Training plan

So after I managed to do one run in December which was disappointing but you know how brains can be with the horrible wet weather and a total lack of motivation. I decided last week that I would get back to training for the upcoming Tough Mudder season, so I need to actually get my self out there and put some miles under my feet.

The first run was appalling, I felt awful afterwards but this comes from doing literally no exercise in months and only running at Tough Mudder events, still I persevered and headed out again on the Tuesday for a little longer this time feeling just as bad, though not wheezing as much as from the previous run, then I decided I would make Sunday my last run of the week and for the time being stick to three days during the week, until I'm feeling stronger and I can handle more days per week, when I'm recovering a lot quicker.

I also gave a few chin ups a try as I'll need to work on that, so I can get myself over the obstacles, I'm sitting here writing this having caused myself a mischief in my shoulder, lifting slightly heavier things upwards is uncomfortable, so I'll need to be careful and perhaps wait to start pulling off chin ups when I'm a little lighter.

It was suggested by my friend John that we could do the Relentless suffering, which is one of a number of new obstacle course runs/races that have popped up in the wake of the popularity of Tough Mudder and prior to the Tough Guy, so I'm off to Rockingham castle in March to take part, they do three runs in one day, a ten mile, a 10k and a 5k, so if you do all three in the one day, you get classed as a legend and get an extra t-shirt and medal, given I've managed to get two laps in on three Tough Mudder course this year, nineteen miles shouldn't be too much of a problem.

So as today is Tuesday, it run day although the wind is pretty strong out there so it should make for an interesting run, I may have to change my route slightly to avoid as much wind as possible.

Who's the guy that's a hit with all the scales, that's right Wildheart Baby

So I'm finally free of 3 stone or 42lbs as the people over the water like to say, this is quite literally a great weight that's been lifted from me, I no longer carry the equivalent of

• a 15-foot canoe
• a 3-year-old child
• an average human leg
• a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
• five gallons of water

 Thanks to things that weigh 40 pounds

I look a damn sight better, I'm eating a whole lot better and more importantly I've stopped eating as much as I used to, so I'm no longer having a large bowl of cereal and then having another one, as the first tasted so nice. I'm exercising a whole lot more and at times annoyed at myself for getting out of shape, through bad habits and just not caring about my health.I think my ultimate goal is to have myself a flat stomach, since I've never had one of those and it would be nice to finally have one, I still have a little way to go, since I still have a tiny spare tire. I've already had people say I've lost more than enough weight but not for me, I haven't, I'm doing this properly, no starvation diets, no ridiculous ideas of how little I should weigh.

I think part of the problem with the last time was sustaining an injury whilst walking Alfie after a long 12 hour shift on my feet almost the entire time. He pulled me forwards as I chatted to my mother on the phone and my left heel struck the ground and I suddenly felt an huge pain and an inability to actually walk on it. I let it heal for about a week or so, I was able to walk in it but as soon as I tried training, the pain flared up and I ended up, lightly limping home. I did compete in the race I was training for but that was the last I ran, sadly my healthier eating regime seemed to also disappear soon after this. Occasionally I would get still get the pain, which I knew meant until it healed fully I wouldn't be able to train anymore.

I've not felt the pain in quite some time, which leads me to think that the injury is finally fully healed and losing the extra weight can only help matters. I guess that I should have been more careful, that you can get an injury from the simplest thing, which is one of the reasons I'm going to get someone to check my form to ensure that I'm lifting the heavier barbell weights correctly, as I don't really want to put my back out, as I'm approaching middle age, that would be an injury I probably wouldn't recover fully from.

Although I'm enjoying writing the blog posts, I should really be writing other stuff as well, otherwise it'll seem like I've become a bit weight loss/fitness obsessed.