June Fitness Wrap-Up

Hi All!
If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Instagram – or my new fitness twitter – then you may have seen that this month I have really upped my fitness levels.

You may recall that in November last year, I got some really bad health news. The kind of health news that shocked me into action. You can read my post about that here.

So I increased the amount of time I spent at the gym and I started to eat better but as the months progressed and I got stronger, it still felt like something was missing.

Thus when it came around to MilesForMind in May, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I challenged myself to walk 25 miles during the month. I smashed that goal two weeks in so increased it to 50. I ended up walking and running 54.27 miles.

Halfway through May, I also decided that as I was getting my walking sorted, I should try running again. So I did something a little bit intense – I signed up to run 10k at the end of June. The last time I ran a 10k was in 2015 and I barely ran at all since then as that was when my health really declined. So I gave myself six weeks to go from a beginner to a 10k runner.

It was tough but today, I SMASHED IT. I’m still a little bit in awe that it actually happened but it did. It wasn’t the fastest race in the world but I did it in 1 hour and 35minutes. In looking at my 2015 details, I found that this is exactly the same time as I did it then. Which was an amazing thing for me to realise. That in six weeks I got to the same point I was at after proper training is fantastic.

My next 10k race is in another six weeks and it is now my target to do it in less than 1 hour 30. (Also because they’re going to start packing the course away at the point!). So keep your fingers crossed for me!

Race At Your Pace – 25 Running Miles

As I was training for a 10k, I decided to sign up to the Race at Your Pace challenge for June with 25 miles.

And I completed the challenge with 27.18 miles!

Here’s how that split up over the month:

Race At Your Pace – 100 Cycling Miles

On top of all of the extra running, in May I also went out and bought myself a bike in a bid to get back out cycling. And it worked. Really, really well.

So at the end of May, I signed up for the Race at Your Pace cycling challenge. I challenged myself to ride 50 miles in the month. As I was just starting out, I didn’t want to challenge myself to too many miles.

But then two weeks into the challenge, I smashed the 50 miles out of the park so increased the mileage to 100. I wasn’t 100% sure I would reach the distance – especially as I had a bit of a challenge with switching homes a bit this month. But I actually managed to cycle 107.19 miles!

It turns out I have really missed cycling and I feel so alive on the bike. It is one activity that I will definitely be continuing on with. I already feel faster and stronger – more able to tackle some of the hills – so I’m looking forward to seeing how this increases as the months pass.

Here’s how my cycling was split over the month:

With all of the above, I actually didn’t make it to the gym this month – except for one run on a treadmill – so this coming month I want to try and add the gym back into my schedule – somehow.

I have also challenged myself to 50 running miles and 150 cycling miles.

Check back at the end of July to see how I got on!