Stuart Mathews

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Category: Running
Stuart Mathews
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Its been really hot and I’ve particularly enjoyed it – why take a holiday! With the heat, I’ve not run as far as I might otherwise have but I have introduced more variety in my weekly running routes of late:

This one via the Thames, over Tower bridge and past the Tower of London:

And the previous week was similar but I added more turns and twists but the GPS seems to have missed some parts or al least the last part back :

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Stuart Mathews
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I’ve started a new fitness routine which includes sit-ups, press-ups and pull-ups, SPP for short. 
 
The point of this routine is to have ‘good’ form more than number of repetitions. 
 
I started filming my preliminary technique for pull-ups and it was absolutely terrible. I’m aiming to eventually be able to do x16 of them but could only manage x4 with poor technique. I need to work on this and this is actually is the point of this routine - to get better at this. So it’s OK that I suck right now, just must not quit before I see it through. You can look at my terrible technique in the video. 
 
So today, having seen my bad technique in the preliminary evaluation of my pull-ups, I started my exercise improvement routine. I got up at 04:30 and run down to the park which has a good pull-up bar. The run was easy and nice because I was tired and needed to ease into it to warm me up, so just run and necessary to get me to the park.
 
I decided to move away from the goal posts, which I used yesterday for my preliminary pull-up technique evaluation. Moved to the basketball court. Not 100% sure why I did that, probably for variety and I did see it had a comparable pull-up bar(which in hindsight was not that great because it was far more ‘fatter’ than the goal posts. 
 

Day 1’s training didn’t go well. I ended up being quite demotivated a low.

The exercise routines on this day were not tough, they will get progressively more challenging day-by-day. Today’s requirements were easy: 

1. Press-ups was ok (3x15) I filmed this and I was generally happy with the technique however, I observed that it’s far better to position my hands under my chest. Also, I did try to keep my elbows close to my body but it appeared that they stuck out a bit too much. I need to focus on tucking my elbows in. Generally ok technique though.
 
Sit-ups were ok (3x35) but tough(so doable at this level) around 20-35 reps. I found that where my lower back meets my butt, it rubbed raw and was really uncomfortable. I moved to two separate places - one away from grass as I was also being eaten alive by unknown and invisible secret midges - on the basketball court but then the hard concrete hurt it more, real bad around 20, then I moved again and found a rubber platformed playground in the park and that was much easier but my back/butt was already sore. 
 
Generally quite annoyed.
 
35 is doable but takes a little determination around 20-35. So I also achieve the day’s sit-ups... Tomorrow will be very similar but I’ll increase a rep in the first set in each set in each exercise.
 
Pull-ups were also ok because I only needed to do 3x4 but this was my limit and I know it. It will be good to improve this because I really need to if I’m going to reach x16. I only need to up this by 1 tomorrow so should be ok.
 
Note to self: stationary exercises in the outdoors/park require covering up otherwise will be bitten by midges. Very annoying.
 
So on the whole a good start but then something went wrong.
 
I just got a bit down. 
 
Physically, I got though the day’s press-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups but was not ready to perform the vo2 shuttle test and I just didn’t want to do it.
 
Something just got me down, I don’t know if it was the sore bum/back or the midges that stung me on my legs or because I was tired from getting up at 04:30. 
 
I just didn’t feel like doing anymore of anything. I decided to stop and go home. 
 
That was the end of day 1. I was not motivated to do shuttle sprints or the gym. Quite interesting.
 
I think this was my first real exercise strop. I failed to do what was required of me to do because I thought that it was ok to stop because I didn’t feel like doing it for whatever reason, tired, midges, soreness whatever. It’s quite revealing but I know now what it feels like when I feel this way and specifically how easy it is to decide that I’m not up to this, therefor I don’t have to do it. In reality I have to do it, this feeling of I’m not feeling it or that I know that I don’t want to do it and therefore it’s ok to stop is strong. I will remember this feeling because I know that I could have done those shuttle sprints, so I can do what is required even when I have that feeling of entitlement to stop. 
 
This is my new goal, resisting the seeming entitlement to stop /quit especially when I know I can do more but you just don’t want to. Also you just don’t feel like it. 
I’ve heard this before, that sometimes you just don’t feel like it but I’ve not experienced it for a long time until today’s session. I just didn’t feel like doing it...
 
Ok, so goods and bads, that’s ok learn from it and move on to day 2. 
 
There will be shuttle sprints. 
 
I need to remember to I’m not entitled to quit because I’m sore or because I feel down. 
 
It’s not ok to stop, I know this and that’s why I felt bad. Now I know what quitting feels like and that it will bring me down if I do.
 
Also what felt bad was feeling like I wanted to quit even though I know that it will make me feel poor. Yo never feel this feeling is to not quit, perhaps do it slower but don’t quit. Hard lesson. Good lesson.
 
I was watching Tom Platz in a video and he said, if it’s hard it’s worth it. If it’s easy, let someone else do it. If it’s hard, it’s worth doing. It was hard to want to do the shuttle sprints but it wouldve been worth doing as if not have had been low because of it.
 

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Category: Running
Stuart Mathews
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I went for another run today which was much like my previous run being in excess of 23km. I found it quite difficult however and really had to push through the strain. I started off by reverse-completing my last route with a few extra bits. The first extra bit was a meander around Well Street Common, which was looking rather dry. This is an extension to Victoria park that I’ve never really noticed before. I did see it on map at one point so when I caught a glimpse of flat open ground through the side railing along the edge of Victoria park, I thought I’d investigate.

I pretty much did a trail run for most of the first part of the run, running on turf. This is good. Then instead of going down to Limehouse basin first, I decided to first go to the London Stadium. Like much of the route so far, I reversed the direction I went around it. I went clockwise this time. I took a picture of the large screen on the side of the stadium. Even at this point I was starting to feel tired. So, much of the run from this point was tough but I pull through – I always do.

The run down to Limehouse basin was as entertaining as always, I was able to run up hills and through parks including the Ecology Pavilions which I’m sure look even better when there is less sun and the grass has a reprieve. The next part was through the At Pavilion which is always a nice climb. Then Mile end park and ran straight through, its really nice.  So still a lot of anti-camber running. however from that point on towards Limehouse Basin its tough camber and my knees and feet started to ache more. My GPS says that I can run on water as it plotted my course through Regents Canal. Ran the docks at the end.

The run back was tough. I just plodded as my pace dropped and kept pushing. At some points I was actually worried how tough it was but every time I continued to push though, made me realise that I just need to not quit. As a side note, never quit, its not worth quitting. Preserver .

Here is my little epic run:

The official distance according to my GPS was 24.48km and it took me 2h and 3 minutes. Pace was 5min/km.

More Articles …

  1. Half way to somewhere
  2. 20km
  3. Too many halves don’t equal a whole.
  4. Creature of trend

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