No Pain, No Gain!

My aching is now extremely mild and probably due to not moving around all night. I am hoping that by the time I arrive at BMF I'll be just right to exercise (I did notice yesterday that the more I moved, the better I felt, so once I get going it shouldn't feel the same). I've read on the internet and had the same info from two reliable sources that it's best for me to exercise. Of course if I still had trouble getting out of bed I wouldn't go, but that simply isn't the case today.

I do have a mild headache (if I'm tired I tend to sleep heavily in one position all night, often waking up with a cracky neck and a sore head) but I'll pop into Boots and get some Ibuprofen. Should help with the final dregs of the DOMS in my abs, too.

I just have to remind myself that this agonising after-effect won't last forever. If I go twice a week then after 2-3 weeks I should start noticing a little difference, and after 6-8 weeks I should start getting quite good at it.

There are two women in the Blues (I won't mention their names or anything) who I got chatting to before we started, who had been going once a week for about two months. I asked if their fitness level had improved, or if they felt fitter or had lost weight or whatever. I got a laugh and a no from the pair of them. Now, I can't see - unless they go home and eat ice-cream until it's time to come back - why even at once a week you wouldn't drop a tiny bit of weight as a result if you ate well. Even when I was going to the gym and doing bugger all my weight loss rocketed, and between January and March I lost 14 pounds (with only semi-dieting).

But people are different, I suppose. Although I do know that their fitness levels are going to take months to improve if they don't come more often. Good exercise needs 2-3 sessions a week (or 4-5 if you're hardcore) to make any difference, because over a week your body drops its fitness level, and by the next week you're almost back to square one. It's like taking one step forward and two back.

When I'm fit enough I hope to do Monday, Thursday and Saturday. I really, really need to train up as fast as possible, and three times a week seems the best way to do it. I honestly haven't achieved much in my life, and getting that next coloured bib will be something I'll be very proud of. It'll bring me one step closer to wearing that beret with a stab of pride I couldn't begin to put into words.