my backside and decided to channel my energies more constructively. And secondly, the lurgy has caught up with me. Thanks to all my close friends and family for sharing your germs so generously, much appreciated!
It can be difficult to know the best thing to do with regards to training when you're under the weather. I have to clarify, it is just a cold, and just a female cold at that, so I am up and about. But when I woke up this morning, with a sandpaper-like throat and unable to breathe through my nose, the thought of jumping around in the living room to an exercise DVD didn't appeal. However, the fighting spirit won through and I did manage the aerobics and pump sections (with heavier weights than normal might I add!). It turns out exercise is actually quite a good decongestant :D
Teresa and I did run on Friday night and we did decide to tack on the extra mile so it was about 6.7ish miles and felt pretty good again. Half way round I became a little bit overwhelmed at the thought of having to add another 20 miles to that but managed to reign the panic in and remind myself that we're on track and, although it's helpful to bear in the mind the bigger picture for motivational purposes, actually setting realistic goals in the short term is more helpful right now! With that in mind I also dug out some of my sport psychology work at the weekend from my degree and started refreshing my memory. I had forgotten how interesting it all is and have already found a couple of strategies to use that should help us in training and in the race. When I have done a bit more revision I'll blog about some of the techniques we'll be attempting to use.
The other challenge of the weekend was I went to my new and 'improved' gym now they've got their all singing all dancing machines in place. I decided I am actually a grumpy old woman who doesn't like change. Or, more accurately, I was getting really frustrated at not knowing how to use the new equipment and the lack of anyone to show me. Which just meant I felt like a numpty (a feeling I have experienced before and I'm sure will again!) and didn't have a particularly satisfying workout. But I will admit that once they re-design my programme I think it will be brilliant and I'll see lots more improvement. I did have a play on one new piece of kit which can only be described as the Hitler of gym equipment. It's a slidey abs machine thingy (yes, that is the technical term) and I think I managed 8 on my front abs and 6 on each side before I admitted defeat. However, I can tell from how much it hurts to cough/ move today that I worked muscles that have been dormant for far too long. I'm quite sadistic though and seem to enjoy that next-day muscle burn so it's safe to say I'll be using that bit of kit again!
So, the week ahead. A tricky one for planning. I've ticked the box for today already so that's one down. And Teresa and I will be running after work tomorrow. Two down. I've earmarked Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon or evening for something but that is TBC depending on other things. Friday I will be enjoying Chinese and cinema (jealous? thought so!) so I think I'll have that as my rest day, and Saturday will be tricky but I'll aim to salsacise it or run in the morning. Sunday, run/ gym and before you know it that's another week closer to the marathon. Eek!
No comments:
Post a Comment