626 Calories and a Running Club

Tags

Running

Holy shit. I am so worn out, exhilarated and freaked out. That was the MOST INTENSE thing I have done in a long time.

Let me rewind.

Husband offered to skate in the park next door to the place where the running group meets. We arrived early, waited in the car and then some peeps showed up. They looked like runners. I introduced myself to a lovely lady who walked with me into the park and introduced me to the coach dude. I could tell this was serious. I was already anxious as I run slow, like ssssssllllllllooooooooowwwwwwww. A few more people turned up, so we got started. A nice 2 laps of the park. I was puffed after the first one. The second one, I just gritted down and got it done.

Then the intervals started. They warned me “this is the long session”. OMG. First interval, 1k. Then 800m, then 600m, then 300m three times then 100m three times. 2 mins recovery after each except for the 300 and 100 which were 90 seconds. I was advised to take it easy, to turn when the pack did and make sure I got the same recovery as the rest of the gang.

It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was a bit lame. I barely managed to cover about 400m before the pack turned on the 1k. Same for the 800m. It got worse after that. Only about 150m for the 600, same for the 300. I did cover the 100m in total with a head start and finishing last.

But you know what. I am so freaking proud of how hard I worked. I did not give up, sure I walked most of it, but I made sure that I ran as much as I could. I was TOMATO red, it felt like from the start, but I did not care.

Yep, this was running though my mind (pardon the pun)

At the end of the session, my quads and calves were screaming at me. I checked my heart rate monitor. 626 calories. I thought it was the freaking time at first – and still cannot believe I burnt that much!

The gang asked if I would be back on Monday. “YOU KNOW IT!” said I, then I limped away to the car and made my exit.

So now I’m in a running club. I can’t remember all of their names yet, but I aspire to keep up with them, they were so supportive and I had the best time despite not being as fast as them. IT’S ON!

YAY! Slump is officially over.

Back – Part Deux

Thanks for all the support gang! I took your advice on board, sucked it up and went out for a run today. No plan, no pressure, just out for the fun of it. I started off slow, did a leisurely lap around the park, took in some hill action and did some sprints. I burnt 224 calories and covered 2.6km. Not too bad for a ‘fix up my mojo’ run!

Then the most amazing thing happened. A lady who was walking her dog stopped me, and asked if I knew about a running club in this area. I misunderstood her and thought she was asking me if there was one. NOOOOOOO! There actually is one, and she invited me to join! Husband, (who was skating in the park next door) and I giggled the whole way home that by getting out of my slump, I now have a running club 🙂 It meets on Mondays and Thursdays, and tomorrow is – wait for it – Thursday!!!! I’m gonna go.

I have no idea what happens in these clubs, but I am excited peeps! I must admit, I feel like a total geek ….. But that awesome feeling is back, and I’m loving it.

So, I guess I should go wash my running clothes so I make a good impression, i.e. not stink on my first appearance…. Thanks again, your support and messages really helped.

Cheers

RunninBear

 

Did I leave my mojo on the beach?

Tags

food, healthy-living, Running, Weigh In

What is wrong with me? I really really really missed running when I was away. I stared longingly at my shoes, wishing we could be together running slowly and keeping at it.

Now I am home, I don’t want to run. At all. I have dodged it for two days. I don’t want to work out. I dodged that this afternoon. I don’t even feel like going out tomorrow. Booo, what has happened?

Even looking at this has not helped….(Nike Image)

I must admit, I am very tired, and it’s almost lady time which usually gets my grump on. I’m back to eating super healthy to shed the 1kg plus the 300g gained before and during I was away. I also worked like a crazy lady over the last two days to get an important job application done. Part of me is saying ‘Just stop whining’, but I feel flat and uninspired. So maybe I just need to listen to my body, rest and go hard when I feel on top of things.

I’d love to hear how you get out of a slump?

Back

Tags

Archaeology, Running, Weigh In

What can I say, the last 2 weeks have been incredible. The island I worked on was spectacularly gorgeous and the work was very very interesting.

This is the sun setting over the water which is a rare sight on the eastern coast of Australia…

Stunning isn’t it?

Despite drinking beer EVERY DAY, doing absolutely no exercise and eating like there was no tomorrow I only gained 1kg. I thought it was going to be much much worse than that! I had planned an extensive running schedule that was thwarted when I realised it was dark until we got up at 6 and we worked pretty late everyday. Oh well, I will smash out some ks tomorrow.

Am still very tired, so will keep this short and sweet. Can’t wait to read all about everybody’s adventures since I have been away 🙂

Weigh In, Fartlek and a Tropical Island….

Tags

Archaeology, Running, Weigh In

Hmmmmmm. I weighed in this morning. Up! by 300grams… 😦

I know why. I ate like I was on a holiday last week. Lots of rice, lots of beer and very weird or non existent lunches. Now, I know that rice and beer are not the enemy. But, for me, these things really add up. Carbs generally make me feel a bit blah. So eating a ton of them this week has proved to be my nemesis. Back to basics for me. With spring going gangbusters, its going to be much easier to eat more salads and fruits, strawberries are unbelievably cheap hear at the moment! YUM!

I ran my fartlek (!) session this morning, down at the park instead of on my road. It was a MUCH better session, I really had to push myself to get the last ones done. I covered 3.54km in 33 mins (I skipped the last bit of my cool down as I was stuffed.) These sessions are TOUGH! But I love it! I felt like I was doing something constructive in reaching my speed goal. I did have to trash talk myself a bit during the last few intervals  – I can’t repeat here what I said as it was quite nasty! But it worked in getting the job done!

Tough working conditions, I know!

Finally, I have to say ‘see ya soon’ as tomorrow I leave to a tropical island for work. I am very excited, its a gorgeous island! It sounds very exotic – to be doing archaeology in a place like that…. I will let you know how it was when I get back.  I can predict this though, I’ll probably have a weird tan when I get back, and the clothes I will be wearing are atrocious! I had to buy coral reef booties which are the UGLIEST shoes on earth. Meh!

Take care out there and stay happy

RunninBear

 

 

 

I Love What Running is Doing to My LEGS!

Tags

healthy-living, P90X, Running

I have always had legs that, well lets be honest, never see the day of light. Ok, my lower legs do, but miniskirts…. No freaking way. Never

Now, I’m not saying here that a miniskirt purchase is imminent, I’m still an 80kg girl. But I just measured myself and my thighs, particularly at the top, are significantly smaller.

Here are my inches lost stats since the start of the year (- x.x inches):

• Bust: – 4.5 inches
• Upper Arm: – 1 inch
• Waist: – 3.5 inches
• Hip: – 4 inches
• Calf: – 1 inch
• Upper Thigh: – 3.5 inches
• Lower Thigh: – 1 inch.

Now you might look at that and think, wow, lots off the top. I’m ok with that, although my bras are now a bit, well, not full……

But peeps, it’s the thigh that I am proud of! I started measuring my body when I began P90X but was still eating whatever I pleased. In the 8 months since the start of the year, my thighs shrank by 2 inches.  But since I started running without injury and with more intensity about a month ago, the difference is a staggering 1.5 inches!  I put it down to running. THANK YOU RUNNING!

I figured out tonight that if I can lose 1kg a week, then I will hit my goal weight just before Christmas. I’m gonna go for it. I want to proudly state that I lost 23.8 kg this year 🙂 That Christmas Ham will taste so much better when I’m at 65kg!

I would love to hear of how your legs transformed since you began running……..

Oops, I Just Fartlekked….

Tags

Fartlek, Running

In my quest for speed, I did some Fartlek today. I decided to stick to the road outside my house for convenience sake and because we live on a hill, I thought I could sneak in a bit of hill training too.

I love the word Fartlek. It sounds funny and makes me giggle whenever I see it or hear it. It’s much better than “Interval Training”, which sounds boring and painful. And I do love the idea of saying “This morning I had the best ever fartlek” to people. Too funny…..

I NEED this t shirt, hilarious (Source)

I custom made a Fartlek workout in Runkeeper that went like this:

• Warm up 5 mins
• Run Fast 45 seconds
• Walk 1 min
• Repeat 15 times.
• Cool Down 5 mins.

Genius. The only flaw in the plan was that I forgot TRAFFIC! More specifically, people leaving to work in their cars intersecting with me running across their driveways. So it was not all smooth running. But I got the session done. And I even managed to do a few run fast bits on the hill, which was hard but it felt great! I really liked it and now I have done my first session I can’t wait to do it again!

Next time, I’m gonna stick to the original plan but go with Husband to the skate park as there is a soccer field next door to the skate bowl. I won’t run the risk of cars and can run on grass, which will be nice as my shins are a bit sore.

I did manage to get another run in on the day of the magpie assault which brought my total for that day up to 5km. I hope to get another 5k in before the end of the week.

Next week I have to go away for work, to a tropical island for two weeks. Poor me 🙂 I saw the work plan yesterday and if I want to run whilst I am away, I will need to do it at 5am. I really want to keep running as I feel like a 2 week break from it now would be bad in terms of fitness and momentum. I won’t have internet access whilst I am there so I will document my plan here and when I get back I can check off what I did.

• Wednesday 12 Sept am 5k run
• Friday 14 Sept am 5k run
• Sunday 16 Sept am 5k run
• Monday 17 Sept am Fartlek 🙂
• Wednesday 19 Sept am 5k run
• Friday 21 Sept am 5k run
• Sunday 23 am 5k run

I have no idea what the roads or tracks will be like on the island, so hopefully I can get all these distances in. It’s been a long held goal to run 5k three times a week. If I can’t get it all done, it will only be due to work. PROMISE 🙂 I’m gonna give it my best shot.

Just once more I have to type it : FARTLEK! hahahahahahahahaha

Attack of the Killer ….Bird?? WTF??

Tags

Bird, Running

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

This is GOLD!

So I went out for a run today to prove my 5k was no fluke. Its a gorgeous day here in Brisbane, sunny, warm, lovely. I was merrily at 1.2km – running below pace (The Runkeeper voice had a very disapproving tone I must add) when it happened. I got swooped by not one, not two, but THREE magpies.

Killer Bird Source 

Every school kid here in Oz learns that these birds are a menace. If you plan to walk anywhere near a nest in spring you are literally making yourself a target. People who ride bikes are not immune, runners certainly not. Here is the kicker though. I have never been swooped before, NEVER! I have heard all the stories, seen the news articles, watched terrified kids writhing under an attack and I have smugly thought, not me baby! TILL NOW!

I made a spectacle of myself. The first one came from the right as I was striding along, and I nearly did not see it. I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye and this freaking bird was flying directly towards my freaking head. I ducked for cover but it hit my hat. Then to add more drama another one came from directly in front of me, and the third from behind. They were squawking like bats out of HELL! Add my squealing into the mix and it was quite a scene….. It probably lasted for about 15 seconds, but it was 15 seconds of terror. My poor heart rate monitor probably thought I was having a cardiac arrest.

Apart from the one direct hit to the head, I escaped unharmed. My dignity however is somewhere on that damn path, the magpies own it now. I was too shaken up to keep going as every noise sounded like an imminent attack. I came home, had a shower and calmed down. And then had to tell you all about it.

Do yourself a favour, watch this video, that is exactly what I looked like (except for not being a kid!)

Monday Weigh In

Tags

Running, Weigh In, weight-loss

After all the excitement of yesterday, I hopped onto the scales today. Success!

Last week, I lost 100g, still a loss but not great.

This week, however, I lost 600g, which is a lot better.

But the best news is I HAVE LOST 8 KILOS SINCE STARTING THIS!!

Thats right, 8 Kilos (17.63 pounds for my non metric friends).

Stoked. It’s working! It’s very visible now, we had some recently engaged friends over yesterday who we have not seen in ages, and the first thing the boy friend said, was “Wow, you look great!”. My girl friend shushed him – maybe she felt like he had embarrassed me – but I did not feel weird about it. I’m super proud of taking charge of my health and fitness!

I’m going to run another 5km tomorrow, and work on being a bit faster. My Runkeeper app has a training function for increasing pace which I am going to exploit in my quest for speed. Run fast bear, run fast!

I Did It, True Story

Tags

5km, Running

So, I suppose you are all wondering how it went?

Prepped with half a black coffee consumed early, gatorade in my drink bottle, special socks, orthotics, a kick arse attitude and this 51 minute play list:

• Rehab – Amy Winehouse
• Just – Radiohead
• Wisemen – James Blunt
• My People – The Presets
• Rockstar – N.E.R.D
• Bangarang – Skrillex
• Tick Tick Boom – The Hives
• SuperMassive Black Hole – Muse
• Snakeskin – Gyroscope
• Dare – Gorillaz
• Audacity Of Huge – Simian Mobile Disco
• Dog Days Are Over  – Florence and the Machine
• The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson

I ran, 5km, in 44.30 minutes. I did not get to hear all of Florence or any of Michael cos I was finished 🙂

I’m not ashamed to admit, I burst into tears when I was done. Husband, who met me at the end, got a very confused and concerned face on as I was blubbering. I managed to get out “Sorry, I’m just so happy, I did it” and then continued sobbing like a baby. Very embarrassing. Oh well, I told you I cry at the drop of a hat…… Also, I stayed bright tomato red for the same time afterwards that I ran. No photos of that shit, its not pretty….

Yeah, so hot right now.

When I started running, I took it slow to make sure I was properly warmed up. Then I started to pick up the pace. Now I know that 44.30 mins is not fast, but there were times when I felt like I was Usain. Momentarily…. The last bit was hard, but you know what kept me going, all your smiley faces and kind words, thanks peeps!!

I can’t tell you how happy and proud I am. This goal has been with me for ages. Even when I was younger and fitter, I used to wish I could run 5km. I never actually trained for it, so it’s not surprising I could never do it till now. Even when I first started training for this months ago I had my doubts.

I took time this morning to calm myself down, remember my goal and erase negative thoughts out of my mind. I had a bit of a “lets just see how this goes” mentality and off I went. I believed I could do it. I made it happen.

New goal, shave of some time 🙂 I’m going to aim for 5km in 30 mins. I know what I need to do, hills and intervals. And I will smash this goal too! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

Im heading off to get myself some new running kit, my current running pants are too loose and were falling down today.

Thanks again, kind interweb friends. Looking forward to sharing my new goal milestones.