So this morning I went swimming and found that in spite of going gangbusters I was a couple of minutes slower than I had been at the other pool on Saturday. I was tempted to just put it down to Monday-morning-syndrome but then it occurred to me it might be worth checking out the length of the pool and – it turns out that the pool is actually 30m as opposed to 25. So the goal I was about to put up about being able to swim 1k in under 30min has actually been being completed pretty much consistently several times a week for the past, what, 2 months?!

Yeehah!

There’s something about finding you’ve already completed a goal you were about to start that really gives you a boost on a Monday!!

Anyway this is the equal fastest I have ever been for swimming – harking back to the (few) days I managed 2k in an hour – and I reckon hardcore-swimming season (4x/week) will last at least until the end of March, so although I am not going to set a speed goal as such, it will be interesting to see how much faster I can get in that time. Whatever else has been going on with my body it’s good to know that I am as fit as I was at least in this area, and this has given me hope that once I get back out on the road I’ll be able to improve my running times gradually too. Yay!

It was the first time in ages so I didn’t want to push it but it was so lovely outside and I got into a really happy rhythm – totally enjoyed myself! I decided to just take it as I felt it and ended up running for 47 mins – could have gone longer but my shoe started biting my foot, think I need new trainers again… and it turned out it was 5K even though I’d just aimed to get out there and have a happy time. Definitely fitter than before!

So although originally my plan was to do this once a month, I think I am going to try and get out there for a run like this most weekends, as long as one day out of the two is fine. Here’s hoping for good winter weather.

That’s 6 sessions this week which makes up for the two I didn’t do last week – I think 4 on average is a good target :)

I have no idea what week it is, this is a rough estimate!

Last week I only swam twice, the latter half of the week was just a bit of a washout for some reason and the whole point is to go because I really really want to so I didn’t force myself to when I wasn’t feeling it and that was the right decision.

This week I’ve been every day (woo!) and have been feeling really good about it – I think this has only been manageable by getting enough sleep though. This is the last chance this year to go every day I think, as we have choir rehearsals from now until Christmas, and I just don’t see myself getting back from choir at 11, taking usually an hour to wind down, and then getting up at 5 to swim… but that’s OK because a rest-day in the middle of the week is good. I am still finding that swimming in the morning gives me a boost, some of my best ideas come from swimming time and I am always more positive afterwards.

I have some shiny new swimming-muscles now so I am going to try and focus on using these to propel myself a bit faster on the crawl lengths, raise my heart-rate more and get some phat endorphins to boost my day! It doesn’t have to be every length or even every day, but the more the better I guess. If I did this on every crawl length I reckon I could cut my swim-time by up to five minutes as well which would be more efficient, as well as a better workout.

Went out for a phenomenally crap run on Sunday, didn’t even make it round the 3k, I’d left it a bit late and they’d already started about 20 football games so I was a bit self-conscious and cut back across the field instead of going all the way round. Also just felt crap in general really, thought it was to do with swimming more and not getting enough running in, but probably that beer on Saturday night didn’t help either ;)

However I did swim Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri to make it 5 sessions for the week again, which I feel excellent about.

Then this morning I went out and ran the 3K route again, felt pretty heavy-legged and thought it would be a repeat of last week, but then the uphill back-side of the field (affectionately, the back-side of death, lol!) took less time than I thought it would, and that made me happy and hopeful, and I got into a really good rhythm on the return side. I was struggling to catch my breath at the end and felt quite deathly when I stopped but I managed to finish in 24:30, knocking 2:12 off my time from two weeks ago. I was faster at the split for the 5K too (although doubt I would have made it round today.)

I was really surprised when I saw the final time and I have to say that I am just really impressed with my body. In the space of four months I’ve gone from exercising twice a week to five times, and am running much faster – from just under 6km/hr to just under 7.5, so well on the way to that holy grail of 10! That’s a whole mile an hour faster! I’m pretty sure this puts me at my fittest ever – exercising 5 times a week without collapsing, and I think today was the fastest I’ve ever run. So technically I feel ready to call this goal done, except that now I know how much fitter I want to be!

I have now pretty much completely divorced the process of getting fit from the process of losing weight, and being more active has won out – I have gained back half a stone from where I was at my lowest, and though I’m probably not kidding myself that some of that is muscle (my body has changed so much since I started swimming again) I’m also not kidding myself when I say that I use the extra exercise as an excuse to eat random crap all the time! But I figure I can work on that, until I get to the point where I’m exercising as often as I want to and cutting down on the random crap. The main thing is I feel amazing, I need to exercise and have so much more energy and vitality because of it, and I don’t care (as much ;)!!) what the scales say, and that is probably the healthiest thing of all.

Hopefully another good week and I should be able to swim as much as I want in Corfu, so… onwards…

Wow I can’t believe I have been doing this for 16 weeks! I guess I have made a lot of progress though.

This week I ran 3k on Saturday, and swam mon/weds/thurs/fri (actually clocked up 3k swimming too but it took me 4 days!) so 5 sessions this week. I am very happy with that, 5 is as many as it ever needs to be.

At the moment I am worrying less about losing weight and focusing only on exercising because I want to. It makes me feel so much better, I have loads more energy and getting up early to do it just makes me feel like I am really making the most of my time and living life to the full. It’s also a really good thing to do with all my extra happy-bounciness of late.

Two more weeks of this and then I’ll be on holiday – although I’ll be able to swim every day then of course! It would be nice to lose a little bit more weight before then too…

Ran 5K on Sat, swam Mon, Tues and Weds, so 4 sessions, happy with that although I won’t have swum between Weds and Mon and I am feeling achy!

Went out for a run this morning, 3K in the drizzle and cold, slightly slower pace than last week’s 5 but 26:42 for future reference. Feeling good, hopefully I won’t have the achy hip I had last week!

Last week (week 14) I swam on Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday – so not as much as the week before but acceptable considering I had Monday and Thursday morning off. We probably walked about almost 2 hours on Monday and I got out for walks two lunchtimes out of three as well. (My weeks are now running Saturday to Friday for some reason!!)

And today, I had my 2nd run round the 5K route. I wasn’t really intending to, but yesterday when I woke up I had so much energy and really missed my swim, so I thought I’d get up this morning and at least go and bounce around the field for a bit, and then I got a decent split time at the end of the first circuit so kept going. It was a beautiful sunny, but hazy so not too hot, morning with a nice breeze. I still have absolutely nothing to give on the second hill up the back of the field, but I got to the end feeling it had been less of a struggle than last time – I suppose knowing I could do it helped.

Time was 47:37 which is, weirdly, exactly a minute faster than last month (and I had my period so was kind of surprised to make it round at all!!) So last month’s time doesn’t appear to have been artificially slow, and at least I was quicker than that. Now that I have my 101 list to think about, I figure even if I only knock off a minute a month, I’ll be running it in 30min by the spring of 2010 (!!!) which still gives me a year to find a 5K to run in. Hopefully it’ll get faster quicker though, as my weight is only a pound or two less than last month and yet I was a minute faster.

And I feel so great afterwards!! Running is definitely another source of happiness :D

Well I succeeded in getting some exercise every day this week (today will be day 8)!! Mostly swimming with a run thrown in for fun. A feel SO much better for it – I knew it was something I felt like doing so it’s not like I’ve been forcing myself to go, just making time for it and ensuring that I got enough sleep. I am a little achy but I can already see differences in my tone and I’ve been more alert during the day and (for the most part) happier.

It’s only resulted in a 1lb loss though (that’s since Monday), and the reason for that is that my eating has been all over the place. I have had some truly horrendous days where I’ve just stuffed my face. So while on balance it’s possible to say that maybe I could lose more if I exercised less and ate properly, it’s not as if I’ve been eating properly for the past few weeks anyway, so I’m not sure whether I ate more because of the exercise or not. Either way, the exercise is something I really want to be doing at this point, so I will keep going and hope the eating falls into place a bit. At least for next week…

Not bad for a run in the midst of a week of a swims – legs were heavy and I felt more tired but also felt like I had more stamina. 30.5 mins round, didn’t push quite as hard as I would normally but it was pleasant, and that’s the main thing.

I really do love this week, where everything is simple and all I have to do is get enough sleep and start each day with exercise. It is so nice to wake properly rested and look forward to the day…

Having skipped week 12 (a date is as good a reason as any, right??!)

Week 13 is going to be a total ME-week! Out at my friend’s parents’ place over the weekend, we swam for 45 minutes each morning and it reminded me how good it felt to exercise first thing. I also need to kick-start everything again as it’s been a while now since I lost any new pounds and a couple of old ones are clinging on for dear life.

• exercise each day (swim or run – I am already 3 days down so should be possible!)
• start my bedtime routine at 8pm every single night
• be carbless (and yes! that includes Cheerios!) every single evening

Other stuff, walking, stretching, tai chi, should carry on as usual. Rah.