How Long did you say?

I was a bit freaked out this week when I saw that I had a 4 hour run scheduled in my training programme this weekend - I don't remember running for that long previously other than whilst taking part in a half ironman or marathon event.

So it was with some trepidation that I headed out at 7am yesterday morning with my camelbak securely fastened to my back with enough fluids to last 4 hours.  Simone wasn't able to join me on this run as she had a crazy busy Saturday planned with family activities.

I decided to pick a fairly challenging course which is a different approach to previous years when I tended to find an enjoyable easy training course.  I think picking a more challenging course will only be of benefit on the day of the 50km.

The first 18 km flew by in 2 hours and then the coastal walkway slowed me down significantly.  I headed up hills, steps, ran along beaches and roads stopping at a dairy to buy some additional water as the fluids I thought might last me, didn't.  The third hour signalled 25.5 kms and as I headed in to the fourth hour I slowed even more.  My legs were tired - I was hungry but didn't feel like eating.  I really need to nail the nutrition in readiness for the big day as food and water play a major part in the training plan.

I finally arrived home at 11am - 4 hours after I had left - although actual running time was 3.45 as I had stopped off for traffic lights and buying water along the way etc.   I had completed 30.5 kms which I was happy with given the challenging terrain.  Goodness knows how long the 50km will take as I had slowed more and more with each passing hour!

I have to admit that I did very little else over the weekend - I sat in the movies with Soph, got a rotisserie chicken take out for dinner - then lazed on the couch all day Sunday with the exception of walking Bella for about an hour on Sunday afternoon to loosen up the muscles.

Until next time…..

Coastal Walkway

Well it was good to be back in training this week after a nasty head cold last week which resulted in a few days horizontal on the couch.

Yesterday (Saturday) my great friend and neighbour, Helen, organised a fun run for her husband Andy who was turning 40.  When I say a fun run - I soon found out that Helen, Andy and their friends run at a blistering pace despite pushing strollers with their pre-schoolers inside holding on for the ride of their lives.  Having started off very confidently at the front of the pack things only deteriorated from there and I arrived in second to last place at the finish spot 6km later (when I say second to last I am not sure that little Danny peddling as fast as he could on his scooter counts).  Anyway I was very grateful to another great friend, Clara, whose nephews were roaring along the pathway with Clara's triplets holding on in their stroller so Clara had borrowed her nephews bike and very kindly rode the last kilometre or so with me as I gasped for air trying to keep up.   We arrived just in time to see the pre-schoolers taking part in some races along the beach.  Everyone then headed back to Helen and Andy's for an amazing feast of bacon and eggs which were devoured after the mornings exercise (see the photo below of some of the shoes and strollers on Helen and Andy's doorstep).  I am sure its no surprise that I needed a lie down in the afternoon.

Then this morning after a quick walk with Bella the dog, Simone and I headed off at 7.30am along the Coastal Walkway from  Campbells Bay to Torbay and back - it is quite a steep, long and winding walkway but it was a gorgeous day for a 2 hour run particularly because for the first time in a long time the rain stopped and the sun was shining.   Simone and I have picked out a few challenging training runs which we hope will get us into good shape for the Tarawera 50km Trail run which is now only about 12 weeks away on November 14. 

These photos were taken at Browns Bay Beach on our way back to Campbells Bay - it was still fairly early in the morning so the beach wasn't as populated as it was later in the morning - everyone was out by midday enjoying the winter sunshine.

Until next time :)

Training Begins

I haven't blogged in over 14 months since my return from Singapore where I spent almost two years living and working.  So I thought now would be a good opportunity to pick up the laptop and capture my next new adventure.

I have always liked a challenge and this year isn't any different - I have signed up to run my first ultra marathon - an off-road trail run in Rotorua, New Zealand - The Tarawera 50km.  I have a training programme all sorted (thanks to coach Sue Brewster) and a great training buddy (Simone Guy).  Sue and Simone have also signed up to run the 50km so we hope to have a blast.

Taking a break on a Saturday morning training run

The ultra-marthon journey actually started almost 12 months ago when I signed up for a 60km event also at Tarawera, but during the build up I completely psyched myself out and eventually withdrew.  I did travel down to the event though as both Sue and Simone were taking part.  It was such an incredible event and I spent the day cheering on Sue and Simone who finished the course in approximately 9 hours (just 10 minutes apart).  I was so in awe of their achievements that I thought I needed to get over myself and sign up again.  I have to add that the 50km distance doesn't scare me as much as the 60km so I am hoping I don't psyche myself out this time.

I have run (jogged/walked) a number of marathons over the years but they have all been on the road - so trail running is really new to me - I entered a couple of trail events over the last few months and it is so much more fun than pounding the pavements (apart from the day I lost my running shoes in the mud at Riverhead).  NZ is such a beautiful country and I am continually surprised by the many trails around that I never knew existed.

Training is now underway with just 14 weeks to go until the Tarawera 50km and early this morning Simone and I headed up to Long Bay, just North of Auckland, for a 2 hour training run - the weather was a bit gloomy with patches of heavy rain and hail (what can one expect in the middle of winter) - but nothing was going to dampen our enthusiasm to hit a new trail - the views were amazing and well worth getting up so early for.  Until next time…..

Heading towards Okura

On the way back to Long Bay Beach

A new focus

It seems like it has been a while since my last blog –  probably because there has been a lot going on since I arrived back from Auckland in early January.

Soph was here visiting for two weeks prior to returning to Uni for the start of her third year.  We managed to fit in a lot of exciting things whilst she was here including a day trip to by ferry to Batam, Indonesia for some amazing spa treatments – including an hours head massage where we lay outside under the trees (photo below) whilst having a lovely concoction massaged into our heads - very relaxing – ideally we should have stayed 24 hours at the spa/resort as the surroundings were gorgeous (if you have time google 'Tempat Senang Resort and Spa').  

We also managed to get to the movies to see ‘The Book Thief’ which we both really enjoyed; ate in some lovely restaurants – one of Soph’s favourite was Hard Rock Café - and we managed to fit in some running at MacRitchie which is an 11km trail run and Mt Faber as well as some gym sessions together.  Soph also had to do some study in readiness to sit two exams on her return to Uni having not been able to sit them in November due to her chickenpox incident during exam week (the good news is she just sat one of the exams and got 80%, so she must have managed to fit in more study that she thought).  At the end of the two weeks it was tough waving her off but was made slightly easier knowing we will be at home together at Easter.

I also took some time to reflect on what I wanted to achieve for 2014.  I have always wanted to become a counsellor so I finally signed up to complete a Diploma in Counselling which I will do part time whilst working full time.  I can complete six months of the qualification whilst living overseas but will need to finish it on my return to NZ (not sure yet when this might be).

I signed up to the gym in January and have been getting there 5 mornings a week from 7am - 8.30am and doing a mixture of workouts either with a personal trainer which is exhausting and after the first session it took me four days until I could lift my arms up to wash my hair….and I also run on the treadmill for up to an hour (mostly doing interval training to speed my legs up a bit).   Today I joined a friend from work, Caz, who is training for the Prague Marathon in May, for a 90 minute run and was surprised that I could run that far having not done a lot of outdoor running since I have been back - the heat here can be a real challenge.  This morning though it was a fairly cool 26 degrees with a nice breeze - very nice running conditions.  Its also really nice to run alongside someone who is training for a marathon rather than it being me who is training for one.

After getting so confused with the diet issue – dukan/ primal  /paleo / low carb - high fat, I decided to return to 'normal' eating habits only to find I didn’t know what 'normal' meant anymore.  Scary….for the first time in months I had a sandwich for lunch (smoked salmon and avocado) and really enjoyed it.  Lets hope it doesn’t take me long to find my way back to normal eating (whatever that may be)!  I think 'normal' for me just means eat healthy at least 80% of the time.

So for the next few months my plan is to study ; work out in the gym 3-5 times a week, run a few days a week and eat healthily.  Sounds like a good plan to me – oh and fit in some great movie viewing – I just saw ‘Rush’ a true story about James Hunt and Nikki Lauda who were competitors in Formula 1 motor racing – really enjoyed it!

Until next time!

Celebrations Begin….

One of the biggest celebrations for the year is about to begin here in Singapore with Chinese New Year.  The city is looking really colourful and yesterday at the office I was excited to take part in a 'Lo Hei' - the tossing of a prosperity salad - the higher you toss the salad, the more prosperous you become.

Given we had more than 600 employees tossing salad you can imagine the fun that was had and surprisingly the tossed salad was really tasty. We were also given gifts as we left the lunch - 2 mandarin oranges which is another symbol to help usher in prosperity - this was followed with traditional music being played by an orchestra in the afternoon which was enjoyed by all - a fun day.

I wanted to try and capture some of the excitement in the city so on my walk home from the gym this morning (3kms) I stopped to take photos - the colours of the mandarin trees and the decorations are really gorgeous.  The temples are full and the traditional restaurants have queues around the block.

As most of the celebrations centre on family and food its not surprising to see the price of food has sky rocketed (hard to believe given the already astronomical cost of food) and you don't want to to see a hairdresser or a manicurist as they all hike up their prices with the long weekend starting on Friday and everyone wanting to look their best.   Taxis are really hard to come by (as most of the taxi drivers are enjoying their celebrations) and advice to those needing a taxi is to 'jump the queue' when using the taxi app's to book a taxi, which adds an extra $5.00 to the $3.20 booking fee.  So the cost is $8.20 before you have left your destination.  Given the majority of people living here don't have cars - taxis are the next best mode of transport - no wonder you need all the symbols and wishes for increased prosperity - just to make it through the New Year!

Anyway, I am particularly looking forward to the long weekend as my gorgeous girl Soph is coming to stay.  That in itself is reason to celebrate - we will both enjoy the firework displays that will be on show as the Chinese begin to celebrate the most important event of the year on the Chinese calendar.

Back to work!

Well its been a busy week - and hard to believe I was in NZ only last weekend albeit briefly as I flew out from Auckland at 7am on Saturday. The flight through Sydney was made even longer as none of the entertainment systems worked - can you imagine 8 hours on a flight and no entertainment.  I was gutted as I had a list of movies I was planning on watching - I don't even think the Qantas flight attendants remembered a time when the entertainment system crashed and didn't re-start!  Thank goodness for my kindle which had another of Karen Rose's great reads waiting for me so that kept me busy instead.

It was a bit of a shock getting back into work mode after an amazing 14 days in sunny Takapuna with my gorgeous girl Soph and other family and friends.  I woke up at 4.45am on Monday morning still on NZ time so what was I to do other than lace up my running shoes and head out the door.  It was raining and a fairly cool 24 degrees perfect for a run - it's still the rainy season which is due to go on for most of January - I did some run drills and some sprint work to try and speed up my run pace after all the long slow distance work I did getting ready for the marathon last month.  It was a great way to start the day before heading back to the reality of work!

Last week I outlined all my goals for 2014 so now that I am back in Singapore I thought I better get myself along to the gym and sign up - I headed over to PURE which is a 32,000 square ft gym offering an amazing place to work out. They also offer Yoga, Pilates and spin classes - awesome.  I decided to take advantage of the free personal training session and turned up on Thursday morning at 7am.  I knew it would be a hard session but I had no idea the pain I was going to suffer for the next few days - in fact as of tonight (Saturday) I still can't lift my arms high enough to wash my hair.   My core strength is negligible so all the planks/push ups left my arms screaming!   I keep thinking that I am pretty fit and I keep being reminded I am nowhere near as fit as I could be.  So I will aim to get into the gym every week morning at 7am and see how much things improve.

I am also another week in to the paleo low carb high fat and maintaining less than 50 carbs a day.  Given a few days ago I was weighed at they gym and had body fat etc measured I can watch closely to see if this is going to work for me.  I suspect I may be eating too much fat - if you are reading this Helen K or Mikki can you let me know if I need to watch the calorie intake as well or just keep below the 50 carbs??  I just want to make sure I do it right.  I headed off to the supermarket this morning and loaded up the trolley with organic low carb high fat foods - the better stocked I am the less likely I will fall of the wagon.  Looks pretty good doesn't it!

So things are off to a good start for 2014 - I am back at work, have joined the gym, and seem to have the food under control so lets see what happens!

The start of another year - January 2014

Happy New Year and a toast to all the opportunities that 2014 will bring.

The start of a new year is such an exciting time and full of so many possibilities - a new beginning and a clean slate.

As we start this new year, I am making a list of things that I want to accomplish during 2014 such as beginning yoga classes to increase muscle flexibility, joining the gym for strength training, looking for some exciting events to see if the yoga classes and strength training make a difference and I will also be thinking about next steps career wise as my current contract is due to conclude in June.

There is also nothing like the shock I got a few days ago to help get things back on track after I found out that what I thought I was eating on my Paleo low carb / high fat diet was in fact a high carb / high fat diet.  High carbs and high fat do not go well together when the aim is weight loss - in fact weight gain is a guaranteed outcome (I am sure we have had this conversation before - but I am a slow learner).  It wasn't until I sat down with my good friend Clara who started punching the 'carb' numbers that reality set in - an apple has HOW many carbs?' oh dear, no wonder the weight loss isn't happening!

I then spent the rest of the afternoon making a list of what I can actually eat so that I am all ready to stock my pantry with low carb / high fat foods for the new year.  It was a surprise to see the number of carbs in things like dates and grapes which I thought would be fairly low in carbs.  I also found out that the number of carbs I need to aim for is approx 50 grams each day (for weight loss purposes).  Its always advisable to know what the goal is (how else can you achieve it)!  The good news is that as a result of this 'understanding carbs' exercise, there will be a lot of cream, avocado and full fat cheese filling my shelves in 2014 - all these yummy items have no carbs at all (or less than 1 gram) - I can't complain about that.  

Anyway, enough about carbs.... I have had an awesome 2 weeks spent in my beautiful little home in sunny Takapuna over the holiday season enjoying being able to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the beautiful beach and clear blue skies - it may sound strange but hanging the washing out in the garden with the sun shining on it has been quite a highlight - its so humid in Singapore that the washing can take a week to dry.  But like all other great holidays, this one is now coming to an end.  As always its been an amazing time and a real bonus was getting to meet Clara's triplets who were born a little earlier than expected on New Years Eve.  They are absolutely gorgeous.

I have tried hard to catch up with as many of my nearest and dearest as I possibly can - but for those of you that I missed this time, I will be back in early April for Soph's 21st birthday, so will look forward to seeing you then.

I fly back to Singapore at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning so will be making the most of my last few days in Paradise (on this trip anyway).

Here is to an awesome 2014 - may all your dreams come true.  Until next time -