Marathon Diaries -6 

We’ve been working in physio on keeping my legs strong whilst I’d been unable to use them. This has been in the form of calf raises, hip squats, and generally engaging my muscles through a variety of exercises. It seems to have worked as this week I’ve been back to full (nearly) fitness.

My training plan now is just to get back to where I was in time for the start of marathon training in 4 weeks!! I cannot believe my full training plan kicks in that soon. It is utterly terrifying and is making it feel really real!

This week I’ve managed something that slightly resembled my old schedule and I feel pretty proud of that. I’ve felt good and my body felt pretty solid. A few knee twinges but I just listened to my body, and adjusted my set up accordingly.

Monday: 5k flat run, this was a test for me to see how running felt. 4 weeks of rest means kicking things off slowly. I was running into a pretty strong head wind and I still managed a 9.29 minute mile; which is pretty close to where I left off pre injury.

Tuesday: Yoga on my lunch break. I normally do this in a class, but I was pretty busy with work so I just took 20 minutes to get some stretching in at home.

In the evening I had my run club. We did just over 5 miles with 2 miles of that being a pyramid workout up a very steep zigzag hill! It was tough and I’m not going to lie there were a lot of moments I thought to myself ‘I can’t do this’, but I did.

I felt elated afterwards and really proud. Shelley, our run club instructor/leader is an amazing woman. She’s been through some pretty tough times recently and still manages to lead us, motivate us and create a really awesome work out every week. Her positivity is truly infectious, as is the positivity and hard work of the rest of the gang, they are all truly inspirational people and I feel pretty lucky to get to run with them. At the end of our session we were talking about strength and it got me thinking. I’ve never considered myself as particularly strong, and maybe a big part of doing the marathon is to prove to myself that strength. Each week as I see my body doing things I didn’t think were possible just a week prior, I am amazed at its strength, and really that’s all down to me. (Post coming soon)

Wednesday: I do 2 classes on a Wednesday, and I run to them. They’re not far away but it gives me a chance to get in a bit of a faster run over about 1.5 miles.

Let’s get this out of the way first – Some people love classes, some people loathe them. For me it is a cost effective and enjoyable way to work some of the other muscles in my body. I like having someone instructing me on what I need to do, it stops me falling in to my comfort zones and helps push me to work harder. I can’t afford a personal trainer at the gym so this is my way of getting that structure. My workouts are really all about fun. If I’m not enjoying it, I won’t do it. And I really enjoy this wednesday double.

So any way on Wednesday I do an LBT class followed by a weights class. Now I know LBT conjures up images of the 80’s and leg warmers, but no joke it’s tough and it kicks my butt! We spend a good 25 minutes on cardio to burn some fat followed by 25 minutes on the floor working on core muscles. I don’t need a whole lot more cardio in my workouts, but I enjoy getting a little bit sweaty before we hit the mats. The core workout is really strong and my instructor Katie is pretty awesome. It’s a good laugh, we incorporate using some weights, and always mix it up, kind of like an LBT fusion, haha!

Following directly on from that I do a weights class; weights are a very new thing for me and I’m still getting used to what strength training really means.

It’s a pretty high energy routine using a bar and weights. It does it all really, shoulders, back, triceps, biceps, chest and so on. I’m never going to be a body builder and I’m not aiming for that, I’m just trying to find a way to incorporate some weight training in to my routine. This seems to work for me.

I’m not going to lie the gym is kind of intimidating. You get a bunch of people standing around weight machines and checking themselves in the mirror and I feel a little out of place there. Going to the gym or working out is all about feeling good and feeling confident, I don’t feel like that in the standard community gym environment. Well not yet anyway.

Thursday: It was bonfire night so I ate a lot of food and watched fireworks. I clocked a little over 3 miles before this with a friend of mine who I haven’t been able to run with in weeks. The weather was appalling, to the point where you felt you were being shot in the face by tiny BB gun sized rain pellets, Grim! We normally run between 6 and 8 on a Thursday but we are both recovering. 3 felt about right for the conditions.

Friday: Normally I’m up for an early spin, but I gave it a miss due to a sore body and general sleepiness.

Friday night however is my favourite thing! Yoga! It is so dreamy at the end of a busy week. It is a little less pose and hold and a little more flow, this really gets the body temp up. It gives me an opportunity to work out all the tension I’ve built up. Plus I head in to the weekend with a little more omm.

Saturday: I did nothing, well I went shopping. My husband took me on my belated birthday shopping trip. I wanted to get some of that higher end running kit which I drool over regularly, but never really get to buy (apart from special occasions). He went off to watch the Brighton football match, and I went home with some new kit, lush bath bombs, prosecco and pizza to rest through the evening… Bliss!

Sunday: I wanted to push my self a little, but was cautious of my physio’s warnings not to up my mileage too quickly. I opted to push for speed not distance to give myself a challenge. I headed out for another 5k and managed it in 26 minutes. I’m not one for speed or numbers. I don’t run for either of those things usually, but it felt really good to push myself to a new PB.

I’m now on the sofa, cat in lap and wine in hand. I’ll leave you with this thought…

Your body is capable of incredible things; your pesky mind is what gets in the way.

c-x