That grunting noise is Claire Maxted doing press ups, the plank (arghhh I HATE the plank) and sit ups as per my coach Rory Coleman circuit strength training plan. I do them every Tuesday lunch at work, and as I am still flat out refusing to use a gym (we’ll see what happens when it snows…) I carry the weights outside through three sets of doors (arguably the hardest part) and take them behind the hedge near the smoking area at work, obvs feeling super virtuous as I stagger past the smokers. Most of them would keel over on the first day of The Coastal Challenge, the 225k 6-day race I’m training for in Costa Rica this Feb.

So I was grunting away yday over my third set of press ups and suddenly thought, “Ooh, wouldn’t it be a great idea to do this over my iPhone in video mode so I can send my grimacing to Rory to show him how hard I’m working.” And I’ve worked out that if you distract yourself from the plank by focusing on our work place’s resident heron (I’ve called him Gary, Gary the Heron, well why wouldn’t you?) you can hold it for an extra 5 seconds without realising the agony.

With the horror of circuits over, I went to running club on Tues night feeling like I had no arms, but ran really well! I felt very strong and actually really enjoyed trying to hang on to the D group (the fastest group). Training and being lighter is paying off. Brilliant! Thanks Rory! 🙂