Another 15 minutes of Fame

Hi Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone today?
I've had a pretty good day & good week so far - though no morning gym yet....there's always tomorrow.....no seriously tomorrow morning I'm on it!


Beau
Love the little guy to bits but not when he is squealing like someone stuck a skewer up his bottom at 2.47am! He was also at it at around 5am so I was shattered & never got up at 6am to head to gym. The picture is one Fantastic Mr Fudgey took at the weekend & just sums the wee dude up.




Best magazine
I appear in this week's Best magazine - page 20 - another article about my weight loss. I feel so proud and really hope that I can inspire others. A huge Thank you to Maria Croce who has written a few articles on me now for The Sun, Boost Magazine & now Best. Thank you also to Maria for the gorgeous flowers she sent me....but poor Mr Fudgey was a little concerned as to who else was sending his little running wife flowers LOL

Week 4 Run 1
First run of the week completed yesterday lunchtime. 27 easy minutes.

Body Pump
I also went to body pump last night - this week taken by the lovely Gary. I am so glad I've gone back to pump - I do really enjoy the classes and I know that it compliments my running and makes me feel good - so I plan to make pump a regular thing.

New Programme
My amazing & lovely personal trainer Colin wrote me a nice new programme a couple of weeks ago as I'd asked him to update the one I had. I asked him to focus mainly on upper body as I get plenty of leg work in with the running and usually during our PT sessions. I hadn't yet managed to road test it for one reason or another, but lunch time today I decided to give it a go and see how much I could get through in 30 to 40 minutes.
Warmed up with 5 minutes on the cross trainer, then onto the programme
3 supersets of swiss ball chest press with 15kg bar x 15 & 12 swiss ball press ups. I managed pretty well till the last set of press ups and had to do the last 6 on the floor without the ball
next should have been cable pull downs & upright rows - but cables were in use so I moved onto the next exercise & didn't have enough time to fit these in at the end.
3 supersets of 12 french press with 10kg bar & 12 seated bicep curls with 5kg dumbbells
then onto ab work
3 sets of 15 compound crunches
3 sets of 20 crunch, extend & lift.
All in all it went pretty well,and I worked up a sweat but I think I need to find an alternative for the cable pull downs as the cables are quite popular. I'm really pleased I went to the gym and did my programme even though I couldn't fit it all into the time I had, but I'd rather go and do something than not go at all. I will need to get Colin to demonstrate the ab exercises again & get me to do them so he can correct my technique as I'm not convinced I did exactly what I was meant to.

Sports Massage
My right hip has been quite tense for a few weeks now, actually it started under my buttock but kind of moved round, so I thought with 7 weeks to the Glasgow half that I had better go and get a maintenance massage before I needed a corrective one or even worse the tension turns into an injury. I've also had a little bit of a sore shin - not when I am running or working out but just sometimes feels like I've been kicked hard. Clare worked her magic yet again and has straightened me all out. I'm hoping as well that my massage will help with a good night's sleep..........as long as little B man behaves....no squealing in the early hours please Beauber.

and that my fudgey friends is all my news, other than another Thank you to Dad Smith for the first class gardening, dish washing and delivery service. Thanks Dad x

Take Care Everyone
Fudgey
xxx

Saddle Up

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Saddle up it's going to be a long one today!
When I started my blog the plan was to post at least once a week, but I quickly found that little and often worked better rather than a mammoth post at the end of the week, however recently life and work have overtaken me a little and I've only been posting a couple of times a week, which would be fine if I didn't have so much I wanted to share with the blog world. Sadly my training has been suffering a little too & my 3 mornings a week in the gym have dwindled down to only 1. I've also been eating more rubbish than I know I should and though my weight is still at target I know I could be doing so much better. So today I've uploaded all my foodie pics to share with you. I'll keep it mainly to photos but if anyone wants recipes please let me know and I will provide. I'll give you an update on my training for the rest of this week since Wednesday's post as well as an update on my 1000km in 2010 challenge. I am also now making a public pledge to get back on track and be in the gym 3 mornings a week, as well as paying more attention to what I'm eating which I know will give me more energy and make me feel so much better.

Food from the Fudgey Kitchen
Turkey & Mango Stir Fry











Homemade Turkey burgers










Spicy Chickpeas and Cous Cous

Chicken Pineapple Parcels

served with steamed veg & philly risotto

Moroccan Meatballs
served with harissa salsa & mushroom rice

Corn Muffins
A huge Thank you to my lovely sister in law Kristin who sent me the mix for these from the States.


Cajun Blackened Chicken with Avocado Sauce
Oops forgot to photograph the sauce.

served with stuffed tomato & broccoli

Hope you like the photos and they provide some inspiration.

Week 3 Run 2
Never happened. Should have been a 40 minute run but as run 1 ended up on Tuesday due to me being poorly I never manged to fit this one in. I could have if I'd got my butt out of bed on Thursday morning but I didn't.

Week 3 Run 3
Again I never got out of bed for what is my usual Friday treadmill session. So that was a grand total of 0 mornings in the gym this week :-(
I did redeem myself by going after work though which is very unusual for me but I managed to get away about 4:50pm and realised that I seriously needed to get myself back on track. The running was great. 10 minutes easy followed by 4 x (3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy) and finishing with 10 minutes easy plus a few extra minutes cool down

Week 3 Run 4
My weekly long run is the one run I know I really shouldn't miss out on as it is by far the most important so I was a little concerned when my tummy decided it hated me last night and was gurgling and churning away like a washing machine and had me up and down a few times. It wasn't much better first thing this morning either and I wondered how I could manage 9 minutes running never mind the planned 90. I got up and after a small cup of tea, some oat bites and some water whilst I got ready I headed out the door...... amazingly I managed to run for 105 minutes and it felt awesome....only when I got home did my tummy decide to play up again....what's with that?
Today also saw the return of the ice bath. This was the first one since the Edinburgh half marathon and I forgot to make up the ice last night - however I splashed out £1.30 and bought a bag so that I could still have my ice bath.

I ran a slower pace than usual today, but it felt really good and I ran a little over 16km / 10 miles. It's 7 weeks today till the Glasgow half and at the moment I don't fear the distance as I know based on how I felt today that I can do it. Still 7 weeks is a long time and I need to get my training and nutrition back on track. I also need to get a sports massage soon as my right hip is niggling a little and I know I should deal with it before it becomes a problem.

Given I missed a run this week I'm really pleased that my distance for the week is a little more than last week but less time :-)

Stats for Week 3
Distance run this week 26.49km / 16.46 miles
Time running 2 hours 56 minutes

1000km in 2010
is still on track and I'm delighted to report that up till today I have logged 678.53km (421.62 miles)
This is the approximate distance from Edinburgh to Reigate Hill.


And that my fudgey friends is me up to date. I feel better already for confessing my training and nutritional shortcomings so next week is going to be a great week.

Love to you all.
Fudgey
xxxx

A Fabby Day

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How is everyone today? I've had a brilliant day today, full of good stuff and lots of my favourite things.

My Fabby Fudgey Wudgey Woo Day
After feeling very poorly on Monday and still a little jaded round the edges yesterday, today - Hump day had me back to fudgey form.

It's rained all day here and unlike most people it's had me grinning ear to ear. I love love love the rain ;-D

I've had a successful and productive day at work and dare I say even enjoyed it a little.

I had a cracking PT session with Colin. Most people would be put off by the running till you want to throw up and looking like you've just been drowned - but you know me far from normal. Today's session consisted of:

quick bike warm up
3 sets of 10 compound exercise first set with 12.5kg bar & other 2 sets with 15kg bar
3 supersets of 15 Smith machine squats & single leg lunges 10 each leg with 12.5kg bar.
Run Hill Intervals 6% gradient 30 secs @ 8km/h and 1 min @ 9.2km/h repeat x 6 - it was really tough going today - not helped by the fact that the gym was roasting.
3 supersets of jack knifes (15 reps) & hanging legs raises (12, 10, and 8 reps
finishing off with some ab work which included:
russian twists 6kg medicine ball, oblique cycles, swiss ball obliques.

Then I came home to find that my lovely Mum and Dad in Law had dropped off a new container of cat litter & cat treats & goodies sent from my super Sis in Law Kristen. Kristen sent some magnetic note pads, some corn bread & muffin mix - can't wait to make corn muffins & some Montreal steak & chicken seasonings. Thank you so much Kristin - watch out for photo of corn muffins when I make them.

Then I got to do another of my favourite things - cooking. Poor Hubby had a bit of an upset tummy so he just wanted some soup - I made him fresh carrot & coriander soup & when I tasted it - thought it was delicious... I don't normally like carrot & coriander soup! All that was in it was onion, carrots, fresh coriander & chicken stock. I needed something more substantial after my workout and decided to concoct my own lamb chilli....another fudgey kitchen success
onion & garlic softened in a little olive oil, red chilli and cumin and fresh coriander stirred in, then added lamb mince and browned, then added some chopped red, yellow & green peppers, a courgette chopped into chunks, 1/2 can of butter beans, a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and a little chicken stock & simmered for 30 minutes.

Then to round of my fab day I got to curl up with Mr Fudgey and watch a movie - completely undisturbed for once. We watched The Illusionist and I really enjoyed it.

Poorly Fudgey
Just a quick round up of the week so far. I was not well on Monday, had a very crampy tummy and a sore throat and just generally felt bleurgh, so much so I had the day off work..... for me this is very unusual....I usually soldier on regardless so taking the day of caused a little concern and wasn't helped by other unpleasantness - but I am absolutely fine now and Thanks to all for their calls, texts and worrying - you shouldn't have - but I know it's because you care.
I should have ran on Monday & gone to body pump - but obviously neither happened.

Week 3 Run 1
Delayed from Monday to Tuesday. Was only to be 15 minutes easy but I ran for 25 minutes including almost 20 at my ideal race pace ie sub 2 hr half marathon pace. The running helped shake off whatever had been hanging over me from Monday and I was glad I'd done it.

And that my fudgey friends is me up to date again. Hoping to run in the morning.
Hope you've all had a good day.

I want to leave you with a wee quote that I think some of you will really appreciate...

"The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else"

Lots of Love & Hugs to everyone
Fudgey
xxx

Windswept & Weary

Hello Fudgey Friends,

What has it been like where you are today? It's been a real mixture here - strong winds & black clouds followed by blazing sun. It hasn't really rained just a couple of spots - but I wish it would just to clear the air.

I thoroughly enjoyed my rest day on Thursday I think I really needed it. Friday morning saw me back into routine and at the gym early for my treadmill interval session.

Week 2 Run 3
10 minutes easy, followed by 4 x 5 minute intervals 2 minutes hard & 3 easy, finishing with 10 minutes easy for a total of 40 minutes but I ran / walked for another 5. It was great session & really pushed myself in the 2 minutes hard and am delighted that I can now run faster for longer than I have ever been able to before.

Weary
I've been really busy at work again this week and was actually there till 6.30pm on Friday - I usually have a rule of not starting early on a Monday or staying late on a Friday but I was working on a document that I wanted to have as complete as possible before leaving.
Saturday I never really got out of first gear - in fact i think I might have been in reverse at one point. I went for a lie down mid afternoon & ended up sleeping for a good couple of hours - I must have really needed it though and it was a real treat for me. Fantastic Mr Fudgey was busy cleaning and tidying so I didn't have to do anything. I made a fab dinner of turkey fillet which I filled with light basil Philadelphia & cooked in the oven with lots of roast veg - I even had my favourites courgette & beetroot :-) In the evening we settled down & watched Taken - which I really enjoyed. When we headed off to bed I thought I wouldn't sleep as I'd napped in the day - but I nodded off no problem. I woke up this morning and was not in the right frame of mind for my long run - I could have quite happily dozed all day.

Week 2 Run 4
Got myself up and had a cup of tea and some oatcake bites, strapped my feet, got my kit on, my doberman alarm, my ipod and a sports gel and some water and off I went. Not inspired running today. Twice I had to stop and walk for a couple of minutes - if I wasn't running into the wind it was hitting me from the side. Apparently it was about 21mph with gusts of 35mph & when you think what a wee fudge I am these days and that I wasn't even managing 6mph today day - that's a bit of a deficit - no wonder pace was slow. The body felt pretty good though - legs feeling strong. I managed to complete the 75 minutes though and was pleased that I hadn't just quit and come home. I appreciate the days I have poor runs as much as the good ones as I usually learn something from them and work harder next session.

Stats for Week 1
Distance run this week 26.44km / 16.43 miles
Time running 3 hours 02 minutes 23 seconds
Good increase from last week. 8 weeks to go.

Sunday afternoon shopping
Mr Fudgey and I headed off to the shops this afternoon - just to get out and about - no specific plans other than picking up some groceries and stopping off for a coffee. I did however come home with a couple of goodies - Mr Fudgey bought me a sweatband - as my hair is still not long enough to tie back but the other day at circuits the sweat was pouring in my eyes. I took part in a fun quiz to see if I'm a gym bunny or a gym rat - see Lovelies blog post - I came out a rat & more often than not probably look like a drowned one LOL. Thanks hubby xxx
I also got a beautiful dress in Next for our little niece Margaret's christening - in a size 8 no less :-) and some Just Pink perfume also from Next - so a successful trip.

And that is all my news for now I think. I'm heading off to make mushroom soup for tomorrows dinner and homemade red pepper and coriander houmous for lunch.

Take Care everyone
love
Fudgey
xxx

The Fudgey Machine

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Hope you are all having a good week. I can't believe it is Wednesday already.
I've been a busy little workout fudgey machine this week and am so looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. I think I have earned it.

Week 2 Run 1
At the moment I'm concentrating on time on feet rather than distance though that will start to increase soon enough. I'm not particularly worrying about speed at the moment either - just running again feels fantastic & I love the discipline of a training plan & not 1 but 2 events to focus on.
This run was to be 15 minutes easy but I ended up running for 26 minutes as I was having such a great time.

Body Pump
Smurfy & I ended up at the Body Pump launch at our happy place (the gym) on Monday night. Both of us modelling our Bannatynes World Cup workout t-shirts. The guys challenged to push ourselves a little harder on each track than usual as it was the launch. Neither Smurfy or I had been to a pump class in months never mind a full hour but that didn't deter us. By the end of it we must have been a lovely sight! I think I went a little too heavy on the chest track & towards the end of the shoulder track was having to really fight every push of the bar, but I love love loved being back at pump and after a chat with fantastic Mr Fudgey am hoping to make Monday night pump a bit more regular. Mr Fudgey is the best husband ever and is so supportive. I think he would agree though that workout wifey is a happy wifey and makes for a happier,less grumpy and more energised fit little fudgeykin ;-)

Week 2 Run 2
10 minutes easy, 15 minutes tempo and 10 minutes easy run. Legs felt good and strong and I added another 5 minutes on the end just because I could.

Outside Personal Training
On several occasions Colin has planned an outside session only for the Scottish weather to scupper those plans but today it did finally happen. We went into the private gardens across the road from the gym where there is a nice round patch of grass with path around it perfect for running round and a couple of benches to utilise. Colin also brought a skipping rope 4kg dumbbells and a mat.....and so the session began:
2 laps of garden
20 power lunges
10 squat jumps
20 forrest gumps (Colin's name for them)
static lunges 12 each leg with 4kg dumbbells
15 squat & hold with 4kg dumbbells
1 lap of garden
1 min 30 skipping
12 bench press ups
12 bench tricep dips
12 seated shoulder press
4 starpose
20 komodo
2 laps of garden
plank to exhaustion (managed 1 min 30)

a wee rest & then did it all again with the exception of the plank.
It was really great to do something slightly different than the normal in the gym sessions but my upper body was not happy with the press ups, tricep dips & shoulder press.

Colin's Crucifying Circuit Class
As if the above wasn't enough I also went to the circuit class - yes I am a complete nutcase - but nothing comes without effort & if I really want to run sub 2 hours in Glasgow I need to drop a couple of pounds and be as fit and as strong as I possibly can be & so the torture from lovely Colin continued:

diamond press up
swiss ball chest press
clean & press
reverse flyes
ski sit (how was I the only person to be handed 4kg dumbbells to hold too? Smurfy says it was favouritism - Thanks Colin!)
bag drag & weighted sprint
slalom & bunny hops
burpees
paddles & scissors
jack knifes
plank

1st circuit was a minute each station & 2nd was 45 seconds for the first 5 stations & 30 secs for the rest of them. At the end of the first circuit I felt sick and couldn't see for the sweat dripping in my eyes - lovely! Tough Tough class even without all the other stuff I've been up to this week. I adore circuits though - I think it's my favourite type of class / gym or PT session.

Well Earned Rest Day
So do you agree I deserve a rest tomorrow?

Plan for Rest of week
No more resistance work this week - I think I have pushed it to the limit and now need to allow recovery. I do have Friday & Sunday runs to complete though.


and that my fudgey friends is us right up to date on my training at least.
I really owe you all a foody blog as I've made plenty of yummy stuff recently and have a few photos on my camera and pc - but time just seems to be so against me at the moment. I have a million and 1 things in my head to blog about but not enough time to do it. I will try soon I promise.

Lots of Love to everyone
Take Care
Fudgey xxxx

Back in the zone

Hello Fudgey Friends,

Has everyone had a good weekend?

Mine has been fairly restful including a rather decadent afternoon nap yesterday. I think we have also come to the conclusion that is no good time to go for a food shop. We tried not going till 7.30pm last night & it was still busy & made even more annoying by the fact that our bus home was 10 minutes late.

Week 1 Run 3
After Thursday's session I felt pretty good other than a little tightness in my calves, but I still managed to complete my 3rd run of the week. It was planned as 36 minutes. 10 minutes easy & then 4 intervals of 1 minute hard, 3 minutes easy & then 10 minutes easy - but I was enjoying myself so much I ran for a total of 55 minutes.

Home workout
Sunday is usually my long run day but there was no run scheduled on the training plan this weekend. Today was a rest / cross train day - I did fancy a run but knew I would need to get it done early, but I knew I also needed a good sleep & the benefit of waking up without an alarm so I decided I'd just play it by ear. I woke up later than I'd hoped around 9.30 and it was chucking it down outside. My other option was to head to the gym but I realised that by the time I'd get up, get to gym, workout & get back I'd be looking at midday which was eating too much into the day as we were heading out at 2. But fear not fudgey found an admirable compromise - the home workout.

31 mins on wii fit (jogging 10 mins, step plus, rhythm boxing 6 mins, ski slalom, ski jump & more jogging 6 mins)

3 x super set of 15 bent over chest flyes with 4.5kg dumbbells & 12 press ups

3 x super set 12 bicep curl with 4.5kg dumbbells & 12 overhead tricep extension with a 4.5kg dumbbell

3 x super set single leg lunges 12 each side with 4.5kg dumbbells & single arm clean & press 12 each side with a 4.5kg dumbbell

3 x abs tri set of 15 ab extensions with a 4.5kg dumbbell, 30 oblique cycles & 12 double crunches

It was a really good workout and something that I hope to do again soon.

So Mrs Fudgey is definitely back in the zone. This week has been a very good week training wise.

Stats for Week 1
Distance run this week 18.34km / 11.4 miles
Time running 2 hours 08 minutes 16 seconds

Other News this week
A huge well done to the gorgeous JAG for completing her first half marathon on Saturday & raising over a £1000 for The Stroke Association - you can read all about it here

Big virtual hug to my Sis & my nieces - wee Rose has had a poorly tummy and I think they've all had an exhausting few days - sending loads of love.


Thank you to Mr Fudgey for my new Meerkat. Love you hubbly man x

We also enjoyed today a lovely meal at Mum & Dad Smith's house and had fun on the wii. Big round of applause for Dad Smith who managed 3 strikes in the hundred pin bowling :-)
I'll hopefully blog about the fabby food tomorrow - I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day at the moment.

Take Care Everyone
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

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