Interval training

This morning we ran intervals again. I knew what to expect this time, which was a huge help. We met up at a park near the War Memorial. It's about a 20 minute walk from my place, so I didn't bother to ride this morning.

We started out with a warm up run around the park. It has a couple of ovals in the middle, so I figure the perimeter has to be over 500 m. I love that I can do these warm up runs comfortably now, as I used to have to listen to myself moaning for the first ten minutes of any run.

After that we did the "kick your bum" and "knees up" part of the warm up. I am definitely doing better on these. There's no way that my knees go anywhere near my waist, but they are definitely going up higher. Some side steps, some surges, some skipping and some bounding and we were ready to start running intervals.

The oval we were running around was 360 m, and it was taking me about a lap and a half to catch my partner. I was tearing off and having to fall back to a walk to catch my breath after a while. I was really pleased to be running faster, but not so happy that it was taking so much out of me.

One of the things that amazes me about having trainers is that they can help you work out what to do about a problem with some simple advice. We were walking together for part of an interval and Krissi told me that I have to work on not stopping. It sounds so obvious, but she did more than that. She gave me a strategy. Krissi set me something to aim for that I feel like I can achieve. All I have to do is slow down instead of stop. I feel like I'm running out of breath, so if I slow down I should be able to get the breathing under control. How easy is that!?! And how obvious? Why did I not think of it myself? Because I was too busy gasping for air. Stopping solved the breathing problem, but didn't help me with my running.

Another thing I noticed is that the intervals seemed to get easier. I mentioned it to Krissi and she again told me something obvious - I was warmed up.

I like the interval training because I know it's improving my running, but I enjoy the walking intervals because I get a chance to talk to the other people at training. It's a great way to exercise - I'm improving my fitness and I'm having fun while I'm doing it.

Brad, our other trainer, was busy taking photos during the interval training. He's keen on photography, which has been great for us. He chronicled our Biggest Loser Challenge and the Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge. It's great to see the photos and we're going to get CD's shortly. Today, I was so tempted to stick my tongue out at him as I ran past, but they are the shots that always end up embarrassing you. Instead I concentrated on trying not to look as though I was about to die. Easier said than done. Still, it looks as though I might end up with a running shot. :-)

Krissi and Brad are going to be away for the next two weeks but the rest of us are going to meet up for a run anyway. I think the girls are great for being willing to come along those weeks, and if they are prepared to do it, so am I. We're going to do a long run next week and some fartlek the week after. It's hill training the following week - something to look forward to. *cough*

I was offered a lift home by a few people, but I walked it instead. I was pleased with that too, as the old me would have taken the easy option.

Skins

I bought some. Wow. They are as good as everyone has been saying. I have been reading the compression leggings thread on the ausrun forum but it's taken me ages to feel like I'm enough of a runner to buy skins. What ended up convincing me that I should invest them was how cold it was for the last Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge session. Winter hadn't even officially started.

I figured there would be plenty more cold mornings like that on the running course so I bit the bullet, read the instructions, chose the size smaller because I was on a borderline, handed over the money, and hoped like hell that they would fit me when I tried them on. Thank goodness, they did. I wore them around the house last night, and couldn't believe the difference they made. I've had a sore calf since having a bad cramp the other night, and it stopped hurting! Ok, it hurt a lot less, but it sounds better the way I told it first.

The real test was this morning. It was 1 degree C this morning when I was walking to the park, and I was warm in my skins. I was a doubter so I wore a pair of capri running tights over the top, just in case. The skins came through though which meant that the running pants came off as soon as I got to the park.

Food Victory

I know the post is getting a bit long, but this one is a major victory. I've been struggling with my eating lately. I've been doing a fair bit of emotional eating - the kind where you're not hungry but you ravenously devour everything in sight and then go looking for more.

Well, I was close to doing this today when I took a step back and decided that I wasn't going to give in to temptation without a fight. Instead, I decided that I would make something really healthy and tasty for dinner. If I still felt like eating mountains of food, then I would eat dinner early. At least that way, I would be eating healthy food instead of empty calories.

I'm pleased to say that it worked. And I have delicious leftovers for later in the week. Yay me!

Climbing Mount Ainslie

Well, I don't know that you can call walking along a path up a mountain climbing as such, but it took me half an hour to get to the top today. Mount Ainslie has an elevation of 842 metres, so it's a little over one third of the height of Mount Kosciuszko. Of course, we didn't climb the whole 842 metres! I looked up the course of the Mt Ainslie run-up to see how far we'd gone. The run is 2.2 km with a 240 m elevation gain.

We probably walked a little further than that, as Alex and I started from the CSIRO car park. I walked to the car park from my place, which took me 25 minutes, and then we headed up the mountain. At times we were both puffed out, which had me wondering about the people who run up this mountain once a month. Whenever I do wonder about them, I think they are crazy, but I also envy them their fitness. Today, while I was walking up the hill, I was wondering if I would ever be fit enough to give it a go. At the very least, I am going to practise walking up it, as a way to get used to hills for the City to Surf. Alex is willing to come along with me, which is great. Company seems to make these things easier.

I found it harder to go down than up. I'm a little afraid of stairs at the best of times, so the various stone steps were a challenge. Mind you, my balance is much better than it used to be, so I handled them better than I expected.

There were lots of people on the path, which surprised me. I don't know why. The people of Canberra are very active. We were passed by a few runners as well, although we only encountered one who ran down and up while we were on the path.

Fernwood Biggest Loser Challenge Finale

The Biggest Loser Challenge awards lunch was held yesterday. Two of my team members came 1st and 3rd, which was pretty special, and Black Team won the team challenge. The gym manager kindly awarded us all star shaped medals. Ours were threaded on gold ribbon, which was a nice touch. We were also given a certificate, a present of some toiletries and a small bag of lollies, and an individual photo album with a series of photos from the event. They had gone to a lot of trouble, which I really appreciated.

I gave my speech and it seemed to go over very well. I was a little disconcerted, because they kept clapping my achievements when I didn't expect them to. For instance, I explained that I used to be puffed out for five minutes after walking up a flight of stairs and that now I could run for an hour without stopping and they all clapped. It was lovely but I'm not used to it, so it took me a while to find my speaking rhythm. Not that anyone there seemed to notice, as the feedback afterwards was positive.

I enjoyed telling them a story about an exercise that I used to see this woman doing when I first started at the gym. I'd be doing the dreaded step ups and she had this great exercise that I envied because it looked like something I could achieve. I demonstrated the exercise to universal amusement. She was doing a chest stretch by putting her hand on the wall and leaning. What's tragic about the story is that it's a true story. I really did wonder why it wasn't on my program!

You could see the difference in the way Team Black had bonded compared to the other teams. There were chairs set up in the function room, and my team turned the neat row of chairs into a circle so that the whole team was included. The other teams managed with the rows of chairs. I was extremely fortunate to be put into Team Black I think.

We headed off for a coffee after the event, and we're having our own breakup lunch in early July. It's taking ages because we don't want to leave anyone out.

Motivation

I've been having real motivation problems lately, particularly with my eating. Writing the speech was good for me, because it reminded me of the basics. I know what I need to do, I just have to do it.

I'll have to get myself back into a regular routine with the gym. We've been changing things like my personal training, trivia and squash. I'm one of these people who likes to be organised, so I'm going to start working to a schedule again. At the moment the only definite things are the Running Course on Tuesday at 6:45 am and personal training at 6:00 am on Thursday.

Mind you, tomorrow is a Public Holiday, so my gym is closed! Much as I like my gym, it seems to have the worst hours in the world. All is not lost though. I'm meeting up with one of the women I met at the Group Outdoor Fitness Challenge tomorrow for a bike ride at 9 am tomorrow. We're going to ride for an hour. I've no idea how far that will be, but I'm looking forward to it. I love how my circle of friends has increased so much with all my exercise activities.

Personal Training and Public Speaking

I had my first personal training session in weeks at 6:00 am on a really cold Canberra morning. I was glad I was headed to the gym rather than down by the lake. It was windy too, so I was hoping that Leanne didn't have a run planned for me.

We went through my weights program. Initially Leanne just wanted to see what progress I'd made on a few of the exercises she'd given me, before starting on a new program. After demonstrating some serious improvement with my abs exercises, I told her about my concerns with the knee, and she decided to see the whole program. I don't normally do the abs work first, so it seemed all back to front. It did mean that I was able to do the two sets of triceps pushups on my toes without faltering, which was a bonus.

I was saying the other day that I was a bit concerned about the leg exercises. My knee was really tired after training last Thursday, but it came good quickly. Leanne explained that the exercises were designed to strengthen my knee and so being tired was to be expected. I did them with her, and my form is fine. My left knee did make funny noises when I did the one-legged squats, but I got through them all (two sets of 20) without losing my balance or needing to take a break. The knee has been tired today again, but it doesn't feel injured. I had been going to go for a run, but I decided to rest it instead. I'll run tomorrow instead. At least, that's the plan.

One of the things I love about strength training is that I see measurable progress each time I do my program. It might be small, like understanding the exercise or it might be big, like increasing the weight or getting through both sets of the abs exercises without stopping, but the progress is there to be made. My core strength has improved out of sight with my running, and I love that too.

I wore a close fitting red top over my running pants this morning. Normally I wear something baggy over the top of it, but I'm working on changing the way I cover myself up all the time. I figure if I'm looking at myself in the mirrors in the gym, I'll get used to the way I look. I guess being prepared to wear close fitting clothes with people around is a benefit of wearing proper running gear. It's completely unforgiving. Every lump and bump shows but the technical fabric is so comfortable that I'm prepared to sacrifice vanity for comfort. Also, I've been telling myself if I get out there early enough, the only people who are going to see me are other runners.

Public Speaking

I love to speak in public. It was much more confronting for me to get on my bike to ride to the outdoor fitness challenge sessions than it is for me to get up in front of a crowd and speak. Why am I telling you this? I've been asked to give a motivational speech at the gym. In fact, I'm delivering it on Saturday, which doesn't give me all that much time to write and rehearse it.

Krissi, the Black Team leader and the person who inspired me to do all this outdoor exercise, suggested it to me while we were running up the hill yesterday. She contacted the manager at Fernwood, who phoned me today and asked me if I'd speak on Saturday at the Biggest Loser Challenge lunch. I jumped at the chance, so now I'm busy writing a speech. I'm really looking forward to it. I feel as though I have something to say that's of value to people, and it will be a way to give back to the gym some of the support that they have given me over the past two and a half years. I hope they enjoy listening to me.

Global Challenge Update

Our team has travelled 1000 km. We are in 38th place at the moment, with an average of 14874 steps/day. The leaders have travelled 1659 kms, with an average of 24,686 steps/day.

Response to comments

Thanks for all the encouragement. It's kind of you all to tell I'm not slow. The other girls who are running are faster than me, but that doesn't worry me, apart from not wanting to hold them up. I'm doing this for me, not them.

I'm really happy with the progress I'm making with my running. I like writing the times and distances down so that I can see how far I've come. When I started out, running a kilometre in under 6 mins seemed impossible, so I'm really pleased to have achieved that. I read other people's times and distances and I'm in awe. Still for me, it's not about running faster, even though I am pleased that I can. My current running goals are:

1. Have fun
2. Run without injury
3. Run three times a week, including a long run
4. Run outside at least once a week
5. Run for longer

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.

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!!

Last day of the challenge

I made it - 12 weeks of the Fernwood Biggest Loser Challenge. I bumped into some of Team Black in Body Pump this morning and we went to the Pancake Parlour for lunch. It was a nice way to celebrate the end of the challenge. I'm sure that we'll all be seeing more of each other though, as a few of us have discovered running.

The girls did their 16 km run today, and a couple of the others rode their bikes. If I'd known that, I'd have joined in on my bike, which now has lovely pumped up tyres thanks to the help of a friend of mine.

Now that the challenge is over it's a good time to reflect on what I've gained from taking it on.

1) I'm much fitter than I was 12 weeks ago.
2) I've gained muscle tone and definition.
3) I've lost weight and centimetres.
4) My balance has improved.
5) I ran 10 km!
6) I made new friends.
7) I started to exercise regularly when I was in Melbourne.
8) I'm able to get myself up and to the gym in the mornings.
9) I started to do classes at the gym.

When I started the challenge, I had no idea that I'd enjoy it so much. I knew that I'd find it motivating, as there was a team aspect as well as the personal challenge. I am highly motivated to reach my weight loss goal this year. I thought the challenge would help me with that. It did.

Now that it's done, I'm really pleased with the way that I approached it. I learned during the challenge that I don't need the external motivation of points to exercise. That's a big plus, as it means that exercise has become a habit.

Writing the blog has really helped. I never used to plan my exercise. I only do a few days at a time now, but I'm starting to think about what I'm trying to achieve. Putting the plans in writing makes me more accountable to myself. Mind you, it doesn't guarantee that I end up doing what I thought I was going to do. :-)

For example, I'm planning to do a weights session and go for a bike ride tomorrow. Hopefully it will happen.

Thank God It's Friday

I'm not usually a "Thank God It's Friday" person, but I've been looking forward to this weekend. I am having a couple of days off work next week and it will feel like a mini holiday. One of my sisters is singing in a cabaret showcase on Monday night, and I'm heading down to Melbourne on Sunday so that I can see her perform. I'm flying back on Anzac Day. The way this has worked out, it's like having my weekend to kick back and relax (in a "go to the gym and be active" kind of way) and then having a mini-break in Melbourne.

This morning I did the interval run that I didn't do yesterday - 15 mins at 6/10.6 km/h, followed by 5 mins at 9 km/h and then a cool down and stretching. I was tempted to keep running because I was feeling really strong and well within my comfort zone and the 3km mark was really close, but I had to catch my bus. I didn't want to leave out the stretching. One of these days I'm going to get to the gym with plenty of time to spare!

I felt really good about the run this morning. I hadn't been sure that my knees would be up for it - Body Jam is a little hard on them, as is squash, but I felt fine when I was walking to the gym. Because I caught the bus, I also got the extra 15 mins of walking that I do on the trip. You have to love that incidental exercise.

This evening I ran through my weights session again. It's already getting easier. I am constantly amazed by how quickly the body can adapt to new things. A week ago I couldn't manage some of these exercises. Even my modified chicken routine is getting easier. There's certainly no squawking now.

Sarah, triceps pushups are done with a different arm position. You keep your hands close to your body and your elbows in close to your sides. It feels really weird at first, and I only do baby ones at present.

I signed up for the Mother's Day Classic 8 km run today, and I ordered a t-shirt. Pink is one of my colours, so I can see myself wearing this at the gym for a while. I am looking forward to the run. I was looking at the course today, and I think I might go and run it some time over the next few weeks, just to see what it's like. That will be a novel experience, knowing where I'm going. At least any hills won't be a surprise.

Over the weekend I've promised myself that I'll ride my bike down to the park where the Group Fitness Challenge is going to be held. I'm not all that keen on riding, so it will be a mini challenge for me. The encouraging comments I've been getting from the cycling fiends out there have really helped. Thanks to all you crazy bike riders.

I'm can't see myself becoming a cycling field though. I nearly booked into RPM today, but I got over the impulse by remembering that I don't like it. I've only been taking that class because I've been encouraged to do it by Leanne and by Krissi. I'm pleased that I gave it a go - it was great for my cardio fitness and it was a serious challenge for me - but I'm over it now. Instead, I'm going to see if I can get myself to the gym for the Step class. I used to love Step years ago and I figure if I'm going to the gym on the weekend I may as well do something I enjoy.

I'm doing some forward planning for my exercise over the next few days. On Saturday, I'm going to do Step and go for a bike ride. I'll do a treadmill session here on Sunday before flying home. Running around the creek is a nice easy option for Melbourne, but it doesn't get me any points in the Biggest Loser Challenge. I'll get myself to the gym in Yarraville, and do weights on Monday and a treadmill run on Tuesday. I might be able to pick up a class for extra points if my timing is good, but I'm not going to stress about it. I'll run around the creek on Wednesday morning, as I don't think the gym will be open in the morning on Anzac Day. I fly back at lunchtime so I'm playing squash with Murali in the evening as usual.

I'll have to be careful with my packing. Lately I've been so focussed on making sure I have running gear with me that I forget to pack ordinary clothes. While I'm in Melbourne, I intend to catch up with a few people who haven't seen me recently. I get a real kick out of the double take that people do. :-)

Resting my legs

I've had a nice quiet day today. I was at the gym this morning, walking for 20 mins on the treadmill at 6 km/hr. I did about 45 mins of walking as part of my pedestrian existence, and that's about it. Apart from demonstrating the "chicken" at work, my day was fairly sedate.

One exciting thing though. Krissi, our team leader for the Biggest Loser Fitness Challenge, is running an Outdoor Group Fitness Challenge starting in May, and she sent out the info today. Knowing that it was probably a case of first in, I jumped into action and sent off my reply. I explained that I'd only be able to get to six of the eight sessions because of my holiday in Qld, and I'd understand if they decided to take someone who could get to all eight, but I'm in! Yay!

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get to the venue. They start at 6:30 am and the buses won't be running that early. Once upon a time, I'd have decided that it was too hard and given up, but I've realised I can either walk (good for my step count in the Global Challenge) or ride, which would transform the loungeroom art back into a mode of transport. That's a major change in outlook for me. I am really enjoying getting to know the new me. :-)

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!

Nice easy day today

I thought I'd better take it easy today if I was going to run for an hour tomorrow morning. This morning's gym visit involved half an hour on the treadmill at 6 km/h on an inclination of 3. It was quite relaxing. I tried some Chi Running focuses, like walking from my centre and leaning forward. I also did the body sensing thing, checking in with how I was feeling. It was hard to keep concentrating. I can see that I'll have to keep practising.

I was supposed to get to the Relay for Life opening ceremony this evening, but there was an urgent support problem just as I was leaving. One of my team was there, but I decided that it would be kinder to go back and help him out. After all, I didn't have to be at the opening ceremony. Seeing that I wasn't going to be able to make Relay for Life, I thought about dropping in at the gym for the Biggest Loser party they were having instead, but I ended up having to stay back at work too late to do that too.

Still, my step count is only 11k for the day, so I've given my legs a good rest before tomorrow. I've been reading everyone's blogs, and they are all busy tapering! My little rest feels like a baby taper.

I'm really quite excited about tomorrow. I'm going to go to bed early, so I get plenty of sleep.

Tired legs

I've covered a lot of distance today. I blame the girls at work, who are enthusiastically running a "Biggest Winner" competition. They have all sorts of health challenges that you can meet to gain points - eat 10 pieces of fruit in a week, walk 10000 steps a day, etc. They are also organising fun activities. Today, we were put into teams and encouraged to walk around the building twice. There's a 1.4 km walking track around my workplace, which is in the middle of a paddock.

Now, even I can do the maths - 1.4 km x 2 = 2.8 km, which isn't a lot of distance. It is, however, 2.8 km on top of the distance I already planned to cover. I did an interval run this morning, and repeated it this evening. That was another 6.3 km all up. My pedometer is reading almost 28000 steps! No wonder my legs are tired.

I really enjoyed both interval runs. I find I run much better in the morning than in the evening though. The run itself involved 15 mins of intervals of 6 / 9.5 km/h, followed by 5 mins at 9 km/h and 5 mins at 6 km/h before a short cool down and stretching. I then did Body Jam, which I love. Unfortunately the class is going to be cancelled in a few weeks.

I didn't realise I hadn't blogged last night, because I was busy reading other people's blogs. I managed to get through my overdue weights session on Wednesday by splitting it in half. I couldn't see any other way to manage it this week, so I did the first part in the morning and finished it off in the evening. Because of that, I spent a little bit of extra time on my abs exercises. Leanne told me how to make one of the exercises harder .. and it was a lot harder! I also managed two sets of 10 reps on the rolldowns. That's the first time I've managed to persevere through the two sets.

Squash was a lot of fun. I played four games and managed to win two of them. The court seemed really small last night. I don't know if it's because I'm finding it so easy to get around it or because I feel bigger because I have more muscle. I'm definitely not bigger. I've lost a little more weight and my clothes are continuing to feel looser.

I'm having the strangest experience at the moment. When I catch sight of myself in the mirror, I feel like I'm looking at a stranger. At first I thought it was my new hairstyle, but it's not all that different. I finally realised that it's my neckline. I think my neck is thinner. It's quite disconcerting to be having trouble recognising myself.

I got my team t-shirt for the Relay for Life today. It's much better than last year's, thank goodness. It's also two sizes smaller and it's loose on me. **huge grin**

I'm really looking forward to all the running I'm doing on the weekend. I've been working hard to be fit enough to manage to run one of my legs of the Relay for Life. I've grown in confidence lately so, not only do I expect to run both legs, I also think I'll be able to run on Sunday as well. I originally planned to walk because I didn't think I was fit enough to run two days in a row, but I've realised that I'm much fitter than I give myself credit for.

I had great fun chatting with people at the gym tonight. To think I used to go and hardly speak to anyone. It's a much friendlier place than it used to be. I hope this spirit of camaraderie continues after the fitness challenge is over.

Oh, I forgot to mention how my team did in the 'walk around the building' at work. I wasn't that keen on participating, because I always get a lot of exercise on Thursdays. I had this plan to walk with whoever was the slowest member of our team and have a nice relaxing time. The first part of the plan was a success - I was with the slowest member of the team. The relaxing part didn't come to fruition. My team members lead the way around the building, so there was I, keeping up with them. I wish I had longer legs! Still, it was fun and we managed to win the challenge comfortably.

Another good run

I went running with Leanne this morning - we covered 4.2 km in half an hour, which I was really pleased with. I'm hoping to run two sessions of 10 laps in half an hour on Saturday at the Relay for Life, and if I can run like I did this morning I'll be fine.

I enjoyed the run. It makes quite a difference running with someone else. The chatting is fun and the company is encouraging. I'm hoping that the group who are running together in the Biggest Loser challenge will keep going once the challenge is over, even if it's only on an informal basis.

I didn't get to the gym this evening. Something more important came up after work. I'll have to make up the points later in the week. I managed to make up Sunday's points on Monday. I did a pump class as well as my usual workout.

I was careful not to overdo it on Monday, so I stuck to my old favourite - the treadmill. In the morning, I did the "Fat Burner" session. After discovering that I was severely underestimating the level I should be doing on the bike I cranked the level on this up to 8. I did 20 mins at 6 km/hr and then finished off with 10 mins of walking at 6 km/hr. My legs felt good after Sunday's run.

In the evening, I did the "Aerobic Training" session for 20 mins at 6 km/hr for 20 mins and then walked for another 20 mins, before going to Pump. The lunges in the Pump session were a killer, although I managed to do them all.

I'm overdue on my weights session, so that's on the cards for tomorrow. I've also got squash, which is my favourite. Something to look forward to.

Twice around the creek

I made it around the creek twice today! According to Map My Run that's 6.48 km. That's the furthest I've run without stopping, so I'm feeling very proud of myself. Not only was it further, it was also faster. I made it around the first time in 22:39 and finished in 46:01. That's roughly 7 mins per km.

I started out concentrating on lifting my feet and made an effort not to go too fast at the beginning. It seemed really easy, and I ended up at my first marker ahead of my usual time, so I don't think I did too well on "going slower at the start". As I was running that first bit I thought heard someone behind me. I kept expecting them to pass me, but they didn't so I thought maybe I'd imagined their existence. When I got to the bridge, I was able to look back, and there was another runner there. I still expected him to pass me. I got to the next point where I could see how far he was behind me and he was further behind! That's never happened to me before. I was feeling all the excitement I think Celeste must have felt when she passed her jogger.

The route around the creek isn't completely flat, so I got to run up and down a few tiny hills. I followed the arm pumping, leaning forward advice from the Chi Running book going up and I let gravity take me down. Usually when I'm running down a hill I hold myself up and try to get my breath back. This time, I felt like I was flying down the hills. It was great fun. I was wishing the hills were bigger!

I was amazed by how much faster my time was too. The last time I ran around the creek it took me 24:30 and I got to the point where I stopped (approx 5.5 km according to my map run) in 41:44. Today the first lap was nearly 2 mins faster and I reached the 5.5 km mark in 39:10. I thought I was going much more slowly the second time around. It was a little slower, but it was nowhere near as slow as I thought it was.

I passed on going to the gym this morning. I realised that I was going to struggle to get there and back before my brother arrived, and I figured I'd already done more work than I'd planned on my run, so I gave myself a day off. I'll make up the points tomorrow evening by doing a class.

After having a coffee with my mum, Jim and I set off to the shopping centre. We ambled over and back, taking an hour to do the whole walk. It was only about three and a half kms, but we were busy chatting and ensuring that my nephew, Simon, looked carefully in all directions when crossing the road. It was a lovely walk and didn't feel like exercise at all. Mind you, I've had an afternoon nap! I was exhausted.

Jim's looking terrific and he tells me that his knee is getting a lot better too. I didn't rub it in about being able to run when he can't, but I was bubbling over with enthusiasm about my progress.

Something beginning with T

Isabelle posted a letter meme the other day. Her letter was G and she wrote about a number of G words that mean something to her. I loved reading her post about her Girls, Giggles, Granny, Green, Gardens, Golden Daffodils and Grand Designs, so I put my name up for a random letter. Isabelle allocated me the letter T. If any of you would like to do this, let me know and I'll send you a letter via a comment in your blog.

Teachers

I've always valued and admired teachers. In fact, many years ago I was a high school maths teacher. I was very lucky with some of my teachers. I imagine that having a student who simply raced through the syllabus must have been a challenge for them, but these teachers, mainly women, worked out how to keep challenging me, found me extension work to do to keep me interested in school, and instilled in me a lifelong love for helping others to learn.

I loved teaching maths. It was so rewarding to see students suddenly understand what it was that they were trying to achieve. The decision to leave teaching came as a total shock to me, but when I made it, after a series of stress related illnesses during a time of government cutbacks and worsening work conditions, it ended up being one of the best things I'd ever done for myself. Every once in a while I think about returning to teaching, but I look at the salary I now earn doing a much less stressful job and realise that it's a nice daydream but it's not going to happen.

Fortunately for me, I've discovered that it doeesn't matter what job I do, I can still teach. I love being able to help people discover their potential and become more than they knew they could be.

Television

Television plays such a large role in our lives. I remember watching "Adventure Island" when I was young. My mother made me a heart shaped apron just like my heroine Lisa. I wanted to be Lisa when I grew up and I treasured that apron. I had a "Mr Doo-bee" jumping ball, and I remember seeing the first episode of "Sesame Street" when it screened in Australia - it was Janet's 5th birthday. My father used to appear in television ads, in crazy dress up with his boss, singing and dancing. He was also asked to sing Irish songs on the local afternoon show every St Patrick's Day. I loved "Doctor Who" and "MASH" and I really enjoy the new "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" series.

Funnily enough, since I started my journey to being a fitter and healthier person, I watch a lot less television. I try to see "The Biggest Loser" as I find that show inspirational, but there's not much else I'm watching at the moment, unless it happens to be on DVD. That's not to say that the television is never on - it's great company as background noise when I'm writing up my blog.

Training

I love my personal training sessions. I never saw myself as someone who would be an enthusiastic exerciser, so I knew I needed my trainer to push me to work hard. I've had three personal trainers help me on my journey, Kelly, Sarah and Leanne, and all three have been wonderful. Kelly trained the unfit, unhealthy version of me, and introduced me to the idea of "good pain". Sarah taught me to set long term goals. Leanne is encouraging me to find out what it is that I'm capable of achieving.

Talking

I love to talk. If talking was an Olympic sport I could talk for Australia! When I was living in Melbourne I was a member of Toastmasters. I love public speaking.

My family are high intensity communicators. If you were at our place when we're all there, you'd be amazed that there can be so many conversations going on at once, and that people can be actively participating in more than one at a time. You can always be assured of being listened to at our place, as we see listening as an important part of talking. We love story telling and enjoy hearing all our old favourites at family occasions. It's great when we have family or friends visit from Ireland, as all the old stories come out again for another airing.

Travel

It's just as well that I like travel, as I travel from Melbourne to Canberra for work on a fortnightly basis. I love flying. The novelty may have worn off, but I still enjoy the sensation of taking off and landing.

Travel overseas is tremendous fun, and I don't do it nearly enough. My last big trip was to Ireland and England in 2003 with my favourite sister, Janet. We went over for my Uncle Jack's 80th birthday. My next trip is to the Gold Coast in May, again with family. I'm looking forward to that one, particularly to being on the beach in my swimmers. When I reach my goal weight I'm going to reward myself with a trip to Broome. I've always wanted to go there.

Relaxing Day

It's lovely going to the gym in the morning on a long weekend. First of all, hardly anybody else is there. Secondly, it's much later than I usually go. Thirdly, I'm not going to be dashing off to work once I've finished. Hmm, this sounds like every weekend. The best thing about the long weekend is that there's an extra day of late starts and no rushing to work.

I didn't end up doing Body Balance because the class wasn't until 11 and I had to be on the bus at 12 as I was meeting up with a friend to go to the movies. I did the "Aerobic Training" session on the treadmill for 20 mins at 5.6 km/h on level 6 and then finished off walking at 6km/h until I reached the 3 km mark. That took 31.5 mins all up. I forgot my HRM for the second day running, so I'll have to estimate the calorie burn. I seem to be doing these sessions more easily all the time, so I'll have to be conservative. I also forgot my pedometer, but 3 km of walking is 5000 steps for me, so that's ok.

I've had a few people comment on the amount of exercise I'm doing lately. I'm half way through a 12 week fitness challenge that Fernwood is running in conjunction with Biggest Loser. It might seem like I'm doing a lot, but there are women at the gym who are easily outperforming me. Not many, I admit, but there are a few.

The contest works on a points basis - 25 pts for a workout, 35 pts for a cycle class, etc. With another 100 pts for attending my p/t and slim sessions, I'm getting to the gym twice a day on work days and once a day on weekends, so I get a minimum of 400 pts a week. I've managed an average of 440/week over the 6 weeks, which I'm pretty pleased with. Mind you, some people are managing 600+ points in a single week. To get the extra points you have to be able to (a) go the gym an extra time a day; or (b) get to more classes than I'm doing. While I could get to more classes, I'd have to give something else up, like my weekly trivia night.

I set my goals for the fitness challenge as follows: (a) get to the gym twice a day on work days; (b) get to the gym once on weekends, even when I'm in Melbourne; and (c) finish in the top 5.

I realised that the points for the cms lost were going to wipe me out of the top 5, so I've changed that goal to finish in the top 5 before the cms lost points are added to the totals. I'll have to have a serious look at the points chart this week. I have been in the top 5 since the start, but a few people have upped their effort lately, so I might have to get myself to a couple of extra classes. I wasn't at all interested in classes at the start of the challenge, but I've been enjoying the ones I've tried so far so I'm a lot more willing to try them now.

The challenge has been great for me. I needed a push to get my weight loss back on track, and this appeals to my competitive nature. Because we're organised into teams, those days that I don't feel like getting myself to the gym I use the "get the points for the team" to motivate me. I've typically been really slack on the weekends I'm in Melbourne, but now that I've proven to myself how easy it is to fit in a visit to the gym in Yarraville I have no excuse not to exercise when I'm at home.

Getting involved with the black team has also been great. We've entered a team in the Canberra Women and Girls Fun Run on 1 April, and they are organising another team for the Mother's Day Classic. I'm pretty sure I'll organise my Melbourne trips so that I can run with them on that day too. I was pretty tentative about doing an organised fun run, and it will be so much easier with a group of people I know than it would have been on my own.

I'll be doing the Global Corporate Challenge (a walking challenge) with a team from work this year, and I think we'll probably have a serious attempt at a top ten finish this year. We entered for the first time last year, and were surprised to find we finished just outside the top 20. It's whetted our appetite to give it a serious go, and getting my fitness up now will make me a better team member. I started at about 12k steps a day at the beginning of the challenge last year and ended up walking 25k steps a day for the last 25 days. It was quite an effort, but you clock up steps faster running than walking, so I think I'll be able to improve significantly.

I realised some time ago that if I'm going to keep the weight I've worked so hard to lose off, that I have to be a more active person. I'm working hard to become that person.

Major milestone achieved

I finally did it - I lost 40 kgs! I'm really excited and happy with my achievement. It's been a long time coming and I've struggled over the last four months to get past the 38 kg mark. Now that I'm here, I feel wonderful. It is definitely worth it. I have so much energy, my health is terrific, and I am enjoying myself so much every day.

I started this weight loss journey in July 2004, when I signed up with Lite 'N' Easy. It was a last ditch effort before I went to talk to a doctor about gastric banding. I lost 12 kg on their meal plans, and then put most of them back on over the Christmas break. In January, I started back on Lite 'N' Easy, lost some of the weight again, and then found myself overeating once more. I realised that I needed a better solution than pre-packaged food. I joined Fernwood in February 2005. Deep down, in my heart and soul, I didn't really believe I could lose weight so I concentrated on becoming fitter.

As I expected I didn't I didn't lose much weight the first 12 months I was at the gym, but I managed to lose 2 and a half dress sizes with the help of my personal trainers. I realised later that I was sabotaging my weight loss efforts because of my belief that I couldn't lose weight, but at the time I told myself I was happy just to become fit.

When I started out, I didn't really have a vision of where I was going to end up. Fortunately for me, one of my trainers encouraged me to set some long term goals. I came up with three for 2006 - to be able to touch my toes, to lose two more dress sizes and to be able to run for half an hour. I managed to achieve all three by November, 2006. I never expected that I would lose the weight I have now lost, but last year a light seemed to go on in my brain. It was a combination of factors, having Leanne as my personal trainer, a book I read "The Lazy Girl's Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Fit", watching the Biggest Loser on TV, and Jillian Michael's "it's just maths" approach to weight loss. After that light went on I managed to achieve even more than I had expected during 2006. I lost 30 kg, discovered running, was able to touch my toes, and shopped in a 'normal' size store for the first time in nearly 20 years.

I've learned a lot about myself while I've been on this journey. I've discovered that my family and friends are amazingly supportive and encouraging. I've found that people who hardly know me are pleased for me. My work colleagues have been tremendous. I'm able to set myself stretch goals and achieve them. I am stronger and fitter and faster than I ever expected to be. I love running. I love doing my weights program. I have learned to like salad. I can make great food choices.

Today, I know exactly how much weight I plan to lose, and I have a plan for getting there. I believe that I can achieve my goal and I am prepared to work hard to get there. Along the way, I intend to enjoy every moment of the journey.

Today's Exercise

As this blog is meant to be about my fitness challenge, here's today's update.

This morning I did an interval run for 15 mins - 6 / 10.5 km/h. I then walked for another 10 mins at 6 km/h before heading off to be weighed. As an aside: I had missed my slimplicity appointment earlier in the week, missing out on the 50 points that I would have earned for going. I apologised to one of the slimplicity consultants, thinking she was the person I had inadvertently stood up. I was wrong, but she kindly offered to give me a short consultation so I could have my points. Funnily enough, when the scales showed my 40 kg goal had been achieved, I didn't realise it, as I was thinking about how generous Cathy had been to squeeze an appointment in for me. I was in the shower before the numbers actually registered. I was thrilled to announce my accomplishment to Cathy. To my delight, Leanne, my personal trainer, was also at the desk, so I got to tell her at the same time.

This evening I had decided to do cardio and had reconciled myself to the knowledge that the Body Jam class was cancelled and I'd be doing Pump. I repeated this morning's interval run, then walked and ran until I reached the 4 km mark. That gave me time to stretch before the class. To my delight, Body Jam was on, and I had a ball trying to follow the dance routines.

I've managed to clock up over 21000 steps today, so it's been a great day's exercise. I'm feeling it now though.

Rock Climbing Postponed

We're going next week! We were told that there would be 50 kids there from 7:30 pm, and decided that we'd rather wait for a quieter time. I was glad, as it will be easier for me to manage getting there next week.

Instead of rock climbing, I did a Body Pump class. That's the class with barbells and squats. I have studiously avoided it in the past, even though my personal trainer takes this class right after my p/t session. I figured that I would make the effort tonight, as the rock climbing was off. I'm really glad that I did. It was much easier than I remembered (ok, Leanne talked me into a class a few months back) and I enjoyed being able to last the distance through the squats and lunges.

This morning I got myself to the gym for a gentle cardio session. I did 20 mins of "Aerobic Training" at 5.6 km/h on level 6 followed by 10 mins of walking at 6 km/h. This evening I had my usual p/t session. It was a weights session, doing a number of activities that aren't in my regular program. I always find these sessions fun, even though they are hard work.

There were stacks of people at the gym tonight. It seems that all the advertising Fernwood are doing during Biggest Loser is definitely paying off. It felt really crowded when I got there just before 6 pm. The numbers fell right off close to 7 pm though, which meant there was plenty of space for me in Body Pump.

Because the rock climbing was postponed, the group fitness session is going to be a 5 km run with the ACT Cross Country Club. I am not sure I can do it. If I'm on the bus tomorrow evening, I won't be in town in time for the 6pm start. If I get a lift, it might be possible, although the logistics of getting to the starting point will need to be worked out. Mind you, I joined the ACTCCC today. All I have to do now is get to one of their runs!

My planned fitness sessions are a cardio session in the morning followed by a different one in the evening, before I head off to Trivia. My main challenge for tomorrow will be to eat enough. I've been struggling with that the last two Tuesday nights. Still, I'm aware of the problem now so I should be able to overcome it.

Recovery Day

I was at the gym before and after work, but I took it a lot easier today. I did two "Fat Burner" treadmill sessions. The morning one was tougher than the afternoon one - 30 mins at 6 km/h on level 8 as opposed to 20 mins at 5.6 km/h on level 6. I made sure I stretched well after both sessions.

My day ended on a good note. "Here for the Beer", the trivia team I play with, won a prize for coming 7th. We haven't been doing too well the last few weeks, so it was good to finally get a top 10 finish.

At the start of the fitness challenge I thought I'd not miss a single trivia night for it, but Black Team might be going rock climbing on Tuesday week. That one I have to do. I was thinking yesterday that I'd really like to do that after watching them try it on Biggest Loser. I hope it comes off. Normally, I'd avoid doing something like this, but I have more confidence in what my body can do nowadays. I am sure I'll have fun.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to do an interval run in the morning. I'm going to see if I can push my time past the 32 min mark. I'll have to get myself organised in the morning so that I'm at the gym when it opens. In the evening, there's a couple of RPM classes. I usually can't get to the 5:30 pm class on the bus, but I might be able to swing a lift. The other class is at 6:30, which might be possible. I'll have to see how the rest of my day stacks up. If I don't do the RPM class, I'll have another go at some different cardio.

This working out what I'm doing in advance is getting to be a habit! I'm now starting to write my plans down so that I can see if I follow through. I guess we'll know tomorrow.

I've just discovered Body Jam

I had the best fun tonight. I went to my first Body Jam class. Since I joined Fernwood I've avoided the classes .. too unfit, too fat, too self-conscious, etc etc. Lately, I've been thinking I should give them a go, and tonight, I finally did.

It was terrific. It's a dance workout, for those who don't know. I didn't know what to expect, but I was fit enough for the class even if I had next to no coordination. We were doing all these moves that you see on tv. I carefully positioned myself where I couldn't see any mirrors, and got into it. What a blast! I love dancing, even when I'm hopeless at it. I'm going to try to get there next week.

This morning, I did an interval run on the treadmill, and covered 4 km in 32 mins. I did the first 15 mins at 5.6 / 9.5, then did 5 mins at 8, followed by 1 min at 6, and then did three lots of 2 mins of 8 / 1 min at 6, finishing off with 2 mins of 8. I stopped as soon as I hit the 4 k mark, as I had a bus to catch. I made the bus by 2 mins, so that was a good decision in hindsight.

I'm finding it amusing that I'm keeping track like this, but I have this idea that it will be interesting to look back at this, particularly as my running improves.

I felt really good during my run. It seems to be getting easier all the time. Either that, or, as a friend of mine has suggested, my brain is banging on my skull with each step and I'm losing my sense of feeling.

Today, I had my slimplicity session. I was looking forward to being weighed, as I've had a great week as far as my food is concerned. I'd been eating really well, and my net calorie count was on track to lose 1 kg. I wasn't sure if the high weight loss the week before might have affected this week. To my delight I lost 1.2 kg.

I'll weigh myself on Sunday in Melbourne, and update my ticker then. I keep track based on our bathroom scales at home, rather than on the Fernwood slim sessions. My weight sounds better that way, as I weigh myself first thing, whereas my slim session is usually after 6 pm.

I also joined up in the Biggest Winner competition at work. It's going to be run over 5 months, starting at the beginning of March. The organisers are all people I know, so I want to support their efforts. It will be motivational for me too, as I have a goal to lose 20 kg this year.

I'm glad I'm doing this fitness challenge. Not only am I getting fitter - I'm broadening my horizons. I've used a wider variety of cardio equipment and I've managed to get to a group fitness class. I've started talking to more people at the gym. The whole thing has been great for me.

Kicking goals today

It took me a while to get to the gym this morning. I just wasn't organised. I planned to do a treadmill session, as I'd run the day before. I'm being careful not to overdo the running. I think I've been very lucky with my knees. When I joined the gym, they were starting to hurt just a little all the time. I think I managed to get fit and lose weight before I did any permanent damage to them.

Anyway, I arrived at the gym, a little late but full of beans. The gym has been working hard to make itself a friendlier place, and the Biggest Loser competition is helping with that. Another thing that's really helping is that the management seem to be making more of an effort. When I got there last night, there were hearts all over the place in recognition of Valentine's Day. Today, when I opened my locker, there was a rose and a heart shaped chocolate there for me. It was a pleasant surprise, and I appreciated the thought behind it.

As for my workout, I did the planned aerobic training session on the treadmill. Only 20 mins at 6 km/hr, because I was late and I wanted to stretch and make my bus. All objectives achieved with 10 mins to spare. I am getting much better at this!

I felt great all day .. all those happy exercise hormones kicking around in my system. If only I'd believed the "when you exercise you have more energy" line years ago! Work felt productive and I headed home, looking forward to getting to the gym. Even I find it hard to believe that I'm looking forward to all this exercise, and I'm the one experiencing it. In my previous life I could have represented Australia in bludging.

This evening's session was a change for me. I have realised that I can't keep doing the same workouts on this challenge. I'm being careful about the running and I'm having rest days between my weights sessions. For the past two years I've studiously avoided the cardio machines except for those times that Leanne has taken me through an intense cardio session. Tonight I bit the bullet and hit the machines.

I did 10 mins on the cross trainer and 10 mins on the stepper, both at level 4. I started on a low level, because I wasn't sure how I would go. I followed up with 10 mins on the treadmill. I figured I'd earned a session on a machine I liked.

To my total amazement, I did really well on both machines. Obviously my dread of them is a hangover from when I tried them right at the beginning of my fitness journey. Now that I'm fit, they aren't as daunting. I'll have to make them part of my repertoire now. I also burned good calories - 270 in a half hour session.

I'm finding the fitter I get the easier it is to be fit. Of course, those people who already knew this are saying "that's obvious" but it just wasn't obvious to me. I never believed that this would be fun, and it is. I'm so glad I undertook the challenge, because it's pushed me up a few levels.

Sunday morning run

I decided to run for half an hour this morning. I was hoping that I could run for the whole time, but I found myself dropping back to a walk after 12 mins. I set off at 7.6 km/h, and was running well, but my mind just clicked off after 12 mins. I walked for 2 mins at 5.6 km/h, and was able to run again, so I finished off the session by running for 4 mins, then walking for 2 mins, until I'd reached 4 km. That took me 33:44 so I decided to keep going until the 35 min mark before I started my cool down.

I was really happy with the outcome, as I ran for a total of 26 mins. I would have been able to run a little longer, but I didn't want to (a) overdo it; or (b) leave my visitors waiting for me longer than we'd agreed.

It was terrific having visitors who understood that it was important for me to get to the gym. Mind you, they walked me part way, and then headed off to have breakfast at McDonalds. As Jim said, I was able to head off to the gym feeling pleased with my myself.

The boys then spent the morning playing with the EyeToy. Deb, Jim and I headed off for a coffee. We wandered around the food festival for a while and then went to Dobinsons. It's great that the kids are old enough to be left on their own, and they were more than happy with what they were doing. They were still going strong when we got back to the apartment. I don't know where they get their energy.

We finished off their visit with lunch at Sammy's Kitchen, which would have to be my favourite restaurant in Canberra. I love the food, the service is brisk and efficient, and there's always a happy buzz in the place.

I'm going to spend some time catching up on Biggest Loser. I was too busy during the week to watch it, but I've taped it and hope to be up to speed before this evening's episode. I find the show inspirational.

I'm also going to be looking at Celeste's blog to see how she did in the fun run. I aimed for 4 km today, as I knew that was the distance she was running. It made it easier to keep going after I hit the 30 minute mark, having a specific goal in mind.

I'm enjoying reading other people's running stories. I feel as though I've discovered a whole new world, and I'm very happy to be part of it.