Tinkerblue

Friends, A Coffee, A Run, Boot Camp and A Headache

Yesterday got off to such a good start. I went for coffee with Jacqui and her adorable baby girl, Maggie. I haven't seen them since October. Jacqui looks great and Maggie has grown so much. It was a lovely morning.

When I got home I went for a run along the river to the airport and back. 5K in 36 mins 47 secs with an average pace of 7.21 mins per km. Felt pretty good afterwards. A little out of breath but not like I was going to die or anything. I probably could have pushed a little harder. I stretched and used my new stick afterwards. It made a huge difference. I wasn't sure it would, especially the first time. My calves are still tight, bit no where near as bad as usual. Why didn't I get a stick earlier? Or use the rolling pin?

Last night I went to boot camp with hubby. It was a blue sky and a warm evening. We worked out in shorts and t-shirts and outside. It was a ball workout. I like sit ups and push ups on the ball, but am so not a fan of running while holding the ball above my head. I felt pretty sluggish throughout. I thought it was just cause I'd been for a run earlier.

But by the end of the hour I had a blinding headache. Literally. The vision in my right eye was all blurry. Like looking through a really dirty window. By 8pm I was home, drugged up on T3s and in bed. I slept until midnight when I woke up to throw up for 2 hours. Slept thru to 730 this morning when hubby needed a ride to the train station. Then back to bed until Purolator rang the doorbell at 1030am.

I had something to eat and drank a bucket load of water. Now I think I'm going back to bed. I'm not even remotely interested in reading or watching telly, just sleeping. That's how I know I'm sick, when I don't even have the energy to read.

If My Muscles Could Talk

They would be screaming. Very Loudly. Hubby and I have been going to boot camp 5 days a week.

Unfortunately for me, the workouts can be a little repetitive. Lots of jumping. Jumping Jacks, squat jumps, skipping ropes, burpees... my calf muscles are not recovering between sessions.

In the morning boot camp is held in a Sun Hang Do studio with foam mats on the floor. We aren't allowed to wear our shoes on the mats. The mats are too soft and it's putting extra stress on my calf muscles.

My calf muscles are tight. Too tight. I'm stretching them 2-3 times a day. I'm icing them many times a day.

Today I finally went to my massage therapist. I should have gone days ago. Not only are my calf muscles throwing a revolt but my IT bands are starting to join in.

An hour later, my legs are sore and a little bruised, but feeling better. If I had the $$, I'd get a massage every day. For now once a week will have to suffice.

Oh and I'm taking tonight off. Maybe tomorrow too.

Boot Camp - The Results

Boot camp started on Monday October 19th, 2010.  4 days a week for 4 weeks at 5:30am. Yesterday was our last morning.  Today was our testing day.  So how did I do?

I lost just under 8 lbs.  Which is great. It's right on target with a healthy weight loss of 1-2 lbs a week. 

Of that, I lost 10lbs of fat weight, and gained a little under 3lbs of lean muscle.

My body composition, or BMI decreased from 35.2%to 31.2%. That is still high. It should be in the mid 20s. But that's a good start.

I lost a 1/2" from each arm

1- 1/2" from my chest

1" from my waist and 1/2" from my hips

1" from each of my thighs.

My right arm and right leg are a good 1/4" bigger than my left.

Can't tell you if I lost any inches from my calves, because we didn't measure them at the start of boot camp. Out of interest Mari-Ann measured them today. My left is 16.5" and my right is 16.75". Told you I had calves like the trunks of oak trees.  Big and solid.

I'm still dehydrated.  At the beginning my water content was 49.5%, today it is 52%. Better but still need to drink more water.  I'm already drinking 8-10 glasses a day. If I drink anymore I'm going to slosh when I move.

The next boot camp starts on November 22nd. It's only 3 weeks and is the last one for the year. Yep, I signed up.  The last day is December 9th.   Keeping my fingers crossed that this next camp goes as well.

Couch to 5K. Weeks 4 & 5 & 6 Done. Onto Week 7.

It' s been a while since I posted a running update.  No, I haven't given up. Still running.  Week 4 was the last of the run/walk combos.  Weeks 5 and 6 were the beginning of running only, with no walking.  Runs 1 and 2 of each week, were run and walk combos and then the 3rd run was run 20 mins (week 5) and run 25 mins (week 6).  I was so not looking forward to the 20 minutes of solid running in week 5, but it was actually okay.  I didn't look at the clock as often as I normally do, and there was no aches and pains.  It was a good run.  The 25 minutes solid run in week 6 was a nightmare.  It was raining. Not  a light sprinkle but bucketing down rain.  Parts of the run I was ankle deep in puddles. It was cold.  My iPod battery died. I just wanted it to be over.

 

 

This week - week 7 is all about the running. No walking.  It's run 25 minutes for all three runs.  Next week is run 28 minutes and the last week is run 30 minutes. This is where I start to get bored. At least the run/walk combos break up the monotony.  I'm ready to change the playlist I run to, but guess what?  Our desk top died.  It needs a new power supply.  So I'm stuck listening to the same music until we can fix the 'puter and I can synch my iPod.

 

 

I don't like out and back runs. I get bored.  I prefer to run a circuit, but if I run the same route more than a couple of times then I get bored with it. I think this week, I might get hubby to drop me somewhere and then I'll run home.  That way I can mix it up a bit.

Tomorrow is day 3 of week 2 of boot camp. I'm really enjoying it, apart from the getting up at 5am thingy.  That I am not enjoying so much.  So far I've learned my legs are quite strong, my calves are built like oak trees and my shoulders are weak.  WEAK. I am working on them. 

It's 7:15am and I've Been Up for Hours

4 alarm clocks it took to get me up this morning.  The last time I had to be up at 5:00am was a very long time ago.   Well February, but that's over half a year ago.  So why get up at 5am?  

Boot Camp.  Yep, decided on my next form of torture exercise. BC Adventure Boot Camp.  It's local and 4 days a week.  Did I mention it's at 5:30am? 5:30AM! Is it ever dark at that hour of the morning. And it was still dark when we finished an hour later.  And it's still dark now.  I am not a fan of winter.  I am so not looking forward to turning the clocks back at the end of the month. I like it to be daylight when I wake up.

Anyway back to boot camp.  The trainer is Mari-Ann Drevvatne. I did two months of boot camp with Mari-Ann back in 2006.  And that was about the last time time I did any major exercise. Each morning I remember feeling like I wasn't going to make it through the hour, I remember being out of breath, I remember my muscles screaming and I remember not being able to run to the fence and back. So even though I had voluntarily signed up, and handed over my credit card, I was not looking forward to this morning.

The last 4 weeks of running and the 30 day shred have actually paid off.  Don't get me wrong, boot camp is still hard and it is only day 1, but I was able to run (albeit slowly) for the full 10 minute warm up, I was able to do all the exercises, I could run to the fence and back.  I am actually looking forward to tomorrow.  Well not the getting up at 5:00am bit. Ask me again at the end of the week if I still feel the same.