I suspect that nobody is more surprised than me, but I have indeed managed to start 2018 off with a straight month of doing some form of exercise every day. when I first committed to this I knew it was going to be a tall order for me - I knew there would be bad weather, at least a couple of days when I might feel a touch hungover, and above all that the level of impact on my joints might cause a problem. Well all of the above proved to be the case but I've dealt with them, and that's it - Exercise Every Day in January is complete.
I dealt with the "stuff" that I knew might get in the way by factoring in some lower impact stuff - and stuff that could simply be done indoors too. At the point where my joints really needed something different I reduced the running, threw in a swim, and cut the impact right down for a few days. I've been lucky with the weather - there's not been any significant ice and no snow at all, and the wet run I had a couple of weeks back just goes to prove quite how much I hate running in the rain. One VERY hungover morning last weekend rather than doing my planned HIIT Hotel room session in the morning I switched it to the evening instead, and brisk 2 mile plus walks have filled in some days when for whatever reason I wasn't going to be getting anything else done.
In the course of the past 31 days I have done:
1 x swim
5 x gym visits
6 x HIIT workouts
12 x runs
11 x Fast walks (at least 2 miles @ 15m/mile pace)
I've averaged nearly 16,000 steps per day and covered nearly 220 miles during the month walking and running.
I've completed the Couch to 5k Programme, and also run my first Parkrun. In short, I've achieved a lot - and a lot more than I thought I would! - but I've also learned a lot - and above all that was what I wanted this to do. I'm still really new to this exercise lark, and a total newbie to the world of running - it's honestly something I never thought I would be able to do, so to have proved that if I put my mind to it I can has been something pretty special. Similarly I never would have imagined that I could keep up exercising for 31 days straight - in the past "can'tbebothereditis" would have got in the way and the excuses would have been wheeled out...
So the learning curve then - That I'm capable of more than I give myself credit for is one thing. And that actually I can be quite determined when I have a challenge to get stuck in to. That doing anything high impact for multiple days on the trot is NOT an option for me as it does give my knees and hip problems, but so long as I intersperse high and low impact exercises I'm fine. That ALL the good stuff they say about swimming is spot on. That the "runners high" is a real thing and is why a really good run in the evening is sometimes not a good thing for me (stops me sleeping!). I've really discovered how much I enjoy feeling fitter - and to an extent I've kicked myself for not remembering it sooner. Other stuff too - to watch my pace at the start of a run or the second half gets REALLY tough. That running up hills (or in the rain) isn't my thing. That I will never have the determination or the attention span & patience to even think about running a marathon. And that running can be really handy when it means I can drop the car off at the garage and run home FAR quicker than I would if I walked! It's a great feeling that I can now run further than MrEH - he plays rugby weekly and trains at least twice a week in addition and is a lot fitter than appearances might suggest - this is without question the first time in the 20 years we've been together that I've been fitter than him in any way!
February is going to be less full on by necessity I think - my poor knees need a bit of a break. Ideally I'd like to slip into a bit of a pattern of running a couple of times a week, going to the gym once, and swimming a couple of times a month. I want to do more parkruns, and I also want to do a "proper" 5k as well (for which read "one with a blingy medal at the end of it!). Some friends and I have a plan to do a 28 day sit-up/push-up challenge as well. Looking further ahead I've just signed up for a 100k in 100 days challenge as part of the #RAF100 Celebrations - very achievable but ever so slightly scary. (And will mean I definitely will need to do some more running on Islands...more on that in due course). While it can be done walking or running, I'm determined I want to run the whole lot - it averages out at a little over 7k a week so should be very doable I think though. For now though and for the purpose of this blog it's on to the next big 2018 Challenge - Frugal February starts tomorrow!
Robyn.
2 comments:
I have surprised myself this month by trying yoga by myself at home and liking it. I'm doing yoga for dummies which is also available on youtube. The video is a little long for my liking but she talks a lot about how to get into the positions properly and thanks to her I was able to set up tree position and hold it for the first time in my lifetime. Now that I have done it a few times I almost want to edit it down to a shorter video.
I'm also doing pilates and both these things are making my muscles feel amazing, so maybe you could try one of those on your lower impact days?
The entire reason I arrived here to comment was to ask if your pool has any kind of aqua aerobics classes because those are low impact but I find them to be very useful. ;)
Snoskred thanks for popping by! I'll answer the question first - and can answer because I actually looked at this the other week! As far as I can see there aren't any AquaAerobics classes at a time that would really suit me which is a shame - they seem to either be daytime or mid-late evening. I've had a couple of goes at Yoga at home but have always struggled with exactly the thing of knowing how I'm meant to move from one position to another so something with a decent description to it sounds like it might suit - I'll take a look at that - thank you! Pilates has been suggested to me in the past too - and I'm definitely in for anything that will help with flexibility!
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