The hardest thing about running this morning? Moving my arms!
I have neglected my upper body workouts a bit in the last couple of weeks, so gave it a good bash yesterday. Especially the Swiss ball chest flyes.
So this morning when I ran my legs were fine and breathing was okay - but, boy, did my pecs hurt! Much better by the end of it, though.
Last night I did 20 minutes on the cross trainer at the hotel ('cause I'd only done 10 minutes at the gym in the morning). Afterward I went back to my room to stretch, still wearing my ipod. A couple of great songs came on and I danced around like a mad thing. And then realised the guys in the apartment across the road were having a BBQ on their balcony. I did get a round of applause though! One of the songs was Steriogram's Walkie Talkie Man - the song ipod actually used in one of their ads.
Just two more sleeps and I can go home.
I haven't been posting my food lately, but here's what I had yesterday, which is a fairly typical week day at the moment:
Breakfast: bran, blueberries and yoghurt
Lunch: smoked chicken and mushroom risotto (left over from the night before, with yummy smoked garlic from the Kerikeri market and rocket)
Dinner: pasta with low-fat feta, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, snow peas and fresh basil, with lots of fresh-ground black pepper
Other: a trim flat white, 2 glasses of pinot gris, 2 plums and a punnet of Cape gooseberries (eating them always reminds me of my Gran)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Are you coming with me?
I've decided to do another duathlon - the Real Women's one on 6 May. This is actually the same one as I did at Easter last year, just under a different name. It's a good thing to aim for as I get back into my running. And I'd like to have a go at beating last year's time (59 minutes 12 seconds). And I know the whole course is flat, so I'll only have Wellington wind to contend with.
So, Wellington bloggers and those nearby - are you coming with me?
Ran the first day of week five of the Couch to 5K this morning. This week the three days have a different workout - 3 x 5min run on day one, 2 x 8min run on day two and 1 x 20min run for the third workout. I'm feeling strong, so hopefully I won't self-talk myself out of being able to do that 20 minute one!
Only four more sleeps until I get to go home.
So, Wellington bloggers and those nearby - are you coming with me?
Ran the first day of week five of the Couch to 5K this morning. This week the three days have a different workout - 3 x 5min run on day one, 2 x 8min run on day two and 1 x 20min run for the third workout. I'm feeling strong, so hopefully I won't self-talk myself out of being able to do that 20 minute one!
Only four more sleeps until I get to go home.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
The Far North
Jake and I are in Kerikeri, spending the weekend with my Mum and Dad.
I always feel so good when I come back to Northland - it just feels like home. Of course being so warm helps.
Today we drove to Cooper's Beach for a swim, then went to Mangonui for the best fish and chips in the world. It's true, they are. I have photos of the lovely beach, but my download cable is in Auckland, so you'll have to wait.
I always feel so good when I come back to Northland - it just feels like home. Of course being so warm helps.
Today we drove to Cooper's Beach for a swim, then went to Mangonui for the best fish and chips in the world. It's true, they are. I have photos of the lovely beach, but my download cable is in Auckland, so you'll have to wait.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Sometimes I can be so stupid
I know you find that nearly impossible to believe - but it's true!
First of all there was Monday. I was tired and snappy and generally feeling overwrought. I put that down to the big weekend.
Monday night - I whined about being lonely on my blog.
Tuesday morning. This was a classic. I tripped on the treadmill and face-planted the console. Now I'm not a particularly graceful exerciser and co-ordination isn't my strong point, but I've never actually FALLEN OVER on a piece of equipment before. It's kinda difficult to pretend that's part of your routine. And then pretend you're fine, when all you want to do is sit on the floor and sob with humiliation.
But that's not the stupid part.
Mid-morning Tuesday I got my period. Oh. Yeah. Right. That would explain it - tired, grumpy, clumsy, unreasonably emotional. D'oh!
It's not like it doesn't happen every month. You'd think I'd have it worked out by now.
First of all there was Monday. I was tired and snappy and generally feeling overwrought. I put that down to the big weekend.
Monday night - I whined about being lonely on my blog.
Tuesday morning. This was a classic. I tripped on the treadmill and face-planted the console. Now I'm not a particularly graceful exerciser and co-ordination isn't my strong point, but I've never actually FALLEN OVER on a piece of equipment before. It's kinda difficult to pretend that's part of your routine. And then pretend you're fine, when all you want to do is sit on the floor and sob with humiliation.
But that's not the stupid part.
Mid-morning Tuesday I got my period. Oh. Yeah. Right. That would explain it - tired, grumpy, clumsy, unreasonably emotional. D'oh!
It's not like it doesn't happen every month. You'd think I'd have it worked out by now.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Hello, my lovelies!
Thanks for the subtle hint (by text) today Helena - it certainly is time for a post.
The Taupo relay was another great success. A few of my personal highlights:
Me yelling down the phone at 5am on Saturday 'What do you mean, you've lost the pregnant client?'.
Ditto when they couldn't find the Managing Director after his transition.
Fed, watered, wined and beered 43 people.
Less sleep for me than last year - two 10-minute naps on Friday night, five hours on Saturday night. The drive back to Auckland on Sunday was something of a struggle!
In excess of $2500 raised for Paralympics (which our company then matched 2 for 1).
The fact we take our clients away for the weekend, make them share rooms with people they've never met (people who often work for opposition companies), drag them out of bed in the middle of the night, make them run or walk for miles on roads which are either deserted or crowded with main road traffic, abuse them if they're too slow - and they love it so much they're already signing up for next year!
So, anyway, back to my Auckland stint.
This week is mostly about working and working out. I'm repeating Week 4 of C25K this week, as I didn't feel up to Week 5.
Lovely hot weather here - hope no-one can see into my apartment tonight as I sit here in my tee shirt and undies!
Eating - rubbish over the weekend, pretty much fine since.
Feeling a bit lonely though.
The Taupo relay was another great success. A few of my personal highlights:
Me yelling down the phone at 5am on Saturday 'What do you mean, you've lost the pregnant client?'.
Ditto when they couldn't find the Managing Director after his transition.
Fed, watered, wined and beered 43 people.
Less sleep for me than last year - two 10-minute naps on Friday night, five hours on Saturday night. The drive back to Auckland on Sunday was something of a struggle!
In excess of $2500 raised for Paralympics (which our company then matched 2 for 1).
The fact we take our clients away for the weekend, make them share rooms with people they've never met (people who often work for opposition companies), drag them out of bed in the middle of the night, make them run or walk for miles on roads which are either deserted or crowded with main road traffic, abuse them if they're too slow - and they love it so much they're already signing up for next year!
So, anyway, back to my Auckland stint.
This week is mostly about working and working out. I'm repeating Week 4 of C25K this week, as I didn't feel up to Week 5.
Lovely hot weather here - hope no-one can see into my apartment tonight as I sit here in my tee shirt and undies!
Eating - rubbish over the weekend, pretty much fine since.
Feeling a bit lonely though.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Who, me? Invisible?
Can you guess this week is really busy? No posts from me, I haven't visited your blogs - how rude!
Everything's fine, just not much spare time available.
I've found a different gym to go to in Newmarket, which opens at 5.30am so it fits my schedule better. Week 4 of C25K is going really well - as is my exercise generally.
I didn't remember to weigh myself at the gym on Monday, so I've decided to go the whole three weeks without weighing. My eating has been mostly fine.
Ciao for now, will update after the big weekend in Taupo. Hope you're all okay, I'll have lots of reading to do to catch up on all your news.
Everything's fine, just not much spare time available.
I've found a different gym to go to in Newmarket, which opens at 5.30am so it fits my schedule better. Week 4 of C25K is going really well - as is my exercise generally.
I didn't remember to weigh myself at the gym on Monday, so I've decided to go the whole three weeks without weighing. My eating has been mostly fine.
Ciao for now, will update after the big weekend in Taupo. Hope you're all okay, I'll have lots of reading to do to catch up on all your news.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Packing
I'm off to Auckland today for my three week stint, so I'm packing everything into a suitcase that looks like a small apartment building.
And I do mean everything! Apart from the obvious - just about every piece of summer clothing I own, six pairs of shoes (down from the original eleven), exercise gear, skincare, cosmetics, hair product, etc - I'm also taking: my yoghurt maker, plastic containers to pack breakfasts and lunches for work, the companion speakers for my ipod so I have decent tunes in my apartment, plenty of books, and so on and on and on.
Apart from packing for my trip, I'm also packing stuff that needs to go to Taupo next weekend so I can look after the 45 people in our teams for The Great Lake Relay. I know everyone thinks I'm obsessive about this, but after years of tournaments I've got this down to a pretty fine art. I'm packing: giant fish bins - everything gets carried up there in them, and then you fill them full of ice to hold the drinks, coffee plungers, a gazebo, stockpot because motels never have anything big enough, my aromatherapy oils for doing rubdowns, my good knives because (again) the motel ones are always shit, my apron so I can look like Susie Homemaker, blah, blah, blah!
All that stuff will get brought to Taupo by someone else, thank goodness!
In one way I'm really looking forward to the three weeks away. The workload will call for some long days, but I feel a quiet determination to be very disciplined about my exercise and eating. It is a good opportunity to set up an environment with very few temptations.
Most especially, I'm looking forward to spending a weekend in Kerikeri with my parents (and Jake of course).
I weighed in a day early today, for a nice 800 gram loss. I'll use the gym scales to take comparative weights each week so I can track my weight.
AND I'm going to try my first time back at boxing tomorrow! Yeehaw!
Catch y'all soon.
CKK - baby, could you please email me so I can be your friend?
And I do mean everything! Apart from the obvious - just about every piece of summer clothing I own, six pairs of shoes (down from the original eleven), exercise gear, skincare, cosmetics, hair product, etc - I'm also taking: my yoghurt maker, plastic containers to pack breakfasts and lunches for work, the companion speakers for my ipod so I have decent tunes in my apartment, plenty of books, and so on and on and on.
Apart from packing for my trip, I'm also packing stuff that needs to go to Taupo next weekend so I can look after the 45 people in our teams for The Great Lake Relay. I know everyone thinks I'm obsessive about this, but after years of tournaments I've got this down to a pretty fine art. I'm packing: giant fish bins - everything gets carried up there in them, and then you fill them full of ice to hold the drinks, coffee plungers, a gazebo, stockpot because motels never have anything big enough, my aromatherapy oils for doing rubdowns, my good knives because (again) the motel ones are always shit, my apron so I can look like Susie Homemaker, blah, blah, blah!
All that stuff will get brought to Taupo by someone else, thank goodness!
In one way I'm really looking forward to the three weeks away. The workload will call for some long days, but I feel a quiet determination to be very disciplined about my exercise and eating. It is a good opportunity to set up an environment with very few temptations.
Most especially, I'm looking forward to spending a weekend in Kerikeri with my parents (and Jake of course).
I weighed in a day early today, for a nice 800 gram loss. I'll use the gym scales to take comparative weights each week so I can track my weight.
AND I'm going to try my first time back at boxing tomorrow! Yeehaw!
Catch y'all soon.
CKK - baby, could you please email me so I can be your friend?
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Just to prove my geekhood
I love this joke:
Today is Einstein's birthday. He would have been 107.
Few people remember that the Nobel Prize winner married his cousin, Elsa Lowenthal, after his first marriage dissolved in 1919.
He stated that he was attracted to Elsa because she was well endowed, and postulated that, if you are attracted to women with large breasts, the attraction is even stronger when there is a DNA connection.
This came to be known as Einstein's Theory of Relative Titty.
Go on, admit it, it's funny!
Goddamn mad day in Auckland today, barely time to breathe.
8 February summary
Breakfast: bran, flavoured full fat yoghurt (restricted choice in the Koru Club)
Lunch: sushi
Dinner: chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and green salad
Other: three slices of Gruyere with my glass of red wine
Exercise: nope
Today is Einstein's birthday. He would have been 107.
Few people remember that the Nobel Prize winner married his cousin, Elsa Lowenthal, after his first marriage dissolved in 1919.
He stated that he was attracted to Elsa because she was well endowed, and postulated that, if you are attracted to women with large breasts, the attraction is even stronger when there is a DNA connection.
This came to be known as Einstein's Theory of Relative Titty.
Go on, admit it, it's funny!
Goddamn mad day in Auckland today, barely time to breathe.
8 February summary
Breakfast: bran, flavoured full fat yoghurt (restricted choice in the Koru Club)
Lunch: sushi
Dinner: chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and green salad
Other: three slices of Gruyere with my glass of red wine
Exercise: nope
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
How old is too old?
At what age is your son too old for you to take him into the women's changing room at the pools (where my gym is)?
A couple of times a week, about the time I'm dressed and ready to leave the gym for work, a woman comes in with her young son. I'm struggling to place his age, but it's probably somewhere around six. Surely he could wait on the seat outside in the foyer while she gets changed? Because this kid is ALL EYES when he's in that changing room.
Either she's risking turning him into a perve, or she's going to scar him for life!
I'm all for people being open about their bodies, but the other people in that room haven't been given a choice in the matter.
And, yes, I have mentioned it to the pool staff, who have said they'll keep an eye out and have a word.
Later edit - of COURSE they have family change rooms. Right, now I'm quite happy to say something to her myself.
7 February summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: beef and roast vege salad
Dinner: BBQ pork with brown rice and red cabbage salad
Others: three trim flat whites, pear, apricot, capsicum, a glass of red
Exercise: C25K week three and core body workout
A couple of times a week, about the time I'm dressed and ready to leave the gym for work, a woman comes in with her young son. I'm struggling to place his age, but it's probably somewhere around six. Surely he could wait on the seat outside in the foyer while she gets changed? Because this kid is ALL EYES when he's in that changing room.
Either she's risking turning him into a perve, or she's going to scar him for life!
I'm all for people being open about their bodies, but the other people in that room haven't been given a choice in the matter.
And, yes, I have mentioned it to the pool staff, who have said they'll keep an eye out and have a word.
Later edit - of COURSE they have family change rooms. Right, now I'm quite happy to say something to her myself.
7 February summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: beef and roast vege salad
Dinner: BBQ pork with brown rice and red cabbage salad
Others: three trim flat whites, pear, apricot, capsicum, a glass of red
Exercise: C25K week three and core body workout
Monday, February 05, 2007
Dopey tart
I did the first workout of week two of the C25K this morning. It seemed like significantly more running than week one. When I got to work and checked the spreadsheet, I realised I'd jumped straight to week three! Right, so that explains it then.
Nice girl, not very bright! Oh well, I'll just keep going with week three, now that I've already started.
And of course this morning's weigh-in saw me jump back up to over 81kg. Can't say I didn't earn it. Bloody 70s will never make a comeback.
Hooray for a day off tomorrow and a great weather forecast - think I'll stick in some extra exercise.
5 February summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: marinated fish and watercress salad
Dinner: steak and roast veges
Other: bean sprouts, strawberries, two trim flat whites and a lake of herbal tea
Exercise: C35K week three, upper body workout - lat pull downs, chest flyes, triceps extensions, bicep curls, shoulder raises (front and side)
Nice girl, not very bright! Oh well, I'll just keep going with week three, now that I've already started.
And of course this morning's weigh-in saw me jump back up to over 81kg. Can't say I didn't earn it. Bloody 70s will never make a comeback.
Hooray for a day off tomorrow and a great weather forecast - think I'll stick in some extra exercise.
5 February summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: marinated fish and watercress salad
Dinner: steak and roast veges
Other: bean sprouts, strawberries, two trim flat whites and a lake of herbal tea
Exercise: C35K week three, upper body workout - lat pull downs, chest flyes, triceps extensions, bicep curls, shoulder raises (front and side)
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Sunny Sunday
Yet again the glorious weather has put me in a fine mood. Helped by the fact that we work tomorrow and then have Tuesday off for Waitangi Day. I've spent the day on personal maintenance - legs, eyebrows, etc and feel ready to face another week.
Jake has finally managed to drag his arse home after an extreme weekend of drinking and partying at the Sevens. He reckons he's never pulled so many girls as when he was wearing his cow outfit - some things a mother really doesn't need to know!
Just a day trip to Auckland for me to cope with this week, but then I'll be up there for three weeks as we're short on staff for a while.
4 February summary - now before you read this and think how well I'm doing - I think this is my only good food day all week!
Breakfast: yoghurt and rolled oats
Lunch: lamb salad
Dinner: chicken sandwich
Snacks: mini kiwifruit, blueberries, Jarrah
Exercise: 60 minute walk
Dinner: chicken sandwich
Jake has finally managed to drag his arse home after an extreme weekend of drinking and partying at the Sevens. He reckons he's never pulled so many girls as when he was wearing his cow outfit - some things a mother really doesn't need to know!
Just a day trip to Auckland for me to cope with this week, but then I'll be up there for three weeks as we're short on staff for a while.
4 February summary - now before you read this and think how well I'm doing - I think this is my only good food day all week!
Breakfast: yoghurt and rolled oats
Lunch: lamb salad
Dinner: chicken sandwich
Snacks: mini kiwifruit, blueberries, Jarrah
Exercise: 60 minute walk
Dinner: chicken sandwich
Full on weekend
As always, the Sevens tournament just ROCKED!
Went to the corporate box for the Friday session. It's not as much fun as sitting in the crowd - I love being surrounded by that maximum party atmosphere, with all the costumes and general fun.
The new star costume this year (unfortunately) was the Borat swimsuit - you know, the lime green banana hammock with shoulder straps? Just nasty!
As always, I'm amazed by how many men just love to cross dress. There were swags of male nuns, milkmaids, Marilyns, Dorothys, ballet dancers, you name it.
At least when I saw Jake's naked chest on the big screen he still had some of his cow costume on!
A few of us went out afterward - not really to drink, but just to people-watch in the bars. The guys are all a bit older than me, and they just love to act like my big brothers. A couple of strangers started talking to me - I thought they were being friendly, not trying to chat me up. But all of a sudden I'm surrounded by my friends acting as if they were my bodyguards!
So after all that - including more than two bottles of red wine for me - I had a much quieter day on Saturday.
I'm not going to summarise, because it was all too much food and alcohol. I did ride my bike the 12 kilometres into town to pick up my car on Saturday though.
Went to the corporate box for the Friday session. It's not as much fun as sitting in the crowd - I love being surrounded by that maximum party atmosphere, with all the costumes and general fun.
The new star costume this year (unfortunately) was the Borat swimsuit - you know, the lime green banana hammock with shoulder straps? Just nasty!
As always, I'm amazed by how many men just love to cross dress. There were swags of male nuns, milkmaids, Marilyns, Dorothys, ballet dancers, you name it.
At least when I saw Jake's naked chest on the big screen he still had some of his cow costume on!
A few of us went out afterward - not really to drink, but just to people-watch in the bars. The guys are all a bit older than me, and they just love to act like my big brothers. A couple of strangers started talking to me - I thought they were being friendly, not trying to chat me up. But all of a sudden I'm surrounded by my friends acting as if they were my bodyguards!
So after all that - including more than two bottles of red wine for me - I had a much quieter day on Saturday.
I'm not going to summarise, because it was all too much food and alcohol. I did ride my bike the 12 kilometres into town to pick up my car on Saturday though.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Coffee and other questions...
What is a trim flat white?
Okay, Nancy, a few people have asked me this before. It's a very NZ kind of coffee.
Trim = low fat (or skinny to the Aussies) milk
Flat white = a strong coffee with not much foam on top. Think small cup, two shots of espresso, lightly foamed steamed milk.
In full-blown Starbucks-speak, it would be a 'tall, double-shot, nonfat, light foam latte'. Trim flat white is sooooo much easier to say!
The main point of it - it's strong, good coffee, not just dirty milk.
What is the Couch to 5K?
This one for you Chris. It's basically a nine week training programme for beginner runners, to get you from not really running at all to being able to run five kilometres. It's interval running, alternating walking and jogging, three workouts a week, increasing the amount of jogging each week. You can find it here although there are lots of different versions. I've done a metric version of it (can't get my head around miles), so if you email me I'll send you the spreadsheet.
If you're already running but would like to run harder - or just really burn some fat - try a HIIT programme. That's High Intensity Interval Training and Mar1a has a great explanation of how it works. Essentially this is a run/run faster interval programme. I was doing this programme when I got my knee injury (but it wasn't the running that caused it!) and intend to go back to it after the C25K.
So, did I run this morning?
You bloody bet I did! First workout of the C25K, so I did 8 x 1 minute jogs at 8.5km/h - not exactly fast, but that will come. I'm doing it on the treadmill, as that's the most knee-friendly environment. And it didn't hurt while I was running. And now it's over 12 hours later and it still doesn't hurt. Things are looking up...
1 February summary
Breakfast: rolled oats, apple juice, mango and pineapple
Lunch: oooops - One Red Dog. But managed to not go overboard - 3 pieces of flat bread and pasta with cherry tomatoes, bacon and chili
Dinner: home made margherita pizza
Snacks: two trim flat whites, 2 peaches, 3 vita wheat
Extras: my friend JD with Coke Zero
Exercise: 25 minutes on the treadmill and a core workout
Okay, Nancy, a few people have asked me this before. It's a very NZ kind of coffee.
Trim = low fat (or skinny to the Aussies) milk
Flat white = a strong coffee with not much foam on top. Think small cup, two shots of espresso, lightly foamed steamed milk.
In full-blown Starbucks-speak, it would be a 'tall, double-shot, nonfat, light foam latte'. Trim flat white is sooooo much easier to say!
The main point of it - it's strong, good coffee, not just dirty milk.
What is the Couch to 5K?
This one for you Chris. It's basically a nine week training programme for beginner runners, to get you from not really running at all to being able to run five kilometres. It's interval running, alternating walking and jogging, three workouts a week, increasing the amount of jogging each week. You can find it here although there are lots of different versions. I've done a metric version of it (can't get my head around miles), so if you email me I'll send you the spreadsheet.
If you're already running but would like to run harder - or just really burn some fat - try a HIIT programme. That's High Intensity Interval Training and Mar1a has a great explanation of how it works. Essentially this is a run/run faster interval programme. I was doing this programme when I got my knee injury (but it wasn't the running that caused it!) and intend to go back to it after the C25K.
So, did I run this morning?
You bloody bet I did! First workout of the C25K, so I did 8 x 1 minute jogs at 8.5km/h - not exactly fast, but that will come. I'm doing it on the treadmill, as that's the most knee-friendly environment. And it didn't hurt while I was running. And now it's over 12 hours later and it still doesn't hurt. Things are looking up...
1 February summary
Breakfast: rolled oats, apple juice, mango and pineapple
Lunch: oooops - One Red Dog. But managed to not go overboard - 3 pieces of flat bread and pasta with cherry tomatoes, bacon and chili
Dinner: home made margherita pizza
Snacks: two trim flat whites, 2 peaches, 3 vita wheat
Extras: my friend JD with Coke Zero
Exercise: 25 minutes on the treadmill and a core workout
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