Learning from the biggest year of my life so far.

21. That is what age i became this year and i feel like what i have learnt this year was at least 21x the amount i have learnt from the other 20 years of my life.

What did i learn from 2011?

1. It's OK to step out of your comfort zone and try new things and challenge yourself no matter what the outcome is and no matter what others say. Even if you took on something that others told you not too and it left you in the lowest or hardest part of your life which you have felt that does not mean it still wasn't a good decision so long as you have learnt from it and the experience. Sometimes we need to go backward in order to go forwards and sometimes we need to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves and who we truly are. But above all IT'S OK TO ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT!!!

2. Sometimes you may put your heart and soul into something and be disappointed with the result. Sometimes all the effort you put in is not noticed, and sometimes it hurts. They say people don't remember how fast you do a job as much as they remember how well you do it, but if no one comes to see how well you do it well then it is their loss. Personal recognition of achievements can go so far but we all need to hear a voice other than our own from time to time to let us know we are doing well or to give us feedback on whether we are on the right track.

3. When you make yourself busy to a point where you make sacrifices in your life, choose carefully what you sacrifice. I learnt those things which i sacrificed are actually the things i least wanted to and i hurt myself by sacrificing them, but now i know how much those things that i sacrificed mean to me, the old saying comes back 'you never know what you have until it is gone'. I will not sacrifice those things again.

4. Smile. The world needs it and you need it, but do not smile to cover up something that is screaming inside of you. When your face smiles but your eyes do not, that is when you need to talk to work to fix why your eyes are not smiling with you or why your heart does not feel the amount of joy which you show on your face. Find a quiet place to sit down and work out what is worrying you and better still talk to someone or simply treat yourself. Go for a walk, have a bath, go out for a coffee with a friend and relish in the simple joys of life.

That is some at least... and now the goals for 2012 include taking in what i have learnt from 2011 and apply them as the years go on. i'm writing them up now, some with much thought and some which are easy to put down. For now in terms of my training for the rest of the week...

Saturday - 15min run to Marlston Hill and 10x stair runs (approx 45 seconds each) walk down recovery and 10 sit-ups after each rep, and 15min run home

Sunday - Rest

Monday - Felt unwell and cut a run short; 4km run in 20 minutes followed by a pump class (increased warm-up and squats weights 1kg)

Tuesday - 45minutes on the bike; 10min warmup, 30 minutes of 40sec high rpm intervals on higher resistance and 50sec recovery on lower resistance. Followed by 5km run in 21 minutes on the tredmil and some arm weights and ab work for 10 minutes. Still felt unwell so hopefully i didn't over do it!

Wednesday - track session (with a head wind) followed by a body balance class

400m - 1.14min

300m x2 - 55.5sec, 54.8sec

200m x3 - 35.7sec, 35.7sec, 34.6sec

100m x5 - 16.5sec, 16.5sec, 16.2sec, 16sec, 16sec

Next session i want to do some slightly longer runs from 600m-300m to assess myself more!

Thursday - rest/40min walk

Friday - Gym session: 35min on bike with 25min of 40sec high resistance and 50sec lighter recovery then 3.5km run in 17 min on tredmil.

I know i need to do more running track sessions but i keep getting sore, sore knee, sore heels and my legs are tired. I need to work on quality not quantity but i am already doing less than i was last summer and i haven't rushed into the sessions. I think i just need more time to adjust, keep cross training and be careful, i'll get there. My track runs aren't very encouraging for myself atm but maybe i will go a little backwards before i go forwards as i adjust to track running again, after all it was only my 3rd session!! Patience and Perseverance. I will not give up.

Feeling Balanced :)

Had such a good active day today! I headed to the Runners club for my second track session, i was a little apprehensive about running in the wind today but my runs saw me have a tail wind which although would have made my times faster than my capabilities without wind made me feel like i was flying! So my session was:

300m - 53.6sec

250m - 43.9sec

2x200m - 33.3sec, 33sec

6x150m - 23.8sec, 24sec, 23.9sec, 24.5sec, 24.3sec, 23.5sec

Around this time last year i was running them a second faster around the 23 flat mark and was running 4.50min 1500m runs. Hopefully in about 4 weeks i can be down to these times again, that would be ideal. I have found my record of my training last summer and my times which i will see if i can post up here to use as a guide for now, i'm so glad i monitored it!

This evening i took myself to the gym and did half a pump class, i felt strong tonight! and then a body balance class which felt amazing! my flexibility has really increased over the past year event though i haven't been keeping up balance classes but i do stretch before and after every exercise session. I loved the tai chi part releasing all your energy into movements and the meditation at the end is wonderful to clear your mind and focus on your body. I'll say it again i love balance classes :)

I made a really good salad for lunch today i will be making again! It had spinach leaves, avocado, olives, carrot and tinned salmon which i have recently got into (full of omega 3's and taste good too!) and this was mixed with pepita's and a sprinkle of chilli dukkah Yum! I love flavours and the dukkah is a great simple way to add flavour whilst adding some good fats from the crushed nuts it contains.

One thing i have learnt today which makes total sense is that with exercise we should increase our intake of vitamin C and E. Especially with long sessions and aerobic exercise where we are needing high demands of oxygen, the increase in oxygen causes free radical damage to our cells which increases the soreness, stiffness and fatigue of our working muscles and body. Vitamin C and E are the antioxidants which fight these free radicals and are a great help when exercise demands increase the free radicals to a point where the bodies mechanism of rigging the free radicals is overloaded. Red and blue fruits such as berries are an excellent source of antioxidants and especially contain flavonoids. Tea is another great source of flavonoids (one big tick as i drink green tea whilst writing this... i love green tea!) along with betacarotene in vegetables. Vitamin C is also vital for a healthy and strong immune system! High levels of training and regular exercise can suppress immune function so increase your vitamin C to help prevent this, there is also support that yoga and tai chi can support immune function (another tick for today :)).

I had recently been to the doctors for a high level of fatigue to a point where it impeded on my exercise and even when i didn't exercise i was left needing naps in the afternoon which i don't usually do. Being a menstruating female and one who is highly active there are no surprises here where i have a low level of iron - 21 where 30-130 in normal. SO now i am taking 'Ferograd C' high dose iron supplements, they originally gave me stomach upsets but after persisting with them for a few weeks i am now discomfort free! I went away and missed taking them for a few days and was amazed at how quickly i felt so tired again! Exercise sure depletes already minimal stores very quickly. One thing i was surprised about was a low level of vitamin D i also had, once again below the lower threshold of acceptable. Vitamin D is important at maintaining calcium levels and maintaining bone strength. A lack of vitamin D can also increase muscle fatigue and reducing power. We mainly get vitamin D produced from our skin when exposed to UV sunlight or from the diet such as from fish (salmon and tuna especially) and eggs. Vitamin D deficiency is increasing in our current generations due to the effectiveness of sun care campaigns such as 'slip, slop, slap' and the fear of cancers. We should definitely be sun smart when out in the sun but we still need around 10-20 minutes of free sunlight a day depending on the season and time of day to make sure we get adequate production of vitamin D in our bodies which is a greater contributor to our vitamin D than our diet. University and studying indoors does not help with low vitamin D but by exercising more outside and getting more summer sun (in moderation) i have no doubt my levels of vitamin D will be up again soon, i will keep eating my salmon and tuna all the same for there multiple benefits!

Absent but not lost!

It has been a while, i do not know where the time went it!! So much happens in a few short months so i will start off where i left off.... city to surf :)

The day did not disappoint and there was a record 38,000 participants!! The atmosphere was electric and you could sense the happiness and enthusiasm of everyone around you. It was great to start in the A group up the front this year and not have to dodge prams and families but there were still enough people to pick out in front of you to catch up to and overtake to continuously set a challenge. I absolutely love the start when everyone is close together, thousands of runners around you running up St Georges Terrace then looking back on the top of the hill at Kings Park and seeing a sea of runners both in front and behind, so many people outside and running together for health, fitness and a great cause!! I felt like i kept up a good pace throughout the run, the toughest part was again at the 8-9km mark where you are getting exhausted, then at the 2km mark you get a boost of energy from excitement of the finish line coming, then the 1km mark is pick up the pace time! the best part is it is down hill and you feel like you are flying home! It is the best feeling!! I crossed the line in around 53 minutes on my watch and couldn't believe my official time when i found out... 53.35minutes!! the exact same time as i did last year down to the last second! i had to laugh i couldn't have done that if i tried! my average pace was 4.27 minutes for a kilometer so although i didn't exactly improve my time i didn't go any slower either, but i certainly will be aiming for the sub 50 minutes mark again next year! and i will have a better idea of the sort of training to do also... more long hill runs are needed :P but i was so happy with my results overall:

570th out of 14,342 12km runners, 33rd out of 6,521 female 12km runners and 11th out of 2,589 females in the 19-29 age group! I will make the top 10 next year :)

The winners were:

1st Lauren Shelley 00:44:22

2nd Emma Kraft 00:46:14
3rd Scarlett Duncan 00:47:06

So what followed after the city to surf? I enjoyed morning runs with friends from Trinity and kept up most of my endurance fitness with longer runs. The odd occasion on the tredmil i would run 10km in around 43 minutes which felt quite cruisey, i am itching to do a 5km fun run or something of a time trial i think i would be the fittest i have been for the 5km! I missed the Bunbury surf to surf fun run in October but maybe i can do the Australia day fun run in January if i can have time away from uni.

The big question is track running. It is December now and i am quite behind in my track fitness, but the positive is there is still 3 months until the states which leaves time to get my fitness back up. I have registered for the season which is a sign i am not done with my running yet! can i reach my goals i have tried to for so many years? can i not only qualify for the national champs but actually be good enough to compete in them?? that is my dream, just nationals that is all i want. Next year they are in Melbourne on the 15th-17th of April. Yes i have qualified for the 1500m but only through winning a bronze medal i didn't actually make the qualifying time. So i have been thinking... since it is late season and i have a much greater aerobic capacity than other years at this time of year, maybe i should try for the longer distances such as the 1500m or 3km or even the 5km. Last season my best 1500m time was 4.47.45 minutes on the 14th of January, from there i went downhill a little with an injury to 4.53.54 in March for the state finals. My goal is to break 4.40 minutes. My best 800m time was 2.19.64 minutes on Feb 18th, i would love to break my 2.28.4 minutes 800m record for when i was 17 but that can wait :) I'm not sure how i would go in a 3000m or 5000m race but i imagine i would have to aim to be around 10.30 minutes or 19 minutes for the 5km. My best 5km time has been 19.14 minutes at a Bunbury fun run, i think i could break that now i would love to try!! So i will make myself a 5km and 3km time trial in Bunbury and work on my 1500m times.

On Sunday i did my first track training session since March this year, i was so scared to see how much fitness and speed i had lost but thankfully it wasn't too bad!! For a trial i did a session where i start at 300m runs and decrease 20m each repetition until i am down to 100m and have about 2 minutes walk back recovery. My times were:

300m - 53 sec

280m - 50.3 sec

260m - 46.9 sec

240m - 43.9 sec

220m - 38 sec

200m - 34.6 sec

180m - 31.6sec

160m - 27.4 sec

140m - 22.4 sec

120m - 18.9 sec

100m - 14.9 sec

They were about 1-2 seconds slower than past runs up to around the 180m run then they were about the same if not slightly quicker due to a tail wind! It was awesome to put the spikes on again (they are now 7 years old though almost time for some new ones i think!!) To break the 4.40min (280 seconds) 1500m mark i need to keep up 18.6 seconds per 100m which is 56sec 300m runs or 1.14min 400m runs which doesn't sound too bad looking at the first track run times! but the longer you keep up a faster pace the harder it is to hold it. I can do it i know i can! The past few days since the track session have been:

Monday - (slightly sore from the sprints) 40 minute bike session (20km) and a pump class/weights

Tuesday - (even sorer from doing a pump class while sore!) 35 minutes interval bike session i.e. 30 min high resistance sprint and 1 min low resistance recovery x 20. then 7.5km run in 30 minutes.

Wednesday (today) - active recovery of a slower 50 min bike ride and 35 minute walk.

I'll give a track session another go tomorrow and try some 400m runs and maybe some 150's, i'm not expecting anything great but it should be interesting! I am feeling some degree of being fit all the same, I am excited to have new goals in sight and be free from uni to get back up to speed and next year i will not be neglecting my running once uni starts! I have learnt so much this past year and one of them is how much i love running and my fitness, something i do not want to neglect or put to the side as i did this year with uni and work. And what else have i discovered? i am not yet ready to give up my goals and dreams for track running yet no matter how small or large they are and i am excited at taking a slightly different approach by trying a longer distance :) But as a side note i know i will always keep going with running in how ever form it may take and have something to add to my bucket list in the future - to complete the Busselton ironman! but that will come in the next few decades... first things first track session tomorrow!! :)