Day 3 - BTWG "Habit not Hunger"

Ha! my morning workout regime came to a grinding halt today - just toooo tired to get up at 6am again. (Probably the lack of food the day before!) Had a very relaxed time all morning - things just seemed to flow so much better today now I'm more organised and not worrying about what and when to eat.

I had a major revelation on the food front: I am very rarely hungry and when I do eat I normally eat until I'm uncomfortable.
I have really been paying close attention to this, this week, and it's been a real surprise how habit rules my eating not hunger! Today I made a conscious effort to eat until truly satisfied which led to me snacking through the day rather than having 2 large meals a day!

I knew I had my work out still to do so left work at reasonable hour. It really seemed extra hard tonight but I have found the chi running book to be fantastic. Now I run without music and just listen to what my body is telling me - I'm finding it easier to make adjustments as I run to reduce the tension in my body. I'm still as slow as a slug though. but no discomfort which is great!

I'm really tired tonight so early to bed for me - just hope I can make it through the week ; )

Day 2 - BTWG "It's all about the prep"

Today I completed my morning work out - this is proving a challenge when bed is one of my most favourite places to be! The skipping was a nightmare - I think that activity alone could have taken me all morning. The combination of bad knees and low ceilings didn't help - so I had to abandon ship on that exercise or be unable to walk for a few hours. I'm determined to manage a few more skips next time until I can get to the target. The rest of the work out was pretty rock in places but I could definitely feel the effects.
Took the dogs for a walk afterwards, then got ready for work, made a protein drink to take to the office and I was set for the day! Or so I thought...

Hmm today was pretty much the same story - I can't believe how undisciplined I am with food and my schedule! I arrived late from work again today which led to 'nil by mouth' for dinner. I wasn't remotely hungry. Decided I couldn't be "out for a duck" so spent the rest of the evening making a large veggie chili for which I carefully logged all the ingredients. When finished, I divided it into 8 servings and put all bar one in the freezer. Feeling very pleased with my progress I set about making a salad for lunch tomorrow.
Tired and achy I went to bed after some de-stressing. Tomorrow will definitely be a better day - late working or not!

Day 1 - BTWG "Tomorrow will be better!"

So today I started the program officially and had a so so day failing miserably on food - but strangely enough because I ate the wrong foods but because I didn't eat enough food!! I can hardly believe it - I always considered myself a real foodie but may be not.

I managed to get through my intervals this morning even if my warm down ended up being a very slow crawl back home - how hard was that!! I was so late getting my act together I ran out of time for breakfast and had to rush off to work.

Lunch was fine - I had a healthy - ish stir fry but was horrified by the calorie of the oil and sauce that came with it - hmm will have to have one or the other in the future. Before I knew it it was 7pm and I was still at work trying to get through my backlog from my trip home.
I eventually arrived home around 9 pm - too late and tired to think about making something to eat so ended having a protein drink for 'dinner', completed my logs and then carried on working through work emails in prep for tomorrow. No fun! Tomorrow will be better - just didn't plan well at all!

I'm determined to get through this but it has been surprising how the nutritional part of the program has proved the most challenging today. And so to bed ...

Another PR but soooooo tired!!

OK have returned from big family event, been for a run, spent time with my nephew, had a nap and still feel tired. A touch of jet lag methinks.
Run was great - quite hilly but still ran a PR. I think the colder weather makes such a huge difference.

Happy Days ...

Today I am in the UK with my sister after an exhausting transatlantic flight. Haven't run in a few days so hoping to get a morning run in tomorrow. Great being home again!

Wow what an eye opener!!!

Today I had my initial fitness test with Chris (as I shall be away when everyone else has theirs), had my hair done and went shopping for books. I bought Chi Running by Danny Dreyer, of which I have yet to browse through; a new journal to keep track of everything; and a book called The food, Beverage and Supplement lists from Eat Right for Your Type by Dr Peter J D'Adamo. What a major revelation. In essence the philosophy focuses on the principles and strategies of something called the blood type diet. It's believed that there is a strong connection to blood type and diet and eating certain foods mismatched to your blood type can have a damaging effect where the same foods for another blood type may be beneficial. Well I have just spent the last hour thumbing through my abridged version of the book and about 40% of the food I love is on the AVOID list. Wow it would explain why I feel crap most of the time. I need to get the unabridged book that has Dr D's complete research. Can't wait to try this out starting .... well .... NOW!

Another brick wall

Tonight I'm exhausted. Didn't quite manage to get out for a run this morning so went for a quick run with the pups about 2 hours ago. Now I can just about keep my eyes open. I have no idea where all this energy is supposed to come from - I just feel drained most of the time.
Had my orientation for BTWG - I see light in the distance ; ))

What gives?

Why am I still awake at 12:50am? I need to be up in 5 hours!!

Morning madness ...

This morning I was awoken by one of my dogs who was feeling less than well. After some immediate care I decide that going back to bed wasn't an option so ... I went for a run instead! Wow - this was really foreign. I'm used to falling out of bed, into the shower, dog walk and feed then work. The days of doing some physically activity are way behind me - or not - as this morning proved to be an active one.

After 'faffing around' for half an hour looking for sock, iPod, shoes, key, other sock, head band, iPod then sock again, I eventually ventured out into a very dark and quiet morning. Then after putting one foot in front of the other I found myself on Ohio Street running towards Meridian without a second thought. Up Meridian to North Street then east back home. A short run but actually quite enjoyable. Felt pretty good all morning then was hit by a proverbial truck around 2pm. Hmm - this will take some getting used to ...

Pain and Some Gain!

Yesterday I ran my first 5K! I have been running for a couple of months now and am as slow as a slug! Yesterday I made a major advancement - now I am as slow as a slug on a rainy day! I'm planning to run a mini marathon next year - eeek I need help quick!

Music seems to be playing a key role in my running so at some point I shall have to get used to running without it! I'm hoping that once I understand how to pace myself I will eventually be able to manage without the samba beats or some other rhythmic selection from my iPod.

I'm still sore from running yesterday and then playing golf at Plum Creek but today was glorious: a long lie in followed by a deep tissue massage then brunch at Patachoux and a short walk on the Monon. Le soleil brille all day ; )

It's a 5K day

With a gentle ‘nudge‘ from a close friend, today I finished my first 5K race! I’m sooo excited! I just put one foot in front of the other and ran a 11:58 min mile avg – fantastic but now I’m worried I’ll lose momentum all over again. I may have scarring on my lungs, a 3 inch pin in my knee and an extra 15lbs to lose but I can get fit with the best of them I just need a plan.

When would NOW be a good time to start!

Eeeek. Not to be put off, I checked that my crazy idea was OK with my Doctor then bought The Penguin’s books to read, running gear including shoes and went for a jog in the gym on a running machine. Twenty minutes later I had every pain known to man in my butt, hip, back, knees, hamstrings, Achilles, and the heels of my feet! Hmm no fun!! But I persevered. I managed to run 2 miles at a pace of 12 min / mile each time I went to the gym but always had some discomfort somewhere. I spent more time doing yoga and stretching after a run than I actually spent running – this didn’t seem right! I started to lose motivation – this hurts too much!! But I was determined!

After a few weeks of running on the treadmill I ‘knew’ I was ready for the outside world!! So fully equipped with running gear and iPod I went for my first ‘run’ on the Monon at 12pm on a Saturday in 95 deg F heat (because I love the sun!!!). Well as you can imagine I proved that I wasn’t capable of running at all – every 10 meters I thought I would collapse – I couldn’t work out where all the ‘other’ runners were – eventually I went home and had to lie down – then woke up 4 hours later feeling very sore, groggy, pissed off and demotivated! When I relayed my failure to colleagues at work I received comments of sympathy mixed with stupidity – but hey I thought I knew it all.

A tad more educated and still determined I paid closer attention to the weather conditions and started to log my efforts and was averaging 13:35 min mile avg but as time went on the pace wasn’t getting any better and I just started to lose all motivation. “I’ll never be ready for the mini at this rate and I refuse to walk it!”

All Pain and No Gain!

I used to be very active: I ran, swam and threw discus for school, played rugby for my university, county netball but a couple of years after playing rugby for a first division ladies team in London I dislocated my knee cap, had two knee operations and 18 months later was told I was free do ANY sport I wanted as long as it was swimming, cycling, walking or golf and absolutely no running. Imagine how soul destroying that was at 25 years old. So not to be hard done by, I did them all. Eventually I found myself back in a gym doing as much as I could including rowing, cross training and swimming and I had managed to convince myself that I was doing OK!
Somehow I could never shake the feeling of missing out on something. Five years later I found myself in pain, unable to breathe with a resting heart rate of 140bpm and was later diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that my father died of in the early ‘70s. Several years of drug therapy followed as well as a 30lb increase in my weight and by 2006 I was in and out of hospital with one ‘issue’ or another. Then came a new year when I moved to the US. I became so sick and tired of being sick and tired I “burned the book”. I wanted to be one of those people that I saw jogging on the Monon - I wanted to lose weight become really trim - wake up in the morning with a spring in my step … so I started on a new path. I signed up for the 2010 mini marathon!!!