Notes by Nectar

I began the week with Week 4 Day 1 (again) of the 10k Runner app:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Run x 3 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Run x 4 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 4 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 3 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Cool down x 5 min

I was so tired after that and decided to skip the abs exercises.

I had a session with Pete on Monday morning. Instead of the usual 1 km on the treadmill, my warmup was 6 minutes on the cross-trainer:

• Easy pace x 2 min
• 8 km/h x 2 m
• 9-10 km/h x 2 m

I did some stretches and Pete told me I’d be lifting heavy weights. I began with three sets of the first superset:

• Romanian deadlift x 12 (20-lb weights)
• Hamstring curl x 12

That was followed by an abs circuit:

• Mountain climbers x 30
• Toe touches x 30
• Plank x 30 s

The second superset consisted of:

• Lateral pulldown (underhand grip) x 12
• Bicep curl x 12 (10-lb weights)

I did three sets of that and repeated the same abs circuit as before.

The next superset was:

• Goblet squat x 12 (20-lb weight)
• Leg extension x 12 (7 bars)

I did three sets of those two exercises – the leg extension was tougher than usual as Pete had increased the weights on the machine. The bars aren’t marked but I’d imagine they’re 5 kg each? I’m really not sure! After the superset, I did the same abs circuit as before.

I was surprised when Pete told me we were done after that! I did some stretches and went home.

My hamstrings were really sore on Tuesday, but I went to the gym and did Week 4 Day 2 of the 10k Runner app:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Run x 3 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Run x 5 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 5 min
• Walk x 3 min
• Run x 3 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Cool down x 5 min

Phew! I managed it! I did one round of the abs circuit that Pete had told me to do: 10 hanging knee raises, 10 side bends on each side, 20 toe touches. I only did one set because I suddenly remembered that I wanted to do the 28-day ab challenge on the Blogilates site. I don’t expect to do them on the days I have sessions with Pete but I could easily incorporate them on the other days. So on Tuesday, I did the exercises for days 1 and 2: single straight leg stretch and criss-cross (aka bicycle crunches). I did 56 of each (28 on each side). I could really feel it in my abs.

I had another session with Pete on Wednesday morning. I warmed up with a 1 km walk/run on the treadmill:

• Walk x 100 m
• Run x 400 m
• Walk x 100 m
• Run x 400 m

I did some stretches, had some water and began the first circuit:

• Tricep dips x 12
• Shoulder front raise x 12 (3-kg weights)
• Wood chopper x 10 on each side (10-lb weight)
• Jumping jacks x 30
• Repeat two more times, no breaks

For the second exercise, I began in the same position as if I were going to do bicep curls, but instead of pivoting from the elbow, I’d pivot from the shoulder moving my whole arm up and forward (does that make sense??). My arms were pretty tired after all those exercises… I also had a weird pain around my belly button which I’d noticed over the last few days but couldn’t figure out what it was. It seemed very sensitive whenever anything came into contact with the skin around it.

I had some water and a 1-minute rest. The next set was a Tabata set:

• Shuttle runs x 20 s
• Rest x 10 s
• Farmer’s walk x 20 s (20-lb weights)
• Rest x 10 s
• Repeat for 4 minutes

I had some more water and moved on to the next group of exercises:

• Incline single-leg pushups x 12
• Curtsey lunges x 20 (alternating 10 on each side)
• Hip rolls x 20 (alternating 10 on each side)
• Cross trainer x 30 kcal

For the single-leg pushups, I leaned on the chest press so my body was at an angle, lifted up one leg and did 6 pushups and then swapped legs for the next 6 pushups. On the cross-trainer I had to burn 30 kcal, no matter how long it took – it took about 2.5 minutes each time.

After that I did some stretches and went home.

I woke up on Thursday and the area around my belly button was really sore – worse than the day before. I’d felt it getting worse the evening before and stupidly consulted Dr Google which freaked me out (hernia, appendicitis, all the worst things you can imagine). So instead of going to the gym, I went to the doctor. She told me I had an infection and gave me a prescription for a cream and some antibiotics. I asked her how it could have happened but she said that it was quite common. Really? In my 40+ years I’ve never had an infected belly button. The only thing I’ve done differently over the last couple of weeks was go swimming with the kids. Could that be it??

I didn’t work out again over the weekend – I was in Abu Dhabi at a friend’s wedding…

Total distance covered this week? 6.75 km (not including the warmups during my session with Pete).

Weight loss? Slowly moving in the right direction (I didn’t have scales over the weekend).

Read more updates here.