Week Tw0, Day Four - Thursday

Sorry to one and all - it's been a bit quiet this week! I've got end of semester exams coming up at uni and I've actually realised that I need to do some work for them. Duh!!!



So here's a couple of days update into one...


Tuesday - Cycling 20mins
I don't like the grips on the exercise bike, I actually think they're beginning to hurt my hands. It's not from gripping too tightly I just think the bike is designed so badly that it doesn't matter what height you adjust it to, you end up putting a decent amount of weight on your hands and arms. Shoulders and arms are doing fine, but the hands hurt!


Cycling was easy. I've been trying to jazz it up a bit to see if I can make it more exciting for myself - I can't! Never mind, I'll stick with it for the time being because I've only got a couple more weeks of doing it twice a week and then it's only once a week.


Beelzebub and Pups were outside again. I wasn't presented with balls this time, but what appeared to be a half eaten lizard... nice!! Apparently cats bring you presents (ie dead mice) because they think you're lacking something in your diet. If it works the same with dogs then mine seem to think I need to eat more lizard! I think not!




Wednesday - Run/walk 30secs/4mins 30 secs
I managed about 15 minutes walking and 2 runs before I turned around and came home. I went out earlier than usual and there were heaps of cars around and what looked like a mid week party going on in one house. It was too busy for me. Plus I think I had too many layers of clothes on. I thought it was quite cold outside so I layered up as I did for the last run, but it was actually warmer than I thought and I was wearing too much. Can't wait for it to get a tiny bit warmer so I can wear my shorts and technical tshirt (more on those later!) without having to think about getting too hot/cold


Just as I decided to go home I had a car pull onto the road I was on, put their lights on fullbeam, and drive very slowly towards me and then as soon as they'd past me they sped off. I'm sure I heard them laughing...


I got quite angry/upset at that but, with an ABBA inspired epiphany I thought "f*ck you dude, Imight be wobbling all over the road, but at least I'm out here giving it a go. When was the last time you went out for a run?" Knowing my luck it'll have been some bloody olympic athlete or something!!!




Thursday - Should have been cycling, but I did the run/walk thing instead!
Since I didn't finish last nights scheduled run/walk, I dropped the cycle and did it tonight instead. It went ok, although I've learnt a few lessons about clothing and footwear.


1) Technical Tshirts are a g-dsend! They allow the moisture and heat from your body to escape, without letting you get too cold or keeping you too warm. They've not got seams in the same place as normal tshirts so you don't get rubbing under your arms. I heart my technical tshirts
2) If you're wearing technical tshirts there is no need for a singlet underneath. I was searing this skin tight singlet thing and it's just not allowing the tshirts to do their job. I'm not wearing it for running again!
3) Socks should be a pair and should be long enough to stay over the tops of your shoes so you don't get blisters or rubbing round the ankles. Thankfully it's not happened yet although tonight I was wearing odd socks and one of them fell down a bit and I could feel a spot on my heel getting a bit irritated.


Tonight was quite an exciting little jaunt because I was wearing my NEW SHOES!!!!! Yes, I went shopping tonight. I had an old pair of New Balance shoes but they were a bit tight and didn't feel very good for running in. HID has a pair of Saucony trainers that I've been running in. They fit really well but I'd decided that I was looking for a pair with a bit more cushioning.


So I trotted off to The Athletes Foot (Note to US/CAN/UK readers - over here athletes foot is a sports shoe shop, and not a fungal infection you get between your toes. In Australia we call that athletes foot 'tinea'. Yah, I agreed - f*cked up!) and picked up a pair of Brooks Ghost. Seems they've only been available for a couple of weeks!! They look like this...






They feel great - plenty of cushioning in all the right places. In saying that after running in them tonight I need to wear them about town for a few days to break them in a bit. They're not the prettiest shoes around (well I don't think so) but out of the 3 I tried on in the shop these ones felt the best. At the end of the day I'm not running a fashion show, just a marathon (just... HA!).


I also picked up a new technical tshirt. I got a short sleeved one for under the long sleeved one I've already got. I'd show you a picture but it's really not that exciting. It's blue - the kiwi would tell you to expect nothing less. Blue is, apparently, my colour!


Tomorrow is my night off, and then saturday is my last 30second run. hopefully I'll get a post up some time over the weekend.


Keep the comments coming - it lets me know my procrastination is not wasted!




the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Week Two, Day One - Monday

Run 30 secs/Walk 4mins 30secs - 20 minutes

My lungs are burning, my nose is running, my eyes are watering and I can't feel my fingers. It's absolutely freezing outside! I know, I know... I'm from Scotland - I'm not meant to feel the cold, but obviously I'm aclimatising and a Brisbane winter now actually feels like a proper (as in Scottish) winter. In my defence they did report on the news tonight that Brisbane was headed for a particularly cold snap over the next couple of days - they're not wrong!

Today is the start of Week Two. The training schedule for this week is the same as well one in terms of days running/cycling. However, this week is when I start adding some running into my run/walk mix. So for this week I do a warm up walk (I've found ABBA's Take A Chance to be a good warm up song) and then run for 30 seconds, walk for 4 minutes 30 seconds. I repeat that 3 times (for a total of 20 minutes - I'm getting gooderer with my counting!) and then a walk for a cool down. 

I surprised myself with my running tonight. I was a bit excited when I was setting of on my first run and I thought I'd set off a bit too fast. I completed the 30 seconds with ease. I actually felt like I could run a bit longer - I know it was only 30 seconds, but lets not forget I've been sitting down for the last X years! After finishing the run it didn't take me long to recover, and although I was breathing fairly heavily I was never out of breath.

The first and second runs went really well, but by the third one I was taking much longer to recover although I recovered well in advance of the end of the walk. I don't think it helped that run three was actually up a slight gradient! Thankfully, run four took me down a very very slight hill and that made it a surprisingly easy one to complete. 

What I'm really surprised about is the distance that I managed to cover. The circuit that I went round on Saturday night took me maybe about 25-30 minutes to complete (that includes warm up and cool down walks). Tonight I completed the circuit twice (including warm up/cool down). I have thought about doing the longer circuit but I quite like the idea of keeping it a bit closer to home. Plus, by running the same circuit its going to let me keep a track of my progress more easily. 

HID joined me tonight! Well she came out after the first 10-15 minutes and walked in the reserve direction to the one I was travelling. I met up with her just before run three and told her to keep walking round so I could meet her on the home stretch. She was waiting for me at the end of run 4 and walked with me for the cool down. About 2 minutes before reaching home she headed off ahead to pop the kettle on for me....  bless!!

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Week One, Day Six - Saturday

Walking - 20 minutes

After dragging my backside home at 5:30 in the morning (it was all the Kiwi's fault - she made me stay up late!) I wasn't sure how I was going to hold up for my evening stroll on Saturday evening. But I've committed to this thing and I'm not about to let one late night stop me (because there's going to be plenty of them!)

I had a bit of a suss out during the day and discovered a nice little circular route which means that I can stop backtracking on myself. The walking so far up the road and then back again was good to start out with because it helped me check that I was keeping the same pace. The circular route is going to work out much better though. It#ve also discovered that by going one block further each time I can extend the circle further, and eventually I've got a brilliant 5k circuit that I can go round - yippee (positive mental attitude, positive mental attitude!).

So any ways... I geared up in my shorts and top and grabbed Beelzebub and headed out the door, turned around and headed right back in again. Gads it was FREEZING! So i grabbed a pair of trousers and put my long sleeved technical top on and headed back out again.

The walk was fine although I got a bit of pain in my shins towards the end. I slowed down a bit (good move there blob!) and the pain lessened. about 1 minute after getting home the pain had completely stopped. I think the pain was a combination of striding too far (trying to walk in time to the music I was listening to!) and also trying to hold on to mutley.

Yes beelzebub was not on her best behaviour last night. By the time I got out there (it was just before midnight) there were quite a few cats out for the evening. This meant I spent a decent amount of the latter part of the walk trying to hold her back. She doesn't pull on the lead too badly but I knew that if I dropped the lead she'd be off, only to return hours later - probably with a cat in her mouth!!

Now on the subject of music - if anyone has any good suggestions for music to listen to whilst walking/running then do let me know! all suggestions greatfully received - especially if they're really cheesy tunes!


the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Week One, Day Four - Thursday

Cycling – 15 minutes

Oh dear lord, no more... please no more! I think tonight I made the ultimate mistake of starting off to fast. I got to 4 and a half minutes and my legs were doing that wobbly shaking thing. I dropped the gears down a couple for the next minute and although my legs were still moving as fast I wasn't having to push as hard. It did the trick and I lasted the full 15 minutes. 

It was raining outside tonight and whilst it wasn't warm I managed to heat up quite quickly. There were a couple of really small cool breezes that passed through and they were really refreshing.

When I stopped and was doing my stretches I was convinced that one of the neighbours was watching me. All the lights in their house had been on when I started cycling, but now the ones in the back room were off. Yet I'm convinced I could see a figure standing at the open curtains. 

Now look, I know that australian tv leaves a lot to be desired (you know - in comparison to all the other countries in the world that have much better tv!) but still - there must be something more exciting than watching the blob cycling her little fat heart out for 15 minutes. I mean come on... Sandra Sully was on tv the whole time I was outside!!!!

Apart from the mishap at the beginning - today wasn't that bad really. Still - I'm bloody glad it's friday tomorrow and I get the night off!

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Week One, Day Three - Wednesday

Walking – 20 minutes

Not much difference from Monday to be honest. I used some dance music again and that worked well. I was just walking up the road and then after 10 minutes turning round and coming back. I’m going to get really bored of that really quickly, so I’m going to have an investigate and see if there’s a block that I can walk around. All the streets round here either seem to go for miles, or just seem to stop at a dead end! Beelzebub came again and seemed to enjoy her walk.

It was spitting with rain as I went out and so I wore my uni jumper and a paid ovf tracksuit trousers. No good. I was sweating like a big when I got home. It’s bad enough where you’re a world class athlete who’s sweating like a pig, but when you’re the blob, it’s highly, HIGHLY unattractive. Tomorrow night is late night shopping and I’m considering a trip to the sports shop to get a decent top. I’ve actually got one decent adidas climacool top, but it was getting washed and was wet, so I’m going to need two to make sure I’m covered.

Tonight, again, I’d been really looking forward to getting out there. I’m finding that a bit strange because for some reason I think I should be hating this. After all it’s cold, dark, and I’m out side exercising for the first time in years. If anyone figures out why I’m enjoying this (at the minute) can you let me know please???

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Week One, Day Two - Tuesday

Cycling – 15 minutes

I was really looking forward to getting on the bike tonight – I’ve got no idea why. I hopped on, got some music going, and I was off. Around 11 minutes I was a bit sore and feeling it a bit, but I actually managed the 15 minutes with very little difficulty. The setting on the bike was level 6 so I was having to work. I’d also found some Ibiza tunes on my ipod and the plan was to make sure my legs were turning with the beat of the music. That system worked really well and every time I looked I was cycling at over 25km per hour. My plan is going to be to try and make sure I’m always doing over 22km per hour, just because there were a couple of times tonight where I think I was going a bit slower that I was when I checked.

Pups McDuff was outside (where the bike is) when I was cycling and seemed to think that it was her cue to bring me all the tennis balls in the yard so that I could play with her. Well at least I know where all the balls are now – all around the bike!

My thighs felt like jelly when I got off the bike tonight – it took a good couple of minutes for me to stretch them out and make them feel better. Again I wasn’t sore, but I’m certainly feeling the effects of using my legs again!

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Week One, Day One - Monday

Walking – 20 minutes

It seemed cold outside tonight. When I got back after my walk my throat felt sore from breathing in lots of cold air. I was off work today because I’d lost my voice and had a splitting headache since Sunday night. The walk actually helped clear my head a bit, but I’m not sure it helped with my throat.

The walk itself was fine. I didn’t have a watch on so had to judge my time by the amount of songs I listened to. I suspect I did maybe a bit over 20 minutes, but nothing more than 25 minutes I’m sure. Couple of twinges around the shin area when I got home, but no pain. I did a couple of stretches and that seemed to sort it out. I do need a new pair of runners though. My old ones are hurting my feet so I’m going to use Her-in-door’s ones for the time being.

And talking about Her–in-doors - she didn’t want to come tonight so I took Beelzebub with me. One thing I learned is that I need to find some music that’s got a decent steady beat. I’ve got a couple of old Ibiza dance albums kicking about with some of the great classics on them, and I think I might have to give them a go to see how they work out. 

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

My Training Schedule - Part One

I’ve devised a training schedule. I’ve not come up with it on my own, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. So I’ve started with a couple of books about running. One of them is a beginners guide to running, and the other is a guide to running a marathon for the first time runner. Between the two of them I’ve come up with a training program to get me from sofa to start line.

The first part of the training schedule is designed to get me up and about and running for 30 minutes straight. Make no mistake, my version of running and an athlete’s version of running is going to totally differ. So when I talk about running I’m using my very own definition.

Running – propelling the blob forward at a pace slightly faster than an average walk. 

Yeah, so less running and more stumbling forwards – but still... it’ll do!

My training program doesn’t just involve running. One of the books pointed out that cross training is a really good way of working on the body so I’m giving it a go.  The result is as follows.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays I’ll be following a running program. This begins very simply with walking briskly for 20 minutes. It then builds up with jogging for 30 seconds in every 5 minutes, right up to jogging for 5 minutes and walking for one minute. After week 4, Thursday also becomes a ‘running’ day and that carries on for most of this first part of the training schedule although there are a few weeks, later on, when it’s missed out. At the beginning of every week I’ll update you as to what my walking/jogging combo for that we is.

For the first 4 weeks I’ll be cycling on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After week 4 I’ll be carrying on with the cycling. I have an exercise bike (another casualty of my ‘can’t last more than 2 weeks’ ideas) and I’ll be using that for cycling. In the beginning I’m cycling for 15 minutes a session and I’m planning to try and keep my speed over 22km per hour during that time.

On Sundays there’s no running or cycling, but some simple stretches, maybe some yoga and also an old dance warm up I used to do. I’ve got no set time limit for that – sometimes it might be 15-20 minutes, sometimes longer. And if I’m really tired at the end of the week I can simply miss it out altogether. 

That leaves Friday. On Friday I shall do nothing, Zip, zilch, nada, not a sausage! Friday will be the day of rest. I’ve picked Friday for a few reasons. One, I go out on Friday nights with a group of friends (hello friends!!) and the last thing I’ll want to do is either go running/cycling before I head out, or do it after (when sometimes I’m not home until 3 or 4am!). Another reason is because once I’m getting up to running for longer periods of time and actually following a marathon training planner, the long runs will always be on a Saturday. The advice of both the books and all the sites on the interwebymawotsit is that the day before and the day after a long run should be days of rest. So by organizing my schedule like that at the minute, it’ll make it easier to stick to once I’m running the long distances. 

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

The Key Players

Before we go any further I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to the key players.

Me – there’s me, I’m the one doing all the work here. Some say that I'm quite possibly insane. The further into this I get the more I'm inclined to agree with them.

Her-in-doors – that’s my long suffering partner. HID and I have been together for almost 10 years and she hasn’t half put up with a lot of rubbish over the years! Whilst HID isn’t doing the training with me, it’s more than likely that she’ll come on some of the runs, if to do nothing more than to hold my water bottle or drive the ‘support car’ (that being my Holden Astra!)

Beelzebub – Beelzebub is one of our two English springer spaniels. Beelzebub will be the one accompanying me on most of my evening escapades. It’s not that I prefer her over the other dog, it’s just that she walks a bit better on the lead and, should anything drastic happen when I’m out and about, she’s more likely to ward off any scaries that might be lurking. Beelzebub isn’t her real name but she’s so embarrassed about have to walk with the blob that she asked me to give her a pseudonym

Pups McDuff – also a pseudonym. Pups McDuff is our youngest dog – also a springer spaniel. Pups is the baby of the family, and whilst very supportive of my efforts, as made it quite clear that she currently doesn’t want to go out for a run of an evening. Pups is a incredibly skilled high jumper (currently can jump to over 5 ft from a sitting start) and would make a brilliant fielder if anyone ever invented dog cricket!

The Kiwi - the kiwi is one of my long suffering friends. For reasons only known to her she has, rather stupidly, agreed to be a member of my marathon support team. I'm not quire sure what's she's planning to do in order to fulfill this role - but I'm presuming it's probably going to involve her and her bicycle!

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...

Welcome to the blob

Hi, welcome to my blob. No that’s not some kind of spelling mistake, I’m actually calling this a blob. Why? Why not? Actually when I tell you the reason for this blob, it should all make sense.

I’m fat, not just your average kind of overweight fat, but really fat! Whilst not entirely my fault, I’ve certainly not done anything to remedy the situation. Back in high school I was actually on my way to becoming a professional dancer. I’d approached all the big dance schools in the UK, attended dance training classes, and even sorted out a coach for my audition pieces. Then, in the space of a few months, I had a really bad horse riding accident, followed by a fall where I tore all the ligaments in my left ankle. No more dancing for me!

So I went off in a different direction, plodding along quite nicely, and everything seemed just the same. However, after a few months, when buying new clothes, I had to buy a size bigger, then bigger… then bigger still. Although I was still eating all the same foods in the same quantities, I wasn’t doing NEARLY the amount of exercise that I had been.

Now because I simply can’t be told anything, or can’t do anything until I want to do it, I’ve let this situation become totally out of hand. This is about to change.

In the past I’ve been a smoker. One of the things I’ve always prided myself on (although how proud of this I should be I’m not sure) is that I’ve always just been able to stop smoking. Sure I’ve started again a couple of years down the track, but once I decide to stop I just stop. It’s always been a case of mind over matter. Yet whenever I’ve tried to do the same in terms of diets and exercising 2 weeks seems to be my limit. I read somewhere once that it only takes 21 days to make a habit. I’ve never managed to make it 21 days with any kind of diet or exercise regime – ever!!

I had this conversation with a friend of mine recently and she couldn’t understand how I could just stop smoking, but couldn’t get my fat arse off the sofa and do some exercise. I managed to use one of my standard excuses (there’s so many I can’t remember them all!) and fobbed her off. Days later I was still thinking about this conversation. Why is it that I can just decide to do something and do it without further ado, yet there are other things that I simply seem to give up on? Am I really such a self defeatist?? I’m about to find out.

On the 21^st of July 2008 I began training… I’m training to complete the Gold Coast Marathon in 2009. Now those of you out there who are more astute than some people may have noticed that I’m training to complete the marathon as opposed to running it. Lets not get ideas above my station here. There’s no way I can go from stationary blob to marathon buff in less than a year. Do you think I’m crazy? Nope I’m not. I’m not going to try and run the whole marathon – simply get round it. So there you have it. The grand plan. Complete the Gold Coast Marathon 2009.

the blob - to the finish line, and beyond...