99 problems but a fitness programme ain't one

Stargal

Thursday 11th March

Cross-trainer: 8 minutes, intervals.

Dumbbell bent over row: 10kg x10 x2
Dumbbell bench press: 10kg x10 x2
Squats + dumbbell shoulder press: 10kg x 3 x 2 (yay!) 8kg x 6 x2
Lunges: 4kg x20

Sit-ups with 10kg weight: 10 x2
Sit-ups with extended leg: 10 x2
Swiss ball crunches: 20 x2

Treadmill: 20 minutes (around 3 3/4 km, not sure of exact total).

Thoughts
I've been doing a lot of cardio lately to prepare for the 5k race on Sunday (yay! also: yikes) so the weights have been neglected a bit. Been stuck on 7kg for the squats with shoulder press, so tonight I just thought Screw this and tried the 10kg. Could only manage three each time but I could do it. Tried 8kg and that was ok, but still hard - managed 6 each time. Going to stick with 8kg or possibly 9 for next time.

Had a very bad stomach pain after about 5 minutes on the treadmill. Tried running through - it wasn't a stitch; not sure what it was, but dayum it was painful. Finished the 20 minutes and the gym was closing anyway so left it at that. Hopefully just a one-off thing.

I'm going to make an appointment with my instructor this week to get a new routine. Gotten kind of bored with this one and have been mixing it up myself, which probably isn't the best for results.

G86

Just wondering if you've you tried upping the weights on the lunges? 4kg just seems fairly light in comparison to your other weights - bet you'd be good for 8kg on them at least!

Oh and good luck with the race next week!

dolliemix

Good luck with the race tomorrow!

Oryx

Enjoy your race, know youll do well.

Stargal

Thanks guys, it's really great to get a bit of encouragement I'm pretty nervous about it, which I hadn't anticipated, but also really looking forward to it. Going to write this down to try and clear my head; I don't want to be still thinking about this stuff tomorrow morning!

My fears are that a) I'll get stupidly competitive when I get there and see all the other runners, start too fast and then not be able to finish and b) I'll be too crap and won't even finish.

Ok, so what I'm doing to address this:
1. I'm doing all the stuff that I usually do before a run. I'm drinking a good bit of water today, eating healthily, just about to wash my gear so it's ready for tomorrow. Basically getting my head together.

2. I'll be running it with the same person that I always run with so I'm used to setting the pace and going slowly enough at the start. There's no reason for this to be any different tomorrow. I'll take it steadily.

3. Someone in the A/R/T Events forum put up a great quote about how the other runners aren't opponents, they're fellow competitors. I think that's a great way to look at it - we've all been putting in the work and we're all in it together. I won't panic if people are running way faster than me - most important thing is that I finish it.

4. Most importantly, I've run 5k before. I can do this.

So ends most self-indulgent post ever I had to write that down to get it clear in my head that I'm going to be able to do this. Aiming for sub-35 minutes and it's a flat course, which will help. Here goes. Plan is this time tomorrow I'll be writing about how it went.

PS: G86, cheers for that. I usually just use anything for lunges, really should be thinking about it more!

Stargal

Whoo, did it! It was way harder than I'd expected and my time was a bit meh (just under 33 mins, which was under the target I set but not as good as I'd hoped) but god, I'm just so,so happy that I did it! It's still mad to think about tbh. I couldn't run for more than 30 seconds when I started this getting fit malarky a few months ago so I find it kinda hilarious that I did a real race.

I was still crazily nervous this morning - I'm gonna have to google what other runners to to psych themselves up mentally cos that's a huge thing for me. I wasn't really feeling it this morning and so the first few kms were not the most comfortable. Not sure how to explain it - from the very first few hundred metres, I was like 'Oh no, I don't know if I can do this after all, what if everyone overtakes me, blah blah blah'. Really stupid stuff. Only chilled out and started to enjoy it around the 2k mark. The next 2k were pretty fine - it was when I got to the 4k mark that it really started to get tough again.

Managed to keep my tired ass going, albeit at a much slower pace. The final few hundred metres, coming from Stephen's Green onto Dawson St, were mad. Wrecked, but god, seeing that finish line getting closer was the best feeling in the world. Sprinted the final bit. Crossing the finish line was awesome - handed in my chip and immediately burst into tears out of a mix of tiredness, happiness and freakedout-ness (yes, I'm aware that I come across like a total wuss in this log!).

So that's it, my first race. It's confirmed my belief that I'm totally not a runner but that I can actually push myself and do it. Next step is the 10k Great Ireland Run in April (don't see myself running the whole thing but hopefully a good chunk) and then a 5 mile race around Crumlin/Terenure in May (should be able to run a good bit of that). Rock

Oryx

Very well done. The first race is daunting, but youve done it now! See you at the great run.. Its a fun race to do, even with the silly warm up exercises at the start.

Stargal

Thanks missus Looking forward to the next race already!

dolliemix

Well done Stargal!:):):)

I love the detailed description....making me feel really psyched for my first race!

How were your legs feeling today?

Where's the info on the 5 mile Terenure/Crumlin in May? I might try and sign up for it if the 5k goes ok for me at the end of this month....

Stargal

Yay, thanks dolliemix:) It's great when people write in here, makes such a difference and it's a great spur to action. Legs were grand today - was a bit worried cos didn't get to spend as long warming up as I usually do but no problems at all.

I'm thinking about doing that 5k race in UCD that you linked to in your log. Only prob is it's the day after I come back from holiday, but I'm hoping to get a few runs in while I'm away. Might see ya there! Best of luck with it, you'll be great. Crossing the finishing line is just the best feeling ever.

The link for that 5 mile run is here.It starts in Greenhills, goes through Rathfarnham, up to Terenure and then back again. It says on the site that it's relatively flat, but afaik there's a good few slopes around there? Will have to check it out.

Stargal

*blows dust off fitness log*

Well, that was a pretty much exercise-free two months...

For a whole lot of bleurgh reasons, I've done barely anything over the past two months. Gym once or twice, a lot of walking (which doesn't really count) but that's it. I've really noticed the difference too. Haven't felt nearly as good as I did when I was gymming it up.

Anyway, in an effort to shock my ass back into exercising, last night I did the Docklands 8k Run. I obvs hadn't trained or anything but gotta say, it was a lovely run. The first few kms especially were great - it was a gorgeous route and I felt surprisingly good about it. This changed when I got to about the 5k mark and my body had a holy-fúck-what-are-you-trying-to-do-to-me moment. Had to drop my pace to a level I hadn't even realised existed before. The final km was officially The Longest Kilometre In The History Of The World but my god, crossing that finish line was unbelievably good.

So the plan is now to do the 5 mile race in the Phoenix Park in July. I'm going to run outside now, rather than on the treadmill, cos I really notice the difference between the two. Will continue gymming (um, by 'continue', I mean 're-start') and swimming but I really want to run outside more.

So that's it. Onwards

dolliemix

Great to see you back. Obviously you haven't lost too much fitness if you ran the 8k! Well done..... Looking forward to seeing more updates!

Stargal

Thanks lady Just caught up with your log in the A/R/T forum - congrats, you're doing brilliantly. I think I'm going to do the Hal Higdon 10k guide - it looks really good from what you and other people doing it have said. I like the way he mixes it up a bit so it's not just running.

Gotta say, I feel a lot more enthusiastic about running again after last night.

Stargal

Friday 25th June:

Played badminton (singles) for an hour.

Tuesday 29th June:

Swam for about 50 minutes. Didn't count the lengths.

Wednesday 30th June:

Swam for an hour. Again, didn't count the lengths. Just getting back into it really.