Getting into my Head!

I have been trying to blog this as a video for the past few days, I recorded the video whilst I was driving to a clients place the other afternoon. However the video is too big to transfer from my i-phone to my email without connecting to the computer, so I am sorry dear followers… but you have to read again!!

I wanted to do a piece about how we can let our heads control our bodies, or how we can over-think  pain or problems and loose control in an effort to remain in control. Our heads & brains are very sophistocated parts of machinery, they control our breathing, our limbs & allow us to do so much. But they can also work against us, limiting us, this I suppose goes back to my fear of failure that I mentioned in my previous blog entry.

This thought started when I had my mother visit over the weekend.

My Mum & I are both entered into the Pinkie Triathlon on the 16^th of October and we have been training for the event (mum more than me… I STILL can’t find a pool!)

When mum visited she mentioned that she wanted to do the Bike – Run leg like a biathlon (similar to what D & I did last week). I don’t know how many of you have tried it before, but it is seriously strange to jump off your bike & start running – your legs just don’t want to work properly!

So mum & set off on the bikes (Mum borrowed D’s because hers is in Sydney) we rode 10km and then started our run, my hip was quite sore so mum ran ahead of me before I started running. She was about 30m ahead of me when I started running & I had caught up to her at the 600m mark, (we were running out 1km and then turning back for a total of 2km).

My Mum is AWESOME she just runs, she paces along and she doesnt stop.. I don't know how she does it & I am rather embarassed to say that at 46 she is lighter than I am, she is fitter than I am and she has a better body than I do (but I am working on getting there!)

As soon as I had caught up with her I thought… can’t go on.. need to stop… so I stopped & walked… I was SOOO MAD at myself for walking, but then I looked at my HRM which was flashing out of control at 182bpm and I thought oh well done Sara… you did the right thing by walking… you are such a good person for listening to your body and walking…. (CRAP I know!) I then walked/ran the rest of the 2km… until the final 400m when I thought that I was being stupid & I just needed to continue running/shuffling/whatever it took but not walking to get to the end.

I was quite proud of myself for finishing the biathlon again, 480ish calories gone and 40 minutes of exercise, but I was disappointed that I had walked part of the 2km.. Surely I can run for 2km.. I am sure I have done it on the treadmill, but why couldn’t I do it outside?

I used my HRM as an excuse, my Head told me that I was doing the right thing by walking & reducing my heart rate down... but in reality I am a 27 year old woman, I am getting fitter by the day, and it wouldn't hurt me to push my heart rate every so often. Is my HRM doing more harm than good? Is is now the excuse that I have to stop pushing myself... what can I do to stop this happening?

This led me to my Commitment for the week…. I am going to run 2km on the treadmill at whatever pace it takes until I have ran the whole 2km…I will turn my HRM off (well put it onto the time mode, rather than the BPM mode)

I did it last night!

I am doing the C25K running program, and last night (Week6 Day3) was a 25minute run. I set off on my treadmill running at 10km/h. I told myself that I could drop down by 0.5km/h every 5mins but I couldn’t stop…. I ran & ran & ran. I did stop 3 times for only 30 seconds – left the treadmill running, I just jumped off, had a drink & jumped back on… but in total I ran for 4.6km!

I start Week 7 day 1 of C25K on Thursday – this week is 3x 25minute runs, with my first run being outside as part of the 4km fortnightly run I am doing…..

I am extending my commitment into the outside world – I will run at least 2km with out walking on Thursday, and my time for the whole 4km will be under 30minutes…

I end this blog with a quote from the esteemed Bear Grylls (from Man Vs Wild fame)

“Successful & unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential…..”

I DESIRE TO BE SUCCESSFUL!

Weigh in tomorrow for Week 2 of 12 WBT. The scales are now my friend.. I can’t WAIT!

Xx

S