Sharla's Log

[sourpuss]

Hang in there!

[Sharla]

Hang in there!

Thanks mate!

I feel like a bit of a knob writing a lot about not being able to train or not focussed in my training lately though!

I find it a bit embarassing. When you know what you should be doing and how to get from a to b and what b you are aiming for i think a little embarassment kicks you up the but and helps to keep you focussed.

lately though it just makes me feel a bit useless.

For that reason I'm giving my log a miss for a little while. Not ages hopefully jst until I know how much time i have to train and what kind of goals are realistic.

At the moment I'm steering towards aiming for another marathon but I've checked out the Aussie marathon calendar and nothing really sticks out around 4 or 5 months when i'd aim to run. Still have to think about it!

I'm also curious about tennis since a lot of things I like about boxing movement which are missing from Judo seem to be in tennis. I've never played though so I don't think i have a really education opinion just yet.

If i did enjoy it i guess it would be missing a lof of the problems which are annoying in boxing - lack of matches, coaches, mentors etc etc.

At the moment we are in the middle of a record breaking heat wave so I'm probably only managing to get a brief workout in 3 out of 4 days and not with any great structure. Running is hard and maybe dangerous but the pools are full especially at night so it requires a bit or organization.

This week was the first week of my new job so i've been spending ages getting ready in the mornings to give a professional first impression, organizing orientation etc so i haven't had my act together for training but I aim to work it out over the next few weeks.

[Sharla]

Ummm yeah - not heaps to report.

I'm getting into the pilates - fully converted actually. Really enjoying it. It's like I knew for ages I had weaknesses somewhere but I really struggled to understand them and work out what to do about them but pilates just seems to have the answer to everything.

Of course other things like PNF stretching etc all contribute but this has been the last piece of the puzzle. I think part of it is in trying to perfect my technique I became fixed in particular patterns of movement in boxing and it made my other hinges rusty basically.

Perhaps there were a few slight errors in what I thought was perfect technique but because that was all I was taught or understood at the time I probably deliberately practiced incorrect technique which would not have helped.

As for boxing i think i am really finished. I think it comes with a culture here and while I've gotten a lot out of and met a lot of wonderful people, learnt a lot about myself etc but I'm onto other things now and happy for it.

I have considered going back to Judo but now I feel I want to get into pilates properly until I have a more stable base. I have been doing cheap mat pilates classes with a really good instructor and she has been awesome! It's given me a really good understanding of how to engage the deep core muscles to make movements safe for the spine and only go as far as you can safely.

In great contrast to her I did a 'pilates class' as a free trail at an expensive gym with reformers and I could tell straight away the instructor was not pilates certified at all. He just got us to use the reformer for something like a hard pulley weights workout in which either your core is good enough or you strain your back - no in betweens.

I was ok because I'd learnt my limits with the other instructor but a girl in the class complained of pain in her lower back and he just explained it away as if it was just a normal part of pilates! He has no idea! Frigging con-artisit wanted to charge either $30 per 45 min group class session or $90 a week too! Screw that! I'm sticking with my $8 per 2hr mat pilates lessons!

Apart from that I'm gradually getting back into the running but I have no exciting goals at the moment. I want to bring some resistance training back into it but I want to integrate it with pilates form perhaps with some band resistance set up to make the resistance less the further my arms or legs are from my core but I have to suss out where I can tie bands in my little unit first.

New job is fantastic and I'm still plugging away with the PhD part time so I think with those and learning pilates I have enough technical things to learn without a martial art at the moment.

I'm not online a lot anymore since i'm in the lab away from the computer more in my new job and there are strict it security rules which won't allow me to get onto non-work email accounts or forums etc so for now the log stops here. I'm going to check in occasionally to see how everyone else is going though so good luck with everything.

[Sharla]

OK i know I said the training log is finished and I guess i really don't have time to keep updaily reports because I'm not on the net much anymore but I have to commit to my newest goal here so I can't wimp out.

I've already told my mum the plan who was already planning to walk it but the more anti-wimping out insurance I have the better.

This is what i plan to do - 56 km hilly but beautiful terrain. It'll hard but local so not expensive and fairly casual. So basically no one will care what my time is nor will they care what proportion i actually manage to run versus walk.

It's a personal challenge and demands fitness without ultr-competitiveness etc so i think it'll be fun!

This is it:

South Australian Road Runners Club | Yurrebilla Trail Ultra

I'm probably not going to keep a daily log but I may continue to use you poor Saddo members as anti-wimping out insurance every now and again. From this point on this is mainly a running and core training log so it'll probably bore you senseless though sorry!

[Youngblood]

OK i know I said the training log is finished and I guess i really don't have time to keep updaily reports because I'm not on the net much anymore but I have to commit to my newest goal here so I can't wimp out.

I've already told my mum the plan who was already planning to walk it but the more anti-wimping out insurance I have the better.

This is what i plan to do - 56 km hilly but beautiful terrain. It'll hard but local so not expensive and fairly casual. So basically no one will care what my time is nor will they care what proportion i actually manage to run versus walk.

It's a personal challenge and demands fitness without ultr-competitiveness etc so i think it'll be fun!

This is it:

South Australian Road Runners Club | Yurrebilla Trail Ultra

I'm probably not going to keep a daily log but I may continue to use you poor Saddo members as anti-wimping out insurance every now and again. From this point on this is mainly a running and core training log so it'll probably bore you senseless though sorry!

Am glad to see you quit your training log. Because you are actually posting more now. haha

I think this is exactly the right reason to be here. For training and health related stuff, and using the logs as a check and balance on yourself. This does sound like fun, but I still maintain ther is something wrong with marathoners, like...in.the.head.

[Sharla]

Am glad to see you quit your training log. Because you are actually posting more now. haha

I think this is exactly the right reason to be here. For training and health related stuff, and using the logs as a check and balance on yourself. This does sound like fun, but I still maintain ther is something wrong with marathoners, like...in.the.head.

..........And boxers aren't the least bit nutty?


OK update

Last Sunday:

12 km trail run with a trail running group - was meant to be 11 but I was silly enough to run alone for some of it and missed a turn off.

I had to double back and find the right track again, Seriously when you yell out "cooooeeee" a few hundred times don't people know you need them to yell back so you can work out where the hell they are! Apparently not!

Monday - Legs killing me from the hills so I did a 1 hour walk in new "earth" shoes. I'm wearing these for work too. They have a negative heel which balances pretty much all other shoes which have the heel raised above the toes.

They let your calves and hamstrings stretch out properly and do a lot to help correct poor posture. I plan to stick to this brand for all shoes except my runners from now on because my lower back doesn't get as sore wearing them.

Tuesday - 20 min walk warm up and 30 min jog - still have really sore legs.

Wednesday - the day off - needed to let my legs recover. The Sunday run was really hilly on rough terrain and my legs just were not used to it!

Was meant to go to yoga in the morning but underestimated how long it would take to walk there and missed out. Ended up starting work early instead. I could have cycled but my bike has really been pissing me off lately.

Thursday - After work I caught a bus to uni to do some work there and ran home. About 20 mins walk walm up and 40ish minutes run home. It's downhill which isn't the best. I have to hold my core muscles as tight as I can to stop my pelvis rocking forward and tightening muscles in my lower back.

Friday - Cycled to meet the road runners for a 6 am run. Got there too late! Had no where to put my stuff - would normally get it locked in a car - so I couldn't do it.

I had allowed 30 mins to get there which should have been heaps! I got overtaken by a really obese guy pedalling at a third of the pace I was and decided my bike is definately ready for the junk yard!

Saturday - Went for another trail run. Had the option of turning to the finish at the 15 km mark for a total of a 16 km run or going on to do 22 km.

The terrain was harder and hillier than last time by a looong way. I did 16 km and a lot of people who had planner 22 decided 16 would be enough after all. Really I would have been stupid to jump from 12 to 22 anyway!

Not just because it's a big jump but also because I didn't carry water. The 12 km without water was fine but while it started off being really chilly it warmed up quickly and the long sleeved running top I wore was real overkill!

I decided early on if I really had to I could rest at the tops of hills if I ran up them. As the run went on I cursed that decision! Everyone else would walk up the steeper slopes and I would try to run with teeny tiny little steps and buurrrrrrning gluts! I made it though.

Some of the down hill slopes were pretty steep also though. The terrain often included a lot of slippery sand/pebbles which would slip out from under you at the wrong time. I really couldn't run down them and had to climb down holding onto shrubbery with white knuckles for dear life. At least I got my breath back from the up hill parts!

I had some good luck too - at one stage where the track ended for a hundred metres going through a pine plantation area I had to walk over logs etc and weave my way around areas with lots of branches etc. My S sensor footpod worth AUD $150 got snagged and came off. I didn't know until my heart rate monitor beeped at me and I thought it was gone for good.

Everyone behind me in the group started looking for it though and we found it. This little silver pod amongs all those sticky and old bark and greyish dirt! I could have kissed the woman who found it! I didn't though.

Also another runner was nice enough to share his water with me closer to the end. Everyone was so friendly and staying with a group rather than running at exactly my pace paid off as far as not missing turn offs this time! I'm really enjoying it! I'm going to try to run with these people every weekend from now on.

My mother's partner Micheal meawhile had been working on my bike (slept at mum's Friday night to get a lift to the run).

We found out The rear wheel thingy holding the ball bearings etc had frozen up so it didn't turn properly, the front brakes were gone, the rear brakes only worked on one side.

The chain had stretched and the tyres were on backwards which is apparently like "stroking a cat the wrong way" plus half flat. The tape inside the wheel beneath the tube had worn and moved so the tyube would get punctures where the spokes joined the rim easily too.

He spent all day fixing it all except the chain which i need to buy and he put some better tyres on which are a bit slicker than the thick mountain bike ones for me to try. He had them sitting in his shed so i can buy them if i decide i'm not going to ditch my bike and buy a new one after a month.

He's an absolute legend! Does more for me without expecting anything in return in one day than my real father did ever total!

The thing which I thought was really bad about my bike though was I had the seat too high and I didn't even know. I was rocking my hips from side to side to pedal rather than just using my legs.

Being bent over to reach the handle bars with my lower back bent and my pelvis basical training itself to be unstable had to be really really bad for me! What an idiot I am!

It's Sunday morning now and I don't feel too sore so hopefully I'll get a bit more in this coming week and make up for the two yoga and one pilates class I missed!

[Howlin Mad Missy]

Sharla - keep us posted on the negative heel shoes?

sounds like you're keeping busy