Conundrum solved

Turns out my day off wasn’t wasted, after a lot of sitting around I took the dog for a run and stepped it up a bit and knocked out my first 10km run of the year. I have my eye on a 10km race at the end of next month but work commitments mean I’m 99% sure to be out of town.

I think having that at the back of my mind means I’ve slacked off my running a bit, but despite the spring showers I still went out and clocked a time that won’t win any medals, but is a bit quicker than I thought I would have got before I set off. I won’t embarrass myself by posting it on here, but I think, in fact I know I can shave minutes rather than seconds off it,so I have a new challenge to keep me motivated.

And again

So I continued with my pre run banana today (as mentioned in yesterdays blog) and despite not really feeling motivated to go, I ended up clocking my fastest 5km time since I started using the Nike+.

Not too shabby! I won’t embarrass myself by putting the time in the public domain, but I’m still happy.

Banana a day keeps something something something….

As I continue with my attempt to get happier with the state of my fitness, I’m continuing my running (with nowhere near as much sensible planning as I should have) and I had my first run in a while that when I finished up and felt really good at the end.

The reason for this breakthrough? A banana.

Ok I’m not a 100% sure that this is the reason, however when I used to run a bit more years ago I did used to have a post work/pre run banana and things worked out pretty well for me then, so even if it’s a psychosomatic, it’s working.

You know who I’m loving today?

Paula Radcliffe, thats who.

I went out for a run this morning with the dog and at the end, Paula popped up on my Nike+ to announce that I had just completed my fastest ever 5km.  Not too shabby a start to the weekend.

Would the real Dirk Nowitzki please stand up ?

As my push to fitness continues I’ve been running or swimming every day, and on the days I’m feeling particularly motivated I do both. For a little while now I’ve been using the Nike + app on the iPhone to track my runs and try and get an additional boost of motivation, and I’ve had feedback from various celebs in the automated congratulatory sound bites within the app.  I posted a little while ago about how I thought Ellie Gouldings inclusion was a bit bizarre, but I had also wondered who Dirk Nowitzki was.  I appreciated  his congratulations, always given with gusto (which being that it’s the same recording isn’t surprising) but I had no idea who he was.

If you hadn’t realized up until this point I don’t watch much NBA.

So sitting in a bar the other night tucking into my wings and supping back on my beer when none other than Dirk Nowitzki  pops up on-screen for a short interview. His voice is pretty recognizable so there was no mistake from the off, but he doesn’t look like he sounds if that makes sense.  I my mind he was about 20 years older and 100lbs heavier, a kind of jolly bearded coach of a man.  It turns out although a big guy he’s a professional athlete, which given the athletic context of the sound bite does make sense, but does bring my back to WTF is Ellie Goulding doing on there?

Ellie Goulding on Nike+?

In a manner which isn’t exactly unique at this time of year I’ve been hitting the gym a little bit harder and making the most of Nike+, think is today Ellie Goulding came on to congratulate me in managing a run 3 days in a row.

Ellie Goulding? How is that in anyway relevant?

Day off

Happy day indeed when I’m not heading to the office, I’ve worked every weekend in April so I think I am due some downtime. I do have an outdoor endurance race next weekend that I haven’t done a single bit of training for, so I’m off to the gym in the hope that this one trip will miraculously make me fit.

Not likely eh.

Lethargy

I haven’t run in over a week.  I my defence I’ve hopped over to the other side of the world and I’ve been working 12 hr days. The 13hr time difference and heavy work load have left me wanting to sleep not run.  I think though, today is the day I break the lethargic cycle and actually do some running.

Now if I can just find my motivation…..

Nike + my way to 30k

Its the time of year when I should start making goals for 2011, but I have decided to go a little bit more short sighted than that.  Right now I need to kick start my running routine, which in turn should help kick start my whole fitness regime.  I unfortunately get stuck working miles away from home on a regular basis and it makes sticking to routines difficult, however it does seem like I will be in one spot for the next 30 days or so so I’m using this time to set a Nike + goal of 30km ran in 30 days. It should be easy enough, but I’ll be swapping in other exercise days in to my schedule to try and burn off some off the excess weight I have been piling on.

Fantastic 5 on Friday: Exercise

This week I have been mentally preparing for the fact the that I need to get myself back in shape.  As as motivational nudge in my slightly gelatinous ribs I have used this weeks Fantastic 5 on Friday to remind myself why, with the 5 best reasons to exercise. 

Better sleep. The most important of all the reasons for me as I’m a really light sleeper, and part time insomniac. A swim, run or even just a decent walk during the day makes such a difference in helping me switch off when my head hits the pillow. You can be mentally tired beyond belief but without a bit of physical fatigue you’re not going to achieve the same quality of a snooze.

Live longer. Ok a notwithstanding a terrible accident whilst you exercise (BASE jump and it as exercise at your own risk!) the health benefits are well documented of the improvement and health to individuals who partake in regular exercise. It’s not about running marathons daily, just doing something that works the heart and lungs a little bit will pay dividends as the years roll along.

If you don’t want to live longer, then this probably isn’t the blog for you.

Look better. Love maybe blind but the share holders at Victoria’s Secret seem to be profiteering through the recession none the less. The bottom line is no matter how much we tell each other that were are not shallow enough to care about looks on some level we do. What I will say is that we all have our take on what is a god body shape and there is a world of difference between someone who mutilates themselves with plastic surgery and steroids to try and obtain beauty and someone who realizes that slightly less overhang on their jeans looks a touch better when they want to look good.

Not forgetting the fact they are fresher faced from a good night’s sleep as mentioned in 1

More motivation and energy. Seems somewhat backwards and unrealistic to say that by doing more you end up with more energy and motivation but its true. The most productive I have ever been in my life was when I was training for a 10k.

Sense of achievement. Whether it is good old fashioned ‘lighter on the scales’ you are looking for or maybe it’s just moving the belt notch in one as the body weight is better distributed through your frame, maybe its shaving some time off a specific distance that at one stage you never thought you would be able to run/cycle/row.

The moment you do reach that goal is a great sense of achievement and as at the end of the day whatever help you have been given fundamentally YOU have achieved it and deserve all the praise you give yourself.