If anyone at all (I never check any more) actually follows this blog, then you may recall that I admire massively the five time gold-medal winning Olympian rower Steve Redgave. One of the things he is also remembered for, was when after his fourth gold medal win, he was interviewed by the BBC, and said: “if anyone ever sees me get near a boat again they have my permission to shoot me“. Well I need to quote that myself now in a different way, and here is why:

I think in my last post I had said that I had requested my schedule be changed, and then that I had done my first routine under the new schedule. Well that was Friday night. So I woke up Saturday morning and I felt like I had been sat on by an elephant and it’s grandmother. Then I looked out of the window, after a few oohs and ahhs to no-one in particular (not that there is anyone else here to ooh and ahh to:)), and saw that the ground was still as frozen and snowbound as it had been the last four days. So no hill walking for me this weekend then. Two choices then, broadly speaking of course, which were to train in the gym, or to go shop/drink/eat/whatever. Right then, gym it is!

So on Saturday morning I go and do the same routine that I did the night before. They did only tell me to do it twice a week, as it is hard, and takes two hours, but what can I do? So I went for it, big styleeee. And you know what, I actually sort of enjoyed it! The weights though, just hurt. I don’t know why she (this is Hannah, my new dominatrix) asked me to do so many of them. Maybe she just sees me as some puny guy who needs building up a bit (and let’s face it she’d be bang on there), but it is torture! The tricep curls are just wrong, nasty wrong! Do I need to curl my triceps to get up Kilimanjaro? And why do I need to do 36 lateral raises with 12lbs each arm?

I am finding the new Nordic Track machine the hardest. My progamme is for a 30% incline, on a level 5, and for 20 minutes at 65 rpm. It hurts just about everything that I have! I only got through it due to Lily Allen. I was flagging really badly, when “It’s Not Fair” (the music in the gym is sometimes at mental loudness levels) came on, and that got me into a bit of a rhythm, and I got a second wind. When I had finished my cardiovascular stuff I actually went back onto the stationary bike for another 20 minutes, and cycled another God knows how many km at about 100rpm. It was brutal.

I walked out of the gym literally shaking, wobbly, and weak. I virtually had to run to the nearest source of chocolate/sugar/anything to get me back together. That is something I also need to watch out for, as I am prone to that, the adrenaline weakness. Particularly as this is now another level altogether.

So back to Steve Redgrave then, what was that all about? Well the above was an absolute breeze compared to what followed. Body Pump! Yes, after I finished Saturday’s ordeal (an hour afterwards in a nice Radox bath helped slightly), the Sunday morning ordeal was a Body Pump class. I knew nothing at all about Body Pump, but will tell you about it tomorrow.

All I can tell you, is that “if anyone sees me near a Body Pump class again, they have my permission to shoot me”.

And I mean it.