Healthy!

It's taken me much longer than I'd have anticipated to get over the cold.

Ran Striders 10k at Lane Cove and took a few more seconds off my 2012 10k time and then ran a further 5k with Alison and felt pretty ordinary.  The next day I tried to run the 15k on my schedule but had to walk after only 7k of very slow running; my heart started racing and skipping beats which made me cough.  Same issue as I had years ago.  I walked till my HR returned to normal and then ran again, only to have to stop again repeatedly to try and settle the HR.  At 11k I wrote the run off and walked home.

Recovery week 

Monday rest day

Tuesday had a session on my program but didn't feel up to it so decided to run Wednesday morning.

Wednesday didn't feel up to a run in the morning so decided I'd run before Primal.  Left work late, got caught in traffic and only just made it to Primal in time.  Conditioning workout with Elliot included some 100m sprints.  Felt dizzy and weak and generally blah so didn't run after the session either.

Thursday Ran to RunClub from work.  Felt better than the last few days but not great.  Session was a killer but loved it!
drills
run throughs
16 mins of 'rolling hills'
core work
5 mins of 'rolling 100m'
5 mins of hill reps
800m on track
stretch

Felt great afterwards!  Thighs hurt to walk after all the squats at Primal yesterday so I might not be able to walk tomorrow!

Speed and Power

Yoga with Zoe in the AM

PM
It's not often a session makes me feel like vomiting. Tonight was one of those rare sessions. I also felt like crying and slapping someone. All at once.

4 rounds of the following with 100m kettlebell run between:
10x burpees
5 "man ups" (kettlebell press-up to rows to press-up to half burpee to shoulder press)
10 x box jumps

1 minute of each of the following with 100m sprint between each:
Superman using crank-it straps
Wall squat medicine ball throws
Thrusters (the worst bit if the burpees)
Sit ups
Clean and press using barbell
Sumo squat to upright row using barbell
Squats using barbell

I didn't stay for a second session. I didn't have it in me!

Treadwind running

Primal on Monday

Crank-it class
10 mins on the spin bike between classes making up my own session in time to the music :)
Kettle bells from hell.  I'm surprised I can still move my arms!

This morning I had 1k easy, 3k @ 6:15/km, 2k easy on the program.  I had a lot of doubt about whether I could do this.  But I did.
7:05,
6:16,
6:15,
6:10,
6:41,
6:21

I really didn't feel comfortable in the first km and when I saw I was running 7min pace I knew I had to step up quite a lot.  My lungs were burning and I was running into a headwind for some of the second km.  I guessed I was running at 6:30/km.  I reassured myself that if I was slower than the pace that's ok.  I just needed to keep pushing the same effort and remember that there was a headwind.

When the Garmin flashed "6:16" for the first km I was very surprised.  Felt like I couldn't keep the pace up as my lungs were burning and my legs felt like weights.  "6:15"

Turned the corner directly into the wind and slogged it out till the end of the km.  I didn't see the time so assumed I was slowest in this km.

2 km easy to finish and the last one out of the wind.

Glad I had the Garmin on as I would have felt very demoralised had I not known that I was actually running much faster than I thought.

Evil Elliot and Tempo Run

Wednesday

Morning - 60mins yoga with Zoe.

Evening - arrived at Primal to find that Elliot was leading the session.  I've seen him putting other's through their paces so was a bit nervous.  Turns out the nerves were not unfounded!

Started with a short, sharp run around the block after the warm-up and then made our way to the whiteboard.  The whiteboard had the session on it and it looked hard:

Part 1
1 minute per exercise

• burpees (seriously?  burpees for 1 minute!)
• plank
• thrusters (the worst bit of the burpees; from squat position with hands either side of your feet, jump back to plank position then forward to squat position etc.)
• push ups
• something else which my traumatised brain has blocked out

Part 2

12 reps of each x 3 rounds:

• box jumps
• squat to shoulder press with powerbag (15kg or 10kg)
• dips
• horizontal rows (or incline rows)
• deadlifts with 12kg (or 8kg) kettle bells
• kettlebell swings with 12kg kb
• wall squats throws with 5kg medicine ball
• slams with 'dead ball' (12kg 'ball' that doesn't bounce)

After 'part 1' Elliot rubbed off the pushups and made us do the lot again.  I think he was contemplating making us do it a third time but perhaps my look put him off.  I was certainly trying to!

Part 2 was ok the first time round.

2nd time I had trouble lifting the 12kg dead ball over my head so had to swap it for the lighter one which was 5kg.  A LOT lighter but easier on my back.

3rd time around I swapped to a 10kg powerbag as I was getting fatigued and did the deadlifts with the 8kg kettle bells.  

Elliot then threw in a 'sneaky' part 3 (what the?)

20 reps of the following:

• full sit ups
• 'froggy' sit ups
• leg raises 

each with a short sprint in between.

Tough session but a good session.

Thursday 

yoga cancelled as Ruby wasn't well

run club cancelled due to weather forecast

So, despite really not wanting to run, I took myself out for a 6km run with 3km @ 6:15/km in the middle.  Nice to see Linda in my warm-up 1km.

Every run takes me closer to my goal!

Updated layout now with extra motivation

On Saturday my housemate Stella and I trekked up to Raymond Terrace for Stand Your Ground 1, a course by Emazon.  The workshop was great and I came away with a lot of tea.  I also came away with some ideas for shifting the self-sabotage issue I have with running.  I realised how many 'rules' I've set myself and continue to make on a moment to moment basis "If I run now I can do x", "I must run or else y", "I have to do everything on my program or I've failed" etc. etc.  This is hooking my inner rebel who says "yeah, you can't make me" and then I get locked in a battle of good and evil in my own mind.

Without going into details of my childhood which are not necessarily helpful here, suffice it to say that I was an over-responsible child.  I had to develop maturity beyond my years very quickly and be responsible for myself at a younger age than ideal.  I also developed a strong sense of responsibility for other people's emotions but that's not so relevant.  One of my colleagues who was also a child carer for a parent said it best when she said "I'm in recovery from being over-responsible".

How are these two things related?  I have a very well-developed stubborn streak and inner rebel and she protects me from over-doing.   I'm going to call her Violet.  Unfortunately she doesn't know when the rules I'm setting are helpful to me, she just rebels against being constrained by 'should' and 'must'.  She's just trying to keep me from going down that old road.

So, with this in mind I'm setting out to get Violet on board with my training.  I figure I just need to let her know that running is something I want to do, not HAVE to do.  So I compiled a list of reasons I love running to tell myself instead of saying "I have to go for a run"

Reasons I love running:

• Surpass my self-imposed boundaries, proving I'm stronger than I think I am
• Achieve my goal of Tarawera 60km
• Increase self-confidence and self efficacy   
• Feel and look better in clothes (and naked)
• Boost energy
• Lift mood
• Boost memory
• De-stress
• Be with nature
• Increase determination and distress tolerance
• Be social! Meet new people and see friends
• Live longer
• Boost immunity
• Strengthen muscles
• Increase creativity
• Increase fitness and stamina
• Improve speed
• Strengthen bones
• Lose weight
• Improve sleep 
• Increase vitamin D levels
• Listen to music/podcasts
• Reduce appetite and increase healthy food choices
• Explore the neighbourhood (advantage for Urban Max)

I then told myself every run I log takes me closer to my goal of surpassing my self-imposed boundaries; every step takes me closer to the Tarawera Ultra.  Every run I miss for reasons other than illness or injury takes me further from my goal.  No 'should' no 'must' just simple statement of fact.

It wasn't easy but I went out for the 6km run scheduled on my program (1km easy, 3 km @6:30/km, 2km easy).  I missed yoga as a result but I'd already been to Primal this morning and done a strength session so figured if I missed yoga I'd done more than enough today.  At that moment it was more important to myself that I complete the run as programmed.

She believed she could, so she did.

Smashed

Tonight I was shattered before we even started.

Headed of for a 3.5km run with Lou before Primal and then did a strength class.  It was hard.

Then went for a quick 1km around the block before the second 'conditioning' class.  It was also hard.

I'm tired now.

Trial by Tarek

5km on the program tonight so ran 3.87 around the block before Primal and 1.83 around the smaller block between classes for a total of 5.7km!  Finally ran over rather than under the distance scheduled.

My warm up run was actually a lot quicker than I probably should have gone but I was trying to get in as many kms as I could before the session so average pace was 6:38/km with the first couple of kms under 6:30 pace.

First class was crank it. If you are wondering what crank it is, click on the link to see a short demo video.

We did the following combos x 3 (or it may have been 4... I can't remember)

Crank It (CI) rows
Burpee to box jumps (a new level of yuck!  My two least favourites combined into one awful* new exercise.  *disclaimer: I may mean awful in a good way)

CI push ups or CI tricep extensions or biceps curls)
medicine ball sit ups to wall throw (5kg med ball)

single arm row with a twist
Lunges holding 10kg sand bag over head

Followed by ab work.

Kettlebell class just was too traumatic* to recount here.  Think of lots of exercises in combo holding two large heavy objects and then multiply it.   (*disclaimer: I may mean traumatic in a good way)

Double Double

Tonight, despite a really tough 6:15pm session at Primal I stayed for the double.  My arms and core were pretty fatigued by the end of the second session but I did it!  That's two doubles this week!  Go me!!

1 month till Tough Mudder today so only three weeks of training left.  That realisation has been motivation to pick up the training this week.

I ran around the block before and in between classes for a total of 1.4km so barely worth a mention!  Did a fair amount of skipping tonight too.

Not quite to plan...

Saturday afternoon - so we ended up being an hour late for the Sutherland Half as Stella mis-remembered the start time.  So, we headed out along the trail and cheered all the runners heading to the finish.

At about 5km I was feeling quite dehydrated and realised that not taking water on the run was a rookie error.  We headed out for 1 hour and then turned around.  My mouth was dry and my head beginning to feel very tight.  It was the longest run back ever!  All up I estimated we ran about 12 km in just over 2hours.

Sunday - rest

Monday - Primal x 2 sessions (crank it circuit, kettle bells).  Ran before and in between for a total of about 2.8km /5km on my program.  Again not quite to plan!

Primal Scream

Ran just over 3km before training at Primal tonight http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/165484829

Crank it session at Primal was crowded tonight!  Great energy.

I rolled on the foam roller after the session and thought to myself how uncomfortable I felt at Primal when I first started!  I can't believe it now as it feels like a second home!  A kinky-looking home certainly.

Lessons learned

My friend and former team leader Mark has a list of 'things I already know' and on that list is 'meditation works'.  He said to me that when things aren't going well he refers to that list and reads 'meditation works' and thinks... Ah yeah!  I already knew that!

On the list of things I already know is the following:

• Some days you feel great.  Other days you don't.  
• Clint's cure helps my digestion

The last point is important because I was feeling great while I ate the foods Clint suggested for gut repair but I got a bit excited and reintroduced a heap of foods really quickly and something upsets my tummy but I don't know what it is because I didn't reintroduce foods one by one to find out what it is.  This is good because all I have to do is follow the plan properly and work out what it is.

This is bad because I have to follow the plan again till my tummy settles down again.  

This is good because I lost weight on the program 

It's also bad because I found it a bit restrictive as I couldn't eat out

Which is good because I saved a lot of money!

Interestingly, apart from the juice cleanse I felt strong when I was eating according to the repair phase of the plan.  So it's good because I'll feel strong again... and I won't be having to stop and rush to the loo on long runs.  

All that just to get to the point which was:

Yoga this morning 

Primal fit session with Ray this evening.  I didn't feel strong and my guts were churning.  

Rolled on foam roller after the session.  

Running up that hill and that hill, oh, and that hill...

forgive me readers (both of you) for I haven't blogged in a while.

Sunday 29 July

I headed to Cronulla with 13 v-stars and we did a session on the sand dunes which basically just consisted of running up and down every dune we could see... sometimes more than once.  Tough session but a stunning day and great company.  Some photos on the V-Stars meetup page 

Monday 30 July

Headed to Primal early so I could do my run beforehand.  Dave put 6km on my program so Lou and I set off however I got an attack of the gingerbread men (i.e. the runs) so I had to race to the toilet.  With stopping at lights and stopping for the toilet we ran out of time and had to pick up the pace to make it back to the Primal Den for the session.  According to Mapmyrun app we completed 4.73k total.  

Primal session with Tarek

Tuesday 31 July

Had 1k easy, 3k hard, 1k easy on the program but ended up doing 5.29 total.

Wednesday 1 August

Primal with Ray.  I nearly backed up with a second session but decided I'd give it another week before I step this strength training up.

Thursday 2 August, Friday 3 August

1hour yoga in the morning Thursday and had a 10k run on the schedule.  Had large dose of bad attitude hit me that day and didn't run.  I told myself I'd run before work on Friday but didn't.  I did do 1hour of yoga.

Saturday 4 August

Lane Cove Striders 10k.  Woke up with the gingerbread men... not sure why.  Nerves?  Something I ate?  Anyway, had to go 4 times between waking and the start of the race then had the urge to go again about 2km in.  Managed to hold of till about 7k and then cramping tummy sent me running for the bushes (no toilets on the course).  

I was about to head off again when a second bout of cramping sent me back into the woods.  

I ran hard to try and catch the people who'd overtaken me while I was indisposed and managed to catch one.  Disappointed in my 68:xx for the race but couldn't be helped.

Sunday 5 August

Bay Run 7km - I had 5k on my program but I was 12k short for the week and Lou talked me into running The Bay Run race.  Felt good all the way and enjoyed my run.  Was able to pick it up in the last few kms and pick off people one by one.  Not often I am in an event where I can do that!  44:xx for the race.

Monday 6 August

Had 8k on the program.  Difficulty sleeping last night meant difficulty getting out of bed this morning meant no run before work.  I was meeting a colleague for a 'drink' after work so running 8k before Primal was out of the question.  I did manage to get 2km in before the session as a warmup though.

Getting with the Program

Accountability to someone else has always worked for me in the past and training for a 60k event is something I've never done before so I felt it would be good to get some advice from an expert.  So a couple of enquiries and a bit of research and now I have a brand spanking new program.  

Ran for 4.49km (was meant to run for 5 but ran out of time) before training at Primal.

Great Primal session:

60 sec/45 secs/30 secs rounds

squats with 10kg 

rows using crank-it straps

lying to standing with 5kg

tricep extensions using crank-it straps

plank for 1 min

then 60/45/30 secs

plyometric lunges

flys using crank it straps

burpees

rotations using straps

plank for 30 secs

c.f sit-ups for 30 secs

Monday -  went to BodyMindLife to do a 1 hour relaxing yin yoga class.  Arrived a bit early and forgot to mention I was there for the 7:30 yin class and not the power vinyasa at 7:15.  10mins into the class I realised I was in the wrong room.  Ah well, the universe provides... perhaps I was not meant to do yin that night?  Good class.

I notice that I am stronger in my core and upper body and this is having a positive effect on my practice.   I think soon I will be able to flow from chaturanga dandasana to upward facing dog without the floor flop.  So it looks more like this:



Tuesday - Primal session with Ray
Warmup - Skipping
In pairs with 5kg medicine ball 3 sets of the following:
10 chest throws to wall (and each other)
10 each side, throws to wall (and each other)
10 floor slams to each other

Then 3 sets of the following:
10 supermen using ropes
10 incline pull ups using ropes
10 clean and press using 10kg bag

10 sets of:
5 lat pulldowns using bands
5 burpees

In pairs big circuit 1 min of each of the following:
rowing
5kg medicine ball to wall squat and high throw
8 kg kettle bell push up and single arm row
15kg walking lunges
lie on floor and pull yourself to standing using rope hand over hand

Mobility exercises using broomstick
shoulder x 2
twist
twist and reach to ankle

stretch.

My form is getting better in the burpees so I think it won't be long before I can do a full pushup!  Wahoo!

Two weeks ago I bought a chin-up bar and installed it in the doorway to my walk in wardrobe (thanks to Wazza for the idea).  I've been doing chin downs (I can't yet to a chin up!) by pushing off with my feet so I am in the chin up position and then lowering myself as slowly as possible.  Initially this meant rocketing towards the floor with very little resistance.  Now, after two weeks of doing 5 overhand and 5 underhand each day I can almost hold myself up for 3 seconds.  This may not seem much but I've never been able to do that.

Improvements, definite improvements.

Travel, juggling and a 'fun' with fruit

How did I go while away in Brisbane?


Wednesday am: meditation, yoga at BML studio
Wednesday pm:
Meditation, journalling

Thursday am: meditation, run
Conference
Thursday pm: yoga called this my rest day
Dinner
Meditation 

Friday am:
Yoga, meditation, run 
Conference
Friday pm: Train to Sunshine Coast
Meditation, yoga 

Saturday 
Yoga assisted by Buddy, run, meditation am and pm

Sunday
Meditation am and pm, yoga

Monday am: Meditation, run
Bus to Brisbane
Fly to sydney
Monday pm:
Yoga at studio
Meditation. 


So I didn't manage to keep up everything, but I did more than if I'd had no plan.  


Since then I've kept up the daily meditation x 2 daily, the yoga x 6 per week but this week a 3 day fruit cleanse left me with 3 day headache so running fell by the wayside.  I trained with Primal on Thursday morning (day 3 of the fast) and it was a dizzying experience!  I don't recommend fruit only as training food.


The TM crew did a practice run on the City2Surf course yesterday morning and, despite a day of real food, I still felt pretty ordinary.  For breakfast I had a pear and a banana and in hindsight I probably should have had some complex carbs.  I felt light headed and weak right from the start of the course.  I couldn't keep the others in sight so from Edgecliff I ran by myself and didn't see the others till Bondi.  This caused all manner of negative thoughts about my running, whether I should quit the team, holding people back, despair about my lack of speed etc. etc.  


I ate two mandarins going up HBH as I was feeling very dizzy.  I could barely run even slight inclines and walked all the uphills.  Toward the end I struggled to run along Campbell Pde so had to walk/run that. I had well and truly emptied the tank!


Lesson learned, so I had a big bowl of quinoa with banana, cinnamon, raisins and almond milk for breakfast this morning.  I'm meeting Lou, Nat and Zac at Audley for a 'run' up the honeymoon stairs and back.

Paolo Primal Power

Paolo trained us this morning. Very tough session, perhaps a little too tough as I noticed peoples form (including mine) wasn't great.

Warm up:
Skipping for forever
Walling lunges
Walking squats (yes it's possible)
Single arm 8kg kettle bell shoulder press x10 (left arm much weaker and could only manage 6)
Plank on 8kg kettle bell with jump to a squat and upright row

Session:
5 sets of the following:
20 x alternate leg lunges holding 5kg overhead
15 x v sit ups (I did modified version)
5 x burpees
10 x press-ups
15 x low squats
380m run

After I set I thought I'd never do 5. I did it but as I said, my form wasn't wonderful. I tried hard not to sacrifice form for speed so was slower than the others.

Cooldown mobilisation exercises, stretches and foam roller.

I'm cactus now!