14/01/2014
Well it’s been a while… the past 6 months have been amazingly busy and I’ve struggled to keep up, which means that the writing and blogging side of things has had to take a very dim and distant back seat. This year is also already getting pretty booked up, so I shall be posting as and when I can… hopefully without disappearing for another 6 months.
So the last time I really blogged, it was about the marathon itself in Sierra Leone… and one thing I meant to mention was that of the help I received to actually get out there and do the run safely! Very often when we embark upon something new it can be daunting, and when it’s to do something physical one of the things we need to make sure is that not only is it going to be possible, but that we can do it safely. A lot of people already know, some don’t, but one of the main concerns I had for this trip was my hip: I sustained an injury years ago with my karate training which eventually turned into an impingement. Unfortunately due to the amount of time that had passed by the time I got it sorted out, it was pretty nasty and required open surgery (crutches for 3 months is not much fun). However, rather than letting something like that stop me from going out there and doing what I wanted, I figured I’d get some help to make sure it was done safely.
Very often when we go to do something new, our lack of awareness about the new “thing” can put us off, we can feel intimidated, unsure and hesitant so one of the best ways to get around this is to look at what facilities and/or resources you have available to you that can help! Very often people think they actually don’t have any. Time to open your eyes *grin*… you may be very surprised to find out just what, and who, would like to help you out…
and let’s not forget that if you don’t ask, you may not get help, and by asking… well, that too can be a gift. Who doesn’t like to feel wanted, needed and know that they are able to help another? Doesn’t it feel good when you know that someone wants and really appreciates your help? I’m not talking here about people who constantly “take” and drain you, that’s a whole different ball game. Here we’re looking at positive boundaries, respect and compassion… all aspects of kindness that we can give to ourselves and others!
In my case, it turned out that a friend I’d met when he taught classes at my local gym had opened up his own business in the City, loved the idea of what I was going out to Sierra Leone to do, and offered to help me by structuring some personal training sessions for me during my lunchtimes. This was alongside the running and yoga I was already doing and helped to build strength and condition my legs so that I could run a full 13.1 miles without stop. Of course, that was the plan… but one of the reasons I changed to the full marathon the day before was that I knew I was strong enough to complete the full 26.2 miles, even if I had to walk half of it!
Niron was an absolute godsend… I cannot praise him enough, especially since when the going got a bit tougher and I hit some emotional roadblocks along the way, he then kept me going with added encouragement and helped me to focus on what was really important!
Here he is putting someone through their paces (not me):
So I guess this post is also a recommendation one… if you’re in the City (London, UK) and want some personal training, whether that be for conditioning, helping you get fit or to meet specific challenges you’ve taken on (including marathon training) then give Niron (or one of the team) a call, and let them know where you heard about them. Their details are:
Activate+
Templeton House, 33-34 Chiswell Street, London, EC1Y 8LP
Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 5514
Mob: +44 (0)7835 918 368 / +44 (0)7932 668 505
Email: activateplusstudio@gmail.com
Website: http://www.activatepluspersonaltraining.com
And remember, someone may be wanting to help you right now, if you would but ask. So why not reach out a hand and do just that… or offer to someone who may be in need!
Have a great week everyone! 🙂
© 2014 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
07/04/2013
Still a week behind I’m afraid, hoping to catch up soon!
So the previous 6 weeks have been about building a solid foundation to work from, safely… Week 7 starts the sharpening section, which meant this was the week I encountered my first Yasso 800! Unsurprisingly I’d never heard of these before, but a bit of googling brought forward what I needed to know. Yasso 800s are named after Bart Yasso, who devised his own marathon training plan which included running 800m fast, with a slower recovery 400m straight after, then repeating this up to 10 times: the theory being that whatever you get the 800m down to, once you can do the 10 repetitions (eg: 3 minutes each), then that would show what you should finish your marathon in (3 min 800 = 3 hour marathon, 4 min 800 = 4 hour marathon and so on…). For his website, please click here.
Now I didn’t think that sounded too bad… until I had to try it! Treadmill time… easy to count the distance… and worked out roughly what I thought I could push it to with more of a “jog” pace recovery. Warm up of a mile/1600m followed by 800m at 11.3 pace then dropping to a 9.0 pace for the 400m recovery (the gym treadmills are at km, which means I’m always having to google & convert my overall distance into miles for my running app) followed by a mile/1600m cool down. Well the first two I thought were ok, then I hit the third one and felt a bit sick. Hitting the fourth one… legs decided that they were tired and wanted to turn to jelly. But it got done.
Since it was Easter Friday and no work, I also figured I’d try to push it a bit and do a second one that day after driving to my local gym. Big mistake. Got the third one done and then died. Not the thing to do when you’re knackered, not getting enough sleep and living mainly on adrenaline! When I say died, I mean felt sick, legs turned to jelly and absolutely could not push through that psychological (and physical barrier). As it turns out, I think these are only meant to be done once a week anyway (oops – what was that I said about pushing it ;))!
Overall though, happy days… I not only ran for another 70 minutes (outdoors) but did my longest distance (7.91 miles) and the fastest time… I finally got my average under a 9 minute mile. Very very happy about that!
So training for Week 7 included:
***lunchtime treadmill run of 46.21 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***treadmill run of 43.39 minutes x 1
***weekend run of 70 minutes x 1
Total overall running: 20.76 miles / 190 minutes (3 hours 10 minutes)
No yoga or karate this week due to appointments and Easter and no chance to fit them in elsewhere. I guess when you’re stretched to full capacity, this is one of the problems you can encounter – a lack of flexibility in changing things around! Oh yeah, also had to hand in a food diary at the PT session… it’s one thing to know you have a *cough, splutter* sweet tooth, but quite another to actually have to hand over a piece of paper with everything written down, including just how much sugar you chuck into your tea and coffee! I slunk out of there pretty quick at that point *grin*.
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
31/03/2013
Where has the time gone? I meant to get this posted last week but time and circumstances have conspired to pile things up to such a degree my to-do list has it’s own to-do list! Not good!
So five weeks in and the initial euphoria was starting to wear off as I mentioned previously, and as is often the case, when you’re experiencing difficulties with one thing, then many others will very often appear to turn to crap as well… sod’s law or whatever you want to call it, this was the week that Hell decided to come calling at my door… and what a doozy it was… I don’t think one area of life was unaffected!
And then, just to add to the delights of the week, I had to slightly extend my longer run… 70 minutes along the freezing seafront… when it was attempting to rain/sleet/snow… into a nasty headwind that not only saw my baseball cap flying off (gave up on that in the end) and freeze my hands within 5 minutes but one that meant I couldn’t actually breathe when facing straight ahead. 35 minutes of that before I could turn around… there was a saving grace however… the weather was so crap and cold that it meant there was virtually no-one out… and therefore no-one to see the grimaces I pulled, the language I muttered… or the colour I turned!
It’s at times like these that finding positivity and maintaining focus is especially hard… time to be pleased with the small gains… health results that came back positive (or rather negative LOL), college work that went well, loving supportive friends and family, a fantastic personal trainer who on seeing the state of me on the Wednesday not only boosted my confidence but took the time out to give me a hug… and even of being grateful that I got to finish the cholera vaccinations (seriously… it does not taste like raspberry Andrews salts like they tell you it will!) which had been sitting in my fridge for a week. Probably a very good deterrent if anyone had wanted to raid it for chocolate…
Training for Week 6 included:
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run of 40 minutes x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 40 minutes x 1
***weekend run of 70 minutes x 1
***2 hour karate session
Total overall running: 19.45 miles / 180 minutes (3 hours)
Unfortunately the yoga had to get sacrificed yet again due to needing to leave the office early to get to the hospital, and much as I would have loved to do it afterwards, that was Tuesday and the worst day of Hell week and I had to go straight from hospital to college! A very long and hard day indeed. My Friday treadmill pace also was a bit slower but I put that down to the Cholera as I had the same reaction as the previous week… it’s obviously not something that agrees with me 😀
Overall, I was pleased with how the running progressed, how my hip handled the increase in exercise… and it held a valuable lesson in learning where and who I do and can learn on when I need some extra motivation to get me through the tougher times and just where my psychological challenges lie! I wonder how many other runners encounter weeks like this…
But it got done which is what matters… so to quote one of my Texan twitter friends (who happens to be in sports himself)… “I GOT THIS” 😉
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
17/03/2013
And so the initial euphoria has started to wear off, aches and pains getting ramped up a bit… people actually enjoy this?
Just joking… well not the first two bits, they’re definitely true… but I am strangely getting a bit hooked. Before, I would have begged to stay on the treadmill, in the nice warm gym, with all the equipment and most especially the foam rollers that I have to use on my legs afterwards due to past issues. But now… now I’d really rather be outside… even if it’s raining a bit… not if the heavens have opened obviously… or if it’s icy, I have no wish to stack it and end up on crutches… been down that road already and it was not pleasant.
So this week’s training had to be adjusted slightly! Vaccination time! Which meant leaving the office early therefore working through a lunch break instead of running. Doesn’t this look like fun!
Training has included:
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run of 40 minutes x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 40 minutes x 1
***weekend run of 60 minutes x 1
Total overall running: 18.43 miles / 170 minutes (2 hour 50 minutes)
To ensure I got my 4 runs in this week, that meant I had to sacrifice something else… so the yoga got kicked to the kerb. Not ideal given I love it and it’s vital for me to keep in so as to stay running healthy (according to my Coach who knows more than a bit about this kind of stuff!). And I had a wee bit of a reaction to some of the vaccinations: the usual very sore arms, a bit of a flu-like reaction and also some lovely nausea thanks to a wonderful one you had to drink, although that didn’t compare to the feeling of almost meeting the floor… I believe the term is Orthostatic Hypotension… sounds kinda cool, but doesn’t feel it. It’s basically that dizziness, where you stand up too quickly and can be attributable to many things such as low blood sugar or over-exertion like running too far too fast (I blame the vaccinations personally rather than running too fast although I did manage to get my first 2 miles that day done in just under a 9 minute mile average *happy days*). And since I was due to go do some karate training, I figured it wise to kick that to the kerb as well. There’s pushing through with a train hard attitude and then there’s pushing through with a stupidity attitude. Having done both in the past, I know which one I choose these days. Saturday thankfully was a full rest day from exercise with the longer run being done on Sunday.
Overall, I’m pleased with how I’ve managed to bring my average pace down especially since I’m new to training in running, and was a bit disappointed that I didn’t improve my pace on today’s run. Still, dropping the pace a bit to work on breathing was probably a very good lesson for me to learn. Looking forward to next week where I get to increase my longer run again.
Getting addicted? Nahhhhh, of course not 😉
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
11/03/2013
Wow… Week 4 has now finished. It doesn’t actually seem as if almost a whole month has passed…
So this week has been a little different in that aches and pains have started to kick in and I was rather worried at one point when I thought my ankle was going to give me real problems. Aches and pains are one thing, but when it’s joint problems, that’s something to really be careful with! Thankfully it’s eased off a fair bit but it did mean I took it easier and left the karate session after an hour of kihon, although sitting and moving in neko ashi dachi (cat stance) probably didn’t do me many favours either! Anyway, another busy week including going along to meet some other folks who will be participating in Sierra Leone and extra time spent at work, never a dull moment 🙂
Training has included:
***lunchtime yoga session x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 40 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run of 30 minutes x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***1 hour karate session x 1
***weekend run of 60 minutes x 1
Total overall running: 17 miles / 160 minutes (2 hour 40 minutes)
And how did it feel?
As mentioned, I’ve had some aches and pains, a dodgy ankle and the weather hasn’t helped. It’s been absolutely chucking it down in London which wouldn’t normally have stopped me but the route I take wouldn’t be safe as I run part of the way near water: not so much worried about falling in, but I use an app on my phone to track the distance and I definitely don’t want to damage that! Priorities of course 😉 and then there was today’s weather. Windy, cold and attempted snow/rain. Just the weather you want to run in on along a seafront! Still, needs must so it got done and I was happily surprised to not only not end up in a total heap at the end, but also managed to slightly increase my average pace. And add to that my first 6 miler, which I didn’t realise until adding up the distances, I actually hit just over my first ever 10K run! Happy days! Let’s see what Week 5 brings!
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
05/03/2013
Week 3 has now been and gone… and it seems to have gone so fast!
So what has this week encompassed? That would be the usual full-time job, the commuting, back at college (why is half-term only one week?)… counselling and admin, plus a best friend’s celebratory birthday cake to indulge in and a catch-up with friends.
Not bad when you also take into account the exercise stuff done, which included:
***lunchtime yoga session x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run x 1 (40 minutes)
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run x 2 (30 minutes each)
***2 hour karate session x 1
***weekend run x 1 (another 50 minutes)
Total overall running: 15.77 miles / 150 minutes (2 hour 30 minutes)
And how did it feel?
Not all that bad considering there was only a 10 minute increase overall but almost 1.5 miles extra which I think increases my average pace/speed slightly. The treadmill run was hard and I’m finding that the runs outside seem easier… maybe easier isn’t the right word for it… maybe it’s because there is different scenery rather than running on the spot on a treadmill looking at a video screen that makes the difference. And it’s cooler outside at the moment. However given the high temperatures in Africa, I’m not sure whether it would be better to train more indoors or not.
I’ve also been lucky enough to have one of the karate students accompany me on the weekend runs which means I’ve kept my pace up as it’s the longest time run I’ve done so far. Probably a good job that I didn’t give them all too hard a time on the Friday evening when I ended up teaching the entire session (2 hours of kata anyone *evil cackle*). And although it was cold on the seafront… it’s not a bad place to run. I may change my mind about that when the warmer weather arrives and there are a lot more people to run around!
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
24/02/2013
Week 2 has now finished!!!
So what has this week encompassed?
***full-time working day x 4
***one day off, however no rest for the wicked as I’ve used that to catch up with college homework, coaching admin, personal admin and other stuff at home that has been put to one side for far too long
***CPD counselling workshop (daytime) x 1
***3 hour daily commute x 4
***counselling evening x 1
***supervision therapy evening x 1
***no college evening this week as such due to half term, however… yep you guessed it… spent that time actually doing college stuff! The call from my very bereft and lonely tv was hard to resist… I caved on Saturday evening!
***evening admin work x 1
As for socialising… one party which started too late so I forfeited that, clash of plans which meant cancellation with another friend but managed to fit in an after work catch up with friends, a group get together for a few hours after training one evening and another friend dropping by, so have not turned into an absolute hermit yet. I also got fed cake. What’s not to love about that!
As for the actual physical work/training… achieved:
***lunchtime yoga session x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run x 1 (2.89 miles)
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run x 2 (3 miles each)
***2 hour karate session x 1
***weekend run x 1 (first 5 mile target hit!)
Total overall running: 14.36 miles / 140 minutes (2 hour 20 minutes)
And how did it feel?
All things considered, not too bad at all… and when I look at the distance and time over the course of the whole week, I’m rather pleased, which is saying something considering my perfectionist tendencies :). It also helped today that I did my longest run of 50 minutes and had a karate colleague with me. He helped me keep the pace up when I possibly would have lagged a bit more had I been on my own! The biggest challenges at the moment are getting the breathing right, pushing through around minute 25, and then the last 5 minutes of each run. I’m assuming the last 5 minute thing is what happens to most people when they start out running seriously and is more of a psychological aspect than physical.
Time now to get back to the college work… hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
20/02/2013
12 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat
1. Pounce on opportunity. He who hesitates, misses catching the passing lizard.
2. Patience. Infinite patience.
3. Concentration. A cat studying an opportunity just beyond his grasp is the epitome of focused attention. He doesn’t even blink as he tunes out all distractions. His body is completely still except for his wildly twitching tail releasing his nervous energy.
4. Nothing is worth disturbing your beauty sleep.
5. Catnap. Even a few moments of shut-eye is refreshing.
6. If you’re happy, purr. Show your appreciation by letting people know that you like what they do.
7. Do cat stretches – and other yoga poses, and try Qigong. Especially as we age, gentle stretching is one of the best things we can do for our bodies.
8. Wrestle with your best friend. She likes it when you’re playful.
9. Eat when you’re hungry and not by the clock.
10. Ask for what you want. If you are lovable and patient, you will probably get it.
11. You can’t have everything you want. If you put your claws where they don’t belong, you’re going to get spanked.
12. Revel in life’s simple pleasures. A ball of string is magic. Catnip is heavenly.
~~ Origin: Unknown ~~
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
19/02/2013
My intention is to post a general update at the end of the week on Sundays. Unfortunately Week 1 went by so quickly with not enough hours in the day, that I never got round to typing everything up in time. Fingers crossed for this weekend.
So yes, training has indeed started and I’ve survived the first week. So what has this week encompassed:
***full-time working day x 5
***3 hour daily commute x 5
***counselling evening x 1
***college evening x 1
***evening admin work x 1
***healthchecks x 1
and let’s not forget some socialising being chucked in there! I definitely agree with the work hard/play hard ethos… after all, you have to have balance in life and fun, right?
As for the actual physical work/training… unfortunately due to health checks, one lunchtime session got missed which I was not happy about but you have to go with the flow on these things I guess. Anyway, I digress… training achieved:
***lunchtime yoga session x 1
***lunchtime personal training session session x 1 with Activate Plus PT (check them out on Twitter: @ActivatePlusPT, great guys and more information on them to follow in later posts )
***lunchtime outdoor run x 1 (3.80 miles)
***lunchtime treadmill run x 1 (2.89 miles)
***weekend cross-country run x 1 (4.40 miles – and dying!!!)
***and I almost forgot, an hour of karate: including kihon/kata and jiyu kumite.
Total overall running: 11.49 miles / 112.26 minutes (1 hour 52 minutes 26 seconds)
Not that bad for a first week I think… as for an actual training plan… personal training sessions, travel planning and other arrangements… more to come in later posts!
And how did it feel? Considering I’m battling a few personal challenges at the moment which need to take into account the physical safety aspects of taking on this challenge, I think it felt pretty good overall, even if I did resemble more of a squished red tomato than a boiled one after the cross country/trail run on Sunday (thankfully my friend Charlotte was with me and encouraged me every painful step of the way).
Links:
My fundraising page: MichellePayne13
Street Child
Sierra Leone Marathon 2013
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
07/01/2013
Yoga Retreat, Barbados November 2011
© 2011 Michelle Payne
“I AM HAPPY AND HEALTHY”
Health has been at the forefront of my mind these past few weeks as I’ve unfortunately been laid low over the entire Christmas period with a bad flu virus and sinusitis. It also reminded me of how I felt a few years ago when I had to take a long time off work to recuperate.
I am, and was, very lucky. Some years ago I had extensive, cutting-edge hip surgery and although my surgeon was one of the few that deals with hip arthroscopy, unfortunately I had to have the whole “open you up” kinda thing and be pinned back together, which then meant a further op to get them out. This, of course, meant some months off work and on crutches and it’s amazing how much your self-awareness can grow at times like this… well I know mine did.
When you’re ill, you have expectations, not just of how it would any illness (or surgery) may go, but how you will manage, how physically capable you will be, how you think people will react to whatever situation you’re in at that time, and you’ll definitely find out what your “support” system is like! And of course there’s the emotional expectations… are you a cup full type of person, or a half-empty one? What “safe” routines do you fall into, where do you feel most comfortable… how much do your perceptions of self change? After all, times of healing can also very often show us where we most need to change our attitudes, if we are open to it.
In my opinion, positivity and focus are key to regaining optimum health… as are the words *Yes I can* (hmmmm, that may be meat for a later affirmation). I definitely felt my positivity slip both at times during recovery from surgery (I won’t bore you with the details since it’s so long ago) and yes, during this latest flu episode. Christmas especially is a time of being with loved ones, and this year I spent Boxing Day alone for the first time ever, ill in bed… though I did have the offer of dinner being brought round to me… meals on wheels express service *grin*.
Yet this affirmation isn’t just to be used by those who’ve undergone surgery or even anyone who needs *healing* of any kind. I think it’s the kind of affirmation that reinforces our soul each and every day. It helps to change our outlook… our focus… it helps to bring positivity into our lives… which then ripples out to help our physical health yes… and also our emotional and our spiritual health, because really, aren’t these all inter-linked?
It can also remind us to look at everything good we have in our lives, to be grateful for those things, or people… and even opportunities… we then find happiness and contentment within… and one of the physical benefits of this I think… is that we then radiate this outwards with our behaviour and attitudes towards others.
I am happy and healthy… (the remainder of flu notwithstanding)… I am… I have a great life, great friends and great support… no my life is not *perfect*… yes I’m still (and always will be) on a path of learning and self-awareness… yes I’m sure there will always be obstacles somewhere… but overall, I have excellent health for where I am in life, and a hellavu lot of happiness… which I try to remember daily and be grateful for.
Affirmation questions to consider for this week are:
How healthy do you feel?
How happy do you feel?
What obstacles to health and/or happiness do you think you have?
What can you do about such obstacles (even if it’s just a shift in attitude)?
What one change can you make right now to improve your health?
What one change can you make right now to improve your happiness?
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead ♥
© 2013 Michelle Payne
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Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting
Dreamweaver Consulting 