getting buff

moving

2006-12-28T10:14:00.000+11:00

Okay, I am joining the exodus. You can find me at my new blog. This will remain here for my archives (at least until I can figure out how to transfer them over).

smoko

2006-12-21T10:56:00.000+11:00

Well I haven't managed to get out there this week as much as I would like. A scratchy cough the other day has ballooned into a head cold with the help of a couple of very smoky days. So no running for me, particularly when there is still smoke around.

Otherwise feeling pretty good. Had my first session on the exercise bike the other day which was fun. Hub is right into it using the bike most days while he watches a DVD or some telly. Now just to make it through the Christmas period.

Happy Christmas to all - be safe this festive season and take some time amidst the demands of life to reflect on the peace, love and community that we share.

Quick notes

2006-12-17T14:31:00.000+11:00

So this week I scored an invite to a special "friends" sale at the Nike store in the city with 40% off. It is actually the first time I have been in there as I find it all a bit too trendy and intimidating. I bought myself an arm pouch (so I can be like Em) and a hydration pack with an 800ml bottle that sits in the small of your back. Not as schmicky as the fuel belt ones, but at $14 with the discount, I am not complaining.

So today I took the hydration belt out for a spin. For one reason or another I haven't managed to get out for a long run for AGES, so I was really looking forward to it today. It was a bit hot, so I took it really slow along the meandering hills of the Merri Creek Trail. Managed 9.6km in 80 minutes which is my longest run yet since I have started. I was glad that I had the water bottle as I had drunk it all by about the 8K mark, so I don't know what I would have done without water.

Father Christmas came early to our house when we picked up an exercise bike this afternoon. Hub wanted to get one so he could do exercise while watching DVDs and we thought that I could also use it for cross-training. So it is pretty cool and hopefully will get a good workout on my non-running days.

Finally I think I have found my favourite running shirt. They had a bunch of pretty cheap technical shorts and shirts in Big W when I went the other day and one of the shirts I picked up from the mens' department is very comfy and quite cool, plus it has "SPORTS XLNCE" written on the front. How can I resist?

forced rest

2006-12-11T10:25:00.000+11:00

It is very frustrating that at a time when I was enthusiastically looking forward to my long run, I felt like it was too risky to actually go and do it. Very hot and very smoky all weekend. While I might have to put up with the heat, I couldn't see the health advantages in going for a run in pretty thick smoke from the fires in the Alpine region and Gippsland.

Normally I would be pretty annoyed at the inconvenience, but my sister and her family live not far from the fires and my brother in law is heading up Mt Buller today to relieve some of the crews. They are saying that the fires will probably join and make three or four mega fires today which is pretty scary for all involved.

Casino Royale review

2006-12-09T21:25:00.000+11:00

Just the important bits. Good movie. Daniel Craig spends a lot of time with his shirt off. That is all.

running arithmetic

2006-12-05T11:18:00.000+11:00

I might be outing myself as being really odd, but sometimes during my run I do arithmetic to keep my mind occupied. This works really well as I am not actually that good at mental arithmetic so it takes me lots of attempts to work things out. Throw in that I am normally trying to calculate time which makes it even harder.

An example - if I am trying to maintain a certain pace for a run (for some reason during the run, nudge is all over the place in showing my current pace) then I will see how far I have gone and calculate when I should complete the next km for example. Anyway, it amuses me.

Last night doing a grotty recovery run of about 3.5km I was trying to figure out how much time I need to build up my long runs to be comfortably completing 16km by the R4TK. At my current long run pace, I will need to build up to running at least two hours!!!

Which is actually not that bad because I was kind of wanting to build my long runs up to that anyway. I am really looking forward to my long run on the weekend. I was building them up really well back in October but then I got out of the habit, and it is all too easy to find something to clash on the weekend. So I am switching my long run day to Saturday which has the added bonus of giving me back my Sunday mornings to finally do some study.

I have been noticing lately what the key is to having Hub be totally supportive of my running even when it cuts into time with him - World of Warcraft. Hub has been into this for a several months now and is perfectly capable of losing great slabs of time lost in his computer. There are downsides to this of course, but one of the upsides is that he doesn't mind me popping out for a run and doesn't seem to notice when I am gone for an hour or so.

Run for the Kids

2006-12-04T15:17:00.000+11:00

So over the weekend I entered this race in the 15.2km. Which means I have to learn how to run 15.2km before the 1st of April next year.

This is of course pretty weird because it assumes that I will still be keeping up this running thing until at least April next year. Given my track record for maintining my enthusiasm for hobbies, this would be quite a feat. However stumping up some money for the entry form is likely to advance the prospects that I will keep it up because I am such a tightarse that I would hate to think that I was wasting my money.

15.2km does seem like a lot though - add another 6 and a bit ks and it would be a half marathon. Anyway, should be a great experience and lots of fun no matter how much of it I manage to actually run.

Coburg Lake Classic

2006-12-03T11:57:00.000+11:00

Headed down to the track today for the Coburg Lake Classic organised by the Coburg Harriers. It was an out and back course along the merri creek trail with a trot around the track to finish it off. The sun was pretty warm at times so it was a good workout.

The boys doing the 10k were thumping their chests and showing off at the start, but a quick head count of the women assured me I was in for a top ten finish no matter how I did. My goal was to try to keep to 7:30 pace or better, which I managed pretty well. Also managed a negative split which was a pleasant surprise.

Finished in 37:52 which is about 40 sec outside the PB but very happy with that as the PB was at Albert Park on a very flat course and today's run was.. not flat. Had a pleasant chat to the other women. One said that she had taken up running this year when she turned 50 and tries to run a race every weekend (!!). The winner only just broke 30mins so not too much improvement needed to be right in amongst it.

up-cycle

2006-11-28T12:32:00.000+11:00

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).

Spring into Shape 3

2006-11-27T10:20:00.000+11:00

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.

motivation and the rules for the silly season

2006-11-21T12:05:00.000+11:00

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.

arctic

2006-11-16T11:14:00.000+11:00

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!!

At least I am not sick

2006-11-09T11:01:00.000+11:00

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.

the erosion theory

2006-11-02T21:20:00.000+11:00

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.

WW the twenty-eighth

2006-11-01T17:01:00.000+11:00

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.

obsession

2006-10-23T14:10:00.000+10:00

Okay, so I have a new obsession in looking at all of my workout stats on sports tracks. I check out the monthly and weekly stats, comparing average pace, distance, number of workouts and so on. Yesterday I was doing a long run which was meant to only be 60mins but I kept going for another 4min to make the km tick over, at least partly because I know it was going to be a close thing to see whether I would beat my PB of weekly kms (I beat it).

And with nudge, it automatically tracks all this other cool information which I can also compare, like elevation, calories burned, fastest pace, slowest pace and so on. RAWKS.

So I am thinking of doing this run in a couple of weeks. It is only 6.7km but it is straight up hill. It is pretty brutal and I am not really in shape for it, but the course goes almost straight past the weekender and so it is a race that I could easily make a yearly event. I figure I can just set the expectations low and run as much or as little as I want. And to boot, it supports a good cause.

beach baby

2006-10-20T11:23:00.000+10:00

Okay, so you know how when you don't know someone face to face you can kind of get a weird picture of them in your head and your attitude toward them can be kind of distorted because your brain isn't actually forced to think of them as a real person? Well I find that I am developing a weird mental image of THE COACH (tm). I have a great need to impress him and yet I spend most of my time cursing him under my breath (sometimes not so quietly).

I have the overwhelming feeling that if I meet him face to face I am going to have a need to apologise for all the rude words I have said about him and his stupid "comfortably difficult" tempo runs. Did you know that a pace that is "comfortably difficult" at the start of a repeat can be "I-think-I-am-going-to-throw-up-now" at the end of a repeat?

No weekly weigh ins for another couple of weeks because I have some time off work and we are staying at our weekender. This means that the ordinary running is being complemented by weeding, digging vegetable gardens, bushwalking, lugging mulch and compost and all the good springtime jobs. Also more chances to snack badly so it is pretty much a toss up as to whether this break is likely to be good or naughty.

But I do get to draw nice pictures with nudge, like the one above. Was tempted to run right out on the pier and back so that nudge would show more of the sea bed, but by that stage I felt like I was going to puke, and I wanted to get away from the watchful eyes of the people apparently doing some type of group workout program. Maybe next time.

Spring into Shape 2

2006-10-16T10:02:00.000+10:00

So I was trying to convince Hub to get up and barrack for me at SiS2. He ultimately chose to play stupid online computer games until late, and didn't come to bed until after I was asleep. When I woke up in the morning I found the above note on top of my race gear. If you can't read it, it says STEEL SPRINGS, which I thought was pretty cute.

Well this time I was much more sensible. Spent the day before getting hydrated (and avoided undoing my good work by drinking alceehol). Of course by the time I got to the start line I had to line up for the loos on three separate occasions. But that was probably a good sign.

Met up with a bunch of people from the ausrun forum which was great, if a little intimidating. I was talking last night over dinner about meeting up with people you only know from the internet. And it occurred to me that meeting up with the ausrun people was the best kind of way to meet internet ax murderers. For a hobby that I am participating in totally by myself, I went to a race by myself and was cheered on loudly through the halfway mark and across the line. In the latter case, I was cheered loudly by someone I didn't recognise (Chris W) because I didn't even meet him until after I crossed the line!! Anyway, it makes a heap of difference to participating in things like this.

So, the facts and figures. The aim was to keep to 7:30 pace for the first 5-6 kms and then bump it up a bit. I managed the first part of the equation pretty well, but didn't have any "bump" when it got to the last stage of the race. In fact by the end I was well and truly struggling and for some reason kept obsessing about trying to sprint down the hill towards the finish line, convinced that I would trip and do a face plant into the asphalt (I didn't).

Anyway the official facts and figures from race one and two:

	net time	4km split	agegroup	gender	total
SiS1	70:01:46	35:22:46	130/168	382/?	642/706
SiS2	60:59:9	30:55:8	133/313	354/?	671/783

So I was pretty happy about this overall, but it is annoying to miss breaking 60mins by such a small margin. That's the last time I ever walk through a drink station. But I can't get too upset about a 10min PB, even if my previous PB was pretty soft. I think I have a bit of work ahead of me to PB the next one convincingly.

sportstracks help

2006-10-11T22:05:00.000+10:00

Can someone tell me quickly how to adjust the route of a run that you record in sports tracks through the garmin? I like it but I find it not that intuitive. I am pretty computer literate so just a quick run through of the file/menu structure and basic commands would be fine.

Thanks.

GOAL(s)

2006-10-10T10:58:00.000+10:00

A couple of nice people encouraged me in my goal to do the half at the Melbourne Marathon next year. Gosh you are all lovely. Thank you.

So that, along with the questionnaire for my new coach, I have been thinking a bit about goals in the short and medium term. So I thought I would share them here and see how I go:

run the last two SiS and hopefully improve my times at each

Races wise, spend the summer doing 5km, 8km and 10km races about once every month to 6 weeks so that I always have something to look forward to while I try to consolidate my training and improve some of my times

Increase my mileage every month

Break 7min/km pace

Break 6min/km pace

Run the R4TK in April

Train towards my first half sometime in April, May, June, July

Run 10K in under 52 min (this is my only real remaining PB from when I used to run)

Run the half at the Melbourne Marathon and hopefully work towards a full in 2008

It's all a but full on in my head to be thinking about these things, but I remind myself that this time next year I will have been hopefully running regularly for 18 months. I have already been running for less than 6 months and in that time, I have gone from running for 60 seconds at a time, to running for 80mins at a time. None of these goals are set in stone except for the short term ones.

But I am a methodical bugger so it helps me to know where I intend to be heading in the longer term. This is pretty motivating for me rather than just heading out to tool around the streets every now and then aimlessly.

WWI the twenty-seventh

2006-10-10T09:44:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 102kg
Total weight loss - 5.5kg
This week's weight loss - 0kg

Ouch ouch ouch, my ribs are really sore this morning after my run last night. Last night looked in the mirror and could tell for the first time that I have lost weight in my face. And it is weird getting used to the fact that my jeans don't just fit me, but they move around on my hips. Not loose by any stretch but still a strange feeling.

ouch

2006-10-09T22:16:00.000+10:00

So, I remember a month or so ago I discovered that I was capable of more than one pace. And it was a revolution. Tonight for the first time I actually deliberately ran to a particular pace. Which made a 4km run a bit easier - because I was breaking it down into components - 1km warm up, 2km at race pace, 1km cool down.

The only thing was I kind of miscalculated the race pace bit. So my plan to run it at 7:30 per km kind of fell away when I realised that I was running it at 7min km, the fastest I have run since the beginning of the project (well except for 3 min on the treadmill). I was almost finished congratulating myself when I started to feel like I was gonna puke.

So I suspect that coach might tell me off for going too fast. But if I pull up a decent race pace, then I might get off the hook. So yet another reason to do well on Sunday.

Coached

2006-10-09T09:46:00.000+10:00

So I got my first training schedule from my new coach today. Heh. Coach is a guy from the ausrun forum who offered to coach beginner runners for free to develop some experience. So I put my hand up and the new schedule starts today. It will be interesting to see how it goes as I don't think that the running equation is too complicated for me at the moment - not really up to doing speedwork or complicated sesssions, more about putting in time on my feet.

Anyway, it certainly can't hurt and will be a good bit of accountability to make sure that I am pushing myself appropriately. And plus, if I don't improve fast enough, I now have someone to blame. Coolness.

back, baby!!

2006-10-07T16:23:00.000+10:00

Boy, by the time I was well enough to go for a run, I was really hanging out for it. I was determined to be good and allow myself sufficient time to recover properly before getting back out there, but it wasn't easy...

So, given that I hadn't been for a run in a week, that in the meantime, I had been the sickest I have been in probably three years with a chest infection and spent most of the week unable to do much more than collapse on the couch and go to sleep, I figured the best way to ease back into it was running up and down hills in 28 degree temperature. I did take it very slow and ran around and about so that if I felt I needed to cut it short I could, but very happy with how I felt.

This week has brought home to me how much the Project is improving my general health. I was sick as a dog all week but as soon as I began to shake the infection, I felt like a million bucks. I was amazed. On the tail end of a bad infection, I felt better than I used to feel when I was "healthy".

Oh, and today was the first time I took nudge on a burl around the weekender. The cool thing about the picture that draws is that you can see the beach on the little map thing. How cool is that? Will have to take nudge for an explore around the foreshore a bit in the coming months so that we can take in some more sea views on these pictures.

Good luck to all the marathoners and half marathoners for tomorrow!! One of my goals is to join you next year at least for the half (scary - a goal that assumes I will still be running a year from now).

not the melbourne marathon

2006-10-03T11:06:00.000+10:00

Well, I am pretty pleased that I am not running the Melbourne Marathon on Sunday for a couple of reasons. First, I can't run that far. Secondly, even if I could run that far, I have been laid low for four days with chest cold which has completely knocked the stuffing out of me.

So my thoughts turn to SiS2 in 10 days time. Things are not looking good for THE PLAN. Of two scheduled long runs so far I had to cut one short to work around a visit to the vet and have missed one due to chest cold. I have actually managed to do all of my weekly runs and have improved on those, so that's something anyway. And I have some cooler options for running. So when I look at it like that, in fact the only aspect of THE PLAN which is lacking is the long runs.

This weekend is my last chance to get a long run in (provided that the lurgy has left me), and it will be shorter than what I had planned. At the moment I am just feeling really antsy from having not had a run for three days in a row, with no expectation that I will get back out on the track for another couple of days at least. ARRGH.

PLUS in the dips section of the supermarket I found some egg salad which tastes really nice on toast with sliced tomato and salt and pepper. I am concerned that I might just eat the whole tub in such a fashion, which is probably not the most on track with regard to eating.

WWI the twenty-sixth

2006-10-03T09:18:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 102kg
Total weight loss - 5.5kg
This week's weight loss - 0.5kg

Have had a chest infection all weekend and have felt like crap. Had yesterday off work and did nothing but sleep basically but have to be back on deck today which I am not loving. But hey, at least the above is a good result. However, have not been able to go out for a run since Friday so that kind of sucks.

completely new information

2006-10-01T21:04:00.000+10:00

So in the spirit of the hundred facts meme, here comes a new thing, 20 things that sh*t me:

People who put lettuce in pre-made foccacias. What's that about? Who toasts lettuce?

Write your own will kits. Seriously, spend the hundred bucks people and do it right

Yappy dogs that people don't train. I don't get that option with my big dogs

People who are sanctimonious about the fact that they choose to breed

Illogical television ads

Sound bite journalism

Cats and dogs as fashion accessories and/or which don't naturally have fur

The Prequel trilogy of Star Wars. And Haydn Christiansen

The fact that Hub hates small change and leaves it in piles around the house

Beyond cold callers - the cold callers that ring and when you pick up the phone say "please hold" till someone gets on the line to intrude on your life

The fact that every time my vet rings, he gives me bad news

That boxers are cancer prone

Supermarket attendants who chat with the attendant in the next aisle apparently oblivious to the fact that they are in the middle of a transaction with you

rove

jason akermanis

office politics

supposedly cool bands like jet and wolfmother that are just really derivative and, let's face it, crap

doilies

People who leave stuff on the bench when the bin or the dishwasher is right there.

The fact that I cry at commercials

The federal coalition government - specifically Costello, Nelson, Abbott, Vanstone, Rudd and Howard

Feel free to share.

UPDATE - actually that is 21.

short solution

2006-09-29T21:57:00.000+10:00

So after some experimentation I think I have identified a solution for short pants that satisfies my dual goals of not making me so self-conscious that I want to kill myself and also being non-chafing and comfortable. However it does involve me wearing fake Kmart skins under mens running shorts so I do feel like a bit of a dick. But it is comfortable and cool which is going to be increasingly important as summer comes.

Tonight I headed out for a run and was looking forward to it all afternoon. Which is pretty unremarkable except for the fact that I am pretty sure I said only a month ago that I never feel like going for a run on a Friday night at the end of a long week. And it was very cool, I had a great run and felt fantastic.

update on DD

2006-09-27T13:50:00.000+10:00

For those that asked, our darling daughter puppy dog's biopsy came back showing a malignant tumour so she is in surgery today having it removed. Owning boxers we should be used to this, but it always comes as a blow. Will know more about the prognosis when the removed tissue is tested.

She will be home tonight and fine from the operation (although probably a bit more sensitive from interference by the monster). But we won't know whether the op has been a success until next week.

UPDATE - the pathology tests come back the most favourable of three grades of tumour. We have to keep an eye on her and there is a chance of recurrence or spread but hopefully all will be well. She has a big ugly incision at the moment but it is a good thing she is still so gorgeous.

WWI the twenty-fifth

2006-09-26T09:41:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 102.5kg
Total weight loss - 5kg
This week's weight loss - 0.5kg

Back again. Well all going in the right direction albeit slowly.

brownlow night

2006-09-25T21:18:00.000+10:00

So while watching the votes come in, I have been sucked in to doing the following - naming 100 things about me.

1. I am an identical twin.
2. I have only broken a bone once in my life - and it was my left leg two weeks after my twin had plaster removed after breaking her left leg.
3. I played cricket at high school. My jobs were opening batsman, second bowler and getting my team mates run out.
4. I have completed about a quarter of a bachelor of theology.
5. When I was at uni I worked as a residential care worker for disabled adults.
6. This was much more attractive than working in customer service.
7. I currently work as a lawyer in insolvency litigation.
8. When I was growing up there were between 6 and 8 kids in our family at any one time.
9. I really like kids but don't want any of my own.
10. Hub came to the same conclusion independently but we initially were too scared to tell each other as we had already decided to have kids.
11. I have two boxer dogs whom I totally love.
12. In my life I have learnt German, Russion and Polish.
13. I lived in Poland for a year when I was 17.
14. I lived in Germany for six months when I was 20.
15. I am not a tidy person though I am very organised.
16. I clean the house when I am grumpy because I figure that seeing as I am already feeling crap, it won't depress me.
17. I can knit and sew but rarely bother to do either.
18. I love playing trivia games but most people I know won't play with me.
19. Hub has banned me from playing chess because I get too competitive (and he kept beating me).
20. As a result I have "just said no" to playing chess for over ten years (even thoug I like it).
21. I took up running as a 17 year old on the spur of the moment and ran a 10K race in about 53 mins
22. I still have my finishing photo from that race (I found it the other day).
23. I used to play squash a lot and trained with state squads and development squads, but was never quite good enough to make it.
24. I was married at 23.
25. My wedding day was 364 days after my twin sister's - it makes it easy to remember her anniversary.
26. I can never remember how many years I have been married.
27. I just checked the date on the memorial plate from our wedding - eight years so far.
28. Hub was married previously but I was too young to attend his first wedding.
29. I made it to the second one.
30. We played "wake me up before you go go" as our wedding recessional.
31. I am a rabid collingwood supporter but have no idea where I got this from.
32. People sometimes I assume that I started barracking for collingwood when I met Hub. This is totally untrue.
33. I have been on the waiting list for MCC membership for about 9 years.
34. In 2002 I purchased a scalped ticket for the AFL grand final and sat in the uppermost corner of the olympic stand in the driving rain. It would have been worth it if we had won.
35. In 2003 I got a ticket for the AFL grand final through my club membership. I swapped seats with a guy who couldn't bear to watch the game.
36. I brew my own beer.
37. I brew my own wine.
38. My favourite home brewed wine (so far) is mead (honey wine). Yum.
39. I have another blog which gets thousands of hits per day.
40. Hub and I plan to buy a small acreage and try to be semi self sufficient.
41. We currently own a house on the peninsula that we try to get to most weeks.
42. Our house has a cedar hot tub on the back verandah.
43. We have a housemate ("the Lodger") whose body clock is currenlty almost exactly the reverse of ours (he goes to bed at about 7am).
44. I go to church in a pub every Tuesday night.
45. Hub and the dogs are down at our beach house for a week.
46. Sometimes I notice that the dogs are missing more than Hub.
47. When I was in primary school I used to compete in swimming.
48. I have a veggie garden and love home grown veggies.
49. Red meat sometimes gives me a stomach ache, so I don't eat it much.
50. I discovered Buffy late, but watched the entire seven seasons in the space of a couple of months.
51. I have never read a Lord of the Rings book.
52. I have never watched a Lord of the Rings movie.
53. I once had to read the Hobbit for a book club but tricked Hub into believing that I had not read it because I didn't like it.
54. I hate science fiction.
55. Except for the science fiction that isn't too science fictiony (eg Orson Scott Card).
56. I don't get soccer or rugby
57. For a couple of years I played a lot of golf. I would like to take it up again when I lose some more weight.
58. I love cooking casseroles and collect old fashioned recipe books.
59. I hardly ever eat sweet things.
60. I am currently studying for a doctorate in law.
61. I am way behind in my study.
62. From time to time I sing at church, but I don't consider myself a good singer.
63. I think I am very good at my job but I let myself down sometimes.
64. I am much more like my Dad than my mum in personality.
65. My taste in music tends towards the "sensitive white guy" music.
66. This is not crappy pop music, but folk influenced guitar based songwriting.
67. A lot of the stuff in my life is secondary to my priority to make a difference for others.
68. A lot of the time other stuff gets in the way of my priority to make a difference for others.
69. I actually answer to "deege" as it is my family's nickname for me.
70. My first two initials are DJ, hence "deege".
71. Other members of my family have family nicknames "Twistie" and "Pineapple".
72. Last weekend I spent a lot of money on leather couches.
73. I don't think that I have ever run more than 10K in my life.
74. I plan to do this in the next two or three weeks.
75. I am currently writing a book with Hub which I don't know whether it will ever be finished.
76. I used to write children's stories about a monster called "Urk".
77. I am incredibly klutzy. I have a rather noticeable scar on my arm from falling against a broken door knob which I totally knew was there.
78. When I was about 5 or 6 I took up running - generally up and down our (long) driveway.
79. I grew up on a hobby farm from the age of 2 until I was 17.
80. When I went overseas for a year, my parents jokingly threatened to sell the house while I was overseas.
81. 8 months later they sold the house.
82. My older brother is the black sheep in the family (for good reason). He is still not welcome at family events but we are one of the few people in the family who have decent relationship with him.
83. I know too many people who have had crappy things happen in their life.
84. I used to keep towels in my car purely for the occasional spur of the moment skinny dip.
85. I never knew what weight I was until I determined to lose weight.
86. I was just as self conscious about my body when I was extremely fit and healthy as I am now.
87. I smoked for over ten years and tried to quit for at least five of those.
88. The thing that made me quit was Hub saying he was worried he wouldn't be able to grow old with me.
89. We have a four wheel drive even though we don't go four wheel driving. I swore I would never do that.
90. I never speed and hate being in a car with people that speed (even a little bit).
91. I have loved reading ever since I was about 3.
92. I have a terrible habit of staying up too late at night even though I love sleep.
93. I appeared on the Couchman show twice.
94. I once kissed 6 guys in one night (I was young and it was like a competition with a girlfriend).
95. My "type" is incredibly consistent - and Hub fits within the parameters.
96. I am not within Hub's type.
97. I once kissed another guy when I was married.
98. I am related (distantly) to Andrew Bolt.
99. I bite my nails.
100. Once I get fit and back to where I want to be, my life will be pretty much perfect.

blown away

2006-09-24T16:32:00.000+10:00

The plan said 80mins this morning but I had to cut it a bit short because needed to take darling daughter to the vet. Weighed up leaving it till the afternoon but decided procrastination (even for a couple of hours) was not a great idea.

Difficult conditions due to the insane wind - made for very tough going a lot of the time. When it wasn't blowing a gale, the sun came out and had quite a bit of heat in it. But the run was prtty good exploring a different direction along the merri creek trail and ended up just over 6km. When it gets a bit warmer (and lighter) will be good to go there more often for some of my midweek runs.

I got back and it was a mad rush to get showered and off to the vet (DD had to have a lump biopsied) and found good cause to be pleased that I had not put off until this afternoon - the heavens opened and it began bucketing down.

run for your life

2006-09-21T21:42:00.000+10:00

The thing that I love about running is that every day is a new one. Last night I had a crappy run but my run tonight was great fun. The fastest training pace on a measured course yet. A great confidence booster after the race from hell.

I am at the stage where I am going to have to extend my normal midweek running route because it is only just taking me 30min to do. Which is a great problem to have. I boringly only run around the streets most days because I run at night and I like to run where there are street lights. The new route that I am going to implement from next week should be somewhere about 4.5 - 5km. But it is the distance that if you had described it to me as a non-runner, my brain would explode from the fact that it is so far.

conversation

2006-09-21T09:12:00.000+10:00

Me: My garmin ran out of batteries a couple of minutes into my run tonight. Did you leave it switched on when you borrowed it?
Hub: No.
Me: Did you switch it off? You know, press the little power button thingy?
Hub: Maybe not.
Me: Hmmm.
Hub: Hey, the watch strap on this heart rate monitor is getting all worn out - see how it is splitting?
Me: That is not "ordinary wear and tear".
Hub: Did the monster get it?
Me: Yessss. So next time you are switching off my garmin after using it, please make sure you put it up on the shelf.

Last night's run was awful. I set out at a decent speed but then nudge died so I have no idea what speed I was going after the first k or so. But everything hurt. My legs were aching all over - not pains or cramps just dull aching. I really wanted to stop, but seeing as it didn't feel like an injury or anything I kept going till I had finished the loop.

I am scheduled for a slightly longer run tonight so let's hope that those aches and pains have been knocked out of the system. I would be tempted to skip it, but skipping leads to routine changes, routine changes lead to calendar clashes, calendar clashes lead to violation of THE PLAN. Which is bad.

WWI the twenty-fourth

2006-09-19T10:36:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103kg
Total weight loss - 4.5kg
This week's weight loss - +2kg

Mumblegrumble. The scales are all over the place lately - have had vastly different readings over the course of the last couple of weeks. Maybe they are menopausal?

Someone got to this blog by searching for "getting buff in one week". Me thinks they might have been disappointed. No magic tricks, here!!

Planning into Shape

2006-09-18T12:02:00.000+10:00

Before the run yesterday one of the other ausrunners asked me what my plan was for the race. My approximate answer was "MmmmmIdunno". In the great spirit of experimentation, I have determined to see whether having some sort of plan or intentionality about the race will make a difference for the next one.

So the finely tuned plan is as follows:

Long runs. I have put together a schedule of runs over the coming month, still increasing my time but observing the 10% rule. This should see me doing another three runs of 80-90 mins. The long runs increase my confidence because I know that I have actually done that distance before and longer which is a big mental boost on the day

Short runs. Over the past month I have missed far too many midweek runs. The body complains when I string running days together too often so if I do miss a run, I often find it difficult to reschedule. But for the next month I am going to be very good about the midweek runs and try to avoid hayfever and all those things which tend to put me off track

Preparation. Okay, I am going to be sensible this time about making sure I am stretched and hydrated and not just turn my mind to these things when I rock up on the morning.

Outfit. Running in the heat is that much more difficult when you are carrying extra kilos so, even though exposing the flesh makes me pretty self conscious, the half tights, t-shirt and dark coloured hat didn't do me any favours when I was feeling hot. So over the next month I will experiment with various shorts options to find something that doesn't chafe and hopefully doesn't make me look like lumpy sausages.

Enjoyment. Put SiS1 behind me and write it off as a bad day. Concentrate on enjoying myself at SiS2 and don't load up with too many expectations. If I meet the goals that I had for SiS1, then I will already show an improvement of over 10mins which is nothing to sneeze at.

Practice. I am going to see whether I can swing it one day to go and run the course again, just to replace the ugly memory with a nice one.

I am actually trying to convince Hub to come along and run the 4km at SiS2. He has been doing a run/walk program which has had a few hold ups, but has just managed to achieve running for 30min non-stop. He normally works on Sundays, but has the day of SiS2 off so is half considering coming along to cheer me on, but I am trying to convince him to sign up himself.

If he only had signed up for the series, we could have matching lurid blue running tops.

Spring into Shape 1

2006-09-17T18:49:00.000+10:00

Well today was the Spring into Shape 1 and the splits tell it all really. Went out pretty briskly (for me) in the first K, then at about 1.5K I had a pretty painful cramp in my right shin. Stopped and stretched and tried to run gently through it, but wasn't happening today.

Walked for a couple of km which was still pretty painful and was resigned to walking the whole of the second lap as the cramp still wasn't loosening and felt really sore (ouch, ouch, ouch). But as I started to feel a bit looser, tested it out for a little bit until the next drink station and then realised that I only had about 3k to go. Beautiful day and gorgeous course so managed to talk myself into just going for an easy 3km in the nice weather.

Though when you are having a bad day, you feel like everything is falling apart. Was getting a dehydration headache and everything seemed like it was sore. By the time I got the legs turning over again, I felt pretty self conscious because I was going alongside a bunch of walkers and there I was puffing away attempting a quasi run.

Official time is 1:10:01.46, running 130th in age category, 641st overall (split time 35:22.45). There is lots of improvement still to come. Bring on SiS2!!

EDIT - I don't know what was going on today, but I wasn't right. I came home and lunch caused painful stomach cramps, then had a nanny nap for three hours and felt much better though had some issues with pins and needles in hands and feet. At the moment I think that I was poorly hydrated which was exacerbated by it being a bit warmer than I am used to running in. Hopefully can manage this better next race day. Thankfully I don't seem to have any long term effects or injuries.

WWI the twenty-third

2006-09-12T08:57:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 101kg
Total weight loss - 6.5kg
This week's weight loss - 2.5kg

Heh. This looks pretty impressive but is really just righting the ship after a couple of weeks where the numbers on the scale were not truly representative of the situation and one week of retaining water. But nice to be back on track anyway. It must have been the fish and chips I ate on the weekend.

bugger

2006-09-09T16:37:00.000+10:00

I had a really good long run planned for today - finally determined to check out part of a trail that runs near to the weekender. And then I woke with eyes and nose streaming experiencing a terrible attack of hayfever. I don't get it often but when I do, I feel like I am completely out of action.

I spent the day simulatneously snapping at Hub and struggling to cope with normal saturday errands while I was steadfastly determined to go for my run. After doing a bit of cleaning up, I stood with tears streaming down my face (barely affected by the mega strength anti-histamine) and I began to deal with the fact that there was no way I was going to be able to do my run.

Oh well, I will go for a couple of shorter runs during the week before SiS1. And I will leave my maps so that I can revisit this run at a later date.

guinea pig

2006-09-08T22:04:00.000+10:00

I am a victim of a genetic lottery in that I happen to be an identical twin. Most people find that pretty cool (except one of the partners at work who totally freaked out when I showed her my sister's pictures of her and her first child in the hospital - apparently it looked too much like me).

However, one of the little advertised aspects of being a twin is that every man and his dog wants you to join in scientific studies, because you just happen to be the perfect experimental and control group all in one. So my younger years were spent hanging out in mobile labs testing my spatial awareness or colour discernment or whatever.

So when I was doing my exercise study today the testers asked me whether I had ever done studies before and they were fascinated to hear that I had basically spent my childhood being tested, measured and evaluated in the interests of science.

So the testing was all kind of interesting. In lieu of a complete blow by blow, I will mention two moments. The first was when they outlined what we would be doing and said blah blah blah measurement blah blah blah tension blah blah blah six minute kms blah blah blah hopping. Whoops. I actually felt scared to raise the fact that I didn't know whether I could run 6mins kms. It was a lot faster than the 8km p/h pace that had been noted in the information sheets. I felt like a loser, but in the midst of all of that uncertainty I feel a bit of ahchievement that I managed that pace for about 4min. While slow, that is conclusively the first time that I have run that pace for any time at all since I began this adventure. So I am proud of being a bit of a loser.

The second fun moment was when they took some blood from me and the tester said something along the lines of "I have to fill this out for you - some legal reasons or something". And I responded with "Those bloody lawyers, they spoil everything!!". She had the grace to hear the tone and recognise that I was a lawyer. It gave me a giggle.

So my final testing session is in two weeks time. I wonder if I can practice between now and then so I get better at running 6min kms for short periods of time.

ch-ch-ch-changes

2006-09-07T11:37:00.000+10:00

So a pair of work pants I only bought a couple of weeks ago now requires a belt. You've got to love that, but this lifestyle gig can get expensive with all the changing wardrobe.

Took nudge out to draw a new picture last night. Added an extra block or so to my normal mid-week run after roughly calculating that it would make my run about 4km without having to go over any ground. Then of course at the end I had to run back and forth in front of my house for a couple of minutes to get nudge to tick over from 3.8km. That makes for a very funny picture indeed.

Tomorrow night I have a testing session for an ASICs sponsored study that I have volunteered for. It is about the way that hormones influence women runners and the results might be used by ASICs to improve their women's gear. I am a little nervous because, while I fulfill the requirements of the study (running three times a week for 30 mins plus), I am hardly madam sports star. The little (well big actually) fat chick inside of me half thinks they are going to look at me and go "What were you thinking??" But then I remind myself that I fit the criteria, and dammit I am a prime representative of the highly lucrative plodding overweight beginner runner market. Hear me roar!!

Actually, the hardest thing about this will be running on a treadmill without falling off or looking like a goon (I haven't really run on a treadmill in years). Plus they are deliberately testing me on the first day of my *ahem* cycle, so it isn't going to be the most comfortable or easiest day for running (which I guess is kind of the point of the study). At least I can be thankful that this is the first time since I have started this journey that running plus impending menstrual cycle does not equal "curled in a ball on the floor moaning incoherently with muscle pain".

Heh, one final thing that amused me about the study is that the instructions said that some exercise will be involved in the testing and I should therefore wear shorts. Socks and shoes would be provided by ASICs. It immediately occurred to me that something was missing in those instructions. Think I might take along a T-shirt as well just in case.

Regarding records

2006-09-05T11:36:00.000+10:00

So at the suggestion of some people I downloaded Sporttracks to use for my record keeping and for nudge. Had a panic moment when nudge froze during data transfer and had to reset him - thought I had lost those wonderful couple of runs I had already put in the system. Phew.

I quite like Sporttracks though the documentation isn't great so it is taking a little bit of time to learn my way around it. As a start I transferred all of my records over from my running log at coolrunning so that I have all of my information in one place. It was fun reading through all of my progress so far and some of the comments on the runs. One thing I noticed is that I evidently recorded the distance it felt like rather than the distance it probably was. As a result my run walk result over 4km is recorded as being faster than when I just run. My biggest distance month was the month I started recording distance. I don't think that it is too accurate though.

Anyway, I like to preserve the innacuracies. Nudge has brought a new level of precision to my recording and I would really like to just continue to improve my monthly kilometrage and time on my feet, particularly now that I know that my sums are pretty much correct.

Nudge has disabused me of the notion of my "ordinary training pace" as well, unfortunately. Turns out I have lots of training paces, a lot of them slower than the one that I previously had notched as my slowest. Huh. Who knew that I could be even slower than I previously thought? I have to keep reminding myself that even if a particular route is 3.9km instead of 4km, it doesn't change the fact that I have improved my speed over that distance a fair bit.

So reading over the records was just what I needed. So what if nudge is a big fat spoilsport regarding some of my distances. The fact is, just a couple of months ago it took me a week or so to fully recover from a run of 6km. With any luck my long run this week will crack the 10km mark, to be followed by a light week (which now amazingly enough means two or three gentle 25min jogs) in preparation for SiS1 a week later.

Bring it awn!

WWI the twenty second

2006-09-05T11:23:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.5kg
Total weight loss - 4.0kg
This week's weight loss - +0.5kg

More than once I have thought that if I was just going by weight, I would have given up this gig already. But I keep dropping dress sizes and requiring belts on things even when the scales don't show a difference. I have considered more than once removing the weekly weigh in because frankly I don't like how it makes the whole thing about the scales, and it makes people kind of get the wrong impression about what is happening. It all feels a bit weight watcher meeting to me, when it is really just for my personal records. And I don't like feeling the need to justify what is happening or feeling like people impliedly have to congratulate or encourage this when I am perfectly at peace about the whole thing and thrilled with all the little things that are showing my progress.

I am a compulsive record keeper, so on balance I have decided to keep going with this so that I can continue making nice little graphs and records. However, I am going to turn the comments off on WWI posts, so no weight watcher meeting feeling. Hopefully that will allow me to achieve a happy compromise of keeping track of stuff in an accountable fashion without becoming (or feeling like I am becoming) all about the scales.

Nudge

2006-09-03T21:01:00.000+10:00

So spent a long run with the garmin today and he whispered his name to me - nudge. Not really that sexy or anything, but what can you do? That's what he said his name was.

It was so cool today with the garmin - I could just run wherever I wanted and feel confident that I knew where I was going and figure out how long it was taking. I have also discovered that the distance shown on nudge is always slightly less than the distance shown on motionbased when I upload the results. The FAQ on motionbased suggests that this is because they do a more accurate analysis of the GPS data. Enough reason for me to take the longer distance as gospel.

So I was conscious today of drawing a good picture with nudge. I didn't want an out and back course because that wouldn't be a nice picture. Pathetic. But hey, it was a motivating factor when I felt crappy, and I ended up doing a 75min run without too much trouble (although admittedly empahsis on the "slow" of the LSD. You can see the route here

BTW How cool is that map function? It rocks, truly. Two weeks to SiS1

stress buff

2006-08-31T22:07:00.000+10:00

I have a job which is sometimes a little insane. I work at the certain end of my industry which is actually better for work-life balance. Yet even so my work life has demands that many of my friends who don't work in the industry don't understand. These last couple of weeks it has been way beyond that.

I have been working what feels like around the clock - particularly once you fit in study and other commitments (even leaving aside poor Hub and the dogs). For the first time in my life it has occurred to me that the high blood pressure issues I have had might be stress related rather than lifestyle related.

And I am starting to remember what a stress relief running can be. By the time I started this job I was already not a runner. And yet tonight when I got home before 7pm for the first time in 2 weeks I felt weary to the bones but also incredibly eager to get out for a run. The run was so so, but just the fact that I was out there made the world of difference to my outlook.

PS. Plus, my garmin arrived which is totally cool.

WWI the twenty-first

2006-08-29T10:30:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103kg
Total weight loss - 4.5kg
This week's weight loss - 1.0kg

No comment. Got rid of most of the gain from last week and trendline continuing downwards. So, happy with that.

1 hour

2006-08-27T19:43:00.000+10:00

Well today was another great milestone. After building up since I finished the C25K, today was the first time that I ran for an hour non-stop. I kept going for a couple of minutes so that I could finish 8km. Woohoo!!

I felt pretty comfortable during the run, though sitting at the MCG in the cold this afternoon managed to leave me a bit stiff and sore (but at least we beat carrt'n). So I think that all of my long runs from now on will be at least 8km in preparation for the Spring into Shape series, though I will keep building up the distance until I get my long run to about 90mins.

My training pace has increased enough that I am having to rethink my goal for the first SiS as I just about beat that goal today in an easy training run.

The only bad thing about this is that as I run longer distances, I am starting to get really bored with running the same courses over and over again, which I do because I have measured how long they are. So it is great luck that I have just ordered myself a Garmin 205 to measure my distance for me. So now I will be able to run whereever I want and still keep track of my distance. And I can draw those cool little maps that people put on their blogs.

The clothing gap

2006-08-23T15:02:00.000+10:00

I am incredibly reluctant to spend too much on clothes at the moment (unless they are technical Ts), but sometimes it is impossible to avoid. I have plenty of options in the rewards drawer, even after this weekend a garment which is one size fits all, but which apparently exludes me from the definition of "all".

At the moment I am in a "clothing gap". The gear which says one size is mostly too big and the gear which says the next size down doesn't quite fit. Bugger!! This is all okay for casual clothes where I can work around some of these problems. But work clothes are more difficult. At the best of times I only keep about three suits to wear for work. At the moment I am down to two pairs of grey slacks and one suit jacket. Which means that it looks like I am wearing the same thing every day.

So I reluctantly took the payrise out for a shop today to get a couple of mix n' match items which will hopefully last me through till the three pairs of dress pants in the rewards drawer start to cooperate.

I have two problems with shopping. The first is at the point when I take the clothes off the rack and can't bear to choose a size which I feel bad about. So, although not totally surrendering reality, I choose what I like to call an "optimistic size". The second problem happens when I am in the change rooms averting my eyes from the magnifying mirror from hell and find that the optimistic size doesn't fit over my butt/boobs/head/bingo wings so I crack the sads and decide (again) that I hate shopping. If I win the changeroom game, I lose the sizing game and vice versa.

So it was really nice to grab an "optimistic size" and find in the changerooms that it actually fit (except for the fact that the pants need to be taken up, but I really don't expect that getting buff is going to do much to lengthen my legs).

WWI the twentieth

2006-08-22T08:48:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 104kg
Total weight loss - 3.5kg
This week's weight loss - +1.5kg

Okay, remember how I was happy last week that I had had six weeks in a row of no gains. I appear to have angered the weight loss gods as well. By tomorrow I predict I will have been cautioned at work, had a massive fight with Hub and received an urgent bill which I can't afford to pay.

Correcting the balance in the force

2006-08-21T22:33:00.000+10:00

Okay, so in the last week I might have made some comments about my training speed improving rapidly and mentioned that sometimes the timing of a run is just perfect.

I seem to have angered the running gods. So, after tonight's run, I would like to mention for the record that sometimes running can be totally difficult, totally painful and totally unpleasant.

That is all.

run o'clock

2006-08-21T10:12:00.000+10:00

One of the things that I have to keep working on when changing to a healthy lifestyle is that I am changing my lifestyle, not myself. Whatever plans and decisions I make, it is still little ol' me who has to carry them out.

When I joined a gym previously, the only time I could really use the gym was in the morning before work. And I hate getting up early. So I resented the gym and hated it every morning when I went, and when I didn't enjoy it very much at the gym, it was easy to get out of the habit.

When I plan in my head what I am doing, it is tempting to schedule in a run or going to the gym at a time I should know is totally incompatible with my personality. Example. At the end of a long week I never feel like doing anything other than sitting on the couch. So I should have known better this week than to plan a run on Friday. I instructed Hub that I would get home from work, put the dinner on and nip out for a run while it was cooking. It was no surprise that I got home and welded my butt to the couch and didn't move.

There was a time when this would have filled me with guilt and started me on the road to self-recrimination and hand-wringing. But this time it was just a reminder that changing my lifestyle doesn't change my personality and it doesn't change the way that I tend to react to the demands on my lifestyle. It was a reminder that I never feel like exercising on Friday evenings, which is why that is scheduled as a rest day.

Similarly I know that I will rarely get up early to exercise, so I don't schedule exercise in the mornings. I know that although I am an obsessive list maker, any changes to my diet which depend on me tracking, counting, weighing or documenting will be commenced enthusiastically but will fail after a couple of weeks.

So on Saturday I wasn't too concerned when I began to think that I didn't really feel like going for a run that afternoon. But after a little while when it got to about that time on Saturday afternoon when I normally head out, I began to get an itching to go. It was run o'clock. So I headed out for a particularly exhausting dog relay. It's a special workout that requires you have three dogs and the inclination to only run with one of them at a time. The changeovers are a killer.

BLISTering pace

2006-08-16T20:26:00.000+10:00

I had a crappy day today - I was tired and travelled to our branch office which meant an earlier start. Spent a boring morning in court and my clients had to do a deal which they didn't like - never good.

I was really looking forward to my run tonight. And when I got started, I noticed I was rabbiting off at a pretty fast pace. I didn't even know I had a fast pace. Seriously, up until now, when I have tried to crank up the pace, it just seemed like I didn't have any other gears. Tonight I felt like I was pushing myself, but I knew I could drop back if I became uncomfortable.

But that was before I began to check my splits and realised just how much faster I was going. That was when I decided to run my full 4km loop and see whether I could beat my best training time. My normal loop is not hilly but it does have some decent "inclines". It is definitely not a flat course.

And when I got to the 4km mark, I had beaten my best time for that distance by over 3 minutes. And my average pace (for a training run) was faster than my Queen of the Lake pace by about 20 seconds per km.

Running rocks.

WWI the nineteenth

2006-08-15T11:16:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 102.5kg
Total weight loss - 5kg
This week's weight loss - 0.5kg

And you know, the last time I gained weight was WWI the twelfth back in June. It's taken longer than I had hoped to see a difference on the scales, but I am not complaining about 6 weeks in a row of either a loss or stay the same.

Getting technical

2006-08-10T11:04:00.000+10:00

So a couple of months ago, I wouldn't have known what a technical fabric was if I fell over it, and I would have thought that cotton was the go for exercise. Oh, how naive I was.

I have been having some recurring problems with my shirts rubbing my upper arms when I run (which really hurts). I bought some bodyglide, but Hub has started using it and I haven't gotten around to buying a stick of my own.

So in a truly terrifying display of consumerism, I have gone out and bought an array of technical Ts at various sales and bargain prices. Em kindly passed on an event T which fits me so must have been quite voluminous on her. Plus I have bought a bunch in various sizes which should see me covered (so to speak) until I am too small to properly fit a Brooks shirt in a "Medium". Must say they aren't quite as warm as a cotton T, particularly with the icy wind we had last week.

My rough plan for the Spring into Shape series is to keep doing two to three midweek runs for a total of about 60-90mins and increase my long run to about 90 minutes. I calculate that I should fall over the line for the first race, and then try to do it more comfortably for the second and the third.

WWI the eighteenth

2006-08-08T13:57:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.0kg
Total weight loss - 4.5kg
This week's weight loss - 0kg

Wonder whether that post race celebratory mashed potato put me off my stride here?

Queen of the Lake

2006-08-06T14:23:00.000+10:00

Wow, fun runs have certainly changed since I last went to one. It never occurred to me to bring oodles of cash to spend on the shoes, clothes, food and everything else that was on offer at the end of the race.

Here was my race report on the ausrun forum

Well, what a day!!

Perfect weather for running - not too cold, not to hot - it was juuuuust right.

Minor hiccup before the start when I saw how long the clothing queue was - so bolted back to the car to drop it off and dashed back to try to make the start - we'll call that a "warm up".

Took a little while to get over the starting line (these automatic timing things are pretty fandangled). Second minor hiccup when I realised my plans for tracking my pace were a little derailed. I had strapped on just the watch of my HRM but because I never shelled out for the one with the personally coded signal, every time someone ran past wearing a HRM, it reset my watch.

Went through the halfway mark feeling still okay but when I tried to kick the speed up a notch at the 3K mark, found there wasn't much kick left in the tank. The self talk got a little amusing in the last couple of Ks as I desperately tried to get myself to give myself permission to walk. But I overruled myself and kept running.

The final sprint at the end nearly killed me dead I tells ya. Gun time was 37:40ish which I am thrilled with - I was aiming to beat 40min. Was happy enough that I wasn't lapped again by the winner of the 10K (just).

A couple of other things - pretty sure I saw the wife and daughter of one of my clients lining up to register for the race. They are a whole superfit running family and the whole running ugly thing doesn't fit with the lawyerly image. So I avoided them.

Towards the end of the race I started to reel in some people who had started out running and ended up walking. That felt good. But I am pretty sure I became some people's nemesis person. There were a few people who would run past me and then stop to walk. I would pass them while they were walking and then they inevitably would use the occasion of me passing them to prompt them to start running again. Heh.

I did manage to pass all of my nemesis people (the girl in the red nike vest and the two women with white shirts running together pushed me right to the end but red vest fell behind at about the 4K mark and white shirts were blown away by my massive sprint at the end).

Will check the tag time when the results are posted, but on gun time I ran about half a minute per km faster than my training pace. No wonder I wanted to stop towards the end!! Now it is 6 weeks to the first Spring into Shape so training starts in earnest.

EDIT - Tag time was 37.10 which I am very pleased with. Lots of room for improvement but I expected that. 170th in Age category, 450 overall.

shopping list

2006-08-04T11:34:00.000+10:00

Much in the spirit of the rewards drawer am having to create a mental shopping list for things that I need to replace at the lowest possible price because I am getting too small for the things that I am wearing. On the list at the moment is a new sports bra (I actually have two in the rewards drawer but the one that no longer fits is a full two sizes bigger than those that are in reserve - so need to get an intermediate size before I permanently injure myself with flying boobs).

The good news is that after over a month out of action and the contribution of a couple of grand in repair costs, our hot tub has finally been repaired this morning. And it is all updated and brand spanking and much better than it has been before. Should be just the thing for easing those little aches and pains and stiffness prior to the run on Sunday.

Hub and I are turning into running geeks. We spent a large part of our journey down to our weekender last night talking about our respective progress (this was after he began talking to me again when he realised that I hadn't spontaneously intuited that he wanted me to pack his running shoes). He is also shrinking fairly rapidly but not noticing it so much on the scales. Being a bloke he will probably take all of five minutes to get buff. But at the moment it is great that we are both enjoying this so much and we just hope it carries on.

WWI the seventeenth

2006-08-01T09:52:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.0kg
Total weight loss - 4.5kg
This week's weight loss - -0.5kg

Yet another reminder not to focus too much on the weight. For the last several weeks I have been weighing myself on both Monday and Tuesday mornings and using the result that makes me feel the happiest. My weight fluctuates from day to day by up to a kilo!! And yet yesterday I got dressed for work and buttoned up my suit jacket and realised that it was comfortable to button up my suit jacket. Revelation.

I am really pleased that I am getting good results in other areas. Because if the only way I was measuring myself was through weight loss I would be majorly losing my enthusiasm and being less committed to my plans.

But thankfully, the weightloss thing is just a bonus. If I look towards my future goals and plans for the rest of the year, most of them are not weight related. They are goals for races that I want to compete in, distances that I want to achieve, times that I want to be able to run. Sure, I want to be able to fit into my summer gear by the time it is summer, but that is mainly because I am a tightarse and I don't want to shell out for new clothes.

Race strategies

2006-07-31T10:28:00.000+10:00

So, my first fun run the Queen of the Lake is on Sunday. I pretty much have been looking towards this run since I began my program so it has been looming.

I thought it was an apt time to consider my strategies for the race. Back in a past life I have run fun runs before so I am familiar with the drill (provided that they haven't changed things too much).

My goals for this race are simple:

don't fall over

don't knock anyone else over

don't require medical treatment

don't get a parking ticket

don't lose car keys

don't come last

run the whole way

I am trying not to think too much about particular times, but I am gently hoping that I can run it faster than my normal training pace. I plan to try to run at about or not much faster than normal pace for the first 3K and kick it up a notch for each of the last 2K. I am perfectly happy having a really crappy time for this run because then in twelve months' time I can mention it in an offhand way and say "Can you believe that I ran my first 5K in that time!?"

competitive edge

2006-07-30T12:08:00.000+10:00

I am competitive by nature. Sometimes my best motivational tool is comparing myself to the people The only problem is that at my current state of health and fitness, I have to choose wisely to ensure that there is some comparison I can make which will show me the winner. Kind of like "Well, you might have a teeny tiny bottom, but I have my treadmill incline at 2% more than you".

Pathetic, really.

I was doing it this morning. "You there watching the people play soccer - why don't you get off your bum and run twice around Princes Park for once". Or "Look at that guy meandering along - bet he hasn't run twice around Princes Park in a looong while". Or "So, you made all that effort to pass me and two metres later you pull off the path to rest - slow and steady wins the mindgame, loser."

So I ran twice around Princes Park today (6.4km). I was pretty pleased with myself.

gym schmim

2006-07-27T17:21:00.000+10:00

So I have some lingering annoyance from the gym assessment the other night. This is why. The person who was doing my assessment was lovely. I explained that since my last program, I had taken up running and told her how much and how often. She made all the appropriate impressed noises. And she designed a program exactly as I wanted - a variety of specific weights for upper and lower body, particularly core strengthening and very little cardio (because I am using the running for that).

So I was really happy until I finished being shown around the new routine and the gym owner (who I normally like) has a look at the program and arcs up that there is not enough cardio in it. Now recently he has mentioned on a couple of occasions that he hasn't seen me for a while (which is often true - if things get busy, the gym gets visited less frequently). So I just know that he thinks I am slacking off, even though I have told him that I am doing all my cardio on the outside.

He wanted me to justify why I didn't want to do gym cardio and he was pretty much pissing me off. I appreciate that some people might not push themselves as hard as they should, but I am not friggin one of them!! (at least not this time) If he had done my assessment he would have known all the answers to these questions, but he didn't and still wanted to make all these assumptions about me, or suggest that if I am self-motivating then I am not doing the right thing. The stupid thing is that he was holding the results of my assessment which were evidence that I was actually doing really well with the whole self-motivating thing. In the end I said something like "We did talk about all this stuff in the assessment, you know."

Anyway, I thought it was stupid of him. I like him and the other owner, but the reaction to hearing that I was exercising more outside of the gym than inside should have been "That's great!! Tell us how we can help you achieve your goals." Instead I was annoyed and less convinced that I will renew after my twelve month membership runs out.

PS. Actually the really funny bit was when my blood pressure was above the level that they like it to be (I am going through a process with my Doc to address this) and he wanted a note from my Dr. I said that he didn't need a note from the Dr, that I was voluntarily assuming the risk and I was happy to sign any sort of waiver or release that he wanted, and that I would even draft it for him (I am a lawyer). Of course, he said that wouldn't be necessary.

puppies

2006-07-26T11:45:00.000+10:00

toby on sasha
Originally uploaded by danmccredden.

Okay, I am trying to help someone with uploading an image, so I thought I would show you my cute puppy dogs as a test. Aren't they sweeties? (The little one is much bigger now).

the incredible shrinking woman

2006-07-25T21:09:00.000+10:00

I had my fitness test at the gym today, which is the first one since I started at the gym (about 2 weeks after I started this whole lifestyle change caper). So, you know how I have been trying to convince myself that even though my weight loss is not lightning quick, I am actually shrinking?

Well, it turns out that's true!!

For starters, my resting heart rate was down by about 4 bpm since the last time I checked. But the really exciting changes came in my measurements. I should have written them down, but I was kind of reeling from the shock.

Biceps - minus one cm each
Calves - About the same
Hips - for some reason a completely different measurement (suspect that they haven't got the consistency of measuring spot going with that one).
Boobs - Minus, like, 8cm.
Waist - Minus, 8 or 9 cm
R Thigh - Minus 8cm
L Thigh - minus 10cm (!!! - she measured this one twice)

So howzat, suckers. Kicking arse. (Just a little bit pleased with myself)

WWI the sixteenth

2006-07-25T09:47:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.5kg
Total weight loss - 4.0kg
This week's weight loss - -0kg

This week's result still affected by a bit of water retention and the fact that I had a nice supper at midnight with a house guest who arrived at 11:30pm. Have a fitness assessment and new program at the gym tonight which should be good because it will incorporate new measurements of all my bits. Intuitively these should be good results because I know that I fit into a lot of stuff that I didn't when I had my last assessment, but we will wait and see.

gorgeous day

2006-07-23T16:38:00.000+10:00

I was hemming and hawing about going for a long run today, but I kicked myself in the butt and drove down to the foreshore so that I could take advantage of the beautiful weather and run through the winding paths along the beach.

45 mins makes it my longest run yet. It was lovely running and I feel much better having that extra time in my legs.

springing into shape

2006-07-22T19:52:00.000+10:00

Well got our for my first decent hit out this week on the hilly streets around the weekender. Did 30 minutes with most of it up hill. Upped the pace for the last 5 minutes; enough to make me a little bit uncomfortable but felt okay. Felt so happy when I had finished. Still a little back pain to manage, but have decided I am going to get me one of those fitballs and take some advice from Guru Beki on core strengthening exercises.

Have decided to aim for doing the Spring into Shape series as my next goal. So that is three 8km runs about a month apart. Hopefully if I put in the time and avoid injury I will be able to score better results over the course of the series.

I am loving this running caper.

slow on the uptake

2006-07-20T09:19:00.000+10:00

Earlier this week I was talking about how I was feeling all achey painey. Back in June, I felt about a hundred. In May, I was really struggling with sore legs, particularly during the cold nights. Anyone noticing a pattern? Given that all of these bouts of muscle stiffness and soreness have occurred in the week before that particular time of the month is due to start, I might have to consider whether there is a hormonal element to this extra muscular soreness.

I went for a brisk walk last night in lieu of a run and confirmed that I do in fact run faster than I am able to do a brisk walk. At least that is something. Hopefully up for a short run tonight.

WWI the fifteenth

2006-07-19T09:29:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.5kg
Total weight loss - 4.0kg
This week's weight loss - -0kg

Happy to stay this week. Spent yesterday in bed with upset stomach and expect that also retaining water this week. All of that has subsided into a sore lower back, which means I have to ease my way back into exercise and haven't been running since Saturday. At the moment it seems that every time I go for a slightly longer run, I end up having to take an extra day off to account for the extra niggles - last time with a sore knee and this time with lower back pain. V frustrating, particularly when my long runs are not that long.

So I am going to switch back to three runs per week. Much as I like to be able to run 4 times, these extra niggles mean that I struggle to do my 4 runs, and then end up not doing as much as I would like. At least eating has been goood (that's what a couple of days of dry toast and bland meals will do for you).

boobs flopping

2006-07-17T11:14:00.000+10:00

Saw on my statcounter today that someone made their way here from a technorati search for "boobs+flopping". I love the mind which says "I'm a gonna read me whatever blogs use both of these words in one post (Oh, and it turns out not to be a very exclusive group).

In a related thought, yesterday I was going through the underwear drawer culling those items which had completely lost their structural integrity.

[Seriously, day to day knickers cost at most a couple of bucks each. And I have like a thousand pairs. So why do I insist on retaining those ones which are well past their prime? Sentimentality? Affection? Sloth?]

I found a crop top which I used to wear back in the day when I was a runner. How on earth did I ever fit into it? It is a size 10 but smaller than I actually was at the time, as I had a preference for boob squashage (there goes another technorati search). When I put it alongside the sports bra I am currently wearing, it looked like a handkerchief with a couple of elastic straps.

Sigh. I have popped it in the rewards drawer where it shall reign supreme as almost certainly the last item to be liberated.

spas are better hot

2006-07-16T14:28:00.000+10:00

I made the mistake of telling Hub about a thread on the ausrun forums about the benefits of ice baths immediately after running to aid in recovery. So, given that our hot tub is broken (don't ask - what is it with tradies who don't bother to let you know what the HELL is happening?) at the moment, he has taken to giving his legs a good dunk when he comes back from a run.

Of course I am a huge baby about stuff like this. But it is an offence to the honour of my family (or maybe it just pisses me off) that I am made to look like a wimp by refusing to do this.

So yesterday was my "long" run. It was drizzling and when I left the weekender I hadn't decided whether I was going to do the long run or a shorter one. But it occurred to me that I might have the chance to explore some tracks that I hadn't got to yet. So long run it was. I trotted from the weekender down to the beach and ran along the foreshore. Gorgeous run. It was wet but not too cold, and I managed to keep the legs turning over.

When all said and done, I ran for 40 minutes and felt pretty good, even despite my choice of route which meant that my out and back course had a huge hill to conquer about 5 mins from home. I didn't measure, but based on my ordinary training pace, would have been 5K or thereabouts.

And all of that was a much smaller accomplishment than forcing myself to stand in an icy cold hot tub when I got back. Ouch. It might not be as good for recovery, but I will prefer it when I can come home from a run and have a good soak in the really hot water (incidentally, while it doesn't heat, the bubbles still work. So I could have relaxed and experienced the icy massage of the bubble jets, but I am not crazy. Maybe I will tell Hub that people on the messageboards advocate this practice and see whether he takes the bait).

Being precise can harm your health

2006-07-13T11:03:00.000+10:00

So the extra day's break from running has put paid to my knee soreness, and I am looking forward to going out for a run tonight. Of course, going to the gym is just as likely to result in injury, as I found out during my weight session last night.

I really like my weight sessions. My program was originally designed to have both weights and cardio. Since then, I have rediscovered the joy of running, so don't feel the need to journey on the boring exercise machines that go nowhere.

As a result, going to the gym only takes half an hour or 45 mins if I am being really slack. Even when I am feeling really unmotivated, I can convince myself to drive two minutes down the road and do weights for 30 minutes. If I feel inspired, I do extra cardio. But most of the time I zip in and do my weights and then zip back out again, leaving me time to cook dinner, watch House (I predict a sexually transmitted disease or undeclared drug usage), reload my ipod and all the other things which would otherwise become excuses not to exercise.

Of course, the gym has its own hazards. I am currently sporting a rather nasty bruise on my leg where I dropped a dumbbell on it. But it was the circumstances surrounding this misadventure that prompted much hilarity from Hub and the Boarder. You see, I was ready to do my dumbbell raises and realised that someone had put the weights back on the rack IN THE WRONG ORDER. The 20kg dumbbells were sitting devil may care right alongside the eights!! So before starting my sets I had to put everything back in the right order, including the one that I dropped on my leg in the process.

cold packs cause injury

2006-07-11T10:53:00.000+10:00

Last night went for a quick run around Edwardes Park Lake with Hub (well, he went in one direction and I went in the other). I felt yucky though. It was freezing cold with an icy wind and my legs felt pretty heavy. I eventually did all of the time that I wanted to and more, but I had to stop a couple of times and bitch and moan to myself.

So when I was watching telly having dinner, I thought I would do the sensible things and ice my legs so that I would feel better next time, even though I wasn't experiencing any particular soreness. Good in theory, but my knees in particular started to feel really achy after icing them.

Hub says that this means I should take a couple of rest days. I say he should mind his own business. I hate it when he is right.

UPDATE: Hmmm. Is it possible I have sore knees because I increased my total running time by more than 10% last week at the same time that I changed from 3 runs to 4? Naaaah. All the same, I might try a bit harder to stick to the schedule.

WWI the fourteenth

2006-07-11T10:16:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.5kg
Total weight loss - 4.0kg
This week's weight loss - -0.5kg

Back down to the lowest weight since I have been doing this. I was thinking the other day that if I was prepared to go on an eating plan, my rate of loss could be improved. But I would prefer to continue following broad principles (no junk, more vegetables, more whole grains, smaller portion sizes, no sweets) because I avoid this whole feeling of failure when I inevitably have something which isn't the best. I have a regular dinner in a pub on Tuesdays. If I were on a strict plan, I would obsess about the fact that I always have a naughty evening meal that night. But this way, I just choose a more healthy option and try to be sensible about it.

My sister just lost a bunch of weight doing a particular program and keeps offering for me to do it, but I just know that it would be a bit counter productive for me. I don't want to be on a diet. My goal for this year was to lose 10kg. If I do that I will be happy. And I know that if I keep up with what I am doing at the moment, and particularly as my running improves by distance and time, then the energy in v energy out calculation will continue to improve.

Still one out there...

2006-07-08T15:11:00.000+10:00

It was sometime in 1992. I was living in Templestowe and running regularly around Westerfolds Park, a great place with gorgeous views but with some particularly brutal hills. One week I noticed a sign strung across the gates advertising a 10K fun run at the park in a couple of weeks and I decided to enter. From memory it was my first fun run where I was running by myself - I had done my other races with a girlfriend from school.

It was a dreadful race for me. I wasn't really training very much by any stretch of the imagination, but that wasn't the only problem. The elastic went on my sports bra half way round, so it kept unhooking itself during the race. I finally stopped, and not caring who might see me, hoiked my top up and TIED the two straps of my bra together in a firm knot. Comfort wasn't fantastic, fit wasn't elegant, but at least my boobs weren't flopping around. I slowed over the latter stages of the race and everyone I had been in front of hauled me in without too many difficulties.

I arrived at the finish line to find it already being packed up. "Oh", said the nice lady, "I wondered whether there was still one out there". I was last in the field with a time of sixty something minutes, around 10 minutes slower than my 10K pb. I was standing there with my bra tied in a knot and the race organisers had not bothered to wait for me.

Today I ran even slower around Westerfolds Park than that day back in 1992. I had to go and visit my folks' place to pick up some fruit trees (as one does) so I decided to do my "long" run around the park, just to see how I would go. It is a lot hillier than where I normally run, so I took the biggest hill out of the equation by doing a warm up walk to the top of the Westerfolds Manor hill, and starting the run on the downhill.

At 4.8K around the park, I did about 4.6K after deducting the warm up, which is the longest run I have done so far. Apart from a couple of stops for a drink or to stretch one of my calves, I managed to keep the legs turning over (albeit slowly) for the whole way around the park. I tried to keep concentrating on different things so that I would stop thinking about stopping. Like the kilometre or so round the back of the park where I was concentrating on trying to reel in this eighty year old up ahead of me (who was walking). Amusingly, I didn't manage it as he turned off onto the main yarra trail just as I was finally coming up behind him.

So 4.6K in about 38min which I am pretty darn happy with at this stage of things. And I didn't even have to jury rig my bra.

New look

2006-07-06T21:16:00.000+10:00

Finally had time to install a decent template. ABOUT TIME.

shopping update

2006-07-06T19:30:00.000+10:00

As an update on my expedition yesterday, one of the pairs of pants I bought turned out to be clown pants as well!! No wonder they were marked down to $8 or something.

But I did score one pair of decent running pants which have a drawstring, so I am bloody well going to wear them until I am a size 10. Incidentally, when I started this caper I had the same problems with gym clothes and I ended up making a bunch of tracky pant shorts for myself. Nothing flash but worked out at about $4 per pair so I was happy. Unfortunately a bit chilly for running at the moment, and I really prefer to run in a lighter fabric.

So I have decent gear for the masters, but it won't be tonight. Through a combination of circumstances am without a car tonight which means no masters and no gym. So decided to have a rest night and give the legs a break.

enjoying shopping

2006-07-05T14:54:00.000+10:00

Today I simply had to go and try and buy an alternative to the clown pants for running. It is one thing schlumping around the block near home, but I am thinking of going to the coburg masters on Thursday and while I have accepted that I may be humiliated by my running, I refuse to be humiliated by my attire (although when I went there last time there were a couple of guys running in footy jumpers so I have a sneaking suspicion it may not in fact be a non-stop fashion show.

Anyway, shopping is normally pretty frustrating for a generously proportioned individual such as myself. And apparently fat chicks don't exercise, because there is bugger all in the way of exercise gear in larger sizes (in fact the whole area of exercise gear seems to have been replaced with "leisure wear").

But today was one of the more fun expeditions that I have been on in a while. Because I was confident that even if the things I was buying didn't quite fit, then they could have a few weeks in the rewards drawer and I would probably be able to fit into them*.

Mostly it was good not to be totally depressed thinking that whatever happened I was going to be buying ill-fitting stuff and wasting my money. I might be buying ill-fitting stuff, but for the first time in a while I was confident that I would get my money's worth eventually!

*Of course, they might come out again looking like clown pants, but those are the risks you take.

Cool, another run!!

2006-07-05T12:21:00.000+10:00

I have just finished the C25K plan and am loving the running. I have started putting together my own weekly program which is just great fun. I get to decide what are the most important things for me and think about the way that I think my body is going to respond best to increasing demands. I am keeping within the 10% rule and continuing to run on time but I generally feel footloose and fancy free (except for the bit where I am actually running and I feel like a bit of a lumbering frankenstein monster, but short).

During the course of the program, I sometimes felt the requirement to rest between runs a bit limiting. I have a couple of days a week where it is really difficult for me to do any exercise due to other commitments so I tend to designate those rest days. If any other day is a writeoff for exercise, or if I have to switch around sessions, then it can make it hard to fit in all the things that I want to do in the week while allowing appropriate recovery time.

So between now and the Queen of the Lake, I have decided I want to prioritise getting my body used to running more than 3 times a week and used to running two days in a row from time to time. So for me this looks like slightly shorter sessions more frequently with one longer run per week. I figure that if I have to drop a session during the week, then I can easily absorb that time into the other normal runs.

At the same time I am gradually increasing my total running time per week. Hopefully the slightly shorter sessions will enable me to run two days in a row if necessary while still continuing the work of getting the body accustomed to being out there on the track at all. The flexibility should help me to fit in extras like the NRG and even Masters nights when they are on, without me having to reschedule my life.

Initially I thought that it would fill me with confidence to go out to run for 20 min knowing that I can run 30, but I went out on Monday with the goal to do 20mins as slow as I could (after the faster run on Sunday with NRG) and felt pretty ordinary throughout.

The best thing about this program is that there are simply more days in the week when I can come home and ask myself what my exercise for the day will be and have the answer be "running".

counting stuff

2006-07-04T15:21:00.000+10:00

I am definitely a tracker. I like measuring stats and keeping track of progress over time. Which means I am totally feeling inconvenienced that I can't get my garmin yet. Flippin' delayed gratification.

But I am loving the running log at cool running. I just plug in the info and it gives me an immensely satisfying readout which calculates the distance I have gone this week, month and year together with the average pace. And while my mileage is nothing compared to a lot of runners, when you stick it all in one place, it begins to look very impressive. I may just be inspired to graph things.

I still can't stop laughing at the clown pants. Seriously hard to go for a run when your pants are flopping around your calves. But hey, I paid a whole $20 for these from Target, so they are going to be worn.

WWI the thirteenth

2006-07-04T15:19:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 104.0kg
Total weight loss - 3.5kg
This week's weight loss - -0.5kg

At least going in the right direction again...

To gym or not to gym

2006-07-03T23:00:00.000+10:00

A couple of years ago, I had my last fitness kick (before the current one). I knew that I needed to lose weight and get fit but had never quite figured out how to manage it with working full time. When I saw the box seeking business cards from those interested in foundation memberships, I threw mine in. When the call came I went in to see a gym which wasn't yet open and, thinking that any exercise was better than none, I didn't allow myself to question whether this was worth it. In the space of half an hour, I had a 12 month commitment, a new backpack and drink bottle.

It soon became clear that this gym was different to my previous experiences. I asked about fitness assessments and programs and was referred to a deal to pay for personal trainer sessions. For my exhorbitant monthly fee, I might have had access to the DVD libary (!!) but I didn't get a fitness assessment, guidance with a program or anything else that might assist me to reach my goals. I could get access to these things, but only if I were willing to pay another $50 on top of my membership fee - something that I was not willing to do.

The result was that my enthusiasm for the gym quickly waned. It doesn't take long before getting up early (already against my natural instinct) merely in order to go and walk on a treadmill begins to get old. My membership allowed me to go to any of the gyms in the franchise, but at the time I joined, there were all of two of them.

Ultimately, I was utterly demotivated. There were lots of classes which never particularly enthused me. There were weights but I didn't really know what to do with them. There was a whole communal shower thing that made me feel absolutely terrible. In total, I went for about 6 months (if that) before losing my enthusiasm totally.

My current gym costs about half the price per month, and includes bimonthly fitness assessments and programs. Sure, it doesn't have a sauna, solarium, dvd library, headphones built into cardio equipment, multiple classes, barcoded entry or any of the other perks that are offered by one of the foremost fitness franchises in Melbourne.

But it does have one thing that FFF doesn't (or at least didn't for me) - people who actually want to help me get fit and lose weight. They remember my name and they are interested in my progress. I have already achieved better results at my gym (plus running) than I did for almost the whole time I was a member of FFF. And don't even start me on how difficult it was to bloody well quit the gym.

A running household

2006-07-03T10:34:00.000+10:00

The other day, I was walking home from the station and saw this tall graceful guy running. I thought to myself that I wished I could get my legs to move as smoothly as that when I run. And add to that, he was running with dogs, which frustrates me, at least with our dogs.

Then of course I noticed that he was running with our dogs. Then I finally noticed that graceful runner guy was actually Hub. Who stopped to say hello and then offloaded one of the dogs on me to take home with me.

After seeing my success with the whole running caper, he has started his own program. Which, in typical disorganised fashion, he is just making up as he goes along (this would drive me mad). We actually have a bit of a routine going where we each go in a different direction with a dog each and it works out great - although when we get them back together they react as if they hadn't seen each other for MONTHS.

Anyway, I hope he will keep it up, even though he will never do the fun run thing or anything like that. Actually he better bloody well keep it up because I have just gone and bought him new running shoes which were MORE EXPENSIVE THAN MINE. That's it, when I get a second pair in a couple of months, I am getting Kayanos.

NRG run Edwardes Park Lake

2006-07-03T10:14:00.000+10:00

Yesterday met up with Lee and Kathryn for our NRG run at Edwardes Park Lake. It was great fun, and a pretty decent work out for me. They both have a bit more speed than I do, so it was hard work. I did the first lap (1.6K) okay, then stopped for a stretch and a drink before starting up again. The second lap I was feeling the effects of going out too quick (for me) and fell off the pace quite a bit.

Would have liked to have done another lap for distance, but that would have made it 4.8K which is the furthest I have run, and doing it at a higher pace than my normal run seemed to me to be a recipe for disaster. So I waved the girls off as they went around again and I hobbled home to stretch and recover a bit.

It wasn't an ideal preparation for me yesterday as had been up since sparrow's fart driving back from the weekender for Hub to get to work in the morning. That breakfast of sausage and egg mcmuffin was making itself felt later in the run. But the really fun bit about it was that I was searching for my running pants and couldn't find them, so pulled out a pair of three quarter length pants from the rewards drawer and they fit nicely, thank you very much. Although they did demonstrate that buying things without trying them on can have other drawbacks than just that they don't fit well. They have a weird cut, so the legs stick out a bit like clown pants at the bottom. Looks a bit odd, but they are only for exercising in, and the important thing is that THEY FIT.

speedy

2006-06-28T22:05:00.000+10:00

On tonight's run, I improved my pace by at least 30sec per km. Guess that graceful speedwork pays dividends.

Strideouts

2006-06-27T10:37:00.000+10:00

So, in an effort to try and improve my speed a little while running, I decided last night to take the advice of some of the magazines and finish off my workout with a couple of short sprints so the legs get used to the feeling of going faster.

[BTW has anyone else noticed that there is a particular fashion in running magazines of having little sidebar articles titled something like "what are strideouts?" which never actually explain what they are? Uhh, yeah, you just stride out easily and efficiently while not using much effort. Okay, I'll try that.]

So I finished my half an hour run about 500 metres from home and walked for a little to get my breath back. And then I picked up my legs to do a quick easy sprint while using not much effort - and I almost fell over. What I didn't take into account was the fact that once my legs stop moving back and forwards they are not so easy to get started again. I feel like I need one of those cranks from an old car to get some energy back into them. So no speedwork last night. But I did treat my neighbours to the thrilling site of me staggering along the street in an ominous fashion with a determined smile on my face whilst trying to expend not much effort.

WWI the twelfth

2006-06-27T09:37:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 104.5kg
Total weight loss - 3kg
This week's weight loss - +1.0kg

Grumble mumble bumble.

Eeek

2006-06-26T10:52:00.000+10:00

Have just entered the Queen of the Lake fun run on 6 August. This is my first fun run and I have entered to do the 5K. It is a nice flat course for my first race and there is about a month between me finishing the C25K and the date of the race.

My plan in terms of preparation for the run will be to continue to consolidate my running so that I will feel a little more comfortable with the running. I am trying to have no expectations for this event and am telling myself that it doesn't matter if I am very slow, as I am going to be using this time as my improvement marker. At this stage my only goal is to run the whole thing.

This is actually my first 5K. I never ran a 5K when I was younger, sticking to the 10K distance. So theoretically I don't need to compare my results to my PBs from back then. But I do know what I would have been happy with for a 5K and my expected time for this race will be a lot slower than that. Officially I am no longer counting my PBs from my previous career, on the basis that they were acheived by a different person (who went on to eat several other people). I say "officially" because if I ever get to the stage where I can have a good go at going under 53 min for the 10K, I will feel an extra incentive knowing that was about where I was running as a 20 year old.

For now I am aiming for under 53 min for the 5K. Okay, I probably won't be that slow, but I am tipping some walkers will pass me.

amenities

2006-06-23T10:25:00.000+10:00

I feel about a hundred today. It has been a crappy week for family reasons and the upshot is that we have been staying at our weekender since Wednesday, which meant a long commute yesterday. An hour and a half each way in car and train and necessitates a very early wake up.

And I needed to go for a run last night otherwise I was well in danger of having another really slack week due to external issues. I don't normally run from this hosue at night (on weekends I run during the day). And it was dark so I was tense about the fact that I couldn't always see where I was putting my feet. Was happy to have my big dog for company and protection. It is pretty hilly where I live, so the route was a little more demanding than I normally run. It was drizzling, which normally I like, but it was making the trail pretty slippery and treacherous. I felt dreadful the whole run, but kept going. It was one of those occasions where you don't really feel like it before you go, you don't enjoy yourself while you are doing it, and afterwards the only real enjoyment is that you can put a tick next to doing it.

And today I feel like my body is making creaking noises whenever I move, and eight hours sitting in an office chair won't help much. What I really need is a good long soak in a rustic cedar hot tub. As luck would have it, we even have a rustic cedar hot tub on our back deck, and I have nothing in my schedule this evening which would prevent me from having a soak.

Of course, the bloody thing is broken and we have to rely on the yokel pool people who NEVER BLOODY SHUT UP WHEN YOU ARE TALKING TO THEM in the hope that they will come today and fix it. And I don't want to call them again to check whether they will be able to bring the part back today because I WOULD NEVER GET OFF THE PHONE, and they would still turn up whenever they darn well felt like it.

Achievement

2006-06-20T09:15:00.000+10:00

Me: I ran for 28 minutes in a row for the first time and I ran more than one time around the block!
Hub: How many times did you run around the block?
Me: One and a bit - I kept going up to the corner
Hub: I thought you said that you ran more than once around the block.
Me: That is more than once around the block!

Hub has taken up a starting running program as well and tells me that his shins are really hurting. And I say "Ha ha, my shins don't hurt anymore! Sucked in!"

PS. I do also encourage him.

WWI the eleventh

2006-06-20T09:13:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 103.5kg
Total weight loss - 4kg
This week's weight loss - 0.5kg

See how I did that? If you don't like what the scales say on the Monday, you can move your WI to the Tuesday, on the basis that we weighed in last Tuesday (or on the basis of whatever justification I can come up with).

Dieting down to just being fat

2006-06-18T22:05:00.000+10:00

Weigh in tomorrow. If I have another loss then I will be the weight that I was when I last joined a gym/took up regular exercise. I am officially dieting down to the goal of being fat (rather than morbidly obese). Meh. At least I am aiming to be a fat runner rather than a fat person spending too much money on a gym membership that totally demotivated me (more on that later).

Two more weeks on the Couch to 5K program. Had the first run of the Northern Running Group with people from the ausrun forum on Saturday. I was pretty much holding them back at the same time that they were pulling me towards a pace that made me uncomfortable. From my estimations ran a minute or so per km faster than my normal pace. Note to self - must go to Princes Park and practice running faster so can blow away other NRG runners at next outing. Note to self 2 - when planning devious plan for massive secret improvement, don't post it on the blog.

Oxygen debt and second winds

2006-06-15T20:42:00.000+10:00

Further to my earlier comments I have dug out the Runners World complete guide to try and find the reference that I half remembered. They say this (in talking about the concept of a second wind:

The most common theory goes something like this: when yu start exercising, your muscles burn glycogen as fuel. This requires oxygen. Your body has a limited amount of stored oxygen, and it burns it quickly. After that, if your body can't supply enough oxygen to your muscles, the muscles break down glycogen without oxygen, or anaerobically. This produces lactic acid. You're in oxygen debt, and you feel awful - your muscles burn, your heart beats quickly. Second wind, that welcome flush of relief, occurs when the body finally begins to supply enough oxygen to your muscles.

The term catch up is important when we talk about second wind....'When you go from total inactivity to heading out on a run, you create an oxygen debt. The payback in an unconditioned individual can be uncomfortable.'

Because their more efficient systems can supply their muscles with a steady stream of oxygen, fit athletes avoid oxygen debt... and never experience second wind."

I am definitely an unconditioned runner and this seems to describe what happens on my runs. I start out with a brisk walk and feel fine. After a couple of minutes I feel dreadful and then as my body adjusts to providing more oxygen to my muscles I feel good again. It is pretty noticeable because the whole cycle takes place in the space of about 20 minutes. Hopefully as my training improves, my ability to make the transition efficiently from not exercising to running will also improve.

easy run

2006-06-14T20:53:00.000+10:00

Really enjoyed tonight's run. A couple of running books have introduced me to the concept of "oxygen debt", where the body takes time to adjust to working efficiently at a higher rate. It is helpful because it explains why the first ten minutes or so of my runs lately have been pretty rough. This has been since I have switched from the walk/run to simply running. Once that period passes, I feel much better. Hopefully this will improve as time goes on.

Quick notes. Doctor's appointment yesterday identified a potential problem with high blood pressure. I am going back in three months to see whether the fitness weight loss program makes a significant difference. It certainly can't hurt, but it creates another goal for me to work towards. She is very happy about me losing weight and supportive of the run program. Want to be able to tell her in three months that I have lost a significant amount of weight.

Have scheduled the inaugural northern suburbs running group training session with some people from the ausrun forum on Saturday. Told Hub about the meeting and he said "how are you going to keep up with them?" Thanks for the confidence, buddy.

Rewards drawer

2006-06-14T15:02:00.000+10:00

After being off track for a week or so with exercise, tonight is the first chance I have had to go for a run since Saturday. I was away for the weekend but still had the chance to put on the shoes and go for a run (gee I am a slow runner), but have not been able to since.

When I started this project I went through and chucked out a bunch of clothes that were past their prime but saved a few items that I wanted to fit back into. These have been sitting in the rewards drawer and comprised:

one pair of shorts and ~~one pair of workout pants~~ never worn bought when joined the gym but too small

two pairs funky mens slacks - op shop purchase which didn't fit on coming home but I still think they would look cool on me

~~one pair jeans which became too tight to wear comfortably just before I started this jag~~

~~one pair dark colorado jeans - another op shop purchase which didn't fit when I brought them home~~

two or three pairs casual shorts - bought for playing golf but hardly ever worn because didn't fit properly

one funky purple short sleeved blouse that I really quite liked but hasn't fit for a long while

one great brown checked woollen coat circa late 1960s which I used to wear to the football and which looks really smart

one pair of cheap blue jeans accidentally bought an entire size below the "this-size-only-sometimes-fits-and-even-then-with-difficulty" size - never worn

one sleeveless golf shirt bought on sale but actually one of the more expensive brands and which I always liked (worn maybe 6 times before I got too self-conscious about my bingo wings)

one child's t-shirt with the name of my kindergarten on the front - I had worn it as a child but found it in my early twenties and used to wear it as a tight girly shirt. It has been a long time since I could fit into children's sized clothing

my favourite black vintage leather jacket bought in Berlin for 50DM 10 years ago. When I bought it I could wear a thick jumper underneath it and still button it up. I love this jacket

a sports bra that I picked up so that I could go for a run on the weekend but didn't fit

sports bra that I no longer fit into

size ten adidas running crop top from back in the day

Okay, looking at this list makes it pretty clear that I am a bit of an op shop buff. Actually my weight has made op-shopping much less enjoyable lately as it is pretty difficult to find things that fit, in turn meaning that I am having to spend an increasing amount of money on buying real clothes. I go on an annual opshopping tour with a girlfriend in September/October when we have a weekend away. Last year she bought a bunch of cute little tops and I was unable to find one piece of clothing that I liked that fit (but I did get a very cool handbag).

Plus it is harder to express your unique style when you are trying to dress in such a way so as to call the minimum amount of attention to you as possible.

Anyway, I periodically check the rewards draw (not everything is actually in the drawer, but you get the picture) for progress. So far, two pairs of jeans have graduated to my ordinary clothing. The pair that I had only just grown out of was first, but last night they were in the wash. Instead of pulling on the fat jeans, I thought I would check to see whether the Colorado jeans fit. CHA-CHING!! So the colorados graduate from the rewards drawer and the fat jeans are demoted to the "fat clothes" drawer, destined for use as dress up in my "after" photos.

UPDATE - updated to cross out those items which are no longer in the drawer (because I now fit into them).

WWI the tenth

2006-06-13T11:55:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 104kg
Total weight loss - 3.5kg
This week's weight loss - 0.5kg

One day late due to being away for the long weekend. Was very happy to lose this week, particularly seeing dinner last night was red wine, pizza and chips from the pizza shop. I know that this doesn't really form part of a balanced diet, but we had been camping (!!) in the cold and wet all weekend (don't ask) and we were far too tired to actually cook anything or to care whether we ate properly.

cracking the sads

2006-06-08T14:01:00.000+10:00

Got the new essential running gear and went for my first run with it. I loaded it up with a bunch of more upbeat songs (which rather depressingly turned out to be mainly tragic eighties songs). I did miscalculate a little though, because I neglected to take into account the fact that I do not actually run at a very upbeat rate. So I sub-consciously upped my tempo to match the songs and felt dreadful for the first half of my run the other night.

I am getting a little dependent on keeping the routine in place with exercise. Sunday is normally a gym day for me but for one reason or other I was on the go all day and didn't get there before they closed. On Monday I was scheduled for a run, but I had worn new heels to work which had given me blisters. As soon as I put on my shoes, I knew that I was not going to be able to run. Went for a walk with Hub and the monsters instead but still felt annoyed. I was out of sorts all night snapping at Hub and The Boarder (such a nice expression I feel and whenever I say Housemate, people seem to wonder whether Hub and I are in a bizarre threeway with this idiosyncratic young man).

My mood wasn't just about lack of exercise (have some family stuff going on) but that was what was pissing me off. I was looking at the rest of my week and realising that I was going to find it hard to get in my workouts on the normal days anyway. Hub went into Mr Fixit which normally bugs me, but this time he said that if I was so annoyed about it, there was no reason why I couldn't get a run in on the day which is normally my only fixed rest day. On that day we go to church in the evening which for us takes place in a pub over dinner. He pointed out that we sometimes have half an hour to kill before we go to the pub and after I get home, and that if I made an effort to be early out of work, I could certainly fit in a session. And I did (I felt like shit for most of it but that is another story).

One of my difficulties at the moment is that I am scared that if I get out of the groove and habit of exercising, I will begin to feel like I am failing and feel pressure on myself to make up the difference by increasing my expectations. But at the same time, one of the things that has made it easy to keep up the habit so far is that I have respected my own limitations and not set myself up to do things that would be too hard (like getting up early in the morning). Anyway, it is still going to be an "off" week, but I feel better about it now. By the end of the week I still will have had three sessions of cardio and one of weights which is a helluva a lot better than I was doing ten weeks ago.

WWI the ninth

2006-06-08T13:52:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 104.5kg
Total weight loss - 3kg
This week's weight loss - 0.5kg

You know, I was sulking and delaying posting this since monday because I thought it was a gain. I obviously remembered wrongly what I weighed in at last week. So with this weigh in I am actually back to my lowest weight since I started this fitness thing. Woot.

early rewards

2006-06-02T15:35:00.000+10:00

So I have set a reward for finishing the C25K which should take place in about 3 weeks - which is buying an mp3 player that is suitable for using while exercising. The only thing is that my friends have kindly offered to go to a discount sale tomorrow to buy me one at discounted pricing.

I just know that Hub is going to argue that it should stay in its box for another couple of weeks, but I can't see that happening. So I am reorienting my reward system and saying that my mp3 player is actually a necessary tool for running, much like good socks or my cool new asics. Therefore it is senseless to consider it a reward - just as you wouldn't delay buying prescription medicine until you had completed some arbitrary illness-related task.

So, I appear to have convinced myself that this whole MP3 player as reward scheme has been frightfully ill-considered. Thank heavens that I arrested this dangerous slide into lunacy early enough!! We can only hope that no damage has been caused by my flagrant delay!

Many might think that given this grave error I might be shy about setting future rewards, lest I make a similar miscalculation. But I am a firm believer in getting right back on the horse, so I can only move on to setting my next goal and reward. While some might sneeringly suggest that this reward business is just a shameless ploy to validate my own desire to buy cool technology when I should be paying off my credit card, I believe it plays a vital practical and psychological role in my training regime.

So my next reward will be a beautiful Garmin Forerunner 205 which will be awarded upon the completion of my first fun run. It is true that I did fully intend to buy myself one with my tax return anyway, but now it is clear that this impulse is not just a grab for cool gadgets, but an integral part of the getting buff(TM) program. Plus Hub says that I aren't allowed to get it until he gets the new gadget that he has had his eye on for 12 months or so. So two months gives him plenty of time to get his act together.

Of hydraulics and bosoms

2006-06-01T10:55:00.000+10:00

So there are a couple of indications that my body shape is changing ever so slightly - but not necessarily the ones that I would like. The dress pants that I wear for work have begun to scrape the ground indicating that there is less butt/belly holding them up. While this is great, I don't think I have yet lost enough to fit into the pile of replacement dress pants in my "skinny clothes" drawer. I don't want to spend a lot of money on work clothes which I hope will soon be too big for me. And of course I have recently be reluctant to buy any nice clothes because to buy myself a whole wardrobe of clothes would be to admit that I anticipate being this size for some time.

Secondly, it appears that the small amount of weight that I have lost has begun to remove itself from... ahem... the 'bustular area'. The girls began to swim a bit and realised that I was on the smallest set of hooks. So pulled out the "sticks-into-me" bra and discovered (at least so far) that it actually doesn't stick into me if I don't stuff it too tightly with oversized boobs. And the girls feel a little more stable, although this particular undergarment seems to point them forcefully forward at a disconcerting angle. Half worried that the first comments from my work colleagues about me looking different will be prompted not by the fact that I have lost weight, but by my hydraulically enhanced bosom.

WWI the eighth

2006-05-29T12:44:00.000+10:00

Starting Weight - 107.5kg
Current Weight - 105kg
Total weight loss - 2.5kg
This week's weight loss - 1.0kg

Happy with this. My eating still wasn't ideal and I always tend to have a really bad eating day on Sundays which is kind of annoying as I weigh in on Monday morning. This is the last week that my run/walk program has any walking in it, so I am steadily increasing both the amount and intensity of exercise over time. Hopefully that has an effect.