Notes by Nectar

I went back to the gym on Sunday morning for the first time since Tuesday the week before. I’d had flu and took it easy for a few days. I began with a 5-minute warmup on the cross-trainer and some stretches. After that I began on the treadmill. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to pick up where I left off with the 10k Runner app, so I went back to Week 5 Day 1:

• Warm up x 5 min
• Run 5 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 6 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 5 min
• Cool down x 5 min

I alternated between 6 km/h and 7.2 km/h. I managed to do the first run, and struggled with the second and third ones. I think I was just tired, but in the last run I just wanted to walk really fast at 6.8 km/h, but in the last 2 minutes I put the speed back up to 7. 2 km/h.

On Monday morning I had a session with Pete. He said the session wouldn’t be too bad (ha!) and my only cardio would be at the beginning as I was warming up on the treadmill. I walked for 10 minutes at a speed of 5.6 km/h, starting with an incline of 1% and then increasing it each minute by 1% until I was walking at an incline of 10%. I did some stretches while Pete told me about the circuit I’d be doing:

• Chest press x 12 (with 10-lb weights)
• Tricep pullovers x 12 (with 10-lb weights)
• Tricep dips x 12
• Abdominal knee in/out x 12
• Bent over row x 12 (15-lb weights)
• Sumo squats x 12 (20-lb weight)
• Deadlifts x 12 (15-lb weights)
• Side bends x 12 (10-lb weight in the first set, 15-lb weight in the second and third sets)
• Lateral pulldown x 12
• Shoulder press x 12 (10-lb weights in the first set, one 15-lb weight in the second and third sets)
• Glute bridges x 12
• Abdominal toe touches x 12

I found the tricep pullovers quite hard. And the tricep dips after the pullovers were quite hard too. In the first set, I found the 10-lb weight for the side bends too light, so Pete gave me heavier weights in the subsequent sets. On the other hand, I found the 10-lb weights for the shoulder press too heavy in the first set, so Pete gave me lighter weights in the second and third sets. On the whole, though, it really wasn’t too bad.

I did a few stretches after that and was done.

I woke up on Tuesday with really sore triceps. I was fine everywhere else! I went back to the gym – I warmed up on the cross-trainer for 5 minutes, did a few stretches and then carried on with Week 5 Day 2 of the 10k runner app:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Run x 5 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 8 min
• Walk x 5 min
• Run x 5 min
• Cool down x 5 min

I struggled again – in the last 5-minute run, I walked (fast) some of the way, but not for long.

My triceps were still sore on Wednesday morning and I had another session with Pete. I started off with a 10-minute warmup on the treadmill:

• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 30 s, walk x 30 s (x 4 min)
• Run x 3 min

When I finished, Pete said it looked like ‘a piece of cake’. ‘Not a very tasty one,’ I responded. After some stretches, I began with this circuit:

• Jumping jacks x 50
• Farmer’s walk x 8 lengths of the gym
• Rest x 1 min
• Repeat two more times

The farmer’s walk was simply walking holding a dumbbell in each hand. I started with 15-lb weights, but moved up to 20-lb weights in the second and third set. It doesn’t sound difficult but after 50 jumping jacks I could feel it in my legs. What I did notice was that I didn’t have to stop at all while doing the jumping jacks – I did all 50 straight through each time!

After a water break, I did a Tabata circuit:

• Combined squat/shoulder press x 20 s (3-kg weights)
• Rest x 10 s
• Combined reverse lunge/bicep curl x 20 s (3-kg weights)
• Rest x 10 s
• Heartbeat squat x 20 s (one 3-kg weight)
• Rest x 10 s
• Side lunge x 20 s (one 3-kg weight)
• Rest x 10 s
• Repeat

When I was doing the heartbeat squats, I had to really control my abs so I didn’t fall over! After some more water I did an abs circuit:

• Single leg raise x 10
• Russian twists x 10 (10-lb weight)
• Abdominal toe touches x 10

I then did a Tabata circuit on the cross-trainer:

• Sprint x 20 s
• Easy x 10 s
• Repeat seven more times (4 min total)

Ugh – that was horrible! Another abs circuit followed:

• Hanging leg raises x 10
• Kneeling side bends x 10 on each side (alternating)
• Abdominal toe touches x 10

I did another Tabata circuit on the cross-trainer:

• Easy x 30 s
• Sprint x 30 s
• Repeat three more times (4 min total)

It was easier than the earlier cross-trainer circuit! I thought I was done after that last cross-trainer circuit but I had another abs circuit to do:

• Abdominal knee in/out x 10
• Standing elbow to knee twist x 10 (on each side)
• Abdominal toe touches x 10

Yay! I was done! I did some stretches and went home.

On Thursday I went to a Hatha Flow class at Eco Yoga Sanctuary. There were three other people in the class and it was a teacher I’d never had before. I hadn’t been to yoga in 3 weeks and I was feeling quite tight, especially around my hips. It wasn’t too strenuous but I really enjoyed it and I felt so much better afterwards.

I did Week 5 Day 3 of the 10k Runner app on Friday morning. I did a 5-minute warmup on the bike first (someone was using the cross-trainer) and some stretches. Week 5 Day 3 consisted of:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Run x 8 min
• Walk x 5 min
• Run x 8 min
• Cool down x 5 min

During the second run I took the speed down to 6.8 km/h, but just for 30 seconds. I varied the speed the rest of the time between 7 and 7.5 km/h. While I was on the treadmill, there was a woman in the gym who was using the weights machine – and each time she would finish a set, she would release the weights with a huge clash. It was so irritating!

I didn’t do my regular beach walk on Saturday evening – I was so hungover and I just wanted to get into bed after I’d come home from lunch at Purobeach with some friends.

Total distance covered this week? I also included my 10-minute warmup from my Wednesday session with Pete. That’s a run too, right?

Low point of the week? I had a lot of vodka on Friday night and felt like crap on Saturday – which led to me having a Coke and a hot dog with fries for lunch.

High point of the week? Doing six workouts this week. Also, I was at a friend’s place on Friday afternoon and she told me my legs were looking amazing! In fact, she was inspired to go for a run on the beach the following morning…

Weight loss? My Libra weight-tracking app now tells me I’ll hit my goal weight of 65 kg by the end of August this year.

Read more updates here.