Tough mudder? How did that even happen?!?

So here it is my very first post!…..

07/01/2017 – So it’s Saturday evening I’m just chilling out with a cup of tea round the boyfriend’s for the weekend….I’m now also looking at my running app on my phone (the couch to 5k one)

and I just see that on week 8 (I have currently just finished week 2) I’m expected to run for 30 whole, long, hard minutes! It’s at this point I am literally like ‘what the…….’ how am I going to do that! As I said I’ve just finished week 2 which consisted of 1 minute 30 second runs and 2 minute walks and I struggled! I’m not ashamed to admit it I struggled and at the end of those 1 min 30 sec runs it felt like I had just completed a marathon (not that I’ve ever or will ever do a marathon) but what I’m saying is I felt like someone who had run the 25 miles rather than the pathetic 1min 30sec run I did!

So when did I get so unfit is what I’m thinking !? I used to dance, I did gymnastics, silver badge in trampoline, I even have grades in ice skating!… so when exactly did I get super unfit!!!!….. I guess it was a gradual thing really, although it shouldn’t have been as I actually used to work in a gym!!! Yep for 8 years I sold gym membership without ever haveing actually stepping foot in a gym! that is so hypocritical of me! Okay back to present day the bottom line is im unfit (for now) and I have 8 months to get my arse into gear and get fit so I can complete a tough mudder!.

I laugh every time I say it or think about it…. me doing a tough mudder…really!..Before I met my boyfriend (who is currently a 10 times tough mudder himself) I didn’t even own a pair of trainers, or gym gear, or a waterproof coat for that matter (I now own all 3 of those items) but then I met Luke and suddenly my weekends turned into me standing knee deep in mud in various locations proudly cheering him on as he tackled the 12 miles of obstacles, it’s at this point I should mention that not once at any point ever did I think ‘this looks like fun’ or ‘I could see myself doing this’ i actually used to stand there and think ‘these guys are crazy’!

So how did I get to this point?…I remember it like it was yesterday actually, I was sat in Starbucks it was 2 weeks before Christmas and I was with Luke’s mum (Teresa) whilst Luke was ordering the drinks Teresa was wondering what to get Luke for Christmas we then got onto talking about our trip to Florida and how Teresa tackled all the rides and could really tackle anything after that and it was at that very moment right there that I piped up and went ‘we should surprise Luke and do a tough mudder’ and she went ‘shall we, he’ll be so surprised let’s do it’ and admittedly for the rest of the day I was like ‘I can so do this, Luke’s going to be so proud, I’m going to be so proud of myself!’

I guess in my mind somewhere I did think that this probably won’t materialise (okay I was hoping it wouldn’t materialise) then I get a text from teresa about dates for tough mudder and then an idea about t-shirts getting made up and now I’m like okay shit is getting real! I did mentioned to teresa there was a half mudder happening on the same day we are to do ours, and I had a glimmer of hope that maybe she might think that would be the better choice…. sadly not…

So one evening I’m chilling out with Luke and I get THE text…. ‘what is your date of birth’ I know exactly what that is for!…. I am actually being signed up for a tough mudder! and just like it happened! that was it, my name down, it’s happening in just 8 months! Luke was very surprised come Christmas Day and he got to that present! I think he’s still in shock to be honest and sometimes I catch him looking at me and I wonder if he’s looking at me and wondering how on earth im going to complete this!… well Luke that makes 2 of us!.

I have to say I am taking this pretty seriously, after 2 days of stuffing sweets, crisps, chocolates, cakes, nuts, cheese, and god only knows what else over Christmas I thought there was no time like the present to start. It started on the Wednesday (28th Dec) with a late evening jog (more of a walk jog) around the field, oh and it was freezing!… like I couldn’t feel my nose, toes, fingers or ears after that walk jog! But I did it just!. Next day (29th) I was feeling pretty confident so I up’d my game…. to the treadmill in the gym…. for 30 minutes! Now basically I spent the first 20 minutes holding onto the rail (how many times have I seen some unfortunate soul fly straight off the back of one of those!) well not me! I was playing it safe, besides I still wanted to look totally composed In front of my boyfriend of 3 years!. So I battled it out on the treadmill for 2 nights, then took on the mighty flitch way (disused railway line in Braintree (in the rain) on the Sunday and Monday , I then did my couch to 5k by myself on the Tuesday, my class on Thursday and finally….. Friday! the last run of the week once again in the rain!. I’ve now done 8 runs…. am I finding it easier?….erm no, not even the slightest bit easier!!!.

07/01/2017 – So I have finished a gym session with Luke tonight and I am pleased to announce that I have zero upper body strength (go me) so at this moment in time the chances of me getting over those obstacles is well…. pretty slim!!

I’m now done for the week and have just enjoyed a delicious ‘healthy fry up’ for dinner, healthy because I don’t eat meat so we substitute for quorn bacon and sausages, along with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, delicious!!!!