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Week 11

Monday 19 July 2010

Week 11, Day 1

Over 10 weeks!

I can't believe I've been going at this for over 10 weeks now!

I had a MASSIVE weight loss this week, 4.4kg...not really a good thing...basically, I have been very stressed and under a lot of pressure which usually results in me not eating properly, so all week, I ate very little, without really even realising.

It wasn't until I tried to go for a run on Saturday, that I realised just how bad it was.

As I said last week, I tried to go for a run one morning, and it was HARD, but I put it down to the temperature cause it was freezing!  My asthma even started to play up, breathing in the cold air.

But Saturday, it was quite nice running weather, and I lasted even less than I did earlier in the week, I could only run 10mins!!  Then I walked for 5mins, and managed to run another 5mins.

Now, since I was able to run a full 40mins the week prior, I knew it definitely wasn't due to fitness, it was obviously that I did not have enough energy to burn, not enough input for the output I was trying to achieve.

So, focus this week is on eating! 

Quite funny really, at the start of my blogs I was trying to focus on eating healthy and eating less, now I'm trying to eat more!  Craziness!

This week I will need to go for a couple of runs to ensure I don't lose the fitness, but also in prep for the duathlon this Sunday.

Hopefully you've registered, I'll be there, joining in, trying to keep up!

I did my measurements over the weekend too.  Its one month since the last time I measured and these are the losses:

Neck:	2.5cm
Chest:	6.0cm
Waist:	3.1cm
Hips:	3.8cm
Left Arm:	1.7cm
Right Arm:	2.3cm
Left Thigh:	2.5cm
Right Thigh:	3.6cm
Left Calf:	1.8cm
Right Calf:	1.4cm

Doesn't it seem crazy that I've lost 2.5cm off my neck!!  Doesn't that seem weird!

Anyway, that has been the result of the last month!

Better get into work...will check in tomorrow.

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Week 11, Day 2

Energy coming back...

I ate three meals yesterday plus a couple of snacks and I can feel my energy returning already.  Thank goodness since I have the first duathlon this weekend!

I'm not sure whether to get out and try another run yet or not, I really want to, but it just annoys me that I can't run the full 40 minutes at the moment...shows the importance of eating!

I might try after work, I might as well atleast try.  Even if I only do 15 mins, it's better than nothing.

I'm really looking forward to the duathlon this weekend, will be awesome to see how my training comes off, whether I can complete the whole thing...as I've said many times now, I haven't practised the running after biking much, so my legs might be a bit wobbly!

So, hopefully you're psyched for the weekend, should be a good day, let's hope for a really nice day!

Catch ya tomorrow.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Week 11, Day 3

Lots of biking...

Already this week I have biked 2x 60 minute sessions and 1x 40 minute session!  That's just getting to work and back!

And I still haven't done a run...naughty naughty.  Really do need to get back into it.  I feel like a bit of a broken record at the moment...seems to be the same thing I say each day...'haven't been for a run yet!'

And am flat tack today with meetings so may not get a run in, which pushes it to tomorrow...I better do one tomorrow cause I don't want to push it too close to the duathlon and end up having really sore muscles for it!

So, with that said, there's not really much to report...I would be better off really leaving it until I can say to you - 'I went for a run!!!!' (which WILL be tomorrow!)

Catch ya then...

Week 12

Monday 26 July 2010

Week 12, Day 1

What a clutz!

Ok, so guess who is the one competitor that the first aid person at the duathlons had to tend to? 
Give you one guess...
Yup, that's right, it was me!!

The day was fantastic, weather turned out to be awesome, although the poor kiddies ran through the clouds, by the time the adults duathlons started the clouds had parted and the sun came through...was still pretty chilly, but at least it wasn't raining!

We had 120 people turn up to compete in total, excellent turn out, most from Upper & Lower Hutt, some from Wellington, one from the Wairarapa - so all-in-all a pretty successful day!

I started out with a good run, found my pace pretty fast and felt good as I came in for the bike.  Jumped on my bike and did my three laps, I could feel my thigh muscles pumping.  I was behind one guy the whole way, passed him a couple of times, then he'd pass me back.  Came into transition again, back into running, my legs were a bit wobbly at first but once I got going I was good, running through the bush was peaceful and beautiful...still on the tail of this one guy, then, all of a sudden, hit some uneven ground and rolled my ankle, ended up skinning my hand and knee on the gravel, and really twisted my ankle - what a clutz!!!

Felt like an absolute idiot, right in front of one of the marshalls!

So, I lost the guy I was tailing, and had to walk for the rest of the bush, was in quite a lot of pain, but there was no way I was walking through that finish line, so once I was on the road again, I ran.  And I must have been quite a bit ahead of the people behind me because no one caught up to me until right at the finish line!  One guy passed me literally seconds before I crossed the end line.

Gutted!

So, then first aid was required, gravel had to be cleaned out of my wounds, and my ankle iced. 

Now I'm an invalid! 

12 weeks of running, nothing, then on race day, I injure myself!

So it's going to be at least a week now before I can get back into running.
My fitness will have taken a big nose dive by then, I would have officially only done one run over 3 weeks.
Will have to almost start again.

But hey, dems da breaks!

Hopefully if you competed on the weekend, you really enjoyed yourself, maybe even won a spot prize?

Results will be up on this site today, so have a look at your time, and come along next time to see if you can do a longer course, or beat your time!

Talk tomorrow...I'll let you know how the healing process is going. 

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Week 12, Day 2

Healing quite fast!

My ankle seems to be coming along quite nicely...I can pretty much walk normally now, is a bit stiff if I've been sitting for a while, but once it loosens up again, it's pretty good, not a lot of pain.  Still pretty swollen though.  But my right ankle has always been slightly bigger than my left since the first original accident that screwed it.

I'm just keeping my brace on it, and trying to move it and stretch it as much as possible, get it working again.

My knee is starting to bruise and is looking quite meaty with all the cuts.  I feel like I'm back at school, I always had cuts and grazes all over my knees and hands back then...nothing's changed obviously!

I still can't believe that I was the one who injured themselves - although I wouldn't wish it on anyone else, that's for sure!

The lifeguards here at the pool are all mocking me as I limp around, they think its freaking hilarious.  Nice aye, real nice!

Anyway, with no exercising abilities at the moment, there's not really much to update on!

But you keep going haha!  I'll be back into it as soon as I can!

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Week 12, Day 3

Happy Birthday Rachel!

It's my birthday today!  Happy Birthday to me!  I've got a pretty Happy Birthday sign in my office, kindly put up by Amanda, our intern, and she even made me a carrot cake!  Yom Yom!  So, it was carrot cake for breakfast!  Yom Yom again!

My ankle is definitely getting better, the bruising is starting to come out, and it's bruising on the inside and outside of my heel.  I need to get something on it to help take down the swelling cause it's still pretty fat.  And need to start doing some stretches with it to strengthen it and get the movement back.

My knee is really black and blue now, but my cuts are healing fast, on both my hand and knee, so shouldn't be long now til I'm back out, beating the street. 

It's funny, I've spent the last two weeks completely procrastinating when it comes to running.  And now that I can't run, guess what I want to do, go for a run!  Typical...we always want what we cannot have :)

And the weather is gorgeous which is even more tantalising!  Might go for a ride, at least get some exercise and fresh air.

Not much else to update on, can't concentrate cause I'm so full of cake anyway!

I'll check in tomorrow.

Thursday 29 July 2010

Week 12, Day 4

Giving blood...

I'm off to give blood today.  Was thinking about going for a ride during lunchtime, but can't do that after they've taken a couple of litres of blood. 

I haven't done any exercise this week due to my ankle, so think I do need to get out and go for a ride as that will be quite easy on my ankle.

I was thinking about going to the gym to do some weights, but don't really want to do that til I have my ankle strap (currently unavailable - long story!).  But I should get it over the weekend - then I can get into the gym and biking again, even if running has to hold off for a bit longer.  Don't want to let my fitness slip too much as the next duathlon is only about 3 weeks away and I'm meant to be completing the medium course.

Definitely, either way, do NOT want to roll my ankle again because then I'll be out for quite a while I think - need to be very careful how far I push it at the moment.

So, with that in mind, it's almost time to go to the blood bank so I'll sign in again tomorrow!

Have a good day!

Week 13

Monday 2 August 2010

Week 13, Day 1

Ankle not good :(

Man, my ankle is not getting better fast enough.  There's still a lot of pain, and it's still incredibly swollen.

I gave it a good rub last night with some anti-flamme to try and get the swelling down and get the circulation moving around a bit, but the pain is spreading into the arch of my foot.

So, my hopes to be up and running again by this week have gone out the window.

I'm going to go to the gym tonight and do a ride, and maybe try to do a few weights, at least on the upper half of my body to try keep the fitness up.  I feel very fat and lazy after a week of not doing anything!

I put on 100g this week, which I expected.  It was mine and my Mum's birthday's so a lot of cake was eaten, and plenty of other junk too.  And with no cardio, I thought the scales would go up slightly.

Actually, I lie, I did do Zumba, and Yoga so little bit of exercise done.

I just need to make sure I take it easy and don't get too impatient and push it too far too soon - don't want to do anymore permanent damage.

I'll let you know how I get on at the gym tonight!

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Week 13, Day 2

Definitely better!

Sorry I couldn't log in yesterday, had some issues with my laptop here at work.  But back up and running now.

So I went to the gym Monday night and did a 30min bike plus weights, I felt a lot better after that, and my ankle handled quite well.   I've been massaging anti-flamme into my ankle each night, slowly beginning to work it and strengthen it, and it's definitely getting better. I should be up and running again within no time. In the meantime, here's a good pic of me after coming through the finish line with blood running down my hand and about to put ice on my ankle...my knee was the worst, but you can't see that - good bruising and cuts all over the knee - I did not know that yet in this pic. At least I finished the race!!! I'll check in again tomorrow - going to try some yoga tonight.

Week 14

Monday 9 August 2010

Week 14, Day 1

And begin again...

So I guess it's time to begin again.

My ankle still doesn't feel the strongest but the second duathlon is coming up next Sunday and I need to get fit again for it!  Otherwise I'll just die on the day.

I'll just take it slow, make sure I keep my ankle well strapped and secure so I don't roll it again while running, and slowly try to build my fitness back up again...will be interesting to see how far I can run now with about 3 weeks off.

I had another clumsy moment last week, on Thursday, we had team building and as my right ankle is already weak, when I went to jump a knee high brick wall I managed to catch my foot on it and tumble, smashing my shin into the brick wall on the way!!  So, I've got 2 scrapped knees, a massive lump and bruise on my left shin, and a strapped ankle!  Please, no more, I can't take anymore!!!!

I then decided it would be a great idea to go up the mountain and go snowboarding on Friday, but that resulted in many more bruises including a pretty sore butt.  So really, right at this point, I'm just like one big bruise!

Quite hilarious really.  My legs look terrible!

So, I'm going to start today with a ride.  Slowly build back into it.

I'll go for a run tomorrow, and do some weights.  I'll see how far that gets me and build from there.

Hilarious couple of weeks I tell ya!

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Week 14, Day 2

Did nothing :(

Right, so I just ended up doing absolutely nothing yesterday - no exercise whatsoever!

I'm back at the start again, trying to draw together the motivation to get moving again.

It's so hard to get back into it when you've had a break!  But, in my defence, yesterday I didn't have my gym gear, shoes or anything really, and since I'm living in Lower Hutt at the mo, by the time I got all the way down there, the enthusiasm for the gym had died an agonising death.

But, today I'm prepared.  I have my shoes, I have my gym gear, so there's no excuse!

And I just know I'm going to go and feel so much better for it!  It's that feeling after having done a workout that makes it worth it - I always feel so much healthier, fitter and skinnier from even just one session of exercise - even if it is just a walk!

So, straight after work today, there's going to be no procrastinating, no fluffing around - I'm going to be there, fired up and ready to go!  Well, even if I'm not fired up and ready to go, I'll at least be there!

Hopefully you are still in full swing and are, unlike me, ready to go for the next duathlon next Sunday.

I'm up to the medium course, so that's going to have me running 3K, cycling 14.5K and finishing with a 1.5K run - and I really hope I don't end up on my face like I did last time!

I'm going to have to strap my ankle so tight it can hardly move - the uneven surface on an already weak ankle is not something I'm willing to tempt fate with!

And of course, I am really worried about whether I can even run 3K anymore!  It was about 4-5 weeks ago now that I could run 7-8K, but I really haven't run at all since then!  Bit of a worry...if I don't get some training in, I'll be coming in dead last!

But participation is key!  I'm just very competitive :)

So, I'll log in tomorrow and tell you how far I ran and how my ankle held up - and I promise I will actually do it today!!

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Week 14, Day 3

30 minute run!!!

Totally stoked!  I can still run 30 minutes...it was only on the treadmill at the gym, my knee and ankle gave me a few little shooting pains, but didn't really start to ache until about the last 5-10 minutes so that's pretty good going!

Also did a 30 minute ride and some weights, so feeling really good and back into it now.

I just need to try get my runs back up to 45 minutes.  I need to be careful though, I'm known for pushing myself too hard at times and I don't want to do anymore permanent damage to my ankle.

But, just that one session of exercise made me feel a lot better.  I was starting to feel quite groggy and frumpy, but feeling way better today!

So, not sure what I'm planning exercise wise today...feel like going for another run, I really have missed it so so much! 

I'll log in tomorrow and let you know what I get up to!

Thursday 12 August 2010

Week 14, Day 4

And another 30 minute run!!!

So the first run yesterday wasn't just a fluke!  I managed another 30 minutes last night - woo hoo!
I was a bit sore from my run and weights on Tuesday, so the run was a bit tougher, but I still managed to stick it for 30 minutes!

And my legs are killing me today!  Almost immovable my muscles are aching so much!  That will be from the squats and lunges I did on Tuesday...every time I try to get up out of my seat, I feel like an invalid, and I'm limping around looking very pathetic haha!  Feel a woman much older than 28!

So, I'm going to rest today - don't want to push it too much, and I'm moving on the weekend so do need to be able to lift stuff and move with a little more ease!  May even need to have a soak in the spa.

I'll rest for today, and if I'm not moving stuff tomorrow, will see if I can get out for a run.  If not tomorrow, I'll definitely do one on Sunday - Saturday will involve huge amounts of boxes, that will be enough exercise for me.

I'm definitely feeling a lot better though, it's fantastic to be moving again, and I'm just so stoked to find my fitness hasn't diminished as much as I thought it would have.

I'll give a quick check in tomorrow, let you know how my muscles are feeling, then it will be a weekend of moving.

I put on 400g this week - I'm guessing that's due to no exercise, and well, I did eat a bit of junk, so hopefully, with a little more exercise, and a little less junk, I might at least get back to where I was!  I would like to lose 600g to make it a nice round 9kg lost!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Friday 13 August 2010

Week 14, Day 5

Masses of food!

Ok, so I'm probably not going to lose weight again this week...not after last nights feed!
Had a leaving dinner for our intern here and I ate masses of food...chips and dip, then all types of carb, then pavlova and carrot cake!  So good, yet so bad!

And, as I'm between houses at the moment, I haven't done any grocery shopping for a little while and have no food, so guess what I had for breakfast and lunch today?  Carrot cake haha!  Mmmm, feeling good!

Would have to run for the rest of the week to work that load off!  Am moving, so will be doing lots of lifting, but I still don't think that will justify the amount of food!

Anyway, going to try to start moving stuff tonight so I'm not off to the gym, I'm off home to start loading up the car.  Then will be moving more tomorrow.  So will try go for a run on Sunday.

Other than that, gonna be a busy weekend sorting through everything, unpacking boxes etc etc so focus is more on getting settled than anything else!

Not the best timing with the next duathlon coming up next weekend but hey, I'll get there!

Have an awesome weekend and I'll check in again on Monday!

Week 15

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Week 15, Day 2

Rearing to go!

I moved into my new house over the weekend and it was soooo much work!  The house was filthy (well, by my standards - I think my flatmate is now a little scared of my OCD tendancies haha) so we spent the entire weekend, between moving things in, cleaning flat out!  We wiped every single wall, skirting board, even pulled things away from the wall like the oven and dishwasher, which, looking back on it, I wish I hadn't have done, was so filthy I was dry wretching!  GROSS!!!

So, getting back to the story at hand, the massive cleaning mission left me no time, or energy for that matter, for exercise.  But I did get an amazing arm workout from all the wiping and cleaning, although, since I'm left handed, it was my left hand more so than my right...I might need to go to the gym and lift weights just on my right side to even myself out - I feel like my left shoulder is much bulkier than my right now - but of course I know that that is all just in my head!

I've also got a massive rash on my face now - which sounds quite yuck I know - but while cleaning the bathroom ceiling, I sprayed cleaning product and it all, of course (I know!!!), just sprayed down onto my face, and I have very sensitive skin meaning I look like I'm diseased now! 

So, to recap, over the last 4 weeks, I have:

• sprained my right ankle and grazed my left knee and left hand at the first duathlon
• fallen over a concrete fence leaving my left shin with a large lump and bruise and my right knee bruised and grazed
• landed on my bottom many times while snowboarding leaving yet another big purple bruise
• punched the wall by accident while carrying something large and heavy through a doorway leaving a scraped, swollen and bruised left hand
• cleaned the oven with some strong product which splashed onto my left arm without me realising leaving a vampire-bite looking acid burn in my arm (I didn't feel the burning til a little later while driving!!)
• and then sprayed the ceiling of the bathroom with cleaning product which landed on my face resulting in a rash!

AWESOME!!!  Haha, I'm really not as uncoordinated and accident prone as I sound - just seems to be the last few weeks have been a bit worse than usual!

So, that exciting weekend resulted in me not getting any other exercise done.

With that in mind, I was rearing to go, just too exhausted by the end of each day to do anything.

But, today I am going to go for a run and do some weights...it's not nice outside at all, so will run at the gym again.  I might try sneak in a bit of a bike ride there as well.  Will see how I go.

And, on the weight front, all that cleaning must have been a great workout because I lost 1.1kg this week!  So, that's 9.5kg lost so far!!!  10kg next week - I'm going to reach the 10kg mark!!

I'm starting to fit clothes that I haven't fit in over a year again!  It's so exciting! I had all these clothes packed away into bags, and I've actually unpacked them again and have hung them in the wardrobe so I can keep trying them on till I fit them again!  Most exciting piece of clothing for me that I want to fit again are my Calvin Klein jeans, I haven't worn them in FOREVER!!!  I'll need to lose another 10kg before I fit them though, but it's on the horizon!  The day I fit those jeans again...can't even describe it!

Anyway, best get into work, think I've been rambling on for long enough now!

Have a good day, I'll check in again tomorrow

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Week 15, Day 3

Getting close...

The duathlon is creeping up on me, and I'm actually quite nervous about it...I really just do NOT want to injure myself again!  I'm going to have to tape my ankle so that it can pretty much not even move.

Running on the treadmill is fine, it's definitely getting better, and there weren't any shooting pains last night, it just started to ache in about the last 5 minutes of the 30 minute run.  But the treadmill is a flat, even, constant surface with no unpredictable parts...the bush however, is the exact opposite and I really think if I do my ankle again it could be the end of my running "career".

Anyway, I can't worry about it too much, I just need to get out there and do it.

So, I did another 30 minute run on the treadmill last night...I really wanted to get outside to have a real run, but I ended up getting waylaid with work and by the time I got back to Upper Hutt it was pitch black.  By the time I got to the gym it was about 7pm so I didn't even have time to do any weights.

So I'll do my weights tonight and will have a rest from running and just do a ride instead.

Then tomorrow night I will go for a run outside.  Friday night I'll do another ride and weights.  Then rest Saturday and do the duathlon Sunday.

Will be interesting to see how I go on Sunday.  Especially since I've got one of my besties coming down to stay and we will no doubt consume a wine bottle or two...can't imagine anything worse than trying to run a duathlon with a hangover, but I haven't seen her for quite a while, and no matter how good my resolve, I am no doubt going to end up with a glass in my hand!  Let's just be honest here!

You will, most likely, be able to tell how many bottles we drank and how much sleep we got on Sunday haha.  You can at least just laugh at me if I look miserable because you will know why haha!

Well, best get into work, spent enough time writing emails and blogs, need to do some real work now!

Catch ya tomorrow...

Thursday 19 August 2010

Week 15, Day 4

Building up...

Starting to feel really good again...it's amazing how much difference exercise can make.

I was feeling so groggy, unfit and tired when I had the big break from exercise due to my ankle, but now I'm back into it I'm feeling so much better!

I went to the gym last night and did a 30 minute ride and weights.  Tonight I'm going to go for a run outside to get the leg muscles working again - treadmill is so much easier on the muscles, the don't have to work as hard - so will be interesting to see how far I can run outdoors.  Will strap my ankle up really strong so I can't do any damage while I'm out there, but I'm actually really looking forward to it - need some fresh air - quite often feel so couped up in winter.

I'm still a little apprehensive about the duathlon this weekend.  With only about a weeks training under my belt now, I'm quite worried about the distances - I'm doing the Senior Medium course, so 3K run, 14.5K ride and 1.5K run to finish.  I know I can run 3K, I've been running about 5-6K on the treadmill, and I can definitely ride 14.5K, but the 1.5K run to finish is quite daunting.  Last time, I only had to do an 850m finish, and I managed to stuff that up by rolling my ankle haha, so 1.5K has me a little concerned...I'll do it though!

So, not much else to say today, I'll log-in tomorrow to let you know how my outdoor run went...might actually go onto Map My Run and work out a course so I have a goal, instead of just aimlessly running.

I'll let you know how I go...

Friday 20 August 2010

Week 15, Day 5

Awesome!

I managed to run 5.34km in 30 minutes outdoors!  The first 10-15 minutes was easy, and I really felt like I had a bit of speed up, but as per usual, once I hit that 20 minute mark, I slowed down and had to really push myself to keep going.

As I neared the 20 minute mark, I started to think "maybe I should just do a 20 minute run, that will be good enough".  My mind started to trying to convince my body to stop.

It's funny how different parts of your body seem to argue when it comes to things like running...I really had to fight with myself to keep going.  And I did manage it - I kept going to 30 minutes.

That 15 - 30 minute period is by far my hardest.  I had aimed to go for a 40 minute run, I thought the circuit I had planned would have been long enough, but I was pretty much on my doorstep by 30 minutes. 

And as in the past, once I got to that 30 minute mark, I felt like I could have just kept going and going.  So, I guess, at the moment, with my current level of fitness, my 'wall' is from about 15 - 30 minutes, after that, I seem to break through.

Would be interesting to see how long I can go for after that.

Anyway, I did my measurements last night, and I don't know if I was just measuring wrong, but my neck seems to have gotten larger haha, plus my calves and my left arm!

So, this is where I am at:

	July	August
Neck	-2.5cm	+0.3cm
Bust	-6.0cm	-1.5cm
Waist	-3.1cm	-4.4cm
Hips	-3.8cm	-3.8cm
Butt	-2.3cm	-3.7cm
Left Arm	-1.7cm	+0.1cm
Right Arm	-2.3cm	-0.5cm
Left Thigh	-2.5cm	-3.8cm
Right Thigh	-3.6cm	-1.8cm
Left Calf	-1.8cm	+0.1cm
Right Calf	-1.4cm	+0.2cm

As you can see, like I said, I have a larger neck, left arm, and calf muscles - I can maybe understand the calf muscles, they could get bigger as the muscles grow from running...but my left arm and neck?!?!?!  Random!

It's hopefully just my measuring...hopefully...I don't want to have like a body builders neck while the rest of me slims down haha!

Well, I best get into my work for the day, lots to do!  I'm going to go to the gym tonight to go for a ride and to do some weights, then I'll rest tomorrow and I'll see you bright and early on Sunday, ready to go!!!