Lazy in Rio an Niteroi

Well I am back in the UK now and I was quite lazy after I left Buzios, not when it comes to exercise but when it comes to writing my blog. The more eagle eyed would have noticed my total running numbers updating but no text.

Our hotel in Rio was right on the Ipanema beach with a nice long flat road out front that I ran on twice, once in late afternoon for 5km and once at 7:30 am when it was 26C and I was a ball of sweat even before I crossed the road. Needless to say this run was slow and painful.

I never ran on the road in Niteroi but they did have a very nice gym where i ran just over 4km and cycled for 20 minutes whilst Bee swam followed by nice long sit by the pool.

Sorry this is short and to teh poitn but I am writing it a few days after our return.

Goodbye to Buzios

On our last evening in Buzios I went for one more run, the plan to be quite a long one but this did not turn out to be the case. During the day we went for a walk into town and found the correct way I should have gone the day before so started off down this path. Small issue was it was quite steep downhill and by the bottom i could feel something wrong with back of my knee.

I therefore just went for a simple run round town and stopped 3.5km later back at the hotel. Luckily i do not seem to have done any damage but better safe than sorry on what is probably my last run for a few days.

Fighting the Holiday Laziness

It is only the second day and I started to find excuses not to exercise, today's was due to rain all day the very uneven roads would be slippery and dangerous, this on top of spending all day laying down either by the pool or in the room meant no run for me.

But then in a sudden moment of madness I jumped up got changed and left the front of the hotel with a plan of going the long way into town and back just for 1kmn to get the legs going. Well one wrong turn in first 100m took me back to the sea front where I was yesterday. Obviously not too keen to face the hills again I went the other way towards the Pier and the town. This way was much easier and after zig zagging myself through the streets i finally found myself back at the hotel a full 3km later and feeling good for it and nowhere near as tired as the day before. Not sure if this was because the roads were flatter or because it was two days out of two.

Greetings from Brazil

After a very long journey including a 3 hour stop in Paris we arrived in Brazil where we waited what seemed an eternity for our luggage to turn up, not helped by someone removing one of our bags and leaving to one side. The flight was quite uneventful except I managed to eat something either on the plane or in the very very bad food court in Paris that disagreed with my stomach and caused me to spend more time than usual in the little room, and I do not mean the cockpit flying the plane.
At the risk of turning my exercise blog into a holiday blog we have started our own holiday blog which can be found here . Therefore, as I am writing here I must have done some exercise; on our first day after our walk into town the clouds came over a bit and I felt all energetic so after dropping Bee off by the pool I went for a little run. First thing to note; Buzios is not flat and still quite hot, so I managed about 1.25 km and decided to stop half way up a hill and return. The roads and pavements are not very even and quite hard so I was please to have done what I did followed by a dunk in the pool and Bee laughing at my red face. I think I will try and do a number of little runs to get my legs used to running n the road and to keep some level of fitness until I return, but let’s see how successful that is once I get into the routine of being lazy and eating too much.

First Real Road Run

On a very nice spring evening after work I stopped on my way home at a park near the office scaring the wildlife in my shorts. This was the start of what has been my longest run in terms of distance and time.

The path was very uneven and after 1km my legs started to tighten up but kept on pushing at an average pace of 9km/h for just a little over 4km in 27 minutes.

At the end of the end of the run i was not going to be ill and from a fitness point of view could have carried on. However, I did stop when i did as I had a small pain in my knee and all my leg muscles had become very tight. So thinking it was a good first step and that i should stop. The morning after is now interesting as i have very achy legs as if it was the first time they ever exercised, so just goes to show the difference between a gym and the road.

First to Four

On a nice warm summers day I chose to spend my lunch time in the gym again. Nothing too out of the ordinary except I did go past the 3km mark to get to 4km, in a few seconds under 24.5 minutes.

I completed the first 3km in 18 minutes but then had to slow down slightly from the 24minute pace I was on for the 4k. I did require a small rest after the run but i have been in a much worse state in the past - the proof of the pudding will be if I can do it again in the morning.

If at First ......

Today was a tale of two gyms.  My day started off by dragging myself to the gym in half a mind to just go at lunch but no I should go this morning as I was up and sort of awake.  All I did was the worst 2km run I had ever done.  It was painful and very not enjoyable, I had planned to do 3km+ but it was just not happening.  When I did get off the treadmill I had to sit on the weight machine behind me a fight not to be ill.

I then spent all morning feeling really angry at myself and in a grumpy mood because the morning had been so bad, so at lunch time I went back to try again. Much much better the second time.  I only did another 2km as I am still unsure of the knee but this time I could walk off the treadmill and stretch and change.

Not sure if I am just bad at mornings or if it was due to not exercising since the weekend.  Whilst running I tried watching 'The Big Bang Theory' on my iPod, again another disaster as the shelf is quite low and running with my head down gave me a sore neck very quickly - not sure how I will resolve this.

Pounding the Streets

It is the weekend and we are in Basildon for the football (a fantastic 2-0 win over Walsall), and I cannot use the gym in Basildon as it is not affiliated with the one I am a member of so I had to use the free gym on my doorstep.

Putting on my clothes and new gloves i was out to a nice clear but cold spring morning.  As this was the first time I had been on the road for months I was keen to take it nice and slow and easy and see how my knee held up.  In total i did 2km to the paper shop in 12 minutes so at a much better pace than I used to do.  I found running on the road easier than the treadmill as I could vary my pace to take account of incline and when i got a bit tired but on the treadmill it is so much harder to vary speed.

After a brief stop to get the morning paper with everybody in the shop sniggering at me in my tights and a cool down walk back to home I survived pounding the streets for the first time with no obvious damage.

More Fun at the Gym

This morning I was awake with the larks so instead of going to the gym at lunch as planned I jumped in the car when Bee left at 6:30 to go first thing.

Nothing new in the routine today of note, I did 1km on the treadmill at a mix of 12 and 14 km/h just enough to get the heart racing then onto the X-trainer for another 20 minutes. Again, without too much to report, maybe I should have used a higher level or a hills programme.

After about 8 or 9 minutes on the trainer I could feel the back of my knee slightly so after I had finished my time I called it a day and off to work.

Less than 200 days to go

With less than 200 days until the Great North Run I dragged myself to the gym for the first time in a few days due to travelling.

Thursday I changed my routine and went to the gym at lunch time that had a number of benefits, firstly I was much more enthusiastic than first thing in the morning. Also, the televisions show football matches from the night before and not just the morning news. However, it was the football that I blame for me becoming the entertainment to the gym.

The gym is split into two halves facing each other, and I was happily running away minding my own business watching the Newcastle vs Manchester United highlights. The treadmill I was using was at a slight angle to the television and without realising I was running towards the game. It did not take long until I had drifted off the sides of the treadmill where my legs got pulled from under me and I collapsed. I did have the presence of mind to grab the rails and pull myself up and carry on running. Thinking I had got away with it i look up and find all the people in the gym facing me trying not to laugh too hard!

This small hiccup aside I did a good 3km without thinking I was going to die like last and first time I managed that distance.

A Bad Day

Monday morning rolls round and all I want to do is roll around in my bed and not get out. So running very late I make it to the gym and take to the treadmill. It becomes instantly obvious I am not going to go far, one shin hurting and the other knee feeling a bit tender still, so I crack up the speed to 13 and run just the 1km.

I then followed this up on a bike mainly using left leg to try and builder up my weaker side muscles that then left me limping to the changing room and putting what can only be described as a lazy and badly motivated session behind me.