This time last year I was about to embark on the biggest physical challenge of my... more
28 Mar 2013 3:56 PM
In an attempt to keep up my new year's resolution of blogging more I'm sending... more
29 Jan 2013 11:01 AM
So last time I blogged on here was November 7th…tut tut, I know, but my New Year's resolution is to blog more! You’ll also be glad to hear my running has been a little more frequent than my blogging.
Since the last posts, where I mostly moaned about being a little chubbier than usual then I ran a race without any training, I have actually become a more sensible and rounded (no…not on the belly) character.
After my race I decided to sign up for some drastic weight loss action to get me back into shape…in the form of a bootcamp. I had a few days of annual leave to take and decided to spend them at No1 Bootcamp in Norfolk, my friend Laura decided to come along for the ride. I was expecting lots of exercise, which I was looking forward to, and healthy food in tiny portions, I was less excited about that!
After arriving at around 3pm on the Saturday we were all weighed and measured…the news wasn’t great…I’ll leave it at that! Next was the fitness test and to be honest, despite the gained weight and recent laziness I still came up as pretty fit. The bootcamp itself didn’t start until the next morning so I decided to go for a 40 minute run to warm things up. I was at No1 bootcamp for three full days, a typical day looked a bit like this:
6.30am – music starts blaring through the accommodation
7am – 60mins of exercise, can be anything from sprints to weights based
8am – breakfast, typically a tiny bowl of muesli with berries
9am – 90mins of exercise, could be boxing or other cardio
10.30am – snack, maybe half an apple or a boiled egg
11.00am – 90 mins of exercise, usually more cardio, maybe Tabata
12.30pm – lunch, maybe fish and salad or soup
1.30pm – walk 7/8 miles
4pm – stretches and snack, usually a bit of fruit or handful of nuts
5pm – ice bath
6.30pm – dinner small dish of meat/fish and veg
7pm – free time/bed
Not only did it look like a lot of exercise, it was hard exercise - a variation of cardio and strength, be it walking lunges while carrying giant tyres or sprints broken up with burpees, boxing, press ups and sit ups. Each session was full on; the ex-armed forces trainers demanded 100% effort with everything. They really pushed me…and I loved feeling completely shattered at the end of every day.
Once you arrive at the bootcamp all outside food is considered contraband, you have to ‘survive’ on what you get…which isn’t very much. One evening it was just a tiny plate of vegetables…it can get you down after a few days but you can feel your clothes getting looser pretty quickly!
I’d like to think I’m very fit, but the combination of hard exercise and tiny portions of food meant I was asleep before 9pm every night.
It was a very tiring three days, but by the end I had lost nearly 5lbs - just the kickstart I needed.
Back home, I couldn’t wait to go for a run - we’d only done one proper run during my time in Norfolk and I had missed it. I waited two days for my muscles to feel normal again - I was pretty sore, and then went out for a run and it felt great. I felt lighter and my body was kind of used to hardcore exercise so the run felt nice and enjoyable.
But best of all I felt motivated again…I felt fit.
For more about the bootcamp visit : http://www.no1bootcamp.com/
Follow Dee on twitter @devinderbains
If you’re looking to lose a few extra pounds in January, check out our Running for Weight Loss Guide
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Thank you for the inspiration I need right now. For a number of reasons ( and boy can't we find them) I lost my Mo -Jo after being a very committed runner and gym fanatic. I am also a firm body combat convert but have not been able to even think about this.
Becoming very stressed is a time when running is the best thing ever but the level of stress drained me of everything and I could not function and think about the next hour let alone the next day or week.
I have made this year the one where I will achieve that half marathon I have so often alluded to wanting to do but never made it..
I want that feeling of myself and nature at one when I run across the countryside and marvel at the world around me, , the greenery ,the sunshine, the blue skies or nature when it is raging with black skies and impending rain. Whatever, it gives a sense of being at peace with the world.
It hasn't helped that I fractured my foot on a Rat Race in Sherwood Forest and it comes back to bite now and agin, or that I have pulled something at the back of my left thigh down to my knee but hey ho no pain no gain!
I was a late convert to running following a serious illness which I overcame and was so grateful to recover I was determined at the age of 55 to grasp every minute of life and look after it with every ounce of my being. I have two gorgeous grandchildren and love to be able to run with them, swim, go on holiday and be the most active fun loving grandparent they could wish for and they are one of the reasons I will find my Mo Jo, I will be as fit as I possibly can be and I owe it to them to be so.
Running has enabled me to raise funds for Cancer Research, Parkinsons disease and Heart Research, all of which have very special meanings to me and I want to be able to do that again.
It has only been a relatively short time since I have not functioned as I normally would but it is long enough to know I need to get back on track, pull myself up and start all over again. AND I WILL!!
I thought this article might help you keep that motivation up. dioni.co.uk/snowdonia-challenge