Feb Running Stats

We are halfway through March already! Far out this year is just flying by!

But um where are my running stats for Feb do I hear you ask?  Ok, ok, ok, I thought I had posted them, or at least scheduled to post them, but for what ever reason, that did not happen. So sorry about that.

So how did running go in February? Pretty good actually.  I ran 3 days a week as per my schedule and everything is on track. Yay!

Total distance 88.92km done and dusted for February.

The breakdown is as follows:
January – 83.7km
February – 88.9km
Total – 172.6km
To Go – 827.40km

I did have some pretty interesting runs.  I got to run all over Steve Monaghetti.  I made him by biatch. Ok so I didn’t exactly run all over him like you think I did. It was a track named after him in Ballarat, but still 🙂 I did have a good time on that track.

I also had a very long run where I thought I was dying, it was so hot and humid, you can read about it here.

Overall I’m really happy with how things have been tracking. I’m going to still be running 3 days a week, and strength train 3 other days, but I’m going to concentrate more on speedwork.

I have a love hate relationship with speedwork.  I don’t like it.  I do like hill training however (go figure).  So I’m going to incorporate v02 max workouts on the track at least once every 2 weeks.  Well that’s the plan at least.

To Read or Not To Read

I enjoy reading now more than I did years ago.

My family (my dad and sister) are big readers.  They read all the time.  It’s rare for them not to be reading something.

One of my books this year is to read 30 books.  With my ears and eyes.

I’m doing really well so far.  I’ve read 7 books so far. 6 with my eyes, and 1 audio book.

But I also have another mission.  I want to read more non fiction books.  So I’ve decided for each 2 fiction book I read I need to read at least 1 non fiction book.

It’s also really handy to have my ereader back working normally (it’s brand new and was being a spaz), this makes reading a lot easier, and it fits perfectly into my handbag.

The other advantage of reading is that encourages the kids to read too.  I caught my son asleep with a book on his chest, too cute to say the least.

83 down

Kilometres that is.

For the month of January I ran 83km towards my goal of running 1000 km in 2013.

 

So how am I coming along?  Well right on track actually.

As you can see from the nike+ screen dump, I had 13 runs with an average distance of 6.4km (6.4 x 13 = 83.1 km).

Considering it was also the holiday period and what not, I’m happy with the result.  I didn’t get to run as often as I would like or as far as I wanted, but that doesn’t matter, I still went out and did it.

Now February is a shorter month, but that doesn’t phase me, I’m still going to do my best to totally smash my goal.

A Year of Fine Tuning

So last year (2012) was a year of just getting fit, and pushing myself.

This year I plan on just maintaining my fitness.  Yes I still have fitness goals, but my fitness goals are different to what they were.

For example in June I set these goals:

1. Get to 62kg
2. Run a sub 55min 10km
3. Run a sub 25 5km
4. Finish a half marathon
5. Run a half marathon

But now those goals are:

1. read/listen to 30 books
2. run 7 fun runs
3. run 3 half marathons
4. be a pace runner for a run
5. run a fun run in another state

I should mention that these are in no particular order.

The other thing that I’m fine tuning is what I’m eating.

Notice I didn’t say diet.

That’s right, I’m not on a diet.  I’m just eating way better. I’m eating way more veggies and whole foods.  I’ve cut down my carbohydrate intake and increased my protein intake.

My protein intake use to be anywhere from 10-20% of my total food intake.  Which is really low.  I was eating anywhere from 40-80 grams of protein a day.  Which in the grand scheme of things is not a lot.  My carbohydrate intake was insane! It was anywhere from 180 grams to 300 grams a day!

Protein is important as it helps to build and sustain muscle.  I also found out recently that our body will naturally convert protein to carbohydrates if it’s needed (how cool is that).

So my percentages for my carb/protein/fat intake was as follows:  55% Carbohydrate / 15% Protein / 30% Fat.

I’ve now changed it to the following: 40% Carbohydrate / 30% Protein / 30% Fat.

It’s taken me a month to get use to the changes, but let me tell you, eating more protein has done many things.

1. It’s filling me up faster.
2. I’m not feeling as tired
3. I’m not craving sugar as much

And those are the things I have noticed.  I still have to fine tune it, but I’ll get the hang of it.

The other thing I’m doing is I’m trying out a lot more new recipes.  Especially paleo recipes.

Why Paleo? Because that’s what our ancestors ate.  And no I’m not talking cave people (although they would have been paleo eaters), I’m talking our ancestors of just 100-200 years ago.  In the sense of if they didn’t grow it, kill it, or make it themselves they wouldn’t eat it.

I don’t know if I will ever go full paleo because I know carbohydrates have a place in a runners diet. And well I’m a runner (and I do like my carbs), but I will try to make better choices.

2012 A Year in Review

2012 has been one very interesting year.

It has been a year of self discovery, of hard work, sweat and tears.

One thing is for sure.

I have definitely gone outside my comfort zone.

There have been things that I have done that I never thought would be possible. Setting goals has helped, but regularly re:evaluating those goals has also greatly helped.

At the start of the year some of my goals looked like this:

1. Get to 65kg
2. Run 5km race in 27 minutes
3. Swim a 1km ocean swim in 25 minutes
4. Read 24 books in 2012 with my eyes
5. Have weekly family fun time

So how did I go?

Well I totally SMASHED them.

So let me break them down for you.

1. Get to 65kg

When I started goal setting back in October 2011.

I put down a goal of getting to 65kg.  Why 65kg?  Well It seemed like a nice solid round number that happened to be in the healthy BMI.  

I did however thought that goal would be a lot of hard work, and to be honest I wasn’t sure I would get there.  I thought that if I could just get to 68kg then I would be happy.

You see I was 78kg at the time and 10kg seemed like a lot to lose.  But as the weight slowly came off, I believed in myself more, and realised that 65kg was totally possible.  

On the 24th July 2012 I weighed in at 64kg.  I not only reached 65kg, I went one further and got to 64kg.

Not only that.  I ended up changing that goal to 62kg in May.  And I achieved that goal of reaching 62kg on 20th November 2012.

2. Run 5km race in 27 minutes

When I put down this goal, it was initally run 5km.  However a goal is not a goal if it is not SPECIFIC.   When you really are specific about goals, you really push yourself, and you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

The race that I had in mind to achieve this goal was Run For The Kids .

I knew I could run 5km in 30 minutes.  Wiping off 3 minutes is a lot when it comes down to running (I did not know this at the time, I do now).

Run For the Kids wasn’t 5km.  It was 5.2km.  I ran that race in 28mins14secs.  Not bad considering I had only started up running in October 2011 (and not even regularly running at that).

After running that race, I pushed myself even further.  I put myself down for an 11km race, and then I went on to run a half marathon!

I should also note that on the 24th August 2012 I ran my fastest 5km, at 23m42s. You can read about that here.

3. Swim a 1km ocean swim in 25 minutes

I put this on my list of goals, because at the time I was thinking that I could do a triathlon sometime in the future.  I mean I could swim, I could run, I could ride a bike.  Even doing a mini triathlon could totally be possible.  So I broke down that goal.  I knew that if doing a triathlon would be something I wanted to do then I needed to get into open swimming.

So I started training in the swimming pool to build up my swimming endurance.  I based this goal on swimming laps in a pool.  Let me tell you now, swimming in a pool is COMPLETELY different to swimming in the ocean. You have a lot more variables swimming in the ocean than you do in a pool.

So this particular goal I still achieved, because when you take into consideration I based my time in a pool, and not in open water, and also taking into consideration I swam breaststroke 80% of the time, and also currents to deal with, and a mass of people and so on, I’m crossing it off the list.

I swam the 1km race in 28mins. If you wanna read about it, you can see it here .

4. Read 24 books in 2012 with my eyes

Now you might think this is a weird goal.  Read 24 books with my eyes?  I mean wha?

Why eyes?  Why eyes specifically, well you see I also listen to audio books while I do housework, but it doesn’t seem fair to add them to the list.  So that’s why I was specific about this goal.

I ended up reading read 26 books in 2012 (I’m currently on my 27th book for the year).  You can see my list of books on Good Reads.

5. Have weekly family fun time

Family time has always been important to me.  I have so many fantastic memories growing up, and all those memories are ones that I created with my family. I want my kids to have those types of memories too. So I have been making more family fun events and it has been great bonding with my kids.

We have gone bush walking in the Grampians.  There are so many different tracks, and being in nature is fantastic.  The kids love seeing the wild animals, and love to explore.

I’ve also taken them to different playgrounds.  I tend to do this more so when we go to visit my parents in Melbourne. to different playgrounds, to the zoo, the movies, and play board games.  Some take up a lot of time, some a little, some a lot of money, some free.  Either way we have all had fun.

So what are my goals now?

Well here are a list of some of my current goals

1. Read/listen 30 books
2. Run 3 half marathons
3. Be a pace runner for a half marathon
4. run 7 fun runs
5. have a veggie patch
6. Do 5 chin ups in a row
7. Have a chicken coop

I look forward to crossing them off and replacing them with new ones.

I’m already booked into 3 fun runs too.  One of those being a half marathon.  I’m super excited!

I also look forward to discovery more about myself, and enjoying quality time with my family.

Retrospect/ive and Goals

We have all looked back at past events, and have seen where we have gone wrong. We have all thought to ourselves “If I only knew then what I know now”.
We all mistakes, it’s part of being human. But as humans we have the ability to change. To make a better version of ourselves. We can take those “what was I thinking’ moments, totally dissect them and turn them from a negative to a positive. That’s how we change. That’s how we can better ourselves.

So how do we be the best versions of ourselves. Well start small. Sure we can dream big, but it takes small steps to get to those big dreams. This is where goals comes into play.
We all have goals, or dreams, or whatever else you want to call them. Every year on the 1st of January people around the world make a list of things they want to happen that year. The top 3 things that are on that list are:
1. Loose weight
2. Quit Smoking
3. Get a better job (or something job related.
Then January comes and goes and when they get to February they are like “well that didn’t happen, oh well I’ll just give up now, things are ok now, I’ll just put up with it for a little longer”. DON’T SETTLE FOR GOOD ENOUGH! Yes that’s right I’m shouting!. Check out a fantastic article on Nerd Fitness about good enough go here .  The thing is that people don’t know how to make goals anymore, ok so it’s not so much making goals it’s actually achieving them. That’s where the problem lies. Ok so loose weight was on my list of goals. In fact I will show you my list of goals that I wrote in October 2011.
1. Get to 65kg
2. Run a 5km race in under 30 mins
3. Earn $6,000 in my photography business
4. Get baptized
5. Landscape my garden
6. Get a garden shed
7. Be the local birth photographer
8. Have a studio space
9. Learn and know how to speak spanish
10. Pay off my hecs debt
I will admit that when I first wrote these goals I really had no idea about what goals I wanted. But as I regularly wrote my goals and defined them, things really started to change. If you would like to learn more about goal setting and to do lists (yes they can really change your life!) then I strongly recommend doing PUSH. Yes it’s fitness orientated however you can take those principles and apply them to every area of your life.

So how are my goals going now.  Well they have slightly changed, as my priorities have changed as life happens. My goals are currently as stands:
1. I am at my goal weight of 62kg (bmi 22)
2. I have run a 10km race in 55 minutes
3. I have finished a half marathon
4. I have run and finished a half marathon
5. I have finished a tough mudder challenge
6. I am divorced
7. I have read 24 books with my eyes
8. I have a garden shed
9. I have paid off my hecs
10. I have weekly family fun days/nights

I do actually have more than 10 goals, I mean why limit it to just 10! But these particular goals I can see me finishing before the end of the year, ok except maybe 9, but I’m working on that one.

By setting goals and pushing yourself to get them (and the domino effect – push explains this), you get more confidence and you go from being ‘good enough’ to a ‘best of me’ version.

So be the best of you.

So… be your name  Kayla or Miles, or Bixy or Bray (yes I like to insert my kids names here)
or Modrecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So… GET ON YOUR WAY!!!

(Thank you Dr.Seuss – Oh, the places you’ll go)

Run The Gap

From May 2012

So today was my 11k Run The Gap run. ( http://www.runthegap.com.au/)
I signed up for this on the same day that I signed up for Run For The Kids (so back in Feb I believe). I initally entered to do 6kms, but changed it to the 11km. Back in Feb there was no way I would have believed that I would have been able to do the 11km’s. But Bridge to 10km got me there.
Woke up early, and drove out to Halls Gap. I was worried that the kangaroo’s would be out, as they love this time, but thank goodness for road works, cause I did not see a single one.
SAAC was out helping with the logistics (like directions, records etc). Most of them ran yesterday (it was 8km, and yeah there was no way I was going to do 8km and then 11km the next day).
Let me tell you it was cold!, but once I started running I was fine.
I love running in new places. Halls Gap is so pretty, and it was wonderful to see the sun come up over the grampians.
The hardest part of the race was the hill up to bellview dam. OMG let me tell you it was tough, I slowed right down (to a 7 something pace, which for me is very slow). I kept telling myself, what goes up must come down.
Made up for lost time, on an awesome downhill stretch.
I really pushed myself. My normal long distance pace is about 6mins (average), sometimes more, sometimes less. My average pace during this race ws 5.30 which I’m really happy about, however my muscles will be very sore tomorrow. So might have to subsitite a run for a walk, but we’ll see.
So had fun, and glad I did it. Totally smashed my goal. I wanted to run a 10km race in 70mins. Well this was an 11km race, and I did it in 1hr3m46s, so BOOYEAH!
Still going to register for the half marathon in July but I’m going to run/walk that, and my aim will be to finish it.
So overall a great day.

Mooroonpal Ocean swim

From February 2012

So today was the day, the day where I get to cross of “Ocean Swim” from my 2012 Health Goals.
I’ve always loved swimming, but swimming laps is very different from swimming in the ocean that’s for sure.
I decided to put “ocean swim” on my health goals list because 1. I’ve never done one before, 2. I will help me get to my push goal (65kg).
So I trained up the distance in the local pool. I knew I could swim 1km in a pool in about 25mins. I did have in my goal to do the ocean swim in 27 minutes. However once I was in the water I knew that it was just not going to be possible. As I said before swimming in a pool is very different to swimming in the ocean. In a pool you have a black strip to follow, so you always know you are going straight. In the ocean you do not have that. You also have the currents and the waves to deal with. That is why I found it very difficult to swim freestyle. Yes it was possible for me to swim freestyle, but whenever I did I would veer off. So I just found it easier sticking with breaststroke because then I could see where I was going, and that to me was important because who wants to swim unnecessary distances.
I wasn’t the only one swimming breaststroke either, so that was comforting to know. I knew that I was never going to come first, and I was ok with that. And if I came dead last so be it, but I didn’t. I was in the end group but again didn’t care; I was going to finish and that all that mattered.

My finish time was 28 mins. So really only 1 min more than I expected, and I will take it.

Me at the finish line (my sister took the photo for me)

Things have changed

From September 2011

You know your lifestyle has changed when:

You want to go for a run
You miss doing exercise
When you push yourself further than you thought you could do
When you have no snacks for the day because you are not hungry
You are not sitting at the computer doing boring crap
You are spending more time with your kids
When your moods have changed (for the better)
When you crave good food and not that crap stuff
When you eat some chocolate and think “omg that is sickly sweet
When you can tell you have had enough to eat
And that’s what I can think of right at this very moment.