Sunday, February 8, 2009
Weekly Measurements 5
My weekly measurements were EXACTLY the same this week...for everything. A bit disappointing, but lets hope for a better week this week. Since there is nothing to update, I haven't put a new picture or updated figures in (no point really).
Friday, February 6, 2009
You know you're on the right track when...
Last night as I was watching TV, I was thinking about today and was really disapointed that I wasn't going to train. When I woke up this morning, I just wanted to go and exercise. What a shift in thinking from previous years! You know you're on the right track when ...you are disappointed if you can't train.
It got me thinking about starting a list: You know you're on the right track when...
1) You are disappointed if you can't train
2) You look forward to training sessions
3) You look forward to racing
4) You are excited that it's measurement day
5) Your training makes you feel good
Hmm, I welcome any additions to this list!
It got me thinking about starting a list: You know you're on the right track when...
1) You are disappointed if you can't train
2) You look forward to training sessions
3) You look forward to racing
4) You are excited that it's measurement day
5) Your training makes you feel good
Hmm, I welcome any additions to this list!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
State Marathon Championships....to go, or not to go
Ever since I found out about the 2009 State Marathon Championships I have entertained the thought of going. Considering that it's being held in Forster it's also not too far for us to travel, but far enough that we would have to stay overnight. Since our funds are so tight at the moment I have been considering several possibilities. I really want to race. I think that this is a major competition that would be very beneficial to do. Basically if I can't race well at this level, then going to the World Masters Games is just plain silly. It's also a great chance to get high level competition practice. Since these competions are normally held with individual races on Saturday and Doubles etc on Sunday, one possibility was just doing a day trip and racing individually on the Saturday. Working out finances, we have been going back and forth deciding whether to go or not. We also need to consider the boys. Sure I could stay overnight on my own, but I don't want to be away from the boys overnight again so soon after the Hawkesbury Classic. Their wellbeing is my priority. The idea of a day trip (not sure if it would be on my own or not) was looking like the answer. Then Mick threw a curve ball in....
At the club race on Sunday Mick asked me if I would like to compete at State in the TK2 with him again. Now this is too good an opportunity to miss. After our success at the State 5000m championships it's obvious that we paddle really well together, and it looks like there'd be some more mixed TK2's competing as well this time. So if I do that, it would mean an overnight stay...decisions, decisions.
Well after long deliberations, Chris and I decided that we would plan to go. So I've spent all week trying to find somewhere cheap to stay. At first I tried the Caravan Park where the race is, but the online page said it was all booked out apart from tent sites. So I tried a few other places but everthing was too expensive. We then thought that we'd stay in tents which is not ideal with 2 young children, but I was desperate to go. So upon calling the Caravan Park tonight, I found out that the online site says they are booked out because they have reserved a heap of spots for kayakers for the weekend. After a quick chat, we snapped up the cheapest cabins on offer and are now set for the competition weekend. Now I've just got some serious training to do!
At the club race on Sunday Mick asked me if I would like to compete at State in the TK2 with him again. Now this is too good an opportunity to miss. After our success at the State 5000m championships it's obvious that we paddle really well together, and it looks like there'd be some more mixed TK2's competing as well this time. So if I do that, it would mean an overnight stay...decisions, decisions.
Well after long deliberations, Chris and I decided that we would plan to go. So I've spent all week trying to find somewhere cheap to stay. At first I tried the Caravan Park where the race is, but the online page said it was all booked out apart from tent sites. So I tried a few other places but everthing was too expensive. We then thought that we'd stay in tents which is not ideal with 2 young children, but I was desperate to go. So upon calling the Caravan Park tonight, I found out that the online site says they are booked out because they have reserved a heap of spots for kayakers for the weekend. After a quick chat, we snapped up the cheapest cabins on offer and are now set for the competition weekend. Now I've just got some serious training to do!
Changed plans and a run down in Sydney
I won't go into the long story but the quick version is that I got casual work on Wednesday and ended up driving down to Mum's house straight after work. This meant that my weeks training plan (ie paddle on Wednesday night and run Thursday morning) had to change. Mum kindly offered me the opportunity this morning to go for a run on my own whilst she minded the boys. I really am so lucky to have such a supportive family. There is no way I'd be able to be doing all this training if it wasn't for them. So as early as possible I headed off towards Mum's usual running path. It was only 7am but very hot already. I ended up doing a 25min run (plus warm up and cool down) and covered around 4km. This is probably the best run I've done in ages. Still a long way to go - I know, but I'm improving well. When I got back to the house I looked so hot. I'm really not a pretty exerciser. I go red and blotchy and really look quite terrible, but today I was dripping in sweat and it didn't stop for almost an hour after I had stopped exercising. But, it was sooooo worth it!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Run with Mum
Today was my first 'real' day back at work after the holidays. I had a 5 period day (full day) and barely time to eat. When I got home I was stuffed, and knew that by the time it was cool enough to go for a run I wouldn't want to go. Well I was wrong. Somehow at 5:30pm I just got off the chair and convinced Mum to go for a run with me. It was still hot but bareable. We did the usual lake path and it felt hard, but we did it in 21:05 and my average heart rate was 171bpm. I guess the huge improvement is due to me being able to run without pushing the pram, but still I was impressed. When we got back home we were both happy that we made the effort.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The club race and swim
Well here's my eagerly awaited race report. All went well with the morning preperations (ie. getting myself, 2 children, and husband to the race on time). We were running a bit late, but not so late that I was stressing out too much. We got the K1 off the car roof, Connor paid the money and chose my race number, and I had about 15 minutes to prepare before I had to be on the water.
The club races use a handicap system with the aim of everyone getting to the finish line around 10:30am. So for the usual summer distance of 11.35km people start anywhere between 9:00am and 9:35am. My start was at 9:16 with another club paddler Max who was racing his newly aquired K1 for the first time. Instead of his race number he had an 'L' plate (Learner Plate) in his number mount. I loved the idea! After a bit of a shaky start (lots of bracing), I was off and quickly moved ahead of Max. About 200m into the race a motor boat came in the opposite direction, so I just turned into the wash head on. No real worries. I was feeling strong and confident, when about 400m into the race another motor boat came by. This time unfortunately it was heading in the same direction as us and since Max and I were on different sides of the river, it had to pass between us. Even more unfortunately, the #$*# idiots decided to pass about 7 metres away from me. I didn't know which way to turn, to make the wash more K1 friendly, but I really didn't have a hope. In I went with a "bugger" (didn't even swear), popped my paddle in the kayak and swam for shore. Thank goodness it happened in a spot where I could easily get back in. So after emptying it out, I was soon back into it and paddling again. No idea how much time I lost, but it took me all the way up to the turn-around point to catch Max again...so I'm guessing about 3-5 minutes. Anyway, I was still feeling strong and managed to cope with several other boats going past without any dramas. I was going hard, but not full race-pace. After successfully making the turn around out at the river/lake junction, I headed back with a bit more effort. I managed to drop the paddlers that were paddling with me and was soon passing some more people that had either started before me, or passed me whilst I was swimming. I gradually increased the effort as I got closer to the finish and was feeling tired but good, when lo and behold a voice calls out from behind me. Now Mark if you're reading this, you can correct me on the exact words, but it was something along the lines of "C'mon Cassie, pick it up". Damn, now I had to go harder. I did my best but Mark passed me just before the finish line and beat me by 3 seconds. I had nothing left in me - I was stuffed. I crossed the line 4th in a time of 1:11:47. So just over the time I had hoped to achieve. Now I reckon, with a swim that's a pretty good effort. I definately would have gone under 1:10 if I hadn't gone in. So all in all I was pretty happy with my result.
The club races use a handicap system with the aim of everyone getting to the finish line around 10:30am. So for the usual summer distance of 11.35km people start anywhere between 9:00am and 9:35am. My start was at 9:16 with another club paddler Max who was racing his newly aquired K1 for the first time. Instead of his race number he had an 'L' plate (Learner Plate) in his number mount. I loved the idea! After a bit of a shaky start (lots of bracing), I was off and quickly moved ahead of Max. About 200m into the race a motor boat came in the opposite direction, so I just turned into the wash head on. No real worries. I was feeling strong and confident, when about 400m into the race another motor boat came by. This time unfortunately it was heading in the same direction as us and since Max and I were on different sides of the river, it had to pass between us. Even more unfortunately, the #$*# idiots decided to pass about 7 metres away from me. I didn't know which way to turn, to make the wash more K1 friendly, but I really didn't have a hope. In I went with a "bugger" (didn't even swear), popped my paddle in the kayak and swam for shore. Thank goodness it happened in a spot where I could easily get back in. So after emptying it out, I was soon back into it and paddling again. No idea how much time I lost, but it took me all the way up to the turn-around point to catch Max again...so I'm guessing about 3-5 minutes. Anyway, I was still feeling strong and managed to cope with several other boats going past without any dramas. I was going hard, but not full race-pace. After successfully making the turn around out at the river/lake junction, I headed back with a bit more effort. I managed to drop the paddlers that were paddling with me and was soon passing some more people that had either started before me, or passed me whilst I was swimming. I gradually increased the effort as I got closer to the finish and was feeling tired but good, when lo and behold a voice calls out from behind me. Now Mark if you're reading this, you can correct me on the exact words, but it was something along the lines of "C'mon Cassie, pick it up". Damn, now I had to go harder. I did my best but Mark passed me just before the finish line and beat me by 3 seconds. I had nothing left in me - I was stuffed. I crossed the line 4th in a time of 1:11:47. So just over the time I had hoped to achieve. Now I reckon, with a swim that's a pretty good effort. I definately would have gone under 1:10 if I hadn't gone in. So all in all I was pretty happy with my result.
One interesting point about the race, was the fact that I was not so tired fitness-wise, but balance-wise. At one point I felt myself "losing the plot" a little bit, and feeling a bit zoned-out. I was finding it hard to keep my focus, and kept losing concentration, having to correct my balance and technique too often. This is definately something I have to work on, and I guess race practice is probably one of the best ways.
The other interesting point was how poorly I coped with boat wash when the boat was travelling in the same direction as me. I'm going well with wash that I can turn into head on (or at least on some angle), but I have a lot of trouble (obviously) with wash that comes from behind, travelling in the same direction as me. I have to definately practice this more. I'm not quite sure of the best way to deal with this kind of wash, so any tips from others would be greatly appreciated!
Weekly Measurements 4
Early in the week I was getting frustrated with my weight loss. I've been going so well with the plan, but it hasn't been showing on the scales. I decided to make a few small changes and follow the plan in full (not having little cheats) and the results have been great. A loss of almost 1kg this week, and all the other measurments heading in the direction they're meant too. Happy, happy!
Weight kg, 82, 80.5, 79.7, 79.6, 78.7
Fat %, 31.6, 31.2, 30.9, 30.6, 30.4
Water %, 47.2, 47.4, 47.6, 47.8, 48.0
Muscle %, 29.4, 29.6, 29.7, 29.8, 29.9
Axillary cm, 100, 100, 99, 99, 98.5
Waist cm, 91.5, 91, 90, 89.5, 88
Naval cm, 105.5, 104, 104, 102, 100
Hips cm, 107, 106.5, 104.5, 104, 104
R.Thigh cm, 56, 53, 52, 51, 50.5
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