Had an awesome-sauce morning of scooting and biking at the local school. Such fun and so much cuteness. Yes that is my (current) youngest at almost two-and-a-half. Definitely not a baby anymore. Just ask him.
Category: Sport
It broke
I told Hubs that KFC was bad for him. But did he listen? Nooooooo.
One broken pisiform later and maybe he’ll believe me.
(He was riding his bike home from picking up cheap Tuesday KFC) when his bike seat fell off – yes that’s right, his seat fell off – and he took a nasty spill. Luckily the pisiform, a small bone in the wrist, is considered by some orthopods as “the most useless bone in the body” so no permanent damage done to his operating hand! Good times ahead.)
Fit Mums – 1 year on
This is me to an absolute tee right now:
Wow. A whole year of doing regular exercise. This is definitely noteworthy for me. I’ve never stuck with anything (other than team sports) for this long. Like, ever. Sure, I’ve joined gyms; too many to count, but I’ve never actually attended them for more than a month or two. Previously when I have joined a gym, my aim is to attend six sessions a week, and once that starts dropping back to one or two a week, which it always would, I would think “what’s the point” and drop out. I now see how much of a difference those two regular sessions a week can make to my life.
I’d be lying if I said I’m exactly where I wanted to be a year on. If I was to be completely honest, I was hoping to be down another 16kg and at my “goal weight”, but the fact that I’m still showing up each week, and getting cranky when I have to skip a session, and never (seriously, never) looking for an excuse not to go, I’d say, at this stage, that is a much more important achievement. It means that I have a baseline to build on. It means that I know how it feels to be fit and strong, and I know it’s possible to continue to get fitter and stronger.
So let me break down the last 12 months for you:
73 Fit Mums sessions attended
18kg* lost
A bunch of muscle gained
Plenty of lessons learned
A dozen new friends
A newfound respect for my body
Plenty of good food eaten
Things I’ve learned:
It takes more than a month to get nice arms; (woo!)
Two sessions a week makes a huge difference to my lifestyle;
Eating two chocolate biscuits or having a glass of wine will not ruin my hard work;
Eating two chocolate biscuits and having a glass of wine almost every day will make a difference;
There’s more to it than weight loss;
Putting back on a few kilos is not the end of the world; it’s what I do about it that counts.
It’s this last point that I’m most proud of. At the end of last year, and the start of this year, old habits were creeping back, but instead of giving up and ignoring the issues, I addressed them and refocused and that has never happened before. And now that I’ve done that, I’m not starting all over again, just merely picking up where I left off.
So thank you Ben (our trainer) and Michelle and Ash (the child-carers) and all the other Fit Mums for being such an amazing and supportive community; for all the encouragement and high fives; and for being the “thing” that finally got me to love getting up in the morning and exercising. Here’s to another 73 sessions!
Here’s the first part of the journey ☺
*I’ve lost the same 2kg twice after putting on a few kg over Christmas. Still counts!
“Oh I could never do that”
I’ve had this phrase muttered to me on more than one occasion in my adult life.
Like when I tell people we have moved 8 times in 7 years.
Or when I tell people we have three children and no family around.
And more recently, when I joined an indoor netball team with a bunch of other mums (we’re called “Mad Mamas”) whom I had never met before. I literally showed up one Monday night, and looked out for a group of ladies wearing black shirts and black pants. And two months later, I find myself at high tea with a few of them.
Life is funny like that.
And most recently, when I befriended a kiwi doctor’s wife who would only be here a couple of weeks and we’ve hung out almost every day with her and her 2 kids since. And I’m really bummed that she’s leaving on Wednesday because we absolutely just clicked. And it was no drama for us to invite them to a dinner party last night with 9 adults and 8 kids. One of my friends nearly had a heart attack when I told her how many people were coming. Yeah it took some preparation, but we had the best afternoon/evening!
Hubs and I really instill in our kids to at lease try things. This goes for food, activities… anything! And Chanbe gets so proud of himself when he says to us “I tried it Mama and I liked it!”
2 weeks ago, I tried playing GA in netball instead of GS. GA requires a lot more running, and I thought to myself “I’m too unfit for this position” but I gave it a go, and it turns out 4 months of exercising is starting to pay off!
So go on. What could you just try this week? Give something a go that you are convinced you couldn’t do and feel free to let me know how you go!
It’s different this time around
There has been a lot of interrupted sleep happening around here in the last couple of weeks. (Ha ha. In the last 4.5 years…) Darby-doo has had croup for the last 3 nights, and the kids have been coughing up a storm, usually in our bed. So when Darby awoke at 5:30am yesterday, barking away, and the kids were sneezing and spluttering, I accepted the fact that I really shouldn’t take them to the gym, which would mean I’d have to skip my mummy-fit session.
And I was really disappointed. I have never, and I mean ever been disappointed about missing an exercise session. I’m sorry, but it’s true. There’s always been a part of me at the back of my mind that hopes there’s a reason for me to skip a session, but not yesterday.
That’s how I know it’s different this time around. Exercise is just now a part of my life. I have found something that I love doing; that is affordable; that I look forward to; that I can share with other women; that my kids can be involved in; that is just around the corner; and the list goes on.
So when Hubs told me that he could start work late and look after the kids for me so I could still go, I didn’t hesitate for a second. Sure, I was exhausted, and it was a pretty brutal session (for me anyway!) but there’s no way I was going to miss it if I didn’t absolutely have to. I’m so fortunate to have found this class, and with a 4-week challenge coming up, there’s even more incentive!
Another 5k
In the lead up to my first 5km run, I also signed up for the Bridge to Brisbane and recruited another one of my wonderfully supportive friends to run it with me. Unfortunately, my pulled hip muscle prevented me from running this event, so we walked it instead. And since we weren’t running, we decided to have a nice relaxing brekky at Restaurant Manx at Portside beforehand. The eggs Benedict I had was so delicious, and the coffee (2 coffees, actually) were Melbourne-standard delicious! A great yummy start to a fantastic walk filled with some always-needed girl time with my friend. It also meant we could chat the whole time instead of me huffing and puffing my way through. I’ve lost a bit of fitness in my recovery, but I know how quickly I can get that back once I start jogging again, so I’m confident I can get back into it once my hip feels better.
Being so far from my close girlfriends is sometimes really hard, and this year I really have had some great quality time with quite a few of them, which always recharges my soul.
My first 5km fun run
I did it! It was hard going, but I ran (jogged) the whole way and didn’t stop til I got to the end! It felt really amazing, even though I was in a world of pain by the end of it. My sciatica wasn’t too bad during the run, but my hip was sore pretty much the whole time. And it was when I stopped that the sciatica pain flared up. But that doesn’t matter!!! I did it!
Here we are before the run, at the starting line:
And here we are at the end:
As you can see, Beth hardly broke out in a sweat, but you would come to expect that of a personal trainer who completes triathlons and trains every day 🙂 It was so good having Beth there to cheer me on the whole way. Once I got to the half way mark, I knew I could do the whole thing. It was slow going (45min total) but I didn’t stop. And I’m feeling really proud of myself right now. And even though I’m pretty sore still, I’m already looking forward to the next one in a month! Bridge to Brisbane, here I come!
Mind over body and lungs over legs
I’ve gotten to a stage with my running where my cardio fitness has surpassed my physical abilities, and it’s hard going. I feel like I’m doing well with the “mind over body” with positive thoughts (I can do this; just keep running; nearly there) but my legs are finding it hard keeping up with my lungs. I wish I had added some leg muscle strengthening exercise into my training, but it might be a bit late for that now.
Or is it? I’m worried that if I start doing squats and lunges, I won’t be able to walk the next day, let alone run! Maybe a few days of pain now will be worth it in the end though? The fun run is only 18 days away, so I can’t imagine I’ll be able to achieve much in that time, but maybe it’s worth a try!
And here’s the big news: I’m also going to do the 5k leg of the Bridge to Brisbane this year!! I looked at the dates and it’s on the 1st of September which is only a few days after we were going to leave Brisbane after our holidays. I had a chat to Hubs and he was very supportive about me staying for the extra week so I can do it (and recover) and fly home with the kids a few days later! He has to come back for work, otherwise he would have stayed to cheer me on.
I feel really excited about committing to this, as it means this isn’t, for now, just a passing faze. And the other exciting news? My clothes are fitting so much better! I pulled out my jeans and 3/4 that I put away when I got too fat pregnant (both??) and couldn’t fit into them. I tried them on a few months ago and they still didn’t fit. I hadn’t even considered that they might fit now, but 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of black pants and 4 pairs of 3/4 pants now fit me again!! So even though I haven’t lost much weight, (that’s all about the food) I seem to have toned up enough to have dropped a size. Woo!!
To be honest, I haven’t felt this good about my health for years. I feel like things are getting back on track, and I’m really enjoying the benefits of regular exercise. Now I just have to tackle the food…
I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m still on a high. Yesterday I completed Week 5, day 3 of the couch 2 5k program. I know I know. I started the program 11 weeks ago, but I had a few setbacks that slowed me down a bit. So I restarted 7 weeks ago, and have been working my way through the 9 week program a little slower, so I can do it right.
And last night it paid off. The summary for last night’s run was: (From RunDouble)
“Day 3 follows (the warm-up walk) with a single 3.2km run.”
and then it says:
“Don’t be put off, you’ve been preparing for this for 5 weeks, just keep a steady pace, and keep going.”
Oh I was put off. I mean, the last few weeks of my training have been going so well. I’ve really been enjoying the runs, and haven’t stopped during any of them. My pace has been anywhere between 7min 45sec to 9min per km, but that doesn’t worry me. The running feels good. My feet feel good. My knees, hips, ankles are fine.
But 3.2km?? The furthest interval I’d run was 1.2km the day before. But since the running had been going so well, I decided that I could do it. Even before I put my shoes and running gear on, I knew I could do it.
And I did it. It was so awesome. I have NEVER run/jogged that far in my adult life and it just felt so amazing. I’m really proud of myself (can you tell??) and I’m 100% sure that I’ll be running the 5k by the 4th of August – less than 5 weeks away.
I may regret telling you this…
I’m committing myself to run a 5km fun run in August. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always wanted to do a 10km fun run, so this is a build up to doing that some time in the future. I was aiming for 10km straight up, but seeing as how I’ve never done much running, and my body is still “recovering” from my pregnancy with Quinn, I was advised that 5km would probably be a better start. And I concur.
So I’ve started walking with the kids in our new pram:
And am currently looking into a running program like Couch 2 5k or something similar. I’m a little nervous and somewhat intimidated by the task I have set myself, but I really need something to focus on at the moment; something just for me; and I feel like this ticks a number of boxes for me at the moment. I need to dedicate some time to myself to complete the 3 sessions a week needed to reach my goal. These programs state you can complete the program in 9 weeks, and I have 16 weeks til the fun run, so I’m feeling confident that it will happen.
The best part is, my good friend Bethie, who is a personal trainer and does lots of running and other exciting things, is flying up to do the run with me! So I will have a cheer squad on the road which will be very helpful. (Thanks Beth!!) And it will also mean that I have to do it, as Beth has already booked her flights! Eeeek!
So there you have it. Here I am being all accountable to you guys. I shall keep you posted on my progress!