Today, in a moment of insanity I decided it was a good idea to do a boot camp session in the morning followed by a personal training session in the afternoon.
I don't quite know what made me think this was a good idea, but after a hard boot camp session (which was very very enjoyable) the personal training session was even harder! Halve the weights I normally use and that's what I was managing to lift today. Top this with a 8 section tabata on the rower. Essentially, for a tabata you have 20 seconds high intensity exercise, followed by 15 seconds rest (one section) then repeat it. I managed an average of over 90 metes per 20 second section for the whole 8 sections. The fact I enjoyed this was enough to warrant questioning my mental stability even if I did feel a little sick afterwards.
Now to my near death experience. I'm lying on my back on a weights bench using free weights when my left shoulder, my weaker one, decides at a crucial moment that it fancies going for a shower and doesn't want to be in the gym any more. It stops working, the weight comes crashing down and, luckily, bounces off the left side of my chest. Lets put this into perspective. I'm a bloke. This is traumatic. There is NO WAY I can do any ironing this evening as I need counselling for my near death experience. Mrs L, however, is less then supportive in this hour of need referring to the fact that I have no shirts for work tomorrow and she's not ironing them.
I am an instructor with the Sea Cadets at Worthing Unit and have seen how much the cadets get out of the activities they do. I have also seen how much these activities and all the surrounding admin costs. The sea cadets are a charity, and I felt this was a fantastic way of raising money for Worthing in particular and also to encourage some of the cadets to try something different. If I can do it, so can they!
The gold challenge is based on the sports in the Olympics. Some of these sports I can do with the sea cadets, and I have purposely chosen several of these to illustrate the variety of activities that can be done, whilst also doing something that I think will be fun.
My challenge is to do the following activities.
1. Swim - Learn to swim - again. For those that have seen my swimming style, it has recently been described by Mrs Lawrence as "directional panic in water". DONE
2. Canoe - Learn to canoe. I have canoed in the past, but again this was a long time ago and all the new stuff I have learnt has forced this skill out! DONE
3. Boxing – Learn to box. I needed another sport and someone I work with can train this! DONE
4. Weightlifting – For those that know me, they will know how therapeutic gym time can be for me. This is a great opportunity for me to focus some of my energy on something different in the gym. DONE
5. Triathlon. This is a personal goal, to do a half triathlon. I have never done one and this is the one element that I plan to do in 2012. This will link my swimming and gym work together. DONE
6. Athletics - sprints. I was given the oppertunity to race at the 100m olympic stadium. DONE
7. Wrestling - in the process of doing the Judo section I managed to also cover the wrestling challenge, so it seamed approapraite to include it - DONE
8. Cycling. Take part in a cycle ride or three. I'm training for a triathlon. This incorporates a cycle leg, so why not do a cycle challenge too? DONE
9. 1/2 Marathon. This is similar in theory behind the cycle ride. If I'm doing a triathlon I might as well develop it further and do a half marathon. I'm not expecting to be fast round the course, just finish and not die on the way round would be a bonus. DONE
10. Judo - Try judo. To be perfectly honest, I needed another sport, as its in multitudes of 5, and this was suggested by some one at work. DONE
The challenge is to do them by the end of 2012, but I am aiming to have most of them done by the end of 2011.
Please feel free to add comments of support to this blog, and please sponsor me at - http://www.justgiving.com/alan-lawrence-SCC
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