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

[Sharla]

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? 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.

[Sharla]

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.

Thursday morning

Finally got to ride my new bike for the 1st time! It was very easy compared to my old one! 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.

[Sharla]

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! 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!

[Sharla]

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!

[Sharla]

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.

[Sharla]

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!

[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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Day Light Savings

[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 .

[Sharla]

I have been elected as my sister's personal trainer.

It all began when i found and bought some online nutrition software - will get the name later yesterday morning. It should be handy once it's set up properly as it keeps a database of food so you just add it to each meal in the diary and you can track your consumption.

At the moment it's a bit fiddly as it's American and a lot of things I would consider normal are not in the database like Weet-Bix and skinless chicken breast . So i have to use CalorieKing to google the figures and add it to the database. I don't have a lot of patience for the fiddlyness of it but I'm persisting with the hope it become manageable.

So Rachel looked interested so i added her as a user and she asked to go swimming with me and we used that as her first training session.

It took an hour to get her to burn 325 cal. That was really hard work for her. It's much less than I would've suspected according to how much people are supposed to burn but i did get her puffing occasionally and she did a lot more than she really wanted to do.

Tuesday
Morning walk/jog with Rachel. We did my little cicuit (3 laps around a few local blocks). It took almost an hour. Completely walked the first one and walk/jogged the 2nd and third. She found it really hard and I couldn't leave her at all otherwise she wouldn't keep going. I don't know why she seems to find it so hard yet her heart rate is not so high. Perhaps it's because she's so over-weight it's almost more anaerobic rather than aerobic .

I learnt after the second lap that I couldn't push her to jog for 20 m very many times before it all felt too hard for her. We cut the jogs down to about 5 m and did them more often. Even her fast walk was slower than my normal one.

It makes swimming seem like more the thing for her. At least in the pool I can get her to do kick with fins and do it myself without and she can woop my arse making some cheeky comment as she passes me. It's easier to find things she can enjoy in the pool and feel less useless doing. The dog loved the walk though so we can't stop that completely!

So it was exercise for her but not for me - will get to road runners speed training tonight for myself and tomorrow morning I'm considering taking her to the gym to do some cardio on the rower and we can both do some resistance training etc.

[Sharla]

Last Night Made it to speed training -

I can't say there was much speed about the way i was running though!
2.2 km warm up followed by the following intervals -1600m, 1200m, 800m and 400m.
The others were timing their breaks but i didn't have my watch and felt I wasn't running fast enough to justify much of a break so i generally left at the same time as whoever i saw finish just a bit ahead of me.

Walked about 2 kms to the bus stop to warm down. Overall felt good and the group was a friendly bunch. Told one of them i'd pay him $5 if I didn't show up next week. He looked a bit confused until i told him i needed to blackmail myself.

Wednesday Morning

Cycled to the gym. Planned weights with some cardio between to help kick up my heart rate.

15 mins on the rower - 5 mins easy - last ten with 30 secs hard alternating with 30 secs easy.
One set of shoulder press and seated row (underhand grip to relax my shoulders)
2 mins on treadmill at around 12 km/hr but foot didn't appreaciate it.

Then did the following with 2 mins on the rower between each set (1 set - 2 exercises):

• counterweight lat pull down and tricep dip X 3
• shoulder press and seated row
• shoulder press, Bicep curls X2
• Shoulder press, bicep curls and seated row (got a bit confused there as other people hop on and off the machines bw my sets and i couldn't remember where i was up to but it's all good!)

After the last set above i did the following without cardio between as i was running short on time:

• hamstring curls & leg extensions X 3 sets
• hip raises on mat with extra weight on my abdomen for resistance & squats on 2 medicine balls X 3 sets

Medicine balls were a little awkward. Had none very similar in size so one leg was bent noticabley more than the other. One was more 'squishy' than the other too. Did first two sets of 20 with those balls with them the opposite way round for the second set. Found that the 'squishy' ball was too soft and it made the exercise easier than it's meant to be by absorbing all my wobble!

Then swapped the squishy one for a harder one and did 15 reps with the balls each way for one longer set.

Finished with fit ball hamstring stretches, psoas stretches and band chest stretch. Found my right side is a little tighter than my left.

Didn't get abs in this morning but will hopefully cover them tonight - am going to a kickboxing gym - my first ever kickboxing coach has a gym I need to visit.

[Sharla]

First Session at the new kickboxing gym -

Was good

The coach was actually my first ever coach who I happened to run into at the supermarket before christmas. I was putting off going because of the price of the classes on the web but when I arrived I found out they are changing it to $10 a week with no contract from $13 a session - much better!

There is no sparring as far as I can see and no ring - it's all classes which would've turned me off at one stage. Now it works well as I can concentrate on technique myself but tend to get paralysis by analysis. Here i get good technical coaching but also a really good workout with good stretches etc at the end.

Also since it's kickboxing and I haven't kicked for years I'm a long way off of feeling co-ordinated enough to spar in kickboxing anyway. Boxing would be different - this however is kickboxing with knees and elbows. When I kickboxed before it was without knees and elbows at all!

Now I'm working the bag in combinations using knee and elbows as ordered - bringing me into a range I've never deliberately moved into before. It's quite foreign but i think that's what makes it fun - i'd probably get bored of the equivalent boxing class without sparring.

My shins need toughening up again - they didn't appreciate being slammed into the bag. My balance needs work too. I will enjoy trying to build that up again!

Rachel had a pilates class today and worked tonight so I haven't checked in with her though. I'm impressed with her attitude though - until now she's always been very reluctant to consider eating healthy. Today she went out and bought diet cordial .