The weekday grind

To get the most from your day you need to be smart - by making small changes to your routine you can free up time you never knew you had leading to a better tomorrow.

Marathon training is pretty full on both physically but also in terms of time. My schedule sees me run five times per a week, the shortest of those being 40 minutes, right up to the three hour mark for longer runs at the weekends. In addition to running, I also do three HIIT sessions per week which is complementary to improving cardiovascular fitness, plus is a great fat burner which helps to maintain the super lean physique I am after for race day.

I should caveat here that this leaness is only temporary and post marathon I will be back in the gym, lifting heavy, in order to build muscle again. Unfortunately you cannot maintain muscle mass whilst doing so much cardio, plus carrying extra muscle bulk makes you less economical as a runner. As much as I love running, I cant wait to get back to lifting! I will of course still be running and have more races later in the year, but in the weeks after I will be cutting the distance and frequency.



Make the most of the outdoors - this was the backdrop
to a puppy walk last week - you never know
what you'll find. 

I am 100% a morning person which means I do most of my training before work. As I have a long commute to work, I get up at 5.45am and am in the car by 6 (with my travel mug of tea and rice cake). I get to the office just after 7, where I do a five mile run around the ever so glamorous Bracknell. Leaving home at this time means I reduce my journey time by half and allows me to fit in a run rather than sitting idly in traffic.

Post run, I head into the office for my transformation from sweaty runner to respectable professional, ready to work by 8.15. I have my breakfast at my desk along with my protein shake whilst catching up on email so by 9am when everyone else arrives, i'm ready for the day ahead!

You can catch me like this post run in the office...

I always bring my food with me to work as it saves money and means I am in control of what i'm eating - no cheeky trips to the canteen for me! I eat every three hours or so which means i'm laden with food and Tupperware every day but prepping in this way means my blood sugar levels remain constistent and I feel good throughout the day. This is especially important if you train twice a day like I do.

I normally get home just after 7 which is when I fit my HIIT session in. Post HIIT, I have dinner which is usually high protein, low fat and balance of carbs depends whether i'm running the next day or not. From there, its on to prepping for the next day. This includes getting my bags packed for the following day and meal prep.

Once this is done I spend the last hour of my day relaxing with a Peppermint tea and my PJ's! My days are pretty full on but by prepping and planning I am able to achieve everything I need too. I change up my weeks and days depending on what else is going on - for example if I have meetings in London i'm not able to train in the mornings so I move my schedule around. If I have plans in the evening then I will move a HIIT day to another.

R&R is a big a part of training as the exercise.

Here are my top tips for maximizing your time;

1. Reduce your commute and idle time by leaving early and training at or near the office.
2. Train smart - if you're tight on time do HIIT as it takes less time but yields great results
3. Plan and prep your meals the evening before
4. Plan your week as a whole - daily routine is great but there are always anomalies that can cause disruption which means you can come unstuck

Health and fitness is a lifestyle and shouldn't be looked at as quick fix - don't make too many drastic changes at once but rather find small ways to compliment your days.

Making sweat social

Since starting my blog, I have been getting lots of positive feedback from those of you reading which I am totally overjoyed by!  Honestly when I started this, I was nervous about sharing what I was up to, but the feedback  from you, particularly those of you saying it’s been a source of motivation for your own fitness journey is something that I had never anticipated and makes this all the more worthwhile. So with that in mind, I am absolutely thrilled to be now working with the team at BurnThis as a Fitness Ambassador.

 

 

 BurnThis is a Social Fitness app that enables the world’s most inspiring community of fitness and wellness lovers to share their fitness inspiration and motivate each other to stay fit, healthy and happy. It’s a great way to connect with the rest of the FitFam across the Globe and a constant source of motivation and tips for your own journey. The content is super inspiring and a great place to pick up fitness tips, meal ideas and most importantly motivation. Although we all have our own reasons for pursuing Fitness, the BurnThis community is united in their goals so every single one of us has something in common.

 I highly recommend the app to anyone with a passion for health and fitness – I’m totally addicted already! What’s more, its free to download and there are lots of Challenges and opportunities to win freebies so there’s absolutely nothing to lose by getting involved. It’s the perfect place to share your workout updates, sweaty selfies, new gear updates and everything else you feel proud of.

 I am truly amazed at how much my journey motivates others so don’t underestimate your own ability to do the same.

 Hope to see some of you there J

Feel the burn with Interval Training

I have love/hate relationship with interval training - I love the results but hate the way that the time during high intensity crawls yet recovery time flies!

Intervals are guaranteed to leave you sweating
like there's no tomorrow but feeling great!

This morning was a 64 minute Threshold session focused on improving endurance at higher speed - I started with a 12 minute warm up at 8 minute mile pace, then did 5 x 6 minute intervals at 7 minute mile pace with a 2 minute recovery jog in between each interval (40 mins total), followed by another 12 minutes at 8 minute mile pace. This isn't an easy session but worth pushing on to get through it. I also tend to do my interval training on the treadmill rather than outdoors simply because you set the pace and you have to stick to it - this is the only time I train on the treadmill as I get bored very quickly.

Interval training is a great way to improve anaerobic and aerobic fitness by combining short bursts of high intensity bursts with slower recovery phases in the same session. During the high intensity bursts, the anaerobic system convers glycogen to energy without using oxygen up until this is depleted, then body reverts back to the aerobic system. The outcome being increased cardiovascular efficiency leading to improved performance thanks too greater speed and endurance.

I do two types of interval sessions -
1) Sprints where I go flat out for 30 seconds then jog to recover for 90 seconds - I repeat this 12 times with a 5 minute warm up and cool down either side. This one asts 30 minutes.
2) Threshold runs with intervals of up to 7 minutes intensity and a 2 minute jog in between - I repeat this 5 to 6 times with a 12 minute warm up and cool down either side.

The Sprint session is much more anaerobic owing to the shorter bursts at higher intensity whereas the Threshold runs combine the aerobic system as the interval is for a longer period. Needless to say, my pace differs for the two sessions. For the 30 second Sprints I do 5 minute mile pace and for Threshold runs I do 7 minute mile pace. Both have their benefits - Sprints are good for speed whereas Threshold is great for endurance.

I have seen huge progress in my fitness since incorporating one interval based session per week - my minute per pace has decreased by at least 30 seconds. You can achieve these results in a relatively short period of time by just adding these type of session to your work out once per week. These sessions will leave sweating and exhausted but feeling great - I guarantee it.