Two runs completed

I've done to runs since I was last online! One on Monday evening after work, and one today before work. They were both heaps of fun!

I tried a new route on Monday on my 3km run. I was trying to get a time under 15 minutes. Unfortunately, my timing system is not very flash. I check my phone before I leave, and time how long my warm up takes by checking how long I've been playing a song on my ipod. I do the same for my cool down, and if I skip songs half way through or whatever. When I get back, I check my cellphone again, and subtract those amounts from the whole time. Not exactly the most efficient way!!

So for today, my sister lent my her watch, which is rubber. I don't own a rubber watch, as I'm allergic (for long periods of time). So today, my 4km run took me exactly 30 minutes :) Yay! I can definitely bring that time down, I reckon.

Nearly time to start counting down till my next triathlon run!

Crazy run

Had such a weird run yesterday. As soon as the song Rebel by Billy Idol came on, I just ran like a maniac! Well, not actually, I just ran a lot faster than I usually do. I lasted the whole song at that pace, which I was pretty chuffed with!

I then struggled a bit with the next km, so I walked mabye 400 metres and ran the rest of my run at a super slow pace. The whole thing including warm up only took me 28 minutes! 4km!

Then I did some strength training. Next week I start speed training (bearing in mind that I'm behind in the Inspiration to fitness now due to my knees), which is fitting considering my run yesterday. I finally feel ready for it! I think I will do it fartlek-style.


This is when you jog (or walk) some sections, and sprint others. It's easy because you don't need any equipment, you don't need to go to a track, and you still get a run in. I might try some stair climbing, although I don't know if that will be good for my knees.

This picture popped up when I googled fartlek images. I don't know how you can tell she's doing fartlek, but I want to run where she is (and look like her hahaha!)!


This is where I found the image. It includes heaps more info on fartleks!

4km run

Trialled my new shoes yesterday. They felt really good! It was like I'd gone from running barefoot on concrete, to running on dense foam on grass! My knees did still hurt, but I managed to run 4km!

One thing that I'm noticing is that my breathing and heart rate seem to.. settle faster. As in, I'm no longer reaching home absolutely gasping for breath. So I must be getting fitter!! I hope? Hahaha

Now for 5km!!

Rain!

It is a beautiful day today! But you know what? When I woke up, it was pissing down, we had no hot water and the electrician was here to fix it but it would take hours to warm up, and therefore not in time for me to have a shower before work, and my hair was super nice and soft and I didn't want to get it wet... So I didn't go for my run! I had a big breakfast (peanut butter on toast and a smoothie), did my make up and moisturised... AND NOW IT'S A BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY DAY!!!! And the electrician has fixed our shower! WHAT THE HELL LOL!

Oh well! Lol I can be thankful that finally we are getting an amazing summer's day. And maybe I will go for a wee shop before work, heehe! I need a new dress for a wedding - I'm hoping for something that's maybe backless or black to go with my new red shoes... but I'm not sure if I want to wear black to a wedding...

This is a really crappy picture but I'm too lazy to take one of my own lol... Maybe I will if I buy a dress!

The BF's birthday

No run today! It was the boyfriend's birthday, so we went out to lunch instead. So I still have yet to trial my new shoes! This is the first ever photo I have of us, taken back when we were wee 18 year olds!


Check out those eyebrows hahaha

Here are my plans for future organised runs:

March - 3km run in a triathlon
April - 5km run on a forest track
May - Feilding to Palmerston North walk/run (15km)
A 15km run at some point... can't remember where or when
August - A HALF MARATHON! Heck yeah! 21km here I come!

And I really want to do the tough guy/girl challenge, which is pretty much a run through mud hahaha

When I was at high school, and we had the road race, I outright refused. When the dean caught a few of us in the art room working on our panels (which were assessed and actually worth credits) I told her I was only going to walk the whole run, and it was therefore a complete waste of time. I'd be better off spending my time on something that was worth something to me. It was beyond me why I would waste my time.. and I still agree with how I saw it back then. But it just goes to show how much my view on running has changed!

I cannot believe how much I love running! Who'd have guessed?

NEW RUNNING SHOES!

Went to shoe clinic today! They had me run on treadmill and looked at my footprint and discussed my knee problem with me.. and even though I wanted super cool-looking shoes, I ended up with some that are perfect for my feet and knees! I was wearing shoes that are waaaaay too small for the width of my foot, and he said that running in my netball shoes has probably not helped the issue.




The new ones are really very ugly lol but they are for a purpose, not for a fashion show! If they make me run faster and longer than someone else who's wearing shoes they think look cool, then fantastic, and if they mean my knees and hips won't hurt, then even better!!! They were pretty expensive, but the guy was super helpful and knowledgeable so I was happy to give him a sale. I got some advice on Netball shoes too, but might buy them elsewhere cos this pair was $250, and the netball shoes he suggested are $260. I wish I could tell you about them... but all I know is that the heel is super supportive for netballers and especially shooters (like me), and will survive indoor and outdoor courts. And they're pink! lol Netball season starts April 14th! Can't wait!

Also, my run was choice as today. 3.6km, no breathing issues, and I did the strength training as well. Great day! I'm shattered. Looking forward to trying out my new shoes!

Working at it

Run was heeeaaaps better today. I'm back on track with my Inspiration to Fitness. I'm starting again at week 4 as I got behind due to my knee. Soo today I ran 3.6 km and had a good cool down :) Felt faaaaantastic finishing it, especially after the few wee issues I've had running recently.

I've started working for a larger portion of the day now: from 12 till 7.30. This is great cos otherwise I sit around at home snacking hahaha. When I went to Teachers' College (in 2010) we had the same hours as a school: we had interval at 10.30 and lunch at 12 or 1.30 or something along those lines. I was able to set what I ate and stuck to it. I looked pretty good that year! But then I moved home and had oodles of free time in which to snack hahaha

This is me back when I was much skinnier (the super pales skin is about the same though haha)! I imagine that to most other people I look very much the same, but to me I know there's about 5kg difference and roughly 5 inches. I'm working at being that size again cos I would love to fit my teacher clothes a bit better haha and to be honest, it would make me feel quite happy and a bit more confident.
And here's a recent picture! I loooove boxing day races! Probably my favourite day of the year! I also love this dress - am considering wearing it to a wedding I have coming up.

Looking forward to my run tomorrow! The strength training not so much hahaha

A whole triathlon!

I'm doing a proper triathlon: the swim, the bike and the run. It's on the 25th of March and it's actually a pretty easy-going one. It's a 100m swim, 5km bike and 1.5km run. I'm fairly sure I can handle it! I just have to get the swimming under my belt lol... although I do think children can enter so I don't know if I'll be too embarrassed to do such an easy one!

Went for a beautiful walk with my mum today along the river. People often don't realise how the city I live in is actually very beautiful. We have a lagoon, an esplanade, and a river that runs alongside both which you can walk along.
Looking forward to my run tomorrow! I will need to do some strength training as well to keep on track with (or attempt to catch up to) my Inspiration to Fitness, because of the week I needed to have off due to my knee.

Am really enjoying challenging myself and getting fitter. I feel like a real champion just for getting to the starting line!

Exercise-induced asthma?

Apparently this is something I may have suffered from today on my run. As soon as I started running it felt really uncomfortable breathing, like my oesophagus was smaller than normal. I walked for a bit, and felt a bitter better so I kept going and was fine.

But then, for the rest of the day I've had breathing troubles, just from doing a few netball passes, or doing nothing at all, at work (well obviously I do stuff at work lol but no physical activity)!

It's very very weird, and I'm hoping that I don't get it again.

Terrible run

Had a terrible run on Wednesday. My brain just wasn't into it; I was seriously lacking in mental capacity. I stopped running. I failed to run my full 3km, when I'm supposed to now be aiming for 4.

What a shitter.

Today's run was more successful; I completed the 3km, but didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable doing it as I have in the past.. maybe it's because I feel like it should be easy from now on, and when it's not I don't feel as pleased with myself or something..

Oh well! Everyone has bad days, right? I'll get back into it soon enough.

4km run and squash tomorrow before work and then weekend!

Icing on the cake

Something else I wanted to mention was that there was a speaker at the triathlon who'd done an Iron man in Kona.

That Iron man was her first ever triathlon. She just decided to do it, she was already that fit lol BUT she said that race day is the icing on the cake. It's the day you share with your family and get to celebrate.

That really resonanted with me, especially after Ella suggested not doing it and I really didn't like that idea. I knew I could already run the 3km easy as, but it was the day I could truely celebrate something.

Just a lil something to think about, and to remember next time I'm lacking in motivation!

Cake Pops

I said that I was going to be making Cake Pops for Valentines day... but I didn't realise how much of a bleeding mission they were going to be. Ohh my goodness they are definitely a full-day job. Luckily I made the two cakes the evening prior to actually making the pop-part.

I used Betty Crocker cakes because I couldn't be bothered making one from scratch. Then I let them cool over night.

After my run yesterday morning, I went round to a friends and we crumbed up the cakes and mixed in the icing and then made them into balls. Then we melted the chocolate and tried to cover them in it. That's where it got crazy messy hahaha they would dip while I decorated and it was difficult because the chocolate hardened crazy quick... but we got there in the end! I made a few more this morning to use up the rest of the balls and chocolate. It was lots of fun decorating them :) But George had better bloody love them because they were freaking hard! lol

I've eaten too much chocolate and cake now haha I'd better go for a run tomorrow and get back into my routine, ready for my next triathlon in March!

Shagged!

Today was triathlon day!!!

Here we are with our medals! I'm in the middle.. wearing the same gear as last year hahaha wish I'd thought about that earlier!

Last night I set my alarm and then had heaps of difficulty getting to sleep, partly because George was keen as for a chat when I was trying to sleep (which is weird; normally it's the other way around!), and partly because I was full of adrenalin.

Come 6 - 7 am, on the other hand, I was not keen to get out of bed. I woke up heaps because I didn't want to miss my alarm. We had to be there at 7 to register, so I set it for 6.10. I woke up to a txt from Ella saying "Do you want a ride there?" and I thought, No, George is taking me. I'll just sleep till my alarm goes off then txt her back. But then, out loud I said "WHAT THE F *** DID THAT SAY 6.53?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My alarm hadn't gone off.

So George and I jumped out of bed, threw some clothes on and my amazing boyfriend drove me down so that I could register, and then drove me back to get my gear and have breakfast. He is fantastic.



The run went really well. When there are that many people running around you, there's heaps more to distract you from feeling tired or out of breath than when you run alone. I felt fine the whole way - in fact I wish I'd pushed myself harder! My time was roughly 16 minutes which is pretty good. George works as a sports journalist here, and he got given the results before they get put up on the website! We can 51st out of 140 :) Yay!

Then we all went and had a well-earned beer :) It was such a beautiful day! I saw all my best friends, who all wished me luck. The only thing that would make my weekend better would be if I'd seen George for longer than a panicked 20 minutes haha... and perhaps if I hadn't eaten so many cake pops but that is for tomorrow!

Triathlon is tomorrow!

You'll never guess what happened this morning.

I received a txt from my friend Ella, who is doing the swimming, saying that her friend, who is doing the biking, cannot do it. Perhaps we should do the one in March, and just go out tonight!

I had a mini panic, and said NO WAY do you know how hard I have worked for this one? I'm mentally prepared for it. I'll find someone else.

She said she'll still do the swim, and luckily, my fantastic friend Kylie is going to do the bike. Bloody lucky I have such sportt friends. So I still get to do my run tomorrow. Phew!!

Run went well yesterday. Got it down to 17 minutes. Also it was raining so I felt like a boss, being so hard out that I run even in the rain haha. I'm hoping tomorrow, what with my adrenalin, I'll be able to knock it off in under 15 minutes. That would really make my day! Sooo excited! I'll definitely be having a beer at the end.

As well as that, I've decided to treat myself to some new running shoes! It'll be fantastic for my knees to have proper running shoes. I've been wearing my Netball shoes and they have been so thrashed I'm going to need new ones of them as well as running shoes!

I'm going to see the people at Shoe clinic and see what they say about the kind of shoe I should get. I hope it doesn't cost too much. I want some really bright ones. I love bright exercise gear - makes it heaps easier to get motivated :)

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Two more sleeps!

Friday today! Which means I've got two more sleeps till the triathlon.. and I've only been on one run this week.... Should probably get out today and try slip in a run before work. I've decided to try and sprint (or at least not jog super slowly) some sections. Gotta be ready for race day!!

Yesterday, even though I didn't go for a run, I still got heaps of exercise in! A friend and I walked out to Massey University, which is about a 4k walk. We were going to play squash, but all the courts were busy so we did some strength training and weights instead and today I am so so sore! We did arms and core. It's a good feeling when your core hurts! It feels like I've done some good work.

After that we played squash for an hour. Kylie is a PE student. She has done an entire course on just squash hahahah so she showed me a few things. I bloody love squash because it's a fantastic form of exercise AND because you are in a wee room on your own and you can have a good as gossip!

Then we walked back home, and I went to work. Then, I had a wee dinner date with some friends :) It was the yummiest dinner; Chloe is a dietitian, so her dinner was super healthy and tasty.... but then we had dessert haha and it was a heart-attack in a cake lol

This one is from Waffles n Trees

I think she had in it two blocks of chocolate, eggs, sugar.... and I think that was it. It was gluten free, super super dense and absolutely aaaaaahhhmazing. I could have eaten the whole cake! OM nom nom nom. We had it with Biofarm yogurt and raspberries.

Couldn't have asked for a better day!

Also, here a most beautiful photo of us at the Jersey shore party, as promised, wigs, tan and all. We are truely stunning lol

Lazy day

Didn't run today, for the stupidest, laziest reason.

I didn't go for my 4km run today, because I had my hair extensions in, and I couldn't be bothered taking them out and putting them back in again.

They did look really good though lol

You also get a sneaky peak of the back of my head in the mirror, and my dresser and piggy bank. Also, that is a David Low cartoon my sister had printed on canvas for me - being a history teacher & general keen-history-person, it is one of the coolest things I own. David Low was a cartoonist during WWII, and was one of the highest-up people on the Nazi's hit list because of his anti-Nazi cartoons, and he was a New Zealander!


Taking care of my hair was another of my 'resolutions' (for want of a better word) for this year. I want long hair! And a cheat way of doing this is using my clip-in extensions which I got off foxy locks extensions. They were the cheapest in terms of the weight you get, and people who had done reviews seemed to really like them. I love mine! I did have to have them dyed, which while they say is easy enough, some hairdressers won't do it because they are clip-ins and on a weft - they say they'll go too stripey and it won't look good. However, I'd already forked out around $100 (NZ) for them, so I wasn't going to just give up so I got my hairdresser to do them anyway, and she did a fantastic job. They are a bit striped near the clips but you can't notice at all.

So tomorrow I will need to update how I went doing my 4km run before SUNDAY!
I'm also going to be doing a big walk and playing squash!

Off to bed now as I've got a terrible headache.

Back on track!

Ran today! Knees were fine! Hurray!!!!

I ran the whole thing, and my knees only hurt for the beginning. Unfortunately it took me one minute over my usual time (20 mins), so that was a bit of a let down, but to be fair I hadn't run in five days.

This many sleeps till the triathlon! Excited!

Swimming 500 metres

Was an absolute mission.

I went out with my friend who is doing the swimming bit of the triathlon with me. I thought that I needed to do some sort of exercise despite my knees, even though I haven't been swimming pretty much ever. I had swimming lessons as a wee kid but since then I know I haven't jumped in a pool (aside from ones in Vietnam and Singapore - and let's be honest, I hardly did any swimming, I merely sat around and cooled off, and one other time for school sports when I struggled my way through a single length of the 50 metre pool and was incredibly embarrassed when I had to stop every few metres or so) since primary school.

Here is proof that I've been in a pool in the last 10 years haha the last year of school, I'm the pale one with long hair, that was actually blonde but looks brown.

So today was a bit of a new thing for me. Wearing contacts, being blonde, being slightly chubbier than I'd like, my aforementioned lack of swimming practice, and my severe dislike of having water over my chest, has meant that I generally do not like swimming, and see it as a huge annoyance and hassle. But today I overcame all of that, and took a leap (hahaha who doesn't love a cheeky pun)!


It was so so so hard! I have so much more respect for Ella doing the swimming part! She swam 800 metres and I 500. I had to stop half way, sometimes twice during one length and again once I'd finished it. I couldn't do any stroke consistently apart from one I made up - lying on my back and kicking, while attempting to propel myself forward in a sort of upside-down breaststroke. I tried a bit of freestlye and could only keep that up for a few metres.

Despite finding it a total bitch to get through, I'm pretty stoaked that I got out there and did it. In fact, I may have found a new challenge for myself - now that I know I can run if I put my mind to it, I really want to give swimming a go. It might have to wait until after the triathlon though!

Bugger my knees - tomorrow I'm going for a run! Can't wait!

Four days without a run

I am absolutely hating not running. It makes me feel like such a slob! I'm so bored! hahaha even though my runs are only half an hour long they take up at least an hour of my day because I have to warm down and shower and re-do my make up and hair etc... actually make that an hour and a half! Haha So I have a whole extra hour and a half of day and nothing to do with it! Except eat! Lol

On the plus side, the popliteus seems to be better. However, the problem with my knee caps is back in full force. They haven't felt so bad since I first got it back in like, 2008, when I was working in a supermarket and was bending up and down and leaning on my knees for hours. I think it's from doing the exercises! That's so unfair! It hurts to walk, stand up, kneel over... it is not very nice and it's totally put me off doing the exercises for it.

I'm thinking of doing some strength training today, just so that I don't feel so behind :( I feel like a quitter even though I haven't quit! I am definitely going for a run tomorrow.

If you are in a position where you can run but just can't be bothered - Get the hell out there and go for a run! At least you CAN! Be thankful for that and make the most of it!!!

This guy is such a champion!

Popliteus

That word cracks me up... but not enough to cheer me up. Unfortunately, my popliteus is the part of my knee that I have somehow injured. And the way to cure it, is to rest it. Which means no running. Which means sitting at home feeling guilty for not going for a run. Which means not keeping up with the BlogHer inspriation to fitness when I'd been doing so well and had been so pleased :( :(

Oh well! I will just have to wait it out and hope that it will be better by next Sunday, and that all my hard work won't go down the drain for not training for a week.

On an entirely unrelated note, I've decided to make cakepops which are the cutest, coolest Valentine's treat I've seen. I love baking. I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's in that people think they need to buy jewellery, or do anything crazy special. I'm more of a small-gesture person. I find pleasure in the small things, and I love doing small things for people. Last year for the BF I made him heart-shaped brownies (which my flatmate ate. All of them.), and this year he, and my family, are getting cake pops. Seeing how awesome these babies are, made the pink cupcakes I had planned to make seem far less exciting lol

If you want to find out how to make cake-pops, the best way is to watch Bakerella's youtube video, but I also suggest that you simply google cake pops, and then sit back to marvel at the many many many different types you can make. There is no end to the inspiration!! You'll see why I gave up on my idea of a simple cupcake hahaha

I'm hoping to make ones that look like this (mainly the one in the middle),

which I found here,

but you can make them for pretty much any occasion! Like these...
which I found here!

Om nom nom nom! Can't wait to make these! Maybe that's what I can do in all the free time I have since I can't run! Haha :(

You've got to be joking.

I am injured. Freaking injured!!!!!!! I'm so so so mad. Especially, as I JUST WOKE UP INJURED. I haven't even DONE anything to create an injury! I feel like that stupid woman from the Bachelor who 'punched herself in the night' and woke up with a black eye (I bet she actually fell over in the shower or something embarrassing).

'I seriously think I beat myself up in the middle of the night'

I did my run yesterday, then warmed down, and then stretched. I was fine! But this morning, I woke up and the inside of the back of my knee was, and is, really sore, like I've sprained a tendon... except I haven't done anything! I don't remember it getting banged, or hurting at all after my run yesterday. So angry, as it meant I couldn't run today and probably won't tomorrow as I don't want to aggravate it. It needs to be better for next Sunday! I need to train more! This is so annoying!

Four km!

That's right! You heard! I knocked off the 4km run today. Hurray!

I live in a nice suburb, and my runs stay in my suburb. So my run often doubles back on itself, or crosses the path of other streets that I run on. Because of this, today on my run I was able to spontaneously take a newish route that made my run different, but I knew I was still making the distance I wanted, and, for some strange reason easier. I think this is why I was able to run the 4km! I'd already planned on extending it, and then I basically went clockwise around a block rather than anti-clockwise. Then, I skipped the street I would normally turn left at, and instead turned at the next left.

Changing up my run made it more fun, and made it seem more achieveable, because I felt like I had no expectations to beat or, like, I wasn't aware of previous spots where I'd needed to stop or felt tired.
All up, it took me 30 minutes. For me, this is pretty good :)

Then I came home and did some strength training. The bicycle crunches weren't hard at all, so I don't think I was doing them properly lol I might youtube it to check!


No, yup, looks like I was doing them right... Oh well who knows! This is not a picture of me, by the way! lol