Hello there and apologies for my absence. I’ve literally had no time to sit down and tap away on my keyboard and, if I’m honest, I’ve been boring myself with the same old news regarding my lack of motivation and inability to lay off the chocolate. However after a Saturday blow out in London, I ate and drank so much that I was happily back on on the healthy wagon this week.
In the final few days before Tough Mudder, I needed to do as much as I could to feel ready to tackle the 5 mile run and 13 obstacles. I went for a 3 mile run, resumed my 10 minute core workouts and did a few push ups whenever I could grab a spare moment – not quite enough to make me feel ready but better than nothing I guess.
I went to a 3 year old’s birthday lunch on Friday and chose a pasta and prawn dish in an attempt to carb load before the race, which was topped off with a huge bit of caterpillar birthday cake (I couldn’t refuse a bit of Colin!) but aside from that I’d had a really good week food-wise and have been back to eating sensibly.
I was so nervous before starting Tough Mudder but not in the same way as when I am doing a straightforward run. I think it’s because I had no expectations on myself other than doing my best. With a run, you know you can do it because you’ve usually done the distance in training and you have a particular time in mind, whereas with this, I didn’t know what to expect. However I was genuinely worried that I wouldn’t be strong enough to get over the obstacles.
I was pleasantly surprised in every way. Being cold, wet and dirty is lots of fun as long as you know it’s coming (it’s a different story to getting caught in the rain without a jacket or stepping in a puddle in your best shoes) and all four of us managed to run the full course, as well as crawling, pulling, jumping, sliding, hurling, grabbing, scraping, wriggling and heaving our way through all the obstacles. On some of the tougher ones we had to get a bit of a leg up or pull up from the stronger and bigger contenders but camaraderie is the name of the game at Tough Mudder. I was thrilled to get round it all and keep running – there were lots of people who walked or skipped the obstacles so I reckon we should be really proud of ourselves. Lessons learnt from Tough Mudder is either that it is easier than we expected or we’re fitter than we though we were. Also it doesn’t matter how much you pee yourself on the way round when you’re already wet and muddy 🙂
It’s the half way point in my WedFit fitness challenge – I began 3 months ago and my sister gets wed 3 months from now. I’ve definitely had some ups and downs – an incredible start with the last month being a bit of a disaster. When I first started out I was going for a few walks and doing some gentle exercises, as well as adapting my eating habits. Now I am running on a regular basis and have just completed a 5 mile obstacle course. It’s not bad going really is it? I’ve also gone from 11st 13lb to 10st 9lb, losing just over a stone altogether.
The number on the scales is becoming less important to me and I can really identify with why Joe Wicks (the body coach), and many others, are so against using this as a marker for success. Joe calls it the ‘sad step’ which is true when they don’t say what you want. I’ve also found that I use them to dictate my behaviour as I will, for example, weigh myself to decide whether I will eat well that day or can treat myself. It’s not a good habit to have and it’s one I want to shake off. I might have to hide them during the week.
So what next? I’m feeling motivated and achieving what I did during Tough Mudder has made me feel good about my overall fitness. So, I want to stick to the goals I set a couple of weeks ago – keep up with the core workouts, keep up with the running and keep eating sensibly. I also need to get beach body ready for September so there is an extra incentive to stick with it.
This is my 26th blog entry. To follow my journey from the beginning, please click here. You can also follow and like my facebook page for all the latest updates.
WedFit Mum 