Friday, March 2, 2012

A cold bath isn't for the faint hearted..

On Tuesday I ordered myself some compression pants, I have seen them but a friend alerted me of a sale and who can resist a good bargin. I managed to get two pairs for less than half price. I was a bit skeptical as the compression pants I had tried on before were too squishy (the idea being that they are TIGHT), but these arrived yesterday and while they are a firm fit, they defintely leave some of my shape to the imagination which I appreciate and they sit really well on my hips and around my butt (my biggest area haha). I loved them that much, I ordered another pair last night. This morning I decided to take them on a date to the gym, S came along (I called him a third wheel for good measure, but really it was great to see him at the gym :) ) I did 4.6k on the espresso bikes (basically a bike connected to a network where you can log in and record your data, it also has set courses to challenge you if you want). I then jumped on the treadmill to test out my flat running (I have been pushing the hills this week) and I settled on a pace that alternated between 9min/km and 8min/km, alternating speeds as I felt my body wax and wane. I ended up doing 4.05k all up, in 36mins - on Thursday I did 3.5k of hills and it took 35mins, so thats quite an improvement. My 3k hill time on Wednesday was 28mins and I did the 3k on the treadmill in 26min15seconds, another improvement.

So I am progressing. I have also decided not to weigh myself weekly anymore. I am weighing in once a month (on the 14th) and it will be what it is. I am atm more focused on fitness, rather than a diet per se. Two and a bit years of different programs have done my head in. I am booked in to see an endochronologist on the 16th April to discuss my underactive thyroid (autoimmune hashimoto's) and my poly cystic ovarian sydrome, both which hinder weight loss and cause rapidweight gain. Ill just go on, trying to make good food choices until then and see what weight I am.

I still have the fun run on the 16th March as well, which I am started to get excited/nervous about. Ill keep up the intensity running next week and then week of the race Ill probably drop back to one or two runs and then race day!

As for the title, one suggestion I have and its not for the faint hearted. After you exert your muscles, you get microtears in the muscles which causes bleeding (inflammation) and slow onset pain (the pain you get a day or two later) in your muscles. My suggestion, jump in a cold bath. It reduces inflammation to the area and is a nice way to cool down. But, its kinda a bitch ;-)

Stay tuned,
Megs xx