Strength Challenges

Recently I was encouraged to take part in three challenges which work towards improving strength. Strength training is something that is often overlooked by runners yet an area that is pretty important if you want to improve and reduce the chances of getting injured.

The three challenges I took part in were 100 Push Ups, 30 Day Squat Challenge and the 30 Day Crunch Challenge.The beauty of these challenges are that they only take a few minutes out of the day a few times a week, you can do them whilst watching TV, you can adjust them to suit you ability level (by picking the most appropriate banding for the press ups or adding weights to squats and crunches) and you really do see progress.

I joined a group on Facebook, in which we logged our progress and successes, to give myself some accountability. It's also been a great way of getting a bit of a boost when I've felt like giving up, particularly with the press ups. I've I've finished the squat and crunch challenges but I'm still finishing off the press ups challenge which is 6 weeks rather than 30 days. I've definitely found this the hardest and although I'm wondering if I'll actually manage the full 100 press ups by the end of week 6 I know I'll be able to do significantly more than when I started and that in itself is a real achievement.

The developers of the 100 Push Ups program also offer 200 Sit Ups, 200 Squats and 150 Dips with a 25 Pull Ups program coming soon. All of these last 6 weeks and are based on completing a number of sets three times a week.

Have you ever tried one of these challenges? How did you get on? Would you consider adding one (or more) of these to your schedule?

Dinton Pastures 10k – July

Last week I took part in the last of the Dinton Pastures 10k series of runs organised by Barnes Fitness. I've been seriously impressed by the whole series, the organisation has been really good with a pretty, fast route, a good atmosphere and some nice touches like results available to print right after the finish.

Source

This month I ran with a friend... At least we turned up and started together. She's always been a bit faster than me but is better on hills so this being a flat course meant I was only 2 minutes behind her. It was a scorcher of an evening but thankfully much of the course, by nature of being in a park, was shaded by trees so I was able to give it a good try and only came in 30 seconds over my previous PB.

One of the better race photos of me...

As this was the last in the series the organisers had put on something a bit special post-race. Not only did we get a chance to try a little open water swimming in the lake but there was also a BBQ! Choices of burgers, sausages and salads (including a vegetarian burger and lashings of fried onions, ketchup and mustard). We spent a very happy half hour devouring our burgers, making friends with the canine companions and soaking up the atmosphere, not to mention enjoying the start of the sunset over the park.

Keep it going lads, runners get hungry!

I do have a soft spot for local, mid-week races and this series has become one of my favourites. I urge you to check out your local race listings (try looking at the running club websites) to see if there are any mid-week races near you. They tend to be cheap, intimate and a great way to break up the week. I'll be dipping my toes into the Yateley 10k series next month for their last race of the season, partly because I felt a bit sad I wasn't doing the whole thing this year and partly because I've been told they have very cool medals this year...

If you've missed my previous posts on the series you can find them here for May and June.

Have you run mid-week races before? If so which one, did you enjoy it and how did it compare to weekend racing?

Event Review : London Colour Run

For about a year I’ve been aware of a race series in the US called the Colour Run. The premise is that you run a 5km course wearing as much white as possible and at different points along the course you get bombarded with coloured corn starch by spectators. By the end you’re a veritable rainbow and very happy indeed.

This year they’ve brought it to the UK with races in London, Manchester, Brighton and Belfast. I may have been the first one to sign up to the London one, I was that keen to get in! The event cost £25 plus £4.99 (not optional) and includes your Color Run t-shirt, headband, poncho to protect the world from you on the way home and a temporary tattoo. The London event was held on Sunday at Wembley Stadium and was due to start at 2:30pm with participants going off in waves.

In the days leading up to the event the pre-race information was pretty good but my race pack didn't arrive (I feel I should be refunded my P&P charges) so I had pick up a pack at the venue. We were warned that there would be no bag drop and no parking. Not being able to take wet wipes or a towel or indeed many of the usual things I take to a race was a definite negative. There was no way I was going round the course with a rucksack!

The journey to the event was kinda fun, as I went via Waterloo and saw all the British 10k-ers heading home. As I got nearer to Wembley the more Color Run participants got on the tube until we;d all but taken it over. The sense of camaraderie and anticipation was fantastic. The event was due to start at 2.30pm but I don't think we actually got underway until closer to 3pm. The start area was pretty packed and it was a very hot day. There was nowhere to get water before the start and the longer we waited the less we were amused by the lovely Virgin Active ladies trying to get us to "warm up".

Tide marks

I've been deliberately avoiding the use of the words "run" or "race" because this really isn't an event designed for running. This is a get together, a moving party, and not timed in any way. If you're trying to get a PB you won't and you won't get much colour either. I did jog between colour stations and it was liberating to run without a Garmin or with any goal but to have fun. Once we got underway the going was slow and it became apparent this wasn't a route designed for scenery. You're effectively herded around the back streets and industrial parts of Wembley, which I can understand from a clean up point of view. To be honest the course is so short and I was so excited about getting painted that I didn't really mind too much, but the course definitely felt shorter than 5k.

Yellow haze

You could see the colour stations from someway off due to the coloured haze hanging over them, as well as the big archways. They were quite short though, and there wasn't as much paint slinging as I'd hoped. You had to get right up to the volunteers (who I really felt for actually) to get splattered. A lot of people resorted to flinging paint at each other or rolling on the floor to get coloured.  The water station did get mobbed as it was so hot but I don't think in usual circumstances any more were necessary.

The after party was good fun, with music, 15-minute colour bomb calls and plenty of vitacoco to be had. You could get hosed off it you wanted or buy official merchandise before making your way back to the tube to go home. I had to resist hugging people in light coloured clothing and relished the confused looks.

Pros: Really fun event, easy to get to, inclusive, lots of loos, good warm up crew
Cons: No parking or bag drop, no water at the start, pack not arriving before the event, long wait to cross the start line
I think the colour stations could have been longer, perhaps some bands on the route and a more scenic route would have been nice but not necessary.  I really did have a fantastic time and would almost certainly do one again despite the downsides. As this was the first one I'm inclined to chalk it up to teething problems and I hope the next one goes off with a bang.

Reader Survey : Have Your Say

I thought it was about time I let you guys have a bit of a say in what direction this site should take. It started out life as a diary about my training to climb Kilimanjaro and an accessory to my fundraising, then it turned into general fitness rambling, then back into a training diary and now I'm trying out different sorts of posts.

Would you like me to carry on with my training updates, write about my PT course, do more event or equipment or nutrition reviews, introduce a few more guest posts? A mixture? Let me know what you like and what you'd like to see more or less of and I'll see what I can do!

Click here to take survey

Aspire Drinks : Trial Verdict

I have reached the end of the Aspire Drinks Challenge that I started two weeks ago. That's 14 days of two drinks a day, keeping tabs on my food, drink, exercise and feelings.

I currently weigh 60.5kg, have a BMI of 19.3% and a body fat rating of 25%. This is what I look like on the final day of the challenge (excuse the tired expression, it was somewhat early when I took these. 

In short it appears to have had the opposite effect than the manufacturers were hoping. I've not lost any weight or size (in fact I appear to have put some on) despite taking the drinks and eating and exercising as I would have normally done. So it's been somewhat disappointing. Last week I wrote about how taking the drinks sometimes made me feel dizzy and faint, which I put down to when I took them. This, unfortunately continued on occasion throughout the second week, despite being more careful about when I took them, with the worst case being last Monday when I had to leave work early and didn't feel able to drive safely.

However, I don't want to dis the product completely. I was aware of it having a reducing effect on my appetite at the beginning of the trial and I would find myself eating the same types of foods but a little less than I would usually, without feeling hungry. I really couldn't say if it lived up to the promise of increasing my metabolism, or if I'd have put on even more weight had I not been taking them. I suspect part of the benefit comes from prompting one to think more carefully about what to eat, drink and do, much like keeping a food diary does. If you're taking something that's meant to assist in weight loss I think you're more likely to think about what you're consuming. 

But ultimately this was not a good product for me. I didn't see any real result and even if I had I''m not sure I'd have felt it worth suffering the effect it had on me. I'm sure it works for some people but I won't be recommending it.

Disclaimer: Although this is not a sponsored post I was sent the drinks to trial free of charge but am under no obligation to write a review, positive or otherwise.

What's in my race bag?

What do you take with you to races? I have a bag that I take to just about every race I ever run which whatever I think I'm going to need for the event. Some things change depending on the weather or distance but the basics stay the same. These are the things I deem pretty much essential:

Race pack or confirmation of entry
ID and some cash
Phone
Car and house keys
Safety pins! - I keep a few sets of 4 pinned to the inside of my bag often end up loaning them out.
Bottle of water and/or recovery drink
Post-race snack
Small towel - for sweat and mud removal
Lip balm - blisters or chapped lips, I'm not sure which are worse
Hand gel - I favour the mango one from Body Shop at the moment - smells so good!
Plasters and anti-septic wipes*- in case of injury or blisters
Wet wipes - for more mud removal
Tissues*

* On a long race I'll carry these things with me in a bum bag along with some gels

Optional extras
Hat - if it's threatening rain
Carrier bag for dirty kit
Change of clothes

What are your race essentials? Do you go minimal?

Aspire Drinks : One Week In

I've now been using Aspire for a week and it's time to give some mid-challenge feedback.

The sensation I reported on day one after taking the drink hasn't happened everyday but I have suffered from it on three further occasions, particularly when I've eaten early or lightly the night before. It's a horrible feeling, leaving me feeling dizzy, lethargic, unable to focus and exhausted, which makes me nervous of using it. Although I didn't consider myself to be sensitive to caffeine I'm clearly sensitive to something in the drink as on day one, having had my second drink at 8pm, I was wide awake until about 2am! There's a reason they suggest drinking this stuff before work outs and at breakfast and lunch as opposed to with dinner... On day two I had one at breakfast and one at lunch and felt a lot more balanced.

I've grown to enjoy the taste of the drink and don't find it too fizzy. I have definitely noticed it having an affect on my appetite. I've occasionally wanted elevenses or a snack, but not as often as I may normally do and I seem to be making healthier choices. Overall I've been taking on less calories but not felt it having a detrimental affect on my energy levels for working out (aside from the days I've felt dizzy), which was my main concern; I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be taking on enough fuel.

I've just returned from a long and slightly indulgent weekend in Bath, but when I took my measurements this morning I found I was exactly the same weight and size as I was last Monday in spite of cream teas, ice cream and alcohol. It's hard to say whether Aspire had any influence in that respect... I should be able to give a more definitive answer regarding that at the end of the week as I'll have no disruptions to my usual eating and exercise regimes.