Feelin' good (well, better...)

Haven't been sleeping well last week. Sleep has been interrupted, either by waking children, bad dreams or just plain waking up. Maybe it's stress; physical or mental. I'm not sure but it's messing with my flow yo.

Hay Fever has hit this season as well, really hard. Cannot remember when I was last so badly affected. The anti-histamines (claratyne / polarmine) don't work. Maybe I should try another brand.

At any rate, I woke up this morning feeling really out of it. Tired, fuzzy and with a general sense of CBF. I packed my running gear into my bag, I think more out of habit than any eagerness to get out and knock over a few kms.

I did run though. It felt like such hard work. I noticed each stride and it took a while to warm up. The odd thing is that about half way (1.5km), everything snapped together. I found my stride, the movement was fluid as I remember it, the breathing matched and the right muscles were being used.

I finished strong in the last 100M and was breathing heavily, but far from tired. Did my upper body and core exercises and did a cool down jog back to the office.

I was watching the time and at 12:03 pm, I was walking into the Flinders St tunnel to start. I finished at 12:27 pm. I think I'm not too far off the pace. I've thrown out all my old digital watches so I haven't been timing myself. Might have to rectify that I think.

All in all, I'm happy I went and feel so much better for it.

Setting Goals

Ahhh...I've made target #1 which was a well paced 3km jaunt. Now this is still a far cry from where I was and where I want to be. I guess that's where all this goals talk is heading.

It's quite simple to say that I want to do xyz. Problem is, there is nothing to track or measure against. So this is my documenting as such.

Big Targets:
- 3km - Done
- 5km - End of December 2009
- 5km in 25 mins - End of February 2010

All fairly reasonable. I think this time round I will focus on fast 5km as opposed to longer distances. I've always been more about speed than distance anyway so I guess for now, any dreams of doing a marathon is put aside.

Embrace the racer.

Hooray for progress.

After years of running, I've come to know both my limitations and my reservations. What my body can do and will do, but more importantly, what it doesn't want to.

Getting back into running after a break is always a hurdle for me. Lifestyle is one thing but the fitness, or lack there-of always makes the second or third run a real psychological challenge. My body is still hating me from the shock treatment on Monday. It's sore and tired as I haven't really rested well this week. And somewhere into the first KM, it tells me, screams at me "FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!". HAHA!

This is usually where I wonder if I want to go through all of it again. The grind, the soreness, the heat, the flies. Do I really want to do this just to stop down the track and repeat the process?



Hell yeah!

Faltered?

I meant to get out today for a lunch run (when else?). However, I forgot about the BBQ at work today. Sausage (and vege-pattie), onion, ketchup and mustard is just too good to pass up.

Besides, I had a long work day yesterday and a late night. All excuses I know, but it's ok. I have my gear at work now and tomorrow is on for sure.

In the meantime, here's an awesome video I came across a bike forum I am a part of.



Awesome.

It's begun...

It's both amazing and depressing how a body works. It will take a lot of punishment and over time, accept it as the norm. I've always believed that being a fit person is very much a lifestyle thing.

It's so much more than what you eat or going to the gym (which I don't and will not do).

5 months. That's how long it's been since I donned my trusty runners and ground the pavement. I've done some pretty bad things to my body all this while. Alcohol, bad food and in the last month or so, cigarettes. In this time, I've gone from running Yarra + The Tan + 35-floor stair climb to a very painful jaunt along the yarra to Swan St Bridge and back.

That's barely 3km!!! I still made it a point to go through with the push-ups and crunches but I think it will be a slow and painful grind back to what it once was.

What really hit home was the physical ailments I've been experiencing of late. Sprained muscles, sore backs and general lack of energy. I don't believe it's age as I'm not old.

It goes to show that survival of the fittest does make a lot of sense. Sit still and you die. Applies to almost all facets of life.

Hopefully I'll be doing a quick and solid 5k by then end of November so I'll be mentally ready to start riding hard. Yes, I still haven't bought a bike but I'm pretty damn close.