Tag Archives: Running

Fitness – a journey

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I was at the London Marathon last week (cheering not running) and normally this is something I like to enjoy in bed, with a cup of tea and some toast. But, this year I went to cheer on our charity runners and it was a great day. I am always in awe of those people who can run 26 miles, it isn’t just the effort on the day it is the months of dedicated training too.

London Marathon

It got me thinking about my own health and fitness regime and what I do/don’t do. My goals have changed over the years, during illness it was all about just getting out of bed each day, post surgery it was about putting one foot in front of the other and getting a bit further each day. Then it became a matter of enjoying life whilst I was healthy so I didn’t worry too much about exercise or what to eat. Pre-operation number two, it was about preparing myself to be in as good as shape as possible, so a 10 week bootcamp ensued, post-op again, was about recovery and getting the right nutrients to aid healing and not gaining to much weight whilst sitting on my (now sewn up) arse! Roll on to April/May 2013 and the months of being at home/not exercising/eating too many puddings/the beginnings of domestic bliss with Mike took their toll and we had both gained weight. So then began a health and fitness regime of sorts to try and get in shape. I dappled in the gym, back at bootcamp, exercise classes and a bit of running and tried to stay away from puddings. 2014 I ran my first 10k, followed by two more and continued with some additional exercises. The first 10k was about a personal achievement, something I was able to do even  after all the trauma. Then it became about beating my time and getting better (which I did).

Christmas 2014 my sister bought me a personal training session at the gym she goes to, she recommended her trainer and suggested I try it. So in Jan 2015 I started at a new gym and got some coaching. From that moment on my fitness improved beyond doubt and is still improving today. I completed a couple more 10k’s in the summer but I now just concentrate on lifting weights and the odd interval session. I decided I really didn’t like running so why put myself through it. I actually don’t like the gym either but I like the results it brings! Through the training, I dropped some weight and have kept it off and I feel better than ever. Having a stoma can definitely knock your confidence and for me it was about discovering what I was capable of and what my body could be like. It’s hard to understand your natural weight when it has fluctuated for years due to illness/medication/operations. I am now in a place where I am happier with my body and still like to push it. I have never kept up this consistency before and I am really proud of myself.
Post gym
I want to be one of those people who bound out of bed at 6am to go the gym, or who gets excited because I am off to work out. The truth is, most of the time I have to drag myself there, I have to convince myself to go, sometimes I do get up early and go, but many a Saturday I have spent in bed weighing up the pro’s and cons before realizing whilst I was procrastinating I could have been to the gym and back again! But I go, I don’t let the fact I have a stoma stop me from doing so, there are loads of ‘ostomates’ out there who do all sorts, bodybuilding (This girl is amazing) these people compete in triathlons, 100 mile bike rides, marathons, in fact so much so I feel my gym effort is a bit paltry in comparison. But I will keep on doing it, because I love seeing my body get fitter and stronger, I love the satisfaction of lifting a heavier weight today than yesterday and most of all I love the fact that it has given me the ability to walk up hill, whilst wearing heels, to the train station with a heavy suitcase plus walk up and down a set of stairs with said suitcase plus a handbag in one had and a cup of tea in the other (it was too early for wine ;)!), whilst heaving the suitcase of the ground to get up the stairs! A small girl who was with her mum at the time was most in awe of my ability to do this and told me so – how fab is that!

early gym

Woooo I did it!

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That was the 10K run on Sunday, where Mike and I ran for Beating Bowel Cancer in the Run to the Beat event in Wembley. It was our second 10k of the year, which in itself is shocking, as I never even thought I would do one, let alone 2 but it was a good goal to work towards. Now, I certainly wasn’t as fit or in as good shape as I was for our Bupa 10k, the training kind of fell by the wayside over Summer as I preferred to drink bubbly in the garden than go out and exercise, but I was pretty confident I could run the course.

That was until we received the race pack only to find out the course had some hilly parts, I was actually relying on a nice flat course thinking this would get me round quicker, but nope, wonderful hills awaited us. But still, I thought I could still run the 10k with hills, if a little slower.

On the Friday and Saturday before race day I had been to Surrey for work, so lots of travelling and walking (you can see the excuses forming!) and no time for short training runs. On race day, we were up at 5.30am to ensure we could get to Wembley in time. A quick banana and some water en route and we’re raring to go. A quick toilet stop for me (all Portaloos) only to discover my bag had leaked, this is a fairly rare occurrence, stoma appliances are pretty good and tend to be quite hardy. However, every now and then a leak happens and you just have to deal with it as best you can. Always having a change of bags and a clean pair of knickers on your person is usually a good idea (a clean pair of knickers is never a bad idea even if you don’t have a stoma, that and a toothbrush, you just never know!). Fortunately I had caught the leak before it got too bad and had a change of bag. Changing my bag in a Portaloo toilet is not something I wish to experience again, not particularly easy but I managed. I think it affected me psychologically though and something seemed to switch mentally despite my positive pep talk to myself. I also had a foot injury from a run the week before but was determined to run anyway as it didn’t feel that bad.

So, the race starts and we’re away, Mike is in a different group to me (the faster ones!) so I know he is well away before I have started. I did the first 1k ok, as it was all downhill and then it all just went horribly wrong. I had a stitch, I had to stop at 5k for first aid because my toes were covered in blood, I would like to be dramatic and say it was a huge gash in my toes caused by fast running but it was just a tiny cut that bled a lot! Then after that point it seemed to be all uphill, horrible steep mountains which just felt impossible. But I hobbled, jogged & walked and eventually got round. Perhaps if someone had yelled that there was a bottle of champagne at the finish line I may have got a sprint on, but it was just a few cheerers trying to encourage us slow ones (it’s a bit embarrassing) across the finish line. But at least I can say ‘Wooooo I did it!’

Mike did incredibly well, me, not so good, but I was determined to finish the course no matter what. I actually hated every minute of it but I think I may do it again next year, just to improve my time (which won’t be hard) and because it will also seem like a good idea at the time.

You will be relieved to hear that the champagne came out upon arriving home, followed by a very delicious burger, so all was not lost. Now, I have 7 weeks until the next 10K, and I am DETERMINED to do this one well!

homer

The running bug hasn’t quite caught me yet..

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I am participating in my second 10k event this Sunday, which isn’t bad for someone, who until this year, had barely taken a brisk walk, let alone a run. However, I did it (just check out my previous blogs) and I have decided to do another one. This time it is Run to the Beat in Wembley, apparently there is a hill in the route, I was rather banking on a flat course as, let’s face it, it is much less traumatic to have a continuous flat path.

I am in nowhere near as good shape as I was back in May and have let the running slide somewhat. After getting back from holiday in June, I spent weeks thinking about getting back to it but decided a cold glass of bubbly in the garden was a much more inviting idea. So I signed up for another 10k to get me motivated again. Everyone says that you get the running bug, especially after your first event, so why I am still waiting to catch it? So, I have also signed up to a local 10K at the start of November, I figure having another one to do will keep me out running and prevent me from lazing on the sofa. It will be 3 in total this year which is a great achievement for me. Mike is also running both of these too but he is much more motivated and sporty than me.

You may think that I must have caught the running bug to have signed up to a further two 10K’s but I really haven’t. I don’t particularly enjoy running and I am not really that good at it, so why am I doing it? I think I am still hoping I may catch that elusive bug, but it also goes hand in hand with my continuous diet and desire to lose weight. Even though I dislike it and I pant and puff my way around and want to stop at every moment, I do feel good when I’ve done it, I like the achievement of having improved my time or had a run that didn’t feel like I was going to die at every moment. Sometimes, it’s just enough to know I have overtaken the walking people.

For now, I will aim to my complete my next 10k as fast as I can (hills pending) and will let you know how I get on and if the running bug manages to catch me.

Running

 

Holiday Blues

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I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since my last blog, where does the time go? But I have been a little busy, mainly with running in prep for my Bupa 10K next weekend but also with a girl’s weekend away.

I love holidays, they are my favourite thing in the world, even a little one night break counts as a holiday in my book, in fact I might not bother working if it wasn’t for the fact I need to pay for holidays! 😉 When I was ill I didn’t get a holiday for a couple of years, not even a mini-break, well that’s a lie – I did get two summer breaks courtesy of the NHS, even food was included! My sister and I also had a ‘staycation’ too which was amazing and sort of counts as a holiday, despite being on home turf. Holidays with a Stoma can be a cause of concern for some people, but I can tell you that it is absolutely no problem, in fact everything happens the same, you just have to remember to pack enough supplies and then spares and then spares for the spares…..but it’s all good. I will talk more about holidays and the Stoma but that is for another day.

So, back to the holidays, yes I love them but I also get horrific, indescribable, miserable post-holiday blues. I always have done, right from my first holiday abroad with my best friend Lisa, we went to Corfu, I fell in ‘love’ with a Greek barman (has to be done) and decided that I would go back out there to work the following season, I didn’t, we went on holiday to Turkey instead and I fell in ‘love’ with the Turkish entertainer! Upon arriving home, our mum’s were eagerly (that’s mine and Lisa’s, not the Turkish entertainer’s) waiting our arrival and I burst into tears stating I didn’t want to come home. Eventually I decided I couldn’t keep getting the blues like this so did a season abroad for Thomson as an entertainer, my summer of 1999 was spent in Cyprus – where you guessed it, I fell in love with the Cypriot porter!! Coming home this time was even worse, Lisa and her mum picked me up from the airport at the end of season and all I did was cry all the way home, mind you it didn’t help that Lisa had picked up a CD for the Journey called ‘Best Movie Power Ballads’ (or something like that). You get the picture, I go on holiday, fall in ‘love’ with a local and then get the blues. Fortunately, my last few holidays have been with Mike, so there has been no falling in love (much to his relief), except for maybe with my own reflection in the shiny cocktail glass!

I mentioned a girls weekend, well the weekend just gone, myself, my sister Leanne and 3 of our friends (Vicky, Lisa, Jo and Kelly, they all deserve a mention) all went to Butlins. And I don’t mean Butlins of the ‘take your kids for a family holiday’ variety, I am talking the adults weekender. This one was an 80’s themed affair, we went in September for a 90’s style one (S Club Party anyone?) and it was so good we had to instantly book for our next one. The weekend is just so much fun, responsibilities are left on your doorstep and all that ensues is 3 days of fun, alcohol, dancing and dressing up. We dressed up every night in something different, the Sunday we did pyjamas, all I can say is it is very liberating & very comfortable to go out in pyjamas and your feet appreciate the slippers! So it’s a great weekend, with a pool party, a fun fair and lots of great girlie times. My sister is amazing at organising girls nights and weekends and she had got us personalised totes made with lots of goodies and t-shirts inside plus loads of games to play before our nights out, so there wasn’t an unfilled moment in the whole weekend!

summer-holidays

Weekends like this would have been a worry for me with my illness, but now with a Stoma it is easy. Everyone knows I have one (and probably a few people at Butlins now know!) so I don’t have to worry about sharing rooms or anything, and I can wear anything I like and go swimming and enjoy myself and generally have a good time. So a Stoma isn’t so bad.

You can probably guess that I am now suffering with the post-holiday blues or post-Butlins blues, we all are, we’ve had so much fun and then it’s back to reality. We all want to go again, we keep saying this time last week…..we all want to go to the pool party, we don’t want to be at home and working when we could be having so much fun! Still, it is not so bad for me as I go on holiday again in two weeks, I can’t wait. I won’t be falling in love with any locals but I can guarantee I will have a severe case of the blues upon return and may be a nightmare to live with.

Still I guess I will just have to book the next Butlins weekend to give me (and the girls) something to look forward to!

By the way, if you fancy sponsoring my 10K you can do so here! 🙂 http://www.justgiving.com/Sherrill-Hawker

Sad cat

 

Running, tantrums and bumbags….

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So, it is now less than 4 weeks until my Bupa 10k – eeek, how did that come round so quickly? I am very nearly at 10K, my last ‘long’ run was 8.87km so I am getting there. I have upped the training, courtesy of a company called Fitness Fondue, they gave me a great training plan and it has really helped so I am feeling positive. The last time I ran was 6 years ago when I took part in a Race for Life 5K, I completed the course and promptly threw up at the finish line! My goal with the 10k is, NOT to be sick! As I have mentioned, Mike is also doing the run, however, he wants to achieve his own time goal so won’t be running be with me on the day. He has been out on two long runs with me recently, which has helped massively, it has definitely increased my speed and distance, but what is a hard run for me is an easy one for him! I have said I don’t like running with him but I discovered it was actually ok, until Sunday when we went running and ended up having a little argument as we neared our finish line….First of all he clapped me!!!! Why is this so bad?? I don’t want to be clapped at mid run!! Then he told me not to get out my phone, I shouted at him, dropped my phone and then swore at him! Poor Mike, only trying to be supportive and I have a little tantrum at the end! So it is probably a good job we are not running together on the day – it probably wouldn’t look too good if I stamped my feet mid-way! I have also come up with a practical solution to store items when I run, obviously the weather is getting hotter & my clothing doesn’t have pockets. I like to take my phone for music, a tissue (just in case), my lip gloss (not for vanity, I don’t like dry lips & well, I love lip gloss), £2 (for emergencies) and my key. This amazing, lightweight, practical item is a bum bag!! Yes, a bum bag, all the way from the 80’s. It’s from B&M Bargains and was only £1 – assorted colours too. I have one in pink and one in red. I am seriously rocking this bum bag and have even started wearing it to the gym – I am not even ashamed. In fact, my friends are all asking me to get them one – it may be tricky, those babies are flying off the shelves! It did make me wonder though, at what point in life do we stop caring what people think and do what pleases us, it’s a much happier way to be, or have I just got to the point when practical is overriding glamour??? (This cannot be happening, I will always prioritise high heels). It’s all a bit of a turn around as roughly this time least year, I was sat in my surgeons office and getting the sign off (yay) but crying because I disliked my body (operations do that to you, funnily, the stoma bag was never an issue) thinking I would never get fit or lose the bit of weight I had gained whilst at home recovering. Now 1 year on I am running a 10K and almost enjoying it. You really never know what is round the corner and when life feels hard or you are despairing, just remember, a year can change everything. And for those who may be facing a similar journey, it turns out you really can run, hop, skip and jump with an Ostomy (if the desire takes you)! If you do fancy sponsoring Mike and I and helping a great cause in the meantime then you can do so here  http://www.justgiving.com/Sherrill-Hawker 🙂 bumbag

Did you say poo??

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I was at the Brighton Marathon on Sunday, nope not running it, just the thought of that makes me feel a little bit sick, but supporting the runners that were running for Beating Bowel Cancer. Brighton is one of the areas I cover so it was nice for me to go along and cheer the runners on as they pushed themselves along the gruelling 26 mile course. I am full of admiration for Marathon runners, it takes so much dedication and training and must be, quite frankly, exhausting. My mum volunteered to come and support the charity as well so it was great to have her there. One of my friends took part (she is also doing the London one as well – crazy!) and she waved at us as she came by at the halfway point – she looked fresh as a daisy, how?? If that was me I’d be crawling by that point, I won’t even look like that halfway through my 10K! In fact my goal, other than completing the course is not to throw up at the finish line as I did when I took part in a 5K many years ago! The Marathon had a fantastic atmosphere and I was glad to be a part of it in some way and it’s great that people are running for us at Beating Bowel Cancer.

Bowel Cancer is the UK’s 2nd biggest cancer killer and yet it’s a cancer that still does not get the exposure it should. People are still too embarrassed to talk about their bowels and yet they shouldn’t be – early diagnosis is the key to saving lives. I can totally relate to the embarrassment factor but once you poo into a bag attached to your stomach it’s suddenly not so embarrassing anymore! This month is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and at work we have a #LiftTheLid campaign which is to get people talking and raising awareness of symptoms http://www.beatingbowelcancer.org/liftthelid. I hope I can encourage people to talk about their poo and bums and help people to realise it’s not so bad.

Yesterday I was at Channel Radio on Who Cares Wins radio show talking about the Charity and our work, the presenters were really supportive and it was a great opportunity to promote Beating Bowel Cancer. I also love a microphone so any excuse to talk into one! But if you fancy a listen then you have until Monday http://www.channelradio.co.uk/listen-again-Monday/ and pick the Who Cares Wins section.

I have always said that when you go to hospital you leave your dignity at the front door and if you are lucky you pick it up on the way out! When I was admitted in 2011 (before op) I was given a side room for a couple of days. Anyone who has been in hospital will also know that the doctors do their rounds once a day and you don’t want to miss them, it’s your only chance to discuss your illness and treatment. So in a side room you only need to be in the loo to miss the rounds, I was often in the toilet due to the nature of my illness, and on one occasion I heard the doctors come in – so I shouted “please wait, I won’t be long”, I exited the toilet to be greeted by three very good looking junior doctors! Oh the shame, I couldn’t believe it, I was stood there in my moo cow pyjamas knowing these doctors knew I’d been for a poo! But I got over it – you have to, and have never been embarrassed since, even when Dr McDreamy (as my sister referred to him) had to question me on the frequency of my stool movements! So you see, it’s not so bad! So talk about your poo, read up on the symptoms, listen to your body and get checked out if you are not sure.

Oh and if you want to encourage my little 10K then text SHER78 £5 to 70070 and not only will it give me a boost it will also pay for a ‘Just Diagnosed’ information pack to go out to a worried bowel cancer patient.

Poo

Fitness, always a pleasure!

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It’s been over a week since my last blog, I never intended to go more than a week without posting but it’s been one VERY busy week! I am not complaining, it’s been ‘good’ busy but I have realised that maybe I should cut down on my Criminal Minds box set marathon and I may find more time! Still, we should all be able to enjoy guilt free TV marathons from time to time and be able to include these as part of our busy lifestyles. (I count mine as a hobby, that way at least I can say I have hobbies if i ever get asked).

So, I have mentioned that I am trying to discover fitness and am also training for the Bupa 10k run for my Charity (Beating Bowel Cancer) which is in 2 months (eek!). I say ‘discover’ fitness and I suppose what I mean by that is discover it for me. Due to my Ulcerative Colitis, exercise was never a priority nor something that my body could really cope with. At the time, I used to feel guilty for not exercising, but I can look back now and wonder why I gave myself such a hard time when my body was trying to cope with such major trauma. If it hasn’t been illness it’s been operation recovery (there were two major ops in 18 months, one of which was emergency) which has held me back. Just under a year ago I was able to start exercising again and with no looming operations & no illness I knew there was nothing stopping me. I won’t tell you all about my year of exercise, well not in one post anyway, (unless you wish to drop off to sleep quickly?) but in a nutshell, I joined a gym and also take classes. I desperately want to increase my core strength, as obviously, two major abdominal operations will weaken the area. Due to my stoma, I will always have a hole in my tummy which means that the area will always be weaker. Therefore, I am more prone to hernias, I definitely don’t want one of those so I wear a support belt, I don’t like wearing it but it is better than the possible alternative. But I can do all types of exercise, including core ones such as sit ups and planks, us ostomists can do everything non-ostomists can do, we just have to be a bit more aware and slightly more careful.

The last two Monday’s I have taken part in a Legs, Bums & tums class, I am hoping the leg part will help with my running training too. It is run by Fitness with Naomi, and it is a pretty friendly class, everyone seems nice and we have a bit of a giggle at our sometimes lack of co-ordination! During warm ups I feel like I am keeping up quite well yet somehow I feel like an excited 5 year old jumping about the dance floor at a family party – I just don’t feel elegant at all! Still, who cares what I look like – at least I’m doing it, albeit a bit ungainly. So the exercise and the running training continues on and I shall update you on my progress along the way (if you feel like donating you can here; http://www.justgiving.com/Sherrill-Hawker).

I haven’t just been watching Criminal Minds and being all ungainly in my fitness classes I have truly been busy. There was an overnight trip to Birmingham for work, I do love an overnight stay and a train journey. It may seem odd, but I quite like the ritual of it all and having a night to myself, and not having to suffer yet another football match is always a pleasure. I am an organised traveller, in fact I am the sort of person that means other people get to travel light as they know I will have all the necessities and more on my person – one never knows when a lime green highlighter and a currant bun will come in handy. The first time I stayed overnight anywhere after my op was 6 months after. In my previous job I had to go to Manchester for work, it was two nights stay and was probably the most nerve racking thing I had done in ages. But I packed enough spare stoma bags & supplies to last me a week and all was OK. Travelling with a stoma gets easier the more you do it, it’s just a case of increasing your confidence until it is totally natural again.

There has also been a work related presentation to a group of Stoma Nurses, a trip round Medway Hospital to meet some Colorectal Nurses and the obligatory weekend festivities, the continuing fitness classes & runs, oh and not forgetting a bit of time for some Criminal Minds along the way!

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Weekend boozing and a Monday run

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I have to start by saying I was completely overwhelmed by the response to my first blog. So many people shared it and there were so many lovely and supportive comments. It really means a lot and I do hope people continue to gain something positive from my posts.

Back to the present day and it has been a busy weekend, a good one but a busy one. When I was ill with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) busy weekends would fill me with dread, I enjoyed being social but the thought of leaving the safety of my own home and the privacy of my own toilet would just send me into panic mode. It didn’t stop me having a social life, I wouldn’t let it, but secretly I would much rather have been curled up in bed, near my toilet and with a concoction of pain killers than out. Fast forward to the present day and having a social life is what it should be, fun, something to look forward to and one of life’s pleasures.

Friday night we were round some friends to plan a future Come Dine With Me style competition, which also involves my sister and her boyfriend (plenty of room for some healthy sibling rivalry!).  Saturday we were round some other friends for what was a very sophisticated dinner party. I may, however, have made it somewhat less sophisticated by consuming far too much champers! I have been wondering at what point, I grew up enough to take part in such civilized evenings – I don’t feel like I’m ‘there’ yet. Still it’s better than a couple of weeks ago when I was on a girl’s night out, and I left at 10pm because I was too drunk – we had only just got to the bar!

So although I have a stoma, I am still able to drink and eat and go to dinner parties. In fact, all of that is easier now. We are told when we first get our Stomas to be careful about what we eat and drink and fizzy drinks in particular aren’t great because they can cause the bag to blow up because of excess gas (who said champagne was glamorous?!). However, I will not stop drinking my bubbles and actually find them no problem. I generally eat what I like too, but more of that in future posts. Socialising is much easier now too, as I don’t have to leave halfway through a conversation to spend 30 minutes in the toilet!

So, I mentioned running in my title, now I am not a natural runner, I don’t even like it that much, it’s hard! But, I decided that I needed to challenge myself, you see I have never been able to do this, so I have no idea just what my body can achieve. I have always been too unwell or recovering from operations. As I work for a charity it seemed an ideal time to do something to raise money for them. So Mike and I have entered into the Bupa 10K for Beating Bowel Cancer. It is not until May 25, so I have plenty of training time. So I had a little lunchtime run today of 5K. I am managing 7 minutes per km, so I am quite pleased with that for now. But I often feel like a slow runner, and by slow I mean, I am sure the person walking behind me will soon overtake me! I went for a run with Mike last year, it was just 2 miles, but we got back to the house, I was red, sweaty and puffed out, and Mike announced that he was “going for a run now”. Yep, definitely not a natural runner, but I am determined to give it a go.

If you feel like sponsoring me then you can http://www.justgiving.com/Sherrill-Hawker or just keep following my blog and see me as I struggle to get up to 10K!

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