Triathlete : Under Construction

Oh

My

Gooooosssssshhhh

For the last few days I have been toying with the idea of signing up for a triathlon that my sister pointed out to me - The Triathlon Pink. My sister is a nurse for the company that organises this event at different locations all over the country and she was thinking about doing her local one.

Ever since I checked out the website, I couldn't get the idea of participating out of my head. There were so many reasons to enter, but also a couple for not.

I loved that the distances were manageable for a beginner. I loved that it was to support such a fantastic cause (The National Breast CancerFoundation) that is a disease that is close to my and my families heart having had a mother and grandmother both suffer from breast cancer. I LOVED that you get this rockin' t-shirt when you enter -

And most of all, I loved that, if I entered, I would have a goal to work towards once the C25K program was over that would also tick a huge goal off my fitness bucket list...

What I didn't like was the fact that I didn't have a bike, a rather important requirement for a triathlon. I didn't like that I knew that, while I feel okay about it now, the anxiety would get so overwhelming in the few days before the actual event, I would consider a million times whether it was worth it. And the biggest thing? The nearest Pink event to me was a plane trip away and what was a $60 entry fee would end up costing me about $600 in flights, accommodation and other costs...

How I found myself, sitting at my laptop, pressing the submit button on my entry tonight, is beyond me...

So, I did it! I have officially signed up for my first triathlon and this time in 143 days (all things going well) I will be able to call myself a triathlete!! I am so full of different feelings; excitement, happiness, terror, confusion. I have a lot of details to work out but I guess that's why it's lucky I have 5 months to get it all straightened out.

 

Thanks for reading... K

Here It Goes Again : Couch to 5K (W4D2)

"Just when you think that you're in control,
Just when you think that you've got a hold,
Just when you get on a roll,
Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again."

Here it Goes Again - OKGO

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then Run 3 Minutes, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 5 minutes, Walk 2 1/2 minutes, Run 3 Minutes, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 5 minutes .

Should I be writing this post in my current state? Probably not... I am really tired... and I know exactly why. It's not a lack of sleep, over exerting myself or any other reasonable reason... Pure and simple, it's what I have been putting into my body that's doing it.

I went a very long time, 26 years in fact, eating whatever I wanted, ignoring the way I was feeling and what the food I was fuelling my body with was doing. Along with having a structure routine in place, another reason I have found this weight loss journey so easy thus far is the realisation that everything I have been putting into my body is a fuel and, as the old analogy goes, if you put crappy fuel in a car, you will get crappy performance.

How quickly one can slip back into old habits though. I am dead set against ruling out a particular food and regularly enjoy some of the things that many people avoid completely when trying to lose weight, I just put measures into place to limit them. What I hadn't considered was an effective action plan to deal with these foods on holiday. When I am at home, I cook six nights a week and I love it. I know what is in my meals, it costs less, and I have my kitchen set up exactly how I need it to be. I have all my the ingredients I need on hand, or I know where to get them. My biggest problem is deciding what to make for dinner.

I have spent this last week of holidays in a kitchen that is foreign to me, surviving on primarily frozen convenience foods. I had done well at avoiding takeaway foods but I have managed to consume deep fried potato chips, McDonald's Fries and Thai food in the last few days. Since the day I arrived I have drunk at least two cans of Pepsi Max each day, even though I know it makes me hungry and I end up craving sweet foods. And up until last night I could have at least said that, although I was eating foods I shouldn't have been, I was managing my portion sizes. My tofu pad thai and coconut rice last night destroyed that. This was followed up by a sickening portion of spicy wedges for lunch today.

Each day that has passed while on holidays I find myself feeling heavier, slower and grumpier. It gets to 2pm and I want to sleep. Nothing can shake it. I try to move, go for a walk because that's what does the trick the days I'm at work and I start to feel the 2pm 'blahs' come on. When that doesn't work, I drink some more Pepsi, hoping the caffeine will kick in and sort out the problem, which it does for about 30 seconds, after which I am left feeling more tired along with hungry from all the fake sugar. And then I am tired, hungry and grumpy with myself so I eat foods that are quick and easy that I know will make me feel good temporarily, disregarding the ultimate result.

I'm not drinking enough water, my vegetable intake in a week has consisted of what I'm guessing is the equivalent of about three or four serves, not enough for a day, let alone a week.

My saving grace, as I mentioned in my last post, is that my exercise hasn't faltered. Yesterday I completed Week 4, Day 2 of the C25K program. My run pace was better than Saturday's but my walking was slower. Not surprisingly, I felt sluggish and, while I didn't need to stop and walk during the run intervals, it was a struggle. Worst of all, during the final 5 minute block, which was downhill, I managed to land awkwardly and I pulled a muscle in my right calf. Even now I have some tightness through the muscle but it's a discomfort thing, not a painful thing. I am due to complete Week Four tomorrow which means I will have completed one whole week of the program away from home. I have quite enjoyed the 'away from home' aspect of these program days which is surprising given the location (beside a busy parkway with a large school and lots of construction). I really thought it would have become a bit overwhelming like it was on the bike track back home.

Imperial - 10:26/mi

I am anxious about my weigh in when I get home. I don't feel like I have put on weight, but maybe I am just trying to convince myself I haven't which will be setting me up for some major disappointment. But I am at a point where this eating has just left me feeling so 'blah' that I physically have no choice but to fix this NOW. I am taking the last seven days as a huge learning curve and adapting my future accordingly. Tonight, I am having a 'mini-fast' by skipping dinner. It's not difficult because I still feel like I have a brick in my stomach from the wedges at lunch. I have been drinking plenty of water and tomorrow morning I will start afresh making the same decisions I would make at home.

I know I can do this and I only have a day and a half until I get home and back to my routine again anyway. Fingers crossed the damage isn't too bad and I don't have to spend ages reversing the problems.

Thanks for reading... K

Continuum : Couch to 5K (W3D3 and W4D1)

"One big exhale

Never did me no good"

Modern Love - Matt Nathanson

W3D3 Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then do two repetitions of the following - Run 90 Seconds, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 3 minutes, Walk 3 minutes.

W4D1 Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then Run 3 Minutes, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 5 minutes, Walk 2 1/2 minutes, Run 3 Minutes, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 5 minutes .

Seriously, I have started this post about six times. Each time I get distracted and I come back to it and I don't like what I have written or it's not how I am feeling any more. Seeing as the rain is coming down in droves today, I've decided now is the time to get to it.

I've been away from home for five days now. There have been moments when getting out and doing a C25K day or strength training have been the farthest thing from my mind and I have had to drag myself out. There have been other moments, like today, where I wish the weather would cooperate so I could get out and moving.

Even though I have been a little less than interested, I have kept up with all of my 'scheduled' exercise. On Wednesday I completed Week 3 of C25K and it was hard. I met a lot of my 'fears' head on that day, dealing with hills, workmen, school children and spectators in the form of peak hour traffic. I really did feel all the seconds towards the end of each 3 minute block that day but I was still able to complete all the intervals without stopping or walking. I seriously can't work oujt Wednesday's!? I felt atrocious doing it, as if I was moving like molasses yet I got back and checked my stats and it had been one of my faster days!? This always seems to happen on a Wednesday! 

 Imperial - 9:51/mi

On Thursday I REALLY didn't want to do strength training. I replaced my 30 minutes on my exercise bike with 30 minutes on my sister's mountain bike. I had gone out for a ride on Tuesday to make sure I still remembered the finer details of riding a bike and had been rewarded with a very sore bottom from the narrow, hard bike seat that was a world away from the cushy, wide seat on my exercise bike. When I hopped on on Thursday my bum was still very much feeling Tuesday and I spent most of my 30 minute ride wriggling around trying to find a position that caused the least amount of discomfort. I came back and did my strength work as usual but I got to use my sister's awesome weights set. To change the weight of each dumbbell all you had to do was turn a dial! So much easier than my archaic ones at home.

My post from Friday was written during a moment when I was feeling pretty cruddy about some decisions I had been making regarding food. I still feel pretty lousy about them but I'm not letting myself dwell too much. I have been eating some foods that I normally wouldn't even go near at home because I know they are my 'weak spots'. A certain type of biscuits, diet soft drink (which is notorious for making me hungry) and frozen processed foods. I should focus more on the good decisions I have made but it isn't in my nature to do that, I automatically go to the negatives. At least I am not getting so down on myself that I just throw it all in and start eating whatever, whenever as I have done in the past. Progress is being made people!

Progress is also being made in the C25K area too! This morning marked the start of Week 4!!! I have been reading forums and message boards about this program since I started and the overwhelming message I got from a lot of people was that Week 4 represented a bit of a challenge for a lot of people and I could totally see why. To be told I was going to have to go from doing 3 minute blocks to doing 5 minute blocks seemed like a HUGE change! I was worried it seemed like too big of a challenge, especially considering I am on holidays. Would I attempt it and discover that I couldn't do it? Would this be the moment when I finally had to stop, mid run-interval and walk?? Would I have to repeat a week??? So many things to worry about!

I woke up this morning lacking my usual C25K enthusiasm but when I pulled on my running stuff I felt a bit more motivated. I knew, no matter how much I didn't want to do it, the only thing that would stop me was serious injury, so I sucked it up and headed out. The first interval was like always... I started out feeling like my muscles were tight but then enjoyed the feeling as the jogging loosened them up. I finished the first three minute block fine, which was to be expected after Week 3's practise. The 90 second walk break seemed perfect, long enough to recuperate but long enough to get myself all worked up about the impending 5 minute block. When Jim chimed in to tell me to run, I was off. I was aware of my pace but didn't slow it down too much. Eventually Jim was back to tell me that there was only two minutes to go. To say I was amazed was a bit of an understatement. I was feeling slightly fatigued but nowhere near needing to stop and I was already three minutes down. And this was with me contending with hills!!! When the first 5 minute interval ended I felt like doing a happy dance but seeing as I was beside a pretty busy parkway, I decided to contain my excitement. Everything after that paled in comparison to the moment I realised I could do a 5 minute block without stopping to walk or having a heart attack. And best of all? The stitch still remains a thing of the past. I think I can officially say nose-breathing is for me!

And proof that I didn't slow down the pace too much? Here are my W4D1 C25K App stats:

  Imperial - 10:41/mi

Thanks for reading... K

Holiday Check-in

It's harder to update while on holiday than I thought... In fact, it's harder to do a lot of things on holiday than I thought...

I am wishing I had scales with me.

I am working on a proper blog post with info on what I am struggling with.

Thanks for reading... K

5:05am : Couch to 5K (W3D2)

"Jump with them all and move it
Jump back and forth
And feel like you were there yourself
Work it out"

DARE - Gorillaz

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then do two repetitions of the following - Run 90 Seconds, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 3 minutes, Walk 3 minutes.

Week 3, Day 2 started off with more of a quiet mumble than with a bang. Mostly because it began at the unfathomable time of 5:05am as per Thursday's 'Big Plan of Attack'... Seriously, what the hell was I DOING? I spent 15 minutes faffing around my lounge room sliding between excited for another C25K day and sleeping with my eyes open. Eventually I picked myself up off the floor and out of my slumber and hit the road. 

Interval one was on the heavier side of suck town. My lungs burnt a little, even with the nose-breathing and my legs felt like I was wearing lead socks. I wasn't wearing lead socks but I was wearing a pain in the a** knee brace that ended up being a nifty ankle warmer after it slid unceremoniously down my leg. I have developed a deep concern that I am going to do myself an injury. At the end of the day I am expecting my poor knees to bear the full brunt of my 200lb+ frame and it is likely that they would be the first thing to go. So when I started to feel a 'loose' feeling in my left knee this week I thought I would err on the side of caution and wear a knee brace for strength training (very helpful) and running (a giant hindrance). Needless to say, Mr. KneeBrace will not be accompanying me for any further runs...

Thankfully, interval one was just a minor speed bump and all the other runs felt much better. Like W3D1, I felt 'unfulfilled' when I got to the end of the second 3 minute walk so I tacked on what I thought was going to be an extra 90 seconds of running but ended up being an extra 2 minutes. 

The new route I had devised worked really well with some slight inclines but nothing that is going to make me wake up the local townspeople with loud cursing on Wednesday mornings. I felt amazing when I got home, especially in comparison to the grumbly, sleep derived monster I was before I headed out. Endorphins really are a magical thing :) I find myself with a lovely mix of excitement and interest about completing the 20 minute block on W5D3 instead of the 'HOLY COW HOW WILL I EVER DO THAT!' meltdown feeling I have had on occasions in the past.

Imperial - 11:55/mi

So, with W3D2 in the bag, I am free to head of to visit my sister. She lives a 2 1/2 hour plane flight away and it's been eight very long months since I have seen her. It's also been about 15kgs so I will be excited to see her reaction. 

Travelling via plane has always been a bit hairy for me. I am a disgustingly awful flyer; White knuckles, green face, terror at the slightest bit of turbulence... That's me! My fear of flying is something I doubt I will ever overcome but, like the myriad of other things I am 'afraid' of, I am determined that they won't hold me back too much. 

At least there is one aspect to plane travel that is more comfortable these days... Plane seats!!! In 2008, at my heaviest weight, I remember getting on a plane, cramming my thighs between the two arm rests and heaving and grunting myself into the plane seatbelt. I can still remember the sweaty, hot feeling that came over me as I realised I may not actually be able to get this thing done up!! It was a moment of pure humiliation and terror and I was NOT going to have one of those seatbelt extenders! NO WAY! I pushed and heaved until I managed to find a way to maneuver the huge roll of fat that was my stomach into the seatbelt. Thank goodness it was only a one hour flight because even in that short amount of time I was was left feeling like I had two large bruises on my thighs from the arm rests and a permanent seatbelt imprint in my stomach. And I can only imagine how annoyed my 'plane neighbour' must have been to have a hot, grunting woman spilling over into their space.

The last time I flew I can remember turning to my husband with a feeling of absolute glee as I showed him that I actually had to tighten the seatbelt strap to make it fit!! I was no longer encroaching in on my next door neighbours already limited space and I could shift around in my seat, whereas before, I would have been so sardined into my chair that once I was in, I was in... No room for comfort there!

So today I fly again, with all of my 'OMG, I am going to drop out the sky' concerns, but without the 35kg I have lost since the 2008 'terrordays'.

My exercise will continue as scheduled while I am away, which should be interesting as it's warmer and more humid where my sister lives. And I will continue to update as I go...

Thanks for reading... K

Wardrobe clearout

Sometimes a wardrobe clean out is better than a holiday... But having both is better!

While I was attempting to pack for a trip to see my sister I got completely distracted dragging a mountain of clothes out of my wardrobe and trying them on. My sister would put this down to a combination of my hatred of packing and my fine-tuned procrastination abilities. I honestly have a sign on my desk at work that says 'Due tomorrow? Do tomorrow!'

Luckily, for me and my boss, my procrastination doesn't get in the way of my work... too much. But, I will admit, pulling every piece of clothing out of my cupboard may have been an attempt at avoiding the inevitable. It proved an interesting experience though...

Over the last year, as my weight loss has ramped up, I have progressively gotten rid of (ie. chucked in a garbage bag at the bottom of my wardrobe) the clothes that I wear regularly that get too big. And I will tell you, every time I got to put something in that bag it was damn straight fun! What I hadn't done was give a second thought to the clothes that linger around in the dark recesses at the back of the shelves. The summer clothes (we don't get much of a summer here), the holiday clothes (yeah, you board shorts!), the stuff I forget I have.

In amongst the "oohhhhsss" and "ahhhhhssss" and the "I forgot I had this" I started to try things on. 

There were items that I had bought during previous weight loss attempts that had been cast to the back of the cupboard when they became too small again as I ate my way to bigger and better WORSE things.  I tried these on, all were fitting again, some were even too big. 

I found a jacket that I had gotten as a much anticipated birthday present when I was in High School. It's a denim jacket, which was all the rage back then and I loved it. I wore it for the next few years until, during the final ballooning year of College, I had to admit defeat. The buttons no longer met in the middle and it had become so tight across the shoulders I couldn't move my arms to save myself. For some reason, despite many, many jackets coming and going in the ten years since getting it I had hung onto this one jacket. I could have cried when I put it on and did up the buttons! It was a snug fit, reminiscent of my first year of College when I started to put on a lot of weight but it certainly wasn't the straight-jacket effect that had caused me to banish it from regular wardrobe rotation!

It is truly funny how something as inanimate as clothes can have such strong emotions tied to them... The jacket had put me on such a high but I was brought back down pretty quickly by another outfit I had managed to uncover. It was such an unassuming combination of a singlet top and a pair of board shorts and it's not that they didn't fit, in fact the board shorts were so big they were unwearable and the singlet was clingy but it fit. It was the memory of the last time I wore them that effected me so badly.

In 2007 my husband and I took our first overseas trip. We were heading off to Thailand for two weeks and we were so excited. Well, he was excited and I was excited and scared and nervous... I distinctly remember shopping for and trying on these board shorts. I shopped on EBay for these bad boys because I couldn't bring myself to go into a shop for them. I do believe they were a AUS size 24 (US 20) but the previous owner had cut out the tag so there's no way to be sure. I tried them on one morning and as I looked at myself in the mirror, I was shattered. I began to cry. The shorts were so tight that if I breathed in too hard the velcro closure would pull open. My big stomach pulled the legs up so that my thighs were on show which included the roll of fat that was beginning to form at the top of my knees. I hadn't noticed this new patch of fat until that very moment and I cried harder. I really wish I could say that that was my moment for realising that something needed to be done but it wasn't... I managed to keep eating my way, a lot of it done a Thai all-you-can-eat hotel breakfast buffets, to almost 15kgs heavier.

That Thailand holiday was, and there's no better way to say it, f**king horrible. I was obese, in a hot humid country, with a race of people that are generally quite petite, with an infrastructure to suit their build. Although I had fun, I spent two weeks hot, uncomfortable and ashamed. There are a lot more stories that go with that holiday but they need to be dished out in small doses or I risk ruining my day by putting myself in a bit of a 'funk' dragging up too many horrible memories.

My wardrobe clean out ended with a huge garbage bag full of clothes to be donated, a wardrobe much reduced, my bags still not packed, and me emotionally wavering somewhere between extremely proud and eternally mortified.

And, of course, a new comparison for your troubles...

Thanks for reading... K

Sticking it to the Stitch : Couch to 5K (W3D1)

"Sad can't catch me
Or call me baby now, oh now
When it's all I used to believe"

Room at the End of the World - Matt Nathanson

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then do two repetitions of the following - Run 90 Seconds, Walk 90 Seconds, Run 3 minutes, Walk 3 minutes.

I have lamented over and over about the reoccurring stitch issue I have been experiencing on each of my C25K days. I've become quite good at relieving them once they start to appear but I was over 'curing' the problem, I wanted to prevent them happening at all. Day 1 of each C25K week has become my unofficial 'technique improvement' day and today's focus was conquering the evil stitch monster!! I noticed this thread over on the active.com Newbie Forum in which someone mentioned that breathing through the nose solely aids with preventing their side hurting. I assumed by 'side hurting' they meant a stitch so this was to be my W3D1 experiment.

I had a little trepidation when setting out this morning. I was feeling pretty comfortable with the 90 seconds of running but the idea of doubling this to a three minute block seemed... painful?? Unachievable? A little bit scary perhaps??? But I quickly told myself to toughen up, that I was never going to be able to run the 30 minute block expected of me at graduation without running the 3 minute block and if I didn't try, I wouldn't know what my body was capable of. 

During my first run interval I concentrated on my 'nose breathing'. Now, to breath is a very automatic thing, necessary for normal bodily function but yet, for me, to try and breath through my nose only while running, well that seemed to make breathing something very difficult indeed! At least initially... I quickly learnt that my trusty pocket tissues would need to become my trusty hand tissues instead because I was in danger of becoming a one woman snot waterfall. My sinuses have been giving me grief lately and it was never more evident than this morning. I found that, come interval two, my big three minute moment, I had worked out the nose thing and I was able to get enough oxygen without my usual gulping mouth breaths. This allowed me to focus on how I was feeling with the increased time block.

Do you know what? I felt more comfortable with the three minutes than I did during the 90 seconds. I had prepared myself as much as I could for the time increase, letting myself slow the pace down to 'test the waters' and ensure I didn't burn myself out after two minutes. I think I may have slowed down too much because by the time Jim was telling me to walk again I wasn't feeling and leg fatigue or lung burn. I actually felt pretty fantastic and extremely proud of myself if I do say so :)

I found the three minute walk break a bit much, I could have done with 2 minutes or even 90 seconds. And my most favourite, awesome, amazing thing I have to report? NO STITCH!!! Run interval 3 and 4 came and went with no familiar twinges so I am officially in love with nose breathing and I am sure it will start to feel more natural with practise. 

Before I knew it I was coming to the end of my last interval before cool down, the three minute walk. Something was feeling a little 'off' and I did some quick maths in my head and worked out that the interval portion of today's C25K program was only 18 minutes long, whereas the last two weeks had been 20 minutes. I think my body was used to the 20 minute structure and wasn't ready to start winding down yet so I decided to defy the program and skip back a few steps on my iPhone app and do one more 90 second run interval before starting my 5 minute cool down. It turns out this is exactly what my body was telling me and I felt much more 'complete' having added this. That's right folks, I am a naughty C25K deviator and proud!!

I checked my app stats when I got home and saw that my pace was a little slower than some previous attempts but I guess this was to be expected because I had slowed myself down so much to ensure I didn't get too fatigued during the 3 minute portions but I think on Monday I will be able to improve on this because I now know what my body is able to do. 

Imperial - 10:48/mi

I have one more exciting moment to end with. As ecstatic as I was about the nose breathing = NO STITCH thing, it was during the cool down that I had a bit of a 'lightbulb' moment in which I went from trying to convince myself that I would actually be able to complete the C25K program to realising and actually believing in my heart of hearts that I was going to do it and as daunting as a 30 minute block of running seems now, when that day comes I will be able to do it...

I officially love Week 3.

Thanks for reading... K

A Shift in Thinking : Couch to 5K (W2D3)

"Young and full of running
Tell me where has that taken me?
Just a great figure eight or a tiny infinity?"

Edge of Desire - John Mayer

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Day 3 kicked my butt again… *sigh*

I am a terribly impatient person and, even though it's only been two weeks, I know that I will not stuggle through a lousy Day 3 for the next 7 weeks. I REFUSE! Intead of packing it all in as I would have done in the past, I have developed a plan of attack!

But first, a W2D3 re-cap. 

I had managed to put most of the insecurities of last week aside. If people wanted to laugh (unlikely) or judge (more likely) that was their issue not mine. After the ten minute warm up walk that I had to do to get to the track I started out and, while I felt fine physically, I just couldn't muster a faster pace so I settled into a very slow jog. By the end of interval one I could feel the pre-stitch twinges. As I started the walk I tried to maintain a good pace for that to make up for the slow runs but was distracted with trying to not look like a loon as I pretended to blow out imaginary candles in an attempt to ward off the stitch. It didn't work and by the 3rd running interval I felt like I was being stabbed in the side, and then it just vanished!? Seriously, if anyone out there has any stitch related advice please speak now! 

Once again, the second half of my run was better. With the stitch gone I was free to concentrate on everything else. My pace improved, my walks were better and it started to rain which felt fantastic on my very hot face. Despite this, when I finished I moped back into the city to meet my Husband and drag my sorry arse home. I was feeling pretty crappy... 

But, instead of spending the next few days mooching around feeling angry at the world I decided to find a solution. In analysing what was going wrong on Wednesday's I decided there were three main issues I actually had control over:

1. Time of Day -  Maybe one day I will be an 'any-time-of-day' runner but now, I am more comfortable with mornings.
2. Food - This kind of ties into time of day. Before morning runs I eat sparingly or not at all and I think this aids in reducing the stitches and a better pace. After work runs mean I am still trying to digest lunch which just leaves me feeling heavy and slow.
3. Location - Although I was much more confident on the bike track this week, I was still finding myself concentrating way too much on what I percieve other people were thinking and this is an unwelcome distraction.

So basically, I needed to switch my Wednesday afternoon bike track run for a Wednesday morning run somewhere I felt comfortable. This is how I found myself on Wednesday night setting my alarm for 5.20am. 

I woke up on Thursday to rain and contemplated not dragging myself out of bed so early but then I reminded myself how awful last night's C25K attempt had made me feel and that was all the motivation I needed to get my umbrella and hit the streets of my town for a walk to check out a possible C25K route. I couldn't do my usual weekend route because it was too dark and it would be too dangerous... And the track runs through an old insane asylum and ever since I was a wee tacker I have been terrified of that place in the dark so NO WAY! 

It was actually really peaceful to be out at that time of morning and the rain didn't bother me. There was no one around which meant it was a perfect solution to my insecurity issues and I was able to work out a route that didn't take me up or down too many hills yet was long enough to fill the required k's for C25K. I felt myself gaining back some of the enthusiasm for C25K that had disappeared somewhere between starting W2D3 and ending it.

I will do Saturday (W3D1) at my usual weekend time but on Monday (W3D2), even though it's my day off, I am going to set my alarm for 5.20am so I can give my new plan a trial run. I am amazed at myself. Previously, the feeling I  had on Wednesday night would have been enough for me to make a million excuses for why I shouldn't continue. But instead, I am using my time and effort to find a solution so I can keep going with the program. My way of thinking has shifted so completely that I am struggling to catch up.

Here's to seeing the world differently...

Worst pace yet :( Imperial - 10:28/mi

  Thanks for reading... K

Being Benjamin Button

Okay, so I haven't actually seen the Brad Pitt movie that I am using for the title of this post but I get the general idea. A man is born old with a condition that sees him age in reverse, right? At it's most basic, the idea of aging in reverse is pretty appealing to everyone at some point in their life. Not in as an extreme fashion as the indeed, very curious case of Mr Benjamin Button, but looking/feeling a few years younger would be something most people would put their hand up for.

It seems ironic that I am doing this post today, when I am feeling about 100. Last night was bike+strength training night due to some shifty switching I did due to my messed up work week. It was also my day to kick the training up a notch. In order to not ‘adapt’ to a strength workout, you need to change things up on a regular basis. For me, it’s every 6 weeks and MAN O MAN, does switch day blow or what?

My change involved going from 1 set of 15 reps of my current routine, to 2 sets of 15 reps… I knew even as I was doing them that today was going to be a barrel of laughs. So I sit here today, wishing I owned a back brace so at the very least, I didn’t have to muster the muscle strength to hold myself upright.

I have the fortunate honour of only being 26 so to say I wish I was ten years younger is phooey… I wouldn’t want to go back to the horrors of 16 for all the money in the world. But what I wasn’t prepared for was being told I was many, many years older than I actually was.

A few years ago, through the magic that is viral marketing on the Internet, I discovered the RealAge website. Basically, the site offers the user a chance to find out, based on health and lifestyle, the ‘real age’ of your body. Now I am a self-confessed ‘quiz-junkie’ so I was all over this like a rash. I went through the long list of questions, more often than not being a little flexible with the truth. Even with the ‘little white health lies’ I was telling I was mortified when it finally spat out my ‘RealAge’ and, while I can’t remember exactly what it was back then, it wasn’t anywhere near my biological age.

It recently struck me as a good idea (!?) to give the RealAge test another go. A lot had changed in the years since I had first plugged in my details and I was keen to see what effect it had had.

The quiz had also undergone some changes and I was happy to see that it focussed less on family history and more on emotional health. As I plugged in my answers, I knew that my health was looking better, but I was still a little nervous about the outcome. After all, I hadn’t thought my health was so terrible last time and look where that had gotten me!! After spilling all of my health and lifestyle details in a very honest fashion I pressed the submit button and held my breath… Then breathed in again because my computer was taking ages to load and I didn’t want to pass out at such a pivotal moment.

To say I was gobsmacked was a bit of an understatement. I hooted and hollered and jumped around! I was defying the laws of time!! Hurrah! I WAS BENJAMIN BUTTON!!! After some time and many strange and exasperated looks from my Husband I managed to calm down. I was a bit annoyed that I didn’t recall what my RealAge had been last time I’d given the site a whirl so I could compare how I had gone. Then I realise this was easily fixed, I could recreate who I was three years ago and compare to my hearts content. I started the quiz again using the memory of what seemed like a different life to answer all the questions. And the verdict? 

Great googly moogly… I was horrified to think that if I was still living the same life I used to, my poor old body would be about to have its 40th birthday!!! I was also hopeful. If I was doing this test and it was telling me I was 5 years younger in my current state (active but still overweight) what kind of RealAge was I capable of achieving as I continued my journey to becoming truly healthy? In the meantime, I am going to enjoy being 21 again, this time with a healthier body and outlook.

If only I could get my muscles to stop aching… :)

Thanks for reading... K

A Confession

Like many people, C25K isn't my first attempt at running. I'm not talking about that torture they called 'cross country' or 'athletics carnivals' in my school days.

My envy of effortless runners is quite matured, it's been hanging around for a while. In 2007 I saw my Mum and my sister completing a few fun runs together and wanted a piece of the action. Husband and I started to go out for 'runs' with my Mum on Sundays. She was very respectful of our 'newbie' status and, similar to the C25K program, set us up with some intervals to strive for. I can't recall what kind of walk/run split she had us doing but I know that it hurt. Imagine feeling sucky and times that by ten and you had me doing my Mum's intervals. In reality, they could have very well been exactly the same splits as C25K but there were a few other differences. 

In 2007, before I set off on my 'I'm going to be a runner' jaunt, the total combined exercise I did in a week comprised of the two minute walk to my carpark 5 days a week and the steps I took to the kitchen to feast before settling into the lounge for the evening. And, from memory, I weighed about 14kgs more than I do now. I had no idea of form and was too busy trying not to die of exhaustion to check my breathing. I did improve a little over the weeks/months that I did this for and I even managed to lose 4 kgs and do four fun runs culminating in a 10K road race that sucked the big sucky suck BIG TIME! 

After that I managed to come up with some clever and not so clever excuses for why I couldn't make Sunday's running sessions. In retrospect, I can identify the main factors for why I didn't stick with it:

• My form sucked more than the 10K road race and I would battle shin splints for three days after. Shin Splints are pure evil >:(
• I had failed to prepare my body for what I was doing to it. Going from fat and unfit to expecting to run the way I had hoped to was an extreme form of wishful thinking.
• I was running with people. I have since discovered that I am a solo exerciser. That's right folks, I love myself so much when exercising that I can't bear the presence of others.
• By far the biggest issue was that I wanted it all NOW. I wanted to be a freakin' champion marathoner and I wanted it yesterday. I didn't want to struggle through all of this 'learning' BS.

But that was 2007...

For the last few months I had been wanting to try out the running thing again but I was still a little tender from this last experience. My pride really couldn't take another failed attempt so I put it off and concentrated on walking and strength training. But as I added things to my Bucket Book I knew it was inevitable that, if I really wanted to achieve these things I was writing, I would have to give it another go.

I gave myself a very strong talking to, particularly around point number four. I would have to realise that this was going to take time. I had to remember when I started strength training, how I thought I would never be able to do the required number of reps without swearing like a pirate. But yet week 6 came and it was all so easy that I was dying to beef up my program. I had to realise that my body was capable of all the things I wanted it to do, but only at a reasonable pace.

So now I am giving it another go. And what has changed?

• I did some research on the correct form (see an excellent video with this post) and I have not had any problems with shin splints.
• I spent a year walking 5-6 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time. This built up a solid foundation of fitness on which to build the stamina required to get through each C25K day without wanting to lie down and sleep in the shower afterwards. I'm not saying this is an essential part of getting ready for C25K but it sure does help.
• I run alone. Plain and simple, my brain does not have the capacity to exercise and be a sociable person at the same time. 
• I completely understand that this is long term process, of which C25K is a beginning. I want to be a runner for the rest of my able-bodied life. I am not going to be able to run 10K non-stop tomorrow, a marathon will not be conquered next week. Instead I choose to revel in my beginning, in keeping a record of my where I am now so that I will have something to look back on and say, 'I remember when 90 seconds of running seemed like an overwhelming task'.

I don't for a second regret my first attempt at 'being a runner'. I love all the things that it taught me not to do, and the things it taught me about myself. If you've attempted to do the running thing before and it wasn't as successful as you had hoped, don't write off any chance of giving it a second chance. And if you are currently attempting it and it's not going the way you had hoped, take a few moments to look at why and how you can make it all you want it to be. Expect a lot from yourself but don't expect to achieve it faster than you are capable of.

Thanks for reading... K

Back-to-Back : Couch to 5K (W2D2)

"For this dance we move with each other
There ain't no other step
Than one foot
Right in front of the other

There's so many wars we fought
There's so many things we're not
But with what we have
I promise you that
We're marchin on"

Marchin' On - One Republic

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

I'm pretty lucky when it comes to having the time available for exercise. Husband and I don't have any kids yet and I work a four day week in a pretty flexible job so I can schedule pretty much everything in around a standard week without too much getting in the way. There are exceptions to every rule of course, and this week is one of them. I am needed at work on Monday, my usual day off. Monday also happens to be my scheduled 'day 2' for the C25K program so this left me two choices; Run the Monday after work (mornings are still pretty dark here for us) or do back-to-back program days on Saturday and Sunday. 

The C25K page at coolrunning.com suggests that participants, 'be sure to space out these three days throughout the week to give yourself a chance to rest and recover between efforts.' SO I wasn't sure if back-to-back days were a good idea. But I really disliked the idea of an inner city track run on a Monday night after working a day that would normally have been a day off. In the end, my inner monologue and I decided that I would see how I woke up feeling this morning (Sunday). If my muscles were as tight as they were last Sunday I would just admit defeat and pack my running gear on Monday for what I was sure was going to be a rather 'blah' after work run. If I was feeling bright and sprightly I would go back-to-back and see what this body was capable of.

Saturday night my legs were feeling okay... A little tight at the tops but not uncomfortable. They were quite fatigued but this may have had more to do with the 5 hours I spent standing in the kitchen making cupcakes than it did the run that morning. My lower back was causing me more problems than my legs so I managed to con Husband into a back massage aided by the nifty little 'Hottie' massage bar I had bought at Lush on Friday. I had also bought some nifty body tint but the dog found that and ate it... $10.50 on body tint and now I only get to admire it as I pooper scooper my back lawn *GRRRR* There is nothing that dog won't eat!!

When I woke up feeling fine and dandy this morning I has pretty chuffed to say the least. I had a moment of panic when I realised that my iPhone only had 13% charge left. There was no way I was heading out without WingManJim but a quick charge while I was getting ready ensured he would be there to hold my hand the whole way. 

I set out for the 5 minute warm up walk but accidentally took it a bit slow. Before I knew it, Jim was in my ear telling me to run and I knew that if I didn't keep the pace up this would look pretty shabby compared to yesterday, not to mention last week. I didn't push myself too hard during the runs, preferring instead to make up the time during the walk breaks. Run interval three found me with that freakin' annoying pre-stitch feeling AGAIN. It was gone by the time it was time to walk again and I really shouldn't complain so much if that is my biggest concern during the run intervals. 

One exciting development was the frustrated feeling that I started to get when a running interval ended. After 90 seconds I was finding that I was into a bit of a groove with my form and pace and I could have kept going but I am determined to stay true to the timing of the program so I would start the walk again reminding myself that there will be days in the not too distant future when I am cursing that each run interval goes for so long and I should enjoy the current timing as much as possible.

By the time Jim chimed in to tell me I was about to start my last run I was pretty much at the same point of my route that I had been yesterday so I was happy that I had made up for my lousy warm up start without too much effort. The cool-down passed quickly and I continued my walk pretty confident that, despite being a back-to-back effort, I had done okay.

When I got home I checked out my results on the C25K app.

Imperial - 9:53/mi

I had managed to pull off my best run pace yet!! I was amazed! I have no plans to make back-to-back days a common occurance during the C25K program but to know that it doesn't seem to effect the outcome as long as I am feeling physically fine is a big boost.

Tomorrow now gets switched to become bike+strength training day and I don't get another C25K day until Wednesday :( I honestly never thought I would be the kind of person who got bummed out if there was 2 days between runs but wonders will never cease.

Thanks for reading... K

Jim the Wing Man : Couch to 5K (W2D1)

"Every bridge that you keep on burning
Every leaf that you keep on turning
Every road that you find uncertain
Pray for you now

Baby, that you figure it out

As you keep chasing the light"

Chasing the Light - Mat Kearney

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

I would be truly lost without the C25K App. My mind is so distracted by remembering to run, keep my head up, breathe deep etc that I would have no hope keeping my eye on the clock in order to fall in line with the intervals. For those unfamiliar, at each interval, a voice appears in your ear and, in a no nonsense manner, tells you to 'Walk' or 'Run'. If you have a play around with the settings menu you find that there are two 'voice options'; Jim or Alison. Now, I have nothing against Alison but I am sticking with Jim. Only four runs in and Jim and I, well, we are buddies.

Jim has my best interests in my mind. No matter how much I bitch and moan towards the end of a running interval, he's not going to cave and say, 'Okay, just this once you can start to walk early'. But he's not all about ordering me around, he remembers to give me helpful reminders, 

'You are halfway there!' 

'Thanks Jim, I needed that!'

'This is your last run!'

'Really Jim? That came around quicker than I thought!!'

I have realised that running is something I prefer to do solo... Except for Jim, he can come out with me any time. Jim is officially my C25K Wing Man. I hope my husband isn't too concern about this new relationship ;)

Week two has clearly sent me a little loco...

Yesterday, rest day, I found myself wishing that it was time to start Week Two!! But I patiently waited until this morning as planned and I was off. I have said 'To hell with self-consciousness' so I wasn't plagued by the horrible feelings of last week, which was lucky because there were people everywhere this morning. I found myself surprised at how quickly the running intervals were finishing. I know it is only an extra 30 seconds of running but I really thought it would feel like at lot of extra time when I was actually in the middle of an interval. But it honestly felt like, no sooner had I started running, it was time to walk again.

Around interval two or three I felt what is becoming a regular occurence, a niggling in my side that tells me a stitch is developing. The nifty 'candle-trick' I mentioned on Monday sees it disappear pretty quickly but I am hoping that this is something that will eventually stop happening because it's just a little bit annoying and I would prefer to spend the time I use combatting the stitch to work on keeping form instead.

W2D1 really did pass by quickly and uneventfully; It was over before I knew it and while I found it a challenge, I didn't find myself struggling to a point where I wanted to stop during a running interval. And when it was all over I had a little 'reward' ready for myself. I had downloaded a new album on iTunes and spent some extra time walking listening to it. 

Man, I love getting new music! Listening to all the songs, finding new favourites and this album didn't disappoint. It's Mat Kearney's new album 'Young Love'. This is exactly the kind of album that I would love to be able to listen to while out for a long run *sigh, one day* He has a very mellow, laidback style that would make it so easy to just run and let your mind switch off. But as it stands at the moment, while running I need fast paced, upbeat songs that keep me going when I feel my pace lagging a little too much. That, and they need to be loud enough to compete with my internal cheerleading squad that I set to extreme when the running intervals start. So for now it's Black Eyed Peas for the running and Mat Kearney for the recovery :)

What songs are on your running playlist at the moment?

Imperial - 11:20/mi

Things I learnt today:

• Tissues are absolutely essential to take with me running. It has taken me this long to work it out
• I really do need to delete 'Turning Japanese' off my playlist... And 'Walk Like an Egyptian'
• I am the President of my very own Mat Kearney Appreciation Society :)

Thanks for reading... K

A Comparison in the Making

When I woke up yesterday I was very happy to realise that I had been spared the joy of the sore muscles that I had experienced after Saturday and Monday. I knew I had tempted fate with this because I had been so worked up pre-run on Monday that I hadn't done any stretches, very bad on my part and I am risking doing myself an injury with moves like that. Self-lecture over. 

The freedom from stiff muscles meant that I breezed through last nights bike+strength training (if breezing through means sweating profusely and swearing through my tricep kick backs!) It was made all the more easy knowing that Friday was REST DAY! Hurrah!

My mission today, and I had chosen to accept it (ba doom tish) was to prepare for two upcoming weddings. The invites had both landed in our letter box in the last week and they both fall within the next three months. 

Weddings and similar occassions have historically started out as really exciting for me and then they rapidly decline into traumatic, soul destroying misery as I attempt to find something to wear. Over the years there has been many tears over outfits that don't work and failed shopping trips. 

My own wedding was almost 6 years ago and, while I love my choice of husband, if I am completely honest, I regret SO much about that day. The most obvious thing that I would change, given the chance, was me. More specifically, how I looked. Like most girls, I decided to lose weight before my wedding but joining Weight Watchers 8 months before the big day and getting bored of it three months later probably wasn't the best way to go about it. I didn't look at exercise or healthy eating, I just managed to use all my points on crappy junk. This meant I was hungry and grumpy for three months and by the time our wedding rolled around, I was almost back where I had been pre-WW.

I would love the chance to do it again when I reach my goal.

The last wedding we attended was the one for an old friend in late 2009. I had gone vegan about nine months before and lost some weight, but discovered vegan junk food and had managed to put some of the weight back on. When I saw the pictures I was truly horrified. This wasn't the person I had seen in the mirror when I was getting ready!! The person I had seen looked good, overweight yes, but I thought the dress flattered me. In reality, there was no way this dress, or any other, would have been flattering. I had gone past the point of looking good in anything...

The overwhelming feeling I have when I see the pictures from my friends wedding day is shame at the fact that I look like this in their wedding pictures. Pictures they will cherish for the rest of their life and there I am, like that.

I try to focus on where I am going and how I will be rather than beat myself up over what I was but memories like that creep in sometimes and I get so angry at myself.


But back to today! I am proud to say that the 'flattering' dress from 2009 no longer fits. I tried it on a month or so ago and did a little happy dance when I realised I could relinquish it to the 'too big bag'. The problem I found now though, was that between this addition to the sack and all the others I had approximately nothing to wear to one wedding, let alone two!

I set out after work to just have look at what dresses were out there. I mentally prepared myself for the horror of the dreaded change rooms (come on ladies, you know what I mean right?) and tried to remember what kind of cuts, necklines and lengths were supposed to make the most of my 'shape'.I wanted one dress that could suit both weddings, one is formal, one is neat casual so I didn't know if I was asking too much of one dress!? I could have searched for two dresses but the constant rotation of clothes that I am already experiencing is already burning a giant hole in my pocket. Shop one didn't have much on offer that was suitable. It was all too corporate or too black or too 'grandma'.

I walked into the second shop and immediately I was drawn to a dress. It was brown with some black detail. It could be dressed up or dressed down and it possessed all the cuts and hem lines I had been told to look for. I took two sizes to the change room; 20AUS (16US) and 18AUS (14US). With the larger size on I turned and looked in the mirror. I was so buying this dress! It was just what I was looking for. Then I contemplated the fact that the weddings were two months and three months away respectively. I had lost 3kgs in the last month alone. Do I buy the dress in the size that fits like a glove right now or do I buy the dress, one size smaller, with the notion that it will fit perfectly come wedding time?

I seriously stood in that change room for five minutes, in one size, in the other size, thinking, pondering, mulling. The poor sales assistant probably thought she had a loon or a thief on her hands. Eventually, I came out of the change room, walked to the counter and purchased the dress in the smaller size. Then I came home and made my husband take a photo of me in the dress. This will serve two purposes; one, I can make sure that I don't just think the dress looks okay like I did with the last dress I wore, which was very wrong. And two, I have a picture of me right now in the dress and in two and three months I can take comparison pictures and put them side-by-side and actually smile about a wedding outfit for once!

Here's to successful shopping trips, have a fantastic Friday night everyone! C25K Week 2, Day 1 tomorrow! Can't wait!!

Thanks for reading... K

With A Little Help From My Friends

Since I began the C25K Program I've been drawing a lot of support from the active.com Newbie forum and I was a little sad when a fellow newbie mentioned that her and her husband are making some really positive changes to their lifestyle but her sister and father, who live with them, are being unsupportive.

I think the people surrounding me are a huge part of why I have come so far with my journey. Obviously, the most important aspect is my inner belief that I can do this but in the moments I am tempted, or I think it is all too hard, I have some of the most amazing friends and family right behind me.

My husband seems genuinely amazed and proud of the things I am achieving. He has seen me go from a little overweight right through to morbidly obese and he is doing a fantastic job of supporting me on the journey back again. He deals with me disappearing for hours on the weekend for walks, my frustration at plateaus, and my new challenges, most recently The Pool Adventure. On Thursdays when I do my strength training, he cooks even though he hates it. And most importantly, though it must have been hard for him and he was worried about my health, he never pressured me into losing weight. But at the same time, he never let me kid myself that what I was doing to myself was smart.

My sister, even though she lives a 4-hour plane ride away, is a continual source of support and inspiration. She revels with me in the small achievements as well as the big and is never too busy to listen to me have a moan about even the most mundane or crazy things. My sister has always been a runner and has not suffered from the weight issues I have and I look to her as the person I wish to be. And, in the last few years, with the birth of her two children, she has become and an amazing mum too. 

My Mum has been the only person in my life to take a no holds barred approach to confronting my weight. In 2009 she sat me down, like only my Mum can, and told me she was concerned about my weight and my health. She offered one of her most prized possessions as a reward for my weight reaching a certain level and although I was taken aback at the time by her approach, and the reward on offer was not as important to me as it is to her, I saw that my health was so important to her that she was prepared to give this possession up. 

I also have fantastic friends, colleagues and other family members that never mock me or doubt my ability to reach my goals. The thought of not having all of these people there as my support crew, or even worse, trying to sabotage what I am trying to do with my health, is a really distressing concept and I feel very bad for Jerri having to do deal with this, especially in the sanctuary of her own home. 

I guess this is where forums such as the one at active.com and the fan page on Facebook are so beneficial. The community spirit within these is so amazing. To have a place to go to get advice, inspiration and, if you really need it, a kick up the bum, is just fantastic and absolutely essential for those people out there who don't always have the benefit of support close to home.

Who is your biggest supporter and in what way are they enriching your journey, whatever it may be?

Thanks for reading... K

Breathe In : Couch to 5K (W1D3)

Breathe, I know you find it hard but baby breathe.
You'll be next to me, it's all you need.
And I'll take you there, I'll take you higher, higher, higher higher!

All The Lovers - Kylie Minogue

Today's Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

I can't believe that week one is in the bag! And from this side of day 3 I am feeling fantastic!

Pre-run was a bit different...

Unlike Saturday and Monday, today's run had to fit in with work and I had decided that after-work, along the nearby city bike track, was my best bet. In the morning I was as pumped about the program as I had been on the first two days. During the day however, I let the fear of the unknown take hold a little more than I should have. I found myself facing those same concerns about 'being seen' by other people utilising the track. I was also wondering how I would go running on the hard concrete surface. 

Before I knew it, it was time to get changed and go. 

As I walked to the track, which was about ten minutes from my work, I tried to psych myself up and I was feeling a little better by the time I got to my start point. 

Interval one... Maybe I went a little too hard, too fast? Maybe I was concentrating too much on the people around me and not enough on my form? Maybe I completely forgot to breathe?? Whatever the reason, I struggled, and while I could still run the full minute, my confidence had taken a knock. I spent the walk break berating myself and not concentrating on keeping my speed up. 

Before I knew it, Jim was back in my ear telling me to get moving and off I went. Same problem... I felt heavy and wobbly and just generally uncoordinated. And to make it worse, the track was now leading me right next to the highway. No matter what I was trying to tell myself, I could not convince myself that the people in their cars weren't laughing at me and my ridiculous attempt at running.

Interval three signaled the start of what felt like a crippling stitch. I tried a trick that I had read on the Internet that suggests pretending to blow out candles on a cake aids in stitch recovery. Thankfully it worked!! It was just after this that I came to an important conclusion. I was out there, doing day 3 of week 1 and that in itself was a fantastic achievement. I decided to throw comparisons to the first two days aside and just take this day for what it was. After all, this was my first go on that surface, on that route, at that time of day. The chime to tell me I was halfway came and I cheered (internally, so I didn't scare my fellow track mates) and completed that running interval before turning to head back towards the city.

Something had changed within me. Having cast aside my doubts and hang ups over the general cruddiness of this run I was suddenly renewed. All of a sudden, the right songs started popping up on my playlist and Jim was telling me it was time to walk before the grips of fatigue were dragging me into submission. I felt great! 

As I reached the outskirts of the city, and my cool down began I could understand the feeling of pure joy so many C25K-ers had described upon completing a week! I felt blessed that I even had the ability to do this and I was excited about the program all over again. And best of all, I realised I hadn't given a single second of thought to the other people on the track for the whole return journey! That alone was worth a huge celebration for someone like me.

 Week 1, Day 3 - The view of the city at the end of today's run

When I checked my C25K app after all of this I was absolutely amazed to find that, although I had tanked on my walking pace, I had improved my running pace from Monday. This was crazy and such a boost to my confidence!

Today's App Screenshot! Better Run Pace! YAY!
Imperial - 10:06/mi

Things I learnt today:

• City running has many different aspects; my least favourite being exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke.
• When running in the afternoon I must choose a much wiser lunch. Heavy, carb laden asian foods are OUT.
• There is no feeling quite like completing a week in the C25K program.

 
Thanks for reading... K

Pool of Frustration

Pffft...

My pool adventure sucked... 

No, people didn't point and laugh, I didn't end up a worn out mess halfway down a lane and require a rescue nor did I contract athlete's foot from the communal showers. I am pretty sure I let myself get a bit too overwhelmed by the whole situation and I definitely chose the wrong pool. BUT it will not turn me off the pool thing in general.

My husband is normally quite a patient man and accepts me for who I am, neurosis and all but as we approach the pool I think my "I'm so worried about the pool" act was wearing pretty thin for him. As we walked in I passed him the money and told him he would have to pay to which he informed me he would be asking for entry for "One adult and one scaredy cat please!"

The change rooms turned out to be, surprisingly, the least traumatic part of the whole experience. I holed myself up in a toilet cubicle and put on the new bathers I had bought. The two pairs I had previously owned and worn 7 short months ago now gaped very unattractively and dangerously in some areas ;) 

I met said husband outside the change rooms where we scoped out the pool situation. Things were mmmmiiiiiggggghhhty different from when I was a wee tacker and showing up to the pool meant you jumped in where there was a free spot and bombed your friends until the sun went down. No sir-ee, as an adult swimmer there are rules and lanes and speeds. Of the 8 lanes available 4 were designated to private bookings, 3 had very stern looking signs promoting them as 'medium speed only' and then there was my beacon of hope, the only un-labelled lane in the pool.

Now all I had to do was get in.... Come on, you can do it...

I started lamenting to my husband again, so much so I was even annoying myself, "What if it's the wrong lane? What if people look at me? What if people laugh because I am fat??"

He looked at me very seriously and told me a very important fact that I often forget,

"You aren't as big as you were anymore."

This was true, and if I could have just quit the whinging for a while I could have looked around and noticed that, while the majority of the people at that pool were smaller than me, I was not the biggest person in the centre... Not at all... I had spent SO long being the biggest person in most of the places I went that my brain had not yet caught up with the 30kgs my body had shed.

I closed my mouth and got in the pool.

I had specifically rung the centre earlier in the day to ask what time of an evening was quieter and I was told 6.30pm. We had entered the pool at about 6.10 and I happily did my first lap of the pool. It wasn't easy but it wasn't hard. I had a shameful lack of any form in any stroke but that didn't matter. I was at the pool and I could practically taste my first triathlon... Slight exaggeration, but you get the point! By 6.30, between doing 8 lengths of the pool (400m), messing around with my husband and catching my breath, I was feeling pretty good and set myself a target of twenty lengths (1km) in an hour. Then I noticed something happening in and around the lane. I realised that they were getting ready to change my lane and the one next to it, previously a dreaded 'medium' lane, into one large area for Aqua Aerobics. 

Husband and I slowly made our way out of the lane and stood at the end of the pool. The 8 lanes were now assigned in the following fashion; 2 lanes for Aqua Aerobics, still 4 lanes of private bookings and one solitary public lane for swimming... At Medium Speed! I walked over to the program chart that outlines what lanes are supposed to be being used and for what and saw that there was now supposed to be three public lanes. But this was clearly not going to happen... And I got pi**ed. In a crazy, inner fuming kind of way... And I still am now!! There was no way I could get in the medium lane and not drive other swimmers crazy so I went and got changed getting more and more annoyed. I had set myself a goal and I was really frustrated that I couldn't achieve it!!

When I came out of the change room I checked the lanes again. It was now 6.40 and the lanes were still not as they were supposed to be. So I will be voting with my feet and I will be choosing another pool next Tuesday. And I will swim my 1km and it will be damn good... And there is nothing that silly pool and their crazy lanes can do about it! So there...

Tomorrow morning I will be packing my running gear into my back pack and I will be hitting the city bike track when I finish work. I will run out my frustration about the pool and I will listen to some fantastic music to put the smile back on my face. Couch to 5K - Week 1, Day 3 here I come!!

Thanks for reading... K