My wedding dress has arrived! An email from the store this week evoked feelings of both excitement and dread. On the one hand I can't wait to put it on again, but on the other I am filled with the worry that it will suddenly no longer suit me, or that it won't fit...
When I bought the dress, the lady in the shop insisted on ordering me the smaller size. In many ways, this was flattering, the 10/12 was too big and I would therefore be walking down the aisle in a size 8/10. If you'd told me that when I was a chubby 15 year old I would have laughed in your face. That said, there was that nagging thought in the back of my mind that this decision by her would turn out ill advised and that I would find myself trussed up like a Christmas turkey and bursting the dress at its seams.
After I got engaged, I always said I wouldn't diet for my wedding. Of course, I want to be the best version of me on my wedding day but I never wanted to force myself in to an impossible, unsustainable aesthetic. One that would make the months preceding my nuptials miserable and every glance at the photos of the day a painful reminder of how slim I was then, thus making me feel terrible about the inevitable return to normality.
For the most part, I've done really well in this, but the ordering of the smaller size did threaten to throw a spanner in the works. I have lost half a stone since then, but actually this isn't to do with dieting (unless you count too much wine and too many biscuits as dieting...)
I bought the dress only a few weeks after returning to running following my knee injury and it just goes to show how exercise alone can change your body. Fingers crossed that all goes well when I go for my fitting next weekend.
In other fitness news, my training plods on. I've kept up the strength training on Wednesdays and have countered the time issues preventing running by introducing short HIIT sessions when I can. All this means I am managing to maintain 4 sessions a week of various exercise or fitness activities and I have been pleased with the positive impact the strength training is already having on my running. I am already finding that I can push up hills with that little bit more power, and maintain speed more easily on those same inclines.
As the wedding approaches, dress worries aside, I do feel that I have managed to maintain perspective and that I haven't thrown myself in to crazy diets or regimes to prepare for it. When the day comes I want to feel that I am a fit, healthy and, most importantly, REAL version of me.
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Legs, bums and runs.
What a week. As suspected, this week has been incredibly busy at work; back to back meetings, lessons, more meetings, conference calls, paperwork... it just felt never ending!
My predictions in my last post we pretty spot on. On Tuesday, we managed our usual tempo run, having had to sacrifice the usual Monday steady run as we both had meetings and then mountains of work to plough through in the evening.
Wednesday was strength day and, having focused on upper body last week, this week was legs and core. I enjoyed the workout a lot; cardio sprints on the rower followed by squats, lunges, crunches and, by the end, press ups too (just for fun...)
The burn in my legs the next day was unreal and, in typical DOMS style, got progressively worse as the day went on and then continued in to Friday...!
Long run day dawned and 10 miles became 7 as, once again, time was squeezed by our busy schedules. Happily, though, my Garmin logged just over 12 miles by the end of the day having logged the dog walks, shopping, house work... it's amazing how these things add up!
So, a fairly slow week with half the mileage of last. I try not to feel guilty about this but I do like to get over 15 miles a week + strength and missing this always makes me feel a little low.
It's so important to remember that life gets busy, that we are increasingly called on to reconcile our work, social and leisure lives in a way that is simply impossible. At times like this, we have to learn to fit in what we can, stay positive and, most importantly of all, be kind to ourselves.
I am notoriously bad at all of these but I am trying hard to be better. The dilemma, of course, is that my way of being kind to myself and staying positive is to run. A catch 22.
As I desperately await three weeks off to run and sleep to my heart's content, my mission for the week ahead is to make headway with that third important rule; to be kind to myself.
My predictions in my last post we pretty spot on. On Tuesday, we managed our usual tempo run, having had to sacrifice the usual Monday steady run as we both had meetings and then mountains of work to plough through in the evening.
Wednesday was strength day and, having focused on upper body last week, this week was legs and core. I enjoyed the workout a lot; cardio sprints on the rower followed by squats, lunges, crunches and, by the end, press ups too (just for fun...)
The burn in my legs the next day was unreal and, in typical DOMS style, got progressively worse as the day went on and then continued in to Friday...!
Long run day dawned and 10 miles became 7 as, once again, time was squeezed by our busy schedules. Happily, though, my Garmin logged just over 12 miles by the end of the day having logged the dog walks, shopping, house work... it's amazing how these things add up!
So, a fairly slow week with half the mileage of last. I try not to feel guilty about this but I do like to get over 15 miles a week + strength and missing this always makes me feel a little low.
It's so important to remember that life gets busy, that we are increasingly called on to reconcile our work, social and leisure lives in a way that is simply impossible. At times like this, we have to learn to fit in what we can, stay positive and, most importantly of all, be kind to ourselves.
I am notoriously bad at all of these but I am trying hard to be better. The dilemma, of course, is that my way of being kind to myself and staying positive is to run. A catch 22.
As I desperately await three weeks off to run and sleep to my heart's content, my mission for the week ahead is to make headway with that third important rule; to be kind to myself.
Sunday, 5 March 2017
Weights and measures.
This week I spent two days existing in a world where anything above shoulder height or below waist height was out of bounds. Wednesday was my strength training session and, working in a school with a plethora of professional coaches, means that meant pain!
Ollie is a strength and conditioning coach who works with aspiring Olympians and Saracens rugby team, to name just a couple of his clients. I can't imagine what he thought when he found himself faced with me and Vicky and our 'chat more, workout less' attitude, which, I might add, he soon put an end to.
45 minutes of squats, burpees, kettle bells and weights later and I was waddling to my car. It will be worth it, though; I need the extra power to help with hill work and a bit of extra strength never did anyone any harm. And variety is the spice of life, after all!
I had Thursday and Friday as rest days; Thursday is agility night with Ace so there was enough running there to tide me over. Friday I found myself working later than I would have liked, and some nagging pain in my glutes and the long weekend run looking meant I chose wine over my trainers.
Saturday's long run was a 10 miler following the usual procedure: two warm up miles, a couple of miles where we repeatedly told each other to slow down or we 'wouldn't make it', before giving in to our natural pace and just getting on with it.
Ten miles no longer feels like a trek to me now. I'm used to spending 90 minutes plus on my feet and I enjoy the fact that we have long enough to chat about everything from work to weddings to cars.
To top it off, we managed our fastest time for 10 miles at just over 1hr 25mins. Total for the week: 18 miles (1 steady run, 1 tempo run, 1 long run) plus a strength session.
Next week is busy, and I am expecting a lower mileage. I suspect we will end up ditching the steady run and just doing tempo+strength+long, but such is life. So long as I get to put my trainers on a couple of times, I'll be ok.
Ollie is a strength and conditioning coach who works with aspiring Olympians and Saracens rugby team, to name just a couple of his clients. I can't imagine what he thought when he found himself faced with me and Vicky and our 'chat more, workout less' attitude, which, I might add, he soon put an end to.
45 minutes of squats, burpees, kettle bells and weights later and I was waddling to my car. It will be worth it, though; I need the extra power to help with hill work and a bit of extra strength never did anyone any harm. And variety is the spice of life, after all!
I had Thursday and Friday as rest days; Thursday is agility night with Ace so there was enough running there to tide me over. Friday I found myself working later than I would have liked, and some nagging pain in my glutes and the long weekend run looking meant I chose wine over my trainers.
Saturday's long run was a 10 miler following the usual procedure: two warm up miles, a couple of miles where we repeatedly told each other to slow down or we 'wouldn't make it', before giving in to our natural pace and just getting on with it.
Ten miles no longer feels like a trek to me now. I'm used to spending 90 minutes plus on my feet and I enjoy the fact that we have long enough to chat about everything from work to weddings to cars.
To top it off, we managed our fastest time for 10 miles at just over 1hr 25mins. Total for the week: 18 miles (1 steady run, 1 tempo run, 1 long run) plus a strength session.
Next week is busy, and I am expecting a lower mileage. I suspect we will end up ditching the steady run and just doing tempo+strength+long, but such is life. So long as I get to put my trainers on a couple of times, I'll be ok.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
