From Low to High in One Week!

I've had a shocker of a week really with food and exercise.

Firstly - I've been trying to write my major assignment for my masters (6000 words) which has meant time off work (aka more time to eat badly) and a severe case of procrastination. The only way I managed to get some writing done was to bribe myself with chocolate and caffiene - for an intense sugar hit! Not good, although I know this is a rare occasion. So eating has not been great.

And exercise has been poor/depressing. My hubby was very supportive whilst I was losing weight with my hitting the gym every night (and weekends) and coming home late, and asked that when I got to goal, could I work out how my exercise could be more flexible so that I was home earlier some nights. Well - not an unreasonable request after 12 months of total support, and extra work with the family. So I have been trying to incorporate morning runs, weights at home, and just some classes at the gym. Unfortunately the gym hasn't been offering as many classes as usual either, so choices have been limited, and as a result of this, I feel like my exercise routine has gone to h*ll. Don't get me wrong, I did run a few times, did a combat class and my first ever RPM (spin) class (more about that later), but I haven't been consistent with my weights, and more often than not I didn't run when I was meant to - couldn't fit it in before work/it was too hot (its been 37+ here), its been too dark too early in the morning - you know the excuses. On top of that, I have been really depressed about running lately. I loved running in Adelaide when I was on holidays - running by the beach, surrounded by lots of other runners/walkers/cyclists etc - it was a great atmosphere. But since I've been back, I've felt like there is just no where decent to run, and absolutely no company in it at all. I'm a lonely runner! I've been reading other people's blogs about all their running activities, who they've run with during the week, all the running activities that the local clubs have organised etc, and it has just made me feel so bored and lonely with it all! I NEVER see anyone else out running, and am sick of having to hit dirt roads to create the distance - I really don't like running on them. I think I was almost at the point last night of thinking of giving up running altogether!

But how quickly things change! This morning (Sat) I made myself run at 6 am as the forecast was for 40, and it was then or never, and I've used the too hot excuse too often this week, AND I hadn't done any exercise for TWO WHOLE DAYS! Anyway - I took heed of my last run in hot weather, and made sure I wore a waist belt with a bottle of water so there would be no excuses. It wasn't a big run - only 6kms, and I was determined to take it slowly due to the heat, but I decided to skip the dirt road section and take a shorter route that might be more enjoyable. The first 2- 3 kms hurt a little - as they always seem to do until my muscles warm up properly and I hit a comfortable rhythm, but after that it was smooth sailing. As I headed back up the road to my house, I checked the distance - 4.8 kms - not really very far, so decided to keep going to bring it up to 5km, and then 6kms. I really could have kept going for a good 10 km run, but decided to be sensible due to the heat and stopped it there. It wasn't an amazing run, it wasn't any great distance, but afterwards I just felt so good for having done it (as per usual), that I wished I could bottle the feeling and sell it to myself a little better.

Anyway - what was so exciting was that I decided to take control of my exercise schedule again, and set some goals. So I bought myself a whiteboard, and drew up a program that I can modify weekly as work schedules etc change. And then I sat down and looked at some marathon training schedules. I've decided that aiming for a triathlon might be a bit much this year as I need to do so much work on both my cycling and swimming, and the swimming season is about to finish, so how about I concentrate on my distance running this year.

I had been contemplating the Adelaide Festival City Marathon at the end of August. So I pulled out Hal Higdon's 18 week training schedule for this. To be honest - some of the mileage looked rather scary - and it would be a very, very big stretch for me. So how about a half marathon I thought. Checked out this training schedule - and this time - it actually looked a little too easy. Not that the kms wouldn't be hard, but its only a 12 week schedule, which I think I do the first few weeks of already as a part of my regular running and the 1/2 marathon doesn't run till the end of August - so that would be a lot of time spent hanging about waiting to start it, or very slow progress over a long time. But then I hit on a solution. On scanning the Adelaide Road Runners website for this race, I came across the Adelaide Greenbelt Half Marathon in May. It goes from Athelstone Primary School, and (I think) follows the Torrens River down to War Memorial Drive and the city centre. It would be a very pretty run, and I think with a tendancy to run downhill more than uphill. Sounds perfect. And there are just 11 weeks until its on, and when I reviewed the training schedule again - I think , with a bit of effort, its quite manageable for me! So I'm going to run it, and then, depending on how I find it, if I still want to train for the full marathon in August I can, or I could do the 1/2 again and try and better my time. I'M SO EXCITED! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT THERE AND START TRAINING!

Weird how things can change so quickly hey!

My RPM experience - for those who are interested. I am a gym junkie and have done every class there is, tried every piece of equipment, and lifted/pushed/pulled every weight. But I have spent 12 months avoiding RPM and the bikes! Why? At first I avoided RPM due to worries about being fit enough to do it, but this issue disappeared long ago. Since then it has been about avoiding the pain of sitting on those damned bike seats! At 5 foot nothing, and a small build, I think I have a smaller than average pelvis - which causes me great pain when sitting on a bike. But after my cycling experience on my holidays and my interest in triathlon's a felt I needed to give it a "whirl". So armed with my padded bike seat cover, I nervously set up the bike and attempted the class - with interesting results:

• I don't think I really got my heart rate up very high. No, not because I 'm superfit, but because the legs were doing something new, and "failed" before I could really push myself aerobically.


• I sweated buckets (it was VERY hot) and I have found this interesting lately that the muscles can work hard, cause you to sweat, but the heart rate remains low????? ( I think my heart rate remained low because the breathing was relatively comfortable)


• I found it pretty boring. There's not much variety - unlike a Combat class where you work all different muscle groups in all different ways. Its all just leg work either sitting or standing (surprise surprise)


• It was harder cycling sittiing, than standing. When I was standing it was easy - but sitting I had no body weight to help my push, and there's nothing in my exercise schedule that simulates this.


• the spinning required the legs to turn over really fast - and I think this might help with my running speed!

AND THE VERDICT: I'm going to keep doing it once a week for variety in my routine, to develop new knee/thigh muscles, to see if it helps me with running speed, and as cycling training for eventually doing a triathlon. But next time I'm going to wear a HRM to see what's really going on with the old ticker.

POST SCRIPT: and yes the butt has hurt all week - but not nearly as intensely as I imagined to be, and it hasn't stopped me from doing anything else - which is what I was worried about!

Until later - CIAOU