So, last week I gave you a few reasons to train in the rain. The rain has now quickly been replaced by lovely sunshine. Which, whilst lovely, brings its own set of issues with it.

Dehydration whilst running is the main cause of a poor performance.  It’s as important as all of those speed, interval and core sessions and you will need to practice taking on board fluids and gels before your race day.Whilst some people swear by jelly beans, for others it makes them sick. Some people love gels, but different brands will affect people differently. Others swear by isotonic drinks or salt tablets.  All of these will affect everybody differently which is why it’s important to try them to see which works best for you.

Through proper hydration you can still run well, but as soon as you dehydrate you will slow, your legs become tired and cramp, and eventually your head will spin. However, it’s also important not to over hydrate. Hyperhydration can cause the same effects as well as swelling of the brain. This is why it’s important to practice with whichever method you have chosen.

A good way to estimate it is you need 1 litre of fluid to replace every kilo lost during a training session. Once you have worked out this, you will know exactly how much to drink.

So, we’ve picked an event to compete in, Decided to do it for charity to make sure we do it, but some days we still need motivation! As we are all living in Britain, the weather is unpredictable at the best of times, and the ‘it might rain, so I’m not going training’ is an excuse we all use, including myself.

Here are my top six reasons why training in the rain may prove useful!

1. You won’t meet as many people, dogs, horses, cars etc. This is great as it means you won’t have to stop quite so many times to let them pass!
2. You will train faster to get it done quicker as you will want to get home. Make these sessions your speed sessions as the motivation of a nice hot shower when you get back is more than enough to increase that pace.
3. You will warm up properly so less likely to injure yourself. On hot days we are all guilty of going straight out and starting quickly because we are already hot. We might be hot but our muscles aren’t! So on those miserable days when we warm up correctly because we have to we are less likely to get injured.
4. You won’t get as dehydrated on the rainy days which is great for your performance as dehydration can actually decrease your performance by 10%
5. 5. If it’s raining on the day of your race you don’t have a choice about getting wet. It makes these day good experience and good race preparation.
6.  Hot chocolate and biscuits at end of the session are more than a welcome and earned necessity

Ok, so perhaps entering an event isn’t quite enough motivation to start training properly, but doing it for a charity definitely is. I have decided to run for a charity called More Than Words. They teach severely disabled children who can not speak a special sign language so that they can communicate with their families. The NHS don’t provide this service and knowing there are parents out there who have never heard the words ‘I Love You’ from their children gave me the motivation to start, and keep training.

Whilst I have probably only run 400 meters, I have walked over 30 miles last week and have already walked 12 in the pouring rain this week. Tomorrow I have an interval session planned and I’m working hard on my core strength.

My core strength has been hampered by a large diastasis after the birth. This is the gap between the ‘ab’ muscles running up from the belly button that pregnancy can cause. If you have this, you can help it by laying on your back, pulling in your pelvic floor muscles and doing a slight head raise. Once the gap is less that 2cms, you can then increase the head raise to a head a shoulder raise, similar to a small stomach crunch. Once it’s closed then you can progress to full crunches, and your training will become a lot more effective and less painful

So, I guess I’ve secretly been waiting for the knee consultant to come up with a magic answer for my knees, or to tell me to give up. In reality I now know it’s not going to happen. So, I’ve gone and booked onto a 30 mile hill challenge in Wales in September.

Now that something is booked I’ve got to get on with my fitness. My weight is back down to pre baby, assuming that the scales aren’t broken, so I’ve no excuse. If like me, you are finding excuse after excuse to put off exercising, booking an event (and doing it with someone) is a great way of making you start training again. I now walk 6 miles most days with the dogs, so I have a base level to work from. I’ve taken part in the odd bootcamp and spin session so I’m now going to spend the next 125 days improving on my fitness and getting around this rather interesting challenge in September!

I’ll start tomorrow…….. Honest!

The pregnancy course we went on last weekend was amazing,! It taught us everything to help us treat all the aches and pains we all experience through pregnancy, at a greater level than previously.  It also touched on the emotional side of pre natal and post natal care. We all forget there are softer sides to people, and not only have their bodies been turned upside down physically, but emotionally too. This emotion never stops, and it’s not only child related. Women all over the county have the return to work battle. You pop in to see old colleagues and you don’t fit anymore, you stay at home and you get lonely. Well luckily there are many ways to help with this, we understand this and treatments like acupuncture, reflexology and massage can not only help relax you but also help with the anxiety. Post natal exercise can also do massive amounts to help release endorphins and get you feeling better. And if you can’t find child care, you can always bring them with you!

So, this weekend I’m off on a CPD course for pregnancy. I’m really looking forward to this as it should help teach us more techniques to look after you all. Did you know 2/3rds of pregnant women experience back pain, which gets worse as the pregnancy progresses? It’s also the sacrum that moves to allow the baby to pass through during birth so it’s no wonder we can suffer for a while afterwards.

All the research shows that while we as a profession can’t stop the pain from coming, we can help you manage it. I’ve seen many clients over the years and helped them with the aches and pains of pregnancy, and have also been personally able to relate to them. The modalities we use include massage, acupuncture, stretches, Pilates, even sessions with Joe the personal trainer have helped. So really, this is just to let you know, we can help you, and you don’t have to suffer during or after your pregnancy. And if childcare is an issue you can always bring them – All the staff love babies! (Even though mine cries a lot!)

Ok, so for the past six weeks I’ve waited patiently to see an orthopaedic surgeon on the NHS. I was seen by one of the top specialist in Wales, in whom I have placed all my hopes in to make me better!
We chatted about my knees for a while, and he gave me a thorough examination including my hip and spine, where a lot of knee pain and be referred from.  Pain that travels is usually a sign that it might not be your knee playing up, so if your therapist is checking other parts of your anatomy, don’t worry, they are just doing a really thorough job.  I always tell my patients the nerves are like tree routes. They come out of your spine and travel down your limbs in a certain pattern. If something is irritating that tree route (nerve) at some point, it can be felt anywhere along that route (nerve).

Anyway, the next phase is in 6 weeks for some x-Rays so we can see what’s going on.  I know we are making progress but my hopes of running a marathon this year is slowly disappearing.

I’m booked in to see Amy on Friday in Chester for more acupuncture as getting down stairs is almost impossible at the moment.

Ok, so after three weeks of sulking (you may have noticed the silence) I have worked out I can run on a treadmill pain free. So two sessions in, I’m feeling determined again. I say sessions, the first one lasted 5 minutes, the second lasted 7! If your used to running out doors, which, lets face it, is 100% more enjoyable, treadmill running does not really come into training schedules.  However, it can be useful for a few things. Firstly, Always remember to increase the gradient to 1% so that your hamstrings are used to help mimic outdoor running, otherwise there is very little benefit that can be crossed over.

Treadmills can be useful for interval training, hill climbing sessions and speed work. It can take a lot of the stress out of certain types of sessions if used correctly.  It also helps make twenty minutes pass much much quicker. Play about with the programmes as its not just about running 5k on the machine, try and make it more enjoyable by putting a bit of speed work in it, or 5 mins of hill climbing. It’s still better than swimming!

So this week training has been progressing slowly with my knee injury, I went to bootcamp and only did the exercises I could do pain free, which helped mentally with the fact I was still doing something.  I also saw Zoe for Acupuncture on my knee.  This really helped.  My body responds very well to acupuncture and its helping speed up my recovery a lot.  Many years ago I had Bi-lateral retinacula released performed on both knees – it’s now a procedure that isn’t carried out as it has a very poor success rate.  They basically go into the knee and trim the structures on the outside of the patella to free it up, however, all it does it create extra scar tissue and compound the original issue.  This, combined with a very old fashioned training coach, makes it no surprise that I suffer with bad knees! At the height of my running career my coach was into quantity not quality. Which is still the thinking of many long distance runners – the more miles the better!

This isn’t the case, it’s about the quality of the session, each mile run needs to combined into a correct training programme, not just plodded out.  Sessions should be at tempo, combined into a speed session or an interval session with only one long run a week.  There is little benefit to the body  running 10 miles every day at the same slow pace, as all the body will ever do is run 10 miles at a slow pace!  We have seen a few people this week to help with their running styles and I am adamant that with the correct advice, dedication and training, anyone can knock time off their marathon and half marathon times.

So, Like everyone else, when things start progressing nicely with weightloss and fitness we get injured!  With me it’s my knee. I’ve no idea what I’ve done, which is worrying for a start considering my profession, but its put a stop to all my training.  As with all injuries they set back training plans which we have to accept.  I’ve started having treatment with Matthew at our Manchester branch and its going really well. Once its recovered, its important that I don’t just carry on my training from where I left off, as this can easily cause further injuries, depending on how long I am resting for.  You have to start training slowly again and build back up to where you were, by not rushing back into training.  I’m not saying go back to the beginning, just take a week or two to ease back into it slowly.  In the mean time, I can work around my injury by doing things like core work and cross training.  Which despite the fact I hate it, being married to the personal trainer means I’m actually doing it!

Last weeks blog was very much one for the women, so this week I’ve got technical with gadgets to please the rest of you!

Over my running career I’ve have polar heart monitors, garmins and various other gadgets so goodness knows how much I’ve spent!

Now that I am taking it less seriously I’ve started looking at the different apps you can get.

I now take my phone with me, and considering I run with 4 dogs and a buggie I didn’t think the extra weight would affect me too much! Not only is this for safety but also kills about three birds with one stone. I am contactable if I choose (to get picked up mainly!), I have my music on hand but also access to hundreds of different running apps!

Some are free whilst others aren’t. Some measure your route before you go, some even measure out your intervals. Which gets me to my point. These apps, I use ‘map my run’,  can help massively with interval training. Some people call it the Farlek training, others speed work, but they are all variations on the basic theme of a fast bit followed by a slow bit, which is repeated. It’s the fundamental issue here that is important, not what you are calling it and these apps help massively to measure distances so you can run 500meters then walk or jog 500meters repeatedly. It’s this type of training that will help you greatly improve not only distances but the time you take to run your races. At least one of your weekly sessions needs to be based on interval training in a good balanced training plan.

Sorry guys, this one is for the ladies this week!  A lot of my friends who have had babies at the same time keep asking is it safe to exercise and breast feed?  They have heard (a tale from an old wife) that if you diet or exercise when breast feeding it will interfere with your milk supply! Well luckily the old wife who made this tale up wasn’t right.

There are only a few substances that can affect milk supply with are, these are:

• Smoking
• Caffeine
• Contraceptive pills and injections
• Severe weight loss diets
• Peppermint, parsley, sage (in excessive amounts)

You are also able to carry out a wide range of activities, including impact work, without it effecting the feeding or milk supply.  It is important to wear the correct apparel for obvious reasons,(big boobs need supporting) and timing of exercise is also important. Do not try and exercise when you are hungry.  Its best to eat, then feed the baby and then exercise for both your comfort as well as for your energy levels.  Depending on your activity, you may find that you also need a small snack before you exercise after feeding.

So, boot camp sessions are going well, as well as my run, jog and walks.  These are a great way to start back running after a long break.  If you break down your run into walking sections and running sections before you start it will motivate you to actually run the running sections rather than do it ad-hoc when you won’t actually run the run sections.  By pre planning these sessions you will actually run further that you would have done by just saying ‘I’ll run to the next lamp post’.  These interval sessions are a great way to build up stamina before working on speed.

Also this week as I’ve been writing a lot of nutritional plans for Anatomy clients, so I decided to take a good hard look at my own.  Did you know that just one bottle of beer a night is an extra 1000 calories a week!  Which is roughly a pound of weight gained every month through just beer alone!  Wine is even worse, as a glass of wine can contain double the calories of a bottle of beer, which can equate to two pounds a month in weight gain.  So dry January is not only good for your liver, if you are serious about losing that Christmas bulge, cutting out drink is an excellent way of reducing your calories intake.

Don’t panic, I’ve not forgotten you all, its just taken me a week to gather the strength to type again!  So, I did what everyone does, stand on  the scales after the new year only to find they were broken. So after rushing out to buy a new pair, only to find they were broken too, I had to conclude that the half a stone I had shed before Christmas had somehow reappeared!

With this in mind, plus number one going back to school and cramming too much into the 6 hours of ‘free time’ I ran, walked, jogged our normal 4 mile dog walk.  This meant that I haven’t been able to walk for the last week and I’m in all sorts of trouble!

So that aside, its back to starting to exercise properly.  I’m walking the dogs between 2 and 4 miles every day, and whilst pushing a double buggy this is actually quite a work out.  I also started with the ‘bootcamp’ classes.  I have to be careful here and many people fear these kind of classes, plus they are run by my husband, so I feared that it would quickly end in divorce.  I was wrong, there was a lovely bunch of ladies, none were lycra clad showing off six packs, none were trying to out-do each other and they were all friendly!  There was no shouting, it was actually fun, difficult but fun! These classes are on most day each week and although I don’t pay (because that would defeat the object of owning the place) £25 for 10 sessions is brilliant value.  They are a great way of toning up, losing weight and having fun, which right now, after an average of 4 hours sleep a night, it’s what I need.