Introducing...the February 100km challenge

So I've been talking about this for a little while, and tomorrow it starts. The February 100km challenge.

Basically I need to get up my kms in February to get a overall total of over 100km. Being a short month makes it a little harder, but that's the point.

I've got some rules:

• The kms must be completely running kms only. No walk/run intervals can count. UNLESS the run interval is at least 1km in distance.
• Each run that is added to the total distance must be at least 1km.
• Each run that is added ideally will be in full kms. But I think I will accept half km additions. I don't normally do them so I doubt they will get added. Later on in the month I might be happy I am lenient on this rule.
• If I get an injury over the month, the challenge is over for me
• At least one run must be outside

I think that's all of my rules, I might add more later today if I remember something I've forgotten.

I should relax tonight to prepare, but I am going to do water aerobics to strengthen my muscles instead.

Half way!

Got out for a run today, and did 6km.

Just before 5km I was thinking it was going a bit tough, and thought I might be able to make my fastest ever 5km. So I did a sprint to get to 5km, and was *just* short of my fastest, so to 'punish' myself I had to finish the 6km as planned.

Was just short of my last 6km, with a time of 39:49. If I had known what my best 6km time was, and that I was close I might've pushed harder. I honestly thought it was in the 38s.

Anyways, after my run I was over 5kg loss, and I've maintained it for the rest of the day, so I'm calling it. I've lost 5kg! Which means 5kg to go. Well, my last weigh in put me at 5.5kg, so 4.5kg to go! Less than 2kg to go before I can go clothes shopping again.

Very pleased.

Tuesday is the beginning of my tough February challenge. I'll post details on it here tomorrow.

So I'll either do a short run tomorrow, and maybe water aerobics, or just one, or none.

Think there is a run on the weekend, a 6km for women only, which I might do. It's about time I did an outside run. I think my last one was Boxing Day.

Super motivated

I've been in Melbourne for a few days. I haven't managed to go for a run since Sunday, but I did play an hour of tennis on Tuesday.

Weight is pretty much exactly the same as it was before I went to Melbourne, which is great. I found it easy to stick to my healthy eating habits while away. It's really not that hard to do.

Today I plan on doing a long run, in about 2 hours or so. Hopefully I can pull off another 10km, but I think I'll find it won't be as easy as the first time. It never is as easy as the first time. I don't think I'm ready to go further than 10km just yet.

While in Melbourne I was shopping in Target and ended up in the beachwear section. It got me super motivated to get myself to the Whitsundays. Only 5.2kg to go. Can't wait.

I was bad and tried on a dress before I reached 7kg, but I didn't buy it. It was a size 12 and it fitted easily. I think after the 5kg loss I will be a 10-12, instead of 12-14. Hooray.

Strength and Weakness

Today I feel like I am struggling. It has occurred to me that I am putting most of my internal strengths into my exercise and 'diet', and there is not much left to go around.

I just let myself have a tiny slice of banana bread and some camomile tea to try to pick myself up a bit. Wish I had some strawberries.

I wasn't able to run at lunch time today, I was too hungry and I'm quite busy. I can try to go tonight, but Monday night is the gym busy night. I suppose I could do with a rest. I might not run tomorrow though as I have tennis at lunch time.

Hmmn. Damn addictions, I really could use a runner's high right now. I wonder if I get my work done by 4pm if I could leave early...

Addiction

After my 10km on Saturday, you would think I would give myself a rest? No! I don't work like that.

Yesterday after some wandering around looking at fridges, which gave my legs a good stretching, I really felt like another run. I decided to call it my "recovery" run. I read after a marathon you need to do one, so why not after 10km?

3km sounded like a good figure, a nice easy distance for me now.

So I do my 3km, in 19:18, which is not too bad for me, not my best, but not my worst. Afterwards I'm just not satisfied, so I do a 5:48 1km also. That was a nice tough one, I felt my legs burning, very nice!

Did some more yoga this morning and added some muscle workouts to it. After the 10km on Saturday I was down 1kg, each day since I have been down an extra 0.1kg. That brings my 'official' weightloss today to 4.5kg.

5.5kg to go! Officially..

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I'm going to Melbourne on Wednesday, and not sure if I will be able to run after Wednesday until Sunday. The plan is to run both today and tomorrow to make up for it. I can always run Wednesday morning before my flight, but I doubt I will. Morning runs? Not for me thanks.

Run to Paradise

I just got home from doing my first 10km in many years.

Time according to treadmill: 1:08:35. MiCoach time for 10km: 1:04:35 (http://www.adidas.com/au/micoach/WorkoutDetails.aspx?WID=e60fc50a-2431-4175-997f-ada62f6d3718).

Pretty pleased with either, miCoach time is within my current goal time for 10km, if I were to do a 10km fun run, that's the time I would want to do it in.

It was both difficult and easy. Straight up I knew I could do it, the run was comfortable from the get-go. At about 2.5km I was starting to feel a little fatigued and started to question the possibility. I told myself from the beginning that it was simply 20 x 500m. And whenever I really struggled I told myself how many 500m to go, and it seemed less daunting.

Once I hit the half way point I knew I could do it, I was comfortable for about 80% of the run, had a few struggles but mostly was pretty good. If I set out to do a 12km I probably could've done it, but I wouldn't have wanted to.

On the way home I had a severe case of 'Runner's high'. I sent many text messages, have posted on Twitter and Facebook, to have no one 'congratulate' me. I find that upsetting because of the crazy high I was at. Yes, I feel that I need some validation for what I have done. Previously when I was running 10km I would always have someone to talk to about it as soon as I got home, and to 'share' my joy with. Disappointed that no one is 'here' for me during this very important time in my running journey.

But I won't let that get me too down. I achieved 2 of my goals within 69 minutes. 7km and 10km.

I have decided on the Brisbane Running Festival in August to take on my first half marathon. Plenty of time to train.

Now I look forward to my next 10km, and to be able to share the moment with someone (anyone) would be nice for next time. However it's not going to be anywhere near as special at this moment now, I guess this one is just for me.

Thoughts..

On the way to work this morning I was thinking about my running, and how if I put my mind to it I could really go far with it.

But where do I go? Marathon?

That's a very extreme goal, and needs time. I already have decided to do a half marathon this year, hopefully around the middle of the year.

How much time does one need to train for a marathon without being crazy? I wonder if I could try to do one before I turn 30. That gives me 1 year and 9 months to get ready. Realistic?

5km win, new 'no shopping' motivation

Yesterday I went for a lunch time run, originally I intended to do another miCoach interval, but decided sometime in the morning it was time to try for a sustained run. By that, I meant 3km because I'm pretty busy at work and didn't want to be out of the office for too long.

Pretty quickly into the run I knew I was feeling great. I did my usual 'intervals' for the last 200m of a km, and I also added a slower 'interval' between 0.3 and 0.5 of each km. After the 3km point I was struggling a bit, but knew I could continue. I decided that I wouldn't do any more intervals.

At this point I was trying to do the maths in my head to try to beat my best 5km time. When I run, particularly near the end, my thinking capability, particularly mathematics capability is very low. Somehow I figured out what speed I needed to do to ensure I got well below 33 minutes. And I did, I managed to do it in 32:46 according to the treadmill, a whole 20 seconds off my fastest. That might not sound much, but I've only got 8 lots of 20 seconds to cut off my time to get to my goal pace for 5km.

Hmmn.

Did some more yoga this morning, hopefully will make that a habit.

At lunchtime today, while shopping, I made a decision that I am not to buy any new clothes until I hit 7kg loss. That is 3.6kg away, so I'm about half way there. I'm that certain I am going to lose the weight I am not allowed to shop.

But I can still buy shoes, because my feet won't get any smaller....

Variety bonus

All of the magazines/books/etc I've been reading on weight loss say that you have to mix up the exercise for the best results. If you do the same thing over and over, your body will get used to it and you won't see as much result.

Yesterday I played tennis for an hour, which was great. It wasn't as exerting as I could've made it (sorry Ash), but I still felt pretty sore this morning.

This morning to overcome my soreness I did 10 minutes of Yoga on the Wii Fit, which was great. I am going to try to do that every day.

Even after my decadent 5 course dinner last night I still managed to weigh in less on the Wii Fit, excellent! Imagine what I could've been if I hadn't been such a pig. Oh well, I'll run today to make up for it.

Still over 6kg until Whitsundays. I'll get there.

The most important meal of the day

Yesterday I bought a book called 'Losing the Last 5kg' by Susie Burrell. I was actually looking for the book of the same title by Michelle Bridges, but couldn't find it. I flicked through the book last night and found myself thinking I was already doing pretty much everything that she was saying to do. The only thing I wasn't doing, was having a proper breakfast.

Lately I've been snacking on a Biggest Loser breakfast bar between getting to work and lunch time. Not good. So, the big change I am now going to make is to have a nice protein rich breakfast every morning. This morning I started with an omelette with toast. Tomorrow it will be baked beans on toast. Mmm.

Here's hoping that kicks off some more weight loss.

Today I did a miCoach workout, the first time I have done one of the workouts they have designed. It was blue zone with red zone intervals. Overall it was 35 minutes, and I pushed that out to 38 minutes to get to 5km. Very pleased with my effort, I was sweating all over the treadmill (could also be from how frigging hot it is today!).

My legs are super duper fatigued, not sore, just fatigued.

Possibly playing tennis after work tomorrow. Hopefully.

Oops

It's been awhile.

Sunday
Did another hour session, which was just over 8km. Very pleased.

Monday
Did a fast 2km in 11:57

Haven't done anything since, donated blood on Wednesday.

Planning to attempt a 10km run this weekend, maybe even tonight. Fingers crossed.

Weight still about the same, somewhere between 2.5kg - 3kg all week.

Long walk

I meant to try for a long run today, but only 0.5km in I knew it was not possible. My right knee was sore, my left ankle a bit stiff. So instead I decided to continue on with a walk/intervals for an hour.

Was interesting looking at the HR stats for the effort. If what I hear is true, that my fat burning heart rate is lower then the effort should've been a good fat burning session!

I was a bit lighter on the scales after the workout, and for dinner I decided to have pork and salad. I was tempted for dessert, but looked that both options were over 400 calories and I went with a Biggest Loser 100 calorie snack bar instead. Some 'Commando' bar.

Speaking of, I'm looking forward to the new Biggest Loser starting, no idea when it starts?

Weight annoyance

I did 4 runs last week, quite a bit of effort, yet since mid-week I have been weighing about 1kg more consistently than I had the previous couple of weeks.

WTF?

Really, really annoying.

Best run yet!

I went to the gym last night intending on doing the 21 minute workout I had designed.

Instead I ran for 40 minutes!

The treadmill stats (which is what I'm going to rely on for now) was 6km in 39:25. Micoach stats was 6.16km in 40 minutes.

No idea how miCoach and the treadmill can have different times...

I think because miCoach was forcing me to run quite slow, within my green zone, for the first 21 minutes (apart from my intervals) that is why I was able to run for longer. That's how I used to run, I would run quite slow then gradually speed up. MiCoach says my best km was just over 6 minutes, for a long run, that's pretty good.

Today I am taking a well deserved break, with a lake run planned for sometime over the weekend. This is mostly to work out whether or not miCoach is wrong, or if the treadmill is wrong.

miCoach assessment

I made it through the workout, I really think I am going to like miCoach.

Here are the heart rate stats for my 'run', or a link to it here

The drop in the middle was when my shoelace came undone. Oops.

Anyway, I'm so excited about miCoach I'm going to head off to the gym now for another run!

miCoach obtained

My 3km run yesterday was pretty good, took 3 seconds off my best time, did it in 18:17. To "punish" myself for not getting under 18 minutes I had to do sets of 17 on the weights machines.

Last night I bought miCoach. I've programmed on a plan although I'm not sure if I am going to go ahead with it or customise my own plan, I think I have a pretty good idea on what training I need to do.

Today is the assessment day, which works out well because I wasn't planning on running today. It's just a 12 minute assessment where I gradually increase speed and then recover. Not really sure what affect this has on my plans, but I think it gets a sense of my fitness level and adjusts my 'zones' for that...

I'm mostly interested in the data I'm going to get from using miCoach when running, particularly my heart rate. I have no idea what my heart rate has been doing.. will be interesting to see!

Motivation thoughts

Yesterday I discovered that if I say out loud what my goal for a particular run is I am more likely to achieve it.

Not sure if typing 'out loud' has the same affect...

Today I plan on running 3km as close to 18 minutes as possible, ideally under 18 minutes, but I'm not really sure how realistic that is. My best is 18:20? So should be possible?

I'm looking forward to when I can start at closer to 10 on the treadmill. At the moment it's about 8.5-9. Today I am going to start at 9, and will probably do 200-400m of  'sprint' intervals per km. Usually I do this up to a half km point, so at either 0.3 or 0.4 I'll do my sprint until I reach 0.5, then will do the same again at 0.8 or 0.9 or somewhere in between until I get to 1.0. After each interval my normal pace will increase by 0.1 also. That's my strategy. Yesterday I failed and had to go down to my starting speed of 8.6 at about the 2.6km point, but I did finish at 11.

I'm also looking forward to my 'sprints' being 12 and over. At the moment they are 10-11.5. I have done a couple of them at 12, but never over. I would probably fall over and break my nose on the treadmill if I did that.

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Yesterday I emailed The Athlete's Foot store in Civic again asking them to put aside an Adidas MiCoach. At $250 I've been pondering it for sometime, trying to get a good online price. Turns out the good online prices are not for Australian deliveries, the best I found that I can get delivered was around $190, and I figure I'll just pay the extra $60 to have it NOW.

Pay day tomorrow, so I will go and pick it up at lunch time tomorrow. Exciting!

Leg success

This morning I decided my lunch time run would be 5km, as it has been quite sometime since I've done a long run.

When I started my run I felt so very comfortable, I thought I could run at that pace forever, so I got over excited and sped up a little.

About 2.25km in I started to feel like I couldn't do much more, I told myself I could stop at 3km, but then at about 2.6km, where I was past the half way point, I convinced myself it would be great if I could do what I actually planned to do. I slowed down a tiny bit, regained my comfort and got back into it. I managed to get the speed up a little bit by the time I got to 4km, then did a good 10-11 pace sprint at the end.

My legs feel fantastic after that effort, normally my legs feel horrible and achey. This is a great sign that my new technique is working well.

I emailed The Athlete's Foot again today to see if they had any Adidas MiCoach in stock, I went to the Woden store yesterday but they don't stock them. I think having the motivation and data from it is going to help me get better faster.

The 10km run I am training for now is on the 6th March, that's 9 weeks away. I am hoping I can run it under 65 minutes. Under 60 is probably a bit too unrealistic at this point.

Tomorrow I'm thinking I'm going for a 3km run. If I feel sore I might skip it or just do 2km. Because 2km is almost as pointless as doing nothing these days anyway ;)

New strategy

Yesterday I bought the Biggest Loser Wii game (for $15!). I decided that it would be targeted at very unfit people, and put my setting to 'Expert'. I then did a 30 minute workout which was SO intense I am in agony today.

It's good though, I need to vary my workouts to get better results.

Today I looked at the game and it tells me no exercise today. Win! Tomorrow I have to do 32 minutes of Yoga. That's fine by me! Then on Tuesday it's giving me 48 minutes of lower body exercises. Crikey.

Since it's Yoga tomorrow, I think I'll also go for a run, then recover with Yoga. Gym is closed today, and supposed to be 37 today so no running today. Might do some Wii Fit or just Wii Sports.