Choose your Hard!

Okay, so I have had a pretty busy week . . . especially where training is concerned.

I ended my last blog with saying that I will let you know what I decided about training last Sunday in this week’s update . . . well, I ended up having a super chilled Sunday and did not train . . . BUT . . . I have trained every day since then . . . After all, next Friday is ‘Judgement-Day-With-Claire’ and I expect good results . . . I do still have some work to do to get where I was before lock-down, for me to be able start moving forward on reaching my goals . . .

The weather this week has been wet and cold, which makes it rather difficult to train if you do it outside and don’t have much space inside to train. Of course the week started off with Monday being cold and filled with rain just about the whole day. It took some convincing, but I worked out something to do inside the house, changed into my gear and just got on with it. Two short workouts to make up a minimum of 30 minutes including Warm up. It started with the first workout being for time, 21–15–9 reps each — Burpees, Push ups and Weighted Sit ups (10kg). I had so little faith that I was going to complete this in under 30 minutes, I set the timer for 45 minutes . . . then smashed it all out in only 14:45!! The next workout was a 12 minute Amrap of 20 Penguin Taps, 10 Backward Lunges and 10 Push presses per arm using a 10kg dumbbell. Somehow I managed to complete 5 rounds of this before the 12 minutes were up . . . The week started off with a bang!

Tuesday’s weather was much better, nice and sunny although a little breeze joined us later in the day, and of course this would happen asn I decide to attempt a 5km run . . . . It wasn’t too hectic, but that little breeze did tend to push back every so often. I was not super impressed with my time, as I did complete it at a slower pace than last week, then Tammy reminded me that a few months ago I couldn’t even run that far, so the fact that I managed to complete another 5km is great! (I am so grateful for this woman’s constant encouragement!)

Wednesday turned out cold and wet again, so I had to come up with something else to do inside. The original workout was 100 Push ups, 100 Squats and 100 Sit ups . . . and for the life of me, I still don’t know why I decided this, but I added 100 Burpees to that . . . It then started with the Burpees, then Squats and Push ups and finished with the Sit ups! I knew this was going to be a tough one, but that was the idea, to challenge myself . . . although I did question this decision shortly after I started the workout! I set the timer for 60 minutes and got going . . . I only finished the 100 Burpees 24 minutes in . . . Jeepers! At this point I started wondering if I was going to manage all of this in under 60 minutes, because Push ups is not a strength of mine either . . . Anyways, got on with the Squats, which I got through quite quickly and had around 30 minutes left to do the rest . . . Beyond excited to report that I got through all of it in 51:36!! Needless to say that after this, I just wanted to lie on the floor in the fetal position!

Thursday was ‘Training-with-Tammy-day’ . . . usually the highlight of my week and this was no different! The workout to complete in 20 minutes was an 80 Calorie Row, 120 14lb Wall Balls and 30 Chest to Bar pull ups. Firstly, I have never done Chest to Bar, so this was something new to learn . . . and just to be clear, I don’t get to pull myself up just yet (rather difficult to lift my 100+kg self LOL), so I stand on something which supports me in the movement and do a chest-to-bar-jump instead . . . All of this in 20 minutes proved to be rather difficult, so managed a 60 calorie row, 100 Wall Balls and 20 Chest-to-Bar-Jumps . . . Was bushed thereafter, always is . . . and with Tammy as a coach, always will be . . . but I strangely love it!

Friday morning was the usual walk on the beach with Mel, but this week Chrislen joined us too! A seemingly well-deserved (almost) stroll after a rather hectic week of training.

I was planning to go for another run on Saturday, but my mom mentioned that she was keen to do a 5km walk, since she used to do the Parkrun with me every Saturday and haven’t done anything since February. So I scratched the run and went for a walk with my mom, which will help her get back into getting her fitness up again and at the same time rid her of some of her aches and pains and provide more energy because she will be burning more energy! This was a pretty cool walk too, and at a faster pace than our Friday walk.

So . . . Day 7 . . . Sunday . . . should be a rest day . . . but, I have ‘judgement-day’ approaching . . . I was initially going to go for a run with a friend, who ended up having a late night last night, so decided not to join me . . . but now the voices are roaring that there is no need for me to go, because now I am going to go by myself . . . not like this is something I haven’t done before, I do it all the time . . . then it was all about Sunday being chilled and my body needing rest . . . these damn voices just never stop . . . Regardless, got my butt out of bed, changed into my gear, warmed up and was ready to go at 07:15 . . .

Before I carry on . . . to have started this blog was already a big thing for me and I clearly did not think it all through too very well . . . because now I have to come up with some or the other photograph every week, and this is a MUCH bigger thing for me . . . because the blog is about me and this journey, the pictures generally have to be too . . . and me . . . I do NOT like pictures of myself on the best of days, but I have decided that I will share these anyways, even the vulnerable moments . . . So my husband joined me on this morning’s run, just so he could be my own personal photographer . . .

And the thing about him joining me is that I am literally shuffling away to get through the 5km without stopping, and here he is, right next to me . . . on a bit of a stroll . . . LOL! I sometimes wonder what people think when they drive past us and see me huffing and puffing attempting to run the full 5km without stopping and there is my super-tall-long-legged-husband right next to me . . . But he is so incredibly encouraging all of the way (and another set of eyes, since I would potentially have been run over by a car skipping a stop sign, if he wasn’t there) . . . he continuously tells me how proud he is of me, at every moment he gets . . . I am blessed beyond belief with this man by my side!

Aaaanyways . . . I managed through the 5km at the same pace as last week, rather than the run on Tuesday. This made me decide to stop putting so much pressure on myself about wanting to improve my time . . . it will come . . . eventually . . .

So yes, a hectic week of training . . . 7 consecutive days . . . for the first time in my life! And I am proud of myself for what I have been able to achieve this week . . . my eating habits are exactly what it should be, so I am looking forward to seeing Claire on Friday and will hopefully have a great results to report back on next week!

I know how difficult it is to get started and have come across a video I would like to share with you which is some of an interview with a man by the name David Goggins. Heads up — he says it the way it is and swears like a trooper . . . he is a little controversial as well . . . but he speaks the truth and has had something to do with my current mind set . . . perhaps it could help you too, so please do watch/listen to it!

And then finally, I came across a quote this week, which I would like to leave you with . . . which goes like this . . .

Picture below — Shuffling hard to get through the 5km . . . I saw a quote somewhere which says ‘No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch!’ . . . and for this reason, I will keep at it!

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