Saturday 2 hr walk and a stretch

Sunday i didn't manage anything - i had paid cleaning work at someone else's house for 4 hours plus my own afterwards. Then had to be at mum's for a BBQ afterwards.

Again I should have done it in the morning but my flatmate was flying out back to her parents interstate and i'm unlikely to see her again for a long time so i felt it was important to farewell her. Was also awake fairly late Saturday night hanging out with her.

I have to confess i have let my sleeping pattern slip a bit lately. All it takes is one or two late nights in a week to upset my sleepnig pattern. I can usually reset it easily enough but i hate the disruption to my routine in the first place.

Anyway on a positive not i'm trying out some new ideas from a strething book i ordered for my birthday. It has some stuff in it about treating fibroid tissue etc which might prove useful but i'm still nutting out what to do with it.

I've decided i was onto a good thing when i was stretching first thing in the mornings. I think the way i like to sleep curled up in a ball is half my problem. I misinterpreted what Scrap suggested about stretching after contraction - i should have recognized my sleeping style as being a source of contraction.

I slept last night on my back which was better than my side and felt a little better upon waking up.

So I plan to stretch when i wake up, then exercise and stretch again - 2 stretching sessions per day minimum so they will have to be individually shorter.

I've known for a while that i need structure in what i do but i'm just in the process of working out a new timetable.

I think a major mistake I've always made in the past is dropping a timetable immediately as soon as it doesn't work and then having this slack useless time while i nut out another one.

Ultimately even an imperfect timetable is better than none!

I think that's what i dislike about my PhD too - it's just chaotic and with equipment issues and plant growth stages etc it's not something I can pick up and put down whenever.

I'm still working out how to manage my uni work and job hunting but i'm going back to 4:30 am mornings because i think I feel like i've achieved something just by getting up at the time and finishing some exercise before i tackle the rest of my day. That in turn makes me feel more productive and motivated with everything else too.

So this is my initial program for the mornings and I'd LOVE any input I can get. It is still being developed obviously and more specifics will be added as I go.

Mon

  • Wake Up Stretch
  • Running sprints - 200 to 800 m intervals with walk or complete rest recovery
  • Banana and strength training
  • Post Exercise Stretch then cold shower

Tues

  • Wake Up Stretch
  • 1 hr moderate intensity cardio
  • Post Exercise Stretch

Weds

  • Wake Up Stretch
  • Swim sprints
  • Post Exercise Stretch then cold shower

Thurs

  • Wake Up Stretch
  • Monaghetti fartleck
  • Banana and strength training
  • Post Exercise Stretch

Fri

  • Wake Up Stretch
  • Long Swim
  • Post Exercise Stretch

Sat

  • Wake Up Stretch
  • Strength training and boxing technique
  • Post Exercise Stretch

Sun

  • Long stretching session
You'll notice i've put in cold showers on days after i do sprint training. That is because i have read recently that people recover better from sprint training when they have cold showers a lot more than hot ones. This might be for a couple of reasons I could think of.

Perhaps it stops inflammation of tired muscles, perhaps it causes blood vessels to vasoconstrict and channels nutrients etc to the areas most used so they are more concentrated there?

I don't know I'm just hypothesizing but my point is i think it could be worth giving it a go even though I HATE being cold and I LOVE a good hot shower - and when i mean hot i mean almost scalding!

I think I'll keep the wobble board in all strength training where possible even though it means i am not able to do much - i figure the harder it is the more it will benefit me in the long run.

I think of it as being like doing good pushups versus those little chin dipping things people do when they think they're doing a set of 100 but haven't managed one yet!

As for the anti-depressants the psychologist recommended I haven't had an appointment with my GP to discuss it yet.

Another friend who is also a PhD student started on them two weeks ago. She hasn't noticed any change yet except a little nausia which is predicted to go away after a while. From that i wouldn't think they are addictive or too extreme in any way.

She used to be a state funded kiacker and has an amazing sense of humour. She's the first one to make everyone else laugh and cheer everyone else up but I think she's really worn down. Her supervisor is especially loud and domineering and i guess it has just gotten to her over time. I think she has it worse than me though.

I think i'm happy when i exercise and i'm not 100 % sure I need to be on anything. I'm going to research more supplements etc like vitamin Bs which are associated with stress.

I am on vitamin B2 supplements because i was getting a lot of mouth ulcers associated with being run down by stress. My mum took me to a pharmacist one and she recommended vitamin B2. Now as long as I take them I don't get any ulcers. The second I forget though they come back which tells me i'm likely to be prone to those kinds of deficiencies.

Plus although it's not related there must be something in my blood which is different to that of most of my family. I attract mosquitoes - the other night at my mum's BBQ i got bitten no less than 14 times on a little bare patch of skin on my foot. My sister got bitten once (she was sitting next to me) and everyone else not at all! Little discriminatory targeting AHOLES!