Last session of the year

To the gym at lunchtime again. Really glad I made myself go as I had a good session and felt most virtuous afterwards. Did:

• 1km on the cross trainer, level 10, staying above 10kmph
• 3 km on the treadmill, 10kmph, 2% incline
• 12 x 3 reps pull down at 30kg
• 12 x 3 reps chest press at 15kg
• 10 x 3 reps shoulder press at 15kg (it's official: the shoulder press is my nemesis. Ironic, considering that I am a broad-shouldered babe with a propensity when in a halter neck dress to look like an Olympic swimmer. A male Olympic swimmer)
• 15 mins on the bike, level 10, hill setting, staying above 80rpm

A delicious flapjack, courtesy of Colin who came round with Helen on Boxing Day, was my mid-morning snack and proved much more effective than last week's crisps. Pleased with the run. Shoulder press - well, I had to leave it till the last of my weights as someone else was on it, which probably didn't help. Bike: a higher setting than usual meant I really felt it in my legs. I like the hill setting which gradually increases the incline but gives you short breaks at a lower incline every few minutes to recover. Why, I wonder, does running make me sweaty and short of breath but not particularly make my legs hurt (except in the avoidance of penguin syndrome) while cycling makes my legs hurt without making me out of breath? Ah well. It must all be good for me somehow.

Forgot to report back on my ankle earlier: Graham pronounced it basically ok but with limited movement because...well, I think he mentioned the word 'capscule' a lot, or something like it. I got the impression it had stiffened up when sore and now had lost it's former range of movement. He bounced up and down on it while pressing it into the treatment room bed for a while (ow), after which it was much more manoeuvrable. So I have exercises to do to stretch it out, and at least I know that if it does hurt it's not doing any harm.

Now, I was browsing Runners World the other day and came across the concept of Yasso 800s. A bloke called Yasso (great name) came up with the idea that if you wanted to run a marathon in x hours and y minutes then you should train by running 800m reps at x minutes and y seconds. In my case, 3 minutes and 45 seconds. You start with a couple of reps and build up to 10. I'm thinking of trying it and would appreciate any tips. Also, I have worked out that this means I need to run the 800s at 12.85 kmph, but as my maths is dodgy, please tell me if I'm wrong.

Hm, have also just worked out that I need to run 8.5 minute miles the whole way to make my goal time. Seems...fast.

Regular readers (of which there are about two) may remember I listed a series of races that I wanted to take part in. The first couple are out the window due to the new job and my need to find somewhere to live near the new job. But I intend to sign up for all three half marathons next week. Call it a new year's resolution (even though I don't really believe in new resolutions: I think if you want to do something that badly you should just do it and not wait until new year. But it happens to be new year anyway, so there you go). And I've got the duathlon and hopefully at least one of the later 10ks as well. Starting to look forward to it!