A Minor Setback!

I started out last week very motivated and ready to get started with my training program. I went for my run on Sunday to test my fitness and I have to say I was a little disappointed in what I could do. I knew my fitness had slipped but I really didn't think it had slipped that far. It was like I felt every breath I took in my chest and it was worrying. I stuck it out though and I think it made me a little bit more determined to continue with my training.

However by tuesday morning I realised that the feeling I was getting was actually the flu hitting me. So the training came to a halt before it had even really begun! By Wednesday evening I was feeling more miserable than ever and had to take a day off work on Thursday. I think this was one of the worst doses of the flu I have had in years so it really knocked me for six. Not only that but I was also feeling guilty and nervous that I was losing a whole weeks worth of training when I have limited time to get ready.

Week One Training Plan / How to Sign Up

I woke up feeling a little delicate this morning, and then the dread set in of what I had signed myself up for in 5 weeks time. I knew that if I made excuses today not to start my training, then before I knew it 5 weeks would be over and I would find myself very unprepared in the Phoenix Park. I also had one of those late night leg cramps - the ones that wake you up from a deep sleep and make you quite literally cry out in pain (I gave poor Conor the biggest fright), so I figured I should not start today with a jog. Before I go into my plan for this week, I would like to say I am in no way qualified to tell people how to prepare for any sort of fitness regime or run. I know what has worked for me before and I am just going to go with that. People can join in with me, follow their own plan, use the c25k plan or any other qualified advice they may have.

What I do know is strength training and core training is just as important as the actually running part and so I have decided to divide my sessions between jogging, kettlebells and pilates. There are loads of great you tube videos out there instead of joining a class or buying a workout video. I got myself a set of kettlebells for christmas that have been gathering dust for the past few months, but you can of course use everyday items like tinned food, bags of flour/sugar - bottles filled with water/beans.

Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
50 Kettlebell Squats	Fitness Test Jog	Rest Day	30min Walk/Jog Interval	50 Kettlebell squats	30min Walk/Jog Interval	Rest Day
10 mins Pilates				30 Mins Pilates

Tomorrow I just want to test my fitness and see how far I can get without stopping. I will have no expectations on myself but I want to see just where my fitness is for now. I may need to adjust my plan for the week after tomorrow but this is where I stand on things now.

There has been a bit of interest in joining up to team 59lbstogo so this is how you do it. Go to http://dublin.mo-running.com/ and choose the 5k or 10k. Once you have registered for this then you can join team 59lbstogo. To do this follow these simple steps:  

How do I join an existing team?

• Go on www.mo-running.com
• Click on Login/Register in the top menu
• Go to My Events section
• Edit your team name and click on submit.
• You can join any team you want

If you would like to fundraise for the event you can set up a fundraising page on the movember website. Again you can choose to join team 59lbstogo here. You have your own page where you can send to your friends/family to gain sponsorship and all the money you raise is purely attributed to you. By joining the team we can just see the grand total we have all raised together! My page is here and it is really easy to sign up yourself! http://ie.movember.com/mospace/6674301

If anyone does join up, let me know either here or on my facebook page and if you let me know your tshirt size I can look into getting this organised! 

Holidays Over - The Next Challenge Begins

The beach - it is now a distant memory to me! I got back from my week in Portugal in the early hours of Wednesday morning. I completely over indulged and I am finding it difficult to find my way back on track. I feel like I need something to direct me on the straight and narrow.

Success Just In Time!

So it's here, the end of my 6 week challenge and nearly time for my holiday. I am happy to report after last weeks disappointing result I was down a staggering 3.5lbs this week. I have not lost that much in a week in a very long time, which I think does show that my gain last week was my body not cooperating. I may not have made my 6lb goal for the 6 weeks, but as you can see from the chart I am a half a pound under goal. My real aim at the start was to finally break through that goal weight and see a weight below 147lbs, but as you may have seen from last weeks post I have gained so much more.