Currently: end July

30.07.2012

slightly nervous about my upcoming fitness model comp - 9 weeks to go!
 
wading through mountains of to do lists and paperwork at work.
 
finishing the clothes shopping ban I had in place (and committed to) for June and buying a new dress and top from cotton on. Cheap thrills!
 
stressing about work. I have so many things happening at the moment. So much to do and so little time.
 
wishing I could work from home. Be a freelance PR/marketer working on cool, exciting and creative projects or write for a magazine.

realising I miss scrapbooking/working in the scrapbooking industry.

dreaming about what my house will look like that I'm going to buy in Melbourne... ah little single fronted weatherboard cottage with white washed walls, exposed beams cosy furniture I long for you.
 
thinking about my friends back down south and how much I miss them too.
 
excited about heading to Bali in a few weeks (my only saviour at the moment)!

ABC Darwin 1/2 Marathon 2012: race recap

The preparation:

I knew in my head when I moved up to Darwin there was a Half Marathon towards the end of July. I knew that in the back of my mind I wanted to do it, my first half marathon. I knew I'd been doing CrossFit more than I had been running, and that I needed to use the NT City to Surf as a lead up to to the half.

I only actually officially registered on the 21st of June, giving myself one month of 'official' preparation! I roughly jotted down a training plan in my filofax (as in greylead pencil) and set out to do at least one short run (approx 5-7km) mid week and one longer run (working it's way up in kms as I go).

What I ended up doing was the following during June (the purple are crosFit workouts and the blue ones are runs):

And in July:

The week before:

I purposely didn't go to CrossFit, there was no way I was going to have a sore and tight body on the day, or even worse - a possibly injury! The last crossfit session I had was on the Friday the week before and I'm glad I had that time off.

I went for my last run on the Tuesday before the run - a practice of the first lap of the course (which is a out and back from a bit over 1km, then four laps of the same course around East Point. I felt ok, a little tired, but not too shabby.

I booked in for a Chiropractor visit on Friday lunchtime to get checked over. He said all my muscles we in good condition and not tense, upon my request he also taped up my calves.

Before the race:

The night before I went out for dinner and had lasagne, and got into bed early for a good night's sleep. I laid out all my race gear (but ended up changing my top which I was happy about).

The race was scheduled for 6.30am. I woke up at 5am on the morning and immediately ate something to give myself time to digest it. I had a coffee, wholemeal english muffin with honey and a banana. I showered and dressed (I ended up wearing a tried and tested black adidas singlet and black lorna jane shorts and skins calf compression tights). Then drove about 10minutes to the race location.

The weather was really kind, and was only around 15-16degrees - amazing for Darwin! It was dark and a little chilly when I arrived. I ran into one of the guys from CrossFit and wished him luck, and chatted to another runner (who had run his previous 1/2 in 1hour 30mins) eep!

During the race:
 

With the cool air, and sun rising, the gun went off at about 6.38am (slightly behind schedule to allow the sky to lighten a little). Even though I felt fresh, and the adrenaline was flowing, I knew I had to stick to my pace I had set for myself to allow myself to come in under my goal of 2 hours.



In my training, I felt like 2 hours was unattainable. I wasn't far off it, but didn't feel as though my legs had had enough long distance training in them! But I thought, why not try it?!

I'd spoken to my friend Jayne in the weeks leading up - and having run a 1/2 marathon (and a full one) before, I knew her advice would be awesome! She told me no matter what to stick to my pace - and that's what I did. I aimed to stick between 5.35 - 5.38 mins/km for the whole run - otherwise I might have worked too hard too soon, and burnt out big time in the end.

So I did what she told me...

The first 3km or so felt great, there was an amazing energy and I felt fresh. There was a slight incline around the 2-3km mark, but felt good. I knew I could've been going faster, and even made myself slow down!

I felt great for the first lap, and then realised I only had three more to go! My pace started to slow down around 7km mark and had a Endura gel (lime flavour I think) at 45min mark and kept going. After I'd done 10km I was still feeling good with the extra sugar and energy in my system. I'd done another lap and had another Endura gel (this time grape flavour) at 1.20min mark. I think you can tell this by my heart rate where it spikes at these times.

The worst part of the run was that I needed to go to the toilet from the first lap onwards but i didn't want to stop! I also thought I had a rock in my shoe also - in between my right big toe, and second toe however it turned out to be them rubbing together and getting a blister! :( 

Anyway, so after passing the crowd on my last lap, I then saw Brad trying to find a park. It made me excited to see him at the end and I forged on. For the whole run I focused on my breathing, and stride and keeping to my pace, the music playing on my ipod seemed like background noise.

It wasn't until the last 6km that I noticed the music. I needed it to push me on, I put on one of my mum's 'uplifting' songs - Jimmy Barnes "N second prize" to help me a bit.

I was still feeling good up until 17km when I noticed my pace had slowed down a bit. I realised I didn't have long left so I just pushed on, put on a couple of uplifting and fast songs and kept going! All I could keep thinking was how happy I would be when it was all finished and I had accomplished a goal.

As I turned onto the last little straight, I pushed my legs hard...

...and the next thing I knew, I saw Brad right in front of me and let out a huge smile! 

When I crossed that finish line I was so happy and exhausted and relieved (and busting to go to the toilet!)

Results:

So in the end.... I made my goal of finishing under 2 hours - in 1:57.15! I was so ecstatic!

Here's my pace during the run:

I placed 136/200 overall. 35/60 in the female open division, and 42/82 total females.

Darwin Adventures - IG recap 1

This is the first post of many where I'll share my recent instagram images that I've tagged #darwinadventures.

Today I'm sharing with you...

1) A topless waiter at a wine bar after Ladies Day races.

2) An afternoon walk along the Darwin Waterfront precinct.

3) Beer Can Regatta fun.

4) My dress for the Ladies Day races.

Project Life: May

So I'm almost up to date... I made May's project life page the other weekend, and have June's on the go at the moment. This is one of my favourite project life layouts so far!

May was spent celebrating my 26th birthday dining with friends and drinking, going to Darwin's only music festival Bass in the Grass, adventuring to Wagait Beach (Mandorah) and Berry Springs nature reserve with Brad's parents, loving CrossFit, going on a daytrip to Douglas Daley Hot Springs with Brad's cousin, trying to eat clean, visiting Darwin's military museum and preparing to run my first Northern Territory fun run.

If you're "into" scrapbooking, make sure you check out "A Piece of Cake Designs" current July kit - they're great value! I got mine in the post today and can't wait to create a layout with it!

Road to Fitness Model - next steps.

So for the last week since deciding I'd find out more information about this 'fitness model' thing I've been researching - practically looking up all I can on the INBA and previous fitness model comps, on google, you tube and instagram too.

Last Saturday morning I also had an 'information & posing' session with Kay Wiseman - the promoter. Even though the five other girls there were competing in figure (I'll be competing in fitness model) - it was still beneficial to find out the poses that I will 'simply' relax a little.

I asked Kay a bunch of questions, we watched a DVD (and I borrowed one), and asked about tanning, costumes.... you name it!

Since then I've paid for my INBA membership and ordered my comp costume! :)

eep!!! I need to clean up my eating a smidge more. I've been really good, but know I can do better, I just need to be more disciplined. Just do it girl!

So on being accountable from now on:

- Only 1 cheat meal per week.

- NO alcohol.

- 2 'healthy cheats' per week.

- NO processed food or treats at all!

As for exercise - well I have a half marathon coming up in 2 weeks, so i'm focussed on that. But I'm also upping my weights at crossFit where I can to try and increase my muscle.

I'm going to do it - my first fitness model comp!

Oh my gosh. Some of you who read this blog know I've been loving CrossFit lately, and running, clean eating and feeling so much fitter than I ever have!

I've also been following the movements of one of my amazing friends - Belina, and the awesome Amanda Marie and their achievements on stage competing in fitness model competitions.

My mind has been ticking over and over... "I wonder if I can do that one day?" Well that question was answered earlier this week. 

I'd been looking up competitions and saw one coming up in Darwin in September this year - a short 13 weeks away! 

I had no idea whether it was even a possibility so I contacted my friend Bel, Amanda and one of my CrossFit buddies, Marnie (who used to compete in Figure comps) in an aim to find out if it was achievable in such a short time frame.

I got mixed answers, but the majority said it was achievable and should aim for either the bikini/fitness model category.For those who don't know - the fitness model category isn't anything along the lines of scary body building etc - more along the lines of looking like a cover model for Oxygen magazine or Women's Health...

So I caught up with Marnie the other day, and she's going to help me prepare for the fitness model category. We had an honest chat and she said with the results I've had lately there's no reason I can't continue to use crossFit and intense cardio to build muscle/burn fat. I may have to change some of my eating around, and need to work on my shoulder definition - but I'll get there (I hope!)

I feel quite nervous about the part of getting on stage, in clear plastic heels, in a super dark tan - it seems completely foreign to me! The whole posing thing seems super scary too!

I'm yet to 'officially' enter - but will most likely too after I attend an information and posing session this Saturday at a local gym. I'll also get to meet the competition director, Kay and try and get a realistic idea of the changes I need to make to my exercise and eating over the next 12 weeks.

I'll admit - in between I've got events at work to plan, a 1/2 marathon to run, and a two week holiday to Bali! It's not going to be a walk in the park, there will be sacrifices - but it's something I'm prepared to work on.

Eeep! Wish me luck! :/

Project Life: April

So I'm continuing this project life caper (monthly style), even if I am late to the party every month!

Here's April's version:

April was a pretty good month. Gee it seems so long ago now - and am so glad I document these snippets - especially while we're in Darwin. Life is so different here than down south!

And a closer look at each page:

And the right: