Countdown to TM: Day 3...

Jeekers! Only Thursday... Friday... Saturday... MUDDERDAY!!!

Still weighing myself on mostly a daily basis... part out of habit, part out of interest...
For about the last month, I've been quite stable at around 80.8 - 81.5kg.
I haven't been concerned about my weight since I reached this level.
But is was very nice and quite surprising to wake up to a reading of 80.0kg on the scales this morn!

When I began training for TM at the start of the year, weight loss wasn't a goal.
I was training to be able to be fit enough to actually do TM in September.

In the past, I've tried to lose weight for various reasons (health, look better etc) but I wouldn't lose that much or I couldn't stick to whatever I was doing.
I've tried RPM classes, weight loss shakes, diets and various other exercise regimes with the goal of weight loss.
When I started training for TM, I was 91kg and in my weight tracking app on my iPhone.
I set my goal as 85kg and the target date as the 23rd of September.
85kg would mean I would be in the healthy BMI range, plus it was just a magical number I had often aimed for in the past.

But I'll say it again, I wasn't running to lose weight, I was running to get fit...
And guess what..?
I lost weight as a result of the running!  (big surprise???)   :)

Once I started getting better at running and feeling healthier, I modified my eating habits too.
Portion size has always been a weakness of mine, so it was just a matter of will power to cut back on the amount I would eat. Using smaller plates and bowls is always a great idea to help with this.
Fewer crappy snacks and keeping up good amounts of protein to help feel fuller longer.

And the weight kept coming off..!
It was sometime around mid-June that I hit 85kg.
I was over the moon at the time. :)
I'd finally hit that magic number...
And while it isn't a very accurate calculation, my BMI was finally under 25!
I was now considered to no longer be "overweight" by scientific standards.

And as the year continued... the runs continued... the distances grew longer... the pace increased...
By mid-August, I had dropped to 81kg!

It was the lightest I've been in... I have no idea!
I vaguely remember when I moved to Japan in February 2000, that I had often told a story of being 87kg upon arrival, but within two weeks I had dropped to 84kg. Change in diet and water resulted in about a week of diarrhoea.

So the furthest "weight" memory I have is 12 years ago and I am lighter than that now!
Not too bad for an old dog... ;)

Since January, I have taken four lots of progress photos of my front, side and back.
The results are quite remarkable...
Waist line has reduced...
Tummy isn't bulging out as much (there is still a stubborn layer over my rock hard abs though) :(
I'm not quite as bootylicious as before...
Legs have slimmed down a lot as well...

So post TM... what is going to happen?
Will I stop running? ...doubt it!
It's become a pseudo-addiction...
It all depends on what the next challenge is...
Maybe a half marathon..? Maybe a triathlon..?

Finished the day with another massage from Ceds from Core for Life.
Not as painful as the week before, but still plenty of tightness that needed loosening.

Countdown to TM: Day 5...

Crappy night with chucking child...
Felt worn out...
Stretches and foam roller as calves and hammys were tight.

Let's just put this one down as a recovery day shall we. ;)

Countdown to TM: Day 8...

Awoke to some rather sensitive calves and quads.
But they felt a whole lot better than being tight.
Only managed five hours sleep cos I was up baking and had to prepare for my son's birthday BBQ.

Was a good day... Wasn't the food I really wanted to be eating before the City to Bay, however it did hit me later on that I was taking things a little too seriously perhaps...
It's just a 12km run... I've done plenty of them before...
I think the main thing was that I really wanted to run the 12km in under an hour, so I wanted to be at my best.

Unfortunately... I was to be thwarted by some pathogens!! :(
Oh yes... I got gastro that evening... Many trips made to the toilet...

Wanted to hit the sack early as I'd had only a short sleep the night before and was tired from a busy day, but had to get up a few times during the night due to over hydrating from fear of fluid loss from the diarrhoea.

Countdown to TM: Day 9...

Still bloody tight when I woke up in the morn... :(
Calves and hammys especially...
Lots of stretching and some foam roller massage... But just doesn't feel like it is doing anything...
35 inverted push ups.

Couldn't take it during the day.
Knew I needed help, so booked in a massage with Core for Life trainer Ceds.
It was about an hour and a half of pain and relief..!
And it was soooooooo good.
It was exactly what I needed.
My legs had just felt continuously tight until the massage.

It was freaking heavenly afterwards!



Such a difference and it really hit home that massage needs to be an integral part of my training regime if I want to continue thrashing myself. :)

Countdown to TM: Day 24...

Looking forward to final work PT session happening this arvo. It's a cardio class, so no running in the morn.

Did 35 push ups then planks and cobras for a couple of mins each.
A bit of stretching... I can now actually touch my toes if I curl them back! Been a while since I've been able to do that.

And then... The nightmare began...
Was reaching into the car to grab my suit jacket before going into my first appointment. I didn't realize the edge of the gutter that I was about to step on was broken. Put my foot down and slipped off the side.
Slight pain in my ankle, but the bigger concern was my back... I had twisted and jarred my body suddenly and I could already feel pain in my lower back. :(

GP recommended some anti-inflammatories and light stretches. Popped the pills but couldn't do the stretches I wanted to do in a suit. Did what I could standing up though.

I was really bummed out.
This was what I'd been dreading for the last few weeks... Within sight of doing Tough Mudder and then injuring myself... Eight months of training and then not being able to take part...
Heart breaking...

What really had me worried though was the feeling in my back... It reminded me too much of last year...

At the end of 2010, I was a passenger in a car accident. It was only quite minor, but we were hit from behind at fairly high speed and I had minor whiplash in my lower back from it.
I recovered within a couple of weeks thanks to a couple of physio sessions.
But around mid-2011, I had a flare up that was much worse than the original pain from the event.
It turned out that my muscles in my back and legs were so tight that they were spasming and pulling my body out of kilter.
About two solid months of massage, dry needling, stretches, physio and Pilates got me back to normal thankfully. My core strength had been crap and was providing minimal stability. The Pilates was great for building up my core, while the stretches, massage and dry needling loosened my muscles.

The clinic I attended was top notch.
Smart Health (just off Richmond Rd) has a range of skilled professionals under the one roof.
I highly recommend Anh Vo as a physio. Thorough and healing hands. :)

I was still planning on attending my PT session, but had accepted that I'd probably just be stretching and goading my colleagues on from the sidelines. This was the tenth and final session. I was the only member in the group who had managed to attend every single one. And here I was, about to miss the last class.

However...!
All was not lost...
As it was just a cardio session and my ankle was fine, the PT still got me to participate. There was no twisting involved and he got me to just avoid the rowing machine.
We did five min rotations on treadmill, bike and elliptical trainer. Two lots on each.
I kept upping the resistance on all the machines cos what was recommended wasn't feelin like enough of a challenge. Sweated up a storm!! :)

Did two lots of thorough stretches in evening and massage with foam roller.
Was trying to beat the back pain before it beat me!!

Countdown to TM: Day 26...

Now I'm paying the price more for yesterday's stupidity.
Glutes, calves, quads... All tight... And often when I have tight glutes and quads, I will experience back pain (related to an injury in a car accident a couple of years ago).

Stretches galore before breaky and some more just after my shower too. A massage would be awesome, but no time for that today unfortunately.

To finish off, yes it was basically another rest day. But an important one. More stretches done in the evening and a bit of reading on the net.
A couple of good reads:

Importance of massage.
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4077&PageNum=1
(found thru BodyFirst Massage on FB)

Why exercising makes us feel good.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/08/what-happens-to-our-brains-during-exercise-and-why-it-makes-us-happier/