getting buff

Gosh, I am feeling great at the moment. In a comment on Beki's blog I said that I think all of us runners/fitness people go in cycles and you will see a depressed post about injury/poor performance/lack of mojo and then sooner or later the same person will feel better about everything. And we just keep repeating the cycle without ever really accepting that we are inevitably going to have ups and downs in our training or whatever. Mind you, bitching about it on the blog certainly does provide some welcome release sometimes.

So I am still pretty happy after the run on Sunday which was great fun. I am feeling in control of myself with the seasonal cheer program which seems to have relieved me of stressing about things that I can't change. Plus I was working through some of my thoughts about this whole *project* to answer some questions for kathryn. It really reinforced for me how happy I am with the whole "motivated by fitness" approach.

So yeah, just wanted to mention that I am no longer a grumpy-bum (at least until the next time).

Okay, it is probably no surprise that I was feeling a little ambivalent about the final Spring into Shape. My preparation had been poor with no long runs, which effectively meant that I hadn't run more than 5km since the last Spring. I was chatting with one of the ausrunners before the start and I suggested that all races should be considered a duatholon - the first event is the excuse making and then the actual run itself. If you do poorly in the race, you can make up for it if you have really good excuses.

My other excuse makes me feel like a big clutzy mcclutzberg. I am, amongst other things, completely uncoordinated at times, particularly where such uncoordination would lead to self-injury. So on Friday night I was ovenbaking some chips. Opening the oven door and leaving the tray pulled out while wearing shorts somehow led to a superficial but quite sizeable burn on my leg. Apart from feeling a like a loser, it still smarts quite a bit, and as with any healing injury makes my skin feel stiff and tight - which I figured was not the most conducive to fast running.

The race itself was up and down. At the start I had no idea how I was going to go - was feeling like it would be difficult to run well, but was determined to enjoy myself on such a gorgeous morning on such a beautiful course. The first km was pretty much on pace, but in the second and third ks I really struggled with some stiffness in the legs, particularly the injured one. Stopped to stretch a few times and threw in a few walking breaks to try and get myself moving.

Once it became clear that I wasn't going to break any land speed records I just tried to concentrate on running as much as I could, trying not to injure myself and otherwise just enjoying the morning. I went through the 4km mark in about 34min and Em and Tiger Boy gave me a much needed boost by cheering for me as I started the second lap.

The second lap was more fun - I was breaking the run down into smaller sections and cheering myself up by planning what I would have to do to beat my time from SiS1. Still had a few walking breaks and a couple of stops to stretch but didn't allow myself to take too long.

When I came to the top of Princes Bridge I was touched to see Tiger Boy obviously waiting for me to come round the corner. He ran the last 500m or so with me and kept talking me into passing one more person and keeping on going for just that little bit longer. It was just a lovely sign of what nice people runners are - this is a guy who lapped me and runs at least twice as fast as me and took time out of chatting with the other ausrunners and relaxing after the race to come and encourage me over the last little bit. Totally made my day.

I ended up crossing the line in 66:09, but my overwhelming thought from the day was what a nice day it was, how great it was to be out running and catching up with lovely people who encourage and support each other, whatever their goals might be.

I am not yet up to really racing 8km, but entering these races gives me something to aim and train for. Without this even yesterday, I doubt I would have done an 8km run this weekend. So all in all a great day.

You may have noticed that I have stopped posting the weekly weigh in posts. I must admit that at the moment I am a little betwixt and between. Let me explain.

If you ask me how I am feeling personally, I would tell you that I am pretty happy with myself. Diet wise, there are some things that I am unhappy with, but basically since May a lot of junk type stuff has gone by the wayside. I have resisted the cheese and dip snacking which tends to go under the radar. I do eat too much sometimes, but it is mostly home-cooked and healthy. Exercise wise I am certainly happy that I am doing regular exercise at the moment running 2-3 times per week without fail. My energy is improved, my attention is improved and generally I am feeling better and better about myself.

However, if you put any of those thoughts in the space of a long term view, I am not so happy as I want to be. The early days of beginning running has given way to a longer term and slower view of improvement. It took me 9 weeks to be running 30 mins three times a week, but now I can't help but wonder how long it will take me before I can comfortably crack the 10km and beyond. The path seems a lot longer and there seems to be a lot more work in front of me.

So I am somewhat more inclined to blow off a training run or re-schedule it for the next day, on account of the fact that the evil deege voice on my shoulder says "you are going to have to run hundreds of kms in the next 6 months, what difference will it make if you run this couple of km tomorrow instead of today?" So I have now gone two weeks without a long run, which of course means I am shitting bricks about SiS3. Part of me wants to transfer to run the 4km but the other part of me insists that I need to follow through and deal with the consequences of my poor preparation.

I am still doing the weekly weigh ins, but get depressed about the progress. Again, I find myself unable to celebrate the small advances I am making because I can't tear my focus away from the fact that I still have years of this ahead of me. My brain tells me that I want to do the lifestyle change thing which for me means changing things incrementally, and I don't really have the will or motivation to do any super hero boot camp challenge. But I still think that it should be easier than this. Because I darn well deserve it!!

What a grumpy guts I am today. But I need to recognise that the life that I choose to lead doesn't always make this lifestyle stuff easy or straight forward. Over the next month I have, to date, bookings for 6 christmas drinks/cocktail parties. And I am darned if I am going to be the one in the corner drinking mineral water and pretending to enjoy my carrot sticks. But at the same time, it means that as an evening runner, it will impact often on my running schedule.

So here are my guidelines for the silly season until January 1.

First I am going to run or walk every day that I don't have something on in the evening. No more chickening out if it is too hot - that just means I do a brisk walk or a short run instead.

Secondly, I am going to be sensible at Christmas drinks/parties. This means on evenings with drinks or parties, I have to bring in some healthy small meals to have as afternoon tea when going to drinks, so that I don't turn up at a nibblies function ravenously hungry.

Thirdly, lunches for November and December are salad and meat sandwiches or salad. Too easy to eat less well at lunchtime which means I need a lean dinner, and my dinners at this time of year are less likely to be something that I can strictly control.

Finally, enter events and races as much as possible to keep the interest up. Go on different running routes, plan excursions to places where I can exercise, pull the weights out of the shed. Anything to keep the interest up.

We'll call this the Seasonal Cheer program and reassess my progress on January 2. If I break even I will probably call this a success.

What a day we had yesterday - a top of 13 or 14 degrees yesterday with snow reported in some parts of the state. The wind was icy and it felt like the middle of winter when I was waiting for our spur of the moment dinner guest in town from Queensland (who was feeling the cold even more than I was).

I was quite proud of myself for getting out for my planned run despite the cold and the guest (he was more wanting to catch up with Hub anyway).

By the time I got home and was ready to go, it was pretty darn chilly and squally and the wind was brutal. So I pulled on my long tights, longsleeved shirt and hat. I even wore gloves!! Someone, I think it was Vicky had a great idea for gloves for running - you can buy white cotton gloves from the cleaning aisle in the supermarket for a couple of bucks for two pair. They are easily and cheaply replaced if you lose them and if you can't keep hold of them, you can easily bin them during the run.

I managed alright on my 4km loop which took just over half an hour. At one point it even started hailing which made me feel like a complete hero for the fact that I was continuing on. I might have mentioned how hard-core I was for running in the hail once or fifteen times once I got home.

UPDATE - the gloves idea was from Mrs Pommierunner on the ausrun forum. Must give credit where credit is due!!

So I went out for an easy run around my normal 4km loop last night and thought that I wouldn't pay attention to times or pace and just get my body back used to running regularly after two low mileage weeks. And I had one of those great runs. For the first time in ages in my warm up I felt comfortable and relaxed so i decided on the spur of the moment to extend my loop to make it closer to 5km.

By the end of the run, the legs were mentioning to me that they had been getting used to my more relaxed schedule, but it was just stiffness and they feel fine today after a good stretch. By the time I got home I was so happy and already looking forward to getting out again tonight.

So when Hub got home from a meeting and collapsed on the couch and asked how my run was, I couldn't resist:

"It was fantastic, I felt so good to be out there doing exercise, what a buzz!!"

An instant later my brain caught up with my mouth and I remembered that Hub has been moping around for weeks because he has had (another) chest infection cutting into his exercise and running program (again).

"Actually, come to think of it, it wasn't that good. A real grind. You would have hated it."

Oh well. Hopefully the latest course of antibiotics knocks it on the head. Unfortunately THE COACH has had to throw in the towel due to other commitments, so I am back to writing my own program. So I pulled out the spreadsheet today and planned out my running until the end of the year which was great fun.

It seems a little unreal to think that SiS3 is on in two weeks. Hopefully getting back into a bit of a regular routine will have me well prepared for breaking 60min for the last race in the series.

So I didn't really do a lot of running in the last week - in fact I went a full 7 consecutive days without a run. I was beginning to feel like I had mislaid my mojo. I of course ignored the fact that in the course of those seven days we spent two days shovelling and raking crushed rock after a spur of the moment decision to revitalise our driveway. And I ignored the fact that I was on a holiday in which I desperately needed to relax and refuel after another hectic half year at work.

But regardless of this, I was in danger of entering into a spiral of procrastination about running. So last night, despite the fact that I was tempted to just sit on the couch, I headed out for a short easy run. After I had shaken out some of the cobwebs, I began to really enjoy myself. I began to appreciate the time I was spending. I certainly appreciated the guy who said to me in a heartfelt way "Good on you" as I struggled past him.

And I began to ignore the fact that whenever I ran past a shop window, there appeared to be a slow fat chick between me and the reflection (bitch!). I began to let go of my frustration with the fact that my whole joooorney is destined to take a long time. I began to think about how erosion happens over the course of years, just one drop of water at a time. And I went to my running log and pulled up one of my cool graphs and counted that I have gone running at least once every calendar week for the last 24 consecutive weeks. And in the last 24 weeks, I have had 66 drops of water hit my big stony arse.

It might take a lot more. But I have time.

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 102kg
Total weight loss - 5.5kg
This (3) weeks' weight loss - 0kg

I am satisfied with this. I had a couple of good weeks with exercise and one virtually non-existent, and holidays generally result in poorer eating. Onwards and upwards though.