Thirteen

This has been a pretty rubbish week for a multitude of reasons. When you have a bad week exercise can really help and for me in most cases it really does fix many issues.

This week though exercise was off the agenda until I put my Turkey cold behind me. So finally on Saturday morning Tracey and I hit the gym. It felt good to be playing with some weights and doing some circuits. I’m really feeling the kettle bell swings today.

It was also back to long run Sundays. Royal Parks Half Marathon is only 3 weeks away. The plan was to do an early morning run and be done long before lunch but we all know what happens to the best laid plans…

The rest of this post will be picture heavy. Enjoy.

After a very full on Saturday with an early start and a very late finish I decided to scrap  my proposed start time of 8.30am and let myself sleep in until my body and rested. The run had to be done though.

I woke up close around 9ish. Had green tea and breakkie but something in my mind was just not clicking. I felt too heavy, mentally, to get up and go. The thought of going out made me feel like crying.

I finally left the house around 11ish.  Headphones on, sexy new leggings on, brain not on.

Sad face but sexy leggings

Got a quarter mile down the road and my leggings were too big and falling down. Went home and changed.

I got 3 miles before I stopped and was ready to give up until my a little fairy sent me some fantastic encouragement. After reading her words I pushed on through to Bromley.

Missed my turning got lost, gave up the will to run fast haha

No idea where I was but I know I didn't plan stairs

These steps were not part of the plan…but at this point there was no longer a plan.

Just keep running…

Something about this barbed wire being a metaphor for how trapped I felt this week

Barbed wire summing up how trapped I felt in my own mind.

Shirland station... I on the right road

Keep running… ooh a station I was meant to be at. I was on track again.

All the lolz in my dirty mind. But also a visual representation of my running. SLOW

Double entendre. Dirty minds will get this!!! Also, I’m slow.

I got to Croydon Road eventually but missed another turning and ended up going about half a mile in the wrong direction. Almost ended up in West Norwood.

The cheaters route

The 54 goes past my house….how easy it would have been to jump on it.

But then….. a miracle occurred

Home strait?

I saw a sign for where I was actually going. HOOOOOOME 4 miles.

Lost again

This was my “lost again” face. I don’t know where I was and Google maps was being useless. It was also around here that I realised I only had 30% battery and I was still at least 3 miles from home.

I finally know where I am

My last photo from the run to save my battery. I finally knew where I was and how to get home (not by jumping on the bus).

Made it to the house and was greeted with a high five from Chris. Weyhey!

Blurry pic of me eating a spoonful of peanut butter, because I can!

So my final run time was 2.40.

I’m not sure how I’ll do in Royal Parks but I know it will be a better run than today. Also I still got my fastest 10miles in today at 1 hour 54 mins. So yaaaay.

I’m going to have a nap now but I’ll leave you with this, the whole time I was out, it wasn’t my body stopping me, it was my brain. I can and will do anything I put mind to even if my mind doesn’t want to.

Mid September Update

So I’m back off the injury train and got back to running last week. Impressively on my first run back I managed to run my fastest 3 miles in a couple of years.

3 miles in 30 mins running negative splits.  Perhaps those few weeks away from running were what I needed.

That run was followed by an epic Tuesday night run with Run Dem Crew Party Pacers. A 4 mile run that ended with the last mile belting out karaoke tunes from the 90s and our childhoods. Simply fantastic.

I’ve also bought myself an ab wheel. It is ridiculously hard to use but I’m trying to get a few reps in every day. If anyone has any handy tips to help, please pass them on.

The end of the week was spent on a long weekend in Turkey. I was conscious of how easy it is to eat crap when on holiday so I promised myself I wouldn’t be too hard on me but actually when it came to eating and staying sugar free I did alright.

I was constantly drinking water so I had no need for ice creams or the like. The food out there was all pretty fresh and grilled most of the time. No sweets or desserts. It wasn’t hard at all. I did drink though but I’m not gonna hold it against me haha.

The highlight of the trip for me was a boat trip we went on where I jumped from the deck into the beautiful sea which was so clear I could see my feet when I looked down. It was amazing.

You can watch me jump here.

This time last year I went to Barcelona and was probably a good couple of stone heavier. I wore a pink swim suit that at the time I looked ok in but I wasn’t super happy when I saw the pics. I wore it again this year and was so pleased with the little differences. The bra part fit so much better, I was much more secure,  my tummy and thighs are smaller. I haven’t dropped half my body weight but I was really pleased by these little differences that show the hard work is paying off.

So now we’re back and when I stepped on the scales I was a few lbs up but this has dropped up over the past few days and I’m back to where I was.

A few of us have set up a small support group. The aim is to lose 10% of our current weight by New Years Eve. That’s 24lbs. The first goal is 5%/12 lbs. Which incidentally will be my 40lb mark so there will be a big celebration there. Pandora charms galore.

In the mean time,  the Royal Parks half marathon is just weeks away. All my long runs will be half marathon distance between now and then and I’ll be working on getting my pace right so I can aim for my personal best.

Final thoughts; thanks so much for all the support on my last post about exercise and harassment. I’ve not yet heard back from Glassmill since my meeting there but hope to have an update and outcome soon.

To those of you who shared with me your own stories of harrasement whilst exercising, thank you and please don’t ever be afraid to speak up.

X

Bye bye summer.

Hello Autumn.

Today is the 1st September. I can’t believe where the year has gone.

August was a good month. Since restarting the blog I’ve stayed on track and done well on and off the scales. But as we head into a new season it’s a good time to reflect and renew.

I finally hit my 2 stone weight loss thanks to a mild bout of food poisoning. 2 more lbs and I’ll be ready to get my new Pandora charm.

I’ve seen some great physical changes in my body. Some shape to my tummy which makes me think there might be some abs under there. I’m looking at photos and starting to like what I see. I ended up on TV last week. HD and live on BBC and I remember just feeling so thankful I didn’t look like a round lump.

My face is changing shape too. My jaw is looking sharper.

Old clothes are fitting again. Jeans and trousers are wearable again. My arms have a bit of work to go but there is one blazer I’m keen to get into again and it’s just a tiny bit too tight on the arms but I think another couple of weeks and I’ll be good to go. My old bras are fitting again and my newer bras are too big. Bin or keep?

It was carnival this weekend and I hit the roads in the shortest shorts ever and I felt comfortable. For the first time is such a long time.

Exercise wise, I’ve been injured for a couple of weeks now and been advised not to do any impact exercise until my leg is no longer in pain and the bruising has gone. This is no good for someone training for a half marathon, so I’ve been keeping up the swimming and doing circuits at home. It’s helping me feel active even if not in the way I want. I think I should be good to hit the roads again in about a week or so.

In the coming weeks I’m going to try and share more recipes with you.
I made a fab banana “ice cream” and my own version of Nak’d bars. Both were so easy to make and relatively quick too.

So I’m going to end this post with my renewed goals for the next month or so. Feel free to share your September goals with me 🙂

1. No alcohol.
2. No refined or added sugars.
3. No processed foods with added junk. 4. Exercise 5 days a week.

If I am in a situation where I can’t control what goes in to my food then that’s fine but I need to be conscious to make the best possible choice for me.

There are no weight goals in here because yes, I do want to make my 30lb and 40lb weight loss targets but they are not date defined and living healthier is more important to me than dropping weight fast.

Catch you on the flip side my lovelies.

Zero Appetite

“The thing is YOU have to want it. YOU have to be hungry for the amazing benefits leading a healthy and active lifestyle has to offer!”

I’ve been getting some great motivational support from the write of the blog “This Woman’s Word“, encouragement and advice when I’ve spoken to her about my lack of game recently.

Last night she sent me a link to one of her posts containing the above quote.

The whole post was outstanding but that line hit me in the face like a brick. I’ve lost my appetite and desire to become a better me, it all feels like a chore, like I’m forcing myself and like I’m living a lie.

I don’t want to be like I was before, but my hunger to be the best I can has dissipated. Why? Laziness, complacency? I don’t really know.

I do know that I do not want to be where I was 18months ago and that if I’m not careful I’ll be back there by the end of the year.

So some small, SMART goals have been set. I’ll see how it goes, I’m hoping once I start the appetite will come back and once I see progress again, I’ll be starving for more.

You can read the full blog post here.

Thanks Danielle.

What do you do…

When you’re training for a marathon but have absolutely no inclination to run?

Run anyway? Lets see if I can pull in 10miles from work to home this evening.

Was talking to a friend on twitter yesterday about lack of focus. The conclusion was reached that we need a military style commando to kick us up the bum. Any takers?