Andrew is getting fit

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After weighing up the various options I’ve decided that I will just keep repeating each day of the 100 pushup challenge until I can do that day and then move on.  I figure that way I’ll keep improving and not be dropping down to an easier level.  I feel that htis way at least I know I’ll be progressing through improvement rather than progressing by dropping the intensity.

That means I redid day 01 of week 03.  I did 25, 17, 17, 12 and 15 (10 short) which is a big improvement over my last attempt.  That brings my total pushups for this session to 86 which I’m very pleased with.  Hopefully next time I can actually hit that 25 on the last set.  And even if I don’t, it doesn’t really matter as I’ll keep plugging away at it.

I also did my first hill run today.  Unfortunately the weather was a bit nasty this morning so I decided to run in the gym as I also wanted to do my pushups.  I did 7Km on a hill climb program.  I have to say it was quite tough!

I’ve received a lot of great feedback (you guys rock!) on my proposed half marathon training program and one consistent piece of advice is that my proposed long runs are too long.  So I’m going to have a play with the program and reduce the long runs.  A few people thought I was having too many rest days but I’m a big believer in rest days.  I also think I should clarify that a rest day just means a rest from running.  I will be doing some cross training on some of those days.

Tags: fitness, running by AndrewE
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I had a bright and early start today as Run Auckland Race 6 kicked off at 7:30 rather than 9 AM as is normally the case. Normally each of these events has a 5K race and a 10K race, but as this was the final race of the series, the organisers had put on a half marathon option as well.

When I got there it was still dark but there was already quite a crowd.  I took my camera but didn’t really get many nice shots so I won’t bother listing too many of them.  I did like this view of Rangitoto Island though:

As regular followers of my blog will know I’ve been doing the 5K events but seeing as this was the last race of the series I decided that I would do the 10K.  Truth be told I was feeling a bit nervous about this distance as I haven’t been training for about a week and the only run I’d had was a gentle 5K on Friday.

The 10K course looks quite scenic when you look at my route map.

It started off with a loop around Lake Pupuke (I think that is what it is called) and then a blast down the beach, up a rather steep hill and then back to the start/finish line.  In reality, the scenery was a bit more prosaic.  I never even saw the lake as we ran through the suburban streets surrounding it.

The race organisation was a bit of a shambles for some reason.  A few things went wrong.  Firstly, we started off about 20 minutes late.  This wasn’t a biggie but it was a bit annoying.  The second problem was that the walkers were supposed to start off 15 minutes before the runners but they started with us.  Walker management has not been great the whole series unfortunately.  This meant that the first 100 meters or so were a bit of a shambles.  The third issue I had was the lack of water stations.  At the race briefing we were told water stations would be available every 2.5km but I think the announcer got it wrong as the only water station I saw on the course was at the 6.2 km mark and the finish.

Anyways, back to the race.  I was loitering near the front trying to get closer to the back as I didn’t want to get in the way of the faster half marathon and 10K runners when the organisers just started the race.  It took everyone by surprise as we’d all expected the walkers to go first.  I suspect most people would like to start reasonably close to the front but I found it a bit demotivating as I quickly got passed by first a wave of men and then a wave of women.  At one point I was wondering if the walkers were going to pass me too but that never happened.

After about a kilometer I started to enjoy myself.   The first half wasn’t really too bad.  It was lots of fun with lots of people around.  I always get a buzz doing the races as normally I run by myself and it’s just not the same.  Nice but not the same.  I started to get really thirsty at about the 5km mark and that was when I noticed that the drink stations were missing.

At about the 6 kilometer mark I started to feel a bit sorry for myself and started grumbling under my breath.  I really needed a drink and was feeling rather grumpy.  Then, like a mirage, I saw the drinks table and things started looking up.  The sun shone a bit brighter, the birds started to chirp and my favourite song started to play on the ipod.  I picked up the pace a bit, got to the table in record time and no cups and no drink!  The volunteers said “look they’re coming” but the clock waits for no man so I kept on going.  The odd swear word was muttered.  To compound matters the route headed out onto the beach at this point and I found running on the sand a bit difficult.  It was reasonably firm but rather soft in places.

For a few minutes I got very grumpy and down about the whole race but then I saw the I AM A RUNNER wrist band that Amy from The Runner’s Lounge had kindly sent me via Wee Little Me and I remembered that I was supposed to be having fun and so I kept repeating I am a runner! and just like that I picked up my pace quite considerably.  The last kilometer or so was lots of fun as I set about hauling in everyone in front of me and I definitely overtook more people than overtook me so that was great.  The scenery was fantastic too.

I did a real hard out sprint to the end and hopefully the official photographer got a good photo.  They are not out yet but I’ll be sure to post my crossing the line photo when they are released.

So, to the results.  I was hoping to do the race in under an hour and normally would have been quite confident that I could have achieved that as I’ve done a few sub 60 minute 10K runs in practice now.  According to the provisional results I did the 10K in 53:14!  This is my fastest 10K time ever so I’m really happy. I also finished 15th out of 43 runners in my age/sex group which is a lot better than I thought I would do.

I took my wife and daughter out for a nice walk when I got home (we did about 4K) and have been slacking off ever since. Life is good. :)

Tags: PR, running by AndrewE
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I’ve noticed that my blog seems to have become a running and push-ups blog. That’s fine by me as it reflects my next lesson learned.

I’ve found that I HAVE to exercise to lose weight and get healthy. Some people may find that for them they can control what they eat and be in tip top shape but that just doesn’t work for me. I need to run and do my pushups. I need to go to the gym and try and lift weights every so often. I need to get on the crosstrainer, the rowing machine, my bike etc. I need to be active!

• Exercise has many beneficial effects for me. It makes me feel good about myself. There is a certain sense of smugness that sets in as I pass people sitting in their cars or cafes as I’m out running.
• It helps to keep me healthy. My cholesterol has dropped dramatically since I started exercising and eating right.  My weight has dropped dramatically.  103 pounds down so far!
• It means I can eat more of finer things in life (hmm…curly fries) as I’m burning more calories.  By exercising I’ve built more muscles so I’m burning more calories while I’m just doing my everyday activities!
• Exercise has transformed me from a couch potato into a runner.

Honestly folks, if I can do it then anyone can.  I think the mistake some folks make is that they try to do too much at once.  If you are just starting out you need to ease into it.  Take it one day at a time.  Before too long you’ll be one of us happy nutters who are out running in the rain!

And so, back to pushups and running:
I did day 02 of week 02 the 100 pushup challenge this morning in the gym.  The schedule called for 16, 13, 11, 11 and max (min 15).  I did the first 16 surprisingly easy although I could feel my abs (or lack thereof) quite strongly.  The next 13, 11 and 11 went well as well.  In my previous pushup post I said that I would definitely do more than the minimum and so I told myself I had to do at least 20 and I did 20.  I’m pretty sure that at least 50% of the pushup challenge is mental so from now on I’ll try and set more ambitious goals!

I also had a good run this morning.  I ran for an hour and did 10.3 km at a 5:50 pace.

Tags: Lessons, fitness, running by AndrewE
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The weigh in gods have been kind to me this week and I’ve knocked another half kg off my total.

I’m down to 92.87 kgs (204.7 pounds) now which is unbelievably low for me.  If I didn’t lose another gram I’d be happy to tell the truth but I’ll keep pushing on.   In many respects I think I’m no longer really trying for weightloss - I’m much more interested in my fitness.  Which is a great place to be.

I did day 01 of week 02 of the 100 pushup challenge in the gym today.  Today I was required to do 12, 12, 9 , 7 and max (min 10). I did 12, 12, 9, 7 and 12. I had no trouble at all today.  I guess it’s a bit of an easier session after the tough one at the end of week 01.

I’m getting a bit lazy with the max set of pushups so I’m going to make a real effort on Wednesday to do quite a few more than the minimum.  I know I could have done more today but the spirit was weak even though the flesh was willing.

I also participated in a virtual 5K today.  Technically I was supposed to do it yesterday but I figured it’s still the 29th in America so I’m fine.

I did it on the treadmill as I wanted to go to the gym as well.  Ironically the weather is glorious today and it would have been a perfect day for a run outside.

I think I did my fastest 5k ever on the treadmill with a time of 26:41.  I felt really good so I carried on and did another 5K which came in at 29:30 which, when you add them up (56:11), means I got a treadmill PR in both the 5K and the 10K!

Tags: PR, Weigh in, fitness, running by AndrewE
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I redid day 03 of week 01 of the 100 pushup challenge yesterday evening.  I couldn’t complete day 3 of week 01 last week.

However, this week I’m happy to report that I managed to do 15, 13, 10, 10 and then 16 pushups which means I qualify to move on to week 02 as I only had to do 15 for the last set.  To be honest I probably could have gutted out a few more but I wussed out and stopped after doing 1 more than the minimum.

The weather has been rather wintry (funny that) here in Auckland this week and today was no exception.  There’s been thunder, lightning and lots of cold rain.  Having said that, I needed to get my run in so I decided I would just wear my jacket and head out anyway.  While I was getting changed the rain started really crashing down and I started making excuses in my head but fortunately it stopped by the time I got to the front door.

I normally like to run by the coastline but after my experience with the high winds the other day I decided that I would be better off sticking inland today so I headed out towards One Tree Hill.

It was really nice out once I warmed up and the rain wasn’t really a problem.  I think the fear of rain is more of a problem than the rain itself which is probably true of most of our fears in life.  I was strangely happy to be out in the rain actually.  I think I get quite a kick out of doing things that I would have thought were the height of lunacy not too long ago.

Most of the run was along suburban streets except for the bit where I ran around One Tree Hill in Cornwall Park.  The park was rather deserted today.  Normally it is teeming with people out exercising but I guess the conditions weren’t really conducive to a nice day out.  I saw three other runners and one guy going flat out who zoomed past me.  I had a look behind me to see if he was being chased by the police but I guess he was just fast.

I passed quite a few bakeries and coffee shops on my route and I have to say it was a real struggle of the will to run past them but I managed.

Overall I did 13.9km in 1:25:33 for an overall pace of 6:09 minutes per km.

I’ve been having issues with snacking the last few days which is really annoying.  I’m a bit of a stress eater and I’m booked in for surgery next Friday and I guess it’s leading me to cookies and chocolate.

There has been a positive that has come out of finding out I need surgery next week.  It’s confirmed my status as a runner.  You see,  the first question I asked the doctor after he finished explaining the procedure was “How long until I can start running again?” He said about a week so I should be ok for my 10K race on Sunday.  I’ll just treat it as a nice slow long run.  Any time I set will be a PR so might as well make it one that is easy to beat!

Tags: fitness, running by AndrewE
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I was woken up a few times by the sound of heavy, heavy rain in the night and I remember thinking Damn, I’m going to have to use the treadmill! It was really thundering down.

However, I was heading towards the gym this morning when I thought This weather isn’t really that bad is it? So, instead of doing a nice indoor run I headed off down the street.

Things really didn’t seem to be too bad during the early part of my run and I was very pleased with my decision.  However, I started to get a bit apprehensive as I approached the coastline and the electronic signs on the approach to our harbour bridge said “Warning, strong wind on bridge.” It can’t be that bad I said to myself as I blithely trotted on.

Oh boy, how wrong can one be?  As soon as I got into an exposed area my forward momentum slowed right down and I was having trouble staying on the pavement the wind was so strong.  To add insult to injury my city loop went very steeply uphill at that point.  My garmin reckons I climbed 900 ft but that seems excessive to me.

I managed to survive but had to resort to walking a few times.  It didn’t help that I felt certain internal rumblings and couldn’t find a bathroom for quite a while.

Overall I did 11.69 km in 1:15:46 at a quite leisurely pace of 6:29/km.  I walked at least a km of the loop so my overall running pace wasn’t too bad I guess.  This was definitely one of those runs that I did not enjoy.  I’m sure the next one will be better.  Two more months to Spring!

Tags: running by AndrewE
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I’m very pleased to be recording a loss this week as I haven’t exercised since Wednesday (except for my race yesterday) as I’ve been sick and I’ve been eating cookies and cake like nobody’s business (and they were gooood!).

And in some none scale victories I went shopping yesterday afternoon and bought pants and a shirt and they were both size “L”.  That is frigging amazing!  It wasn’t too long ago that I was a XXXXL.

Results from my race yesterday are in and I finished 2nd in my age group and 11th overall! It just goes to show that some regulars may be faster but they’re softer and allergic to rain. :)

Tags: Weigh in, running by AndrewE
16 Comments »

The weather forecast for today was for thunderstorms and lightning.  I’m pleased to announce that they were wrong.  As usual!  Instead it rained and it was one of those days that when it rains it pours!

My darling daughter was rather unsettled last night so I was awake, off and on, from about 2am onwards.  Every time I woke up it seemed like the rain had gotten heavier so I was feeling a bit nervous about the race itself.  However, I’ve been looking forward to this race for a while as it’s my last 5K (I’m switching to 10Ks) for a while and have been training quite hard for it.  So when the time to get up and get dressed came around I was up and at ‘em!

The weather didn’t seem too bad at first when I was driving to the event.  Having said that, about 2 km away from Western Springs the heavens opened and I had to slow right down on the motorway as I couldn’t really see the road ahead.  At this point I was thinking maybe it would be a good idea to turn around and go home.  That cannot happen I said to myself and pushed on.

I got there a little bit too early (as usual) and so sat in my car reading my book for a while.  My mate Richard and his flatmate had sent me a text message saying that only crazy people would be running in this weather so he was still at home in bed.  About 30 minutes before the event was due to start I went out looking for Marshmallow who had picked this event to do her first 5K in.  Truth be told I was wondering if she would turn up but I was fairly convinced that she would as she is a nut.  Well she was there and all psyched up and good to go.

We had a bit of a chat and a chuckle at the nuttiness of everybody and wondered if we would be allowed to run with umbrellas.

The race organisers decided that because it was so wet we would all start together.  Normally the 5kers start 5 to 10 minutes behind the 10kers so that we don’t get in their way.  The crowd was significantly smaller today so that was never going to be a problem.

The race itself was great.  I felt really good right from the get go.  There was a reasonably long hill climb right in the beginning and I overtook a lot of people on that.  I think all my hill training has paid off.  What goes up must go down and there was a very steep downhill about 3 km in to the race and I think I went a lot slower on the downhill than I did going uphill as the road was very slippery and there were rivulets of water making the footing rather treacherous.

There was a shortish sharp climb after the sharp descent and once more I passed heaps of people going up the hill.  I didn’t have any inclination to walk and just kept powering up it.  Unfortunately my shoelace came undone and I lost a bit of time trying to redo it.  My fingers were too cold and it too me a good twenty seconds to actually tie them.

I’d been using a fastish looking girl as my pace bunny and had decided to pass her going up that second hill but she repassed me while I was fumbling with my laces.

So in the last kilometer I made it my task to chase her down again.   I got to within 5 meters of her with about 100 meters to go and decided I had to pass her so I did my first sprint finish of the series.  I was amazed how much gas I actually had at the end and I finished quite a bit ahead of her so that was a nice mini victory.

My final time was 27:27 which is nowhere close to a PR but it was a very satisfying run nonetheless.  I felt like a winner just getting out on the course today!

Tags: running by AndrewE
13 Comments »

I’ve been tagged by Jeff to answer 5 questions:

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

My gut instinct was to say non-existent and after much reflection I realised that my gut instinct was right. :)  I’ve only been running since January this year and I’m really sad I’ve been missing out all my life!

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?

My best experience was my very first race as I was just so amazed and happy to be able to do it.  My 4th race was also very special as I ran it with my dad. My worst so far was pretty good too in many respects but I (and pretty much all the other runners) took a wrong turn on the track and did a lot more distance than we were supposed to.

3. Why do you run?

Cos I can!  I started running because I thought I couldn’t and now I run because I can’t stop.  I love it.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you’ve been given about running?

The best advice I received was to slow down.  When I started I thought that to improve I had to set a new PR each training session.  Thankfully my readers quickly pointed out that I was setting myself up for injury.

The worst was to do a full marathon.  I’ve taken the first but haven’t quite accepted the second yet…but I’m leaning towards it.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people know.

Err…I love musicals?  Always have, always will.

In other news, the weather was crap today so I ran on the treadmill in the gym.  I ran for 30 minutes, did 30 minutess on the bike and 30 minutess on the elliptical.  And it was good. :)

Tags: fitness, running by AndrewE
16 Comments »

My alarm went off at 5am this morning by letting me know she needed a top-up and a service. I got the bottle while my wife changed her. I decided to get up and not go back to bed as I had my alarm set for 5:45 so that I could be out the door by 6AM for my morning run.

I was really not too keen on my run this morning. My bed was calling me and it was raining and dark out. But I thought bugger this to that little voice inside my head that was telling me to put it off till later and put my shoes on and I was off.

There is something about running somedays that just makes every footfall a joy. I hadn’t been running more than 5 minutes before I was at peace with the world and filled with a sense of bliss. It was really nice. There was a gentle drizzle falling at times during the run and it kept me nice and cool.

I saw about 40 people doing a karate class out on the beach as I ran by Mission Bay which I thought was really cool.  The sun was just starting to come up and that point and I really wished that I had remembered to bring my camera along as it was rather picturesque.

I had a lot to reflect on during my run. I achieved a rather momentous (to me) milestone this week when I finally reached the point where I’ve lost 100 pounds. This didn’t come easy and I was reflecting upon how my life had changed over the last few years and generally speaking I think I have reached a point where I am content with my lot.  That doesn’t mean that I will stop trying to improve myself and my life however.  At one point during my run the song Was it worth it? by the Pet Shop Boys came on and I was thinking YES IT IS!

Anyways, back to my run. I did a long loop as you can see from the picture below:

I did 16.28 kilometers in 1:44:45.  I didn’t break any speed records but I did break my distance record. Parts of the run were very hilly but I just plodded along and didn’t walk at all which I was pleased with.

Tags: running by AndrewE
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