Tag: Gym

The essential piece of January running kit

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A t-shirt was delivered yesterday. Two t-shirts, in fact. And not just any t-shirts but Janathon t-shirts, yay!

Ideally, I’d have had them sorted way before Janathon started, so I could buy one and check the quality before letting you all know they were available. But because Cafe Press took an absolute age to approve the design (72 hours? Pah!), I didn’t get the chance.

But, I am 100% DELIGHTED with these t-shirts. I was worried that they’d be that cheapy, thick cotton that’s uncomfortable to wear but these are gorgeous. They fit beautifully, the cotton is just the right thickness and weight and I proudly wore mine to the gym this morning.

janathon-t

This is a normal cotton t-shirt but performance dry ones are also available (along with lots of other styles, like the baseball top below).

janathon 019 

If I’d have thought about it, I’d have saved wearing it until tomorrow when I’ll be doing my first Parkrun but I’m going to do a white wash today especially and hope it dries in time.

T-shirts, hoodies, bags, mugs, dog t-shirts, slankets, stickers, badges and all sorts of stuff are available in the Janathon Cafe Press shop.

If you’ve bought a t-shirt, I’d love to see a photo on your blog of you modelling it!

Stats
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Cross-trainer: 20 minutes
Treadmill: 10 minutes
Stationary bike: 10 minutes
Janathon t-shirts: 2

Janathon Day 8: The first week of jogging, slogging and blogging is over!

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I set my alarm for 7. I woke up at 8:30. Damn, there was my plan of getting up early and getting out for a run by 8 scuppered. And it meant I’d lost 90 minutes of my day but then I thought, if I spend 90 minutes fewer on Facebook and Twitter, that means I’ve clawed back those 90 minutes, hooray!

I decided running could wait until tomorrow though, when I WILL get up at 7am and go for a run and this morning I went to the gym instead.

My gym isn’t very far away and my running-to-the-gym PB is currently 2:42 and today I thought I’d try and beat my PB and, wahoo, I SMASHED IT, I AM BADASS, I NAILED IT, I TOTALLY OWNED IT, I BLEW IT OUT OF THE PARK*, etc. with a new running-to-the-gym PB of 2:36.

Then I did some gym stuff like go on the rowing machine and cross-trainer and, to finish off, I did 20 minutes of the Audiofuel turbo trainer track (that I reviewed here) instead of the treadmill as I’m just a crazy, reckless, carefree, spontaneous kind of girl who likes to mix it up, as The Damned would say (if they were singing the wrong words).

So, now we’re into the second week of Janathon – well done everyone keep up the good work!

Stats
Run: 0.28 miles
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Cross-trainer: 20 minutes
Stationary bike: 20 minutes
Minutes spent in bed ignoring the alarm: 90
Minutes of the day clawed back by not going on Facebook or Twitter: 90

*If I EVER use phrases like that on my blog again, please feel free to ask for my address so you can come round and give me a slap.

Janathon Day 6–A sober Saturday

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I thought the gym would be full this morning. I don’t usually go to the gym at the weekend as, I run on a Saturday, and Sundays are reserved for hangovers rest days. But, as I didn’t drink anything stronger than hot chocolate last night and was tucked up in bed at 10:30 reading – with, in hindsight, maybe a touch of irony – ‘Hangover Square’ by Patrick Hamilton (blimey, that book is bleak. If ever a book could be described as a colour, that book would most definitely be grey).

So, because I woke up this morning unhungover, off I went to the gym. The gym was empty. Not even the usual people I see in there in the morning were there, they must be weekday warriors, like me.

I bloody loved this workout. Maybe I should stay sober more often*. I went on the rowing machine for twenty minutes, then the cross-trainer for twenty minutes, then despite my legs still aching from Friday’s weights session, I went on the treadmill for a Thru the Gears run. It doesn’t matter how many times I do Thru the Gears on the treadmill, I still get a tremendous buzz from it. If you want the same buzz, you can get it for FREE on the Audiofuel website (I’m assuming it’s still available, as the link’s there but it’s been out a long time now – if it doesn’t work, you can get it for a bargain-worthy 69p on amazon and yes, that is my five star review underneath it).

Oh, and because I am extra-hardcore, when I got back from the gym, I did a 30 minute upper body weights session at home.

Stats
Sober Saturdays: 1
Bleak books: 1
Hangovers: 0
Weekday warriors: 1
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Cross-trainer: 20 minutes
Treadmill: 15 minutes
Weights: 30 minutes

*na

The JogBlog guide to not looking like a New Year Newbie

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It’s that time of year every seasoned gym-goer dreads. The time of year when there are two questions whizzing round their heads:

1. Will the newbies be hogging all the machines; and

2. Will everyone think I’m a newbie too?

This morning, I had planned to go to the gym and these were the questions I had in my head so, upon opening my kit drawer, I pulled out an old pair of running tights and grabbed a t-shirt but eek, the t-shirt was a salmony-pink colour and nothing screams NEWBIE as much as pink does.

Then there was the shoe dilemma. I have two pairs of running shoes that I haven’t even tried on yet, let alone wear, but – like pink – new shoes are a no no if you don’t want to be mistaken for a newbie so I put on the purple pair I’ve recently been wearing to the gym and they even had a bit of mud on them. Result.

And yes, I know we all had to start somewhere, so I’m not really mocking (although a bit of ‘spot the newbie’ fun in the gym does help to pass the time), especially as my newbie runner kit seven years ago consisted of thick baggy tracksuit bottoms, a cotton t-shirt, a heavy hooded fleece, two normal bras worn at the same time and a pair of trainers that cost me £10 from Shoe Zone.

I needn’t have worried though, there were no newbies in the gym, just the three ‘older’ people who are usually there in the morning and I did my usual rowing machine/cross-trainer/treadmill combo without having to wait for newbies to stop hogging the machines.

Stats
Pairs of old running tights: 1
Salmony-pink t-shirts: 1
Pairs of purple trainers with a bit of mud on them: 1
Newbies in the gym: 0
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Cross-trainer: 20 minutes
Treadmill: 20 minutes
Music
Courtney Love – Sunset Strip
Duran Duran – Electric Barberella
David Holmes – I Heard Wonders
The Black Keys – Lonely Boy
Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf
Calvin Harris – Feel So Close
Ghostpoet – I Just Don’t Know
Knifeworld – In A Foreign Way
U2 – Vertigo
Eugene McGuinness – Shotgun
The Polyphonic Spree – Running Away
The Secret Machines – Lightning Blue Eyes

Audiofuel Powerblast: Turbo Training

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audiofuel-logo

The stationary bike is what I hate most in the gym. It’s rare for me to go on it, I usually stick to the rowing machine and the cross-trainer. I do like spin classes though and so I thought, how can I make the stationary bike more fun? And then I thought, I know, I bet Audiofuel’s bike tracks will make it fun and so today I took the Audiofuel Powerblast session to the gym with me to try out.

audiofuel-powerblast

Audiofuel’s bike sessions are designed for use with a turbo trainer or spin bike (not to be used outside on the road). I have no access to a spin bike at my current gym but I thought it’d be fine on a normal stationary bike. And fine it was. This track goes on for an hour – I thought how the hell am I going to stay on a stationary bike for an hour without dying of boredom? But then I thought, ho hum, I’ll just stay on until I get bored. There was no boredom. It was all fun. In fact, it was absolutely great – Sean (founder of Audiofuel who does the coaching on the track) talks you through what you’ll be doing and tells you what cadence (RPM) to ride at (80rpm in the recovery bits and 95rpm in the speedy up bits).

Sean also tells you what gear to put it in, saying things like big back cog and little cog. Proper cyclists will probably understand this, I just changed the resistance on the bike according to how I felt (mostly by cruising on the recovery bits and making myself work harder by upping the resistance on the sprint bits).

It’s like a spin class but without an annoying instructor trying to make you wave your arms in the air or getting off her bike and ramping up the resistance on yours to full as she thinks you’re slacking.

The impossible has been made possible. Stationary bikes can be fun.

Audiofuel’s Powerblast is available on the Audiofuel website along with other tracks for the turbo trainer or spin bike, including ones coached by Chrissie Wellington (Ironman champion and spit of FitArtist).

p.s. Still plenty of time to sign up for Janathon!

Duchesses ordering pizzas, and Dalai Lamas

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My weather widget said all day yesterday that heavy rain was forecast for most of today. MY WEATHER WIDGET IS A LYING BASTARD. I postponed lunch with a friend today because I didn’t want to get soaked on the way to the station and there hasn’t been a drop of rain all day.

So I went to the gym instead and I got there in a cycling PB of 11:53 which is fast for me as it usually takes me 17 or 18 minutes. I’ll have to try and get it down to 10 minutes.

First up was the rowing machine for twenty minutes and then I went on one of the cross-trainers that has a TV on them and Loose Women was on and so I thought I’d watch a bit of that (DON’T JUDGE ME) and Tony Parsons was on it and they introduced him as being a journalist and hanging out with the Sex Pistols and David Bowie but they missed out the bit about him being once married to Julie Burchill and then they were talking about being a gooseberry and showed this picture of Prince Charles, the Dalai Lama and Camilla

charles_dalai_camilla

and I thought why do they think she’s being left out of the conversation? They don’t know what happened just before this photo was taken. A pizza dude from Domino’s might have just stuck his head in the door and said ‘Pepperoni Passion with extra olives, Your Duchess?’ and she was just getting up to pay him while the Dalai Lama checked Prince Charles’ fingernails to make sure his hands were clean enough to be eating pizza with. 

I don’t know… people are so quick to judge.

Then I got on the treadmill for an Audiofuel Thru the Gears session (I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love this) but after a couple of minutes I couldn’t be arsed to do any more but then I thought to myself THERE IS NO CBA IN GSR OR VLM and then I thought but ha! everyone always said there was no I in TEAM when clearly there is

Who-says-theres-no-I-in-Team

and yes, I know this was doing the rounds a couple of weeks ago but it’s still bloody funny and I carried on doing Thru the Gears and then I went to cycle home and wondered if I could do another PB but my legs were aching and the wind was in front of me and so I didn’t PB but I got back in 14:26 which isn’t bad.

Stats
Lying bastard weather widgets: 1
Lunches postponed: 1
Cycling to the gym PBs: 1
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Cross-trainer: 30 minutes
Tony Parsons on the TV: 1
Camillas ordering pizza: 1
Dalai Lamas checking Prince Charles’ fingernails: 1
Treadmill: 15 minutes
CBAs in GSRs or VLMS: 0
I’s in teams: 1

I’ve got a new hoody and well nice it is too

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As I feel a bit of a dick sometimes, riding my bike with my parka on when it’s not quite parka weather (although, seeing as it doesn’t take much for me to get cold, that’s only about two days a year), I bought a lightweight outdoorsy type jacket from Sports Direct. I liked it in the shop but when I went to wear it a few days later, decided I hated it and it was far too anoraky for me.

So, when Go Outdoors emailed me and said would I like to choose something from their website, I thought yay, I can get a new fleece or something instead of my minging anoraky thing.

My first choice wasn’t available for home delivery but then I saw a black softshell hoody with a pink zip.

softshell_hoody

Pretty hoody.

This turned up a couple of days after ordering it and today – as it certainly wasn’t parka weather – wore my new hoody on my cycle up to the gym for my spin class.

I am well pleased with my hoody. It’s beautifully light, fits well, looks cool and is comfy. My only criticism of it is that the arms are slightly too short for me – they don’t quite reach my wrists. Apart from that though, I think I’m going to be wearing this hoody a lot when I’m out on my bike.

Pump it up

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This morning I went along to the gym for my usual body pump class where I was very hardcore and used heavier weights and hurrah, my arms didn’t crack on the tricep tracks, so the glucosamine that I’ve started taking again must be doing their thing (or it’s the magic bracelet) and then after body pump I went and did twenty minutes on the rowing machine, then I had planned to do just a mile on the treadmill, although running on the treadmill doesn’t really count as running, but then I decided to do Thru the Gears and then usually on a Friday I go and do spin too but as I have a five mile run tomorrow, I didn’t really want to wear myself out even if it is Juneathon and so I wimped out of doing spin and got changed and then I had to go to the library and I decided to leave my bike where it was and walk the half mile to the library as after all, it is Juneathon, and Juneathon is all about making an extra effort and so I walked to the library and as I passed Top Shop, I saw a sign saying 20% off for students this week and so I went in and saw a stripey t-shirt that I had been eyeing the other day and I tried to work out what 20% off would be and then I saw a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it and I wondered if I was too old to wear a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it and decided I was and left the shop and opposite was Dorothy Perkins with a sign saying 30% off today and so I went in but there was nothing I liked so I went back into Top Shop and thought fuck it, if I want to wear a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it I will and so I bought the Mickey Mouse t-shirt and the stripey t-shirt and with my student discount got £8 off and then I went to the library to collect the books that had been reserved for me and then I strolled back through the town looking at all the teenage girls smoking over their babies and got back to my bike and cycled back.

Stats
Body pump: 45 minutes
Rowing machine: 20 minutes
Treadmill: 15 minutes
Walking: 1 mile
Cycling: 5 miles
Calories: about 845
Stripey t-shirts: 1
Mickey Mouse t-shirt: 1
Library books: 2
Teenage girls smoking over their babies: A few

That’s the boobs sorted, all I need now is a belly bra

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As I don’t have one of those proper day job things that involve sitting in an office all day, I don’t get that Friday Feeling but I still feel the need to celebrate public holidays by drinking and eating too much and wasting time on Facebook and Twitter, but wasting time on Twitter can pay off. My last three web design clients have come from there (a charity in Devon and two authors) and the other day, I tweeted about my new sports bras that had come in the post (yes, my tweets are that exciting) that no, weren’t freebies but yes, I had paid for them.

Shortly after tweeting this mega-exciting update on my life, Boobydoo tweeted me and said oh, you should have got in touch with us, we’d have sent you something, and so I said I could always do with new sports bras and so they sent me a Shock Absorber Run Bra.

It looks highly technical with all its straps and clasps. My favourite sports bras have been the crop top type that you pull over your head and then struggle to get off after you’ve sweated all over it. This one has kind of polystyreney feeling adjustable straps going down the back (don’t let that put you off, I’m not sure ‘polystyrene’ is the right word but I can’t think what I mean; maybe more neopreney than polystyreney). They’re different to the usual bra straps where you have to lengthen the strap by tugging at it and adjusting it as these have little hooks that you pull out of a little sleeve and put in another sleeve, either higher or lower.

shock_absorber_run_bra

There’s also a clasp at the top and the usual hook and eye clasps at the bottom. As I’m lazy and used to my crop tops, I try to pull it on as a crop top and don’t undo the bottom clasps, but it gets stuck around my shoulders so I pull it off and undo the clasps and try to do it up like a normal person. It takes a while to do up as I’m not very good at doing up bras but I get there eventually and this must be the comfiest bra in the world ever. Being the most comfiest bra ever isn’t the most major factor in sports bra factors though: boobage movage is, so I tested this by jumping up and down. Nothing moved. Result. Another good thing about it is that it’s not padded like the Shock Absorber bra I got at the traumatic Mateivator workout that has removable pads that which, because they’re removable, get all twisted and folded up in their pockets when they’re being washed and then you have to faff about taking them out and untwisting them and putting them back in. So, comfort, support and lack of faff, splendid.

I put on the rest of my gear and decide to wear my Haile Gebrselassie world record breaking shoes and set off down the street.

My world record breaking shoes are really light and I feel like I’m gliding along (I’m well aware that any witnesses would probably not have used the word ‘gliding’ if asked to describe my running style) and my boobs are staying in place which is more than I can say for my belly which is wobbling about and I wonder why no one’s invented a belly bra and if any inventors are reading my blog, can you invent one please?

I decide just to do two miles and to do it without stopping but I get to two miles and I’m feeling good and so I decide to do three miles and whoop whoop, I do three miles at under 11 minute miles which must be some kind of miracle or maybe it was the new bra, which is by far the best sports bra I’ve ever worn (I’m never going back to cheap ones again) or maybe it was the Trion:Z bracelet or maybe it was the world record breaking shoes or maybe it was my athlete’s dinner last night of two slices of garlic bread and half a flapjack or maybe it was all the spin and body pump classes I’ve been going to?

And speaking of spin and body pump classes, I’ll be doing those at the gym tomorrow morning, where I’m going, not to avoid the Royal Wedding, but to avoid Twitter where my fellow human beings will dishearten me by directing a load of scorn, contempt, hatred and abuse at a young couple purely for having the nerve to get married. I mean, they’re hardly Jordan and Alex Reid, are they? Just because Prince William’s mum was a media-hungry attention-seeking strumpet, doesn’t mean he and his bride-to-be are. Good luck to them, I say.

Stats
Distance: 3.02 miles
Time: 32:48
Pace: 10:53
Calories: 317
Friday Feelings: 0
Boobage movage: 0
Belly movage: lots
Fantastic new sports bras: 1
Nasty mean people on twitter to be avoided tomorrow: hundreds
Music
Jamiroquai
The Wombats
Ladyhawke
The Jam
The Killers

A JogBlog world record

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Because I am an idiot, I get to the gym yesterday after work and realise I’ve forgotten my trainers and I think OH NO, BUT I HAD A CHOCOLATE BISCUIT AND NOW I’M GOING TO GET FAT AND IT WASN’T EVEN A NICE CHOCOLATE BISCUIT and so this morning I think I’d better go and burn some calories as although the scales are still showing me at 9st 2, the quicker they show me under 9st the better and as I’m running towards the footbridge I think this is scary obsessional behaviour and probably how anorexics start out and I think I have no plans to turn anorexic, at least not until after I’ve gone out for pizza tonight and I go past the stables and I can hear people behind me and I turn around and there’s a couple running behind me and I think well overtake me then and they don’t overtake me and I can hear their footsteps right behind me but then they do overtake me and I think hmm, actually, I don’t want you to overtake me and I wonder if I can catch them up but I don’t bother and they go through the bridge and I think wait for me, you can save me from any murderers under there and I wonder if they’ll be able to hear me gurgle if I get stabbed in the neck but I get through the bridge without being stabbed in the neck and the girl runs up the steep bit and I think if she can run up the steep bit then so can I and I’m wondering if I’m going to have to follow them all the way home but they turn off towards the marina and I’m going down the boring bit and a dark grey beetle comes past and I think it must be the same dark grey beetle that came past me last week as surely there aren’t two people in Walthamstow so boring that they would buy a dark grey beetle when you can get cool yellow ones instead

Yellow Beetle

which is the only car ever ever ever that would tempt me to learn to drive although if I’m as successful at driving a car as I was riding a motorbike it’s probably a better idea to stick to walking everywhere and I get home and fuck me, I’ve done the marshes in under 30 minutes for the first time ever ever ever.  YAY GO ME.

Splits 8 November 2008

Stats:
Distance: 3:03 miles
Time: 29:13
Pace: 9:38 m/m
Calories: 288
Chocolate biscuits: 1
Dark grey beetles: 1
Marshes in under 30 minutes: 1
Music
Cardiacs
Muse
Jeff Buckley
Bobby Conn
The Who

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