After a weeks absence...

Been a while since I posted last so I thought I better get all my ideas blotted down asap :)

So this week was a very busy one for me with lots of comotion and I had little time to really plan this past week's training. Therefore I did it as I went along, see my stride and my rythmns.

The last training I posted about was the long run I did in Zurrieq. I kept Sunday as rest to fully recover from the run, just to do a crazier run on Monday. I was on the bus stop at Attard, I still had to do some sort of training and I really felt like a run. The next bus had to leave from Rabat in an hours time. So I decided it would be more worthed to just run it to the stop at Hamrun, and so I did with a 5kg backpack. It was really a tough run but since it was late in the evening, it was pretty cool a condition which doesn't drain your energy as opposed to running at 11am. I didnt suffer much kept a forced pace throughout but the best workout was for my abs...since I had the balance the weight of the backpack, apart from sustaining a high knee.

The next day I was pretty battered up so again I thought a rest would do just fine. I really felt the joint strain that comes from running on the road a feeling I rarely felt in my life. I don't really know if I should panic or not but even the first few minutes of a jog are being pretty uneasy and I always fear an injury cropping up at the unexpected moment. Luckily once I get into my stride and my heart starts pumping I don't feel the wierd sensation anymore and I can perform normally during the workout.

On Wed, I just tried out a new route for my jog routine, took me about 40min and I always finish off with a good strech, all dynamic of course :)

Thursday, I just did just the same route for my jog, but I felt like doing something different and so I did. I did a fartlek :) Very rudimental in the execution since I lack a stop watch and I couldn't do it in intervals. So I just run when ever I had a flat road infront of me and I wasn't puffing for air. Wasn't really a hard workout and that was the intent. I just wanted to incorporate some speed in a routine which focuses much on endurance and aerobic at this point.

Today, Friday was a very busy one, tiring mostly mentally especially after the palette of colourful situations, I had to handle this week. Yet again, I took a rest :) This is since tomorrow I will most probably be doing a nice long run with one of my training buddies... :)

The Weekend and more

Here I am again posting yet another post...Its Sunday today and I haven't blogged since last Thursday...so here goes the update

On Thursday, I did a jog nothing out of the ordinary...dunno for how long but I probably did 45min straight increasing the intensity a little in the end because I really felt like I can do some extra work. Ended up with some streching in the park...and you should really see the faces of people passing by xD This reminds me that I have to tell you that, I don't longer do any static streching anymore...nowerdays I only do dynamic streches usually at the end of a session to ease recovery.

I took Friday as rest, for two reasons, the first one is that I'm actually pretty lazy. The other reason would be that I totally didn't have any time not even an hour to spare to go for a jog or at least do a small circuit session.

Friday's rest actually served me well since on Saturday I had to meet my friend and training buddy for a long run...We did a 5.5miler in around 50min but we also had a hill, bang right in the middle. I was actually amazed by my lactic acid tolerance and recovery. Only having started to train seriously in the past week, I can actually feel the difference. Going up the 250m hill, I was still running strong up until the last metres, I had a slight burn in my gluts and at the end of it I was gasping for air even my diaphram was suffering and it felt it had lactic acid actumulation. All in all I was satisfied, being a run done in the crazy heat of summer, we still kept up a good pace, even dehydrated as we were in the end of the run.

Hopefully later on I will head out for an easy jog and a good strenghtening circuit in the late afternoon :)

Core ftw!!

Last Monday, I finished off the day with another circuit in preparation for the tough runs I will have in the future sessions. I tried to work on the areas which I suffer the most namely my back and abs a.k.a. core muscles.





So here it is:

1. Wide Arms Push ups
2. Flight of Stairs
3. Alternating Cruches (Crunchies side to side)
4. Dips
5. Flight of Stairs
6. Oblique Twists

As you can see a very basic circuit which made me end the day in a very pleasant mood. The only thing that was making me nervous was my Achilles tendon pain. Since I started off all I had in my mind was to get on with the training and I felt I might have started pushing eagerly to get back in shape and might have strained my tendons. This made me think its time for my first day of rest which was yesterday, Tuesday.
Today I also thought that further drills would make me over do it so I just decide to jog it back from work maybe do a bit more to make it a 30min jog. I will try to keep this 30min jog habit everyday for at least 2 weeks. Then I might increase the time and continue so I continue to increase my aerobic capabilities. I also did a small warm up and a good stretching session in morning. I am already feeling that I am getting more flexible, exercise is doing me some good.
 Tomorrow I have yet another 30min jog planned in the morning and I will try to end the day in a different way I do from usual.

My First Jog in Attard

Today I woke up really late and had to squeeze in some training and hence I decided to do a 30min jog, but with a difference.

Before I started of with a normal jogging pace, I went with a nice and easy pace to ensure that i get warmed up well. After about 15min I did some drills whilst I'm still running, these were:

• 20m buttkicks
• 20m high knee buttkicks (don't know correct terminology for it)
• 20m high knees
• 40m stride

I continued my jog always keeping in mind my posture, and noticing any defects in my run or slight pains I could be feeling. I surely felt some minor pain in my left achilles tendon, probably due to last nights work-out involving the speed jumps. I really made an effort in that station and I really noticed how ill coordinated I was in my left foot.

I also wanted to mention the importance of water. Water makes up 70%+ of body and is the most important chemical for our system to work as it should be. When training especially in the summer days it is important to drink loads of water since sweating is usually under-rated. Did you ever get out of the shower to fetch a clean towel and noticed how much water drips off? This is to prove what a large surface area our body has from where sweat can be generated from your sweat pores. I am sure that in my 30min in the sun I lost a litre or more. Dehydration leads to over-heating, which is the biggest performance hinderance even more than fatigue.

Tonight another circuit training to conclude the day and hopefully a gd recovery meal to finish off and start strong tomorrow.

My first workout

Well later than I expected, I started off with my new training regime. It only included a very simple circuit comprising of some inital stuff which will bring me back in space to my former glory :D

8 Stations, with either 20sec or 15 reps on each station, with 2min rest between each circuit. The stations simply put are:

1. Single Leg Speed Hops
2. Ricochets
3. Leg Cycles
4. Foward Lunges
5. Supermans
6. Sprint Arm Action
7. Squats
8. Plank

They were all done without weights what so ever...and I did just 3 circuits to start with...found the plank very difficult probably due to the lack of core muscle tone...I lost balance in the Single leg hops and started to lean against a walk to make sure I keep the speed up. The rest were pretty simple and straight forward :)

Thats it for today, I'll have a good after work-out meal now. Rest I will not since I still have to plan the days ahead. :)

My Day One

Well this is day one, I don't really know when is D-Day, but I am presuming its gonna be a Saturday. That's four possible dates since all I do know is that it happens in March...hence the closest day would be 5th March leaving me with approximately...195 days...Gadgets on Win 7 are helpful xD Should make a count down :)

Anyways, my general plan will be as follows:

1) Reaction, Coordination (technique), and general aerobic
2) Strength Training and Speed work (incremental) and Efficiency
3) Lactic Acid Threshold and Long Runs/Tempo Runs

I'm gonna follow this sequence...as I go along I would of course mix from the previous sections to keep a good balance. That's gonna be my macrocycle and mesocycles.

My friends have opted to start on long run immediately but I think I would prefer to strengthen, condition and coordinate first, this will give me more speed and efficiency in my run...I want to run a Half Marathon as quickly as possible and die in the end and not end up as fresh as a flower. Speed is as important as Endurance even in long runs... They will probably do good, but I want to be better :D

I still have to make a membership with a gym and track near by...so I would have the tools I need for my training...apart from that, I need some sport apparel like training clothes, a good stopwatch, and most importantly running shoes...

Today I will start off with a very general circuit which will include general strengthening of core muscles, reaction time in leg mostly calf...and a general tone up...