Sharla's New Log - Attempting to Avoid Becoming A Slovenly Pig

Ok It's been a while since I've posted on here.

Have been trying to avoid procrastination but realized recently I have more motivation to have a healthy lifestyle when i'm reading and writing about it. I guess it just keeps it in the forefront of my brain so when i am tempted by that damn chcolate box which is a permanent evil fixture in my office I have some reason to resist. I have been loosing the fight lately :-\.

So my aims are very different to when i last started a training log. Also my age unfortunately!

I'm 30 on Nov 23rd (ouch!) and trying to cement some firm goals.

My gym is not a boxing gym. It's a cheap uni student gym with nice equipment and one of the few left in Adelaide that risk having a boxing bag - a lot of other gyms seem to be terrified of being liable for someone hurting themselves.

I found last week when i was there one morning it was just easier to get into the mood to train by following an old boxing routine - my body seems to remember how to be active when i do that regardless of how much i wish i'd stayed in bed and how sluggish i feel. So that's going to be part of my training.

One aim for me would be to correct some bad habits i developed towards the end of my time as a competitive boxer. I also want to be just as balanced as a South paw as in Orthodox. For me boxing not about competition any more but symmetry and balance and i just want to keep some skills in case i find myself in a position where i need to defend myself.

A ran into my first kickboxing coach about a month ago. Tac was awesome, even tempered, a good communicator and close to my size. i'd like to go train at his new gym but it's a bit pricey at $60 a week or $20 for one casual visit so i'm holding off on that for a while. Right now I'm saving up for a deposit on a unit that is being built and trying to train myself to be a major tight arse. Alas I still fail occasionally buying a non-essential magazine or coffee but I'm trying. :-\

Another thing that has changed since i last came is that i am now engaged. My partner Adam is just as crazy as I was when i was his age - 4 years younger - and has just left to ride his trike 22,000 kms from Adelaide to the next World Jamboree in Sweden.

He's been a scout pretty much forever and intends to camp and trike unsupported with a friend of his. He was planning this long before he met me about a year and a half ago and i was planning to buy myself a place so it's not that weird for me to be left here to save up for my unit alone. He will help out when he comes back but the onus is on me for now.

The nutter has a blog on another site called Crazy Guy on a Bike but he's actually on a trike. I can't handle the idea of being a fat heffalump when he gets back all fit and hot looking from triking 22,000 kms and i am still a little competitive. Now our fitness is not that different and i don't want to be the unfit one when he gets back. Right now i'm still in my ideal weight range according to my sister's wee fit but i would like to loose a couple of kilos.

Last year i attempted the NorthFace 100. This is a 100 km trail run in NSW. I only got to the 56 km mark. That's the hardest part over but i want to finish it. Unfortunately, my inexperience in carrying enough food and handling such huge slopes - very deep steps which required me lowering myself with my arms in a lot of places and feeling nervous of the heights etc meant i didn't feel like it was a good idea to finish the course as a solo entrant in the dark. i was also very cold as i'd run out of energy on the last leg i did and made it thanks to the kind donations of jellybeans from another competitor who was walking. I wouldn't leave him behind after that so i walked too and having always been a cold woss when the sun went down and the cold set in i just couldn't get warm.

I am considering attempting it again this year but probably next year. I think i want to do it well and it's not realistic to think i can get that much stronger between now and May.

So i'm planning to do other trail running events with boxing as a cross training activity just in my own gym to work my way up to it.

I also have to finish my Phd while my fiance is away. I'm working full time and when i met him i kinda forgot about it but it still weighs on my mind so i just want it gone. After that i might start judo again as i think that is very useful self defence wise. In order to do that i need to keep my pilates up though because i think i need the extra back protection of good core muscles to do it safely with my back being my weakest link.

So day one - did 5 km on the rower at the gym this morning. Meeting up with a running group tonight - not sure yet of what were doing but this group is doing runs through the hills more with daylight savings on a the moment which i enjoy.

Great to see you back around Sharla. :)

Now to go get a snack and drink and have a read through your post. :D

Have missed them.

Thanks Youngblood :)

I looked for your training log but didn't see one. Don't have one anymore? Don't want to give out your secrets to the opposition? :o Understandable.

I however, unfortunately, have no great secrets -

Did get to the trail run tonight. Almost didn't go because I have so much to do at work at the moment - i was going to work late but at the same time i'm not overly enthused with work this week and felt very flat.

The trail run was good - don't regret going and feel better after than I have all day. We went into some local hills in an area called Morialta. Some tough hills but i managed to find myself in a small group (people tend to split a little according to their level) of people who ran at my pace.

Ran in the Vibram five fingers. Found my feet and running style are still ok to wear the vibrams on rocky trails even though I haven't done it for a while. Nice to know that doesn't disappear over night (unlike everything else) :D.

Did approx 13 kms but forgot my watch so i don't have a time.

...Who are you???


















:D

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I looked for your training log but didn't see one. Don't have one anymore? Don't want to give out your secrets to the opposition? :o

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lol. to be frank...training before nationals last year I got all Trainer Monkey paranoid and was near convinced "those people" were following me around spying trying to get an edge. :D

So I axed it.

Am really glad to see you and Salty back posting and will likely start up another one soon. I am doing a half-assed one elsewhere, not even a boxing forum...that I started back when I was still crazy-paranoid and made sure not to use terms, names, places easily googled. :-X

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8452/tinfoilhatr.jpg



congrats on the run, btw.

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Originally Posted by Youngblood

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Originally Posted by Sharla

I looked for your training log but didn't see one. Don't have one anymore? Don't want to give out your secrets to the opposition? :o

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lol. to be frank...training before nationals last year I got all Trainer Monkey paranoid and was near convinced "those people" were following me around spying trying to get an edge. :D

So I axed it.

Am really glad to see you and Salty back posting and will likely start up another one soon. I am doing a half-assed one elsewhere, not even a boxing forum...that I started back when I was still crazy-paranoid and made sure not to use terms, names, places easily googled. :-X

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8452/tinfoilhatr.jpg
congrats on the run, btw.

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Understandable - i myself have always been drawn to the tin foil fashion trend ;D Pity it doesn't breathe so well!

Seriously though i can understand why you would do that - googling is sooo easy - at least you don't use your real name on here which helps.

So this morning got to the gym at 7 and had to leave by 8 - really should try to get there when it opens at 6:30 but no one woke me up this morning - :rolleyes: I guess that's what happens when you suddenly have the bed to yourself again!

10 mins on rower
2 min skipping rounds alternating with the following (mostly in 2 min rounds)
-upper body warm up - arm circles, punches, holding arms out straight etc etc - about 4 mins
-footwork 1 min orthodox, 1 min southpaw - twice
-shadow boxing 1 min orthodox, 1 min southpaw - twice

Last few rounds of skipping involved 5 sec sprints with high knees and then 10 secs normal to get the heart rate up and did one round of skipping to finish. Won't go to the bag until i feel a bit more balanced in southpaw and want to give my body a chance to get used to it gradually again so that was enough boxing for a start.

Then did 3 sets, 15 reps of counterweight chin-ups and tricep dips
followed by 2 sets of shoulder press (15 reps) and seated row (10 reps)

finished with some pilates 100s, a plank and stretch band chest stretch but wish i'd allowed myself more time.

Friday Morning

9.6 kms with a running group. There are longer run options on leaving at the same time and place but 9.6 km seems to be enough for me at the moment.

Felt a little sore but not too bad from the past couple of days. Felt a bit heavy on my legs and randomly remembered watching some elite runners in the recent commonwealth game run with their heels flicking up so high they looked like they were going to kick their own buts.

Decided to give it a go. No where near flexible enough to kick my own bum while running but i did find it felt easier and lighter running this way to bring my leg forward. It makes sense that it's easier to swing a more compact semi folded leg through than a longer leg.

The other benefit i didn't expect was that it made it easier for me to run down hill in the vibrams. I've never been able to run as fast down hill with the vibrams as with shoes because you feel it more even if the actual impact reverberating through your body tend to be less with bare feet due to landing on your forefoot more (this has been researched - will get the Nature paper reference for anyone who is interested). Oddly no problems with the vibrams. Not sure why yet, need to think it over but regardless I'm going to keep working on kicking my heels up more when i run from now on.

I'm also at the stage where i think i should learn to periodise my training program. I was tossing up with the idea of gradually increasing a weekend run for a long - long run. I think though with North Face in mind and trail running I want to be stronger and more confident on hills and tricky tracks. Will increase hills and balance work and trail running over the next couple of months.

Periodising, doing stuff in isolated stages has been something I have just recently come to grips with. Another thing I noticed beyond the physical strength stuff was...that I was only a distance fighter, with no inside, or finishing game. So for about 3 months all skill drills were inside stuff, on pads, the bags, in sparring, the works. Nothing but body shots, uppercuts, tight hooks in close...and ofc variations of. Next thing I knew, had all these other elements going on! (and all of a sudden was getting hit a lot more too...A real LOT)

And...realized, well now my best attribute just sucks! lol And was getting countered like crazy trying to be aggressive and such. So it is an adaptive process. Now going back to the outside, relearning what I once knew, the angles, distance, range work and countering...with the goal to have it all come together and be more ready for whatever is put in front of.

As you say, there are only so many hours in a day, days in a week. And with the loads of work we do we often neglect that very important other aspect, recovery.

p.s. I've read about the Vibrams being great for those types of things. In particular mud races or something? That other shoes just fall off and get lost in the muck. lol

Brilliant to see you posting young Lady, youve been missed ;D

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Brilliant to see you posting young Lady, youve been missed ;D

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Thankyou Scrap ;D

The first thing i did when i logged back in after not being on the site for ages was check that you were still here - So happy to see the legend of the board is still here offering his infinite wisdom to the rest of us novices!

I see you have the same profile pic - i bet she's grown a bit though! Say Hi to Mrs Scrap for me too. :) I'm about to become an auntie hopefully around my birthday (i want my bros boy to be just like me - my little (but probably tall enough to tower over me at six if he's anything like his parents) nephew (not so) mini me! ;D

my god...I accidentally erased your response post...and posted mine as yours. lol I'm really sorry...let me see if I can fix it.

well I can't restore your original post, just what I meant to quote and my response. So acc. erased a bunch of your text. I had it looking like you were quoting and talking to yourself. LOL I'm really sorry. anyway...this is what I tried to say.

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As for whether or not i'm going to be the 'unfit' one when Adam gets back i think he's winning so far! If anyone wants to check out what i'm competing with here's the link:

crazyguyonabike.com: Bicycle Touring: World Jamboree Trike Expedition, by Adam Kilpatrick and Stephen Warren-Smith

He gets to eat whatever he wants with the kms they're doing whereas i'll need to develop some food discipline that's a bit uncharacteristic for me! There are some good photos there of what the South Australian countryside can look like too. I grew up in some of the remote area he's passed and i forget how beautiful it is!

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Sharla that's an awesome read. Love the pics and all the links, updates. Thanks for sharing it!

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Originally Posted by Youngblood

my god...I accidentally erased your response post...and posted mine as yours. lol I'm really sorry...let me see if I can fix it.

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I didn't know that was possible :) Don't worry a lot of it was dribble anyway ;D I hope Saddo didn't mind me putting a link to a blog elsewhere - i only put it there because it has a connection to me sort-of.

Glad you enjoyed his blog - I think they're doing well but they're going across the Nullabor where they won't evan have mobile phone coverage (which makes me nervous :-\) so it won't be updated for another 9 days or so now.

Well I had planned stretching on Saturday and something on Sunday but it ended up being a complete rest weekend. Unfortunately I had an appointment with the realestate agent on Friday going over things and spent the weekend obsessively planning how i might fit stuff in our mini apartment. So silly considering we won't move in until Feb 2012 at the earliest!

I also think i was generally run down from our busy October with two weddings, moving house (so i can live cheaply while Adam's away), a farewell and the weekend Adam rode off into the sunset. We're still getting packages with bike parts etc and i guess i just had to rebel against all the hecticness. Plus Adam had Saturday off so i gasbagged to him on the phone for half the day.

Back to normal today though - was a bit late to the gym again but stayed a half hour later. Still could've used more time so i think i'll up gym morning to a 2 hour session.

10 mins on the rower,
1 min skipping intervals with core exercises between. Decided to do that 1st this time as it's of fairly high priority. First two skipping intervals were normal pace, all the rest were hard for 5 secs, easy for 5 secs.

B/W the intervals -
pilates 100s,
pilates scissors (very slow, controlled) with 5 complete slow roll ups & downs,
controlled leg circles - approx 10 each side
side plank - one each side - untimed (weak at this about 30 secs only),
Medicine ball side to side held with both hands, arms out straight not moving body,
Medicine ball roll ups and downs - slowly 5 reps.

Then attempted a new exercise aimed at stabilizing my core while stepping up and down.

Set up a high step approx 60 cm high and put a wobble board in front of it. Put my feet close together in the middle of the board and tried to step up and down. After a few minutes of trying it was obvious i couldn't take my feet off the board to step up - would really need 2 small wobble boards - one for each foot.

Changed it over for one of those disk things with air in it just to do step ups on a surface that requires some stabilization. Was ok with the step up but the step down (backwards) was not as controlled as i'd intended. Will do it with a lower height next time until i can work up to it.

Then two one minute intervals balancing on a normal wobble board.

Then the skipping rope I was using broke mid skip - most of the others oddly are too short so will bring my own next time.

Then put my towel on the wobble board to pad it and knelt on it while i used the ab wheel to push out with both hands. Found it tiring to stabilize this and did about 5 reps one at a time with a very short break between each one. Went as far out as i could stabilize the board - not the whole way but approx 3/4s.
Then repeated the side plank on both sides and decided it was time to start stretching.

Need extra time to get in some boxing as i think this much core is pretty important for me at this stage.

Did approx 25 mins of stretching. Most emphasis on hamstring fit ball stretching. Let a little air out of the fitball (no one was watching :o) so i could do it properly, twice on each leg.
Then did some stretch back chest stretching, gluts, calf stretching PNF style with a stretch band and brief abductor stretch.

I think i need to periodize my stretching also to get it all in. This week i'll do a hamstring stretch each night before bed, might move onto a psoas stretch the week after etc etc.

Shite typed a heap up but it timed out!

Gym - pilates, less skipping, more pilates

Cycled to gym 12kms - tired now

Did upper body stuff same as last week with more focus on the negatives as suggested by Salty.

Adam busing home - rear hub siezed up, needs to get new parts then will catch up with his mate Steven again. He's upset but i'm glad it happened here and not overseas as he can still get the parts wheras trike parts are too rare to get in Africa and now they know they need something much more hardy. Steven's going on alone through the Nullabor - hopefully nothing bad will happen to him otherwise Adam will feel terrible even though it wouldn't be his fault.

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Shite typed a heap up but it timed out!

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save me the trouble of erasing it. lol :p

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Adam busing home - rear hub siezed up, needs to get new parts then will catch up with his mate Steven again. He's upset but i'm glad it happened here and not overseas as he can still get the parts wheras trike parts are too rare to get in Africa and now they know they need something much more hardy. Steven's going on alone through the Nullabor - hopefully nothing bad will happen to him otherwise Adam will feel terrible even though it wouldn't be his fault.

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that didn't take long. he prob.sabotaged it cuz he missed ya. ;)

ya ya, will start my own log soon and stop cluttering up yours. just have to get a few things sorted first.

No worries Youngblood - i'm only into talking to myself a little so I don't mind some replies to my posts :)

Was given some free movie tickets yesterday so won't go to the group run. Didn't gym this morning because had a late night picking Adam up from the bus station etc. Some crazy dude had to be dragged off the bus at Port Wakefield by the cops and it held the bus up.

So will do a lunch run today - the area i work is flat so it's hard to get my dose of hills etc but i'll try to improvise!

Looks like it will take about a week to get the specialized trike hub they need from interstate so Adam will catch up with Steven on the other side of the Nullabor. I think he may have missed me but at the same time in his head it's a bit of a failure so i doubt he'll sabotage his trike again! :)

Have taken a few days off work to do PhD stuff. Having a nightmare about a serial killer preying on people who hadn't finished their PhDs kinda motivated me to get on track with it again. Have not had structured training - just a few long walks with my family's dog while trying to get on track again.

I've decided there are two things i have to do every day from now - some kind of exercise and some PhD work - on basically because my mind starts playing tricks on me if i skip a day and I suddenly start believing I'm incapable of training or studying despite doing so many years of both! :rolleyes:

I also think i still have some kind of fear of injury that makes me hesitant to run unless i'm distracted by the group run atmosphere. I think there may be something to it though so some swimming cross training a few times a week will be mandatory for me from now on too. Will help train my core and overall body strength and let me work hard aerobically when i feel hesitant to push hard while pounding the road etc. It just goes back to how i've never felt disabled in the pool! It should help on recovery days from hill runs etc too.

So anyway the news I really want to announce - the greatest news ever - I became an auntie! Last night around 8 pm little connor my nephew was born - Yay! ;D:happy0931sb4:

congrats on the becoming an auntie Sharla! that's awesome. :)

Still not sure if will start a log of my own again or not. Just got back from winter games training camp and we are all keeping detailed log books, and then back for more a week from Fri. It was a great learning experience there with some great people and a really strong team of talented boxers and coaches. Got the honor of being named captain, and made a few mistakes to begin with, but learning from it!

Can't imagine the rigors of doing your PhD and intensive physical training side by each, but knowing a bit about you, you'd likely be bored if not for the challenge. ;)

Again, enjoying your posts and glad to see you back.

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Originally Posted by Youngblood

congrats on the becoming an auntie Sharla! that's awesome. :)

Still not sure if will start a log of my own again or not. Just got back from winter games training camp and we are all keeping detailed log books, and then back for more a week from Fri. It was a great learning experience there with some great people and a really strong team of talented boxers and coaches. Got the honor of being named captain, and made a few mistakes to begin with, but learning from it!

Can't imagine the rigors of doing your PhD and intensive physical training side by each, but knowing a bit about you, you'd likely be bored if not for the challenge. ;)

Again, enjoying your posts and glad to see you back.

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Thanks Youngblood :)

Yeah I'm not sure I'd manage to keep two logs so I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that! Congrats on being captain! That's awesome! :o:D Winter games training camp sounds pretty productive and educational too - I bet you've learnt heaps!

Aside from the technical boxing things does a winter training camp involve travelling to somwhere nice and sunny or running through foot deep snow? :cold:

Being an aunti is pretty cool - he's so much cuter than i expected he ever could be being my brother's son! ;D

As for training Tuesday - didn't manage to get any significant training in - Adam finally got his new hub and is off on his journey again. I did do some uni work and got my hooping cough vaccination - originally planned to happen before Conner was born but he came early the little trouble maker! :)

Wednesday walked to work -it's a decent walk - tried out a small pack of Adam's that might be better than my Berghaus for long distance lightweight hiking. It's a 20L OMM wheras I have a bigger Berghaus. My Berghaus has a mesh in the back that holds the pack out a little so you don't make yourself sweaty.I found when I was doing the North Face I kept getting phone calls and had to stop, take my pack off and get my phone out only to find several times telemarketers were calling me! Damn it people I'm busy! :mad::-\

The OMM can come with an attachment around the front that can carry a reasonable amount and has a map case thingy too. Might be more suitable.

Cycled home enjoyed it - suprised how much i enjoyed it actually. I think i might work up to long bike rides before long runs as a low impact way to build up my endurance while my core and stabilizing muscles strengthen to deal with long runs more.

Thursday (today) walked to work with strong running intervals. I can't forget how much faster i used to run and i feel like what i do over distance now is a shuffle that i don't enjoy. I've decided walking with strong intervals might be a way to build up some good running muscle with good form that I won't maintain continuously over a long distance at this stage. I'll just keep building on the intervals until that's how i run the whole way.

No gym today or RRs run last night as have too much to do at work at the moment and have to do some extra hours to catch up.

Well Friday was a rite off as far as training goes. Had a meeting with my PhD supervisors and spent from the early morning hours preparing for it. Crappy PhD crap! :mad:

Didn't train at night as had a silversmithing course to go to that i enrolled in a while ago. Soooo much fun! :D Yes I have too many hobbies! :-\ But it was sooo much fun! ;D Got home late and Slept in on Saturday.

Saturday was the 1st stinker we've had in SA for a while - just too hot to run or cycle. Would've been perfect for swimming but i spent most of the day rearranging stuff in my room so i could use a corner for an office with a mini laptop table and make the dining room table available for other people again. I justified it as preparing to do lots of PhD work but really I was slack. :-\ I don't like how slack i can be sometimes lately. I'm not sure if it's chemical/nutritional or because i haven't had the chance to settle into a routine or just me getting - well slack! :-\

Sunday went for a 50 km bike ride with my mum. She's an avid cyclist while i've mainly been just a reluctant transport cyclist. I had fun though. The first 25 km was mostly up hill even though sometimes it seemed flat it was all gradually uphill which became obvious on the way back! ;D I liked pushing myself on the way up and enjoyed it overall but i don't think my bike is very ergonomic.

The forward posture of the road bike means i have to crane my nack back a little too much and i don't like that. Also I probably have standard crank length of 170 mm but for my height i should have shorter ones around 165 mm so i can keep up a decent cadence. I rather develop cadence as this will translate to better running form etc. As a woman the handles have a drop that is a bit too deep for my hands too and they're a bit wide so i'd like to change my handlebars.

The shitty thing is these things all cost money. The ideal as far as I can tell would be to modify a new Colnago Ace (has a more upright position for long distance riders) with women's handlebars and shorter cranks but then we're talking thousands of dollars and i have to save up for a unit deposit!

Adam would want me on a trike but they're not cheap either and they're heavy and mum hates how low they are to thr ground because she thinks traffic won't see you. Being squished doesn't really seem all that ergonomic either .... Why do people make normal things so damn unhealthy! :confused:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Yeah I'm not sure I'd manage to keep two logs so I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that! Congrats on being captain! That's awesome! :o:D Winter games training camp sounds pretty productive and educational too - I bet you've learnt heaps!

Aside from the technical boxing things does a winter training camp involve travelling to somwhere nice and sunny or running through foot deep snow? :cold:

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lol the training is just a cold as our country has to offer. :cold:

Sure am learning a lot. Both in the training plus what it involves given the extra responsibilities. I made the mistake of focusing too much on bonding with my team members (most of them know each other already...i'm kinda the new dude), which led to some late night fooling around in the hotel. In short, we shaving creamed a guy sleeping who is a seriously dedicated fighter (he didn't appreciate it), and as well led to us not getting much sleep. Next thing I knew I was sparring him the next day, wayyy overtired and he whupped me pretty good! ;D Guess I had that coming.

So yea, much as bonding is important, it is more important to consider the seriousness of our actions, the time and money spent by our organization and coaches...and try to lead by example. They really are a great bunch of people and am fortunate for the opportunity.

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Being an aunti is pretty cool - he's so much cuter than i expected he ever could be being my brother's son! ;D

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I'm going to tell him you said that! :D

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As for training Tuesday - didn't manage to get any significant training in - Adam finally got his new hub and is off on his journey again.

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Nice that you 2 got to spend some time. Am looking forward to reading and following his trip. Thanks for sharing the link.

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Wednesday walked to work -it's a decent walk - tried out a small pack of Adam's that might be better than my Berghaus for long distance lightweight hiking. It's a 20L OMM wheras I have a bigger Berghaus. My Berghaus has a mesh in the back that holds the pack out a little so you don't make yourself sweaty.I found when I was doing the North Face I kept getting phone calls and had to stop, take my pack off and get my phone out only to find several times telemarketers were calling me! Damn it people I'm busy! :mad::-\

The OMM can come with an attachment around the front that can carry a reasonable amount and has a map case thingy too. Might be more suitable.

Cycled home enjoyed it - suprised how much i enjoyed it actually. I think i might work up to long bike rides before long runs as a low impact way to build up my endurance while my core and stabilizing muscles strengthen to deal with long runs more.

Thursday (today) walked to work with strong running intervals. I can't forget how much faster i used to run and i feel like what i do over distance now is a shuffle that i don't enjoy. I've decided walking with strong intervals might be a way to build up some good running muscle with good form that I won't maintain continuously over a long distance at this stage. I'll just keep building on the intervals until that's how i run the whole way.

No gym today or RRs run last night as have too much to do at work at the moment and have to do some extra hours to catch up

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I've been working on adding to my aerobic base lately, as in, just started. I found down there in the spar already mentioned...that I was lacking the ability to go non stop start to finish. I've focused a lot on interval running, tabatas etc...so the explosiveness is there...but I did find myself getting winded. Would like to discuss this more with you at some point.

But off again for another 12+ hr one way trip for round 2 of training on Thurs-Mon. Good luck with your continued training and keep the log going!

Sounds like you had some fun - at least to begin with! I guess you may have annoyed your shaving cream target but as long as he knows it wasn't a personal thing to target him i'm sure all will be forgotten - and when you've had some sleep you won't suffer so much in the ring against him again!

I guess one positive of the situation is that your team mates know you are not against having fun so when you decide to be serious, get to bed early and train hard it won't look like you're just a boring person and might remind them of how important that phase is for everyone's training/development/competitions.

When i traveled to compete i was probably the boring one being one of the older team members and a girl. While I never bothered anyone and was not treated badly in any way I doubt I ever 'led by example' because I didn't have much in common with any of the younger lads.

I think maybe some of the youngest and quietest members appreciated having me there because I'd never pick on them but the difference is i wouldn't ever be captain either because I couldn't relate to the main group.

Pity to hear about the cold weather! Do they make you run outside? I'm such a cold sissy I think I'd struggle! I assume you have well developed methods for getting and keeping warm for safe training in sub zero temperatures though.

As for the aerobic stuff I'm sure all people tend to have a preference for being explosive or have a more endurance. I've always been more of an endurance person. I think easy jogs of 5 km to 8 km and 3 min rounds of shadow boxing probably would help but i suspect what you do sometimes involves this already? Maybe you need to try some middle distance tempo running/swimming/cycling to mimic maybe a 75% effort for a sustained period?

I also wonder how much is psychological. I know I can go out and run 30 km now if I want to but my confidence is not what it used to be and i might fear the pain of it a little more now for no rational reason. Mentally I think I knew I did more endurance work than most so in the ring if i was getting tired i'd never stop moving because i was 100 % sure even i if was hurting my opponent would konk out 1st.

When I went cycling with my mum we had a little race (well she choose to race me) and i gave up pretty quickly (she's a nut) but i was told afterward i didn't have to because other people are much closer to giving up than we often realize. That is a point i have never considered much in day to day training even though I have always done it in competition (possibly because I'm slack). You may have more endurance than you believe you do it you know what i mean? Not saying you're slack like me but you may find with a little specific training for it the added confidence with have a much greater effect than the actual physiological adaption alone.

Well as for me I was my birthday yesterday and I spent it in Perth with Adam. Still here and go back to Adelaide on Friday when Adam flies out to Cape Town. We're sleeping on the floor in a room in the scout headquarters and it's pretty good really. A big room - lots of space for Adam to spread out all the gear they brought over plus the 26 kgs of extra stuff Adam had me bring. They've replaced a lot of stuff, changing over tents to their more protective enclosed 'moment' tents to keep the mozzies out in Africa. They used one tarp tent in Australia since it's a bit lighter and malaria isn't a problem but their 'moment' tents are pretty good for anyone wanting a light weight good quality tent.

Sleeping on the floor has been good for my back which hasn't been the same since the bike rind on Sunday but I may have the bike issue sorted. Went looking at bikes with my mum just to get a idea of what i might get in a year or so if i've saved up a decent amount for the unit deposit. She's been thinking about getting a new bike for 18 months or so and fell in love with one while we were browsing. Looks like i'll be inheriting her old one which is only a couple of years younger than mine but was top of the range new (mine was bottom) and has had some of the componentry upgraded.

For my birthday i get the bike, i'll replace the wheels as they're not staying with the bike and mum will have it professionally fitted for me. I'll be extremely difficult during the fitting and if i have to pay extra for more appropriate handlebars, bar ends etc etc to make sure it's ergonomic.

I've read up about the marathon times some triathletes do as part of their ironman event with a peak of only 90 km running a week in training! The times are crazy fast and to me means i have a good chance of just picking quality runs and doing a lot of cycling to build endurance in preparation for another attempt at the North Face. Adam is excited to see me finally getting into cycling properly and i think we'll be doing a few long rides together when he gets back and possibly before.

Happy (belated) Birthday Sharla! :)

Thanks Youngblood :) I had a good birthday and a bit of a break to celebrate that and spend time with Adam for his last week in Australia. It was my firt visit to perth and i have to say it is a beautiful place. Nice weather, nice beaches, two impressive rivers there too. Kings park is the best inner city park i've ever seen with awesome views. Worth a visit!

Anyway with the birthday has come too much cake. Cake from Adam, cake from friends and cake from family. I am rapidly turning into an oompa loompa and need to address the issue before Christmas comes along and completely finishes me off! :-\

I am ashamed to admit that this mornign was my first designated exercise session for a while. I walked 12 km to work. It's not a huge session but for the first day back into the world of activity i think it'll do.

A swim would've been awesome but as i found out when packing for Perth I must've given my last pair of bathers to salvos and forgotten to replace them. I've ordered some on wiggle since they're on sale there and in Adelaide I won't find any chlorine resistant bathers my size for less than $60 at the moment.

A bike ride would've been great too but my bike doesn't have a seat post at the moment and my new bike is stuck in the bike shop. The carbon seat post is jammed in there because the previous owner never greased it and rode in some wet weather. They are working on cutting the seat post down and soaking it in stuff to free it up so they can take it out. Until then - no bike.

A run felt a bit too jarring this morning. Will run tomorrow with the RRs though. Will write more in my nest post a little later RE other health aspects I'm contemplating at the moment.

Ok so there is one aspect of my health i don't usually discuss but I figure in a way it is stupid to pretend it is something that can not be talked about and a factor for everyonje at some stage in their lives. i'm convinced of this even if people don't acknowledge it for themselves and well managed will help improve performance in all areas.

I'm referring to mental health. All biological systems have to have something called homeostasis. Homeostasis is in ecological systems, your water and electrolytes and body temperature all have to have some homeostasis. Meaning small changes within a certain range can be buffered by the system and larger ones can not. If this homeostasis is displaced the system will either collapse or a new state of homeostasis (usually not an ideal one) is created. I'm not sure why some people miraculously think the human brain should behave differently.

Some people think that you are weak to acknowledge any stress or depression etc. People often vow mind over matter as a solution to all things but what if it's your mind that is sabotaging you?

Anyway, like many people I have met I did not imagine I would require any medical help to deal with phD stress but about 2 years ago i went to a coucellor for some advice in dealing with some difficult personalities and was recommended some medication.

I think the stress had bumped me off of my natural level of 'morale' down several notches and while I continued to function enough to get by I really only operated at about 65%. I spent too much time feeling anxious, depressed, tired etc and probably worst of all helpless to change my situation. I believe the medication was crucial for turning that around for me.

I have been told by a doctor that the brain can make miraculous recoveries yet it usally takes about a year. The medication provided naturally produced nueroreceptors that are known to be poorly produced by chronically depressed or anxious people. It didn't give me any artificial highs but it did allow me to feel the cloud over my head slip away after a few weeks. My situation career wise etc has picked up and the causes of my stress become much more managable since then and perhaps my skills for coping with stress also.

The only problem is once you're on it you can't go off of it too suddenly. I guess your brain needs to adjust to making it's own chemicals again. I have tried weaning off of it before unsuccessfully. I got a lot of mouth ulcers (which i usually get if i don't take vitamin B) and started to get symptoms of anxiety again. Then I found out you're not meant to reduce your dose by any more than half a tablet a week (usually take 1 a day).

So now i'm gradually reducing and have managed to reduce my dose by 1.5 tablets a week already. I'm happy with that. Yesterday I forgot to take my tablet. That is no biggie as my weekly dose can still work out to be about the same as it's meant to be. However I woke up after having nightmares all night feeling anxious.

What turned it around for me was forcing myself out of bed for that walk. ironically i think this is very hard to do when feeling anxious. All i wanted to do was sleep in to the last moment and then face the day at work just on 9 am. I didn't want to face anything earlier than i was expected to do just for my own personal goal or health. Ironic it's the one thing we need the most when we're stressed that probably falls off first - exercise followed by the other things we need like adequate sleep and nutrition.

Nutrition may be key i think. I heard recently that children with ADD have to supplement long term with magnesium and zinc as their main treatment over other drugs which are short term only. The reason for this is that farming land has been leached of a lot of vital nutrients over time and our food contains less vital components than it once did. It seems silly to think that this does not effect adults in some way too. Also the fact I (and others i've spoken to) get physical symptoms related to vitamin B deficiency when they try to come off the medication too quickly all seems to point to nutrition as being more key than we are taught.

I'd also like to add that of all the people I have known with similar experiences they are motivated, educated people facing challenging long term stressful conditions - not people who choose to be lazy and 'weak'. Depression has a stigma as if it's a choice - somehow wimping out - but i think it's people who work hard and care enough about what they need to achieve who are most prone to it. You have to care about something for it to hurt if it seems unobtainable or slipping away.

Anyway i have noticed some minor 'numbness' with the medication. I can function fully as a full time employee but the accute drive and motivation required to also do a part time PhD and train everyday has sometimes seemed to be lacking. That is part of my motivation for weaning myself off. I want to see if that is just something i have to build or something that will return as I wean off.

Anyway before the walk I felt really anxious and two things helped - the walk itself and also something Andre said once that I remembered. I think eh was referring to fear during a bout and he said "just remember it's just a feeling". It's all too easy to start explaining reason you should feel anxious when you do. However when I remembered what Andre said i think that really made me step back and realize I have it pretty good at the moment and to come up with reasons for being anxious would be to imagine problems that may not exist and to just get myself worked up for no reason. I recommend that. It has made the rest of my day feel cheery when i could've slipped into a rut that would take days to get out of.

A website about depression they recommend in Australia called 'beyond blue' recommends at least 30 mins of exercise a day. I've been aiming to stick to that for not only my mental but physical health. I have not succeed as yet but now I'm back in Adelaide with a predictable routine for a while hopefully I'll have more success!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Youngblood

I've been working on adding to my aerobic base lately, as in, just started. I found down there in the spar already mentioned...that I was lacking the ability to go non stop start to finish. I've focused a lot on interval running, tabatas etc...so the explosiveness is there...but I did find myself getting winded. Would like to discuss this more with you at some point.

But off again for another 12+ hr one way trip for round 2 of training on Thurs-Mon. Good luck with your continued training and keep the log going!

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It only just occured to me that perhaps your coaches can give you some ideas of how your boxing technique can be more economical when you're tired - perhaps just for a few seconds - before you go hard again. That would make good use of your interval training strength and only require a moderate aerobic base if done effectively.

I'm not 100 % of your style as it is at the moment but if you use your angles a lot to make your opponent follow you and then step across at another angle just as they step you can counter punch easily without having to present or face a strong forward momentum. I tended to do that a lot sparring bigger people but if i was a heavier, stronger and more explosive person perhaps i wouldn't have trained that part of my technique as much. Of course if your strength is being explosive and strong and direct then go for it but it doesn't hurt to work the angles in between. Of course that's just a suggestion and for all I know you've been working your angles like a pro for years!

Tonight walked another 6 kms towards home until it got dark and then caught the bus the rest of the way. Would've walked about 18 km all up today but it's late now so I'm not sure it's the best choice for times when I have to work extra hours. This week is busy since I have to make up flexi-time at work and i don't think i'm coming up with the most effective solutions so far! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Youngblood

I've been working on adding to my aerobic base lately, as in, just started. I found down there in the spar already mentioned...that I was lacking the ability to go non stop start to finish. I've focused a lot on interval running, tabatas etc...so the explosiveness is there...but I did find myself getting winded. Would like to discuss this more with you at some point.

But off again for another 12+ hr one way trip for round 2 of training on Thurs-Mon. Good luck with your continued training and keep the log going!

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It only just occured to me that perhaps your coaches can give you some ideas of how your boxing technique can be more economical when you're tired - perhaps just for a few seconds - before you go hard again. That would make good use of your interval training strength and only require a moderate aerobic base if done effectively.

I'm not 100 % of your style as it is at the moment but if you use your angles a lot to make your opponent follow you and then step across at another angle just as they step you can counter punch easily without having to present or face a strong forward momentum. I tended to do that a lot sparring bigger people but if i was a heavier, stronger and more explosive person perhaps i wouldn't have trained that part of my technique as much. Of course if your strength is being explosive and strong and direct then go for it but it doesn't hurt to work the angles in between. Of course that's just a suggestion and for all I know you've been working your angles like a pro for years!

Tonight walked another 6 kms towards home until it got dark and then caught the bus the rest of the way. Would've walked about 18 km all up today but it's late now so I'm not sure it's the best choice for times when I have to work extra hours. This week is busy since I have to make up flexi-time at work and i don't think i'm coming up with the most effective solutions so far! :rolleyes:

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I believe you are right on the money about the conservation of energy part, and it is the one thing over all else I brought back from this last camp. Which is, my oh so very fancy footwork, is quite shit actually. While I move and dance all around the ring, I'm not doing it properly for both function and economy. Or of even strategy and effectiveness with things such as combos, moving in out. Can't see how angles wouldn't figure in also, as it is pretty much everything. :-\

So back to the drawing board we go! ...but I do still feel I need to consider the aerobic base in also...just that it will not really be the fix all I was thinking it would.

So that was some damn good insight from the other side of the planet, my friend. Almost like you had a little bird with a big blabbering mouth following me this past 5 days. ;D

Wish I had something to help you back with, like...how to manage flex-time, but I don't, so for now will just say - thanks.

I remember being very bouncy myself for a while. I'm sure you'll work it out and it will be natural for you soon enough. :) I think you're more helpful to me than you realise too just by being positive and encouraging. It means a lot thanks :).

This morning's gym session:
10 mins on the rower
Alternating 2 min rounds of skipping and the following:
- footwork orthodox, footwork southpaw (2 rounds each)
- shadow boxing orthodox (with little arm and hip movement warm-up), shadow boxing southpaw (x 2 each)

Then with approx 30 secs break 4 rounds on the bag - untimed (can't see the clock from this part of the gym, really need to get myself a timer!)

Technical Notes:
- Found during the footwork i have become a bit automated in my footwork patterns in that i know if i am going to take two steps or one. This is a bad thing as when you're moving you want to be able to change your mind at any moment and i allowed myself to be too high on my toes and my body weight a little too far over the lead leg after the 1st step. That means i pretty much have to take another step to regain balance. Not good.
- Going to work on allowing my weight to drop a little with good suspension through my knees and ankles etc.
- Got my cross back! I think I was letting my elbow rise from my side a little too much as I threw the punch. I was trained to be able to throw a cross simultaneously to stepping with the right foot. I think this cross can't ever really be a very hard one as the rear foot needs to be anchored to get a good pivot in. It's also too easy to lean to the left too high over your hips and to throw something reminiscent of a sloppy overhand without that rear foot anchor.
- Southpaw is much easier in shadow than on the bag! possibly because they've swapped the bag for a shorter lighter one that moves a lot and I'm just not fluent enough as a southpaw yet to keep up with the bag movement. Need to do more southpaw shadow.

After that finished off with another round of shadow boxing, 3 sets of alternating counterweight chin ups and tricep dips, then 3 sets of seated row and shoulder press. Only stretching i had time for then was a stretch band cheat stretch. Wanted to more especially some core work but I had to get to work to make up flexi time. Felt good though even if I now have panzy arms!

So Yesterday I didn't train. I had to start work early and had friends over for dinner in the evening. I planned it forgetting I had a lot of hours to work up this week - opps!

I should say though even though this week has been a bit crappy I love flexi time. So many jobs out there you work long hours and they're never counted. Most jobs don't have very flexible shift times either. I get to come and go each day at non-specific times and if I let my work mates know I can take up to 2 whole days off a month and make up the time on other days. That works very well when we have public holidays for extra long - long weekends. :) It will be awesome when I can use it for recreation time rather than PhD meetings etc!

This morning I ran with the road runners. Did about 10 km over small rolling hills - a combination of dirt tracks and streets.

Some nutter in a hotted up black sports car decided to pull over and abuse all the runners going past. Apparently we're not registered vehicles and we shouldn't be on the road. I've heard that many times riding my bike places. Thing is it's not illegal to ride your bike on the road and registration is for vehicles with engines greater than human legs pumping that have far greater potential to kill someone or cause wear and tear to the road.

As it is were running at 6 am - there are very few cars and we have time to get off the road if we see them - unless they're speeding well over the speed limit as this knob was when he approached us.

Most of the runners just ran past ignoring him but John - one of the road runners who volunteers a lot to organize things for the group stopped to talk to him. Immediately i thought that was not a good idea so i stopped too in case i had to step in if this guy lost the plot completely. Luckily he just had a bit more of a rant and John handled it very professionally saying "we'll keep running here and there's nothing you can do about it have a nice day" basically.

Thing is I'm a bit dissappointed with my instincts. I didn't get his rego number! WTF that's the first thing I should've done! Plus I stopped in case things got physical but i watched from the other side of the car.

If he had gone into a sudden frenzy I would've gotten there way too late to prevent John from getting injured. Plus he'd see me coming which would've been bad for me since he was a big-ish guy. I should've walked around to quietly stand behind him. Apparently this guy has been frequently abusing the runners lately so hopefully I remember to do that if it happens again!

Saturday was another stinking hot day. I lazed around pathetically wishing i had my bathers so i could swim because even inside it was too hot to do anything else. Our home airconditioning policy seems to be to allow it to get at least as hot inside as it is outside - just to confirm that it is a very hot day - and then when you are extreemely uncomfortable turn the aircon on which is only in the living room. Then we all just fall asleep in there.

Sunday looked like it was shaping up to be the same until i winged to someone and they leant me their bathers! Why didn't i think about that earlier! :rolleyes:

Sunday swim in a 50 m pool
2 X 200m freestyle warm up
2 X 100m backstroke normal
2 X 100m backstroke drill with paddles - pausing with arm at top and then going back to meet other arm extended - a bit awkward trying to get my arms right - need to practice.
6 X 100 m freestyle normal - strong/steady pace
4 X 100 m freestyle with paddles
1 X 100 m freestyle normal
1 X 100 m backstroke
2 X 200 m breastroke

LOVED doing this out of the heat - was so much more productive afterwards!

Monday
10 mins rower

Then set a new timer to go off for 2 min rounds with 30 seconds break. It was a bit quiet so sometimes I didn't hear it beeping for the break (it beeps for the whole 30 secs) but I don't mind that - i'd rather do an extra 10 secs than disturb other people with the noise.

Skipping X 3 rounds
Footwork - X 2 rounds orthodox, X 2 rounds southpaw
X 1 round orthodox shadow
X 2 more rounds southpaw footwork
X 3 rounds orthodox shadow
X 2 rounds on the bag

Chest stretch with band and fit ball hamstring stretch to finish off.

Only had an hour this morning - was actually up on time but a family member who was driving to gym with me wasn't ready so didn't get a long session in.

Technical notes
- Am getting a bit of fatigue in the rear leg when doing southpaw footwork - hip flexor area i think. I have noticed on the my siter's wi fit my weight tends to be back to my right. i've obviously developed the habit of leaving more of my weight on my rear foor in orthodox. Southpaw should be good for me then.
- I found myself 'pushing' the bag - not sure why - perhaps i'm not turning my fist enough and i'm pushing instinctively to compenstate for not having my shoulder in a good position? :confused: Or maybe i'm lifting my elbow too early due to not anchoring my punches properly with good footwork?
- I think i know why i was having footwork issues last week - apart from being too automated - i think i was moving my head a little ahead of my body. I don't have the same problem when i stop doing that. Another bad habit i will work on correcting.

Tuesday

Had to work early to go to a PhD meeting in the afternoon. Only exercise I managed was a pilates session at home at night. If i was more organized I could've done more though - need to pull that into line.

Wednesday

Morning gym session:
10 mins rower
Then in 2 min rounds with 30 (or 15 depending on whether or not i hear the beeper straight away) sec break did the following:

- 3 rounds skipping
- 1 round othodox footwork
- 5 rounds southpaw footwork
- 1 round othrodox footwork
- 3 rounds orthodox shadow boxing
- 3 rounds bag work orthodox.

Then finished off with some pilates:
- Normal plank one minute
- Side plank each side 30 secs
- side plank each side with three legs raises each side. Three is a little pathetic - need to build up to being able to do 50 easily!
- pilates very slow, controlled (so opposite leg doesn't move at all with knee bent) leg circles about 5 each direction per leg (lying down on back).
- kneeled on wobble board and used ab wheel to roll in and out three times

Finished off with a quick chest tretch with band. Need to fit more stretching in. Again could've started earlier but ride to gym co-ordination is off. I think I'll ride when the weather is ok.

Technical Notes:

• Took a while to get into the swing of southpaw footwork. I think I was getting it by the 5th round.
• On the bag worked on very simple one, twos cnocentrating on breaking the habit of 'pushing' the bag. By the end I think i was beginning to get the jab right but the cross still needs more work. I managed to improve a little by remembering to pull the shoulders back but maybe need to work on controlling my rear foot pivot better for the cross.
• Noticed to being with on the bag i was gettting some shock through my neck/shoulder when jabbing. realized after a while that if i relaxed my shoulders and neck more there was no jarring. Need to work on that.

Wednesday Night

Burnside run - about 10 kms on flatish terrain wearing my vibrams. Felt difficult but ok. Slight niggling in the back of my right foot above the heel. Not sure why. :confused:

Thursday morning

Finally got to ride my new bike for the 1st time! It was very easy compared to my old one! ;D Did about 30 kms from my house up to Norton Summit and back down to work. Made the mistake of pacing myself for the whole distance when really coming down from Norton Summit the only workout I get is my hands on the brakes! :-\ Will have to work harder going up next time.

The new compact handle bars are MUCH better. I can reach the brakes from any position and have no neck strain at all. I still have 170 mm cranks and i feel shorter ones would be better for transfer to my running fitness but will have to make do for now.

Thursday Night
Cycled home - not particularly arduous but memorable because I was able to catch and overtake - on my old bike one-legged pensioners overtook me as if i was standing still! :o It's a bit sad how much difference the quality of the bike can impact cycling success but while i'm just doing it for fitness I don't really mind.

About 12 kms - about 42 km for the day - not much for cycling but i'll aim to build on it.

Friday
Road Runners run - approx 9 kms - half up-hill and then back down again. My legs were sore before starting (maybe from the cycling?) and now they HATE me! I guess that's what i get for not stretching enough this week too.

Did lie down on the ground to stretch after this run. Normally wouldn't as I'm allergic to bees and the risk of sitting on a dead bee which can still sting is bad but my legs hate me so much it was worth the risk!

Planning a bath, massage and maybe some deep heat or anti inflammatory cream tonight!

Saturday

I had booked into a trail run but my legs hated me waaaaaay to much to let me run especially on rough terrain. Still I love the scenery and am always bummed when I miss out. I also thought getting up early 6 days a week might make it more natural to keep getting up early for training. This last week it has been easier and I hate to go back to hating waking up early on Monday after a weekend of sleeping in.

Woke up at about 6 to go to the trail run and just ended up walking for an hour. Running would've been more fun but at least i did something. legs still hated me.

Sunday

Recovery day today. My legs feel better though. Am looking into setting up things to consolidate some better habits during the week. I've bought some LSA, celium husks and quinoa flakes to add to my cereal so i'm less likely to get hungry enough to raid the chocolate box at work. I've also set up the Enyo yoghurt maker overnight which will make heaps so I can have a small serve with brekky and at morning tes. I've also and got some pretty bland tuna, cus cus and salad meals planned.



I am becoming more aware that I do need to think about my nutrition. I love food and i'm never going to be anorexic but I just don't like being too soft bodied. Adam and his mate Stephen have both lost 6 kgs already on their trip! That's scary! Adam had a little to loose but Stephen had NOTHING! They're going to be nothing but a pair of legs, spine, lungs and a rib cage when they come back no matter what they eat!

Monday morning

Gym Session - Pretty much boxing orientated as I intent to go to uni for a while after work and then go to the gym at 8 when I can access the gym again (off peak membership).

That's my plan to try to get a bit more out of myself both exercise and PhD work wise. Hopefully I can sustain it even though it'll mean i get home lateish.

so this morning -

10 mins rower
1 X 2 min round skipping - then thought 3 min rounds would be better so the rest of the workout was in 3 min rounds:
2 X rounds skipping
1 X othodox footwork
4 x southpaw footwork
3 X othodox shadow boxing

Then stretched - Hamstrings, gluts, calves using PNF stretches. Forgot to stretch my chest - opps!

Technical Notes:

• Working on relaxing my shoulders as I keep wanting to tense which will be really jarring when i go to the bag
• Have to concentrate on getting my pivot and shoulder movement right for a cross that isn't a push.
• Also have to watch I'm turning my fist at the end of my punches and not letting my right elbow float out.

It's a bit shocking how many basic things I need to work on at the moment. I wonder just how crap I was before I retired that all of these thigns stick out to me now! :-\

It seems every session I do I realise i need to step back again to cement my foundations that are undermining the rest! Although if these things are my main faults and now I have time to get them right then I look forward to how much better I'll feel afterwards! :) As basic as my routine is at the moment I'm enjoying it. :)

Ah well being the dill that I am I forgot to get my training clothes for the gym when i left work last night so i didn't end up doing the second gym session. :-\

This morning took the bike out for a spin. Went towards Cuddly Creek but not sure how far. Then straight to work from there - took about 1 hr 40 mins. Enjoyed it. My legs do feel like they've done something. Still want to build it up a bit though - knowing Adam is averaging about 150 kms a day makes my effort seem a bit panzified!

Mental Note to Self: Don't buy clothes over the internet on fat days. I wore a pair of cycling pants for the first time this morning. They're a touch big. It was fine for the hilly areas but going back into the city where I would get on and off my seat at lights I found as I tried to remount the end of the seat would catch on the padded shammy of the pants. Kinda hard to take off at light surrounded by traffic when you are in the process of dacking yourself!

I am considering attempting it again this year but probably next year. I think i want to do it well and it's not realistic to think i can get that much stronger between now and May.
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Originally Posted by deminmartin9

I am considering attempting it again this year but probably next year. I think i want to do it well and it's not realistic to think i can get that much stronger between now and May.
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Ok yeah I mean I was considering doing it 2011 but I've decided it's more realistic to aim for 2012. :p You knew what I meant! :rolleyes:

I have fallen behind on updating this but I'll catch up around christmas. Things have not gone according to plan - cleats on road bike were not fitted professionally and i was getting a sore left foot - that has now been adjusted but my foot is still a little sore to stand on.

Also I was really excited to have halved my antidepressants to half a tablet a day over 7 weeks but by brain rebelled with a day of dizzy spells and sudden onset of mouth ulcers. Emotionally I felt like i was going ok as I was stressed but I didn't think I was stressed more than i should've been.

Got yelled out by a knob at work (who was later told to apologise by the boss), had a bit of a panic trying to get a trike part posted to Adam when the address he asked for turned out to be a FedEx office in Zambia that didn't exist (awkward as it was urgent and he was out of phone range) and got a really, really bad phone bill from calling Adam. Still I wasn't stuck in bed or totally freaking out or anything. :confused:

I guess the physical symptoms mean something though so i'm starting again and reducing my dosage by half a tablet a fortnight now.

ok finally got around to doing this -

The left foot is all good again. The adjustment of the cleats made a huge difference. On last ride I did still notice a small niggle though so i'm considering putting a soft (not structured) insole in it.

The dude in the bike shop said he wears thicker socks to prevent this. He's had it and suprise suprise he also has feet of slightly different sizes and it's his smaller one that hurts. I'm thinking the socks probably work just because they improve the fit of the shoes (sized for the bigger foot).

I've started a circuit in my neighbourhood. It's only short but the aim is to get myself to really enjoy running again. The last time I did was about April this year - then I got either hooping cough or glandular fever (docs have no idea / time to diagnose) for several weeks and lost a lot of fitness.

Expecting to jump back to that fitness too quickly has made running less enjoyable than it should be and me less inclined to feel like running.

Phil Maffetone is a trainer of distance runners and he has a theory of training at a low heart rate and gradually and very slowly building up to prevent chronic fatigue, heart disease etc. I'm not patient enough to stick to his routine but I did take something from his ideas. He used gradual build up to allow people to mentally enjoy their training even if they started very small.

I think i've self sabotaged a lot by trying to start training the way i did at my fittest and being constantly frustrated by my lack of success!

So this small circuit is something i plan to do most days. It will keep my body and mind familiar with running. It's long enough to get me through that heavy legs warming up feeling and into a more comfortable stage, get a bit sweaty and then stop. As it gets easier i'll add more laps but i'm aiming to get faster before i make it longer.

I've done this for the last three days. Yesterday I also rode about 50 km through the hills and today i cycled to work and back. My gym closed down over christmas so i haven't been there for a while.

ya gotta walk before you run...i forget this all the time and injuries pile up adding to frustration leading to depression...go slow, get the feel get hungry but mostly find your passion for it, what makes it fun what makes it the thing you want to do more than anything? the thing you can't stop thinking of? hope that helps,and if not "remember we're all in this together"- amna wise beyond my years