Pip

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

NEW SEEDLINGS, DRIVING and DOINGS...............

G'day, firstly tomorrow is the last day of Sept, then 3 months of 2010 left, - wow, sorry to remind ya!

Last weekend I did buy some seeds, potting mix and some pots to attempt to grow some herbs. I tried a packet of Yates Chives, a packet of Yates Parsley and a packet of Yates spring onion. Yesterday I put some fertiliser seeds on each of the pots when watering. The spring onions reckon they are the first to germinate, 10-14 days the packet reckons so I will see what happens. I'm interested in trying to grow some cherry tomatoes as well and found I that I need a stick in the soil to tie them to as they grow. All this is completely new to me but that's the news there haha!

I've done a couple of drives of recent. I went ot a party 20 mins away on Sunday and that was OK. I've driven to a couple of new simple to most people locations and yesterday drove to the fuel station to put fuel into car amongst all traffic in different directions then. No stalling gears and am feeling less nervous! Good to see improvement. (I was a more confident driver in NZ, even on my Uncles auto a few years ago. But I learnt in a manual and it's good not to throw the manual driving ability away, even if a bit scary to get used to in busy hilly areas again!)

Have done a few worth mentioning runs since the last post. One was a rather hilly run for an hour and my heart rate monitor says I hit 206bpm in some points and my average heart rate was 98% of the normal projected max for my age. I'm 30 and the average max heart rate is 220 minus your age. I did a 30 min treadmill effort
the other day, went as hard as poss! I did a 5kmish hilly 30 min run last night and felt fast for me which was good, (that was after a busy active day at work. Have done a bit of resistance work a couple of times a week, (am working toward increasing this still) and have been active/busy at work etc.

I confess to getting on the scales, I seem to about twice a week. The day after I got back from NZ I was 77.4, 1.5 weeks ago was 77.3 and this morn 75.8. Under 68kg by Christmas 2010 and New Year 2011? Am feeling on track to give it a decent shot and to see my fitness continue to improve! However I MUSTN'T see 80 this year, I haven't so far and have 3 months to go. If I achieve that feat this year it will be the first time since 1999 and last year my cut off point I succeeded with was 85. Many years before that it was 90! Again I only saw the horrid 90 once but on many different occasions saw 89.something or 88.something before cracking down! I will let you know new goals for 2011 when the time comes. I did probably overindulge slightly on Sun night at the party food wise, (yummy steamed prawns, salad, beaut cheeses, cooked cold roast chicken THEN yummo woodfired pizza and birthday cake) but didn't go haywire for days afterward, infact back to norm the next day which was good. I even did the 10km run a few hours before party so felt good about that haha!

Talk soon all, till next installment whenever that is!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

UPDATE OF DOINGS...........

I'll do my best to keep this short as I'm heading off to bed soon!

Firstly Happy Birthday to my sis in NZ, she turns 40 on Sunday, - have a good one! As they say 40 is the new 30!!! Hopefully 30 is then the new 20!!! :-)

Weather is hotting up in Perth, we are hitting the late 20's here now for a daily high, it's beaut, warm and sunny. It's great that it's lighter in the mornings and evenings. Perth needs rain badly but. Sprinkler bans for watering gardens are now down to one day a week so lush green lawns etc are out of the question here! NZ has been getting some cold weather of late though, rather cold and wet and windy of late! My parents last weekend even had snow at their place in NZ, - at least 6 inches on the ground which is close to sea level for them. The photos looked unreal..............however heavy snow to those levels in mid-late September is rare.

As for the training mission, - well...........unfortunately I can't say I've followed the exact plan outlined in the post below but I have been easing myself in my weird way to ya know, get and stay on track haha! Running and body weight resistance work has featured along with going flat out at work all day. Have tightened up a little on diet and even spending this week as well which I'm happy about, (maybe not at some moments but in general haha)! Looking back at the end of a week it's satisfying to see frivilous things I resisted the urge to buy or consume on impulse and to see cash in the bank, - some of which goes toward savings and other bits of it go toward my long term holiday plan!

I managed a longer drive last weekend and a few other shorter ones to new for me locations and feel I'm improving there. No way am I someone who likes to drive in busy inner city areas with lots of lanes but am getting better. I'm not used to busy city driving, - it scares me but am now feeling more confident in my manual and am glad I have a manual.

This weekend am wanting to buy some seeds and pots to attempt to grow some chives and maybe even cherry tomatoes. I've never done that! And of course watch the footy grand final. Sunday I have a birthday party to attend, just may even sober drive again to it as it's near where another party last weekend was that I drove to. Monday is a public holiday, I will be working though for a few hours.

Talk soon all,

Pip :-)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

DOING'S and IDEAS to rock me till end of 2010.....and beyond......

Hello peeps! Just a quick call in here. Am back at work after NZ, am stuck into my savings objectives and am enjoying living up with BF. I'm aiming to do a bit of car driving at weekends to build confidence there little by little.

However what I still really want to do and must do after these many years of yoyoing blahdeblah is.............lose body fat/weight and keep it off for good, (or within a range). I'm 1.71m and think a good mid road target is to get under 68kg or 150lb which had me at 26-27% BF last time I was there. The last few times I've gotten close I seem to go off the rails when getting to 68.something kg! I've just gotta finish the job! However the objective isn't just to hit 68! The idea is to stay under 68kg so am striving for 65kg which should get my BF to around 25% hopefully. Then the objective is to stay in a range of about 64-68kg but never above 70kg and to keep body fat under 30%.

Then again if after time......................my body is a machine and I get ultra fit through my lifestyle and drop down to 60-62kg with BF in low 20%s I sure won't complain either!!!

So the weight goal is: under 68kg on Christmas morning before my early morning run. As of Saturday morning that is 14 weeks away. And I must be still under 68kg on New Years morning 2011 one week later haha!

However one thing I have noticed is that now being 30 and for the last year or so in particular I don't seem to drop fat/weight as quickly as I used to by doing the same I did a few years ago, apparently that is normal though. If I am pleased with my self control and effort I won't beat myself up if I don't quite make my goals, (but have been consistent and focussed with self control to a point that I'm satisfied with). If there isn't a drop of at least 5kg however by Christmas and I've put in a good effort I'd get a medical. I'd say after a day's bloat has gone I've got about 10kg to shift to get under 68kg. Weigh in last Sunday morn was 77.4.

I still seem to be very on track if focussed, refocussing is a challenge. But still I struggle with moderation but know it can be changed.........for good. I haven't seen 80kg this year yet and don't want to. If I accomplish that it will be the first I've got through a year with not seeing 80 or anything above since 1999. I started the year at 78.8.

I still have the fitness objectives as well as the composition ones. I want to do some short triathlons over summer, work toward some running PB's with the first one being triathlon pink on 7 Nov.

For next few weeks basic training objectives look something like this:
Monday: brisk 30 min walk outdoors or day off or aerobic based gym class
Tuesday: 60 min Body pump class doing best as poss with focus also on correct form
Wednesday: RPM class at gym or 20km bike ride outdoors if I can get home before dark.
Thursday: 30 min run treadmill as fast as poss followed by stretching
Friday: day off
Saturday: Swim at pool, focussing on technique and speed starting at 1.5km and building up to 2km. 20 min resistance session focusing on a circuit with things like plank, pushups, dips, lunges, crunches etc.........repeat blahdeblah and stretching.
Sunday: Long run outdoors including hills.

* Monday's workout may change to be either a run, a ride or swim as the weeks progress. I also may change what I do on particular days around to fit in with work schedules etc.

I intend to partake in this or similar regime for next few months starting Thursday 16 Sept 2010. Of course training may change in a few months time and their may be the odd planned recovery weeks and having to work around injuries. But I want to work hard to stick to at least 2 resistance training sessions of at least 20 mins each every week and hardworking cardio sessions of at least 30 mins each every week.

I't's out there now. And I'm gonna try and bite the bullet and not weigh in until 4 weeks tomorrow, - then will post the result here. I will keep a personal diary but will update here in a week or two.

Talk soon
Pip :-) - Gotta nail this, - permanent control but not perfection!!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

BACK IN PERTH..................

Hello all! Apologies for the blogging absence.

Anyways........the evening after I wrote my last post my Granny passed. I actually was at the Resthome in Nelson with my Uncle and saw the event happen. Over the last few days family had been visiting her up there. My Granny was a great special person whom I, (and all family) have very good memories of. Her last 7 years have been unfortunate with what dementia does and about 4 years ago she broke her hip which confined her to being im-mobile and I think her eyesight went as well in her final years. However it was good to be there.

My Uncle and family spent the next days making arrangements for the funeral. I did a speech at the funeral then we went out for drinks/tea with family and cousins I now don't see often as I live in Perth.

I got to bed back at the motel in Christchurch about midnight....................Then 4.39am..........SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE, TUMBLE TUMBLE TUMBLE!!! Lots of swearing took place and I was half hungover and didn't know what to do! It crossed my mind that my life may even be on the line and the momentum of it kept building. I got out of bed trying to think of the safest place where nothing would fall after a bit. Dad raced outside. Sisters hubby was shaken out of bed. Yep, the Christchurch earthquake! It was the worst one I've ever felt. It died down after about a min. We went to take a look outside, had noticed building faces had fallen down all across the street. Dad went and looked in the window of the nearby booze shop and...............they lost everything on their shelves. Then.............it wasn't finished. We kept getting aftershocks, some of them still feeling particularly vigourous.

The family plan was to stay in Christchurch another night but with no water, not much open etc etc Dad decided to get the hell outta there and get back to their home in Southland. We firstly had to find out if the bridges near Christchurch were in tact. The journey out of Christchurch was scary with blocked off streets, cracked roads, ruined buildings and lots of traffic lights not working! But we got back to their home.

The rest of the week was spent catching up with friends, family, other Grandma and relatives on the other side of the family around Southland and Otago.

On Friday I caught up with my half sis in Christchurch and stayed there the night before catching a shuttle to airport at 5am yesterday. I still felt two aftershocks on Friday...........and heard they are still happening today in Christchurch.

Didn't get a chance to go skiing this trip. But NZ now, (early Sept) was considerably warmer than July last year, (still cool, not hot or anything). Skifields were still open but if you are a good skiier, prob July or Aug would be better so everyone said.

Back to work tomorrow unfortunately. I best go and get housework seen to now. It was really good to catch up with who I did.

Talk soon all :-)