Having got into a muddle I’ve decided to split this update into 2 posts. This one will focus on health / nutrition / training / ramblings and the other will be a sort of diary. They will of course overlap but it will suit me better!
I missed out a post!
Last time I posted I said that I was aiming to get the belt down by one more notch in 4 weeks. I did that but I forgot to bore you all with it, and I went straight into getting the third notch in 8 weeks.
The 8 weeks were up 2 weeks ago and …………. I did it!
Now, as I’ve said before, I’m well aware that the number of notches can be changed by the position that you wear it, but this is a ‘working’ belt and I can only count it as successful if I’ve worn it, and used it, for a full day, which I have!
The next ‘target’, if I go for it, is to get it on to the last notch (now I’m wondering if I should have said hole but I like the word notch much more, in 16 weeks time. That’ll be on the 4th December 2015!
The bigger, if you’ll pardon the pun, use of it is to stop me getting bigger though. The trouble with living in lycra is that it stretches, and stretches so you don’t get as many wake up calls. This belt definitely does not stretch! Nor do the 2 pairs of cargo pants I’ve bought. I know this because for the last two weeks I’ve been in face stuffing mode and they have told me!
I have to confess that I’ve been bitten by whatever the sugar equivalent of the tsetse fly is again. The man at the end of the conveyor belt where they make Viennese Whirls must have washed his hands because I’ve been force feeding myself with those, and other sorts of cakes 😦
My training has also suffered, Darryl has given me three new programs. Normally I’d be ultra excited and attacking them but I did not manage to complete even one of them 😦
I haven’t been feeling great, very tired and episodes of ‘wooziness’ (M.S. stuff – boo) and my knee has been playing up.
Reasons?
- Gluttony! It will never leave me, I just have to learn to manage it and I’m getting better at it all the time
- The weather. Yes, that’s a real point. It’s been very hot and muggy and my body reacts badly to that
- Doing too much! (Not so good at learning about that!)
But let’s rewind because it has been a long time since I told you what I’ve been doing and, before this latest blip, training was going brilliantly!
We have had the Club One Hundred Games!!!
The games were open to all members of Club One Hundred and were made up of 6 events. You got points for each event depending on your position, and the winners would be the man / woman with the most points.
The events were:
- maximum deadlift
- 2000 metre row for time
- 21 – 15 – 9 – 3 Burpees and Thrusters for time
- maximum clean and jerk
- 3 sets of: 500 metre run, 100 x single unders skipping, 2 lengths of walking lunges
- As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of: 7 press-ups, 10 hanging knee raises, 15 box squats
Because I train fortnightly we were doing 2 events per session and this was session one! (Where I peaked!)
I was really pleased with these results, but when I looked at the board and saw someone had lifted 90kg I was not happy! There was only Darryl and I in the studio and he tentatively, and carefully, pointed out that I was not in my mid 20s!!! Gareth walked in at that point to find me moving around the studio, kicking myself and chanting “Got to remember I’m 62!”
The next session I did the burpees (lying down on the floor and standing up in my case) & thrusters. I may occasionally (OK, frequently) suffer from flatulence but I do not do burpees! Still, I’d been practicing them at the gym and I gave it my best shot. Part way through I was VERY hot and felt sick so I had a little pause then carried on. Although I was proud of myself for not giving up I was a bit gutted that I knew I could be faster. I was, however, thrilled when I found out that I was not the slowest!!!!
I also did the clean and jerk that session. Now I can clean (only this sort, not housework), and I can press, but …. waiting for the sniggers …. I can’t jerk! I have a real problem with any form of jumping, my feet do not want to leave the ground at the same time! So my final weight that day was 25 kg. But I really, really wanted to do 30kg, just for my benefit. Darryl gave me a list of weights and reps to try it with and, one day at the gym ………
I was SO happy! I may never do it again, but it doesn’t matter, I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!
On to the final session ….. save the worst until last!
I did not have high expectations of myself, this was cardio! My major concern was whether I’d be able to do both of the events …. & complete them in an hour!
These were by far my weakest events but, bizarrely, they are possibly the ones I am most proud of. I didn’t bottle it, I went for it and did far, far better than I ever expected to ( you have to remember that my expectations were awful, don’t assume from my reaction that I smashed them, I did not! But, for me, I was thrilled!)
These Games have taken me on a further journey.
I may come across as being very confident! and I suppose I am, but I never think that I’m that good at stuff. When people say I’m inspirational or a role model I tend to think I must be kidding them in some way but the Club One Hundred Games have made me realise, again, that I should be proud of myself.
I am a LOT older (chronologically) than the other ‘competitors’ but I did myself proud. I came 13th out of the women!!!
I’ve finally got to finish this post as I’m sat in my hospital bed with nothing else to do!
On Friday I had the steroid injection in my knee, that went really well
On Saturday I was hit by excruciating pain, and I’m sat here, having taken loads of painkillers, about to spend a second night in hospital, waiting to see if nature will get rid of it. How can something that small (2.5mm) be so painful? And how can it cause my blood pressure to soar to 189/76? And that was before my melt down trying to get help for Ray!
