WRAPPING UP 2010

On the last day of the year there is only one thing to do and that is to wrap up the year that was.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Running my first half marathon in under 2:30.
Being made permanent in my current job.
Buying our house in an area we love living in.
Finishing the year stronger than I had been for several months.

LOWLIGHTS:

My back injury and it's effect on my psyche, let alone how it affected my training.
Peter had a really tough year and I worried about him a lot.
Missing out on a personal development course that work had recommended me for.
My uncle died 4 days before my birthday.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNT:

I am not invincible. My back injury came out of the blue and debilitated me both physically and emotionally. It was back to basics for me to rehabilitate it and I have learnt unequivicobly that if I want to do what the average 40 something year old doesn't normally do, then I have to treat my body with care and respect. AND COMMIT TO IT. As I said, I am not invincible.

Today as I did my 1 hour 10 min training run in the very hilly streets of Sunshine Beach I was chugging slowly up a particularly fierce hill. Then I realized that I actually had more in me and I picked up my pace and broke into an almost run. "come on Magda, push it" was my mantra and I guess I haven't done too much of that in the latter part of 2010.

Here's to pushing it in 2011.

Cheers all and see you on the other side.

Magda

FLICKING THE SWITCH AND TRYING TO STAY POSITIVE

Last night I decided that it was time to flick the switch back to healthier eating and daily training or movement at least. Today has been a good day on that front.

Despite my hammies aching from a few days of slothing and not moving enough, I managed a 1 hour run to start the day. Luckily I was out running while the family had a big fry up brekkie. I could make myself scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast later and felt much better for it. As dinner approaches I find myself hungry which hasn't been the case over the last few days.

As for trying to stay positive ...... For crying out loud, ENOUGH RAIN ALREADY!!!! Although it eased up today, we still haven't seen any decent sunshine and keeping occupied is turning into a real challenge. My legs are seizing up from sitting around and reading all day.

Ok that's enough whinging now. It's holiday time so let's make the most of it.

Cheers

Magda

RAIN RAIN AND MORE RAIN

Yes life on the Sunshine COast is very soggy with rain falling 24/7. Today's run was cancelled due to the rain and I'm at the stage where lying around reading, doing crosswords, eating and drinking is getting boring. Oh and there's FB to amuse me a couple of times a day but quite frankly I'd rather be MOVING.

I think I've also had my fill of junky treat foods. I love Furry Roaches (Ferrero Rochers) but am even getting sick of those. And I think the 135 pieces of shortbread I've had is quite enough too. Last night I cooked a big batch of stir fried green veg as my body was screaming "vegetables please!" lunch at the Landsborough Pub today meant having a serve of the best chips in Australia so now that craving is satisfied I'm looking forward to some leaner, cleaner food choices.

Not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow but hoping that I can get my next run in (1 hour) and then maybe get out a bit during the day. Funnily enough, I'm craving a really good coffee :-)

A QUICK CATCH UP

Oh my it's been a busy time.

We had Christmas with my family on the 19th. We hosted it and it was lovely. I then got a nasty sore throat but had to get through 2 more days at work. The running training got shelved in an attempt to survive the lead up to Christmas without getting sick.

We left for Queensland on the 22nd, drove a decent 1465 kms in 14 hours and 38 minutes on day one and cruised in the remaining 700 or so kms on the 2nd day. We're with my in laws now on the Sunshine Coast. It's been raining every day.

I've gotten back into my running but the first session after the drive was very painful. I barely managed a Cliff Young shuffle until I was well warmed up after about 20 minutes. Then stuck it out for 1 hour and 10 mins. I had a massage later that morning and felt great again. I can highly recommend metamassage.com.au for a great massage at a very reasonable price.

Christmas day was awesome. Lovely food. Wine enjoyed but not overdone (go me!) Lots of pressies. A wonderful family day.

Today it was sprint training to start with followed by a nice breakfast and then just a day of chilling out, playing board games, reading, watching DVDs, eating and drinking some more. It hasn't stopped raining yet which is a bit disappointing but we'll enjoy the other activities.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying a bit of down time. I'm off to do a bit more reading before lunch time.

Cheers

Magda

# 7: FORGIVE. LET GO AND LOOK FORWARD

Yesterday I found the list of the 10 musings that I had started to write several weeks ago. 6 have been crossed off and I thought this was good time to tackle number 7.

How often have you been let down by somebody close to you, somebody you trusted or somebody you thought would have known better? How often have you let yourself down? People hurt other people all of the time. They often dont mean to do it and sometimes dont even realise that they've done it. Rarely are people downright malicious or nasty - well I like to think so anyway. We cant change how other people act but we can decide how we react to it. Read on.

What about those times when you let yourself down? Maybe you made a downright bad choice - although itseemed like a good idea at the time - maybe you didnt act in your own best interest. For me this has taken the form of binge eating. The party in my mouth vs the long term effect of ingesting WAY too much food which is also WAY too unhealthy.

In my quest to understand me and life and all the bits and pieces in between I have learnt that you cant move forward without forgiving the wrongs that fall upon you - or that you bring upon yourself. I have spent many  days / weeks / months flogging myself emotionally for all my mistakes. You know what I mean, "well why am I not perfect? I should be. I know all the right things to do so why dont I do them?" For a long time I lived with "perfect or nothing" and when it was "nothing" there was lot of beating myself up over it.

Maybe with age comes some wisdom (along with wrinkles and stubborn kilos in unwanted places LOL) and the courage to forgive myself for my stuff ups. I no longer aspire to perfection but live with balance in the choices I make. Sometimes the scales sit evenly, sometimes they tip too far in either direction but essentially they come back to a "happy place."

It hasnt been easy to let go and it certainly hasnt been like flicking a switch but gradually over time I have learnt this vital skill. Life is all that much better for it. Harbouring negative emotions is counter productive. For me it even manifests into physical pain and I can well do without more of that.

Our experiences, thoughts and beliefs shape who we are today but they dont dictate who we can be tomorrow. I'd like to think that I look forward with realistic optimism and determination to achieve my goals - even if the road to be travelled isnt always the most direct route. Who knows, along the way I might just smell some fantastic roses, meet some interesting people and broaden my horizons. Yep looking forward inspires and excites me. How does it make you feel?

M

LOVING MY LIFE

So how is everybody tracking? How am I tracking?

Firstly, CalKing did my head in within a day. Yep as soon as I was back on it I was obsessively weighing and measuring everything, then running upstairs to log it. A bit of all or nothing behaviour there but in all honesty I'm just not interested in going down that path.

I have decided to use Kerith's report which details food groups and recommends the number of serves, to map out a bit of an eating plan and just try to stick to that. Eg X serves of carbs a day, y serves of protein, get in my omega 3 fats, limit treats etc. This I know will keep me sane but "mindful" of what I eat so as not to overdo anything.

Well the silly festive season is upon us. Food wasnt too good this week which then turned into a bit of an "oh who cares?" mindset. Geez how easy is it to slip into that negative frame of mind?? It took a bit of an unusual jolt on Friday to shock me into stopping the feeding frenzy and allow things to level out again. Things are ok now and I totally understand how I got where I was, so will file that away into the "know better next time" armoury.

I had my last consult with the physio on Fiday and as long as I keep up my rehab and gradually increase my running load and intensity, all should be good. However yet again I must say how closely my back/glutes are connected to my psyche. When I wasnt in a good place on Saturday morning it was manifesting itself into a dull back ache. After a couple of days of poor eating, sure enough I had aches and pains that I've been without for several weeks. It is amazingly predictable and uncanny just how closely the two are linked and negativity in whatever form will for me manifest in some form of back ache.

But finally I rounded off my training week with a superb one hour run this morning. I decided to stride it out a bit and run at a slightly faster than usual pace and it felt good. After two days not running and feeling a little bit sorry for myself this was just the mini comeback I needed. 

Headspace great. Aches and pains under control. Ready to slay another huge week at work and loving my life :-)

M

NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT

Last week I completed a questionnaire where I detailed my usual lunches, breakfasts and dinners, my training activities both in frequency and intensity, the frequency at which I consume  a wide range of foods from all of the food groups (including alcohol and treats) and a little about my general health and of course what my goals are in terms of my nutrition. It was quite comprehensive and easy to complete bar that I have recently changed my eating habits to incorporate more vegetarian meals and of course I've been pretty committed to eating sugar free.

I sent this to a registered dietician for a nutritional assessment and for a nutritional plan to support my Half Marathon training, to lose a few kilos in order to reduce stress on my previously injured joints and muscles and to address a few minor health concerns.

I did this because I was honestly struggling with eating right for the training I was about to take on, in light of recent injuries and a burning desire "to get it right." I must confess that its taken me 3 years to break free from the body building diet mentality but had I swung too far the other way? It was time for some professional advice.

I received my reply yesterday and it surprised me (pleasantly!!). Firstly I respect the opinion of a registered dietician who advises the general public and is particularly experienced in endurance training, herself being an accomplished distance runner. I have no interest in going down the path of another body building diet where its all about protein. I'm a runner now and I need carbs (but I need the correct amount at the correct times).

I was pleased to be told that my baisc diet was healthy and quite balanced. I was meeting all of micronutrient needs (bar one) and I had a lot of good, healthy eating habits. Albeit my calories were generally low (thats the old diet menatlity hanging on) but if I consider my weekend eating I think they balance out. I particularly liked a few bits of advice such as:

"Up to 2 standard drinks per day, most days are ok if you're aiming to reduce your body fat."

"Your caffeine intake is not excessive and in fact is an ideal amount of caffeine considering the associated anti oxidant benefits ..." and the best one.....

"Make a time to enjoy a nice chocolate bar or an ice cream so you have a place for your weekly treat ..... After all, with all that training there needs to be some rewards."

There were some great tips for improving my diet and I'll be working to gradually implement them in a natural way rather than being a slave to a set of rules. The only bit that didnt thrill me was her advice to log my intake for a few days to see if I was actually eating as I'd reported and not underestimating my intake. (Admittedly this is a bit of a risk as just logging today and some of tomorrow had me gasping a bit at some of the foods I'm having - albeit not regularly). So for a few days I'm back on CalKing but rest assured its not becoming a permanent fixture in my life again.

I'll study her report further to help me absorb the myriad of information provided but all up I consider it money well spent. And its a normal, doable eating plan with no food groups banned and aimed at achieveing a healthy weight without comprimising your health or mental wellbeing.

POSTING IN BRIEF

Half Marathon Training: 2 sessions completed including another great 60 min run.

Nutrition assesment completed and waiting for the report and recommendations from Kerith

Work continues to be ridiculously busy but have kept my sanity intact.

Cant believe how close Christmas is and how much needs to be done before then.

M

MY PROLONGED WAFFLE

I apologise in advance for my long post but considering my absence lately due to a ridiculously busy workload leading up to Christmas, I feel entitled to this prolonged waffle.

If I write to headings you can skip the “care factor zero” bits LOL.

NAILING IT IN NOVEMBER:

Ok confession time. I wasn’t REALLY committed to this but overall I did ok. Melbourne Cup lunch was a disaster on the alcohol front – or a delight depending on how you look at it.  Personal computer time at work just about took care of itself and delaying the weight training was out of my control as my studio is still “under construction.” I plan to start strong in January.

CH CH CH CHANGES:

Yep some biggies to record here which I love as there is nothing worse than living your life flat line (hmm could be a catchy title for another post).

My running has been improving slowly and steadily and after much thought and deliberation I plunged in and have committed to another Half Marathon (Greenbelt) on 1 May 2011. I received my training program yesterday and dived straight in bringing Friday’s run forward so I could enjoy a much needed sleep in tomorrow (end of week treat). 50 min easy pace jog ticked off.

Last week I was reunited with an old lover. This lover had been a big part of my life until a few months ago. They had brought me happiness and pleasure and whilst our relationship wasn’t good for me, it made it all that much better. I missed them and thought about them often and felt the time had come to re-unite. So…..

I had a Diet Coke. OMG how delish was that!!?? Did I feel any different, any worse after? Nothing. Diet Coke, in moderation, is back on my menu.

On Sunday, after a 9+ week’s abstinence I also indulged in a small sweet treat as part of our family’s Thanksgiving celebration. Yes I had a small piece of pumpkin pie with a small scoop of Sara Lee vanilla ice cream. Very yummy but the next day I felt like a wrung out rag from tiredness and general feelings of being unwell. Not sure if it was a reaction to the sugar or totally unrelated but am back sugar free and feeling good again.

THE USUAL ROUND UP:

Diet: November didn’t start well. Melbourne Cup lunch with waaay too much champagne saw all sensible, healthy eating go out the window for a few days (Why is it SO hard to regroup after these occasions??!!) Fortunately I pulled myself back together and managed to finish strong with a focus on more vegetarian meals and more good carbs (more on this in a later post). Employing some portion control and running / walking consistently has seen me finish the month a smidge under my starting weight so I’m ok with that.

Training: well you already know that all is good on this front. Achieving the one hour run and nailing one at a faster pace had my confidence soaring, not to mention the endorphins flooding my body and taking me to cloud nine.

Headspace: Well the ups and downs continue but I’ve found a way to help myself in the short term and in the longer term as well. Will share more about this later although I will say that when you’re on a good thing and you know it works, stick to it and for this reason I’ve decided to go back to my SP for the coaching that I wanted. Yep it’ll be by phone but I’m ok with that as I know that I have a connection with her already and can confidently take things to the next level. I’ll be contacting her for a consult in January and then I can decide how often I’ll want to speak with her.

I guess I better wrap up there, if you’re still with me. For me December will be all about:

1. surviving work until the 21^st
2. completing my running training
3. getting my nutrition sorted out (or maybe defer to January so can relax with eating over the holiday period)
4. fitting in all of the Christmas preparations
5. then devoting myself to family, holidays and the Christmas spirit from the 22nd

Cheers all

Magda