Legs Legs Legs

Aaah, after our little walk this morning (minus any bush sojourns), I then set about doing 'legs'.
A nice batch of squats, half squats, deadlifts, kneeling hamstring lifts and squat jumps... leggies tired after that.
Looking forward to my run tomorrow!
Dinner last night was really nice too - I went out at lunchtime and bought some blue eyed cod fillets, had those in a dry mango /native mint marinade, panfried in a little lime infused olive oil, zucchini and broccolini - all the inis !

Hubble Bubble toil and trouble

Well, one thing I got in to over the weekend was making more lotions and potions... I love making stuff - it can just get time consuming!!
Anyhow, my latest creations are lovely (even if I do say so myself).
I made:

Detox Spa Scrub - I made the body lotion first, then added in extra goodies like green clay, ground pumice, tea tree powder, lemon scented tea tree essential oil and lavender essential oil. It's gorgeous.

Body Lotions - one is with pink grapefruit essential oil and the other with Ylang Ylang & Patchouli essential oils.

And the icing on the cake was my new fully organic night cream. God it's divine. I will eventually add these into my store as well on my PT site... all part of the overall body package after all!!

Eeeek Magpies!!!

Ha, there I had been, reading about poor Michelle's run-in with magpies, and then..as I was heading back through the bush enroute home after my run.. swwoop...swooooop... bloody thing kept swooping me from behind. Luckily it had been a tad chilly this morning so I had a little fleecey jumper on over top which had been around my waist.. so that was my propellor/deflector..

I didn't walk the dear puppy through the bush after that - we kept to the safety of the streets! LOL

That means I have to re-route my runs for a while.. How long do they do the swoopy thing for?

Felt pretty good on my run this morning. No ITB issue - and over-ran the 60/90 split a few times as I was feeling pretty good and into it.

I am determined to stick to the couch to 5km program though - see it through to fruition and stick verbatim (although obviously this morning saw a slight deviation in terms of the overruns!).

I ordered my tshirts today! So exciting.

Shin pain no more!

We've started to have the most glorious weather... talk about extremes - it's gone from way too cold to summer almost overnight - so bizarre. We've had around 32degrees temps now for a few days...
Anyhow, this has put my lunchtime jogs on hold and so I've moved them to 5.30am instead. Decided, since it's so light I can safely leave at 5.30 to go for my run around the block ( a section goes through some bush..hence my reluctance to do it in the dark)Anyhow so at least I got through the first portion of the couch to 5km program with no shin pain!!! yeeeeehaaa.
Then I got home at 6am, took the dog out for her half hour sojourn around the block - where I live there are loads of hills.. I live on a hill - so we start out going down hill (nice for warming up), then kill ourselves on the way back home by having to go up some killer hills! Makes for a good workout.
So I will do this again on Wed & Fri - and will take the dog at 5.45 on the other mornings so it leaves me with a good 45 minutes to get stuck into my weights.

Well, so much for the lunchtime run...

The other day, as I went to go for my run (I decided I would restart the Couch to 5k program - I HATE jogging with a passion, am totally crap at any sort of 'jogging' and always end up doing great sprint intervals instead) - so start off doing my 5 minute fast walk warmup, then get great muscle spasms in shins...stretch, keep going, start jogging, walk, excruciating pain... I literally was 15 minutes in to my program and had to go down to the beach (oh the hardship), take my shoes & socks off and walk through the icy water to ice my shins!
I am hoping that it's a combination of things like:
a/ walking dog on longer walks now as she is getting close to full size (growth plates closing) and can handle longer walks - but we set a cracking pace
b / the 6 hours of padwork & boxing coming to claim my shins as hostage
c/ um... the shoes I chose to walk the dog in that morning were my Brooks which I bought at FILEX but hated... maybe the change in biomechanics that they presented, then changing back to my Reeboks through my shins into a spin??

Couldn't get out for my planned workout this morning as had to be at work at 7.30am, then had to shoot out at lunch to grab something suitable to wear to a media lunch tomorrow at Aria (where hopefully there will be plenty of healthful options)!

Still I think it's probably a good opportunity to rest the old shins and see how they go on Friday for my lunchtime run...I may stick my old ratty reeboks on just to see...

Punchfit Certified!

Ha, so I had to endure 6 hours of boxing and padwork on the hottest day in
Sydney all year. But still, at least it was worth it and I emerged with an extra certificate.

Then of course it had to rain all day on Sunday - boring. Still I was able to recuperate.... my triceps are a tad tender after all that effort.

Off for a lunchtime run now! Ra.

It is so warm here today!

I can't believe it's going to be 22 lovely warm degrees today. It was already 19 degrees when I got to work, but with a warm breeze - more reminiscent of summer breezes, blowing.
Should be a nice workout at lunchtime down the beach!

Off to Punchfit tomorrow :-) 11-6 will be a biiiiig day!

Dinner...

Well, it was as good as I had hoped!
We did go the whole hog...literally - Entree of Prawns & Salad, Main of Chicken Breast, and I couldn't go past the Creme Brulee.... I'm a sucker for a good creme brulee. It is my absolute favourite dessert.

Glad I've got another beach run session tomorrow lunchtime though :-) - plus a lot of boxing on Saturday. Then at least I get to ride my poor neglected horsey on sunday...well, he thinks he's neglected. And he is, by comparison to years gone by when I spent most days with him...

What a day...

With all this business planning stuff... I can't focus on my real job... HELP!
Now I've just ordered more equipment - Kickshields, Kettlebells, Dumbbells - which should add nicely to my boxing gloves & focus mitts...Gosh, almost enough to get a class started!

Dinner tonight

Well, dinner tonight is a little off plan...no actually.. a lot off plan! However, what's one little digression when it's to celebrate a birthday with friends.
This is where we will be:
Bistro 345
Hmm, the chargrilled lamb or the chicken breast??

Dolphins!!!!!

I had to pop back in and just say..I knew there had to be some good reasons for exercising on the beach at lunchtimes... (other than the obvious, shift that flubber ;-) )
and of course, today I was rewarded with a pod of dolphins chasing some fish.
Cool.

Dog walking

Since I have had young Jemima, the majority of her walking experience has been during cold, dark mornings. You don't think anything of it, until it starts getting lighter, your puppy is getting bigger, then she notices 'people' and 'dogs' - eg potential playmates also out walking in 'her' streets.
Watch how quickly one compliant heeling puppy becomes a lunging, bouncey, woofy lunatic.
So. We opt for different control methods. First, the harmony harness, which worked for a time, then I tried the limited slip collar which we are supposed to use at dog training - no control at all, then I tried the sporn halter - yes, I have more control but she doesn't heel at all in it.
Then I bumped into a friend who had moved office buildings who had a puppy about the same age - we had gone to puppy preschool together. She was having the same trouble with her german shepherd pup, another 33kg bundle of love. Her dog trainer (our puppy preschool trainer) was coming out to see her that afternoon. Anyhow, he brought out a Gentle Leader head halter thing for her - it worked a charm. I had read so many bad things about them and had opted not to use one - when I had tried one on Jemima she reacted so violently the first time I thought she'd do herself more damage than good. So back in the cupboard it went... until this morning. I thought, bugger it. Popped it on - lots of GOOOOD treats. Took her for a walk and she was controllable. She even walked at heel position on a loose leash. The only time she tried to leap around was when two yappy things yapped away as usual - why do people let their dogs do that at that hour, or any hour??
So, I knew there was one more woofy dog to encounter, so I kept the leash a bit more controlled and closer to me - the dog woofed, Jemima wanted to react, but wasn't able to... it was bliss.
I will try again tomorrow, but so far so good. I would never have put this on her before this age though - at least now I know she doesn't hurt herself at the drop of a hat, and she's got a bit more muscle on her to cope.
Happy days.

Food's been great - water intake's been about 3L per day..exercise good - off for a lunch run session on the beach again today.

Roll on daylight saving!

With the days just starting to smidge along a little longer at the moment, the weather starting to warm up a little...makes me long for the (romantic) notion of summer. Of course, the reality is rarely as good as the wistful thoughts - warm sunny days, warm evenings outdoors barbequeing. Reality these days is generally, warm sunny days during the day whilst I am stuck indoors at work, then late afternoon storm when I'm about to saddle up my horse, or head home. Nights tossing and turning as you're buzzed by one of several mosquitoes..Then of course, rain and miserable weather all weekend...until Monday when it dawns fine again :-)
But still, we dream that maybe THIS summer it will be the way it should.

Here's hoping. Okay, so it can rain every second night - just enough to keep the fires away and the dams full. That's it. zip.

Metabolism on fire...

Well, it appears that run at lunchtime did my metabolism the world of good.
My day's food was supposed to be:
1. 1/3c oats / protein shake / tsp nat p butter
2. Blueberry pruffin (thanks to Sara
3. Chicken chilli wrapped in tortilla with Extra Lite (5%) philly cheese
4. Yoghurt, blueberries
5. Grilled lamb backstraps, salad & couscous

Now of course... I have just added in meal 4a - small tin of lime and blackpepper tuna

I was starving!!
..ahem.. I still am... I will be strong. I will wait until my lamb mmmm rubbed with Herbies Super Ras El Hanout... I better stop before I shortcircuit the keyboard with my drool.

Another busy weekend down...

Wow, after this weekend, I feel I need to rest now ;-)
Saturday was just the most miserable weather - which was perfect - ie no guilt attached because I had to go shopping with my dear husband for his birthday present(s). We hoofed it up to DFO in Homebush - and I got myself a new bikini - talk about giving myself a goal ;-) to look nothing short of fantabulous in it!!
But we did get him new jeans, new pants, new shirt, new knitted jacket - all very nice!
Then I spent the rest of the day preparing dinner (his favourite, Laksa) we used to go to Malaysia house in King Street, Sydney for our laksas and it took us a while to almost perfect the recipe to get it as authentic to that flavour as possible. The secret... two laksa mixes - I use the recipe from Herbies with their laksa spices, but then I add some tablespoons of the jar mixes Valcom or something like that - gives it the perfect balance.
Then, I baked a sweet ricotta cake for dessert - and made the blood orange/strawberry sauce to swirl over the top. Extra yum.
So... I've worked out this morning - as usual - 1/2 hour with a walk around the block with the darling Jemima which had some jogging in there too this morning - and then I did a few squat variations and leg extensions.
Then at lunchtime I was able to head to the beach to do some beach sprints - there's a heck of a headwind blowing today (well, Southerly) so I kind of cheated - my glute/ham tie in area is still a little out of whack from netball last week, so I ran with the wind (oooh the shame ;-) ) and walked back to recover.
So a few sprints, a few faster runs and some jogging - not bad for a quickie lunchtime break. I am feeling so unfit though - I need to desperately get that CV fitness back up to par.
I even managed to get some work time in late yesterday afternoon on the website - uploaded it and just checked it today and realised I need to do some serious work on the links - it's the only way you can check it properly! Still it's taking shape.

My Punchfit course is on Saturday too! yay!

27 days to go...

Well, my Certificates FINALLY turned up in the mail last night! How exciting.
So..I have set myself the date to start my training - 1 October is the day my business will launch officially.
Therefore, I have 27 days to get my flyers done, my website finished and uniform/tshirts organised as well as some more equipment to add.
My husband had designed my business cards a while ago - but now i am just updating them and adding some info onto the back of the cards.
The flyers will be a DL size double sided - nice and simple/colourful.
Have I said I am excited?
:-)

Yay...it's Spring!!!

See, I new I could smell Spring in the air ;-) and here it is..in all its glory (at least for now) they say it's due to turn cold again tomorrow :-(
But... for today, it's warm, deep cobalt blue skies, and just pure loveliness outside. Meanwhile, I slog away indoors... there's something wrong there. But at least there is a ray of sunshine on my horizon.
I am still eagerly awaiting receipt of my certificates... but I am sure they are on their way!
I have booked into my Punchfit Trainer course on Sat 13 Sep, and have also booked into an online Pre/Post natal course through Human Kinetics. We covered off Pre and Post Natal in our course, but I think to do it justice and to feel 100% comfortable in this area, I need to delve deeper. I have a preggie group waiting for me to start training!!!
My website is coming along great guns too - I think another 2 weeks and it should be ready to launch in its first 'iteration'.
Gotta love it when things start to take shape!!
Anyhow, I'm off for a lunchtime workout on the beach now :-)

The Waiting Game......

Well, I did receive my First Aid Certificate in the mail, so I madly scanned & emailed that over to fitnation - and now I'm waiting..waiting...waiting...for my Certificates to arrive!!! THEN I can send in my Fitness Australia membership application.

In the meantime, I've now booked into a Punchfit Trainer course for 13 Sep, which should be fun.

..and I am madly building my website...it;s getting bigger..and bigger..and bigger.. then the Mac fell over last night! My OH is a graphic designer and he has been talking about buying a new one ...just waiting for the latest and greatest to be released in November...then BANG! Computer said NO! Luckily all fixed again and working, but it meant a night of no web build! *sigh* Mind you, that is the beauty of the Mac. It breaks..but you can fix it. EASILY. Without being a geek.

I got up this morning to take Jemima for a run on the doggy beach - now that it's getting lighter in the mornings I don't think I can risk taking her on the ordinary beach - there are people around again! It was fine when no other souls were around - but now... it's back to the dog beach. However... this morning I couldn't actually reach the big sandy bit - the tide was still in too much and had cut off the bit where you could actually get down to the beach - so we had to make do with the bike path walk instead. We're off to another show tomorrow. Another day of showing people how not to do it!!

Mmm is that the sweet smell of spring in the air?

In amongst the freezing cold weather we have had... I've noticed during the day - when it's a bit warmer..a nice smell wafting on the air - the smell of flowers..
must be spring on the way!
Yay!!!
Can't come quick enough for me!

Waiting..waiting...waiting....

Now, patience has never been one of my virtues, but especially when I am eagerly awaiting something in the mail! I emailed the course provider for my first aid course today and they say certificates take 2-3 WEEKS to issue and it's only been 6 days..so... I asked them if they could find it in their hearts to get a bloody hurry on! ;-)
So... we wait..and we wait... in the meantime, I am eagerly seeking suitable equipment.. gee do I go with SMAI, Punch, Thump, or Hartsports for my boxing gear? so far Hartsports is looking the best. But I want to touch it..and feel it..and try on the gloves to see how they fit.
Then there's trainer2trainer - now that's a great idea too!
Do I use that as a marketing campaign - sign up for a 12 week course and get your own equipment.
So many decisions
In the meantime I am madly developing my website - watch this space! It's going well so far.
Now I am trying to source a suitable first aid kit - any ideas?

The importance of goals

After the murk of too much work, big projects etc, I had floundered a bit in terms of what was important. I guess, now that I have that tangible goal of developing my business it's given me a new found resolution to get in the best shape ever.

It makes you realise how important setting real and tangible goals is to getting yourself on track and in gear to achieve great things.

Next hurdle down....

Well, yesterday was spent doing my practical first aid - so my certificate is in the mail... I was so disappointed that we weren't receiving them on the day! I can't wait to be able to fax it off then get my Cert III & IV in the mail....then I can register with Fitness Australia and get going!
So exciting.

Now, on to more mundane things like... how damn cold is it??????????? This morning of course was about 5 degrees or less - if you factor in the wind chill factor - and of course, it was Thursday - ie meet training partner down the beach day.
We looked grumpily at each other carefully muttering that we had left warm beds for..THIS?! hehe. Then we managed to find a reasonably sheltered spot - ie whilst we ran up stairs, then we hit the wind side on - sore ear - on the run back down the grassy slope, over on to the soft sand and then back up the stairs.
We then managed to find a sheltered spot with reasonably firm sand to do some sprints to finish off.
At least we did it!
My sensible puppy was still snuggled in her kennel when I got back. I feel so guilty going out without her.

..and on to puppy talk - guess who is on heat?! omigod. I had forgotten about how bad it is - extra sooky (not so bad) extra snuggly (mmmm yes, nice) but... pass me the pads :o

Yay! the weekend.

I do sometimes think it's sad how I wish my life away like this - but I guess that's the price of working in an office!
This weekend is going to be full of finishing off my online first aid training - the 1 day practical is on Wednesday!

More words of wisdom from Craig Ballantyne

5 Best Fat Burning Interval Workouts
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training

Long, slow cardio is not the fastest way to burn fat. Research shows that
short interval training workouts burn belly fat faster.

I was one of the first trainers to question long, slow cardio for fat loss
back in the late 1990's and I believe that traditional cardio is over-rated.

Interval training, or interval "cardio" if you want to call it that, is
much, much better for fat loss. It burns belly fat in half the workout time.

I figured this out just before the year 2000. Back in 1998-99, I was but a
lowly grad student, studying the effects of androstenedione (the supplement
taken by the mighty baseball player, Mark McGwire during his record-breaking
home run quest in '98).

In my study (which was published in the Canadian Journal of Applied
Physiology for any science nerds like myself out there), we had guys use the
supplement and go through a couple of weight training sessions. By February
of '99 I was stuck in the lab, analyzing the blood samples using some fancy
radio-active isotopes.

And when I say stuck in the lab, I mean STUCK. I'd get there at 7am, and
record my last data point at 11pm. Sixteen hours of mad science. And if I
wasn't there, I was downstairs in the medical library, studying papers on
testosterone and training.

Now coming from a very athletic background, this sedentary lifestyle didn't
sit well with me. But there I was, studing for a degree in Exercise
Physiology and left with no time for exercise. Or so I thought.

Fortunately, I actually had a 50 minute window once per day of "down-time"
while the lab's gamma-counter analyzed blood samples.

That left me 50 minutes to get to the gym (5 minutes across campus) and get
a workout in the remaining 40 or so minutes. I knew that if I applied my
studies to the workout, I could get maximum results in minimum time.

As a former athlete, I knew that I had to find a way to stay fit and to
avoid the fat gain that comes with working long hours in a sedentary
environment. And I also had to stay true to the high-school bodybuilder I
once was, so there was no way I was willing to sacrifice my muscle to one of
those long-cardio, low protein fat-loss plans that were popular at the time.

Instead, I had to draw on my academic studies and my experiences working
with athletes as the school's Strength & Conditioning Coach. I knew that
sprint intervals were associated with more fat loss than slow cardio, and I
knew that you could also increase aerobic fitness by doing sprints (but you
can't increase sprint performance by doing aerobic training).

So clearly, intervals were (and ARE!) superior to long slow cardio for fat
loss. I had seen first hand the incredible results of sprint intervals in
the summer and fall, as the athletes made huge fitness improvements and shed
winter fat in a short time using my interval programs. I knew that intervals
had to be the next step in the evolution of cardio.

The biggest benefit of intervals? A lot of results in a short amount of
time. I knew that I only had 40 minutes to train, and therefore I could only
spend 15-20 minutes doing intervals.

I also understand that interval training sounds intimidating to a lot of
people, so I need to clear up how an interval training workout goes.

After all, I believe everyone can do interval training for fat burning. Even
beginners. For beginners who usually exercise for 30 minutes at 3.5 mph on
the treadmill, their interval workout would be to go for 1 minute at 3.8mph
and then recover for 2 minutes at 3.0 mph. That's it. Repeat 6 times. If you
are more advanced, you would use more intense exercise.

Interval training doesn't have to be sprinting for your life. It just needs
to start off harder than normal and progress from there.

Most folks hate cardio, so they are happy to use interval training as an
effective replacement to lose stomach fat. Here is my list of preferred ways
to do your intervals, ranked in order from best to worst, based on my
experiences.

1. Sprinting outdoors (Hill sprinting might be the absolute best method)
2. Kettlebell exercises
3. Bodyweight interval circuits
4. Treadmill running
5. Stationary cycle (upright cycling preferred over recumbant bike)

With those 5 Turbulence Training interval training methods, you'll burn fat
fast and never have to do cardio again!





About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Jemima..for Sue :-)

Here she is Sue, all 33kg of her
Interesting wink in this one!

Yippiyiyoyay!

I had a fantastic surprise by courier this morning - my assessments all approved... they are just waiting on me now to fax my first aid certificate and they will give me my Personal Training Certificate.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaa


What a fabulous start to my week!!!

Emerging from the fog

It's a weird thing, as we get closer to completion of this major project I've been working on, I feel as though I am emerging from a fog... a massive weight is lifting from my shoulders.

It was so good to get another run in down the beach this morning - god I've missed running on the beach. Now I just have a different workout partner - the 33kg furry one. At least she's getting old enough that she can run along - you have to wait until they are pretty much fully grown before you can run with them, to avoid any joint damage. She's such an energetic little bundle too.

Roll on launch next week... I'm feeling good :-)

...and it starts to warm up again!

It's been so cold here the past few days - at 3pm it reached 8.5 degrees here in the Gong the other day... brrrrrrrrrr
Getting outside at 6am has been a bit of a struggle, but still we soldier on (all in the name of fitness and not being told off by Jemima)
Anyhow, this morning signalled the return of slightly warmer weather - still chilly, but nowhere near as bad as it has been thank goodness!
So, we (Jemima the mad puppy) and I headed down to the beach for a run, which I followed up with a nice upper body weights sesh.

Kick up the butt!

Well, I am well and truly feeling as though I have given myself a good hard kick in the backside.
I express posted my video assessment and work placement forms today to FitNation - and I also enrolled in a Senior First Aid course on 13 August - 2 weeks!!!
Just think... I may be qualified within the 2 years that I started...
Now that would be nice :-)

Video Assessment... DONE!

Omigod... Omogid...dogomi.... I am in shock. it's DONE. and it wasn't even that hard... well, I say that now, before I've received my competent marking.. or not...
Now to burn onto DVD and send off and hope that they mark me down as ...competent.

I am currently having a celebratory champaganeee.
The next two weeks at work are going to be pure hell, so hopefully this may put a ray of sunshine in my day...

The Bike Trainer Part 2

So, I did start back on my bike trainer - but thought..the wheel sounds a bit loose and wobbly.. I'm sure it wasn't like that before. Dear husband takes it off and rattles it around a bit and...yup, the thingy's broken. Yup, I can't remember the name of the thingy but, there you go. Another $35 later (after $40 for the new tyre and tube)..and I now have a bike working again.
I think an exercise bike may have been less hassle and $$$!!! Still, I guess I can use one bike for both indoor and outdoor... so it takes up less room I suppose.

I was panicking as I needed to have the bike all fit and ready for Sunday's assessment. Never mind that I'm not fit and ready - ie my neck and shoulder are still cranky. I haven't had time to get back to the physio as I've been working too many damned hours... do you think that could be why my neck and shoulder are still full of knots? Hmmm batman, maybe.

Today was a timely reminder of ensuring you retain a healthy work/life balance - one of our managers (36) had a bit of a dizzy/semi unconscious turn at work - it's his major project that I am helping deliver for launch in 10 days - and he's currently having his heart monitored in hospital.

It's work people...it ain't worth going out in a box for.

Sunday's the day!!!!

Well, I have booked my 'guinea pig' in for my video assessment to be shot on Sunday. I have agonised & procrastinated over this for far too long, so it's time to be brave, bite the bullet and just get it over and done with.
It will consist of roughly 2 hours of non stop video (read: eeeeeek)
commencing with a prescreening questionnaire
girth measurements
blood pressure
posture analysis
flexibility testing
strength testing
taking through a program
then
RELAX... or panic and do it all again :-)

Totally pathetic!!!

I was obviously so completely tense at my dentist appointment ( I think the intense jaw pain was a bit of a giveaway), that my whole neck/shoulder/back - basically think sternocleidomastoid, rhomboid, trapezius, was completely frozen.
Now it's just down to rhomboid on one side.. thanks to 1 hour of manipulative physio yesterday...

--00--

The highlight of my day yesterday (aside from a good workout in pleasant conditions) was purchasing a slick tyre for my bike trainer.
It's a complete revelation - quiet riding!! wooohoooo :-)
So this morning, post puppy walk - who was a damn angel once more - I was able to ride in the knowledge that dear husband was able to continue to safely slumber

Another perfect morning..

..and a great workout to boot!
I really enjoy my beach workouts - I met up with my training partner this morning down the beach - there was no wind, the tide could have been a little kinder but there was firm(ish) / soft(ish) sort of sand for running on, so we jogged, sprinted, did abs, then over to some real soft sand work... all in all a good tiring workout.

BUT given that I had sneaked out over the verandah so as not to wake the baby (Jemima), boy was I in trouble when I got back... little tyke woofed at me, then when I turned my back on her she raced up and nipped my bum, then darted away and woofed at me again. Talk about cheeky.

Personality Test

I had seen on LizN's blog her little personality test, so I thought it would be interesting to see if it differed to the Myer Brigg test I had done at work a few years ago.
Judging by the results, of INFP - it appears not! That was what I was...so clearly...that is what I am!
I believe they term it... the dreamer...
hmmmmmmm

where was I? ;-)

Sometimes the F word is better than the R word

That is, fillings are better than root canals.... which my tooth is close to! eek.
Back in another month to see how the filling has 'settled'...or if we do need to go the RC..yuck.

There's a moral in there somewhere. Don't delay!

This morning dawned beautiful and clear - and even a tad 'warm' - what perfect weather...shame I have to spend it in the office until tonight when I go and ride the big black pony.

The word for today is ......

DENTIST!!!
That word is enough to strike fear into my heart...and I have to go there today at 2.15pm.
I KNOW there will be a nasty drill involved...
and needles....
and I will be swollen and dribbling...

why oh why did i have to be blessed with cr@p teeth??

Video assessment practice run

Well, today I got in a good practice run for my video assessment. Went through all the exercises for the routine.
I've now booked my guinea pig in for the real thing in two weeks time... it would have been next weekend, but she's away, so is my husband...down at the racetrack!
Broom Brooom!
I had the most wonderful day yesterday too - took Jemima along to Obedience training, it's session no. 3. She was the absolute star of her class (okay, so it's only beginner class, but still!) She was heeling beautifully by my side on a loose leash, looking up at me, waiting for the next command (or treat..)
it was like everything had clicked! Wonderful.
Then I went and had a lovely ride on the big black one. Perfect.

Protein Bars

Last week I ordered some Chocolate Whey protein as I wanted to make a recipe in the latest M&F Hers (or Oxygen) = can't remember which!!!!
So, whilst I was online, I also scanned to see if there were any new yummy protein bars around - whilst I don't like to rely on protein bars, I like to have some on hand because I spend a lot of time in meetings, going to visit our agencies etc, so they are just handy.
Anyhow, I got a couple of chocolate chip protein cookies - verdict: Yum.
Another bar - Labrada Lean Body Granola Bar - eating now: Yum.
The other one, a Detour bar was decidedly ordinary. I remember they used to make a slimmed down version of these, marketed as Slim Whey and they were DIVINE. These are just way too big and unnecessary.... and basically fail my taste test!

Windy season in Wollongong....

July/August is traditionally our 'windy' season in Wollongong. The trouble is, these days, winds seem to be gusts up to 110km/hour - and these are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
Which makes outdoor training extremely hazardous and unpleasant..actually, just about bloody impossible!
Just taking the dog out for her walk prior to my workout is 'interesting' to say the least!
This Sunday I have a session booked in with my 'guinea pig'. I aim to do a complete runthrough of my video assessment, with a view to doing the real thing the following weekend.

Getting back on the bike.....

TRAINER!
God it's so noisy...if anyone has any suggestions of how to make it less noisy and less like an angry bumble bee, feel free to post!!! Can you get 'smooth' tyres I wonder?? Maybe that would work.
This is why I haven't been using it in the mornings - wakes up poor sleepy head husband!

It is freezing this morning.

When $200 turns into around $2000-$3000

Of course, this sort of thing only happens in the bad way, right? Never in your favour! I suppose that is murphy's law!
Anyhow, I had the saddle fitter up, to supposedly restuff and reshape the saddles to fit my horse's changed back - and it appears that my horse now needs a wider gullet in both saddles. That's okay for my jumping saddle as he can easily pull the old gullet out and put a new one in...but for the dressage saddle, no go. I need a new saddle...
So that means around $2-3,000. He thinks he may be able to sell my old saddle for me for around $800-900, so... fingers crossed...and then fingers crossed again he may come across a decent second hand dressage saddle that may be suitable to fit to my boy.
Horses.
The cheapest thing about them is the purchase price!!!

A word about netball.....

Well, after coming second in our grand final last season, we feel as though we have leapt up a couple of grades this season. Our first two games we have felt decidedly bad!!! The other teams play as though they know what they are doing (!) you know, real game plans etc.... The team we played on Monday night, we actually did okay - 42-35 we lost - but we thought we were being thrashed well and truly... and it appears that the members of this team are also basketball players. But not just any basketball players. they play for the local Illawarra Kitty Hawks team. Just the top level team in our area - think Illawarra Hawks for girls...
sheeeeesh!!!!

A day in bed makes all the difference

Well, I feel much better today. Just the typical residual snufflyness to cope with now, which is much easier than those aches and fever yesterday.
So, today has dawned beautiful again - so Jemima and I are off for a quick run on the beach to get out some of her energy - poor babe, because I was sick yesterday and a little preoccupied with shovelling the other day she hasn't had a run since Monday - so she took it out on her bedding (a nice quilt) this morning - it looked like it was snowing when we let her in this morning!

Then I'm off up to the horse - he has the saddle fitter coming today to refit his saddles - both of which are a little tight on one side - the last time I had them restuffed/fitted he had just recovered from his somersault over the fence, so I guess his musculature has returned to normal now.

Hmm, I haven't quite gotten around to booking in my dentist appointment....

Flu!!!

Hmm, let's just recap on that.... a week to do whatever I want... excuse me, that did not include getting sick!!!!

Yesterday I spent 3 hours shifting 2 cubic metres of soil from our front nature strip, up a plank into our front garden... and yes, my throat was a little scratchy, sure, but did it have to turn into the flu complete with aches, fevers etc so that I couldn't even manage more than 3 wheelbarrow loads of mulch today?

Not fair!!

A week off...

total bliss. A week to do whatever I want....
apart from the fact that I need to go to the dentist..uggggggh.
I have had a total fear/loathing/hatred of the dentist for most of my life... But now a molar that chipped some months ago is playing up....

so I have to somehow try and find some brave internal fortitudey stuff and ring...make an appointment..then show up.

I also made the first tentative steps into doing my video assessment on the weekend, did some practice with my guinea pig with bp testing - LOL at first I couldn't hear a thing, then decided perhaps I'd best ensure that the stethoscope is over the brachial artery before claiming her dead.

Yay, finally EI free

Most (normal) people would be forgiven for thinking that Australia was considered EI free a while ago...well, not so. For the last few months in a large part of NSW, it was still necessary to obtain a travelling horse statement from the Department of Primary Industries prior to moving your horse anywhere..
well, from 1 July..no more.. they have said we are EI free. Yay.

Hopefully the canary pox that my horse was injected with has no ill long term effects... if he starts turning yellow and sings a lot..I'll be worried.

Captain Cranky Pants

Boy have I got my cranky pants on today. Agencies just sending through things full of mistakes, colleagues asking your opinion on design and then saying they prefer the other design. WELL DON'T BLOODY ASK ME THEN!!!!! STOP WASTING MY BLOODY TIME!
aaah, that's better.

Maybe it was the wind this morning. It wasn't just any old wind...it was howling a gale, serious high speed winds...and we did attempt to have a beach workout.. it was dark, about 100km/h winds.. then we opted for the relative (or not) safety of the soccer field to finish off - went under cover and used the benches for step ups and dips, and then did some runs across the field, lots of squats, half squats, lunges...
So at least we did it!!

Sex & the city

Well, considering I was a S & T C virgin, it was thoroughly enjoyable.
Absolutely loved it and could even convert....
LOL

But I didn't get home until 11.15...which meant it was about 11.45 before I got to sleep... then I woke at 6.05..but stayed in bed until 6.30, so no baby walk this morning - and boy did I suffer for it.

I did however, do some weights - I did pushups, DB chest press, DB flyes (incline), crunches, and medicine ball pullovers.
In between throwing someone's skanky meaty bone back outside...

Winter solstice

This morning dawned fine - although it's dark until I get home...at least it's the shortest day this weekend..which can only mean one thing - the days will be getting longer again! Thank god.

I am totally and unequivocally 'over' the rain. My horse is a misery guts because we haven't been able to do any riding - I've had to make do with lungeing him in the roundyard..poor bugger. He'd much prefer to be galloping around over a few jumps...but the ground is too slippery and greasy still.

I mentioned about the Smart Foods Centre and their upcoming research which I had put my name down for. I had been called by them and gone through a long questionnaire, then they said they would be in touch if I fit the criteria. I have had a message to call a dietician there, so I've now left a message for them to call me back. It would be really interesting to be involved in this research as it's to do with the importance of dietary fats in weight loss. All interesting stuff!!
One of the questions was, would you be prepared to eat meat for breakfast? Um.. Yes.. I am a carnivore!

This morning was back and shoulders after the pooch walk.

We're off to see Sex & the City movie tonight - now, I must confess, that I have never seen the show - it started when I was commuting 1.5 hours to and from work, and starting at 8am - so in order to get my workouts in at that time I was getting up at 4.45am. Needless to say, late night (after 9pm) TV was out of the question!!!

So it will be an eye opener.

DOMS

Well, I have to admit, it's been a while since I've had DOMS. Today my legs are killing - going downstairs is particularly difficult!!!

Yesterday morning, after I took Jemima for her quick round the block outing, I then proceeded to do some proper deadlifts, walking lunges, plie squats. This is what has caused the damned soreness today! yay... gotta love that :-)

This morning we did a couple of laps of the block, then I did a quick step workout, then finished with crunches & medicine ball / swiss ball ab rollups (you hold the medicine ball out behind your head with straight arms and bring it up to your knees).
With added degree of difficulty of one rhodesian ridgeback standing across my knees...

A good week

This week has been a pretty good week with diet and exercise - had to have a cheat night on Wednesday as we had a dinner with our agencies at . Fantastic!!! then had to stay at Star City as we had a meeting first thing next day...but get this - they said they had upgraded me to a harbour front room..blah blah, and I thought I heard her say smoking, but one of the other girls with me said, no way, it was non....
Anyhow, we had 20 minutes to get up to our rooms and get changed before heading out again for dinner (no time for nice relaxing showers!) - and yup, it was a smoking floor. What the??? how is that an upgrade?????????????

Had a good leg workout this morning after my doggy walk.
Miss Jemima was literally bouncing on her walk this morning - I think she was quite pleased to have me back home!

Got to love a long weekend!

How nice is a long weekend? That one extra day really seems to make such a difference. You can actually get things done, and not feel as though you are just rushing the whole time.
Bliss.

However... some dry weather would have been more than appreciated. My poor horse is just a little bored - and this will mean he'll be a little naughty next time he gets worked..think bucking bronco !

Still, Miss Jemima got thoroughly spoiled with lots of runs around up at the property over the weekend. I'm trying to discourage her from leaping up to Kado's mouth to kiss him though - she thinks he must be a big dog - just one that smells a bit strange. It's cute, but... she thinks all horses are just as cool as the Kado..

Had a great workout yesterday afternoon, managed to kick and punch the bejesus out of my bag in the back room - this I alternated with star jumps, then I finished with a variety of ab exercises. Then this morning I took Jemima for a walk around the block and then worked chest and shoulders - they are pretty tired from yesterday, so feeling nice and sore now.

Food's been great too - all meals are planned, and written on the fridge. We didn't want to buy a new fridge, but the door was looking a little less than pretty - a few bubbles of rust etc were coming through... solution: blackboard paint!!!
It's the best - you can write your shopping list, notes to the other half, important dates and meals for the week on your fridge! Very handy.

Dare I say... finally back on track?!

Smart foods

Our local University has a 'smart foods centre' of research and they are always undertaking interesting trials. The latest one they are recruiting for is to determine the value of dietary fats as part of a weight loss program.
I've put my name down - how interesting!!

Blink and it's Friday again

It appears that time is just going way too fast these days. I feel as though I am just rushing from one thing to another, without time to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Yeah yeah. Whatever!

All totally self inflicted of course.

I am sure I'll slow down soon enough.

On another note, I subscribe to a lot of fitness emails, and one thing that keeps creeping in to the subject lines is 'the great cardio debate'. It's an interesting topic, and obviously one that requires constant regurgitation, because the masses will probably go to their graves believing that more constant steady state cardio is the only way to lose weight.

If I think back to the first time i did Body for Life, I lost around 12-14 kilos, and I do recall the first 4 weeks was just getting out and walking because I'd become a bit of a lazy slug. The last 12 weeks was definitely into the sprint intervals!
..and they were only 20 minutes three times a week. Not much really. I think that was the thing I loved so much about the Body for Life concept. Not only was it fairly easy to fit in - 40 minutes of weights x 3 a week, and 20 minutes of cardio x 3 a week, but... it worked.
I think right now, I could do with a B4L revisit - just to regain some control and structure and make myself set more goals and go all out to achieve them. I've just been spinning my wheels for too long this year allowing other things to take priority.


This weekend I'm off to another dog show with Miss Jemima!

How gorgeous is this?

Several years ago a woman found a malnourished lion cub in the Jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. She made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. This is the video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time.

Click on the link to the website below.

Netball Grand final

Well, last night we made it to the Grand Final, and then proceeded to have the hardest 32 minute workout of our lives!
Sadly, we lost by 5 goald - 26-21, but given they had a couple of apparently new 'pro' ring-ins we thought we did pretty well.
I kept that miniature (think low centre of gravity - therefore easy to zip around) WA in good defence, and we did score some goals off of some of my intercepts, so I was pleased...especially when they are all so much younger than me! The WA I was defending was about 20 and still at Uni...

So where did the last two weeks go???

*blink* and they're gone.
there's been a Jemima injury - which I was scared was a cruciate ligament, but luckily she's been given the all clear... although we had to keep her quiet for a whole week. This required sedation. BUT Jemima refused to be sedated...well, she just fought it every step of the way. Poor thing, I think she had a bad acid trip! She wobbled up to the bench and woofed at my handbag... god only knows that the damn handbag was saying to her.

I had to go to a work conference - which finished with a team building exercise - based on the Amazing Race concept. Except we just had to identify 5 key behaviours that we felt were necessary for all of us to function effectively within the team.
Picture this - one of the behaviours was 'good listening skills'. One of the girls and I were pulling together the images to put into the presentation, and others were writing the words for each of the behaviours. We got to the 'listening' part of the preso - and kept asking, then shouting to be heard for 'who was writing the listening words'... Do I need to say anymore? Talk about a bloody disfunctional unit. Clearly needs a $hitload of work to make that an effective team unit.

So glad to be home!!

I did run a 'bootcamp' session for a few of the girls one morning though in the Domain, so that was good!

What a perfect morning

Such a perfect morning this morning. Jemima and I headed down to the beach...
WOOF EVERYONE, WE'RE HERE :-)
Not a soul on the beach, we had it to ourselves for the first 20 minutes - just perfect to allow a rambunctious puppy some much needed energy burning activity (with no poor unsuspecting victims around). She raced across what she thought was wet sand to head to the water, and SPLASH! straight in a hole.
Laughter is the best way to start the day.
We're so lucky to live here...

Kado

Gosh, since I've been doing so much with young Jemima, poor Kado is obviously feeling a tad neglected.
I should start thinking about competing again....
Have only just started jumping again for the first time in over a year.... takes a while to get that confidence back when you haven't done it for a while!
Maybe I should go here:
http://www2b.abc.net.au/abcdiary/event.asp?id=95522&display=fromtoday&gatewayid=2&presdir=local%2Fillawarra&category=illawarra&PageRec=10

that time of year...

It's fast approaching that time of year when my Mum died. She died 3 years ago on the 19th.
This is where I scattered 1/2 of her ashes (Sandon Point)

Who framed Dirk the fluffy dog?

Jemima & the cushion fetish...

What?

A brief update

Well, things have been rolling along here in attitude land. I haven't been for a run for 2 weeks now - the awful tickling cough has prevailed, and now I've got funky eyes happening. I have a full day of meetings in Sydney tomorrow so I will be leaving home at 6am. Yes. That's leaving home at 6am. I don't feel I'll be up at 4am for a workout somehow, so I'll have to try and fit one in when I get home about 7pm. Geez. Just the thought of it, if only for one day, makes me shudder with dread. Oh well, such is life.

So, Wednesday shall mark the return of the cardio session, with Thursday being another 'buddy' workout.

Dear husband's ankle is finally returning to normal - still a bit sore though - and I am damn sure it was not gout. I reckon he's just strained the darn thing, but at least it's making him want me to put together a workout program for him, and make him drink more water.
Small steps. At least now he can get into a workout, we can do the much awaited video session.... then I can finally complete my Cert III/IV.

We went to an all day family barbeque on Saturday in the Blue Mountains, and left puppy safely ensconced in the backyard... or so we thought. When we returned home, and I put the key to the lock... I heard the old familiar sound of.. a dog inside..home..alone.... I opened the door with dread..and saw a sea of foam.

Sitting in the middle of this sea of foam was a stuffed dog - that we named "Dirk" - our friends gave him to us as the house was so empty and bereft of canine companions for a while. Either Dirk was a very naughty boy while we were out, or ..he was framed by one Miss Jemima.
I'll let you be the judge of who you think chewed the cushion. Oh, and it was only a cushion, not the lounge as we had feared!!!

But every door in our home was open so she had been able to go everywhere, and she'd gotten Dirk off of a chair in our bedroom, so she could really have had a field day. Instead she just grabbed everything together, sat Dirk in the middle of it all, grabbed her bone inside and chewed on the bone once she'd finished with the cushion.
Thank heaven for small mercies!!!!!!

Fitness Expo & other waffle

Well, workouts this week have been fairly low key given my flu - I have been walking the puppy each morning (except on Monday when I stayed in bed and wallowed) because dear husband apparently but not conclusively has gout...GOUT?!! this boy is lean, yup drinks a beer each night, but we eat pretty darn well, he tends to eat a little less well and his exercise has been a little lax of late, but he woke up with a sore foot, then two days later the ankle just swelled. Dr said he thought it was gout, and gave him heavy artillery arthritis meds - after doing xrays which showed his joints look wonderful.

So, a week later (of eating bland, low purine and no alcohol at all) and ankle still swollen to buggery, no relief. He goes back to doc and doc very surprised that ankle still so swollen, orders him off the meds immediately...and takes blood. Now he has to go back on Sunday.

So I have had to be superwoman, working, cooking, cleaning, shopping, putting groceries away, walking puppy, being sick, trying to do some workouts...

Thank god I have tomorrow off...which brings me to the Fitness Expo at Darling Harbour, which is where i am going to check out all the great things tomorrow on trade day! Yeehaa. I shall hit the Reebok stand for new shoes - yes, I am so old school with my Reeboks, but...they are the only ones that fit my feet properly, and don't cause any imbalance issues further up the legs. My Asics that everyone RAVED about caused my Rectus Femoris muscles such great issues that I had to throw them away! The minute I swapped them back for the Reeboks it was like instant heaven on my feet. But, I guess, horses for courses! I shall also check out the Lorna Jane stand.

Oh, I'm sick of the rain. AGAIN.

uggg

swollen glands - check
sore throat that feels like I've been gargling razor blades - check
fever & chills - check

I think I have the lurgy.
Nothing like a nice flu dose to stop you in your tracks.

What a smart puppy...

how cute is this? we had a little cute mat that we used to have in Jemima's bed, but it's a little small now, so my husband's been using it to make her sit on in the dining room, to keep her out of the kitchen while we cook etc.
Anyhow, last night, it was in the back room, and we sat at the table to eat dinner. Jemima goes racing out to the back room, and drags her mat beside the table, then sits on it.
Awwwwwww
she's so cute
she's so smart

a beautiful morning, and down to the beach

well, it was gorgeous down the beach this morning. Low tide too - always makes me smile!
We managed to get a warmup walk then jog in, some sprints & stairs and boxing.
Nice start to the day.
Now, it's back to work. Down to earth with a THUD!

Not the sort of thing I usually write about, but....

it's newsy so... what the heck.
Given all the protests that are going on around the olympic torch relay, and now they are saying it's damaging the whole spirit of the olympics..
Um. Okay, let's look at a few facts here:
a/ Tibet doesn't have oil. Therefore, this is the only way they can viably get the world's attention to what is going on re China / Tibet.
b/ The spirit of the olympics. Is that the 4 year thing that hosts a whole range of drug cheats?
I loved watching the olympics in Sydney - it was a great atmosphere and the whole thing was a great thing to watch close up - although I just went to the eventing cross country and the pure dressage (yawn).
But...the whole thing does get a little marred by all the drug cheats such as Marion Jones et al - although you know at the time of watching them they MUST be on drugs. Think back to Flo Jo..god, she came out of nowhere, then was dead just after 40. Hmmm. I loved getting whiplash watching Ben Johnson in his 100m final... I think he was just a good scapegoat too at that olympics, the same one that Flo Jo was at....
BUT, I do ask the question, what the hell were the IOC thinking in awarding Beijing the olympics??

I do feel sorry for the athletes who are involved in this particular torch relay, and I don't necessarily agree that it should be here that the protests are made, but.. given the circumstances, where is the right place? This is where the world's eyes are watching, and rightly or wrongly, it's the best place for this issue to gain the greatest level of exposure. The IOC should have known better than to award Beijing this olympics, or any, until they stop killing innocent people in the name of communism. Only the IOC are to blame for this olympic torch relay debacle.

So, where to next, IOC... Afghanistan, Iraq or perhaps North Korea?

Yay! I finally got out for my run...

I managed to get out for a half hour walk/jog (90sec jog / 2 min walk) session this morning. Just what I needed to loosen myself up from netball!! Who'd have thought I'd be a bit stiff - the stiffness is really around my lower back - just from twisting/throwing etc I presume, and a bit of glute stiffness too.
All good :-)

I didn't get to ride my horse last night though - it was just miserable and drizzly up there and I didn't have the heart or the impetus to get him unrugged and cool/wet and then stick the darn lights on.

I have Friday off, so will ride then.

When I got back from my run this morning did about 20 minutes of lovely stretching... well, apart from having to contend with Jemima's paws in my stomach/chest etc.

FitcomXpo update

I have to say, the FitcomXpo has been a great investment. I've been watching all sorts of stuff from a variety of business presenters, new workouts, just loads of great info. Given that I just couldn't do Filex this year, the $US199 was a much better investment for me.

If you don't know what it is, FitcomXpo is a virtual fitness expo, featuring over 90 fitness speakers from all aspects of fitness. From running bootcamps, to the latest strategies in nutrition, there's over 100 presentations that I can access in my own time over the next 3 months! Certainly beats not getting in to the things you want to, and idly waiting at the doors for 10 minutes after start just to see if there are no shows to your preferred presentation!

Now it's intermittent HEAVY HEAVY rain

Yup..woke up this morning to the sound of torrential rain...followed by 10 minutes silence..then down it comes again.
So, again, I opted for the safety of - a quick walk with Jemima followed by chest & shoulders.
Hmmmm. tomorrow couch to 5k? I won't hold my breath.
My knees were a tad stiff this morning from launching after the ball. I do forget that a/ I'm 42 and b/ you're not supposed to dive for the ball in netball.
Still, playing WD was a damn good interval sprint workout!

foiled by a thunderstorm

well, my best intentions of my beginning of week 2 / couch to 5km was foiled due to a dastardly thunderstorm - so I did a TT workout.
Tomorrow... I shall resume couch to 5km...just means this weeks' workouts are a little skewiff ..
tonight I debut on the netball court.
God help them all!

Week 2 of couch to 5km

Well, next week hails week 2 of the couch to 5km program, so my week will look like this:

Mon: am - 1/2 hour (5 mins warm up/ 5 mins cool down) 20 mins: 90sec jog / 2 min walk - walk puppy after
Mon: eve: Indoor netball.. What the hell was I thinking when I said yes to this? It's been 30 damn years....omigod... say bye bye knees
Tues: TT workout am / pm: ride horse
Wed: Couch to 5km walk puppy after
Thurs: TT workout / eve: PNAU at UniBar! maybe I should grow up
Fri: day off work : oh yay oh yippee.... couch to 5km / then maybe ride pony...go have facial... aaah. bliss
Sat: TT workout / ride pony
Sun: off / ride pony / walk puppy

When only the best will do...

for your hound ;-)
Currently, Miss Jemima gets around wearing this:


However, she is of the 'hound' variety that means her head is a little smaller than her neck - and she can easily slip out of a collar...so, I found these:



which she shall have in purple & gold.

This is what happens when you don't have 'real' kids to dress ;-)

..and the wind doth howleth...

Boy... was it howling a gale down the beach this morning. AND I met my friend to re-resume our weekly beach workout sessions. Well, we trudged in the dark thinking we would go mid way and do stairs/hills & boxing / soft sand - however, as we were walking..and it was dark... we noticed that the tide had created a channel separating us from the other half of the beach..the one with the stairs... and I thought, doing wooden stairs in the dark is probably not the greatest ideas anyhow..
Geez, I'm going to make a GREAT personal trainer! LOL.

So, we dug a hole in the sanddunes for the boxing gloves & focus mitts so they wouldn't blow away - and then attempted to do some jogging /running/sprinting circuits.
We decided, in the interests of our eyes, that it might be best to head back to the kiddy playground on the grass and resume our workout there - where we did stepups, sprints, tricep dips & boxing circuits.

I am looking forward to working out in daylight next week....
but not looking forward to riding in the dark - even though we have 'lights' shining on to the arena, it still creates the worst shadows in which MONSTERS and DEMONS lurk - according to my horse anyhow.. and apparently they have big TEEEEETH!

New TT for abs home workout

Here's another one for you Kristy:

============================
New Youtube Ab Workout Video
============================


It's an ab circuit that you can do at home, and is one of the ab
workouts from Craig Ballantyne's latest program, TT for Amazing Lower Abs - which you can get if you buy TT prior to end April!.

Here's the video:
=> http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=V7CpT-PIKMw

Is this a good deal or what?

This little baby for $295:

Wk 1/Day 2 - Couch to 5km / Turbulence Training B

Well, today was Day 2 of the Couch to 5km program, just the same as the other day, and will be the same again on Friday. Thank god it's only 3 days a week. This morning just the thought of trudging around the same area in the dark just failed to excite me.. still, I did it. Pushed myself a bit harder, and thought I was almost likely to puke at the top of one of the hills :-p Yeah!



Yesterday I did Workout B - which again is followed by 20 minutes of intervals.



Kristy - With Turbulence Training there are a HEAP of workouts that you can use - there are some with equipment, and loads of just bodyweight workouts. Definitely worth a look, but I can't say I'm any type of expert on it, so here are some links & info for you:

Fat Burning Bodyweight Circuit Exercises By line:
By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MSURL: Turbulence Training for fat loss

Turbulence Training for Fat Loss
When you travel, you worry about missing your workouts and eating poorly...So you must plan ahead for both (apples and almonds for planes, trains, & automobiles)...and bodyweight circuits for "no-equipment fat burning".
And while I have bodyweight exercises that are just as hard as the bench press and barbell squat in one of my bodyweight workouts, today we'll focus on replacing intervals with bodyweight circuits.
To do a bodyweight circuit...
a) Pick 3 lower body exercises
b) Pick 3 upper body exercises
c) Alternate between a lower and upper body exercise without rest, till you are done all 6 exercises
d) Rest a minute.
e) Repeat 2-3 more times until you are done 20 minutes

For example, this is a great circuit that doesn't need any equipment
1) Prisoner Squat (12 repetitions)
2) Elevated Pushups (8 reps per side)
3) Single-Leg Deadlift (10 reps per side)
4) Close-grip Pushups (As many reps as possible)
5) Jumping Jacks (30-60 reps)
6) Cross-Body Mountain Climber (12 reps per side)

Whew. That's pretty advanced...for a beginner, we'd slow it down like this and take some breaks between exercises...
1) Wall Squat (8 reps)
2) Kneeling Elevated Pushup (5 reps per side)
3) Lying 1-leg Hip Extension (8 reps per side)
4) Plank (30 second hold)
5) Jumping Jacks (5-10 reps)
6) Side Plank (15 second hold per side)

Safe travels, and of course, always check with your doctor before beginning a fat burning bodyweight circuit exercise program.

About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Day 1 - Couch to 5km

Well, today is the first day of my new program, which not only incorporates turbulence training, but three days a week of the couch to 5km program.
I hate jogging with a passion - well, anything that is just slow and repetitive kind of bores me - so this will be quite a challenge. My only jogging is really on the beach, and then it's only used as a warmup to get me in the right state of preparedness for my sprints!

So, I headed out at 6am in the dark to trudge around my neighbourhood - you never really truly realise the hillyness of the area until you go out walking or running in it. Anyhow, suffice to say, my 60sec on/90sec off involved a lot of hills in the 'on' stage! Still, onwards and UPWARDS! Of course, the bit getting home is the worst stretch of upwards..
then I took the baby girl for her walk/bounce - oooh, look, there's a moth.

and Jemima at 5months

and

I finally got the photos off the phone!!

Well, finally, after a few unsuccessful attempts on our Mac (running OSX) and seemingly freezing the thing at each attempt... I managed to download all my images FINALLY off of my phone..all 50MB of them... onto my work laptop (a horrible PC)

But... anyhow..

here's Diamante, our diamond python from last weekend:

Day 1 of Fitcom Xpo!

Yesterday there was an all-day event called FitcomXpo and if you don't know about it you can find out more by going here: http://www.fitcomxpo.com/index.cfm?affID=carolinewm

Anyways, the event featured the best fitness info in a long time from all walks of life in the fitness industry.I'm talking Alwyn Cosgrove, Pat Rigsby, Pete Siegel who works with pro athletes on their mindset, and that was just 3 of the 39 presentations from yesterday...The best thing is...I still have 2 more days of this to go! Don't make the mistake of being left out!FitcomXpo...http://www.fitcomxpo.com/index.cfm?affID=carolinewm

Hocus Pocus, it's time to reFOCUS!

Aaah, yes, you can see why I'm not a poet.

With work being so darned busy and not a moment's breathing space lately, it's been really hard to maintain a focus on the things that are important to me... ie, my personal goals.

Where everyone else seems to lose weight when they get stressed, I tend to get a little 'stress' belly. This little puffy pouch that sits in front. Mmmm. nice. not.

So, in the interests of my sanity and body, I am going to refocus. Get back on track and kick my butt back into gear to ensure everything that passes my lips is what I had intended for that day. No hidden extras. Workouts will step up a notch (glute allowing) and nothing will get in my way.

I am planning out my next four weeks of exercise & diet - I might incorporate the Turbulence Training workouts into my routines now. I had the whole thing printed out, but loaned to my sister...who isn't speaking to me right now because I am so selfish with my 'spare' time.. What spare time, I ask? But I digress.

Watch this space!

The crisp mornings of Autumn

Wow, the last couple of mornings have been cool and crisp... a distinct feel of autumn in the air - and those beautiful clear warm days that accompany it. Lovely :-)

This morning as I lurched out of bed at 5.45 - I noticed my left glute was incredibly sore again...so god only knows what I have done to it - probably just returning to sitting all day at work again after a nice long weekend when it almost felt right again. Damn.

Still, I figured nothing a nice warmup jog & sprint session down the beach wouldn't fix.
Wrong.
But, I headed down, the moon was nice and bright, the tide was out (lush, firm sand!), so I had moonlight to see by, and firm sand (ie no 'Caroline traps' dug into the sand) to walk, jog and sprint on. All felt well in the glute & breathing departments... until I got home.
When I got out of the car again the muscle just felt so seized up.
Warm shower, massage and two nurofen later... all feels sort of okay.

aaah, easter...

How nice was it to have an extra long weekend? still, they seem to flash by as quickly as two days!!!

I didn't overindulge over the weekend, so was pleased with myself for at least avoiding too many treats.

Managed to ride the pony and get him started back in jumping again. I even sat our 19mth old 'niece' astride him in front of me... her little face lit up! Quite amazing considering he's 16.3hh of horse...no small thing! that's about 5 foot 8 at the wither height!

We found our snake again too - she was out and about in the garden yesterday afternoon as we were entertaining family at our place - we caught sight of her at 3pm wobbling on our new fence posts (they're a bit narrow for her well fed girth), then she went up our new roof (we didn't think she was still with us after the new roof went on) then slithered into the gutter and up the ridgecapping into the roof! So at least we know the diamond python (diamante) is still with us after all these years. We first found evidence of her in 1994 in our roof.... her discarded skin.

Then, this morning, went into the bathroom for my shower and there was a big damn gecko on the floor... have I moved into a reptile habitat? It would appear so.

I .... can't......brea..th..e..........

Ha! so my fitness isn't quite what it used to be... so what do I, in my infinite wisdom decide this morning to do? Aaah, ye olde hill runs.... I won't even pretend to call them hill sprints.

Now, I do have to admit that the hill I decided on this morning is a killer it's got a really high gradient... so I jogged up that a couple of times... before downgrading my expectations!
Then around the corner (I live quite high up), is a slightly longer, lower gradient hill... I then ran that a few times too. No... I never made the sprint, but... one must start somewhere - and that second hill was a good place. I might go back there next week and try and speed things up a little.

I then came home, took my girl for her walk, fed her (this morning was sardines & her hills science diet for LARGE puppies!), then attempted to do abs.... whilst having sardiney licks, paws on the stomach..she even sat on my stomach at one point...

ooooooh the pain....

now, the beach can be a fantastic place to workout. In particular, it offers you all sorts of surface and resistance levels, so you can do a great varied workout.

However the tide is what dictates your workout...

This morning, the tide was in. So.. my only option, was soft soft dry sand to run on. Boy, I am nowhere near as fit as I was a year ago.
Add to that, doing this on the back of my leg workout yesterday made for a bit of hard work.

AND it was still dark by the time I finished my workout.

I love daylight saving, I love being able to ride at night without the aid of artificial lights.
But... at this time of year, I hate running on the beach, a lone solitary figure, in the dark... especially when some damn kids have left great big 'Caroline' traps in the sand.

Stop the bus...

I think I need to get off, have a bex and a quick lie down...

Oh dear. Life is far too busy, stressful and hectic at the moment. What happened to those carefree days of yonder? The ones where I breezed along, not a care in the world. How did I get so busy? Oh, apart from the bit where my manager went on maternity leave with no replacement...
but even my personal life just seems to be racing from one thing to another... desperate attempts at squeezing as much into my weekends and evenings as possible...

As Edina once said.... 'in with anger...out with love'.

At least I managed a kickass session on the beach this morning... thank god for exercise to restore one's sanity

Puppy love.....

I have to say... I am totally unequivocally head over heels in love with my little girl Jemima...(well, not so little given that she today weighed in at 22kg).

All I can say is, thank god I never had children because if I'm this bad about my puppy, I think I would be a total screwball with my kids!!!

glute knots...

My left glute is in absolute agony at the moment.... there I was trying to work out what on earth I could possibly have done to it...when... *PING* ..golden lightbulb moment.... aaaah, that's right, I was trying to brace against my 600kg maniac of a horse on Saturday as he suddenly realised he was no longer foot sore from his abcess and felt FANTASTIC.... Luckily I was sensible enough to be lungeing him on the long rein prior to trying to get on the lunatic. Otherwise I feel I may be in traction rather than just suffering a few knots in the bum.

I'm signing up for this!

For just US$99 you can have access to some of the greatest minds in fitness.....for three months!!
How cool is this? It's a virtual fitness expo on March 25-27, 2008. Presenters include John Berardi, Alwyn Cosgrove, Craig Ballantyne, Jason Ferruggia, Lyle McDonald, and heaps more. Aaaand it's all at your fingertips rather than having to travel anywhere!!!!! Ahem, better value than Filex...



You can download all of the presentation handouts ahead of time, submit questions, and follow along live online or over the phone and registration comes with 3 months of access to ALL of the presentations. So you can see them more than once or pick up ones you missed. There are session tracks for Weight Management, Sports Performance, Nutrition, Mind-Body, Beginners and Students, and many more.

The beach provides stress release...

It's amazing what just being able to go for a run on the beach can do for your mind.
Going to the beach always makes me giggle....which probably sounds silly, it certainly probably sounds silly to anyone who hears me giggling on the beach as I race away from the water before my running shoes get swamped! But... it's all I need to get my brain into a nice space.

So yesterday morning, was my thursday morning partner workout session on the beach. We did lots of sprints, soft sand, boxing, and abs in a bit of a circuit. Was a good 40 minute session.

This morning I was determined to get in another beach session, and I managed to get a 30 minut session in after giving the pup a training walk - had a private lesson for her last night which was fantastic just to cement things in my head about what I should be doing!
So this morning I did a quick warmup walk then jog, then did a circuit of :
hard(ish) sand sprint, walk to soft sand, then jog soft sand, walk back to start of sprint line. So it's a 40metre each length square.
Given my lack of CV fitness at the moment, this was more than enough to get my legs pumping and my heart rate up!

I am currently nursing a strained 'supinator' muscle in my arm (sits next to brachioradialis) and is responsible for supinating your forearm... (ooh, wow, really?! LOL).
So, currently there is no proper boxing for me - just light punches on that arm, but tomorrow I intend to do a nice leg session - just all compound moves - lighter weights, then do some kickboxing.

Stressed & tired...

Being stressed and tired is just no fun at all! Work is just overly hectic with quite a few new projects all piling into one big doozy project which is due for launch in June, and still no replacement for my manager..which leaves..MOI!
c'est la vie.

I've just been working out what sessions I want to attend at this year's FILEX and there appear to be quite a few. Last year at least I could stay at my friend's place which was a mere tram ride away..however, no such luck as they've moved just up the road from us! Which is great, except for when i need somewhere to stay in Sydney LOL.

This morning's workout was back to Legs again - so took pup for her quick walk - our trainer has suggested to ensure she learns to heel and not pull, you just say, okay we're going out for x minutes today. The minute they start to pull, you just stop - when they return to your side, you praise & continue the walk. Sometimes you may only get as far as two lampposts down the road before it's time to turn and go home...but with consistency, you've trained your dog to not pull and walk beside you.
Jemima's version of walking beside me also consists of a few leaps and bounds at my side also... so full of life!
Anyhow, when I got back home, I did swiss ball squats, nice, slow and deep to fire up the joints. Then onto barbell squats, DB lunges (made more difficult as I did have to keep changing directions to avoid a certain pup who just had to be between my lunging legs...!), sumo squats, leg extensions and leg curls.

People never cease to amaze me...

..and not often in a good way either!

Here is the latest doozy:

If you drink beer on its own, ie no food at all to eat with it, then there are no calories, it simply goes through your system as it has nothing to 'cling' to.


This from a fairly intelligent person too!

Can the rain please disappear?

I have to admit, I am completely over the rain. Yes, I know we need it...but, actually, here on the coast...nah, we've had more than enough to last us now until at least another 12 months.

However, they say that it's around for at least another couple of months... this rain has really been more tropical than usual though. Massive downpours - our drainage has had to be redone around the house to cope! Poor husband.

Managed to get down the beach again this morning for a run - I have planned two beach sessions a week - the first one is just a jog along the beach at this stage, then home to do abs. Thursdays of course are with friend and involve sprints and boxing etc.

The sand of course was HORRIBLE. That dreadful soft sucky sand that resembls quicksand. Boy did I feel my lack of CV fitness today. Still, gives me something to gauge just how bad it is and where I need to get back to....!

Puppy of course is gorgeous - and now 20kg.

And finally, back to the beach workout sessions!

This morning marked the return of our weekly burn it on the beach sessions... and surprisingly, we both felt pretty good in our sprint sessions. So next week, we'll lengthen those sprints out a little more....
Jemima wasn't too impressed on being walked in the dark drizzle at 5.30am though...then fed and left behind! Oh, the poor wee pup ;-)
It's getting way too dark again in the mornings... makes me feel as though we are rapidly losing summer, which of course, we are... autumn does start on 1 March after all.

aaah, the great ouch of doms

how I have missed that feeling...
Yesterday I did a really nice session of extra slow tempo squats, lunges and swiss ball curls.
Today I can feel it. Fab.

This morning, after my puppy walk, I concentrated on all core/ab work - Paul Chek stuff using a medicine ball & swiss ball.... and ... the extra resistance of the occasional puppy paw on my chest, head, stomach. I think I even had her attempting to rest her head on my lap while she was chewing on her smelly pigs ear. Nice.

The best thing is I finally completed all of my 20 hours practical training at the gym for my course. So now I just have to tick off the video evaluation & first aid....

Goals on track!

I've been on leave all week, and by tomorrow I will be finished the 20 hours practical part of my course! And..thanks to the rain the other day, I made great inroads into my website also (thanks also to Dreamweaver 8). Peasy.

What hasn't happened much this week is riding the pony...thanks to the wet, but... I've still managed to ride a couple of times so far, so not all bad - especially considering above.

The other thing that hasn't happened which was what I really wanted to get done was our new front garden...which would have involved ordering about 2T of soil and me lugging into place...hmm...thanks to the rain that didn't happen....and now doesn't look quite as high on the priority list as some more remedial work that may have to happen thanks to the rain.... (that word seems to be figuring a little too much lately). It really has been more like tropical downpours and storms than subtropical weather...

Well, off to the beach now with the pup before heading off to the pony to ride...and the gym later this afternoon!