#SpoonieRunning - A Journey From Couch to 5k: Week 8

Monday 14 April the start of a new week and picking up the challenge.

I really wasn't feeling that great last week and was wondering if I should just stop altogether, but I am stubborn and I want to finish the plan even if I cant keep it up.

I woke up on early on Monday morning and felt good, like I was getting back my natural rhythm but even so I had to talk myself into getting out of bed and out for a run.

I had got my running stuff set aside the night before so it was my plan. In my head I thought that I would start back on Week 4 of the plan and I think that was a huge part of my stumbling block. I felt like I was stuck there and I just couldn't face the thought of doing Week 4 again.

To progress each week you need to have completed each week of the plan, that means going out and doing that weeks run 3 times. Technically I had done Week 4 (ok so it was spread over 3 weeks and the last run wasn't completely finished), but I decided if starting on Week 5 of the plan was what was going to get me out then that's what it had to be. I knew that I needed to try and that I could go back if I needed.

So Week 8 of my journey and the start of Week 5 of the plan (yes I know its a little confusing).
Week 5 is split into three different runs

Run 1 (Monday) - 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking and the final 5 minutes running (warm and cool down are 5 minutes of walking)

I survived. I found it easy. In fact I found the walking intervals too long.

Ferd keeps my company during my runs

What was more amazing was that I only needed to have one knee tapped up, so its working its helping to build back muscle tone.

Yay go me and my body.

I even treated myself to some new running leggings - a bargain from Lidl in the reduced section, the last pair and under £5

Well I had to try them 

But then came the Fall....

I had to retreat back to bed as I could not longer stand up and could only manage minimal use of my brain. It left me reduced to tears and feeling like a failure.

I was finding it hard to reconcile the two halves of me - the disabled sick me and the disabled fighting me and I wondered if I had already reached and past my breaking point.

I am the paradox by this point my stamina and general wellness should have been increased but as I have said I have M.E and while yes my stamina in terms of how far I can go has increased I was wondering if my general wellness was actually decreasing and if I would be able to go out again.

But through the support of friends and my husband I realised I have had this horrible disease and battling it for over 14 years - wow that's a long time - and I am not done fighting yet.

Run 2 (Wednesday) - 8 minutes running, 5 minutes walking and 8 minutes walking (warm up and cool down 5 minute walks)

So yes I did mange to get out again. I had a rest day as part of the program and I got my running kit laid out ready the night before and just decided to see how I would feel in the morning.

Queue really rough night. Sleep disturbance comes with M.E. At around 6.30 am I decided that sleep would be the best option and another rest day.

But....
I woke up at 8.30 and decided why not give it ago. The dog needed his walk anyway and I figured if it was too much then I could abandon the attempt and enjoy a nice walk.

I did it, I managed. The first run was ok and hello 8 minutes :) but the second run I really felt those last few minutes halfway through it really felt like I had hit treacle but I slowed down and kept going.

As with Run 1 of this week it resulted with me back in bed, I was simply unable to support myself upright and the following day again retreated back to bed only a few hours after getting up.

Run 3 (Friday) - the big one 20 minutes running (warm up and cool down 5 minute walks)

I debated about having another rest day before attempting this run, I thought about repeating Run 2. But then I decided to go for it and see what I could do.

I thought that I was going to have to abandon the attempt early on my knee was giving me some issues but it soon settled down.

So 20 whole minues of running eep.
5 mintes woohoo but I totally knew that I could do that
10 minutes yay
15 minutes I'm running
Then I get told only 2 minutes to go and that's when I hit my wall, but you know what I did keep going.

Big, big grin on my face - take that M.E, wonky joints and chronic back pain.

umm yeah I lost an ear gel

The rest of the week was spent basking in the glow of my achievement and largely in bed. But I did it, I can't believe how far I've come.

Please note:
I don't want people to read this and get the wrong idea and think ME is made better through exercise. It isn't. I know my body, I know when and where I can push or try to push my limits. I know that I have had periods when this would have been lunacy and would have made me worse and jeopardised my future.

Please don't use my experience to try and push someone who it isn't right for or they are not ready as it could further damage their health.

For people with chronic illness/disability exercise and making a positive change doesn't have to mean getting all sweaty there are many simple stretches that you can do in a chair and some that can even be adapted to do in bed (search chair exercises for limited mobility), but again I urge caution it is not right for everyone. If you or someone you care for do decide that you/they want to try and increase fitness my advice is always to consult with your doctor first.

Previous posts:
#SpoonieRunning - A Journey from Couch to 5k
#SpoonieRunning - A Journey From Couch to 5k: The Journey So Far...

Easy Muffins to Bake

I think I have been driving everyone crazy with pictures of all the Muffins I have been baking recently and then there was a little shout for the recipe.

When my fitness podcast tells me to have bit of fruit and a
glass of water this is totally what it means right!?

So here goes.

This is a really simple recipe and only takes a few minutes to get into the oven so perfect for morning bakes. I found the original recipe over on Attic24 only it was in grams and I don't do grams so I converted it (I cant say for certain how it works if you use metric weights).

I have tried other oil based muffin recipes before and always found them claggy and well not very nice but this is truly lovely and mouse recommended and I am sure you could use a non dairy milk to make them dairy free.

The Dry Ingredients
4oz (125g) Self Raising Flour
2 oz (50g) Caster Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

The Wet Ingredients
4 tablespoons (60ml) Milk
2 tablespoons (30ml) Sunflower Oil (you could use other oil)
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (you can use essence or flavouring)

The Extras
Fruit of your choice - fresh or frozen (I don't have a quantity as I add fruit to my muffin cases)
Granola to sprinkle on top prior to baking (optional)

Bake
180C / Gas 4 (for my fan oven I put it on at about 175C)
25 Minutes

Yield: 6
And according to MyFitnessPal when I put in the recipe details each muffin is about 175 calories (made with whole milk)
*Please note calorie information is not accurate as you know calculated by me and an app*

Method:
Weigh dry ingredients and place in a bowl (if you want to get all technical you should sift the flour, but who has time for that).

In a jug or another bowl measure out the wet ingredients and mix together with a fork.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon, this will form your cake batter.

At this point you can add your fruit directly to the mix, but I prefer to wait.

Divide mix between 6 muffin cases and try to not eat too much of the raw cake mix (a weakness of mine). Now this is when I add the fruit, I generally use frozen (and in my case raspberries). I press in 3 to 4 berries per case - but experiment. I then sprinkle granola on top (you know that bit that's left at the bottom of the container that no one wants to eat? Yeah that, its perfect for use as the topping).

Put in the oven and then distract yourself while its baking. I feed the zoo, unload and reload the dishwasher etc.

And then ...

 Enjoy

Whatcha got Momma, can weez have some?

Changes

You night have noticed that I haven't been here for a year. Last year was very hard for me and culminated with me losing my job at the beginning of this year. I wont go into all the details but I have historically written about my struggles with my desk job and chronic illness. But I will say it was a toxic situation that was making more poorly. 

So what now?

I am job hunting and times are a little uncertain (food to buy, mortgage to pay etc)

But I am also using the time productively. As my health is improving I am doing more to get fit and doing all I can to keep moving and better manage my complex range of health issues. I am also teaching myself how to make clothes and getting a better focus on my business and will be launching new things this year. I am trying to spend time each week de-cluttering and sorting through things. 

Moving forwards...

I am going to blog my journey and the life stuff is going to be a bit more of the focus.

Lifestyle, being a spoonie (living with chronic illness) and there maybe a review or two along the way - things I've tried, products I use, I have also become a Bzz Agent so there may also be the occasional Bzz. 

But most importantly it will all be my own views, my own struggles and (hopefully) triumphs.