The week that was – Aquathon Race Wrap

Monday – another fun session at Circus Monoxide for my Bootcamp class, this week we did forward rolls, backward rolls, and cartwheels and recapped on the trapeze and tissue moves that I am completely hopeless at. We also did a sequence of our own choreography incorporating the tumbling moves which was hilarious. We also did heaps of planking, front, sides and back, “ouchy”.

Tuesday – I was a bit sore from the Circus class but managed to get to the gym to do some cardio and also tested myself with a 1k time trial on the Treadmill, I have only ever done a 1k trial before on the road and I know they are a bit different, but I clocked up what I think is a PB of 6min45sec for 1k. Also did some abdominal exercises, doing this circus class has made me much more aware of the need to do ab exercises even if I hate doing it (something I have known all along but tried to ignore).

Wed – morning swim in the harbour (where the Aquathon is being held) I was thankful that my trainer did a lap with me, even though he had already done 2 laps and then a training buddy did my 2nd lap with me, I HATE doing it on my own, it is a bit scary, being that it is a harbour there is always a possibility of boats going in and out and lets not mention those marine life with BIG teeth.

Thursday and Friday I allowed myself rest in anticipation of Saturday’s race.

Sat – so Aquathon day was upon us, I got up early, 6ish, I got myself some breakfast, packed my backpack full of water, a few snacks of oranges and vita wheats. I was having a few dilemas all week as to how to get to the event, parking is terrible and some of the closest could have been up to 2k away. I decided to ride my bike, it is about 12k to where the start line is and I thought if I just take it easy it won’t have too much effect on my energy for the race, which I did.

I found a few of my training buddies easily, well they found me (even better), registered and picked up the timing chip. Chilled out for a while, wandered around to check out the “Speed demons” in the Long Course race coming across the finish line, the event had a lot of international and Australian Olympic level competitors which is fantastic for the event and the region. Before I knew it the kids race was happening which meant time to head to the marshalling area by the water for the start. For those that don’t know an Aquathon is a Swim and Run event, I was doing the short course which was a 400m swim and a 3k run.

The buzzer started and flurry of arms and legs hit the water, it was pretty crazy for the first 50-100m, almost every stroke you were hitting someone’s foot or someone was hitting or kicking you, by the time it spread out a little we had hit the first turning marker and before I knew it the group who started 2 minutes behind us had started to catch the back of the pack, which I was in, and then you were back in the same predicament with people everywhere. I was pacing myself as best I could and felt reasonably strong in the swim, compared to my last Triathlon, still not very fast, but survival is the key in the swim leg.

This is me in all my Lycra glory, must remember to suck it in when waving at the camera.

This is me in all my Lycra glory, must remember to suck it in when waving at the camera.

Then you hit the shore and run up the stairs to the transition area, I had a tip from some experts who said to bring a bucket or tub to fill with fresh water to get the sand off your feet, so with this brilliant idea and my elastic shoe laces I was pretty quick, threw on shoes, shirt and sunnies and took off at my blistering shuffle pace.

I have said it before and I will say it again “I HATE RUNNING”, but running with the crowd along the path, I got cheers from a few people who knew me which was really inspiring. The aim of this part of the game was to run a my own pace and not stop, I usually carry my security blanket which is a small sports bottle of water but I forgot and left it in the transition area and also forgot to have a quick drink to wash my mouth out of the salt water (I swallowed a bit). There was only 1 drink station along the course which was at the half way mark, so I sucked it up and kept plodding along. One of my buddies caught me and ran with me until the half way mark and I told her not to wait for me. I wanted to stop the whole way, but the only time I did stop was to guzzle a few sips from the drink station so about 20-30m of walking at the mid station.

Trying to pick up the pace on the way to the finish line.

Trying to pick up the pace on the way to the finish line.

I love knowing that I am past half-way point in the run, it helps with the mind games, but it is still horrible, then with about 500m to go, I was trying to take longer strides and get this damn thing over and done with. I managed to get a bit of a sprint happening with about 100m to go and crossed the line. It was a relief to finish.

The finish line was a welcome site.

The finish line was a welcome site.

Sometimes I wonder to myself why am I doing this and I still don’t really know. My trainer Ian Gibson from Pioneer Fitness was cheering me on across the finish line and was there to greet all his contenders back at our little camp. Once I had jumped back in the water to cool off we arranged to meet down the track for a coffee (or skim chai latte for me). He said something to me that blew me away which was that “I was his hero”, he has trained me at my biggest and now at my fittest and he said he uses me as an example to say you don’t need to be skinny to be fit, I take absolutely no offence to that because he can’t help me in the kitchen, which is where my weight problem lies.

I then returned the compliment to say that, had I never met him I would not be doing all that I am doing, this man is 1 that truly believes in me and my abilities more than I do in myself and is the same with all his clients. He said I could do a triathlon and I did, he thought I could to the Aquathon and I did. He sets me training goals that are achievable and that I often strive to beat. He is 1 in a Million and I hope he reads this to know how much he is appreciated by me and all his clients.

Super Coach, Ian, it's all his fault that I am fit.

Super Coach, Ian, it’s all his fault that I am fit.

After the Aquathon I then had to ride the 12k back home again, I was tempted to call hubby to come and get me but thought it would be good training to get back on the bike. I took it easy on the way home and I really noticed I had not been riding for a while. Madge “the Vag” was feeling it. I also made the mistake of riding with my runners on, but still with my small clip-in pedals so my feet hurt, I should have taken 5 minutes to put regular pedals back on before I left home.

So the results of the Aquathon are in, and my main goal was achieved, I finished, my 2nd secret goal was to not come last, I just scrapped in coming 3rd last:

Aquathon crop low res

Would I do it all again, hell yeah!

The Week That Was – Run Fatty Run

Monday – a hectic day at work and home, hubby has been doing a course in Sydney which means he is travelling in traffic about 3-4 hours a day, (I know some people do this every day but it’s hard when you are not used to it), being that we work together, it’s hard to communicate about work and personal life when he is locked away in a classroom, only able to respond via Text for most of the day. My problem is I think next time he calls I will tell him, this this and this, and when he calls I have forgotten everything. Anyway long story short, I picked up Miss 3 from Daycare, threw some food on a plate for her and tag teamed hubby to be able to get to my Circus Bootcamp Class. He then had to drag her to do an errand for work and after leaving home at 6.30am didn’t get home til after 8pm. I then got home close to 9pm which is when I threw some food on a plate for us to have dinner. Unfortunately this is our life more often than not at the moment and I get massive mummy/wife guilt.

Busting some circus moves.

Busting some circus moves.

I did enjoy the class this week and we recapped on our moves on the trapeze and the tissues and then tried some different moves on these apparatus. Dare I say I was slightly better than last week on the trapeze and with a bit of help from some of my class buddies I managed to get my legs over the trapeze and dangle and swing upside down. We also learned some handstands, which I could manage with a buddy holding up my feet and we did some of what I call Pyramid building (I think it has a more technical name), as it turns out I was pretty good at being on the bottom of the stack and was freaked out about breaking someone when I got up top, but I did it and everyone survived.

Stacking up.

Stacking up.

 

Tuesday – I hit the gym and planned to try and beat my 3k time on the treadmill, last time I started my 3k with a walk, so this time I separated my warm up and did 500m walk with a bit of a run, reset the tready and away I went started it at 7.8 and then kicked it up to 8kph for most of it. I smashed my PB by over 1 minute, so my new PB sits at 22.39mins for 3k on the treadmill (no incline).

Wednesday morning I joined a group of swimmers to do a training swim in Wollongong Harbour, I get there late because of Daycare dropoff, so I did 1 lap approx 400m with the group, and then I wandered up to the continental pool (shark free zone) to do some more training by myself as the rest of the group had finished. The pool was packed. I was stunned that I actually overtook someone in my lane, then I realised she was 100 years old and swimming breaststroke, then I did manage to overtake a lady doing freestyle, she was about 80. Upon getting out of the pool I discovered the average age of people at the pool was about 70 something. Part of the reason I went to the continental pool was because I needed to shower and dress to go to another appointment after, normally I just go straight to work all soggy and get ready at work. A lot of chitter chatter in the change rooms from the elderly clientele and a lovely old lady started a conversation with me about my fancy stainless steel drink bottle and as I go to look at her and reply I see she is completely naked and has dropped her towel to get dressed, avert my eyes, look away, I went with staring at the brick wall, now I am not a prude but I am not 1 to start nor continue naked conversations with strangers. Anyway I finished another 500m swim and could have done more but was running low on time.

Thursday no training.

Friday no training.

Saturday no training.

I was on a pretty good high after Mon, Tue and Wed’s training sessions, then someone said something to me on Wed afternoon that really affected me. I dwelled on it and simmered and fumed, got emotional and had to process it in my own way. It took me til Sunday to get my head around it and realised that it was a “thoughtless” comment and was not meant in harm and stemmed more from ignorance and not knowing the full story. I think I read too much into it. In the future I will try to not let these things affect me and my training and my goals.

With all the above feelings going on I fell off the “STAUNCH” wagon, especially Saturday I took Miss 3 to another local Show as someone gave me a free ticket, first stop was my absolute weakness, mini donuts, hot and fresh, fried and coated in cinamon sugar, bloody delicious. There were a few other misdemeanors including coke slushy, topped off with Pizza for dinner.

So Sunday came around and I got my head and butt into gear and headed to the gym, I planned to crank out another 3k on the treadmill, this time I wanted to add some incline into it, so was not trying to break any speed records, I did a “Random” setting on the treadmill on Level 1, and managed 3k in 23.05mins and then finished off with some arm weights.

It felt good and a great finish to a confusing week.

The week that Was – Shark Attack

A few things I am happy with this week, including the discovery of my WORD OF THE YEAR, which is “Staunch”. I must remain staunch in eating better, saying no to the bad things or having a small portion and the control to walk away from more. So far, my head is in a good place.

I also started tracking my food again on My Fitness Pal, every day, weekends included.

Monday – I realised that it was the first session of a 4 week course at Circus Bootcamp, yes you saw that correct, Circus Bootcamp. Circus Monoxide are a “half-high” circus offering classes from beginner circus/fitness to experienced Circus performance classes and toddler and kids classes. I purchased a deal off an internet site months ago and before I knew it today was here. The 2 hour class started with introduction of ourselves around the circle, there were 11 of us all together, then we went into some warm up games, followed by Yoga stretching, all of this taking about 30 mins, then it was time to learn some of the apparatus. 1st was the “tissue’s” which are the 2 lengths of fabric used for acrobatics, I always use a P!nk Concert as reference and most people know what I mean. 2nd was the trapeze where we had to learn to hang and swing. 3rd was to get up into the seated position onto the trapeze. By the time we had all had turns and practice on these 3 apparatus, almost another hour had past. We then moved onto some hula hooping and finally stretching and before I knew it the 2 hours had flown by. So my performance was dismal, however, I sweated buckets and I know my HR was increased (will wear my HR monitor next week to check on my calorie burn). My mission of doing something new is accomplished, but with 3 more weeks of classes I have PLENTY of room for improvement.   

Tuesday – A cardio session at the gym including 15 minutes on the Cross trainer and 15 minutes on the treadmill doing interval work 30 seconds walking and 1 minute running at 9 kph, followed by 5 minutes of abs.

Wed – I was invited by a swimming group to have a swim in Wollongong Harbour which is the course that I will be swimming when doing the Aquathon in a few weeks, so I jumped at the chance to train on the course. I completed 1 lap with about 4 other girls in a little pack which was comforting, I am still not fast but felt confident in finishing the 400m distance. Because I got there a little late everyone had finished their 2 laps and I had only done 1 and really wanted to do a second to feel like I had done a good training session. Another girl offered to watch me from the shore, so I headed off by myself, I got about 1/3 of the way and started to panic, not because I couldn’t swim, I had an “OMG swimming in a harbour alone and there could be sharks in here” moment, fucking stupid thought to have when you are swimming (excuse the language), but seriously you can’t control your thoughts and stupidity sometimes. A blessing came in the form of another swimmer zooming past me, then I had a “thank goodness, if there is a shark, he will get eaten first” moment, and all was good in the world. I think I need therapy.

A funny shark montage in honour of my irrational thoughts.

A funny shark montage in honour of my irrational thoughts.

Thursday – I did another cardio session at the gym again with 15 mins on the Cross trainer and after chatting with my PT she suggested I do longer distances with my intervals on the Treadmill, so 1 minute walking and 4 minute runs at 8.5kph for 15 minutes. I did happen to mention I had never done a distance run of any substance on the treadmill so it was proposed to do 3k every time I came in to do Cardio until the Aquathon.

Friday – day of rest

Saturday – I headed into the Gym with the aim to do a quick warm up and then my weights program but the 3k challenge was eating at me and I wanted to see if I could do it. So here is how my 3k went down: 
0-0.25k @ 5.5kph walk
0.25-1k @ 7.8kph (this felt like my w/up)
1.0-2.5k @ 8.0kph
2.5-2.9k @ 8.5kph
2.9-3.0k @ 9kph
So, in conclusion, my 3k time was 23.49min which apart from being a PB distance on the Treadmill, it was a record for me for a 3k in general. It is hard to compare outdoor running to treadmill but I am pleased about picking up the pace. In hindsight I should have stopped after 500m or 1k warm-up and stretched and started again and I think my time would have been even better, oh well there is always next time. I finished off my session with upper body weights and abs session. I was so happy and jumping out of my skin after his work out I felt great.

Sunday – no official workout but spent a few hours of the day at the local Show with Miss 3 and what a fun time we had. We went on the dodgems, the giant wavy slide 7 times (I secretly loved it too), the big bouncy slide, the harness trampoline bungee thing, side-show alley and a pony ride. We relaxed and enjoyed a donut whilst watching the horses in the arena (could not find a skim chai latte anywhere). For me there was lots of walking and walking carrying Miss 3 when she got whingey, plus 7 rounds up the stairs to the slide. It was fun, not many people there and not too hot. We got chauffer driven by hubby as he had to go to work for a little bit. A fun way to end the week.

Giant slide, we both loved it.
Giant slide, we both loved it.

 

Bungee Trampoline, she was a bit scared at first but once she got going wanted to go "Super High".

Bungee Trampoline, she was a bit scared at first but once she got going wanted to go “Super High”.

The Year that Was 2012

To look back upon a year it is often hard to remember what you did, how you felt and just how far you have come, especially when you have mothers brain (yep blame the poor child for my lack of memory). Thankfully in this era of gadgets, social media and mobile apps it can help to trigger my memory.

The year started with some very vague ‘gonna lose weight and get fit’ resolutions, just like every other year.

January my trainer starting me on running in our regular weekly session – hell but I wanted to try.

When February came around and I had my 39th Birthday I think a bit of impending OMG I’m 40 next year hit me and I wanted to achieve more than just lose weight and get fit, I needed some goals. So apart from wanting to be able to run, I wanted to be able to do a Triathlon like my trainer had been bugging me about.

I was not in a great state mentally, my relationship with my husband was not all rosy, it was not all bad either (probably difficult to be perfect when you are comparing it to my daily half hour of Bold and the Beautiful). I had not been diagnosed or medicated for anything but I was a little bit sad a lot of the time which was very unlike me. I had seen a counsellor a few times which helped, basically I talked (a lot) and she listened and gave me some non-judgemental guidance on how to turn negative thoughts around. It’s not something that is easy to tell people, but it should not be taboo to talk to a professional, without which I would say was a potential trip to the loony bin. We seek out professionals them out in all other aspects of our life so why not our mental health.

Exercise also became an outlet as did my reconnection with music once I figured out my gadgetry. I went from running/exercising with my Android phone for GPS/distance, Ipod for music and Heart Rate monitor and managed to get it down to HR monitor and phone with music/GPS on it.

Some people will say why all the gadgets, I am a numbers person, I need to know my numbers which is why I have enjoyed my Indoor Rowing for the past 6 years, it is all numbers in front of you and you can constantly adjust to improve your time/speed/distance. So I wanted the same from my running and cycling. We have all this modern technology so why not use it.

I know that exercise has all the medical benefits of improving your heart, lungs blah blah blah, but I was also enjoying the improved mental state. I am pleased to say that this year and my exercise has improved my ‘head’ and I am back to my happy self (most of the time).

So continuing on with my training and goal of doing a Triathlon, I won’t bore you with all the details of how I got to be able to run you can read about that in my Couch to 5k post but it was a big achievement to do and if I can do it anyone can, you may do it slower or faster than me but just keep trying.

As the year cracked on so did my desire and panic about doing the Triathlon, I had bought myself a new bike, I went from a super cruiser heavy weight to an ultra-light racing bike with the skinny wheels and those hanging down handles (yes very technical I know but upon researching bikes I realise it was like learning a whole other language, I don’t have time for that). I loved the new bike, once I got used to it and again plugged into my music would enjoy going for a ride. I have not really ‘trained’ for the bike, I just get on and ride, I assumed that all other training I am doing would improve my cycling as well.

The 1 thing I left til last was my swimming; it is such pain to swim, shower, wash (long) hair, style hair, get ready for work not in the comfort of your own bathroom and if I didn’t get it done in the mornings then I wouldn’t do it. Not to mention I found it boooring, no music to keep me company. I started back swimming in June 2012 and only did 1-2 swims each month, my goal was to just get through the swim leg of the triathlon alive, awesome goal setting. So I would dive in the pool, swim 300m and then go, ok I’m alive, do a few more laps for ‘training’ purposes and call it done. I am pleased to say I can now do 500m no problems (not fast) and a training session usually consists of 1500m before I get bored, I have been swimming in Ocean pools, indoor heated and outdoor heated Olympic pools and 1 time in a harbour. My next challenge is to do some Open Water swimming to train for any Triathlons that may not be in the luxury of a Harbour and certainly very very few are in the “Princess” comfort of an Olympic pool.

So to look at my milestones this year:

Running – I could not run more than about 200m without stopping to walk and have now done numerous 5k training and even a 6k training run. Even managed to do some treadmill running which I vowed I would never do.

Swimming – I used to swim 50m and stop every single lap for a rest, can now swim 500m non-stop, probably more if I tried and can do 1500m in a training session.

Bike – New bike, much faster and easier to go longer distance, my cleats and I are having a love hate relationship. I don’t train for the bike, just get on and ride. Biggest ride was only 24k from memory, I just lack the time to do more. Mostly my bike ‘Juliet’ and I are happy together.

Indoor Rowing – Held onto my State Championship title in the 500m and 4 minute distances and at last glance I still held my World Rankings of 22nd and 4th respectively (the Rowing year has not finished yet). See more about that here.

Weight Loss – I dare not go there but I will, I have to. So according to my weight tracking app and cross referenced with my own spreadsheet, it would appear that I started the year 2012 at around 110.5kgs, I dropped down to about 105-106 at my lowest throughout the year but finished it off after the Christmas binge at 109.8, however I am please to report that the Christmas Kilo’s are coming off almost as fast as they went on and I am really trying to eat well.

Goals – when I actually put my Goals out in Blogland in August 2012 I had already started working towards them, but never fully believing that they will all happen and like anything need to be tweaked.
No.1 was the work, life, workout and family balancing act. I am hoping I have done that Ok (I won’t profess to being mother or wife of the year), perhaps I should ask Miss 3 and hubby to comment on this.
No.2 was the Pink Triathlon, read about it here, but in short I DID IT!!.
No.3 was the National Indoor Rowing Championships, my training was not optimum for this event, too much focus on the Tri but I had a good crack at it, read about it here.
No.4 was the Mud Run a 7+ klm trail run with mud and other obstacles, heaps of fun, I finished it, read about it here.

Full length photo taken in Dec 2012

Full length photo taken in Dec 2012

I am pleased to say that apart from my weight loss goal I have achieved all my others, through many ups and downs that life throws at you and battling my own emotions and insecurities.

I must say I have never had as many compliments as I have had this year regarding my appearance and I appreciate every single 1 of them. I know with all my training I am changing body shape, however it is sometimes hard to receive a “you look great, how much weight have you lost” compliment when you have lost only a miniscule amount or nothing. Weight loss is something I hope to seriously tackle this year (yes I’m saying it again like I have for the last 20 years).

Happy New Year to all my friends, family and followers and I hope 2013 is your best year yet. Set some goals, you never know what might happen.