I forgot to mention last week that I tried out a barre routine on Saturday for my cross training session.
Maybe I forgot because my effort wasn't really worth mentioning. Maybe because it was hard.
Pointing your toes for that long should be illegal. I don't know how people do it. Fucking ballerinas deserve more respect just for that.
Anyway, I have been reading a lot of articles on the Womens Running Facebook page and there has been a lot of mentions of this barre type routine, so, overly optimistic as usual, I thought I would give it a crack.
I persevered and got through it but I struggle with something as simple as keeping my legs in the air so you can imagine the amazing job I did with this one.
I also forgot to talk about my epic food prep on Sunday.
I managed to muster up the energy to make a slow cooker morrocan turkey to freeze, lamb skewers with veg, Ashy Bines Clean Beef Stroganoff, Ashy Bines Healthy Nachos (for dinner that night and then reused the meat with veggies), spinach omelettes for brekkies, 2 lots of Aeroplane Lite Jelly (4 servings at 7cals each for those sweet cravings!), and a fresh batch of my favourite choc coconut protein balls. Sorted!
When Chris and I went shopping on Saturday we also stopped at our local Discount Chemist to take a look at what they had for some additional supplements and nutrition.
I have always been an advocate for keeping your diet as natural as possible, but I understand that there are some benefits to using certain supplements depending on the type of training you are doing.
In any case, every single bloody thing I have been reading about running and racing talks in detail about race prep, starting weeks in advance with diet and hydration.
A product that had me researching thoroughly was the Endura range of Rehydration products, and since it was on special I decided to try a small tub of Endura Rehydration Performance Fuel - Lemon and Lime flavour. Always my flavour of choice.
Not as popular with the kitties.
According to the reviews and the instructions, this is good as a "prep" product, taken 20 mins before a workout, and also as an "intra" - a product that can be used during your workout during long sessions, to keep up the energy levels.
I particularly liked the sound of this product because it also has a boost of 20g of carbohydrates in each serving, which is what you are supposed to have for each session of exercise lasting longer than an hour as well as water, obviously. And since I needed to find some kind of carbohydrate and hydration product that would work for me on the run for the half marathon, and just the thought of eating while running made me feel ill, I felt I might have found a product that would work on both a carb, hydration and electrolyte replenishing level.
While we were searching the never ending shelves of expensive yet eternally promising chemicals, we also came across a product called HydroxyCut. Specifically, HydroxyCut Hardcore Elite. Shit is about to get real.
This product promotes weight loss, a boost in energy levels and enhanced focus and all the reviews I found on it said that they not only lost weight but also had such a great energy boost that they we able to push harder and go further in their training.
My brain was stuck between such and intense need for a little helping hand in my running and weight loss struggles, and then also my intense hate for products such as this which usually just clog your body with chemicals and don't do jack shit.
Chris offered to buy them for me. "Just try them for a week". Sure thing!
So Monday morning started as usual.
Wake up, crawl to the bathroom for the usual morning wee. TMI? Strip off my clothing and jump on the scales for a quick optimistic squizz. Jump off and jump back on again. Jump off and jump back on again. That can't be right. I check again. I have lost over 3kg.
First, I went from a completely non-existent physical lifestyle, to 9 weeks of exercising 5 days a week and I put on 1kg. I put on weight. Don't even talk to me about muscle gain, my body should have wasted away from shock alone.
Then I change to clean eating and in one week I lose 3kg! What, the what?!
Again do not even harp about me about the 80/20 diet/exercise crap. I know it all. It still doesn't make me any less shocked at the way my body clearly loves eating more food, but eating less carbs overall.
I happy dance into the shower, and decide to take a Hydroxycut before I leave with the intention of eating my brekky at work as you are supposed to take the supp up to an hour before meals. I only took one, as you are supposed to work up your resistance to the product over a couple of days, eventually working up to 4 pills a day. This stuff sounds scarier the more I read about it.
Even before I have left the house I start to feel a rush of energy. Similar to the runner's high, I start to feel pumped. Like, I am ready for anything.
For the first couple of hours of my day, I am glad my boss isn't in because I feel like that hyperactive squirrel off Over the Hedge. I have nervous energy, I can't stop moving, tapping my feet and my fingers. I spontaneously have intense focus on something, only to completely zone out the next second and realise I am not even thinking about anything. Basically, I feel like I am on fucking drugs. And this is only one pill??
The intense high wears off by lunch time and I get on with my rest day like I should.
Tuesday morning comes around and Rhi is interstate so I know I will be running by myself in the city.
I didn't relish the experience I had on HydroxyCut yesterday but I figure I could use the energy boost for my run so I take one again before I leave.
I drive to the office like I am in the Fast and the Furious and my entire life depends on getting to the city before everyone else. Holy jesus.
Safe to say, when I start my upper body warmup workout, I am feeling pretty good, so off I go with the intent on running the same track Rhi and I ran on Friday, but in the opposite direction. Because, variety.
I get to the Weir with little trouble, and try to open my stride and push the pace a little. By the time I can see Frome St in the distance I am in struggle town and am bribing myself with the finish line with every step I take.
I manage a 30 second runners high as I run up and over the Frome St bridge and then it was a home straight to the finish line.
I made it. Again. I can't believe this might actually be a thing for me.
I quickly check my Fitbit and it tells me that I have run 5.5km. 5.5km in only 35mins. That can't be right?!
I don't know if it was the exhaustion, or the HydroxyCut or my overwhelming pride, but I was absolutely euphoric, and slowly made my way back to the office with a smile on my face the whole way.
That night, I found a 45min Yoga for Runners workout for building strength that I decided I would do in the morning for cross-training since Rhi was still interstate.
Wednesday morning turned out to be the perfect morning to sleep through all of my alarms so I decided I would have to do it after work like I usually do. HydroxyCut and then off to work.
Today the energy boost I experienced was quite mild and manageable, leaving me simply in a really good mood, so I decided to up the dosage and take another HydroxyCut before lunch as directed. This gave me another high that took me right up until I got home with just enough boost to keep me motivated for that after-work-workout I had already planned.
And Chris decided he would join me. Because Chris likes Yoga. Sure thing.
10 mins in and Chris reverted to Savasana for the remainder of the session as he was pretty sure he lost consciousness on the second sweep of downward dog.
I didn't blame him. This shit is hard.
I managed until about the 30min mark and gave up in a puddle of sweat because, in my defense, I have too much body in the way and not enough flexibility to bend like that yet.
When I woke up Thursday morning, I was greeted with how hard I had worked on my Yoga the night before which made me feel much better about it.
Even though it was technically a rest day, but with some lower body weight exercises later on, I still decided to take the 2 doses of Hydroxycut to keep working up my resistance as directed.
Thursday was a great day for me.
I am a person that struggles in general with life. With people. With work. With being an adult.
I struggle being nice to people.
I struggle being in a good mood for long periods of time. I am pretty sure there is real medication for that.
So, when I have a good day, I really have a good day.
My work was on point. My boss didn't piss me off. I managed to smile at those people in the office that usually make me what to scratch my eyeballs out, and I was able to laugh at rude clients instead of fuming for a stupid amount of time about it.
I didn't even cry when Rhi told me that the track we had been running was actually only 4.5km and my fitbit was incorrect because it was calculating my distance based on steps, not by GPS. Mother fucker.
Maybe people think I am on crack. But I still had a great day.
I found this great website called Map-O-Meter in an attempt to try and properly map out the city run that Rhi and I had been doing and settle once and for all, how far we have come.
A really user friendly site, I quickly figured out that we had indeed been running a 4.5km track. Cry.
So I stubbornly mapped out a new run of over 5km for us to run on Friday morning:
Bring it on!
Chris decided that Thursday night was cheat night again so we went to our local Japanese gem and I impressed myself by not ordering every single delicious thing on the menu. I didn't even finish my Udon because I was full.
That's right. I left food on the table and just walked right on out like a boss.
I may however, also had Sake, so the last thing I felt like doing when I got home was a bunch of lunges. I settled for writing some blog notes, and then jumping into bed.
I slept passed my alarm Friday morning and woke to a text from Rhi saying that she had slept in. Legends.
Late night Friday run it is. I used to go drinking on Friday nights. Who am I.
I decided today that I could also up my HydroxyCut dosage again and went for the full recommended dosage of two before brekky and two before lunch.
The day went super quick and when I got home from work, Chris was pumped to go running with me as well. Who are you?!
Chris hasn't done a lot of training with me so far (because he thinks he can wait until we catch up to his level of fitness), so it is a pleasure when he decides to join me. I actually felt pumped to have him along so he could see how far I have come since the last time we ran together. I was also silently smug with confidence that I was probably going to leave him behind.
I had gotten a ride home and left my car at the train station, so we decided we would go run and get it. There is a sentence I have said very little in my life.
It was only 4.5km away which was a realistic shock that I could probably be walking or running to the train in the morning. Let's put that thought back where it belongs.
Out the door we went, 5 min jog warm up and stretch, and then into it.
And I am feeling pretty good. It is hot, and my legs are quickly tired, but I am still having breathy conversations with Chris and feeling awesome that I can finally go out in public and run with my best friend.
Then I actually took a look at Chris to see how we was going. And he wasn't even sweating.
I had tears of sweat stinging my eyes and running down my back and the guy wasn't even puffing.
Cue emotional anxiety attack.
The severe and sudden change in my mood was crippling. My inner monologue took a life of it's own.
He isn't even trying. He is bounding along like a fucking gazelle and I can't even BREATHE. I have been doing this for nearly three months while he has done nothing and he is STILL better than me!
And then everything was too hard. I couldn't breathe because my throat started closing up with an effort not to cry.
I had an absolute fucking meltdown on the side of the road and Chris is looking at me like who the hell just died?!
I may have had a very public emotional tantrum for about 50 metres.
Then we continued running to the car in an awkward silence while I tried not to fume at the injustice of it all and just tried to breathe.
That my friends, was a bad run.
I had a bit of a read from my latest favourite blogger Run, Selfie, Repeat on Bad Runs to make me feel better and then I apologised to Chris for turning into a Banshee.
I probably am...
Chris and I decided to go to the Aquatic Centre to do some swimming for cross training on Saturday, and since it seems to be her favourite hide-out at the moment, I invited Mum to join us at the ripe opening hour of 7am.
Mum was already in the pool when we got there doing her thing so I decided to jump in and and join her routine to see how I went.
We were in the open part of the large lap pool for the hour so we mostly just ran in the parts we could touch the ground, using our arms for resistance, and then swam in the deeper parts to work our upper body. We then finished with a well deserved 30mins of spa time.
Although the exercise itself isn't all that difficult, I was sore and weary by the end of it.
Mum and I had a wedding appointment to go to after the pools (yay!) which I was grateful for because otherwise I am pretty sure I would have gone home and gone straight back to bed.
I had failed to commit to any kind of fitness for Sunday, and I knew Rhi was busy so I had intended on running round the local burbs first thing in the morning.
We all know how this story goes.
Actually, Chris woke me up pretty early and decided he wanted to go and walk a trail that we did a couple years ago out near Mt Crawford.
I was pretty keen for a change of scenery and so gear on, snacks prepped, water, and out the door.
The 4km trail is in the middle of Hale Conservation Park and circles around the old Mica Digging Sites.
Most of the trail is over rock and has some pretty intense goat-like trails on the side of sheer cliffs.
After the initial walk up (the side of Mt Everest) the ridge, when the track started to flatten out a little, I decided I needed to keep my heart rate up and we started jogging the trail.
We actually managed to jog most of the way, only slowing to a walk on the steep inclines and towards the end when my legs started to get tired and I rolled my ankle on a sharp rock.
Thankfully I did not do myself an injury, or roll myself off a cliff.
Laugh all you want, that actually happened last week at Morialta. I cursed my carelessness and took it easy the rest of the way down.
The rest of our Sunday went as usual. Grocery shopping. Food prep. Blog. Sleep. Repeat.