Which Head Am I Wearing This Week?

No running stats for me this week as I've got nothing to report!

My Frustrated Head is sitting on my shoulders right now, carrying my getting Smarter Brain!   At least I suspect it's getting smarter because said Smarter Brain has decided that next time I'm running and I feel a pain that doesn't go away after a half mile or so it will send the STOP signal to my feet - and the RING HOME FOR A LIFT signal to my fingers and all might be better than it is right now!

So, as I've mentioned - this week I've dusted down my Frustrated Head. I've also dusted down my Anxious Head - and I'm wearing both of these - mostly at alternate times but now and again they both appear on my shoulders at the same time  - which must look rather odd!!

My Frustrated Head is one that I don't wear too often as I'm usually on a fairly even keel and nothing much really phases me in my day to day life.  I tend to take things in my stride - only now and again getting frustrated. This week I'm feeling utterly frustrated at the apparent lack of healing that's going on with my foot.  Even walking my dogs in the morning is a struggle, although I'm finding that it feels ok during the day when I'm working even though I'm on my feet all the time. This is probably because I'm trying to walk faster when I'm out with my dogs. Pottering about doing housework for people is a nice slow moving job - no strain there!

As for my Anxious Head - well this one usually (but not exclusively) comes out of the cupboard when things are going on in my life that I feel I have no control over or things that involve authority! Anxious Head carries Stressed Brain in it! This week my Anxious Head is out for an airing because I'm probably consuming more calories than is good for me - not only that but I'm craving chocolate and sweet stuff!  Anxious Head keeps whispering about putting on weight - something that I don't really need to worry too much about when I'm running.  So I'm feeling very anxious about when I'll be running again!

As I've stated numerous times before. I run so I can eat cake, drink beer and not get fat! 

I'm not keen on this non-running state that I'm in at the moment!  Not keen at all!   Stressed Brain has decided to send signals to my back/shoulder - this always happens when Stressed Brain is in control!  So not only do I have a foot that's playing up, I'm now suffering pain in my left shoulder. I think I might have to bite the bullet and pay another £32 to go and get Nichole at the Newland Chiropractic Clinic to torture me again this week to see if she can put things right!   I think running takes away a great deal of my stress as I've not been troubled with my back/shoulder for months.   What an utterly crap state of affairs!

So, currently I have BOTH HEADS out - but I'm mainly wearing the Frustrated one!




My friend Adrian, who isn't allowed to run because of injury at the moment  has my full and complete sympathy!

Hopefully I'll be able to start 13:1 Week  6 soon!

Thank you dear reader for taking the time to view my moaning groaning blog this week.  Fingers crossed for a more upbeat report next week!

Bridge 2:10k Week 6 - I'm almost there!

This weeks Treadmill Torture features the following workout x3

5 minute warm up walk
60 minute jog
5 minute cool down walk

Oh, and lets not forget that there's a fourth run this week - my GRADUATION run!


OMG what was I thinking of when I agreed to do this!?

HOW IT WENT:
Tuesday 12th July 2011 - Week 6 Day 1
I was rather surprised how comfortable I felt doing the run this morning.  I dropped my jogging speed down to 4.8mph and after jogging outdoors on Saturday this treadmill jog felt pretty easy. The temperature was ok at 69*f and I remembered to put a wet flannel by my treadmill to help cool me down. I overheat very quickly even with the ceiling fan on.  As a departure from my normal habits I dissolved a Reviving Effervescent Tablet into my water today and was determined to make sure the water bottle was empty before I finished my workout.  I'm guilty of NOT DRINKING ENOUGH WATER.  

I know I need to drink more.  I just don't!  

My daughter swears by these tablets and I thought - it can't do any harm!   I surprised myself by finishing my water off by the time I was half way though so I must try to remember to put 2 bottles in my tray next time and try to get into the habit of drinking while I run (this is a lesson I learned on Saturday when I forgot to carry water with me and was having random thought's about mugging some of the other ladies for their water during the Race For Life!)

Yesterday I injured one of my toes when I caught it on my Total Core Sit Up Implement of Torture. I swore rather a lot and even He-Who-Must-Be-Ignored looked at me in shock.

Good job it wasn't Friday night darts when I used that sort of language or I'd be skint (I have a swear tin - 50p for a moderate swear word, £1 for the F word and should I ever even think of using that other disgusting word - that's £20!  I should point out that there's no danger of £20 EVER going into the tin.  Thinking the word but not uttering it is a £10 fine.  And I'm not likely to do that either.  I was brought up well by my parents!)   Last darts season I raised £52 in fines which I gave to the dogs home where I got my beautiful Bobby from.   They did ask me to thank everyone who swore and I felt rather ashamed when I had to admit that it was just me.... (that reminds me - we had the first game of the new season last Friday - I.O My Swear Tin ££2!)

Towards the end of the 60 minute jog my legs were feeling a little tired but I felt I could have continued for longer after my 60 minute timer went off.
 Week 6 Day 1

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Jog Speed	Temp
70 mins	567	134	153	5.41miles	3.7mph	4.8mph	69*f

I find myself wondering if I will ever be able to do the half marathon distance. Then I remind myself that not too long ago I didn't think I'd run 5k, which I can now do.  I'm looking forward to finishing the Bridge 2:10k and getting started on half marathon training.  I'm not convinced that I will be able to do the distance outdoors but I feel that I might be able to do it on the treadmill. Not too long ago that seemed like it was an impossible dream. Now, I think with a lot of hard work and time I will probably make it that far.

Thursday 14th July - Week 6 Day 2
Nice run today. The cooler temperatures make it much more comfortable. I thought I'd increased my running speed up .1 today but I was mistaken :(   On my final run of Week 6 I will have to remember to notch it up a little!   My heart rate was fine and I wasn't as hot as I usually am.  I did drink 2 bottles of water today. (75cl each)  I can't even contemplate running an outdoor half marathon if I cant increase my water consumption while I'm running as that wouldn't be safe.  My nose started to run part way through - I wonder if I'm coming down with something?   Worryingly this morning I felt a bit woozy after my jog. I tend not to eat before hand as I find it hinders my run. Maybe I'm at the point where I do now need to eat beforehand.  Or maybe my head was awash with all that ruddy water?!  With about 19 minutes to go the water started to filter it's way through too - hmmm...
Week 6 Day 2

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Running Speed	Temp
70 mins	550	132	147	5.48miles	3.7mph	4.8-4.9mph	65*f

Saturday 16th July 2011
Week 6 - last run of the week!

Reasonable Temperature For Jogging

After the wooziness of my previous jog I've been worrying about it and feeling a little concerned about jumping on the treadmill again in case I feel "off" again. Before embarking on today's workout I'd decided that I would eat breakfast and not drink so much during the run and see how I feel at the end. 

It was reasonably cool outside this morning - and more importantly - no sunshine at all hitting the conservatory - in fact, the only thing hitting the roof was about a thousand gallons of water a second. It's been chucking it down here in Lincoln UK! Luckily I just got back from walking my dogs a few minutes before it started to pour!

I felt a little queasy this morning while I was out with the dogs - I think that maybe fresh pineapple and yoghurt isn't an ideal breakfast after all. My tummy felt so unsettled that I thought maybe I wasn't going to get this run in today - no point starting it if I needed to bail out part way through!    My tummy did settle down after about half an hour and I was able to get onto the final jog of the week!

5.32 miles - around 5 miles jogged

I felt rather hotter than I did on my previous run - I have increased the jogging speed a little though, so that might account for that - and the temperature is a couple of degrees warmer than my earlier run.  I think I've got a remedy for overheating though - this morning  I bought myself a little hand held fan which has a small water reservoir - with luck that'll keep me cooler!  It doesn't help matters when you're a "certain age" and get hot flushes!  Bah!  Mother Nature!  It occurred to me during todays Treadmill Torture that I'm 50 years old for goodness sake - and here I am - suddenly discovering the joys of jogging!  

I wonder if this is my version of a mid life crisis?  I do think about some crap while I'm jogging -  you just wouldn't believe the sort of things that go through my head!                                                           

So, those vital stats for today:

Week 6 Day 3

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Running Speed	Temp
70 mins	628	140	158	5.63miles	3.7-4mph	5-5.2mph	67.8*f

**********Bridge to 10k Graduation Run**********

Rather unclear - but it says 71.49 minutes  6.22 miles

I feel like these stats should be accompanied by a fanfare or something but you'll just have to improvise and hum your own!    Well, I've done it!  I've graduated the Bridge 2:10k Treadmill Torture.  I have to admit that the euphoria I felt when I completed the couch to 5k program just wasn't present today as I completed my run - could be because I was utterly knackered?!  The temperature was comfortable, my ceiling fan was on (actually forgot to put my treadmill fans on!) I had some new music on my ipod - best song I ran to today was a real oldie - Bananarama - It aint what you do (it's the way that you do it!)  I didn't exactly like it when it was in the charts all those years ago but it had a great 5.5mph running beat to it which I focused on as I ignored the distance sliding by.




                                                                             
                                                                                 
BRIDGE TO 10K - GRADUATION RUN STATS:

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Running Speed	Temp
71minutes 49seconds	752	152	164	6.22miles or 10k	no walking	4.8-6.0mph	67*f

Many thanks for following me on my Bridge2:10k journey. Please feel free to leave me a comment and stop by soon - when I'll tell you about my 13.1 (half marathon) training...

Bridge 2:10k Week 5 - the pressure builds!

The pressure certainly is building!   I checked out my friend Janet's blog earlier this week and thought - that's odd, she's gone from doing 66 minute workout during week 4 to only a 55 minute workout on Week 5 Day 1 - hmmmmmmm... how odd, what's going on?   Then I made the BIG mistake of investigating further and discovered what's in store for me this week:

It SCARED the life out of me when I first looked at what's in store - but then I got my sensible head on and thought - actually, the first 2 days I'm working out for less time than I have been during week 4 - and then on day 3 I'm only actually doing an extra 5 minutes more than I have been doing during week 4. 

I can do this!

(Then I think back to how confident I felt at the start of Week 4 - I really MUST take this slowly - this is a race I can win if I take it slowly, don't get over confident and wear myself out before I can see the finish line! )


Let the workout begin.....


Week 5 Day 1
5 minute warm-up walk
Jog 22 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Jog 22 minutes.
Five minute cool-down walk
55 minutes in total. 

Here's How It Went:
Amazing!  This can't be right?!  I actually managed todays workout without any major dramas or problems - until I came to blog my results - and then the problems started!   I'd written a huge amount this morning but blogger just wouldn't save my work so it was all lost. Anyway, not to worry - I'm back from work and trying again - Firefox still wont allow me to access my blog so I'm having to fire up IE (which pains me as I loathe and detest IE) however, at least I can report that my jog went well and (hopefully) I can now show you my stats!    My average heart rate seems quite low compared to previous runs which is odd. My maximum is around the usual rate. I'm not sure why.  It was rather cool in the conservatory today and I had the ceiling fan on maximum too so I was nice and comfortable - I wonder if that might have made a big difference?  I also had plenty of time to get the workout done before work - so I was very relaxed.  I wonder if that made the difference. 

I wonder....if changing my treadmill from kilometres to miles hasn't gone well and it's not configured itself correctly?   I suppose the only way to find out will be to do exactly the same workout on my old treadmill and see if I get pretty much the same result?

 Week 5 Day 1 - those vital stats!

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Running Speed	°temp
55mins	369	129	154	4.39 miles	3.7	5.0-5.4mph	64°f

NOTE: the final 10 minutes of the second jogging increment was at 5.4mph. All other
jogging was at 5mph





 Week 5 Day 2
5 minute warm-up walk
Jog 25 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Jog 25 minutes.
5 minute cool-down walk
61 minutes in total. 

Here's How It Went: 
Another great workout today!  Our dogs woke us up at 6.30 - it hardly seemed worth going back to sleep, even though I'd only had 6 hours sleep I got up and got on with it!  Today I made sure my ipod didn't die on me (ran it on mains power not battery while I ran) so at least I had music all the way.  I started out listening to a talking book but I couldn't concentrate on the plot so I changed back to music. I think I need to put some new stuff on there. I'm getting bored with what I've got - either that or I'll "borrow" Neil's ipod and listen to Meat Loaf for a change. 


It's great running at the weekend with no pressures on my time.  I feel relaxed and happy knowing that I haven't got to stress about getting the workout done before grabbing a shower and dashing off to work! By the end of the workout I could have continued but I do like to be exact in what I'm doing - that way I can make a good comparison of my progress against Janet's weekly stats.   I did decide to jog on after I'd written down todays B2:10k stats though.  I had intended to run another 3 miles but in the end I decided that one mile at 6mph was enough thank you very much!   I forgot to put my foot pad on today - and with 6 miles of jogging done I was feeling a little bit tender.  Must remember to put it on for the next few weeks just to be sure things are ok.


 Week 5 Day 2 - those vital stats!

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Running Speed	°temp
61mins	465	138	157	5.05	3.7-4.0mph	5.0-5.4mph	68°f

Week 5 Day 3 
5 minute warm-up walk
Jog 30 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Jog 30 minutes
5 minute cool-down walk
Total Treadmill Torture: 71 minutes


Here's How It Went: 
This is my last B2:10k workout before I do the Race For Life this coming Saturday (9th July 2011) so I really wanted to get it done early in the week to give myself plenty of "rest time" before the big day.  I started to do this yesterday but at 88°f it was just too hot - and it wasn't much cooler in the garage where I have my stand-by treadmill.  My foot is also still a little tender after my previous run.  I seem to be plagued by aches and pains of one sort or another! It's very frustrating.   After flinging the french doors and the side doors and all the windows open I embarked on Week 5 Day 3. I struggled a bit today and it wasn't until part way through the first 30 minute jog that I realised that the side door had blown closed - no wonder I was melting! I had to jump off the treadmill at the end of the first 30 minute jog portion and used my 1 minute walk time to prop open the side door AND get a cold wet flannel before leaping back on for the next bit of the torture!   The jogging portions seemed to go on and on this morning - I don't think the temperature helped matters at all.  Goodness knows how I'm going to cope when I do the 13.1!  (ah, did I tell you about that yet?)

As always, once I've completed the workout I feel bloody marvellous! So pleased with myself for not giving in and for pushing on even when I really would like to stop!  I blame my friend Janet for this. I WILL NOT give up! If Janet can do it - I can do it too!  :)    Once again, thanks to my virtual Jogging Buddy for being there, pushing me onwards and for helping me to leave my comfort zone right back there in the far distance, almost a memory away!

Week 5 Day 1 - those vital stats!

Duration	Calories	Av. ♥	Max ♥	Distance	Walk Speed	Running Speed	°temp
71mins	574	142	162	5.69	3.7-4.0mph	4.8-5.3mph	77 °

I'm just loving the amount of calories I've burned today! Woohooo! Cream cake here I come! ;)