minimuggle

Thanks Peasant and Raincloak! What you said did help! I'm keep trying to focus on the fact that I did get back up again and I'm giving it another go. Trying again is better than not trying at all right? I tried your little mind trick on a run this morning. There's a part of my run which is just a longish straight road and it defeats me everytime!! It's actually not that long but my brain tells me it's just so far to the end! Today, I tried your little trick - "I'll just run to the red car" and then "I'll just run to the weird looking house" and then "just on to where that old guy is doing his garden" and what do you know? I made it to the end of the road without stopping! Hooray! Feels good! 6 miles? That's not far in the grand scheme of things is it?! Congrats on the half marathon! The fact that you completed it without interval training gives me hope. Everything I see seems to concentrate on that so it's good to hear there's another way. Your advice made me realise that even if I don't run every single one of those 6 miles, the fact that I'm out there and doing it beats sitting on the couch wishing I was out there doing something. So although my run this morning was only a quick 15 minute run, and obviously I will need to do longer sessions, those 15 minutes are better than no minutes at all. Thanks guys!

I feel like I've respawned so many times over the last year or so that part of me thinks, what's the point in starting again this time? It'll be no different. But NO! I will try again. I can already feel my low moods and bad habits coming back and I don't want to be the person I was 3 years ago so I let my sister talk me into doing a 10k and now I'm crapping myself!! I like that I've got something to work towards. It's helped keep me on track in the past. I did a 5k obstacle race this summer and the bit I struggled with most was the 1-2k uninterrupted run in the middle which doesn't bode well for a 10k does it?! I'm not the best runner, I'll be honest, but I'm ok on the treadmill. Running outside is a whole different matter though! Before I tried it I thought it would be exactly the same as the treadmill but it's not is it?! I do like exercising outdoors though so I'm looking forward to that. My main problem is my head. I know I can probably run for longer than I do without stopping but my head tells me "I can't", "I need to stop" or "you're so crap at this, why are you even bothering?" and I can't get past it. I'm really going to try and shut that voice up this time!! Past experience of couch to 5k plans have taught me that interval running plans like that don't really work for me as I feel crap about myself if I can't run for the amount of time it tells me to so I'd like to follow a different kind of training plan this time if possible. I don't expect to be able to run the whole 10k but it would be nice to be able to run the majority of it. I just don't really know how to plan my training so if anyone could point me to some good resources that would be great! Thanks!

Wooohoooo! Congrats!

Ha ha...Sam Ashen and Raincloak, you're both right. Definitely not planning on kicking the bucket that early so perhaps "mid-life" was a bit premature! I've had a pretty good week since my last posts so just the act of posting seems to have set things in motion. Been having a lot of fun getting back in the kitchen and worked out on 4 out of the last 7 days so I'm very happy with that! Just need to get some kind of training plan in place for the race. The Cancer Research plan suggests separate cardio and strength days. It's not something I've tried before as I usually do a bit of both when I'm at the gym. What would you guys recommend?

Ha ha! Some of these sound like valid excuses to me. You need to go easy on yourself after cleaning up a room full of dog crap! And yeah, anything to do with severed limbs, hospital visits, etc, are pretty good reasons not to work out! My excuses used to be really poor: It's raining (I have a car and the gym is obviously an indoor activity!)I don't have £1 for the locker (now keep one permanently in my gym bag)There's something on telly I want to watch (isn't that what my Tivo is for?!)I've just eaten/need to eatAll of those were used fairly regularly! I'm getting better now though (most of time!).

Physical books for me! I'm a booksniffer! There's just something about the smell of a physical book and it just feels so much nicer to curl up with a cup of tea and an actual book rather than my iPad. I'm not against e-books though. I do read the occasional one but I think my problem is because I use the ipad for so much more than reading it's easy to get distracted and I find it less relaxing. I have however, never tried an audiobook. I keep thinking about giving it a go but I just don't like the idea of it. When I read, I like to read if that makes sense?! Listening to an audiobook just seems to passive to me. I'm sure I'll change my mind eventually though, I was one of those people who refused to download music and would always get the CD! I got over that fairly quickly!!

Thanks Shaarawy! I think you're right about challenges/keeping track of victories, etc and I think that's where my workouts have failed in the past. I've never really worked towards anything in particular. With the exception of using a couch to 5k running plan, which I gave up on half way through, I've never really worked on a particular goal so it was hard to see what was a victory. I've signed up for the Cancer Research Pretty Muddy obstacle course though which will be a pretty big victory if I can get to the end of that!!!

Hello! Love your screen-name by the way! I wish I could help with the early morning thing but I had to just set my alarm for earlier as the snooze button really is too hard to ignore!! Ha! Although, actually thinking about it now it's not really that bad an idea - I'm still getting up earlier than I used to but I get the added bonus of feeling like I'm getting a lie in because I still use the snooze button. I never thought of it like that. Maybe it's worth a try?!!

Your trip sounds amazing! I'm very jealous! Have a fantastic time!!

So I turned 30 last week. I don't know how that happened! To celebrate I was talked in to doing what felt like around 50 shots of Jaegermeister (not recommended!!) and have eaten my weight in cakes over this past week (not really recommended but still pretty tasty!). The past few months have mostly been spent wondering what the hell I've done with my life and the past week in particular has seen a what-the-hell attitude to my diet. My diet has always been fairly healthy so now I'm stuck with the guilty feelings about all the rubbish I've eaten. I'm not going to lie - I now feel like crap! Instead of letting this turn in to a full on melt down, I think now is the perfect time to respawn. RESPAWN PLAN OF ACTION: 1) Get the diet back on track 2) Go back to drinking only occasionally (and by that I just mean the odd drink, not the occasional binge!!) 3) Start exercising regularly again Sounds simple enough right?

Congrats on the career change! 9 years after graduation and I still have no idea what I want to do! Also, I think you may be my new hero for voluntarily doing beep tests! Brings back so many bad memories of high school!! Ha! Good luck!

Aww that's so sweet!

Woohoo! Congrats! That's awesome!

Ha ha! I feel you Slates!! I'm fairly sure we've all been there!! I didn't think anything of it until I went to a Pilates class and got an eyeful from the woman in front of me! All I could think that day was thank god I picked a spot on the back row! And the squat check is now always part of trying on new workout clothes!

Bacon you say, Castiel? Hmm....I could be persuaded.... I've been lifting not so heavy things after using the running program as a warm up (kettle bell circuits) but without the running program I do feel like I need something to work towards, so you might be right. Proper lifting might be the way forward but you guys scare me little! Ha! I did consider audiobooks or podcasts the other day actually but don't know if it's a good idea for me. I made the mistake of listening to the Flight of the Conchords soundtrack while at the gym once. Only did it once. I was laughing/grinning away to myself while working out. Not a good look!! No one wants to be the crazy person at the gym!! I'm a little nervous that might happen again. Might try that one out at home first!!