I slept really deeply on Tuesday night and so when I woke on Wednesday I decided to incorporate my LISS into my morning commute. I walked 40 minutes to my morning meeting. It was a breakfast meeting so it felt quite difficult sitting there sipping on a black coffee while almost everyone else had breakfast.
After that meeting, Steve and I went to lunch, as he is also doing IF now too. We ate, caught up on some work admin and also had a chat about our races.
Compared with last year we have been far less dedicated to running a race each month, so we decided to book in a 1/4 marathon at the end of September in Wimbledon, a 10 miler the following weekend in Brighton on 7th October and a trail half marathon in Kent in November.
As the day progressed yesterday my legs became more and more painful with delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) from the weight training the day before.
When I first took up weights I found that I could only do 1 leg and glute (L&G) workout a week if I was to keep up running because 2 training sessions would render my legs too uncomfortable on too many days. So I think for the first few weeks of training I’ll have to do only 1 L&G session. But that’s fine, better something than nothing.
I walked home after work which was another 40 minutes and went to yoga in the evening. I had a lot of anxiety about going to Bikram as it had been so long since my last class.
It was the first Bikram I had done in 16 days, which is a long time for me. By the time the class came around my legs were feeling horrendous from the weights and the studio felt SO HOT that I was sweating before the class even started. But, I fucking loved every minute. Despite 16 days off Bikram my practice was good and I was flexible, albeit a bit tight in the hamstrings. It wasn’t anywhere as bad as I had expected. Why? Well in those 16 days I have done 2 runs, 5 XT sessions, 2 Yin classes and 2 home practice yoga sessions.
My panic about the ‘time off’ I have had was misplaced. I may not have been at Bikram but I have been active and maintained my fitness. So I now know that as long as I can maintain my level of fitness and flexibility then I can forgive myself for mixing up my workouts to fit my schedule. On occasion that will sometimes mean one thing suffers over the other but that’s OK and means I am more likely to stick to exercising overall.
Despite all that, Bikram is definitely my happy place and it felt FAB to be back in the hot room.
This week I feel good that I am getting back to training properly, I feel super motivated.
My social diary picks up with a visit to friends on Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday. So I would need to be strategic about my exercise over the rest of the week.
I planned to run on Thursday but as my legs are still so stiff and sore I will postpone this to Friday. So on Thursday I went to the gym for a 45 chest and shoulder weight training session.
My plan is to do a 45 minute run on Friday.
Saturday I intend on doing a HIIT and abdominal workout when I get home in the evening with a little yoga practice, and on Sunday I will do my long run first thing followed by a Yin class, then after lunch go to the gym to do an upper body workout and some circuit training and maybe a wheel conditioning classes to close the day.
All being well this could turn out to be the most successful exercise week this year. I feel like I’ve had a real change in my mindset.
I’ve had so many people comment on my weight loss recently, clearly it has suddenly become obvious to others so I think that helps me to keep up the good work. Also the fact it’s September, and there are just a few months left this year makes me feel motivated to meet my goal weight by Christmas.
I love Autum and this helps with my training as I love running outside in the cooler Autumnal weather. So I just have to do it and having these races lined up really helps too.
