Sunday 13th May was the Woodley 10k. I remember when I was a teenager this was always a popular event with the family due to the start line being around the corner from my grandparents. So I made sure Sunday was a family affair with a sprinkling of friends thrown in!

We (Owen, Tom, The DZ, Yumi and myself) walked down to Headley Park in Woodley (the start of the race). There were so many people there we knew from ex work colleges, friends, old acquaintances and a nice dose of OST clients

The day was very similar to Reading; sun and a little bit of cloud. As a result this made for a VERY hot race. This would of all been ok if I was dressed appropriately however I had packed leggings and man did I know it! Luckily I’d had the foresight to pack a strap top- phew I say pack because Owen and I had stay at Tom’s the night before because the tiles were setting on the bathroom floor…

*Quick tangent* we now have a functioning bath, sink AND toilet. Hopefully by the end of this weekend we will also have a working shower! I am one very happy camper *end tangent*

So I ran the race and completed it 50.51. Another PB…I think. For some unexplained reason my name was not on the finishers list which was highly frustrating considering if I did come in around that time I would have come 240 something out of 645 which I think is pretty good!
Owen was also very pleased. In the 50 minutes I had been running he managed to obtaining himself a broken cross bow for £4. He insists he is going to fix it and use in when a) the aliens invade and/or b) we have zombie apocalypse. I don’t care which one comes first…as long as my shower is working…

Oh well, never mind. I had a lovely afternoon with the friends and family being fed until I burst with fish pie. My grandad made sure he got Owen and Tom as drunk as possible in the time we had. By the end the sloe gin and puccini was being distributed in shot glasses. I of course declined…. I didn’t want to ruin all my hard work… Or the real reason, I was driving!

So nothing booked in now until the Shine Walk in September. I must admit I’m glad of the break. My focus will still be on the running but I’m also going to be down the gym a bit more and dare I say it…trying a bit of swimming…may be…

So stay tuned folks.

CBPT

www.oceansportstherapy.com

http://www.woodley10k.co.uk/

I must admit I had a great race. I absolutely loved it. The feeling I had when I hit 5k and knew I was on my way home was amazing. I felt like I was flying the whole way. Before I knew it I was on the home straight completing a sprint finish and beating some poor unsuspecting bloke in the process. He tried to catch me but I pipped him at the post…I’m not smug, honest 51.09, good time(s)!

The DZ did extremely well also. Some say she once had her leg bitten off by 1 ton angry crocodile and she hopped 500km on the other leg to the nearest hospital. All we know is she is The DZ.

The DZ was hot on my tail up until 5k. She later explained her hip had gone before we’d even hit the 1k mark. I had wondered why her breathing had been so off kilter but I thought at the time it was because she had worked her self up into an anxious state before the race. I tried to help her settle down by reminding her of her ‘Pilates breathing’ and it seemed to help. Once again that determined little soul ran every step of the way pushing through the pain barrier. Must have been the practice of hopping 500k…;)

So all in all a good day was had by all. We finished the morning by heading back to the house of the O’Connell family (friends of The DZ) and munched cake, drank tea and were entertained by their lovely children! A fantastic morning!

Well done all

CBPT

http://www.readingroadrunners.org/shinfield.html

Www.oceansportstherapy.com

We all remember the weather this weekend just gone right? Oh yes, that was it rain, rain and more freaking rain and then at about 2am on the Saturday morning the wind began to howl. I know this for I lay awake listening to it repeating to my self,
‘It’s just a bit of rain’, over and over and over again.

I got out of bed at 6am just as there was smallest slither of light creeping it through the curtains and my gosh, it was horrible. Wet, windy, dank and did I mention wet?
‘Oh well’, I thought, ‘as Dad says, up and at ‘em’.

I did my usual prep of breakfast, hydrating etc and before I knew it The DZ was on the door step. Some say she once wrestled a lion to the death using nothing but the strength of her own bare hands. All we know is…she is The DZ and on Sunday she was part of my two person, one dog support team.

So myself, The DZ, Owen and Yumi (the two person, one dog support team) all headed off in the direction of South Hill Park wrapped up and covered by a massive golf brolly. We got there just in time for the runners to be lined up in the road at the start line.

I had a plan, and I was going to stick to it…I always seem to slow down no matter how fast or slow I start out so I was starting out as fast as physically possible to counteract the slowing down as I went through the race. It worked for it you look at my breakdown of time I actually get a little bit slower ever single mile. One thing I can say is I know my weaknesses

So Bracknell Half Marathon? What can I say about you? You were wet, cold, miserable and hell we’re you hilly! You don’t realise it but it seems everywhere in this town has an incline with what seems to be a very limited amount of downhill…I actually heard one girl scream at one point, ‘Why are there so many ******* hills?’ that’s the thing about running, it can make you very irrational and clearly quite rude

At mile 11, which happened to run straight past the end of my road (I could see my lovely, warm, comfortable home) my 2 person, 1 dog support team were cheering me on and it put a massive smile on my face. I even forgot for the whole of 30 seconds that I’d needed the toilet since mile 5… And without going into too much detail I have suffered for holding on for the past 48 hours now…I honestly considered diving into a bush and Paula Radcliffing it…but there was just too much at stake…I had a time to achieve. Just a quick note here *for those of you who laughed Paula Radcliffe for that mishap she had in the marathon a few years back, it’s not funny. I would challenge you to run even 1 mile absolutely desperate for the toilet (number 1 or 2) and see how you feel…*

So yes. I made it over the line and now the 2.00.44 of Wokingham and the abismole Reading Half can no longer haunt me. I am a sub 2 hour half marathon runner. So there stick that in your pipe and…well don’t smoke…it’s not good for your health. But hey I did it woohoo!!

CBPT

www.oceansportstherapy.com

http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/bracknellhalfmarathon

I thought being a PT and all that I really should begin to share some of my training sessions with you so here we are…the first installment of CBPT’s Wonder Workouts…

Rower: 10 minutes level 4/5. You should hit somewhere around the 2000m mark

Bicep curls on a relatively light weight for you and a quicker pace to normal 3 x 20
Tricep extension- one dumbbell but double the weight of what you did on the bicep curl 3 x 20
Press ups- a steady pace, 2 seconds down, 2 seconds up 3 x 10
Repeat bicep curls.
Tricep dips- steady pace of 2 seconds down, 2 seconds up

Stretch-
Deltoids, triceps, chest and upper/lower back holding each one for at least 15 seconds.

And that’s your first 30 Minute Wonder Workout complete!

CBPT

The Boot Camper’s arose from their beds and made ready to go to work…they were all dreading the evening to come…the start of their Boot Camp. All except one by the name of Richard Oakham who was so keen to get going he got PM confused for AM and turned up bright and early at 7.30am! Luckily for Rich I was there starting another clients session and therefore I was able to send him away with strict instructions to return in 12 hours time! And that was the start to Ocean Sport Therapy’s Boot Camp #2 2012…

The Boot Campers all arrived promptly (including Rich, you’ll all be relieved to hear) at 7.30pm, ready and ‘raring’ to go after the lovely Easter break. I followed a circuit very similar to that of the Sport Relief circuit I put together a few weeks ago (some of you may remember this). So all the usual suspect exercises were in there; star jumps, planks, wall sits, jumping squats, running and of course the one and only Burpees! What more could the Boot Campers ask for?

I can tell you exactly what they could ask for, MORE BURPEES. Day two consisted of boxercise. The Boot Campers were delighted, they thought they’d got away with it…’None of those blasted Burpee tonight’, they thought, you could see the glimmer of hope in their eyes. However I am mean and come from the school of hard Burpee knocks…they had to be done and I quote, ‘No Boot Camp is complete unless it has Burpees’. 8.23pm, Wednesday 11th April 2012 So the Boot Campers dropped down with their heavy arms and their tired abs and all completed 10 Burpees with hardly any grumbling. Boot Campers know when they are defeated!

Day 3 and we were on to a hard core abs session, bicycle abs, planks, side planks the list was endless. The Boot Campers once again had hope in their eyes…she can’t put Burpees into today’s session…surely? How wrong they were. The Boot Campers finished the session with ‘core controlled Burpees’. These were done slowly controlling every muscle in the body in stead of the usual frantic high intensity cardiovascular version. The Boot Campers were not impressed to say the least.

So onto the Friday where another circuit awaited only the most hard core of Boot Campers. 7.30pm on a FRIDAY evening? Some people would call them crazy…in fact most people would! Guess what? There were lots and lots of burpees!

The same people who called my Boot Campers crazy for they Friday night session would probably say the same about those who turned up on Saturday morning at 8am for a nice ‘gentle run’ around Rooks Nest country park. 4 hot and sweaty laps later I decided for once I would be nice and lay off the Burpees…well what can I say? I want them all to return for the May/June Boot Camp, Monday 28th May- Friday 1st June…who fancies joining us?

CBPT

www.oceansportstherapy.com

Follow Richard Oakham from Be Inspired- @i_am_inspired

I’d tried to get as much training in as possible but it just seemed like the odds were stacked against me…15 days off training due to my jaw getting infected after having my wisdom tooth removed and residual injury twinges after running Wokingham on the dodgy foot. Then Vicky went away for two weeks so I was running the business with Chris slogging away with me until he contracted a nasty dose of Norovirus. My work load was piling up and up but I above all I was just tired.

Unfortunately this feeling of fatigue didn’t miraculously disappear on the morning of Reading Half. I stood on the start line wondering what on earth I was doing. Some how all my energy had dwindled and I was left with nothing. Not even the excitement of all of those thousands of runners pounding the streets of Reading could seem to lift me; I was all out of adrenaline.

However, I was there.  All I had to do was get round. Even if I had to crawl on my hands and knees over the line, I knew I would finish it.

I stuck with The DZ. Some say she once ran for 72 hours straight surviving on a stable diet of jelly babies and caffeine free tea. All we know is…she is The DZ.

Up until 9 and half miles I was enjoying myself. The DZ and I weren’t talking as much as we had the year before but that’s because we were sticking in this year and aiming to get round in a respectable time! One of us managed that…The DZ. I hit the 9 and half mile mark and realised I just had nothing left. I couldn’t keep my pace up and my legs just felt like lead.

The DZ ran on with cries of, ‘You’d better catch me up CindyBakerPersonalTrainer!’

I tried, I really tried but I just couldn’t muster the energy. Half way down the A33 I saw Owen and I just wanted to cry however I managed just to shout, ‘I’ve hit the wall’, and carried on dragging my sorry self towards the finish line.

Around me people were dropping like flies. I saw one guy being dragged into a wheel chair, one guy hobbling with excruciating cramp and as I ran past it an ambulance start flashing its lights and its siren howled. It is not a pretty sight this stage of a half marathon and I just wanted it over with. I made a promise to myself if nothing else I would come in before the 2 hour 10 pace maker. I looked behind me and couldn’t see the flag and this gave me the encouragement I needed to just get on with it.

I finally crossed the line in 2.09.35 and was promptly dry retching over the barrier. Every little last drop of energy had gone from me as my dad and The DZ came and picked me up.

I must admit I was disappointed by my result. I was hoping for more but I have to understand I did not have a great run up to the race and this time (unlike in my youth when I thought I was untouchable and could run a half marathon on hardly any training) it wasn’t my fault. I had tried to put the distance, time and effort in but for whatever reason this was not to be my race. It hurts but I’ll get over it. I’ll half to…Bracknell Half Marathon is 29^th April.

CBPT

At Ocean Sports Therapy we ‘did our bit’ by dedicating an hour of our time to run a circuit for a group of seven employees from a local company- Airinmar.

http://www.airinmar.com/

The team turned up…ready and raring to go… well something like that. ;)

They were instantly hit with a tough warm up followed by a circuit consisting of bicycle abs, tricep dips, star jumps, planks, angry lizards, squat jumps, wall sits and … burpees… What? You know how we love a good burpee at OST In addition to these incredibly challenging exercises there were shuttle runs, jumps, walking lunges… you name it… it was in there!

I must admit the team did well even though I could tell they were flagging by the end but all was forgiven when our work placement student, Hayleigh, revealed her Sport Relief cup cakes decorated in the trade mark colours of white and red.

I’d just like to say thank you to the Airinmar team; I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard whilst teaching a circuits class (it was one of the high lights of my birthday oh yeah…by the way my birthday was on Friday).

I’m currently waiting to hear from the team about how much they raised! The pictures from the circuit have just been uploaded to our Facebook page so please do take a little look (and ‘like’ our page whilst you’re at it).

So I think all there is left to say is WELL DONE AIRINMAR TEAM!

CBPT

http://www.sportrelief.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sportrelief/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17505058

www.oceansportstherapy.com

Yumi first came to us in May 2010. An ex work college of mine and Owen’s had asked through the power of Facebook if anyone could home a Japanese Akita. There was a beautiful picture attached of a sandy, white dog curled up on her bed. She had massive brown eyes which were pleading for a good home and I couldn’t resist her. That evening when Owen got in (we’d only been living together 3 months) he wholeheartedly agreed we could get a dog as long as his brother Evan (who we were also living with) was happy with the arrangement.

I must admit Evan took some convincing but we agreed to have a trial period of a month and if it didn’t work out we would look for an alternative plan for Yumi. So Yumi travelled down (four long hours) to come and see us. She was beautiful but a handful. She pulled on the lead and it was difficult for Owen to control her, let alone me! Evan still wasn’t convinced. The next day Owen and I took Yumi out for a seven mile walk (which was hard work considering her pulling) and then popped out for the afternoon. When we came home there was no sign of either Evan and Yumi in the house. We went into the garden to find the pair of them spooning on the lawn. She had us all, hook, line and sinker.

Over the next two years Owen and I worked relentlessly on training Yumi. She was walked  at least twice a day, if not three or four times for at least half an hour at a time. We made friends with other dog walkers and let her socialise with all breeds of dogs ranging from Jack Russells to Great Danes. We took her every where we could, the pub, weekends away and friends houses. Over time she became more relaxed and comfortable in her own skin. Being her third owners I can understand why it took her so long to settle. In the first eighteen months of her life she had been shipped from pillar to post with no real discipline, structure or love.

Recently Yumi and I have started going walking with our neighbours Emily and Rachel and their dogs Frank (an American Bull Dog), Buddy (a massive cross breed) and Roxie (a Jack Russell). Yumi has transformed once again. She now has a steady groups of friends (as do I )  to go walking with and to play with. She is loving it. We even took her over to Rachel’s, Buddy’s and Roxie’s last Thursday. She had a ball playing with the other dogs and then chilling out with them on their beds. Yesterday when she saw Rachel returning from work she went flying up to her front door and wanted to be let in! Maybe Yumi had a little too much fun on Thursday!

Also on Christmas day Owen and I took Yumi up to Swinley Forest to the Huskey meet. We walked Yumi with a lovely puppy called Kato and meet so many breeds of dog all very similar to Yumi. Owen and I also talked to some lovely people, Anita, Louise and Nicola to name a few. I’m sure Yumi felt she was in good company and we certainly enjoyed eating ginger bread and drinking eggnog in the forest at 8am on Christmas day morning!

You’re probably wondering why I’m harping on about my dog in a personal training blog? Well there is a moral to this story which can apply to training and exercise and here it is…

Things may not always be easy when it comes to training. In fact it is rarely easy. This however does not mean you should give up after the first attempt. I know a lot of people who have gone for A run or to the gym ONCE. My advice is things do not come over night. Rome was not built in a day. You have to keep going. Once is not enough if you truly wish to achieve a goal. If Owen and I had given up on Yumi when she barked at other dogs, pulled on the lead and nicked food off the side then we would not have the happy, healthy pooch we have today. It has been very hard at times. One guy almost punched Owen because the dog was barking at him when he and his son were illegally fishing in the Kennet and Avon Canal. I had a bad back for months until we could get her pulling on the lead under control. Ok, so sometimes she can still be a bit naughty aka the odd bark at other dogs when she’s on the lead, the occasional ‘pulley’ walk and she’s still convinced she’s a champion deer catcher…I am yet the see the proof but other than this all is really, really good. We couldn’t be happier with her. The parallel- sometimes you will have bad days when you’re training but you have to look at the bigger picture. It’s a bad a day in goodness knows how many excellent training days…why give up after one bad experience?

Keep on going. You’re own personal happiness is the limit

CBPT

www.oceansportstherapy.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/DoggWalkcom/119976491395758

Some of you may be wondering what’s happened with my foot? In light of what has happened with my tooth I realised the foot pain was minimal and anyway, the pain has completely subsided. Never the less I am still looking for a whole new left side to my body so if anybody knows any good surgeons…;)

It has been a busy few weeks at work. Our new Physiotherapist, Chris started on Monday 13th. Chris has been a pleasure to work with so far. Not only has he offered a different type of treatment and view point to our usual method at OST he has also come along with a very positive can do attitude- something we like very much at Ocean Sports Therapy!

On Saturday Owen, The DZ and I went to the Reading Road Runners Dinner Dance and boogied the night away. Much fun was had by all and The DZ and I felt very infused about the next up and coming half marathon…Reading. I have added a picture to the ‘Simon Pegg Type Dancing Album’ to express how much we enjoyed ourselves

As stated in the name of this blog it was just a quick update to let you all know I am still alive…just. I’m currently not allowed the to train due to the op and infection. It will be 15 days off training by the time it’s finished…arrrrgh! So I’m settling with walking the dog (Yumi is well) and cleaning the house (there is a great deal of mess being created by the bathroom renovation).

Do not fear Blog Spotters! I shall be back next week with an infusing, exciting and/or insightful story!

Thanks all.

CBPT

www.oceansportstherapy.com

Thursday afternoon I started to get some pain in my foot. I thought it was because I hadn’t remembered to swap from my running trainers into a different pair so spent much of the working evening bare foot. I even made sure I took pain relief before going to bed however by Friday lunch time I was in agony and could barely stand to put pressure on the foot by the end of my Yoga class. I instantly phoned Vicky who made sure Chris had a look at my foot that evening. Verdict…repetitive strain injury! BUGGER! I was taped up by Vicky the next morning and I kept myself going with Nurofen.

I knew I had to do this race. I had come too far to give up. Quitting was not an option. If I didn’t run the race I would never forgive my self. I would deal with the consequences later.

So Sunday morning, much to the shock, disbelief and disapproval of Owen’s parents (who we are staying with this week whilst the bathroom is being re done) I set off down to the start line with my brother in law to be, Evan. The foot was grumbling but I figured if I kept moving I would be OK.

First port of call as always…the toilet. I stood in the queue looking like a completely loon hopping from one foot to the next trying to keep the movement and warmth in my foot going. So far so good…ish. Still a bit of grumbling. ‘Just ignore it’, I kept saying to myself, ‘it’ll go away’. Having completed my pit stop I head back towards the area where I knew my Uncle Gavin was standing. Gavin is not my real Uncle, he’s my Dad’s best friend. He’s a brilliant runner and actually set his PB on Sunday. 1.23! Amazing! Anyway I digress. At this point I bumped into The DZ.

Some say she has been the Olympic Ice Dance Champion twelve times over and can make a man fall in love with her, just by completing a single routine. All know we know is…she’s The DZ!

At first I was confused as to why The DZ had turned up so early. She was supposed to be coming to watch me cross the finish line. The DZ had opted out on advice of many after she picked up a hip injury at the end of the boot camp week in the beginning of January. I became even more confused when I saw her number attached to her running vest. I couldn’t get my head around it,

‘I’m running’, she said.

‘You’re a lunatic’, I replied.

And she is. The DZ hadn’t managed more than 5 miles with out being in pain for the best part of 6 weeks but she had her own battles to fight as did I so I told her I was proud of her for trying and to enjoy herself! Just at this point my dad turned up completely last minute and totally under prepared as per usual. By the time he’d pulled himself together we managed to get ourselves down to the start line just in time for the beginning of the race.

AND THEN WE WERE OFF!! Dad stuck with me for the first 2 miles but just after we’d spotted Owen’s parents he shot off. And there he was saying the night before about how I’d beat him. Pah! However this was the least of my worries because about a mile later my foot started to go numb. Some people might think this is a good thing but trust me it was very uncomfortable. By mile 4 my determination started to waver. ‘Just get to 6 miles’, I told myself, ‘then you can find some one who can get you back to the start’. I hobbled for 2 miles and once I hit the 6 mile mark I realised…no one was there. No marshalls, no first aiders not even a flaming spectator. I heard some guy next me say, ‘Oh look we’re pretty much half way now’, and another one say to his friend, ‘We’re averaging 8.40 miles’. ‘Right, in that case’, I thought, ‘I’d better shift my arse and DO THIS’. I kept running through the numbness and somewhere around 8 miles the feeling in my foot came back however by the 10th mile so had the pain. The Nurofen was wearing off. I ran, walk, hobbled and almost crawled the last 3 miles. All I wanted to do was sit down and cry but by this point I had come too far. I managed to sprint over the finish line as I heard Vicky screaming ‘COME ON CINDY!’. I took my medal, had my chip removed, had a bottle of water placed in my hand and then I sat down on the pavement and sobbed! Vicky and her boyfriend Ben found me about a minute later in this state. I saw them and smiled. I was crying because of the pain but mainly I was crying from the happiness of finishing. I’d done it. I’d run through the agony. I was stronger than I ever believed I could of been! About 15 minutes later however I was crying again as we bumped into The DZ. She too had managed it! Against all odds she had gone and run that race. I was so proud of her. Yesterday was a good day.

My official time was 2.00.44. So even with the injury I had a PB that had smashed my other PB by a good 13 minutes! I’m getting better! So next stop is Reading Half Marathon! April 1st 2012 and I can not wait! I think we can all work out the morale to my story…when disaster strikes, either pick yourself up and start again or plough on through!

Before I sign off I have a group of people I would like to thank for getting me through the day.

Vicky & Chris for making is possible for me to run with the treatment they gave me.

Jackie & Alice for screaming like complete and utter mentaloids at me just after the 11 mile mark! Noticed how you were outside the pub girls

Vicky (again) and Ben for cheering me over the line and delivering my broken body back to the in laws to be.

Andy, Denise and Debbie Read for supplying me with so much encouragement before, during and after the race as well as providing me with a chocolate bar, gloves and a foil sheet directly after the run.

Owen’s parents (Carole and Mick) for looking after myself and Evan the night before and directly afterwards with pre and post meals…AMAZING GRUB!

Owen for calming me down before the race and forever believing in me.

Holly and Joanne for their supportive texts of encouragement.

Rachel and Emily for the dog walks which killed two birds with one stone, walked the dogs and tested the capability of my foot.

Finally…The DZ. Who really proved to me that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. Thank you DZ. You truly are my hero!

CBPT