General fitness stuff

It's been so long since I did any consistent blogging that I don't know where to start. I've been keeping a manual fitness diary - the pen and paper kind. I bought myself an exercise book because it's easy to carry around. Mind you, I find that if I don't write down what I did in a PT session straight away I have absolutely no idea what it was a few days later.

Personal Training
My Friday sessions with Krissi are fantastic. Working out for the hour is so much better than a half hour session. We always start with the dreaded 10 minute warmup on the stationary bike. As I now ride to Krissi's from TB's I keep hoping that she'll drop the warmup on the grounds that it's already happened but I'm disappointed every week. One morning it was 0 degrees out there. I froze my poor calves. That day I bought myself full length cycle knicks. I also froze my poor throat but, even though I'm willing to wear lycra in public, I just can't see myself in a polo neck. Fortunately it hasn't been that cold since. I'll have to come up with a solution before winter though.

We go through a regular routine, with changes thrown in every once in a while. I love seeing the improvements. I managed some 10kg chest presses the other day. Not a lot, but I'm doing more and more on my own. When I'm at the gym on my own I use the 8kg weights. Last Wednesday I managed two full sets of 15 and a set of 10. I was sore for the next few days, but I was really pleased with myself. I'm back doing lunges and squats, although I don't go down too deep. The doctor said 30 degrees, which I stuck to for quite a while, but with Krissi there to keep an eye on my form I feel confident to go a bit lower. One thing I have learned over the past few months is that I was overcompensating for my dodgy knee so much that my good leg was becoming my bad leg. Weird, huh? Mind you, fixing my form up has put a stop to that (I hope). One benefit is that I finally "get" lunges. I now "drop" the back leg down and I "feel" the effort in what I think are the right places now.

I've had to reschedule a few sessions with Julia due to work commitments so I've ended up with Amber, the girl who is our team leader in the WOW challenge. We stick to the program Julia gave me though, so I don't really know what training with Amber would be like. This week I managed to reschedule a session to another time with Julia (easier said than done - she's very popular at the gym) and ended up doing two PT sessions on Friday. I would have cancelled the session with Julia, except that it was worth 50 points for my WOW team. I was a very reluctant trainee as I had quite a tough session with Krissi that morning and I was a little out of sorts because I've been packing up my apartment. Luckily Julia knew exactly how to get me out of the doldrums. Boxing!

I love boxing. We had a fantastic time and "only here because I feel like I have to be here" Kathy turned into "let me hit something else" Kathy in no time. It was great fun.

Speaking of boxing, my brother and his family came to visit me over the Easter weekend, and I lined up a boxing session for Jim, his wife Debbie and myself with Krissi. Jim and Deb are thinking about buying some boxing gear for their home gym, and I knew that they'd get good advice from Krissi about how to use it. Well, the session was great fun. Krissi brought her partner, Brad, along so she was able to concentrate on what we were doing while the rest of us boxed. Jim and Deb loved it.

Hockey
I've signed up to play "grass" this season. I explained the "I'm hardly ever here" arrangement to the team organiser, and she told me that would be fine. I've managed to play one week in the first four. I had a blast, although I was quite stiff and sore for a few days afterwards. I did a lot of running. It's great being fit but I didn't expect to be fitter than so many of the others. I think I'll be having a season at half back rather than full back. I'm really pleased I've managed to get myself into a team. All I have to do now is get myself along to training.

Squash
Unfortunately my squash partner has injured himself. We've been waiting for him to recover but we finally bit the bullet this week and accepted that squash was off the agenda for the near future. It's a blow, but it does make it easier for me to get along to hockey training.

Cycling
I expected that getting back on the bike after the Yass trip would be really difficult, but it was easier than I expected. I haven't done a lot of riding, but that's been due to other circumstances. I'm hoping that once my life settles into a new routine that I will be riding to work a couple of days a week. It's 10 km each way, which is a good distance. I'm so much more confident on the roads, which is just as well now that daylight saving has ended. I cycled home the other night along a busy road in a bike lane because it was well lit and I felt perfectly safe.

Running
I haven't managed to get out there very much. After the Yass ride I was in Melbourne on Monday and Wednesday morning, so I went for a walk on Monday (I didn't trust my legs to work) and I ran on the Wednesday (it was easier than I expected). I didn't run far but I was pleased I managed to get myself out there. I haven't run outside since, but I did manage a treadmill run at Club Lime one day as well. I have a running date with two of my nephews tomorrow morning. I like making these commitments as I feel that I have to keep them.

Gym
I mentioned the whole Club Lime arrangement. I wasn't able to convince TB that exercise was a good idea last week. As chief motivator I feel as though I've got some improving to do. I decided that I'd reward myself next week if I manage to get him to the gym three times. There's a piece of costume jewellery on the line if I succeed! Yes, shopping is a great incentive. Mind you, after packing all my belongings over the past week or so I'm a little appalled at how much stuff I have. Time to declutter I think.

Anyway, what I'm planning to do at Club Lime is cardio and swimming. I'm going to do my weights at Fernwood or with my trainers. I'll be a lot happier in that environment. I'm delighted about the pool though. That triathlon early next year is looking more and more likely.

Revised goals
At the start of the year all my goals were focussed on running, but I've not managed to do the necessary work to achieve them. I also had plans of repeating a number of runs I did the previous year, but I haven't been able to work them into my schedule. The Yass ride clashed with the Women and Girls fun run (my first fun run) and the one hockey match I've managed to play clashed with the Canberra Marathon Eve fun run (my first 10k). I haven't done the training to do the Canberra Half Marathon (new relationship didn't mix with early morning starts on top of everything else I was doing).

I've one long term goal at the moment and it's not at all running related. I'd like to do the Great Victorian Bike ride. My short term goals are to (a) get to Club Lime a minimum of three times a week, (b) get a long cycle in on the weeks I'm in Canberra, (c) ride to work a couple of days a week, (d) do weights at least three times a week and (e) keep up the PT and the hockey.

Other stuff
My weight is going nowhere. At least it's not still going up.

I've found the WOW program at Fernwood really boring this time. I don't know how much that's down to me and my interest in outdoor exercise and how much it's due to them. It's nowhere near as engaging this time though.

Work's good.

Homelife's better. Thanks for the positive comments. As you can probably tell, apart from being incredibly busy I'm also really happy.

I've got to get rid of some of the stuff I seem to have. But how can I possibly get part with sports gear (I'll use that Reebok step one day, really I will), workout dvd's (some of which I haven't tried yet) or my running magazines (faithfully read cover to cover more than once)? I did manage to give away a pair of cycling knicks that are now too big for me - surely that counts!