Week 5: Tricky weekend

This week has been good so far. I weighed in and lost weight. I had really sore knees from Sundays run but overcame that on Tuesday with a 3-miler and yesterday I managed to improve my speed on a 4-mile run. I did it in 38 minutes which I think was partly due to help from my friend Matt who ran with me, he was pulling me along and so in the end we went at 9.5 min/mile which I'm very pleased about.

This weekend is going to be a bit trickier. I am due to be at a party all day tomorrow which means I need to get up and do my 3 miles in the morning. I'm working late tonight which means my swim will be later than usual and so I feel it's all in a bit of a rush. I am also due to be pre-occupied most of Sunday so again I'll have to get up in the morning and run my 5 miles.

I'm sure I'll squeeze it all in but it's going to be a bit trickier than usual.

Have a good weekend everyone!

-Erik

A bit more about the charity

So not all of you will know but I've started doing some voluntary work in the past 2 months. Part of the reason for this is that all (most) of my friends were there for me in December when I broke up with my wife. I was going through a torrid time but they helped me pull through.

I thought - not everyone is that lucky to have a natural support network around them. Some people are left to fight adversity on their own. One of the most influential people in my life over the past 5+ years has been my mother-in-law who has and is battling cancer and so I asked her advice for some charities that had helped her.

She suggested the Duchess of Kent House which is a local house/hospice for cancer patients in Reading and surrounding areas. http://www.dokhc.org.uk/Pages/Default.aspx?pid=MQA=

After looking on their website I saw that they were looking for volunteers to help with their bereavement support visiting service which helps the friends and families of patients at the house with their grief after they pass away. I must point out that not all the people that go to the Duchess of Kent house to die, they have day-care support and support groups for people at different stages and they do see people come in and then leave again.

I thought the bereavement support service was perfect for me as I want to help others and so in March I spent 30+ hours training for this. It was a bit of a roller coaster emotionally as we had to visit some of our own demons in terms of loss - I lost my dad in 2007 and so it wasn't too long ago I was going through the early stages of grief.

I've now finished the training and I was referred my first client the other day - who didn't want the service. I hope I can make a difference to someone's life soon, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

This is the charity I want to try and raise money for when I eventually do the marathon race. They're a fantastic, local charity that help a lot of people and so I want to help them if I can. I hope some of you will sponsor me when I do the race as it's a fantastic cause.

Thanks for reading!

Erik

An inspirational video

I've just entered the ballot!

I've just entered the ballot for the London Marathon 2012, the chances of getting in are slim - about 1 in 5 so I'm almost planning to run Brighton or Blackpool already! They are both in April every year too.

Wish me luck!

Erik

Racking up the hits

So I know who some of you are that read the blog and I'd like to know who the rest of you are!

I was very pleased to reach 500 hits on Friday and I've today hit 600 - another 100 in 4 days!

Kindly leave a comment and let me know who you are (only if you want to) as I really appreciate all the hits, they're keeping me motivated.

All the best,

Erik

Week 5: Weigh-in - under 200!

Hi all,

Feeling very positive this morning as I weighed myself and I've lost another 2lbs and that's taken me under the 200 mark! It has inspired me to try extra hard this week to get down to my next goal which is 14 stone (196 lbs) in the next couple of weeks!

My knees were really hurting yesterday after my long run on Sunday but they feel ok today so I'm hoping my 3-mile run won't cause any further problems. Let's see how I get on.

All the best,

Erik

Week 4: DONE!

So I'm very tired but very pleased! I managed to do 7.25 miles this morning, the extra .25 because I took the wrong turn but that's ok! It felt surprisingly good! I really struggled for the last mile but I managed to do it in the end!

So I've now broken the 50-mile mark in total miles, it feels like a bit of a milestone and I'm very pleased!

Let's see how my legs recover for another run on Tuesday - if things go as well as they did today, I'm excited for the rest of my training.

All the best

Erik

Week 4: Just the big one to go

Hi all,

So first of all thank you all VERY much for reading the blog! I've had 500+ hits now and it makes it feel worth wile actually writing the damn thing.

So this week has been interesting, 3 x 3-mile runs and a mile swim so far. The 3 mile run today was painful because of the heat and I also chose a route that goes past the Guide dogs for the blind (for those of you who know Burghfield) which is a steep uphill stretch which nearly took it all out of me.

So, what I have left now is a 7 mile run on Sunday which is further than I've ever ran so that should be very interesting. I am hoping I can do it, I'll certainly try and stay off the beers on Saturday night to help me as last Sunday I was slightly hungover as I did my 6.27 miles.

Sunday means I will also break the 50mile mark in my training which I see as a bit of a milestone. I just hope I can keep all this up!

All the best,

Erik

Week 4: Some stats added ----->

Hi all,

So I thought I would add some stats on the right hand side about total mileage. It will be interesting to see how many miles I do in total once it's time to race! I am discounting the 5-6 miles I did the week before I started the program and I am just adding the ones from this training program together.

Apart from that - I did 3 miles yesterday where I really pushed myself but it was well worth it, I managed to keep it to under 30 minutes so I was very happy with that! I got another 3 today - the legs feel a bit stiff but hopefully I'll be able to do the same.

All the best,

Erik

Weigh-in: Stayed the same

Weigh-in time today and I was excited to if I could get below the 200 mark but it turns out I stayed the same. I can completely understand why as I had a lot of beer at the weekend. It may be time to try and stop the alcohol again. On a positive note, I didn't gain any weight and I feel better in myself so we go again this week and see how that works out!

-Erik

Training plan - updated!

Week 3: DONE - longest run yet!

Hi all,

So yesterday I was due to run 4 miles according to my training program but my best mate (who's running the marathon with me) is going straight into the training program that I was due to start in 2-3 weeks which required a 6 mile run.

So I decided - I should go for it as well! And I did...

I really struggled on a long uphill section after about 4 miles which lasts for about a mile. When I was running I chose to go a slightly different route which would have got me about 7 miles if I had finished it but after 6.27 miles I was out of steam and had to walk home. I still managed the 6 miles which I'm very pleased about, the time of 1h 8m isn't great but then I'm only 4 weeks into my training and so I'm pleased I managed that.

I've had quite a bad weekend in terms of food and drink so let's see how that's affected my weigh-in tomorrow morning.

I'm going to have to adjust the training program now as well as I am ahead of schedule. I'll post the new on once I've done it.

-Erik

Week 3: pushing myself

Hi all,

It's been a very good week so far and I've been psyched up to do really well after loosing 6½ lbs in 3 weeks. I went for my regular run on Wednesday expecting to do 3 miles but as I went with my friend, he told me to push myself that little bit more. I ended up doing 4.7 miles which is the furthest I've run so far. I think I could have probably done 6+ miles so that's a good sign.

I also did the standard 1 mile swim yesterday without any problems and so this week is looking good so far. I've got 2 miles scheduled in for today but I may go further depending on how much time I have. I then have my 4 mile run on Sunday and week 3 will be complete.

Keep reading.

All the best.

Erik

Weigh-in: Another 2lbs lost

So I am writing this morning to say I am very pleased with another 2lbs lost last week. Hopefully next week I go below the 200lbs milestone.

I was a bit naughty on Friday and Saturday of last week and went over my calorie limit and so I'm pleased that I've still lost. I'm going to try and be extra good this week to make sure I go below that 200lbs mark.

Week 2: DONE!

So I've completed week 2 and I'm starting to feel as if I'm improving which is nice. I did 11 miles running and 1 mile swimming in total in week 2. The only hitch was that I had a drink again on Friday and Saturday after 3 weeks without. The weather was just too glorious and I couldn't resist a Pear Cider in the sunshine.

The long run for the week was 4 miles yesterday which to some extent felt easier than the 2 miles I did on Wednesday. I am part anxious and part excited about the weigh-in tomorrow. I should hopefully have lost more weight as I put the miles in.

Week 3 is starting tomorrow after the weigh-in. I feel my legs are tired today and so the rest will do me good, ready for tomorrow.

Hope you keep reading - all the words of encouragement I've received have been amazing. Any advice on how to tackle the task of running a marathon is welcome.

All the best

Erik

Week 2: Day 2 - DONE!

So I'm nearly 10 runs into my health kick now and I'm starting to feel better about it all. Especially when you go out and it's glorious sunshine and 20 degrees! So far, I haven't missed a session on my fitness plan. Let's hope I can keep that going for as long as possible.

Some more advice needed: I am thinking of getting a timer/tracker/heart rate monitor or similar. Does anyone know of any good ones? I don't mind spending a bit for decent quality but I feel like I need it to track the pace of each mile and do some more analysis (bit of a science nerd, I like the facts and figures).

The blister on my foot isn't looking great but it doesn't hurt when I wear a blister plaster so I will keep running for now. I have a swim penciled in for tomorrow so I guess it will get some rest then.

I'll keep you posted on my progress

All the best

Erik

Week 2 weigh-in

So I weigh myself every Tuesday before the week's exercise starts. I have been actively using www.myfitnesspal.com for 2 weeks and that's also how long I've been exercising and trying to lose weight for.

Not sure I want to share this but I started out at 14st 12lbs or 208lbs.

Today the scales said 14st 7½lbs or 203.5lbs so I've lost 4.5lbs in 2 weeks.

Let's hope I can keep this up! It's definitely got me psyched up for week 2's training which begins today!

All the best

Erik

Week 1: DONE!!

So after a tough 4 mile run (which I am very pleased I completed without stopping) I have finished week 1 of my training program. I feel really good aside from a massive blister on my foot, anyone got any tips for blisters?

In total then, I have done 10 miles running and 1 mile swimming this week, much the same planned next week aside from one of the shorter runs is 3 miles instead of 2.

Overall - very happy I managed to complete week 1 without many problems, let's see how I feel on Tuesday when I got the first run of week 2 to do!

All the best.

Erik

Day 4: still feeling up for it

So - coming towards the end of week 1, I did a 2 mile run on Tuesday, Wednesday and today coupled with a mile swim yesterday. Today was the hardest by some distance but I still kept the pace up which felt good.

My shoulders hurt slightly from the swim but that is to be expected when I'm not used to swimming a mile. The biggest test for me now will be Sunday's 4-mile run. If I feel like I did today it's going to be tough but if I can do it, it will give me lots of encouragement for week 2 next week.