COMFORTABLE IN MY SKIN

Sneakers in a bag behind my desk ready for a lunch time walk.

Work friend asks if I'd like to go out to lunch.

Ten minutes later I'm sitting in the pub drinking a red wine and waiting for my lamb salad to be served.

Coz that's pretty much how I roll. LOL.

No guilt. No regrets. Feeling really comfortable in my skin and not sweating the small stuff. 

:-) M

ONE STEP CLOSER

Blowing my own trumpet here but I'm pleased to say I have taken the first step towards setting up my new blog. Admittedly it was a "Mac Use for Dummies" lesson with Peter but its a start. Things got away from me a bit on Sunday and I didn't make it down to our local bookshop but in the meantime I can practice my 'Mac skills' and play around a bit on Wordpress. The blog ideas are all there, I just need the vehicle to share them.

I've also had another small win today and that was getting out for a walk at lunch time. I packed my sneakers and set out at noon under glorious blue skies and a mild temperature. Who'd have thought after this morning's rain? It was just 25 minutes but nevertheless it was great to move and breath the (fresh?) city air. Add this to my 300 workout and spin bike sprint intervals this morning and I'm satisfied with this level of exercise/activity considering I have no specific goals right now.

Well actually I tell a small lie because my one goal is to not gain any weight after my holiday. I've eased back on the treats and eating breakfast out every day last week. This year I've even decided to forego my annual birthday dinner at Mum and Dad's. Whilst I absolutely love Mum's roast chicken and her home made vanilla slice, the birthday dinner always results in 2or 3 pieces of cake being eaten and then more pieces being taken home for the next day or two. After my eating tour of Europe, I can honestly say I'm caked out and would rather NOT disappoint Mum by not being interested in it after she has slaved for hours to make it. She was ok with that. There is always next year :-)

Cheers all

M

  

 

 

WORK EFFECTS AND WELCOMING THE WEEKEND

I have been at work for 3 days now. On the up side, the mental stimulation has helped me get over my jetlag and I'm enjoying sleeping through the night now. For two days in a row I have gotten up at 5.30 to do some form of exercise. Whilst I'd like to call it 'training' so I sound more hardcore than I really am, right now that would be a bit misleading. A 300 workout with some spin bike hill sprints and an easy walk/jog this morning hardly qualify as 'training' so I'm settling for 'exercising'. Its better than what I have managed since I've been home which is close to nothing.

On the downside it didn't take long for my neck and shoulders to be sore from hunching over a keyboard for most of the day. That and sitting on my arse all day and I realise just how much happier our bodies are when they are moving. Well mine is anyway. Next week I shall aim for a lunch time walk, weather and workload permitting, at least on some days. I cant beat walking 24 kms around London in one day and then a lazy 10kms around Budapest on another but I can just aim to move more. 

Last night marked the end of my birthday cake leftovers and whilst I love, love, love cake, I can honestly say I am well and truly over it now. I admire Peter who is off work recovering from a knee op and managing to eat cake for morning/afternoon tea and dessert. That's two serves a day. Medal-worthy if you ask me. Yes I know it can be frozen (the cake that is) but my problem is once its put away it never gets taken out again. So I shared the love giving it away to my in-laws, parents and work colleagues. I consider that a win-win as do my arse and thighs :-)

My goal for this weekend is to get my new blog underway. It may take a while to get it up and running because a lot has to happen behind the scenes but I'm vowing to take the first step(s). I shall report back on this next week and feel free to send a cyber-slap if I fail to meet my goal. And thank you to Liz for prompting me to do this. Yep sometimes I work better when given a push or a prod. 

Well that's enough from me for today. I'm finishing up at work soon, picking my boy up from school, taking him out for coffee (me) and a biscuit (him) and then home to chill out with my incapacitated husband. Maybe the dinner fairy will magically produce something nice for us later.

:-) M

 

 

I'M BAAAACK AND PLANNING A NEW BLOG

Well hello to anybody who might still be out there in Blogland and remotely interested in my blog. Its been seriously neglected of late with June being a very busy work month leading up to my holidays in July followed by my 50th birthday celebrations on the 21st. Phew. I feel tired just thinking back over all of that.

FB friends will know all that I've been up to including my gastronomic tour of Europe where 'indulgence' became my middle name. I have eaten more cake over the last month than I would normally eat in a year and I admit that I enjoyed every minute and every mouthful :-) Balance that with tons of walking and the cake being a meal as opposed to an added extra and I managed to pull up looking somewhat ok for my 50th birthday celebrations, instead of the oompah loompah I thought I might turn into. Sorry I have no pics here that I can share but will see what I can do for future posts.

For some time I've been thinking of updating my blog and taking it in a slightly different direction. I have lots of ideas in my head but with my home PC about to die and blogging from work (as I'm doing now) not being a long term option, I'm struggling to bring it all together. First I must face the daunting task of learning to use a Mac and then see if I can manage Wordpress. Oh, so much change! But I guess that's not a bad thing.

Anyways, today is all about short and sweet. I'm saving the deep and meaningful words of wisdom for my next few posts because of course now that I'm 50 I qualify to write such stuff. Well I like to think so.

Cheers guys

M

 

I DONT LIKE MONDAYS

I'm not going to beat about the bush .... I REALLY don't like Mondays. Plus some are worse than others and today has started with a bit of a struggle. You see, I had a GREAT weekend with lots of going out, eating out, having wine ... you get my drift. Even though I didn't 'pig out' I still ate more than usual and am feeling just a little 'blobby' today. This will right itself in a couple of days and I'm not stressing about it coz I know all that good fun comes at a price :-)

However today has been a bit of a struggle as I woke up with a niggly lower back, an aching right hip and a sore left knee. What a combination, hey??!! I was already in 2 minds as to whether to 300 it today or just do a more traditional leg workout and was leaning towards just going hard on legs. However this combo of ailments was not a good place to start and I could see me slipping into a bit of a 'woe-is-me' state of mind if training legs was going to be problematic. So I switched things around completely and worked back, chest and core instead. I went as high as I could on my weights and certainly gave it my best because I could and I wanted to start the week on a good note and not one of defeat and feeling miserable.

My gut instinct is that my body is not liking the long runs. I've never had knee problems but in the last year or so they are just starting to niggle. Yesterday's hour of power no doubt upset my left knee and God only knows why my right hip has decided to give me grief. I don't suppose being almost 50 has anything to do with it??!! (Goddam body, its too early to start letting me down, you hear!!) Peter has suggested that I run shorter times but at higher intensity and whilst I know he's probably right, my heart just loves the long slow jogs that I'm currently doing. I truly get into Runner's Zen and find its my most enjoyable training session of the week. 

So I'm not sure what this week will bring but I know it will not be defeat morphing into slothdom. My goal is 6 consecutive days of training (at least 40 minutes each time) and then a rest day on Saturday. Then my next week starts with Sunday's hour of power :-) which may be modified to a shorter run followed by some rowing. 

Finally on Saturday night we had dinner out with some friends that we don't see very often and my GF commented that I had definitely lost weight. The Metal Monster isn't telling me its very much at all but maybe a few kilos down coupled with a ton of feeling good about myself translates to generally looking awesome. Well that's my theory and I'm stickin to it LOL.     

M

KICKIN GOALS

It feels so good to get to a Friday knowing you've clocked up a pretty good week. My training has been solid (even though Monday's 300 workout could have been harder) and and I've been really happy with my eats too. I've been waking up with a little spring in my step just from looking and feeling better. I've nailed 3 pretty decent runs and finished the week off with another 300 today but with some of the weights increased. I nailed it in less than 20 minutes so maybe its still too easy. I also threw in a shoulder/bis and tris session as those muscle groups have been a bit neglected for a couple of weeks and then wrapped up today's session with 2 x 60 second planks, another exercise that I've been ignoring of late.

Yet it never ceases to amaze me how a few simple positive actions usually breed a few more positive actions and strung together they have this amazing effect of changing my whole perception of myself. I tell you at times like this I wake up genuinely believing that I'm a lean, mean athletic machine (LOL!!!). I have this really positive vision of how I'll look and feel on my holiday and I just aint letting it go. What's that saying?

Dream it

Believe it

Achieve it

I reckon there's another line that I've missed but you get the drift, I'm sure. More and more I'm appreciating the power of a positive mindset and the difference it makes in everyday life.

I have a busy weekend ahead but happy that its starting with a quiet Friday night at home :-). Tomorrow I'll be doing my usual time in the icebox followed by lunch out with my Mum (its her birthday today) and then watching The Great Gatsby. In the evening we'll be going out to dinner with a couple of friends that we rarely spend time with. I get a bit of 'me-time' on Sunday when Peter spends the afternoon with the boys. Hopefully the weather is kind and I can nail another hour of power run on Sunday. If not, it'll be studio training which is never as much fun.

Have a great weekend guys.

M

 

 

 

THE DAY AFTER MY FIRST 300 AND AFTERNOON INTERLUDES

The day after my first 300 and I'm not feeling too bad. I have a bit of DOMS in my upper thighs but Sunday's one hour run would be to blame as much as yesterday's workout.  What I did notice this morning on my run (yep I was out there again!!), was just how tired my legs felt at the 30 minute mark. It was like they were waving the white flag - 'WE SURRENDER'. 'Suck it up' I told them and we kept going for another 12 1/2 minutes. Hey, I might be Cliff Young Shuffling but at least I'm out of bed and sweating it out, unlike last week's piss poor effort.

Tomorrow marks the 4 week countdown to our holiday. 4 WEEKS!! I'm in a good place with my fitness and lifestyle but it will be a really good time to reaffirm what I want and why I want it. I see it as a bit of a progress check with some fine-tuning thrown in just to make sure things are running at their optimum. As Kerryn said to me in her comment a couple of posts ago, its so easy to lose sight of your goals and why they matter to you when you're consumed with the day to day drudgery of life. Not that life is a total drudgery but lets face it, how many of us have time to sit around and contemplate our navels? Not many, I'm sure.

Finally I'm going to share an amusing little incident from yesterday. At the end of the day I was walking through Rundle Mall on the way to my car. I wasn't rushing as I usually do, just walking at a comfortable pace. Despite a toughish day, I was happy wirth how it had ended and I was feeling generally good and quite relaxed and happy. I passed a gentleman on my way and for a second we made eye contact and he said to me with a smile "you look really lovely." I said "thank you" and kept walking albeit with my spirits lifted even higher. That evening I told Peter about it. His comment: "Was he a derelict?" No he was actually normal(ish) ... well sorta. LOL.

:-) M