Sometimes I do two blog posts in a day, today is going to be two days in a blog post, and only because I suspect I shall be out again tomorrow and I think three days is too much to catch up, because I would much rather be heading to bed right now!
Yesterday morning was spent panicking only slightly (ok, a lot), about an event I’m signed up for next month of a sort that I haven’t really done before – the Gelt Gladiator near Carlisle, which I’d signed P & I up for earlier in the year when I went on a mad event booking spree! We’re signed up for the 5k, and they’ve just released the course map and the obstacle breakdown – 23 very muddle obstacles over 6km instead of the original 5km – so as well as an insane number of obstacles, they’ve thrown an extra km in too! There’s some rather unpleasant things in there, like the ice plunge pool and the electric shock dash of doom, which will be horrible, but I’m actually more concerned about the large walls and clamber things. My legs are strengthening up nicely with all the running and jumping about I make them do, but upper body strength is something in which I am sorely lacking and the prospect of atttempting to heave myself up extremely muddy ramps after doing 5.5km through the cold and mud is looking extremely daunting right now.
J, of course, has realised that the 5km course is in the afternoon – and this means that despite her coming off night shift the night before, she can get a few hours kip and then go – so has signed up in a bubble of excitement because the masochistic fool actually really wants to do one of these events! She’s been pestering all the neighbours about where to find monkeybars to go and hang off…Crazy, completely crazy!
For me, it’s more of a bucket list thing – I just want to be able to say I’ve done one and survived it! I did the Race for Life Pretty Muddy course last year, which is nothing like this for obstacles being basically just inflatables, but it was muddy near the end – this one is all the way through – and the cold muddy water gets everywhere. 9 months later and I can still tell which trousers I wore for this event, and embarrassingly even which knickers as they’ve never cleaned up quite the same way!!! The trainers I got for it went straight in the bin afterwards for being very very waterlogged…
Where does this tie in with my exercises for Easter Monday? I was flitting between whether to do a long run – as I’m also stressing somewhat about my half marathon in 9.5 weeks, which is going to fly past, or try doing a big-muscle-group workout instead. I’d already agreed before to meet J for a run that evening after dropping P at work for the night shift, so I opted for the workout at home – I had no real structure in mind, I did my strength building routine once through with the 2kg handweights as a warm-up, and then upped the weights and did some squats, chest exercises, ab work, planks and press-ups – using the step and even on the floor though only dropping halfway instead of all the way to the ground (to be honest, halfway is probably generous but the intent was there!). I can really feel it in the bit of the chest muscle that joins the shoulder this evening. Will give it a day or so before hitting that one again.
The evening was a short 2.5km loop around Newburn leisure centre, the big dip in pace on the map/pace/elevation diagram at the bottom is where we stopped to have a go on the exercise equipment at the playpark! They had a funky leg swinging thing, but sadly for J, no monkeybars and the pull-up bar was fenced off. We continued on our loop at a higher exertion level than J usually hits, so it was a really good short-distance lung-hitter for her. Having done the hilly parkrun and the 10k at Tyneside over the 2 days before, it was much more comfortable for me but a welcome leg stretcher 🙂
Tonight was Run England night, but with P working the night shift I was due to drop him off at work right in the middle of the RE session, so I went out for a run by the river at Prudhoe after dropping P off before it got too dark. I don’t know if it was not having eaten a huge amount through the day, and after a late finish from work dashing out again and then going for a late run without any food, but my heart wasn’t really in it. I went further than I usually go – making it down to Wylam road bridge, where I normally start from if doing my 10km Wylam-Newburn loop, I’ve never actually been that far from Prudhoe before, walking or running. In total it was probably just over an 8km there-and-back-again, but I only ran 7.5km of it, minus walking breaks down the steps lest I break my neck or go in the river (I’d never hear the end of that), and walked the last 0.5km as a cooldown back to the car. The two together – Prudhoe to Newburn and back at about 18km will be a really good, flat training run for the half-marathon when I can find a bit more energy to try it! I felt like I was mainly moving through habit rather than any real willpower and certainly wasn’t going to be winning any prizes for pace! Talking to B, who went out with the Run England guys, they did a pretty similar distance in a similar time, but I can guarantee their route was much hillier than my flat one! I went anyway, a few more miles on the trainers. Fingers crossed tomorrow’s session goes better!
On a positive note, today is my fifth day in a row with some form of exercise! Streaks of consecutive days of exercise are not something I really aim for, I think recovery days are important, but it’s a record for me anyway! For this week at least, it’s likely to get a bit longer – but I think I shall have Friday off at least! I’m thinking pizza and onesie’s night 😉
Monday night:
Tuesday night:
Blue Runnings 
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