Proof of concept win - Distance Fail

Distance: 19.90 km

Time: 2:18:36

So I got up at five thirty this morning. I had an upset stomach and a body that insisted it should still be asleep for at least another couple of hours, but all the same I sunscreened up, geared up, and set off. I didn’t get lost, or not for longer than a minute or two. I just kept going until I found my path again. I was having a great time until I realised that a.) I was remarkably tired, and more so than I should be, and b.) A quick calculation told me that I’d be short of my twenty five kilometre goal by about five kilometres. If I do this run again, I’ll probably take two laps around the lake instead of one, and maybe considering how tired I was, I probably shouldn’t be so eager to push myself up to twenty five kilometres quite yet. If I think I’ll have enough energy left, sure, but running around a lake that’s close enough for a limp home if I should fizzle out is a lot different from running around a lake so distant I’d need to catch a bus if things went wrong.

For now, I’m happy. Very tired. Anything involving standing up, walking or otherwise exerting myself is off the cards, but I’ve got a couch and I’ve got candy and that’s all I need.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I wore the crop top. I ROCKED the crop top. I got a few sideways glances, but nothing malicious. I guess a scantily clad runner laminated in sweat is not that uncommon a sight on the paths around the lake. I saw at least two, but they looked more like ‘real’ runners than I do. Not that my idea of what a real runner looks like is in any way based on fact.

For the curious, here’s a screenshot of my route. Don’t ask me why the time and distance are different from the above result. Whether it’s the calculation from the garmin or from the google-mapped route, I’m not sure.



Now, where did I put that candy?

Training plan - Exploring new boundaries.

Tomorrow morning I’m getting up at 5:30 so I can run 25 kilometres. Whether I achieve it or not is another thing. Also, I’ve decided to change up my route.

I’m going to do the usual, run to the lake, run around the lake, and run home. However, I’m going to run around a different lake. Lake Burley Griffin, as opposed to Lake Gininderra. Lake Gininderra is only about two or three kilometres away, but Lake Burley Griffin is about eight or nine kilometres away. I’m not going to run the whole lake, just the central basin, but all the same I feel like I’m doing something new and exciting rather than dull and boring.

To add to the fun, I’m going to run in a crop top, in public. If you should happen to be up and about at seven or eight in the morning tomorrow and think you might be in the vicinity of Lake Burley Griffin, or any of the intervening areas between Bruce and the City, consider this a warning. AVERT YOUR EYES! The midriff will be on full display, and that is a sight that will need some serious eye-bleach. No, seriously. I’m going to dare to bare, and I’m hoping the confidence will come naturally with the need to keep cool on a long run. I don’t need to be shy. I’ve got curves, but they’re all in the right places (mostly). As long as my SPF 30 holds out, I’m going to rock the skimpy short shorts and the tiny top with pride.

WATCH OUT CANBERRA, HERE I COME.

And she's still got it!

Distance: 21:07 km

Time: 2:24:17

There was actually another half a kilometre in there, but I tried to unlock the bezel on my garmin at one point and accidentally stopped the timer. It was a little while before I noticed.

I’m happy that I managed to run so far, because I haven’t done so in more than a month. I don’t know how long it takes to lose fitness, but as I still had some left in the tank at the end I think I can start pushing it a little further next week. I was worried that I’d have to do 20k runs for another month or two before increasing. Guess I underestimated myself.

I can’t remember the second lap around Lake Gininderra, but it must have been good. Was I asleep? Was I in the zone? I was listening to one of the old Nerdist podcasts. I can’t really remember that either.

Next week, I’ll bring some food along. Or that gel I got at the half marathon this year, the one that’s been sitting in the fridge ever since. I’m sure it’s still edible, in one sense or another.

Peep.

It’s been a terrible week. I’ll update when I have an opportunity to do so.

Quantity, Quality, and Bacon.

If somebody came to me when I was at my largest and definitively said to me that it was impossible to lose weight unless I cut out butter, bacon, cheese, pasta and bread, would I still be overweight?

Probably. Maybe. There is a possibility. If I believed them.

The problem with these sort of restrictive diets, the ones that really cut deep and eliminate every favourite food, is that my brain, at the very least, tries to sabotage me. It tells me I am never, ever ever going to have bacon again, and at the first sign of weakness, that’s where I’d dive. Into a big, crispy pile of delicious salty bacon. Even if I was given a reason why I should be cutting out bacon. Even if bacon was carcinogenic, and I knew it. Studies have shown that nitrosamines, which are found in quantity in preserved meats such as bacon, IS carcinogenic. But does this knowledge stop me, in this hypothetical universe? No. Why? It’s for the same reason that I will rarely pass up a cigarette if one is offered. It’s because I’m stupid. In other words (nicer, less accurate words), I’m only human. My brain wants what my brain wants. Instant gratification.

Okay, so this is the hypothetical situation, but is it really so hypothetical? When I was at my largest, a variety of people told me a variety of things. Cut out carbs, cut out fats, cut out processed foods. Bacon? Are you kidding? Why should you even need to eat bacon? It’s a luxury food, not a dietary requirement. I was told all these things, on a daily basis. But in the end, what worked? I didn’t cut out a single one of these things. Well, except for white bread. But that was by choice. I didn’t adjust the content, just the quantity.

I’ve been reading recently about a researcher who was trying to prove the age-old concept of weight loss as an equation of calories in versus calories out. For a period of ten weeks, he survived on a diet of almost entirely snack food. Snack cakes, corn chips, candy, cookies and the like. CNN calls it “the convenience store diet” or “the twinkie diet” and I picked up various other designations from other news services. One article stated that he had a protein shake every now and then, and a multivitamin tablet. But all the same, he lost weight on a horrible diet due to the simple equation of calories in, calories out. He limited his intake to 1800 calories a day, and despite the actual content of the food he was eating, he lost weight. Nobody would ever recommend living on a diet like this. For a start, if you had to limit yourself to 1800 calories, that’s not a lot of junk food. It is a lot of healthy food, however, and the bottom line is that I prefer eating quality and quantity over a small amount of instant gratification.

But if you can fit it into your daily calories, why not have some bacon? Why not have real butter instead of that horrible fake-tasting margarine? Why do people always turn to these fake junk-food healthy substitutes, but then fail to lose their weekly kilo? It’s because a pita bread with fresh tomato, crumbled feta and roasted vegetables IS something healthy and delicious (if you’re into that sort of thing) but it ISN’T a pizza, and no amount of positive affirmation will make your brain think it is. You could try to stop wanting pizza instead. That’s probably a healthier way to go about things. Or, you could do as I do and treat yourself to a SMALL slice of good quality real pizza on a day when you’ve had an awesome workout. Without eating the whole pizza. The real achievement is to stop when you’re ahead. One slice of pizza won’t kill you, if it’s within your daily intake limit, but four will probably set you back. Good things in moderation. Or in the case of bacon, delicious yet carcinogenic things in moderation.

I believe that people these days are too addicted to blaming everybody else for every problem in their lives. Your diet is one of the things that YOU can control completely. You choose, ultimately, every thing that you put in your mouth. I’m not going to waste my time on tofu and lettuce if I don’t want to, and I’ve lost 20 kilograms without having to waste a second on these things.

I hope this makes sense, but I had to vent a little.

Faster than I remember

Distance: 6.3 km

Time: 34:28

The Ben Donohoe Fun Run, as usual, was a short and sweet one. But shorter than I remember it being. I stood too far back at the beginning so when the people around me crossed the start line, THEY KEPT WALKING and completely refused to let me through. This was a temporary setback, but irritating all the same. How was I supposed to know I was standing in the midst of walkers? I did a very good time compared to last year, and I beat Kermit the Frog. It’s the little things that count.

I hurt my right buttock somehow, maybe pulled a muscle or something. And I forgot to use the vaseline, even though I chose to wear short shorts. So I’ve got a little chafing. It hurts.

Heading off to Sydney in a few hours for work, and my brain is fried so I’d better go do something constructive.

A race plan. It's not a good plan, but it's a plan.

After missing last week’s long run, I felt amazingly fresh for the run home on Monday. It was nothing spectacular, but I didn’t feel as bone-weary as I had the previous week. Next week Im not sure how I’m going to fare, as I’m heading to Sydney for work on Monday and Tuesday, and don’t know how much running I’m going to get done while I’m there. What’s more, I’m running the Ben Donohoe Fun Run tomorrow morning, so I may not really be up for any running at all next week.

The Ben Donohoe is a short one, only 6.3 kilometres around Lake Gininderra. It’s also a small one. Timing chips aren’t issued, so there’s official times only for the first couple of hundred finishers. I never fit into that category, so I’ll have to time it on my Garmin. As it’s such a familiar route and distance, I’m going to go out full blast, just to see what my capacity is. I’ll aim for 5:30 kilometres, but it depends on how I feel on the day. I’ll push the last kilometre to 5:00, or maybe even 4:45, if I have the energy left.

In other news, apparently the Canberra Marathon is going ahead next year. I was obviously assuming that it wouldn’t be when I set my mind on the Road Running Festival in May. That might not even go ahead. I’m not sure. But if the Canberra Mara does, it’ll be in April, not May. The entry fee is outrageous, also. I think I can get my act together in time.