Week One Reflections

Week One – Progress?

It’s only when you take the time to look back at where your journey began that you realize how far you’ve actually travelled. What you think you’re doing, seeing and achieving is probably so much less that you really are. Not a believer? Well, you and me both…until now. To help me demonstrate why I believe now, I’m going to look back over my life (briefly) and reflect on the development as I initially see it and then I’m going to delve a little deeper and prove that the things I personally take for granted are so much more valid than I realize. I want to share some of my secrets with you…..

Why? – Honesty.

I want to be honest. Honest to you, Honest to me. I want you to know. That, and the fact that I’m feeling the reflection and I believe it’s a good time to share – after all “sharing is caring”. I often feel the twang of non-development and guilt for not pushing harder, and as such I lose sight of how far I’ve come in retrospect for how far I still have to travel. Another reason I want to share is because I’ve been holding this in for many years and now I’m letting it out.

My Health & Fitness

In terms of my health, I’ve never really taken it seriously until recently. As a kid I played football (soccer), ran long distance and participated in Royal Navy Cadet sports such as Field Gun. I was encouraged to be active by my parents and enoy it. I was always motivated by movies such as Rocky and the (original) Karate Kid. A an adult I worked out irregularly in the gym, played squash and spent many years teaching and competing as a kickboxer. I don’t think I can remember a time post 18 years old where I didn’t have a belly and excess body fat. One of my oldest friends back in ‘Old Blighty’ used to say she was proud of how far I’d come (of course I never took it on board) – I was the guy who ate dunkin donuts and coke for breakfast, with a cheesy garlic bread chaser, in 1997. By 2000, I’d kicked the donuts and garlic bread but I never realized that until recently…

 I spent my twenties teaching scuba diving, which although physically demanding has a particularly fun and active social side – meaning excess drinking, eating and partying.

As a consequence, my late twenties arrived pretty quickly (in the haze of youthful alcoholism) and I landed in Sydney (after a few drinks on the 24 hour flight) – the most body-conscious city I’ve ever known as a fat heavy drinker. I weighed 118kg but I was loaded with body fat, visceral fat and was not in great shape. Bending to tie my shoe laces caused me to break into a sweat (no lie) and I’d frequently end up huffing and puffing after a short walk up stairs to my apartment. It didn’t improve until I met Winnie. She was healthy, very healthy. She trained Taekwondo and swam fairly regularly. She inspired the change.

My Diet

In terms of my diet, I was always fed nutritious meals at home. Portion sizes were massive and I was raised to clear my plate. Seconds never really happened because we were served big enough portions to leave no excess. Every meal was a mountain to climb. Every bbq was more or less a challenge where survival of the fattest/hungriest would win out. That said I was raised to enjoy veggies and salads (and I make a pretty awesome salad – thanks for that Nanny Marg!). I’ve had a sweet tooth as long as I can remember, and crave sweets, lollies, chocolate, ice cream and fizzy soft drinks. It’s not easy giving those things up. As I grew up my hunger grew too, therefore my portions kept growing too I guess. Then I reached legal age to drink alcohol. Welcome the fun of pubs and bars, enter the beer belly. Dang! Well as I mentioned the diving era was very sociable and as such I drank a lot. A lot is an underestimation. I was binge drinking by modern standards, most nights. Now, almost a decade later, I drink irregularly and I’m proud to say I consume no more than 1-2 drinks per week (more like per month) at medicals I may attend. The other side to excessive drinking, was that I’d stuff myself silly with pies, sausage rolls, chips, kebabs and other unhealthy junk foods late at night, prior to going to bed.  Now I eat a sensible, gluten free restricted diet and rarely consume alcohol. I take dietary supplements and supplements for my training regime. It seems like a huge waste of money to consume those and then ruin it with binge drink/eating.

The Present

I’m deployed. I’m focused, driven to succeed – I’m a proudly serving member of her Majesty’s Royal Australian Navy. I apply myself and test my limits every day. I work hard and smart. I train hard and often. I eat well, with occasional rewards and treats. I usually share them with my fellow watch keepers – which reduces my potential intake and keeps me satiated with small tastes of my favourite things. I stick to my planned training routines and never quit. I have developed a self-actuating mentality and I’m determined to succeed.

In my life I’ve always lived with no regrets. I still keep myself honest with this, but now I look at my own life with a greater appreciation for the present.

The Past is History, The Future is a Mystery…but the Present, that’s a Gift.

SO now, I’m 95kg and I’m not bothered about my weight. I’m bothered about transformation. I’ve been working hard to make 2014 my year of transformation. I have travelled so far, I’ve done a full 360 on who I was, and I’m loving the person I’m becoming. Today for instance, I worked out in the gym. Granted I was motivated by Rocky 3, and the Eye of the Tiger is playing in my head right now, and I pushed harder. The result was an awesome workout, Arms and Abs day flew by in a blur. My arms kill right now, and my body is sore – but that’s making me feel more alive.

I’m the luckiest man in the world. I have a super wicked awesome family, a pretty cool job that I enjoy and the best wife ever. She supports, motivates and inspires. She challenges me and gives me a reason to be better. To prove how good I am to the world. I Love my darling, little bear.

Personal side to my journey has been even more epic, and I’ll save that for another day….

My Goal – Moving Forwards

My biggest, most difficult goal is to transform my life, my habits and my thought processes to being healthy and active. For my future family, I wanna be the kind of dad who runs around with, plays games with and enjoys the journey of bringing children into being. I don’t want to be restricted with aches, pains, excessive blubber. I don’t want my future teenage kids to be ashamed of me, to think of me as a poor role model. Na-uh. I’m going for the opposite.

I want my wife, my family and my kids (one day) to be proud of who I am, where I come from and where I want to be.

“In defence of my country, I will make my family proud”

Next….

Three Questions

To finish, I’d like to pose three questions for you. Take them on board and use them at will for any aspect of your life. It helps me and its part of my meditative practice to mull over them:

1.     What have I learnt?

2.     What am I learning?

3.     What am I yet to learn?

Challenge yourself, push hard but remember looking back to lubricate your journey onwards from now is vital.

Looking Back to Move Forwards

Marathon Preparation & Execution

Marathon Man.

It's been a long and tiresome road, and I'd like to apologise for being offline for a while. Early starts at unfriendly times, running in the rain, wet feet and gel farts (from electrolytes) have been keeping me occupied recently. There was soreness, aches, pains and days of seemingly endless dehydration and thirst. But the journey to prepare for my first marathon was massive. It was a personal endeavour of epic proportions. It was, however, more than I had ever told anybody, and now a few days after completing my first ever marathon, and the legs are back to normal, I'd like to share.

The decision to run a marathon was not something I'd suggest taking lightly. You gotta prepare yourself in every possible way. Yes there's physical conditioning; strength training, stamina training, speed work, hill training, short runs, long runs....pace runs, time trials and well miles and miles of heart. You gotta be aware that its not just the running. It's far more than that. You need to also consider the mental preparation that you need to do - you need to force yourself to run, even when you don't want to. You might not like the heat. You may hate running in the rain.  You may not like early mornings, or hours and hours of time away from loved ones. You might doubt yourself, but whatever it is, you need to prepare yourself, and get over whatever you don't like, or usually avoid to prepare.

For me, running every weekend in the rain, most evening in the dark and spending hours away from my darling wifey, were the hardest. Sure I'm an ex-pom and I'm used to the rain, but it's physically draining, plus you get more friction from your clothes and skin, your at greater risk of trips and falls and injuries - so it's pretty de-motivating some times. It's those times I reminded myself of the reasons I chose to do this seemingly insane venture. It was also most prominent of me to remember those immortal words of Michelle Bridges (who incidentally was the head coach for the Blackmore's Sydney Running Festival) 

"JFDI - Just Freaking Do It".

My Reasons

So, what was it the pushed me through all those hours, kilometres and seriously chaffed legs (and arms)? In truth, I did the 42.2km run to test my resolve, to prove to myself I could do it and most of all I wanted to earn my Bateman running stripes by completing the cycle. Throughout my entire life I've had the pleasure of watching my parents complete every type of running festival except the marathon, and they completed them together. For one reason or another, it was a challenge to great and maybe too risky for them to attempt, and I decided that as their son I would take up the challenge and complete it on my family's behalf. I wanted a Bateman from my family to finish a marathon. It's probably silly to hear, but my parents blessed my marriage to Winnie with a very special gift that has been with them on every run, my mum's wedding ring. I now wear this ring (7 sizes bigger) as my own wedding ring, and so carry the weight of their love. I also carry (closely to my heart) the experiences that have made this ring most precious to me. It needed the marathon and it now has that too. It's up to me to add the next new experiences! 

I was told by a cardiologist that my heart operates like a marathon runner's - not bad for an out of shape fatty, but I couldn't believe that until it had run a marathon....NOW I have a marathon runner's heart, which incidentally beats very slowly, but very powerfully.

In terms of my resolve, I needed to see this through. I needed to know if I could actually do it, and if I could actually do it well.

I'm a distance runner.

I've been trained to keep going even when it's hard.

When it hurts, When it sucks.

When I don't want to

I look past it.

Relentless forward progress to the finish.

Call it what you want:

Stubbornness, Endurance, Determination. Guts.

Deep Down,

I don't know how to give up.

(and its always worth it in the end)

Preparations

Well, if you've been following this blog I've been preparing since the start of this year. I ran when I posted down to Melbourne, I ran at every opportunity and I spent a lot of time getting ready. I invested in proper running shoes and socks. I made sure I had good running clothes. I tested compression technology. I tried "Skins" and "2XU" products and I reviewed them, determining that 2XU are way better than skins. I was forced to learn and adapt myself to understand, and apply basic nutrition for runners and how to 'feed yourself' on the runs. I instigated the assistance of Iron Ray and researched glutard friendly electrolyte gels and  supplements for recovery. I planned my runs, and used tools like Map My Run and Garmin Express to keep up with my progress. It's been hard finding the time to write on tho blog but I've kept notes and now I'll elaborate!

Learning to chow down on energy providing foods, slow release carbohydrates, fast release proteins, energy and electrolyte drinks, gels, chews and the methods of carbo-loading building up to the big runs and eventually race day was one of the toughest elements. Get it wrong and you get cramps, indigestion and dehydration. Get it right and you run well, but still have to go through the ringer to train for all the other potential risks!

I found on the long runs two things that took a lot of planning that really contribute to my marathon:

Coconut Water and Electrolyte Chomps! The Coco-water was great, but I needed to run with it and the chomps needed to be timed and not just munched on for fun. I developed a routine of one chew every 15 minutes after the 60 minute mark. I then added the extra carton of coco-water at the 25km mark..my only issues were how I was carrying all this and trying not to spill the sticky-coco-water as I sipped it on the move...I was pretty tired of sticky hand syndrome (plus I felt like I was wasting precious electrolyte) so I developed a novel tool to assist me.... a straw! I pierced a straw and sipped it down like a boss! It did however take me up until race day to work this out!

Also, learning the benefits of compression tights, I realised that keeping them on post long-runs was a must for at least 30-45minutes to ease the soreness, and it worked very well for me.

In the course of 9 months or so (give or take a few weeks) I managed to clock up 413.89km of running training, thats 41:12:07 of running time and that doesn't include the time spend training in the gym, pool or on the bike. All my training has been for my three goals, but each one was building for this: 100km cycle (leg and core strength, cardio endurance and fitness), City2Surf (legs, breathing an nutrition planning) and then the marathon!

Race Day

How I put it to my friends and family: "I'm gonna finish, but I wanna be under 4:30 hrs"......

How I thought it: "I hope I finish it, If I do I wanna be back under 4:00 hrs"....

How it went: "crap I'm running too fast, JFDI, hang on I just passed 30km...crap look at that - Pyrmont Bridge....gulp....my legs are not gonna like that...." 

How I pushed through: "I'm gonna sprint finish...what's the worst that can happen...crap there's people who know me, run faster, faster keep pushing don't give up...."

Cue the Rocky soundtrack....

Finished. Jump up and down...hang on, legs can't jump. 

Here's the stats...

Distance: 42.2km

Time: 03:55:55

Average Pace: 05:35min/km

Calories Burnt: 3004 Calories

Average Speed: 10.7km/h

Max Speed: 61.1km/h

Average Heart Rate: 158bpm (85% of Max)

Max Heart Rate: 181bpm (98% of Max)

Link to a couple videos: Click Here :) and enter my Bib Number 13762 or Garry Bateman 

and watch the three short videos of my run! Im the beardie dude in turquoise singlet and 2XU Tights! 

Day 93 - Core Blimey!

Core Strength

Why do we all work so hard on 'core strength'. Core strength and Abdominal Strength, two very different things...I intend to get to the bottom of this.

Abdominal workouts, do exactly as prescribed - they work your abdominal muscles. These are not to be confused with core strength. Core strength does way more for your body.

Core work incorporates literally dozens of muscles, and improves strength and flexibility in your hips, pelvis, lower back, and abdominals. There are many reasons why a developed core is better than just developed abdominals. Such as:

Agility

Core muscles allow you to react faster, with greater strength. Core strength also lets your body distribute stress evenly, absorbs shock more effectively and contribute to your balance, coordination, flexibility and self awareness.

Power

Believe it or not, performing Squats and Dead Lifts with proper technique will develop your core, increasing your power but most importantly it will stabilise and protect your lower back. This type of conditioning develops your muscles, via your core, to allow your body to develop a good foundation for heavier weights and prevents injuries.

Posture

A good core workout will centre your spine and this will enable you to stand and sit with better, more erect posture. I've noticed huge development for my own posture in the past 90-odd days. The main thing here, is if you want a 6 pack or good looking abs, then posture development strengthen the lower back. You even appear taller / slimmer!

Weight Loss

Strong core equals less fatigue and reduced effort in performing daily activity. This reduced effort and fatigue directly translates to more available energy to put into gym time, running, cycling etc. You'll also be at a reduced risk of injury when you're carrying less weight, and reduced risk of exhaustion because you have the additional energy to sustain you!

Way More than a 6 Pack

I've realised from the women in my life, that strong cores as a foundation mean gym work is made far easier. I didn't realise that such a large portion of the male population don't even consider core training, and solely focus on muscle development. This often means the obliques, lower back, hips get less of a workout (if at all) and often just get pounded with heavy weights! It is the recommendation of most fitness professionals to develop core strength FIRST, to gain strength and stability to allow you to do the muscle building activity later.

But Why?

When is Core Strength useful to me, and why haven't I been doing it...Well, I actually have been. I was bashing away in the gym, decided at about 10 weeks (if I recall correctly), that my workouts would include more endurance (abs between weights), and that my weights workout since week 8 (I think) have been predominantly compound instead of isolated. Endurance training and working in the abdominals intensified and added some spice to my weights regime. Compound training added the base core work, required me to drop to smaller weights and develop better technique. I stuck with it, and now I feel particularly strong, in comparison to this time a year ago. I feel fitter today, than ever before. Good reason to kick start your routine into adding more core and compound training? I think so! 

Core strength is integral in my marathon and triathlon goals. It is pivotal in my overall development since I need to maintain a strong core so I can pound my body over 42km. I need to load my muscles with memories of endurance, strength training and the kilometres in my legs. All of this contributes, and as my core has developed (slowly), I've noticed that my running technique has improved. I was omnipresent this evening as I straightened my posture, well noticed that it was more erect as I put a swift 5km on the treadmill.

WOD

My Workout Of the Day, as created by me, was to replicate this core strengthening, and keep my legs from taking a break.

I started with 30 minutes of abdominal weights training, focusing on core alignment, and not just the abdominal workout. I then proceeded to do a 30 minute core crushing kettle bell circuit. I transitioned between medium and heavy bells, and worked different parts of my core. I also included a swift 5km treadmill run, which had me running at around 5min/km, for 25 minutes. My heart rate peaked at 143bpm and I focused on twisting my core muscles and keeping a straight posture as I ran. It felt good!

My WOD - Part 1 Abdominals: (3x15reps)

1. Standing Weighted Cable Pulldown Crunch
2. Kneeling Weighted Cable Pulldown Crunch
3. Palof Press
4. Landmine 180's
5. Plate Twists
6. Plate Side Bends
7. Kettle Bell Figure 8 Crunches

Part 2 Kettle Bell Circuit: (30second intervals x 3reps) - Odd Numbers Heavy, Evens Medium Weight

1. Goblet Squat
2. Around Body
3. Bent Over Row
4. Figure 8 (in bent over position)
5. Single Leg Dead Lifts
6. Windmills
7. Shoulder Press
8. Half Get Ups
9. Step Ups
10. Squat Swings

Treadmill Run: 5km, 5min/km, 25 minutes

Stretches, Side Plank Pulses, V-Sits, Figure 4 Abs & Thigh Crunches to finish me off.

Day 92 - Balls, Bells and Bars...

Variety 

The spice of life and the means to staying focused on my journey from fat to fit. I like to mix things up, and apparently, its good to do so. This week, being the crazy last week of my leadership course is a bit messy and getting into my normal routine is getting harder as the week progresses toward graduation. I decided to mix it up again tonight....but why?

Variety, or, the quality or state of having different forms or types can be important within a strength and conditioning program. Triathletes and cross-fitters tend to need a variety in their program to develop different physical qualities. My variety of strength, endurance, speed, stamina....run, swim ride and sports seems to be the go here!

Athletes must incorporate variety in their regime to become more complete. There is no single exercise or piece of equipment that will create the complete athlete. In order for muscles to increase strength, the workload must be greater than normal. I've noticed that since I started mixing things up, even as early as when I started to train for triathlon (instead of just running) I got stronger sooner. By overloading the muscles, your body adapts by growing stronger. Once the body adapts, a new stimulus is required to continue the reaction. Workload must progressively increase to make gains in strength and endurance.

Variety is a method of adding tools to your toolbox to facilitate your progression.

Tuesday night football..

Almost certainly its harder to play, or more intensive to play indoor football on a full size court with less people. Tonight there was 5 of us! 3 on 2 was the order of play - so lots of running and stop/start sprints, changes to direction was in order. For the first 30 minutes my game was all over the place. Mr Peds reckoned my skills were better when I took a few moments to stop and think, prior to taking shots or passing. This actually seemed to be true...I missed, hit the post and crossbar...I hit the ball wide by the narrowest margins and somehow couldn't find the back of the net. On taking those moments to think, I went from hell to high scoring! I even knocked 3 long-range (from our goal area) shots into their net! I really started to score all over the place, even nut-megged the keeper three times. Such fun.

After 75 minutes I was pooped, needing to change the pace for gym time!

Bells and Bars...

Tonight I opted for the mammoth session - Back and Arms. I reduced the number of exercise variants, but pushed hard to make the ones I was doing count. My dead lift technique has definitely improved, and I feel stronger for it. My rows were all a good show of my developing back strength. I concluded back with 3 sets of 3 unassisted chin ups...and my gosh I was trying hard!

I moved into Biceps and then Triceps. I was feeling the burn by now, 45 minutes in and that was my cue to finish off with a kettle bell circuit. Qinno joined for a bit and we did some basic run throughs. I've been intensifying the kettle bell circuit and 15 minutes is pretty tough....for me!

After all the hard gym work, I think my back deserves a good relax on the foam roller tonight. Looking forwards to that!

Day 87-91 - Kettles, Bars, Bricks and What?

Bells, Balls, Pucks, Weights and lots of sweat.

Another mad-crazy week, filled with multiple workouts. It has been a busy week work-wise too (hence my lack of posts).

I've done some interesting preparations to enhance my training for the marathon; working on core and strength with weights workouts, endurance with kettle bells and agility, power and speed with run sessions, and triathlon brick training sessions.

Thursday I put myself through a 45 minute kettle bell workout, targeting all of the major muscle groups. I also chucked in some barbell training to deepen the efforts on my core muscles. After, I did a triathlon brick. This particular brick involved a 20 minute spin, with a cadence of 100rpm. This speed and duration meant I could knock over a 10km spin, I averaged about 28kph, which is a nice speed for me. After the spin, I jumped onto a treadmill to do a quick run. I was running at 5:40 per km for 28:24, and that allowed a good 5km run at 10.6kph.

Saturday, I did a 35 minute intensive (no rest) kettle bell workout with my amazing wife, at the Bond Street Fitness First. I got a real good sweat on and had fun training with Winnie. It is the favourite part of my weekend. Winnie and I always train so well together, she truly is my soul mate and training buddy!

Today was a great day for leadership training. Today our instructor (Leut. Johno) took us to the gym to play 'handball - It's good to be king' and a 30 minute deck hockey game. I was team captain for team blue. I picked an awesome squad and we actually won 4-1! Two games that we can play with our sailors at sea, both pretty fun, full-on activity.

Deck hockey is a sport that has been played on ships at sea, since the 1800's and I would like to think that I could keep that piece of history as I progress my career. Here's hoping - and my new ship has a pretty massive deck!

After the 60 minutes of team games, I headed into the gym. Working out with Qinno was a good change of routine. We did a good hour of chest and some shoulders - working hard, and using a spot is a nice way to push yourself! After this workout I got stuck into a 30 minute cardio-strength burnout using my new favourite toys - the kettle bells. I incorporate step ups and box jumps to build on the cardio and agility.

Day 86 - Faster, Faster!

As I woke this morning I could tell that my body was in need of a little rest or a slower pace today. Today's leadership classes were fairly sedate and that provided the well needed recharge. As the day proceeded, I realised that I was gearing up to do my first proper speed session after work.

Speed Sesh...

My Speed Session, can be reviewed in detail on this link: Speed Session: 3 x 1km and there you'll see I ran off the beaten track (well its a gravel path around the back of the Creswell gym, and what you can't see is the gradient of  the slow climb I was running on. This was an added element into the session that wasn't necessary, but a challenge regardless.

I planned, and executed 3 sets of 1km fast runs. By fast, this is my slightly faster than race pace, which really got me going. The distance, although low, is actually far enough to give me a good workout.

Overall, with warm up and cool down I covered a mere 3.46km in 20:10, which yields an average pace of 5:50min/km, but if you look more closely the average included the warm up and cool down! A true test of how hard I was working was my heart rate. I was working with a training effect of 3.2 (improving category), which meant an average heart rate of 149bpm (81% of max), and a peak heart rate of 170bpm (92% of max) - which is pretty good. Lap times were:

Lap 1 - 4:39:80

Lap 2 - 4:15:00

Lap 3 - 4:32:60

On completion of this training session I felt smashed, yet exhilarated for completing the running exercise. I had a good cardio and run training session, that had me out of my comfort zone for a few moments of each set - the hill that leads up to the main gangway (main gate).

After I had quickly recovered from the running, I started a new element to my training, Kettle Bell workouts, done my way.

I covered pushups, goblet squats, military shoulder press, one leg dead lift, kettle bell swing, Floor chest press, pirate ships (kettle bell's version of landline 180s), floor pectoral fly, and some abdominal work. My abs are still so sore from the caving yesterday.

Today I learned that rest, planning and a new routine does help keep you motivated, challenged and interested in what you're doing.

Oh and go the Blues...NSW finally win Origin!

Day 84 - Week 13 Commences.

Moving Forwards...

I love this quote.

I know, of late, I've not been as active with regard to my gym usage and blog uploads but in actual fact my training in coming into quite an important phase - Strength Training for the Marathon. 

My decision to participate in a marathon has been something I initially set as a goal, but something that has the potential to facilitate my long term health and fitness goals. I love fitness and being healthy, and I really want to keep this passion by means of gym work, yoga, running, cycling, swimming (and scuba of course). I signed up for the marathon as my main goal for 2014, and I want to be ready from a physical and emotional sense. I want my muscles and joints to be prepared. To that end I've been spending a lot of my free time reading and researching different methodologies (old techniques and new).

I've read that combining, equally, running with weights is the best way to prepare your body. I've read that developing a strong core is not all you need. You also need to develop strong glute muscles, good hip extension strength are important too. The definition of Core Strength is how well you can stabilise your upper body on your lower body; in other words how much rotation you've got whilst keeping your trunk stable. Maintaining a strong, stable core will stop you from leaning forwards, arching your back, and in therefore will stop your hip activity from being inhibited. I read that if you inhibit your hips, you end up inhibiting the muscles inside you shins and feet too. I've learnt that this is all down to posture. So, in the gym, out on runs, and basically all other times I need to be working on keeping a good posture to allow my muscles to work as they're meant to.

According to one paper I read, runners need four important things:

1. Postural Alignment
2. Specific Stabilisation
3. High Strength
4. The ability to produce strength quickly  (High Power)

Another reason to incorporate weight training into my regimen for running a marathon is that I want to maintain lean muscle mass, and if I don't train the endurance will eat away at the muscle I've worked so hard to build.

I'm learning, now more than ever to not over exert and to take more rest, including rest days from both gym and run. Since recovery will determine how the preparation builds and how strong overall I become. If I never give my body time to recover, I'll never develop. It also means not doing gym and long runs on the same day, over exertion will just sap my body's resources and leave me feeling wasted all the time. Prior Preparation and Planning, to Prevent Poor Performance!

The Run Element

The plan with the running is not to run 100's of kilometres per week, in fat its quite the opposite. I'm going to employ a variety of cardio components in conjunction with long runs to build my muscle strength and endurance plus condition my soft muscle tissue to the long endurance of a marathon. I'll be doing short quick runs (tempo runs), middle distances at a conversational pace, and intervals (including hills). I will build to around 35km then taper back as race day approaches.

The Strength Training Element

This will be a core stabilising and strengthening combined workout, incorporating compound exercises, the endurance work I've been doing and will be made up of light (ish) weights, high reps and no more than 2-3 sets per exercise. I test ran a workout like this tonight, and it took exactly 1 hour, so that was also a bonus. In sequence, tonight's workout trial consisted of:

• Barbell Chest Press
• Rest: Bottoms Up Abdominal raises 
• Barbell Bent Over Rows (reverse grip)
• Rest: Plank Holds
• Barbell Shoulder Press
• Rest: Side Plate Bends
• Smith Machine Squats
• Rest: Bicycling Abdominal Crunches
• Smith Machine Lunges
• Rest: Leg Raise Holds
• (Heavy) Barbell Dead Lifts
• Assisted Chin Ups
• Rest: Retractors
• Push-ups suspended on Kettle Bells 
• Kettle Bell Swing Twists

The Nutrition Element

Vital to my endurance, health and well being is what I actually put into my mouth. So, I've been going good so far, eating clearer, reduced my gluten intake to almost zero (you can never tell what sneaky companies use thickeners, and I'd be lying if I said it was 100% gluten free - not sure its even possible)...Reduced alcohol consumption to almost zero and good supplementation to back up a healthy diet.

I need to improve the balance of my carbohydrates, proteins and fat intake. I've read that it needs to shift to 60% Carbohydrates, 20% Proteins, and 20% Unsaturated Fats, and I've been working to 50% Carb, 30% Protein and 20% Fat. Carbohydrate loading in food will be a challenge for me, so I'll keep you all posted on how I get there with that one!

The New Training Program

The Marathon is actually 14 weeks away, but my honeymoon is a 2 week period where I will likely be resting more than running, although I'll be working on core, strength and stability wherever I can. So, I have 2 weeks, a 2 week demi-rest, then 10 weeks to bring me over the line. A major milestone in that time frame is that 8 weeks from now I will be running the City2Surf with Winnie. This is a good time to ensure my training is going good - essentially its midway between here and the main event. I can check all the elements are working as they should and I can make sure my mind and body are set up for this.

Rest Days: 1-2 per week

Gym: Combined Weights Workouts / Circuits: 3 per week upto an hour

Non-Run Cardio:  Swim / Spin / Cycle / Football or sports activity: 2-3 per week

Running: 5-6 per week

1. Speed Sessions (multiple short, sharp runs out of comfort zone)
2. Medium Distance Runs (10-20km build up)
3. Easy Runs (5-10km for recovery)
4. Tempo Runs (fast pace)
5. Fartlek Runs (speed-play workout) 
6. Long Run (Slower pace, 13-35km build up, then taper back)

Days 81-83 - Weekend Fun

Home at last. Friday afternoon was spent driving back up to Sydney. Friday night I relaxed, enjoyed my rest with Winnie and prepared for a big weekend of sport, fun and training.

World Cup Football 1

Saturday I planned to get up early, watch Australia vs Chile in the World Cup, then study, then train in the gym (a quick 30 minute session) with Winnie on her lunch break, since she was working all weekend.

I did all as planned. I'm liking sticking to my plans, it lets me see how organised I am plus I feel satisfied that I achieved all I set out to do.

Micro Circuit

30 minutes in the gym is not long to get a good workout, but never the less we gave it our best. It seemed logical to get a few pre-loaded barbels and head to the circuit/cross-fit area of the gym. There we proceeded to run 2 minute intervals of bicep curls, shoulder press, overhead tricep dips, push ups, sit ups, v-sits, lunges, squats, track-starts. After, noting the time we did 4 sets of the big rope, making waves with it for 2 minute intervals with 20 second rests between. After we raced the sled things - mine had a 25kg plate on it, Winnie was using an empty one. We were pushing, not pulling, the sleds up and down the astro-turf area. This was how we finished.

A micro circuit, I need to work on making the best use of time, but it got a sweat on us both and we got to spend some time together...which is what it is all about!

Roosters vs Knights

Saturday evening Winnie and I went to see the Sydney Roosters play against the Newcastle Knights. This was a pretty good NRL game. Sydney were losing, then in the second half they stomped all over the Knights. The Roosters ended up winning 29-12 in a really good game. The weather was pretty chilly, which meant lots of cuddles for the wife - again another reason to go to Friday night NRL with Winnie! Plus its pretty good entertainment....

World Cup Football 2

This morning I woke up extra early to set myself up to watch the Three Lions take on Italy in their opening game of the world cup. At the same time, my sister called me on FaceTime - we were then able to watch the game together. Is it me or is technology making the world seem a lot smaller - AWESOME! A devastating first game in terms of the result for England, but a few good lesson learnt. I look forward to the next game!

A Little Run

This morning, post football, I headed out into the wind and rain to run another long distance training run. I was aiming for 25km. I planned to run from my house to La Perouse, around past Bare Island, and then up Anzac Parade to Maroubra....and back the way I came.

This was a tough run, the wind was sapping my energy, the rain made me feel heavy. Then there were the long hills, short steep hills and half way I realised I had only had a smoothie for breakfast! Lucky I stocked up on electrolyte gel products this weekend.

This run I was trialling a new product, called Clif Shot Bloks. There's 6 in a pack, thats the equivalent gel of 2 liquid gel sachets. I used 3 bloks during the run, staggered over the 158 minutes of running. I did as recommended and sucked the yummy black cherry flavour gel blocks and chewed little slivers as I ran. This reduced the workload on my gut as I ran.

Post-run I smashed a protein shake with added L-Glutamine, and chased it with an electrolyte gel. This was another new product, made by Torq Nutrition. This gel was recommended to me over the weekend, so I gave it a try. It was wicked, great tasting, easy to swallow, less thick than any of the gels I've tried thus far. The real benefit was the less-artificial tasting flavour, which was Rhubarb and Custard. I was very impressed, and my stomach has had no signs of being affected by this or the Bloks.

 My stats for the run were interesting.  Average Heart rate was 148 bpm, the average pace being 6:04 minutes per km and the time, 02:38:58. My speed / pace was a lot slower than normal, but there could be many reasons why and I'm not too bothered. I burned something close to 2500 calories, and needed to eat a fair amount before I felt satisfied tonight!

Day 80 - Trainers on.

Day 80 - A Long Road Travelled.

80 Days ago I decided to start something. I can't believe I'm still going strong, stronger than ever in fact. I feel awesome, albeit a little fatigued, but awesome. My life feels like it has turned a real corner in the health and fitness department and that is what I was after.

12 weeks in, and my will power is growing with my strength. I've noticed that on this journey (and thanks for hitching a ride with me, I love the company) my eating habits are consistently improving, my strength and admiration for gym work has increased, and my cardio elements are really going from strength to strength. The best bit is that people are starting to notice my body changing and that adds motivation, and the extra support from those around us by means of the occasional compliment goes such a long way in helping us to keep our compass pointing in the right direction.

Changing the Game.

After a little advice from a super fit colleague of mine about distance running training, I've decided to do as I said yesterday. I'm increasing my kilometre count per week, adding the distance to my legs. I really want my body to be comfortable and be able to sustain a full marathon. The only way I can successfully achieve this is to put my trainers on, and get my run on. I plan to taper my gym sessions, maintaining strength and core work but not heavy. I'm going to be continuing with the endurance training, but more reps and lots lighter weight. 

Starting Monday, my program will look a little more unusual - especially since I will mostly train at night. I cannot fit much into the mornings due to work commitments for the next 2 weeks....

So, my plan is in formation. I'm currently working on my running sessions having some variety-flavour! I want to throw in a 5km speed session, a Hills Session (in principle a HIIT Workout), a Spin-Run Brick Session (something like a 5km Spin then 10km Run), a middle distance 15km Run, and a long run (25-35km or thereabouts). I also want to maintain at least 2-3 swims per week, and a minimum of 3 gym workouts. I'm going to spend this weekend building a new endurance, low weight program for myself, so watch this space.

 

Half a Marathon

Since signing up for the Marathon, I've only done sub-10km runs for one reason or another. Today I decided to change that. I thought at first to do a 16km run, then as my run progressed I felt comfortable pushing the distance. I ran 20.9km, so for arguments sake a half marathon and that was a great start.

I have to say, at first I was running with slightly sore right ankle (due to some heavy challenges at footie the other night Bruce Lee was on the opposing team and he had a good go at trying to snap my ankle! After the first 5km were out of the way, my legs started to be less obvious to me and my ankle pains subsided a little. I ran past Jervis Bay Village, Green Patch, Bristol Point, Scottish Rocks, Hole in the Wall and finally arrived at Murrays Boat Ramp (MBR). MBR is about the furthest south you can get to in Jervis Bay by road; located 8.5km from my warm cosy cabin, it did however offer the most fantastic sunset on my arrival - well worth the effort in getting there. I took a few seconds to enjoy the vista afore my eyes, take leak and get back on my way again. As I headed back up the hill (not experienced this particular hill since my Exercise Matapan scenarios from NEOC) donned my head torch and made for HMAS Creswell.

As I approached the 10km point, at around 56minutes, I snapped open my first ever GU Gel electrolyte. I opted for 'Espresso Love' flavour.

After talking with IronRay, I cautiously took small sips of the extra thick gel at 1km intervals. I didn't have my hydration bladder with me, so I took the small quantity of gel and pasted it around my gums and sort of sucked it and mixed it with my saliva to make it more palatable. I have to say though, no complaints on taste or the thickness. I made the gel last a little longer, and controlled the uptake of the energy gel. At the 15-16km mark, I stuffed the empty packet into my shorts zipper pocket and continued on. By comparison to the Endura Brand, the gel was thicker and more noticeably so. No after affects on my gut from either gel is a very good sign for this glutard!

As I ran through the gates at Creswell I felt the surge of energy kick in and I pushed through to chuck in a couple laps of the quarter deck, clock tower and waterfront...just for shits and giggle...well, actually to firstly hit 18km...then I kept going and at 20km I was almost home, thought I'd make the 21km exactly...but 100m out and still under 2hrs of running...I was very pleased.

Average Pace: 5:43/km

Average Heart Rate: 149bpm

Calories Burnt: 1807

I took a screenshot from Map My Ride's website, and it shows a few points of interest. The run was essentially a dark run, with many a kangaroo and cane toad along the roadside. I saw a sum total of 6 cars in 2 hours of road running off-base. It was a beautiful evening, fairly balmy until the sun was finally set and then it was pretty chilly (especially when my sweaty singlet was sticking to me).

These pretty much sum up how I feel at the end of any long run, and why I keep going....

Good Night x