2010 Progress Entrant - Iola Wilson

Contents:- -Intro- Report -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- -10- -11- -12- -13- -14- -15- -16- -17- -Final-

Report 2 - Week beginning 18/01/10

The X-ercise Files - Diary of a 'wannabe better' long distance runner

It has been an eventful week. There has been excitement and elation, fear and trepidation, laughter and, on Sunday afternoon, tears.

Having had such a positive end to last week I began week two with a resolution to get up each morning at 6.30am (I am NOT a morning person!) for a half hour wii fit or pilates session. On Monday morning I jumped out of bed with impressive gusto - I could almost hear Neil wondering how long this was going to last. I concentrated on some yoga exercises and the wii seemed to be quite impressed with my balance, if nothing else.

I was coaxed out of bed a little more slowly on Tuesday morning, and again did some yoga. In the afternoon I jumped on the treadmill for half an hour whilst Katie had her swimming lesson. Again I found my knee quite tight and sore after using the treadmill so I think I will try to limit time in the gym. I’m also pretty sure the day will soon come when Katie is embarrassed to have a beetroot coloured, smelly, sweaty mother picking her up. It was good to meet up with Sophie at night and get some pointers on my training. I am going to stick with four runs a week so that I don’t overdo it and injure myself, and will cross-train if I desperately need to exercise on my off days (it’s a real temptation to go out every day).

Nothing could get me out of bed on Wednesday morning! But I had a good run at lunchtime. It was windy and wet, less so than the week before and I was pleased to run my 3.5 mile route a little faster. We took the kids swimming after school and I persuaded Katie (cake is a useful bargaining tool!) to swim in the baby pool long enough to get 10 lengths done. Neil was surprised when I appeared downstairs before 7am on Thursday morning for my pilates session. I found it quite tough and had not realised how poor my core strength is. My abdominals and lower back were screaming by the end of the workout! The odds were against me on Friday having had a late one the night before but I rolled out of bed and managed another pilates workout. Once again my muscles were sore for the rest of the day but no pain, no gain as they say.

Saturday was long run day and I managed a 6.4 mile run up Newton Hill and over to the Haster-Thrumster road. Conditions were good with little wind to speak of and a light drizzle. Having struggled up the hill and settled into a bit of a plodding pace I was pleased to be caught by one of my friends, an accomplished and quicker runner than me, but laughed when she suggested slowing down and staying with me. After declining the offer I spent the next mile trying to catch her and managed to keep the faster pace up on the way home too, taking 1.5 minutes off my 10k time the week before. I was delighted and very happy to have achy legs for the rest of the day.

On Sunday I decided on a 4 mile run up the river and back. Neil had done this run earlier in the day (when it was less windy!) and I felt a bit of pressure to run it quickly. Unfortunately in my hurry I forgot to use my newly acquired inhaler and within half a mile I felt very out of breath. I got tighter and tighter throughout but was unwilling to give up. When I turned to come home at the 2 mile mark I realised this had been a big mistake. My exhausted lungs and chest muscles didn’t cope well with the added pressure of the head on wind and I found myself plodding and walking intermittently to catch my breath. By the time I got home I was exhausted, sore and in tears. A few puffs of my inhaler later and I could at least breathe again but my chest and airways feel like they have worked very hard today. A lesson learned, I am going to try leaving an inhaler in my running shoe to remind me before each run and hopefully with time it will just become part of the routine.