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Friday, October 29, 2010

Accidently ran (almost) 9km!!

Anne and I had a plan to increase the distance of our running to build up to the 10km that I want to do in December. I mapped out our run so that we were running 6.3km - which would have been a great distance for us to do!


My new running skins.
If my legs hurt that much WITH these -
I hate to think of what they would have
been like wihout them!!

I was a little confused about one of the roads and where it was but we both knew the approximate place where it was so we were not to worried. So - we started running..... and running..... and running.... and RUNNING!!! LOL! When we passed our second train station we started questioning if we had missed the turn off, but we figured we were so close to the next road that we would just go down that instead.

I should mention that it was a 28deg day. Neither of us had run in the heat before and neither of us took a drink. We were wearing hats but mine kept blowing off anyway! About half an hour in (probably the 4.5-5km mark - which has been our previous distances) I was starting to feel a little average... I had joked with Anne before we started running about if I had to send her back for an ambulance she needed to hurry up about it!! Something about the heat really seems to suck the oxygen out of the air.... I had to keep reminding myself that there was oxygen and it was all in my mind - just keep breathing properly (learnt that the hard way getting a stitch in the last fun run).


Oh yeah..... A nice BIG
drink of water!!

So we kept running..... and running.... and running..... and RUNNING!! Until my hat blew off (again) and I stopped, turned around and picked it up. I just could not start running again! I seriously needed a drink, the stupid air had NO oxygen, my legs actually hurt (they have not ever hurt before like that from running)..... BUT ANNE WAS STILL RUNNING!!! LOL! I was having visions of her arriving back at the gym, turning around and going - where has Kelly gone!! BAHAHAHAHA..... So, I pulled something from somewhere and started running again... LOL.

She ended up waiting at some traffic lights for the green man and I caught up to her and we walked for a couple of minutes... We ended up walking three lots of a couple of minutes in that last 4 - 4.5km... But, we still managed to finish the whole 8.8km in 59 min which I am happy with. It means I will be fine to do the 10km I have planned for December in under 90min (which is what I am booking in for).

Let me say we were VERY happy to walk back into that gym - I almost shoved her out of the way to get in the door!! LOL! Straight to the drink machine....

BAHAHAHA..... I was expecting many jokes off my husband about my ability to read a map when I got home!! LOL!
Even though it was a little bit of a WHOOPS - it is very exciting!! WOO! And my knees, legs and everything were absolutly fine the next day!

Needed a new wardrobe!

Anne took me shopping today. I suck at clothes shopping!! Was great to have someone to say: yes / no / maybe / absolutly NOT / definately!! LOL!! It was a major bonus that she knew where to find all the bargains too... WOO!

Clothes shopping is SO tiring.... wait... perhaps that was the run I accidently did (which I will write about in a seperate post)... BAhahahaha...

A few of the clothes I brought...

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

12WBT - Extraordinary


Week 6 weekly surprise task was to do a video about how the 12WBT has encouraged you to be extraordinary and how you have done that.

Here is mine. I can't BELIEVE how long this took to make and set up!! Oh my goodness!! PHEW! Done now! LOL.

A few other people's ones...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVkjTv-CP8E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-1H2V07-qQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLb-M0wxP7s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpHFD0Lqado

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5VG2Mv37vI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skXe3iepGz0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0lBm87G4Ao

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Maintenance.


This is NOT the way I
have gotten to goal!! LOL.

No, I am not there yet!! LOL. But I am only 1kg off it... YAY!! So, for 2 reasons I am thinking about how to maintain my weight before I get there.

1. Heaps of people put weight back on - usually plus MORE after they lose it.

2. I have been losing weight for so long now, I am not really sure what to do to stop losing it!! (In a healthy way that is - I know all about chocolate and pizza.. LOL). I do what I do; which is the same thing every week and I lose a kilo... I am assuming I will need to do something different to stop this!! Which is a strange thing - and not a bad problem some would say - LOL!!

The equation should be simple - eat more / exercise less... but how much more and how much less?? Anyway, while I am contemplating these things I did what I do best and googled - and I found some interesting things. (Well - I found them interesting anyway!! LOL) Most of them are common sense but it has given me some numbers to work with in regards to the calories eaten and calories exercised...

In the National Weight Control Registry, successful long-term weight loss maintainers (average weight loss of 30 kg for an average of 5.5 years) share common behavioural strategies including:

- eating a diet low in fat and calories.

- frequent self-monitoring of body weight (allows them to catch weight gains before they escalate). Decreasing self-weighing frequency is also independently associated with greater weight gain. 75% of successful maintainers monitor their weight.

- monitoring food intake (around 1450 calories a day on average).

- eating breakfast. 78% of successful maintainers do this.

- high levels of regular physical activity (one hour per day OR 3000 calories expended on exercise per week). 90% of successful maintainers do this.

- a consistent eating pattern across weekdays and weekends.

-watch less than 10 hours of TV per week. 62% of successful maintainers do this.

Weight loss maintenance may get easier over time. Surprisingly, 42% of the sample reported that maintaining their weight loss was less difficult than losing weight.

Once these successful maintainers have maintained a weight loss for 2-5 years, the chances of longer-term success greatly increase.

Nearly all registry members indicated that weight loss led to improvements in their level of energy, physical mobility, general mood, self-confidence, and physical health.

The weight problem goes like this:
Not paying attention to how much we are eating
Planning to exercise and failing to do it…enough
Denying how heavy we are


The solution.
Pay attention to how much you eat.
Exercise!!
Weigh yourself frequently. Weekly should be fine in the beginning; then perhaps fortnightly or monthly.

How many calories do I need to eat?
http://www.caloriecontrol.org/healthy-weight-tool-kit/weight-maintenance-calculator-women

Friday, October 22, 2010

It takes skill to be me.

Well, I reckon I would have to be the ONLY person in history who cuts their lip on GRASS while doing a push-up!! Yep - I did!! During a boot camp for the 12WBT people. That actually takes SKILL to be that unlucky!! LOL. Not to mention the grass poking me up the nose every time I almost face planted into the ground... next time I think a towel is in order for under my face!! The cut was not bad, but there seemed to be SO much blood!! It was a little awkward because we were boxing and running too at the time and I was getting blood everywhere... which is just not good when you are training with a bunch of people you have never met before!! LOL

Another thing I have noticed with my training lately (which I don't particularly like) is the exclusion and separation I feel when exercising with bigger people. People who know nothing about me and the fact that 8 months ago I was where they are!! I swear I was getting dirty looks the other day!! I was working out with a group of people and doing the 'harder' versions of the exercises... When I got home and told my husband, his comment was something along the lines of: It's because you are one of those skinny b!@#es now. You know - those one's I used to HATE because they had it easy and found it easy!! Yep - those ones. LOL!! NNOOOOOOO!!!!!! But I'm NOT!! I am still fat on the inside!! I really don't think of myself as being fit... (even though the fitness test results put me in the advanced category!!) I'm a fat, unfit person inside a fitter, thinner persons body!! Think that means I am having some sort of an identity crisis!! HELP!

Different training ideas.

These are just some different things I have done in classes and training which have been fun and different. As I keep repeating myself I may as well say it again.. Different is good!!


Turn it over and jump squat up
to it!!

We did a boot camp with tyres today which at the time I hated, but thinking about it now I think it was great!! BAHAHA...
We had to do push-ups on the tyres (feet one time and hands the next); we had to squat and lunge holding them; we had to put them over our heads and shoulder press them; we had to row them like we were doing a dumbell row; and we had to turn them over in the grass and jump to them like we were frogs for ages!! PHEW!! I really hated the stupid tyre by the end!! In between each set of something we were running to various trees in various ways too... ie. knee high's, feet to butt etc...



I went on a swing today too for the first time in AGES!! Was a little freaky but FUN!! WOO!! We had to push someone and then jump-squat, push them again and then jump-squat. I was SO excited that my butt now fits in the swing - it has not fitted in one for a LOONNNGGG time!! LOL
WOO HOO!!!  YIPPEE!




Another idea I got from a class earlier in the week:
Begin at one side of the room.
10 squat jumps / 10 push-ups / sprint to other side of the room.
9 squat jumps / 9 push-ups / sprint to other side of the room.
8 squat jumps / 8 push-ups / sprint to other side of the room.
etc. all the way to 1!!

Circuit idea.
Each station has 2 exercises. e.g. step-ups / tricep dips OR lunges / hover OR sit-ups / running around the room.
You start out doing one exercise and do 10 then swap to the next one and do 10; then back to the first one and do 10... for 1min. Then you move on to the next station and repeat 10 / 10 for 1 min.
So for example, I did 10 sit-ups, 1 run around the room, then 10 sit-ups, then the minute was over. So, I moved to the next station where I did 10 lunges, and then I just hovered for the rest of the minute. Then I moved on etc...


This could easily have been me!! LOL.
But I am very happy to say I managed
to say ON the swing!! WOO!!


Thursday, October 21, 2010

Push-ups

Push-ups are a great total body exercise, as they build strength and endurance in the chest, shoulders and arms, with the core and lower body working as well.
Who likes push-ups?? ME!! (Only because I can actually do them!! - Tell me to squat or lunge and I am not a happy camper). LOL.
I decided to start a bit of a resource section in my blog for both myself and anyone else who is interested!! I thought about all the different types of push-ups I know of and wrote them all down!! There are SO many of them!! Variety is good as it keeps things interesting - so if you want a change pick a different variety of push-up and have FUN!!


On a higher bench

There are obviously modifications to push-ups for those that can't do them on their toes:

On the wall













On your knees


If you havn't done push-ups before; or on you're toes is too hard use one of these modifications - whichever fits your fitness level. Obviously the more body weight you have to lift the harder it will be. When you are doing the wall ones - you are lifting the least amount of weight, compared to the knees or even the toes!! With these modifications you can practice form without straining too much.







Classic push-up

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Close hands (tricep) push-up












Diamond hands push-up

Explosive Push-up

On a medicine ball





Push-up + Knee Tuck on ground


Push-up + Knee Tuck on fitball


Push-up + Rotation. Can be done with or without weights
Med Ball Shuffle.



Feet inclined. Can use a fitball.

Push-up and row with weights

On a fitball

Spider-man push-up

Staggered push-up. Can also walk forward
and backwards in between each
push-up.

Shuffle push-up. Can also use a
step and just go from one side
to the other.


One arm tricep push-up

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Clap push-up

With a partner. Push-up then
Hi 5 with one hand.
Push-up then Hi 5 with
the other hand

In between each classic push-up
wake a step sideways -
bit like a crab.



Do a push-up. Lift your arms (and
maybe your legs) off ground. Then
push-up off ground using
a classic push-up position.
Repeat.

Push-up on one leg

Sorry about the dodgy placement of the pics!! This was actually hard to set out!! LOL

Sunday, October 17, 2010

5km fun run. LOL.

Today I did a 5km fun run... doo dah, doo dah... Today I did a 5km run... oh doo dah day.... *happy dancing around the room waving hands in air* WOO!! LOL

http://results.racetectiming.com/Results.aspx?CId=16&RId=126&EId=2

5km in 34:31min.
Ecstatic with that considering:
1. I ran the WHOLE way!!
2. I had not run 5km before - and had only done 4km twice in the last 2 weeks!! LOL
3. My longish term goal was 5km in 30min - and my first run I am only 4.31min off it!
4. I only started running a couple of months ago!! BAHAHAHA...

The first few km's really were quite enjoyable!! I had a stitch for the last couple so that was a bit sucky - but it was still ok.. I remember reading you are supposed to breath deeply for a stitch - which was good because I think I was so nervous I was totally forgeting to breath!! It was a good reminder - BREATH!! The last 500m was probably when it got hard funny enough!! LOL. I could hear the cheers of other people finishing and I think I got stage fright and freaked out a bit!! Hehehe...

Anyway - gotta share the photo's as this is a HUGE thing for me. YAY!!




Before the race. Nervous much?


I met a lady on the biggest looser club forum earlier in the year - and she was SO nice - I had never met her before today but she heard I was doing my first run and came with me so I didn't have to do it by myself!! (Thanks Kate!! Appreciate it!!) It was really nice to have someone else there who has done these things before and who knew what was going on... since I had less than no clue!! LOL










It was a little slow to start with everyone crammed up together... MOVE people!! LOL.


After the huge amounts of rain we have had in the last couple of days - it was SO muddy and a little slow in some places because of that, but I am pleased to say I did NOT slip over on my butt!! Phew - thank goodness for that!









"Just keep run-ning, Just keep run-ning, Almost fin-ished, Almost fin-ished..." Trying to ignore everyone looking at me... STAGE FRIGHT!! Aargh!!











Oh my goodness!! I did it!! WOO HOO!! YIPPEE!!

YAY!!!

LOL!!


*Happy Dance* (When my jelly legs had gone away)..