So was October a Trick or Treat for me ? 

Initially I was tricked into thinking I was ready to get back into consistent training, the treat I had was treatment for a throat virus. So a bit of both for me this month, here’s how it panned out …

After my asthma diagnosis and a bucket full or daily inhalers I headed into October full of optermism, steroids and ready to tackle the following head first with passion & commitment – 

• Go Sober October
• Run/ walk 100 miles & Coffeeneuring challenges
• Healthy, clean & lean eating
• Get to grips with asthma, exercise & medication 
• Drop a few pounds of excess lard gained since asthma attack in July
• Start of shoot season 
• Teach Jango my deaf dog sign language 
• First of three monthly 10km runs

Writing this on Halloween reflecting on the month it’s been a roller coaster ride with a few frights & bumps along the way.

Many of the above list activities are interlinked with others. I managed to complete Go Sober in October challenge with a ‘pass’ for just one night of a beer & wine at the first shoot dinner of the season.

A month of no booze and I was hoping to be half a stone lighter, if fact I lost 3lb during the month but the final reading on the scales showed a net loss of just one pound. 3 down then 2 up the roller coaster ride begins. It started well as I got back into consistent triathlon training, as my sessions were planned on Training Peaks and recorded by my Garmin. 

I started #coffeeneuring which I’d 7 weeks, 7 rides, 7 different coffee stops on the bike. Minimum rode 2 miles. I only managed a couple of rides outdoors before being sick then have stayed in the warmth of the gym & spin studio since to get my bike miles in.

I ran my first 10km race of the year and first of three planned for Autumn. Arriving in Grittleton village we had blue skies & sunshine. I took part in the warm up ( been told that’s important part of my excise now), wrapped up well then in the excitement of the moment and realisation I was back running again I set off too fast which I’d pay for later in the race when I hit the hill at 8km. Think I finished with a personal worst 10km time, not far from the sweeper ! 

Not my best race picture but hopefully the after ( in a few months) will show a great improvement on fitness & physique. 

I know my asthma triggers while exercising are powders – smoke, dust, pollen plus cold misty air. Well within the first mile I had to run through bonfire smoke, then in shade of the trees I could see my breathe as the temperature dropped to become a chilly damp morning. The last 2km of the run was tough – how much was lost fitness on hills and how much was my lungs not happy with the exercise, smoke & cold air ? 

A couple of days later I had a sore throat and cough which produced some green stuff. I was concerned it would turn into my 3rd chest infection of the year (which is what scared my lungs and brought out the asthma) I was advised to see my Dr. Being an asthmatic has one perk – you get seen within the hour when the respiratory nurse checked my lungs and said no cracking or creaks so looked like no bacterial infection was present but the white spots indicated oral thrush most likely caused by the steroid inhalers & cold air. Heading off from the surgery with a disgusting mouth wash and better tasting orange gel but at least they seemed to do the trick, good job I have a quarterly perscription card. 

My peak flow readings dropped by over 100 and my resting heart rate rose by 10 bpm while I had the throat virus & cold. Living & learning about asthma daily, but good health monitoring indicators.

Just as my throat was recovering from the virus I got a good old fashioned snotty head cold, I don’t think the flu jab the week before had any affect. This meant training was compromised for about ten days, shame my appetite wasn’t suppressed as I continued to eat while not exercising – que weight gain again ! 

After 9 months of waiting shoot season was upon us again. Time to dust off the Berretta 12 bore and head to Lady’s Wood for some practise, coffee & cake with the Chelsea shotgun & bun ladies club. A great morning out in the woods with peacocks for company relieved I wasn’t too rusty a shot. The following Tuesday was the first shoot day, shirts ironed, bags packed, gun cleaned, wellies washed I was ready for a day out in the countryside. All pheasants shot were for the pot and taken home to be eaten and enjoyed. Walked 5 miles up & down hills, across fields, along a canal. Roxy our little cocker spaniel puppy was out for her first shoot and very excited and pleased with herself for retrieving two huge cock birds almost as big as her ! 

I managed 107 miles running & walking for the month. Most were walking miles with Jango my deaf  three year old springer spaniel. So before he loses his hearing completely I’ve started to teach him sign language. We’ve mastered Come – Stop – Sit/stay – Good Boy Well I say mastered but it all relies on him seeing me & the signal. He is looking at me more often even when running and it’s a two way observation. He will always come back to the spot he last saw me so if he goes around a corner, through a hedge or gate I need to stay in that place. So I also need to spot when he last looked at me. I keep him away from roads and neighbours and those around know he’s deaf so wax th out for him in the farm track. 

So heart rate, snot production, weight gain, race times all on the up.

Peak flow, exercise sessions, alcohol intake, throat virus heading down.

We had a great day of up & downs and bouncing off the walls, I took my newphew & nieces to the trampolining park. An solid sweaty hours workout – put that down as cross training. 🙃

Right lets repeat the action list ( excluding Go Sober ) and try for a smoother month in November. Shooting, 10km run race, run /walk 100+ miles, clean eating, lose weight, asthma controlled, consistent triathlon training – breathe, enjoy, love life.

Come back again, about my 100th !!