The weekly round-up

So, it's almost a week since I last had time to write anything. I'm thinking that a weekly round-up is probably more likely to happen than a daily diary, although I guess I can see how it goes. Tomorrow is early morning run day - up at 4:55 a.m. Ugh. Best plan - out of bed in a flash before my mind has time to register the ungodly hour. And you know, once you're up, it's not that bad - you just don't have to think about what the actual time is; until you get outside and turn your Garmin on and see that it says 5:15! But by then you're all wide awake and raring to go!

Last Tuesday was an Easy 5km in Zone 2 - HR 114 - 130 bpm; ended up walking heaps just to keep it below 130. A most dissatisfying 51 minutes. Unlike my Friday tempo run, which was awesome! First time up Rangatira Road since my injury and I was a little apprehensive  as to how I'd be with my breathing and HR, but for the first time in ages I actually felt like a runner! My Chi Running body positions were obviously good as it felt easy running up the inclines, even though my HR was elevated and I needed to walk at times. The downhill was terrific :-) I felt my glutes engage and my stride lengthen, and at times I was flying- oh, for all my runs to feel this good!

Wednesday and Thursday were cross-training days. Wednesday, a 25 minute cardio session on the bike, followed by 10 minutes cardio on the elliptical walker, then my glute strengthening exercises and foam roller for my ITBs. Thursday was an hour's Hard Core followed by an hour of Pilates. Although my core is pretty strong, there is definitely plenty of room for improvement, and my glutes have a long way to go! I had thought they were getting stronger, but obviously not, well, not according to the podiatrist, anyway! Today is my rest day - so I'm not feeling bad about not doing my exercises. After all, how can I give my muscles chance to repair if I don't give them a break! And I did go a long, slow run/walk yesterday.

I'm not a fan of these! I can't do them! My HR goes higher than it should and I have to keep walking - I don't like it! What I'm hoping is that as time goes on, and my cardio fitness improves, and I'm a good girl and keep slowing down/stopping/walking, my heart will learn to beat at the right speed!! But honestly, 2 hours to go 13km, that's pathetic! But if I'm going to run/walk 60km in February, I've got to train at the right intensity now or I'll never last the distance. 

Nutritionally I felt great. When I first entered the Tarawera Ultra I came across the idea of eating a low carb high fat diet. I had previously actually chatted to a runner who followed this eating regime and so the concept didn't seem that kooky, thus I decided to do some reading and investigating for myself. What I read made so much sense, and consequently I'm loving my new bread-, grain-, root veg- and sugar-free food. And, not that I changed my diet to lose weight, but I've lost a good 5-6kg :-) Mainly from my butt and thighs - whoopee! The wobbly bits are just slinking off in disgrace! Strangely, it hasn't been hard to make the change, but I do need to find more recipes and learn how to incorporate more fat into my daily diet when I hike my running kms up, I'll fade away otherwise!