Weekend of Sportism

Today was my first day in work since Wednesday… Whilst getting up this morning felt well, horrible, it’s nice to reflect on a long weekend when I was doing some form of exercise every single day. (Well, kind of… You’ll see in a second!)

Friday I went for a 10km run and completed it in under 45 minutes, which was a good 90 seconds off the time for the same route just 4 days earlier. I also managed to get out to pound the streets for 6kms on Saturday morning too. Both of these runs felt fairly tough going on my legs, however, no knee pain!

Sunday I went rock climbing again, though with slightly less enthusiasm and gusto this time given I didn’t want finger DOMS and for my whole upper body to be aching (plus making sounds like the incredible hulk when he’s transforming every time you stretch your back isn’t attractive). This was cut short as I think I’ve pulled something in my left shoulder – lifting isn’t painful but I get a very dull ache afterwards. So, resting my left arm and ibuprofen is the order of the day at the moment for that.

Monday I went on a long, (very very long,) bike ride. Even though the distance wasn’t that far – about 27 miles in total, for my first ride (stop guffawing at the back there) in over 7 months it was understandably tough. Add in the strong head wind and difficult terrain of un-kept canal pathways the ‘1,086’ calories I apparently burnt makes me feel a little cheated.

My backside took one hell of a pounding on that bike ride (again, stop guffawing at the back there) and towards the end of it I was forced to stand up and peddle to protect my bruised and battered derriere. I consider this tactic a success as it only hurts a little bit to sit down (on a cushioned surface) today.

You may well have noticed I haven’t mentioned Thursday; well I consider Thursday as a cross-training day… I went to Aintree races; Thursday is the opening day of the Grand National weekend. It’s just down the road from my house and is always a good day out. This consisted of drinking and eating from 12 midday ‘till after tea time. I ate A LOT, I didn’t drink that much considering, but I was a merry little fellow to say the least.

So… Where does the cross training come in you say? Whilst I would like to count the work I made my stomach and the rest of my digestive system do in order to process all the food and drink I consumed, sadly I can’t. No, the cross training came from being on my feet all day (this is a long time considering I have an office job) and freezing my tezzies off in the chilly wind. For me, that definitely burnt off at least one of my 5 meals of the day and a couple of pints of Strongbow (poor choice of cider Aintree, poor choice!).

I know that some calories were burnt anyway, ‘cause I had a bit of DOMS in my legs and back #JustSaying

My atrocious eating and drinking on Thursday probably explains why I really struggled with my runs on Friday and Saturday. However, even given that I think I need to ease back on the pace and speed of my runs and concentrate on going long (this post is turning into an innuendo laden-fest!) as my speed comes fairly naturally – I need to make sure my musculoskeletal system is keeping up with my cardiovascular system!!

Below: One of my 5 meals from Thursday (with a cheeky little photo bomb from my Garmin too!)