I survived the weekend, which saw me become the hapless victim of one hour of remedial massage. It was a mixture of relaxing and refreshing; with a splash of harmless pain, and soreness in the day that followed.
The first thing I noticed post-massage, however was just how much looser my hamstrings were. I had discussed this with Georgia, the massage therapist, prior to commencing, in addition to speaking about the piriformis and sciatic issues that I'd experienced previously.
She focused her efforts, and for 48 hours, I felt like a new man. Then today, I probably ruined it all by stepping foot into the gym again, keen to beat that 2 kilometre time on the treadmill again.
I'm pleased to report that I did. By twenty four entire seconds.
My progression is tabulated below:
| Date | Seconds to 2KM total | Average Speed | Minutes | Seconds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14/06/2018 | 815.00 | 8.8 | 13 | 35 |
| 18/06/2018 | 774.00 | 9.3 | 12 | 54 |
| 19/06/2018 | 762.00 | 9.4 | 12 | 42 |
| 26/06/2018 | 740.00 | 9.72 | 12 | 20 |
| 2/7/2018 | 716.00 | 10 | 11 | 56 |
I've even made myself pretty charts to plot my performance over time!
The other thing that I have noticed is that there's a distinct lack of appetite for things that are sweet in my life. I'm not having as much trouble giving up sugary things as what I thought I might, with a daily serving of fruit stifling the hunger for things that rot your teeth.
I kind of cheated this evening, I had a small piece of steak, in addition to my turkey salad, but it won't be the sort of thing that will impact the scales in a meaningful way.
I have not had an additional weigh in at this stage, but I am noticing increased resilience when weight training, and more endurance on interval training exercises (like the rowing machine).
Progress is going well, and I've got another massage booked in for a month's time. I'll also be seeing the physio again this week to reassess my recovery. I've got a slight niggle today in the hip, probably caused by breaking my 2km record again.
The next update may see some food photography come into it, as I've become very skilled at cooking chicken in a most delicious manner; even if some people would argue it is bland. I don't care - it is nutrition. Who said nutrition had to taste bad? Nothing tastes bad when you add garlic. :)
Plus, you get to keep vampires away.
Oh, man - sciatica is also my scourge. I have been suffering a few years now. The doctors suggest an operation but for now I make do with physiotherapy but when it hits it's so bad that I cannot function normally. Good job on the diet front - I started mine 3 weeks ago but it's so slow.
E_67
Have some manna:
https://www.mannabase.com/?ref=22370a5574
I'm lucky enough to have my piriformis muscle (it connects the hamstring, hip, and your ITB (that runs down the side of the quad) wrap around my sciatic nerve. So, if the piriformis muscle goes into spasm, I'm a cripple for a few days.
Strengthening other muscles around the site (and increasing my hip / hamstring mobility) is key to ensuring that my piriformis doesn't go into spasm and cause me a great deal of agony. :D
The diet isn't the struggle, eating so much salad is my biggest struggle at the moment!
Training days = salad + lean meat for dinner - not the best for our winter that we're currently enduring here in Australia!
Fantastic look at that speed boost!! I like that you charted your progress too, do you find it gives you more motivation to see it that way?
It ensures that I document my progress and don't make it up in my mind. The average speed definitely does make me push myself harder to ensure that I will mathematically improve my time.
Consistency is the only key, I think!
@holoz0r
Massage therapy is a very good process of keeping oneself fit and fresh.. I hope the best for you too..
Good old garlic! The saviour of many a meal!