Well, I'm back on the 12WBT, and have just started round one for 2011.
I was very surprised at myself as I have been really keen to get stuck in and the first week has almost been a non-event. I had a very busy week at work and I couldn't make the time to get my backside to the gym. I was really annoyed, but I just honestly couldn't get there. So I focused on what I could do - which was be strict with my diet. Last round I did really well by giving nodding respect to my diet - I ate the right foods, but I wasn't strict with my portions - I wouldn't weigh or measure them. I was getting great results by eating decent food and training hard at the gym.
This round I vowed I'd keep working out at the gym, but I'd pay proper attention to my portion size. Watch out world, I was going to really hit it hard.
One of the things I was determined to do was give up coffee & diet coke. My middle name is "Extreme Caffeine" and I could drink litres of the stuff. I work in an office and always have a cup by my side with two heaped teaspoons of coffee and skim milk. I'd also drink at least a litre of diet coke per day, sometimes twice this.
So last Saturday I kicked the coffee & diet coke habit. I've gone cold turkey. I felt like absolute crap headaches, runny nose, just feeling terrible until Thursday afternoon. So that's my excuse. I felt crook all week, but by Thursday I was feeling calm. Still, relaxed and concentrated.
As I said, my spare time has been minimal this week - I've not even made the time to do my measurements and take my fitness test. My weight loss has been minimal so far - 400gms. It's reflected the effort I've made to my program so far - minimal. That's a start though. I have 11 weeks to go so watch this space.
Saturday was my first free day for the week so it was time to put my house in order. It was also my first SSS for this round, my Super Saturday Workout. I chose to see just how far I have come since I started in Round Three, 2010.
First thing was to knock over that bloody fitness test and measure up. The fitness test revealed I'd slipped a little as I haven't trained seriously (IE regularly) since Christmas. My 1 km was 4min 48 secs, my wall sit 2 mins 12 secs, push ups in 1 minute only 40, abs only stage 1 (same as last round) and flexibility down to only 7cm for the sit and reach test. So this puts me in the "Advanced" category for the exercise program.
Next thing was the gym sessions. First up was Body Pump, which is the first class I'd taken for about 5 years. Challenging, but I was sensible with the loads and got through the class relatively OK - the push ups beat me though, I only got 3/4's of the way through before I had to drop to my knees. So I finished the class sweaty, warm and feeling good.
I went straight from Body Pump to RPM (my personal favourite class) and went hard. Luckily I'd already set my bike up prior to the pump class so I could walk straight in. It was already 1/3rd of the way through the first track when I started. I found RPM interesting - I was actually shaking at first and by the end of the second track I was pretty-much back to my old self. I finished the class feeling GREAT ! Which was just as well, because next stop was Mt Panorama, the race track home to the famous Bathurst 1000 car race.
The race track is approximately 6.5 km in length, and has a whopping great mountain in the middle of it. I parked in the pits, and because I was still pretty warm, I did some careful stretches and walked to the starting grid.
So I started the stop watch at the starting grid (visualising turning my electric car into a V8 supercar) and I was off, all cylinders blazing. That Hill ! No wonder Brocky was king of the mountain, because it feels like a mountain. But you know what, when I finally got to the top, the view, oh the view ! It’s called Mt Panorama for a darn good reason. So I’m on the flat at the top, feeling pretty chuffed with myself.
Suddenly, it’s starting to head downhill ! Woo hoo ! I’m gunna make this ! I round the last corner when oh no ! Road closed. Theres a hill climb going up the mountain the “wrong” way. So I was a bit disappointed. Then I realised that some things you can’t change plus I was probably more than 1/2 way, so I was likely to get an extra kay on my run. Talk about making me smile ! So I paused, took a few shots on my iPhone, and headed back.
When I finally made the “Start” line again, I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe I’d done all that in one day. I honestly thought that I’d bitten off more than I could do. But I hadn’t. I just kept going and didn’t allow myself to stop.
I hope that you have also had a really great SSS.
