Normally I am petrified about running at 15kph because I am frightened of tripping over on the treadmill!

Personal Training : Running

This session was about training to run faster than I have been comfortable with previously. I had to push myself to the extreme and just deal with it.

Since doing this training session I am running faster on the treadmill in general – I am running at a cruising speed of 12kph and I am fairly comfortable with that (previously my cruising speed was about 10kph). Here is what I do:

Time Taken : 15 mins

Speeds:

8kph - 1 minute
9kph - 1 minute
10kph - 1 minute
10.5kph – 2 minutes to reach and settle at this this speed
11.00kph – 1 minute (then drop back to 10.5 for a few seconds)
11.5kph – 1 minute (then drop back to 10.5 for a few seconds)
12kph - 1 minute (then drop back to 10.5 for a few seconds)
13kph - 1 minute (then drop back to 10.5 for a few seconds)
14kph - 1 minute (then drop back to 10.5 for a few seconds)
15kph - 1 minute (then drop back to 10.5 for a few seconds)

Wake Up Every Day To Sit ups and Press Ups

My personal trainer told me to do 10 press ups and 10 sit ups every morning when I wake up and every night just before I go to bed – both on training and non training days.

Since doing this routine I have found I am stronger for hard workouts so it is definitely helping to build my strength.

Biomechanics

I went to see a specialist in biomechanics at Lifesmart at the Albany (an exclusive health and wellbeing centre for the rich and famous in central London). I took away two things from the visit and my assessment.

1. I keep pushing my belly out when doing abdominal excersises – needs correcting so I don’t do this as it reduces the effectiveness of my workouts and could do serious harm to my body.
2. I need to do more stretches – Some of my muscles are really tight and tense and need stretching a lot more than I currently stretch. We did some stretches using an excersise ball which was different.

To correct my tummy sticking out in item one I must do a lot more plank excersises and also I consulted with my nutritionist, Ann Mather, and she gave me a great tummy exercise to do which trains me to pull my abs in:

Repeat 4 times

The Sepentine Running Club 5k Race (Hyde Park London)

On Friday 27th November I took part in my first ever 5k race with over 200 people. It was a really tough experience.

I used my Garmin Forerunner 405cx training watch to track my progress and when I arrived back to the office my watch downloaded everything to my laptop so here it is for you to see – the results of my first race!

Running in a race for the first time

This is my experience in 3 easy stages…

Before

I was really nervous and my biggest fear was that I would be the very last and look and feel like a complete idiot.

During

It was bitterly cold and my nose was blocked so I could hardly breathe. My hands were freezing and my knees were aching. I was glad I took a bottle of water with me as I needed to keep hydrated and it kept me going till the end.

Half way through I stopped and started walking and almost gave up but when an 80 year old man took me over I just thought if he can do it at his age then I certainly can so I got on with it. I did lap one and then we started lap two and I just couldn’t see the end and that made it much harder – not knowing how far was left to run was the hardest thing.

After

I saw the finishing line round the corner and I increased my speed by an extra 4kph and pushed myself as hard as I could to cross the finishing line before as many people as possible. I wasn’t last, in fact I was in the middle of all the runners which was good.

Now I have done this once I know the circuit and how many laps so I should find it easier mentally next time, yes I am doing it again on 18th December! I shall keep you informed!

Homme.......

In the Cover Image, Famously Homme is wearing a Jasper Conran Suit, shirt, tie, belt and black leather shoes available from Debenhams Menswear