We’re into 2023 already! Incredible! I count today’s post to 2022 since most of the week was still 2022. It was a slowish week but I kept my fitness routine – I’ll keep up that unless I’m sick or the weather is too bad for going out (and if the latter, then I’ll do strength workouts at home).
Monday
It was St Stephen’s day aka Boxing day, or Wren’s day if you’re in Dingle. I’ve had fussy knees during the past week but it worked ok to run on Thursday, so I decided to give it a try again. My knees were fine, but my calves were very painful and I had to stop a few times because of it. It went better on the way back and I managed to do some decent running after all, 4,5 km in total with mixed running and walking.
Tuesday
This was quite much a rest day but since my knees had been angry, I did some physio exercises with resistance bands for knees and hips. I probably should continue doing these a few times a week.
Normally I have my gym session on Tuesday but it was a bank holiday and my PT had a (well deserved) day off.
Wednesday
It was good to be back in the gym! I had a brilliant heavy lifting session.
- Lunges with barbell
- Deadlifts with hex bar, 33 kg (or I didn’t ask but I wouldn’t think he would decrease these weights since the last time!)
- Flyes, 5 kgs
- Chest press with dumbbells, 7 kgs
- Tricep pulldowns 2 dumbbells, 6 kgs
- TIY (bodyweight only) on mat
- Lateral raise 4 kgs
- Stand-up row
Thursday
I went out for a run. It was chilly but not too bad, 6C/42F. I chose a different route this time, towards a nearby beach. It’s a lovely route with some fantastic views but the road surface turned out to not be as good as on my usual route, it’s very patchy and looks slippery in places when wet, I haven’t thought of this before when walking but of course I did when running. If it looks slippery, I’m very hesitant to run. When it’s dry, this route will be fine, but otherwise I’ll probably stay on the other roads. Also, this time it was very distracting to run with the camera – I probably need to face reality and only bring the phone for taking photos – I could try different camera apps for more control.
I also did some other mistakes – I forgot to warm up properly before going out, and it took me a good while before my body felt comfortable running, so this wasn’t a good run but I’ll do better next time. I wonder if the heavy Christmas for also makes you feel off? I’m interested in trying some other dishes next Christmas and definitely eat less sweets. A few bits of it is enough for me!
However – It’s a beautiful area and I’ll go back running here when the roads are more dry.
Friday
Gym day. “Today is the easy session”, he says. Yeah, right! 😀 I did some really heavy stuff today too and had some success, and some setbacks.
- Squats with barbell, increased to 27,5 kgs. This felt good!
- Another leg exercise that I believe is to prep my knees for running – it’s to step up (and hopefully stay a while) on top of a wooden box (or whatever you have) with one leg.
- Dumbbell row, 10 kgs – This is rough on my dysfunctional triceps/elbows but I could do them all.
- Back extensions on mat
- Alternating plank, from elbow position to full plank position – big success here! I did this some month ago and was pretty much unable to do more than maybe 3-4 – I wonder if that was straight after a few sets of chest press or why was it so difficult then? Now I could do 12 and the first 10 weren’t particularly hard. Progress!
- Ab curls on mat
- Shoulder press with dumbbells, 5 kgs. This is always a struggle.
- Tricep press with dumbbells, 3 kgs – this was really tough despite the low weight, I could only do 7-9 reps per set, out of 12. Those *****y elbows!
I was reminded to do a few exercises for elbows and triceps at home, that I had forgotten about. I’ll make a better plan for all non-gym day exercises.
In case I haven’t clarified this properly, my PT is both PT as in personal trainer and as in physical therapist (NMT) and I get not only pure muscle building training but also to work on problem areas, to prevent and/or solve problems with things I want to be able to do, such as running and playing the guitar.
Saturday – New Year’s Eve
We had a very pleasant New Year’s Eve with good friends, wine, and (too much) food. It was a rest day – however, just by cleaning the house I managed to get 10 000+ steps! Since my super busy study period I wasn’t up to date with the cleaning and we also needed to rearrange a bit to fit four people into our sitting room. We have a small house with very small rooms so we normally have room only for the two of us and when we have guests we sit in the kitchen. This house is a seemingly never-ending work in progress.
Sunday – New Year’s Day
We had mixed rain and sunshine, 7C degrees, and it was time for our weekly long walk. We parked the car in a nearby village from where you can walk around the bay to the next village. It’s a lovely walk with some stunning views and there’s a nice footpath. Walking from one village to the next and back is about 10 km.
I’m a bit impatient and disappointed with how slowly I make progress with running. Perhaps this is a good thing, after my injury, and that I shouldn’t expect to run a lot more yet? I mix running with quite much walking, maybe one third running and two thirds walking, because of pain here and there (nothing concerning, mostly tight muscles or similar). The next time I go out, which should be tomorrow, I’ll prepare better, warm up more, avoid distractions, and see if it’s possible to run more, a first goal could be 50/50 – although I have no idea how to measure that.
I think some of my problems with running could simply be in my head. Because I know I’ve had an injury, I know that the last few times I’ve been out, I’ve had this or that pain and then I worry it will come back and perhaps slow down too soon. I’m still much of an overthinker so this could very well be the case, and definitely something to work on.
When you started running, how long did it take before you were comfortable with running? Do you walk during your runs? What advice do you have for a beginner runner?
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