Mrs Smith & the Smith Machine

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone?
I'm good really good. Trained 3 days out of 4 so far this week and feeling so much better for it already.

Today's Session
was great and I got to try some new things too including that scary looking thing called the Smith machine but it is ace.

Today's session consisted of the following:

3 x superset of 2 minutes on vario machine at level 10 speed above 96 followed by 10 swiss ball passes

3 x superset of squats on Smith machine (first set 10lb each side & other 2 sets 15lbs each side) & 20 oblique cycles. Totally different sensation doing squats on the smith machine rather than the olympic bar - but really good & as it was new to me a little challenging.

3 sets of 12 calve raises again on smith machine 10lb each side - calves were burning.

3 supersets of overhead lunges with 12.5kg barbell 16, 14 & 12 (8, 7 & 6 each leg)& 30 second swiss ball plank roll outs. I'm not quite at this stage yet - but here's a clip / demo of the lunges

& session finished off with 3 sets of wood chops first set 20kg & other 2 sets I managed 25kg.

I feel I'm getting fitter and stronger and healthier all the time and I love it.

My wonderful personal trainer Colin also got me my Bannatynes world cup workout t-shirt and is going to write me a new programme - I hope with stick man drawings!

Wonderful Hubby
Mr Fudgey as ever is great and has been encouraging me to get back into my fitness routine - it makes all the difference when you get support from those closest to you & I am very lucky to have Mr Fudgey and the rest of my fudgey family and friends.

And that my fudgey friends is all for today - I'm off to make omlettes.

see you soon
love
Fudgey
xxx

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.....

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Hope you are all having a lovely relaxing weekend. Unfortunately my Sunday morning run wasn't all I hoped it would be today but I'll learn from the negatives & the positives.

THE GOOD
Even though from the moment I woke up I didn't feel like running I booted myself up the bum and got my kit on. I also filled my new running water bottle....purchased from my gym Bannatynes. When I started running hubby had bought me a small running bottle from 'run for it' and it was great but only held 250ml - it was also not the easiest to get the water out of. Now I'm running further and longer I felt I needed a bigger bottle & the Banntynes one holds almost 500ml.

I can now recommend this bottle to anyone looking for a running water bottle. It is easy to hold and easy to get the water out of on the move. It also looks nice!
Today I was again wearing my long technical running tights purchased from Time to Run, courtesy of the voucher my wonderful Mum & Dad gave me for Christmas. I love these so much I am thinking of getting another pair or a pair of the cropped ones.
It was good that I got up and went out running unfortunately it wasn't the best of runs and I returned home feeling sore, annoyed & unfulfilled.

THE BAD
Nothing awful happened. The running part of me just didn't switch on this morning and my body wasn't responding the way I wanted it to. It was grey, cold and damp day which I don't think helped the old joints or morale. It was also much busier this week and several times I had to stop / well run on the spot waiting to cross the road. I also had to negotiate many pedestrians and 3 pushchairs. I think I'm quite a considerate runner and I try not to be too obtrusive but some people either have no spacial awareness or are just plain ignorant. About 3.5km into my run I had to stop and walk a little, I had tension in the front of my right ankle, pain in my right shin and right inner thigh. I walked for about a minute and then set off again. Coming up to the 5.5km mark I had to decide either a) head home or b) carry on the the other 5.5km. I'm still not sure if I was wise or foolish? will let you know what my body says in the morning! I decided that I'd beat myself up for the rest of the day if I only did 5.5km and that even if I walked the other part of my run it was better than quitting. I also thought to myself what would I do in the half marathon if I was half way and just didn't feel in the mood? I know that I wouldn't give up then so why should I now? well other than a few niggles but I knew that they were only niggles nothing serious.
Fueled by a Lucozade Body Fuel Gel I managed a better second half than the first and actually the last km the running part of me did switch on and I flew.

THE UGLY
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the ugly but it's a real soap box issue for me. DOG POOP. OMG I have never seen so much dog dirt on the pavements in my life. I pity the poor souls who already had encountered this and taken it further than it's original location. It was quite shocking and another reason why I didn't enjoy my run so much today. I'm going to leave that whole subject there - though belive me I could rant for hours on the subject.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER
I got home 11km 1 hour 12 mins and 26 seconds later. Fantastic Mr Fudgey had been busy doing the housework. He heard all about my run and was so supportive he totally understood how I felt. I had a lovely hot shower and then a muscle soak bath and felt much better. I'm not going to beat myself up that today's running wasn't my best, at least I was out there and as I said at the start I'll learn from the positives and the negatives. Sometimes you have to experience the bad & the mediocre to really appreciate the good and the great so I'm not downheartened at all tomorrow is another day & I'll be back!!


Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend. I'm off now to chill. I've even poured myself a glass of wine :-D

lots of love
Fudgey

xxxx