MICHELLE’S DIARY:
Girls Run The World.
Or at least, they survive the first week of training.
Full of enthusiasm and motivation after the excesses of Christmas, I returned to work in January determined that 2014 would be the year in which I would finally get fit and take on some sort of fitness challenge to prove it.
So, when Life Style Sports came knocking, Sue and I were well up for the challenge.
I was starting from a pretty much non-existent fitness base. I walk for about half an hour to and from work every day, and I get the dog out at least once a day too. But that’s about it.
When we first met with our new trainer, Peter Kern from PB3 coaching, just over two weeks ago, I got the distinct impression he was very underwhelmed by my achievements to date… i.e. none.
It’s completely understandable of course, as Peter usually works with elite and advanced athletes who want to reach the pinnacle of their chosen discipline. I was hoping to run for more than two minutes without getting out of breath.
The flipside of this meeting, though, was that it immediately ignited my competitive streak. (It doesn’t take much; I’m the Monica of a board games night.) So, I left our chat absolutely determined to prove that I could take on every challenge Peter set for me, and more.
Our first actually training session was far more positive. We headed out for Sandymount beach on Monday and Wednesday of last week, and spent the majority of each session doing drills and stretches in between mini running bouts, all the while with Peter correcting our technique.
This is one area in which being a beginner is actually advantageous, in that we haven’t developed any bad habits that will be killer to break. I’ve had some trouble with my back as a result of a car accident a year ago, so I tend to arch my back too much. This puts strain on my body, and leaves me looking like I’m trying to push my humble boobs out there for the whole world to notice. Not a good look. But, a good start is half the work as my granny used to say, so I felt better after our Monday and Wednesday sessions.
Outside of our time with Peter, coach has set us a training plan to follow for the other days of the week. This will change as we do, so it’s entirely dependent on how we’re progressing, what we can handle, and any injuries that may be affecting us.
I was advised to do two thirty-minute sessions on Thursday and Friday, with an optional half hour of exercise on Saturday and no training on Sunday.
Thursday’s schedule suggested spinning, but I’m not a member of any gym and I don’t currently have a bike (that’s in the pipeline), so I headed for the Phoenix Park for a run. I spent five minutes stretching, five minutes doing the drills Peter had shown us, and twenty-five minutes running. By ‘running’, I mean taking it at a steady pace for two minutes, then walking for one and alternating the two for the duration.
I did pretty much the same on Friday night, but I upped the run intervals to two and a half minutes, and I kept going for about forty minutes. Thanks to my OH’s swanky Garmin watch, I was able to measure the distance accurately, so I ended up covering 5k. If you asked me a week ago if I thought I’d be able for that I would have laughed at you, but I actually felt on top of the world after it. I rewarded myself with a Galaxy bar. It can’t all be hardship!
Saturday I was lucky enough to be staying in a lovely hotel, so I took to the pool for a gentle swim and some stretches in the pool to aid my recovery. Sunday I did exactly as advised… nothing!
One week in I’m still really excited about the challenge. I’ve had times where I don’t want to do a thing, times where I feel thrilled with myself for managing anything at all, and times where I’m busy visualizing myself crossing a finish line in 11 weeks and having a precious (read: super cheap but emotionally significant) medal as proof of my efforts.
We’ve got a long way to go… but bring it on.
To join Michelle this week:
Train 4 x times per week.
Two running sessions – run two/three minutes then walk one. Alternate for 30 minutes.
One cycling session – exercise bike, spinning class or outdoors cycle.
One swimming session – it doesn’t matter if you’re not a strong swimmer, the water is great for recovery.
SUE’S DIARY
Girls Run The World.
There has been times in my life where I considered myself to be reasonably fit. When we were younger, my mother used to take us (my brother and friends) to one of the local beaches for swimming classes and I suppose I have to face facts now, I really was a water baby.
When I was in my teens, I injured myself playing indoor 5-a-side soccer and although I never really considered it an injury of consequence, it was the beginning of consistent problems with my knee. I managed to run quite a bit about seven or eight years ago when I was in the States, but when I returned home I fell out of the habit.
Then (you will perhaps notice I am slightly accident prone) I hurt my back quite badly and my doctor advised me to take up swimming in order to strengthen the muscles. Finally, I found a sport I really loved and that I could incorporate it into my daily schedule. I was back in the pool and pretty happy about being fit. However, sometimes you fall out of good habits…
Getting back into a routine can be really intimidating and on top of that, an injury can make you really self-conscious, but the trick is to, well, just do it!
After meeting with Peter Kern from PB3 Coaching initially, I was a little excited about getting back into the swing of things. After our initial assessment, we headed out to Life Style Sports to get kitted out, including a gait analysis which measured exactly how we run.
The first week was a little difficult; after our first training session on Wednesday, I was in a lot of muscle pain (to be honest, I could barely walk) but this eased up over the weekend with plenty of ice and drinking plenty of water.
The following Wednesday, we met up with Peter again. I went for a short run on the Tuesday night for about 35 minutes, but only ran for about ten minutes of this consistently.
That Wednesday, Peter really put us through our paces, running for a little longer than we used to, more drills and more stretches, including how to warm-up.
On Thursday morning, my legs were more than a little weary so I hit the bike for about an hour and ended up cycling for around fifteen miles. This was just to give my legs my break from the running.
However on Friday morning, I really couldn’t complete my run. My knees, the old injury, were really painful, I could barely get my feet off the ground and struggled to complete a half an hour.
By Saturday, I was unable to walk. The problem was really the old injury flaring up, the fact that realistically I was now unfit, and my lack of practice with running. Sunday meant I really had to rest.
Due to the injury issue, my schedule is now changing. Although I hope to get to the 10k, realistically I am aiming for doing a 5k at the very least, but my body needs strengthening first.
To join Sue this week:
Train 5 x times per week.
Two running sessions – run 90 seconds/then walk one. Alternate for 30 minutes (This has been cut down this week due to the knees!)
Two swimming session – I am actually a lot better in the pool so will be attempting to get to at least 20 laps in the morning, it actually eases the pain
One cycling session – exercise bike, spinning class or outdoors cycle. I own an exercise bike so if you just plant it in front of the TV, you will easily get to an hour!
Diet
As of last week, I have completely changed my diet. I am a vegetarian so I don’t eat too badly, but it was just cutting out the cake,chocolate and crisps that became the problem!
Now, a typical day includes porridge in the morning, a banana, a wrap/soup for lunch, almonds or nuts for snacks, and rice with veg for dinner.
I am now trying to eat a lot more fruit during the day, more eggs, more beans included in meals and drink a lot more water. If I’m snacking now, I’m snacking on fruit. This was a struggle to begin with, but I am slowly getting there!
We’ll update you with the 10k race we’ve chosen next week. If you’re up for joining in let us know, we’d love to meet some of you on the day!
Find pb3 coaching on Facebook for more details on the training programme
Whatever kind of training you are involved in, the Life Style Sports Product Experts (in stores nationwide) are on hand to ensure each customer selects the correct clothing and footwear to meet their individual needs, reducing risk of injury and achieving better results. Life Style Sports also offers customers a free Gait Analysis service in select stores which provides runners with an essential insight into their individual running styles. Customers can also find all the information they need on wearing the right technical apparel, including “Sports Bra Fitting Guides” and footwear while running or working out at “The Fitness Hub” on lifestylesports.com.
