Feeling good today

I wasn't at all sure how I would pull up today, but I'm feeling really good. My legs are tired but I don't have any aches and pains, which is a relief. I thought I might be pushing it a little but it seems to have worked out ok.

I enjoyed telling people about my weekend. The people who've travelled every step of the way with me were delighted that I achieved my goal. They even patiently listened to me tell them all about it - in detail. The people who don't know that I'm running were even more fun to tell. There's this moment of disbelief in their eyes as you see them thinking "you ran how far?"

I'm having to be conscious of the fact that not everybody is passionately interested in running or going to the gym. Thank goodness for all the runners who share their stories on the Internet! I love reading them and the comments people leave. I really appreciate the fact that people take the time to leave comments on my blog too.

Back to my blog. I went to the gym this morning, and walked on the treadmill for half an hour. I was going to do the "Fat Burner" session, but quit after a few minutes, because the gradient was reminding my knees that they had worked hard yesterday. I dropped it back to zero gradient, and walked 3 km, before stretching. I put some extra effort into the stretches today. I figured it would be time well spent.

By the end of the day, my legs were announcing that they were tired again, but I had my personal training session and slimplicity appointment so I headed off to the gym again. Leanne kindly concentrated on my upper body. Well, it sounded kind at the time, but I wasn't so sure of it once we started. I certainly found myself pushing my limits along with the weights. That seems to be situation normal where Leanne is concerned. I was delighted to show Leanne how well I was doing with those dreaded roll downs. She was quite impressed. The only problem with telling your personal trainer how well you're doing is that they think up something harder for you to do the next time.

I'd moved my slim session because I'm flying home to Melbourne on Thursday night, but the only appointment I could get was in the middle of Pump. Fortunately, there was a no show so I had the session early and then was able to go to Pump. The slim session didn't go too well. According to the scales, I'd put on 2.5 kg since Thursday. I don't think it's a real weight gain, as I've been doing plenty of exercise and watching what I eat. This week I'm on track for a 0.5 kg weightloss, so I feel a bit like poor Marty on the Biggest Loser. I had been hoping to get measured today, but the replacement counsellor obviously didn't want to measure me, so I'll wait until I see Lesley, my usual counsellor, next week.

I hate going to slim at the best of times, but seeing a replacement counsellor is always difficult. Lesley and I have an understanding about my negative attitude to slim. I'm as polite and positive as I can be and Lesley gives me high level advice and avoids platitudes. Today, I had to sit through the "are you due for your period?", "do you drink alcohol?", "what have you been eating?", "do you get bloated with certain foods" conversations along with the meant to be encouraging "I see you in here all the time - you're one of our motivated gym members" comment. I know that the counsellors mean well, but meaning well just doesn't cut it. I eventually gave up trying to end the conversation, so I pulled out the big guns and told the counsellor that I'd lost over 40 kg. I figured that would help her to realise that I wasn't at all cut up by a dodgy weight gain. There was no need to rebuild my confidence and get me back on track.

Mind you, even though I've been going to that gym for the past two years, she hadn't realised I'd achieved so much in terms of weight loss. I would have thought the 35 kg I lost since joining the gym might have been noticeable, but apparently it isn't.

I managed to end the session on a positive note. Even better, it ended before Pump started, so I got to go to the whole class. I don't know if I'd be confident enough to come into Pump late, with all the stuff you have to organise for yourself before you start.

I haven't worked out what weights to use in Pump yet. I think I can probably do more weights, but I was being cautious with my legs because of the run, and my arms, because of the upper body workout Leanne had put me through. Anyway, one of my goals for my next Pump class is to increase the weights for the arm work.

Funnily enough today, I was struggling through some of the exercises, and I found myself telling myself "you can run 5 km, you can lift this weight". I can see that running is going to have all sorts of unexpected benefits!