Slug blog

Owwwwwwwwwww owwwww owwwwwwwww..........that can't be right, pain, perhaps it'll go away, no it's not going away. Stop. Ow! Bugger.

This mornings good intentions seemed to slide away at 2.5 miles on the treadmill. A girdle of pain enshrouded my right knee, still short of my 3 mile goal. I walked for a minute then started to run again, owwwwwwwwwww, nope it's just not going to go away. Stop.

How many people do you see exercising, be it in the gym, running along the road, in exercise classes etc that obviously have an injury and are in pain. Quite a few.

Woke up this morning after last nights promises of snow, severe weather warnings and 'significant snowfall'.

Looked out of the window and what did I see, nothing, well virtually nothing, looked more like a heavy frost than snow.

By the time I got to the gym at 7.00am there was already a car stuck on the slope up to the car park. For goodness sake, 1mm of white stuff and most people lose the ability to drive.

So now I'm up to 2.5 miles at a time running. I've been reliably informed by many other runners that once I go over 3 miles I'll start to drop some weight. Oh yes please!

In my previous musings I told you how I prepared over October and November for running. Well now let's look at December.

It's all well and good me talking about myself and my exercise schedule, but how are you doing with yours?

Are you still making sure that you get that daily walk? On weekdays it's easy if you work fulltime, you simply go out at luchtime, before you eat. Then promise yourself when you get back that you'll enjoy your lunch all the more, plus it will digest better as you'll have given your metabolism a bit of a boost from the walk.

You'll also reduce the chances of having the post lunch slump, about 2ish when you start to feel a bit drowsy. Head nods a bit in a boring meeting? Snoring in the back of the seminar room? Been there, done that, so I know it's true.

Yesterday I confess I did not go to the gym, I don't really have a good excuse apart from the fact that I couldn't be arsed to get up at 6.15am, scrape the ice off my car and drive to the instrument of my torture.

I wanted an extra 30 minutes lie in. Okay so I'm not perfect, but nobody is, and as long as the days where I do get up at 6.15 outnumber the days I don't, I'm winning.

Today we're looking at a vital piece of sports equipment - sports bras.

It's surprising just how many women don't wear a proper sports bra when taking part in exercise, any exercise. Some wear their ordinary daytime bra, then dress again in it afterwards for work/daytime wear...yeeeeuk!

Others wear the sports tops with 'hidden' support. Well ladies, I've got news for you, it's called hidden for a very good reason. If you are anything other than flat as a board on the chest area it won't contribute hardly any support at all.

Are you still getting out walking at least once a day? Still getting those legs and arms pumping and raising that heart rate? If so, well done, to have kept it up is your first great milestone.

We firmly believe here at nutrition-advice.net that milestones should be small and achievable until you have reached the next level of fitness, then you can raise the stakes a little bit higher with milestones that are more challenging. Like my personal challenge to run 8.2 miles around a reservoir on my 41st birthday in July.

What is a training log?

Well, it's a posh way of saying diet and fitness diary. Now before you say 'but I'm not training for anything' etc etc, you don't have to be training for the marathon or the Olympics to keep a training log.

Lots of people log their exercise on a daily basis, atheletes need to monitor themselves strictly so that they train and compete at their peak levels. Other people simply like to track their progress, and then on the black days when it seems like they're not making much progress, or it's all just too much trouble, they can look back and see just how much progress they have made. It's a great morale booster.

As today is a bank holiday in celebration of the New Year there is no excuse not to spend some 'me time'.

Try to have a peaceful day, avoid stressful situations, don't do the housework, and don't argue with the kids, the husband or the dog. Warn everyone that you want to spend time today on yourself, and it's not negotiable.

Yup, do day 2 again. That's all there is for today.

How many of you have a hangover this morning? Well, it is the start of 2005 and the start of a new you, so no recriminations about last nights over indulgence as the future is looking good.

Those of you that can stand without the aid of a wall this morning could go for a walk. The fresh air will clear a hangover like nothing else. Getting the heart pumping and the lungs breathing deeply will start to evict those toxins from your body. They'll probably be kicking and screaming on the way out, and you'll feel like death, but stick with it. By the end of your 30 minute walk today you'll be feeling good.