Learning to Run again

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while will know that I used to run.  I used to run in 10km races.  I used to run 20km training runs - just to make sure that I could run a 10km race !!!  Mind you, I was never very quick but I got out and plodded along the streets.  It got to the point where I HAD to run - if we were going out in the evening, I would speed home from work, get changed, go for a run, go home, get showered and changed and then go out.

And then menopause hit.  My hormones were all out of whack and and I felt like cr*p.  My doctor (who is no longer my doctor) basically told me to suck it up and deal with it.  I spent many weeks wondering what was wrong with me and why I felt so awful.  Then someone recommended seeing a doctor who specialises in women's hormones.  I made an appointment with her and I have never looked back.

Sad to say, in the meantime, my running had come to a grinding halt - mainly because it was too much like hard work but also because I had put on so much weight.  After cutting out sugar, dairy and wheat - I put on weight - go figure !!!

While I am over due for a visit to Maura, I have changed my eating by doing the I Quit Sugar program. I feel so much healthier since I cut out sugar and have become so much more aware of just how many products on the shelves have sugar in them.  It's just shocking.  As well as changing my eating habits - I've also committed myself to exercising more.  I signed up for the Learn To Run program organised by Operation Move which started at the beginning of August and runs for 12 weeks.  When I was running previously, I pretty much started out walking and one day thought "I wonder if I can run to that lamp post ?" and my running 10kms evolved from there.  At the time we lived in Runaway Bay and there were lots of flat roads around us.  Now we have moved and we are surrounded by hills and I knew that if it was left up to me, I would rather sit at home in front of some sport, crocheting blankets for babies instead of getting out there and moving so I knew I had to commit to something to make it happen.

Monday night was my first interval session - and it was FANTASTIC !!!!  I walked my rest periods and plodded my runs, and it felt so good.  A said he would come with me and we would take the dogs for a walk.  I explained to him what I was doing and then he suggested I take the dogs in turn.  I then had to explain to him that I was doing this for me - not for him, not for the dogs, not for K, not for anyone else except ME and that if I wanted to do it properly, being pulled along by a dog was not going to cut it.  Nor would having to go off to mark every tree on the side of the road work.  So, if he wanted to come with he was welcome too but he had to keep Alfie as I was happy to run with Rosie only.

Last night we just went for a walk - no intervals or anything - just a walk with the dogs and chatting.

Tonight I have another interval session booked in my diary and tomorrow night I have my third interval session for the week booked in.  I will probably walk at least another once or twice during the week while waiting for next weeks plan.

I have a great motivating factor to getting healthy and fit - I want to surprise K with how I look when we go to visit her next year.  For too many years she has heard me say "I need to lose weight", "I have to get rid of these excess kilos", "Why can't I just say no to the tempting foods ?"  and I would love to surprise her with the healthiest version of me that I can be.  I have realised why I couldn't say no to the tempting foods - because sugar is addictive.  Once you have a taste of it, it leaves you wanting more.  Borne out by the fact that on Monday afternoon I had a piece of 70% chocolate at work in the afternoon - not because I needed it but because I thought it would be nice to have.  It certainly is a lot sweeter than the 85% chocolate I have in the fridge at home, but hey, it's only one piece.  What I didn't count on was where it would lead me when I got home.  Standing at the kitchen counter talking to A about the taps/basins/toilet etc for the bathroom and I opened the fridge and reached for the block of 85% chocolate and had a piece.  Then I went back and had another piece.  Then I found some anzac biscuits left over from the house warming / farewell and I had one of those.  Then I went back and had another one.  The worst part was that I didn't even really want any of that - I realised, too late, that I was just eating mindlessly while I worried about exactly what was happening to K on the other side of the world.  Half an hour later I felt so sick - it was just awful.  I have learned my lesson about sugar - no matter how nice something may taste now, it never compares to how cr*p I am going to feel in half an hours time !

If you are considering exercising and would like to run, why not think about joining the Operation Move program that begins in spring.  I know that, for me, it's providing the guidance, motivation and inspiration that I needed to get moving again.

Have the BEST day !

TFTD :  We should review our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.

Fitness Friday !

You may be wondering why I have a picture of  The Matrix for Fitness Friday (I never even saw the movie !!!) but I have it because on Tuesday night my trainer did a matrix with me.  Then, as he was away last night, I did it by myself at home.  I can definitely feel that I used muscles in a way I haven't used them for a while because I had a wonderful case of DOMS yesterday - not so much today but that may be because air boxing isn't quite the same as real boxing !!!

This is how it goes :

2 push ups

2 squat jumps

2 V sit ups

Then increase by 2 for each exercise so you do 4, then 6, then 8 then 10 reps of each exercise.

After that you do

50 straight out punches each arm

50 unders each arm

50 straight out punches each arm

Then go back to the above starting at 10 reps for each exercise, then 8, then 6, then 4, then 2.

Then you do the punches again.

As I said, last night I didn't find it quite as strenuous as Tuesday night - maybe because it was a little cooler and maybe because doing 600 air punches is nothing like doing 600 actual punches although I did concentrate on relaxing my shoulders, tightening my core and keeping my balance.  (I so hope the neighbours weren't listening or peeking over the top of the fence from their kitchen as they would have wondered what on earth was going on.  His neighbours are used to us huffing and puffing and hitting our way through our half hour of training twice a week at his house !!!!)

When I got home from work yesterday I really didn't want to exercise.  K was going to exercise with me but she is still fighting off a cold and was complaining of a crampy stomach so had begged off exercising with me.  I was eager for A to get home and eventually thought that would pass at least 20 mins of the time so I did it - and I was glad because I would have hated to use my one training free day of the week when A wasn't even home.  Now I can still pull that card out tonight or tomorrow or Sunday - maybe tonight if this bloody rain doesn't stop !

I am pleased that even though I didn't really feel like exercising I just did it - mainly to do with 'the girls' in my head so thanks to all of you !!!!  Without you there motivating and cheering me on I don't think I would have been a*sed and I would have just sat on the couch and read my book waiting for A to arrive home !!!  He is at home today - I wish I could have stayed at home too !!!!  Never mind, just now I will get to go home and spend the evening curled up on the couch watching footy or baseball and just enjoying having him home again.

Linking in with Kate from katesaysstuff for Fitness Friday on the blog hop except I have absolutely no bloody idea how to load a blog hop so please hop across to her and blog hop from there !!!

Have the best Friday ever - wherever you are !

TFTD : A friend is a gift you give to yourself.

This Morning

 

Last night I finally switched my light off at 2.05am - needless to say I didn't want to get up this morning.  I woke up at about 6.15, rolled over and then it was 7.10 and I said I would get up at 7.30.  Well that became 8.00 and that became 8.23 before I managed to drag my lazy butt out of bed.  I let the dogs in and got my gear ready and was busy getting dressed when K asked me if I was going to run tonight.  I said no, I was going to run to Gogo and Papa this morning, then do the tax returns and then RELAX.  She asked if I would like her to come with me and I said I was just about to ask if she wanted to join me !

She got up and after getting herself organised, we were off.  She had said that she would run with me until we got to the road that my folks live in but she can't help herself - when we are running she has to go ahead.  Mind you, I keep telling her not to run at my pace and to run her own pace - so about 1.5km into the run, she took off and never looked back !!!!  I love that she wants to run with me in the first place and don't care that she is so much quicker than I am.

I had changed the interval from 1 min walk / 1 min 30 sec run to 1 min walk / 2 min run - who would have thought that 30 secs more of running would make such a big difference !!!!  I wasn't sure exactly how far it was to my folks place - I thought about 5 kms, so set my intervals for 36 mins because I figured if I am running just under 7 mins/km, that would be about right.  Well I got about 100m away from their place when my last interval started so I ran past, turned around and ran back and it was 36 mins 26 sec.  Pace was 7.05min/km which I was reasonably happy with given the longer distance and the fact that I have been running for less than 3 weeks.  We went and knocked on their door only to find that they weren't there !!!  We went and sat on the verandah and called them - they had come around to our house to visit - luckily we are only 5.14kms away and so they came back, met us along the road as we started to walk home, picked us up and dropped us at home.

While I was running and listening to the splits as I hit each km mark, I was thinking about how I was feeling and wanting to go faster and then thinking about how much more difficult it was running for 2 mins instead of running for 1 min 30 secs.  Then I thought about my Dad who ran The Comrades Marathon - 10 times - it is a 90km race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.  He also ran the 100 Miler once or twice - can you imagine running 100 miles - straight.  He must have been off his head.  While I was little, I never realised just what these achievements were, all I knew was that Dad was never home because he was always training.  Now that I am running, I can really appreciate just how fit he was and how much it must have cost him (and my Mom) to do those races - in time and training and gear although he ran is these horrible Tiger shoes that were as flat as pancakes with no support and stank to high heaven !!! 

The whole thought process while I was running made me realise that old saying "the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" is so true - yes, maybe I am only running 3-5kms each time I go out, yes, I have only signed up for a 4km race on 13th May, yes my pace is not fantastic when I walk/run BUT I should give myself credit for actually getting out there and trying and, if my distances and times are not that flash now, imagine how much I can improve on them as I train more !!!!  I am trying to love myself for what I am achieving and not beat myself up for what I feel are short comings - because we all have to start somewhere and I have made my start.  I have the support of my family and my friends (most especially my on-line friends), I have the right gear, I have the motivation and I know that I am going to get better at running.

I have managed really well to maintain my weight.  I am going back to the naturopath tomorrow for the next lot of food I can start to introduce - carbs and sugars - so now it will be interesting to see how I manage to maintain.  I am really starting to accept my current weight as the weight that I probably will try to stay at - I am getting used to the idea that I will probably never be a 60's girl again.  For me the big plus is that I am accepting how I look. I am turning into a bit of a window whore - checking myself out when I walk past a window !!  It has been many years since I was even game to look at myself in a window !!!!

I am very grateful today to the Anzac's who fought for the country that I call home - who continue to protect this land so that we can lead the fantastic life that we do.  Enjoy the rest of Anzac Day and take care !

TFTD :  Set your goals high and don't stop until you get there - Bo Jackson

The Journey of A Thousand Miles

begins with a single step. 

And that is why I am going to sign up for the 4km Mother's Day Classic Run on Mother's Day this year.  Al is happy to take me and cheer me on while I am running.  While I realise that it is only a 4km race - I don't want to tackle anything too big to start with until I see how I go.

This morning I got up while everyone was still sleeping and went for a walk/run at 0.5km intervals.  My knee has been relatively pain free with only just a twinge today while I was running.  That was mainly because I had moved into the road to run rather than up and down a heap of pavements where we have some short blocks and the road had quite a steep camber - my right knee got really sore so I crossed back to the pavement and the pain went away.  My left knee twinged a little when I went from my first section of running back to walking but after that it was fine.  I can't tell you how happy I was when I got home - I had made it walking/running with better times than when I was running before I hurt my knee.  I think that Runkeeper is a little more reliable / accurate than the Nike pod that I was using previously.

The other week I went to The Athlete's Foot and was measured and fitted with shoes that do EXACTLY what I need them to do for the way that my feet roll.  While Nike have a great name - I have heard from too many different sources (plus my own experience) that their shoes are built for comfort and not for functionality.  And that is fine - I am just sorry that we spent $150 on shoes that really aren't suitable for running !!!

The Saucony's that I bought from TAF cost $240 and a couple of days later we saw them at DFO for $100  - Al wasn't in the least bit phased about that price difference - he says that we paid for the knowledge and information that we got from the lady at TAF.  She was really good and the next time we are down that way I am going to go back to the shop and tell them how they helped to get me on the road again.  He was so confident that they would do the job he bought a pair at $100 so I have a back up pair for when these give up the ghost.  While I would love them to last forever, I would also like to say "Hey, I ran so much I had to get another pair of shoes !!!!!!"

While I was never that fussed about having an iPhone, I just LOVE the apps that are available.  Now whether something similar was available on BB, I never found out.  I love that with Runkeeper, it does it all for me - tracks distance, speed, pace, route, calories burned - and gives me heaps of info that I can use to work out when I seem to get tired and when I am going well.  Al and I walked the dogs this afternoon and I used it to track how we walked.  When we got home I showed him the Runkeeper reports and he was amazed at the info that it gave me.  This is the type of tool that I find EXTREMELY motivating and is the sort of thing that will help me when I get home to put my shoes on and go for a run.  Especially now that Al is leaving again to go up to Townsville / Magnetic Island for 2-3 weeks as they have 8 sites to be installed.  I am going to miss him but hope to be able to rack up the kms while he is gone.  Need to make sure that K loads the songs I have chosen onto my phone as it was very boring walking/running this morning with no music !!

I am hoping that a side effect of the running will be some weight loss but if it isn't, that will be OK.  Right now it is about exercising and getting out there.

On that note - wishing everyone a very blessed Easter. 

TFTD : If you are capable of perceiving it, you are capable of living it - Bashar