yeah but that's what you do...

feeling a litte bitter today. i ran the furthest i ever have (22km) and posted it on facebook and did not get one comment. i know putting it on facebook is a bit braggy, but i was proud. and it was hard.
if i'd got a new job or baked an amazing cheesecake and put it on facebook i would have had a million comments by now.
my legs won't be stiff tomorrow either. because i'm good at this. because i do it lots. but each run i do is still an effort. an effort to find the time. to run and not walk once (dennys don't walk). to choose longer and longer runs. to go out in the rain, or the failing light, or the early morning. none is an easy choice.
someone at work was telling me his family did the mark webber challenge. 6.5km. i said well done. then mentioned i had just run 7km in my lunch break. "yeah but that's what you do" he said. damn right i do. more than he does the ad hoc and incredibly slowly paced fun run (54 mins was his time). but no accolades because i make myself do it all the time. and people think it's easy for me. well maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. i might be fitter than them but that's because i keep doing it and doing it. and it's not because i'm denny and it's what i do. it's because i work hard. harder than they do. hmmmph.

I wanted to see if I could run 21km non-stop so I did - and I did! 2:12, 5 laps of Risdon Brook Dam. 2 days later, I can walk again! It's all good.

I've just finished a leisurely 10km run on the mountain with a friend. I say leisurely because we did it in 65 minutes; my usual time would be about 55mins. But she doesn't run as fast as me. I have to say however, that running with slower friends has a few great advantages:
- they think you're really fit (and tell other people) even when you know you aren't
- you can easily chat and pass the time whilst running in a nice, steady rhythm
- you feel great afterwards
Feeling great afterwards would have to be the biggest benefit. Usually, when I run by myself or play a hard game of sport I feel kind of rotten afterwards. If the activity has been in temperatures over 20 degrees and/or has involved much sun exposure I feel worse, and often get a headache. I also end up with a red, flushed face that stays that way for hours - not a good look at work.
I don't understand this as it's usually exercise that I feel comfortable with at the time and have done a million times before, so it's kind of annoying. I don't particularly push myself either - ie I'm not panting noisily or vomitting at the end, it's just a little too much somehow. And yes I do drink enough water - not that I should need to for a simple 5 or 6km.
I run with the slow people at work at lunchtimes because the fast ones are all men and do 20kms on the weekends - not suitable training partners. There seems no middle ground. The ones I go out with are happy to run the 5km-6km all the way without stopping and like me to go along to push them a bit. It works for me to because I get exercise without really feeling it.
However I wouldn't say that it was improving my fitness at all...
Maybe I should stick with the simple stuff during the week and push myself a bit on weekends?
Other options are to run early in the mornings (but I feel dead tired halfway through the afternoon) or early in the evenings - but that's a tricky time family wise.

Cathy has recently blogged about how there aren't many women participating in the individual sports she is currently pursuing. I understand how she feels. At my Tuesday lunch-time Touch Footy there is only one girl that plays - me - and usually about 13 guys. On Thursday I filled in on a lunch-time Futsal team (that's indoor soccer) - and the same scenario. Me and 7 guys. Why is it that only guys are organising and playing these kinds of things? Is it because all the women are too busy getting eyelash additions/extensions - (at last count there were at least 5 people at work sporting the Bambi look). YAWN. Admittedly, you do need an experienced background in sport to be able to join in these activities (and men that are nice enough to let you play and not smash the ball into your face when you are goalie), but all that is showing is that not many girls are getting that either. And you have to put yourself out there - I only get to play by piping up when the guys in the office are asking other guys to play. They've been a bit surprised and say Oh, do you play Touch/Soccer/whatever, and then I have to say - well no, not really, but I know how to handle a ball and I can play sport. Usually my defensive skills are enough to get me through. But it would fun to have some other girls come along too. Where are you?

FUN FUN FUN!

I have started playing lunch-time Touch Football on Tuesdays and it is REALLY FUN. Every Tuesday at 12.45 a group of people meet at the Cenotaph. Someone brings some witches hats and marks out a field. Two teams are formed randomly, and then they play for the next half hour at which point "Next goal wins!". I haven't played much Touch Football in my life but I have played lots of large ball sports and it is easy to pick up.

Every other player is male, but as they are mostly my age and older they include me and don't do that only-pass-to-other-men-because-she's-a-girl-and-probably-can't-catch thing that often happens in "mixed" sports. I'm used to that anyway, and even if I can't get in on offensive plays I can usually do enough defending to prove myself.

The people that play come from a few different workplaces around town. Apparently it started about 10 years ago with mostly Hobart City Council office workers, but since then other people have got involved.

Anyway, I had a great time this week, got a great workout, and broke my little finger in a great intercept. I break my little finger about once a year, so that's no big deal...yet. My right-hand little finger is pretty wimpy and weak and the end can't take much pressure. I did get a bit concerned after the 2nd or 3rd time I broke it in a year and got a bone density test, but turned out all was fine. Just a weakling finger.

For about 6 weeks, I upped the ante on my exercise, as I had been a bit lazy.

I went from this:

15-Aug		pump no lunges
16-Aug		swim 30
17-Aug		squash
18-Aug		basketball
19-Aug		weights - gym
20-Aug		swim 30
21-Aug
22-Aug		40 min walk Battery Point
23-Aug		walk to St Canice from work, pump no lunges
24-Aug		Boot Camp
25-Aug		B'Ball
26-Aug
27-Aug
28-Aug		Swim
29-Aug		Boot camp/Pump
30-Aug
31-Aug		Boot camp
1-Sep		B'ball
2-Sep
3-Sep		Alum Cliffs run/bball practise
4-Sep		Chest/Abs/tramp

to this:

5-Sep		Battery Pt BC
6-Sep		Swim 1500 and run Sth Hobart
7-Sep		6km bridge run and squash
8-Sep		B'ball
9-Sep		6km bridge run
10-Sep		Step/Pump
11-Sep		Swim 1500m
12-Sep		Boathouse 9.4km
13-Sep		Swim 1500m/Upper Body Pump
14-Sep		Jog with JB/45 min Pump minus Shoulders/Abs/Lunges
15-Sep		15min airwalker, Pump/CX30, 4.5km run
16-Sep		Sth Hobart run
17-Sep		1500m Swim, bball practise
18-Sep		5km walk, squash, Pump
19-Sep		Sth Hobart run
20-Sep		Battery Pt Hills, Upper Body and Abs
21-Sep		Bridge run 6.3km, squash
22-Sep		B'Ball
23-Sep		Run with Scats (5km easy)
24-Sep		Weights 4x heavy/Swim 1500
25-Sep		Trugs and Pump
26-Sep		South Hobart run
27-Sep		Swim 1500m
28-Sep		Battery Point Hills
29-Sep		B'ball, Pump not lunges
30-Sep		Bridge run
1-Oct		Swim 1500m
2-Oct		Weights and Pipeline 6km run with pram

but then for the first time in a year, to this:

3-Oct		Swim 1500m
4-Oct		unwell
5-Oct		unwell
6-Oct		Sandy Bay Run with JB 7km
7-Oct		Battery Point Hills, walk town-4 St Canice
8-Oct		Swim 1500m
9-Oct
10-Oct		unwell
11-Oct		unwell
12-Oct		unwell
13-Oct		Sandy Bay 6km, B'Ball
14-Oct		unwell
15-Oct		unwell
16-Oct		unwell

Now, I wouldn't like to speculate that the increase in intensity resulted in the consequent illness, but I'm sure that it DID contribute because I was feeling a bit tired and run-down. And all that exercise, while great for my fitness and muscles, made me feel too tired to participate in lots of other fun stuff, like blogging or reading or even watching tv without falling asleep. It kind of sucks because exercise is supposed to energise you, not unnaturally fatigue you (this happens whether I'm exercising every day or 3-4 times a week). I like to exercise, but I've found that a 5km run WIPES ME OUT for the rest of the day and I'm not sure why. 5km in anything over 20C also gives me a headache for the rest of the day, no matter how much water I drink.

Anyway, this month I'm striving for balance. More exercise than August. Less than September. Yeah.

And oh yeah, my weight didn't really change in either August or Sept. Because more exercise = increased food intake.

stuffo

i've been reading a lot of this blog: faithfitnessfun. i'm not really with the faith side much, but i like to read the fitness/fun posts. they're really good.
in my own fitness news not much to report - have fallen into a general pattern of swimming tuesday morning, playing squash wednesday evening, basketball thursday, and a weights session or two at some stage in the week. and a walk or a run. sometimes basketball training on saturday. it works. it's still a struggle to find the time, but i manage it.
ok so this isn't a very inspiring post and i really want to devote more time to my blogs so i will try really hard to get back here with something useful to say soon.