juliankimmings

Buggered Knee

August 3, 2008

I was ill the first couple of days last week, probably some sort of virus, which meant that I wasn’t able to do my three weekly runs at lunch. I could start to feel the pounds pile back on, the jeans were getting tight, even my trainers started to feel tighter.

So this morning I went on my first run for over a week. The route I chose was different from the usual loop round the block, chosen using mapmyrun.co.uk. I’ve been keen to venture further afield and push myself, the normal three to five km run has become quite comfortable and I’m getting more comfortable in my own ability. The route itself was slightly longer, about 4.5 miles starting with 1/3 up hill, 1/3 down hill (same sort of gradient) and the the final 1/3 up a steady incline.

I barely got past the first third when I got a ‘twinge’ in my right knee. I tried to adjust my running speed, slowing down slightly and loosening up a bit (I tense up too much) but after about 500m I had to stop before my knee exploded. I kept pressing on down hill but decided to abandon the running and walked back home along the canal. Think I’ll need to book myself in with the physio at work this week.

I’m hoping that it’s nothing too serious, I probably just need a new pair of running shoes (after all I’ve had them for yonks).One the positive side I started my one hundred push ups workout again last week after a miserable failure the first attempt brought on partly by drinking beer in the evenings. This time I’m determined to see it trough to the end… already I’m seeing an improvement.

daily / fitness / gutted || PERMALINK

losing inches, the sensible way

June 22, 2008

I started running a few weeks back and have been going for a run/jog regularly, three times each week over lunch, sometimes four if I fit one in over the weekend. I’ve also been eating better… I’m not talking about salad everyday, or some kind of obsessive calorie controlled tick list… Instead of three cans of coke in a day, just one, healthy breakfast and not eating the full plate when I’m full. The runs vary between 3km and 5km, usually 5-3-5. I feel a lot better in myself, although the kids are waking us up at 4.30/5.00am each morning, I feel less tired (unfortunately, not less stressed :) but then you can’t have everything). This alone has taken a whopping four inches off my belly and my belt has dropped a notch. Those are the kind of results that most think they have to pay for. I’m happy with them and the best thing is the exercise isn’t a chore, I really enjoy it.

one hundred push ups websiteSo now I start my upper-body fitness. This is something I wasn’t looking forward to as it realistically meant going to the gym. On Friday I found the One Hundred Push Ups website, a training program that is designed to get you doing one hundred push ups (consecutively) in around six weeks. I’m dubious about the six week claim, only because I struggled to do six on my initial fitness test. I did my Day One on Friday night which means today is my Day Two, so far, so good; but it is early days. I’m going to stick with it and hopefully in six (maybe eight) weeks I’ll look like a Greek God (but without the nose).

daily / fitness || PERMALINK