Andrew is getting fit

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I was supposed to get up at about 5:30AM today to go for my run but I slept right through as my wife got up to feed the baby instead of me.  For some reason I was dead to the world and didn’t hear a thing!  I suspect it was the large combination of cake, ice cream and Baileys that I had imbibed to celebrate my birthday on Saturday!

Anyways, all was not lost as I went for my run at about midday instead.

I wanted to do a longish run to burn off the aforementioned cake etc. so I planned on doing about 14 kilometers as this would be my longest run yet.  I used GMaps Pedometer to scout out a route and then I got my gear together (Garmin, Ipod etc.) and went off.

The first kilometer of the run was relatively easy but the second kilometer was a long uphill climb.  I then had a rather gentle climb for the next 3 kilometers or so.  I then hit Long Drive which was a nice long descent back down to the coastline.  I have to admit that I much prefer going downhill!  It started to drizzle a bit as I ran along the coast and it got rather windy at times but overall it was rather pleasant.  I then headed back inland for the final run back to home base.  The second to last kilometer is uphill and two rather fit looking runners zoomed past me at this point and I silently mouthed off a bit.  As you do.

I made a bit of an error with my GMapping and I actually did 15.35 km according to Garmin.  And at a not too shabby time of 1:31:37.  That means my pace was 5.59 minutes per kilometer.  Considering all the hills I reckon that was not bad at all!

In other news, I had some friends drop by who haven’t seen me for quite a while.  They were rather shocked when I opened the door and revealed the fitter me.  It was a rather good feeling.

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Tags: running by AndrewE
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I went for a nice gentle run this morning before work.  Weather conditions were perfect, overcast but not humid or cold.  There was a light breeze that I quite appreciated after a few minutes of running.  I don’t know what happened but I was just in a zone this morning.  I just plodded along without worrying too much about anything.

And what do you know, I did my fastest 10K ever.  57:46!  And that was without really trying to go quicker than normal.  I’m quite pleased by that.

I went on and did a bit more and did a total of 11.45 km in 1:06:34 at an overall pace of 5:46 per km.  And just to annoy the ladies I’ll add that I burnt 1267 calories doing that according to my HRM. :)

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Tags: running by AndrewE
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It’s been a bit wet and nippy here in Auckland the last few days so I’ve been doing my running in the gym.

I’ve decided to mix things up a bit and get a bit of cross training in as well so I’ve been running 5Ks and then doing 30 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer.  Before I started running I always used to find that the elliptical was very easy compared to running, especially in terms of getting the heart rate up.  Now that I’ve been running for 5 months I’m actually finding the opposite.  The running is dead easy but I have to work quite hard to get my heart rate up on the elliptical.

I’ve been slacking off from the gym a bit lately as I’ve been running outside.  I think I’m going to make an effort to turn up the heat and go more often.  Everyone keeps saying cross training is important after all.

I’m going to restart doing Mehdi’s 5×5 strength training program as I think I need to focus a bit on maintaining my muscles.  I’ve been a bit running obsessed lately and have let all my other get fit activities slide.  Well, no more!  I’ll still be running obsessed but I’ll do the others as well.  Just don’t mention my bike.

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Tags: fitness by AndrewE
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According to Physics Diet I’m down another .55 kilograms (1.2 pounds) this week.That brings my official weight to 95.25 kgs now.

My weight loss has been slowing a bit lately but truth be told I’ve been eating more as well. Now that I’ve started running longer distances I’ve found I’m a lot more hungry. I think its the running that is causing the increased hunger but it may be the fact that the temperatures have been dropping as we head into winter. I don’t think I’ve been going overboard with my eating and I’m still losing weight so I think things are under control.

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Tags: Weigh in by AndrewE
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I wanted to get my run out of the way early today as I had plans to do stuff in the afternoon.  So I set my alarm for 6:30 AM and what do you know at 6:29 my other alarm went off wanting a bottle!  So I got up, fed her and then headed out.

It was still black outside when I left and it was incredibly foggy.  After about 5 minutes the sun started to come up and the world was bathed in an ethereal sort of light.  It was rather spectacular truth be told.

I ran to just before Mission Bay and back.  It was a glorious run and there were plenty of other runners and cyclists out and about.  I felt a certain sense of kinship with all these people out exercising and it was good.

I wanted to do 10 km this morning and I managed to do 10.17 km in 1:01:40. I achieved a first today in that my last kilometer was my fastest one.  I’ve decided I need to start working up to negative splits. If only all my runs could feel as nice as this one.

There was only one problem with this run - my glasses fogged up totally.  I had to take them off and clip them to my shirt and run without them.  Surprisingly this was not a problem at all.

Once I got home and had my breakfast and then I took my family for a walk in Cornwall Park which is a really park that I have run in before.  We walked around One Tree Hill (which currently has no tree as some idiot chopped it down). I had my baby in her baby backpack.  We bought a really fancy stroller for her but she doesn’t like it much.  She loves the backpack as she can look around more easily and I think she likes the motion.  Unfortunately, she does get heavy rather quickly!

The excitement of the walk proved a bit too much and before long she was zonked out.

Our walk was about 3.5 kilometers and took about 40 minutes.  The park was full of joggers and walkers and it was great to see many families out and about.

One of the things that I really love about getting fit and losing a lot of weight is that I am keen and able to do these activities with my family.  In the past I would have avoided a walk like the plague, especially one like today which had a few hilly sections.  It was such a great feeling knowing that I’d already run 10km about an hour earlier and there I was happily hiking with a baby on my back and my wife by my side.  I’m truly blessed to be able to do these things now.

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Tags: fitness by AndrewE
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