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.

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.