This week got off to a terrible start at work. Blue Monday lived up to its name as the most depressing day of the year. Although as you can see from the photo I felt much better after week 2 of c25km with our lovely Trumpington beginners 🙂
Day 19.
Alcohol units consumed last night: Lots
Words written for essay: Zero
Keeva’s quote for today’s RED: OUCH
Today’s exercise was the Babyshark Abs challenge. It was torture set to childrens music. Bad children’s music. I will fall asleep to Baby Shark reverberating around my brain.
If you are wondering what the Babyshark abbs challenge is here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LurCQ9XGkt0. I did 5 reps with 2 mins rest in between. It was more beached seal than Baby Shark.
If you don’t fancy trying Babyshark after my glowing review, here are some equally evil videos I tried this evening:
Sally up Sally down Squat challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNRWx4QqyJ8
Sally up Sally down Push up challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41N6bKO-NVI&t=117s
Saturday morning, 8.44 am and over 8 miles in the bag! When my alarm went off at 6.30 am I really questioned why I voluntarily signed up to this, but I got up, met Ruby and our friend Leigh, and we ran. And we weren’t the only ones!
We ran ~ 2.5 miles to meet the LRG Sawston runners for their 7.30 am run. I haven’t been before and can honestly say I was flabbergasted when we arrived. On top of it being super early on a weekend, it was also dark & frosty, yet there was a mass of high vis bodies in front of me! There’s 2 groups, the 5k runners & C25K beginners, and they span all ages! 😁
We finished off the morning with another few miles back home. Even post run I still look half asleep!
Early starts at the weekend are definitely not my norm, but you can’t beat the buzz having done something active with a full free day ahead! That said, there are priorities after a frosty long run!…
#redjanuary day 18!When I started to write this blog it made me double check my emails. I went to my first TK Total Fitness class on 8 Feb 2017 …nearly 3 years ago! That means for the last 3 years I’ve basically been getting out of bed at 6 am 3 mornings* a week to exercise. I have to say, thats a shock even to me! *disclaimer …sometimes I sleep in & go at 6 pm 🙂
My first class was part of an 8 week bootcamp, I hadn’t exercised properly in a long time and I really needed a kick start. I enjoyed the classes, the challenge, started to feel fitter and as a bonus, met some lovely people. And so, after the 8 weeks was over, I kept going.
There are 3 separate sessions in a week, each with a different focus. Tonight the class consisted of circuits including ropes, squat jumps, rip/body saw, slam balls, burpees, TRX pikes and as always a finisher to top off the class, tabata press ups and reverse plank holds, and finish you it does!
Ruby came with me for a taster class tonight. Her first timer review… “It was tough going to start with. My body didn’t appreciate the squat jumps so far into REDJanuary! I hit a bit of a wall half way though but managed to bulldoze my way through it. I started to enjoy myself towards the end!”
Not a bad way to start the weekend!
I started playing non contact rugby about 10 years ago when we entered a QUB work team in the (then) new social mixed Tag Rugby league. It was the best craic even if I was terrible at it! We had training nights, match nights, social nights and of course our own version of end of season awards nights! The league in Belfast grew from one season to run from spring to winter over several evenings to accommodate all the teams, with multiple league levels from beginners (which the more social sporting teams like us stayed in!) to advanced.
In Cambridge we found the closest equivalent in the great local Touch Rugby league and set up a team with friends. The season starts with Spring league in April and finishes in September at the end of Summer league. Its a little different from Tag rugby but happily you can still be rubbish at running, throwing, catching, defending, try scoring and generally following rules and play! …many will testify to my inabilities but I enjoy trying!
I’m doubly lucky to work on a great campus, Wellcome Genome Campus, where lots of people are active. As well as a gym and various fitness classes, there is alot of different organised sports, football, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, to name a few and of course touch rugby! We play at lunch time once a week (twice on a good week!) in the gorgeous campus grounds. The game is normally 6-a-side but you can have a good run with more or less players, just adjust the pitch width or run more! This year we’ve even managed to play for a full year regardless of season, December we were in gloves & hats on the pitch, this week we could have done with sunglasses!
If you’re interested, contact your local league and they can help set you up with teams looking for players and if you’re not sure if it’s for you ask if there’s training sessions to join.
Cambridge touch also runs training sessions during the winter and has a friendly game on Saturday mornings at Parkers Piece.
Today I was in Edinburgh for work. Normally if I have a customer meeting I arrange ahead to get a lift with one of the sales guys, or try to get transport as near as possible to where I have to be. This is for 2 reasons: to avoid getting lost, and to avoid turning up to meetings wind swept in the winter and sweaty in the summer. Neither are a look I can carry off.
However in the spirit of REDJanaury I got the bus into the centre of Edinburgh and, armed with google maps, walked the final half hour to my meeting. Luckily the rain held off!
I did accidentally take a detour – it turns out I can’t even follow google maps. However this little detour took me past the Scottish National Portrait museum. I had 10 minutes to spare so I had a quick walk around the modern portrait exhibition. (May have got a cake as well to take away) Taking the time to walk, instead of getting there early and sitting in a cafe next door, was the right decision. Whilst I didn’t have time to get to the castle I enjoyed my stroll through the centre.
Bonus of walking during the day was I didn’t have to do any exercise when I got home! Not ashamed to admit I had chicken nuggets in my Pjs at 8:30pm.
For day 15/31 we tried boxing. It might be my favourite activity so far!
Albion Boxing is located at 144 Cherry Hinton road. I used to live off Cherry Hinton Road and I had no idea it was there! They welcome all abilities and have women only sessions if that is your preference. They very kindly let us take part for free so we will be donating the cost of the class to our REDJanuary just giving page.
We started with a warm up and it became apparent that everyone else knew what they were doing. Mild panic set in that I might be paired up with a pro. Luckily after identifying ourselves as beginners we were paired up together.
The warm up consisted of a fairly brutal round of partner work that included punching and core work. The strangest part of the session was punching Keeva repeatedly in the abs whilst she held a crunch position. It was like taking part in a very bizarre sports massage. Also, it is really hard not to laugh whilst your friend squats over you and punches you in the stomach… Maybe we weren’t hitting hard enough? I definitely didn’t expect to laugh so much!
The atmosphere was very relaxed. The coach was very patient and took the time to go through the basics with us separately so we could actively take part in the class despite having no experience. We had a great workout and we even got to throw a few punches at each other at the end of the class.
I advise you don’t annoy Keeva. I’ve seen her right hook!
Trampolining looks effortless when we’re standing watching the young pros at Cambridge Cangaroos, so when it’s our turn it’s really surprising how short stints can leave you really out of breath. With the whole body trying to work in sync for each move (or even just to bounce up & down without falling off the side!) it’s a good workout.
We found out about the trampolining club when our friend Jess posted some pics on Facebook and thought it would be great fun for RedJanuary!
And it was! It’s physically challenging and mentally exhilarating (provided you’re not afraid of heights!). We had some expert training from the team, taking us through the basic jumps, tuck, pike & straddle. When they got us to lie face down on the trampoline it was looking like a good time to rest up, until we were told that was the position we had to land a jump in …so impressed we didn’t face plant that one!
There’s a recurrent theme in these activities though, more sit ups & more planks needed! Going to build that 1 pack to a 2 pack by the end of this month 😉
When the day gets away from you and all your great intentions disappear with it …and the last stitch attempt at an evening run is drowned out by a flood (Ruby & the others are stars for running tonight!).
So instead, a quick session in the house, but enough to make the blood pump and get the thighs burning (especially after yesterdays pole fit!).
It was a simple 2 rounds of…
1 min star jumps
1 min squats
1 min plank
1 min rest
1 min high knees
1 min press ups
1 min squat jumps
1 min rest
Monday night is my usual running night with Trumpington LRG. It was our first night of couch to 5km and despite the gale force wind and rain, we had a brilliant turn out.
I woke up aching all over after Pole. I also have a bruise on my right foot. Clearly I kicked the pole a few times! As you can imagine the thought of running with lead legs was not appealing. Luckily a friend offered me a lift there so I couldn’t back out.
I love running, but I haven’t always. So if you have just started and are finding it hard – stick with it. It does get better.
One day you will wake up and realize you have more running clothes than normal clothes. You may also start actively seeking out other runners at events to you have someone to talk to. Receiving chest lights and running socks will be the highlight of Christmas. (Sorry everyone, dinner was nice but getting a chest light was better). You will also aggravate your entire family and friendship circle by encouraging them all to take up running and repeatedly telling them “it’s really fun”.
Trust me it happens.
Red31