Can you read this?

Yep - you read it correctly - I came runner up at the Half Marathon that I WALKED. And those little numbers above are my time - 3hrs and 6 mins - not so damn bad if I say so myself. I averaged 7 kms/hr for 3 hours. I had no idea I was capable of this - being a little shorty (152cm/5ft zilch). I've walked this fast before but only for very short periods of time - I never thought I could sustain it for so long. Think of it this way. Ok - I know us runners have a tendency to scoff at walking - but think of it this way - 7kms/hr is my absolute sprint pace for walking and I kept it up the whole time - no reduced pace for an endurance event for me! And boy do I feel it.

Interestingly I had a go at training last night, and whilst walking was painful - running wasn't - they both use different muscles I guess. So I enjoyed a lovely HIIT workout with cardio coach - using running sprints for high intensity, and then followed this up with an upper body weights session. - So I managed to keep on training despite the severe DOMS.

On another note, a fellow blogger recently posted about external motivation. I've been reflecting on what a difference this has made to me. With the recent signing up to a team weight loss challenge - this has had a big impact. I've always done my weight loss on my own, and been accountable only to me. Now I have weekly weigh ins, which is quite publicly accountable, AND I have a team who are relying on me to lose weight each week. This has made a huge difference, as every time I consider eating something I shouldn't - I get worried about letting the team down. The night before my first weigh in, I got an sms from another team member saying he had lost 5.5kgs! Holy Sh**t (and yes my team mates are all 6 ft males). This pushed me out the door for another evening cardio session, in a last bid to hold up my end of the bargain. My loss for the week was 1.9kgs - but remember that this is not all real as I promoted some water retention prior to the first weigh in - and this has inflated (excuse the pun) my result! Anyway - I'm really hoping this will help me to relose the last few kilos back to a weight that I'm really comfortable with and will help me to run faster etc.

Time will tell of course. Week 2 weigh in coming up......