Is it possible that I am getting fitter?
Run one. Well, today was run one of week three and I was nervous. This run required me to go for three minutes for the first time and three minutes seemed a big jump from ninety seconds. We went to yoga this morning and I was feeling very stretched and ironed out by that. I had missed breakfast so by the time we got home I was starving and immediately made scrambled eggs with tomatoes and spinach. I decided I shouldn't run directly after that and sat down to do some knitting instead. An hour or so later I looked out of the window. It was raining gently. This did not make me feel like going out.
However one of the good things about this fitness drive is that Ian is also doing the couch to 5k and I find that the fact that I am not alone motivates me when I might well give up if I was. He ran before lunch and came in reporting that it wasn't so bad. Now he is fitter than I am so that didn't mean I would think the same but it did make me feel that I should get on with it.
So I put aside my knitting, put on my running trousers and skanky fleece, pocketed my phone and found my gloves. With no more procrastination available, out I went. And it was fine! It was better than fine! I didn't have too much trouble doing the two three minute runs, although my legs were beginning to tire after the second one. I enjoyed the fact that I was allowed to walk for three minutes between the two bouts of running and by the time I was finishing I was feeling good.
Amazing. Who would have thought it?
Run two: and the second run of week three was pretty much a rerun of the first. This time I had been to Pilates and once again I think that means that I am stretched and warmed up which has to be good. Again I breakfasted as soon as I got back and ran about an hour later. Wednesday proved to be a very active day because in the afternoon I went out with our local walking group so Thursday was a rest day, and very welcome it was too.
And run three of week three loomed over me today. I was at my Welsh class this morning and looked out of the window to see that it was snowing gently. I thought that if there was snow at home I might not be able to run. Throughout the class the fine snow stopped and started, lying gently on the grass. The class finished a little early so we could all get home. There are perhaps nine miles between the village where the class takes place and our house up on the hill. The closer I got to home the greener the fields became until by the time I was bowling along the valley road, ready to turn up the steep hill towards Penycloddiau, there was no sign of snow at all. But when I got out of the car to open the gate the wind was icy and blowing hard.
It took me a while to force myself away from the warmth of the woodburner out into the cold to run. By three o' clock in the afternoon I knew that if I didn't get on with it darkness would fall and the day would be gone. I stuck my nose out of the kitchen door. The wind was still blowing straight from the north. It must have taken about ten minutes to put all my layers on: my running bra, then a long sleeved vest and leggings sold in Aldi as a layer for ski-ing, over them a long sleeved t-shirt and jogging bottoms, then a fine fleece, and finally a thicker fleece, gloves and a neckwarmer. It sounds like the Michelin man but because each layer in itself was quite thin it was much less bulky than I had thought.
This last run of week three was nothing like as good as the earlier two. It was cold and I couldn't seem to find my stride but I chugged on, admiring the snowdrops shaking in the wind. I had put the remains of a chicken into water and left it simmering when I went out to make chicken stock for soup. The idea of home made chicken soup kept me going as I jogged on in the cold. I decided that I would just have to be pleased that I had done it today and hadn't allowed the cold to keep me inside.
So there we go, week three is done. I think I am a very tiny bit fitter although the scales are not showing much movement in a downwards direction. I made the mistake of looking at what is involved in next week and finding that the amount of running really ramps up. I did a bit of gulping about that but eventually decided that this programme has been very carefully and seriously put together to get unfit people off the couch so, if the app thinks it is possible, it must be possible. Can you tell here that I have been giving myself a talking to?
And now to slice some leeks and make the soup. That should be a fair reward for not hiding away inside today. I still don't know whether I can do it but every time I tick off a week surely it becomes just a little more likely?
And in other news I have finished knitting this cowl with wool given to me by one of my daughters for Christmas. I love it. I may have to cover the whole house in sheep.
However one of the good things about this fitness drive is that Ian is also doing the couch to 5k and I find that the fact that I am not alone motivates me when I might well give up if I was. He ran before lunch and came in reporting that it wasn't so bad. Now he is fitter than I am so that didn't mean I would think the same but it did make me feel that I should get on with it.
So I put aside my knitting, put on my running trousers and skanky fleece, pocketed my phone and found my gloves. With no more procrastination available, out I went. And it was fine! It was better than fine! I didn't have too much trouble doing the two three minute runs, although my legs were beginning to tire after the second one. I enjoyed the fact that I was allowed to walk for three minutes between the two bouts of running and by the time I was finishing I was feeling good.
Amazing. Who would have thought it?
Run two: and the second run of week three was pretty much a rerun of the first. This time I had been to Pilates and once again I think that means that I am stretched and warmed up which has to be good. Again I breakfasted as soon as I got back and ran about an hour later. Wednesday proved to be a very active day because in the afternoon I went out with our local walking group so Thursday was a rest day, and very welcome it was too.
And run three of week three loomed over me today. I was at my Welsh class this morning and looked out of the window to see that it was snowing gently. I thought that if there was snow at home I might not be able to run. Throughout the class the fine snow stopped and started, lying gently on the grass. The class finished a little early so we could all get home. There are perhaps nine miles between the village where the class takes place and our house up on the hill. The closer I got to home the greener the fields became until by the time I was bowling along the valley road, ready to turn up the steep hill towards Penycloddiau, there was no sign of snow at all. But when I got out of the car to open the gate the wind was icy and blowing hard.
It took me a while to force myself away from the warmth of the woodburner out into the cold to run. By three o' clock in the afternoon I knew that if I didn't get on with it darkness would fall and the day would be gone. I stuck my nose out of the kitchen door. The wind was still blowing straight from the north. It must have taken about ten minutes to put all my layers on: my running bra, then a long sleeved vest and leggings sold in Aldi as a layer for ski-ing, over them a long sleeved t-shirt and jogging bottoms, then a fine fleece, and finally a thicker fleece, gloves and a neckwarmer. It sounds like the Michelin man but because each layer in itself was quite thin it was much less bulky than I had thought.
This last run of week three was nothing like as good as the earlier two. It was cold and I couldn't seem to find my stride but I chugged on, admiring the snowdrops shaking in the wind. I had put the remains of a chicken into water and left it simmering when I went out to make chicken stock for soup. The idea of home made chicken soup kept me going as I jogged on in the cold. I decided that I would just have to be pleased that I had done it today and hadn't allowed the cold to keep me inside.
So there we go, week three is done. I think I am a very tiny bit fitter although the scales are not showing much movement in a downwards direction. I made the mistake of looking at what is involved in next week and finding that the amount of running really ramps up. I did a bit of gulping about that but eventually decided that this programme has been very carefully and seriously put together to get unfit people off the couch so, if the app thinks it is possible, it must be possible. Can you tell here that I have been giving myself a talking to?
And now to slice some leeks and make the soup. That should be a fair reward for not hiding away inside today. I still don't know whether I can do it but every time I tick off a week surely it becomes just a little more likely?
And in other news I have finished knitting this cowl with wool given to me by one of my daughters for Christmas. I love it. I may have to cover the whole house in sheep.
Truly well done! I’m not signing up to this one as I failed the garden one miserably! But nursing my Dad was more important.
ReplyDeleteBut I’m back in the gym and the pool so onwards and hopefully downwards with the weight. I call it my Mother of the Bride dress challenge!
Keep it up, well done once again, Jane x
Thank you Jane! Nursing your father was always going to be the call you had to respond to. I am impressed with the gym and the pool! Good luck!
DeleteOh that knitting is just fabulous. Love it. I was out on my run today and it was blowing a hoolie my face was stretched and blown backwards 😊😊 well done you, how fantastic week 3 and you're still on course, keep going x
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love the idea of your face being blown backwards!
DeleteReminding you that a cubic whatever of muscle weighs more than the equivalent volume of fat. In the initial period, the fat weight you're losing is cancelled out by the increase in muscle mass from exercising, even to the point of gaining a small amount of weight. Agonize not. Though you don't seem to be getting any lighter, you are nevertheless getting leaner. After a while, muscle gain evens out and fat loss will start to show up on the scales. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteSounds utterly convincing and if it's not true it should be so I'm hitching my waggon to this particular star. Looking down at my body I don't see any sign of increasing muscle, but something must be happening, right?
DeleteI’m very impressed with your progress and determination. Glad it’s going so well. There were a few times that I gulped when the time running was ramped up but each time it worked ok. Love the woolly sheep. I’m busy crocheting a blanket at the moment, very cosy in this chilly weather. B x
ReplyDeleteI really like the sense that you have been where I am now and that it worked for you, particularly as we are of a similar age. I don't seem to have found lots of stuff about gaining fitness when you are older. But clearly there must be lots of people who have done it. In my thirties and forties when I ran or went to the gym it seemed that all the pundits were talking to me; now, that is less true. But you can be fit or not, at twenty four, forty four or sixty four, I think, I hope!
DeleteWell done. I wouldn't worry too much about the reading on the scales, try a tape measure ropund the middle, or better still ignore both! After all Rome wasn't built in a day or some such nonsense.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. It's frustrating because I'd like to see evidence from the scales and the tape measure but if the question is do I feel better, the answer is yes! So that will have to do!
DeleteWell done. I very much enjoyed reading about your mental challenges in getting out of a warm and cozy house to run in not very nice weather. The sheep are adorable. I'm doing a little quilting these wintry evenings, although our temperatures are more like spring and we keep waiting for winter to arrive.
ReplyDeleteI am rather envying you the temperatures like spring! Been very cold here today but still no snow. Quilting is the perfect winter activity! Quite possibly beats running !? Xxx
DeleteThey say, wait till your clothes feel comfortable.
ReplyDeleteDid our (sometimes weekly) beach walk today. Sunny and breezy - a few extra circuits to retrieve my hat. Luckily on the beach, not in the sea.
I like the advice about clothes feeling comfortable. I think I will stick with that approach !
DeleteLove the sheep and well done on the running
ReplyDeleteThank you! Snowy today so this is putting me off the running!
DeleteAdding my applause. . . and yes, weight loss will not always be the best measure, but the way your clothes fit will encourage you. As well, when you're running, you're less likely to be eating, and I don't say that facetiously -- for me, at least, I have found that when trying to be more mindful about weight loss and fitness, a run often substitutes for food that I might have reached for in response to boredom or stress or whatever. As well, although running can (dangerously) make one feel entitled to eat more, it can also work well as motivation to eat with respect for the body one is working to get more fit. Finally, the fitness and the added energy enable more and more activity, more calories burned but also an entire shift in perspective and even self-definition. Okay, off the soapbox now, sorry. . .
ReplyDeleteNot on the soapbox at all but really useful stuff! Thank you. I am finding that simply focusing on getting fitter as my main aim is really helpful. That is the essence of what this is about. If I lose a bit of weight that would be fine but that is not what this is for.this is for being stronger, fitter, healthier. I'm interested in food and think we eat pretty well. Everything is cooked from scratch in our house and I don't generally eat processed foods. Partly I don't like them. Partly my ibs is markedly better when I don't. I'm interested in what you say about self perception. After quite a few years of doing it, I now think of myself as someone who does yoga. I wonder if I will get to the stage of thinking of myself as someone who runs!
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