Hello lovely people. I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was great. Full of good food (of the cake variety, of course) and some killer workouts.
I went to the gym as usual on Saturday morning to go to the spin class. I’ve been going to spin three times a week now for a few weeks and each session is run by someone different, which is great because it makes it very varied. Sprints and hill climbs are always going to happen but sometimes the sprints are short and sharp, sometimes long and YOU WANT TO CRY, sometimes you do hovers for endless minutes (where you’re hovering just below the saddle keeping your upper body still – a killer for your quads) and sometimes you use weights and hold them above your head of do a little shoulder routine. At least it’s varied, whether or not I enjoy it is another story!
After spin I did an hour long leg and core workout. I found a little corner of the gym and got myself a bunch of bits of pieces.
I really pushed myself and worked hard. I did the following three times:
- Crab walk with resistance band around ankles (10 steps each side x3)
- Plank on bosu ball (the ball side down so it was unbalanced) 1minute
- Squats with resistance band just above knee (helps keep my knees aligned) 25, then 15 pulses
- Russian twists (30 with 8kg weight)
- Wall sits (3-4mins…4 mins is a new PB for me!)
- Side-lying clams (30 per leg)
- Wide squats with 8kg weight (25)
From a different day, this was me about to do the resistant squat
Honestly, after the workout my bum and quads were SO sore. I literally spent the rest of the day hobbling around at home.
Obviously not the best idea the day before my first proper come-back run! What an idiot. I’m not sure how I felt this was a good idea??
I was exhausted for the rest of the day, which was quite nice as we had nothing planned and I felt quite happy to lie on the sofa watching TV with Ben or reading my Runners World magazine.
Sunday morning (drum roll please) I went for my first ‘proper’ run in over 6 weeks. I was allowed to run 3-4miles so obviously I went for 4 😉 I put my Garmin on, did a zillion dynamic stretches and got out there.
How did it go? Absolutely fine. No knee issues or anything. In fact, it felt pretty normal. The only thing that sucked was how flipping hard it was. I got the Garmin HR monitor for Christmas and this was my first time trying it out. My heart rate (and how it actually felt) was telling me I was at a ‘tempo’ sort of speed – a sustained effort but not flat out. But I was between 8-8.30mins/mile. Tempo pace used to be 7.30mins/mile for me.
I clearly have a long way to go! Though I’m secretly hoping it was my super tough leg routine that didn’t help things…though I have to say, it felt more like my breathing was holding me back than my legs. But then I realised – I AM RUNNING WITH NO ISSUES. I had no issues post-run. I ran 4 miles and it felt fine. Who cares about speed? Speed will return. I am just over the moon that things seem to be back to normal. TOUCH WOOD!!!
After the run and shower, my mum popped over for coffee and we had a nice catch up. Her and my dad had been to Chichester the day before and I had made a cheeky request for them to pick Ben and me some cupcakes up from the a lovely bakery called the Swallow Bakery.
I adore their cupcakes. So pretty and SO tasty. I had a red velvet (left) and Ben had a bannoffee (right).
I put mine on my very selfish cake stand – it can only fit one cupcake on it! Hehe. And then promptly ate it obviously 😉
Cupcakes, running, and lovely times with my family and husband. THIS is what weekends are about.
Do you prefer cupcakes or cakes? I prefer cake (you can cut bigger slices)…but you can’t beat a good cupcake now and again.
Have you ever lost your fitness or speed? How hard was it to get it back?
Do you do spin? Is it quite varied in the routine?
I love eating cakes, but making cupcakes – there’s something about creating delicate mini masterpieces that’s great fun! 🙂
Yes I agree. You can really go to town and make them very pretty!
I love the sound of that workout and WOOOOOOHOOOOOO on the running!
Thanks Tamzin 😀
That cake looks fab! Love the little cake stand. I really enjoy spin, I just do it once a week as that is more than enough for me. It is quite varied, the one I did on Sunday was a killer!
Yeah I’ll definitely be dropping spin to once a week, if that, when I’m back into running. It’s getting a bit tough to keep doing it three times a week.
What gorgeous looking cakes Anna! I’m more a slice of cake girl but sometimes a cupcake totally hits the spot 🙂
I know exactly what you mean!
Those cupcakes look amazing! I’m not a big cake girl, but I do like a cupcake every now and than. The workouts you posted sound tough. I’m happy your run went so smooth. I’m looking at day 3 of my post-op microdiscectomy. I walked around my house about 30 times today. Yay! I can’t wait to get back into the gym once cleared. Baby steps. To think I ran a HM a couple months ago. Its amazing how we view things when they are taken from us. This is an opportunity to change and find better balance in life.
I’ve come back many times from having long lay-offs and speed is always the last thing to catch up. Just savor the run and worry about the speed later. Be thankful you can run!! 🙂
Oh I’m glad it went well, Hilary! Definitely baby steps but I reckon this will be a blip in your fitness career. You’ll be back at it in no time.
Exactly, speed is not the thing I care about!
Well done on your run, that’s brilliant news! I reckon you’ll be surprised how quickly your fitness will come back once you get back into a routine 🙂
I hope so 🙂
This is brill news!! The running fitness/speed will come back in no time, and your strength work will help with that too.
That’s the plan! I can’t believe I used to do no strength at all. No wonder I was injured.
That cupcake looks delicious!! I have lost my fitness before and I think it’s easier to get it back because your body remembers what it feels like. Ooh bosu ball… need to try that out!!
Oh good to hear. I’m hoping muscle memory and all that jazz will help speed things along 🙂
Firstly, I don’t think I have ever tried a red velvet cake before but they look and sound delicious. Secondly, every time I read your blog I feel as though I don’t get to experience cake often enough! I’m tempted to whip up some cupcakes tonight! Although they will be nothing on the two you’ve got in your post. 🙁
I completely lost my speed both times I was injured last year, although strangely I think I remained relatively fit? So I can definitely feel your pain. I’m only just starting to see my times sliding back towards where they were pre-injury. I think the best thing is to put your watch round your leg so you can’t keep checking it and run on feel alone. I know I was stressing myself out a lot about my lack of speed when I first returned and this seemed to help. But Yay! that you’re running again. 🙂
Red velvet is the way forward – it’s like vanilla but with a hint of chocolate. I think it’s important to eat cake every week (at least for me!). It’s my way of saying “life is pretty good when there is cake.”
Love that cupcake stand!
I have still never tried red velvet! Must change that this year!