I’ve been trying to fit in 3 runs a week for the past month or so but am yet to manage it. I’m hoping that Juneathon will get me up to regularly running 3 times a week.

I hit the road just after 8.30pm after rooting out my iPod from down the back of the sofa. Didn’t properly plan where I was heading so aimed from the Football Stadium and turned round halfway and headed home. Met a couple of other runners along the way and too many young lads driving their Dad’s Audi or BMW…….

Distance: 4.83km

Time: 36.29 mins

Average: 7.33mins/km

Hope everyone else had a good start to Juneathon

As Juneathon is less that 24 hours away, it’s about time I set myself some goals and figure out a plan. So here goes:

1. Complete 20 mins of yoga per day

2. Run 3 times per week

3. Do strength work 4 times per week

My mileage has remained steady since Janathon and my speed has slowly been increasing. My main aim is that by concentrating on strength work and yoga it will help improve my speed and deal with my niggling knee pain.

Good luck to everyone participating

Apparently I have strained a ligament so was told to rest. After some searching on t’internet it seems I may have upset my Iliotibial Band so I have been doing a lot of particular stretches in order to sort it out.

For me, running is about getting some time alone with my thoughts to relieve stress in addition to getting fitter.

So being told that I wasn’t allowed to run immediately put me on edge and wondering what I can do to keep myself sane.

Here I am with one day to go before I can head out for a short steady run to see whether or not the rest has worked. So what have I been doing to keep my stress levels down and grumpiness at bay:

Making bread and Knitting

and sorting out the junk I have amassed to sell on ebay. I feel I have come through it relatively unscathed but I am praying that rest and stretching has worked its magic.

Will let you know how I get on.

What would you do to keep yourself sane if running was temporarily not allowed?

I made a concious decision to slow down and take it a bit easier after taking part in Janathon and stuck mainly to core work this week. I also headed out last Wednesday for another attempt at Zumba. All the advice I’ve read about keeping motivated involves changing your routines so I may stick with it for a while. Still unconvinced with regards to the applauding and whooping but we shall see.

Had my monthly review at the gym yesterday to check on my progress. Increasing the workouts on my left shoulder to help build the strength up and discussed increasing my running distance first and working on improving my speed in March.

However, running plans were scuppered today as 3k in and my right knee started giving me some pain. I tried walking it off but as soon as I increased my speed again the pain returned.

So plenty of stretching I think over the next few days and more core work. I’ll leave the running until next week.

I managed some sort of activity for 24 out of 31 days which I am pretty happy with.

I had hoped to reach my goal of running 5km in 35 minutes but I’m not quite there yet.

I did manage these totals though:

Running: 43.2 km / 5.7 hours

Yoga and Kettleball: 4.3 hours

A Wordle of my rambling posts:

Considering I was a couch potato in November and managed to run a total of 15km in December, I’m pretty pleased with my efforts and it’s a great place to start my February training.

My first job in February is to sign up for a 10k event in Thetford forest. Not only to give me something to work towards but also to make use of the great Forestry Commission site that our *wonderful* government is looking to sell off. I try to use Thetford Forest as much as I can but it is an hour and a half drive away so I don’t make as much use of it as I would like.

Anyway, rant over for now. I’m likely to come back to it later….

I have to say a really big thanks to JogBlog for organising this year’s Janathon and I hope she agrees to organise Juneathon as well

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog or sent me encouraging messages on Twitter. It really has helped me keep going and I hope our chats will continue.

Good luck to everyone training for events or those continuing to work hard to reach their personal goals.

Kerry

P.S Final day of Janathon was 30 mins Yoga

So yesterday I started off the day in the spa pool and steam room whilst Gary was teaching one of his girls to swim. After shopping, cake making and Super Mario on the Wii was done – I headed back to the gym.

I had hoped to manage a 5km run but my legs and right knee had other ideas. But I completed 3km in a fairly reasonable time (for me)  of 24.33 minutes. I then spent some time on my shoulder and abs workouts. One of the PT’s at the gym gave me a different shoulder workout to try after chatting about my injury which worked out to be easy on my shoulder so will be adding that to my usual routine.

So on Tuesday, I ran a steady 2km on the treadmill and spent 15 minutes on the cross-trainer.

Wednesday night was time to try out the Kettlebell and DVD set that I had bought. I’ve been struggling to find a way to incorporate some weights into my new fitness routine due to a shoulder injury that I haven’t quite recovered from. My routine at the gym concentrated on some basic weight training using some machines with the help of the instructor. But I’ve been finding that it’s been aggravating the injury.

So when I saw that Kettlenetics was on offer in the local supermarket including a 4lb Kettlebell I thought it was worth investing.

Well I tried the 20 minute routine last night and blimey its hell of a workout. Within 10 minutes I was completely out of breath but my body felt fine. By the end of the 20 minute workout I was pouring with sweat. The routine is quite dance like and fairly easy to follow with no jerky movements.

I didn’t expect the Kettlebell workout to be as tough as it was and didn’t think that it was entirely down to me being ill last week. So I had a little nosy around the web to see how many calories an average Kettlebell workout burns and found this study. I’m not entirely convinced that I burned 400 calories last night. But I have to say that the tops of my thighs have reminded me all day that I did work hard. Plus not a shoulder niggle all day and I was swinging the Kettleball round my head and lifting it up and down constantly.

So I will definitely be keeping it up in the hope that it will improve my upper body strength as well provide me with a good workout.

Tonight I was back at the gym to walk/run off my achy thighs. I managed to walk/run 4km in 32.11 minutes. Not brilliant but better than Tuesday.

I’ve been loading myself with Berocca, Manuka honey and multi-vits as well as sleeping alot.

I managed 10 minutes of Yoga on Friday 21st and again on Saturday 22nd. It’s not much of a contribution but it’s something.

Was aiming to head out for a longer run today but think I will take a rain-check on that. I still intend to get my trainers on today and will let you know how I get on later.

I’m still feeling quite jaded and am looking forward to 5pm tomorrow in order to relax.

So tonight I hit the treadmill and made sure I didn’t stop until I finished my 5km.

Although I didn’t improve my time overall, I completed my fastest km in 6.57 minutes which I’m pleased with.

Treadmill

Distance: 5.1 km

Time: 40.36 minutes

Average: 7.58 mins/km

Still feeling tired, I think mentally more that physically. My legs seem to be coping with the increase in exercise but brain is switching off.

Today was a pretty manic day of meetings and eating on the run, so giving myself a rest day and an early night.

Back to it again tomorrow. I’m half way through and I’m not stopping now.