Squats and Belly Blitzing

85 days to Race Day

Another week has gone by, and even though my exams are all over and university hasn’t officially started yet, I still seem to have had a really busy week. Firstly I had to buy and start reading all my books for next semester, which involved a lot of shopping online trying to find the best deals, as when you’ve got about 15 books to buy you don’t want to be paying full price! My modules this term are 20th Century Literature, which kind of leads on from the Modernism course we did last term, and Literature and the Unconscious. I’ve also had to start properly working on my dissertation, and after lots of reading I’m still finding it so hard to psyche myself up for the actual writing part!

Seeing as I woke up with a ridiculous cold earlier this week, I decided that it was time to start taking advantage of cross training. Because it was super cold outside anyway, and I now had this cold it was really hard to go outside and run. I found it hard to breathe and felt like I had to blow my nose every 3 steps. So to make sure I kept training whilst also looking after my body (as I didn’t want to make myself feel even worse and have to miss training days), I’ve been using workout DVDs. Say what you will about these, the Charlotte Crosby Belly Blitz is actually a really intense workout. It alternates short cardio sessions with strength and conditioning, which actually makes it very suited to runners. Me and my housemates did this workout a lot last year, but starting again after having not done it in a while was difficult to say the least! My legs were absolutely burning after the squats session, and I could really feel my core working whilst I was (attempting) to do press ups and commando exercises.

Feeling happy and fresh(ish) before!

Feeling hot and sweaty afterwards!

Although you obviously need to run when you’re training for the marathon, it’s important to remember that cross training can be just as valuable. It’s all well and good to be fit but if your legs and core aren’t strong how will you be able to keep running for 26 miles? So this week I’ve decided to alternate my sessions, running four days (including my long run) and doing the workout DVD twice. When the weather is as terrible as it is, sometimes it’s nice to be able to feel like you’re working out without even having to leave the house!

After a pretty productive week in terms of organising my life for next semester, here are my three positive things for this week:

I’ve got into a better sleeping pattern and have been managing to get to sleep not long after going to bed rather than laying awake for ages and being tired the next day.
I’ve started to work on other aspects of my fitness and can really see how strength work can help you in a long run.
I’m learning how to refuel my body after training, so I’m not feeling constantly hungry like I was a couple of weeks ago.

Love and kisses

Aimee