510 days out….Keep on running!

Fist full week without a rehearsal/show since 2017! So much time for activities! Lots more time for running and what a week it’s been. Something that was reinforced this week… DO NOT SIT DOWN WHEN YOU FINISH WORK! If you planned to

run get changed and go out! The plan this week was just to get a few more runs in and start to make running a more regular affair but I have achieved so much more than that.

Starting with Monday nothing too exciting about this run other the to get out. 6k achieved but the achievement came because I got out and ran after a long first-day-back at work.

Wednesday, I was going for a run thinking about pushing the 6k up to 8 maybe. 5k down and was heading back home about ready to give up. As I

approached the 6k mark I started to feel a second wind. I thought ‘I’ll just run around the park’ as I approached the end of the park I still felt pretty good and was actually picking up speed. That turned into ‘I’ll just finish out my 3k loop’. On the home straight I realized that I was going to miss 10k by 0.75k…. Clearly wasn’t about to let that happen. With all the determination I had, I turned left passed the common and added that final push to finish that 10k!

I was so happy with the run it was a lot quicker towards the end then I have been running, I meet the goal of 10k 7 weeks before the Eastleigh 10k  and look that calorie burn 1066! However, on the downside, I was so hyped up on endorphins that I found it hard to sleep that night.

Having achieved my 10k run Thursday in part was a moderately painful and achy day, my butt hurt sitting on the high stool chair during my team admin day at work…. nothing that couldn’t be solved with a wonder, I was, however, grateful for the comfortable reclining chairs of the Southampton Showcase Cinema during Avengers Infinity War. Friday I got a bit bogged down with work and ended up pulling a long day at the computer by the time I finished I debated a run but actually opted to attend park run the following day at 9am and I was so glad I did.

Having only attended park run once before I have forgotten how evil the Eastleigh course can be…. three times up a gently inclining hill that could quite easy to give up and walk up (or roll down). With a good run under my belt, I set an unrealistic aim of 35 mins to complete and a realistic goal of under 40 mins.  I defiantly hadn’t considered the amount of rain we had had Friday and Saturday morning and how swampy the course would become. There was defiantly a few moments where my trainers nearly got left behind and a few occasions where there was more water in my show then outside.

One thing I had forgotten about running with other people is how much it can pick you to speed up. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t on the tail of the 20 min 5 kers but the splits were considerably quicker. I also forgot how much moral support can pick you up and spur your on. Big shout out to the lady in the purple! She caught my attention half way round to say that I was doing well and at the end to thank me for pulling her full the final lap, I also thanked her for doing the same as she pushed me on the flat sections. Just before the finish line, my Nike app announced that my 5k was 35mins and 49 seconds! So close and yet so far! Offical race time was slightly longer…. I might have missed the point where I needed to get my tag scanned…. won’t make that mistake again! Considering the time conditions I am pretty happy with that time and it was almost my unrealistic time, with any luck next weeks conditions will be better so I can smash that goal (and it puts me firmly on track to run a 1hr 10k).

Finally, to finish off the week and push up my distance for the month I did a slow 3k loop this morning. This month I have run 72.5k in total, not to shabby considering the last time I ran that far in a month was some time in 2016.

As for my weight is this running helping is it not? Over the last two weeks it’s been a fluctual rollercoaster, however, 18st, however, the last two days that’s come down to 17st again. Eating has been better (until today, I should not be left to entertain myself with sweets in the house, oh well at least they’re gone now) so It’s just a case of keep on keeping on I guess.

Things I have learned this week! 

1. Run even if you’re a bit tired and you have planned to.
2. My 1st 4k is always going to be slowers then my last!
3. I can run further and faster then I think even only a few weeks back in.
4. Run with people…. it helps.

And with April Over I want to set some goals for May:–

1. Run a 10k a Week.
2. A fast Park run (or 5k a week) with the aim being sub 35mins.
3. To run 15k a week at least.
4. To Run 100k in May.
5. To be under 17st.

31 Days… On your marks…. Get set……………………………….

517 days out….

Working 9 to 5 what a way to make a living…. or to punish your feet and legs in character shoes for the week (with a few runs added for giggles). I woke up with a bit of a hangover (and not one caused by drinking(HONEST!)). There was no chance of getting any sort of running out of my legs this morning but after 5.25 k yesterday I reached just under 17k for the week and just over 11.5 k to reach 50 k for the month I am relatively happy that I will meet my Nike running challenge for the month.

Yesterday’s run was somewhat slow but having done 6 show runs that week and walked 15,000 steps round Winchester (not really the well-earned rest I had planned for my legs) I needed to take that into account. I was averaging around 8min a k however that came to a fraction over 40 mins so not overly bad and on track, for 1hr 20 min 10 k with plenty of time still left to improve that.

I think I am slowly seeing a difference in my legs (but not anywhere else(especially the scale)) but quite sure if should contribute this to the runs or to the show but probably best to say that it is a bit of both, more on that in the coming weeks. With a twice a week rehearsals over I am running out of excuses to not run and to sort out my eating. Although there are a few things I might like to audition for now I have time to focus the actual melting part of this blog.

With today being both the London and the Southampton Marathon, it would be really hard to not be inspired by the some of the stories and achievement from the day.  Running the London marathon has been on my bucket list for almost as long as Walt Disney World has been and I have entered the ballot for the for the last 4 years to no avail. I have always been put off running, the London marathon, for a charity due to the high amounts of money that need to be raised to gain that bib and the work that comes along with that.  So on the  30th April along with millions of others, I will once again be entering the ballot for the London marathon with the hope of 5th time lucky. However, I am apparently making 2019 the year of the bucket list and I am going to run a marathon (12-18 months is enough to train for that right?). After London, I’m not sure if Brighton or Southampton would be the better race to do, any thoughts and advice welcome on what race would be better.

With that said I need to have a look at races after the Eastleigh 10k that will keep me motivate and working towards the goal. The Great South Run would be an obvious choice, it’s one I have run before (and gained my best time for 1 mile, 1k, 5k and 10k) and it was such a brilliant crowd to run with. I also think I need another half marathon for around 6 months time but have no idea where to start looking for that but I am sure that I will get there and again any ideas throw them at me.

Rounding up this week I have had a fabulous time with the cast and crew of 9 to 5 this week but it’s now time to fully re-engage.

See ya real soon,

Ej

 

 

519 days out….

Those digits are coming down but they’re going up on the running front. With 8 weeks to go until Eastleigh 10k, I decided rather foolishly, that I would use a Nike guided run of 75 minutes and see how far I get. That wasn’t the foolish part. As I have a few days off for 9 to 5 this made sense. Until I had to get up, the long days at work topped with the late nights of rehearsal take its toll (not that I would change it).

I managed to ‘relax’ (or procrastinate) until 12:00. So on the hottest day of the year so far I decided that 12:30 would be a brilliant time for a 75minuet run. Needless to say, it was hot…. I however pigheadedly ran on. Not only had I placed my own barriers in my way due to the time of day but the world seemed dead set on sopping m at every point between lost tradesman (seriously use a sat nav (or at lesst ask a walker who is clearly not stuggling up hill in 20 degree hear at pace)) long ques in co-op for drinks, crossing lights that refused to change and dogs that apparently decided that I am there to attack their owner (if I am not in a dog k you know that your dog can act that way towards runners either put them on the lead of know how to control them if not(I know I have probably pissed off all the dog owners in the room)). Add to a partner that never rings you ringing you three times in the space of an hour and a half to pause the run. (In other words, if you see me on a run ignore me and it’s not as if I don’t let the world know by Facebook and the Nike run app).

Not sure if I have mentioned it but I have been using the guided runs on the Nike running club app. They are a mixture of super helpful and super annoying. They are full of lots of helpful tips an advice as well as some great stories. However, there are moments when they fade out and you find your own grove in a particular song and then there back and you can be thrown off again and when you times up it’s up! Even if you feel like to could give it another couple of K. I suppose though that has been helpful in letting me run before I can sprint….

After a lot of swart and pain, 75 minutes was up and I had reached 9.49k (if only for an extra few seconds to hit that 0.01k(and fewer interruptions))! However, with still 8 weeks to go until the Eastleigh 10k and 1/2 a k to go it’s looking increasingly likely that this race will be completed with a time of roughly 1hr 20 at the moment I am looking to knock that down to at least a 1hr 10 come race day. But each day as it comes and as today’s recovery run was really hard work so each run as it comes.

Today I am on a ‘well earned’ (or not so as I am off work) rest day with plans maybe to attend park run tomorrow.

During the last few weeks I have been keeping an eye on those scales and while it’s come down it’s not anything of a marked improvement however I don’t want to stress too much on this as I have 1) mostly eaten tribble (it shows week) and 2 building up muscle that haven’t been used in this way in quite some time.I’ll let you know when I am ready to share 😉

If you’re stuck for something to do this weekend there are still tickets left (though not many) for  9 to 5 at the Plaza theatre in Romey it’s well worth the price of a ticket!

See ya real soon,

EJ

 

 

 

 

 

525 Days and Counting…

Long time no type, as it inevitably does from time to time work and life take over.  Which is not an excuse (but it is really) and all the best-laid plains for my fitness journey/ weightloss all fell to shit, to be honest.

January has started off well with a mixture of early morning gym sessions, BodyPump, and a few runs here there with every intention of running the Eastleigh 10k. But, as many good intentions often do they feel by the wayside very quickly. Days off became quickly filled with activity and rehearsal for 9 to 5 (which if you are in the Romsey area over the next 7 days you should defiantly come and see) along with some horrific whether it was easy to convince myself that there wasn’t time and basically hibernate.

Then the countdown to 30 Began.

On the 29th March, the clock began ticking down to the big 3 0. Not that age really as much of a bearing on my life because it doesn’t but as most of us do we reflect on what’s happened over the past year …………or 29 and compare to where we are now. Obese and unfit is not how I want to enter the next decade of my life.  Especially considering that my 2019 Walt Disney World 30th extravaganza as now been booked (525 days and counting (yes this will feature heavily(sorry not sorry))). I don’t want to look back at my trip of a lifetime and now be able to enjoy any photos with me in them.

So here I am on my latest renewed effort (attempt number 1  million and 1). I’d be lying if I said that writing the blog again was the first step on this journey. I have been running for the past two weeks. Thanks to Eastleigh 10k being rescheduled due to bad weather I decided 11 weeks was enough time to get me back on track and run the race. I  am pleased to report that it is so far so good two weeks in and I’m back up to 7k.

The next few weeks will be focusing on training and be getting ready to post a time in Eastleigh (finishing is good enough we will go from there). I am thinking about mixing in some weight training but mostly aiming to get back the speeds I once had (I mean I ran the Southampton half 2 years ago in just over 2 hours I will get there again).

But I need to establish some ground rules for myself I think going forward

1. Run, if its 20 minutes or an hour it all counts
2. Don’t be too hard on your self when A) You can’t run  B)The run hasn’t gone your way C)Results in arent coming quickly enough.
3. Blog, but if it’s to much leave it. I love writing the blog but it can become a chore when it’s done every day (I a new appreciation for anyone keeping up vlogging/blogging and having a fulltime job) and I want to have something reasonably interesting to read.

So there it is 29 years and 25 days in and trying to back on track again but I’m not going to say that it’s the last time I start again and to quote Pasek and Paul… This is me.

EJ

Ps if you are interested in seeing a fantastic show click the poster below! 

 

 

So I’ve climbed to the top of The Great Westminster Clock (aka Big Ben) today….

….Well sort of. I had to be in Winchester this evening for the AGM of my theatre group (and hand my role over the very capable Wesley Buckerage((more time for blogging)) so it made logical sense to use Winchester Anytime gym. As you know it’s not my favorite gym but necessity calls.

This would be my third day in the row at the gym and wanted to try something a little different at the gym. Introducing the Stair-Climber! If you have never used one before it is a set of stair but like an escalator that you can set the speed to.

After acquiring said machine and getting to grips with it I found the challenge on the wall. The floors that equate to climbing some of the worlds most famous buildings…. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Although it was quite hard going and my backside and my hamstrings felt it! I, however, was not going to give up!

It was a good workout and successful! I can now claim that I can walk to the top of the Great Westminster Clock. Luckily for me, it’s unlikely that I will ever get the chance to prove it in person. My heart rate was going and provided me with a good challenge. Next stop Blackpool Tower…. well when I am in Winchester next.

The gym felt pretty good today, not the struggle it has been for the last few days so hopefully, we are back on track! I am thinking about doing some research to find some workouts to mix things up a bit so I don’t get stuck in a rut. I will let you know how that goes.

As for yesterday, I spent an hour in the Winchester Anytime again. I dropped my boyfriend off at work and this is how early I was there…..

 

Yes, the Sun was coming up as I was leaving the gym! The session wasn’t as great as today but baby steps.

The great thing about an early morning work out is the rest of the day that lies ahead!  With nothing much to do, I popped over to Southampton (the parking is free until 1 on a Sunday).

 

I didn’t really go into town for a huge amount but did manage to get this scarf and hat on sale in Primark…. the mornings are cold in my car.  I was impressed by the amount of steps window shopping achieved! All of this and it wasn’t 1! Window shopping is exercise guys!

With no intentions of doing anything further, I went home and pottered around cleaning and tidying when an Amazon package arrived and needed to be collected from a locker. A debate arouse I a) Leave it to get it tomorrow, b) Jump in the car and grab it c) Drag my lazy butt down for the 30 minute round trip.

Obviously on a bit of a walking kick this weekend I went with option c!

When all is said and done 35,305 steps over to days isn’t to Shabby. I think that this may need to be a focus over the weekend spending the week in a sitting position either at a desk or a car using my legs at the weekend can’t hurt!

We did go past another Sunday. I did weigh myself but don’t think it’s a fair representation of my weight as it’s ‘that time’ and the weight is never going to be right so I am going to wait to start sizing again…. maybe a daily one in this vlogmas that I might possibly never do….

Happy Monday All!

Lets go round again…

Hey all

So today started with good intentions……. and they were achieved.

With a late wake up of 8.30 and having achieved over 9 hours sleep, the outlook for the day looked rosy. After a message asking for some company on a dog walk from a friend over my honey nut cereal knockoffs, i ventured into town.

Not only did I make it into town but I made it to the gym! HUZAR! I was a little shocked to find out that my key fob still opened the door. After an hour if light duties I felt ok but my cough that still lingered occasionally reared its head. It felt good though to be back. Nothing too exciting some cycling some cross trined some weights. Enough to get my heart rate up.

A quick jump and skip home for a shower then to join head out for a winter walk.

It was quite nice to enjoy a walk with friends even though it was a tad chilly today and overall, it counts towards your steps. It defiantly was a pretty evening though.

After a hot drink, it was time for the stroll home.

Considering my fitbit and I are on a mutual break my phone has decided to be the rebound in this fitness relationship. This does not include any of my gym workout so I am pretty happy with the day’s step count.

I’ve ended the day with an omelet and a film or two on the sofa.

Not a bad re-initiation but let’s see if I can stick with it… 😐

 

Ending the radio silence…

Hello all… long time no see!

The last 6 weeks have been an absolute dizzying rush of work and White Christmas. I felt that I just couldn’t just keep up with everything and it all became a bit too much. The blog was the first to go to the gym not too long after but after analyzing and deciding to step back in my theatre company I am ready to recommit to my own weight loss and personal goals.

I had good intentions of stating at the beginning of this week, however, I was hit by the dreaded lurgy last Friday and it really has knocked me down this week. My weeks been essentially go to work, eat dinner and sleep and then repeat the process.

I have managed to check my calorie intake a little this week though mostly cutting out the coke and lowering the chocolate intake so the intentions are there. This weekends goal is to get back to the gym even if it’s just light duties until this cough subsides.  The short-term goal is to focus on Christmas with only minor lapses for Christmas celebrations. I am considering doing Vlogmas to help me stay on track and with less physical visits in December for work it might force me out the house for something to vlog.

As always any support is appreciated 🙂

LETS GET BACK TO IT!

 

 

 

Diary of a melting princess: The day I got back (and finally lost count)

Bonjour!

After a busy two days or cramming a week’s worth of work in two days and also a little trip to DLP I am back and ready to rededicate myself to the cause.

I am skipping weeks of Sunday Sizings for the following reasons

1. I haven’t set foot in a gym in 7 days
2. My eating habits have been terrible
3. The scales this week have not been kind
4. Generally just too lazy.

My eating habits could have been a lot worse over the course of the last week but tomorrow the gym is back and the food is out, well the amounts and the types of the last week.

I am going to share this from my journey so far. So aside from the fact that everytime I queue in the princes’ pavilion, I meet Aurora (aka sleeping beauty) the picture on the left is from the last week the right back in June when last went to the park. I would like to say that there is a viable difference. I was generally a lot happier with the pictures of myself from this holiday then the last and will be more likely to share them. Hopefully, come Januarys trip there will be another viable difference.

So with that let the weight loss begin again!

Dairy of a Melting Princess Day 48:- Sunday Sizing

Late entry today, the weeks are catching up with me and I spent most of the afternoon in a sleepy haze and don’t feel much better for it. Legs are still shot from the PT session and rather than pushing I went to the gym and did a War class but only focused on the upper body and core exercise which seems to have been an ok compromise.

Anyway down to this week’s sizings.

Not a spectacular result for the week. I only lost 0.1 kg, I guess it’s still a loss. The only real difference in any measurements this week is the 2.5 cm I lost from my waist. That being said once taking my pictures this week there was a real difference.

 

Wk 7

Wk 2

Wk 7

Wk2

First pictures are this week the second is from when I started taking the pictures. I have also noticed a change in the way some of my clothes fit and also being able to fit into stuff that I haven’t dared touch in the last few months.

Overall a nonstop week, looking forward to a break in DLP this week and blowing the whole lot… and then walking it off. 🙂

Diary of a Melting Princess Day 46:- Push it real good.

Wow what a pretty horrific week for blogging. Between 2 rehearsal weeks, work and working out much of the free time I have had has been mostly used to sleep on the sofa…. The overdoing it phase for the week is where it ended in a migraine for the majority of the day. After a nap and some food, I am again feeling mostly human. Migraines are something that plagues me from time to time (usually around a specific time of the month) they usually manifest and lunge for a couple of days. However, this one, the first I have had since starting to work out, seems to have come, been a bit intense for a couple of hours and buggered off again. No lingering and very little rock of the sofa holding my head. So maybe the workouts are having the extra benefit.

Yesterday I had my first PT session. As it was free with my membership I thought why the hell not. After meeting my trainer, Jack, and explaining the footnotes of my weight loss journey he was a little puzzled as for why I needed a PT (because it was free duh). Although he pushed me through the cross trainer and squats with weights it wasn’t really anything out of the realms of what I could push myself to do. The second half focused on using the leg press. I have a resistance to using weight machines, mostly because I  have never really been shown how to use them and am worried about damaging myself or the machine. This is where I could see the benefits of the session. Staggering the weights at different intervals Jack really pushed me hard reach the targets set, it hurt (and something defiantly pung in one of my hamstrings) but I got through it. At the end of this taster session I found it hard to walk down the stair (almost falling on more than one occasion). This morning I woke up fine and again went to the gym however throughout the day my thighs are defiantly sore so something must have worked.

I am battling to see if actually PT sessions are really needed at the moment. As someone that is quite motivated and quite aware of what I can do and how to improve I’m not sure that I can spare the money and justify the session.

I have been offered another trial session so I guess I can make my mind up after then. Until then I will deal with the leg pain…..