A foray into fitness

This blog is simply a snapshot of my life and the road ive chosen as it stands today. Content will be added freely and probably in an adhoc fashion. Welcome!, kick back, peruse, amuse, just dont abuse! :)

As its my first blog its definately a work in progress, i can definately say content will vary in form and delivery.. If your lucky the inner Author may make an appearance and a story and perhaps a poem or two may appear, i know scary thought :) Also pictures and other functionality within the blog will be updated over time.. Its official, the blog is open! wheres that champagne bottle.. anybody....

Friday 6 May 2011

Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon

Hi all,

Ok first thing is first. I am absolutely stoked to be running the Half Marathon, mentally cant wait! however my preperation over these last few weeks has been suffering. The dilemma can be attributed to shoes. See a few weeks ago i thought i would get myself a new pair of shoes and wear them in with plenty of time left for the Half Marathon, but its been a disastrous process really! As ive been training in Asics Cumulous i thought id stay on the safe side and stick with those shoes as i was relatively happy with them. The problem started as i didnt listen to myself and let someone else convince me to get a shoe that was one size to big! yes stupid i know, im not even going to grace these pages with an explanation, ridiculous really. Anyhow, during a run downhill i felt some movement in my left knee that ive never felt before so after the initial "hmm thats weird, what the $%^&^" i decided to rest the legs and monitor the situation. As the days passed by, the knee eventually got back to normal. However, in the meantime i exchanged the ill fitting shoes for a pair of Brooks Glyceren 8 as they were highly recommended.. Well after two weeks they proved they just wernt the shoes for me and yes another injury! this time a strain around the ankle and achillees area! its been around 3 days now and as each day goes by the area is feeling better so im hopeful all will be fine race day. This whole saga has messed up my training and prep so obviously not to happy about it. Really should see a doctor but i just hate dragging myself to them if you know what i mean. Im sure there are a few of you who do. Anyhow hopefully the "shell be right"mantra proves to be so... I really do have to thank the team at rebel as they understood my plight and exchanged both shoes for me.. Am currently rocking on with Asics Nimbus.. Havent run with them yet obviously as im still resting the leg however they feel fantastic when wlking and i definately think they will be fine. Am caught in a dilemma though.. A: do i wear my new shoes to the HM which is only a week and a bit away or B: do i use my old asics shoes which are 9 months old! still comfy but they have to be overdue and shouldnt be used i assume ? anyhow thats my current prep for the HM, far from ideal but ill soldier on..

An introduction of self

Before i write anything i have to say welcome! thankyou for taking the time out to visit my humble little page. The folowing text ive decided to paste from my coolrunning post which i thought adaquately explains my fitness background and the new road ive taken. Ultimately this blog is a story of an ex smoker whos travelling on a new road so im just going to share my story as i go... hot off the press hope you enjoy the read! and for any coolrunners who have already read the post stay tuned for more :)

Hi All,

Since this is my first post i just wanted to bore you all to tears and write up a quick introduction to my background, where ive come and where i hope to be going :)

Where do i start!! ok, well i can now proudly say that i am a non-smoker! wow what a change to nine months back. Nine months ago i was a 34 year old Male who smoked a pack/pack and a half a day(sometimes 2!) hadnt excercised at all since high school! unless you would call boogying the night away in the early twenties excercise :) One sunny day over a year ago i was invited to a StarBucks Staff BBQ. As it turned out at the BBQ one thing led to another, a few Basketball war stories told over the rasping sound of sizzling sausages, a few beers later and some built up male bravado mixed in with a hint of spice, i found myself facing off against 19 and 20 year olds in a 2 on 2 matchup of the century! with the 'other' older guy.. essentially it was the old guys vs the young pups.. i felt good about it, i quickly weighed up the opposition "they were lightweights" i said to myself, "We will take them on no problemmmm!" i thought.. Then there was the inner voice tapping me on the shoulder reminding me "Hey! you havent excercised in years!" with that thought in mind, my self belief took over and i was ready for whatever these pip squeeks could bring on! It started brilliantly i imposed my height as i thought i would although my shooting rader seemed to have seen better days hehe anyhow all in all the first 3 mins i was keeping up if not outperforming these puppys! i was into it, i was hungry!, i wanted to do well.. was the first time in a verrrry long time the competitive juices were flowing.. i even pulled off my trademark Vlade divac spin and drive in the low post! happy days were here again.. oh did i mentioned the 3 minute thing.. hmm yes that little matter, see i say 3 minutes it could have been 5 or it could have been 6 whatever it was in a relatively short time frame i found myself struggling to breath. It felt like i was breathing through a straw! i just couldnt continue.. i went to get a drink from the tap and i threw up! now from that day on i knew i had a problem and i had to change, it was that serios and i knew it. I had to change my lifestlyle otherwise in the story of life my book would have ended up a golden books picture book as opposed to a literary novel that it has the potential to be.. ok ok yes getting a little long whinded and overly dramatic but its my story so cut me some slack :) not every day you introduce yourself to the world and yes this is a coming out party of sorts so i will cry if i want to :)

Ultimately that led me to quitting smoking, joining the Gym and taking up running as a lifestyle choice! Running has essentially, deeply and profoundly changed my life and im so thankfull for it. 6 months after i tread those first few tentative steps to my local fitness first i ran the northern beaches 7k Sun Run. What a glorious day it was, had to do the obligatory hands raised over the line ofcourse (always wanted to do that!) ran that on the hottest day of the year in 32m:25sec as a first run i was absolutely chuffed. Since then ive been running and enjoying every ounce of it! another crazy story, see originally i was aiming to do the city to surf and blackmores Half MArathon then i was sitting in the Sauna 2 weeks ago and someone mentioned the Syd Morn Herald Half Marathon, i didnt even know it was on so soon.. I at first dismissed it ofcourse as i didnt think i was ready even though i knew ive trained hard, trained very hard.. also the next day or so i was at a local cafe and i saw a flyer for running for premmature babies i read the story and i was touched..so i set out to test myself the following days.. i upped it to 15k from 13k and did it relatively ok.. always willing to give things a go i threw my hat in the ring ehehe yup thats right crazy old me is going for it.. Last Sunday ran my first 18k with a group of wonderful!!! ppl running for premature babies and i did the 18k in 1hr and 30min something.. apparantly thats a pretty quick time for a 1st timer.. mind you i felt every bit of those last 3ks.. upping it again to 21k in such a short time frame wont be easy i know but im excited, im motivated and i really cant wait for it.. i have 2 goals my 1st goal is to complete in atleast the 1hr and 50 something however my heart is hoping for the 1hour and 40 something fingers crossed over those last 3 ks on the day!

One last note i just wanted to say also there are so many inspirational stories out there and i guess i just wanted to say im looking forward to life and whats ahead! For an ex smoker thats a liberating feeling! who knows maybe even a marathon in the not to distant future :).. Living life to the fullest is such a used statement.. If i had a so called 'mission statement' in my personal resume id say id hope to atleast remind myself of those words from time to time and live up to those words the best i can, and you know what.. from time to time, i think i just will thanks to running :) ill keep you all posted.. cheers thanks for listening..