As Day 6 of this self imposed fitness regime draws to a close, it's fair to say that fitting up to an hour a day of exercise into my schedule is happening without my having to think about it or without having to plan it too meticulously. True, my work schedule is much more flexible than it has been for some time and it should stay so until the end of November. However what I am looking to achieve is to make exercise such an integral part of my life that no matter how busy my days are, I will always find time to do at least 30/40 minutes worth of exercise a day. What I am also rediscovering is the beauty of running. As long as I have a pair of trainers, shorts and a running vest, I can always find time to run. There is no excuse for not being able to get out apart from if illness or injury strikes. Smoking must have taken up a good deal more of my day than 30 minutes and that time has now been freed up! (No cigarettes or nicotine substitutes for the sixth consecutive day!)
What I can positively say at the end of Day 6 is that I feel immensely better than I did at the start of this regime. Yes, after only 6 days I feel more positive, my lungs feel clearer, I have more energy, I am sleeping better, I am eating well without stuffing my face, I feel cleaner..... and yes, writing this blog is helping to keep me disciplined. I am conscious that it is becoming a little bit predictable ( no cigarettes today, X kms of treadmill/ outdoor running - for the record 7 kms today in 37 mins on a treadmill and then 15 minutes on the weights). However by putting this down in writing, it is keeping me on track - particularly with regard to stopping smoking. I cannot believe how easy it has so far been to have refrained from smoking since last Thursday evening.
My next blog on this will probably be on what will be Day 10 of the 'regime', Sunday 27th October ( assuming that I get that far - one day at a time).... And thanks - because if you are reading this, you are helping me to achieve my goals!
See you soon.
Showing posts with label well being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label well being. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Time for Action - Day 2 Part 1
You can tell that I'm really full of this at the moment just by today's blog title - 'Time for a Action - Day 2 Part 1' . Let's see where we are at day 21, eh?
I woke pretty early this morning (6am or so). I suspect my system is getting used to life without nicotine, so from past experience the sleep pattern might be disrupted for a few days. Still woke feeling refreshed and knowing that my body is starting to heal itself from the effects of nicotine and the associated nasties that make up cigarettes.
Enough of being smug (for a short while).
I deliberated about doing an early run and after two cups of builders tea, decided to go for it. By now it was 8 am by the way. There had been a fair bit of deliberating involved!
Shorts, short sleeve luminous running shirt and one of those sleeveless running zippy up things that my wife bought me some years ago. I never used to like running in anything other than shorts,vest, socks and shoes. However the zippy up thing has zippy up pockets and means that I can put my iPhone in, with that 'Runkeeper' gadget on. For those of you who don't know what Runkeeper is, it tells you how far you've run, and how fast/slow. It does more than that too, such as telling you what inclines you've run up, what you had for breakfast and other things that I have not explored and have no inclination to. What it also does, is, it has this American lady who talks to you while you are running. So every five minutes she will say,
"Time five minutes, distance completed, 0.8765 miles..." I think she says other things too, but I am too busy puffing and panting to hear. I think that the makers of Runkeeper have missed a trick here. This lady sounds so cold and emotionless. Twenty minutes into a run, at this stage in my 'getting fit again' regime, it would be helpful to have a bit of TLC from this lady, something along the lines of;
'You're doing really well. Don't worry about how far you've gone at the moment, I can tell you at the end if you want...and don't forget there'll be a nice cup of tea and a hot bath waiting for you with some of those nice bath salts that you got last Christmas. You can stop for a few minutes too if you feel like it....I'll just alter the setting on Runkeeper to make it seem as though you didn't stop.'
Anyway all was going well. Ran along a main road, tucked in at the side, facing oncoming traffic. Then I made a wrong decision after 3.5 miles - things were going so well that I decided to cut off the main road, and head back home ACROSS THE FIELDS!
You see I have this romantic notion of running carefree across fields for miles, the warm breeze ruffling my hair as I glide along effortlessly. Unfortunately the reality for me is different, but I never learn and reality hit me as soon as I got off road and onto muddy track. Yes muddy. There's just been sufficient rain recently to make the top of the ground wet with a layer of mud on top. However the ground just under the surface is still rock hard from the summer. This produces a lethal combination for me. As soon as I got off road I realised that my footwear was wholly inappropriate - old Asics Gel Kayano's (complete with worn through toe holes), are not the footwear for this terrain. No matter, on I ran - or should I say slid? To those who remember Todd Carty's efforts in ITV's 'Dancing on Ice' a few years ago, this was it. Arms and legs all over the place, with the only difference between Todd and I being that Todd fell over (many times) whilst I didn't, mainly for fear of breaking my iPhone.
In the end I had to give up, and start walking. By this stage I was cursing - I should have known - I HATE running across fields. I CAN'T run across fields! The definition of insanity is knowing these truisms and still trying to run across fields!
I was just getting to the back gate of our house, still in quite a good mood for the running that I had already done before the 'Dancing on Ice' fiasco, when the lady on the Runkeeper app chimed up;
"Time 45 minutes, mileage 4.5679 miles, current pace 16.2 minutes per mile..."
She sounded almost mocking. I wanted to tell the woman that the reason I was currently doing miles in 16.2 minutes was because I was walking and that was because of the mud and that previously I had been running very respectable times... but I don't think she really cared.
She isn't coming with me tomorrow - leaving her at home.
It is now 13.15 hours - exercise done (it still counts!) Cigarettes smoked - zero. Feeling of well being? Definitely.
One final thought for now- whilst I was running (before the cross country fiasco!), what I did do was hit a rhythm for a while where my breathing became easy and I suddenly reminded myself to take in my surroundings - the changing colours that Autumn brings and the beautiful countryside around. It reminded me, of how rarely I live in the now. I suspect that goes for most other people too - so busy thinking about the past or projecting into the future, that we forget to appreciate what is around us.
Today I shall try and live more in the now.
Catch you later.
I woke pretty early this morning (6am or so). I suspect my system is getting used to life without nicotine, so from past experience the sleep pattern might be disrupted for a few days. Still woke feeling refreshed and knowing that my body is starting to heal itself from the effects of nicotine and the associated nasties that make up cigarettes.
Enough of being smug (for a short while).
I deliberated about doing an early run and after two cups of builders tea, decided to go for it. By now it was 8 am by the way. There had been a fair bit of deliberating involved!
Shorts, short sleeve luminous running shirt and one of those sleeveless running zippy up things that my wife bought me some years ago. I never used to like running in anything other than shorts,vest, socks and shoes. However the zippy up thing has zippy up pockets and means that I can put my iPhone in, with that 'Runkeeper' gadget on. For those of you who don't know what Runkeeper is, it tells you how far you've run, and how fast/slow. It does more than that too, such as telling you what inclines you've run up, what you had for breakfast and other things that I have not explored and have no inclination to. What it also does, is, it has this American lady who talks to you while you are running. So every five minutes she will say,
"Time five minutes, distance completed, 0.8765 miles..." I think she says other things too, but I am too busy puffing and panting to hear. I think that the makers of Runkeeper have missed a trick here. This lady sounds so cold and emotionless. Twenty minutes into a run, at this stage in my 'getting fit again' regime, it would be helpful to have a bit of TLC from this lady, something along the lines of;
'You're doing really well. Don't worry about how far you've gone at the moment, I can tell you at the end if you want...and don't forget there'll be a nice cup of tea and a hot bath waiting for you with some of those nice bath salts that you got last Christmas. You can stop for a few minutes too if you feel like it....I'll just alter the setting on Runkeeper to make it seem as though you didn't stop.'
Anyway all was going well. Ran along a main road, tucked in at the side, facing oncoming traffic. Then I made a wrong decision after 3.5 miles - things were going so well that I decided to cut off the main road, and head back home ACROSS THE FIELDS!
You see I have this romantic notion of running carefree across fields for miles, the warm breeze ruffling my hair as I glide along effortlessly. Unfortunately the reality for me is different, but I never learn and reality hit me as soon as I got off road and onto muddy track. Yes muddy. There's just been sufficient rain recently to make the top of the ground wet with a layer of mud on top. However the ground just under the surface is still rock hard from the summer. This produces a lethal combination for me. As soon as I got off road I realised that my footwear was wholly inappropriate - old Asics Gel Kayano's (complete with worn through toe holes), are not the footwear for this terrain. No matter, on I ran - or should I say slid? To those who remember Todd Carty's efforts in ITV's 'Dancing on Ice' a few years ago, this was it. Arms and legs all over the place, with the only difference between Todd and I being that Todd fell over (many times) whilst I didn't, mainly for fear of breaking my iPhone.
In the end I had to give up, and start walking. By this stage I was cursing - I should have known - I HATE running across fields. I CAN'T run across fields! The definition of insanity is knowing these truisms and still trying to run across fields!
I was just getting to the back gate of our house, still in quite a good mood for the running that I had already done before the 'Dancing on Ice' fiasco, when the lady on the Runkeeper app chimed up;
"Time 45 minutes, mileage 4.5679 miles, current pace 16.2 minutes per mile..."
She sounded almost mocking. I wanted to tell the woman that the reason I was currently doing miles in 16.2 minutes was because I was walking and that was because of the mud and that previously I had been running very respectable times... but I don't think she really cared.
She isn't coming with me tomorrow - leaving her at home.
It is now 13.15 hours - exercise done (it still counts!) Cigarettes smoked - zero. Feeling of well being? Definitely.
One final thought for now- whilst I was running (before the cross country fiasco!), what I did do was hit a rhythm for a while where my breathing became easy and I suddenly reminded myself to take in my surroundings - the changing colours that Autumn brings and the beautiful countryside around. It reminded me, of how rarely I live in the now. I suspect that goes for most other people too - so busy thinking about the past or projecting into the future, that we forget to appreciate what is around us.
Today I shall try and live more in the now.
Catch you later.
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