Strong Runner

Week 3 Day 1 of C25K done and dusted today.

*****************

I can not believe I just typed that...see, I've always wanted to run...it has been a dream of mine for a long time. I started C25K earlier this year with Leonie, who was also doing 12WBT at the time (and still is, I believe). We would run together with Leonie holding her iPhone and telling me when to run and when to walk. It was working well until the pain in my foot got too much and I decided to do something about it.

After about four months of wearing a little tear shaped insert in my shoes I can report that I am pain-free and can even wear high heels for a couple of hours without pain.

So I decided to give C25K another go, this time on my own, listening to some of my favourite tunes and at the gym on the treadmill...I am not being my usual perfectionist self and although I would eventually like to run outdoors I figure this is a good way to learn.

Previously I would say "I can't run"...I had tried running, but would always get stitches and simply couldn't breathe properly. I would last a couple of minutes and my lungs would feel like they were about to explode, my throat felt like it was on fire...it was awful.

I have been following C25K for three weeks now and it dawned on me recently that I am just plodding long very nicely, with none of those symptoms showing up at all...

Last week, during one of my sessions, I noticed something. When I hear the little voice that says "Begin running", I also hear another *voice* that says "shoulders back, chest open, arms loose, chin up"...and then it hit me!! When we started C25K all those months ago, Leonie attended a running clinic a few times and she would share what she'd learnt with me...those tips were given to her and she would always remind me whenever we had to run...How cool is that? It's stayed in my memory and become second nature. Wow!

I have been quite easy on myself in that I am not stressing about how many calories I burn during my *runs*...and apart from a RPM class here and there, that is all I have been doing.


So, it's time to crank things up a little.


Time to become a STRONG RUNNER....


The idea is to complete C25K Week 3 and then start adding some strength training in there. I have some excellent training ideas/programs collected over the last few years which have served me very well.


I am actually getting quite excited about my workouts, which is a place I haven't been for ages. Nice. Hold on to it. Bottle it, maybe?


Now it's off to bed with a cuppa and some magazines...but first, I might have a nice long stretch.

Good night all.


x

Weigh in

Loss - 800g  (1.7lbs...sounds better in pounds :-) )

Not great but it's a loss.

Workouts are getting better and more regular, but I'm feeling very hungry..time to start tracking everything I eat again to bring in some bigger losses.

Love Thy Neighbour...?

We've been in our current home just over 12 months now...we know most of our neighbours by sight, a couple of them by name but because of the nature of the street, we've been able to keep to ourselves as much as we want to.

We live in a "cul-de-sac", with our three acres being at the very end of it and our driveway is fairly steep, so in fact we are down in the valley and are the most secluded property in our street.

There is a couple who live about 4 doors up from us and they have a little four year old girl. They seem nice enough and we sometimes run into them at the coffee shop and sometimes stop for a quick chat if they're out in their yard when we walk or drive past...


The other day I posted on FB that I'd started C25K...I haven't been on FB long, and I honestly use it to have some fun - no negativity or bitchiness allowed, the minute it gets there I'm out...

Anyway, this neighbour, Kim, friended me on FB a couple of months ago and sometimes comments on my status etc

Michael ran into her and her husband the other day and she asked him what C25K was...Michael explained, and she immediately said "Tell Sandra I want to run too...ask her can I do C25K with her..."



****************

I don't know why, but this sent me into a total spin...I am loving my C25K time...I just put my earphones in, shuffle my C25K playlist and off I go, doing as I'm told and feeling such a sense of achievement. It's becoming a little bit of time that I really look forward to and somehow, the thought of sharing it with someone else makes me uncomfortable...

If you remember, earlier in the year I tried running with a "buddy", but then my foot pain flared up and when I took time off to get that fixed, she moved on and is now running fun runs all over the place...

I proved then that it doesn't work learning to run with someone else - we are all going to take a different time to get there. Add to that the fact that I literally run "on impluse"...I know *which* days I'm going to run, but then it's usually a case of finding a free hour during the day, grabbing my stuff and heading to the gym, which brings me to another thing - I have been running on the treadmill. Sure, my aim is to some day hit the trails or the pavement but for now, the treadmill suits me fine...how am I supposed to run *with* this woman on treadmills...?


So now I'm feeling all kinds of nasty and my *inner Sandra Dee* is pointing her finger at me and telling me that I'm looking for too many excuses not to include Kim in my C25K and that I should be nice...because everyone expects me to be "Sandra D"...


I'd love to hear from you runners, past and present...did running or learning to run work better for you with someone or is running indeed a lone sport...?

C25K

I'm sure there's a post out there on this Blog with the same title...

I started C25K ealier this year and it was the thing that brought the pain in my foot to a head (is there a pun there?). With one thing and another, this has not been the best year for me fitness-wise, but it is not over yet!
There are still two and a half months left of it and I can at least start heading in the right direction when it comes to my fitness goals (yes, I DO have some!...)

So yesterday I did Week 1, Day 1 of C25K. It went well. I did it on the treadmill at they gym because it was blowing a gale outside, and the gym is only 5 mins away from the girls' school and I had to pick them up.

I did it "easily", I used to have trouble with my breathing...it was something I used to say, like "I have long fingers"..."I have trouble with my breathing when I run"...

But yesterday I forgot all about having trouble with my breathing, I was short on time, so I just got to the gym, jumped on the treadmill and listened to my Podcast and did as I was told...warm up, jog, walk...just DID IT.


So this morning, feeling pretty chuffed that tomorrow I will be doing Week 1 Day 2, I started wondering why I was so chuffed...why I even bothered to come back to C25K. I mean, the first few weeks are hardly high calorie burners, I can burn more calories during the first three tracks of RPM...

And then it hit me (yes, I am a little slow sometimes)...I WANT TO RUN. There, I've said it out loud...I want to be one of those people who say "I'm doing a 10K fun run next month"...or heaven help us "I'm doing a half marathon with Magda"...and let's face it, runners have *great* legs. Yes, I'm vain and will be til the end...I have given thought to leaving a list of "what not to dress me in" when I'm finally placed in a coffin by those I leave behind.

But I digress. Here is my goal, out loud and for all to hear. It's more concrete than any goal I've ever had.



I WANT TO RUN


...and only I can make it happen. One foot in front of the other...stick with C25K and learn, learn, learn.

In the meantime, I am doing well...this has become my philosophy and it's working.

Hope you're having a great week...crazy weather around Australia...muggy and overcast here today - hard to believe only last Friday it was 4 degrees max and we had snow!!!


Must run, I can hear the dishes calling my name ;-)

Not a good start to the day...

Let's just say this morning has not been good, in fact life sucks at the moment, but I don't want to elaborate...to top it all off, one of Maddie's bunnies got out of his cage during the night and we can't find him...it's been raining most of the night so I'm hoping he's found shelter maybe under the house and will come out when he gets hungry or when the sun shines again...

I needed to pop into the supermarket for some cat food and ibuprofen tablets...the minute I got in the car, I started imagining how I'd get some caramel slices so I could come home, make a cup of tea and drown my sorrows in sugar.

Well I went into the grocery store and beat my own world record at how quickly I could walk in and out...it was almost like I was scared of/running away from the caramel slices...and I guess I was!

When I got home I realised I 'm hungry, so I warmed up the rice and veggies I had in the fridge for my lunches and added a small can of tuna and a drizzle of olive oil. My sweet treat is a banana with some PB, and of course that cup of tea is brewing...


The day doesn't have to end the way it began...

Sick

Managed to drag Michael to our GP with me yesterday and we both have secondary infections, mainly in the sinuses.

We are both on antibiotics and he is still in the bad books because had he gone to see a doctor when he started feeling so unwell, he would now be fully recovered...


Anyway, I'm not going to go on about it - just take my meds and keep the multivitamins up and get myself well...


Week 2 Loss - .9kg (almost 2 lbs)

Total Loss  - 2.1kg (4.6 lbs)

Happy with that, at least I'm not putting on weight because I'm sick. I am hardly moving at all so when I do get back into some workouts, I hope the weight loss will accelerate.


Bye for now.

...I sure as hell hope so...because I'm getting tired of being sad... :-(

Wet Weekend

As much as I love the rain and as much as my water tank *needed* some filling up, waking up to a grey, misty and wet morning just hasn't helped things around here...

Yes, I've still got the cold/flu. I'm coughing up a lung and feeling pretty crappy...no thanks to *someone* who shall remain nameless, who is too cool to see the Dr when he obviously needs some help shaking the bug he's been harbouring for nearly a month.

Bitter, *Moi*??? Never!

So I'm afraid it's yet another post where there is zero to report on the workout front, although this morning I woke up with sore legs, and for that split second before you remember where you are and what you did yesterday, I thought "Oh, that must have been a good leg workout yesterday because I'm sore"...only to realise my legs and most of the joints in my body are aching because I have the flu!!!


All is good (and boring) on the diet front, but I've come to the realisation that this is just the way it's going to have to be if I'm going to get out of this rut and drop some weight...I've re-discovered my love of brown rice, so my lunch dilemma has been solved. I just cook up a big batch of rice every few days, and then lunches are half a cup of rice, with a protein like chicken, tuna or boiled egg and a plate full of greens and whatever other veggies I fancy. I drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the top and it's become my favourite lunch - keeps me going all the way til I nibble on a few nuts or a cupful of berries in the afternoon.


I must say it's been hard not to sprinkle salt on everything lately. This flu has left me with very little in the way of taste, and everything tastes a bit too bland...


Last weekend of the school holidays, and of course, Cassie has to finish it off with a bang - sorry, that should be Eisteddfod - so tomorrow we are off at about 10am and have no idea what time we'll be home as they are performing in three different sections and it can take up to 2 hours per session, and we don't even know whether there are big gaps in between...


Daylight savings starts tonight - part of me is looking forward to it but part of me says we shouldn't muck around with our body clocks...it will be nice to have slightly longer days - Ollie may get some late evening walks :-)


*******************

I know you really want to know this...

Breakfast - (my beloved) rolled oats with chia seeds, a drizzle of honey and cinnamon

Mid-morning - small skim latte

Lunch - roquette, tomato, capsicum and poached chicken drizzled with olive oil with about 1/4 cup of brown rice on the side

Today's lunch was de-licious...I followed it with half a pink grapefruit, I was craving some citrus (must be this damned flu) so went with the grapefruit. Divine.


*******************

My brain feels heavy and so does the rest of my body. Not as in, weight-heavy (which I don't doubt it is), but more the tired-heavy kind...I am such a BAD patient...there's nothing *patient* about me, I just want to get rid of this illness. Remind me to be grateful for good health next week when I start whinging about something else, please?

So here I am in front of the laptop, stalking blogs near and far, when I should be working...I have been doing the bare minimum but honestly cannot think straight.


Not sure whether I should be seeing the doctor...it hurts on my left side when I swallow, I think I may have a swollen tonsil or something, and both my ears are very sore...I can't take codeine, so am going to the chemist to get some Otrivin, it's been recommended by a friend and apparently should make a big difference in unblocking my nose and ears etc...


In other news, my friend's daughter gave birth to a little girl on Monday afternoon (this is the 16 year old I wrote about a while back)...I sent a big bunch of flowers and a hamper to the hospital but won't be dropping in until this bug is gone. Maddie is acting a bit strange about this baby...she usually loves babies, but at the moment, it's almost like she's trying to say "Why are you making such a fuss of this? If it had been *me* falling pregnant at 15 you would have killed me"...and she's right - but I also admire my friend for making the choice to support her daughter and now grand-daughter and it is their choice and not something I can judge or withdraw my friendship because of it...


Bye for now - if you don't hear from me again,it's because I've died of the flu... :-/

I really really needed to hear this today - but that's a whole post for another day...



"Maybe we need to not care about what others can "get away with" and just learn to take care of our own body, the only one we we'll ever have, and the one for which we are 100% responsible. Envying someone slim who eats junk food and doesn't gain weight is like envying a lifelong cigarette smoker who never gets lung cancer...pointless and petty.  Aspire to be fit and healthy and to treat your body with respect. Expect -- no, DEMAND -- good things from yourself and for yourself. What others do and don't do/have and don't have is not of importance."



Thank you to Norma for allowing me to quote her here. Norma is a no-nonsense, straight talking girl from Boston in the US who knows a thing or two about re-shaping your body and training hard.


Hump Day is living up to its name around here...just the same old - playing taxi to my teenagers and attempting to get some work done while feeling like my head is exploding.



There are three variations to the common cold, they are (in order of severity) -

The Common Cold

The Man Cold

The Sandra Cold


Needless to say, I am suffering from the latter and things aren't pretty around here...

Day 7/112 - Weigh in #1

Weight loss since last Wednesday - 1.2kg


I'm boring myself silly with posting my calories on here so unless I need to tighten things up, I don't think it's necessary.

Weight loss isn't bad, but part of me is disappointed that a couple of days ago the scale showed about half a kilo lower...water etc etc. It is what it is.

This is a good average to aim for, as long as I can keep on losing then I'm confident I'm doing the right thing.


Very cranky with hubby for giving me his flu...he's had it for a couple of weeks, coughing all over the place and ignoring me when I've suggested he should go to the doctor's...

Now I've got a nasty case of it - I feel like crap, and we all know I am *not* a good patient...


On that note, I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself so I'll cut this post short and stalk a few blogs before getting onto ironing basket #47  (...I skipped #'s 45 and 46). I am on a mission to get the ironing and washing up to date by the end of the holidays. Term 4 is going to run like clockwork around here ! YAY!


xx

Days 4 and 5/112

Calories have been around 1400 for both days.

I have done a lot of walking, but didn't measure calories out because I didn't think I would be walking as far as I ended up doing.

Saturday I took Cassie and a friend to IMATS in Sydney at Darling Harbour Convention Centre. It's a trip she's been planning for a couple of years. It's the "International Make up Artists Trade Show" and you pay an admission to get in and purchase top brand industry make up at about 30% off.

The girls had a ball and I did a lot of walking around the area, first looking for coffee...found Starbucks, and I have to say "What's the big hype?" the coffee was cheap, but tasted awful...oh well, you live and learn... I hear their flavoured coffees are good, but I wasn't in the mood...

Sunday Hubby and I went to see some Open Gardens in Leura and that was a LOT of walking. My back is feeling OK. Not strong, but OK, so I will probably go for another longish walk today and gauge how that feels.


My eating is quite boring, but it's working for me at the moment.

For breakfast, it's oats with a drizzle of honey and sprinkle of cinammon. Lunch has been either a couple of boiled eggs thrown into a huge salad - green leaves, capsicum, cucumber and whatever salad veggies I have in the fridge or simply 100g of natural yoghurt with a cup full of berries.

Dinner is more varied as it's the meal we all have together, but I try to stick to a lean protein and lots of veggies, where the others might get some potato or rice or gluten free pasta.

Getting a bit of a head cold since yesterday. Hubby's had it for almost two weeks and has ignored my advice to get to the doctor's so I'm not surprised that both Cassie and I are feeling off this morning. Maddie was the first to get it a few weeks ago, I just hope it doesn't do the full circle and hit her again. She starts Yr 12 "officially" next Monday so she can't afford any time off...


Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend...so does that mean we no longer get the June Long Weekend?


:-(