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

[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.

[Youngblood]

Happy (belated) Birthday Sharla!

[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.

[Sharla]

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!