Weekly totals and 21/03/10

How has everyone's weekend been? I had my rest day Saturday and I was going to join a last minute race on Sunday but I didn't in the end as although there was on the day registration none of the registration money went to the charity it was supposed to be supporting. As we didn't have any sponsers we didn't want the only money we could give to go to the council and Sainsburys and not where it was needed. I think it's pretty awful actually as the race entry fees will actually have been making profit for someone on an event which was supposed to be for charity. I understand them breaking even but did they really need to make profit when it could have gone to charity.. has anyone else noticed this? There have been a couple of races I've been put of entering as they make out they are for charity but when you actually look into it very little, if any, of the entry fee goes to charity.

Weekly Totals
Miles - 13.39
Push-ups - 55
Chin-ups - 0
Pull-ups - 0
Neck Exercises - 1
Isometric Punches - 0
Wrist Curls - 1
Core - 1

21/03/10
4 x 2 minutes sparring
3 x 2 minutes mitt work

ICT #4
Part 1
10 burpees
20 lunges
30 squats

x 5 rounds

Part 2
10 second pull up hold
10 push ups
10 upright band pulls

x 5 rounds

14.25 mins (last time (27/12/09) I took 21.02 mins!)

The sparring was frustrating this morning, we don't really have the space for it but whilst we're not at a gym we don't want to lose our sparring fitness and endurance. One thing I'm having problems with is that it seems to hurt a lot more at home cause I don't have the same amount of adrenaline as I do in the gym I suppose... The mitt work was good, Mike said I was punching with good power and I thought it went a lot better than the sparring where I just didn't feel like I was landing much, he assures me I landed at least one good body shot though!

I'm pretty impressed by how much I beat my old time on the ICT workout! That was a big surprise! I was really dreading doing it cause I clearly remember last time not being able to walk for days, my legs are feeling pretty sore now, hope I can move tomorrow!! I have a few more Natural Balance reviews, we've recently tried a Trek bar and a chocolatey Nakd bar, both went down well!

Trek - Peanut and Oat




Really nice peanut butter taste
We both felt it delivered good energy
Good protein (11g)
Good ingredients (Dates (38%), Raisins (12%), Peanuts (12%), Soya Crispies (10%), Peanut butter (7%), Apple Juice, Oats, Ginseng Extract, Gingko Biloba Extract.)
On the packet it says 'A sweet, rich, wholefood combination of fast and slow release carbohydrates, protein, fibre, ginkgo biloba and ginseng for sustained alertness, endurance, recovery and hunger control.' - pretty good food! Mike and I shared it after our morning workout but I think it would be good before workouts too.
We both liked that it had the ginseng and gingko biloba extracts.

Nakd - Cocoa Loco





This bar was Mike's favourite (so far!)
Great healthy replacement for a chocolate treat
We thought they would be great in a children's lunch box
One small, or half a big one is enough to satisfy a sweet tooth

Hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend!

19/03/10

Well I tried the cherry raisins in my breakfast this morning and yummmmm, they were really good! I tried them by themselves too and they were good that way too, kind of like sweets. I think when I start doing runs that are long enough to need fuel I will try these, I think they would be easy enough to digest and give me some extra energy! Anyway... I've gone off topic... Back to my breakfast, it's quite an art form the amount of things that go into it!

I have two natures path cereals, optimum power and millet rice oatbran flakes, then I have plain musli to which I add dried apples, blueberries, cranberries and today cherry flavoured raisins!

Optimum power, cereal with soy, flax and blueberries

Millet rice oatbran flakes

Musli

+ cherry raisins!

Served with semi skimmed organic milk and xylitol, my milk of choice is soya actually but today it was cows milk.

Yoga AM
Our yoga dvd arrived this morning so I just had to try it out, I did a 30 minute routine which was supposed to aid digestion. It's hard to say if it worked but it felt like it did, I was fairly full when I started and my tummy felt better by the end, not sure if that was just cause time had passed though... will have to test it out after a restaraunt meal!! The dvd looks good though I'm looking forward to trying all the other routines.

Run - Afternoon
I ended up having a good run today! It was going to be a tempo run but my tempo miles ended up not very good tempo but good overall, I beat my old 3 mile time! Yipeee! I didn't even realise how much until I checked the time at the end, I just ran as hard as I could. Mainly thanks to a man on a bike who cheered me on in the first mile when the wind on the bridge felt unbearable and I just felt a bit crap, he put a smile on my face for a good mile or so :-) Here's my stats!

Mile 1 (warm up) 9.51 average HR - 160

Tempo(ish) miles - 3 in 24.33 average HR - 183
Mile 1 - 8.31 (181)
Mile 2 - 8.13 (183)
Mile 3 - 7.47 (187)

Cool down miles 2.39 at 10.03 per mile average HR - 169

Total running = 6.39 miles in 58.25, 9.09 per mile

With my lunch I tried the apple pie nakd bar, Mike and I shared the big one, it felt like good running fuel and didn't make me feel sick whilst I was running so that's a big plus for me! It was really tasty too, similar to the apple cupcakes I make only more healthy! The big bar has two of your five a day crammed into it too... Check out Mike's hand model skills!



It had a similar texture to the berry bar, I liked it more than Mike as it was very appley and he's not the biggest apple fan! I really liked the apple chunks in it and the cinnamon flavour, I can't decide if I prefer this or the berry one... too many choices I think hehe.

Mike has started a blog!! In face we're both blogging sat in bed at the moment haha, anyway go check it out and say hi if you have time! Here it is Fighting Fit. It's similar to mine but he is going to include more fitness articles such as training without much equipment, high intensity methods, strength and combat sport articles. I might be slightly biased but it's definately worth keeping an eye on, he knows his stuff and spends a lot of time researching fitness techniques and the body's energy systems. He writes most of the workouts we do together at home if they aren't a Ross Enamait one that is!

A mystery parcel and strength workout

I got a great parcel yesterday morning!! The lovely people at Natural Balance Foods sent me some bars to try out! And what a stash they sent too! We ripped open the box and shared a berry cheeky and cashew cookie before we went to do our strength workout. I also tried one of the trek flapjacks, the cherry one after the workout, a girls gotta get her protein in post strength work (plus I really wanted to try it)! Look at what they sent me, I can't wait to try all this lot!!

That box contains two trek flapjacks, one cherry one oat, three trek bars, mixed berry, peanut oat and cocoa brownie, four flavours of raisins, cherry, orange, lemon and pineapple, big and little nakd bars in berry cheeky, apple pie, cocoa loco and banana bread and nakd nudies in cashew cookie, cocoa orange, ginger bread and pecan pie.... Wow! I'm so excited to try all these flavours :-) Thanks for such a generous package Natural Balance!



Berry Cheeky
ummm I think I need a haircut!! or at least to straighten it before posing for daft pictures!


Here's what we thought;
It had a really nice taste of the strawberrys and raspberrys
It tasted fresh
It was good workout fuel - didn't make me feel sick even though I'd eaten it right before, that's a biggie for me, most things I eat don't agree with me if I eat them too close to the workout, will test another bar before my run today!
Great ingredient list - Dates (39%), Oats, Mixed Nuts (14%) Raisins (13%) Apple Juice, Raspberries (2%) Strawberries (1%), Natural Flavouring.

Cashew Cookie



It had a really nice cashew taste
It was quite cake like more than a bar
It was very moreish - tasted a lot naughtier than it was!
It was also good workout fuel, see berry cheeky review!
Another great ingredients list - Cashews (51%), Dates (49%) - I can't believe that's all that's in the bar!

Trek Cherry Flapjack


It was nicer than any flapjack I've had before (was only going to have half but ate the whole thing...that says it all hehe)
The cherry raisins were lovely, I can't wait to try them in my breakfast
The ingredients list was not quite as good as the Nakds as it has some added sugar and oils but it's got better ingredients than other flapjacks and has the bonus of lots of protein
It kept me full for ages
I will definately buy this again




Strength Work
Dumbbell Lunges - 2 x 12 25kg (go up in weight next week)
Dumbbell Clean and Press - 1 x 2, 1 x 1 10kg (+1.5kg from last week)
Dumbbell Bent Over Row -2 x 5 15kg (+1.5kg from last week)
Dumbbell Bench Press - 2 x 8 8.5kg (+1kg from last week)
Dumbbell Curl - 4 x 2 7.5kg (+0.5kg from last week...how did it make it so much harder?!)
Barbell Wrist Curl - 50 reps 20kg
Barbell Reverse Wrist Curl - 40 reps 11kg
Neck Curl - 50 reps 10kg

The strength workout wasn't too great today, I tried adding weight in most exercises and my body just wasn't feeling it on some of them, especially the clean and press, I only added 1.5kg and went from 2 x 8 reps to 2 then 1! Maybe I should have gone 9.5kg before 10kg.. I used to clean and press 15kg when I did a lot of weights a few years ago, can't believe 10kg feels so hard now!

Mike and I got a bit snappy happy after taking the bar pictures and decided to take some pics during our strength routine, the camera ran out half way through though so I only have a pics of the first few exercises... please ignore my weight lifting face haha... not the most attractive look I've ever sported!

Setting up the weights

Lunges (I have weights in both hands)

Clean and Press

Bent Over Row

...and then the camera decided it had had enough!

Well I'm off to get some breakfast, think I'm going to be trying some of those flavoured raisins in it! It looks like a lovely day for a run today, so glad spring is here!

17/03/10

AM
I went for a long slow run today trying to keep my HR around 160-165, it was frustratingly slow to keep in this HR range and it took all my willpower not to speed off! But I need to work on my aerobic fitness for the half marathon, I'm a lot more anaerobically fit from boxing I think. Anyway here are the run stats, I figured out how to set it to lap after every mile :-) I feel very clever about that haha

7 miles in 1:17:46
Average pace - 11.08 per mile
Average HR - 165

Mile 1 - 10.26 HR 161
Mile 2 - 11.06 HR 164
Mile 3 - 10.48 HR 165
Mile 4 - 10.57 HR 167
Mile 5 - 11.21 HR 167
Mile 6 - 11.32 HR 166
Mile 7 - 11.48 HR 166

I just had to get slower and slower to maintain a lowish heart rate, I find this really odd as my 6 mile run last week at 9 min per mile pace gave me an average HR of 175. Maybe it's because I'm still poorly but it seems so much slower just for 10bpm less!

The run was pretty boring, the most exciting thing happened in the third mile when a bee nearly flew down my top, actually change exciting to SCARY!

Does anyone elses garmin say you've run less than you have when you upload it, I stopped at 7.00 today and when I upload it it says 6.99, this happens all the time and Mike's always upload as 4.01 or just over! Mike doesn't wait to press it I think we both stop it at the same time, the garmin must have some conspiracy to give Mike my extra .01 miles haha. So frustrating cause it looks like I'm always cutting my runs short but even when I wait for it to go past the mile it comes up short, what is going on!

Wooo according to my ticker I have now run 100 miles in 2010, maybe I ought to change the goal though, don't think I'll be getting to 1000 in a year, just don't think my legs have coped with the increase in mileage as well as I'd hoped they would do. I'm going to leave it for now in case I manage to up my mileage a lot coming up to the half marathon but I'm way off target I needed to be running 83 miles a month and it's 2.5 months in and I've only just made 100, that means I'd need to run about 95 for the remaining months, I just can't see that happening!

PM
Boxing workout at home.
Warm up - 10 minutes
Shadow boxing/Heavy bag (alternating rounds) - 8 x 2 minute rounds
Focus mitts - 2 x 2 minute rounds
Cool down - 10 minutes yoga, I'm a convert!

This workout felt really good, we did it to a Bas Rutten tape which I've mentioned on the blog before. He is shouting combinations to throw, it's good cause he doesn't let up or let you slack! I was totally amazed at how good I felt during this workout, still being poorly and having jogged 7 miles in the morning I expected to be pretty slow and tired but I wasn't out of breath for much of it at all and I was really going for it it wasn't like I was being lazy and that's why I wasn't tired.. I remember the first time I did a Bas Rutten routine just shadow boxing and I felt close to puking/passing out, this one felt like a breeze :-)

We finished with some yoga, this is the dvd we've ordered, it's called yoga for stress relief, should be very suitable since we want to do it as a relaxation type exercise. I can't wait for it to arrive!

Check out Marcia's running skirt giveaway here.

16/03/10

I was feeling really poorly yesterday :-( stupid throat infection! I didn't feel up to doing any conditioning work or cardio so Mike and I decided to try yoga for the first time, we did the three videos beginning here, I'm a convert!! My body felt so good afterwards, I couldn't believe it. I really enjoyed it, in fact we ordered a yoga dvd from amazon already, it has 6 hours worth of yoga on it. I've never been a workout video fan but it seems to work for yoga cause looking at pictures and trying to figure out what they want you to do is too confusing! We did try that first but it was too much time between each pose figuring out what the next one was.. I'm still feeling poorly today but it feels more like a head cold now, my throat isn't so sore so I'm going to try going for a slow run, not sure on the distance yet, I'm hoping to go long but I'll see how my chest feels when I get out there.

Does anyone else do yoga? I'm jumping on the bandwagon very late haha ;-)

Weekly totals and 15/03/10

Thanks for everyones support on my last post, your comments mean a lot.

Weekly Totals
Miles - 8
Push-ups - 50
Chin-ups - 0
Pull-ups - 8
Neck Exercises - 1
Isometric Punches - 1
Wrist Curls - 1
Core - 1

Hmm my push-ups are a bit off this week and I only got one core workout in, I also missed my chin-ups!! Hopefully I can push a bit harder and get some better totals this week!

Mike and I did a deck of cards workout today, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this concept, you pick four exercises and assign them to a card, shuffle the deck and turn them over one by one. If push-ups are hearts, for example, and the 10 of hearts comes up you do 10 push-ups, you also do 10 for the jack, queen, king and ace. If you want the workout to be extra horrible you can put a joker card in with a tough move on, we did 50 tuck jumps (non stop bleughh).

For our cards
Hearts were push-ups
Diamonds were lunges
Clubs were 30 reps of a core exercise (whatever number came up we did 30)
Spades were burpees
Joker = 50 tuck jumps

Over the workout I totted up 55 push-ups (I halved the push-up numbers for cards over 5 and always rounded up for an odd number), 94 lunges, 94 burpees, 390 core movements and 50 tuck jumps.

It was a good workout today cause it didn't require much thought and we're both poorly (throat infections) so we just wanted to get on with something and not spend too much time planning it out. Quick and effective! I felt like I was going to puke several times, but I think that's the illness not the workout hah

Since I noticed I have been slacking on my core work I have just signed up for this it's a core challenge and you can win some gu, I have never used gu before cause I haven't really needed to yet but it might come in useful for my half marathon in June. At least I have some core today to count towards it :-)

A crappy weekend and a 2 mile PR

Sorry I've been missing since Thursday, I had a really rough weekend and I wasn't really sure about posting the details on the blog, don't want to be all whiny! I'll just try and keep the bad stuff to a minimum so you all know what I'm doing as it affects stuff I blog about..

Friday night ended up being pretty bad, Mike's fight got called off cause a group of men tried to mug him outside the venue and he got punched, punched back and messed up his knuckles on the guys head. I'm just so relieved nothing worse happened I think it put me in shock all weekend thinking about what could have happened. The problem now is that it's ended up with there being loads of animosity between ourselves and our coach now as he still wanted Mike to fight but Mike didn't feel he could with his hand... A load of drama later and I don't feel particularly welcome to go back to the gym. I'm feeling totally awful about everything today I don't know what to do, I don't want to move gyms again but I feel pushed out of this gym because of the way the coach has acted even though I've spoken to him and he doesn't seem to think he's done anything wrong. So I don't know what is going to happen on the boxing front which I'm really feeling down about it just seems like things keep going wrong and I'm never going to be able to box... Mike and I will be keeping the boxing training up at home as we have a heavy bag, pads and we can spar each other so I won't lose any skill or fitness through not being at a gym, I just hope we figure out what to do soon!

Rewind to Friday afternoon and we'll get on to something positive! I beat my two mile time and beat my new year goal of under 15.30 coming in with a time of 15.24 hell yeahhhh!! It was really windy and horrible out there, I thought I had no chance, hopefully without the wind I could get an even better time :-)
2 miles in 15.24
Average HR 181
Average pace 7.44 (mile 1 7.58, mile 2 7.26)

I was going to do a longer run but I ran out of time, quite glad as it ended up in me PRing by 59 seconds!

I had my scheduled rest day on Saturday and rested on Sunday too, I feel a bit guilty about that but the way Sunday panned out but I didn't eat properly and couldn't work out on an empty stomach.. I'm not letting one bad day get in the way though, I really struggle to have an appetite when I'm upset about something but no more moping! I'm back and I'm not sure what workout I'll be doing today but I'll make sure it's a good one!

Now I'll try and leave this dreary post on a good note, go check out Anne Marie's giveaway here!

10-11/03/10

I had a pretty good run yesterday, I wanted to see if I could run 6 miles at my goal half marathon pace, I have no idea if a 9 minute pace for my first half marathon is attainable, but I would absolutely love to do a sub 2hr one! That of course may be impossible! And honestly all I'm really worried about is finishing it but sub 2hrs just sounds good, a nice round number!

I couldn't fit my run yesterday morning so it had to be an afternoon run, this is my least favourite workout time so I hoped it wouldn't affect me too much. I don't think it did...

Afternoon 10/03/10
6 miles 53.59
average pace 8.59
average HR 175

On a side note, the Waitrose shop came yesterday, I was pretty impressed, we got a lot for what we spent considering it's known as one of the more expensive stores, I think perhaps their prices have gone down a bit.. When they had somehow forgotten to deliver two items they re-delivered them with a five pound voucher, not bad! I think we'll be shopping from there again, the food is nice and it actually worked out cheaper than Tescos...who'da thought it!

I also got a freebie at Lush yesterdat, if you take in 5 empty pots you get a free face mask and we'd finally got through 5 pots, I have a yummy smelling oat, banana and vanilla facemask sat in my fridge called Oatifix, I tried it last night and it was lovely, and I still have loads left. Fab!

Today I was at my mental health mentor training again, I'm now all trained up, all I need is my CRB, goodness knows how long that will take! It's my scheduled rest day today but since I didn't get my core or isometrics done yesterday I've done them today, they're not too strenuous so I don't think it matters too much for a one off!

PM 11/03/10
Core - Standing Ab Roll-outs (to a wall) 5 x 10
Isometric Punches - Jab/Straight/L.hook/R.uppercut

09/03/10

Boxing was awesome tonight! I got some really good sparring in and I felt really strong. I didn't get to spar both girls that came down though which was a shame. One of them stormed off before I got to spar her because someone had hurt her, I asked her to come back in with me but she didn't feel up to it. My coach said I would have took her down haha I like his confidence, I think she is a better boxer than me but I would have liked to test myself against her, it would be a real marker of how I've come on since moving clubs as her reach always caused me so much trouble before, I think I would have handled the reach tonight and it would have been competetive. Never mind, I hope they both come back some time soon.

My new guard position is working really well, I didn't really take any shots to the face or body, only one to the eye (which I think will be black tomorrow!!) but really that was my own fault as it was a rebound off my glove so I mustn't have had my guard high and strong enough for that to happen. But I'm happy that was the only thing to go wrong tonight, as I was trying out a new guard I expected a lot more kinks to iron out, and I'm sure stuff will appear over time but for now it was good!

The only major criticisms my coach had for me tonight was that I was showing too much respect and too little aggression. I was finding it hard to be aggressive as I was sparring someone who I knew was nervous and I didn't want to take advantage. I probably should have upped the level a bit though, she is a good boxer she just doesn't have enough confidence in herself, I know she can take my shots cause we used to spar all the time.. I know in a fight this wouldn't be a problem cause I wouldn't have the attatchment as a friend to my opponent, they would just be my opponent so I wouldn't feel any urge to hold back.

I think my fitness has improved, the running must be doing the trick! After the end of the first round I wasn't out of breath at all. That has NEVER happened before! I was so surprised and so pleased! I think it was in part to do with the fact I was trying to box more inteligently and I was picking my shots more carefully, a lot of the time before I have just gone out and thrown masses of punches which can be effective but it's very tiring and I'm probably landing equal amounts just by picking my shots and countering.

My coach told me I should be having my medical on Friday which means all going well I'll be fighting in April. Exciting!!

PM - Boxing
Warm up - 15 minutes of jogging, stretching and plyometrics
Skipping - 4 x 2 minutes
Heavy bag - 4 x 2 minutes
Shadow boxing - 3 x 2 minutes
Sparring - 5 x 2 minutes
Cool down - 10 minutes

*included 23 push-ups (I joined the circuit for about 3 stations)

Right, I'm off to read some of your blogs and chill out now! Need to come down off this high so I can sleep tonight haha, I love how good a good sparring session can make you feel though :-)

08/03/10

Didn't quite get to posting yesterday, I just don't know where the time goes some days!!

PM - Boxing
Warm up - 15 minutes of jogging, stretching and plyometrics
Skipping - 2 x 2 minutes
Heavy bag - 10 x 2 minutes
Focus mitts - 1 x 2 minutes
Power circuit - 2 rounds/ 1st rd 20s each station/ 2nd rd 15s each station

• Upright rows
• Leg raises
• Bench dips
• Db punches
• Box step ups
• Mountain climbers
• MB Slams
• Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
  
• Military press
• Sit ups with a twist
• DB Shrugs
• Push ups
• Full jumping jacks

Cool down - 10 minutes

* Included 27 push-ups and 8 neutral grip pull-ups

Well you might notice I didn't quite get the planned core work in this morning! Mike's friend came round and before we knew it it was almost time for boxing! I'm really looking forward to the gym tonight, two girls from my old club might be coming down for some sparring so that should be good, and it will be nice to see them again too. One of them gave me a lot of difficulties when I sparred her in the past cause she is 10kg heavier and has a good reach advantage so I'm hoping I've improved enough to hold my own against her now, we'll see!

Mike's got a fight scheduled for Friday night, I'm excited for him, he's looking really strong and I'm confident he'll do well :)

Animals and lunch... not together though!

There are lots of pictures ahead! Let the animals out yesterday to play in the garden since it was such a nice day, Tia, our kitten hasn't been spayed yet so we have to let her out carefully in case she runs off and meets a tom cat! Much as I would love more kittens, it really wouldn't be practical and I'd have a really hard time letting them go!

Running around

Needing a rest now!

Explorer kitty!

Trudy and Grace our guinea pigs, doing what they do best, munching! Grace is the long haired piggy and trudy is the ginger, white and brown one.

A brief moment away from munching...

Lunch! Start off with a salad, lettuce, cucumber, baby plum tomatoes, green olives with pimento and sundried tomato, no dressing just a little sea salt, I'm not a big fan of salad dressing, the humous was more than enough to flavour it!

I had the feta and kalamata olive humous, it was really nice but I would have preffered it to be a bit more feta-y and olivey!

Add some crispy jacket potatoes and done!! Yum yum!

I had soo much trouble uploading these pictures! Blogger kept messing up the pictures to be added, like just missing them out when I click upload and telling me it had uploaded three photos when there was nothing there! Has anyone else had problems with this lately? Maybe it's my computer! It took over an hour to get the pictures up, so annoying!!

What's everyone's plans for today? I'm probably going to do some core work and get myself to the boxing gym! Might take the animals out to the garden again cause the weather's pretty good today too, colder but sunny, I'll take it! It's soo nice having a garden again, Mike and I had been living in a flat for so long we had nowhere to let the guinea pigs run around, it's lovely for them to be able to play/eat outside again!

07/03/10

AM - Boxing
Warm up - 10 minutes jogging
Footwork drills - 10 minutes
Technical sparring - 10 x 3 minutes, 1-2 minutes rest
Cool down - 10 minutes stretching

Todays session was really good, we focussed a lot on footwork and had specific objectives each round. I was partnered with one of the southpaw lads which was really helpful as I got to do some really quality work with a southpaw fighter. The first two rounds one person had to try and step on the other persons foot and the other person had to try and avoid being stepped on, without doing any non boxing footwork, then we swapped roles. The second two rounds one person jabbed and the other person had to block and counter. The third two one person jabbed, other countered and then the person who jabbed had to counter the counter. The last four rounds one person had to try and feint the other into throwing a shot and then counter it.

PM - Strength
DB Lunges 25kg (2 x 12)
DB Clean and Press 8.5kg (2 x 8)
DB Bent Over Row 13.5kg (2 x 8)
DB Bench Press 7.5kg (2 x 8)
DB Curl 5kg (2 x 6)
BB Wrist Curl 22kg (25)
BB Reverse Wrist Curl 11kg (25)
Neck Curl 10kg (50)

The strength work felt good today, except the lunges, they never feel good haha! I'm aiming to get to 30kg on them, it feels so close but so far away! I almost couldn't finish them, my legs felt so shaky.

I was going to post some pictures of the guinea pigs and the kitten playing in the garden but the computer is not behaving very well tonight, I'll try get them up tomorrow, they all looked so cute! The guinea pigs ate so much grass haha I know why they're called pigs!

Mike and I just did a waitrose online shop after enjoying shopping there so much yesterday... It was Mike's idea! We have lots of vegetarian treats winging their way to us on Wednesday including vegetarian trifle, carrot falafel and some yummy pizza, it wasn't too expensive either, we actually did an entire waitrose and an entire tesco shop to compare... boring but worth doing!

Weekly totals

I meant to get this up yesterday but the time just disappeared as it so often does! I went shopping to Waitrose with my dad and Mike and had to use extreme will power to avoid spending large amounts of money! The food in there is so nice and they have so many different vegetarian and vegan options and lots of healthy foods too, I don't go there too often but I love it when I do! I think I was driving them both nuts as I was just looking at everything and weighing up the nutritional info and prices for far longer than they both wanted hehe, poor men!

Weekly Totals
Miles -7.7-10 (depends whether the pesky dreadmill was in miles or km...)
Push-ups - 103
Chin-ups - 6 + 25 on assisted machine
Pull-ups - 45 on assisted machine
Neck exercises - 2
Isometric punches -1
Wrist curls -1
Core work - 2

A few people asked about the mental health mentoring I'm going to be doing so I thought I'd do a quick run down on here. I'll be volunteering for a charity and I'll be assigned to someone who they think suits me, my personality and my personal experiences. I'll help them do day to day tasks which they might not have the confidence or experience to do by themselves. For example it could be helping them fill out forms for benefits, going with them to seek legal aid, just any kind of help with any day to day tasks they are finding difficult. Another person within the charity will have already given them an action plan to complete so I will be working through the action plan with them.

Well I've just got home from a really good boxing session, so I'll be back later with that and the rest of todays work, right now I'm going to go let the guinea pigs and the kitten out in the garden (seperately) as it's lovely weather here today! Lets hope the sun is here to stay!

05/03/10

Did any UK readers catch the Eddie Izzard program last night? Mike and I really enjoyed it, except I was almost asleep by the end of it since it finished at 11.30pm and that's past my bedtime haha. I'm not sure if you can watch this video outside of the UK but I'll post the link in case it works, it was the only one I could find. If not there is an article here which tells you a little more about what he did. The thing that struck me was his lack of training, I mean he really went in at the deep end! He did five and a half weeks training before he begun. He got injured lots and his feet were covered in blisters, it must have been quite an effort to carry on! It did make me laugh when halfway through one of the marathons he stopped at a pub for a beer, perhaps it was to numb the pain.... Not too sure about that tactic!

AM
Mike was feeling a bit rough today so we decided to go swimming, we're both really starting to enjoy swimming, I can see us incorporating it into our weekly routine. Today we swum a little further than last time, and swum our first 20 lengths slightly faster than last time.
20 lengths / 1km in 28 minutes
24 lengths / 1.2km in about 35 minutes

We had a look at the playground near the pool after our swim, I have to say it's far better than it used to be when I was a child! It had one of those zip wire things and a really funny looking roundabout which we had to try out! Hello big kids! It was for two people, one on each side and you hold on to these handles, run around and lift your legs off the ground.. It was really good fun but my arm strength went after a few times, kids must be so strong!

We also walked for over 7 miles today so I felt the need to write it down! It's a 2.5 miles there and back to the swimming pool and we walked another mile in the afternoon.

PM
Neck curls 10kg x 40 reps
Isometric punches x 4 sets Jab/Straight/L.hook/R.uppercut
Wrist Curls 20kg x 35 reps
Reverse wrist curls 11kg x 35 reps

P.s. check out Marcia's giveaway! I would love to win this one!

04/03/10

Well the course I went on today went really well, it was really interesting. It's so I can start voluntary work as a mental health mentor. I've got a few work options in the pipeline I'm just waiting for my CRB to come back, annoyingly today I found out I need a separate CRB for this work so I'm going to have to wait even longer, I just want to get started... Have you figured out I'm not a very patient waiter yet haha. Anyway since I was at the training session today I wasn't able to fit a run in so I went with my mum to her gym. I can 100% say I HATE THE TREADMILL!! That thing was lying to me, it said I was running 6 minute miles without even being out of breath! Now I just don't see how that's possible... Unless the machine was telling me km? But the maths I'd done beforehand to figure out what speed I'd need to run at to do a steady 9 minute mile pace was still right according to the treadmill, so really I'm confused haha.. And I don't have accurate stats cause I accidentally hit the emergency stop halfway through!!

2.8+ miles (might have been more, that was the last time I looked at it, not sure of the time I started at a 9 minute pace and finished at 6.40)
3.2 miles in 20.58

Then I went on a funny rope machine called 'The Grappler' you basically had to pull it down as hard as you can, I'm not sure how long I did cause I didn't understand what the screen was telling me... I'm definately no gym bunny, give me low-tech equipment any day!

After that I saw the assisted chinning machine! Perfect! I was really excited to give this a go. I set the resistance to 10kg and did;
10 chin-ups
10 pull-ups

Then I tried it at 5kg and did partial reps just from my arms at full extention to 90 degrees - the bit I'm struggling with;
5 chin-ups
5 pull-ups
5 dips (it did dips too!)

After that I decided to check out the free weight section. I did 10 lunges each leg with 20kg and then a couple of guys came in to the section and they made me feel really awkward so I left.. I'm a wimp haha.

I went back to the chinning machine and did
10 neutral grip pull-ups
10 chin-ups
10 pull-ups
10 neutral grip pull-ups

So all in all not a bad workout, I won't be rushing to use the treadmill again though!

By the way UK readers Eddie Izzard Marathon Man is on at 10.30 on BBC3. It's the first of a three part series about him completing 43 marathons in 51 days, which I think is pretty damn awesome!

03/03/10

Sorry I didn't get back to posting on Tuesday, we didn't manage to get a lift to boxing in the end so I took my rest day scheduled for Wednesday on Tuesday. Yesterday we did manage to get to boxing, it felt really great to be back in the gym!

AM - Core
In the morning Mike and I did a quick core workout, we were only going to do 15 minutes but we ended up doing 27, we added some new exercises with weights, the russian twist and side bends, I'm really feeling them today haha. We ended up doing some isometric holds trying to last longer than each other, I won the first hold and Mike won the second.. Actually we were supposed to give the loser a forfeit but we forgot, I guess it doesn't matter since we ended up evens!

PM - Boxing
Warm up - 15 minutes of jogging, stretching and plyometrics
Skipping - 2 x 2 minutes
Shadow boxing - 6 x 2 minutes
Heavy bag - 4 x 2 minutes
Power circuit - 2 rounds/ 1st rd 20s each station/ 2nd rd 15s each station

• DB Shrugs
• Push ups
• Full jumping jacks
• Upright rows
• Leg raises
• Bench dips
• Db punches
• Box step ups
• Mountain climbers
• MB Slams
• Shadowboxing
• Military press
• Sit ups with a twist
• Uppercuts with resistance band

Cool down - 10 minutes

* Included 29 push-ups

Well sorry this has been a really quick post, my week has been a bit manic and I'm out all day doing a course, my second this week, it all comes at once heh. I've got a run planned tonight on the dreadmill! *cue dramatic music* I haven't run on a treadmill for so long but it's the only time I can run today unless I ran in the dark which isn't really the best option, treadmill would be safer so no matter how much I dislike it that's what it will be! It'll be a change anyway!

Have a great day everyone!

Vegan English breakfast

I just found these pictures on my computer from my old flat with Mike when we experimented making healthy hash browns to go with a healthy vegan 'fry' up breakfast.
Hash browns
Grated potatoes
Egg replacer
Salt and pepper

Grate your potatoes, I did mine in the food processor so it was quick and easy since I was doing so many I figured the washing up would be worth it! I then made up some egg replacer by the instructions on the packet and added just enough to hold the potatoes together. I then seasoned the mixture and cooked in the oven on a baking sheet until crispy.
Also on the plate is baked beans, grilled mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and some homemade grilled sausages, no recipe for those as they were not my greatest concoction! Yum yum!!

Looking back on these pictures I'm so grateful for the kitchen I have now, it's about three-four times the size of the kitchen in the old flat, cooking is so much more fun, we can both fit in with ease, which we couldn't in the tiny flat kitchen!

Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday, I'll be back later after boxing.. hopefully we're going although we haven't sorted a lift yet!! I really need to learn how to drive!

01/03/10

AM
These intervals don't get any easier! Todays workout was sooo tough! But I got a new PR on my mile time!!! I could not believe it, I guess part of it must be because it was on a track and less windy than last time but still I'm pretty chuffed! The workout today called for 1 x 1600m, 2 x 800m, and 4 x 400m. It was supposed to be 400m rest intervals but I took walking time in between. 3 minutes after my mile, 90 seconds after the 800's and 60-90 after the 400's... it started off as 60 but I was so beat up by the end of this workout it just wasn't enough after some.

1 mile warm up - just under 9 minute pace, a bit faster than my normal warm up pace cause we were jogging to the track so Mike went slower than his usual pace and I went faster.. It's such a shame our paces are so far apart cause I'd love it if we could run together more often.

1600m - 7.16 wahooooooo
800m - 3.51
800m - 3.48
400m - 1.50
400m - 1.58
400m - 1.56
400m - 2.00

I got really dizzy in one of the 400's I felt like I might pass out so I went slowly until it passed, has that happened to anyone before, would you carry on, should you stop if you feel like that? Mike thought I should have stopped, and I might have if I'd been running on my own but since he was there I figured if I did pass out he could come and rescue me so I carried on and I was ok, maybe my HR was just a bit too high, wish I'd been wearing the garmin...ohh I wish I had my own garmin haha!

PM
Tempo chin-ups 5 x max (partially assisted by Mike)
Tempo push-ups 5 x max (wide, normal, close = 14 those close ones are hard!)

Right, off to get a snack before Glee! I'm hooked!

February recap

February Recap

Just checking in to see how I'm progressing on my new years goals updates are in purple.

New Years Goals
Running/conditioning
Complete half marathon (current 4 miles) As of end of February longest run/jog 8 miles
One mile in >7.30 (current 7.55) 7.28 - New goal to get it under 7 minutes
Two miles in >15.30 minutes (current 16.23) Not tested
Three miles in >24.30 minutes (current 25.25) Not tested
Four miles in >35 minutes (current 35.47) Not tested

Strength

Hold a plank for 3.30 minutes (current 2.30) 2.47

3 pull-ups in a row (current 0) Not tested as not been working on pull ups this month, must remember them next month!
5 chin-ups in a row (current 1) As of end of January 4 but from 90 degree not dead hang, from dead hang can do 1.
30 push-ups in a row (current 10) Can now do 30! - new goal, 50!

Boxing
Improve hooks and uppercuts – practice in sparring Have been attempting this, still not landing much
Improve stance so weight is spread more evenly Am definately improving but still room for more improvement..
Angle off – don't stand square Same as above...
Win my first fight! Not fought yet!

New Years Resolutions
Do core workouts twice a week Done at least one a week some weeks have not managed two.
Neck exercises once a week Done except for one week.
Wrist curls once a week Done except for one week.
Isometric punches once a week Done except for one week.
Boxing three times a week Had some time away from the boxing gym
Running three times a week (distance, sprints and intervals) Struggling with this one, my legs just aren't coping very well with the milage so I've downsized it to two runs a week, intervals and long run. (this is the plan but I'm having to modify it to allow for sensible increases in milage and skipping the tempo runs)
Follow pull-up/chin-up plan Done the chin-ups, pull-ups need work

Monthly Totals - February
Miles -27.87
Push-ups -771
Chin-ups -31
Pull-ups -0
Neck exercises -3
Isometric punches -3
Wrist curls -3
Core work -6

Just a quick note at the bottom to explain a few things people have asked me about which I thought other people might also like to know!

Tempo push-ups and chin-ups are called tempo cause they're done in a certain time frame, often very slow so you're muscles build more endurance from spending more time in the position. The way I'm currently doing them is called 4120, that refers to 4 seconds on the way down from the push-up or from the top of the chinning bar, 1 second at the bottom, 2 seconds to get back up to the top and 0 seconds rest before beginning the next rep.

The Magic 50 which I did yesterday is done for speed as although it uses weights it is a conditioning workout aimed at building both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. Because the weight was not my maximum lift it builds power endurance which is useful for boxing.

Thanks for everyones kind comments on the picture :-)