Monday Motivation: More Spartan Training

Monday Motivation: More Spartan Training

Pheeee-ew! What a busy weekend! We had our end of class salsa night out on Friday, our Ceilidh-come-Fèis-Showcase on Saturday and a lovely day out to Portavadie on Sunday. My parents were here, so it was good fun to catch up and relax. But it did mean that I didn’t get much training done over the weekend.

Before that, though, I’d made good progress in my attempt to become a SpartanJogger: I didn’t get to WAR on Monday or PiYo on Tuesday: I’d had some adjustments from the miracle working Osteopath on Monday so I gave my body some time to adjust, but I felt brilliant afterwards.

On Wednesday I ran. Yay! 

First run in five weeks. It was a slow, steady three miler chatting with Emily so the time flew by. It was also torrential rain- we had thunder, lightening and overflowing drains to contend with, but we got it done. Why does running in the rain make you feel so bad ass?

Thursday was my first full- power PiYo session for some time and it felt great to be back to some degree of strength and flexibility. Jacqui loaned me some kit so that I can work on strength training in advance of the Spartan race, which is brilliant- and very kind of her. I now have a box jump, medicine balls which I can use as they are intended for or in a hold-all to replicate a sand bag. Jacqui gave me some really really good tips on some training ideas and exercises so I’ll be testing those out in the coming few weeks. 

Friday night was our last Salsa class- boo 😔I’ll miss it: the fun, the footwork, the cameraderie- hopefully we’ll have a chance to do it again.

So, all in all, I have definitely made progress in my work towards the Spartan race. Yay!

Tonight I gave it my all at WAR. I’m almost back to my old self: I definitely still have some weakness in my left leg, and it did collapse under me when I was doing some jump lunges. But for other parts of the class I dug in deep and kept focussed. I imagined myself in four weeks, ready to run and as strong as I could be 💪🏻, so I worked HARD and used my weighted gloves as much as possible.

 My plan for tomorrow night is to get in a solid run and to follow it up with some circuit exercises- if I’m not too sore after tonight’s class. I want to test my body a little, pushing it on while trying not to set back my recovery. 

We’ll see how that goes and I’ll report back to you next week 👍🏻, meanwhile I hope this resonates with you:  How is your training going? 

Have a good week 🙂

Monday Motivation: Spartan Training Begins

Monday Motivation: Spartan Training Begins

Yes, it begins. Slowly. But better than nothing.

I’m still unable to run, but my mobility has improved a little meaning that last week I managed to get my sorry butt back to classes. With one eye on the Spartan Sprint in six weeks, I started last Monday with WAR. I didn’t use my weighted gloves, and I kept to low intensity moves, but it felt great to be there 👍🏻

On Tuesday I went to PiYo Stretch and Flow which is more gentle than the Thursday class. While I missed my usual run, I felt that I was helping my body by doing as much as I could to keep up. My left leg was driving me crazy and had a mind of its own but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I planned to join the walkers group at Jog Scotland on Wednesday night but it was cancelled. Undeterred, I walked 5k myself and I kept the pace up as much as I could manage. 

All in all, the week was a real improvement on the previous few. 

This week, I’ve been back at WAR again and I managed some higher intensity work- but I’m still limited. I do feel that I’m making progress so I’m focusing on that. But I really want to get training for the Spartan Sprint more intensely while not setting myself back. I’m sure that will come in the next week or so. I’m waiting for some training tips to come through, so that should help!  It I can’t help. It feel worried when I see images like this:

Eeek! All I can do is focus, train and do my best.

I hope that this resonates with you as much as it does with me right now:

Have a good week!

Wednesday Wisdom 

Wednesday Wisdom 

Wednesday Wisdom 

Wednesday Wisdom 

 

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Hello, there, blog readers. How are you?

This past week has whizzed in, and in a week’s time, the inaugural Disneyland Paris Half Marathon will be all over. I feel that I’ve been waiting for this event for so long – and suddenly it’s approaching far too quickly!

Training last week went really well, with Body Conditioning, PiYo and another VeraFlow session. I also did a very comfortable 5k and 10k, so I reckon I’m about ready for race day as I can be.

We’ve also done all of the rest the prep: we’re packed, we have all of the waivers and forms printed and signed, Euros ordered and flights checked in. Roll on Saturday morning!

This week, I’m keeping training very light: I have Body Conditioning tonight and I’ll also do a couple more 5k runs – nothing strenuous, keeping everything gentle at this stage. I’ll be missing PiYo and VeraFlow on Thursday, though, which I’m sad about – I love these classes so much! But it’s only for one week. I’ll be back for some post-race recovery next week.

What do you have planned this week? Any training scheduled? Remember this – it’s how I think I’ll be phrasing Sunday’s run in my head:

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Have a brilliant week!

 

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Welcome to a wet, windy Monday here on the west coast of Scotland. After a lovely, sunny and warm weekend, I’m looking out of the window to a deluge of water and some decidedly autumnal winds. Urgh! Looks like summer may be over!

How was your weekend?

I had a lovely time – Tony’s parents were visiting, and we spent the day on Saturday at Portavadie, using the fabulous spa facilities (yes, again). It’s very relaxing, with stunning landscapes across Loch Fyne. Even the sauna has a stunning view. Needless to say, I’m planning my next trip already….

My last run was back on Tuesday, but I’ve managed to walk a fair bit, and I also had PiYo and Veraflow classes, back to back, on Thursday. You all know that I love PiYo, but Veraflow was new to me. It was our instructor, Jacqui’s first time teaching it, and it was good fun!

The warm up involved latin-style dance steps, combined with some gentle stretching. Actually, that sums up the class well, too – lots of lovely stretches with fun dance-style routines that I’m hoping I might get to grips with after a few weeks 😉 I’m not the most co-ordinated person, as many of you will know.

Tonight, I’m off to Body Conditioning again – I worked hard at last week’s class, so much so that my DOMS lasted though until Saturday! 😮 I’m looking forward to feelin’ the burn again tonight – though I might have to make sure I don’t take it too far. I’ll then pull on my trainers again tomorrow night, Wednesday night and again on Saturday – we’re less than two weeks away from the Disneyland Paris half marathon – eek!

Here’s a little something to get you started this week, if you are struggling:

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Have an ace week 🙂

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

Wednesday Wisdom 

Wednesday Wisdom 

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

Sorry for not posting for a week- I’ve been busy, busy with visitors, a short break away and more visitors! I’m back to my routine- such that it is…. Saturday saw me do a 5 mile walk/run/shuffle and boy did I have DOMS on Sunday- my obliques were aching. Tonight, I was back at PiYo and it was tough. Tough after a week of eating whatever I wanted, little exercise and having a few beers and some champagne after yesterday’s Wimbledon final and Euro Championship Final.

Back on track now, though 😉

Are you on holiday? Have you chucked the routine and eating well? This has helped me to focus today:


It’s a new week for us all! 

Wednesday Wisdom 

Wednesday Wisdom