However the relationship I had with my trainer was becoming more and more strained. This culminated in a session which was very tense and frustrating. I know I started in the wrong frame of mind (am always tired and tense at the end of term) ;  he found this difficult and then got frustrated with me. I finished the session close to tears and feeling very under valued as a client – we all have bad days. This was not the first time I had finished a session not feeling great and had tried  sharing how I was feeling in previous sessions but had not got far. So I thought hard for a few days and eventually made a reluctant decision to move on.

What to do next was the question in my mind. I could train alone for a while, this could be a time to consolidate the skills I’d learned.  But then I missed the company of others and have always valued the advice and support I get from PT. After some thought I contacted my bootcamp trainer. This would be a big change for me, going down this route would take me away from Hardstyle training as he is IKFF trained and my past association with him through the bootcamp had already resulted in changes in technique. However he is a good trainer and introduced me to using other weights and running last year, working with him would open up so many possibilities. Fortunately he has a rare space for a client in january, which gives me  a few weeks to continue with that pistol work . Great!  Some time to myself and then the opportunity to work with someone new. I’ll miss my old trainer as we did have a good working relationship at one time and still have some doubts about moving away from Hardstyle – but the change feels good.

Moving on also has several other benefits, I can blog again without dreading the comments I would receive back, I can train at my old gym and I can return to bootcamp.In fact I have already done all three and received welcoming smiles all round. It’s good to feel valued. For a number of reasons this is the last post on this blog as I am setting up a new one, it’ll be on Facebook and twitter so hope to see you there.

Happy New Year!

Therefore the decision about whether to continue to train with the RKC who introduced me to Kettlebells was not a hard one. It’s good to work with a mentor whose skill and knowledge still goes far beyond anything I know, if nothing else he keeps my feet on the ground. What has changed is that I am beginning to know what I need to ask and I’m breaking down what I need to know into smaller components. Sounds complicated but each component is simple and it’s really easy to get way too complicated.

We have been working on the pistol for weeks and I have trained religously for weeks but have made really slow progress. In fact we had to take a little detour a few weeks ago to stop me getting too frustrated. Every week the poor guy has asked me what I’m thinking when I’m doing the pistol.

Now a Head Teacher’s head is full of many things. We have to know about finance, staffing legislation, education legislation,health and safety rules, social work rules, psychology, teaching and learning and a lot about children and families. The hardest part is switching between all of them quickly throughout the day. One minute I can be talking to 5 year olds about their work and the next discussing a complex staffing issue with a room full of adults.

When I pick up a kettlebell all that has to go for my own safety and well being. It’s easy to shelve the factual information; what is harder is to slow down and concentrate. My mind is still working very quickly so I tend to think too much and over complicate what I’m working on. I think: grip the floor, straighten the leg, glutes, abs and where is that surface I’m aiming to sit on? For the last month he has been saying 2 focus on your glutes”, but all that extra information kept getting into my head.  I didn’t really understand what he was getting at  until this week, then the penny dropped-doh!  During my training this week I’ve taken to saying to myself glutes, glutes, glutes as I go down, sit back and stand up again – my partner  thinks I’m a little crazy. However it works!!! I’m making progress – even my temperamental left side. I get down to the level I am on (box pistol) under full control and then get up with far more power than before.

Lesson learnt-keep it simple…

I was shopping in the local supermarket a few days ago and was stood comparing prices when a lovely, self confident young woman spoke to me. “You don’t recognise me do you?” I had to confess I didn’t. She gave me her name and my eyes widened with surprise and delight. This particular young woman had been a very challenging eleven year old, running out of school, shouting abuse, fighting and stealing. Her hair permanently crawled with lice and we once had to hide a child from her to prevent them comimg to harm. At the end of the year we had to collect her from home and give her one to one support to get her through her SATs tests, but she passed because my team and I refused to give up on her. She was excluded from her next school before she had completed two years.  Her future did not look bright.  But here she was, a confident, independent adult, doing college courses and beginning to make something of her life. She could have chosen not to speak to me, but I am glad she did, she clearly wanted to show how she had changed. I felt so proud of her that I smiled all the way around the supermarket and forgot half the shopping!

My partner says that I work so well with challenging children because I’m such a strong character myself. My present program is taking all of that strength and patience at the moment. I’ve given up my fun boxfit class because it was having an impact on training and am no longer skipping, so it is very repetitious and different to anything I have ever done. Progress is slow and there are good and bad days but I can feel a difference in my core and am beginnning to  sustain that activation. With trainer permission I tried going down into that one leg pistol position yesterday. On my right side I could feel the improved strength, controlling the move all the way down and not falling back at the bottom. My left is not so strong and I couldn’t maintain the tension at the bottom, so I’m really concentrating on that glute tension now. This has given me the confidence to keep going, even when the instructor of the crossfit class I used to go to keeps posting about the fun they are having. That can wait.

Progress towards pistols and 1 arm push ups is slow but steady. I’m getting a little lower every week and my technique is improving all the time. Working with a trainer who looks at what I am doing and gives suggestions for improvement is really helpful and keeps me focussed. Videos and books can point you in the right direction but there is nothing like that human one to one contact.

The change in my daily routine is interesting. Ten years ago my morning routine involved getting out of bed, showering, making sandwiches for myself and my children, eating cereal and going to work. Currently I get out of bed, do my stretching and muscle rolling, practice my pistols and one arm push ups, shower, make a salad- just for me (my children have grown up), eat home-made museli and then go to work. I miss my children but apart from that, feel so much better for doing something active and eating well. Not just  in the morning but throughout the day.

Both my physio and personal trainer have talked about core issues which affect my capacity to lift and I know this gave me problems during RKC. The lifting capacity of some of the women there was really impressive and I was reassured that my age should not be an obstacle to lifting more. So I have decided to work on my core and breathing techniques by doing some body weight work. This should improve a whole range of activities above and beyond kettlebell lifting. Therefore I’m working on pistols and one arm push ups at the moment. The fun goal I have set myself is to be able to go to the gym and give the meatheads something to think about by doing perfect pistols and 1 arm push ups. I’ve never seen anyone doing this there but have seen plenty of men struggling to do ten ordinary push ups! Longer term I want to improve technique so that I can lift more safely, working towards more reps with the 16kg and moving onto further weights.

This has lead to a big change in my training regime. Three or four times each day I do a very short intense workout focusing on activating the muscles required or practising both moves. I’ve started on tables and stools but am making good progress and have begun to reduce the height already. As I am used to one main workout five days a week, this requires quite a mental shift for me. I have retained a boxfit class and some short skipping sessions to maintain cardio but longer kettlebell training sessions have gone for now. Making the change last week was difficult but seeing the progress I am making has focussed my mind. I feel really motivated and full of energy, I think I’ve made the right choice.

My diet has suffered a little as I’ve drunk more alcohol and treated myself to a few sweets and cakes. I sometimes find that if I have the occasional treat I can keep going on a more disciplined diet on a regular basis. Cravings happen when something is banned, I even see being vegetarian as voluntary -  I could eat meat if I wanted  but choose not to. We are having a small party tomorrow to celebrate ten years together but then I’m back to good habits, mostly because I feel better when I eat well and don’t drink too much alcohol.

Going back to my bootcamp class has been fun – particularly as I was greeted by big welcoming smiles! I did find going back to class a little tougher than normal as I haven’t worked at that short-term intensity for a while. Running was particularly hard so I’ve gone back to some of the early tough guy running prep i.e. 8 x 400m fast runs last Sunday morning. The ducks at the park were pleased to see me again! I’ve done a little work on chin ups and push ups too, trying to improve how I use my abs and glutes – this is definitely work in progress but I have increased my chins by doing a few everyday.

My other half took this week off so we could do some jobs around the house before I go back to work in September. We started the week with a few days in Derbyshire. He wanted to walk the new Monsal trail -  there and back. The trail is an 8.5 mile walk along an old railway line, the council has recently opened some of the old tunnels so you can walk or cycle the whole stretch without doing a detour around the tunnels. This meant a 17 mile walk, with a little extra for a detour to Bakewell to buy supplies – I had a filled roll and cake – very unusual for me! On the way down I got stung – ouch! Then we picked up the trail from the beginning and walked along in the sunshine enjoying the countryside. The cyclists were a nuisance on some stretches as they like to ride at speed or as family groups so we had to jump out of the way on many occasions. We both began to feel the pain at about 12 miles (I wished I had not run the day before) so we stopped for ice creams but then pushed on! I have to say that our finish point at Monsal Head was a welcome sight, but we enjoyed a lovely day.

The rest of the week has been very busy and not restful at all. The fences around our back garden had fallen down over the winter so we have spent the last few days moving around heavy fence panels and putting them into place. I’ve also been tidying up, carrying heavy bags of sand to and from our garage (up steep steps), moving around a greenhouse frame and digging up tree roots.  But we are very pleased with the results and it’s good to be fit enough to be able to do the work ourselves. Many of our friends would struggle to do the physical labour even though they are only in their forties.

Next week is the last week of my long summer holiday so I’ll return to doing some paperwork and get back into good exercise and eating habits. Time to focus on a new goal, I’ve treated myself to a nice new Dragon door kettlebell to work with-looking forward to it!

Team Reifkind, still smiling

I’ve waited a week and thought through many different openings for this post and I still don’t know where to start. After six months hard work RKC 1 Hungary 2011 arrived last weekend. There is just too much to tell you so  I think I’ll go for a day by day approach, nothing unusual in that – it’s just easier.

The alarm went off at 4:00am on Thursday the 4th and I jumped out of bed after the deepest sleep I was going to have for at least a week. The journey to Hungary was pretty straight forward, I did look out for other potential candidates on the flight but without success as British candidates this weekend were few and far between. Out location had been changed due to the weather so I found myself in a cheap but clean hotel rather than the police training centre originally planned. I tried to sleep a little after I arrived but the nerves had started already and I couldn’t settle. At 7:15pm I went down to a meet and greet which was a very informal shared meal and a chance to say hello to senior trainers and Pavel himself. I sat with two vegans from Australia so we discussed our concerns about meat free eating, unfounded for me as the Hungarians in the hotel produced some great meals for vegetarians across the weekend, but harder for them. I struggled to sleep Thursday night – the hotel room was hot and noisy and I had begun to feel very nervous.

Registration was quickly completed on Friday morning and, after some initial introductions we were split into teams. Mark Reifkind was my team leader, he was lovely to work with and very straight forward. Alongside Mark we were supported by three other RKCs who were always on hand with advice throughout the weekend. Our first task was the strength test. This should have been easy, I already did this last year. However I got my hands around the wrong way due to nerves and failed at the first attempt-mortified I asked for a second go which I completed with no problem-  phew! Strangely this helped a little as I calmed down after this.

Both Friday and Saturday are teaching days. Pavel and other master RKCs talk through each move carefully, sharing teaching tips and ways to improve form. The teaching is very good, both the delivery from the centre and smaller team sessions. I’d been struggling to overcome form issues due to working independently for eighteen months and these were quickly picked up and pulled apart. The other problem I had was that I had been taught a different version of TGU so I had to re-learn this quickly; fortunately a very kind RKC gave up some of his lunch to help me and I found the newer form easier.

Protocol is strict, and the whole group is punished if individuals do not sit properly or infringe safety rules (necessary with a group this size). Our punishment involved walking round the outside of the building a number of times holding our snatch weight kettlebell. On several occasions I didn’t have any shoes so painful feet took my mind off the weight I was carrying!  On both days we were also given workouts, introducing different ways to design a workout using the six moves we were learning. These were hard enough to challenge but not so hard that we worked to failure.

By Saturday evening I ached all over but my injured arm was holding up well and my hands were free of blisters and torn callouses. Just as well because the snatch test was on Sunday morning, not on the first morning as it used to be. Others were not doing as well,  injuries and taped hands were everywhere-my massage stick and scissors were well used by others (one RKC asked where I got The Stick). However the spirit of RKC kept everyone going, I met people from all over the world and found everyone thoughtful, polite and supportive. We were all in this together. The RKC meal on Saturday evening was a little quiet-no-one was drinking the free alcohol provided as we were all too wound up about the next day. Sleep-no chance!

The coach on Sunday morning was particularly subdued.  Mark took us through a quick team session sharpening up our form and then we moved on to the assessments. We were told that Pavel had decided that we were to use snatch test doubles for all our form assessments. This was a big problem for me as an arm injury had given me problems with clean and press for the past 6 weeks. All I could do was go for it. I’m not sure how I did it but I learned later I passed this.However I went through the day thinking I hadn’t.

Then the snatch test;  I knew I could do this but what if… of course everyone was nervous. When my turn came I just picked up that kettlebell and went for it, John Du Cane came along and took a photo half way through-I look like a woman possessed! But I did it. One of my favourite moments of the whole weekend was at the end of the snatch test when one of the Italians finished and then flung his arms around a bemused mark Reifkind and Pavel.

It’s easy to think you’ve finished when the snatch test is over but there are two more tests yet to be completed. I enjoyed the teaching test, we worked in pairs and we had a lovely ‘victim’. My trainer had prepared me well and I enjoyed seeing the progress he made. This was followed by the grad workout. Again Pavel insisted we used snatch test bells but fortunately the school did not have a football pitch so we were put through a long, hot workout on the spot. Again John has a lovely picture of me doing this. By this time I was so fatigued that double 12kg press was beyond me but we were allowed to fail this safely and I could do everything else-so I  just kept going!

My partner has just commented on this marathon post! Nearly finished. After all that has happened over the past six months I could hardly believe that I actually passed, I confess I cried a little (as did many others).  I feel extremely privileged as many others didn’t pass and I know expectations are high.

The weekend was amazing and worth all the investment of time, money and nervous energy. I worked alongside some truly amazing individuals who have inspired me to do more and I now know more about how I can improve. I’m really looking forward to sharing what I have learnt with others and hopefully help them understand why I love working with kettlebells and working the hardstyle way.

If you are reading this because you are thinking about doing the RKC, go ahead and book-you won’t regret it. Work hard and prepare well. Look for an RKC to support you, I couldn’t have passed without mine, and don’t just focus on the snatch test.

Well that comment came back to haunt him last weekend; the three peak challenge is nothing like that! Adventure, endurance and as busy as a shopping centre on a saturday afternoon- but wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

The week running up to it was hectic and I caught one of those bugs which go round schools from time to time. So I was not on top form when I arrived at our meeting place at 4:30pm  on Friday eve. Unfortunately neither was the minibus and the replacement was in Leicester-an hour away. So we started late and the drivers already had several hours driving on the clock. We soon realised that the minibus was too small for us, so we collected a van on the way to the motorway for all the luggage. This meant that one of the walkers drove for much of the challenge too, he did an amazing job. The drive to Scotland was long as the weather was bad and the minibus had a 68mph limiter on it. We even found a traffic jam around Glasgow at 1:00am! The lights of the bunk house were a welcome sight at 2:00am ish.

Our late arrival meant a late start in the morning and too little sleep for some folks due to the snorers! However we were in good spirits, stopped for lunch and arrived at the foot of Ben Nevis by early afternoon. Ready to go. Ben Nevis is the only peak I have not walked and as it starts at sea level and goes strainght up to 4,000ft, it’s hard going. The group started off at a fast pace and we tried to stay together as planned. But one of the party soon started to feel ill and a small group of us stopped to help. My partner Rich, one of the drivers, but walking Ben Nevis, stayed with him so they could walk slowly (heart of gold) and our little group went on. About 3/4 way up I started to feel the pace too-I’m not sure if I was too tired, ill, my bag was too heavy or I had a touch of altitude but I really hit a wall and needed a rest but didn’ t want hold the other’s up. By now we were in the clouds and couldn’t see the first group-actually they weren’t far ahead so I could have rested I think. I nearly went down with a pair of strangers but they reassuredme  I didn’t have far to go and one of our group kindly took my pack. With lots of encouragement I made it up and felt much better at the top.

Going down I slowed a little, bringing up the rear with a nice guy who walked with me. Again we thought we were miles behind but were actually only 10 minutes. We walked down steadily with little rest and made it within the 5 hours. A big mistake at the bottom was taking time to rest and eat soup. We should have jumped in the minibus and hit the road- but that’s the benefit of hindsight! Ben Nevis to Scafell Pike is a long drive and minibuses are not comfortable vehicles so we all gave up sleep and sang bad songs to keep the drivers awake-this was an endurance challenge for them too!

We arrived at Scafell at about 2:00am and the car park was already busy. Rich tried to talk me out of going but I wanted to at least try- this is what I came to do after all. The lines of head torches going up and down the fell are still a strong image for me, there was a real sense of camaraderie from other walkers doing the same challenge. This time the pace was slower and we stuck together on the way up. The visibility was poor due to cloud and rain and the route not clear, two of our team had pre-walked which was really useful. There is a stream half way up which has to be crossed, this was quite full  by the time we came back down so we got really wet, but I’m used to that and I actually enjoyed this Peak. Others did not and I noticed even the fittest were looking stiff and tired. A few painkillers came out about this time.

The drive to Snowdon was dry and in daylight, however, having stopped for breakfast to warm up and dry out,we were running late. Then our trusty satnav let us down and we got lost in Snowdonia. We knew the 24 hours was going to elude us but we wanted to finish. So we started the miner’s track on Snowdon late afternoon. This has a lovely stroll around two lakes and then a steep, almost vertcal ascent to the top which looks daunting but is actually fine if you take it one step at a time. The fast group went on ahead, I started just behind them but didn’t want a repeat of Ben Nevis so stopped and waited for a slower group. One of our group struggled at one point but (remembering my own experience) myself and several others kept him going and we all made it to the top! The last peak. I admit to feeling really emotional as we put our hands on the trig point!

Going down was not without it’s own adventures, we took the wrong track and had to slide down scree to get to the right one-we didn’t have the energy to turn back and walk to it. Two members of the group also had knee injuries which were made worse by constantly walking down hill so we stopped to rest a little more often. We finally made it down at about 7:00pm- 28 1/2 hrs after we started! Hugs all round and celebration bubbly-we’d walked 3 mountains in just over a day. For the driver’s, however, the endurance challenge was not over-after stopping for pub tea, we hit the road again. I sat in the front, trying to keep awake myself and finding conversation to keep Rich going. The lights of Nottingham at 2:00am were a welcome sight.

Would I do it again? Try for the 24hrs?  It was a great adventure, just walking the three peaks was fantastic and I really enjoyed it. But I couldn’t walk at the pace of the faster group (I’ve never been fast) so maybe, maybe not.

Lessons learnt for those wishing to do the challenge (our benefit of hind sight)? The driving is a huge challenge too and the most dangerous part. We had a fantastic team but they were exhausted by the end because we didn’t have enough drivers.  A quick start at the base of each mountain and fewer breaks during the travelling between peaks would have given more walking time. Don’t try to stick together if you have a large group with different levels of fitness- we all made the first two peaks within the walking time even though some groups were slower. On the final peak this does not really matter.

Our guide was experienced and knew the route which helped a lot as I felt confident about where we were going. The night was calm and the sky was full of stars. We didn’t even need torches for most of the walk and this helped the atmosphere as we could talk to others as we walked. Talking is harder with a headtorch as the torch blinds the person you are talking to. My partner joined us as he was curious about night walking and both of us want to get an idea of the group’s walking pace. I’m doing the challenge with members of our bootcamp group and only the fitter members of the group have put their names down, so I’m expecting a good pace. The pace last night was fine, my partner is coming along as a driver but wants to walk the first peak, which is Ben Nevis. He doesn’t do much excercise these days but had no real problems last night.

I’ve now performed the snatch test twice (100 snatches in 5 mins, locking out arms and legs). The first attempt was a few weeks ago; I was fast, 3 mins something (I was so stunned at the three minutes I didn’t really hear the something) but my form was sloppy. This is because I’ve been going for numbers and my form has slipped. Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing corrective work; mainly working on my swing. So this week I was told to repeat the test and that I would have  to do an extra snatch for every snatch I failed. As I snatched I kept expecting to hear the dreaded no count and did wonder if they were being saved for the end. However I actually only heard it  twice, towards the end, and could easily do only two extra. My time was slower but that’s fine. As you are failed after three no counts I would rather do the test properly in four minutes than sloppily in three.

I’m not doing swings, snatches or presses during bootcamp whilst doing the remedial work as the speed of reps leads to poor form. I’ve also slowed a little for any move that is similar. However I couldn’t resist the leg matrix challenge this week. The challenge is to complete  two sets of 24 squats, 24 lunges, 24 jump lunges and 24 jump squats in five minutes, at the end of a class when your legs are already fatigued. My first attempts were slow but I’ve steadily improved, even though we don’t do the test regularly. Over time (the past year) I have improved my time by 30 secs, down to 4 minutes 40 seconds this week, keeping up with some of the fittest in the class.

Thursday was the annual Horrid Hundred workout for charity at my bootcamp. The aim is to complete 100 reps of 10 excercises. As 100 reps are challenging you can work down the list doing fewer, do an 800 meter (steep) uphill run and then return to the list, work down it and run again until you’ve finished. Everyone has to do at least 1 run.This year there was an added twist. Only nine excercises were on the board- we chose a card which told us which one we were going to repeat-200 of this one.

Here is the list:

push press (50 each side)

snatch (50 each side)

lunges(50 each side)

russian twists

burpees

rows (50 each side)

chinnies (elbow to knee sit ups)

press ups

Jump squats

Not in that order but I can’t remember the order. I do remember the 200 jump squats I had to do though! I decided to do two sets of 35 and one of 30-just two runs. In the end I did 40/40/20. One or two hard types did all 100 and just one run. Oh yes and we wear fancy dress. The run takes you up to touch Robin Hood just outside Nottingham castle and then back down the hill. Some witty tourists made comments about press ups, we told them about the 100 of those too, they declined the offer to come and join in!

What I really like is the team spirit-our instructor joins in too. There is support and encouragement and the great feeling which goes with conquering a challenge. Three Peaks here we come!