Flexibility Week: Day 1

This week I'm starting a new fitness challenge - I'm going to be trying to improve my flexibilty. After my 10k race at the weekend I felt so stiff, all I wanted to do was stretch and massage every muscle in my body. So my mission this week is to improve my flexibility. I'll be concentrating on a few muscle groups and combining exercise, yoga, static stretching, massage and diet to see what results I can get.

I need a start point, so I've chosen a few stretches which I'm going to use as a test and some exercises to see how effective my increased flexibility is. I've done them today and will do again at the end of the week to see if there's been a significant change.

So, starting with the flexibility testing then. I used the following video as a guide and scored myself out of 5 each side for each of the leg tests and out of 10 for the last two. There's a maximum of 25 for each leg and 70 overall.

	Left	Right	Total
Knees to chest	4	4	8
Leg in air	3	4	7
Leg out to side	3	3.5	6.5
Leg over to side	1	1	2
Leg bent and over	2	3	5
Down dog	4		4
Kneeling back	9		9
Totals	13	15.5	41.5

Before the stretches I also did some plyometrics. If you're not sure what it is, don't worry - I didn't either until recently! Basically, it's jumping, but hardcore jumping. I did two sets of eight for each jump and scored out of five for how easy I found the exercise (with one being hard and 5 being easy) and five for form, a total of 10 points possible for each jump, 40 overall.

	Ease	Form	Total
Squat Jump	3	1	4
Standing Long Jump	2	2	4
Diagonal Jumps	1	1	2
Lateral Jumps	1	1	2
			12

So why not give these a go yourself, see how you score, then join me back here to analyse my results.

Night night. x

Race Report: Race For Life Norwich - 10k

Yesterday was what it had all been building up to, the Race For Life 10k (although, as we were reminded just before the start, it is not a race). We were told to turn up an hour before the start time of 10am to "soak up the atmosphere" but I got there at about 9.30am - still too early in my opinion. I'm not a big fan of the tutu's and fairy wings and face painting. I have relatives who've died of cancer so there's no need to show me the teary film of sadness. And I certainly do not want to join in with a zumbathon warm-up. So yeah, I really soaked up the atmosphere there...

Ali Bunn - number 1 before the race even started...
(pic from Heart)

Race Prep

So, tomorrow is the big day. After months of training and anticipation I'm finally going to be doing a 10k race! This past week I've been doing a few things to get me ready physically and, tonight, I'll be starting the mental preparation. So, here's how to prepare for race day.

Hydrate - This doesn't just mean drinking lots the day of the race. I have spent all week making sure I get a couple of litres of water every day. I'm not going to be drinking much on race day because I have a slight phobia of port-a-loos so it's extra specially important to get ready now.

Eat - Obviously carb loading isn't hugely important for a mere 10k but eating right this week is. I've been keeping with my regular routine of porridge in the morning, a light lunch  and a good square meal in the evening. Lots of fresh fruit and veg with brown rice and wholewheat pasta will give me all the energy I need.


Exercise - this aspect needs to strike a fine balance. Too little exercise and you'll not be feeling tip-top for the big day, too much and you'll be knackered. This week I've stuck with yoga or a light core workout every day and a short run on Wednesday.


Kit - I'll be getting all my kit together today and laid out ready for tomorrow morning. Always stick to worn-in kit to avoid unexpected mis-haps. Trainers, socks, shorts, t-shirt, cap, water, watch. I don't want to listen to music on my way round, Race For Life events tend to be full of atmosphere and I don't want to miss that!


Plan - I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to be able to run the whole way round. Persistent leg injuries have scuppered my training somewhat. My plan is to run the first 5k, walk the next 2k and run the last 3k. That way I should finish in under an hour. If I can run further, I will, but I won't be too disappointed.


So, that's it, I'm ready. I'm also very, very nervous! Wish me luck... x

Review: Jabra Rhythm

I've become a bit of an audio-book junkie recently - on the bus, out running, at work... when the boss isn't looking. Up until now i only had the headphones which came with my HTC and they're really uncomfortable.

Recently I was sent a set of Jabra Rhythm headphones to review. I've never heard of the make before, but a look around the website shows they do a pretty big range of headsets.

The earphones fit really well in my ears (something I've struggled with before) and stay put through a 4 mile run - although there is an over-the-ear sports version if you want something solely for that. The sound quality is brilliant and as they have sound isolating ear buds (in three different sizes) even running round the ring road or sitting next to the screaming kid on the bus doesn't interrupt my Potter-a-thon. I do have to be careful crossing the road though - can't hear cars coming either. Another point of note is that, even at full volume, other people can't hear much of the music you're listening to so you're not going to bug the rest of the world with your 90's brit pop anthems.

All I need now is to get me an iPhone so I can start playing Zombies Run!

An apple a day...

It's a family trait - we hate going to the Doctor's. I get a panicky about the fact they're only practising medicine.

A long week...

Unfortunately the first fitness challenge did not go brilliantly for me.

Fitness challenge update & some thoughts

We're over half way through the fitness challenge week and I bet you're all wondering how I'm getting on. I'm not going to lie, doing 30mins exercise each day is hard work.