Fitness, or Lack Thereof, and Some Goal Setting

Weekly Fitness Round Up!
Well, I'm jumping back in the deep end feet first... I think I've caught the fitness bug back... least I hope I've caught the fitness bug back!

Running

Steady jog with Roxie I liked this run as I got that feeling afterwards that reminded me why I train! No stats unfortunately as I am without garmin :'( gutted! I need to buy a new one but losing my job makes that a little hard!

Boxing

I attended my first session at Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club, my first impressions are I like the place and it's within walking distance from my apartment, or cycling distance! I can't remember exactly how the training went, I didn't have my blogging head on, more my oh my goodness it's been so long since I've been in a gym and this really hurts why do I do it head on... It was something like this...
Structured bag rounds interspersed with core rounds and sprints with squat jumps.... just as painful as you're imagining.....

Swimming
I went to the Manchester Aquatics Centre on Thursday before I attended the brilliant Carat Blog Shop event (more on that to come), I wasn't really sure how much I would be able to achieve I aimed for ten lengths and did it.... Slightly disappointed absolutely gutted the waterslides were closed... that was gonna be my reward for completing ten lengths.... Yes, I am a 28 year old child.....

Fitness Goals
Running - go twice a week and gradually increase my distance again... I'd like to be back up to around 6 miles by the end of November
Push-ups - Just tested my max... I bashed out 8 that's a far cry from where I used to be but I should expect that I suppose.... I want to be doing 25 in a row by the end of November... I think that's a big increase but I'm hoping to have some good muscle memory.... don't let me down muscles!
Gym attendance - go boxing at least twice a week
Swimming - go once a week, be doing 20 lengths a session by the end of November - also consider signing up for diving lessons if I can afford it and if it will fit in to my training.. may have to reconsider length goal once I know.

And tonight I've just been doing a few push-ups and plyometric holds whilst organising my wardrobe and watching Taken... What a sensible Friday night!

Halloween Part Two and October Review

We started off our day yesterday with a lovely long walk with Roxie, we covered around 6 miles. Sadly my camera ran out of battery so I don't have many pictures to share but I have a few!

Doesn't it look wintery..

I love this one, it looks as if she is looking up at Mike adoringly!

We let her off lead for a bit when there were no other dogs.. she was running around like a maniac!

On to the farmers field.. This is Mike shouting get back here and Roxie thinking uh-oh I've done something naughty...

This is when the camera ran out.. You can just see a horse coming over to us for some apples. I felt really sorry for the horse and gave it a whole bag full 'cause it looked really poorly looked after, it's mane was all thin and knotted and it's coat didn't look like it had been groomed for ages.. plus it loved the apples!

We had a really nice walk, I'm glad Roxie can manage long walks now and seems to really enjoy them. She loves seeing the horses and would probably lick them if we let her get close enough. I'm a bit nervous to let her get too close in case she gets trampled or bitten though...

When we got home from the walk we had a nice relaxing morning, for me again it was catching up on blogs! Then we went for Sunday lunch at his mum's house and I came home feeling like I might pop. We watched horror movies all night and I had planned to share some movie snacks with you guys but I didn't make any as I was too full all night! We only got two trick or treaters all night! I now have lots of spare chocolate.. I think I might take some to work, one of the residents absolutely loves chocolate so I might give some to him!

I knew I'd had a bad month training wise so I've decided to go back to my first post and look at my goals at the beginning of the year again and see how far I've come with them and make a plan from them. I seem to let work get in the way too much and get tired and un-motivated really easily. I need to find a way to work around that as people have to work. I need to work but I need/want to keep my fitness up. I hope October was just a tough month and that I can bring it back!

Here's what I did in October anyway..
99 push-ups
10 chin-ups
18.4 miles - I think my lowest all year

So - here are my goals as written last January. My comments today are in purple.
New Years Goals
Running/conditioning
Complete half marathon (current 4 miles) As of today I have completed a half marathon and my longest ever run is 13.8 miles.
One mile in >7.30 (current 7.55) This one I'm really proud of, my current fastest mile is 6.43 which I did this month... at least I did something in October!
Two miles in >15.30 minutes (current 16.23) Done in 15.24 back in March, I wonder if I could beat that again now?
Three miles in >24.30 minutes (current 25.25) 3 miles done in 24.04, 5k in 24.51, that's pretty recent, done in September.
Four miles in >35 minutes (current 37.50) 32.48 done in September too.

So, overall my running goals for the year are looking good. Even if October was a bad month. As I said in my last post I think I need a bit of a break from as fast as I can running... Shame I just spotted a 10 mile race I want to do in January... I'm in two minds over it... We'll see how training goes! I really want to break 1.30 for 10 miles, I've come close but never got under it yet! There is one in Feb too but I'm not sure if I can get a lift to it... That might be a more realistic one to go for..

Strength
Hold a plank for 3.30 minutes (current 2.30) 3.53 - acheived in May.
3 pull-ups in a row (current 0) Never managed to do 1 from dead hang - can I do it?? I don't know!
5 chin-ups in a row (current 1) Can do it but not from dead hang, only from a 90 degree angle which is not really a true chin-up. I'm going to push for this by the end of the year.
30 push-ups in a row (current 10) I did get up to 30 but I'm not sure I could do that now. I'm going to test it and have my goal to get back up there before the end of the year.

My strength goals need a bit of work.. I need to start doing little bursts of push-ups and pull-ups randomly through the day again, that would help a lot.

Boxing
Improve hooks and uppercuts – practice in sparring My hooks are getting better, they look good on the bag but I'm still not very good at landing them.. Definately need more work but at least now we're back at a club I can focus on them more in sparring.
Improve stance so weight is spread more evenly I feel like I've got a much better stance now.
Angle off – don't stand square Getting better but still needs some work!
Win my first fight! I might not have had my first fight by the end of the year but if I do, I'm hoping to get this goal!!

New Years Resolutions
Do core workouts twice a week I've not done them twice a week but I think I've usually done once a week and some weeks twice... I was better at this earlier in the year. When we stopped going to the boxing gym after all the drama back in March I lost a lot of motivation with this but I have good reason to want a strong core again!!
Neck exercises once a week Again, I stopped doing these back in March, I hate them so much and there didn't seem any point when we weren't boxing. I need to start again though.. I don't want to hit the canvas!
Wrist curls once a week Same as other boxing ones.
Isometric punches once a week Same as other boxing ones.
Boxing three times a week This one probably won't be possible with my shift work as sometimes I will be working too many late shifts but where possible I will stick to this one.
Running three times a week (distance, sprints and intervals) I've pretty much stuck to this one, bar injury or illness and bar last month when I don't really know what happened..
Follow pull-up/chin-up plan This kind of dropped off when we stopped boxing too.. Until I've looked at it all now I didn't really realise how much stopping boxing affected my motivation to train in a varied way, I only cared about running when I wasn't boxing which made missing my half marathon time goal all the more painful. But I will be back to reach it next year (I hope!).

So, that's where I am compared to where I was in January. I'm hoping I can really up the strength work and accomplish those chin-up and pull-up goals and just refocus a bit more.

I should be going boxing tonight and if not I'll be off for a run.. I'm also trying to muster up the courage to check my max push-ups and chin-ups but I'm scared the result will be poor!! I'll report back tomorrow haha

Hope everyone's having a great day!

September Review

Can you believe it's October tomorrow? This year is going fast. We moved into our current house last October.. In some ways it feels like no time at all since we moved into this house and did it up, in others it feels like we've been here forever. It was a total mess when we got it! So incredibly dirty and the walls had about 7+ layers of wallpaper on! It took us two long weeks of starting work at 6/7am working through the day until 6 then going boxing on the night.. I can't believe we worked as hard as we did, I don't know if we could do it now!! If we knew the amount of work it would be to get it in a liveable state we may not have rented it haha!

Anyway, back on topic! I decided at the beginning of the month that I needed some more focussed goals and I think it's worked really well as I've been pretty much keepin up with stuff whilst being at work. Goal is in bold,1 September recap in purple and October goals in green!

Run 3 times per week according to the Run Less Run Faster Plan - 1 run missed during September.. I'll take that! I'm keeping this goal for October!
Run 60 miles - My shortened run yesterday left me a bit short for September but 2.8 miles off target isn't too bad, I ran 57.2. I've just noticed the most miles I've run in one month is just over 61 when I was training for my half so I'm really happy to be close to that distance again. Going to shoot for 62 next month if I don't race and 50 if I do - factoring in a taper as I want to get a good time!
Do 120 push-ups over the month -120 done, October goal 150.
Do 25 chin-ups over the month - 25 done, October goal 35.
Do 1 core workout a week - 1 core workout missed for the month.. Since I only had to do one a week that's a bit rubbish! October goal is to actually get one a week in!
Do 1 gymnastics workout a week - Done and dusted! October goal is to stick to one a week and to try doing handstands twice a week... Eeeep!
Cook more from scratch - Done. I will definately be keeping this aim for October. Also adding in the aim to try buying a larger variety of fruit and veg and not get stuck in a rut.

How do you keep motivated? Does writing down goals help you feel more focussed or do you like to just go on what you're feeling and work with that? I'm definately a list lover so writing down the goals really helps me!

2010 Goals and Aims

Welcome to my healthy living blog which I'm writing to keep track of my 2010 fitness goals and share healthy vegetarian recipes. I've been training for a few years now, I've been running since October '09 and started boxing about 6 months ago, I hope to get carded and have my first fight some time in the new year.

New Years Goals
Running/conditioning
Complete half marathon (current 4 miles)
One mile in >7.30 (current 7.55)
Two miles in >15.30 minutes (current 16.23)
Three miles in >24.30 minutes (current 25.25)
Four miles in >35 minutes (current 37.50)

Strength
Hold a plank for 3.30 minutes (current 2.30)
3 pull-ups in a row (current 0)
5 chin-ups in a row (current 1)
30 push-ups in a row (current 10)

Boxing
Improve hooks and uppercuts – practice in sparring
Improve stance so weight is spread more evenly
Angle off – don't stand square
Win my first fight!

New Years Resolutions
Do core workouts twice a week
Neck exercises once a week
Wrist curls once a week
Isometric punches once a week
Boxing three times a week
Running three times a week (distance, sprints and intervals)
Follow pull-up/chin-up plan