no more fatty boombaladah

pain!

2009-03-26T11:40:00.002+10:00

I guess it's what I deserve after taking such a long break from regular exercise.

I've been pretty sore this week.

Tuesday after my first PT I could barely walk! Wednesday was another PT (assisted dips and chin ups - blergh!) and then today I went and did a class called 'fight club' - basically a boxing circuit.

Wednesday I was feeling a little better, but back to being pretty sore and stiff today. I have to say I was disappointed with the boxing class. I enjoyed the one at my old gym much better.

So far I'm happy with my decision about the gym & training. That said, I am realising that my previous trainer was really good. I'm not saying the current one isn't, I think it will work out well.

Friday's I plan to normally go and do a spin class, but it's Max's birthday party in the afternoon and I have cakes to make & ice, food to prepare, balloons to blow up, house to clean ... etc etc ... He's 6, which I'm finding hard to come to terms with.

Weigh in tonight for Fat Club! Hoping to smash my 5% loss target ... I've worked pretty hard this week, so I'll be disappointed if I don't.

Joined the gym

2009-03-22T17:52:00.000+10:00

So, I made a decision and decided to join the Goodlife. Went in on Saturday for an hour which was mainly answering questions, showing me equipment etc etc ...

The guy who showed me around was a trainer there called Simon. He has 2 young kids, so I feel like he appreciates, at least to some degree, that it can be hard with kids sometimes.

I decided to book in with him for PT sessions TWICE (!!) a week until my sister's wedding, which is in May. I have 6 and a half weeks until I have to get on a plan to Darwin for that wedding. I'm hoping to bust my guts and work really hard and try to lose somewhere between 7 and 10 kilos in that time. I still won't be happy with the way I look, but I'll be happier.

Already I feel better, like I'm back in control. I'm making the decisions and have the power to determine if I'm going to do this or not.

I feel positive about it. Leaving the gym on Saturday I felt great. I knew I'd made the right decision.

So first PT is tomorrow. I'm preparing for the pain.

attempt # 1989

2009-03-19T20:57:00.002+10:00

well, perhaps not 1989, but something like that.

My baby turned 1 a couple of weeks ago. I'm a bit sad about that, but I was sadder when I saw the photos from our little celebration we held for him. I think I looked 6 mths pregnant again and it totally depressed me.

Before Max was born I had some success at weight watchers. I think it's something to do with the public humiliation and parting with hard earned cash that forces me to be better and more accountable with my diet than I might otherwise.

So in light of the disgusting photos (which really were just the last straw) I dragged my sorry butt back to fat culb 2 weeks ago.

First week I lost 2.7k

This week I lost another 1k.

I have another .86 of a kilo before I reach my first goal of 5% loss - which I should achieve next week.

So I'm blogging about this because it adds another degree of accountability (to who/what I'm not sure) to the whole process. I think it just helps me to write how I feel about it all. It's mainly for myself.

These couple of weeks really haven't been that hard. I think once you resolve to really do something about it, it's easier. I had a little slip up this week, but I think hormones were playing a big role this week.

My main dilemma this week has been trying to decide what gym to join. I'd love to go back to my old gym because it's small, family run, friendly. However, they don't have a large choice of classes or times. My other option is Goodlife which is about a 10 minute drive from the school and a 15 min drive from our place. They have great classes, frequently, more childcare times, more equipment, but I feel intimidated by the bigness and 'trendiness' of the place. And they're more expensive by a couple of hundred dollars ...

decisions.

Next week I have to plan and hold a party for Max - who can believe he's 6.

Not running related...

2009-02-03T17:03:00.002+10:00

On the weekend A and I took the kids down to the bay at Manly for a walk/scooter along the pier and possibly some dinner.

I saw a young girl, probably about 5, being chased, laughing and having a wonderful time. The woman who was chasing her was not her mother. She could have been her mother, but she was too happy and had too much energy to be her mother. I think it was an aunt.

Sure enough, I was right, not long after the happy chaser and chasee passed us we were passed by the mother - pushing a younger child in a pram. She was not as happy and not as energetic.

I felt I could really realte to her. Except I didn't have a fun aunt to be the chaser ... which wasn't fair really.

*sigh*

Anyway ... a small insight to my frame of mind at the moment.

The other thing I saw was lots of people running. Would be a nice place to run really - flat, nice scenery ...

Haven't been doing much running - which I'm a bit peeved off about - but I only have myself to blame. Too much good tennis on the tv and too many late nights make it very hard to get up in the morning.

I have been swimming though.

Swimming is much harder than it looks.

I've been swimming with the squad at our local pool, under the watchful eye of a guy called Trent, who by all accounts is very good at what he does.

Breathing is an unfortunately neccessary part of swimming and one that I struggle with, particularly on my left side. But anyway, I think I'm improving and getting better each time.

I can't say I'm particularly enjoying the whole experience. My arms ache (a good thing probably) and I constantly get cramps in the arches of my feet and my calves - I'm not sure how to combat this aside from stretching - I guess I want to prevent it from happening rather than treating it when it does happen.

I don't get the same 'rush' I get from going out for a run, or doing a spin or boxing class. At the moment I think I'm too frustrated at my lack of skill for it to be enjoyable. I hope the enjoyment will come ... soon. ;)

I also don't like what it does to my hair (how girly is that?!) I think I'll have to get some kind of treatment next time I see my hairdresser.

I have much more I could write, about my thinking on the whole Tri thing - but I think it will wait for another day.

slack week

2009-01-23T20:44:00.002+10:00

A slack week on all accounts.

blergh.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day, right?

So - I was supposed to be meeting a friend for a run tomorrow morning, but it's been raining here (yeah, I just don't get the whole 'I love to run in the rain' thing - although the only time I've ever run in the rain was in winter and that wasn't fun) and she's gone up the coast for the long weekend ... so we'll see.

That sucks, I know. I should just commit to it and get over it. Shouldn't I?

It has been totally horrible here for the last few days. The heat and humidity have been disgusting.

I did manage a couple of runs, one of which was on Wednesday morning. 6:30am and it already felt like 30 + degrees. AND it was garbo day on the route I ran, so I had to run past loads of S T I N K Y bins. Gross.

Anyway, just fighting the old 'I don't want to get out of bed any earlier than I have to' mental battle at the moment.

School goes back Tuesday. I hope I can survive another 3 days. It's been a close call a couple of times over the last 6 weeks. Did the mad rush to the shops today for new school shoes for Max - $105 dollars later. Ah well.

My point is, (most of the time I have a point, it just takes me a while to get to it) that school goes back Tuesday, hopefully if all goes smoothly I should be able to get to the pool for my first sqaud training session at 9:15. Feeling slightly nervous about it, but it really helps that I already have some friends who swim in that squad so I wont feel so alone - pathetic, I know.

bed time fast approaching and there is a mountain of clean washing on my bed.

a run and a plan ... of sorts.

2009-01-16T11:26:00.003+10:00

Another run this morning. Same route as Tuesday - ran a little more. Today was probably the first day I was able to walk down the front steps without wincing ;) I really feel it in my quads and whatever the muscle is called which runs the front length of your lower shin/ankle/top of your foot - if that makes sense.

Stretched for a bit longer this morning. Still quite sore, but possibly not as bad as Tuesday was. A much greater sense of satisfaction this morning than I had Wednesday morning after keeping it to a walk - but walking was a wise choice I believe.

The tri at Raby Bay is one of the gatorade series and they have a 'mates race' category - which is what we'll be entering. So it looks like a goer. I'm yet to submit my entry form. I'm terrified of the bike leg. I'm terrified of the bike in general - it's just so intimidating, so much 'stuff' needed. I don't trust my 6 year old k-mart-hasn't-been-ridden-in-a-very-long-time bike, but don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a new one unless I know i'm going to like it and it be something I might continue doing for a while ...

And I'm scared of crashing.

My plan is to swim on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, spin Wednesday morning and run Monday and Friday mornings. Eventually I'll turn the spin on Wednesday into a real bike ride and try and get our for a second on the Saturday morning with Sunday being a rest day.

Today my plan is some housework - joy.

daily report

2009-01-14T12:41:00.002+10:00

1/2 hour brisk walk to give my aching quads/calves/shins/everything a little rest.

that's what you get for doing nothing for over a year and then going out on your regular running route!

I figured walking was better than nothing. I'm stiff today.

Took the kids Yeronga pool for a swim today and picked up an info sheet about their sqaud training ... still thinking about the whole tri thing ... spent several hours reading threads on CR and Transitions about beginning tri training/tips. My mind is spinning.

wow

2009-01-13T14:16:00.002+10:00

I honestly didn't expect to come here today and find any comments ... I didn't. I typed that entry yesterday purely for ME (and will continue to do so!). I was pleasantly surprised to log on today and find two, TWO, comments. Thanks guys. I feel the love!

I had a terrible sleep last night but the good news is I woke up and went out for a run. It was only for a 1/2 hour, I don't know the distance, I didn't run the whole way, but I knew I couldn't keep making excuses "I haven't had much sleep", "Lewis is still asleep" blah blah blah ... My plan had been to take Lewis out with me in the jogger, but he WAS still sleeping and I knew if I waited around for him to wake up I'd never go.

So I just went.

and

it. felt. good.

And I've felt good all day since. Just knowing that I got off my lazy butt and did it. Legs are sore, but I'll be out there again tomorrow. and the day after that and the day after that ...

So here's the thing - and seeing as though there seems to be some wise ones out there keeping an eye on me ... I'd like your advice.

A sprint (I think that's what they call it - a mini?) tri in 14 weeks time at Raby Bay ... 400m swim, 15k cycle, 4k run

do-able?

attainable?

My sister and 2 mutual friends of ours are keen.

I haven't ridden a real bike in, oh, 4 years. I was doing spin/rpm class 1 to 2 times a week at the gym way back when. Falling off a bike scares me. Trying to run after riding a bike 15k seems daunting to me. I have a crappy old kmart bike. I've never swum, like really swum, in open water before. At least there's no surf at raby bay.

excuses?

I'm thinking swimming twice a week, spin twice a week with a goal to get on a real bike soonish, and running twice a week with the occasional combination of run/swim run/cycle etc to and from the pool etc ...

This post is turning into a novel (hey, I AM back!) and reminiscent of my "should I or shouldn't I run a 10k" ...

I want you back

2009-01-11T15:52:00.003+10:00

more and more lately I want to be back running.

there's no reason I can't. no injury. no illness.

just laziness ... I guess.

today i picked up my mp3 player and listened to my running playlist. It had been a while. The thought of returning to running had been playing on my mind for a few months now, but listening to those songs which saw me through many a run, really made me want to get out there, forget whatever is bothering me, and just be me for a little while.

Be me, instead of someone's mother, someone's wife, someone's food source, someone's whatever. Even though all those things are me ... you know.

Anyway, so hopefully what follows over the next few months will be a personal documentation of my attempts to get back running.

IN fact, my sister, Beth, is planning to do a tri this year (october I think) and she's been trying to get me to join her. The run leg I know I can do no problems, it's the others which worry me, but something I'd love to aim for.

I just have to give myself a swift kick up the backside and stop making excuses and just get out there. Stupidly, I'm embarrassed to go back to the gym as I weigh more now than I did before when I was going regularly. Mum said "but you've had a baby" ... well, loads of people have babies and don't put on weight.

I'm one of the unlucky ones who just DOES NOT lose weight breastfeeding. It's like my body clings to every calorie it possibly can in case it needs it ... *sigh*

Well, Lewis self weaned (I have mixed feelings about this) and so that is no longer a problem/excuse. I plan to join the gym once school starts back and we're in more of a routine, me and my extra 10 kilos.

It'd be nice to lose a couple before I had to drag my sorry self into that establishment again, tail between my legs.

So I want the old me back - the old me that was the new me. The old, old me, the one who didn't exercise, who didn't run because "I can't run" ... pffft has been in residence for too long! So I'm going to try and find the old new me - I think she was happier.

let it rain

2007-08-24T12:47:00.000+10:00

we've had rain here almost constantly for about 4 days now - it's been lovely. The kids are a bit over it though. Oh and it makes me very sad we don't have tanks - but in order to have tanks you have to have functioning gutters - us, we just have 'strategic' drainage points at various spots along the entire guttering of the house - who needs a tank ... pfft!!

So, we decided to stay ... we wanted to go, but it had to be right, and there were a few things that just weren't. We had no g'tee that Max was even going to be able to get into a school (international) over there as a lot of them were full already for his age level. And although we had a housing allowance as part of the package - it wasn't enough for us to be able to live within walking distance to a school AND be on a train line that was close enough to where Arie would be working. The company kept telling us these things would all be fine and would be worked out when we got there ... but for me, these were deal breakers - I wasn't prepared to go on the off chance that these things might work out.

In addition Japanes workers get no sick leave ... If you get sick you have to use your annual leave - and I'll get to that in a minute. I read a study on the internet which said that only 20% of the workforce over there used their annual leave for leisure activites. 40% used annual leave for their own sick days and 40% for the care of sick family members .... wow! No wonder they're all so highly strung and commiting suicide all the time (huge sweeping generalisations there!!!)

Standard annual leave is 12 days per year with 15 public holidays (which is about the same amount of public holidays we get depending on the state you live in) ... 12 days!!!!! A would have got 2 days leave when the baby was born - so who knows what we would have done with the other 2 children while I was in hospital ...

So for those and a few other reasons which are way too complicated to go into, we decided, sadly, to stay - but now the decision is made I feel good about it. A has also been told by another player in the industry that when we decide to go, to let them know and they'll arrange it - and not on local hire terms either - so that means he'd have the same entitlements he would have here ... so the plan is to do it a few years time.

For now we're tuning our attention to some renovations and trying to decide how far to go with them - do we raise the house and do a full on renovation or do we sell and buy somewhere else???? Life is full of decisions I don't really want to make!!! Why can't someone just tell me what to do.

I'm experiencing extreme frustration at the moment with my latest uni assignment ... yeah, yeah, I know I say the same thing every semester - so A tells me anyway. But this is really doing my head in. It's a very theoretical assigment and I'm having trouble wading through all the academic self important talk of all the books etc ...

Next week Max starts a "Happy Coconuts" which is a group that does sport lessons for 3 to 6 year olds. A is concerned that he can't catch a ball!!! So they spend a few weeks at a time learning the basic skills of a variety of different sports - next week they start AFL - which Max should like because he likes to kick and handball around the back yard ... he just can't catch the ball! :)

Still got the hangings on of something - perhaps a mild sinus infection - certainly not 100%, but life goes on.

Had my first hospital appointment this week - just a paperwork session really - back to see the doctor in 2 weeks.

OH .... guess where I spent 2 3/4 hours on Wednesday night??? The EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OF THE MATER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL!! Max swalloed a 1 Yen coin - between the size of a 5 and 10 cent piece. I just sent him back to bed - he wasn't choking, he could talk and swallow etc etc, and thought it'd just come out the other end ... well, to be sure I called the 13HEALTH number they have here where you can speak to a registered nurse - and they said "oh no, you have to take him straight to the emergency department, if it passes through to his intestinal tract it can cause perferations etc etc - they'l have to remove it from his stomach under anesthetic" GREAT! So at 8pm I packed Max into the car and drove to the hospital (not far from us) ... anyway, to cut a very long night short - after waiting forever to see a doctor in a room full of vomiting children, he had an x-ray - coin is in his stomach - the DO NOT remove them, and they DO NOT cause perferations - he can just poo it out! The doctor said the only time they worry about it is if the coin gets caught beteween the throat and stomach - which obviously wan't the case with Max, who later told me he thought his trip to the hospital was "fun" .... It certainly wasn't for me, and I'm hoping like mad that we didn't walk out of there with more germs than we came with.

So that was my excitement for the week. :)

Sorry for the long post - I had to make up for my short non-post just for PH!! - and I can't be bothered spell checking, so there'll be loads of mistakes cos I think faster than I type - or is it the other way around?!

2007-08-20T13:37:00.001+10:00

we're staying - I have a head cold and feel horrid - will be back later to fill in the gaps.

decision time

2007-08-16T11:28:00.000+10:00

Awwww, it's nice to see comments from all of you after so long ... And I'm not even doing any running at the moment for you to comment on. If we go to Japan I'll have to change the title and topics of this blog and will definitely continue it.

Japan japan japan ... Geez, I've never lost so much sleep in my life as I have over the last couple of nights. I'm wasted. We have a deadline for the decision of Friday morning - yup, tomorrow morning.

It's not that we don't want to go - I think we do - there are a lot of uncertainties about the move which complicate the decision. We know we'd come out of the other side of a 3 year stint with financial gains and the experience would be priceless.

But here we have family, a great lifestyle, secure good job, we don't struggle money wise.

Part of me wants to go simply for the adventure and the experience and to make sure I'm not one who stays in the suburbs of Brisbane my whole life doing what I've always done and getting what I've always got.

But the other part of me wants to stay where it's comfortable and the factors are all known and within my comfort zone.

ANYWAY .... just some thoughts. Took the kids 10 pin bowling this morning and not surprisingly has aggravated my sciatica a little - by the end of the day I'll be hobbling. But I won (against a 4 and 2 y.o mind you!)!!!

It was Maeve's birthday on Monday - when I get around to taking the photos off the camera I'll post some.

First round of crunch time coming up at uni this semester. FINAL SEMESTER ... EVER!!! woo hoo!!!!!!! Really interesting subjects, I wish in a way I had more time to devote to it. Will be very relieved when it's all done and dusted.

Pregnancy is going well, aside from the sciatica pain. First check up with the hospital next week. I'm always quietly terrified leading up to those appointments that I'm going to go there and they won't be able to find a heart beat or something terrible will have gone wrong. Silly I know, but I can't help it.

Anyway, it's bed time for my little munchkin - hopefully a nice quiet 2 hr nap ... fingers crossed.

2007-08-14T14:04:00.000+10:00

maeve poured water on the laptop and after a commedy of errors by DELL it's FINALLY fixed. Thank goodness we had an accidental damage policy ...

Anyway ... decision re Japan is likely to be made this week. Still in 2 minds. Why does it have to be so hard.

No running. Sciatic nerve playing up just from gym work. I haven't been reading any blogs (haven't had internet ...:) And I'm sure there isn't anyone still reading this one.

Hope all who ran at B2B ran well - will have to go catch up and see how things went ...

how do you ...

2007-07-23T10:41:00.000+10:00

I'm freezing. Looking forward to summer. Our house (like most old homes in QLD) just isn't built for winter.

So I'm wondering how you decide if it's the right thing to do to move your family to a foriegn country? How do you determine that the cultural experience will be more beneficial for them than the experience of growing up with local access to grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles? How do you decide that you will survive living in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world. not speaking a word of the language? How do you decide that you will be OK having a new baby in said city without the help of friends and family? How do you decide that it will be the right move career wise, especially when it could mean the start of a totally new life for your family that means you might not return to Brisbane, or even Australia for a significant period of time? and mostly, how do you know you won't regret it if you decide not to go ...

Anyone got a crystal ball going cheap?

stuff ...

2007-07-10T14:15:00.000+10:00

so, there hasn't been much going on. I've been feeling a bit ordinary. A bit nauseous. Haven't felt much like going to the gym or getting out for a run. I've had a couple of better days this week and have told myself I'll get back to the gym next week.

Surprisingly eating wise I've actually gone off junk food. That said, I have had to eat for what feels like all day every day to fend off the sick feeling. But the thought of eating stuff like chocolate just turns me off even more. So that's a plus!!!

I've been thinking a lot the last couple of weeks about the whole exercise and pregnancy deal. I've never been very confident about my body, let alone my pregnant body and the thought of waddling up to the gym with a pregnant belly is enough to make me want to hibernate for 7 more months. I haven't a clue what I would wear for a start.

When I was pregnant with my first I attended some exercise classes specifically for pregnant women, so it wasn't so bad, we were all in the same boat, although that said, I know a girl who looks so damn good when she's pregnant it's almost a crime. It's just not fair that some women get the "you will look like a graceful fertile goddess" and others get the "you will look like beached whale, puffy, fat and uncomfortable" - where's the justice I ask you?

Anyway, so I'll continue to struggle with that and don't know what will happen.

Max is determined he's having a brother and told me the other day he would be "very cross" if the baby was a sister and was a bit surprised when I told him even I didn't know if it would be a brother or sister. I found out for both Max & Maeve, but this time I'd like a surprise. We'll just have to prepare Max for the fact that it could well be a girl!!

The Japan job is still in the background. A is off to Tokyo for the weekend on the 27th. After that if both parties still wish to proceed we both head over sometime in August to check out housing and schooling ... but the July trip is the most important and we'll hopefully have a much better idea about things after that. I feel a bit in limbo at the moment. Realistically if we were to accept the job I would be going until the end of October because of uni. A may have to go before that, but I hope not. Anyway, we'll cross that bridge when/if we get to it.

I was wearing my shirt from the GC 10k the other day and Max says to me "Great shirt Mum"!!! ahhhhh, I love him!! :)

straight lines

2007-07-05T09:23:00.000+10:00

2 of them ...

pink ones ...

So I'm wondering if the glute pain I've felt on the last 2 runs has been a bit of sciatica - early days I know, but the body is a strange thing.

Also I've been getting horrible sinus headaces every day and have been feeling totally exhausted, so the desire to exercise (and run) has been minimal. I have to say I saw Clairie run past in the half on sunday and she looked amazing - she is amazing.

offical time

2007-07-02T14:06:00.000+10:00

1:11:20 - 42 sec PB. I'm dissapointed it wasn't more (not that I was expecting it to be) but can't complain given the preparation I did and the glute thing.

a few highlights I thought of last night -

seeing the guy run past the cheersquad in the full in a white singlet and 2 red seeping marks in 2 unfortunate locations - poor fella, I wanted to give him my sachet of sports shield.

The girl in purple who ran past me in the 10k and said "Hi coolrunner"!!

finishing

the fact that i didn't fall over or cause a spill in the congestion of the start :)

And realising there was a payoff for being a larger runner when I could waltz right through the 'medium' t-shirt and medal collectiton queue when all the other girls were waiting for ages in the 'small' and 'x-small' lines!!!

I can walk normally today and the glute is feeling much better - I'm convinced it's a nerve thing as there is no muscle soreness and it's fine to stretch etc, it just seems to be certain positions/movements which causes a sharp stabbing pain and me to catch my breath! It's certainly less frequent today.

GCM 10K Race Report

2007-07-01T18:26:00.000+10:00

So, this is going to be a long post. Consider yourself warned.

Saturday afternoon we packed the kids up and took them off to mum and dad's for the night and headed to our hotel at the GC. Mainly because I'm lazy and didn't want to get up at some ungodly hour and deal with traffic and stress about getting there on time.

Had a short rest at the hotel and then headed out for a 'romantic anniversary dinner' - we went to a nice Italian place on Tedder Ave and then once back at the hotel took a walk down Cavill Ave for an ice cream. mmmmmm!! Watched the Lions game and for a little while it looked like they might actually win their first game in AAAAAGES. Unfortunately it wasn't to be.

I wanted to get up early in the morning to participate in the cheering for the half and some of the full. So we were up at 6:30, had breakfast at the hotel and then on the bus to the race prescient. There were people everywhere, infact, when we were out the night before it seemed every conversation I overheard was about running the next day!

Found Cirque and a couple of other CRers and joined the cheersquad just before the home stretch. I was particularly keeping an eye out for Nikki who was running the half. When she ran past I thought she was below the time she wanted and looked a little distressed, so I decided to run alongside the track to try and gee her up a bit coming into the finishing area. Turns out she'd been having some knee problems and was struggling a bit.

After that saw a few CRers go past in the full and then had to head to the loos and the start line for the 10k. Graham and I lined up together and ran together for the first 4k. The run was tough for me today. From the start the HR was sitting around 180 and I felt like I was fighting to keep my breakfast down for the first 4k. Plus I managed to get 2 stitches (one each side) before we hit the 2k mark!!!!!! I ran through those and managed to get rid of them with some 3:2 breathing.

At the 4k mark I stopped for a short walk break then got going again. I managed to catch Graham and kept behind him for a little while (he didn't know I was there) but took another walk break as we came up to the turn onto the bridge. My glute was really hurting and I was struggling a bit and felt like I couldn't even walk properly, let alone run. Just in time Paul Kelly's Dumb Things cane on the mp3 - it was just what I needed - so after a bit of walking I took off with the music and managed to close the gap a little again. Coming up to the last drinks stop on the bridge I realised I couldn't really feel my fingers on my left hand. It was totally numb and tingly and my glute was killing. I kept shuffling and I didn't think I was going to beat my time from Brisbane. Then I saw Nikki at the side of the road, which gave me a great lift, I looked at the watch and could see the turn around leading into the finishing area and worked out if I really gave it everything I had left I could probably beat my Brisbane time.

So I ran, and it hurt like hell. I just really really wanted to beat the time. Passed quite a few runners coming up to the finishing line and by the time I crossed it I was totally spent. I just wanted to sit down and vomit!! I was in such a state I forgot to check my watch until I was walking in a daze past the medical tents, at which point it said 1:12:06 - so I obviously beat my Brisbane time of 1:12 ... it's just a matter of by how much.

Anyway, my glute has been really sore and I'm still this evening struggling to walk and move without feeling like someone is stabbing me in the butt with a huge great big knife. I'm hoping that it will feel better in the morning.

I'm not sure why this is happening. But it's not much fun.

I'm off for an early night.

tagged

2007-06-25T15:51:00.000+10:00

Ok, I've been tagged by Kathy ... have to answer with one word. And I haven't given any thought to who I'm going to tag - my head's in a bit of a spin today ........ Nikki - you're tagged

1. Where is your cell phone? Phone table
2. Relationship? comforting
3. Your hair? short
4. Work? home
5. Your sister? which one (oops, that doesn't keep to the rules does it?)
6. Your favourite thing? down time
7. Your dream last night? didn't
8. Your favourite drink? fresh orange and pineapple juice with a sqeeze of lemon on ice (how can you make your fav drink into one word?!)
9. Your dream car? a free one
10. The room you’re in? lounge
11. Your shoes? colorado's
12. Your fears? failing
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? happy
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? husband
15. What are you not good at? waiting
16. Muffin? chocolate, chocolate, chocolate
17. Wish list item? renovations
18. Where you grew up? Darwin/Brisbane
19. The last thing you did? played with my kids
20. What are you wearing? jeans, top & jumper (now unless you're wearing a dress or one piece, you can not answer this in one word!)
21. What are you not wearing? jewelry
22. Your pet? guinnea pig
23. Your computer? laptop
24. Your life? satisfying
25. Your mood? excited
26. Missing? sisters
27. What are you thinking about? future
28. Your car? camry
29. Your kitchen? lovely
30. Your summer? hot
31. Your favourite colour? can't choose
32. Last time you laughed? today
33. Last time you cried? today
34. School? no thanks
35. Love? yes please

Glute update

2007-06-25T11:03:00.000+10:00

This morning I plodded off to my usual Monday morning torture PT session at the gym. Did 10 minutes on the treadmill at a 6min pace before the PT to test out the Glute. Didn't get a run in before the BBQ on Sunday - there just wasn't enough time with other stuff going on.

Anyway, during the treadmill run it felt fine. After I stopped I could feel a slight niggle in the same glute, but nothing that bothered me too much. After my PT and some further cardio work I gave it a bit of a going over with the foam roller. Ouch! Rolling through the length of the glute I could feel a spot where it particularly hurt and there was a bit of a knot there.

So I'll just keep stretching it out this week and hope for the best on the weekend.

Peter - you could be right - could very well be a mental thing.

I almost forgot to pick up my race kit from Southbank on Sunday afternoon. If Nikki hadn't of reminded me I would have totally forgotten. So I have my number and my timing chip. I'm all set to go.

Movie Review

It was nice to get out on Saturday night - we don't get a chance to do it that often, and most times when we do we're both too tired to really enjoy it. We went to Wagamamas above the Wintergarden. Nothing to do with the Japanese theme of late - just wanted something yummy and quick that wasn't 'cafe' style food. The movie was pretty funny. If you're prepared to leave your brain at home and sit through an hour and a half of juvenille teenage boy humour then you'll enjoy it!! The plot is pretty non-existant, but Will Ferrel and the dude from Napoleon Dynamite, Jon Heder, are pretty funny together. I enjoyed it.

I have a busy week this week - and it's school holidays - which means no kindy for Max this week ... (where's the crying smiley when I need it?) I will survive, I will survive, I will survive ... :)

Saturday run

2007-06-23T18:24:00.000+10:00

Ok, short version is I ran, it wasn't great. Long version follows ...

Met Nikki this morning for a 6k run around the river and cliffs. I was aiming to run most of the route at about a 6min/k pace. The first three (I think) ks were good, between 5:?? and 6:15. The body felt good, but I just couldn't get enough air in my lungs. Really frustrated me because other than the breathing I felt like I could have kept the pace up for much longer. Anyway, stopped to catch my breath and noticed a twinge/tightness in my left glute. So I stopped along riverside to stretch it out and kept running.

Stopped to walk up Gold Coast Hill then took off again looking forward to the gentle downhill slope of the story bridge. The pain in my glute was getting worse and combined with a nasty stitch I decided to walk at the end of the bridge down to the river/cliffs.

Took off to run again but the pain was quite sharp and by this point Nikki was getting a bit worried about me I think! The pain felt a bit like a pinch of the sciatic nerve. I'm telling myself that's what it was, hoping that's what it was. It was like a constant dull ache with a nice sharp pain on foot strike and a lesser pain on push off. We ran mostly to about the concrete steps down the cliffs, and I stopped to stretch for about the 3rd time in the run. The glute wasn't tight at all, still good flexibility, just hurt!

Walked a bit and then ran the last half K (more to avoid turning into an popsicle than anything else.

Finally finished the 6k, have no idea how long it took, don't think I want to know. Bit dismal really.

Felt slight discomfort in the glute for most of the day walking around the city, but seems to have subsided as I write tonight.

So ... not sure what the story was. I might try and squeeze in a run tomorrow around lunch time and see how it feels (we have a family BBQ with A's family at southbank and the lure of a quick jaunt around southbank and the river seems too good to pass up! I'm not sure if that'll go down well though, so we'll see).

But my overall impression from today is that I am going to seriously pay for my laziness over the last couple of weeks next weekend! ah well. I'm taking all the wonderful advice and I'm just going to run and have fun. As long as I beat my Brisbane 10k time I'll be happy. I'm looking forward to the atmosphere and meeting some more CRers (and spending a night away without the kids)

Anyway, A and I are heading out for dinner and a movie - going to see Blades of Glory - should be good for a laugh - so I'd better go and get ready.

So, what's going on

2007-06-20T15:07:00.000+10:00

I'm still here Kathy ... just feeling a little 'blah' about it all, so avoiding blogging about it :)

My husband always tells me off for putting too much information on here, I don't so it intentionally, I just start typing and it all just comes tumbling out. I figured, if people want to read it they will, I've never had any nasty comments, I think most people who comment and lurk here are referred from CR and I trust that runners are nice kind people!!

Anyway ... today is absolutely freezing by Brisbane standards. Reminds me of the winter days in Melbourne apparently I've gone a bit soft since then because I'm finding it hard to drag my lazy butt out of bed and pull on the running gear in the dark and the cold. Not that I ever ran in Melbourne ... but y'know.

Feeling a bit apprehensive about the 10k. I know I can do the distance and it won't be an issue, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do it in the time I originally set in my mind. A run this weekend with Nikki will show how bad it's going to be.

There's been heaps going on non-running wise. The Japan thing is progressing (frustratingly slowly) but it's been consuming my thoughts. I'm feeling pretty positive about it, although I have moments of doubt and reality check. Still waiting to hear the all important bottom line discussion, but we are the preferred candidates and they want to fly A to Tokyo to meet the team and get better acquainted. Some numbers will have to be put on the table before that happens ... the cost of international schooling in t0ky0 is outrageous. The thought of sending Max to a Japanese school has it's attractions, but my heart would break for him being thrown into a non-english speaking environment and trying to make friends and survive. Plus I'd find it hard not being able to communicate with teachers and parents ...

Anyway, lots to think about and no decisions made yet - but 'they' have indicated a time frame of about 3 to 4 months max before take off ... scary.

A few other things going on but nothing to bore you all with.

Need to sit down this week and sort out my playlist for the 10k - I know I know - terribly antisocial of me to run with headphones in, but hey, I paid my $45 and I'll run the damn thing however I like. Not running with anyone to chat with to keep my mind from all the negative thoughts and would really love a nice fast playlist to spur me on and try to reach that 59:xx - 62:xx goal (making a 10 min PB at worst and 12 min PB at worst). I'm a little afraid to admit that outloud because a) it shows how slooooow I am and b) I'm not sure I'll make it. :(

Quote of the day ...

2007-06-14T15:02:00.000+10:00

this afternoon we were across the road from our house in the park 'picking' grass for the guinnea pigs and some lovely local yobbo had left some thing which looked like polyester quilt filling strewn across part of the park. Here's our conversation :

Max - Oh look mum, Mary's been here!
Me - really?
Max - Yeah, I think Mary's been here mum!
Me - Mary? Who's Mary?
Max - You know, Mary who had a little lamb!!

I laughed alot!

ETA - A has a phone interview with the Japanese mob tomorrow morning - well, not 'the mob' as such, but the mob as in the aussie slang who are offering the job ... after that they decide if his japanese is something they want to risk and will talk bottom line - which is what we're waiting for ...

Totally not running related ...

2007-06-13T21:40:00.000+10:00

but I just wanted to share these:

because I know I spend a lot of time complaining about the kids and not enough time saying how great they are. Aren't they cute? I love this last one of Maeve, so engrossed in her painting.

Had my exam on Tuesday and I think it went quite well. You can never really tell how well you do on an exam until the results come out, but I know I passed, just not sure how well I did beyond that. I am so relieved to have that subject done. I think I figured out why it was so hard for me. The lecturer is a true academic, in every sense of the word - laughs at his own jokes, uses his own texts as readings, and can't seem to talk in plain english. I think he just explained things in a very complicated way and I found it extremely difficult to figure out what it was he wanted us to understand, what the main gist of it all was. But his assessment has been surprisingly easy. I went ito the exam on a pretty comfortable mark, which was surprising. And the first 40 questions were multiple choice and many of them the choices were so blatantly ridiculous that anyone with half a brain could have figured out the answer even if they knew nothing about the subject.

So anyway, 1 semester down and only 1 more to go. I hate that feeling mid semester - you feel like you're never going to come out the other side alive, the pressure and work load is just so intense and will you ever see the light of day again kind of feeling. You know in 6 weeks it's all going to be over, but it's so hard to remember that during the middle of the semester isn't it?!

anyway, off to bed for me.

p.s - good on you queensland!

cold!!

2007-06-09T11:47:00.000+10:00

The last two days in Brisbane have probably been the coldest we've had all year. SO far we've not really had a winter ... well, I think winter is well and truely here.

Last night we had a Brisbane CR dinner to farewell Davo, who's moving to Tassie. It was a good night as usual. Leaving the restaurant at 10pm I was surprised at how cold it was outside and by the time I got to my car I was shivering uncontrollably. Tell you what, I cranked up the heater on the way home!!

The worst part was I'd agreed to meet Veg for a run at 6am the next morning. She was still back at the restaurant and I was sooooo tempted to text her and say I'd rather stay in bed.

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:30am I even hit the snooze, which I never normally do, and spent the next 5 minutes battling with myself to get out of bed.

Got up, got dressed and headed out to the car - my usual policy of no heater on in the car on the way to a morning run (because it makes it harder to get out of the car at my destination) went out the window!! :)

Standing at Southbank waiting got Veg & Nikki was torture. It was freezing. I wished that I had spent the $60 at the Nike outlet the day before on the nice pink running jacket I'd seen!!!

I don't think I felt my arms again until about 5k into the run! Bridge crossings this morning added a new dimension to running on a cold morning - the wind was freezing!

I understand now why people wear gloves on a cold morning.

Listen to me going on about the cold. I don't envy those of you in more colder areas ... Kathy!!! I think my inner slob would get the better of me and I'd be content to be fat and lazy and warm!

Anyway, running wise, we did 1 hour at about 6:30 pace. One k was 5:22 pace ... woo hoo!! Felt good too - coming up and over the story bridge and down to the kp cliffs. Veg & Nikki were running behind me and I decided just to push it down the nice gentle slope of the story bridge and see what happened. Shame all running can't be done on such a gradient!!

I've had a nasty cough all week - still left overs from my cold/sinus a couple of weeks back and hadn't run all week because it has been raining (hallelujah) here most of the week and I've had my sister visiting from Gladstone. So the legs are a little tired this morning. Doesn't help that I'm plonked on a chair studying for my exam on Tuesday. Speaking of which - I'd better get back to it.

73%

2007-06-05T14:47:00.000+10:00

so, I got 'the essay' back ... the one I had the submission stuff up with ... 73%. I'll take that any day of the week.

Noice.

So I'm sitting on a Distinction going into the exam with 30% riding on the exam ... easy peasy!! :)

I've found in my old age as a 'mature aged student' (geez that's a horrible term) that I am slighly more obsessed with my marks than I was when I was just bumming around at uni after high school!! I went into this semester knowing I had a big ask infront of me and a lot on my plate with study and kids blah blah blah and siad I was aiming for just passing and would be happy with that ... but the perfectionist in me refuses to listen to that logic when it comes to assessment time.

Tell you what, that is a load off my mind.

personal record

2007-06-03T07:53:00.000+10:00

ran this morning for ... wait for it .... 1hr 40min!!! Wowsers!!! :) Longest time ever spent running!! The distance was a touch under 13k - which is the longest distance I've ever run as well.

Another first - I got to experience going up "Gold Coast Hill" which Tesso tells me is named that because the PCRG runs it to toughen them up for the GCM. I've often run in the other direction (downhill) past and around it and now I know why!!! We only walked it today, but watching the runner in front of us struggle to run up it was enough for me! :)

Today's run certainly wasn't one of those where everything just clicked into place - but what can you expect when you don't run for a week. And even though I was running with Nikki, the last quarter of the run was tough going. But it feels good to be able to say I can run further than 10k, albeit slowly, when most people can't/won't even walk that far. Nikki was very good at giving me a bit of a nudge when I felt like walking, so that was great.

The new running pants were great - very comfortable. And no blisters this morning. The short hair was no drama either, which was good. I wore my hat as usual and it just stayed tucked under and behaved very well!

Tesso - I've been to that acupuncture place - it's in the shopping centre above woolworths right? A couple of chinese GPs who also do acupuncture. I went there when I was about 81/2 mths pregnant with Maeve to have a few treatments to try and get the ball rolling so she wasn't overdue. I remember thinking I hoped it worked because the doctors had the bedside manner of a wet fish and the bed was really uncomfortable (although I'm not sure any bed is comfortable when you're laying there looking like a beached whale!! )

anyway, hopefully the headaches I've been having will go away once my sinuses clear out - always seems to take a couple of weeks after I've been sick for that to happen.

I wanna know...

2007-06-02T15:51:00.000+10:00

what's on your playlist for running/exercise?

Let me know - either via comment or on your own blog :)

fluff

2007-06-02T10:52:00.000+10:00

Yay! One subject finished, one exam to go until the next one is done and then a little break until semester 2 kicks off. I have resolved to keep up better with on line lectures and discussions next semester - I don't think I listened to one lecture in its entirity this semester - I read lecture notes, but I couldn't make myself sit infront of the computer and listen to a boring voice read and stumble their way through what I could read better myself ...

Once semester 2 is finished I will have finally graduated and have 2 complete degrees. It will only have taken me 13 years since high school graduation, and I will have buikt up enough HECS debt to have studied medicine!!! :)

On Thursday I had all my hair chopped off. Apparantly a very 'in' thing to do at the moment. I did it because I love my hairdresser and trust her and she suggested it! So, perhaps if I am brave enough I'll post a pic ... sometime. I must say I quite like it. A doesn't, but he's never liked me with shorter hair. Such a guy thing - what's with that?!

You will note by now the serious lack of running and exercise information from this entry :) Well, as a result of rushing to ger my essay finished by Friday morning, I'd been spending a few very late nights in front of the computer, which meant dragging my lazy butt out of bed early in the morning was harder than it should have been.

I've also been struggling with maeve who has been waking at ungodly hours, grumpy and refusing to go back to sleep. So getting out in the morning means getting up at or before 5am and leaving A to deal with the grumpy baby who only wants mummy.

Since being sick last week too my sinuses are still giving me a bit of grief - nothing major, just a constant dull sinus headache all day long :(

I know, I'm full of excuses these days - and I feel terribly guilty for it, especially when people like RMR, Celeste and EM want to run and can't. But sometimes I think I just do as much as I can and have to accept that other stuff gets in the way sometimes.

Meeting Nikki & possibly Veg for a long run tomorrow. Normally I do 10k (yes, I know this is just a stroll in the park for some of you) but for punnishment for my evil ways I think I might drag it out to 12 tomorrow - see how I feel.

Bought some new 3/4 Brooks running pants from Rebel. The were reduced, but not quite as nice as the 2XU pair I really want. At $90 though, I'm not sure I can justify the 2XU ones - I'm trying to convince myself that the Brooks ones are just as good and will last just as long etc etc etc...

A few responses to comments:

Ben :

There was a time when I thought I had a lot going on in my life.Then I
started reading your blog.Stay cool. It's got to get stable at some point.

This made me laugh - I didn't think things were that bad!! I guess we all have our own dramas :)

Celeste - I emailed Scott - thanks for that suggestion.

re the japan thing - it's Tokyo by the way Tesso - we're still very much undecided. There seem to be so many cons as opposed to pros. A crystal ball at this point would be really great if anyone has one!

RMR - I've finished this series of Heroes - this time minus the BR icecream. Can't wait for the next series to start.

Anyway, I'm off to take another dose of "I don't care what it is as long as it takes away this damn headache"

breathe sarah ...

2007-05-30T12:10:00.000+10:00

*sigh*

panic is over ... for now!!! Thanks for the kind words. My lecturer got back to me at about 11:30am and told me not to panic and to email the essay to him, he will try and mark it over the weekend so that I have some feedback before the exam.

So, now I wait for my mark and see if I get penalised for the "late" submission (because he didn't mention anything about if I would or not). He seemed pretty understanding and agreed that the electronic drop box on the uni forum can be a little unreliable at times. I might have to start stressing over the amount of study I need to do for the exam once I get my mark back!

Study and me have such a love hate relationship - I love using my brain for something other than deciding what to feed the kids for dinner, where to take the kids today, and counting to 10 before I blow my stack at the kids (oh, you think I'm joking!) - but on the other hand I can't wait until this is over and I have a life (albeit revolving around the kids!) back.

Anyway .... back to the interesting stuff ....

PT on monday was good - nothing unusual to report, except I couldn't do any of the running intervals Drew had planned due to my painful blisters (what a sook). Seriously, I tried to run on the treadmill before the PT, but after a couple of steps it was just agony.

This also meant I decided to rest on Tuesday and not run because my blisters were still too sore. By this morning they were fine and I toddled off to my spin class - they had a new instructor who was B O R I N G. blah blah blah.

I know she was probably a bit nervous, being her first class and all, but she was just trying a little too hard to be chummy to everyone. But perhaps it was just me feeling like a grumpy old so and so due to the essay dramas. Anyway, did the class, came home and have been sitting here at the computer ever since trying to get my other essay for my other subject done. This one is proving a little more interesting and easy than the anthropology one.

Land of the Rising Sun

Here's the basic 'in a nutshell' details ... So, there's a job. It's in Japan. 2 to 3 years. A speaks Japanese. I don't. The kids don't. Could be good money. Could be fun. Could be interesting. Could be risky. Could be cold. Could be expensive to have a baby there. But we'll cross all those bridges when we need to. That's about all we know at the moment. A met with the guy at the airport on Saturday - the guy wants us to seriously consider it - I need more details before I can seriously consider anything. So we're waiting to hear more.

Running tomorrow. Might get up pretty early and head out for 45+ min hit out. Wouldn't mind doing a 5k timed run and seeing where I'm at - will probably be bitterly disappointed, so that might not be a good idea. :) I think I will strap my feet this time.

I'm ashamed to say I ate my way through the stress of my assignment with the aid of my brother who turned up on my doorstep last night with a tub of Baskins ice cream and episode 21 of Heroes he's downloaded off the net ... how dare he?!!!! Don't ever eat ice cream at 9:30pm right before going to bed! :)

crap...

2007-05-29T21:08:00.000+10:00

Some of you may recall a few weeks ago I was a little bit stressed about an Anthropology essay I was writing. Well, I just found out - literally 3 minutes ago - that my lecturer has not received an essay from me ... ^%$#@

Because it's an off campus course, everything is submitted on line via an internal uni web site, I thought I had submitted the essay and was a bit concerned when I still hadn't received a mark back yesterday - sent a message to the lecturer and he says he has not received an electronic submission from me.

crap.

I don't know what to do. I've sent him an email and hope to have a response tomorrow asap. I think I feel sick. Why should he believe me - he doesn't know me, he's never met me, he has no reason to believe me. crap. 30%. 30-freakin-per-cent.

Was going to write about gym and running, but I just can't now ...

F@*& it, you know what, I'm so mad - I want to hit something, really hard. geez I stressed so much over that essay I can't believe this is happening. This is so bloody frustrating - and there's nothing I can do about it until I hear back from the lecturer ...

There's a bear in there ...

2007-05-26T19:08:00.000+10:00

It's been a long day and this is going to be a long post - consider yourself warned! Where should I start ... the run ...

Went and ran with Veg, Katy (ihatetoast), and Nikki from CR - Katy left us about 1/2 way through - we started at the G'will bridge and did a length of southbank, across victoria bridge, under the expressway and over the g'will, along the cliffs, over the story bridge, along riverside and the gardens and back over the goodwill. All up, just under 10k i think and 1:05 of running.

A thoroughly enjoyable run despite feeling the start of a large blister at about half way and then feeling the start of another about 3/4 of the way through on the other foot :( I bought new shoes in March and as much as I love then they seem to create blisters in the same place if I run anything over about 5k ... The blisters are always in the inside of the arch of my foot - on both sides. So any suggestions on how to deal with that would be welcomed - the girls today suggested new socks (which I will check out) but also strapping?? How do I do that??! I'm clueless!!

I really enjoyed the company and we chattered away the whole way - sure makes the time go a lot quicker!! I struggled a bit with my throat and chest and breathing, but nothing that was going to stop me. We had a toilet stop part way through and while I was waiting for the girls to come out of the toilet I really began to feel the effects of running with the remains of my cold/sinus/whatever - felt quite light headed but the option of returning to the car on my own - a couple of kms away - was less attractive than the thought of finishing the run with the others. As long as I kept running I was fine. Stopping was a whole other story ...

I was really glad to be out there this morning. Driving in my car at 5:45am this morning I passed so many people out and about, a couple of packs of cyclists, lots of runners, and the PCRG was hanging around the g'will waiting for their start at the time we were there - saw Tesso - but it just gave me that 'happy all over feeling' to see people out early in the morning and doing their thing. I've missed that with my recent slackness - sure was busy out there this morning.

Anyway, coming home from the run I began to think I might have over done it a little. And by about 11am I was certain of this ... the background headache i was feeling had turned into a splitting one and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. I didn't get to do this until much later.

Came home and got ready to take the kids to the Playschool Concert - which was fantastic. They loved it and it was really nice to see them singing, dancing and clapping along. They both love Playschool :)

Max then had a 1am birthday party at McDonalds, so we raced home, Maeve had a sleep, I had a nap and were were late to the party! I've got to say, I understand why parents have parties at McDonalds, but they really are crap and it didn't do anything for my headache and caused me to take some pretty strong pain tablets before I killed lots of people! ;)

Then we finally got to come home and relax ... well kind of ... I had to go do some grocery shopping!

Tomorrow is A's birthday - I went and got some yummy fruit and croissants and english fruit muffins for breakfast tomorrow morning and his mum is coming over for roast tomorrow night. Tonight we're having take away something cos I'm too buggered to cook - I'm not sure these plans are going to do much for my plans of beating Miners this week over at FF, but that's life! Consider yourself lucky Miners! :)

I've been feeling pretty beat all day, and I don't think I did my sore throat any favours by running this morning, but I don't think it's anything I won't get over.

This week I AM going to run - there's only 5 weeks to gold coast ... holy moly!! :) So if I don't get out there I'm going to regret it. Plus I had such a great time this morning that I'm feeling more motivated and excited about it.

There's some other life changing/exciting/scary decisions being made in this house at the moment ... involving jobs and countries of residence and a whole heap of other decisions ... geez, like there isn't enough on our plates at the moment ... but more on that as we know more - early days and we're not sure it's the 'right' thing to do yet - how do you decide something like that anyway???

feeling better

2007-05-25T11:33:00.000+10:00

Thanks for all your well wishes and advice! :)

I'm feeling better - I sound a bit funny and my sinuses are still a little stuffed up, but the fogginess has cleared, so that's good.

Peter: "since it's uncool to run with a hankie, i've mastered the bushman's handshake"

that is absolutely disgusting!! :)

So tomorrow's run is looking good and I'm actually looking forward to it, which I'm really happy about because I thought I might dread it ... :)

My lovely husband had a medical check up yesterday for work - pretty thorough - and they measured his resting HR, which was in the low 40s and his body fat was 14% - It's so unfair ... how can someone who does 1/4 of the physical activity I do, and eats pretty much whatever he wants, have those results??? He thinks it's funny!

Tomorrow we have a full day - I'll come and report - not much running related, except the morning, but all of it good family fun stuff.

Oh, I just want to clarify something ... I'm not pregnant and probably won't be for a few months - August at the earliest probably :) It's not something that comes easily for us, and hopefully won't involve too much heartache - but there's still a few months to get in some quality running :) So I just have to pull my socks up and get a few people to give me a swift kick and remind me how lucky I am to have my health and fitness and get on with it.

Jumped on the scales this morning to check on the FF progress ... I know, I know, I shouldn't, but I couldn't resist ... anyway MINERS - you're gonna have to pull out a 1kg + this week ;) If the scales are the same/better on monday anyway!!

Sick

2007-05-23T20:19:00.000+10:00

Woke up in the middle of the night on Monday and felt horrible - sore swollen glands at the back of my throat and a gluggy kind of nose and throat feeling. Today felt really foggy in the head (some would say that's no different to my usual day to day functioning:) ) and have generally felt worse rather than better today.

I'm hoping whatever it is goes away because I have a major essay due next week and was planning on a run on the weekend with Veg ... I skipped my run on Tuesday and have no plans to run tomorrow, despite saying I would - I'd rather get better first. There's no point running sick and getting even more run down ...

Anyway, I'm off to bed early - it's just gone 8pm and I can hardly keep my eyes open. Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. Thankfully Max is at kindy tomorrow and I'll only have 1 little monkey to take care of.

Let me just say, some of the comments last time made me chuckle a little bit ... but this one :

Ph said "to deal with cold i go to bed dressed in my running gear...but then again, we are not expaning our family ;-) "

...very funny!!

Ben - I like your idea of going out with a bang!! I might have to use that for motivation ... once I get over this cold/flu whatever it is.

nighty night.

issues...

2007-05-21T12:10:00.000+10:00

Lost .3 this week with FF - but admittedly I had a pretty slack week ... I was thinking Miner's 'challenge royale' would be a butt kicking, but it seems he managed a .5 ... so what d'you reckon?? Still in the game there. So this week is going to be better.

This morning had my PT and some cardio at the gym. Drew again threw in some cardio interval type work. I normally have a couple of weetbix for breakfast with 1/2 a cup of milk (at the most) - but this morning I decided to have sultana bran instead and I think I had more milk than normal. So all through the PT I was fighting that gluggy throat feeling of trying to keep breakfast in the tummy ... ewwww.

Now, there was NO running this week. What's happening??? I had planned a long run on Saturday morning but circumstances beyond my control meant that I couldn't go. A got a call on Friday night and had to go and help a friend early saturday morning which lasted all day. I was good though and got on the elliptical trainer at home for 45 minutes - but it doesn't compare to the real thing.

I'm struggling with the motivation to get up early and get out the door for a run - a commbination of the darker mornings, cooler weather and me just being tired all the time really doesn't help much. Also lurking in the back of my mind is the fact that there has been significant discussion in this household about having another baby and although I know there are people who run through pregnancy - I can tell you now - that aint gonna be me :). I'm not a happy pregnant person. But I don't know how long it might take, or even IF it will happen. Anyway, the doubt is there about this little venture and new found enjoyment continuing for an inderterminate amount of time and I think it's making it hard to be motivated.

But GCM looms and this week I AM going to go out on Tuesday morning and Thursday morning and the weekend, as I normally would do before I got so slack! I'm never going to make my CG goal if I don't get back into it.

Anyway, I think that's it from me for today.

QUICK - there's a famine coming ...

2007-05-17T09:53:00.000+10:00

take everything you can, you'll need it for future fat stores ...

I've joined Beki's (sekhmet from CR) Fat Fighters - and if I could figure out how to put hyperlinks in with blogger, I'd do it, but alas, I'm am technologically stupid and you'll have to resort to the sidebar if you want to take a look.

But my body (brain??) seems to think it's going to be a famine and I'm having a battle of wills - I won't say yet whose winning ...

I'm on housecleaning and assignment duties today - so I'm going to ban myself from the computer.

building sandcastles

2007-05-15T19:41:00.000+10:00

This post isn't much to do with running at all really ... but it's all part of the bigger picture.

Normally I run on a Tuesday morning, which I had planned to do this morning as I wasn't going to be going to the gym either because I was meeting Kathy today (more on that later). But last night I fell asleep on my bed while I was doing some reading for uni (what can I say, the textbook was called "The Political Economy of the World Trading System") and as a result I didn't set my alarm or get my clothes out ready for my run - I have to do this otherwise I wake the whole house turning on lights etc.

So I didn't run this morning ...

Took the kids into southbank where we spent some time building sandcastles on the 'beach' (which was the absolue highlight of my day - both of them loved it and I think it set the tone for a really great day, hardly any fights or tantrums and just generally pleasant) before meeting Kathy - her blog is linked in the sidebar - she has amazed me with her weight loss of 40kg and her attitude and dedication to exercise and trying new things, so it was great to put a face to the blog and take a walk through southbank with her.

Came home and fluffed around doing not much really, washing and making dinner etc...

This evening I got on our elliptical trainer for 40 min, burned 350 cal. Now, this is something to be celebrated because we have had this trainer for about 3 years and I can count on my fingers the number of times I've used it. A uses it every morning - he's funny, he gets on it and goes full pelt for about 10 min each morning - but I've had some strange aversion to using it - stubbornness more than anything.

Did 11.3 k in 40 min. I'm going to try and jump on it most nights for 30 or 40 min - can't hurt the running at all and it might help me reach my goal of being under 70kg by the GCM.

So I'm sweaty and I stink, so I'm off to have a 2 min shower :)

Oh, and I just want to say how good I am that instead of going to the haircut I had booked for tomorrow, I've put it off and will be heading to the gym for my spin class. I deserve extra points for that ;)

Running in the Rain

2007-05-14T11:59:00.000+10:00

So in the early hours of Sunday morning I woke to the sound of rain ... part of me was excited - I would finally get to experience running in the rain and see for myself what was so good about it - part of me just wanted to stay in bed nice and dry! :)

I got to southbank with the plan to meet the other girls at 5:45, and just as I got out of my car it started to come down quite heavily. It was still dark, it was quite a cool morning, I don't own a running/rain jacket. By the time I'd jogged the 20 meters from my car to the meeting place, I was cold and wet and starting to wonder what on earth could possibly be good about running in the rain. I was there first, so stood under some shelter and waited for the others and tried to warm up!

The downpour didn't last that long and by the time we set off the rain had eased to a light spit. I could handle that. In fact, I found it quite humid to run in those conditions. Part of it I think was the shirt I had on - the race shirt from the Brisbane Marathon festival - it's a beautiful BRIGHT yellow - you'd never miss it. But although it looks like the technical kind of fabric some of my other running gear is made from, it really doesn't breathe at all and is quite hot to run in.

Anyway, we'd planned to do at least 8k on Sunday. After about 20-25min we dropped Katy off at her car, then shortly after that we made a toilet stop, then shortly after that we ran into tankgirl from CR who was on her way to the MDC at southbank. So it was a bit of a stop start run and in the end only ran about 7k because I had to get home for mother's day celebrations. But it was still a good run - quite a social run. There were lots of people out and about, lots who looked like they were headed to southbank for the run, which was exciting. A bit of banter back and forth between us and a few other runners who we passed or passed us about the race shirts we were all wearing - there were a lot of them out there on Sunday morning! That was fun.

So then it was home for breakfast, which was croissants (a real treat for me as I never have these - don't think of the calories!) and Max gave me a bead necklace he'd made for me at kindy.

This morning I headed to the gym for another go at the aerobics class I did for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It's called "fat burner" but I've been disappointed at the number of calories burned (according to my HRM) for the class on both occasions.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to have my PT, but I'm meeting Kathy tomorrow morning at southbank!! Should be fun.

Rant for the Day

Tell me - when did it become acceptable to pay $3.?? for a lettuce???? I've just come home from grocery shopping, and granted, I did have to buy nappies and washing powder, but I am always amazed at how expensive our grocery bill is. Especially when we're trying to eat healthy, lots of fresh vegies and salads. It's just crazy. No wonder this nation has an obesity problem - it's probably cheaper to eat 3 meals a day from the Mcdonalds than it is to eat 3 healthy meals. And another thing that ticks me off big time about shopping is the very strategic placement of an assortment of kids bubbles, balls, toys and other crap at regular intervals down each isle. It sure doesn't make it easy to shop with kids.

Anyway ...

Here's a question for you - why does my remote locker device for my car not work when the car is parked out the front of our house? It works EVERYWHERE else, but WILL NOT lock or unlock out the front of the house ... how weird is that? It can't be the batteries because it works fine everywhere else, and we haven't even had the car for a year yet ... I can't figure it out!

I love hills

2007-05-12T07:49:00.000+10:00

...not likely!! But I am really happy that this morning when I headed out for a 5k run along my usual out and back route from home - which I think I've said before is mostly downhill the whole way out and all uphill the whole way back. well, this morning I ran THE ENTIRE WAY BACK. I was able to run up the hill all the way home without stopping! I was slow, but I did it!

I also discovered an advantage to being slow - Augie March's 'One Crowded Hour', which is one of my favourite songs, is perfect for running to when you're slow like me!! ;)

Running tomorrow with Vegie & she said I Hate Toast from CR might also come - I'm looking forward to that because any time I've read her blog it's been an absolute crack up.

Happy Mother's day to any mum's out there. I hope your toast in bed isn't too cold!

one word

2007-05-09T17:12:00.000+10:00

Edited to add ... one word ... GASTRO. Wednesday night - Maeve is vomiting no run Thursday morning - vomiting all morning. So far, 1/2 a banana and 100ml of water have stayed down ... I'm not holding my breath!

Wednesday ... okay, so pre-kids I used to look forward to Wednesday's because it meant the working week was 1/2 over and the weekend was coming soon ... a break from work, time to relax, do the things I wanted to do ... I'm not even going to go into what wednesday means after-kids, except to say the weekends no longer hold the same promise as they used to ;)

BUT ... now I think, it's Wednesday, the week is half over, only half a week to go before I get to run on the weekend :)

PT on Tuesday was tough, as I expected it to be. Drew threw in some cardio intervals on what RMR calls "the mincer machine" ... after a few minutes 30 sec intervals with 30 sec recoveries my legs felt like jelly ... funny how you push yourself a lot harder when there's someone standing there telling you to go faster!! so that combined with some bench presses, some squats with weights (well, they have this machine which meant I was pulling weight up on the way up, and then countering the weight on the way down), some standing tricep rows (if that's what they're called - who knows?!) and then a few minutes of intervals on the rowing machine - all of that in a circut 3 times then onto cardio work for 20 minutes before stretching and heading home. I was pleased to see the total calories for the hour was 720 and no soreness today either - noice.

Drew asked me half way through the session if I thought I was working hard enough - now that's a tough question for me to answer because the lazy Sarah says "of course" ... so I asked him if HE thought I was working hard enough and he said some very nice things about my commitment and work at the gym, which were good to hear - everyone needs a little pat on the back every now and then.

Today was spin - nothing unusual to report.

I've decided that my gym schedule is going to be 3 days a week, as opposed to the 4 I have been trying to do - my 2nd weights session has often been dropped. So I've decided to keep my PT and cardio on a Mon, run Tuesday, Spin on Wed, Run on Thurs and Box on Fri - then I'll split my 2nd weights session so that I do arms & upper body after spin on Wed and legs/lower body after box on Fri. I feel good about that, means I'll have an extra day back to do housework!!! Yeah right!

The countdown seems to be on for GCM with newsletters being emailed weekly from the organisers. I'm really looking forward to it ...

The good news and the bad news ...

2007-05-07T12:54:00.000+10:00

The good news is I had a great run this morning. My friend didn't turn up, as I expected, so I got to go for a run with music for the first time in ages. I LOVED it! :) Did a bit of music fartlek in the middle of the run with the aid of a live rendition of U2's Bad/Streets Have No Name (if that doesn't get you running, I don't know what will) and a bit of Fat Boy Slim. I have to say, that was a lot of fun. I would just pick up the pace for a chorus/verse and then drop it back a bit, for a chorus/verse and keep going like that. 2 tracks (well, 3 really with the U2 combination) of fairly decent length. It felt really good.

I ran from New Farm park out along the river and floating walkways to the story bridge, where I turned around and came back - all up just under 6.3km and a time of 38:48, which is an average of pace of just over 6k/min. I was really happy with that.

The music really helped me with the negative thoughts I normally suffer from. I didn't think about walking except to think to myself "hey, I haven't even thought about walking yet"!! In fact, I only stopped to grab a quick drink from one of the water fountains along the route.

Sara - the Sony charges up in 3 minutes!! So no getting caught with flat batteries. I saw yours and Andrew's articles in Runners World this week. It was the first time I'd ever read the magazine. As a beginner runner I really liked the mag and will probably buy it again.

The bad news is that when I bought the mp3 player, which looks like this but in green:

I didn't buy an arm band because the only ones you can get are sony ones and cost $30 - I thought I'd just tuck it under the shoulder strap of my bra - which is what I used to do with the shuffle and in hindsight is probably why the shuffle died - because when I finished the run and took the sony out, you could see there was moisture (sweat) under the coloured casing :(

a. I never knew I sweated that much

b. It never ocurred to me that sweat could get in there!

Anyway, I left the little bugger on a windowsill today and most of it seems to have dried out, hopefully it hasn't done any damage ... time will tell.

I'm not running the MDC on Sunday. I wish all the races weren't on Sunday's. It would have been nice to run it just as a training run and see how the time went.

I have a PT scheduled for tomorrow. After last week's, I'm keen to see what is in store for me. I enjoyed last week's even though it was hard, and couldn't raise my arms above my head for 3 days after. In fact, I think my arms have toned up heaps over the last couple of months, there's not a lot of wobble happening there, which is good. ;) I'm also looking forward to getting stuck into some cardio at the gym after the PT - once again, it's much easier to do with some music!

Miners - I'm still trying to figure out if you actually do want an explanation or if something about those bags and balls has been lost in translation!

Kathy - I just wanted to say I hope you're feeling better. Your blog entry today gave me a lot to think about and I'm really glad you have the courage to be so open and honest.

This week I need to start on my next assignment ... will it ever end?! I've been looking at my watch for the last hour, wondering if it was too early to go to bed ... time to catch up on some blogs first.

weekend report

2007-05-06T21:01:00.000+10:00

Got out for a run on saturday morning. Ran through Southbank from the g'will bridge end and out along the river towards west end to what was the 10k turn around point the other week (which is just before the west end markets start) and back to the g'will bridge. Not sure how far it is and can't be stuffed looking it up and mapping it out on anything. But took me about 40 min, albeit with a few walking breaks (what a sook). It wasn't the greatest run, just ok, but I was out there and that was all that mattered.

As usual I was exhausted on Saturday night and pulled the plug on any plans for a Sunday morning longer run. Am going out tomorrow morning, probably out to New Farm park for a change. A friend was going to meet me, but I have a feeling she's going to pike - which is fine by me because I want a chance to break in my new mp3 player. Ended up getting a Sony 1G. It'll be nice to have some tunes to distract me from the negative thoughts in my head. I'm no purist and will do whatever it takes to get me excited about getting out for a run ;)

The diet has been pretty good the last couple of days. I've definately noticed a difference in my attitude and approach to the whole issue. However, I'm not being pedantic about it either. We took the kids to southbank on Saturday afternoon and ended up staying for dinner - had Pizza. Don't ever go to Amici's at Southbank - it's terrible. Anyway, ate 2 slices of pizza, but didn't stress about it. Aside from the Pizza, Max threw the mother of all tantrums as we were leaving *sigh*. He's being very difficult of late. Everyone tells me it gets easier, I just wish it would get easier quicker. 4 is not a very pleasant age for our household at the moment.

Tomorrow is a public holiday in QLD, so a long weekend, which is noice. But bed time for me if I'm going to be up to be off for a run in the morning. We also have an afternoon tea birthday party for A's niece - so that will test my resolve with the party food etc etc...

motivation...

2007-05-04T15:17:00.000+10:00

*sigh*

hmmm ... this week has been a real non-running week. I've struggled a bit this week with even wanting to run. I've wanted to run, half heartedly mostly. I'm going to blame uni and tiredness. But ever since the 10k a couple of weeks ago I've found motivation is lacking somewhat. I know I've been busy with essays etc, and sometimes life just doesn't have the same plan you do, but in a way, I think it's been my own laziness too ...

Didn't go out on Thursday with the pram - Maeve was ready for a sleep and I couldn't be guaranteed that she would sleep in the pram. Oh, she's 12kg and the pram is about 15kg ... 30kg baby :o can you imagine ... eeeeeee!! :)

Last night I got the running gear out ready to go for the morning, set the alarm and was intending to head off in the morning for at least 5k - I just couldn't get out of bed - probably the remnants of the late night on Wednesday when I was writing that dreaded essay. And the naughty sarah in my head told me I didn't need to go because I had Box class this morning. :(

So I stayed in bed and then went off to Box, which was fun, but something was missing. A thought ocurred to me today in that class - we had about 4 new people starting and a comment of Kathy's came to mind - I was no longer the biggest person in that class, I certainly wasn't the least fit person, and I could actually hit those bags and balls with some force and kind of look like I might have a bit of a clue about what I was doing (just a teeny bit!!).

Vegie is off running the Glasshouse at night this weekend, so I have no running partner for Sunday morning :( Ah well ... I'll still go out, and it'll probably be good to just have some time running with my own thoughts.

Plan to head out tomorrow morning too.

I filled in my 10k entry form for the GCM on line yesterday. Woo Hoo!! 8 weeks. I'm going to use that 8 weeks as a kind of a challenge. Not just for running, but I'm going to try really hard with the diet side of things and see just what I can do if I put my mind to it and stop making excuses.

I was thinking today I really need to get my brother into running - he lives in the same suburb as me, and he has a real runner's build, tall, thin and wiry. He might be really good at it - I've suggested it to him a couple of times and he thinks I'm mad ... with my genes he could be right, but then that means he's in trouble too ;)

funny thing ...

2007-05-03T11:50:00.000+10:00

Peter said in the last comments

well done on the assigment - forget the retail therapy...reward yourself with a run...hehe

So I was on my way home this morning (about 11:30, after being out at the shops with Maeve, Max is at kindy today - hadn't yet seen this comment and was going through all sorts of scenarios in my head trying to figure out a way I could go for a run with Maeve in the pram!!! :) I'm still trying to figure out if it'll work or not - I guess there's one way to find out. I'm feeling a bit ansty as I haven't been able to get out for a run since Sunday ... well, when I say "haven't been able to" I really ought to say I haven't tried hard enough, but I've been burning the candle at both ends as it is, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it too much.

Anyway, I *think* I'm going to go and get into the running gear and put Maeve in the pram and see what it feels like to run in the middle of a beautiful Autum day pushing and extra 30 kilos :o !

check it out

2007-05-02T20:01:00.000+10:00

I have a new photo!!! :)

That's me coming up to the finish of the 10k at Brisbane a couple of weeks ago - which is why I look like I'm in pain ;)

ok, back to the assignment - 700 words to go.

ETA - the assignment is DONE!! I have never, in my life, struggled so much writing an essay as I have with this one. I am SO glad it is over with! I think some retail therapy is in order ...

still procrastinating...

2007-05-01T15:38:00.000+10:00

I was going to go for a run this morning (normally do on a tuesday) but had a PT scheduled at the gym today and wasn't sure if I should - I'm glad I didn't because the PT was HARD today. I think Drew tok on board my whinging about being bored and unmotivated last time and decided to step it up a couple of levels. Which is good.

But not good for running because I won't get to go until Thursday now.

I did a new class at the gym on Monday which was in an effort to inspire me to get excited about being at the gym again (not sure that it worked though). The class was basically an aerobics class, and I was pretty happy with myself that I was able to keep up with what the instructor was doing without looking like a complete dork ... well, I suppose tha last bit is subjective really! ;)

But as far as workouts go, I find it really hard not to compare everything to running these days. I can burn as many calories in half an hour of running as I can in a 50min aerobics class ... so it makes it hard to be excited about it if the main reason you exercise is to lose weight.

Ideally I would just like to run. But it's not possible. The gym allows me to fit exercise in with family life as it has childcare available. I could get up at 4am every morning like some of you do ... hmmmmmmm - nah!!! :)

Seriously though, I think I am going to have to start getting up earlier on weekdays to fit in more running. I know the gym work has a place with cross training and all that, so it's not going anywhere. anyway, as much as I complain, I do enjoy it mostly.

I think our Guinea Pigs are having a domestic (2 males) because everytime I go outside, 1 is at one end of the hutch and the other one is at the opposite end. This is unusual. Normally they both hide in the covered area of the hutch... I hope they patch up their differences, I'd hate to be kept in a cage with someone I didn't like. and one of them definately has the raw end of the deal - he's been sent to what seems to have been nominated the poo corner!

Today Deakin released their semester 1 examination timetable. The location of my anthropology exam scheduled for the 12 of June was listed as Box Hill town Hall (which is in Melbourne) ... what the?!! I politely informed them I reside in Brisbane and could they please change the location. Just seemed silly to me that they would schedule an examination in Melbourne when all of my student info indicates I live in Brisbane.

anyway, I'm absolutely hating my anthropology subject at the moment. I won't bore you with details, but suffice it to say that it is driving me totally nuts, my children are becoming addicted to tv, I'm not sleeping well and it's making it very very difficult to stay away from the chocolate!

if there's one thing I'm good at, it's procrastinating

2007-04-29T13:37:00.000+10:00

Just quick post because I'm supposed to be writing an assignment (yes, another one. this one is worse than the last one and is due Thursday). I've just had to go and get a pillow to put on my chair because my butt is not happy about being parked on this hard chair for the last couple of hours. Particularly as there doesn't seem to be much movement on the essay front.

Anyway, went out for a run this morning around the city/river. I was having the usual saturday night debate in my head last night, should I shouldn't I? I should, but I don't think I can be bothered, I'd love a sleep in, looks like it might rain, cold, dark, wet ... etc etc ... But Lisa rang me and we agreed to meet at the Goodwill Bridge at 5:45am. It's certainly not getting any easier to get out of bed early with the cooler weather and shorter days.

But as usual, once I was out of bed, it wasn't so bad.

I just wanted to say what a fantastic run it was this morning. I came home and told my husband that it was a really great run, but could explain to him why it was great. It was just one of those runs that felt really comfortable, my head was in a really great space and the negative thoughts were at a minimum, everything just felt 'right' - anyone who runs will know exactly what I mean, but it's hard to explain isn't it?

I even thought that it was easier for me to talk and run, but I'm sure our pace wasn't any slower than previous runs. All up about 7k in 51min. A thoroughly enjoyable morning.

here's a picture of where we went - through the city this time from riverside rather than through the gardens - the later (I discovered this morning) is a much more enjoyable run - you avoid most of the car fumes and saturday night drunks still hanging around outside the casino and other places - not to mention the alleyways through the city that smell like a men's toilet.

ETA - oh I meant to say, stretching - I admit I am sometimes guilty of skipping or not stretching enough, but it seemed to me that the quads tightened up during the run on Friday, not after. I could literally feel them starting to tighten up - I stopped for a little stretch, but I think the damage was done. anyway, feeling much better after this morning's run, so I think I must have just been tired from Sunday.

Kathy - I had to laugh at your wonderings about the manure ... mum and dad have 32 acres - they're a bit nuts about their gardening and I think my dad's words were "dump it all on the veggie patch" :0

About Chi Running - I've looked for this book at borders ... no luck - I remember someone else reading it - was it Kathy? Is it worth a read?

Peter - I've sent you my email address via CR.

Miners - yes the DFO near the airport - the Brooks shop there is great, and other stores there are great for cheap kids shoes.

The Polocrosse was kind of fun - it rained all day, so we got pretty wet and cold. The kids, who have not ever seen real horses before absolutely LOVED it. Maeve's reaction to the horses was priceless - it was worth it just to see that. The game looks awfully dangerous if you ask me, and I don't know how they don't fall off and get trampled. Horses are amazing animals - I'll let you in on a secret - I was obsessed with horses in my youth - in fact, I though I was one! Don't laugh! how embarrassing !

5km

2007-04-27T11:02:00.000+10:00

this morning's effort - Av HR: 158, 5.2k in 32.54, which is about 6:30min ks ... for me that was pretty good! It doesn't feel right because in hindsight it wasn't that difficult (aside for some tightness and soreness in the quads - more about that later). I need a way of switching off my brain when I run. I have to fight so hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay and it really frustrates me.

I haven't decided what to do training wise - everyone has a different opinion and I guess it's a matter of finding what works for you. I'll probably procrastinate making any decisions (decision making is definitely not one of my strong points) and just keep plodding along for a while. My aim is to get this morning's pace feeling a little more comfortable and be able to sustain it for longer - as Benny pointed out, 6:30min ks is a 65 min 10k - I'd be stoked with that.

About 2/3 of the way through though I was really feeling it in my quads ... man, what a sook - I just don't get it - If I'd run a marathon on Sunday I could understand it, I ran a measly 10k with only 1 easy run since then.

When I got home I could barely get out of the car, and had to go down the back steps sideways this morning!!! Disgraceful!!

I also seem to have broken out in some kind of a rash all over my neck, shoulders, upper chest and upper back. It's red and itchy and is driving me slightly nuts.

No run tomorrow as we're off to Warwick for the day to watch my sister's partner play polocrosse. Would you believe that my mother is driving down in dad's ute so she can collect a ute full of horse manure (polocrosse is played on horses and they're having the polocrosse World Cup 2007 down there this weekend 800+ horses in one tiny town = a lot of manure)????? I don't even want to think about it. She's completely nuts!

2007-04-26T18:29:00.000+10:00

Not much to say really - went out for a 5k on Wednesday morning - had to keep telling myself this was supposed to be an easy recovery type run and not to push myself too hard! Found it quite an enjoyable run. I just did the usual 5k out and back route around my house - all down hill on the way out and all up hill on the way home. I'm finding I am capable of running a lot more than I used to on the route home (as opposed to the usual walk run walk run), so that made me happy.

Planning to head out tomorrow morning and time my 5k around the river by Yeronga so I can measure my improvements over the next couple of months before the GCM. I'm not expecting great times tomorrow - I haven't been going to the gym this week and then had last week not doing much before the 10k ... so I'll probably be a bit slow.

I've been feeling a bit bored with the gym lately & spoke to my PT about it - I decided to have a little gym holiday this week as a result. Also changing my schedule up a bit to try and combat the boredom. It's not just boredom, it's also a time management thing. I feel like I spend my life at the gym and the life/gym balance is out of whack, particularly on the days when Max is at Kindy and I go to the gym, come home, Maeve goes to sleep, she wakes up, has lunch and then we go get Max - I never get anything else done. So I've swapped my 1 day off gym to a thursday (which is a kindy day) which will hopefully allow me to get a few jobs done on the Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

I want to head out to the DFO and get some new running gear ... maybe tomorrow.

thanks

2007-04-24T14:34:00.000+10:00

I forgot to say a huge thank you for all the encouraging comments on my first 10k - thanks :)

3 posts in one day - can you tell I'm procrastinating ...

so what now???

2007-04-24T14:03:00.000+10:00

RMR asked if I ran with a HRM - the answer is Yes. A question about this - I know HR is an individual thing and what works for one may not for another, but when running my HR is ALWAYS high - I'm talking in the 170 - 180 range, but mostly sitting around 172/175 ... I know that will improve as I get more used to running and as I get fitter, but I was surprised that it was so high. That's not really a question is it? More of a statement ... feel free to respond to my statement!!

So I'm planning on heading out for a run tomorrow morning.

I'm actually quite sore today - but I think that has more to do with the massage (read remedial, ouch that hurts, what the hell are you doing, sports massage as opposed to the dim lights, oil burner, relaxing massage!!) I had last night. I'd booked it about a week ago because I thought I'd pull up a bit sore after Sunday and would benefit from it ... turns out I probably didn't need it, but it was still enjoyable in an odd painful kind of way!

So I'm a bit sore today but nothing major.

anyway, back to running ... an easy 5k tomorrow and then I want to focus on getting my time down for the 10 at the GCM. I'm hoping that running in July, earlier in the day and on a flatter course will all contribute to this, but I like to think there's actually something I can do to have an effect on the outcome too.

I'd like to aim for something under 1:10, but closer to 1:05 - I'd like to know what my wonderful readers think (ooh, bit presumptuous?)? Realistic?

Feedback from some runners on CR seems to indicate that I just keep running as I have been and the improvements will come - there's no need for any specific speed work at this stage ?? So I should just keep running my 2 or 3 5k runs during the week and a long (well long for me - say 8 to 10k) run on the weekend? Should I push myself in the 5k runs, make one of them a kind of a time trial or tempo run? I'd like to be able to keep a 6:30 pace, I couldn't sustain that for the whole race on Sunday and would like to be able to by the time the CGM comes around. Am I setting myself up for a dismal failure?

The other option is to follow a structured program, like a Hal Higdon 10k here : http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10kinter.htm ... I'm not sure I would class myself as intermediate, but his beginner program would probably frustrate me.

I'm just feeling a little lost - I'm not sure how I should be going about this. If I should just be plodding through my usual runs, like I always have, then fine, I'll do that ... or if the above sounds ok, then I'll do that, or if there's something else I should be doing, I'll do that :) !! I'm willing to try anything, I just want to see some good results in July ...

Looks like I'm getting a new iPod for Mother's Day - YAY!!! The shuffle has finally died once and for all, so I'm thinking a Nano ...

a couple of photos

2007-04-24T13:47:00.000+10:00

The only running action shot you're going to see on here of me - the others remind me all too clearly of the fact that I need to lose weight - this is us (top LH cnr of the photo) just going under the bridge near the start of the race, still trying to find a comfortable spot in the crowd in which we could run without having to stop for people in front - a bit frustrating that part of the race isn't it?

some of you may have seen this on CR already ...

10k ...

2007-04-22T17:17:00.000+10:00

OK, so last night I had the worst night’s sleep in my life!!! I just couldn’t stop thinking, couldn’t switch off. Went to bed at 8pm and ended up getting up to watch TV at 10:30 – went back to bed an hour later and finally managed to drift off, only to keep waking up to look at the clock, worried I might sleep through my alarm!

Anyway, my ride arrived at 5:15am and we headed off to see the marathoners and half marathoners get their start – that was inspirational, seeing those guys just fly past and thinking some of them were going to be keeping up that pace for 42km! Wow! I could never do that. In fact, after today I don’t think I could ever do a half either!

Our 10k started at 9am and it was already warm so I knew it was going to be hot. We started out at about 2 thirds of the way at the back of the pack and quickly overtook people in front of us as we settled into a nice pace. At that point I was feeling good, but for me it’s always a mental battle, finding my rhythm in the first 3ks or so. As we came up to the loop of the gardens and about the 5.5k point I was feeling horrible. My legs and my arms felt like dead weights and then I started to feel tingly all over my arms, legs and face. We walked the majority of the gardens loop, and what wasn’t walked was a very slow, very sad shuffle. I was feeling pretty disappointed in myself at this stage, because I was feeling pretty bad and felt like I wasn’t going to make it to the finish by the 1:15 goal we’d set.

The walk around the garden loop allowed me to recover a little and towards the end of the loop I seemed to be able to get back into a reasonable pace and rhythm, used the drinks station to wet my face and head and felt much better for it.

I had wanted to run up the goodwill bridge, I knew I could do it, I’ve done it in my weekly runs, and we started running up it, but I said to Lis that there was no point killing myself getting over the bridge and then wanting to collapse on the other side. So we walked up and ran down. A huge boost on the other side of the bridge was seeing Peter there who ran with us for a few metres – this was totally unexpected, we thought he’d gone home after his HM and seeing us off at the start, so that was really great. A few nice downhill sections through southbank allowed us to get a bit of pace back, but the tingling returned about 1km out from the finish.

That last km was an absolute killer. Lisa really pushed me (for which I’m grateful) but it was hard. Put in a bit of a push down the finishing chute.

It was great to hear the announcer say my name as we came up to the finish line! I felt like a star! A slow, hurting star!!!

Came in at about 1:12 in the end. I don’t know what the official time was, we’ll wait and see. I was happy to just finish given the way I was feeling at half way.

Highlights:
finishing!!!
Watching the HM and Marathon runners – amazing.
Cheering on fellow CRers in the Marathon and HM
Seeing my family waving from the top of the victoria bridge at the start of the race, and then seeing them again about 1km from home.
Seeing Peter at the other side of the Goodwill Bridge – a much needed lift!
Getting a huge cheer by Clairie & Tesso as we headed out through the tunnel out to west end

I’m glad I did it – it was hard, but worth doing. Now I have something to aim for at the GCM. About 9 weeks to try and train for that. I’ll be seeking some advice on CR about how to go about that, so anyone who has any tips, please let me know what you think I should be doing. I have no idea how to get faster ... I don’t even know if it’s possible.

I’m debating now if I should enter the MDC in May – it’s only 8km, but I’m just feeling a little too tired and sore this evening to contemplate it properly.

There were several points in the race that I thought I never wanted to run ever again!! Don’t worry, I will run again, probably on Tuesday.

After the race I was thinking what a great place to run an event from. After I finished we took the kids for a play in the new water park recently opened at southbank and the cool water on my legs was like manna from heaven!! When I finished the race my legs and arms were covered in little red dots, looked like a shaving rash or something - took about an hour for that to disappear.

I don't know why today was so hard for me. I think a combination of me being tired from lack of sleep, nerves (even though I felt quite calm), and the heat.

I learnt today too that you should take a pair of thongs or something to put on after the race - putting my runners back on after cooling my feet in the water for a while was not fun. I was hobbling a bit by the time we made it back to the car.

I was also happy to discover that my t-shirt they handed me at the finish line actually fits!!!! Wooo Hoooo!!! So I have the t-shirt, now I need the GCM one, then the B2B one and I'll have the whole set!

Wow, this post is way too long - thanks for sticking it out to the end!!!

I am quite proud of myself - overall a great experience, and an accomplishment no one can ever take away from me.

one more sleep

2007-04-21T19:37:00.000+10:00

... I hope it's a good one - I've got to be up a little earlier than I'm used to!! :)

Nothing to report. Glad it's Sunday tomorrow. I'll be back with a race report tomorrow afternoon. I'm glad Lisa suggested we go there early to see and cheer for the Marathoners and HMers - I want to be able to feel like I'm giving something in return for all the lovely support I've had.

Thanks everyone for your comments & enocuragement - they really do mean a lot to me.

Thanks especially to Celeste and Kathy, who really inspired me to believe that *I* could do this. All those names on the sidebar there really are inspirational to me, in different ways, some of you I can realte to now, others of you I aspire to be even a little bit as good as you ... someday.

Tomorrow is like the first step towards a bigger goal, the 10 at the gold coast. I want to work on my speed over the next few weeks so I can totally smash whatever time I happen to run tomorrow.

My plan is to hopefully come in between 1:10 and 1:15. Anything under 1:10 I'll be really pleased about. Run without walking as much as I can,(which will mean I have to try very very hard to avoid a stitch), grit my teeth and run up those bridge crossings, and just have fun!

Went to pick up my race # today and caught the end of the under 15's 3k ... it was pretty exciting to see them coming down the finishing stretch - I still felt completely out of place there and like people were looking at me thinking "what's she doing here?" !! Silly, I know, but years of insecurities when it comes to the whole arena of sport aren't going to dissapear overnight.

I'm off to bed, hopefully I can sleep!! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve! Someone slap me!!

are you a runner?

2007-04-17T08:26:00.000+10:00

The best part about today is that I have finished and submitted my assignment yesterday - so no more being chained to the laptop until it's done. The house is tidy and clean, it's my rest day from the gym, I've been out for my morning run, and it's a beautiful day! :)

Got marks back for an earlier assignment for my anthropology subject ... 93% - very noice.

Have decided we will probably head to southbank on Sunday early to see the marathoners and HMers off and cheer them as they do a lap or 2 before my race starts at 9am.

I have 2 sets of builders coming to give me quotes for various renos today - another thing that makes me very happy! Let's just hope we move from the quotes to the actual building ...

I ran into (literally) my back neighbour this morning - she was walking and I was just finishing up my run down the big hill near our house and a lap around the park for good measure. The look on her face when I stopped for a chat ... you know :
her: I didn't know you ran
me: yeah, I'm doing a 10k run on Sunday blah blah blah

... priceless!!!

I love it. Although, that said, I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable talking about running - I don't know why. I think it's because it's not something everyone does. I mean, to me, going to the gym isn't that impressive in a way - everyone and anyone can go to the gym. "going to the gym" doesn't mean you have to work hard - I've seen it - people who come in and sit on the bike for who knows how long and read a magazine, or take a leisurely stroll on the treadmill while watching TV ... WORK UP A SWEAT PEOPLE!

But running ... there's no escaping hard work in running. You gotta sweat, you gotta breathe hard (well I do anyway!!) and it's not something everyone does. You hear all sorts of excuses from people about why they can't run.

And also, to me, I still have trouble calling myself a runner. Runners are people who run every day of the week, who run for longer than an hour on a regular basis, runners are people who are a lot faster than me, fitter than me, thinner than me, runners are people who can run a marathon or HM without stopping. Runners are people who don't have the constant mental battle with themselves about if they should stop and walk, or even if they should get out of bed in the morning.

So sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable talking about my running to people who don't run. I don't want to appear like I'm talking myself up or anything, so I'll often talk down my accomplishments, like, "oh, I only run 5km" or "the most I've ever run is 10km (well, it will be on Sunday anyway!)" ... I feel like a bit of a fake ... does that make sense?

I know, I should get over it!

Well, my first builder is here ... let's hope the quotes don't break the bank too much.

9km, restored confidence

2007-04-15T13:38:00.000+10:00

This morning's run was good. A touch over 9km at 1:05. We walked a bit at the end because it was the 3rd bridge crossing we'd done and right at the end and I was feeling lazy. So talking to Lisa this morning about what my goals should be for next week we decided that a realistic 'A' goal would be to come in at under 1:15, hopefully closer to the 1:05 or 1:10 mark ... watch this space!!!

'B' goal is just to finish!!!! :)

I told Lisa I would leave my watch at home and she was only to tell me the time/pace about 2k from home if we were going to make a good time!

I don't want to get hung up on the time, it's not the reason I'm doing this race, we'll focus on that at the 10 at the GCM. I've done absolutely no speed work in all the running I've ever done, so hopefully there will be some big improvements by the GCM in whatever the time ends up being on sunday.

Anyway, it was a good run that left me feeling happy and confident about next week!

Planning to get to the city at 7am next Sunday, and go and hang out with the CR cheersquad for a little while before heading over to the race start. Should be a good way to distract the nerves!!

Only one run planned for this week - probably on Tuesday morning, an easy 5k, some gym work on Monday, Wed and Thurs, resting Fri and Sat (kinda makes me laugh ... resting!!! It's not like I'm running a marathon!!)

Just have to wait and see what the weather is going to be like - if it's fine I'll wear my white and blue singlet, if it's raining it'll be the dark blue one ;)

Bring on Sunday!

low confidence

2007-04-14T10:31:00.000+10:00

This morning I had a terrible run. I know you gotta have the bad ones to appreciate the good ones, but it wasn't the run so much that got to me the most ... indulge me for a moment while I have a whinge.

This morning I went and ran with a group for the first time, I didn't know anyone, none of them were CRers (I don't think anyway - they weren't nice enough!). It was something I thought I might like to check out after seeing them running about a month and a half ago. So I went this morning because I'd said I would. They were supposed to be doing a 5k run, which fit into my program nicely.

anyway, got there and for anyone who knows brissie, they were doing loop of the cliffs at KP - along RT from the rotunda, down the fireman stairs at the story bridge end, and up the steps at the other end back to the rotunda. I'm not sure how far it was, not too far - probably about 1.5k

I hated every minute of it. Not only was it boring, the stairs were greulling. I was the slowest (which I can handle), by the third loop the trainer leading the group was pushing for PBs ... I felt ill. I stopped at the top of the first stairs and walked back to the rotunda.

I don't know if I'm more dissapointed in myself for not finishing, or dissapointed that the session wasn't what I thought it would be and I was so crap and slow at it. I think I must be hormonal or something because it's really got to me and left me feeling quite upset and shattered confidence wise.

The trainer told me they'd spent the first part of the year doing speed work and were now concentrating on distance and endurance ... isn't it supposed to be the other way 'round????? They spent so much time fluffing around it really annoyed me!

anyway, needless to say, I don't think I'll be going back (especially as they want $9 a pop for the privilege)

So I came home and am feeling quite unsure about next Sunday. What am I thinking thinking I can do 10k ... yeah yeah, I know, I can do it, blah blah blah, but I'm just feeling like a big sook at the moment.

I have an 8k run planned for the morning - hopefully will feel better about things after that.

Had Box class on Friday and one of the guys in the class commented on the effort I was putting into hitting one of the bags! I was just feeling a little frustrated and was taking my anger out on the bag!!! oops!

top night

2007-04-12T07:04:00.000+10:00

Last night I went out for dinner with a bunch of the CR brissie crowd (plus Miners). Before the dinner the only person I'd met was Vegie-girl, who I have run with a couple of times on the weekends. So I was a bit scared, meeting new people is way outside my comfort zone!

There was Me, Miners, Vegie-Girl, Tesso, Clairie, Davo, Owen, Cirque, PeterHorse, Undercover Brother, ummm I think that was it, plus Clairie's family and a couple who I don't know who they were!

Me and my lovely running partner, me looking a bit strange!!!

ETA these pics - stolen from the CR site - L - R top row - Davo, Vegie, Me, Owen. Bottom Row, L - R - Miners, Peter & Undecover Brother (who is an absolute crack up)

It was just nice to meet these people and find out they are indeed as nice in real life as they are on CR, and still had heap of encouragement and advice to offer. Stayed out past midnight - which is waaaaaay past my bedtime, needless to say I was a bit bleary eyed this morning when the kids decided it was time for me to crawl out of bed! I'm sure I had palnned to run this morning, but at about 11pm last night I realised that wasn't going to happen!!

I'm really glad I went.

Went out for a 5k run before my PT yesterday morning. Nothing special about it, in fact it was quite a slow run. Realised that route I run takes me right past a water treatment plant ... I wondered what the smell was!

PT was ordinary and left me wondering if I will bother buying another block of 10 after this one is finished. Drew i great, but I think I'm just a little bored with it. I would actually love to get outside and do something in a park or something (although coming into winter, I'm not sure that's the smartest idea!).

I made a deal with A that if I watch my food intake for the next week and a bit before the 10k, and then run the 10k, that I can have a massage on the Monday evening after the 10k. Motivation wise it seems to be working. I've never had a proper massage before, so I'm looking forward to it, and I can imagine that I'll be pretty wasted after the race on the Sunday before, so it should be good.

The non-running coolrunners have decided they're going to camp out on the city side of the goodwill bridge for the race on the 22nd, to cheer everyone on. Is it possible I might be able to turn more red from embarrassment than from huffing and puffing 8km into a 10km race??? It'll be great to have the encouragement, but I am so not an attention needing kind of person (especially when I'll be running so slowly and badly!) so it'll be a bit of a squirmy moment too. I must try to get over that and just enjoy it and enjoy the support!

Better go, gotta get my head around the last half of this assignment ... have I said how much I hate studying right now?!

Piker

2007-04-10T06:59:00.000+10:00

I piked out of my 5k run this morning - Maeve woke up 3 times last night (not including the wake at 5:15am when I decided to turn the alarm off it's set time of 5:45am). So I decided I wouldn't get up and run this morning. Don't feel so guilty after back to back runs on Sun & Mon (normally I have a rest day between runs).

I can see as the weather gets colder it's going to be harder and harder to get up in the mornings.

I still have half an assignment to write.

Kathy, I just read on your blog about your planning a trip to QLD soon ... I left you a comment - if you want to & if you have time & are in the right location etc etc, please let's meet up for a run?

Gotta go, kids are playing their fav game of let's see how loud we can scream at each other and who has the highest pitch :0

8K!!!! Yay!

2007-04-09T11:06:00.000+10:00

Today is my longest run to date - 8km!

Convinced A that he should take the kids to the fantastic playground at New Farm Park while I went for a run - I don't think he expected me to be gone for as long as I was.

7km out and back, starting behing the Powerhouse and then along the river at New Farm and the floating walkways to the Story Bridge and back to New Farm with a loop of New Farm Park to round it out to 8km.

When I got back to the park I really didn't feel much like running around the park, but I made myself. Did a bit of self talk (out loud!) that I could do it, I needed to prove it to myself blah blah blah. Anyway, took me 55min in the end all up. 2 short walking breaks when I stopped at drink fountains.

It was great to get some confidence back after my 2 not so good runs last week.

This week I'm planning my biggest running week ever. Starting today with the 8k, tomorrow a 5k, wed is PT and spin at the gym, Thurs 5k and weights, Fri Box and then on the weekend, at least 1 8k on the Sunday, possibly a run on the Sat depending how I feel. The easing off the week after for fresh legs for the 10k race.

I think I'm going to book a massage for the Monday after the race - my reward!! I haven't told my trainer at the gym that I'm doing the 10k yet ... will probably mention it on Wed during my PT - see what he has to say about it!

Oh, Kathy - I used Google Earth to do the maps - it's so easy - if I can figure it out, anyone cane. It's free to download and you just use the navigation tool in the r.h cnr of the screen to zoom in to the area you want. You can map a path and they also have a mearsuring tool which is how I measure the distance of my runs. I think you can download Google Earth here: (http://earth.google.com) - I wouldn't try it if you're on dial up though.

ETA - you know what I'm most excited about with regards to the 10k??? I get to have one of those cool racing pics up the top here instead of the dorky one that's there now!!! hee hee!!

Not so long run ...

2007-04-08T09:45:00.000+10:00

Here's what this morning's run looked like ... 6.5k - a bit short of the 7 we planned but when I met Lisa for the run I suggested we run the opposite direction and cross the victoria bridge and run under the f'way and a loop of the botanical gardens, back over the goodwill bridge and up the forecourt of southbank - it's the latter half of the 10k route that I'll be running on the 22nd.

There's a few hills (not big ones, just little rises over bridges and through the gardens) but just minor undulations really make it much harder - I must have to do more hill work in my weekly runs. They're just so unpleasant!!!

Was actually a bit of a hard slog this run. I was looking forward to it, but I think a combination of only running once this week (and that one wasn't great either) and crappy diet just made the entire run a bit of a trial rather than enjoyable. If Lisa hadn't of met me at southbank I think I wouldn't have run - so it was great to have someone there to force me!

The great thing about this morning is that Lisa offered to run the 10k with me on the 22nd - so it'll be nice to have some company of someone more experienced than me, I won't be so nervous, and less likely to try and run harder than I should. Halfway through today's run I began to wonder what on earth I'd done signing myself up for the race - but I'm going to work really hard to change that attitude during this week. I know I can do it, I just have to think positively.

You know, I think when I don't know the distance I'm running it becomes a real mental battle for me. Also, when I don't know the course and don't know how much further until the home stretch, the negative thoughts are much more persistant and louder than the positive ones. Does that make sense. When I came home and mapped this run I realised it wasn't any further than what I've been running and should have managed it a lot better. But I think because I didn't know exactly how far it was, then it was a lot harder.

I really enjoy Lisa's company - it's nice to have someone to talk to through a run.

Gave the kids their easter eggs this morning - they got 2 each - a Humpty Dumpty (thanks Morsey!) and a small cadbury bunny. Maeve proceeded to mash hers into a million pieces and then cried about it!!! Max hasn't touched his. Oh to have his self control!!!!! It'll probably it around the house taunting me for weeks to come, and being the bad mother that I am I'll probably eat bits and pieces of it here and there and one day (in 2 mths time) he'll ask me where his easter eggs are ... :0

No, I must be good. I want to feel good for the run on the 22nd and I know to get the most out of it I'm going to have to behave myself food wise. I've decided to take Kathy's advice re the food diary - previously when I eat something I shouldn't I never wrote it down (if you don't write it down it has no calories right?!!), but I think Kathy was right in that when you do write it you realise exactly what you've eaten and you're more likely to get back on track instead of turning the situation into one great big binge.

Frustratingly everal people in the last week have told me they think I don't need to lose any weight, that I look good, 'healthy', blah blah blah ... it doesn't help me to hear things like that - then I just go make excuses for myself. I've put on about a kilo over the last couple of weeks and clothes that were begining to feel a little loose are now feeling a little tighter ... :( - but it's been a low exercise couple of weeks for me with a busy week last week leading up to Max's party and then with Easter this week and the gym closed for 4 days. So I'm making a promise to myself that it'll be game on for the next couple of weeks, really trying hard to do the best I can, and then if I don't see results, then I will allow myself the right to be frustrated and upset. But until I'm completely honest in my exercise and eating, I don't have that right.

As much as I love getting the old grey matter working again, I am really not enjoying this external study caper right now. We're half way through the semester and I feel like I haven't learnt a thing - I hate to think what the exam is going to be like - at least with essays I can bluff my way around them and BS my way through ... exams are a different story. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

It's an absolutely beautiful day here, I love this time of year.

Better stop waffling and go play with the kids, do the dishes etc etc ...

ETA - %^$#@ blogger - no matter what I do I can not get it to format these paragraphs right ... sorry.

any takers??

2007-04-07T10:53:00.000+10:00

Anyone want to write an assigment on the IMF, World Bank and the discontent of Global Capitalism???? anyone ... ?? No? I guess I'll have to go back to banging my head against the wall ...

braved woolworths this morning to get eggs and a few groceries - It was busier than Christmas Eve. Thankfully I was in and out in about 20 min max.

Max has gone 'camping' for the day with A, so it's a girls day (except the big girl of the house has a freakin' assigment to do). Might take Maeve out for a walk later as I've had no exercise for 2 days ... :(

I went and bought a book at Borders about running for women today. I'll have a read of it after I've written my assignment otherwise I'll procrastinate too much. I'm concerned that it'll be that time of the month for the 10k at the Brisbane Mara ... I don't run well at that time, find it really hard actally.

Thanks everyone for your comments lately - Gnome - you always have such wise things to tell me!!! :)

I'm looking forward to my long run tomorrow.

2007-04-05T21:53:00.000+10:00

ahhh, I'm feeling a bit better today - I promise not to do that again. I was going to delete ... but part of me feels better having got that off my chest. It's just a bit personal though

Went for a run this morning and it was one of those runs where nothing felt right. I went out pretty hard to the half way mark (a lot of it down hill) but coming back was just horrible really. I would have loved to use a toilet and it was all uphill and I just couldn't find any rhythm and was really glad when I finally got back home. The big hill on the final home stretch felt terrible. It's quite steep and felt really jarring.

I missed my weights work out today because of the kindy hat parade and maeve needing to have a sleep before it.

And just becuase he's so cute, here's a pic of Max and his easter hat he made at kindy

and here's the latest addition to the family - Max's Guinea Pig, which he called "Lush", we got Maeve one too, we've called hers "pig pig" because that's what she calls them. They're quite cute and Max loves holding them. I've almost lost this one twice when he's made a dash for the fence and the bushes!!

I realised tonight that I can't go to the gym for my normal box class tomorrow because the gym is closed. Man, I was ticked off when I realised that - I was really looking forward to going. I'm not gonna run tomorrow. I'll probably leave it until Sunday morning - aiming for 7.2k run with vegie-girl around the river and southbank. After today's run I'm just not excited about the idea of getting out there again before Sunday.

Anyway, looks like the Lions are going to win, and ch 7 have delayed the coverage by an hour and I can't be stuffed staying up to watch it, I'm too tired.

Next Wed night I'm going with the brisbane coolrunners and Miners to dinner at Milton. Should be fun I think, I'm quite nervous if I think about it. I asked A if he wanted to come with me and he looked at me like I was very strange!! So I guess that's a no!

Hope everyone has a great easter, believe it or not I've left egg buying until the last minute and will have to brave the crowds on Saturday to get an easter egg or 2 for the kids. I must be mad.

a little dramatic... i'm hovering over the delete button...

2007-04-04T12:35:00.000+10:00

ok, be warned, this is not a pretty post, if you want to skip it, feel free.

I need to have a whinge about myslef.

I think I'm fairly intelligent. I always did well at school, I enjoyed uni and did well there too ... then why am I so freaking stupid when it comes to food?

I continually frustrate myself when it comes to trying to eat well and as a result lose weight.

I know that I have emotional triggers for my eating. I know I particularly eat when I'm stressed and when I'm bored. I know what stresses me ... mainly the kids & family crap, and I should never be bored - I have heaps that I should be doing.

So what frustrates me the most is that while I know these things, I still can't seem to control it. I'm a bit of a control freak. I don't like delegating things unless I know 100% that the person is going to do it, and do it well (which normally means doing it the exact same way I would do it!!). I don't know why I can't just keep my eating under control, have the will power to stay away from the junk and the sugar.

I want to be healthy. I don't want to be stick thin, never did and never will, I just want to feel healthy. I really really really do. So why isn't that enough to stop me eating junk?

For the first time in my life I'm exercising 6 days a week. And real exercise, you know, not an easy stroll around the neighbourhood, but sweat inducing, muscle building exercise. I know that I'm fitter aerobically than I ever have been, and I've come leaps and bounds with my running, I'm stronger than I ever have been, and I know my body has changed shape (just a teeny tiny bit) and I'm feeling better about that aspect of my health and fitness. and I'm really proud of those changes I've made. But it all seems pointless if I don't fuel my body properly to get the most out of the exercise.

People talk about acknowledging the reasons why you're overweight. I don't have any reasons. I haven't ever been abused, verbally, physically or sexually, I come from a happy family who loves me, I have a marriage which is wonderful and a husband who is mostly supportive and encouraging of everything I do, we are financially secure and stable. So what's my excuse????? Not that I believe in excuses ...

I get stressed about the children. The constant whinging and tantrums and fighting drive me mental. I think I started to experience a bit of PND after Maeve was born, which is the reason I joined the gym, and that has made a huge difference. I use the kids and their behaviour as an excuse. An excuse to do what's easiest rather than what is best for them or me. I have a huge guilt complex about not being a good enough mother. I think this stems from the great difficulty we had bringing these 2 little people into this world and then feeling terribly guilty at how hard I find motherhood sometimes, how I should be cherishing every single moment and just being grateful that we have these 2 little miracles. Like any mum, I know this isn't logical, I know that every mum finds motherhood challenging ... I guess I just feel I don't handle the challenges in the best way sometimes.

I've always struggled with my self image and self esteem. Now, as a child growing up I knew my parents loved me, I knew I was valued and all that, but socially I always struggled to feel accepted and liked and happy. That's something which has followed me to adulthood - I find it extremely difficult to make new friends, to feel accepted for who I am, to show people who I really am.

But what's all that got to do with food and eating??? I don't know. I tend to believe there's no reason for excuses like that, get a grip, build a bridge and just get on with it. Stop the whinging and just exercise some self control for a change.

So I'm hoping by dumping all this out there, I'll feel better. I've been beating myself up over it for a couple of days (which then makes me depressed and then I eat more).

If I had gotten my act together when I first started going to the gym 9 months ago I wouldn't be in this position now. I'd be thinner and healthier and I'd be able to run faster (now, that's what it's all about!!!).

I owe it to myself and my family to change my eating habits. I'm going to really try. I know I've said that before, but I really want to try, I'm sick of feeling this way about myself.

Anyway ... enough beating up on myself. To try and ease my guilt complex as a mother and cope with being a single mother for the last few days while A is away in Melb for work, I'm toying with the idea of taking the kids to see Meet the Robinsons at the movies. Maeve has never been to a movie before, so it could be a very interesting experience!

I'm excited about the 10k on the 22nd. Well, I go from being excited to being scared, to wondering what I've got myself in for! Did a run on the treadmill before my spin class this morning at the gym - managed 2k at a 6min/km pace - I was pretty pleased with that. I found it really elevated my heart rate for the spin class as I was sweating like crazy during spin and I normally don't. The instructor really made it tough for us today. Not much seated stuff at all and a horrible horrible hill climb during which he got off his bike and came ans stood in front of me and was like "come on sarah, you can do it, keep going" (trying to figure out if he was doing that because I was doing a good job or a terrible job!!). I enjoyed it though.

I'll probably go out for a run tomorrow and then think about doing 2 runs over the weekend. Thank goodness A is home tonight. Easter Hat parade at Max's kindy tomorrow.

Sorry for the long post ... again.

I'm gonna do it

2007-04-03T08:37:00.000+10:00

I'm registering online today ............................................ 19 days and counting ...

crazy 10km thoughts

2007-04-02T14:00:00.000+10:00

Soooooooo, the last week or so since the racing season started to kick into full gear, it's got me all ansty. My first organised race isn't until 1st of July - the 10km at the GCM. When I originally set that goal I thought it would take me that long to be able to get myself to a position where I could actually run 10km...

I know I've got the 5km in 2 weeks at Sanctuary Cove, but I know I can do that distance, and I know I can probably do it in a sub 30min time ... but I want to do a 10km. I want that feeling that I got when I ran my first ever 5k - that feeling of knowing I pushed myself just that little bit more than I thought I could and feeling like I could have danced the whole way back to my car despite the fact I'd just run further than I ever had in my life.

The only way I can get that again is to do a 10km race in the near future and exceed the current expectations I have of myself.

sooooooooooooo, the Brisbane Marathon is looming - 22nd of April. 3 weeks away. Is it foolish to think I might be able to run the 10km race at the Brisbane Marathon - not aiming for a particular time, definately not a sub 60min time, but hopefully a sub 1:15. And then if I did that my training could focus on bringing my speed up so that I could aim for a sub 60min at the GCM.

Is it pie in the sky? Am I biting off more than I should chew? Should I just plod away and get my distance up a couple more km before I consider it. At the moment I know I can run 7km (well, I did 6.6 on Sunday, I know I could do another .4 to round out to 7km) .... arghhh, what to do??

Any thoughts/feedback would be greatly appreciated and seriously considered.

PT this morning then did 1/2 hour of cardio -10 min jog on the treadmill at 8.5 and an interval workout on the cross trainer. 30 sec full on and 1 min recover, repetitions for 10 min with 5 min regualr speed either side. My legs felt like Jelly after. PT today was tough. Did bench presses and squats with weights followed by 2 repetitions of: cable row @30kg, 20x step ups on each leg lifting 6kg weights stright up above my head, followed by 2 repetitions of : 10sec prone hold on the fit ball, then staying in prone hold position, bringing alternate knee to the ball (10x each knee), back to 10 sec prone hold, followed by 10 girly push ups (because I'm weak and can't do real ones ... yet!). I was wasted. But it was good.

Drew also said he wants to see a food diary next week so he can see what I'm eating. Obviously the exercise is coming along perfectly, but the kilos aren't shifting - yes, I know weight isn't the only indicator, but you would think I'd be losing something - so it has to be a diet issue, and if I'm honest with myself, I know that I could eat better/wiser. So that's going to be the focus for the next couple of weeks.

RMR asked what kind of skirt I bought - it's an adidas one - has a great 3 stripe pattern right down the back of my butt!!! I got it at Rebel - simply because I was there, had only 1 child with me, who was sleeping in the pram, and it was all too easy! Probably could have picked one up cheaper at A Mart all sports or similar. It cost me $55 :0. But worth every cent to not have to worry about pulling shorts out of my crotch every 10metres or so!! The other skirt I have is a Nike one which was given to me by a fellow CR - very generous! She'd lost weight and didn't fit it anymore. They're both blue. When I get speedy fast I'll buy a hot pink one!!!

I need some bodyglide - do you think I can find any ANYWHERE? No. I've tried every sports shop I have some across and they look at me like I'm talking a foreign language. When I explain what it is they look at me even more strangely. *sigh* If anyone wants to volunteer to buy some for me, I'll send you the money and the postage ... I'm getting some rubbing from the hot pant short thingos under the skirt, and would love to try the bodyglide to see if it makes a difference.

Wow, this post is huge - if you made it all the way to the end then you deserve a medal!! Thanks for hanging in there and reading with me. I always really appreciate everyone's comments ...

10% and new shoes

2007-04-01T07:38:00.000+10:00

I got new shoes yesterday. Asics GT 2120's ... I saw Steve (the footmac from CR) at the podiatry clinic and he said I had great feet for running & provided I increase my distances etc sensibly I should stay injury free. Yay! He said the sore knees and shins are most likely just a phase and if I can persevere through, that it should subside once my body adjusts to doing the kind of distance I want to be running. So good news, kind of, I suppose!

Took the new shoes out for a run this morning. I re-ran the 6k route I did last Sunday, but added 10% to the distance, so 6.6k - my time was 46:25 - so pretty consistant with the 45min 6k I ran last week with Lisa.

I really didn't want to get up this morning. I was tired after the party yesterday and it was a cool morning, and I just wanted to stay in bed. But I dragged my lazy butt out and once I was out the door I was happy. I have a confession to make ... sometimes I only get out of bed and run so I can get away from the kids and have a bit of 'me' time ... is that terrible?

Really tried hard to to think too much today while I was running. Normally I'm constantly thinking to myself, "only xxx further to go now, don't stop, keep going, you can do it, it's not that hard" blah blah blah. Certainly doesn't make the run any easier. So today tried just to zone out, had my iPod, and just concentrated on saying hi to all the runners I passed (and muttering "grumpy guts" as I passed them if they failed to respond - once I'd passed them of course!). Passed 3 girls running together in the opposite direction who were all wearing their teeny tiny little shorty shorts and midriff sporty tops - I didn't say hi to them - not fair really. I was in the wrong queue when God was handing out body shapes. :)

I ran all the way back over the Goodwill Bridge without stopping to gasp for air - despite the cyclist who parked his bike right in front of me ACROSS the pathway to stop and have a chat to some walkers :( . Now, don't get me wrong, I have a lot of admiration for cyclists, but it irks me when they don't obey the rules they expect everyone else to follow (on the road and on the bike/walkways).

I have another map (I promise it will be the last - until I discover a new running route!!). Did I say how much I'm loving Google Earth (incase you couldn't tell!)

Was a bit slack over the weekend so far tracking my food, so back to that today. Managed to be pretty good with the party food, avoiding lollies, party pies etc ... did have a piece of birthday cake - but you have to when your son in the birthday boy, right? We're off to the pet store to buy a water container for the Guinea Pig Max got from my mum for his birthday!!

weigh in and running

2007-03-30T13:22:00.000+10:00

weighed in this morning - down .5kg from last Friday ... so that's good. Although I expect that will all come back on over the weekend with Max's party and he wanted to go to Hungry Jacks last night for his birthday dinner - I felt positively ill after.

Went ouot for a run this morning - my usual route around my neighbourhood. Mapped it out on Google Earth and worked out to just a smidge over 5km. here's what it looks like

From my place, that straight line is up a rather steep hill - which I walk up for a warm up, the rest of it is downhill or fairly flat to the halfway point just past the freeway. All the way back is uphill, until I get to the reverse side of the warm up hill and the little dog leg around the park. It's a tough run on the way back - 5k this morning in 36min - a fair bit of walking up hills on the way back!

I'll have a rest day tomorrow and will head out for the 6k run I did last week with Lisa, on Sunday morning. I'm going to add 10% to the distance, which shouldn't be too hard, with a view to running 7k next week with Lisa.

I'm in love with my new running skirt! Took it out this morning and I just love it! Who would run in shorts when you can wear a skirt that doesn't bunch up?! Best part was, the size 14 skirt I tried on in the shop, was too big, so I bought the size 12!!!! YAY! Stretchy material though, don't get too excited!

really really have to seriously look at new shoes. My shins and knees are both sore after today's run. Could it be the downhill running? I think I really pound the pavement on the downhills...

I was passing through the neighbourhood of InTraining this morning, and would have stopped and gone in, except I couldn't find a park within 2 blocks of the place and had a shopping list a mile long for the party. So I rang them and they have a free podiatry clinic this Saturday - one appointment was left - at 9:30am, so I'll squeeze that in inbetween party preparations. Lucky we don't live far from there.

Reading on Celeste's blog about her 10k race this weekend (good luck) is getting me all excited about the 10k at the GCM. I bought a CR cap this week, so I'll have a cheersquad!!! And now that I'm running 5k on a regular basis and I've gone beyond the 5k mark, I can see that this is actually going to be possible, and possibly enjoyable!! The logistics of it are already creeping into my everyday thoughts 'how will I get there, what time, where to park, what to wear' ... silly really, but it just feels like such a huge goal for me, and I'm excited about the prespect of accomplishing it. The date of the race is also our 8th wedding anniversary! I've told all my family they have to come and support me.

I have a PT on Monday and Drew is going to weigh me at the gym again. I'm really going to have to watch myself at the party to make sure I don't eat too much junk. I want to be at least a kilo less than last time.

A is going to Melbourne on Sunday night until Wednesday night (for work) - which means I won't get to run on again after Sunday until Thursday at the earliest, but more likely not until Saturday or Sunday. Might have to do some running on the treadmill at the gym during the week.

I'm tossing up the idea of gatecrashing the CR brissy get together for Miners' visit in April. The only one of them I have met is Lisa, and I'm quite shy by nature. I want to go, I'm hope I would be welcome, but the idea is quite nerve wracking for me!

Does running make you tired? Sorry to kind of throw this in at the end - it didn't really fit anywhere else. I find I'm really exhausted on days where I run in the morning. I thought regular exercise was supposed to give you more energy? Do you think it could be because I only wake up before 6am to go running 3 days out of 7, so it's not a regular habit? My diet (which could do with some improvement)? I don't know, I just know that at 2pm I can barely keep my eyes open and I've been yawining all day - and I often feel like this.

Well, jelly cups, cake icing, mini quiches, and housecleaning are beckoning ...

Lazy Wednesday

2007-03-28T17:10:00.000+10:00

Just a little warning ... **this post is totally not running or fitness related** :)

I went and had my hair cut today. Bliss!!! Max was at kindy and Mum took Maeve shopping while I was in the hairdressers. I'm pretty happy with the result and the hairdresser didn't make me talk to her the whole time and even showed me a few tricks on how to style my hair.

No exercise today ... zip. Normally I have spin, but I'm kinda taking this week off to concentrate on party preparations etc etc ...

Max is so excited about tomorrow and Saturday. I hope he's not dissapointed. He said today, talking to my sister: "I'm going to give my mum a big hug and say thank you for a beautiful party"!!! awwww!

Ok, so slightly running realted - went into Athl. Foot today and enquired about new shoes. According to the fancy pressure machine thingo they have I have a rolling in foot with a high arch. The guy gave me 3 pairs of shoes to try on and the most comfy and supportive by far was a Mizuno Nirvana ... $249.50 : 0 ... but they felt great. The guy was a runner and seemed to know what he was talking about. I'm going to go into Amart All Sports on Friday and see what else there is. I'm just so scared of getting the wrong shoe, spending so much money on it and getting screwed over.

Also bought a new running skirt today - hope to give it a bit of a run on saturday morning - am going to try the 6km bridge run I did with Lisa last Sunday again. My sister wants to come with me.

Thanks for the letter H suggestions, I'm going to get around to it sometime!!

Morning run

2007-03-27T08:14:00.000+10:00

I re-ran my '5k' route this morning - only took me 27:41 - Last time I ran it and timed it properly my time was 31:23 !!!!

I've had a sneaking suspicion the last week or so that the 5k might have been a bit short - so I mapped it out in Google Earth - and sure enough, it's only 4.6 ... oops! But I'm not too dissapointed as I ran a full 6k on sunday. I think if I'd found out it was only 4.6 before sunday it would have been a real mental blow - does that make sense?

anyway, here's the route - you can't see it that well, but it's a there and back kind of path:

Seems my iPod was just having battery issues ... I must've left it on or something, because this morning, after charging it all night, it was fine!

My shins were sore during the run this morning. Definately going to start looking for new shoes this week.

I'm still thinking about the letter 'h'!!

RIP

2007-03-26T14:02:00.000+10:00

my little iPod shuffle has died .... mwaaaaaahhhhhhhhh ... I can't live without it at the gym. Running I can probably get over it, but it's essential to get me through all the boring cardio crap at the gym ... what am I gonna do????

guess I'll just have to go shopping!!!!! :)

Kathy - the letter 'H'??? Man, what are you trying to do to me??? I'm still thinking about it.

PT this morning + 30 min cardio after - all good.

Sunday run - 6km

2007-03-25T13:17:00.000+10:00

this morning was great. Lisa met me at the goodwill bridge at southbank and we ran the 6k city loop from there. Lisa was lovely, and so nice of her to run with me - I'm sure if I wasn't there she would have gone further and faster! We chatted the whole way - mostly about running!!! Well, I should probably say Lisa did most of the chatting while I did most of the panting!! I found it quite hard to talk and run at the same time!!

I ran most of the way. Had to stop and walk at the top of the story bridge because I got a stitch ... again. Seems to always come at about the same time into a run - around the 20 minute mark - always in exactly the same spot. Probably because I was too busy trying to talk than concentrate on my breathing! Managed to get it to go away enough to continue running. It popped up again on the home stretch, but I didn't worry about it as we were close to the end.

Lovely morning for a run - no rain though :(!!! Looks like we might get some this afternoon though, which would be nice.

The 6km took us 44 minutes. I'd love to be able to say it wasn't as long, but I know speed isn't everything.

Frustratingly this morning was still a real mental battle for me. Even running along side someone, I was talking to myself in my head at about the 5k mark - trying to convince myself I didn't need to or want to walk, that I could keep going blah blah blah ... the old lazy sarah is still in there and sometimes it's a real fight to convince myself that I can run that far/that long. I know that physically I am capable, but mentally I'm suck a sook! We're going again in a fortnight, so that's something to work towards.

I'm going to sign myself up for the 5k fun run at Sanctuary Cove on the 15th of April. I want to do a few little races like that before the GC event so I'm not lining up on the start line for the first time for the 10k race. I can imagine I'd be quite nervous, so want to get used to the atmosphere, even though I'm sure Sanctuary cove will bo nowhere near as big or exciting as the GCM. Lisa said I'd have to buy myself a CR top so I have a cheersquad!!

My knees have been quite sore since the run this morning. Last week I asked my trainer at the gym for some low impact exercises to strengthen my knees - he showed me a couple focussing on the VMO and ankle stability, I'll have to get into those this week. If anyone else has any other suggestions (aside from not run) then I'd love to hear them.

I think it's time for new shoes. My shins have been pulling up a bit tender the last few runs - I've been trying to ignore it, but don't want to make the problem worse. I'm putting off getting new shoes because 'A' will have a complete meltdown if I tell him I want to spend significant money on new shoes when my current pair are in his eyes perfectly capable of doing the job (they're a pair of asics gels and are about 6 mths old ... so time for an upgrade I think). This week I floated the idea of joining a running club by him and his response was that running should be free and I wan't allowed to spend money on running!!! har har!!!!

PT and cardio at the gym on Monday - next run, Tuesday morning.

I have a busy week this week. My little guy turns 4 on Thursday and we're doing a party at our place on Saturday - we have about 15 kids coming, plus parents, so it's going to be pretty full on. I'm in the process of making a pinata, 3 more layers of paper to go on that, I have to make cupcakes for him to take to kindy on Thursday, then the party on Saturday. A Lightning McQueen cake has been requested ... so no doubt my week will be consumed by shopping for b'day presents, party food, preparing games etc etc ... Not sure how much gym I'll squeeze in, but will aim for 3 runs ... wish me luck!!!!

food accountability

2007-03-23T15:32:00.000+10:00

So, inspired by Simlin, I'm blogging my food intake in an attempt to make myself a little more honest with the amount of calories I'm eating and weight I'm losing.

So feel free to check it out and chastise me for my poor food choices!!

Gym didn't run my box class this morning due to lack of numbers, so I did my weights workout that I missed yesterday due to sooky legs. Managed to increase the weight on just about all of my exercises and make my regular number of reps. So happy about that.

My iPod battery died when I went to do some cardio at the end of the workout, so I whimped out of cardio - man, what a slacker huh? I just find it so hard to power away on those machines without sommething to take my mind off the monotony of it all. I'd been there for an hour already anyway.

I'm going to start weighing myself weekly again - I'd stopped doing it because I was getting frustrated with the lack of results. But I need to start again because I fear going backwards. I'll track weight and girth measurements on the gobble gobble blog here: http://sarah-gobblegobble.blogspot.com/ (for anyone who's interested!). My mini goal is to be under 70kg for the 10k at the GCM. 12 weeks away. 7kg in 12 weeks is totally do-able... if I can cut out the crap! Then I might have more energy for running too!

I learnt a lesson

2007-03-22T09:25:00.000+10:00

this morning that I really should listen to my body when my glutes and quads are screaming at me!!!

I'd kinda decided last night that I would go and re-do my 5k course I did for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Well, nothing went right and it was a bad run. (is there such a thing?!)

I knew I was going to be sore this morning from doing PT back to back with spin class on tues and wed ... but I didn't want to give myself any excuses, and knew if I didn't run this morning I'd only fit in 2 runs this week.

So I set the alarm for 5:45am. Got up, was about to get dressed when Maeve woke up (first thing to go wrong), so then I had to wait for A to get out of bed before I could get out the door. So by the time I got out the door I was already 15 min behind schedule. Got to the startign point of my run and for the first few km I was fine. Then I stopped at a drink fountain and 2 things happened. The first was I paused my watch (this is probably cheating - you're probably supposed to include drink stops!) and when I set off again I pressed the wrong button and had to start the time all over again - no worries I thought, I'll just add the times together at the end. So that was ok, so I thought.

The 2nd thing to happen was that once I stopped I realised how much my quads were hurting. I kept running though and just short of the 4km mark I looked down at my watch to see if I was going to beat my time from the last run ... I wasn't timing. &%$#%.

Anyway, I told myself that I wasn't running today for time and to just keep going. I had to wait for a team of cyclists so I could cross the road for my last km, and when I set off again my quads were yelling at me!! Man, they were sore and really tight, so I stopped for a bit of a stretch and said to myself "suck it up Sarah, just keep going"

Pfffft. Anyway, shuffled about half of the last km and then walked back to my car - told myself I needed a bit of a cool down anyway! So I have no idea how long it took me, but that's ok. And I walked a bit towards the end - and that's ok too.

I was a bit peeved about it all and feeling a bit negative, but figured at least I got out there. Could have been worse - I could have stacked in and fallen over - and I didn't, so I should ne happy.

Could harldy get out of the car though, I felt like a cripple.

So I've decided to give my weights program a miss at the gym today as it's alot of leg work and I think I need to give them a break. Feel like I'm whimping out a bit, but what can you do?

Something else I realised this morning - where I ran this morning there are a lot of people out and about - walkers, runners, cyclists - most people don't even look at you to smile and say goodmorning! Shame really. And the other thing I noticed is that people really suck at picking up their dog crap. Man this ticks me off.

So Box calss tomorrow and then a rest on Saturday before my run on Sunday morning. Forcast is for showers on Sunday - I hope so, it's been pretty warm here, it would be nice to run in the rain - note to self - don't wear a white top on sunday!!!!

bike sqauts

2007-03-21T14:30:00.000+10:00

2 posts in a day!!!
Sara asked how you do squats on the bike!! LOL! Umm, everyone probably calls them something different, and it's hard to describe, but it's when you crouch low on the bike, kind between the seat and the bar that the handlebars come off, and you pedal there, kind of placing all your weight on your quads - does that make sense? ... MAN, it HURTS!!!

spinning around

2007-03-21T10:46:00.000+10:00

Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments about running with someone. I'm looking forward to it!

Spin class today. The guy who took our class today is SUPER fit, there is not an ounce of fat on the guy, he used to be the main dancer guy (real technical terms here) for the QLD ballet, he does karate, he cycles, he still dances with the ballet, just not in a major role, and he has a wife who is jsut as fit and 2 kids. So anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the class was HARD. lots and lots of jumps and squats and hills. Man, my legs are jelly. Normally after a spin class I think I could go again ... not today!! :) Hard class is a good class ... so they say.

Did 20 minutes of running, just on the treadmill, before my class - overall burnt 712 calories! yay! I've been tracking my food since monday - one day someone is going to create a magic pill that will give you all your days calorie and nutritional needs all at once - it would make things a lot easier!! yeah, yeah, I know ...

Got through the grocery shopping yesterday - Max threw a massive tantrum just as we were walking out the front door (because I wouldn't let him take his leggo) and Maeve was disgusting the entire shopping trip - poor thing, she was tired - so it was a very pleasant experience as always ... not.

Thinking I might get up early tomorrow morning and go out for a run before my weights workout at the gym. These days I am finding I would much rather go out for a run than work the cardio equipment at the gym ... I reckon I get a better constant cardio workout running too. It's amazing how much running consumes my thoughts these days!! Makes me laugh!

new batteries please ...

2007-03-20T10:16:00.000+10:00

Well, I didn't get to run yesterday. Got the all clear from the ENT doc ... "thanks for your hundreds of dollars, we don't want to see you again". I swear that child has cost us a small fortune in medical bills. I shouldn't complain, there are many people who are far worse off than us. I'm reading "My sisters keeper" by Jody Picoult - boy it's depressing, but somehow I can not put it down. What has that to do with anything? The girl in the story has lukemia, medical bills, ENT ... see?!

Anyway, this is meant to be about running and stuff...

Was planning to go out in the evening - Celeste, I don't like running at night either. The times I have gone out in the pm, it's been about 6:30 and I'm not out for long - hardly worth it really. Anyway, I had good intentions, but A came home with a migrane ... so there went those plans, I wasn't too devestated, so mustn't have been too committed to the idea in the first place.

Changed my PT time and went in this morning. I knew that was a mistake when that-time-of-the-month showed up yesterday arvo (sorry if that's a bit TMI for some of you!). Question for the LADIES ... do you just feel absolutely wasted at that time? Do you still run and do your normal program or do you give yourself a bit of a rest? Today I felt totally and utterly smashed. I made it through my PT ok, with a few weight and rep increases, but at the end of it I just wanted to curl up in the corner and go to sleep. Normally I stay and do a high intensity cardio for 30 min after the PT ... I managed 10 minutes on the bike before I staggered out of there. I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm sure that has something to do with it too.

I'm just feeling totally buggered and have no energy.

Planning a 6km run on Sunday morning. Vege-girl from CR asked me if I wanted to meet her at southbank for a run ... I said yes!!! ARGHHH!! I'm a bit freaking out!!! a) I've never run 6km, b) I've never run with anyone before, c) she's probably faster and fitter than me and d) I normally run with my iPod and have never tried running without - the music really gets me through the hard parts, so I wonder what it'll be like running without it ...

Anyway, I'm going to clean up my pig sty of a house so when I have visitors tomorrow it's not embarrassing.

Spin tomorrow - hopefully I'll be feeling better than I am today.

We need bread, milk and other basic foodgroups, wondering how I can make it to woolworths with my 2 terrors feeling the way I do today???????

rest day

2007-03-18T20:53:00.000+10:00

no running, no gym today. And I just realised Max has his ENT appointment at 9am tomorrow morning ... So no PT or gym tomorrow :(

Had a rare nap this afternoon - not too long, but long enough to keep me awake through dinner at mum and dad's.

Given there's no gym tomorrow I'm contemplating a run tomorrow ... part of me is saying no, just sleep ... I'm not sure there will be time for running and getting kids and husband ready to be in the city for the specialist appointment by 9am ... perhaps I could run in the evening ... decisions decisions .........

New Farm Park

2007-03-17T17:45:00.000+10:00

This morning I got out of bed at 5:30am (!!!!!!) and left home at 6am to get to New Farm park a little early to have a run before meeting friends for breakfast. You know, getting out of bed that early wasn't even hard. I was even looking forward to getting out there and running. On the way I took a wrong turn in the car and was mad at myself that I'd cost myself running time!!! I had to have a little chuckle to myself ... what's happened to me???

How accurate is googlemaps/mapmyrun.com??? I checked out the park on their maps and they reckon a touch over 1km around the park ... according to my trip computer in the car (which I know isn't the best measure) it was only 900m ... I know most serious runners will use a Garmin to measure a course, but in the absence of a runner's best friend, would you trust the google maps or the car? Not that I'm obsessing over it, but I did 4 laps of the park - so either 3.6 or 4km, depending on which way you want to look at it.

Didn't time my run this morning. The first 5 minutes were a struggle, couldn't find my rhythm and the legs felt really heavy, but that passed and by the time I had to stop because my friends were there with breakfast, I felt as if I could go another 4 laps. Just got out there and had fun. Lots of other runners out there who I grinned st (just for you Gnome - your advice was running through my mind!!).

I have to say, I really enjoyed being out there this morning, which makes me really happy - I've got to a point in my life where I really enjoy exercising. I can see what it does for me mentally and emotionally as well as physically. My entire life I've been the one who felt too self concious and too afraid to get out there and try these kind of things. I never never never thought I would be someone who enjoyed going to the gym and someone who ran, let alone ran on a regular basis and enjoying it. To this day I have a memory burned into my brain ofthe boys at primary school calling me "duck waddle". I don't know why - I wasn't particularly overweight as a child until I reached the latter part of high school, and even then I wasn't obese, just a bit chubby. But I never thought I would be able to run, ever. And everytime I did run that memory of being called that name would creep into my thoughts and I'd feel so uncomfortable. Normally I think people are looking at me, laughing at me, mocking me. Slowly I'm getting to realise that's not the case. Slowly I'm starting to not worry about what the cars passing are thinking, what the other runners are thinking. Slowly I'm starting to realise that I can do this and it's making a difference to my life and the life of my family.

Wow - I don't know where that tumbled out from!!!!

So back to this morning ... I turned up for breakfast in my running gear, all sweaty, and they were all most impressed and I got lost of "oh, I can't run" comments followed by a multitude of excuses "I'm too unco-ordinated" "I'm too unfit" blah blah blah ... I've heard it all before ... that was me a few months ago!! So I just laughed and said "Yeah, that's what I used to say"

I was very good at breakfast, skipping the cupcakes and pastries people had brought along and only had fruit and yoghurt.

While I was running a running club was converging in the car park and they started their run. I stopped on one of my laps and spoke to the guy in charge. Gnome - I liked your advice of just going out and having fun, and I'm going to do that ... on 2 of my runs per week!!! The other one I think I'm going to join this group - they meet at locations near me - the furtherst being new farm park, the others being the city botanicalgardens, UQ, southbank and KP. And the times are good for me too - early Saturday mornings. I've checked out a few other clubs but the times seemed a little off for me. I'm going to start that in April because I have a few things coming up over the next few weekends.

Foodwise, I've promised myself I'm going to start tracking on Monday. I'm doing so well in the exercise department and I'm just letting myself down when it comes to food. In fact, A today made a comment that what I had achieved was "amazing". So that was nice.

Friday I went to my Box class at the gym. After I got Drew to show me some exercises to strengthen my knees as I'm still getting a bit of soreness there. He also suggested I investigate new shoes ... this fitness business is not cheap, I tell you! The old knees weren't feeling too bad after the run today and the ankle feels pretty good.

better go put the kiddies to bed, A's gone to his brother's to watch the AFL.

Thursday morning run

2007-03-15T19:25:00.000+10:00

Thursday's I normally go to the gym and do a weights and cardio program, but I'm feeling a bit blah about the gym lately. It's just a phase - I'll get over it! But I woke up this morning to the sound of a crying 18 mth old and had a 5 minute debate with the 2 Sarah's in my head. One just wanted to stay in bed and stay home, not go to the gym, not do anything. The other one said, get up, go for a run and then you'll feel energised and ready to face the day...

which one did I listen to?????

The good Sarah!!! Yay!

Yeah, I got up and went for a run. Had to wait for the man of the house to get his butt out of bed and look after the kiddies before I could get out the door. Just thought I'd run my usual route around here. Got to my 1/2 way point and decided I could go a bit further, so did roughly about another 2 or 300 mtrs before turning around and heading back. The heading back is the hard part - it' ALL uphill apart from the last 300 mtrs to home, which is fairly steady downhill. So the going out I did in 12 minutes, coming back took me another 20/22 minutes. Not that anyone was counting of course!!!

I'm not sure of the distance. Without the extra bit in the middle it's about 4kms ... so somewhere between 4 & 5km. Knees are still a bit sore - ankle is fine today - so that's a plus.

Felt good to get out there and do it. Didn't go to the gym, I had an essay to finish and some shopping to do! Was nice to have my morning back from the gym.

I think that's what's hardest - All of my mornings, bar one, are spent at the gym, I get home, Maeve has a sleep and then by the time she wakes up it's too late to do anything significant.

But I suppose it's worth it.

I'm meeting up with some friends at New Farm Park on Saturday morning at 7am - I gave A the option of wither coming with me and playing with the kids in the palyground for an hour or 2; or me going early and getting a run around the park in before 7am ... we'll see which happens.

I think if I'm going to make my goal of 10k at the GCM, I need a more structured plan - don't you think? At the moment I'm just running what I feel like. Should I just keep doing that and gradually add a bit more distance (like I did today for example) or should I have a more structured plan and goals?

Missed my run

2007-03-14T18:27:00.000+10:00

on Tuesday morning. Who saw that coming?!! :(

Max had a hearing test early on Tuesday morning in preparation for his appointment with the ENT specialist next tuesday (that child costs us more in medical bills than anything else ... $200 was the bill from the dentist on Monday - but I digress, I was talking about my excuses for not running on Tuesday ...) and Tuesday was the first morning we had our new blinds up and we all slept in thanks to the extra darkness in the morning! oops! Will have to set the alarm from now on.

Went and did my spin class today. I found it pretty hard going today. Just felt a bit tired - it's been so hot here, so maybe I can blame the weather.

On a brighter note, I went to the park this afternoon for our usual wednesday afternoon neighbourhood meet-up/play. I hadn't been for a couple of weeks due to other things being on and it being raining and one of the stay-at-home-dads who comes along I hadn't seen in about 3 weeks.

Anyway .... he says to me "sarah, you're looking well, your gym work is obviously paying off" and another of the mum's who I haven't seen in 6 weeks because she had a new baby - the first thing she said to me was "you look great, you've lost weight"

yay!!!

So I thought I'd post some pics of me pre christmas and me now. There's not a huge difference, but there is a difference ... I think anyway. Hopefully I don't really need to tell you which ones are before and which ones are after ... if you can'ttell, let me know and make sure and tell me where you live at the same time ... !!

Soooo now I'm off to finish writing my essay on Darwin & Lamarck's theories of evolution ... very exciting ... not. Tomorrow is weights and cardio - might do a bit of a run on the treadmill at the gym, test out the knees and the ankle again...

Do I have to have a title, I can't think of one ...

2007-03-12T21:46:00.000+10:00

PT today - went well as usual.

Drew asked me how the whole eating plan was going ... :( hmmmm, I've been very naughty and haven't been tracking consistantly for the last few weeks. I really need to get back into counting my calories and being more balanced.

Today I ate terribly. Skipped lunch because I was busy with the kids and we had blinds being installed and then I had to take Max to the dentist, but the time we got out of the dentist I was starving, knew I had to go to woolworths to get stuff for dinner and I should NEVER go shopping when I'm hungry. Stupidly bought a kit kat (I know, it could have been worse) and ate that, then didn't bother making dinner because A was late home from work and now it's 10 to 10 and I'm hungry again ... *sigh*

I'm just going to go to bed and know that tomorrow is another day.

Supposed to get up for a run in the morning but it's been so hot and horrible, I'm feeling rather drained (yes, I know that's probably more to do with the fact I sisn't eat properly today.)

So Drew is encouraging me to do some speed training tomorrow (I think that might be the running term for it - basically intervals of jogging and sprinting). But I think I might just go out for my normal run around home, which is about 4k, and see if I can get through the hills with limited walking.

Q re sore knees - I might post on CR too - but I get sore knees (like when I sit or climb stairs) after a run. My knees have always been very creaky and they creak and crack when I sit on the ground, do squats, lunges etc ... should I be worried about this or will they get better and stronger as I run?

I also have an ankle question ... I broke my ankle quite badly about 10 years ago and have pins and plates on both sides of my Right ankle. After a run there is always some discomfort there, like a bruised feeling almost. I'm not sure if I should see anyone about it - can they remove those types of things this far down the track? I guess I need to ask a dr that??

gotta get to bed or I won't be able to get up in the morning.

31:23

2007-03-11T17:03:00.000+10:00

My time for my first ever 5km run ... whooooo hooooo!!!!

My first km came in at 7:11 and the last at 6:36 ... go figure!! I didn't time the ones inbetween, but the first must have been one of the slowest ... The last km was HARD. I had enough left in the tank to put in a bit of a burst at the last 200m or so. I'm sure I was talking out loud to myself over that last km "you can do it" "come on, not far now" etc etc!!!

I was so happy at the end, I wanted to do the Rocky dance as I walked back to my car... I restrained myself!!! The dreaded stitch made an appearance at about the 4km mark :( I probably looked quite amusing running along with one hand digging into my RH side trying to get it to go away!

I'm going to try the same route again in a couple of weeks and see if I can take any time off today's run.

It made me happy because although at the moment I wouldn't be able to run a 10km distance, I know I have it in me if I stick with this running caper and build on my distances and speeds.

Been nagging at my husband about the running, and I think he's running out of excuses... he called his brother this afternoon and I think they're planning on starting the C25k program together this week sometime (Yes Lisa, you read right!!). So that'll be good.

Gnome - maybe I'll have a photo like that in about 18 mths time!! Wouldn't that be good (and that from the girl who said a couple of days ago that I'm never going to run a HM!! haha!! Ok, so maybe it won't be of us finishing a HM, perhaps a 10k race?!!)

I found I was quite hungry today. Stange in a way because I normally run a 3.5 to 4km run so today was only an extra km, and my HRM said a total of 444 cal, which is no more than I burn in a spin or box calss ... But by 11am I was starving and had a banana, and again at about 1am when I had a sandwich ... some days are just like that I suppose.

the plan is

2007-03-10T17:00:00.000+10:00

to get up at 5:45am tomorrow morning, rain or shine, stumble out of the house, drive down to yeronga Park and run from Hyde Rd through Yeronga Park to the river and Brisbane Corso, turn right down the corso, run to Stimpson St, turn around, run back up to the other end of Brisbane Corso where the path ends, turn around and run back to where Yeronga park meets the Corso, run back through the park and back to Hyde Rd and to my car ... should be 5k according to mapmyrun.com ...

I can do it.

I don't know how long it will take me. I'm going to try really hard not to walk at all. I'm hoping to come in around 35min ... but that might be a bit optimistic. Time will tell...

There, now that I've written it down, made it public, I have to do it!

Lisa, nice try!!! Ummm, nope, no pic of the running skirt - if you wanna see me in the running skirt, you'll have to come running with me!!! hee hee!!!

Inspired by Gnome and TA's photo of them running together, I'm trying to get my husband to start running. He's been complaining he's so unfit, getting fat (yeah right!) and no energy etc all the time. I dared him today to start running, he's full of excuses "my knees" "no time" blah blah blah ... I told him I'd set up the ipod with the C25K podcasts and he could start fromm week 1 - lots of walking, little bit of running ... he said if I organised it he would do it!!! So we'll see - I think he's too lazy to get out of bed early enough to be able to do it before work ... I would love him to, I would love to be able to share this interest with him.

I'll keep you posted on that.

I need an early night tonight so I can drag myself out of bed for the run tomorrow.

Sommeone once told me the regret they feel at not getting out early for a run lasts all day, yet the regret they feel at getting out early for a run only lasts until they are out the door - so true.

On another matter I have been treating my body like absolute crap this week diet wise. I gotta get my act together. I promise mself I'm going to have a good week this week.

do you think

2007-03-08T19:04:00.000+10:00

you can get better at running by reading about running??!!! Would be nice wouldn't it?! Oh, I don't mean a text book or anything ... I've just spent ages reading running blogs - amazing. Somme people amaze me - their level of dedication and fitness and fanaticism!!! I must try harder to leave comments - I just never know what to say - they're all so good and I'm so crap!

It's like a tangled web or something, one just leads to another and then another and another ...

speaking of text books, it's only 2nd week of semester and I'm behind already - better go do some of that reading.

No running or any exercise for that matter today - we had a small emergency at our house this morning when Max was running down the hallway (floorboards & bare feet) and slipped on a dress up he'd left lying around - feet went right up from under him and he hit the floor first with his face - mouth to be more precise. Lots of blood, lots of tears (from max & mummy!). Thankfully I was dressed (for the gym, but dressed nonetheless) and we raced out to the car and to the doctors. He has a massive fat lip (which he's a bit concerned about) and a trip to the dentist booked for Tuesday as I think he's knocked one of his front teeth back a bit, not as serious as I was first thinking. here's a pic:

Poor little fella! Anyway, so with the split lip went my plans for a weights and cardio workout at the gym ... tomorrow is another day...

oh, p.s - I just want to thank those who've left comments - means a lot to me and your advice is very welcomed and appreciated.

Goals

2007-03-07T16:11:00.000+10:00

So I was lurking on coolrunnings and a few people's blogs from there and it got me thinking about what I want to achieve with my running and fitness.

I feel like I've got as much mileage out of the euphoria of "hey, I can actually RUN" feeling and need to think about where I want to take it all and how I'm going to get there.

I guess my main goals as far as running goes is the B2B (august) and 10k run at the GCM (july?). Aside from those, and before either of them I'd like to increase my speed over 5k and participate in some kind of race/fun run to test that in a race scenario - perhaps one of the Sanctuary cove series?

On a day to day basis I would like to be able to run between 6 and 8ks each time I run, with maybe one longer run a week.

Realistically, I don't think I'll ever be running a HM or anything like it. It's certainly not a goal I'm going to set myself at this stage.

I want to be able to say "yeah, I'm a runner" and not feel like I'm embellishing the truth at all!!! hee hee!

Fitness wise - I'm setting myself a goal to be able to do 10 push ups and 20 sit ups and a prone hold for 1.5 min by the middle of April . 17.4.07. I think that takes me to about the end of my paid PT sessions. Then I'll have to think about if I should buy another block of them.

ABC kids is about finished, which means so is my internet time!

bad bad bad sarah

2007-03-06T15:51:00.000+10:00

I'm a bad bad person. I finally bought myself a polar F11 HRM today ... bought it online at $80 below RRP, but it was still $218 ... I'm going to be in big trouble. I dread to think. dearest husband, if you are reading this, please don't be too cross ... I can't wait until it arrives - should get here tomorrow - unfortunately not in time for my spin class though!

Went for a run this morning ... IN MY SKIRT!!!! I felt a bit funny at first, but boy was it good not to have to worry about shorts riding up my crotch and bunching up. it was great. And I felt great in it too!!!

I drove down to the Brisbane river at yeronga this morning for my run - wanted to try running on flats, instead of the hills around here, to see how far I could do - wanted to do 5k... I made the mistake of not measuring out my run and kept thinking to myself "I wonder how far I've come" "don't forget you have to run back too" so it was mentally very challenging and I didn't make 5k. I measured my run in the car after and turns out I ran about 3.4ks - took me about 20 min. So time and distance not great. Next time I'll measure the trip first and then I won't have to worry about where to turn around. Someone on the forum at Calorie King gave me a great idea of taking $5, running the distance in one direction and catching the ferry back after running along the river. Might have to try that sometime.

anyway, got to think about what we're having for dinner ...

a new week

2007-03-05T11:08:00.000+10:00

Monday again. PT this morning.

I don't normally sweat at the gym much. I mean, I sweat, but never dripping off my face, shirt wet kind of sweat... until today. I don't know if it was just because it was humid today or maybe I'm just tired from the weekend, but everything seemed to take so much effort and I was dripping with sweat. By the time I finished my cardio after my PT, the front of my shirt was wet through and I could feel the back clinging to my skin ... noice.

It's pretty humid today, so maybe that's why ...

I want a heart rate monitor ... still.

One of these mornings I'm going to get up early enough to go running along the cliffs at KP. I really want to have a run on the flat and see how far I can get without hills being in the equation. They kill me. Around here, there's nothing flat. Might see if I can do it tomorrow morning. I need a stop watch though, I want to know how long it takes me... a HRM comes with a stopwatch function .... hmmmmm.

weigh in ...

2007-02-26T23:46:00.000+10:00

So, I got on the scales at the gym this morning and lost 1 kg!!!

Well, I wasn't expecting much more. But the good news (and what stopped me from wanting to crawl into a hole with 10kg of chocloate and hide there for a week) was that I took my measurements this morning and have lost a total combined of 17.1cm from my bust, arm, waist, hips and thighs!!!!

I was pretty happy with that!!

Just goes to show that weight isn't always the best indicator. Also discovered on Sunday morning that a skirt I haven't been able to wear for a little while because it was just a wee bit too tight, fit me!!! So good things are obviously happening ...

Something made my day today. A few days ago I posted a thread on coolrunnings asking about running shorts for women and if there were any that didn't ride up your crotch and bum when you run. Short answer was no and most people said they resort to bike shorts. I got a message from one girl who said she had a size 14 Nike running skirt and would I like it, she refused any money, even for postage. Well, I received it today and it's in perfect condition - looks brand new, and will be perfect - it's shorter than I'm used to, but what the heck. I was just impressed at the kindness and generosity of this stranger!

It's currently 5 to midnight - I can't sleep - partly becasue my legs ache - thanks Drew - and partly because my mind is just buzzing and I can't seem to switch off. I have a lot on over the next couple of days and this always happens to me when there's a lot on my plate.

PT was good today - but my body is sore and aching - see what happens when you miss a week!! Am supposed to run tomorrow, but I'm a bit stressed out about gettinng everything done this week, and I'll be tired and even more sore in the morning, so I'm going to give it a miss. Shame, i wanted to try out my new skirt!!

2007-02-23T13:39:00.000+10:00

I wasn't going to go to the gym this morning. I got a nasty email from someone this morning and it quite upset me and I just felt like blowing the whole day off to go shopping or something. Anyway, I ended up going to the gym, more by default and the fact I didn't leave myself enough time to get ready for anything else really. Had box class and took out my frustrations on the bags instead. Had a really good workout - my arms were killing me. Anyway, so a small success for the day.

dreading Monday

2007-02-21T17:07:00.000+10:00

I am absolutely totally dreading Monday. I have my weigh in with Drew and I know I'm not going to make the 3kg loss, even with the extra week with Drew being away. I'll be lucky if I make 1kg ... I'm such a retard. I don't know why I eat like I do. I must say, it's much harder with kids than it was before kids to watch what I'm eating. But that shouldn't be an excuse really. It's like I'm sabotaging myself on purpose. Setting myself up to fail. I'm so dissapointed in myself that I'm not going to make that goal on Monday - and it wasn't as if it was unattainable - 3kg in 4 weeks - anyone can do that. I thought when Drew told me HE was going to weigh me that it would be all the motivation I would need to keep up the good work, but instead I've been on a 4 week crash course. It's goingto be absoultely and utterly humiliating to get on those scales in front of him on Monday. The only redeeming feature is that I have now lost 11 cm total from my measurements.

So this morning, being Wednesday, was my spin class. As it was a 'non-kindy' day for Max so I went to the gym a half hour early - did another 20 minute run on the treadmill. It's so much easier without hills!!!! Then did spin class ... I can't believe that this is a class I actually look forward to now - I never thought I'd see that day. Tried to push myself a bit today and when I took my heart rate at the end of the class it was at 170!! Still want that F11 Polar ... probably will never get it, it's so expensive.

Wallow in self pity is over for the day.

no weigh in today

2007-02-19T12:54:00.000+10:00

so, no weigh in today - didn't even bother getting on the scales - I have 1 more week before the weigh in at the gym, that time of the month, so I know I will be retaining fluid blah blah blah...

Went to the gym this morning - Drew's on holiday's - so I just did some weights and cardio and a few of the routines we do in my PT which I can do without having someone there to help. Did some cardio at the end and then came home. Felt a bit flat today.

Went out for a run on Sunday morning - measured it in the car after and Iran for 4 ks!!!! And most of it was actually running, I hardly walked at all. Pretty pleased with that effort. Will try and get out for another run tomorrow morning. Ankles and legs are feeling a bit tired though. My ankle with the pins and plates in from my iceskating accident years ago is playing up a bit and is very sore.

I've decided in the lead up for running the B2B I'm going to run the 10k leg of the Gold Coast Marathon - 1st weekend in July. Given that I ran 4ks on Sunday I think that's a reasonable goal - then gives me another month to train for the 12k B2B ... The GCM is supposedly a fast flat course. Which is nice - all the running I do around here is hilly!!

I bought some propper Brooks running shorts on the weekend in an attempt to find something to wear that doesn't constantly ride up my crotch when I run. $30 and they're very nice, but they still ride up ... not happy. I'll have to resort to bike pants soon, it's driving me nuts.

I think I'm going to resort back to recording my food in WW points ... I've tried the calorie counting thing, but I'm too lazy to learn the calorie content of foods... I know, I know, I should just do it ... but right now I think I'd rather just record points and then go from there. Maybe.

Last week after Spin class, Wes was trying to sell us all on the protien/electrolyte powders they sell at the gym... I jokingly said if he gave us a taste test we might be more likely to buy one ... he said he'd bring some this week. I hope so, might be something I'd consider if I think I could stomach the taste!

I'm still feeling a little frustrated re the whole food thing. I really am not eating that badly and I'm just not seeing any results. I'm starting to wonder if the whole PCOS thing is having an effect on my metabolism and weightloss... I've been thinking of making a Dr appointment to discuss ... hard to find a Dr who will give serious thought to this issue. Mostly they just want to put you on the pill to control the PCOS...

That's all for today.

Positive Thinking

2007-02-16T12:39:00.000+10:00

So, this morning at the gym I had a bit of a lightbulb moment ...

It's really easy for me to get depressed and frustrated at myself and my progress. But I need to remember all the good things I have achieved since I started going to the gym.

When I first went to the gym, I was so lazy I would get bored of doing cardio after 20 minutes and most days would give up after about 25 minutes and stretch and go home. Now I can do an hour solid of cardio, love it and work really hard at it.
When I first started at the gym I couldn't run for 2 minutes non-stop without getting a stitch or feeling totally puffed. Today I ran at 9.5km/h for 20 MINUTES ... non-stop. And I only stopped becuase I had box class to go to - I had it in me to keep going. I was sooooooo happy about that!!! I've been looking at week5 of the C2 5k and wondering how on earth was I possibly going to run for 20 minutes ... well, I did it.
When I first started box calsses I could barely hit the speedball, now I can hit it as hard and as fast as anyone else.
Could hardly manage my starjumps and sprint combos, now I can do 10 sets only feeling buggered for the last 2!
I can leg press 170kg on the assisted weights and 140kg on the free weights
I can bench press 30kg
I can do a situps - it aint pretty and Drew has to stand on my feet - but I can do full range situps.
I can bicep curl 27.5 kg
things that Drew used to do with me which were really challenging, I'm finding much easier.
I know my aerobic fitness has increased so much - my recovery is better, my breathing is better.
My core is stronger - I can hold prone position for 3 times the length I was able to when I firts started at the gym.
I can 'switch on' my abs and feel that I'm doing it (hey, that must mean I have some abs now!!!)
I can get through a 1 hr spin class and feel invigorated and alive when it's finished, rather than feeling half dead and unable to walk straight!!!
My co-ordination has improved
My energy levels have improved

Anyway, you get the picture. So I just wanted today to remain positive. I am going to be good today, and the day after and the day after and the day after and the day after ...

Drew is away for a week, so no PT on Monday, but he's left me some instructions of things to do by myself.

Feeling positive ...

frustration

2007-02-15T20:54:00.000+10:00

Sometimes I can't believe how freakin stupid I am.

This whole week I've been eating crap. I don't know why I do it to myself. I was so happy on Monday when I took my measurements etc, and I go and ruin it all ...

I have weigh in with Drew in a little more than a week and I'm supposed to have lost 3kgs ... I don't think that's going to happen ...

This whole week's been total crap.

Exercise wise it's been pretty average. Got to the end of my PT on Monday and they came and told me I had to come and get Maeve because she'd been screaming for the entire time ... sheesh, they could have come and got me earlier and rescheduled the PT ... so didn't get to do the cardio after. Tuesday I wanted to go for a run in the morning, but someone wouldn't get out of bed to look after the kids ... that really pissed me off. Sure, I could have just gone, but I didn't want to leave the kids screaming and have to come back and deal with that and the clinginess for the rest of the day. I could have/should have gone to the gym Tuesday morning ... Wednesday I did spin - the only decent class this week so far. Today I ahd an osteo appointment (my neck is much better -although feeling a bit sore tonight probably from the manipulations today). Tomorrow is Box ... Will put in a full extra 1/2 hour after/before the calss tomorrow.

I'm so frustrated with myself.

naughty naughty student

2007-02-12T18:11:00.000+10:00

I'm baaad. I promised Drew I wasn't going to weigh until the 26th, and weigh at the gym ... buuuut, I couldn't help myself this morning. Some of my shorts have been feeling a bit looser, so I thought I'd just jump on the scales and have a quick look .... 77.5!!!!!!! I was pretty happy - that's a kilo down!!! YAY!

BUT ... then I measured myself, thighs, hips, arms, waist ... I've lost a combined total of 9cm off those areas!! Whoo hoo!!

Pretty happy about it, especially as I had a really crappy week last week, now just have to keep being good - too many carbs today ... white bread is the devil.

Hoping to get out for a run tomorrow - please don't be raining in the morning ...

erghhh

2007-02-06T18:00:00.000+10:00

A was at the cricket tonight, took the kids to maccas for dinner - should have eaten before we went cos I got there and was starving ... now I feel ill. I haven't had it for ages and I just feel bloated and horrid. To make matters worse, I was thinking on the way home I would just have to work extra hard during spin to burn it all off ... got a call from the osteo - she can see me tomorrow at 10 am ... right in the middle of spin class ... so no spin ... naughty naughty sarah.

Weigh in #5

2007-02-05T15:58:00.000+10:00

*&^%())P(&^%$##

insert whatever expletive you like up there - the stonger the better.

Only a 300g loss this morning. I know it better than nothing, but it may as well be nothing. I'm really frustrated over this. I was sure I'd see a reflection on the scales this week.

Anyway, had my PT today and Drew rightly told me off. Said he doesn't want me to weigh myself AT ALL for the next 3 weeks. So I promised i wouldn't (going to have to get A to hide the scales!!!!!!!)

I always feel a bit better after my PT, because it reminds me of how far I've come in overall fitness and strength - which is what this is all about. I just have to keep reminding myself.

went for another run on Sunday morning - am really loving those podcasts - onto week 4 tomorrow. Going to try and get up at 6am and go out for a bit longer.

My neck has been sore since Wednesday, I think I hurt it in my spin class ... so I'm hoping to have it seen on Thursday by the osteopath ... went to a physio today which was a complete waste of time.

anyway, gotta run ... vegies to cut up for dinner.

run like the wind

2007-02-03T13:48:00.000+10:00

I have a new best friend ... Robert Ulrey ... he's a 43 year old californian who has made podcasts to help those who want to run the couch to 5k program. His podcasts can be found her http://www.podcasts.ullreys.net/ and the running program is found here: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

I've been meaning to follow the program to get me ready to be able to run the bridge to brisbane in August, but was struggling with the knowing when to run/when to walk - I don't have a wrist stopwatch, etc etc ...

So I downloaded Robert's week 3 podcast this morning and off I went!!!! It made it so much easier having someone tell me what to do - I was like having a personl trainer along side me running. And week 3 wasn't all that tough. Probably less runing in a stretch than what I have been doing, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'll do 1 or 2 more days of week 3 and then move onto week 4 which will be a little more challenging.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty excited about the whole thing and just wanted to share it ...

Will probably head out for a run againn tomorrow morning.

mid week check in - is anyone out there?

2007-02-01T15:13:00.000+10:00

I just wonder if there's anyone out there? I mean, I don't write this for anyone but myself - I thought it would be a great record to have when it's all done and dusted and I'm skinny and have a whole new wardrobe ... but I was just wondering if anyone ever reads this? Apart from Lisa!!!

I'm feeling really good about this week. I think I'm pretty certain that I've lost a good number this week (as long as I can stay good over the weekend!!) . I've worked really hard at the gym this week, went for a run on Tuesday night, and went indoor rock climbing last night. Something is happening to me, it's very strange. I actually enjoy it all, I enjoy going to the gym, I like going out for a run, I like being active and having energy. It's definately changed from something I feel like I 'have' to do, to something I want to do. That in itself makes me happy.

Had spin class on Wednesday night and really enjoyed the class!!!!!!!! I never thought I'd be able to say that!! I used to loathe that class ... so I'm not sure what's going on, but whatever it is, it's all good.

Looking forward to Box tomorrow - missed out last week because of Australia Day.

I'm almost anxious for weigh in day because I want to see the result ...

Weigh in #4

2007-01-30T11:37:00.000+10:00

Is it number 4 already????

Only 200g again this week ... but I know I wasn't the best with my food, so what more can I expect?

Had my PT yesterday, worked hard as usual. Had a bit of discussion with Drew about the whole weight thing, I was feeling a bit flat after only losing 200g for the week. He pointed out my other improvements with the incereases in weights, strength and cardio fitness. Made me feel a bit better.

after the PT I was doing my 30min of cardio and Drew came up to me and told me before I left that he wanted to weigh me on the gym scales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, it's a good thing, because it will keep me more motivated and SCARED!!! Slightly humiliating to get on the scales there, but I know it can only get better ... right?!!! Anyway, weighed in at 79, with my shoes, clothes and 750ml of water on board, so no nasty suprises, like my home scales being seriously wrong!!!

So the goal is 3kg before he next weighs me in 3 weeks ... so I'm going to really have to watch what I eat.

Didn't get out for my run this morning - I had a horrible nights sleep and just couldn't get up at 6am ... the kids slept in a bit, which didn't help getting out of bed early.

Spin class tomorrow, weights and cardio on Thursday and Box on Friday - will aim to get out for a run on Saturday and sunday mornings. Going rock climbing on Wednesday night, that should be interesting and fun. I'll be eager to see how well I do ...