The training begins!

...in which I talk about running and future plans for the blog.

Now that I have reached my Slimming World target and don't intend to lower it again (I have lost a total of 4 stone 1 lb and I feel pretty happy with how I look and feel now; still toning up a bit, but getting there), I have decided I need a new project to blog about and help keep me at my target.

So, as you might have read in the last blog entry, I have entered the Greater Manchester Marathon. to raise funds for the Isabelle Lottie Foundation. You can donate by clicking the button over on the right, or if you'd rather you can donate to Amy, who ran 53 marathons in 53 days, here. (It goes to the same cause and she deserves to get to her target)!

I've had the app that Asics provide generate a training plan for me; I'm not following it too closely though, mainly because the initial "pre-conditioning" runs would seem like a big step backwards, and I pay for the gym so I'm not skipping my resistance or core strengthening sessions. And anyway I enjoy them. I'm not quite sure what happened to the me that was horrified at the idea of going to a gym...

Having blogged about running when I was preparing for the Reading Half Marathon back in 2011 (was it really that long ago?!) I know that it can be a bit dull, so I won't be doing a huge number of posts about that - I will occasionally do a bit about the marathon preparation, but I'm going to keep blogging about food as it's much more varied (today's dinner: Slimming World friendly quiche with slimming world chips, baked beans and steamed sweetcorn).

I'm going to aim to do 2 blog posts a week now; one on a Monday after weigh in (yes, I will keep going to the Slimming World group - I really like them, and I will stay as often as I can) and one at the weekend to talk about whatever's happened in the week and occasionally my marathon preparation. 

Training this week has consisted of a 7.7 mile run on Tuesday morning, and a 6 mile run on the treadmill last night. On Sunday I'm aiming for my first run over 10 miles (abiding by the "10% increase per week" rule - I did 9.5 miles last week).

Apparently I need a thing called a "foam roller" to help prevent injuries. Having looked into it, it seems that these things hurt and some of the pictures look as if they'd be more likely to cause injuries than prevent them...

So there we go. As always, plans are subject to change.

Is that it?

....in which a milestone is reached.

Today was Monday, and therefore weigh-in day; I was pretty sure that I would get to target this week, but not absolutely certain, so it was a great relief to get on the scales and have it confirmed (I lost 2lb, so I've now lost a total of 4 stone 1lb (25.8kg, for those who prefer measurement systems with less character but more logic) since January).

As an illustration of what that looks like, there's a before/after picture at the bottom of this post.

As another illustration, Claire the Very Lovely Consultant brought a wrapped up box of....something,,,(I assume it was stones) to group tonight, and had us pass it round. It weighed a stone, and it's very hard to believe that I was carrying 4 of those around with me; a stone is a lot more than I realised. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to run more than about half a mile carrying something that heavy.

The challenge now, of course, is to stay at target. I don't have to pay for Slimming World now as long as I stay within 3lb either side of target; my wife has managed this for well over a year now. It's surprising how many good habits you pick up over 9 months of eating sensibly and exercising, so I'm hoping I won't find it too difficult, but time will tell. Plans to keep me at target are already afoot....(see below).

Since I know myself, and therefore know that I tend to have an attitude of "well that's done" to things I've already achieved, and also know that healthy living is not something you "achieve" and then stop doing, I have already set my sights on a new target. It's a little extreme, but after running with Amy and managing 21 miles the other day I believe I can do it, so I've signed up for a marathon. Um. Gulp.

To be specific, I've signed up for the Greater Manchester Marathon in 2015...since it was Amy that inspired me to do this, I have decided to run it for the Isabelle Lottie foundation, which raises funds for children and young adults with brain tumours (I also have a cousin who is directly affected by this).

If you can afford to and would like to donate, my BT "mydonate" page is here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/chrisnmanchestermarathon. 

If you'd rather, you can donate to Amy's page here (it goes to the same cause, but she's prettier than me and really deserves it): https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/53marathons

Here's the obligatory before/after picture: