Well, I did it..

I made it to the gym on a miserable morning, cold, windy, freezing rain falling on me as I wandered the car park looking for a working ticket machine. Met up with Jumile in the 'cafeteria' area and went in to the sweatbox.

There's not much to say about the routine, I did more or less what I have done every session recently, except that 1/2 way through the bike time my legs gave up. Yes I'd pushed a little harder than usual on the cross trainer, but not that much harder, or so I thought.

I guess I mustn't miss too many more sessions.

Since losing weight (gained another couple of #'s this week) I have found that my ankle plays up a lot less, in fact I can't recall the last time it ached, the same is true of my knees.

So, back to it, if i want to keep getting stronger, losing weight and inches I must return to a solid routine of visiting the gym, however unpleasant it is to get out there into the cold.

I'll be back Thursday with an update.

Catching up...

Saturday dawned, another trip to the gym was in prospect.

Off I trotted, did my routine as laid out in the program drawn up for me. This consists of work on four cardio machines, six weight machines and a little mat work.

I've been at this for about ten weeks now, and I have found each trip to be a little easier than the last. I have been tempted to push myself further to reach the same heart rate that I experienced the first few visits, I know that this is daft as this could lead to injury, but have once or twice succumbed to it.

I must admit that I have been more enthusiastic about gym work than road work. There are several reasons for this, not least that my bed is warm and dry at 6.30am and the streets are not. Another reason is that several weeks ago, I experienced my first attack - if that is the right word, of cervical spondylosis, this led to very frequent electrical impulses down my arms and occasionally to my feet. I took about a week off all training until I had a chance to see a doctor and get a diagnosis and treatment. After this I found it easier to get back into gym work than running. I am getting there though and tomorrow night brings my first visit and assessment/induction at Reading Roadrunners. I was supposed to attend two weeks ago, and then last week, but work got in the way.

With under a month until the 5K fun run that I have signed up for, I need to get more serious about my road work.

In a normal week I will visit the gym three times, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday morning, run three times, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings, shoot twice (yeah right!) Monday and Friday evenings and potentially visit RRR on a Wednesday.

I went to the gym on Saturday - yay!, ran Sunday - yay!, overslept Tuesday morning - boo! and went to the gym tonight - yay! again. In an attempt to ensure I can make it to RRR tomorrow, I have taken the afternoon off work and will be there for the 6.30 assessment come what may. I know Jumile took advice from his assessor regarding his regime and has opted out of one of the gym visits, and I will probably do the same if it is felt I am pushing too hard.

We both have a re-assessment at the gym on Saturday morning, it will allow me to gauge my progress and have my program changed a little - I have always had problems with my lower back, I'd like to see if anything can be done to strengthen this without losing my focus which is to tone the muscles used for archery.

As far as the road work is concerned I am currently doing 3K, I have seen an improvement recently, in that I am able to run/walk my 3K in about 20-25 minutes, and have noticed that my first and last kilometre are done at a higher pace. I am not going to force myself to run faster over the 1-2 kilometre stage, this will come naturally as I become accustomed to running again.

I have the rest of my life, I don't need to achieve everything in the next three weeks, or die trying.

Anyway...time I was away, sorry if I bored you.

The story so far....part 2

About a year ago, my GP diagnosed me with high blood pressure, and put me on tabs of some sort. At the time he asked if I took part in sport of any kind and I mentioned archery, he dismissed that, only really interested in 'active sports'. A few months later he put me on ADs.

The blood pressure pills worked to a degree, the ADs to a lesser degree.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I found bits of me moving that shouldn't, I took the decision to get myself into shape.

I contacted a friend of mine who had said he wanted to get into better shape too. We decided to contact a local gym with a view to joining up and attending a couple of nights a week. There were two main aims, to get fitter and to build up the muscles we use for archery. The object of this was to act as nags for each other, to give support where needed, shout at if required and swap "when I was running this morning" stories with. His blog can be found here.

I invested in a decent pair of running shoes*, a Nike+ device to help chart my progress - distance run, time taken etc, a second hand polar HRM and gloves. I've also bought myself a bike, assembled it myself and not used the damned thing once...but the plan is to use it to cycle to the gym, to work, shopping, in fact as often as possible.

* I took advice from my local running specialist on which shoes to buy. After watching me walk/stand in bare feet, they gave me a choice of 3 shoes for the over pronator, I took the New Balances, because they were a better fit.

Since then we've visited the gym 2-3 times a week, and have taken up running in the mornings 2-3 times a week. To be fair he has run more often than me, but I am starting to take that more seriously.

Things I have noticed since starting this..

I have lost a little weight - not much, about 8lb, a lot of this was in the first couple of weeks, since then it has levelled off.

My clothes are looser, I have (seem to have lost) about 3-4" from my waist.

My breathing is easier, I used to end up breathing heavily after climbing to the 3rd floor of the office.

My blood pressure has dropped considerably.

I am generally happier...and feel better about myself.

I have ridden the bus to work once since starting, and only then because I had some heavy stuff to bring home. Rain, shine or cold has not stopped me...that's what I have umbrellas and coats for.

If only I could give up smoking, things might improve more. I was close a few weeks back. I must set a date and stick to it.

There are other things I need to change in my life, maybe I'll get into those in another post.