So, here I am nearly at the end of my 7 day DIY Bootcamp, and today was a mix of extreme self control and discovery. My body is holding up, there are no injuries to report and I feel remarkably energetic.
First thing, I go to my regular Friday badminton with my mum buddies, we’ve been playing on a friday on and off since 2004, having been inspired by Gail Emms’ silver medal winning performance at the Athens Olympics. Our initial group of two has grown to a regular four, as well as several on-off groups totalling about 12-16 women who now all regularly play. Of course there is a strong social element to it, but we play hard (in between chatting) too.
Today I was teamed with Jackie, who we have nicknamed ‘apparently competitive Jackie’ on account of the fact that she is fiercely competitive and does not like to lose. She is also, and I am sure the others won’t mind me saying this, the best player of us four! And win we did, although obviously that is not really the main motivation for going along… that is the coffee, cake and chat after! Today, I am proud to say that I resisted all temptation and went for a melon and cranberry smoothie, which was delicious!
Mid day and it was back to classes, and today’s was a joy. It was listed as core stability, but with a different teacher to the one earlier in the week (yes I checked!). I arrived and there were only four of us in this class - which is a terrible shame as it was excellent. Simon, the class leader came straight over and introduced himself, made a point of asking names and remembering them AND explained, taught and guided us all through the lesson. As it turned out it was as much about mobility, balance and understanding your body as it was core work. But it was perfect, especially at this stage of the week when I am feeling muscles I had forgotten I had.
In turns out Simon has his own training business and classes via vibefitnessbath.co.uk and I will most certainly be recommending him, his business and this class to everyone I know! My faith in exercise classes is now fully restored - it’s not rocket science I know, but you do need to shop around and find the good ones!
Final session of the day was a 50 minute run, which after sunday’s feeble effort was a bit daunting. By now it was dark and raining, and cold. Not very appealing, but I set off anyway. The first 2-3 minutes were fine, then it was awful for about 15 minutes and then I settled in and it was not too bad, except one section was so very dark I really needed a torch. Stupid schoolgirl error, I could so easily have tripped. Anyway, day six complete - now I am tired!
My day:
Breakfast: Small bowl of muesli and skimmed milk, orange juice
Exercise: Badminton
Snack: Melon and cranberry juice
Exercise: Core stability class
Lunch: Vegetarian sushi
Exercise: Running, 50 minutes
Evening meal: Tomato risotto, dried mango portion
The Women’s Sport Magazine
