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

[Youngblood]

Shite typed a heap up but it timed out!

save me the trouble of erasing it. lol

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.

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.

[Sharla]

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!

[Sharla]

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!

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!

[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.

[Sharla]

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.

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! 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?

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

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!

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.

[Sharla]

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!

Didn't train at night as had a silversmithing course to go to that i enrolled in a while ago. Soooo much fun! Yes I have too many hobbies! But it was sooo much fun! 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! 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!

[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! 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?

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

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! 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.

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

I'm going to tell him you said that!

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.

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

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!

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

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!

[Sharla]

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.

[Sharla]

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!

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!

[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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[Sharla]

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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Day Light Savings

Ok yeah I mean I was considering doing it 2011 but I've decided it's more realistic to aim for 2012. You knew what I meant!

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.

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

[Sharla]

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.

[iceman]

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

[Sharla]

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

Thanks Iceman - Even though on one hand starting back slowly makes sense on the other hand a little part of my brain just scream "SISSY!!!!!" - so it's good to know other people have gone through this and can relate!

So I have done my circuit every day since I last updated my log (plus a slightly longer one on one day) and I'm pleased to announce the last two times I've done it it felt MUCH easier. I'm not sure how much is physiological improvement and how much might be mental.

Along with just feeling more sure of myself over the distance (which wasn't scary to begin with but now isn't even uncomfortable) I have been a little more productive with uni work than usual. I had to go through my old desk at uni to clean it out and working through all the reading etc I have done I realised I haven't completely wasted my time even though it feels like it sometimes and it re-sparked my interest in a few old ideas.

An old running partner once said to me when his running is not going well it feels asthough work and everything else doesn't go well either. I think a part of this is related to confidence and probably in his case fatigue as I'm pretty sure he over-trained quite a bit pretty much running the full distance of a marathon every Sunday plus a lot of kms every other day. I wonder how much it does the other way though.

I'm also eager to get back to the gym this week - we have a public holiday for New Years Day tomorrow so i'll have to wait until Tuesday but I feel ready to start some more strength training and have a few ideas from a magazine of all places.

[Sharla]

Also regarding food the LSA, psyllium husks and quinoa flakes it has been working really well. If I have breakfast at home rather than at work where I have my stash I get a LOT hungrier and almost definately end up raiding the chocolate box!

So i bought another stash for at home and am trying to put my sister onto it. She's overweight but i struggle to find ways to help her improve her habits without it being counter-productive. I figure it's much easier to get her eat something extra in the morning than it is to tell her she doesn't need that junk food she goes for when she's hungry later in the day.

I've also started my own veggie garden (in pots so i can move it when my apartment is finished). So far I've only got a couple of capsicum plants (called peppers sometimes elsewhere) and some sage. I'm going to add something every couple of weeks. I figure if kids have ADD from malnourished low nutrient plants from over-cropped land then growing my own in good quality potting mix should be better for me. I'm using self watering pots so the time watering and knowing how much to supply is not such a problem. I need a low maitenance solution but the initial set up I have to admit is fun .