Meticulous

I'm lucky. I'm very meticulous with most things that I do, and this has translated through to stuff like training logs (from as far back as 1996 when I first applied to be a firefighter). I look back on those training logs now (actually, it was more of an "exercise book" way back then) and am not only very pleased NOT to have managed to get the job, but also very pleased that I was so honest at the time about how hard training was and how often I got colds through not resting enough. I had a hose (stolen by my boyfriend at the time from work) and I would roll the hose out and back up again 5 times, timing how quick I could do it. I had the bleep test on a tape and would run outside my mams house in between 2 chalked marks 20 metres apart, trying to get past level 9.6 (I only ever did this twice, once in training and once on the day of the fire brigade test).
Back then I had the very first Powerbreathe on the market. It was 50 quid... a fortune to me at the time, but essential as I needed to reach a certain level to pass the lung capacity test. I also had a peak flow meter, which my mam gave me. Right before my test I could blow 650 on it, last week that had diminished to 550. Apparently that's quite good, but I know I can do better. My current Powerbreathe is a very snazzy digital thing that I bought last year for the small fortune of £300. Why haven't I used it before now? It gave me a sore throat because of the sharp intake of breath needed to move the bloody valve. I started using it a fortnight ago at a load of 65 and this week moved it up to 70. Yesterday morning the last 3 breaths were tough, this morning it wasn't so bad. The sore throat has gone now, I must be used to it already. It's supposed to be "dumbells for your lungs" and this morning I could tell I'd had a workout!

Another thing I have done today is look through the last couple of years of training. Again, as I am so blatantly honest about how good or bad training goes, I noticed from all of the good training sessions that I started them very slowly, with the intention of taking the whole run easy. Each time I did that, I got faster and faster as the run went on. That coincides with the fact that EIA mostly occurs when not enough of a warm up is done. My very worst runs have always happened with no warm up at all, or starting a run far too fast. It's always my chest that hurts first too. It really has made me think... I've been a bit of a numpty really!

I also concede that every time I start to count calories, I become ill with a cold or become very lethargic. Every time I get like this, I think sod it, I'm not going to count calories anymore but then a few months pass and I forget what it does to me, and start all over again. I'm a bit of a foodie, and I need to maybe just eat healthy but not worry about the amount... eat as required and all that!

So, I am very glad that I have all of this information at my fingertips. I just need to remember to read it more often to remind myself how NOT to do some things!

I think this weekend has been a bad one for a lot of runners. I have read stuff on Fetch and Facebook from 4 or 5 runners who have also abandoned LSR's and are panicking about up and coming marathons. Next week will be better for us all though, I'm sure of that!