i did it...now for the training!!

I bit the bullet...signed up for my first race!

Run Geelong is a 6km or 12km run, with 100% of proceeds going to the Geelong Hospital - a fantastic cause! The run itself isn't until November, so it's plenty of time to practice. This isn't the original race I'd planned to sign up for, but this one is better because my friend who lives in Geelong is going to run this one with me! We're both looking forward to a challenge and 6km is achievable, I think!

I've had a loooong day at work, so I'll update more lengthily later!

to run, or not to run - that is the question.

I've never been a strong runner. In fact I've never even really been a runner. I get puffed after a minute or two on the treadmill, and even though I can generally handle other cardio activity for a reasonable length of time, running and myself just don't gel.

I have been reading many a fitness blog lately, and it seems most of the bloggers are actively into running. I'm talking marathons, half marathons, things that just seem out of my realm of possibility. I'd be excited with even a 5km run that I could do comfortably without feeling like I'm going to pass out or have my lungs spontaneously combust.

I did a bit of a search around the net, and found that there's a fun run in October this year in Castlemaine, which is about a half hour drive from here. Beautiful town, it's a 5km or 10km run (I'm thinking the 5km for a beginner is more up my alley! 10 seems like a BIG task). I am still unsure whether I should just bite the bullet and register - thus having something to work towards - or wait and see if I can get my fitness up to par & register maybe in September if I feel like I'm up to it?

Embarrassingly enough, I tried going for a run this morning, if you could call it that. I got around the block once and that was it. It's probably not more than 700 or 800 metres and I felt like I was going to pass out. Ahhh. Baby steps, baby steps. I think I need to read up on strategies on how to gradually improve running. Couch to 5k, anyone?

Have a good day!

the last couple of days...

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday!

I reallllly didn't want to go to the gym on Wednesday. I just wasn't feeling it. I decided to ask the boyfriend if he wanted to catch up for lunch, which we did. I had a Chicken Pita & side salad at Nando's:

The little 'flags' on the pita are because I got hot basting on the chicken (there is chicken in the pita somewhere, I promise you), and one flag says 'special request' (no mayo...yuck!). I also had to add the balsamic vinegar to the salad, yum.

I also sneakily took my gym clothes in the car. Funny how you can trick yourself into gymming it when your clothes are already there, staring you in the face! I did a 12.5km bike and 5km row...pretty pleased with myself for going!

I also picked up this cute coffee mug for only $2...bargain! I needed a new coffee mug for work and this is kinda kitsch and right up my alley!

As for today (Thursday) I'm just having a lazy day around the house. I've been to the gym the past 3 days in a row and whilst a fourth consecutive day might not seem like much for some people, for me it's overload...I don't know if I will feel like going later in the day - but we'll see what pans out. I'm going to walk the dog later on, so that will count as some exercise for the day...and best bit is, it doesn't feel like exercise!

For those animal lovers out there, this is my dog - his name is Turbo, he's just over a year old and he's adorable (as you can see!). He was adopted from the RSPCA, as was our cat - I like to support them as much as possible!

so here's to health!

Well here we go, I've started a blog to track my own fitness/health/eating! I love reading other people's health & wellbeing blogs, and I am hoping it will be beneficial to start my own.

I should give a brief introduction of myself first, in case you stumble upon this page and are wondering about the author!

So here goes - my name is Kim, I've just recently turned 26 and I live in a town called Bendigo here in Australia. I have always been very interested in healthy eating and exercise, but neither has come naturally to me. If I could healthily survive on Kinder Bueno bars and pizza I most likely would. I don't have a body that is 'naturally thin' either, although I weigh about 65kg (which in the scheme of things isn't terrible by any means) and I'm 5 foot 4. I'm definitely pushing the upper echelons of the healthy height for weight range - but I don't really vouch for how reliable BMI scores are.

This is me, with my sister - I'm on the left, with the glasses!

I joined a gym last year, but have never really 'committed' highly to it. I had a friend who was living in my town, who used to be my gym buddy - however she has now moved about a 2 hour drive away, so being gym buddies is no longer feasible! I can find it very difficult to self motivate, but I do go through phases of LOVING exercise and gym.

It's definitely a love hate relationship!

As for my job - I work for a bank in their head office, so it's very much a sit-down computer based role. It's not what I saw myself doing for a career...I have my Bachelor's degree in Psychology, and whilst I find it interesting I don't know if I could handle it as a long term career - which is probably why I've never really actively pursued a role in the field. I would love to go back to University and study naturopathy or something like that, but it's a matter of time & money. I don't know how much I could justify it!

Anyway - onto today's exercise!

I went to the gym this morning, as I'm off work on annual leave for a couple of weeks. My gym (Fernwood) is having a 6 week challenge at the moment, which goes by the name "Tour De Fox". It's a really fun concept in my opinion. Basically, there's 6 tasks to do, which can be spread however you like across the 6 week timeframe. There's a 169km bike ride, to simulate the Tour De France, a 50km row to simulate rowing across a certain river (can't remember which one!), stepper challenges which are supposed to be like climbing particular mountains, running/walking 42km like a marathon - and a couple more which have escaped my memory. I managed to ride 27.5km today, so I've marked it down in my Tour De Fox booklet. Harder than it seems! The legs don't hurt as much as the butt, bike seats definitely don't appear to be designed for comfort!

I didn't have any breakfast before gym (BIG mistake, this is something I need to start doing every morning!) so I popped to the supermarket afterwards and picked up some food:

I'm obsessed with Crunchola cereal. It's somewhat pricey ($5.99 for a 450g box) but it's amazing, especially when you mush it around in a bowl with Vanilla yogurt rather than milk. Yum. I had to pick up some vanilla latte sticks because I have been craving a store bought coffee for days & this is the nearest thing to it from a supermarket. Mmmm frothy coffee goodness. The juice is an apple & forest berries juice, which was quite nice.

The other thing I bought was an Anti-Ox bar from the health food section of the supermarket. It's by a brand called Well Naturally. I don't really know much about the health breakdowns on packaging - but it was tasty. Sorta tasted like a healthy, grainy cherry ripe. Yum. I'd like to find out a bit more about the health benefits of Goji berries - I've heard good things but have no clue about why they are so revered!

I also took the dog for a quick walk this afternoon - it was only about 20 minutes worth, but we had a pretty quick pace going on! Feeling like I've accomplished a bit today. Dinner is cooking, washing done, dishes done, gym done. Life's good!