Interval running, serious shopping and yoga

I was heading off to the outdoor fitness challenge on my trusty bicycle when I realised that I don't count the bike component of my morning as exercise any more. When did that happen? Ok, so it's just a shade under 4 km from my place to Lennox Gardens, but surely it's still exercise?

This morning's session was good old interval training. I like this particular session, although I was wondering why when I was throwing up after the second lap. The good thing about the session is that it gets easier. We start off in pairs, one running and the other walking. You have to run more than a lap before doing the active recovery session. We then form groups of three, running a little more than half a lap, and then groups of four, running just over a third of a lap. No wonder it feels easier.

We did a warmup jog around the oval while Brad explained how the running worked to the group. We then lined up and did a series of runs across the oval. We started off with pyramid runs, speeding up to 70% then slowing down, 80%, etc. We also did the old knees high, bum kicks and sideways steps. The grass was long and wet so our feet were soon soaking. Would you believe I have two pairs of running shoes and they are both soaked? The other pair is still wet from Elton John the other night. I was wishing I was JayKay for a while there, with a hundred spare pairs in the cupboard.

I got a bit carried away on the first lot of intervals. The whole idea is to go harder for the running because you have the walking to recover. Well, when the runners headed off they were all in front of me, which is pretty much what I'm used to, but I managed to pass a few of them on the way around. I think it went to my head, as it's not normal for me. I ended up having to slow down a little on the first lap before I got to my walking partner. I headed off quickly again for the second lap and managed to keep running the whole way around. After Sal took off I went to get a drink of water but ended up throwing up instead. I decided drinking didn't seem like such a good idea then. On the third lap I took it much more steadily. We were running in pairs for a short 15 mins (Brad was feeling kind) then we swapped to threes. That was a lot easier.

One of the new girls was with us. She didn't understand the "walk" part of the instructions and was trying to save the runner from running too far. That was me and I was feeling cheated because my leg was shorter than I'd expected. On my next time around she told me off because I hadn't done the same for my runner. I was feeling indignant about her tone of voice but I got over it. Fortunately, she didn't tell me what I should be doing the next time and I ended up watching with amusement as her running leg kept getting longer and longer. I did think about trying to explain how it worked to her when we changed, but in the end I didn't. Yep, I was indulging my mean streak. It doesn't get out much, so it was a little novel.

Krissi came and ran a leg with me, and kindly told me how much my running style had improved. It's great to hear it. I feel better when I run but it's good to know it shows. Later Brad ran one with me and told me the same thing. :-)

After we finished the intervals we did three starts. I tell you, it takes a lot of effort to get me from zero to moving. Thank goodness we only did three of them. Riding home, my poor legs were complaining most of the way. My knee has been tired all day. Fortunately I found the perfect fix for it: shopping!

We nominated Krissi for an award and we're going to the presentation on Friday night. I decided to call my style consultant to get some help with my shopping. I took the afternoon off and met her at 2 pm at the Canberra Centre. In the time it would take me to run 10 km we had bought a dress, a wrap, shoes, handbag, jewellery, and underwear. What a whirlwind Sam is.

We could have bought the very first dress I tried on. I am so glad I called Sam as (a) I would never have even looked at the dresses I tried on if I'd been by myself and (b) it was great to be trying on clothes and colours that suited me. The whole experience was confidence building. Once I'd tried on "the" dress then there was no point trying on anything else. We did go to one more shop but the decision had made itself for us by then. If I'd been on my own I would have had to see the first dress again, but Sam gave me her honest opinion as to which dress suited me better, so I went with it.

I've ended up with a black halterneck dress. It's kind of a Marilyn Monroe look. Funnily enough, Sam was telling me that she thought that we were looking for a Marilyn Monroe dress and when we tried "the" dress on, the shop manager told us that she called that dress the Marilyn Monroe dress. We smiled and I think she thought we were laughing at her until we explained that we'd been looking for a Marilyn dress.

I bought a black wrap with silver through it, so I ended up with silver shoes and bag. I've also got some bling - sparkly earrings and bracelet. No necklace as the neckline of the dress doesn't need any attention drawn away from it. There was a minor panic when I went to buy a bra as the lady helping us wasn't sure she had one to fit me in the right colour. Fortunately, she found one that was perfect with the dress. She worked really hard to help us. It's great getting good service like that.

The whole shopping expedition took 1 hour and 10 minutes. I could have fitted it into a long lunch instead of taking the afternoon off! Anyway, I was on my way home when I decided a pedicure would go well with my new shoes. How relaxing to sit there, having a back massage and a spa pedicure instead of slaving away at work.

This evening I went to yoga. I really needed the stretching. It was a fairly dynamic session. I struggled with some of the moves but my flexibility has clearly improved out of sight.

I'm definitely going to sleep well tonight.