Is a Personal Trainer worth the money?

Today I had my third session with my personal trainer!  Ooooooh....get me.. ;)

James, my PT

Once the preserve of the rich and famous, it seems that every high street gym now has teams of PTs ready and waiting to help people in their search for a slimmer, fitter or stronger body.  When I was a regular at the gym a couple of years ago, I'd see the PTs working out, or working with clients, but was never quite sure what the point was, and never in a million years would I have imaged that I would be serious enough about my training to employ their services.  But things change. 

With my running focus now having switched to significant ultra distances rather than halves and marathons, I've realised that I really need to start working on my strength to give myself the best possible chance of not only completing the events I've got lined up, but of getting to the start line in the first place, and avoiding injury.  I've been considering how to achieve this for a while, and have started lots of Mondays with a plan of spending the week doing planks, sit-ups and press ups and all those other exercises in Runner's World magazine, to work on and improve my strength. 

Unfortunately, although I might do it for a few days, I'd never stick with it, and it really didn't make any difference.  I finally realised I needed some outside assistance!

So, I bit the bullet.  I went into the gym (where I hadn't set foot for months) and explained that I was a marathoner who didn't need any help with my running or other cardio but that I needed to work on my strength. The assistant I spoke to said she'd talk to the various PTs and work out who would be best suited to me and my goals, and get them to give me a call to arrange a session.  A week later I found myself changed, water bottle in hand, and ready for my first (free) hour of working out with Personal Trainer James!

As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, it went really well, and the two subsequent sessions have also been great - James understands what I'm trying to do and he explains which muscles are being worked by the different exercises I'm doing, and how that helps with the running.  I've found that I'm working much harder than I have ever done on my own in a gym, I push myself to achieve more than I thought I'd be able to, and he also has showed me how badly I was doing some of the exercises that I thought I was doing properly - my planks were twisted and my squats were more just leaning over ;)

I'm seeing real benefits in having a PT, and I really enjoy the sessions as I feel my body working hard and find myself improving, even during a single session, as I start to use under-developed muscles that my more developed areas usually compensate for.  But it's not cheap.  

I pay £40 per month for membership of the gym, and then on top of that, the PT costs £35 per hour.  I'm seeing him once a week at the moment and although there is an option to pay upfront for a block of sessions (and in return get a free session) at the moment I'm on "pay as you go".  As I progress, and get more confident in my workouts and what I'm doing, I might be able to drop it down to seeing him twice a month, but for the foreseeable future, I feel it makes such a difference that I'm going to stick with once a week.

So assuming that I'll miss a few sessions for holidays or other commitments, I can expect to pay about £2,000 for a year's PT training, which is just incredible - it's so much money! But after a lot of thought, I've decided that it's worth it if it reduces my chances of injury and makes me a stronger runner.  Running is everything to me, so it makes sense that I spend all of my money on becoming the best I can be and I really don't think I can achieve the level of progress in my training on my own, that I can achieve with the support, guidance, knowledge and motivation that comes with a personal trainer.

But I want to add one final thought to this post...now I'm spending all my time and cash on making myself stronger, this is really the time to stop sabotaging my training by eating as badly as I do (lots of junk, massive portions, few vegetables and binging on biscuits!)

I'm about a stone overweight at the moment, which I know makes me slower than I could be and obviously puts extra strain on my body. I really have to start exercising a bit of discipline when it comes to food, because otherwise I'm really just wasting my money on all of these PT sessions, and in those media photos for the Brathay 10in10, no-one is going to believe that I'm an ultra-runner!

Getting carried away

I've been overwhelmed by the support I've received from everyone, after telling them about my place in the Brathay 10 in 10.  Obviously, there have been people who are (naturally) concerned for my sanity in signing up for something so extreme, but even they have been supportive if not a bit bemused ;)  

I've also got incredibly enthusiastic and excited about the challenge ahead, both about getting ready for such a punishing event, and also about fundraising as much money as I can for the Brathay Trust. Despite the fact that I still have 10 months to go, I have already created my sponsorship page, written an email (which will probably stay in draft for months) asking for donations, put some thought into a training plan for next year, and joined the appropriate Facebook group!  Incidentally, if you do want to sponsor me (it would be very much appreciated!) you can just click through to my justgiving page here:

All of the money that I raise will be going straight to the charity as I'm paying the £800 that it costs per person to stage the event out of my own pocket - I think it's important that people know their sponsorship isn't going to fund my running adventures!

Anyway, although I'm getting a bit carried away with the whole concept of the 10 in 10, I keep reminding myself that I'm mustn't lose sight of the fact that I have very important races coming up and I need to make sure that I'm properly prepared - my 30 miler is in just 10 days, and my 50 miler is in just 3 and a half weeks.  

I think I've got a bit blasé about the 30 miler, but it's going to be an enormous challenge - further than I've ever run before, a race of short laps, middle of the day and so potentially warm, and all without a proper taper! However, I think I can trust in my training to get me round - the bigger challenge will be not going out too fast, and trying to really treat it as a training run so I don't burn myself out before the big one...the 50! I'm not in the least blasé about that one though - it's going to be an absolute journey into the unknown and as such, is still a bit of a frightening prospect!!  

Exciting news...the magic number 10

Well, as you'll notice, my Juneathon blogging has gone out of the window...my excuse is that we've been really busy since my last post - had more going on last week than we usually do in a month ;) As well as the cricket, we had a trip to the Royal Institution for a lecture/book launch with the legend that is Sir Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, a day out at Knebworth Park for an awesome Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, and then yesterday was the grand prix and we watched England's exit from Euro 2012....but the running has been going well and that's the important thing ;) 

I clocked up 50 miles last week, including 27 miles for the Longest Day Run over the weekend.  It's not quite as many as I was hoping for, but I'm struggling with what I think is tendinitis in my ankle and so cut a few runs short.  Obviously, what I should actually be doing is not running on my ankle at all, and to this end, I'm taking today and tomorrow as rest days in the hope that gives it enough time to feel better. 

Anyway, more importantly, I have had the most exciting, incredible, and terrifying news....

I've been offered a place to run the 2013 Brathay 10in10!  If you haven't heard of it before, this is an awesome multi-day charity event, held at England's largest natural lake, Lake Windermere, up in the Lake District. Essentially, 16 of us will be running a marathon a day, for ten consecutive days, with each marathon being a lap of the lake.

On the 10th day, the main Windermere Marathon is held, and our small group of 10in10ers will be joined by 1000 other runners, and we will complete the final 26.2 miles of our adventure.

I just can't believe that they've offered me a place and I'm so happy.  Overwhelmed, a little apprehensive perhaps, but mainly just happy, especially as when I told Francis he was really supportive about me accepting the place.

I've followed the event for a few years, and have been totally impressed and inspired by the commitment of the other people that have completed it and am struggling to get my head around the fact that I'm going to become one of them! It really is just amazing.

262 miles in 10 days.  It's going to be a massive challenge to complete, but it's a charity event and that will help me through - I'm going to aim to raise at least £3,000 for the Brathay Trust who organise the 10in10 and the Windermere Marathon.  Brathay are a charity that inspires and supports disadvantaged young people across Britain, helping to improve and transform their lives - they do amazing things for these children, creating a tangible difference to their lives now, and their lives as adults, and raising money for them will make a massive difference to keeping me going not only through training but through that event itself.

So - here goes... I've got 10 months to train, to fundraise and to get in shape to complete the hardest endurance event I've ever faced, 10 months until 10 marathons in 10 days.  I can't wait :D

Running at midnight

Yesterday went like this:

5:30am: alarm rang - I turned it off.
7:30am: got up, 2 hours late
9.30am - 5.30pm: at work.
6pm: train to Chelmsford with a sandwich for dinner
7pm: watched the T20 cricket game between Essex and Kent.  Amazing match, great atmosphere, and very exciting towards the end...came down to the last ball! Kent needed a 4, Essex got a wicket, so Essex won.  Fantastic!
10.10pm: wandered back to the station from the cricket ground.  Realised the train was in 2 minutes.  Sprinted & got to the platform at 10.13pm, missed the train.
11.10pm: Finally got home.
11.30pm - midnight: Went out for a run!

That's very late, even for me, a seasoned night runner, to be heading out of the door and so I didn't go far, but am pleased I went.  I barely saw anyone out on the roads, but there was a group of teenagers coming up the street, I assume from the pub, in the opposite direction to me.  As I got closer I could hear them asking each other "Is she really running? At this time of night?" and then they started applauding and cheering me as I passed them, as though I was running a marathon.  It raised a smile and was all well intentioned ;)

Despite getting to bed so late, I actually tried to get up at 5.30pm this morning in another attempt to get my run in before work.  Needless to say, I slept through! Unfortunately, we're going out again tonight so I'll be running late again, although this time I'll hopefully be home a bit earlier, which is a good job as I need to do about 8 miles.  Fingers crossed it doesn't turn into another midnight run, not sure how long I can keep this up! ;)

A return to Juneathon - day 20

After yesterday morning's gym session, there was a tiny part of me that wondered whether I would actually make it out for my run last night, but very pleased to be able to say that I did and my Juneathon exercise has restarted and my training is back on track.

Having watched the first 10 minutes of the England v Ukraine game, I headed out of the door, and ran a hilly 8 miles at what felt like a decent pace.  I didn't take my Garmin, but had one of those runs where I felt strong, my legs were moving well, the sun was shining (although by the time I got back it was setting & the skies were red) and pretty much every song that came on my ipod was one I love. I was home in time to watch the last 10 minutes of the football so I was able to enjoy the England win too - yesterday was a very good day :)

Unfortunately, I did have a bit of pain in my right ankle during the run and it's still hurting this morning...to go with the DOMS that I've developed from the gym session.  My arms, back and abs are all really aching, but the DOMS is a good thing - it means the gym workout was effective!  The ankle pain is less positive though - I can't identify what the cause is, but I've got a support on it this morning, which has definitely helped.

I meant to get up early and get today's run done before work, but when my alarm rang, I must have turned if off and fallen straight back into a deep sleep, as I didn't wake up until 2 hours later!! It wasn't a consious decision - yesterday's exercise obviously tired me out - but it has caused me a bit of a problem. We're off to watch the cricket (Essex v Kent Twenty20) tonight, and probably wont get home until about 10.30pm, so today's run is just going to have to be a very late one. I need to get it done, as this week is a really big week in my training - last week was an easy rest week, but this week is high mileage - I'm aiming to hit 57 miles, and I'm not going to do that unless I run tonight!