This morning I went for my planned run. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I didn't find it at all hard to get up. It must have become a habit! At last! It's so much easier to get out of bed when you're not having the "will I, won't I?" discussion with yourself.
I decided to run down to the lake through town instead of along the bike path, as there is much better lighting. I made myself warm up this morning, as I figure I'd better get into that habit now that it's getting cold. I find it hard to take the time to warm up slowly.
I wore my brand new fuel belt for the first time today. I didn't like it at all for the first few minutes and then I more or less forgot it was there, except for when I had a drink. It was really comfortable, although I'm not sure if it will chafe or not over longer distances. I wore it over my jacket today, so there was extra padding between me and it. I did notice it around my waist a little after about half an hour, but then I was distracted by my foot. My new shoes have a little more arch support than I'm used to, and I was very aware of my right foot after I'd run for half an hour. Sure enough, I have the start of a blister up near the ball of my foot.
I'm not all that sure what to do about it. I saw on the ausrun forum that popping it was a good idea, but I'm a total wimp when it comes to pain, even little pain. I have an 8 km run on Sunday though, so I'm going to have to do something. It's a small blister. I'll hope that it disappears overnight!
I ended up running for about 40 minutes, before cooling down and then stretching. I was already later than I'd planned to be, so I went to the complex gym instead of going into my apartment and stretched for 10 minutes. I knew that I'd skip the stretching or do a half-hearted job if I went straight home.
Because I was late, I ended up cabbing it to work. I had to wait ages for a cab because parliament is sitting. I'm going to have to take the sitting dates into consideration when I'm planning my exercise schedule! Mind you, I finish at work on Friday, so I'll have plenty of time for running over the next few weeks. At least until I find myself a job.
I was rung up about a possible job yesterday (I'm an IT contractor and find work through recruitment agents) and I was all excited about the location. It's the other side of the lake from where I live, so I could ride to work, and then go for a run around the lake at lunchtime. I ended up laughing at myself, as neither of those two considerations would have rated a thought in the job hunting process in the past. I'm definitely a changed woman.
Murali and I played squash this afternoon. As ever, we were evenly matched. It was great fun, but my legs were really tired. I guess I've been working them fairly hard this week.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge
The Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge is my latest "thing". It started today, down at Lennox Gardens, which is on Lake Burley Griffin behind the Hyatt Hotel for those people who know Canberra. It's an attractive spot, with many of the trees changing colour for autumn.
I headed off on the bike just before 6 am. I had my practice ride yesterday. What I'd forgotten to take into account is that I was 20 minutes earlier, which meant it was 20 minutes darker and 20 minutes colder. I discovered that the light on my bicycle is more useful if it illuminates the ground. I also discovered that my backside was sore from yesterday's foray into the world of bicycle riding.
I'm really glad I did the trip yesterday morning, because at least I knew where I was going today. It would have been much harder in the dark. I probably would have left earlier too, as I would have been worried about arriving late.
I still don't have the gears worked out, although I did ask a friend who cycles for some advice today. I was changing them completely the wrong way. This morning, my ineptness resulted in my chain coming off as I went across Commonwealth Bridge. I had no idea what to do to fix it, so I shrugged my shoulders and decided to walk the rest of the way. I had just started walking when a kind cyclist stopped to help me. While fixing it for me, she explained to me a quick and easy way to get the chain back on. I was on my way again in no time.
I arrived at Lennox Gardens with 5 mins to spare. Krissi and Brad were very professional, taking our blood pressure, getting us to fill in forms, going through the safety procedures, and explaining to us what it was we were in for. A warm up jog, a series of fitness tests, a cool down jog and it was time to go home.
I worked hard at the beep test, getting to level 3-2 but I didn't kill myself, knowing that I'd want a better result in four week's time. I was the third person out of this one. Pushups are something I keep telling myself I'm going to work on. I managed to get 26 done on my toes in 1 minute. I don't know how long I lasted on the plank. I've improved heaps on this, but there is still lots of room for improvement. We also did an agility test that wasn't too bad.
I had been quite nervous about the first session, but it wasn't tough at all. I don't know quite what to expect next time, but the group was pretty stoked to be there, and I think we'll all motivate each other. It was great to see so many of the girls from Team Black.
Unfortunately I won't be able to go next week, as I'll be in Queensland. At least I know to work on my pushups and plank while I'm gone, along with keeping up my running.
After the cool down, I headed off home on the bike. It was much easier today, although I didn't seem to get home any quicker. I still have to build up some confidence in myself when the bike is going downhill. Getting the gears sorted will also make a difference. Mind you, I was a lot more adventurous today with the gears.
AS will happen, when I got home there was excitement in the carpark. Some people in one of the upstairs apartments were having a lounge delivered via crane. I was gawking as I rode along the footpath, and managed to crash into the parking ticket machine. I didn't fall off the bike. It was more of a tip sideways and recover. I did manage to knock my handlebars out of alignment, but they have been straightened up.
I wore my HRM this morning, but forgot to turn it on. I'm definitely having a forgetful day today. When I got downstairs to my apartment, which is next door to the complex gym, I discovered I'd left my front door wide open. Fortunately, it looks as though all the people who used the gym during the two hours I as out are incredibly honest, as nothing was missing from my apartment. I think I was very lucky. I'll certainly make sure I close the door next time.
My backside has been hurting all day, so I am very glad I wore my cycling nicks this morning. I nearly didn't, on the grounds that I'd look like like a wuss removing them when I arrived at the challenge. Thank goodness comfort won the battle over pride.
I only know about half a dozen people in Canberra who ride bikes and I saw one of them this morning. I wasn't sure at the time, but he bailed me up at work to find out if he'd been imagining seeing me or not. It's such a small world.
Oh, my average cost per ride went down another $20 today. The bike will be affordable in no time.
I headed off on the bike just before 6 am. I had my practice ride yesterday. What I'd forgotten to take into account is that I was 20 minutes earlier, which meant it was 20 minutes darker and 20 minutes colder. I discovered that the light on my bicycle is more useful if it illuminates the ground. I also discovered that my backside was sore from yesterday's foray into the world of bicycle riding.
I'm really glad I did the trip yesterday morning, because at least I knew where I was going today. It would have been much harder in the dark. I probably would have left earlier too, as I would have been worried about arriving late.
I still don't have the gears worked out, although I did ask a friend who cycles for some advice today. I was changing them completely the wrong way. This morning, my ineptness resulted in my chain coming off as I went across Commonwealth Bridge. I had no idea what to do to fix it, so I shrugged my shoulders and decided to walk the rest of the way. I had just started walking when a kind cyclist stopped to help me. While fixing it for me, she explained to me a quick and easy way to get the chain back on. I was on my way again in no time.
I arrived at Lennox Gardens with 5 mins to spare. Krissi and Brad were very professional, taking our blood pressure, getting us to fill in forms, going through the safety procedures, and explaining to us what it was we were in for. A warm up jog, a series of fitness tests, a cool down jog and it was time to go home.
I worked hard at the beep test, getting to level 3-2 but I didn't kill myself, knowing that I'd want a better result in four week's time. I was the third person out of this one. Pushups are something I keep telling myself I'm going to work on. I managed to get 26 done on my toes in 1 minute. I don't know how long I lasted on the plank. I've improved heaps on this, but there is still lots of room for improvement. We also did an agility test that wasn't too bad.
I had been quite nervous about the first session, but it wasn't tough at all. I don't know quite what to expect next time, but the group was pretty stoked to be there, and I think we'll all motivate each other. It was great to see so many of the girls from Team Black.
Unfortunately I won't be able to go next week, as I'll be in Queensland. At least I know to work on my pushups and plank while I'm gone, along with keeping up my running.
After the cool down, I headed off home on the bike. It was much easier today, although I didn't seem to get home any quicker. I still have to build up some confidence in myself when the bike is going downhill. Getting the gears sorted will also make a difference. Mind you, I was a lot more adventurous today with the gears.
AS will happen, when I got home there was excitement in the carpark. Some people in one of the upstairs apartments were having a lounge delivered via crane. I was gawking as I rode along the footpath, and managed to crash into the parking ticket machine. I didn't fall off the bike. It was more of a tip sideways and recover. I did manage to knock my handlebars out of alignment, but they have been straightened up.
I wore my HRM this morning, but forgot to turn it on. I'm definitely having a forgetful day today. When I got downstairs to my apartment, which is next door to the complex gym, I discovered I'd left my front door wide open. Fortunately, it looks as though all the people who used the gym during the two hours I as out are incredibly honest, as nothing was missing from my apartment. I think I was very lucky. I'll certainly make sure I close the door next time.
My backside has been hurting all day, so I am very glad I wore my cycling nicks this morning. I nearly didn't, on the grounds that I'd look like like a wuss removing them when I arrived at the challenge. Thank goodness comfort won the battle over pride.
I only know about half a dozen people in Canberra who ride bikes and I saw one of them this morning. I wasn't sure at the time, but he bailed me up at work to find out if he'd been imagining seeing me or not. It's such a small world.
Oh, my average cost per ride went down another $20 today. The bike will be affordable in no time.
Monday, 7 May 2007
Bike ride accomplished
I did it. I got on my bike this morning and rode down to Lennox Gardens, where tomorrow's group fitness challenge is happening. It took me 25 minutes to find my way there. I've forgotten how to use the gears, and I have to work on my stopping technique, but at least I know I can get there in less than half an hour.
It ended up being an ok workout. I am pretty sure that most of the calories I burned were due to fear rather than effort, but I'll take them however they come.
This evening I did the planned weight session and followed it up with a walk on the treadmill. I had been going to do pump, but I decided discretion was the better part of valour. I've no idea what to expect from the outdoor group fitness challenge tomorrow morning so I thought I'd better leave a few muscles in working order tonight.
I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. My eating is back under control, and I think I've learned some good lessons from the weekend. I even talked about it with some of my friends, something I never did in the past. Normally when people start giving me advice (everyone has food management advice - we're all such experts!) I just tune it out, but I did some listening today. I didn't hear anything that I hadn't heard before, but I also didn't hear the negative track that normally plays in my mind when people start telling me how to lose weight. That's got to be a step forward.
Onwards and upwards .. provided that I don't fall off the damn bike.
Oh, the average cost per ride for my bicycle fell $30 this morning! That's got to be a good thing.
It ended up being an ok workout. I am pretty sure that most of the calories I burned were due to fear rather than effort, but I'll take them however they come.
This evening I did the planned weight session and followed it up with a walk on the treadmill. I had been going to do pump, but I decided discretion was the better part of valour. I've no idea what to expect from the outdoor group fitness challenge tomorrow morning so I thought I'd better leave a few muscles in working order tonight.
I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. My eating is back under control, and I think I've learned some good lessons from the weekend. I even talked about it with some of my friends, something I never did in the past. Normally when people start giving me advice (everyone has food management advice - we're all such experts!) I just tune it out, but I did some listening today. I didn't hear anything that I hadn't heard before, but I also didn't hear the negative track that normally plays in my mind when people start telling me how to lose weight. That's got to be a step forward.
Onwards and upwards .. provided that I don't fall off the damn bike.
Oh, the average cost per ride for my bicycle fell $30 this morning! That's got to be a good thing.
Sunday, 6 May 2007
Fell off the wagon - hard
I was watching a West Wing DVD today, and Leo, explaining why his alcoholism was a daily battle, said, "I don't want one drink. I want ten drinks!" Well, that about sums up my relationship with food this weekend.
The way I was eating over the weekend, you'd never know that I'd managed to lose 43 kg over the last two and half years or that I'd developed healthy eating habits. I was a mess. I wasn't hungry. I wasn't upset. I just wanted to eat.
Lately, when this has happened, I've fallen off the wagon for a few hours, but managed to get straight back on. Not this time. I feel like I've been on the equivalent of a bender. After a disastrous Friday night, followed by an out of control Saturday, I ended up making a conscious decision today that I was going to just go with the juggernaut. I ate so much!
Anyway, now that it's over I've decided that I won't make food diary entries for Saturday or Sunday. I'll use tomorrow, when I'm safely in my work routine, to get back on the wagon.
It's hard to explain why times like this occur. I just really really wanted to eat homemade nachos on Friday. The problem was that my off switch was broken and I finished off all the ingredients instead of having the single serve that I'd planned.
I don't really know why I'm bothering to blog all of this. It's not like anything anybody else says is going to make me feel any better, so I have turned comments off for this post. I guess part of me hopes that writing it down will make it easier to deal with next time. I'm sure there are plenty of you who have great advice. Normally I'd really appreciate it, but not this time.
I've been thinking back over the weekend, trying to think "what could I have done to stop this" and the answer is really "not have nachos". Part of the problem is that you can't buy just enough ingredients for a taste of nachos. The problem for me is really the cheese. In general, I have a cheese ban at my house. I used to buy cheese slices, on the basis that they were a measured portion. That worked for ages, but then I found myself eating whatever was left of the packet whenever I fell off the wagon. I think nachos are an excuse for me to eat cheese.
I started Saturday well, but I fell off the wagon when I ate a savoury shape biscuit. I thought I could keep it at a handful but the packet was there. I ate the lot. I have a real "must keep eating until the packet is empty" mentality. I think it stems back to my childhood in a large family where a packet of biscuits was a rare thing. If you didn't have a second one when it was offered you could be sure that it wouldn't be there later. I ought to be over it by now, but I'm not. Usually I manage to handle it, but I didn't do too well this time.
On Sunday, I just didn't have an off switch. I was continuing on from Friday and Saturday. I guess by Sunday it had become emotional eating, because I was so disappointed with myself on Friday and then again on Saturday.
I've been trying to pick the trigger and I think I know what it was. It will sound silly, because it was really a positive thing that started the whole crash. I'm leaving my job at the end of the week, and I wanted a copy of a security photo that was taken of me in January 2005. It's only my face, but I don't have photos from that time in my life.
The guy who sent me the photo printed an A4 size copy of it for me, and the difference in me is so dramatic. I was really proud that I'd come so far, but I was also ashamed of myself for letting myself get to be so overweight. My friend brought the printout out to the social club bbq and so I found myself put on the spot, having to show it to people straight away, which I hadn't expected. I pretended to be okay with the whole "old me / new me" but I wasn't. I continued showing the photo to people during the day. I guess I worked hard to suppress the "shame" but my subconscious certainly wasn't fooled. The cracks showed on Friday night when I bought enough nacho ingredients to sink a battleship.
On the exercise front, I went for a run on Saturday. Not the long run I'd planned, but it was a lovely day and I was running outside, which is something I'm growing to like more and more. Today I just went for a walk. I was feeling too miserable to get off my backside and do anything more active. I knew it would make me feel better but I think I was wallowing in my misery today.
Well, I've had my "junk food blowout" and I've wallowed in it long enough. I'll make sure I think of my motto lots over the next few days: "I am a fit and active person, who makes healthy lifestyle choices."
Exercise plans for the week to come:
Monday - bike ride in morning, weights session in evening
Tuesday - outdoor group fitness session in morning
Wednesday - run in morning, squash in evening
Thursday - outdoor group fitness session in morning, weights session in evening
Friday - run in morning, celebrate last day at work
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - Mothers Day classic run, fly to Queensland on holiday on afternoon
The way I was eating over the weekend, you'd never know that I'd managed to lose 43 kg over the last two and half years or that I'd developed healthy eating habits. I was a mess. I wasn't hungry. I wasn't upset. I just wanted to eat.
Lately, when this has happened, I've fallen off the wagon for a few hours, but managed to get straight back on. Not this time. I feel like I've been on the equivalent of a bender. After a disastrous Friday night, followed by an out of control Saturday, I ended up making a conscious decision today that I was going to just go with the juggernaut. I ate so much!
Anyway, now that it's over I've decided that I won't make food diary entries for Saturday or Sunday. I'll use tomorrow, when I'm safely in my work routine, to get back on the wagon.
It's hard to explain why times like this occur. I just really really wanted to eat homemade nachos on Friday. The problem was that my off switch was broken and I finished off all the ingredients instead of having the single serve that I'd planned.
I don't really know why I'm bothering to blog all of this. It's not like anything anybody else says is going to make me feel any better, so I have turned comments off for this post. I guess part of me hopes that writing it down will make it easier to deal with next time. I'm sure there are plenty of you who have great advice. Normally I'd really appreciate it, but not this time.
I've been thinking back over the weekend, trying to think "what could I have done to stop this" and the answer is really "not have nachos". Part of the problem is that you can't buy just enough ingredients for a taste of nachos. The problem for me is really the cheese. In general, I have a cheese ban at my house. I used to buy cheese slices, on the basis that they were a measured portion. That worked for ages, but then I found myself eating whatever was left of the packet whenever I fell off the wagon. I think nachos are an excuse for me to eat cheese.
I started Saturday well, but I fell off the wagon when I ate a savoury shape biscuit. I thought I could keep it at a handful but the packet was there. I ate the lot. I have a real "must keep eating until the packet is empty" mentality. I think it stems back to my childhood in a large family where a packet of biscuits was a rare thing. If you didn't have a second one when it was offered you could be sure that it wouldn't be there later. I ought to be over it by now, but I'm not. Usually I manage to handle it, but I didn't do too well this time.
On Sunday, I just didn't have an off switch. I was continuing on from Friday and Saturday. I guess by Sunday it had become emotional eating, because I was so disappointed with myself on Friday and then again on Saturday.
I've been trying to pick the trigger and I think I know what it was. It will sound silly, because it was really a positive thing that started the whole crash. I'm leaving my job at the end of the week, and I wanted a copy of a security photo that was taken of me in January 2005. It's only my face, but I don't have photos from that time in my life.
The guy who sent me the photo printed an A4 size copy of it for me, and the difference in me is so dramatic. I was really proud that I'd come so far, but I was also ashamed of myself for letting myself get to be so overweight. My friend brought the printout out to the social club bbq and so I found myself put on the spot, having to show it to people straight away, which I hadn't expected. I pretended to be okay with the whole "old me / new me" but I wasn't. I continued showing the photo to people during the day. I guess I worked hard to suppress the "shame" but my subconscious certainly wasn't fooled. The cracks showed on Friday night when I bought enough nacho ingredients to sink a battleship.
On the exercise front, I went for a run on Saturday. Not the long run I'd planned, but it was a lovely day and I was running outside, which is something I'm growing to like more and more. Today I just went for a walk. I was feeling too miserable to get off my backside and do anything more active. I knew it would make me feel better but I think I was wallowing in my misery today.
Well, I've had my "junk food blowout" and I've wallowed in it long enough. I'll make sure I think of my motto lots over the next few days: "I am a fit and active person, who makes healthy lifestyle choices."
Exercise plans for the week to come:
Monday - bike ride in morning, weights session in evening
Tuesday - outdoor group fitness session in morning
Wednesday - run in morning, squash in evening
Thursday - outdoor group fitness session in morning, weights session in evening
Friday - run in morning, celebrate last day at work
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - Mothers Day classic run, fly to Queensland on holiday on afternoon
Friday, 4 May 2007
Double booked
You'd never know I was an organised person some days.
Today, I was all set to go to step. Then my alarm went off - today was the social club breakfast barbecue and I didn't have time to do the class. In fact, I didn't have time to go to the gym. I enjoyed my breakfast though. Later in the day I booked myself a game of tennis tomorrow, then realised I was already booked to do something else. I had to cancel the tennis.
Hmm, this is starting to sound like a good reason to buy myself a PDA. Mind you, I have trouble remembering to carry my mobile phone with me so I've no idea how I'd manage a PDA too. My mobile phone is pretty special too, with a qwerty keyboard, which makes adding calendar entries really easy. Seeing my phone has many of the functions of a PDA it makes it a little hard to justify buying one.
I went to the gym tonight and walked on the treadmill for half an hour, then went wandering around the shopping centre for another hour. Other than that, no significant exercise.
Today, I was all set to go to step. Then my alarm went off - today was the social club breakfast barbecue and I didn't have time to do the class. In fact, I didn't have time to go to the gym. I enjoyed my breakfast though. Later in the day I booked myself a game of tennis tomorrow, then realised I was already booked to do something else. I had to cancel the tennis.
Hmm, this is starting to sound like a good reason to buy myself a PDA. Mind you, I have trouble remembering to carry my mobile phone with me so I've no idea how I'd manage a PDA too. My mobile phone is pretty special too, with a qwerty keyboard, which makes adding calendar entries really easy. Seeing my phone has many of the functions of a PDA it makes it a little hard to justify buying one.
I went to the gym tonight and walked on the treadmill for half an hour, then went wandering around the shopping centre for another hour. Other than that, no significant exercise.
Thursday, 3 May 2007
The results of the challenge are in!
Tonight I had my final weigh in and measure for the Fernwood Biggest Loser Challenge. In 12 weeks I managed to lose 7.7 kg and 38 cm. Woohoo! I am really thrilled. I am more pleased about being able to run for 10 km, but losing weight and size is great too.
I have to be careful now that I don't let all my hard work go to waste. Fortunately, I've signed up for a Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge (not quite a boot camp), starting next week, and the Global Corporate Challenge (walking) starts in late May. They should keep me focussed.
I have been careful to give myself a rest week this week. I'm still planning what I'm going to do though. Mind you, my planned exercise hasn't been going to plan. Both my squash partners piked yesterday - one with a sick child and one with a sore calf. Both good reasons, so I bravely hid my disappointment (they'll laugh when they read that), cheerfully headed off to the gym and enthusiastically did my weights program.
Oops. I just did a rerun of last night at the gym in my head. I think I enthusiastically chatted to various people in the gym. In between conversations I managed to lift a few weights. I've worked out which exercise is making my knee hurt. It's the chicken! Thank goodness for that. I'll have a word with my p/t and hopefully there will be a lot less squawking going on.
This evening, I squeezed in a 10 minute run before the weigh in and then headed off to Hip Hop, the replacement class for Body Jam. Well, the Hip Hop class was terrible. The instructor can obviously dance, but was terrible at instructing. I ended up walking out during the warm up. I was bored by the moves. The instructor was showing us the steps but not saying anything, which meant that we were missing the first of a set of four reps. Basically, by the time you knew that you had got it, you were missing the next step.
I suddenly had some time on my hands, so I headed back to the treadmill and ran for another 30 mins before cooling down. I averaged about 8 km/hr across the whole time and covered 5.3 km.
I then went for a walk around the supermarket before heading home to work on my resume. Mind you, I've managed to avoid working on that successfully for the last two hours. I think it's becoming a weekend task.
I am hoping to drag myself out of bed and get to the gym by 6:15 am tomorrow as there's a step class. I quite enjoy step, so there's a chance I'll make it there.
I have to be careful now that I don't let all my hard work go to waste. Fortunately, I've signed up for a Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge (not quite a boot camp), starting next week, and the Global Corporate Challenge (walking) starts in late May. They should keep me focussed.
I have been careful to give myself a rest week this week. I'm still planning what I'm going to do though. Mind you, my planned exercise hasn't been going to plan. Both my squash partners piked yesterday - one with a sick child and one with a sore calf. Both good reasons, so I bravely hid my disappointment (they'll laugh when they read that), cheerfully headed off to the gym and enthusiastically did my weights program.
Oops. I just did a rerun of last night at the gym in my head. I think I enthusiastically chatted to various people in the gym. In between conversations I managed to lift a few weights. I've worked out which exercise is making my knee hurt. It's the chicken! Thank goodness for that. I'll have a word with my p/t and hopefully there will be a lot less squawking going on.
This evening, I squeezed in a 10 minute run before the weigh in and then headed off to Hip Hop, the replacement class for Body Jam. Well, the Hip Hop class was terrible. The instructor can obviously dance, but was terrible at instructing. I ended up walking out during the warm up. I was bored by the moves. The instructor was showing us the steps but not saying anything, which meant that we were missing the first of a set of four reps. Basically, by the time you knew that you had got it, you were missing the next step.
I suddenly had some time on my hands, so I headed back to the treadmill and ran for another 30 mins before cooling down. I averaged about 8 km/hr across the whole time and covered 5.3 km.
I then went for a walk around the supermarket before heading home to work on my resume. Mind you, I've managed to avoid working on that successfully for the last two hours. I think it's becoming a weekend task.
I am hoping to drag myself out of bed and get to the gym by 6:15 am tomorrow as there's a step class. I quite enjoy step, so there's a chance I'll make it there.
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Great run today
I did it. I managed to go for a run outside instead of heading to the gym and the treadmill. I wasn't sure how cold it would be and I'm always nervous about running before I start. The cold wasn't too bad and I'm sure I'll acclimatise. I was very comfortable in what I was wearing once I'd warmed up, which seemed to take about 10 minutes.
The nervousness before I run is something I'm battling. I think that I'm fighting against the old mental picture I have of myself, which is of the overweight, unfit woman who couldn't run across the road without becoming physically distressed. Even though I'm not that person any more my mind needs time to catch up.
I have had the same sort of problem realising that I am now a "fairly normal" size. I sometimes catch myself walking around obstacles instead of between them because I wouldn't have fit in the space a couple of years ago. In classes at the gym, I am starting to see that I'm not the biggest person in the room, so I am learning to love the mirrors.
Talking about mirrors, I remember that once I was looking at a house with my sister and sister-in-law. We were thinking of renting it. One of the rooms had a number of mirror tiles scattered on one wall. The girls thought the effect was awful. Me, I truly didn't see them. I was so used to avoiding catching site of myself in a mirror that I automatically looked away.
Back to the run. It was terrific. I was comfortable from the moment I started running. I headed off down to the bike path, and went left instead of right, because the lighting was better. I thought I'd end up at the lake, but I must have taken a wrong turn. I found myself at the university. I wandered around the campus a little then headed home. All up, I ran for 30 minutes without stopping, and I was well within myself the whole way. I felt great.
This evening, I headed off to trivia without having to dash into the gym for my 25 points. It seemed so much more relaxed. I had to be careful with my food intake today though, as my activity level was going to be lower than usual. I'm really pleased with myself, because I managed to hit my calorie target spot on and have ice cream for dessert.
Thanks for all the comments. It's great to get them. I'll catch up on my blog reading soon. I'm busy job hunting at the moment, so I've been dutifully responding to selection criteria.
By the way, it's great to see Andrew and Sara in Runner's World. You both look terrific. And I have fame by association!!
The nervousness before I run is something I'm battling. I think that I'm fighting against the old mental picture I have of myself, which is of the overweight, unfit woman who couldn't run across the road without becoming physically distressed. Even though I'm not that person any more my mind needs time to catch up.
I have had the same sort of problem realising that I am now a "fairly normal" size. I sometimes catch myself walking around obstacles instead of between them because I wouldn't have fit in the space a couple of years ago. In classes at the gym, I am starting to see that I'm not the biggest person in the room, so I am learning to love the mirrors.
Talking about mirrors, I remember that once I was looking at a house with my sister and sister-in-law. We were thinking of renting it. One of the rooms had a number of mirror tiles scattered on one wall. The girls thought the effect was awful. Me, I truly didn't see them. I was so used to avoiding catching site of myself in a mirror that I automatically looked away.
Back to the run. It was terrific. I was comfortable from the moment I started running. I headed off down to the bike path, and went left instead of right, because the lighting was better. I thought I'd end up at the lake, but I must have taken a wrong turn. I found myself at the university. I wandered around the campus a little then headed home. All up, I ran for 30 minutes without stopping, and I was well within myself the whole way. I felt great.
This evening, I headed off to trivia without having to dash into the gym for my 25 points. It seemed so much more relaxed. I had to be careful with my food intake today though, as my activity level was going to be lower than usual. I'm really pleased with myself, because I managed to hit my calorie target spot on and have ice cream for dessert.
Thanks for all the comments. It's great to get them. I'll catch up on my blog reading soon. I'm busy job hunting at the moment, so I've been dutifully responding to selection criteria.
By the way, it's great to see Andrew and Sara in Runner's World. You both look terrific. And I have fame by association!!
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