Boxing Day run

Happy Boxing Day!

 

Following on from yesterday's post, I decided to stop being a wussy and went for a three-mile run around the village. It's one of the routes I used when I was training for the half.

 

Today felt like a mini achievement as I haven't run since November, and as I've mentioned before, knowing I've run a half marathon definately helps motivation. It took 29 minutes, so just under 10 minutes per mile. That's quite slow for me, but I think I sped up/slowed down more than normal rather than keeping a constant pace.

 

I've recently uploaded a lot of music on to my Ipod, and I find a cracking playlist also helps motivation. Today's was as follows:

 

Hit That Gash - Rouge A Levres VS Foreign Beggars. This is such a catchy song, although the lyrics are quite crude. Rapping sounds a lot cooler in French.

 

Your Love Is My Drug - Ke$ha. Not a new song but I've recently heard her Animal album and I am impressed; mostly what I call 'club tunes' but some funny and more emotionally-led songs as well. A good album to put on if you're going on a night out!

 

Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin.

 

Don't Wake Me Up - Chris Brown. I'm guessing he doesn't like to be woken up, up, up, up, up up.

 

Spectrum (Say My Name) [Calvin Harris remix] - Florence + The Machine.

 

Time Bomb - All Time Low. I've recently gotten into All Time Low, and this is my favourite song off their 'Dirty Work' album. I can't decide if I prefer this or the acoustic version.

 

It's Like That - Run DMC. Classic.

 

Dirty Picture p.2 - Ke$ha ft. Taio Cruz.

 

Sorry For Party Rocking - LMFAO.

 

My personal motto for running with headphones in is to only use them when I'm running on pavements/cross country, as I feel a lot more aware without them when I'm primarily running on roads.

 

xxxx

Top 5: "Reasons" For Not Exercising

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is having/had a lovely day and received lots of presents. I know I did! Spoilt bear.

As the stresses of Semester 1 fade away, I thought I'd address something that has probably been the real reason I haven't posted; I haven't exercised very much since November, thus I've had not a lot to write about! So today I thought I'd post a funny one, addressing the 5 key "reasons", also known as excuses, for sacking off exercise.

Excuse 1: "I'm tired"

This is probably the most-used and I am very guilty. Unless hallucinations are happening, you are probably fine. Exercise is supposed to energize, so you can only feel better after.... maybe?

Excuse 2: "I'm ill"

If you are not comatosed in bed with illness, you are definately capable of exercising! My favourites are self-diagnosed illnesses, such as the flu or chest infections, or illnesses which start as a snuffle or cough and magically develop overnight into Spanish flu or bronchitus. If you're not on anti-biotics, I am betting it is not that bad. Wussy.

Excuse 3: "I'm busy"

This and tiredness are my two worst excuses. Organisation is key here, and if you (by 'you' I mean me) cut the amount of time faffing around procrastinating from essays (watching TV, talking to housemates, tidying my room, scouring ASOS's dress section) I'm sure I could find 30 minutes a day to bust a (bicep) move.

Excuse 4: "My favourite sports bra is in the wash"

I really can't justify this, but I've have used this before. Oh, the shame....

Excuse 5: "I don't like exercise"

Oh no you di-dent. You, my friend, are doing the wrong kind! Don't like running? Don't run. Don't like swimming? Don't swim. Don't like free weights? Ha ha, every body likes free weights. But seriously, there are so many different types of cardio and toning exercises that you will surely find something you enjoy. I used to hate working out my legs, but I gained a trainer and a world of legs-ercises was revealed to me. Change it up; if you really hate the gym, don't go, but make the effort to find something you do enjoy. Excuse eliminated!

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt my 3 mile running route in under 30 minutes and take my stallion for a ride. We did get out for our Christmas Day ride after all :)

I've got my first gym session in about 4 weeks on Saturday, which I'm really looking forward to, so I'll either post a lengthier update at the end of the week or post little ones throughout the week on my exercise exploits.

xxxxx

Hello stranger....

Hello, so I'm the worst blogger ever. In my defence, it has been off-the-wall crazy busy since I last posted, but most of it has actually been on the interesting side of life, so here are my top 4 things I've been doing since 17th November......

 

1.

I went for my first run with Mark (running buddy) since the half marathon. We managed 4.5/5 miles in 40 minutes! It felt wonderful. I don't think I need to point out that I haven't run since... I've drawn up a rough draft of my study timetable over Christmas, and I've fit in 2 runs a week. Mark and I are planning to enter the Reading Half Marathon in March.

 

2.

Ernest and I went to our first competition since November 2011! I may or may not have mentioned that he fractured his leg in January, this year, and it's been a steady and progressive road back to normality. It was really exciting to be out again. We did Prelim 12 and Prelim 15, getting 64.80% and 61.something% respectively.

 

3.

Clean eating has been going O.K - I managed 15 days last month out of 30. This month hasn't been great so far, however my eating habits have changed for the better. Even if I'm not having a clean day, this still only means that I'll eat clean then go out for a meal in the evening. I haven't seen my trainer recently because she went on holiday for 2 weeks, and I can't get to the gym until the 20th, but I'm sure I've lost body fat; half an inch from my waist and half an inch from my hips.

 

4.

Between Christmas and New Year, I'm doing a house check for a potential hound owner! I'm pleased to be involved with my favourite charity again - Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare.

 

 

In more rubbish news, Ernest had a brief visit to hospital from Saturday to Wednesday as a result of being kicked. The worry was that the kicks were over his joints, on the leg which was fractured in January, however there is no infection. There is bruising on one ligament but he only needs box resting for two weeks; hopefully I'll be able to ride on Christmas Day, as is tradition.

 

I'd better go, I have two assignments due in next Tuesday; a 3500 extended essay on Women's Writing in the 18th Century and 2000 words on Literature of Sexuality: In Search of the Normal.

 

xxxxxxx