Week 1 - The Routine
After getting used to the lockdown and familiarising myself with the new world we were living in, I thought an important thing for me for keep a semblance of routine in my life. I start work at 9am, it could have been easy to wake up at 8.30am, and quickly get ready to roll in 30 minutes. But for me, it was about sticking to my normal routine. At this point, we weren’t sure how long this lockdown would extend for.
I made a point of doing my daily walk to my local rail station, it takes around 45 minutes, so there and back was a walk of 90mins, very much the target for most healthy adults.
Changes? Slight aches here and there, mainly in my thighs and calves, not much to write home about though.
Note: I was dressed normally as I would for work at this stage. Jeans, coat, backpack etc. Just keeping up my normal routine for now. My trainers were the normal type I would go to the pub in, so nothing to specific to running here!
Week 2 – Station walks
Even though it was a simple 90min walk to and from my local station, I still felt that my body was working. Usually that journey is split in 2 during a normal day at work, so by Week 2 I started to ditch my bag and coat and up the pace a little. Still walking however but briskly. By the end of week 2 I was beginning to take the journey time to 30 minutes each way, which I think represented an increase in both speed and fitness.
Changes? I felt pain in my legs, but a good pain. It meant my body was working at least. One of the strange things you may experience, is aching in the shoulders and arms region. I need to google this, but think it’s much to do with your walking style, as to move, your arms are also essentially working too. I vaguely remember after our 1st Festival of Footy at work, many people mentioning the same thing, so don’t worry too much. Now, you’ll be forgiven for wondering why you’re doing all this. But always keep your mind on the bigger picture. What you’re trying to achieve. You want to get:
A daily/weekly routine structured into your life. We’re not thinking of exercise so much here but the idea of having that 30-60mins scheduled into your day is just as important as doing the actual exercise.
Routine is just the half of it. You’ll need some kind of base level, when it comes to having even a friendly, casual kickaround. Remember, this exercise routine will be complimented by your footy sessions at some point so you can scale down if you fancy later on.
NOTE: I was still in normal work gear still, but I did notice I was sweating more now.
Week 3 – Breaking into a jog
I felt it was about time now that I started to break into a jog. Here, the key was jogging as much as I could without destroying myself. This I found particularly tough, I wasn’t even hitting 3-5 mins of jogging before becoming out of breath. I then took the time to slowly walk and get my breath back before breaking into a jog again.
This can be quite disheartening but stick at it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Pep’s Barca outfit with it’s tika taka wasn’t put together in one either.
Because I was beginning to add a bit of running to my routine, I started shortening the distance I was travelling now and mixing it up. There was no way I could run/walk for 60 minutes so it’s all about adjusting. By the end of the week I was beginning to hit around 10 mins non-stop for a run.
Changes? The aches seems more prolonged, but nothing too painful. Just representing my increased work rate. I’m now expert but if you’re feeling a lot of pain, there could be something wrong, so scale back or take time off. It was only week 3, but I was beginning to feel a lot more energetic throughout the whole day, this maybe a psychological effect maybe even a placebo, but I’m sure it was because of my increased activity.
Note: Because I had planned to break into the odd jog, I changed up completely. So I upgraded to my footy training tops, shorts and socks. Footy socks are really good. They are slightly thicker than most running socks, and also offer a bit more support. I also whacked on my Nike Cortez, I had images of Forrest Gump going through my mind.
However, I’m not sure what the official line is with Cortez……Are they actually proper running shoes? I’m not sure. They do the job but these were size 9, I’m usually size 10 for casual wear. I size up by a ½ when it comes to footy boots, so I’m thinking that this wasn’t ideal. I had been searching for proper running trainers online at this point.
I’ll admit that I didn’t really know much about running shoes, sizing, prices etc, so I waited and did a bit more research. Nike Cortez are quite narrow, and I was a bit concerned about twisting my ankle. You’ve heard in detail how useless my ankles are, so this needed to be sorted. I’d advise against starting any running routine, which the wrong attire!
Week 4 – The Plateau
Going into Week 4, I felt it was quite hard to improve upon 10 minutes of non-stop running. In fact there were some days where I struggled to even reach that target. The important thing here, is to keep the faith. Always keep in mind that whatever you miserable target is, you’re still doing way more exercise than the none you ever did before! In confidence terms, this was key, as it kept my spirits up. It’s worth mentioning though that at this stage I was beginning to feel a lot better in general.
Changes? The first thing I noticed was my get up and go in the mornings. I mentioned before I felt more active throughout the day, but now I was feeling pretty charged, first thing in the morning. This was a major benefit. I felt like just waking up, I felt ready for the day. People talk about endorphins, and I’m finally won round. I really do feel that something in me has changed.
Note: I found it quite good to keep people up to date with my exercise. Not random people, but Jumbo and Pancakes were good support pillar. Always asking if I ran this or that morning, it was good to have people around to pep you up, give you support and keep you on it.
There’s going to be many occasions when you wake up and despite this new found get up and go, you just won’t feel up for it.
Don’t push yourself too far. Regroup and get back on it the next morning. Scale down, and try going for a walk instead. Remember you were doing nothing before, so don’t beat yourself up too much for missing the odd day. I would try to not take more than 3 days off though, as it’s hard to keep up a routine, but easy to fall off one.
Week 5 – Long term endorphins explosion
Although, I felt like I had almost reached a peak, I was struggling to get passed 10 mins of non stop running still, I did feel like there were other visible benefits. General activity levels were up too. I was finding that mentally, I wasn’t putting off as many physical tasks as I normally would. Stepping out for a walk, was something I had to plan, activity was becoming more natural to me.
Changes? This is where things become grey. You can never really tell whether you are going through any physical changes, you can almost convince yourself that you are. You should definitely see some weight changes, I had lost nearly a stone, so I figured that must of disappeared from me somewhere. I thought my waistline was reducing, but at first, it was my face where I noticed a big difference. My chin looked more defined, my neckline too. I also felt my eyes had become more sunken, ha! Not sure that’s a good thing.
I’m no scientist or physical trainer, so these cosmetic changes, may just be in my mind. I took a few pictures, of myself and friends were saying that I was looking trimmer. That could be them being nice though lol!
Note: It’s really important to state a this point, that we ALL have different bodies, different BMIs, different thresholds etc. Not everyone will see the same changes as me. I had a huge beer belly from years of partying, but the rest of me, was fairly slim. So I had fat concentrated in 1 or 2 areas, I’m guessing that those areas would go through the most changes. Some people will have fat more evenly distributed around their bodies, so the changes may be less apparent at the beginning. Right now it’s about getting a routine in. Sticking to it, and the rest will happen.
Build the stadium, and they will come!
Week 6 – Setbacks and injuries – Just part of the routine
After seemingly plateauing, I almost hit a wall this week. My Nike Cortez were becoming an issue. For a few days, I felt like my ankle wasn’t getting the best support. The Cortez sole is also very narrow, which wasn’t the best for it either. There were a couple of times where I tweaked or very slightly twisted my ankle area.
My struggles with my ankle since my op have been well documented elsewhere on the blog, needless to say, I didn’t want to push myself too far now. I decided with a heavy heart, to take it easy this week. I literally went out for 2 x 30 minute walks this week.
Changes? Pain in my ankle area had returned. I don’t know if this was because of my trainers, or the fact I was naturally just putting more strain on it. Best not to take any risks here, I’m not in any rush, we found out that our lockdown would continue for another 2 months. Besides it’s dangerous to have fixed goals in sight.
I mean, what’s the point of having a 6 week plan……..do you stop after then? Do you miraculously become fit and stay fit? For me this was just about getting to a general level of fitness, I didn’t want to go too hardcore when it came to running. I was quite strict with myself about turning into some running beast. I always had in the back of my mind, that regular footy was the ultimate goal. I didn’t want running to take the place of footy, but finding a nice median between the two.
Note: You are inevitably going to get muscle tweaks and potential injuries. Don’t stress, take time out, you’re not going to suddenly balloon to your previous lethargic self in a few days. You’ve done most of the hard work. Don’t rest on your laurels too much, but don’t beat yourself up either. Always remember your journey so far. Time rolls on by and each week, you’re getting fitter and fitter.
Week 7 – New trainers and a return to action
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