Muv's Week of Health

Now that I have a sister who is well and truly on the health train, it was time to get mum aboard. I decided to take myself up to Derbyshire for a mini training week/healthy eating week/boot camp for mum week. I broke the journey up with a cheeky visit to the brilliant Braunstone parkrun, before arriving at mum's and unpacking about two sets of regular clothes and a suitcase full of sports kit. Such a lovely daughter that I am, I shared the veggie stew that I'd made for lunch, and curtailed our catch up as it was sunny outside and I was itching for a cycle.

Wingin' It

The theme of all race-related activities this year has been "winging it". It's actually pleasantly surprising what the body can do on an average fitness base and a mind that believes it is capable. It's very refreshing to switch the focus to doing stuff because you want to do it rather than feeling that you must do it. My training calendar is by no means empty, it just all goes in there retrospectively  in a very unstructured manner.

I admit though, there has been a niggling feeling that I'm not quite reaching my potential with this blasé attitude. This feeling was fully realised at the National Triathlon Club Relays, an event I'd done twice in the past. The relays are a fun, team event that some teams take very seriously and others absolutely do not. Our team was called "Team Wing-It" and epitomised the very nature of the name in every way. We weren't stressed by finish times or pre-race nutrition or any of the usual nonsense; frankly we were more concerned about posing in our team capes and looking like superheroes.

Losses and Gains

I've been dealing with a loss. I hadn't realised exactly, but after a conversation earlier this week it occurred to me that I "lost" the marathon, and without me knowing, it had really knocked my confidence. With a gammy knee it seemed it was taking ages to get my trainers back on again. Sick of the frustration of not being able to run and sick of the silly weather that makes cycling not fun and/or unsafe, I made a sudden decision to jack in triathlon for the time being and focus on other things.

I've been trying to gain strength in weightlifting - specifically power-lifting - for ages. I've dabbled for the last couple of years but endurance sport and power lifting are enormously incompatible. One heavy squat  session will ruin my cycling/running legs for days and long runs or rides will prevent good, heavy lifts. When you try to be good at lots of different things you inevitably end up being mediocre at all of them!

Gymless

It only recently occured to me that I really haven't done a lot of varied exercise in the last couple of months. I have been avoiding my lovely bikes like the plague and have replaced many of my runs with sweaty but very comfortable cross training sessions in the gym. In fact, I've just been mostly doing enormous amounts of weight training and then using "having sore muscles" as my latest and greatest excuse to avoid the pool (or to sneak out of sessions early!). Basically for the whole of December I ate vast amounts of not-very-healthy food, drank plenty of dancing juice and stayed snuggly warm in the gym instead of getting out in the fresh air.

Kettlebell Masochism

It's been a while since I've done kettlebells; I was a little bit tentative about getting back into it since being injured but last week, I thought it was about time I gave it a go again. Starting out with the little kettlebells I assessed my back situation. A whole load of encouragement and solid advice on good technique from the brilliantly enthusiastic instructor meant that throughout the session my confidence built and I got back up to throwing the bigguns around = happy Egg.

Multisport Mutation

Triathletes and other multisport or endurance athletes tend to be - on the whole - a fairly hardy bunch. Training needs to get done whatever the weather and it's often more a case of how to fit life in around the training regime rather than the more common problem of "how to fit exercise into the daily routine". The training schedule becomes the daily routine and it's only when you finally take a rest day that you realise you have all this extra time to do the normal things people do such as sit down and eat lunch, or watch a couple of hours of TV in the evening.

Getting Battered with Kettlebells

You hear all sorts of things about Kettlebells; excellent all-over body workout, great for toning, good for building core strength, a strength session that is also a banging cardio workout.. blah blah blah. I never pay that much attention because they say all that stuff about every new exercise class. Plus, who even cares about all of that when the best thing is that you get to swing a colourful cast iron weight around the place?! 

Luckily the class was small, so there were less people to potentially take out with dangerous manoeuvres. Everybody gathered around to select their kettlebells for the session and to be honest, I was a little bit surprised at the size and weight of these things that we would be brandishing about the studio. Some of them are absolutely massive!

Fully Functioning Triathlete

I would just like to report that after months of being some kind of injured, I actually feel like a fully able person again.

My weights kicked off again last week, and the elbow is strong enough to support tricep dips, which were proving to be my strength nemesis.

A swift run to swimming this morning followed by a quick blast on the bike in the glorious winter sunshine sealed the deal. I FEEL AWESOME! 


That is all.

Mental Battling in January

January is a bizarre time of year where you're not really fully back in the swing of things after Christmas and yet you are trying to set all your goals out for the rest of the year, follow your resolutions etc etc.

For me it has all been a bit hectic, and health-wise, a month of serious ups and downs. Work has been busy (which isn't a bad thing) and mentally taxing as I've been doing a lot of learning in a new department, college has also been quite full on and will continue to be up until June, with lots of assignments to get through, there seems to be more social occasions popping up than there was in December and I have daily mental battles over what needs to take priority: training, assignments, socialising, work deadlines or locating and consuming new and exciting Easter treats. I'm sure you can guess what has come first...

Last weekend I went away for a girly weekend to a lovely place in Kent, right by the sea. In my head I had envisaged runs along the waterfront, a bit of time in the afternoon for study followed by making healthy choices for our lunches and dinners out. In reality what happened was copious amounts of wine and laughter running parallel to an almost permanent state of snacking on anything and everything. The "healthy choice" I made on Saturday night was the largest, meatiest pizza on the menu. It was of course, completely worth it, one of the best pizzas have ever eaten. Once I had demolished that I finished my sister's dinner, ate what was left of mum's mixed grill and decided a chocolate fondant would also be necessary in order to clear the palette.

Suffice to say I was horrified when I stepped on the scales and went out to buy salad to sustain me for the coming week.

On the upside my arm and hand are well on the road to recovery and I've been back on the weight training for a week. A tricep dip has never felt so good. The swimming is also slowly getting back to full throttle, running has been short but regular and I just need to ease myself off the turbo and onto the road to complete the set. But if I'm honest I'm a bit scared and don't want to somehow injure myself again.

I also have a confession. Before I confess though I should say that on Thursday I started to get a sore throat and when I woke up yesterday I was in a world of pain. Cool soup and mashed banana (not together..) were the only things I could get down. That was until I bought a pot of nutella, and ate the whole thing! Oops..

I now really do need to have a healthy week. I'm off skiing next weekend and I have salopettes to squeeze my nutella-filled ass into. I have even prepared for my sweet cravings by making jelly, so I clearly mean business..

Being broke is no joke

So, despite all my joking to my mum about not being broken and those aforementioned "strong bones", it turns out that I do in fact have a fracture to the radial head, small though it may be. Sadly that means I have to be a bit careful with the arm, which means no last-minute New Year holiday in the Alps.


Suffice to say I have been a little bit grumpy as a result, but a chat with Nicky last night gave me some new motivation. It's all about figuring out what the limits are and what you can do. I knew immediately that I had new found enthusiasm because I had an attack of the munchies at around 9.30 last night and I managed to counteract it with three sticks of celery.


At the moment thanks to the help of AJ, my turbo trainer is set up in the front room (Liz if you are reading, it'll be gone by the time you get back on Saturday - promise) and turbo-ing is definitely possible without arms. This may even be how I learn to love it...


Leg strength is still a goer, I even got some impressed nods from hardcore types in the gym as I squatted away in my sling. The cross-trainer is possible too; but I have only just realised how much I normally use my arms for this, my legs burned this morning as I did a 40 minute session on there, arm-free.


I will tell you something though, if you notice a smell lingering.. it's not me, it's the sling. I think I may have to locate another one and keep this current one strictly for gym use only. The stale aroma of sweat impregnated in cotton is not one I care to share with those outside of the exercise environment!

A bit of a weight

I think I must have some extra testosterone knocking around in here somewhere because I just can't get enough of weight training. There's something so satisfying about being able to lift more metal than you could lift before.


It's very much a personal thing, the only real competition is yourself. You can't compare yourself to anyone else because their goals could be completely different to your own. But everybody always does anyway. Don't pretend you don't either.. we are all guilty. During my leg endurance phase I was pushing tiny weights and was sure I got some weird glances from people who were probably thinking I was some puny girl who wasn't putting any effort in.


I am as guilty as the next person. I constantly sneak a peek at other girls around my size and see what they're lifting, makes me feel marvellous about myself if I know I can do more. If they turn out to be thin AND stronger then it just spurs me on to work harder. It's all one big egotistical, motivational cycle. What's even more thrilling than that is when you see a skinny 20-something year old man struggling with a set, then you go and choose the next weight up and pump it out, to the only-just-detectable nod of approval from the seriously hardcore men who have biceps bigger than your head. Cruel, yes. But the skinny boy will learn from that and go forward.. probably.


My current only issue is the battle of the bulk. The battle of the bulge is still a battle in itself but the bulk, you don't notice it at first and then you glance down and realise your quads are sticking out a good inch or so further forward than they were before. All that previous effort to get into smaller jeans.. bah!


I think once I get out running again maybe the legs will size down again but right now I feel like a lean-legged beast with all the weights and cycling I'm doing. Not only that (I'm aware this is becoming a rant, stick with me), but why oh why, after building up so much more leg muscle, must my body still feel the urge to store enough leg fat for a whole leg in just the ankle area. You'd think that's be the first place to get rid, surely it makes more sense to keep some in the breast and lose some in the ankle?!


Phew, rant over. All in all though I do love the weights, and it's a surprisingly good workout - you don't realise so much but it does get the heart pumping and the blood flowing just as much as a cardio workout. Plus I keep telling myself that the more muscle I have the more calories I'll burn (and the more goodies I can eat), how true that is I'm not entirely sure but it's a good motivator nonetheless!


To the gym!