For my penultimate janathon I did as planned and went through the NROL workout B. Last one of these according to the book and I need to pick out what to do next.

It’s incredible how these things become easier over time. I know that it’s just biology, but just as I’m always amazed at how the running improves over time, I’m astonished at how the weights get (slightly) easier. Or more precisely, how I’m able to do all that lifting and pulling and pushing with heavier weights over time.

For the record my notes were:

• 2×15 deadlift. 26lbs each dumbbell.
• Step ups 26lbs each arm, higher step this time.
• one arm shoulder press 2×15 26lbs
• Lat pull downs 40lbs 2×15, row pull downs 2×15
• Reverse crunches 2×20 done with a bit of oomph

For fun:

• 2×20 swiss ball crunches
• 2×15 push ups. …

I never imagined I’d write “for fun” on one of these things!

It doesn’t feel like a month since I started doing this, and part of me is tempted to take the resistance bands with me to Llandudno tomorrow so that I can sneak in a bit of training on Saturday. Even though I’ve got a day off lined up. This doesn’t seem right.

The whole experience of the month exercising has been brilliant. Overall the experience has been great fun and I feel a lot better that I did at the start of the month. I’ve also found that it’s been a great relief to be able to get out every day and do something that wasn’t work related. Given that I probably work too hard and too much, it’s great to take some time out just for myself and have some quiet time. Even if I’ve got the Arcade Fire on nice and loud as I’m running.

Sadly, I haven’t lost as much weight as I’d hoped, although all that Christmas weight has come off. I’m a size down in my trousers, so I’m guessing that the weight of the fat lost has probably been made up in muscle somewhere. I’m certainly firmer in a couple of places (fnarr!) And somewhere under the rolls of belly fat I can feel something developing.

I’ve really noticed the weight training having an effect on my running. A couple of places: in my shoulders as I’m running, it feels like there is more energy when I’m running; in my stomach and back, which I’d previously felt get tired when on a long run; and in my thighs. To be honest my legs have felt like they’ve been through a lot this week, and I think that was down to the cross-training at the gym. I’ll factor that into my February plans.

On the whole it’s all been good! Tomorrow I run in Llandudno, I expect it’ll be like the Rocky 3 training montage – with rain.

One day to go. Yay!!!

Today has been a straight day of working at home with no real surprises. Dropped the kids off at 8, worked through and went to pick them up at 3. Everything moving forward, slowly.

At lunchtime I took out half an hour to do the strength exercises as demanded by the schedule. This is my last New Rules of Lifting break-in workout “A”. Next week I’ll move on to another one, and will check with Matthias before doing anything rash – he’s my go-to lifting expert!

Last week, when I wasn’t feeling great I thought I’d up the weights a bit. I survived and so I thought I’d increase them again to see what level I was starting to struggle at. I think with the squats I found it at 43lbs (these are resistance bands, so these numbers may not mean anything). I was able to do 15 reps then another five before I couldn’t manage any more. I dropped down to 32lbs and finished off the remaining 10 reps. Last week I’d done 31lbs, so perhaps I’d pushed it a bit…

Then the lunges, 2×15 on each leg. I increased it to 35lbs from 31lbs last week. This was hard work – really hard work. I’d made a note that I was knackered at the end of the two sets last week, this week I felt properly tired.

“Dumbbell row with elbow out” I did at 23lbs (up from 20 last week). That felt ok if I’m honest and I could have probably done more.

Finally the push ups and the squats were the same as last week.

This time I wore a heart monitor to see what was going on. I hadn’t ever done it for a weights session and it was fascinating to see.

You can clearly see the reps, my big old gaps between the weights and the push ups and crunches at the end. This is great fun, I’ve no idea if that’s good bad or indifferent, but it looks cool!

This evening we’re off to the Fat Olive in town for some special anniversary grub. Jude and I celebrate an alternative valentines on the 28th January as it’s the date that we got engaged… oh so many years ago. Oh we were just children. yadayadaya.

This is the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Tubas in the Moonlight. It was the first dance song at our wedding. Happy days!

I’m fucking awesome. Did I ever tell you that? Probably not, because it’s something that I’ve kept close to my chest – hidden mostly. But those close to me know that it’s impossible to spend more than five minutes with me without being slimed with awesomeness.

Something happened to change my mind recently. I’d always been ashamed of the sticky residue of awesomegoop that I left as a trail, but the scales have been scrubbed from my eyes with wire wool and I’m ready to take on the world.

Why the change? Well I did my weights this evening.

CHECK

ME

OUT!!!!

Woooooooo!

Not just normal weights, oh no. SUPER FUCKING AWESOME weights. Day 23 weights. Lifting things. Oh yes. And pulling things down. Oh and stepping up and down – like a BOSS!

And it was harder.

Bigger heavier weights. Pullier harder bands. Steppier steps. And I rocked them all.

Now get back to whatever not-awesome thing you were doing. I have beer to drink. Awesome beer.

I was really happy with the runs over the past couple of days, feeling good yesterday and looking forward to today.

Two hours into work this morning and I was ready to stick my head in the oven. It was just a combination of problems, people doing things without being asked which put me in difficult positions with clients. Other suppliers getting the wrong end of the stick despite being told clearly what to do. Just a whole heap of problems and then told that everything was to be ready by the end of the week.

That, plus a general lack of energy meant that my head was in a really bad place all morning. I was trying every fucking trick under the sun to try and make myself feel better, but it just wasn’t working. Even the stuff from the weekend. Nothing.

I suppose this is a consequence of working at home. Most of the time I don’t mind there being no-one to talk to, but occasionally it would just be nice to shoot the breeze. The last time I did that seemed like a very long time ago, to be fair I had a good time with Phil the other weekend and it was good to see Valerie on Saturday.

Anyway, I tried to snap myself out of this black cloud by doing my scheduled weights at lunchtime. Possibly as a result of feeling unhappy I just loaded up the weights and gave the workout a go with something quite a bit heavier or with more resistance.

From my notes I’d done this:

• 2×15 squats 31lb (up from 23) – resistance bands
• 2×15 lunges each leg. 31lb – up from 15 – resistance bands
• 2 point dumbbell row with elbow out – 2×15 on each arm, 20lb per arm up from 16 (I think, notes say 8 last week, but I think it was 2×8 per arm)
• Push ups 2×15.
• 2×30 swiss ball crunches, up from 2×20. Felt ok.

Did it snap me out of feeling low? Mostly. I got quite a bit done this afternoon before having to go and pick up the children. These days everything is just *so noisy* and by the time we had got to about 5pm I was shattered again with the din. I don’t like turning off the hearing aids because that defeats the point of wearing them, but it’s hard work.

Rather than keep trying to get work done, I made dinner and had it ready for Jude when she got home. All very tasty, but it might require a sleep and a fresh stab at the day tomorrow to perk up.

We’re over half way through Janathon (phew!)

This evening I’ve done another round of weights, as set out on the schedule.

When I did this workout last week, I’d increased the weights and it still felt reasonably good. Increased them again today, and it felt more like I was trying hard. I’ll do two more of these through January.

Today’s fun consisted of:

• Deadlift. I used the resistance bands rather than the dumbbells. It felt tricky to get the length right to feel like a deadlift, but I was using the 23lb band. Whatever that means (!) 2 x 15 lifts. Felt ok.
• Step ups. 2 x 15 steps on each leg. The only suitable step that I can find is one upstairs between the stairs and the bathroom. I used the dumbbells with all their weights on. This comes to 21lb per arm. I hadn’t totted it up beforehand, and the bathroom scales said 1 stone 8lb. I guess that the difference is the weight of the bar. Regardless, I hadn’t realised it’s three stone, it seems like a lot. It didn’t feel that heavy, but I guess I’m lugging around quite a bit of weight normally. Next week, I’ll try using something to increase the height of the step.
• Dumbbell one-arm shoulder press. 2×15 on each arm. I didn’t bother taking any weight off the dumbbells this week. This felt hard at the end of the second set of reps on each arm, but still possible.
• Close grip lat pulldowns. I basically do the same as in the video below. Except I don’t look quite as elegant when I’m doing it. Used a 23lb and 5lb resistance band to do this. I felt that, but I’d previously tried 18 and 21lb and they both felt ok.

• Reverse crunches. 2×20 of ’em. This is a tricky exercise when you’ve got a lovely round belly, but I give it a good go. The last couple of the second set were hard.

I’m really enjoying doing the lifting and resistance exercises. There’s something quite satisfying about them, in a completely different way to the running. I’ve noticed a definite improvement with my arms and upper body when running too. Especially later in a run when I’m trying to keep going.

Over the weekend I’m going to be in Solihull for some business related training – staying at the Holiday Inn. I’m going to take the resistance bands with me with the intention of doing some upper body exercises on the Saturday and will try and get a run in early on Sunday. I’m not sure how I’ll get a 7 miler in before breakfast and before a day’s work, but I’ll see what I can do.

Oh, and the muppet image is from an Etsy item, here.