LMV's Gym Thread

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LMV, good luck with the calprotectin test! Hope you feel better soon.

As for aching after a workout - if you're doing basically the same workout every time, once your body gets used to doing the same exercises repeatedly, you won't really get sore anymore. I usually do the same weight machines and I don't generally feel sore the next day. But if I switch it up and do something different and use different muscle groups or work my muscles in a different way than they're used to, then yes, I totally get sore! So perhaps you should try shaking up your routine a bit, as it sounds like your muscles have become accustomed to your usual workout routine.

How's this for odd - last week, I forgot to do one of the weight machines I usually do, so I think I worked my other muscles harder as I was inadvertently doing one less machine - and I felt a bit sore the next day! So even skipping a step is apparently enough to shake up the routine and wake up your muscles.
 
I know, I'm a creature of habit too. :p I like doing the same weight machines in the same order. But sometimes on days I'm not doing weights, I'll do yoga. It seems easy, it doesn't feel like a difficult workout when I'm doing it - but if I haven't done yoga in a little while, then I will definitely be sore the next day! So maybe you could do a workout with your resistance bands every so often to mix it up without changing your routine?

It's not necessarily a bad thing that you're not getting sore. It just means your muscles have become accustomed to doing the same routine - you probably won't make as many gains by doing the same thing, but you will still be gaining muscle and getting fitter, maybe just at a slightly slower rate than if you were mixing it up more. I have done more or less the same workout routine for awhile now, and I've definitely gotten fitter and more muscle mass and my hubby says I'm looking better all the time. So I wouldn't worry too much, if you like what you're doing and don't want to change, that's totally understandable and fine. :)
 
So I went to the gym today and I tried mixing it up a bit!

So I usually do treadmill, bike, rowing machine, (Then cross trainer but I usually miss that one out!) Then a few free weights.

Today I still started with the treadmill because that is what I'm mostly trying to improve on atm, I did walk 1min, run 2 mins x 5 today. It was hard but good because I only did it x4 on tuesday. Then I did the cross trainer for 5 mins. Then rowing machine for 10 mins... Then I was supposed to do the bike for 10 mins but I didn't!! :( I'm lazy I skip that last machine when I should just push on!

Then I couldn't really do my free weights because my arm felt funny where I had a blood test yesterday.

But I feel tired so we will see if I ache tomorrow!

I also did my stool sample today. So we will see what comes of that.
 
Have you thought about just doing the bike one day and nothing else but the bike? Maybe do a bike day, a jogging day, etc. Sometimes I do just bike days, I put on a DVD and make myself do a hill program (either 30 mins or an hour usually). You could keep up your usual routine but sometimes just concentrate on one thing - that'd mix it up but still let you do your usual thing most of the time too.

Good luck with the blood and stool results! I hope everything is okay and that you get the green light to go back on Aza!
 
Yeah I think thats something to think about, cat! I think I should also have a think about doing a weights day from time to time.

I had my 6th infliximab infusion yesterday! They said my blood results were looking good so I'm not really expecting much to come of the stool sample.

I'm feeling a bit better than I was when I first became worried about coming off the Aza but I'm not feeling as good as I was when I was still on it. Maybe I'll feel a bit better when this infliximab has kicked in.

Went to the gym after work today. It was OK but I didn't do as well as I did last time. But hey, it would have been better than nothing!
 
I do weights days every other day - weights are my favorite! But I don't know if you could call what I do just weights. I like to warm up with about 10 mins of cardio first (usually arc trainer or stationary bike), then weights, then about 10 mins stretching, and about 5 mins cool-down (usually walking on the treadmill to cool down). So I really do a little bit of everything on my weights days! :p

I have been meaning to say, I'm inspired by you training for the triathlon and I'm jealous that you can jog without pain. Ever since I started working out 2.5 years ago, I've tried jogging here and there but it always gives me such pain in my bad hip. Then I got those steroid injections into my hip about a month ago, and although I had awful side effects for awhile, now my hip is actually feeling a little better, so just recently I've been trying to jog too! I did about 5 mins yesterday and 4 mins today, and so far no hip pain! :D (Before getting the steroid injections, I definitely would have had hip pain after jogging for even those short amounts of time.) I'm not sure how far I can push it, but I'm going to keep trying at jogging. I'd be happy just to be able to slowly jog a mile without pain, that's long been a goal of mine! So keep posting training updates, as I'm excited to hear what you're doing in the gym and it makes me want to jog more. :)

Your situation with Aza sounds pretty similar to me and Asacol. I was on Asacol for 2 years, no issues, it kept me in remission that whole time. Then, they stopped manufacturing regular Asacol in the US, so I had to stop taking it. When I was on Asacol, I couldn't break it down particularly well, so I was taking 6 tablets a day and was passing 1 to 2 tablets undigested on a daily basis. Still, I was absorbing 4 or 5 tablets daily and that seemed to be enough to keep me in remission. So, when they stopped making Asacol, my GI tried me on Asacol HD (they do still make HD here), and that's when my trouble started. Since they're bigger/stronger pills, I was only taking 2 HD tablets per day - but I was still passing 1 to 2 tablets undigested, so I basically was not getting my medicine, and I started feeling really crappy really quickly! I think that put me into a mild flare, which I've been trying to get out of ever since. I've tried a couple different meds since then and am now on Pentasa. I think it's working, not really sure as I just recently made the switch to Pentasa and then got those steroid injection side effects and then I caught a cold which knocked me down for a bit last week, so it's been kind of hard to tell what effect Pentasa is having in the midst of all that. I'm hoping to get back into remission soon and I'm hoping Pentasa works! Sorry that was too long, but I know the feeling when you stop a medication and then start feeling unwell and it's a bit of a struggle to get back to where you were. I'm glad to hear that your bloodwork was good, and I hope that restarting Aza gets you feeling really well again.
 
I am in a dilemma about what to do with my Gym membership!

So basically when I started the gym I didn't have a job so I didn't want a direct debit membership which is why I went for the pay each time option. But now that I have a job, it costs me more each time I go, because I don't get the unemployment rate.

So right now I am paying £5 each time I go, which most weeks is twice a week, and I'm restricted in when I go... only weekdays before 5pm. So lets say I'm spending £10/week, £40/month. I could definitely be getting more for my money.

So here are my choices for changing membership:

Stay at my gym, which I really like, is about 6miles away from my house. I have two membership options. (Going for off peak so I can go whenever I want) Standard: £30.75/month. Includes Gym use, a body stat test but I have to pay for any classes I want to go to. (which I'm beginning to think would be a good way of mixing up my workouts). Most of these classes are £5 a time.
Or the Premier: £41 Month Gym use, 2x body stat tests, and all classes included.

Or...

Move to the gym which is about 2miles away from my house. £35 a month for gym and swim membership includes classes... Sounds amazing, but I really don't like the look of this gym. I had a look at it and it is tiny. a tiny room, not many machines all squashed in there. But the advantage of it again is that I will be able to use other gyms in the same chain. So there is another 4miles away, 6 miles away, 8 miles away, 11 miles away (this one is near where I sometimes work).

I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT TO DOOOO!!!!

I don't really want to leave my gym but can I afford £40 a month?? It seems quite excessive....
 
Wow, no matter what you do, it all sounds fairly pricey to me. Are there any other gyms in your area or are these the only options? If it were me, I'd probably stay at the same gym and do the standard membership and pay for classes for awhile - if you do enough classes after a little while then upgrade your membership, if not then stay as is and pay to take a class every so often.

One question about your gym - you said if you get a regular membership then you can go off-peak whenever you like. Is your gym open and staffed 24/7? That's one thing I really like about my gym, it's literally open and staffed all the time (some gyms are open 24/7 but not staffed during off-hours, so if you get injured or if someone attacks you or whatever, there's nobody there to help you, so it's an important distinction that it's open AND staffed 24 hours!).

The talk about how much gyms cost makes me feel really fortunate - a few years ago, I had looked at prices for all the gyms in my city, and they were all in the $30 to $50 range. Wow, way too pricey for me! (At the time, I was solely using the gym in the basement of my workplace, which is very small and few machines, but it's free for me to use - so I stuck with that gym for quite awhile and still use it about once a week.) Then a low cost gym opened up in my city, it's only $10 a month which includes the use of classes and trainers if I want them (I haven't done any classes nor worked with the trainers as of yet). I am so happy I found a decent gym for a good price! But I know your frustration, it sucks when the only options are expensive ones. The $10 gym I go to only opened about a year ago, before then there were only the expensive options for me too.
 
Cat, I'm not actually sure what the opening hours are at my gym! I need to check, but I'm fairly sure it isn't 24/7.

And yeah, gyms are so expensive, they must make so much money! Well I decided to take the plunge and change my membership! So I am staying at my gym, and paying £30 a month. I can now go in the evenings or weekends if I want to.

So I went today, I did well with running. I did walk 1 min run 2mins x 5 and then an extra min run at the end. Then I did 5 mins on the cross trainer and 10 mins on the rowing machine. I was going to do the bike then but they were both in use.

I skipped the free weights as well.... I kind of feel like my arms are too big, so I don't really want to keep working them. But then I want to get them more toned as well.
 
LMV, I'm bumping this thread up because I haven't heard an update from you fitness-wise in awhile! Are you still training for the triathlon? If so, how's it been going? Any setbacks, any progress? How's other stuff, how's the job going? How's life, how's your health? I hope all is okay!

So in response to your last post in this thread, yeah, gyms must make crazy amounts of money. I can tell you that my gym only charges $10 a month but they still clearly make big bucks. They offer free pizza on the 1st Monday of every month (yuck) and free bagels on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Seems very odd to offer food, especially non health food, in a gym. Pizza is not my friend and the smell of it alone during a workout is enough to induce fairly bad nausea, so I avoid the gym on pizza nights (bagels are during the mornings so they're long gone by the time I get to the gym in the evenings, so no need to specifically avoid bagel day - plus, bagels don't have a wafting strong smell like pizza does). But anyway, if my gym charges such a comparatively small amount for membership but can still afford to buy all those pizzas and bagels each month, then I think the gyms that charge more money must be absolutely raking it in.

Oh, and keep doing the weights! My arms haven't gotten bigger in quite awhile, but they've gotten more toned. Your arms won't keep getting bigger, I promise. Don't give up the weights out of self-consciousness! Believe me, I was weirded out by my bigger arms at first too. Certain shirts stopped fitting because my arms became too big for the sleeves! But if anything, I think the bigness has decreased a little and I've become much more toned. So just keep at it, it'll get better and you'll get more comfortable with it. I love my arms now, and I can still fit into most of my shirts. :)
 
Thanks cat! Yeah I realise I haven't updated in a little while. We lost our internet connection for a week or so, so I couldn't update.

I have had a small set back with my health. I was getting chest pains while on the treadmill so I went to see my GP. She checked out my lungs and said everything sounded good, my lung capacity was good, no blood clots. So she said it was probably inflammation of the chest wall. So she suggested I didn't go to the gym for a week or so... that was about a week ago now. I'm thinking of going to the gym on friday and giving it ago.

The appointment did show how my heart rate was high, so I actually have an ecg this morning to check that out. Hopefully it will be fine. But I don't really understand what would cause it to be fast. They noticed it was fast when I had infliximab too.

I want to see how long I can run for without stopping. (and hope my chest doesn't hurt). I really want to get up to distance for the triathlon, even though I know I have a long time to go.

Other news in my life... I've started seeing a guy! OMG :) so happy because it has been so long since I've been romantically involved with anyone in any way! lol
Its very new so we will see how it goes, but it already feels fairly natural and nice. :)
 
Oh goodness, that's a bit scary about the chest pains. I hope it's nothing major and that you can keep training. Hope the ECG went well too! I don't really know what can cause a rapid heartbeat - I know dehydration can, but I don't know if meds/supplements can (some probably can but I don't know which ones). I hope you can figure it all out!

Woo, congrats on the guy! Sounds promising! So what's he like, is he into fitness?

Remind me, what is the running distance for the triathlon you're training for? I'm sure you've said but my memory is not great lately. How far can you currently run without stopping to walk? The other day, I did 4 mins jogging without stopping. I was fairly tired afterwards, but I felt good too. I think I've said this before, but jogging used to cause me so much hip pain that even a few minutes would put me in pain for days. Then I got those steroid injections into my hip, which didn't seem like they worked at first and I had so many bad side effects - but now my hip is actually okay, and jogging doesn't seem to hurt like it did before. So I'm in a similar place as you are, I want to try to jog as long as I can and keep going a little longer each time. As long as my hip stays quiet, I think I can do it! So here's hoping that my hip and your chest/heart behave themselves when we jog. :)
 
I'm fairly sure the chest pains is just inflammation like she said, but its annoying if it gets in the way of my training. They said the ECG looks fine.

Yes he is into fitness! More so than me and he looks good for it too ;) He wants us to go to the gym together... But I think I need to get past caring him seeing me hot and sweaty first! :p

With the running I haven't tried running without stopping yet, just been doing the interval training. So thats why I wanna see how I do without stopping. I think I'm guna go tomorrow morning and give it a try! :)
 
LMV, I wouldn't worry too much about being sweaty in front of your new guy in a gym setting. Personally, if I see someone in the gym and they look not sweaty and their hair is perfect and everything, that just makes me think they're not working hard at all. I see the people who are sweaty and breathing hard and look like a mess, and I respect them a lot and think highly of them because they're obviously working out hard. I think your guy will respect you if he sees you breaking a sweat and doing an impressive workout. So I say go for it, put on your cutest workout clothes and hit the gym and with him! :) You said yourself that your sister was impressed with what you do at the gym when she tagged along with you, so I bet your guy will be impressed too.

Good luck tomorrow with the running! Let me know how you do! I'm going to try running as long as I can too and I'll let you know how I do. How fast do you usually jog on the treadmill? I do 5 mph, I'm trying to build myself up to jogging a bit at 6 mph but haven't gotten there yet (it feels so fast in comparison with 5 mph!). So far I've done 4 mins - I'd love to do 6 mins, at 5 mph that'd be a half a mile. If I can do a half mile, then hopefully it wouldn't take much more training to jog a mile - and that's been a goal of mine for ages now. Anyway, let me know how you do!
 
Yes I'll let you know tomorrow! The triathlon running distance is 1.5 miles. So not far but its the last part so I need to be able to do that after a 3 mile bike ride. So I defo wanna build it up to be more than that. I run at 5.2 miles an hour. That was just comfortable for me when I started and I've kept it the same. I'm not worried about going faster, I just want to get to distance. And then obviously I need to practise doing it outside. It will feel different when I don't have the treadmill to tell me how fast I'm going!

I wont worry about looking hot and sweaty with "my new guy" at the gym, just maybe when he is slightly less new! :p We went swimming at the weekend and he doesn't really enjoy swimming much, so that was sweet of him. I think he was impressed with how fast I was. I should probably just go to the gym with him! lol
 
I'm so happy I ran a mile at the gym yesterday! I did it in 11mins 30 seconds, all without stopping. Thats the longest I have ran for and the furthest I have gone!

So from now on I think I'm just going to keep pushing it a little bit further each time.

After that I did the rowing machine for 10 mins and cross trainer for 5mins, then a few weights.

Very pleased with how my work out went :)
 
Congrats on the mile, so proud of you!! :D I'm still working my way up to that so I'm jealous. :p I was only able to do 3 mins jogging non-stop in the gym the other day. I need to keep trying and get myself up to a mile too! And also very well done that you did other machines after doing the mile - great work, LMV!
 
Thanks Cat!

I tried again yesterday but I didn't make the mile. I managed half a mile though. I was quite tired and also trying to fit in a work out before work. I also did 10 mins on the rowing machine and some weights.

But still better than nothing! Not sure when I'm going next. Life feels quite hectic at the moment!
 
So I went to the gym today... And got there 10 mins before it closed!!

Must remember it closes at 4.30 on a saturday! I thought it would be 7 or something.

Oh well. I came home and did a resistance band work out. Better than nothing.
 
Half a mile is still awesome, don't feel bad about doing that amount. I still struggle to do even that distance and I haven't made it to a mile yet, so you're doing great! :)

But wow, your gym closes at 4:30 on Saturdays??? What an odd, early time to close! I know you mentioned awhile ago that there was another gym that you had the option of joining - just curious, I wonder what time they close on weekends? I'm spoiled, my gym is open 24/7 so I only have to worry about them being closed on some holidays (they close on most major holidays like Thanksgiving and Xmas but they were open on Easter). Wow, well at least now you know to try to squeeze in a workout earlier in the day on Saturdays, but that still sounds pretty ridiculous to me that they close at such a weird, early time.

How's it going with the guy? Have you two hit the gym together yet? :)
 
I know I was disappointed. I'm not sure what time the other one closes. They are both in villages though so they are probably similar. Its even earlier on a sunday too. I think its only open sunday morning.

I'm finding it hard to fit in my work outs this week. Today I was working 9am - 7.30pm. Tomorrow I'm working 12-8.00. So I have to leave the house at 11.30 and I find it hard to fit in the gym and shower in that time... I did it last week but it was slightly rushed. And this week mum wants me to be in because the piano tuner is coming.

Things are going good with the guy thanks :) Did I mention he is a personal trainer? He isn't working as one at the moment because it is hard to fit it in with work, but its what he wants to end up doing. We haven't gone to the gym together yet. It will probably happen soon though.
 
Forgot to say... (I started the post and then did something else and came back to it!)

I could go to the gym weds morning before work but I am also going swimming on weds evening with my friend... So do I do two work outs in two days?
 
I think it's fine to do 2 workouts 2 days in a row, as long as they're different workouts. You run into potential trouble if you try to do, for example, weight lifting with the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. The muscles need enough time to heal and just don't get that if you do the same weightlifting routine 2 days in a row, so then you run the risk of potentially injuring yourself. But I think it would be fine to do your usual gym routine one day and swimming the next day since it's different types of exercise and working different muscles (obviously there will be some overlap with what muscles are used, but it's still different enough that you should be just fine).

Personally, I often exercise multiple days in a row, but I make sure to mix it up and to only do weights every other day. So one day I'll do weights, and the next day I'll do yoga. Or weights and the next day I'll ride the bike. I make sure to give myself enough rest days too - if I do weights, bike, weights, yoga, weights, etc - my body just ends up feeling really run down, it needs at least a day in the midst of all that to rest & recover. I think that's normal, not just an IBD thing. Normal people need rest days too, and maybe even more so with IBD, so I try to listen to my body and let it rest when it needs to.

How fun, a physical trainer! Your degree is in nutrition or something along those lines, correct? You two could go into business together, you could do the dietary side and he could do the fitness side and you could open up a wellness center and teach people how to eat well and get fit! :) Seriously though, that's cool that you've found someone who really cares about fitness. My hubby will go to the gym with me but he clearly doesn't enjoy it. I wish he were more enthusiastic about fitness.

Goodness, you're working long hours! Is that a good thing? Are you still liking the job, is the pay okay or are you looking for something better? How's your car, still enjoying car ownership and commuting and all that fun stuff? That's pretty sucky though about your gym having such weird/short hours on the weekends. Speaking as someone who just cannot work out in the mornings, I just couldn't do it! My guts are worst in the mornings, so I get up and let my guts be angry for a couple hours. Then they settle down and I can eat something. If I don't eat something, and just head to the gym when the guts settle, then my GERD gets very unhappy. The GERD is much calmer if I eat something and let my stomach acid work on that for awhile and then go to the gym. So my usual weekend gym routine is: wake up, wait about 2 hours for guts to settle, eat something, wait another 2 hours for food/stomach acid to settle, take reflux meds, go to the gym. All that waiting means I get to the gym at about noon at the earliest - I just cannot do morning workouts! So I'd be really upset if my gym was only open in the mornings on Sundays!
 
Ok I wrote that wrong! I ment two work outs in one day!

I went to the gym this morning and I didn't do so well. I obviously wanted to run a mile again but I still didn't manage it. I got to 0.7miles and had to stop due to a really bad stitch! I had kept going as much as I could. I did the rowing machine and the stitch went away. And then I did the cross trainer - was supposed to be for five mins but couldn't do more than 2 before the stitch came back again. Then someone was on the weights I wanted to use to I just left feeling really disheartened!

I had gone in there feeling really motivated and then left feeling like I wont ever be able to do the triathlon! I'm going to try not eating before I go to the gym next time. Think I'm going to go next on Friday.

So I'm going swimming soon, that will be two work outs today. Even if the first one was rubbish!

Haha, yes my degree is in nutrition. And yes I have had an idea about business along those lines!

I am working long hours on those days but my total hours is still not very many. Today I only had two. So the pay is ok... not amazing, but it would be ok if I had full time hours. So Even though I am enjoying the job, I am thinking I need to be looking for something else soon. Maybe in the new year. I have been job searching for so long that I am actually enjoying not looking for something. Yeah I'm still enjoying my car, really love the freedom. But I'm very conscious of the huge debt I owe my dad for it and really want to start paying him back, which of course links back to the job situation! But one good think about my job is that all my travel, milage or public transport and parking is all paid for. So that definitely makes up for the lack of hours.

You are amazing cat, I'm surprised you still have the motivation for working out with all those issues with the GERD. I think I would use it as an excuse! :p
 
Aw thanks, I feel like my GERD is just a minor setback really (especially compared to IBD!). Yes, I have to stick to a specific eating schedule and take a bunch of antacids/reflux meds if I'm going to go work out. And I have to avoid certain reflux trigger foods like chocolate, tomato, fried & greasy foods, etc. But all that is still better than the alternative, which would be surgery. My GI said I have a hiatal hernia which is likely causing some of my GERD issues (although he said the hernia is small and "sliding", so that wouldn't account for why my GERD is so severe). Surgery is the only real fix for a hiatal hernia, but the thought of surgery doesn't fill me with hope. Some of the potential/common side effects of the surgery are, inability to vomit and inability to belch. Apparently most people experience way more bloat after the surgery, too. I already bloat out a fair bit and really don't want even more bloat, and to not be able to belch/vomit sounds a bit horrifying! Not that I like to vomit, but there are a few times in life when it's necessary. And I belch all the time and I still bloat out so I also shudder to think of what would happen if I could no longer belch! It sounds to me like the surgery would potentially make me more uncomfortable than I am now. So, I just take meds and work around it and deal with it. It's not so bad, compared to what the surgery could do to me! No surgery for me and I'm just fine with that. :)

Sounds like you had a rough workout today, but I'm glad you're swimming tonight and I hope it goes well. Sometimes I have rough workouts too, I think sometimes I must be too dehydrated or something. Lately I've had a few workouts here and there where my body feels hot but my face feels cold and I have very little energy and everything feels difficult. Often times, though, my next workout will go great and I'll have lots of energy and feel fine, so I don't know what's up with that! So in my experience, you just have to keep on going to the gym and work with whatever your body and the situation throws at you. It's definitely discouraging to have a bad workout, but don't let it stop you or slow you down, just try to make the next workout a better one. Have fun swimming!

And as for the money stuff - I can definitely relate to having huge debt and just wanting to pay it off already. I've gone into medical debt yet again - I had an MRI this year which my insurance covered most of, but I have to pay $500 for. I also had a colonoscopy, and the procedure itself was covered by insurance, but stuff like the sedation & anesthesiologist wasn't fully covered so I have to pay some money for that too. Plus we have credit card debt and hubby's student loan debt, and our mortgage too plus all the usual bills. And we're so poor lately on top of all that, hubby's car needs a new muffler and our water bill is due and a bunch of little stuff like that - and hubby only works part-time right now for minimum wage, it's not good. He's been looking for full-time work in his field (art/animation) but there aren't a lot of jobs out there and there's a lot of competition for what few jobs there are in that field. I'm actually trying not to even think about it, let alone get my hopes up, but hubby's done freelance work off and on for this one guy for years. This guy works at a place that makes educational science videos for school children, and whenever he needs a bit of animation, he calls hubby. Well, this guy is applying for some grants, and if he gets them, he said he can hire hubby on full-time as an animator in his company. I'm not sure what the odds are of the guy getting the grants so I don't even want to think too much about it! We're so poor and for hubby to get this job, it would be so wonderful. So it's probably not even going to happen because that's how my luck usually goes. Anyway, that was a ramble and a half, but long story short, I can totally relate to being in debt and hating it and not having enough money to do much about it.
 
So my swim on weds was really good. Made me feel a bit better about my fitness!

Then today I went to the gym for the first time after having no breakfast. I had a coffee and my advent calender chocolate and then went straight to the gym.

And I was really pleased I ran 1.1 miles! And then I went on the rowing machine. I was finding it quite hard but I kept saying to myself the triathlon will be hard! Then I just did a few weights and left.

Sorry to hear about your money problems cat! I have just done my invoice for my next pay day and it has to be in a week earlier due to xmas... So I'm feeling poor still but at least in Jan I'll get paid for 5 weeks. I think I'll start looking for a new job in the new year.

Going to the cinema with the boy tonight... :) Looking forward to it. I haven't been to the cinema in ages!!
 
I am excited about January paychecks too! :) I get paid every other week, on Fridays - but in January there will be 3 payday Fridays rather than the usual 2. I usually take one of my paychecks and put it towards the mortgage and put my other monthly paycheck towards my other bills. When there's a 3rd paycheck in a month, it's almost like getting extra money!

I'm glad to hear you've had a couple good workouts after your disappointing one. Glad to hear swimming went well and that you were able to run more than a mile! That's excellent, keep up the good work! At this rate I think you'll be in excellent shape by the time the triathlon rolls around - yes, it'll probably still be difficult, but with your progress so far, I'm betting you'll do great! :)

Have fun at the cinema too. What movie are you seeing? I don't go to the movies very often but it's usually a fun experience if I can stay out of the bathroom and actually watch the film. My guts usually behave during a movie, but I swear I always feel like I need to pee about 5 minutes in! :p Anyway, have fun!
 
Ahh I just got my rota for next week... Only working 7 hours! Really need to look for another job!

Thanks for the encouragement with the triathlon :) Really helps to have someone in your corner :)

We are going to see Catching Fire, the second Hunger Games film. I have read the books so looking forward to it! :)
 
Oh no, only 7 hours next week - sadly sounds like my hubby's work schedule! His boss is in a play right now, so she's been taking off a few hours here and there to go rehearse/perform. So today hubby's working a whole 2 hours, from 5-7 PM. Tomorrow I think he's working from 3-6. It's not good! Both you and my hubby need better jobs with more hours!

I'll totally be your triathlon cheerleader! Go LMV go, you can do it! :D I don't know if you've ever been to a marathon finish line - my mom runs marathons so I've been to lots of finish lines to cheer her on. It's such a fun, encouraging environment - every spectator cheers for every single runner who gets to that finish line, and as a result a lot of people finish with big smiles on their faces. My mom ran a marathon on her 50th birthday and she wore a top that said "Birthday Girl" on it, and she said that all along the race course, people were cheering, "Go Birthday Girl, you can do it!" :) I hope your triathlon is like that with lots of cheering and encouragement too! Obviously I can't be there in person but I'm thinking of you and cheering you on in both your training and the triathlon itself and I hope there are lots of people there in person at the finish line to cheer you on too.
 
LMV, what did you think of Catcing Fire? I really liked it, despite the changes from the book. I read the books a few years ago before they really caught on, and I'm glad to see they're so popular, it's like sharing something you like with everyone!
How exciting, that you're going to do a triathlon. Back when I was still running I had a dream of running a half-marathon, but I had to give that up. So I'm always excited for others who will be getting to achieve that goal! I'll join Cat as your triathlon cheerleader!
 
Omg it has been so long since I updated!

I have still been around on the forum, but have been quite tired recently and couldn't be bothered to update! Then the longer it went on I had more to say and couldn't be bothered even more!

So here I am updating - but not every detail!

Last week was a strange week for me health wise! My Crohn's is fine, but I had a strange pain in my calf so I had to be late for work and see an emergency doctor to rule out a blood clot. That ended up fine. Two days later I had a sickness bug! Plus I was on antibiotics for a UTI. So I think all of that could have been why I was feeling a bit tired/under the weather.

So last week I didn't do much exercise mainly due to the leg pain. But now that has gone and I have managed to pick up the work outs again now. Also as I have still had hardly any hours at work I have more time to exercise and feel a lot more into it.

Big news... I have done two out door runs this week! On Monday I had infliximab in the afternoon and it was pushing it as to whether I could fit in a gym sesh or not. My sister was just about to go on a run so I asked if I could go with her. This was my first ever out door run! (not including when they forced us to at school!). So we did a route round my village, some of which I had to walk. But I am noting where I am when I am walking so I can try and do less and less. The problem we don't know how far it is. Her ap says its 1.78 miles and my ap says its 1.48 miles. The triathlon distance is 1.55 miles so you can see why that is frustrating!

Anyway it gives me a good route to be practising on.

Other big news is that I have a telephone interview next week for a really good job in a big food company. Its a graduate level job (I am a graduate but haven't yet had a graduate level job). They know I haven't got experience in that exact role but if they hire me will be doing so on a junior level, but I will still be managing some people... So it will be a big step up, but I just need to prove to them I am capable of it. I am a graduate after all.

Anyway, thats my update! Over and out. :p
 
That is some pretty exciting news, LMV. All the best luck for the telephone interview, I hope you get it!

Sounds like you are really doing well with your running, that is awesome! Keep it up!
 
Thanks mccindy! I really want this job. But it will be a tough interview process. I just went to talk to one of my Mum's friends who works with the company to get some advice. She was really helpful but now I feel like I have a lot more preparation to do before the interview!

Yesterday I went to the gym and ran the triathlon distance on the treadmill for the first time! I'm really pleased so now I just have to keep pushing that distance to make sure I am really strong at it.

I need to get myself to run that distance on the road as well, as I am probably running faster on the road as it is harder to pace yourself. So I think those are my next steps for now.
 
One thing I learned when it comes to interviews is this: pause before answering any questions. This gives you a chance to think over what you've been asked and what the best answer is, rather than just blurting out the first thing you think of. It's a common interview mistake not to take that extra second of time. We are all (humans) eager to please and not keep people waiting, but in an interview, it's definitely the right thing to do, to take the time to think of the right thing to say.

Fingers crossed!
 
Good luck with the interview, LMV! Sounds like 2014 could really be a great year with the potential new job and the triathlon, good stuff all around. :) Sounds like the training is going really well too, I'm so happy to hear it! Best of luck, I really hope you get the job!
 
Thanks guys,

I've got through to the next interview stage. It sounds pretty tough, I have to prepare a 10-15 min presentation on a topic that I don't really understand... team exercise and an interview. Its on Thursday so I don't have a lot of time to prepare, really need to get on it!! I went to the gym this morning to try and de-stress so hope that helped!

I also have some exciting news... The new bf is taking me away for a weekend for valentines day!! I'm so happy, he called me last night and the smile has not come off my face since! He isn't telling me where we are going so its a lovely surprise! No guy has ever spoilt me like this before so I'm very happy that I have found someone like that to have in my life :)

Then one of my best friends called me this morning to say that she has just got engaged and is planning to be married this year! She has asked me to be bridesmaid, so that is very exciting too!

Ok... now to focus on this interview and get Thursday over and done with!!!
 
What a great post! sounds like the new year is treating you pretty well already.
Best of luck with your presentation and next interview... at least they gave you a little time to work on it before you have to have it ready.

Sounds like you've got agreat guy there! :D
 
Woo woo, LMV! The secret, romantic weekend away sounds really nice, you'll have to update us and let us know where he takes you! Sounds like a good guy, he's into fitness and he likes treating you to nice things - sounds like a keeper to me!

Best of luck with the interview on Thursday too! I'm guessing they must be impressed with you if you made it through the first round, so I've got my fingers crossed that you can wow them in this round too. Good luck, you can do it! :D
 
Thanks guys. I am so stressed over this presentation I have to do. Its just really hard to find the answers. I really just want this week to be over so I can think about all the other exciting things going on!
 
Good luck, LMV. If you find yourself struggling with prepping for your presentation, maybe set things aside for a bit and go for a walk or go to the gym or for a drive, something like that to clear your head. Then come back to it, and it might be easier. That's what works for me. Maybe I'm weird, but my brain works in a slow, deliberate sort of way. I can't come up with good ideas quickly, I need to mull things over and look at each detail and give things a lot of consideration. If things overwhelm me, I just have to walk away from it and come back to it later when I feel refreshed. I guess I'm a procrastinator in a way, but it's what works for me. Anyway, good luck, I've got my fingers crossed for you!
 
Thanks Cat, I think I'm similar.
But I find that it takes me so long to get going that I'm best off sitting at it for long periods of time... coz if I stop it takes me a while to get going again!
I am being really slow today for some reason. But I am aiming to have the presentation finished tonight so I can spend tomorrow going over other parts of the interview. And I suppose I need to practise the presentation too! :p
 
How'd the presentation go, LMV?? I just realized I hadn't heard an update from you about it! I hope all went great! It sounds like you prepared very well, so hopefully that means you blew them away with your awesomeness. I'm afraid of what no update means, though - big hugs if it didn't go so great, and big high-fives if it went well.
 
Hi guys sorry I haven't updated!
Unfortunately it didn't go well. Well, it didn't go bad but I didn't get the job.
So I did the presentation and I got a bit nervous. But I thought it was going ok. And then I was supposed to have an interview but they called me into another room and told me that they were impressed with the effort I put into the presentation but I haven't got the job so they aren't going to put me through to the next round. They said they were looking for someone with more experience.

In other news, I went to the gym today with my sister which was good. ran the triathlon distance and then did 10mins on the rowing machine and 5 on the cross trainer.

Its six months today until the triathlon! I really need to push myself a lot more now so I continue improving.
 
Aw, sorry to hear about not getting the job. Still, it sounds like you aced the presentation anyway so that's something to be proud of - are they going to keep you in mind for future job openings, perhaps?

Sounds like you had a good workout and the training is going well! :) Is your sister thinking of doing the triathlon too? That would be fun to do the triathlon together. Sounds like the running is going great, how's the swimming & bike training going?
 
Well, if you didn't get the job, you got the next best thing - kudos for your great presentation! Sounds like just the lack of experience is what stopped you - you can hardly help that, so you obviously did not fail.
You seem to be doing great with your running and rowing prep. I'm excited to hear how the triathlon goes for you. And also your great Valentine's Day coming up soon!
 
Hey, Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I've been kinda busy.

Yes my sister is hoping to do the triathlon too. Its just whether she can get the money together since the admission fees are pretty high.

The swimming training is going well - I go at least once a week. The bike isn't going so good since I have been skipping it since I have been running more and getting tired.

However I was very pleased with my workout yesterday! I decided to do 15mins on the exercise bike first and then see how far I can run on the treadmill. I thought I at least wanted to do half a mile. So I was really pleased when I managed to do 0.8miles. I reckon I might even be able to do the whole distance next time!

What I really want to do now is be able to run the whole distance outside. Going for an outdoor run tomorrow but my sister said the route I normally do is flooded so I'm not too sure which way to run.

In other news, I got my body composition measured at my gym on Thursday! I had it done several times at university on my course. I know I'm the heaviest I've ever been at the moment, but I also looked the best I have ever been so I was expecting that most of the weight I have put on recently is muscle. So I was a bit surprised that my fat percentage is higher than it was back then. I'm currently 24% fat. (normal range between 20-26%). So I'm 1.2% more fat than I was in 2010, which was the only measurements I could find. So from looking closely at it, in that time I have put on 1.5kg and of that 1kg is fat and 0.5kg is muscle. I would have thought 0.5kg of muscle isn't a lot after a year of exercise??

I don't know. Anyway, I know I look good and everything is in normal range so I shouldn't worry about it too much.
 
Definitely the right way to look at it. You are in the range for healthy body fat percentage. The best way, actually, to build muscle is to do a lot of heavy lifting and eat at a calorie surplus with a lot of protein. Cardio burns fat but not muscle. Regular exercise is reshaping your body in a good way, it sounds like, so you should probably just keep doing what you're doing, cut your calories by about 100 per day if you want to lose just a little more fat and you'll be fine!
Keep it up girl!
 
LMV, I don't know much about those body fat percentage testers, but in my experience they seem to be very inaccurate at times. Back in college, I was thin but hated to exercise. I had to take a mandatory physical education class 2 days a week, 1 day in the gym jogging laps and the other day in the classroom. I put in the minimum amount of effort required to pass the class, and I got yelled at a lot for walking rather than running the laps. So I didn't have much muscle mass and I was totally lazy, I would estimate I was probably close to 30% body fat at the time. At one point in that class, we had to have our body fat percentages measured. The instructors told me ahead of time to expect my percentage to be high because I didn't put in much effort. Well, the machine said I was only 15% body fat! I laughed in their stupid faces and they couldn't say anything. In hindsight of course I'm sure the machine was wrong or broken or whatever, because there's absolutely no way I have ever been 15% body fat, particularly not at that time in my life. So anyway, long story short, I wouldn't put too much stock into those numbers - it sounds like you're seeing results in both improvements to your fitness level & ability, and to your body shape & tone. Muscle weighs more than fat because it's denser tissue, so the fact that you weigh more just says to me that you've put on a lot of muscle and that's great! :) So yeah, ignore the body fat measurement thing, it likely wasn't accurate and I'm betting the weight you've gained is all muscle.
 
Thanks guys. I'm not too worried about the body fat stuff - as you say I can see the difference.

So I've had a good week of workouts this week! Two gym sessions, a swim and a pilates class so far!

Tomorrow I'm going to the gym with the boyfriend for the first time!! I'm a teeny bit nervous actually! I mostly do cardio and I think we are going to do some weights together so I'll be doing things I don't normally do and I don't wanna look stupid! lol :S

Kinda need to get over that first gym session together though and then I'll be over it and fine. lol Can't get away with it for long because he really wants to do it. lol

I'll let you know how it goes!!
 
Good luck and have fun tomorrow, LMV! I'm sure you'll impress him, and surely you can tell him that you tend to do more cardio than weights so that he understands just in case you do have any trouble. I bet you'll be just fine though. Have fun and keep us posted! :)

You mentioned doing pilates - was that fun? I've never done pilates but it seems kind of like yoga? Maybe I should give it a try sometime.
 
I have told him I'm not really sure what to do with weights too much.

We are also going to a family dinner afterwards so its the first time he will be spending real time with my family which will be nice :)

Pilates is fun cat you should give it a try! Its only the second time I have gone. It is like yoga, to be honest I don't completely understand the difference. I want to try both. Although you do ache a bit with each move at the time it doesn't feel particularly strenuous. But at the end when you are walking away you do feel a little weak and I was aching the next day. I think its really good to mix up your exercises and try different things.
 
So what I'm saying today is: oww! My whole body is aching and I am walking around like an old woman! haha

I didn't even work that hard at the gym but clearly my body is not used to that kind of exercise. But its good right? No pain no gain... lol

So I don't know if he was impressed or not. some of the things we did I was better at then others. He was getting me to do some bench presses and I found them really hard! He was like ok so we need to work on chest!

But its defo really good to have someone there watching you and helping you to do it properly. you don't realise you are doing things like tensing your abs when you shouldn't or not breathing properly.

So I think he is going to take some time to try and come up with a bit of a training regime for me for the triathlon. Which is good, it feels really nice to have him helping me with it. And he says he will be there on the day too. So it feels good that he is kinda working on it too, when I do the triathlon it will be an achievement for him too because he has helped me to get there. :)
 
Boyfriend & personal trainer all in one, sounds like a good deal to me! Once you get over the soreness, the next time should go better. And that's nice that he's going to help you with the triathlon training! Is he going to participate in it with you?
 
He wont do the triathlon too because its a women only one!!
But also he has a problem with his hips, he is going to have an operation soon. So he doesn't do a lot of cardio, he is focussing mainly on his weights and body building at the moment.

So it took me a few days to get over the aching from the weights session! Weds I went for a swim with my friend, we did 40 lengths so that was good. Then I hit the gym yesterday, did 40mins of cardio. Ran the triathlon distance a teeny bit faster than I normally do. I normally set the treadmill at 5.2 and just run until I get to distance but this time I set it at 5.3 and had it on 5.4 for a tiny bit. I really need to carry on focusing on getting my running stronger. I still haven't managed to run the full distance outside yet. I want to be able to run quite a bit further by the triathlon date so I am quite strong for the actual thing. Then I did 15mins on the bike. And 5 mins rowing machine.

I'm finding that my recovery time is getting a lot quicker now. Like my body aches from tiring it out but I'm not staying so tired cardio wise for long at all. I think this is a really great improvement since it means I will recover a lot in the short time I am transitioning in the event - giving me more energy for the next part.

I'm going to try an outdoor run tomorrow. (weather depending) And I really really really want to do the whole thing without needing to walk!!

Then heading to the gym on sunday with the bf for more weights!

I'm feeling really fit at the moment and loving it! :D
 
Wow, LMV, what a fantastic update! You definitely sound very fit and happy, that's wonderful! :D I'm so proud of how athletic you've become! I know you've said in the past that I've inspired you, but you are totally inspiring me now. Very awesome! :)

Yes, running outside is much different than running indoors on a treadmill, so I'm glad to hear you're training outside too. As a teenager, I once trained to run a race - my training runs were all during warm summer evenings on pavement with my brother (we'd just run around the block a bunch of times). But the race itself, it was during the early morning and it was a bit cold out at that time of day, and the race was on a gravel path rather than on pavement. I didn't do very well, and I think it was because I just wasn't used to running on gravel in cool weather. So think about stuff like that too when it comes to your triathlon! The terrain, the temperature, if there are hills, stuff like that can all make a difference. Good luck tomorrow with your run!
 
Glad I am inspiring you cat!

I think I can just really feel how much I am improving and I'm loving it! And obviously the encouragement from the bf really helps too.

When I went and stayed with some of my uni friends before xmas, one of them was saying she has put on weight and blamed her new relationship. I was thinking... seriously? Its like the opposite for me!

So glad that I'm with someone who really gets the fitness and nutrition thing - he is actually more mad on it then I am and tells me off for not eating my vegetables and not liking filtered water!! :p
 
Some people like your friend do gain a lot of weight when they get into a relationship, it's weird. My hubby was always soooo skinny way back when we were dating (we lived in different states and did long-distance dating all through college). When we finally got married and moved in together after college, my weight stayed about the same but he gained a LOT. He went from really skinny to kinda chubby very quickly! He's lost some of the flab now and he goes to the gym with me sometimes - he's about normal size now, not too skinny and not too fat. Still, it was really strange when he first gained all the weight early on in our marriage - all of a sudden people were telling him, "Marriage has been good to you, you've put on weight!" He got so self conscious about it. :p

Anyway, glad to hear you're enjoying fitness and the results so much, that makes me happy to hear. :) But have you explained to your boyfriend that veggies aren't always so safe for Crohnies? And the filtered water thing, I remember there was a thread a long time ago by David, that basically said that filtered water may be taking out good stuff along with the bad, and he had a link to a study that showed that especially for sickies like us, it's looking to be more beneficial to just drink regular un-filtered water because the good outweighs the bad. Here's the link:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=42650

So, if you wanted to argue to your boyfriend about the water thing, maybe show him that. The veggies thing - have you tried juicing? That's pretty much the only way I can get my veggies anymore.
 
When I say filtered water, I mean something like reverse osmosis or distillation as those take all the minerals out of the water. I don't want anything like chlorine in my water, but I do want all the minerals.
 
um, yeah, I haven't been so good for my hubs.... he's put on weight over the years of our marriage. He's says I'm too good of a cook. I'm a bit of an enabler as I like to make him happy with treats. Maybe because I can't eat for beans myself? He wants to lose some weight this year so I have to start being a lot better about that for him. I told him, just eat what I eat, you'll lose lots of weight! :p
 
I just starting going back to the gym again after being absent for a few months. I usually do the elliptical for a half hour. I did thirteen minutes my first time back and seventeen minutes my last time.

2
 
I haven't really said to him much about the vegetables thing... I'm quite well at the moment so I don't really feel the need to go into it. I will if and when I need to.

So I was really really happy on saturaday when I did a little more than the triathlon distance run outside without needing to stop and walk! So the triathlon run is 1.55miles and I did about 1.6 miles. So obviously I need to keep pushing that so I can do it stronger (I was very slow) and further so the real thing wont be too hard.

Then I went to the gym with bf on sunday, we did similar to what we did the week before. And I was aching a lot less afterwards so thats an improvement too.

And then I went to the gym today before work, I didn't have much time but I did 15mins on the bike and then ran a mile. I want to get to the point where I can run the full distance on the treadmill after the exercise bike. I will probably be there soon I think. I'm probably a little bit tired atm from a lot of exercise. So tomorrow it is pilates in the morning, work for three hours and then swim with my friend!

Not long now till the bf is taking me on our valentines trip away! we are going on Sunday so that is something we are both looking forward to! :)
 
LMV, you are rocking the gym! It sounds like you will really be ready for that event. And have fun on your trip! I'll bet you're getting pumped!
 
Went to pilates this morning but skipped the swim!

I am so tired and unmotived (for work) at the moment. I have a virus hanging around me which I'm waiting for it to come out into full blown cold. The bf and my mum had it.

I thought it was probably not worth going swimming if it is on its way. plus I was kinda fed up of driving here there and everywhere. What with my trips to the gym, working funny hours and staying at my bfs a few nights a week I just feel like I never get a chance to chill at home! So I decided to skip the swim so I could spend an evening doing nothing!

Thanks mccindy! Really looking forward to the trip and telling you guys all about it as well :) x
 
LMV, I had a cold the other week. Mine didn't last too long and it wasn't too severe, so hopefully it won't be too bad if you catch it. I think I skipped only one gym day due to my cold and then was right back at it, so not bad at all. And I'm usually the type of person who catches a cold and then I'm sick for weeks on end, so it was really nice that it only lasted a few days!

And I totally hear you, sometimes I just need a rest day to relax at home too. Absolutely nothing wrong with that! Hope you're having a nice evening doing nothing. :) As fun as working out is, you don't want to get burned out or not find it fun anymore, so definitely yes take a rest day here and there! Rest days help your muscles recover too, which helps prevent injury (as you surely already know), so it's not like you're doing nothing - rest days are an important part of fitness. So veg out every now and again, and don't feel guilty about it.

Enjoy your trip! I forget, has he said where he's taking you or is it a surprise?
 
No I don't know where we are going!! He says it will be about a 4 hour drive so where we live that only really gives the option of North!

Its exciting not knowing where I am going! :)
 
Out of curiosity, because I'm not even sure - how long would it take to drive from one end of England to the other? It seems so small in comparison to the US - from here, you could drive 4 hours in pretty much any direction very easily (if you went due East you'd end up in Lake Michigan, but any other direction and you'd end up in Northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or Illinois). As a kid, my family took several road trips out West. One day we drove straight through, started at our house at about 6 AM and just drove and drove until about 10 PM, we went something like 500 miles in a day, and ended up somewhere in South Dakota - that's only 2 states away. It felt like so much driving but we only ended up a relatively short distance from home - when you look at the entire United States, it didn't look like we had hardly covered any distance at all! So it's an odd concept to me, a country that you could drive from one end to the other in less than a day.

Anyway. Sorry for that ramble! Hope you enjoy your trip up north! :)
 
I'm very interested to find out where you end up going and doing, LMV! It's intriguing, not knowing! ;)

Cat - we drove from WI to Seattle in 24 hours (straight through) a couple of times. I would recommend it, it sucked! When we took our kids to South Dakota on vacation to the Rapids City area from where we lived near Eau Claire, Wi, it took us about 10 hours to drive there.

LMV, I've seen pictures of parts of Scotland and England. It really looks like a beautiful country.
 
Cindy, those 24 hour straight drives are insane, I've never done that and would never want to! I remember, back in college, there were a couple guys who were co-workers of my college roommate. Apparently these 2 guys got a 3-day weekend from work & school, and they wanted to take a road trip. They heard that you can drive from WI to the Grand Canyon in about 24 hours. I'm trying to remember, I think it took even longer than that for them. They took turns, one would drive and the other would sleep. They actually made it to the Grand Canyon, stopped and took some photos for just a few minutes, and then turned around and headed right back home. :p They just barely made it back in time to go back to work. That sounds so insane to me and exhausting too! And of course this was in the late 90s so gas was MUCH cheaper back then and you could actually do a road trip like that without breaking the bank. Still, even if it was affordable, no way would I want to drive that kind of distance. Particularly to only see the Grand Canyon for a few minutes! :p Still, apparently it was a memorable story as I still remember hearing about it 15ish years later.

LMV, sorry to hijack your thread! And 14ish hours to drive from one end of the island to the other, that's actually longer than I would have guessed. In that case, I'm glad it's "only" a 4 hour drive and not 14 hours. Looking forward to hearing about your mystery trip and where you went! I hope it's super fun and romantic!
 
I'm already back from my Valentines trip! We did it the weekend before as actual valentines weekend was already booked up.

Anyway it was a really lovely weekend! We left early on Sunday morning and we were staying in Yorkshire, about 20mins north west of Leeds. So we explored Leeds for a bit on Sunday, had lunch there. Then we went to check into the hotel. It was so nice. It was like lots of cabins in a wooded area - so peaceful. It had a lake and a spa - a gym (bf used the gym!) a pool, a steam room, sauna, an indoor and outdoor jacuzzi.

So we were in this little cabin, which was split into three people's rooms. So ours was like a small corridor, with the bathroom to the left and bedroom to the right. So we went and used the spa. didn't get into the jacuzzi on the first day. But used the pool and the steam room. Then we showered and got ready for dinner. The restaurant was booked up for that night so we went to the bar to have bar food. Everything was done up all cozy with like wooden walls, log fires.

The next day we didn't want to do anything too busy as we were there to chill. So we headed off to this little place we had a leaflet for which was about an hours drive, was really nice to see a lot of the countryside. It was down a valley where there was this old mill and a river lots of waterfalls where it comes down the valley. It was so peaceful. So then we headed back to the hotel and went to the spa again. We managed to get into the jacuzzi that time - the outdoor one. We even had it to ourselves at one point. Looking out towards the lake. So nice.

Then we went back to the room and I went to shower and bf was like, I'm going to get something ready in here so take your time. And I was like... ok, not sure what to expect here. But when I went back in he had lit candles and put fairly lights over the bed. And he had brought massage oil with him and that was my valentines present! He has been trained how to do massages as part of his degree and I had never had one before!

So we got ready for dinner and then we went in the restaurant this time. They told us with the deal on our room we could have the 6 course menu on a deal! So we went for that, I really enjoyed it. But it was small portions so wasn't really enough for bf who eats loads.

So then we went back to the room and I had my massage, was really relaxing. :) But then we had to get up and leave the next day :( Breakfasts were really nice as well, I had eggs Benedict the first morning and cinnamon french toast, bacon and maple syrup the second morning.

Then we did a slight detour to Manchester on the way home. We explored Manchester for a couple of hours and then headed home. Then the weekend was over! :( And I had to go to work today which was sad. But still it was so nice. It was so thoughtful of him!

He liked the couple of presents I bought for him too, and I am still going to see him on actual valentines day and I've bought a heart shaped cake tin so I'm going to make him a cake!
 
LMV, I saw your vacation photos on FB this morning - looks like a beautiful place! And you and your BF look so cute together! Sounds like it was a great trip. Just one question though, why did your BF use the gym but you didn't?? ;) Just teasing you, ha ha. You're allowed to skip workouts when on vacation. Sounds like you had a great time though and that's lovely. And yes, it's really hard going back to work after a nice vacation - "real life" seems a bit harsher when you have to get right back to it after a relaxing time being away from it all.
 
Oh, LMV, that sounds delightful. Just the kind of trip that's perfect for a romantic getaway. And your first massage was from your BF who is trained for them? How great is that? Wow....... I'm giddy. :p Too bad it went so quick, but at least you have great memories, and still have tomorrow to enjoy!
 
Ah... yeah I still can't stop thinking about the trip away and how lucky I am :)

So today is real valentines day. I currently have a heart-shaped cake in the oven! :)
Tonight we are going to cook dinner together and just have a nice relaxing evening.

So back to the purpose of this thread!! I went to the gym today! For the first time I did 15mins on the bike followed by the full 1.55mile run on the treadmill! It was hard, for the last half a mile I struggled but I really wanted to do it. Now I just have to keep doing it and keep pushing it harder - faster and longer so that I will be stronger for the actual thing. I've got 5 months to go now!

Obviously before long I want to be able to be practising doing this outdoors on my bike and then running. But I want to wait for the weather to get a bit nicer first! We have had problems with flooding in this country a lot recently- we have just had so much rain and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight!! My house will be fine, but it means there are a lot of roads closed in my local area so driving around can be hard. I had a 10 mile detour home from work last week! Luckily work pay my travel. But still its frustrating and terrible for those who's houses are effected.
 
LMV, I saw a story in the news about the flooding in the UK, it looks like a horrible situation in some areas! It's crazy how you guys are getting so much rain but then areas here in the US (specifically California) are in a serious drought. I think it's been a very weird winter weather-wise for a lot of people. Here we've had nothing but snow and bitter cold - we're used to snow & cold here, but it's been snowier and much colder than usual so it's seemed like a very long winter. Anyway, I hope the flooding situation there gets better, it sounds like a really awful thing.

That's great about how you're starting to put the bike & running training back-to-back like that. I'm sure it's tough but it'll get easier each time you do it. Once the weather gets nicer, will you have opportunities to practice all 3 components - do a swim and then ride your bike outside and then go for a jog?

Sounds like a nice, low-key, relaxing Valentine's day for you and your BF. Mine will be similar, my hubby works till 7 PM so we'll just make dinner and maybe watch a movie. I do have a bottle of champagne, but I haven't been feeling great lately so I'm not sure if it's wise to have a drink - maybe just a small one won't affect my tummy too much. Have a good relaxing evening with your boyfriend and yummy cake, LMV!
 
Sounds like you are back on track with your training. Especially mentally, LMV! You'll be ready to go in 5 months, I have no doubt. In the meantime, enjoy that cake and your evening.
We're going to get takeout Japanese and watch a movie on PPV since there's nothing we want to see at the local theater. And I might have a glass of wine. :)

Enjoy your evening, ladies!
 
Hope you both had a lovely evening!

We made pad Thai which is one of my fave recipes. It has never really effected me before but now today I have bad tummy pains! I was fine all morning, it started as soon as I got home from work this afternoon. Its strange since I haven't actually had a BM yet today, its like 3pm here now.

Oh well, I'm just sat here eating chocolate - probably wont help but makes me feel better. I have infliximab on Monday so maybe I'm in need of the next dose.
 
Ooh, pad thai is yummy but it has always been a risky meal for me even before I got sick. Years ago when I had a relatively healthy digestive tract, I tried pad thai a few times but it always did me in and I'd end up on the toilet with explosive d. I'm not sure if it was the spicyness or the peanuts or just a combination of everything, but that was one of the things that has always caused me d. I wouldn't touch it now with a 10 foot pole - if it sent me running to the bathroom as a relatively healthy person, I don't even want to think about what it'd do to me now! Eek!

Anyway, it sounds like you had an okay valentine's day aside from that. Did the Infliximab infusion help things?
 
Hey, yeah I think infliximab must have helped a little bit.
We made pad thai again on tuesday because we had leftover ingredients, and it didn't effect me that time! It also didn't taste so spicey though!

I haven't done much exercise this week. I went to the gym with the bf on sunday. Skipped swimming for the pub with my friend last night! Then I woke up with a cold this morning. Hoping to go to the gym tomorrow but I will see how this cold is! Atm its one of those horrible ones where your head feels really full. I have a banging headache! :(

Also, we had a bit of sad news in our family this week. My Dad has been diagnosed with skin cancer. Fortunately the mole in question has already been removed, and they think they have got it all. They just need to do various tests now to make sure it hasn't spread. So fingers crossed it has all gone and he will be ok. We are all just getting our head around it at the moment.
 
Well thank goodness they think they got it all. Cancer is a scary word, but skin cancer is at least a curable kind, and I will keep my fingers crossed that he never has any of it come back!

And head colds.... I hate them so much. I really hope you feel better fast, LMV.
 
Hope you're feeling better today, LMV! And of course I hope your dad is okay too. It sounds like they caught it early and hopefully got it all, so I would think he'll be just fine. Cancer is always a scary thing of course, but skin cancer is (generally speaking) one of the easier ones to catch and treat/remove and be done with. My grandpa had a bit of skin cancer on the top of his head about a year ago, and his doctors cut it out and apparently they got it all - he didn't need anything like chemo nor radiation for it. So hopefully your dad's is similar and he won't have to take harsh medications or anything.
 
Hey LMV, just checking in on you as this thread has gone quiet. How are things going, did you recover from your cold? How is your dad doing? How's everything else, how's the training going?
 
Hi Cat! Nice to hear from you!

I went back to the gym on Monday - I didn't do too well since I had some toast before hand so suffered badly from the stitch! I got really frustrated I just hit the stop button and stormed out the gym!! lol

The swimming pool I usually go to was closed on weds due to some fault so I haven't been swimming for a while!

I went to the gym again today and it went a lot better! I had a busy day so just did 15mins on the exercise bike and then ran the full 1.55miles on the treadmill. So thats the second time I have done that now. Now I just plan to increase the distance each time I try and also I need to practice outside a bit more so that I can get used to that.

My Dad is ok thanks. He has his next operation in 14th march where they take out a bit more skin and test his lymph nodes. Not sure how long the results will be!

My sister's boyfriend had an operation today because he broke his arm riding his bike last week!! So it feels a bit crazy atm!

My cold is mostly better though thanks :) Just a tiny bit snively still.

How are you?? x x
 
I'm pretty well, thanks for asking. :) I've been back on Entocort for a few weeks now and I'm finally having some good days and just generally feeling better. It's been a really busy week though and I'm kind of exhausted today!

I hope your dad's next surgery goes okay and that he gets the all-clear. And oh no, I hope your sister's boyfriend is okay too! I'm presuming it was a pretty bad break if he needed to have an operation on it? I've only ever broken "minor" bones (my nose and my big toe) so I can't quite imagine breaking a major bone badly enough to require surgery, ouch! I hope he recovers quickly and that his surgery went okay too.

Glad to hear you had a good workout after having a bad one. It's so frustrating and discouraging to have a bad workout, but it's like the best thing ever to go back to the gym the next time and have a good workout. :) And of course you've learned an important lesson now about what your body can and cannot handle food-wise before a workout. It sucks to learn the hard way, but you'll definitely remember it. I had to learn the hard way not to drink gatorade before a workout. It was a few years ago but I definitely remember the nausea very clearly and I won't ever do that again! :p

How's everything else going, how's the job and the boyfriend?
 
Thanks cat :)

I haven't been on in a couple of days because I have been fairly busy. I work monday and tuesday evenings now - finish at 8pm so by the time I get home I cant be bothered to get online!

Went to the gym yesterday - wasn't amazing. I had chest pain and ear ache so I thought maybe I'm coming down with something. Think I'm going to try an out door run tomorrow morning. I have only done that once without stopping and I know its 1.7 miles so would be good to do that again.

I'm really bored of my job now. Getting a few more hours so thats good but I'm just bored and fed up of it. So starting to seriously look for something else now. Hope it wont be long! Everything is good with the boyfriend thanks :) been almost four months together now. We are considering going on holiday together this year but nothing set in stone yet. We both want new jobs actually because we are fed up of being poor! We wanna do nice things together but it all adds up and we are just fed up of it!
 
great boyfriend, looking for a new job, athletic outlook, this is a great year for you, LMV!

It sucks that you are coming down with something. Seems to be going around, Cat is getting sick too. It's that time of year, boo.
 
Yep, like Cindy said I've got a cold, started coming down with it yesterday - just like you said LMV, I started feeling it when I was in the gym. I had multiple dizzy spells while on the treadmill, nearly fell off a few times! Not fun! I just had a cold in January and already I have another one, yuck. If you've got a cold, I hope it passes quickly and doesn't hinder your training too much.

Good luck with the job hunt! Now that you've had a couple jobs and have some experience under your belt, hopefully people will be more willing to hire you. I can definitely relate to being tired of being poor! Glad to hear that things are still good with the boyfriend. I hope you're feeling well enough to do your outdoor run tomorrow!
 
My run went really well yesterday! I wasn't really looking forward to it because I felt like I hadn't been improving much in the last month. It has actually been a month since I last did an outdoor run. But It went really well. I was feeling a lot stronger and I'm sure I did it faster.

So now I really want to get this distance up. It would be good to run 3 miles by the time the triathlon is here. So I've decided to start doing interval training on the treadmill, but with jogging and running instead of running and walking, its supposed to be really good for improving your fitness.

Heading to the gym tomorrow with the bf but we will probably be doing some weight training.
 
That's excellent that you had such a good run! And yes, I've heard good things about interval training, so I hope it helps you improve even further. :)

You mentioned you think you did your outdoor run faster than in the past - may I give you some pointers that I've learned from my mother (a marathon runner)? She'll often drive a running route in her car, and use the car's trip odometer to make note of where each mile ends and a new one begins. Also, she wears a watch with a stopwatch function on it, and on her runs she times each mile to see how fast she's going. I don't think you need a fancy watch, just a regular digital watch with a timer/stopwatch function. So by measuring how many miles her route is using her car, and timing each mile from her watch, she then writes that info down in her running journal when she gets home, so she can track her progress and training over time. That kind of tracking could be really helpful to your training too!

Enjoy your weight training tomorrow! I'm just getting over this cold and am heading to the gym today for some weights myself.
 
Interval training is very good for cardio fitness. It's much better, overall than just one basic pace.
I used to really love running, I miss it a lot. I enjoy my elliptical but it's just not the same as a good run.
 
Thanks for the input everyone!

Gym with bf on sat was good! I'm enjoying learning various strength exercises.

I'm busy with work this week. Suddenly been given lots of hours for this week. (non smoking day here on weds). So I'm not sure when I will fit in gym. Might actually have to wait for my only day off this week which is Friday. Obviously I am happy for the work because I need the money. But Why does the busy weeks have to come when I'm fed up of my job, dread going to work and want to be spending time at home looking for a new job!?!?

Oh well. I will find something else eventually!
 
I've really enjoyed reading yours and Cat's experiences with exercise. It gave me the encouragement I needed to get myself fit again. There are days that I get to the gym for a class and find myself tiring very quickly, but overall it's been great getting back into exercise.
 
Glad you enjoyed reading it! As you can see with both of us we both really enjoy exercising but do have our ups and downs with success! Just have to keep going. Its good to have a fitness goal as well to keep you focussed!
 

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