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!)
