Category: Strength

The Afghan Hound

8/27/2014

No run again today. On for today's schedule is some Hasfit (remember that?) Feels like it's been far too long, so I'll be mixing in some strength and cross training this morning, courtesy of this excellent website (www.hasfit.com). I like it because you can pick and choose short workouts and they feel very effective and efficient. I think I'll do some kick-boxing and something called a 'Warrior workout' today, roar....

Now for something completely non-running related and probably a bit random. I read this book the other day and I thought I'd share my views on it. "Away From This World: The Afghan Hound" by Fardin Azizzada - wow, what an incredible story. It's about an Afghan refugee and details his childhood in Afghanistan, rife with fear and being persecuted (due to being a minority ethnic group there) and then later his extensive travels in a bid to fight relative safety away from persecution. I hadn't heard of the Hazara people before reading this book hey, but they seem to be yet another minority group suffering genocide at the hands of those in the majority. So tragic and pointless (why? Why kill others because they are different to you??). I really enjoyed reading this book, despite the tragedies that unfold, and although it is a fictional novel, it reads very much like an autobiography.

Do you use websites for workout inspiration?

Do you like to read novels? If so, what are you currently reading?

7 Comments

And the Winning Prize Goes to.....

8/26/2014

5 Comments

... Marion! Congratulations Mani, you were the first to get back to me and correct my temporary blond affliction (sorry other Blonds!) informing me that it is a HERD of horses, not a gallop, nor a huddle, nor even a flock, lol... So, without further ado, here is your virtual prize:

Embracing something of a wave-particle duality, what's inside is pure possibility at this stage, and can be whatever you imagine it to be! I.e. another mountain bike, some cycling gear, cake etc.... Enjoy!

Now, onto the 'running' bit. No run this morning, but I got back to some strength/weight training. I was shocked to realise that I am down to doing this only about once a week, with the rest of the days taken up by running and cycling as I've recently bought a mountain bike. Why the mountain bike? I hear you ask (well, maybe). We-ell, Husband and I have registered for this event to be held on the beautiful grasslands of Xilingol next July! http://www.genghiskhanmtbadventure.com/ Clicking on this link will take you through to the page for the Genghis Khan Moutain Bike Adventure and Extreme Grasslands Marathon!!!

This is going to be awesome! So excited. Some friends of mine did it this year and highly recommended it, so Husband and I will be competing together, although not the running portion for him due to an old rugby injury (his knee). We will take part in two days of cycling (out of the three available) and I will also do the half marathon. We have opted for the 'long' option, so that means about 60kms on one day and 40kms on the other (the 'short' option was about 20kms each day). So, in between now and then I will be getting in as much training as possible while there is no snow and minus temperatures to contend with. However I still want to pick up my strength training and do more of that, so will be aiming to get a few more sessions in each week. It's all about balance right?

Who else is keen?? Fancy an amazing adventure to the beautiful grasslands of Inner Mongolia AND you get to take part in an awesome challenge too??! This could be your backdrop for a run or cycle next July if you come on over (although we'll probably be dressed in racing gear by then instead):

5 Comments

Crazy Cravings, and Ne-ne-ne-ne-Nineteen - Nineteen!

6/18/2014

15 Comments

No blog post yesterday – I’m sure you’ll understand and forgive me (hope so). Yesterday was the day of the funeral for Husband’s cousin, and although we couldn’t be there in person (he, very sadly, couldn’t get back in time for the funeral, which happened so quickly after her passing away, it seems) we celebrated her/mourned for her ourselves, just the two of us, by having lunch at a local restaurant and talking / thinking about her. As my best friend (and a very wise human being) said: it doesn’t matter where you are when you say goodbye. So true.

No run yesterday either, as after I posted my entry re: the random knee pain, I kept getting niggling/annoying random knee pains when walking up and down our apartment stairs and throughout the school. So, I thought it best to give it a full day’s rest, running wise, and instead I did some very relaxing yoga in the morning instead.

But thank you for all your comments and helpful advice! I have been trying to reply but there is some sort of problem, whereby this website thinks I am a spammer or a robot and every time I try to post a reply tells me it has been sent somewhere to await moderation – but then I never get told where/why and the comment doesn’t appear – WTF?!? Sort it out Weebly!! Why won’t you let me reply to people on my own website?!? Boo…. Hopefully this will be resolved soon – I’m not ignoring you, promise! J

I got an email from the race organisers of the Runner’s World 50km trail race, and attached to it was my official certificate and time, and this just-about-to-cross-the-finish-line photo (I promise I am running at this point, but it looks like I may not be in the photo):

They also told me in the body of the email that my time was 7 hours 33 (so, I was close enough when I thought 7 and a half) I came 85 overall (out of maybe 500?), and my position was 19th female!! Woohoo! I’ll take that thank you. Not sure if anyone (other than Rach, if you’re reading this?) will get the reference to the song (way back in the day) that I think had the same eponymous title ‘19’, but if you do know it, you will be able to sing along with me ‘ne ne ne ne nineteen – nineteen!’

Now, I don’t mean to alienate the guys here at all, but do you ladies ever get the most intense, crazy cravings for things that you don't usually crave like cake/ice-cream/pastries?? Then have a really weird/psychotic moment where the things coming out of your mouth are insane but you can’t stop them?? Then, some awful womanly pains and all those prior nut-job symptoms suddenly become startlingly and patently clear?? And then it’s like, ‘d’oh!!! So that’s why!’ And hey guys, maybe you’ll know what I mean anyway or recognize these symptoms in your partners. Hmm, very annoying but anyway, there you go. Rant over now, promise. Maybe TMI there, so, sorry about that…

On today’s schedule is a 12km easy paced run, and supposedly a second run (6.4km) later in the day. I’m not whether to do both runs at the moment. Will probably see how Run 1 goes first and assess it from there. As the training schedule has decreed that I should cease all weight/strength training until after the race now, I’m not sure what that leaves me as an alternative? More yoga perhaps?? Or maybe a cardio/kick-boxing workout? Would that be acceptable? I suppose if it’s more cardio than strength as the replacement session for the second run then it would be a-ok? Then again, I may get the second run in after all, we’ll see.

Do you try and leave out strength training when you’re getting close to race day?

Do you know what I mean by intense food cravings?? Do you go with them, or have you got any excellent tactics for ignoring them?

ps - I am back from the first scheduled run of the day now, and NO knee pain! Hurrah! I am so happy about this. However, I think I will substitute some pool running or using the gym at that local hotel again instead of the second run, as per the excellent advice in THIS article re: how to PR/get a PB: http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/10-ridiculously-easy-ways-to-beat-your-pb/

I felt pretty happy reading through this and realising that I can tick 8 out of 10 of them off a to-do list, however I will now be adding in some planking each day (I always neglect any core or abs work, oops...) plus some pool running when possible.

15 Comments

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

6/2/2014

10 Comments

Hello Hello from me, Puppy, and Husband (Husband not pictured as he is the resident cameraman)! Gotta love a public holiday courtesy of Dragon Boat Festival. The weather has turned it on for us too - hot and sunny days, with minimal pollution, yay. Got in a fairly challenging stair running workout (30x reps of our building with a few 100m recovery jogs chucked in) this morning followed by about 45 minutes of strength/weights. Great start to the day. Since then, we've been cruising around eating delicious things and drinking some of China's finest red (well, the finest is debatable, but we like it anyway).

Got my final email re: the race on Saturday. Apparently there is a 12 hour cut-off time!!! Shithouse. Hope I make it. Don't know what to expect really. Oh, and no plastic bottles allowed on the course apparently ,so that might be tricky. (I have a camelback but have lost the bladder which I guess is the most important part if you're using it for water! D'oh...)

In other news: this website is being really RUBBISH and not letting me reply to any comments today. So, sorry about that! Will reply as soon as this is fixed. How frustrating!

I hope everyone has had a great Monday!

Do you run with a camelback?? Do you think I should invest in a new one before I depart for Beijing on Thursday?? (My instinct is telling me 'yes', hmmm...)

10 Comments

Feeling Like A Thespian

5/26/2014

6 Comments

Hello hello from another humid, polluted day in China! 12kms this morning, done and dusted. It was an easy paced run, free from Garmin or a watch or music. Just me, myself, and I. Oh and all the other runners and Tai Chi’ers down by the riverside.

Yesterday, I DID manage to get my strength training in, so I felt great about that. I did a kick-boxing workout courtesy of Hasfit (a great website where you can pick and choose different workouts: www.hasfit.com) and then some free weights and strength moves. Burning burning legs by the end of it, but I think this was mainly due to the long run the day before.

So, it’s back to another busy Tuesday of teaching, but we also get to do my FAVOURITE part of this job over here today: voice acting work. Haha, sort of: we go into a studio and read out dialogues for the official oral English exams, over the school’s loud speaker system. So, I act out the woman’s part and Husband acts out the male part. I really LOVE doing this hey, for some reason I find it really fun. (That is not me in the picture by the way. Maybe I'll take a sneaky selfie of us 'acting' today, if I can.)

What are you up to today? What will be the ‘best’ part of your day? (So far, mine has been the run, but I’m looking forward to the acting later on too.)

6 Comments

Monday Musings

5/25/2014

6 Comments

A very warm welcome to you all on this magical Monday morning. Ahem, ok, on this humid, overly polluted Monday morning here. But I hope wherever you are that you’re having a beautiful morning; one that’s hopefully sunnier and clearer (and cooler!) than here.

No post yesterday, as times just flies so fast after a long run. Somehow the day got away from me, and once I’d returned home, eaten breakfast and showered etc, there may have been copious naps throughout the day, punctuated with more meals/snacks whilst reading and watching some pretty mind blowing stuff (mainly Santos Bonacci yesterday: Australian dude, look him up on youtube, he is very informative and enlightening).

But, YES, got the run in, and it was great! 32km exactly, with the last 2kms spent running up and down the hill at the front of our school (about 100m up to the top; a gentle hill). Felt great to finish strong. Those jelly packs are fine as fuel (the squeeze pack is really handy and easier than fiddling with packets of sweets) but they are SO sweet and leave a nasty, sugary aftertaste in my mouth. So, will probably limit them and use them with other food and drink during the main event.

No running for me today, but I will aim to get some strength training in later today.

A few posts ago (last week maybe?) I wrote about the horror of too much cardio leading to fat gain. As David from Captain Speedy Pants (http://www.captainspeedypants.com/) pointed out, I should have posted the links to the articles too. So, sorry for the belated nature of these, but these are two of the links I found in the history (I read a lot more, but I have no idea where they went to?). Take them with a pinch (or handful?) of salt, as they are not specifically tailored to runners, nor to distance or endurance training, but can make for an interesting read nonetheless:

http://www.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/1138/Does_Cardio_Make_You_Fat.aspx

http://blogs.denverpost.com/fitness/2013/11/23/is-your-cardio-routine-making-you-fat/13461/

Has anyone else seen Santo Bonacci’s work? Anyone experience gaining weight during training for a race?

So, that’s all form me today. Short and sweet. Have a very funday-Monday one and all!

6 Comments

Really Rather Rocky-esque

5/17/2014

6 Comments

Another rainy, wet Saturday here in China, so no run outside as planned (I pussied out - I was aiming to run it on the track, as when I speed up to threshold pace or VO2 max pace or whatever is on the plan, I like the convenience of not having to stop for pedestrians or traffic, hence any session that specifies a pace to aim for, I have been running on the track. When it's wet, I have this inner fear that: speed work, looking at Garmin for my pace, and trying seamlessly to run through puddles and water will somehow lead to me tripping over my own feet. Anyhoo, I digress...)

Instead, I chose to do some stair running (30 reps of the building again) followed by some strength moves (i.e. squats, push-ups etc, nothing too fancy). I was harnessing my inner Rocky, and it was intense hey! Here's a sweaty, tired snap of me on the stairs in question:

Yes, that IS a Rocky t-shirt! (Thanks again Josh, love it!). And yes, I did put my camera on a self-timer mode to take this red-faced shot, haha...

So, I know these stairs aren't exactly the terrain I'll be running on, but I hope they'll prepare me somewhat for some of the uneven surfaces and up and down sections (which, I'm pretty sure form the majority of the trail race).

Hope you're all having Super Saturdays. Got to run now (no, not literally) as watching an awesome documentary series with Husband that is kind of blowing our minds! Will post the links soon. See you!

6 Comments

Cardio = Fat Gain = WTF??

5/13/2014

3 Comments

I read some disturbing news yesterday. Well, it was news to me, perhaps you already know if this? Namely that doing too much cardio can apparently have an adverse effect on your body fat composition and, contrary to my life-long held belief, can actually cause you to gain fat! Specifically abdominal/belly fat. WTF?! I hear you cry (if you’re anything like me). Not fair right?

Yes, it seems that the main culprits behind this fallacy of cardio induced fat gain are as follows: overcompensating for your cardio exercise by taking in too many kilojoules; cortisol (that pesky stress hormone, the same one that rears its ugly head in times of stress but also when smoking and drinking, causing one to noticeably put on belly and visceral fat) being released, from stressing the body I guess; and muscle mass being lost in times of lengthy cardio sessions, thus leading to a less efficient metabolism.

Hmm, but what to do if you’re training for a race? And following a program?

Over the last few months (and despite Husband telling me that it’s all in my head) I have noticed a slight change in my body, and now there is a noticeable small roll of belly fat (don’t worry – I am not about to post a before and after shot) where before there was none. I am not being paranoid here, just stating a fact. So, it’s perhaps due to my having turned 30 a few months back, OR, maybe I am a victim of this unfair fat gain due to lots of running? Still doesn’t seem fair, haha.

I would say that maybe I do overcompensate by eating A LOT after training, so maybe something to keep an eye on. I will be also be picking up a few more strength training sessions throughout the week, like I used to, in order to maintain and increase muscle mass and tone, and thus efficiently burn off this belly fat (I hope).

Subsequently, this morning I did a 30 minutes (ish) strength workout instead of a run, which went as follows: 100x skips (not using a rope, just faux-skipping)

                                                            50 x jump lunges whilst alternating bicep curls (with weights)

                                                            50x punchouts with weights

                                                            50x mountain climbers

                                                            50x shoulder presses with weights

                                                            50x side steps (pretending there is a step in the middle)

                                                            80x skips

                                                            40x every other move

                                                            60x skips

                                                            30x every other move

                                                            40x skips

                                                            20x every other move

                                                            20x skips

                                                            10x every other move

Then back up the ladder, so back to 40/20, then 60/30, then 80/40, and finally, a very tough, 100/50 again.

Felt efficient and effective and I hope this helps to strengthen my legs sufficiently in time for the 50km trail race on 7th June.

I hope you all have an awesome Wednesday. Tell me, has anyone else noticed weight gain/change in your body, despite doing lots of exercise? What is your favourite strength workout or cross training workout?

3 Comments

Bump N' Grind, and Stair Running Like Rocky

5/10/2014

2 Comments

Now, I'm not one to usually quote R Kelly (ok, pretty much NEVER quote this guy, but hey-ho..) but the theme of my mornings this weekend, where on both mornings I've told myself that I WILL get up for my long run as scheduled, has been the beginning of his classic, back-in-the-day 'Bump N' Grind', although with the words reversed. Something more like this: "My mind's telling me YES, but my body, my body's telling me NO". Yes, on both occasions I have chosen rest and laying in bed, instead of going for that 35km run. Oops... You know what they say? Listen to your body, right? So, I did. Feels good. I'm sure I'll get more kilometres in next week, but it seems my body needed and loved this week of cross-training, yoga, speedwork, plus a couple of easy runs.

After copious coffees this morning, and perhaps after reading this article online (http://www.runnersworldonline.com.au/stair-running-can/) I decided to go for a stair running workout, and now, 30 reps of our 7 storey building later, I'm feeling a lot like this guy (although no styling red sweatband for me):

I remembered to count this morning. So, one rep UP is 119 stairs, so that makes 30 x 119 = 3570 steps going one way, so, up and down = 7140 steps total . GREAT substitute for a run methinks. This is what the article had to say about stair running and the benefits it brings:

"If you borrow one element (besides running) from Rocky Balboa’s training regimen, make it stair-climbing. The plyometric motion strengthens the same muscles as lunges and squats, and taxes your lungs and heart as you power to the top. “Stairs force you to work against gravity, and this helps build two essential needs for runners: strength and power,” says Anne Moore, an exercise physiologist and running coach. You need both, whether you’re kicking to the finish of a 5K or trying to maintain pace during the later kilometres of a marathon. Moore adds that stair-climbing “forces you to utilise muscle stabilisers, like the gluteus medius, that get neglected during regular runs,” because you’re balancing on and activating one leg, briefly, as the other moves to the next step. Strengthen these areas and you’ll reduce your risk of injury.

Finally, stairs are much steeper than most hills: Indoor stairs have a roughly 65 per cent grade, while Sydney’s Heartbreak Hill is less than 10 per cent. That’s why climbing them accelerates your heart rate so rapidly and makes you breathe faster to take in more oxygen. This, in turn, improves your VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilise during intense exercise. “This teaches your body to use that oxygen and convert it to energy quicker,” says Moore. A greater VO2 max means you can run harder and for longer durations. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that short bouts of stair-climbing five days a week for eight weeks improved VO2 max by 17 per cent among young women.

Weave these stair workouts into your weekly training and watch your performance reach new heights."

2 Comments

Yoga For Runners

5/1/2014

0 Comments

Instead of a run this morning, I chose to do some yoga instead. I used to do a back and core routine about twice a week, but wanted to do something new, as it had been a while since I last did any yoga. After a quick youtube search I settled on this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of2spyCtUkw. Felt soooo good to stretch. It says it's a 20 minutes sequence but as our internet is still having major issues, I think I got to hold each pose that little bit longer while the page loaded again and again, haha, so was about a 30 minute yoga workout for me. Great way to start the day.

My cross training is usually strength or weights, a kickboxing workout, or cycling and walking, but for some reason I always neglect or forget about yoga until I finally DO it again, then I'm like 'how could I have forgotten how good this feels?' Admittedly, yoga on the floor of my apartment here in China brings nowhere near the happiness levels that yoga in Bali with Annie brought, but it's still a good thing to do to mix it up from running. Ahhh, maybe I can just imagine and pretend that I've really been doing yoga this morning in beautiful Canggu and that now Annie and I are waiting for our awesome food-on-a-plate-breakfasts... Oh how I miss this, wish we were back here now:

Another reason for no run this morning: saving my legs for my long and (hopefully) mountainous run tomorrow morning. Again, hope this sunny, hot weather continues - no rain for tomorrow please China.

Enjoy your Friday people! :)

0 Comments

<<Previous

The Afghan Hound

And the Winning Prize Goes to.....

Crazy Cravings, and Ne-ne-ne-ne-Nineteen - Nineteen!

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

Feeling Like A Thespian

Monday Musings

Really Rather Rocky-esque

Cardio = Fat Gain = WTF??

Bump N' Grind, and Stair Running Like Rocky

Yoga For Runners

Author

Archives

Categories