Swimming setback

I've been putting up with a "niggle" in my shoulder since the Tauranga Half Ironman, and finally went to the doctor about it today. I have damaged my tendon in some way. He has injected it with a steroid, and suggested no swimming and pump - which I managed to negotiate to 'no shoulder exercise in pump'. YAH I hate doing the shoulder exercises in pump anyway!!!!
He was rapt with my fitness - my blood pressure was 110/74 today - I've never had it so low!
I'll keep running and cycling and see how I am in 6 weeks time.
I am going to decide whether to do Ironman in 6 months time. Prior to this I will lose more weight, and build up my running, cycling and core strength.

Ironman Experience

What a great weekend - I planned to watch the Ironman and do some shopping. All I did was watch Ironman, and meet lots of other supporters - including Mr and Mrs Brown Snr!!!! So somehow I've got to find an outfit to wear to a friend's wedding next week!
The weekend started with dropping the girls off at my sister-in-laws, at Morrinsville, and heading down to Taupo. I had managed to get a motel for the Friday night, but not Saturday - when I got there they up-graded my room - 1st time I've ever had that!!
I went down and had a look at all the bikes and the set up for Ironman - the pro's bikes were right by the fence, so I could see all the very flash bikes!! I forgot my digital camera - I picked up a throw away one, but annoyed me, as I could have posted them straight away!!
I got down to the venue at around 5.45 am, and watched everyone set up. Had a chat to Gina Fergusson's partner - unfortunately had told him my accomplishments before I realised who he was there with!!! Well I guess they'd not be able to race if it wasn't for the other finishers - the likes of marathons, half IM etc must be so expensive to run!!
I wandered down to the lake, and saw the Maori waka and ceremony, saw Sarah Ulmer, who was supporting her partner. Got a hell of a fright at the start (army set off a cannon!!!)
Watched the leaders get out of the water after 44 minutes!!!!
I caught up with an old friend who used to farm at Waitakaruru. He said the ironman competitors have named him didymo Dave, as he was responsible for the education around dipping the wetsuits - to ensure didymo doesn't infect our lakes and rivers in the North Island.
I went back and watched T1. I think I saw Kathy at this stage, just after she ran up the steps. She still had her wetsuit on - it was quite a long distance between the lake and the bikes.
One of the funniest things was a lady from America - it was her birthday too - she had pink everything, bike helmet, clothing etc - yes you'd think a real lady - well her arms were laiden with tattoos!
At this stage I was getting hungry, so headed to a cafe - along with 5000 other people - met a nice family and had breakfast with them. They had twin 6 year olds and an 8 year old with them. The friend they were supporting was hoping to finish within 10 hours - still it would have been a long day with littlies!
Went out on to the main road and saw the leaders come through the first lap - they were flying, especially with a tail wind! Saw Kathy come through, then Tineka and Alison. Yelled out for son's of ladies on sidelines too! Saw Peter (showpony) fly through too! By then it was lunch time, so grabbed a bite to eat.
I didn't realise the bike to run transition was in a different place - so found that and watched the runners. Met up with a lot of other people - it's a great atmosphere!
Got some great photos of Cameron Brown, Kieran Doe and Jo Lawn runnng past - I thought Jo was going to lose, she looked tired, man she must have a super tough mental and physical strength! I missed the men's finish, but got down in time to see the womans finish. The camera man's motorbike rider crashed into a barrier near the end - quite funny!
I met Mr and Mrs Brown - they were about to leave. They were very happy - in the past Cameron has left it to the last minute to win - harrowing for parents! This year it was obvious from 21 km into the run that barring any major problem he had it in the bag. I remarked that they were lucky - lots of other parents had to wait a lot longer for their sons and daughters to finish!
Cheered in the first couple of hundred finishers - including Peter - he was looking good. A great time too!
I went out and caught up with Tineka - who spotted I had safety pins on my top - which she needed - glad to be of help!! Knew I must have left them there for a good reason!
Saw Kathy come through and she had energy for a high 5. She was in good shape, and looked like a sure finisher!
Alison came through - walking, but pleased to see she finished too.
I decided at this point to go home. It was 7.30 I was tired and had just under 3 hours to drive home. So sorry to miss your finish everyone!
Didn't catch up with Sub6, he obviously caught up with Kathy's support crew - great tee-shirts! I didn't see them at all! Might see you on the start line at Rotorua?
By the way - the jury is still out on whether I do the 25th NZ Ironman next year - or not!

Go Taupo Ironman competitors!

I'm really excited. Tomorrow night I leave for Taupo to watch the Ironman race. I'm hoping to catch up with some fellow bloggers, and some shopping - of course!
I'm battling a nasty late summer 'flu, which seems to have everyone around here laid out too! I can't believe how sick I've been since I've stopped the long hours of training! Once I'm better I'm back into it!

Just read this article though, which is slightly depressing, but I can see the truth in it:

MOVE IT TO LOSE IT - Runners World Feb. 2008

It doesn't seem fair, but those who are battling the bulge will have to exercise up to twice as much to maintain their desired weight than those who have always been physically blessed. According to Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, current public recommendations call for a 30-60 minutes a day of physical activity to avoid weight gain, and 60-90 minutes a day to avoid weight regain after having shed some kilos. In the trial, researchers found the majority of successful weight maintainers (who had lost at least 30 kilograms and kept it off for an average of 14 years) had to work out intensely for more than 60 minutes a day. Despite their higher physical activity duration and intensity, the maintainers group's average BMI of 22 was higher than the normal group, whose average BMI was 21.1.

I'll let you know next week whether I decide to tackle IMNZ 2009 or not!!!

Cheers,

Yee Hah Rain

This is my farming coming out - we desperately need rain to keep the grass growing, as in New Zealand our cows rely on basically a grass only based diet. They are outside all year round due to our ideal climate. We had good rain last night, we just need some more rain now.....are we ever happy? - Well yes I guess we are happy, we had a great holiday at the beach, the weather was fantastic, and next week is the National Big Game Fishing contest. I orginally got fit to be able to handle catching big fish, so I can't wait! The official weight for marlin is over 90 kg, so I wanted to be lighter than any I weighed in! Last year my fish was 137 kg, luckily I never have weighed more than that! But I have been well over 90 kg!

Went for a run in the heat today - 35 minutes jog after a 10 minute walk (wondering whether I should run or not for 10 minutes).

Yes Kathy and SUB6, might target the Huntly Half - more realistic target.

Kids Weetbix Tryathlon

On Sunday Celine completed the Weetbix Tryathlon in Hamilton. It was held at Waikato University, and involved swimming 100m, Biking 4 km, and running 1.5 km. Celine did very well, completing it and getting her medal.

The tryathlon is very well organised, there were 1500 kids aged from 8 to 15, and things appeared to go very well. We had to be there at 8.30, and Celine didn't start until just after 11. So it was a bit boring to start with!

In the photo, Celine is the one with the bike helmet on.

My training has been slow, I'm starting to think the Rotorua marathon may need to be cut. My main aim is to lose weight, and having a goal like the marathon in only 12 weeks time, may make losing weight hard, I'm better to concentrate on a weekly 10 to 15 km run consistantly, than try and build up to full marathon training. Maybe next year?

Owwie!

Went back to my first Pump class on Thursday. I purposely used low weights, but made sure I did the exercises correctly. I'm still very sore!!!!! Yesterday was a rest day.
This morning I went for a one hour run, then shot into Paeroa to try a Wilpowa RPM class - felt a bit strange being on a stationary bike! I must admit I struggled. I'll blame my vein operation, surely I've got a few more days I can use it as an excuse on!!! Actually it is still swollen, but the bruising has improved.
Now I'm finding it hard to walk. I still haven't entered the Rotorua Marathon yet, might give it another week of running to see how I feel.
The Speights Coast to Coast is on this weekend - now that would be a REAL challenge. NO FORGET IT JULIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slowly but surely!

Went for a really slow jog around the farm last night. Brian suggested I check to see how much grass we had! Wow it is really short and brown. The cows still looked OK though.
Anyway back to the jog. My leg is still quite tender, and it's weird running with a compression stocking on one leg! I managed over an hour of steady jogging, so was pretty happy.
For the marathon I should be running for 2 hours at the moment (long run), and am hoping to do that on Saturday. If I manage it I'll definitely enter Rotorua.
Portion control is under good management, I'm back to keeping a food diary. I haven't weighed myself as my leg is still quite swollen.
Interestingly, I decided to wear my heart rate monitor last night, haven't for ages. My heart rate stayed around 135 to 140 for most of the run, which seems quite high for a slow jog, but have put it down to being sick in the weekend (my temperature was 38.7!).
I might wear it for a few more runs to see how I go. I'd love to get one of those GPS ones - but don't think I can justify it.

What plans have come out of having a day to think....

Ultimate goal - reach 65 kg in weight - present weight unknown, as I'm still too scared to get on the scales.

Next few weeks - game fishing and a few little triathlons.
April 26th - Autumn Challenge with 2 other girls. White water rafting, mountain biking and treking.
May 3rd - Rotorua Marathon - OK sounds scary - but should be achievable.
November 1 - K2? or K1? -See how bike training goes through the winter.
December sometime - Rotorua Half Ironman.

Training for the above, some good will power, and wilpowa (my trainer for pump), should help me to reach my goal. Running seems to be the best way for me to burn excess calories.

Today's story - major self pity!

Currently I'm having a sicky - after feeling good about the vein laser treatment, I woke up feeling ghastly on Sunday morning, and ended up in bed most of the day. Ella (2 and a half) entertained herself by pulling out all my magazines and makeup, jumping on me etc. Fortunately Brian came back from the beach in time to save everything and cook dinner.
I went to the afterhours doctor, and have a very infected throat, just as well I went, as he said he wouldn't have liked the bacteria to travel into my leg!
SOOO still walking.

Back into it - well sort of

I went for a 30 minute walk this morning - WALK - yes. I have had a bad varicose vein on my leg and promised myself if I lost weight I would get it treated. So yesterday I went to Hamilton and had Unilateral Endovenous laser treatment. Quite an amazing experience - and no major problems - I could drive home straight after, and should be back running in a couple of days!
The vein was a real bulgy one, and was really noticable with my cycling toned legs.
I was able to claim the operation on medical insurance - a real bonus!
The same clinic also does tummy tucks etc - but that comes with a MAJOR price tag! I am going to lose some more weight and see what happens. The fact that I have lost weight slowly, and maintained my current weight for a while may help with the surplus skin issue.