Tuesday 31st January
Exercise: Weights, situps
I'm so glad that I got up this morning to go to the gym. I could have easily talked myself out of it, but I felt so much better after I'd been. I made sure that I went to bed early last night so that there was no excuse not to get up!!
Rae, I had a bit of a blonde moment, getting all confused with Glucosomine and L Glutamine - DOH!! I just didn't read your email properly. I've now read up on it and it sounds good. Will check out the health food shop soon!
I had a bit of a disaster with some hamburgers I made on Sunday night. For some reason chicken mince seems to stick together much better than beef mince. I think I should have added an extra egg to glue it all together. Anyway they still tasted nice and hubby managed to keep some of them whole. The rest we just pretended was bolognese by adding tomato sauce to!!
I'm having a day off tomorrow (it's my birthday) but have organised to meet Michelle at 6am for a nice easy run! It's also the first day back at school for my daughter so it's going to be a busy morning! Then hubby is taking me out for lunch somewhere up in the Dandenongs. Looking forward to that!!
And isn't that cool change pleasant! I know that I love the warm weather but even I don't like it when its too hot. Give me 25 degrees and sunny any day!
Sunday 29th January
Exercise: 13.6km (Warby Trail)
Well I crashed and burned this morning. Was supposed to run 15.8km along the Warby Trail but just ran out of steam, so only managed 13.6. The other guys (and Michelle of course) carried on but I jumped into TB's wife's car and met up with the group at Yarra Juction.
I really didn't prepare very well. I knew it was going to be humid this morning yet I didn't drink much water yesterday. I also didn't eat properly. Not enough food, and definitely not enough GOOD food. I've learnt now! It won't happen again!
Michelle and I are doing another long run next Sunday and this time I'm going to eat better and drink much more fluid (and not Champagne either!).
On a good note, Michelle commented on how much slimmer my middle section looked this morning....I'm not sure that it actually is any thinner, it may have just been the top I was wearing - anyway I'll take any compliments I can right now!
Saturday 28th January
Exercise: Weights session
Got down to the gym when it opened this morning. I was really up for this weights session as it's been a week since the last time I trained. My muscles have recovered, although it took about 4 days before I could lift my arms over my head without any sort of pain!
I did the same routine as last week so that I could see how sore I am after this session and compare to last week. Hopefully it won't take as long this time for my muscles to repair.
Rae, yes I do take Glucosomine every day, but for some reason I didn't take any last week, so maybe that was part of the problem. I counted up this morning and I had 13 tablets to swallow...that's alot isn't it!
I'm doing a 16km run tomorrow down the Warby Trail so I didn't do any leg work. I'm almost too afraid to do any now as I know how much it hurts after a hard lunge and squat session. I just hate the thought that this will hinder my running, so am a little bit wary of doing it, especially the day before a long run. Maybe Monday morning?
Right, I'm off food shopping. Have a great weekend everyone.
Thursday 26th January
Exercise: 8km (Aust Day Fun Run - Docklands)
Was up early this morning as the run started at 8am. I would have had a bit more sleep last night but the young lads next door decided that they wanted the whole street to enjoy their music as they were doing!!
It was already warm by the time that we go to the Docklands. Not a huge crowd for the 8km run (which was good for us). Michelle's hubby Marty and their daughter Brianna were running too, in the 4km race, so we didn't have to worry about dropping off our bags as they looked after them (their race didn't start until 9am).
Michelle and I both had our music blasting agin, which really helped me pace myself around the first lap (race was 2 laps). The first part of the race was in the shade, which was great, but running around the Telstra Dome was full on sun, as was the incline up Latrobe Street. I felt really good after the first lap and was looking good until we hit the incline on the 2nd lap. All of a sudden I just lost so much energy and I really struggled over the last kilometre or so.
Finished in around 46 minutes, which is well inside our goal of 48 mins for an 8km run. It was only afterwards when we were chatting that Michelle casually mentions that she thought that maybe she'd upped the pace near the end....thanks lovey!!
We then watched the 4km race take off. It was so much warmer by 9am. Just as well it was only one lap of the course otherwise it would have been just too hot.
The only complaint that I have is the water stations ran out of water....on the first lap!! Not good! Good showbag though - back pack, baked beans, sachets of Milo, sachet of sunscreen and a Pen!
Wednesday 25th January
Exercise: 7km Run (Mullum Mullum Creek Trail)
Just me and Michelle running tonight, which was just fine by me. We certainly didn't break any PB's that's for sure.
I had quite a tight chest as I started running, but I'm nearly positive that it was because I'd eaten really badly today (and I mean REALLY badly!!).
I would have run for longer as I was back into a good rythmn at the 7km mark but if I'd kept on going, I may have had a very embarassing moment (won't go into any more detail than that!) but I was straight to the loo when I got home!
As I just mentioned, I went totally beserk with my food today. I had to go to the supermarket to get some cherries and grapes. It was lunch time. I was hungry. I bought chocolate...lots of chocolate. I went to the Bakers. I bought an apple and custard scroll. I ate the lot (apart from the cherries and grapes). I also bought a chicken and lettuce roll. I ate that too. I felt sick. Needless to say that I didn't bother with dinner tonight.
I am now in a better frame of mind, having discussed it with hubby. I will not do this again. I have made a contingency plan if this happens again. I hope it works!
Coffee
I saw this on Sekhmet's blog and decided to try it out. Pretty accurate too I'd say!
| You Are a Frappacino |
At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern
At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent
You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet
Your caffeine addiction level: low |
The Fridge
Finally got around to taking a photo of my fridge.
On the top shelf are lots of bottles of water. Must have cold water on hand at all times! There's also a big bowl of cherries. Next shelf are the eggs. I never used to put my eggs in the fridge but I've had a couple of bad experiences with eggs now, so I've started putting them in the fridge to keep them fresh. There's also the tub of yoghurt that I add to my protein powder drink and a couple of chicken burgers.
Next shelf is some cheese, some more yoghurts, and some lobster bits and mackerel that hubby eats (yuk!). Bottom shelf sees a loaf of bread. Once again, because of the heat it goes off too quickly if we don't keep it in the fridge. There's a few of Alana's yoghurts and some apples there too. The rest of the fruit and veg is in the crisper.
In the door is a bigger container for water, along with all of our milk. We all drink different milk, me Skinny Milk, Hubby Soy Milk and Alana low fat lactose free!
If I'd taken this photo on a Friday instead of a Sunday, there would have been virtually nothing in there apart from the water bottles as we shop on a Saturday normally!
Sunday 22nd January
Exercise: 13km (Sherbrooke Forest)
Well what a great run this morning. Knew it was going to be a hot day today (43 degrees) so was a little concerned about running in the heat, but up the mountain was so much cooler, with the added bonus of quite a strong breeze.
I haven't been to Sherbrooke Forest in years so had forgotten how lovely it is. There are some great trails to run along, some flat, some uphill and some downhill. We met up with the running group who had organised the meet and everyone teamed up in little groups depending on speed. Michelle and I ran with 3 other girls who were around our pace, so it was nice not to have to keep up with the fast guys.
If anyone is going to run in Sherbrooke Forest, it may be a good idea to print off a copy of all the trails to take with you as it is quite easy to lose your way (ahem!!), but all trails lead back to the main road so you don't stay lost for long!!
We ended up running for about 80 minutes, and because it wasn't a hugely fast pace, I felt quite good when we'd finished.
And to avoid the heat this afternoon I've been over to Michelles place to laze in and by her pool!! I'm now back home and have the evaporative cooling on full blast, but it's almost too hot for it to work properly!!
PS: Knew my shoulders and arms were going to hurt today. Finding it a bit hard to raise them above my head without suffering pain!!
Saturday 21st January
Exercise: Weight Workout, Situps
I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow. I worked so hard on my shoulders and arms this morning that I can hardly lift them up now!
Isn't it strange how we can see ourselves differently in different circumstances. Let me explain....at the gym this morning I was looking in the mirrors while lifting weights and I thought that I looked quite toned and my stomach was looking quite flat. Yet later when I got home I asked hubby if he'd take some photos of me so that I had a starting point that I could then compare in say a month's time. The photos are not very flattering at all and show me how I really look, which is nothing like what I saw in the mirrors at the gym. I think the only part of me that I can honestly say that I like are my calves!! So there is alot of work to do.
I was going to put a couple of the photos on here, but now that I've seen them I've decided that I'll wait until I've taken some more in a month's time and then decide!
Friday 20th January
Exercise: 5km Run (Local)
Do you ever have one of those training sessions when nothing seems to want to work? My legs were like tree stumps this morning. I could not get them to go! I had no oomph at all in me. And it took me 15 minutes to talk myself into getting out of bed to even go for the run!
It must have been the slowest 5km I've done in a long time. I looked down at my watch at one point and I hadn't even been running for 20 minutes but it felt like 40 minutes! I thought I'd try a different place to run and I ended up at the local footy ground. Did almost one lap and then got a bit of a scare as there was an old bloke hanging around the bins....so I ran back up to the main road. I was trying to keep away from the concrete as this seems to aggravate my hip if I run on it for too long, but as there's nowhere else locally that I can run that is grassed I had to carry on running on the footpath. As I only did 5km the hip was fine (phew!).
On a happier note I've now got all the equipment needed for my little circuit session. I'm going to set it up tonight and give it a twirl. Just need to find the valve thingy that goes in the end of the bike pump so that I can pump the fitball up. Exciting isn't it!!!
Wednesday 18th January
Exercise: 13.4km Run (Mullum Mullum Creek Trail)
Well what was supposed to be a leisurely 10km run got extended a bit. I felt great running tonight so me and Michelle did an extra stretch. We need to start upping our distance so tonight was a great start.
I'm running in Sherbrooke Forest on Sunday morning with a very big organised group of runners. Haven't done much hill work before so this is going to be something new, especially with a group of experienced (and fast) runners. At least they're starting relatively early so it won't be too hot. Expecting 41 degrees!
I had a little hiccup with my eating today. I did fantastically well until about 4pm when I started to feel hungry. The only thing that was available to eat were biscuits.....not good! Yes you guessed it, I ate some....6 of them to be exact (hangs head in shame!).
Tomorrow I will make sure that I have enough food for this not to happen!
Tuesday 17th January
Haven't done any exercise at all since Friday night. Had lots of good excuses why not, just not anything that sounds even half reasonable!!
I am looking to change my eating habits ("here she goes again" I hear you all say!). As I said in my New Year entry I want to tone up and shape my body and to do that I need to eat more protein and cut out some of the carbs.
And I'd like to say a big thankyou to Rae for her valuable advice. I am now upping my intake of lean meat and vegetables and cutting back on food like bread. I eat too much bread anyway. I know that I have to cut out (or cut back dramatically at least) on the alcohol. Being the honest person that I am, this is going to be a really hard thing for me to do.
I am giving myself until the 1st February to gradually change what I'm eating and drinking rather than just going cold turkey (and also because it's my birthday on the 1st February and I want to have a few glasses of champers!!).
I've already made a start and have cooked up some Chicken Burgers, which are absolutely delicious. I bought a couple of kilos of chicken mince (the lovely girl at the butcher stood and minced it for me as they didn't have any already done!) so at least I know that it's lean as she cut all the skin off for me too. I've also bought some lean beef mince and stocked up on the small tins of tuna.
My main problem is vegetables. I like vegetables - no, I like SOME vegetables. Unfortunately mostly they're the higher carb laden vegetables, not the low GI ones that I should be eating. So what I thought I'd do is cook up some broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and sweet potato and then blend them all together and make them into little veggie rissoles that I can bake in the oven. I can freeze them and then just take them out as needed and zap in the microwave. I've already frozen the Chicken Burgers. This makes it a quick and easy meal when I get home from work. I can also feed this to my daughter, which makes life very easy!
There is only one little niggle and this is that this way of eating won't fit in with the energy needed for my running. I know that I can probably include a banana here and there, and my supplements always give me that extra boost which helps greatly. I just don't want my body to give out on me. I suppose time will tell!
Now a big hello to Bella (what a great name.....for champagne!) and also to Sekhmet for popping by. Always nice to meet new people.
I've found a great workout in the latest Ultra-Fit Magazine. It's a small circuit that can be done at home using a Fitball, some hand weights, a Reebok Step and a Resistance Tube. Hubby is going to pick up the Resistance Bands today as he works quite near the place and I'm going to go and buy a Step tomorrow as I also work quite near the place that sells them.
We also have an ulterior motive for buying these things. We both currently have gym memberships. Hubby, unfortunately does not utilize his enough to justify having the gym membership (squash excluded!!) so it's not worth him renewing his. I've used mine quite regularly but I am now at the point where I'm not really enjoying the place. I don't use the treadmills there like I used to as I am just so bored with them. The only good thing there are the classes, but as I don't go in the evenings, I don't benefit from them either. So we are not going to renew this year, but we are gradually buying enough equipment to set up our own little gym in our garage. The garage is big enough to do this as the previous owners of our house decided that a 3 car garage would add extra "value" to the house. So hopefully by the time that my membership expires we will have a fully working gym.
Looking forward to a 10km run tomorrow evening along the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail with a likely looking lot of runners!!
Friday 13th January (Part 2)
Exercise: 9km (3 Laps Lilydale Lake)
Well what can I say....2 lots of exercise in 1 day!! It was such a lovely evening for a run. Not too hot, not too cold, sun shining! The only thing that wasn't good were the flies. I forgot to take the RID with me so they were a bit of a pest. But other than that it was all good!!
Friday 13th January
Exercise: 30 Mins Cross Trainer (4.66km), Weights, Situps
Well I finally pulled my finger out and got my lazy arse down the gym this morning. I didn't do any of my weight programs, just worked on my shoulders. Don't you just love a strong looking toned shoulder!! And hubby mentioned that I looked "pumped" when I walked in the door....how sweet!
I'm not sure why but I've just had no energy this week, and when the alarm goes off in the morning, my body is so tired still that I don't get up, I just turn the alarm off and go back to sleep for another hour. Can't really put my finger on the problem. Anyway I went to bed at 10.00pm last night and I did have a bit more energy when the alarm went off, hence me going to the gym.
My weight is fluctuating so much at the moment. I can go up or down 2kilos over the course of about 3 days, which is very frustrating as I'm not doing anything specifically to make this happen. Some days my clothes feel quite loose, and another day they'll feel so tight that I'm sure I must be pregnant!! (which I?m not by the way!).
I bought some Whey Protein Powder a couple of weeks ago from the US and it arrived earlier in the week....the container is HUGE, about 2.5kg!! I tried it this morning and it's so yummy....Choc Mint flavour. I also added a banana to make it more of a smoothie than just a milk drink. It only cost me US$26, which is about � of what it would cost me if I bought it here. Even taking into account the postage cost, it was still less.
I?m hoping to do a run around Lilydale Lake tonight.......
Monday 9th January
Exercise: 7km Run (Mullum Mullum Creek Trail)
Oh my aching legs!! Quads very sore tonight. I am now very aware of how little hill training I have done, and also how much I NEED to do!
With the Oxfam Trailwalk there are a ton of hills to get up and down, and even though the strategy is to walk up them, the legs still need to be fit and able to do that, so there are now going to be lots more hill runs over the next few months.
We also have to start increasing our long runs again. Because the last � marathon was in October, Michelle and I haven't actually done more than a 12km run since then. And as the next � marathon is at the end of April, we want to be in good shape by that time. So it means working up to being able to run 25km for our weekly long run. I'm just hoping that my hip doesn't start playing up again. That would NOT be good!
Portsea Twilight Run
Exercise: 6.7km Run
What great weather for a run. It was a beautiful evening to go running up and down hills and across sand!
Michelle and I got to Portsea in good time, which meant that we got a good parking space, found a good spot to watch everyone arrive and get ourselves organised. The only thing we forgot was the RID....hate the flies!
We met up with all the usual suspects, and met some of the Cool Runners too! Lovely people they are. Michelle and I both had our music with us again, Michelle sporting her new Oakley Thump II's....very cool!
There was a very large crowd but everyone started out quickly so we didn't have to wait long to cross the start line....and there were hills almost straight away. Because of the music in our ears, we didn't realise how fast we went out, but by the turnaround at the top of the hill the pain in the legs had kicked in. Luckily most of it was back downhill on the turnaround.
Then we hit the beach. The organisers have deliberately set the time of this race so that it's high tide when we run onto the beach, meaning that we have to run in the soft sand to avoid getting our feet wet. We must have timed it just right as we could still run on the hard sand without too much trouble, but a couple of times we had to jump across into the soft sand to avoid the water.
After about a kilometre on the sand it was back off the beach and up to the finish line. Of course it was a race between Michelle and I to see who could reach the line first (we can be competitive when we want to!). I think we tied!
Our time - 40 mins 10 sec. We were both very happy with that, especially as I haven't done any hill work at all.
Next race, Australia Day Fun Run.
Friday 6th January
I didn't get to the gym today. I wasn't in a very good mood at all today and although the best thing would have been to go to the gym to work off some of my anger and aggression, instead I felt very defiant and dug my heels in and refused to go....how childish is that!!
On a happier note, I've copied this from everyone who's already done it!!
A is for age: 42 (almost 43)
B is for booze of choice: Champagne of course!
C is for career: Personal Assistant to Managing Director
D is for your dad's name: David
E is for essential items to bring to a party: Champagne of course!!
F is for favorite song at the moment: Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
G is for favorite game: Bejeweled 2 (computer game)
H is for hometown: Melbourne
I is for instruments you play: None
J is for jam or jelly you like: Lemon Butter
K is for kids: Just the one daughter (and that's more than enough)
L is for living arrangements: Own house with hubby and daughter
M is for mom's name: Catherine
N is for name of your 1st crush: Oh god, can't remember that far back!...okay - Craig
O is for overnight hospital stays: 5
P is for phobias: No real phobias, but don't like sitting stationary under a railway bridge in my car when a train goes overhead!
Q is for quotes you like: "Inside there's a thin person trying to get out, but I can usually shut her up with Chocolate"!
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: 13 Years with current hubby (the other 2 didn't last as long!)
S is for Sexual preference: Male, preferably good looking with great body! (Hmm - sounds like hubby again!).
T is for True Love: Hubby's the one!
U is for underwear: I'm a bonds undie girl, but a berlei bra girl on top!
V is for vegetable you love: Love Pumpkin, done any way!
W is for weekend plans: Portsea Twilight run Saturday (6.7km). Friends over on Sunday for BBQ.
X is for x-rays you've had: Teeth, Foot, Hip
Y is for yummy food u make: Chicken Ceaser Salad
Z is for zodiac sign: Aquarius
Well that's me to a T!
Thursday 5th January
Exercise: Wednesday: 8.6km Run, Today: 11km Run
I've been down at Michelle's holiday house for the last couple of days. Great weather, bad food, way too much alcohol.
BUT....we still managed to get up both mornings and go for a run. This morning was fantastic. The sun was already out when we left, so we ran down to the town (Michelle lives out of town) then ran back to her place along the beach, which was about 5km. I'm sure my calves and quads are going to feel it tomorrow.
I want to try and get to the gym tomorrow morning to do some weights. Need to start doing some serious toning work now!
And it's so good to see lots of you coming back from holiday....can't wait to catch up.
THE NEW YEAR BEGINS!
A new year is always like having a blank canvas to work with. It's what we put on that blank canvas that makes the difference. The big question is always what do we want to do with that blank canvas!!
I'm not usually one for making New Years Resolutions, and I'm not going to start now, but there are a couple of things that I'd like to achieve this year.
1. I want a toned body. Not like a bodybuilding type body, but one of the figure bodybuilding bodies. Maybe like this one.
Now this is going to take alot of hard work to achieve, and I know my past record for sticking to things when they get hard isn't great - BUT - this is my year and I need some goals, so this is one of them.
2. I want my running to get better. Michelle and I have both decided that we are not going to kill ourselves to get PB's for every race that we enter. We are happy to achieve the following:
Sub 2 hours for 1/2 marathons, Sub 60 minutes for 10kms and sub 30 minutes for 5kms.
We have also spoken about entering the Oxfam Trailwalkers event in 2007. This will mean alot of dedicated work throughout 2006 to improve fitness and overall stamina and strength.
So that's it with regards to my fitness...not much really is it???
