January 2014 – Page 2 – Black and Tabby Runs

Janathon Day 23. Balls and the art of Zen Running

Balls.

Tennis balls, of course. After being advised by the very lovely Lucy Lemon to try sitting on a tennis ball (in place of a foam roller) to find the sore bits in my backside and massage them out, I finally found a tennis ball in the garage and proceeded to try it. I can report that I managed to find the sore bit, and amused the young tabby cat greatly by rolling around on said ball whilst wincing.

I then tackled my 6th day of the ’30 day Shred’ DVD, my 3rd day on level 2. This is still proving challenging, so I thought I’d wear my Heart Rate monitor to see if my heart rate was going up any where near my maximum. It didn’t (which sadly means I guess I should be working harder at the DVD – gulp), and my Garmin calculated I’d burnt off 154 calories (which doesn’t sound very much).

What was amusing was that my Garmin had automatically locked onto GPS satelites and had been ‘tracking’ me as I did my exercise. Considering I never moved from in front of the telly, it calculated I managed to run 1.73 miles.

This was obviously a very Zen workout – ‘In order to run, you must stand still’.

Janathon Day 22. A blank spot

It has been said by bloggers before that the blogging is the hardest bit of any ‘athon. Today I categorically have to agree with these wise souls. I feel I have nothing to share with you today, no pearls of wisdom, no witty gems, no funny stories.

I did complete level 2 of my Shred DVD again, complete with ‘Plank Jacks’ and other, nameless, horrors. I also thought on to do some extra stretches after finishing the ‘cool down’ on the DVD today. Hopefully my calf muscles will thank me for it tomorrow.

Janathon Day 21. Sponsored by Heinz Tomato Soup

Today’s workout should have been sponsored by Heinz cream of tomato soup, as two tins of it became my dumbells. Yes, it was another day of my 30 Day Shred DVD. Day 4 of 30. Over the previous 3 days, apart from making strange noises when walking and when washing my hands, I thought I’d coped pretty well with the exercises. Time to up the ante, I thought so I moved up to Level 2.

Level 2 still has 20 minutes of non-stop exercises split up into 3 circuits of Strength, Cardio and Abs, it’s just that the exercises are harder on this level. So if level 1 included a plank, level 2 has a ‘jumping jack plank’. Yes, honestly, combining 2 of the most evil exercises known to mankind. I can hardly bear to think about what horrors level 3 holds …

Janathon day 20. On discovering I have Calf Muscles

After discovering my armpit muscles yesterday, today I discovered I have calf muscles. I was made aware of their existance by a loud shouting as I crawled out of bed this morning. “OW!” they said, “OW OW OW OW OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!”

Now as a runner I would have thought I’d have quite nice calf muscles, thank you very much. I’ve done plenty of running so they should be good and strong, yes? Yes?? Apparently not. The exercises in this DVD really seem to be working on them (I think it’s the ‘butt kicks’ that’s doing it). Looking on the positive side if it builds up my calf muscles, hopefully that will stop me having any more shin splint problems when I *do* get out for a run again. Result!

I’m also hoping that the DVD works as quickly (and miraculously) as I hope, because I’ve got a posh ‘do’ to go to on Friday night and at the moment I’m not sure I’ll fit into my dress….

Janathon Day 19. Finding those Important Armpit Muscles

It’s not often that a January Sunday morning sees me up and dressed in just a sports bra and short-shorts holding 2 tins of baked beans, but today was that day. It was time for day 2 of my ’30 Day Shred’ DVD.

Same as yesterday, it only took 20 minutes but by the end I was sweating like a sweaty thing. It’s hard work but as well as building my fitness up I’m also learning lots of Americanisms. I knew what my ‘tooshie’ was, but I never knew where my ‘pooch’ was. Anyone care to hazard a guess???

The use of cans of beans (instead of dumbells) for some of the exercises has had a strange effect. I learnt I have some muscles that seem to be situated just above my armpits. I discovered these when I was vigorously washing my hands -ow! Hand washing muscles – I don’t remember learning about those in Biology!

Janathon Day 18. Shredding

Over a fortnight with no running. I can still feel the Christmas wobbly bits because I’ve not done enough exercise to send them packing. Time to try something new, I thought. Several ladies on the “Run Mummy Run’ Facebook page had been recommending Jillian Michael’s 30 day Shred DVD as a good workout, so when I spotted it at the checkout in the Co-Op I took it as a sign, and bought it.

Twenty minutes, every day for 30 days and I’ll be sorted, apparently.
One RMR lady had commented that doing this workout had certainly made her sweat. I can confirm, this is definitely a sweaty workout. So much so that I needed to jump in the shower afterwards, then decided I may as well pop my pyjamas on. It was only then I realised it was only half past seven. I certainly know how to party on a Saturday night!

Janathon Day 17. A Breath of Fresh Air

After a morning’s house cleaning and tidying I had to get outside before I turned into a Stepford Wife. So I grabbed my Garmin and wellies and set off for a squelchy walk.

I also grabbed my ipod and listened to a Podcast of Radio 4’s The News Quiz. I felt so much better for the fresh air and daylight, and sniggered my way around a muddy loop through the fields. I’m afraid I always end up laughing out loud to the News Quiz, so it’s a good job most of my walk was a solitary one.

No wonder I look happy!

Janathon Day 16. Over Half Way

I meant to go out for another walk today for Janathon, but with one thing and another I just never got around to it. Pah – I could have done with the fresh air, but I’m just not in the habit of walking.

Instead I amused my son by dragging out the Wii Fit again. Apparently I’m an Amateur at boxing, a Professional at ski jumping, and a Muscle Legend. Who’d have thought it?!

Janathon Day 15. Sssssshhhhhh!

So I don’t want to jinx anything, so come close and I’ll whisper. “My sore bits are feeling better”. My coccyx is feeling absolutely fine today – I have no idea why it was so sore yesterday. My butt cheek / hip / hamstring has hardly niggled today at all which is fantastic.

The other good news is that for today’s Janathon activity I thought I’d go back to a plank, and I managed a new plank PB of 2 minutes 15 seconds. Yay!

Janathon Day 14. Less said the Better

Woke this morning and got out of bed only to find my coccyx felt like I’d banged it. Hard. I have no idea how I did that, but I decided to take it easy and spent the day reorganising bookcases. Well, maybe it wasn’t that easy, but the bookcase looks much better now.

For something different for Janathon I tried an exercise I saw in Cycling Active for core strength. Didn’t hurt which is good.