It’s Been Run And Won!

And no it wasn’t technically won by me. The winner with an amazing time of 34:45 was Liam Adams. Leigh was actually a member of the Australian Commonwealth Games Marthon team in Glasgow 2014. Oh and he finished 7th.

But overall I did win……How you ask?

I won becuase I finished the run. Two years ago I would not have even dreamt (literally as I would have woken sore) about walking the 12km run, let along actually being out there and running it.

Overall my time was 1:22:54 which was below my goal of 1:30:00. The best part about completing the run yesterday was the fact I have to go back next year and beat that time. The run itself (for me) was a little difficult purely for the fact I have never been in this sort of scenario before. I say this scenario because there were 12277 people registered to run.

My run got off to an odd start as I was trying to get in to a rythym so I didn’t have to think so much about the running, but for the first 2kms this was quite difficult weaving around people and having them weave around me too. From around the 3-7km mark I was really in my groove and feeling great, but then I started to cramp up in my calf!

I was a little annoyed as I thought I was in a good place and I could run the distance non-stop, but there was no way I could keep going and run through the pain. So I stopped and gave it a little stretch and kept on going.

After this point I relly couldn’t get my rythym back and was having to stop a few times in the last 4kms. I have run on warmer days before, but have been in places were there was a breeze or shade available or I would take a little time to stop and recover, but I really think the little bit of heat or I may not have prepared well enough contributed to my cramping up.

Once I saw the 2kms to go sign I got a little bit of a lift knowing that the end was in sight. It was a very hard slog towards the end, but thankfully I made it their (just) in one peace with a puffed out chest full of pride for meeting one of my biggest goals set for the year.

I didn’t get a chance to take any photos at the end, but I got a few at the start line, as well as a very worrying one (which wasn’t taken by me) for runners at one point during the race.

This is a look back from where I was in the crowd. It was approximately 200m to the back of this line.

This one is looking forward to the start line which was around 100m in front of me.

Being lined up like cattle waiting to start and I got a little bored.

Some bright spark not obeying the road signs and the fact that there were 30,000+ people on the streets and they were closed for a reason. Thankfully no one was hurt.

From here it will be back in to the gym (working on my new program at the moment) with a run or two per week, and then in the new year it will be full steam ahead to either a half or full marathon. The choice will be made dependent on how my training pans out!

Until next time, happy fitness!

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That’s how you do a leg session!

Firstly, my last post was actually my 50th since starting my blog….GO ME! I have found it to be such a great outlet and personal support for myself, and can’t wait for the next 50 posts.

Anyway, back to my reasoning for this post. Today I knocked out a thigh burning, calf sculpting (that’s how I see what I did today anyway haha) leg session. I am not too keen on seeing how I am going to feel tomorrow, but I know how ever it is it was all worth it. This is the first time I have really blasted my legs. I mean I’ve done squats, leg presses/ curls etc, but never to hardheartedness of what I put myself through this morning. The workout was:

1km row
Superset of Leg Raises and Walking Lunges
Leg Raises – 3 x 12 @ 25kgs
Lunges – 3 x 5m with 12kg DB’s

Squats
4 x 15 @ 20kgs

Leg Press Drop Sets to Failure
24 @ 80kgs
23 @ 70kgs
26 @ 60kgs
20 @ 50kgs
24 @ 40kgs

Calf Raises
1 x 15 @ 35kgs
1 x 15 @ 55kgs
1 x 15 @ 75kgs

Thrusters
1 x 20 @ 15kgs
1 x 15 @ 20kgs
2 x 10 @ 30kgs

1km row
2km walk for warm down

It felt amazing to knock out such a big workout, and I will look at doing this again next week and maybe up the weights a little leading in to the Easter long weekend.

And with all the squats I completed, I don’t have to complete any for my 30 Day Squat Challenge tonight!

My bicep seems to be back to 100% (FINALLY), so I will be looking to do a modified version of my arm workout from last week.

Until next time, happy fitness!

PS – I just had a pretty kick arse stir fry with lamb, carrot, broccoli, beans and brown rice in a sweet chilli sauce.

The Burn

I have just polished off a little serve of turkey pasta, and now trying to hit the keys to type this post. These two things are the hardest I have had to try and do all day.

Went to the gym with a mate of mine today and we did an arms workout. Now my weight session don’t really venture away from the machines very much so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect (and what he would put me through). It was a hell of a lot different using dumbells, but now I have the confidence, and a bit more knowledge to do this again going forward.

We completed 3 sets of each exercise with 2 sets being to either 10 or 15 and the 3rd set to failure. The exercises were

Bicep Curls
Hammer Curls
Tricep Extension
Lat Pulldown
Preacher Curls
Tricep Pushdown

I think my arms will be a little sore for the next couple of days, but it is totally worth it and I can’t get back in there and do another session like it.

This was just a quick one today and won’t be doing a lot over the weekend apart from a little run and the squat challenge (I have a day of 70 and one of 75). I’ve got a couple days off next week so I will make up for it them in between the things I have to get done.

Until next time, happy fitness.

Training Day – 27/2/14

FINALLY! I got back in to training today. So glad to be feeling better and able to knock out a session.

Today I was up at the work gym for around 40 minutes and with the music on it really felt like I was only in there for half that amount of time….It was very nice.

I started with a 10 minute warm up between the bike and some light stretching, and then got in to the session. I completed 3 rounds for time of:

400m run (@13km/h) with 30 situps – 20 squats – 10 pushups

Then jumped on the stationary bike and completed a 5 minute 30s high intensity/ 30s recovery ride, with a warm down and stretch following that.

I wasn’t 100% sure on where I would be with the main part of the session, so I allowed myself a time of 15 minutes to complete the whole workout, and surprised myself upon completion when I saw that I completed this in 14m18s. It is another benchmark for me to continually work towards beating.

As I mentioned in my last post, I now have a weight bar and some weight plates to do a bit of strenght work. Tonight I will go home and do some work with the bar only on my squat form (OH, Back and Front), and to also get used to the way the movement feels. I have found quite a cool podcast online around Crossfit, and they also release technique WOD’s to assist you with certain lifts etc.

All the guys are current crossfitters who (from what I can gather) have come from a weight lifting background and also coach both weightlifting and crossfit.Their podcasst is Barbell Shrugged and I am really enjoying listening to their stuff on the way to and from work on the train.

Until next time happy fitness!

I’m Back

WOW! What a week that was. I know I said I would try and post some things about the Tour Down Under, but it was pretty crazy the whole week and didn’t really get a chance to.

I am pretty happy that I finally got to meet the voice of cycling Phil LIggett (it only took me 6 years)! Here is a picture with him

 

I was quite excited and didn’t stop smiling most of the day.

Anyway, I am back to normal (as normal as things can be anyway) and while I had a good start to the month, things fell away a bit towards the end. After a little lapse, I am hungry to get things back on track and hopefully drop below the 109kg mark.

While I have been away from full training, I have been watching a few episodes of the Australian Biggest Loser season. I was sitting there the other night (thankfully by myself as I got quite emotional) listening to mature woman (I don’t want to say old) and the horrible place she was in, really affected me.

This caused me to post to facebook saying I know it is meant to tug at the heart string, but her (Mary I am pretty sure her name is) story really hurt me as she was in so much pain both emotionally and physically. This post got a mixed reaction and it really got me thinking about what it takes for some people to realise they need to make a change, and if they have even tried before. The main thing that stuck with me from this was the whole “Why do they need the show to lose weight”, “Why don’t they just do it” and “They’re only after their 15 minutes of fame”.

At the end of the day I think it all comes back to accountability and they reason why you do it. If it takes being on a television show with someone being in your face, do it…if it takes being open about where your head is at, do it…..But most of all you can only do it if your heart is in it. This last is one of my biggest growth areas of all.

As I have mentioned previously, I tried many of times to lose weight and create a better/ healthier future for myself and family, but really didn’t want people to know because of the fear of failure. Once my son was born and I realised what it takes to provide the best possible life for the kids (which was me being there for them) it was a no brainer.

The problem for me was that I liked the idea of trying to lose weight but didn’t embrace it. Once I surrounded myself with the right people (who were there all along) the rest just come naturaly and I have and won’t look back. Unless it it to remind myself how far I have come so I won’t go back.

Apologies for the long post, but I have had a fair bit rattling around in my head this past week. Feel free to to add what motivates you and your reasons for beginning, as I would love to hear them.

When the going gets tough…….

I usually went the other way and got a big mac, cheeseburger, chips and thickshake……..USUALLY!

Now, I just go harder and stronger and realise that the reason I am hurting is because I am making my body become bigger (in a good way)/ stronger/ faster and better looking. Now while I am a long way off of looking like (well having the body of. my face goes alright haha) one of those beachy looking models, I have come to the conclusion that I should be happy and proud of how my body is now looking and the fact I am working towards having everything they way I would like it to be.

Yesterday I actually had a rest day, and I am very glad that I did as the body was screaming out for one. Monday and Tuesday’s session were pretty tough as I am trying to do that little bit extra as I feel like I can, so my rest days come at a good time.

Today again my body wasn’t feeling it to do any weighted training so I got on the rower and bike again. I run (like a Usain Bolt zombie was chasing me) like noraml, and took 2minutes off of my quickest time. I’m not sure what the deal was this morning but it felt good.

The session was 300m rows for time (completed in under 1:15) with a 45second rest and then got on the bike and went for an 8km in just over 15minutes. For the rows I completed 12 sets until the 13th actually went over the 1:15 time. I am really happy with this because from about 9+ I could have stopped but really pushed myself and got off feeling like I didn’t have anything more to give….on the rower anyway!

One thing that has been helping me with this is a litte motivational advert from Nike. It really gets you up and going.

Rise and Shine

Week 2, Days 1 and 2

Firstly, what makes you happy? For me the number one thing is my family

Other than family I would have to say sport (I love AFL, Golf, Tennis and pretty much anything really).

Training the last couple of days has been tough. Not tough in the way that I am struggling, but more tough in the way I have upped the intensity of what I am doing. Yesterday the weight on my EMOM session was increased and in doing so the “rest” in between sets was FAR shorter and really felt like I was doing squats/ deadlifts non stop in a couple of points. But, the new mentally strong me kept going and toughed it out.

Today I had all intentions of doing the AMRAP session but felt like doing just a straight up “traditional” cardio session (while I have it structured there, I still like to mix it up a bit). The session ended up being my run to the gym (times are slowly going down), then once at the gym I completed 8 x 300m rows with a 45s rest (each 300m was completed in under 1m15s) and then I finished up with a ride for 8km.

I am extremely happy with my progress so far and really looking forward to a lot more challenges and really pushing the boundaries.

As mentioned late last week, I was going to put a shout out for some training ideas/ tests. So I am putting it out there for all the readers – I want you to create/ provide your favourite movements and I will work out a session to complete on Friday (in Australia it is currently Tuesday) and will report back after completion. So if you want to make me work start suggesting some ideas.

Session 1, Week 1

The above picture is one thing I didn’t think I would ever do (and while I am ashamed I am also happy). I don’t usually pay attention to what comes back in the mirror (although some family and friends would say different), but I really liked what I saw looking back at the end of my session today.

About the workout itself…….It bloody HURT! It has been the first time in a while I haven’t been complacent/ lazy and either eased off or stopped the session completely. The session began with a 3km run from home to the gym (315cals in 23m20s). I have completed this run a lot quicker than this but haven’t done much running in the past 2 – 3 months.

Once at the gym I have a little stretch and get ready for what was ahead. As I ran I swapped the run part of the session for a ride. I got through the row and ride well and was actually feeling quite refreshed. From the cardio side of it, I went over to complete the squats and deadlifts. This is where my tone changed a little.

While I was enjoying the challenge of the EMOM session, it hurt so much (a good hurt). The first 5-6 minutes of both were relatively easy to manage, but the last part of both really felt like there was no rest and I was continually doing the work. This is one session that I think I will dread but look forward to for the remaining 3 weeks.

The above picture is as of today, but the below is the comparison shots that really got me going and keeps fuelling my fire. This was over 8 weeks where I lost 19.4kgs and realised how well I can actually do!