What a relief to leave the office door and see daylight. I find it far more motivating running in daylight compared to the depths of winter. The mild temperatures have been very nice too and I’ve enjoyed another good week of training. Building up my mileage and getting back into the old routine has been quite easy this week. A fairly routine pattern on the work front has helped this. I’ve just been getting out on the country lanes straight after work for 5 miles a day then built it up to 7 on Saturday and 9 on Sunday. I play cricket too in Summer so have started going to practices on Sunday evenings which I find just very different from the running but doesn’t affect it really. 

I’ve found I’ve had far more energy since I’ve started building up the training again which is only a good thing for productivity at work and generally feeling good around the place. While the legs may be a tad sore some mornings I’m always more awake when I’m exercising every day.

I ended up getting yet another heavy cold coming back from my hols, no doubt picked up from the airport! It meant feeling rotten most of the week on returning to work. We managed to escape the worst of the snow in the north west. I felt better later on in the week and managed to get out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for an easy 30 minutes. Felt rotten coughing my guts up so it was really just a fairly gentle jog. Hope to carry on doing just easy running the next few weeks to get a base fitness after missing loads of the winter with the flu and not really managing to have a winter cross country season which I love. 

It’s so nice to finally see daylight when I leave work just after 5pm! Finally will be able to soon venture out for runs in the daylight…roll on the spring!

It was a good week last week - the snow meant I had 2 days off!  I made the most of it and completely relaxed and de-stressed.   I didn’t let the weather stop me running though, I went for a half hour run in the snow - it was great fun but very hard work, i felt like i’d done an hours work out!  It was quite icy by Tuesday so I hit the gym for an hour.  I did about 45 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of weights and stretches. 

Although it was great having the 2 days off, it meant work was hectic on Wednesday.  We had so many things to catch up on that needed to be finished by the end of the week - even the children were feeling the tension levels rising!  I had to do a session in the gym after work as it was still too icy to run outside.  This time I did 30 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of weights - it was an initial effort going but i felt great afterwards.  I decided to take Thursday off and I went late night shopping instead!  What can I say, I’m a typical girl!  I decided to have a gentle end to the week and I went for a 30 minute jog after work on Friday, I managed to squeeze it in before going to the pub!

Every weekend I do an hour run on Saturday and an hour run on Sunday. I’m hoping to do the Great North Run next September so I’m gradually trying to build up my stamina.  It’s hard to believe I couldn’t even run for 10 minutes without stopping this time last year.  It still amazes me how much progress I’ve made.  All I can say is, if I can run, then anyone can!

Just been on my winter holiday, skiing at Meribel. Always love to get away at this time of year when it’s dark all the time in England. Had a great time skiing and was really pretty knackered after a full day going at it hard on the slopes! Weather was brilliant all week and snow was excellent. Seemed pretty quiet too before half term, so took full advantage of all the 3 valleys’ vast network of runs. Unfortunately the running shoes ended up being kept in the holdall all week, partly due to foolishly having a salad which gave me food poisoning. So much for trying to be healthy!

At least I’ve completely recharged my batteries whilst being away and I’m raring to get back into it at work!

Hi, I’m Ben, I’m a 29 year old dentist working in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District. I work hard during the week and have always tried to take my sport as seriously as my work.

By nature my work can have a stressful element to it and running after work every night allows me to completely forget about any grumpy patients or any difficult root canal treatments I’ve had to deal with in the surgery! I’ve run since I was 11, I’ve always been had a competitive streak in me, whether it is work or sport, so running helps me set targets and I never feel more satisfied than after eventually hitting a certain target or setting a personal best in a race. I find that the endorphins after a successful, hard training session also give me a tremendous feel good factor and this helps me feel in a good mood at work during the day. Having had the odd injury I now know what it is like to be unable to exercise…I feel sluggish, lethargic, lose motivation and sleep terribly!

Whilst my work can be quite tiring, a lot of it is spent bent over in a very unnatural position. Chronic back problems are very common in my profession so I see running and exercise as vital in hopefully keeping me strong and preventing me from getting one! The only other down side of my line of work is looking down people’s mouths tends to mean I catch my fair share of coughs and colds. I do find that I manage to fight them off quickly and this is definitely helped by keeping myself fit and eating a balanced diet. 

I’d like to share with you my training and how I balance it with work.

Week commencing Monday 19th January:

Monday- first run back after fighting off flu then a horrible cough over christmas…a very easy 20 minutes, nice to get outside again.

Tuesday- another easy run of 30mins, still spluttering a bit but feel better for it.

Wednesday- a very long day working in Liverpool. Only got home around 8pm, felt really wiped out from starting back training so had a rest day.

Thurs- easy 30min run 

Fri- rest

Sat- 30mins across the fields from my house…I always like to get off road when I get the chance to run in the daylight at weekends, rather than pound the streets. 

Sun- another day off…I’ve rushed back into full training before after a virus and set myself back, so had a very light weeks training as still feeling weak whilst running.

Hi,

My name is Bryony and i am a Primary School Teacher.  As you will know kids can be stressful at times.  I stayed late today at school and went straight to the gym…. Yes the gym.  I feel it is my time to unwind from the day.  I dont know what it is but i always feel really tired heading there, but when i finish, i feel like an energizer bunny.  I did 30 minutes running and then a few general exercises in the gym…. Oh then i ran home, but thats just 5 minutes. 

35 Minutes (i did up the pace gradually throughout)

Sit ups

Light weights

Stretches

Bryony

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