Sunday 25 September 2011

Week Thirty One

Five weeks until race day, Its so close now I can almost smell it.

I have this month needed to work overtime this means working until 2am and they come in blocks of two or three. I have not done any this year due to my lifestyle change, and it has worked as my lifestyle and eating habits have improved greatly, The last three shifts have been hard more so mentally as I know it is messing with my training and I have been eating out of turn due to working late. Note to self: overtime is bad for my health in the long term.

So far this month I have run 10 times which is great and again work has got in the way a little bit. My hip is still aching which is uncomfortable at worst have appointment to see Doctor on Thursday to try and sort out for race, I can still train but hope I not making it any worse, it does not hurt when I run but I am aware of it.

I can now run for 10 minutes at a time which is great before that clicked in last week I was only running for Three and a bit minutes before stopping this is a major milestone in my training and something I have been striving for for months, Its great to now have a little stamina in the bank and I can work on improving that before the race.

I did a run on Monday and I/It was truly awful I had no stamina no rhythm, it felt wrong and horrible worse than just a bad day run, after checking my time I was only three a bit minutes slower than my best time three days earlier, so it was not as bad as I thought it was, I went out the next day and everything was better whilst not a P/B it was faster than Monday.

The lesson's learnt were it was just an off day every runner gets them, I still completed the run even though I was convinced it was rubbish, I was able to go back out the next day run as normal and put Mondays run into prospective and learn straight away rather than let the bad day fester. Its so great to learn things and not get depressed any more, this is all down to my slimpod its so much more than a tool to help lose weight it helps the whole lifestyle change, without it I would not be where I am today or where I will be in twenty years time.

The plan for the next five weeks is to run as much as possible I know I don't have the distance running which is a little disappointing, but not the end of the world but I will build up my stamina by doing my runs more often, I need to remember that six months ago I could not even run. Small steps and all that, I am so looking forward to race day now and still enjoying the training. (once I've finished lol)

Till next weeks blog happy injury free training, Please consider sponsoring me I am running for Diabetes UK and any amount would make a difference Just Giving webpage: http://www.justgiving.com/Darin-McCloud Just Giving text: Text SLIM65 £5 to 70070   (any amount where £5 goes) 

 

Monday 19 September 2011

Week Thirty

My first week of putting the Great South Run at the top of my priorities these are the dates and times of my runs this month the aim is to run more often which is why I have stopped the x-box training until after the race.
      
6th September 2011 56mins 16sec 10th September 2011 1 hr 9mins 31sec 11th September 2011 33mins 18sec 12th September 2011 56mins 8sec 14th September 2011 52mins 06sec 15th September 2011 49mins 48sec 16th September 2011 48mins 55sec 19th September 2011 51mins 07sec.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the medical students who attended the the College of Medicine summer school. That was the first time I have been invited to attend as a service user of the NHS and would just love to do so again. It was great to tell them about my journey my experiences and lessons I have learnt along the way, The questions they asked were thoughtful, and showed an interest that I'm sure will stand them in good stead for their careers, and their willingness to learn and take on new ideas and directions was amazing from where I was sitting. The number of students that spoke to me during the day asking questions and showing an interest was amazing and gave me such a boost.



Sunday 11 September 2011

Week Twenty Nine

I have had a very interesting week, I have made an important decision about the next seven weeks regarding the Great South Run, hopefully it will be the right decision? I have also spent a day with Thinking Slimmer making a video for them. How time has gone so fast to be at this point to give Thinking Slimmer something back for all their help and support.  

On Tuesday Chris Roycroft-Davis spent the day with me, it was a great day learning how to do interviews and handle questions, and making the success video  The day gave me such a big boost as we talked about different thinks and about how they see my success which I still find hard to see as my journey still has some way to go. But I am getting better at accepting my success whilst still seeing the road ahead.

With only seven weeks until the Great South Run and having produced a good run and time for Five miles yesterday taking into account my injury problems that was an absolute bonus, as I was running and feeling good  with myself I made the decision that between now and the race I will concentrate only on my training, which means hydration and fueling my body, if I get these things right I give myself the best possible chance to do the best training I can do and be able to complete the race with the minimal risk of carrying an injury into the race or in training. I have now realized that my body could not have done this much work with no injuries, so at least I have come to terms with this.

I am not going to post my weight until race day because I know my weight will fluctuate, more so as I stop the x-box until after the race unless really bad weather sets in then I will still exercise indoors. I have put on a couple of pounds max this week but clearly my aim now is the Great South Run firstly for me secondly for Diabetes UK  http://www.justgiving.com/Darin-McCloud Text SLIM65 £5 to 70070   (any amount where £5 goes) and thirdly for http://www.ThinkingSlimmer.com  Please donate, even £1 will make a difference.

I hope that I am making the right choice's and after the race I can go back to the weight loss, if I'm honest I would love to be 15 Stone for the race but now I realize the training comes first for now. If anyone thinks this is wrong please give feedback. My blogs will be about my training for the race I feel that distance may be short but I will be good for the race, I am learning to run for longer periods and having shorter recovery walks, breathing is the key to this by standing more upright allowing more air into my lungs, this really does work and the improvements are quite dramatic.

Monday 5 September 2011

Week Twenty Eight

Sorry about last weeks blog, although not a lot to say I could have done a lot better with it. This week however  has been a great learning week, I just love these weeks so much, more than losing weight to be be honest.

First up I blurted out an email to Sandra, I do try identify and solve my problems as my previous blogs show but last week I did not know how best to deal with a problem and how it might turn out if I did. Sandra phoned me back and we had a chat not a long one but enough for me to move forward. Also thanks to "The Moiderer" who gave me the same message in our little chat on-line. The Thinking Slimmer support network is truly amazing and kicks in the most when you need it. This is why I am so proud to be a part of this great product and to pass on my knowledge help and support to others as payback for getting my life back.

I do try to vary things a little to test how I am doing, do I need to still do this thing or that thing, what happens if I stop something, will I be ok or will I need to keep doing it. I have for a about a month not used the Slimpod this has been way to long to go without, but as a learning experience it has taught me a valuable lesson so the time has not been wasted. So I have gone back to my Slimpod (I will be taking Trevor to bed with me every night again sorry ladies needs must!) For the first time in the past month I have again had hunger pains, in a good way not a bad way. As I am on a lifestyle change I need the slimpod for a lot longer than someone who only wants to lose a dress style, Lesson learnt and it is no hardship to do either.

In the last month and a half I have had to make a decision about doing overtime at work,I have been very lucky and not had to do any this year as I concentrated I my lifestyle change, If nothing changes then it cannot work? Again I have had the support of Hazel on this front which has helped enormously. Overtime can only be done on a late shift so if I do it, it takes a lot out of me, it interferes a little with training and a lot on rest I have made my mind up I will do it for this month and then stop,That will give me October to put all my energy in to the Great South Run.

As you are aware I have struggled with a couple of injuries, last Saturday I joined Powerade Ion Race Ready Bupa Great South Run - Launch Event A bonus for living in the same city as the race.This has made me realize how hard but not impossible it is to prepare for such an event for a start point of zero, great people who gave great advice and help and showed me the importance of dehydration this was another eureka moment having that advice, the problems with my calf became so much clearer in an instant, this event also last for eight weeks so the back up is there as well. I asked about my X-Box Fitness and the training for the Great South Run with only eight weeks to go I have to get my body ready for race day now time has now caught me up. The advice was if you enjoy it keep doing it, it clearly works for you, but for the race cut down to once a week and run instead of X-Box. I have now made the decision to do just that but I will now need to run from home on those occasion's as getting to the seafront is not easy luckily their is a route I can do,so will try it and see what the distance is. I am now feeling brave enough to try a new route mainly because I have to now. http://www.justgiving.com/Darin-McCloud

My weight this week is 102.3kg or 16st 1.5lb Still not hit 15st something mark yet a little disappointing to be honest but not the end of the world. Lifestyle not Diet! I have my measurements not sure what the changes mean but something else to learn from in the future Chest 45.5in No Change,Waist 43.5in No Change, Stomach 43.5in No Change, Butt 42in No Change, Left Thigh 22in No Change, Left Calf 18in up .5in, Right Thigh 21in down 1.5in, Right Calf 17.5in No Change. Left Calf and Right Thigh changed in a month the rest the same interesting? This is month three of measurements, please please measure as early as you can the scales will play nasty tricks with your head trust me. One of my biggest regrets not doing this when I started.