Tina the *&%$ tyre - and other words I called her

Yesterday I went up to Tina the Tyre.  She is the size of a big SUV about the size of a Toyota Landcruiser tyre.

As you can see from the picture I ended up having to put ice on my knees.  It was a real killer all the way round. Even though it was just over a mile, every step I was battling with myself to just keep going, just keep going!  And on top of that needing to go to the toilet as I wasn't going to do a Paul Radcliffe for anybody!! So I kept thinking all the way round of why and what I'm doing this for and I don't know about you, but I turn into a bipolar person when I do exercise that really pushes me.  One side of me - the angel side - keeps telling me you can do this, think of how good you are going to feel when you finish, think of the achievement. The other side of me - the devil side - tells me just stop now you don't have to do this, you can try this again another day. 

But you should have seen me I was nearly horizontal at some point due to the rough terrain. I could have easily touched the ground and it started raining so I could almost imagine I was back in the UK.

I'm going to go back to Tiny with weight next drag, for a distance drag, and use Tina as strength training, as she made me realise I have a way to go yet.

Not all tyres are created equal

Who would have thought that dragging tyres you become a connoisseur of what tyre to use and when.  I now have 3 different size of tyres to choose from, and yes I've named them (as you do). But I have called them other things as I go round dragging them which I won't repeat :)

There is Tommy - hes the one at centre of the picture - he's not quite a tractor tyre so a small truck size.  He's the daddy.  I will be doing short drags with him for strength training

Next there's Tina - shes the one next to Tommy on the right.  Shes a SUV size tyre.  I see using her by herself soon or putting one of the smaller tyres on the end when I progress.

Next there are two of roughly the same size - Teeny and Tiny. Normal car size tyres. These are the ones I'm working mostly with at the moment. Putting increasing numbers of concrete blocks in, then going up to Tina size and gradually progressing.

Oh and I did a 3 miler two days ago around the base with Tiny and 3 concrete bricks.  Getting some real progress going.  My dragging buddy did a two miler and did part of it with one brick - that's amazing progress for somebody who has done hardly ever any fitness - WELL DONE!!

Saturday equals tyre dragging :)

I never thought I would actually look forward to tyre dragging but I'm really starting to enjoy it. Crazy Brit/Anita I hear you think.

As we went through the back gate on our travels we got some stares from security who obviously thought that we were barking mad, I really got into the swing of it. A hot sweaty mess swing of things but still it was good.

I started with two concrete bricks as weight and did a fast pace for the first 1.5 miles and then put some random block of concrete that I found along the way side - as you do - in the tyre for some extra resistance for the next mile.

 My partner in tyre pulling

Now just got to deal with the cold as you can imagine Bahrain even in winter isn't going to be anything near the arctic I think somehow.

Training update

Well things have been really busy on the tyre dragging/fitness side of life.  Yet again no photos thanks to security on base, though I'm not ready to take things out into the streets yet. But I promise I will get some without being run over by some bad Bahraini driver

I'm doing my own High Intensity Interval Training alongside the tyre dragging which is a killer.  I pick about 8 exercises of pain to do full out for 40 seconds with 10 seconds rest in-between - going through 3 or 4 times. I can safely say my 6 pack is on the way back, no longer a barrel, as after not doing anything for 6 months due to injury its a very slow process. I've learnt my lesson of not trying to kill myself quite so crazily (like flipping tractor tyres in 55 degrees direct sunlight). Because surprisingly I don't want my kneecaps injected anymore.  I'm in this for the long run not a sprint. Besides watching me run is like phoebe out of friends - I am not a natural runner

My American tyre drag buddy has come to the end of his time in Bahrain - how very rude of him. So the tyre will be ceremonially handed over to my friend and work colleague who is a complete beginner so she will make me slow down look at my form and take things gradually which is a really good thing, as you have probably guessed by now I sometimes just push myself a little too much :)

The Secret to Giving Up

 This is where it's at.

I was never really one for the whole, happy clappy 'if you believe you can achieve' stuff that's constantly pedalled by New Age personal development gurus. No, the only way to get on in life is to get out there and do it - put in hundreds, maybe thousands of hours mindlessly grinding away towards a goal.

When you're young it's easy because your body just keeps on going and going. There's little to no fatigue and any tiredness is usually cured by a good night's sleep, or a few pints. Or both.

Father time has a habit of catching up with us all. One moment we're speed merchants; human powerhouses that refuse to stop doing what we do. The next, our limbs and joints ache after a once hard ten mile run. We try to relive those glory days, but every year it gets a little harder and takes a bit more effort. As the decades slip by we get slower. At first, we barely notice the differences in our mile split timings. Realisation only dawns on the day we stare down at the stopwatch and realise the time is a full thirty seconds slower than it was five years earlier.

Of course, it is possible to maintain and improve your fitness and timings. But we work long hours and sometimes it's simply not possible to fit in our day jobs, quality training and the required recovery time i.e. sleep.

So, what should we do?

The answer is simple: give up!

A gasp of surprise? Seven months of planning and hard work down the drain? A promise faded to nothing?

No.

The only thing I've given up on is the mindless slog. You see, I sat down and read a couple of those books - the once reviled mantras of the personal development authors - and I was surprised.

What they say makes sense. Well, not all of them; there are definitely a few looneys out there, but, in the main, the science is valid. I know because many of the methods they talk about are the same I used before, during and after a major course I attended, and passed, during my time in service. But I'd forgotten how to keep myself going when my body said 'No more!'

The good news is, now, I'm back on track. Okay, I was never really that far off - I'd simply pushed myself too hard and neglected to redevelop my mental stamina.

Napoleon Hill said,

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve regardless of how many times you may have failed in the past.”

And on that note, I'm off to practise visualising before a ten mile run.

Miss Anita's do not touch!!

 



Well the picture says it all!

Had a really good first tyre drag last night.  I couldn't take pictures this time due to security but hopefully the next.  I put broken concrete inside the tyre as weights and dragged the tyre about a mile.  I know it doesn't sound like much but believe me on my first attempt over broken cobbles and badly laid tarmac, if any, it was like one of those dreams you have where you are running but not going anywhere. At least it wasn't the naked in a public place dream as well. Don't tell me its only me that gets that dream?

 

Two people nearly fell off their cycles as they went past as I don't think they have seen anything like it before - or maybe its just the ginger hair lol :)

 

Thanks go to the two people that came out with me as well.  We've become the United Nations of tyre pulling.