Week 2. PT, Diet/Nutrition and Baths!!!

Well I was fortunate enough to be off work last week and booked my PT sessions to go during the day. My first session was on Wednesday at 11.30. Now the week before I was in a relatively deserted gym as only Freshers were on campus and most of them were too busy partying. But last week I arrived to find the gym full of 18-21 year old fit, athletic girls. Oh and some boys were there too. It felt like I'd turned up at a Club 18-30s resort with my grown up children. Not that I have children. I warmed up on one of ten cross trainers - the others being used by 9 ponytailed young ladies all "glowing" whereas I was most definitely sweating. Lol. There's a saying that "if you don't know what you are doing, at least look the part". Sadly, in a gym, I have neither the knowledge nor the look. Not yet anyway!!

Lee had 2 circuit sessions lined up for me. Boy did they hurt. Again it was high intensity with a full circuit followed by a minutes rest then repeated twice more before moving onto the second set. The last bit of each circuit was a one minute sprint on the treadmill. Well I've always hated running but now I REALLY hate running. As usual I was utterly shattered by the end. Also I was no longer aware of the much younger people working out around me anymore as all my sinuses seemed to have exploded inside my head causing my ears to feel like I was underwater, my peripheral vision to feel distorted and my brain to only be able to concentrate on what Lee was telling me.

I heard a description of seasickness today which sums up my feelings during these training sessions. First you think you are going to die. Then you hope you are going to die. Then unfortunately you realise you are not going to die. And I've had PT training AND seasickness in the last week.
Fortunately Lee has been nothing but brilliant in encouraging me and this has made me want to give everything. I always finish with a warm down and stretches and by the time I leave my heart rate has reduced and my breathing is back to normal. Once again I want to thank Exeter University Sports Faculty for making it possible for me to do this training.


http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/


Which brings me onto baths. I've never had so many of them!! 2-3 a week. I've lived in this house for nearly 3 years and probably had 3 baths in that time. I'm a shower person through and through. So I've forgotten the art of a good bath. There's a certain skill to getting the right temperature. Enough Radox but not too much that the bubbles overflow. The time it takes for your bath to be ready. And then there is the problem of testing the water. A toe in the water seems to be standard practice. But I've discovered the skin on my toes is somewhat thicker than, shall I say, more delicate parts of me. So my rule of thumb now is if my toe can tolerate the heat keep adding cold. Far less painful to warm up a bath than do that frantic, splashing, clambering movement to raise yourself back out before a potential injury to the Crown Jewels.
Then there is the problem of what to do once you are in. In a shower you wash, rinse and get out. Bath etiquette suggests you should lie there for an indeterminate time - until the water gets cold? Who really knows? But I'm not into that. I get settled and then start thinking how soon is too soon to get out again. But all joking aside they seem to be helping as I've not suffered DOMS too badly yet.


Friday was my second session at 9am. This seems to be a popular time for all the student lads to go for a workout. I did a similar session to Wednesday and felt slightly more self conscious lifting my puny weights compared to the ones they were going for. As I walked past them I gave a little kiss of my barely existent guns. (Not really. Lol. But in my head I scored a silent victory).




Friday lunchtime I had a Skype call with Morna Jardine who is doing my nutritional programme. She can be found at


http://vital-nutrition.co.uk/about-us/.


Now I don't think Morna had realised how much I talk as the hour she had set aside for this turned into 90 minutes but there was a lot to cover. I've had nutritional advice before and essentially know what's good and bad for me but reading magazines and talking to lots of different people there are such conflicting opinions about methods, latest thinking etc. I've agreed that I will only take advice from Morna for the duration of this programme and feel this is important to achieve what she and I are aiming for.


So it's onwards and upwards going forward still highly motivated towards another week of training, eating little and often, working and sleeping. I will be at that start line for www.rocksolidrace.com on March 16th next year.


Finally I had a great weekend with friends at a beautiful big house by the sea in Hope Cove in Devon. Fantastic sunsets, a firework display on nearby Burgh Island watched from our balcony, a fun afternoon picnic on the beach and a roast beef dinner before returning home again on Sunday.




But that is it now. 2 big weekends that were already in the diary before I decided to embark on this quest. But from now until Christmas total dedication to the cause.


Best regards
A hopefully ever decreasing Dave.
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Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom