WEEK 4

Monday – Still didn’t feel 100% from illness in the week before, but played a few hours of football at low intensity to warm up for the competition on Tuesday.

Tuesday – 5-a-side competition, 9 minute games of high intesity and very physical football because it was played on a small pitch in a cage. My fitness was good and was as good as any other player, although i’m not the best at football I was proud of my performance and our team got to the semi-finals.

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – 10km Run in just over an hour, Workout and Press up Challenge… Here is my workout as it stands…

Friday -Rest

Saturday – Press Up Challenge

Sunday – Rest

Overall i’m not happy with this week, I have rested too much and should be getting in 3 runs a week! I feel I have been slacking lately but actions speak louder than words, next week I’ll be back to university and back into a schedule.

Week 3

Monday – Was in London with my girlfriend today, and was a rest day after my race.

Tuesday – In London again today, but came back and did my workout in the evening, was hard to stay motivated for this but felt good.

Wednesday – Went to ‘Thorpe Park’ today, an amusement park – but came home and did my intended push ups – no run though…

Thursday – Planned to do my run today, but was plagued with sickness and diarrhoea – nothing for me today… only had some pineapple to eat all day, this is how rough I felt…

Friday – Still felt rough, nothing again…

Saturday – Felt better today, went to work and was too tired and not 100% so didn’t go for a run…

Sunday – Illness came back during Saturday night and vomited early hours this morning so nothing today.

A terrible week plagued by illness, it is monday morning as I write this and I am feeling better – went and played a bit of football this morning and plan to play a bit this afternoon too and have a 5-a-side tournament tomorrow.

I feel terrible for not running for a whole week, probably the longest I’ve gone without in about 6 months, I miss the buzz that I get from it and hope that I regain my health this week, I will return strong, I know I will…

Week 2

Monday & Tuesday – Resting ankle injury.

Wednesday – Light jog / walk for approx 5.5km, ankle hurt going uphill but eased ankle back into training quite well. Push up challenge and Workout also.

Thursday – Rest

Friday – Push up challenge and Workout – felt strong!

Saturday – Rest

Sunday – “The Gauntlet” 5km – Hills, Mud, Hills & Mud – A good run with my brother and dad, overall result was 84th out of 401 runners and as a team we came 3rd.

We started on the front line and it was immediately downhill – was weary of my ankle but kept my eyes on the ground ahead of me and got down it well… We started off fast as were hundreds behind us and didn’t want to get stuck behind people when we got to the mud pits…

The first challenge was a big hill – we kept up a reasonable pace up the hill but was already breathing heavily, after a large mud pit – we fell into a comfortable pace and recovered from the harsh start…

There were steep muddy hills and instead of waiting for others on the easy route we kept pushing eachother to take over the other contestants taking longer on certain obstacles, even if that way was tougher, muddier or steeper…

When we approached the hill leading up to the finish I got the team together and pushed them to sprint with me, we all finished strong and I know I definetely gave it all if not 95% of what I could give, my ankle was not a problem, just a small ache.

An ok week overall, week 3 I’ll be in London for a few days so my training may suffer a little, but I’ll end the week strong, that I promise you – and week 4 will be my best yet and I’ll post my workout routine and where I am on the 100 press up challenge…

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget, live strong.

Week 1

This post will explain how my first week went,

Monday – Felt strong at the beginning of the week and ate well, did the intended push ups and workout which I have worked out to be as follows:

• Burpees x 10
• Crunches 2 x 50
• Tricep Dips 2 x 30
• Bicep Curls 2 x 35 (8.8kg dumbells)
• Dumbell Shrugs 1 x 40, 1 x 20
• Sit Ups 2 x 20
• Burpees x 10
• Bicep Curls x 45

2 mins inbetween sets and 1 min inbetween reps.

Tuesday – Had work early today and did the delivery, which is a lot of lifting so just did yoga as planned, eating was healthy and balanced.

Wednesday – Did push ups as part of the 100  push up challenge, also did 6km cycling, 6.6km run and 6km cycling back – wasn’t as far as I had intended but found a nice spot to run and was also wearing a back pack… I think I will continue to go to this area to run as was enjoyable. I also challenged myself to go through a tunnel I saw, and my bag got stuck whilst I was at full squatting capacity – really challenged my leg muscles but I pulled through and was proud. Eating was healthy and balanced.

Thursday – Swimming, intended to do 50 lengths but fell short and did 35 because of constant cramping in my foot. Eating was healthy and balanced.

Friday – Did intended push ups where I failed but it is kind of expected in the program and will have to be repeated. Also did a 5km run in 26:26 and my workout. Eating was bad today, subway and then indian for dinner! Not good enough…

Saturday – Rest… Eating was healthy and balanced.

Sunday – Ups and Downs! Did my PB 10k in 50:07 in the 6mile sport relief run which actually was 6.25miles a little over 10km. Me and my brother started off faster than we both trained and expected to go with the hype of the race starting, we stuck with it the entire first mile and I decided that I wanted to keep my pace under 8minutes 15secs a mile, even though I was only used to a pace of 9minute miles… I gradually got further and further ahead of my brother but he still finished with a very respectable time of 57minutes beating his own PB. (I’m on the left with the earphones in pic below).

The middle laps were the hardest, knowing what was ahead – but overtaking others who had obviously not trained for the event or just intended to walk spurred me on, I overlapped some people at least 4 times and this felt good and I felt strong. For over a lap and a half I based my pace on a man and his son who were going at a good pace to suit me, but I felt I had a little more in me so I overtook and didn’t see them again… I finished with a 50m or so sprint and believe I finished in 1st place out of the people doing 6 miles we started with (about 10 of them) however there was no timing system in place which was a little annoying…

A couple of hours after the race I went to play football, where I was going to take it easy and just go in defence or goal – I started a little hastily because I am too competitive and started to get cramp in BOTH calves, so then I thought “right, just take it easy you don’t want an injury”… Someone intercepted the ball and had loads of space ahead of him so I went in for a slide tackle and just hit his leg and my foot landed awkwardly, it was agony! Now i have a swollen painful ankle but luckily it has no breaks… so likely that it is a sprain…

NEXT WEEK…

Well it is monday now and I can barely walk so have to focus on keeping my eating healthy and not just lounge around eating crap all day and feeling sorry for myself, I considered push ups but I am going to rest for today and tomorrow and just play it by ear, but I will be out running as soon as I can – as I have The Gauntlet on Sunday – 5km muddy obstacle course, I hope it’s better for that as I am really looking forward to it!

Thanks for reading.

The New Beginning…

“It was his initiation, his time in the wild, for he would return to his people a Spartan, or not at all. The wolf begins to circle the boy. Claws of black steel, fur as the dark night … eyes glowing red, jewels from the pit of hell itself. The giant wolf sniffing … savouring the scent of the meal to come. It is not fear that grips him … only a heightened sense of things. Cold air in his lungs … wind-swept pines moving against the coming night. His hands are steady ; his form … perfect”

Hello all and welcome,

My name is Nathan Skipper and I will be writing a weekly blog about my journey to an event which will mean alot to me – and I am aiming high.
The Spartan Beast, 18th November 2012.

I call this post the new beginning because I have already progressed from obese to overweight, and as I type this it sounds even less impressive – I have been congratulating myself for too long now and have become complacent, I’ve lost almost 5 and a half stone since last summer and although i’m not gaining, i’m not losing anymore either and there is more I want gone! So, this is a fresh start to train to become the fittest I can be, as I believe all you have is this one life – and I want to experience being in peak physical condition and even more than that – live life to the full and be healthier and happier.

I’ve thought long and hard about a training plan and have learnt alot about my body through losing this weight, I know what I enjoy and also what  benefits me personally, I will list below what I will be doing to train for this race on a weekly basis to gain a physique and fitness level I will be happy with.

 
Running – an absolute love of mine, even if I don’t feel like going I drag myself outside 3 times a week without fail, and never regret it! This has been key in my weight loss and has genuinely made me a happier person.

1 x 6miles (increasing by 1/2 mile every 2 weeks)

1 x 10km (working on increasing my speed)

1 x 6.5mile run (increasing by 1/2 mile every 2 weeks)

I will also be trying to get friends together at least once a week for football or tennis…

Push Ups – everybody knows that push ups are the ultimate in strength training, I will be doing the 100 push-up challenge which is an iphone app and the program can be found here – I will be doing knuckle press ups as this is less strain on the wrists (I have sissy wrists).

3 x whatever the program throws at me

Yoga – something I have only tried out in the last month however I find it gets rid of little strains you find yourself getting when you are a runner, it helps to stretch out your muscles and relaxes and focuses your mind, I would recommend anyone to try this.

2 x 20minute sessions

Swimming – never been a huge fan of swimming, however I have decided to try it again because it is an awesome all-round exercise.

1 x 50 continuous lengths (increase as I feel comfortable)

Cycling – I hear it’s good for a runner to cycle as it strengthens muscles in your leg you don’t use as much whilst running and could get weak/prone to injury (mainly hamstrings I assume) – also I enjoy a bit of cycling as long as it’s not all road, luckily there is a lovely trail near me.

1 x 10miles (slow weekly increase)

Workout – this will have to be made on the first scheduled day of my workout, I have decided to have it consist mainly of body weight exercises, as I can do these anywhere e.g. when on holiday / weekend away etc. I have some good ideas of what I will include and these are: Burpees (Legs/Abs), Crunches (Abs), Tricep Dips (Triceps) , Sit ups (Abs), Handstand Push Ups (Shoulders), Bicep Curls (Biceps), Shoulder Shrugs (Shoulder/Deltoids) and Pull Ups (Back/Triceps/Biceps).

3x workout (TBD)

 

 

Thank you for reading this blog and if you have any comments or feedback on my training plan, i’ll be happy to hear it!

Nathan Skipper