Results are in!

Last month I set myself a new running challenge. As running has been my chosen exercise for the past 18 months, I’ve found myself to have many ups as downs with it. I love to run, but it’s one of those exercises that I find myself becoming a little bored with every now and again. But once I tweak my routine or route a bit, I get a new lease of life for a while and I’m all good!

My latest challenge I set for myself has been the best one yet! You can read all about from my post 4 Week Challenge! I’m happy to say I completed it last weekend and am stoked with how I went! It’s amazing just by changing a few things in my weekly running routine and having a positive attitude towards it how much I’ve improved! Just in that month I set PBS for my 1,2,3,9 and 10kms!!!! And my most rewarding achievement of all was running 10km in the 50s!!!!!!

Here is a list of my results over the 4 weeks….
4 week challenge
Week 1 –
5km -25.40
Sprint session (4x1km with 1 minute rest between) – 4.08(pb), 4.45, 4.39, 4.44
10km – hill run 52.53

Week 2-
5km – 25.14
3km (sprint session) – 14.03 – 4.28(1km), 9.17(2km)
10km – flat run 50.42 (pb) – best achievement by far!!!

Week 3 –
5km – 24.57
sprint session (4 x 1km with a 1 minute rest) – 4.10, 4.42, 4.34, 4.40
10km – hill run 52.42

Week 4 –
5km – 24.39
3km – 13.53 (pb)- 4.23, 9.13
10km – flat run 51.55

My 4 week challenge now leaves my running PBS at….
Running PBs
1km 4.25 – sprinting only 1km 4.08
2km 9.15
3km 13.53
4km 18.47
5km 24.02
6km 29.36
7km 35.40
8km 40.57
9km 46.00
10km 50.42
10km hill run 51.10

I’m so stoked with how I’ve gone!!! And am even more stoked with running my 10km hill run yesterday morning in 51.10!!!! If you know my area that is Warrigal, Padstow, Mains and Beenleigh rds there are some challenging spots that’s for sure!!!

Where to from here?? Well for starters I DISLIKE winter and and the only good thing that comes with it is the fashion and those beautiful crystal blue skies!! So my challenge to myself now is to get through winter by maintaining one 10km run per week, one sprint session and a light run session per week as well. There isn’t enough light in the day to exercise on my two work days so they will be my days off and the other 5 days will be for my 3 running sessions and 2 walks with my beautiful babies!

We’ve hit the hard time of the year now where the weather is cold and the days are shorter, but this is where we have to dig deeper and force ourself not to lose sight of our goals and to just keep going….

Remember all you have to do is put your shoes on and start…the rest will fall into place:) and before you know it you’re hot, sweaty and the thought of your nice warm bed is a thing of the past:)!

Here’s to surviving winter….:)

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A Month of Personal Bests!

After starting winter on a downer from catching every germ going around, it took a while then for me to pick myself up! The nasty gastro bug I caught got me the most! I was left feeling drained, tired and energy-less all the time. I lost too much weight and all I wanted to do was eat rubbish! But I never lost sight of what my main agenda is for myself and that is to be a good mum and wife, eat healthy, keep fit and be happy!

Before all of this I was at the peak of my fitness. I was running really well and achieving my goals and then a crack appeared in my path. I was determined not to let any of the hard work I’d done for a long time to be wasted so I battled through it! I’ve kept up with my running but some days have been a struggle! The power of the mind has had a huge impact on me continuing my successful running path and if my mind wasn’t in a good place I wouldn’t be running the times I am now!

About a month ago I thought there was seriously something wrong with me! I was keeping up my exercise but still feeling tired all the time and not having the spring in my step I’d found since exercising! Each run I did hurt like it was my first and I was beginning to think I needed to go to the doctors! But then I reassessed things. I was starting to eat more rubbish than normal, I had a constant head cold and I was still trying to exercise on my work days! A reality check allowed me to make some adjustments which I’m so glad I’ve done!

I now only exercise on my non work days, treat myself once a day rather than binge eat and force myself to rest when I feel I need it! Since doing this I feel great again!! I don’t feel exhausted anymore, my spring is back in my step, life isn’t as overwhelming and I’m running as good as ever!!!! Even though through all of this I’ve maintained my goal weight, I contribute my running PBs to my healthy eating that I’ve regained! It’s ok to eat a bit of rubbish here and there and keep up your exercise as one really cancels the other out! But eating a well balanced diet really plays a huge part in feeling great, therefore exercising well!

An over abundance of bad food, whilst at the time may taste delicious, really ends in our bodies feeling sluggish and tired! I noticed a huge difference from when my diet went off track and now I’m back on track things are looking up again!!! I’m finally, in the last few weeks, back to my peak with my running! This last week has been a huge week for achieving personal bests! It’s amazing how good eating, a good mind set, a good pair of running shoes (new pair) and comfy pants set you up for running your best! It’s also helped that the weather is starting to warm up, so I’m hoping things will only keep getting better!

My PBs now are:
2km – 9.40 mins
3km – 14.54 mins
4km – 19.55 mins
5km – 25.15 mins
7.5kms – 40 mins

My next goal is to complete a 10km run under an hour!

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