Friday, August 29, 2008

Yoga Schmoga

I went for my first yoga class today and I was bored. No offence to all the people out there who are big fans of yoga, but I can't say I am or ever will be. I'm not the kind of person who can sit still meditating and trying to link my body with my brain with my soul with my blah blah blah....I know it's supposed to be relaxing and all that, but I didn't find it a relaxing at all. I was just plain, old bored. Don't get me wrong, some of the yoga moves were insanely difficult, but I think I'm more a pilates person than a yoga person and it could be that I'm not spiritual enough or stretchy enough, but pilates seems more or less similar to yoga to me, without all the meditation and zen-like looks on everyones' faces. All in all, I guess I'm just not sold on yoga. Back to pilates for me then!

What I did yesterday:
Ran: 3.2k in 23 minutes - legs gave up and had an annoying stitch that wouldn't go away...AGAIN

What I did today:
1 hour of yoga....yaaaawwwwnnnn

Thursday, August 28, 2008

How to Sprain Your Finger

1. Have a couple of drinks
2. Talk about spin classes
3. Wave your hands animatedly whilst talking about it
4. Rub hands together to describe friction between seat and crotch
5. Get overly excited and yank last finger too far back because it got caught in other hand

Ta dah! You've got a sprained finger.

And yes, I achieved all that last night.

What I did yesterday other than spraining my finger:
1 hour training with my trainer (purely arms and core work because my legs were shot to hell)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Oh the Pain

I had a big plan yesterday to run from work back to about a 5 minute cab ride to my house...and I did it! The whole 6.5k of sheer torture and pain. There were a lot of stops to stretch, drink water, crawl, walk and a lot of moments where I 'ran' so slowly I might as well have stood still.

I don't think I can even begin to describe the agony that I (as a poor runner in the first place) experienced from 2k onwards. I had tried the same route last year once and I got up to 2.5k before I gave up and took a taxi home. Yesterday I got to 2.5k and pressed on. From the start my shins were giving me a bit of grief, maybe because they weren't used to running on the pavement, but that pain went away and was replaced by just general pain all over. I had my famous stitches for the last 4.5k and had to stop every now and then hoping that that'd get them to disappear. I tried breathing properly, I tried running without bouncing...basically I tried everything possible, but they were there to be my constant companion all through the end.

Now imagine me running like I'm about to reel over (and really, I use the word 'running' here very, very loosely) and then suddenly realising that the route I chose has got all these uphill slopes. Real fun huh? I wouldn't go as far as to say they were hilly routes, but they were sloped upwards and I was entirely miserable.

You'd think that after all that running I did I'd be able to have a wonderful night's sleep, but despite going to sleep at half 10, I woke up at about 1am freezing cold. So I turned off the a/c and an hour later I was feeling warm, so I turned the a/c back on. This went on the entire night which effectively meant I didn't actually end up getting much sleep, much less feeling well-rested!*

Today, my legs are throwing a tantrum. In fairness, they're being rather nice in spite of it, because they're not too sore, but they are awfully stiff. Hopefully if I stretch them out a bit tonight they'll be good to go tomorrow. I'm planning a short run on the track with my sis then. Be nice to treat my feet to a nice, cushy surface for a change.

What I did last night
Ran (Walked/Crawled/Stood Still): 6.5k in 54:02 minutes

*Apparently a lot of people experience the whole waking up in cold sweat (I was just cold, no sweat) after doing their first long run....whilst it makes me feel as if I've made the leagues of better runners, it seems rather pathetic that my 6.5k run actually constitutes a 'long run' to my body.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The Anti-Social Spinner (Spinee?)

I'm not great with group classes. I realise that unless I'm in the mood, I don't really enjoy being all sociable, happy and perky when I'm in the middle of sweating my lungs out. And whilst the music and the instructor do force me to push myself more than I would, frankly, there I times where I wish he'd just shut up. I suspect the instructor knows that because whilst he goes around psyching people up, he avoids me...this is in part due to the fact that I will him not to come near me with my evil eyes (one of the few superhuman powers I have). Of course the fact that the instructor is annoying is pushing me to move my ass...so it becomes a whole catch 22 situation.

I think I'm the sweatiest person that exists. Before anyone even starts perspiring, I'm merrily sweating up a storm in my own little corner and really, it's highly embarrassing. Plus it makes me feel mighty unfit compared to the rest of them as well!

So these are the reasons why I don't really love spin classes all that much. If it weren't for the fact that I do feel like I am getting fantastic exercise out of all this, I probably would have just thrown in the towel ages ago.

What I did last evening:
Spin session with annoying instructor for 1 hr

Monday, August 25, 2008

Bangkok Gluttony

So Thursday night to Sunday afternoon was spent eating A LOT...and I am not exaggerating. W e had all sorts of varieties of Thai food - green curry, sharks fin, suckling pig, abalone and so on and so forth. I love Thai food and I'm also very happy that I'm no longer in Bangkok, because I was just completely over-eating at every meal.

Food aside, I managed to get my run and swim in. That meant I had to wake up before the entire family (wasn't too hard since everyone slept in on most days) since the moment the whole gang got up, it was off to eat, shop, get a massage and save the world! So although I was half asleep when I got to the gym, I managed to finish a 7k run! Woo Hoo! I'm just 3k away from the target 10k! I quite enjoyed the morning run as well, it feels nice to get the run over with and then have the rest of the day to do my own thing, rather than fit my run in the middle of the day and have to plan everything around it as I do usually. So I guess the plan now is to try to wake up at 6 in the morning and try to get my run in before I head off for work. I guess that means I have to start sleeping earlier than I do now.

I managed to get a swim in the day after my run in the world's stupidest shaped pool. The pool was octagonal in shape and just completely inconducive for swimming. I ended up swimming 50 laps from one corner to the opposite corner, and managed to get a neck ache from constantly trying to lift my head up awkwardly to check I didn't end up in the wrong corner...which I still did, many times. If I ever meet the designer of the octagonal swimming pool, I am so going to whip his ass.

I'm not a big on massages, but after all the running and swimming and the past week's rock climbing session, my shoulders and upper back have been a mess and the Thai massage was so welcomed. My shoulders feel a lot looser now and it's kind of weird not having the permanent ache there. Of course I undid all the benefits of the massage by going off rockclimbing for about an hour the moment I got back home. But, the loose shoulders were nice, if only for a couple of hours. Speaking of rockclimbing, I think I need to get back to it, because well, I just miss it. It's a real bother having to find someone to belay me and all that though, which is why I have only been making very half-hearted attempts to get back into the sport.

Back to the grind again today, so I'm off for spin classes tonight. Hopefully I'll do a lot better than I did last week!

Over weekend
Ran: 7km in 46:37 min
Swam: 1 hour / 50 laps in stupidly shaped pool

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Off to Bangkok

I did feel a lot better after my session with my personal trainer. Also because deep down inside I'm a complete exhibitionist. I climbed the rock wall as a warm-up yesterday and the world stopped to watch. It made me feel special. Yes, I do get instant gratification from random people 'oohing' and 'aahing'. I wasn't even doing all that fantastically climb-wise, but I'm guessing no one else knew better so it made me feel rather well-loved for those couple of minutes.

I'm off to Bangkok this evening for the weekend and it's going to be a weekend of pigging out, massages, shopping, wandering, a swim and a run....You did hear right! I'm going to try to fit in a swim and a run in the 3 days I'm there because I am dedicated like that. It's a bit of a pain lugging my trainers around for a 3 day trip, but I'm a lean, mean machine now and I've got to keep the parts well oiled....how did that come off sounding dodgy? Anyway, the plan is to do a run and a swim, but as to that actually panning out at the end of the day...well, it's anyone's call.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

T'was One of THOSE Days

I managed my 6k yesterday, but it was a hardly an easy enough run. About 1k into the run, I got bored, then 2k in I got even more bored, at 3k I was more or less ready to throw in the towel and call it a day. The rest of the 3k is a blur because all I heard was the screaming in my head every hundred metres to give up. I battled through all my defeatist thoughts to make the 6k in the end.

I tried to go a bit faster this time around, think I actually got to about 5.7min/km but I didn't last too long at that speed. All in, it was a disappointing run, I was inconsistent, I was bored and I really wasn't "feelin' it". Nonetheless, my only consolation is that I finished my run in 38:31 mins, which is a better time than the last run, although I did do my last run sick.

Meanwhile I'm back to icing the foot. Getting tired of having a cold foot. Wow, this entire entry has just been a huge whining session. Maybe I'll feel less 'blah' after the session with my trainer today.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Spin Spin Spin

My second spin class turned out slightly better than my first. I was able to keep up for the most part and my quads aren't aching as crazily the day after as they were last week. The crotch hurts again though, so I'm really considering getting padded shorts simply because I can't imagine it being all that good for any human being's anatomy to have a bike seat rubbing it sore for an hour!

Thanks to my plantar fasciitis issue (I'd explain what this is, but I'm guessing you'd prefer to google it and find out the real definition than listen to my made-up definition), I've dug out these insoles (which I should have been using in the very first place) which my orthopedic passed me last year, but which I've happily left in the corner of my room. I guess I'm going to try my runs with them. I also have big plans to buy this pair of North Face flip flops (since I absolutely must wear flip flops all the time) which is supposed to be good in the whole arch-support department. Why can't I have normal feet?!?! Oh how much pain and money I'd save if I had normal feet! Anyone want to swap feet with me?

Back to my run again today, and I'm going to go back to 6k since my last 6k run was exactly a week ago and following that I've managed to get ill, hurt my foot and only managed a 4k by way of running. So back to the grind again...bear with me here, I know 6k isn't a huge deal, but in all my years of non-running, these low mileage runs make for small achievements and easy satisfaction.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Another Lazy Sunday

Once again, Sunday was spent lounging around having my cup of caramel latte and watching the Olympics. I've managed to hurt my foot again* and I'm not sure if it's from windsurfing or my short run outdoors on Saturday, but I'm actually getting tired of having the same problem time and time again. I'm probably going to start wearing trainers at the windsurfing club from now on because I suspect a lot of my foot problems can be attributed to the fact that I'm running around the club with my sail and board in my bare feet.

That aside, I managed to make my 4k run outdoors on Saturday rather smoothly, minus the fact that I met with a bunch of monkeys up one road, so I had to backtrack and take another route (I'm terrified of monkeys). And windsurfing went pretty well that afternoon as well. I think I might have to buy a harness line soon, so I can start using my harness. I've got a huge backache from windsurfing (I seem to be picking up a whole bunch of aches and pains from windsurfing) and I think I either need to buy a new smaller sail or I need to start using my body weight (hence the need to learn to use the harness) to rein in the wind. For now, my toes hurt from gripping the board for my dear life, my heel hurts from what potentially might be another case of plantar fasciitis, my lower back is aching from all the uphauling at windsurfing, and I'm off for my second spin class tonight. Woo hoo, I can hardly wait.

*I have a high arches and I seem to make it a subconscious effort to screw up my feet constantly

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Magical Cure for a Wine Hangover

Exercise. Plain old sweating the hangover away. And boy did I sweat. Had a session with my personal trainer today and messing around with all the weights, lunges, ab work and squats worked up a real sweat. So despite feeling completely physically exhausted now, I also feel less like the mess I was this morning. Maybe I'll actually feel up to going to the driving range or the pool tonight. In the meantime, I have a weekend of windsurfing, and lots of running to look forward to! I just hope my nagging cough goes away!

The Myth of Short Drinks

Going for short drinks doesn't exist. There never is just the one drink. I have a headache, am completely dehydrated and am very tired. No prizes for guessing why. Does anyone realise that after a boozy night, one always feels this need to eat a lot greasy, unhealthy food? Or is that just me?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Drinkies

I'm off for my monthly alumni get-together and which I have to go for since I'm the one organising it. I'm not at my best, but I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday. For now I'm being a good little girl and having a banana and a yoghurt before heading out for drinkies. Knowing me, once I hit the wines, I'll get full and I'll wake up tomorrow having a massive headache and feeling ever so hungry!

Day of Rest

I was a dribbling, sneezy mess yesterday. Was running a temperature in the morning and had to pop an aspirin to take away the pain. Needless to say, I didn't go for my personal training session, neither did I go for the swim I was aiming for. I literally crawled home, had dinner, watched the Olympics and crawled into bed. And then I woke up at 5.30 in the morning. AGAIN! It's really frustrating trying to get to bed early so I'll get a long night's sleep and then waking up at stupid o'clock in the morning.

Anyway, the dark clouds seem to have cleared, my nose is less runny and the fever's gone. Hopefully I'll be all good to go tomorrow! I might try to sneak in a little run tonight though.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

My First 6K!

I don't care if no one thinks running 6k is a big deal, I do! I'm so so proud of myself, and I totally rock! As well as being completely shameless, but I don't care, I think I'm allowed to be at least a little shameless today!

The 6k wasn't the smoothest run actually. My legs were aching from the spin class on Monday and I wasn't feeling in tip-top condition with my half stuffed, half runny nose that was rubbed raw from all the tissue abrasion. So I lathered my legs with heating rub and rubbed Vaporub on my nose and decided to do the whole 6k, but at a comfortable pace.

I started at an 7.5min/km pace, and held that for about 4k before I got insanely bored and just wanted to finish the darn 6k as soon as I possibly could, so I basically ran the remaining 2k at 6.7min/km pace (yes, I'm bored, but I'm not going to be crazy and push myself to insane limits when I couldn't breathe properly!) and I still felt pretty good at the end of the run. My leg muscles had effectively warmed up by then and they felt rather strong. I probably could have gone another 1k, but I made my 6 and I was satisfied! When it comes to pushing myself the extra mile, no such motivation exists in my being.

So anyway, post longest run in my life, I am now officially sick. I woke up at 5am this morning (I can do this when I'm sick, but when I make plans to wake up super early to run I never manage to wake up) freezing and had to turn off the a/c. Now I'm still freezing, wheezing and stuffed up. So, no training with the personal trainer today, just a day of pure, unadulterated rest unless I get fidgety and decide to go for an easy swim after dinner tonight. We'll see...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Treadmill Laziness

Would you believe I've spent the whole day wondering whether I'm too sick to go for my 6k run tonight? I am a complete wuss! I know I can do it, but I'm just feeling to lazy and scared to run more than 5.4k! Aaaaargh, God grant me strength! (In my defence, my nose has really been a cross between being stuffed and runny, so it's not as if I'm a 100% illness-free!)

Post Spin Session

I survived my first spin class yesterday! I've also realised that I'm so unfit! I think that's the reason I'm not the biggest fan of group classes because it makes me very aware that I'm not as strong as I think I am. There were loads of middle aged folk who were cycling waaaaay faster than me, standing up, sitting down, standing up, sitting down....these guys strolled easily out of the class leaving me to stumble out (my legs stopped working as soon as I stepped off the bike) feeling a tad like a loser. Now, 16 hours later, my quads are aching, and my tail bone and crotch really hurt (yes I know I'm getting into 'too much information' territory). Yet, being the masochist I am, I'm contemplating going again next week!

It's my 6k run today and I forgot to bring my music. Looks like a long tedious run on the treadmill again. I've had a stuffy nose all night and I'm worried I'm coming down with something, hopefully all the multivitamins, healthy food and exercise I'm taking/doing will curb the cold before it hits full speed!

On an end note: My only consolation about the whole spin class debacle is that (in my head) I'm probably stronger than the rest of them arm strength-wise with all the windsurfing and rockclimbing I've done in the past year.

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Failed Long Run

I was supposed to do my long run on Sunday. I didn't do it because I was too lazy. And well, I was being a bit of a wuss as well - the thought of running 8k just scared me silly. So my Sunday was just spent sitting around all day watching the Olympics. Didn't go windsurfing, didn't do my 8k run, didn't go down to join the guys for ultimate frisbee....essentially I was a big lazy ass...and yes, now that I've listed all the things I didn't do on Sunday, I actually am feeling ashamed of myself.

Nonetheless, I did wake up early enough on Saturday morning and went for a 3k run and discovered that I'm incapable of running outdoors anymore. I get tired within 2 seconds, a stitch forms after 2 minutes, my legs ache, it's hot...essentially it's incessant whining in my head the entire while. I'm thinking of taking music out the next time. I try not to run with music because I'm always worried about being ploughed down by a car (I'm a control freak, I don't trust Singaporean drivers to be aware of my presence), but I need something to take my mind off my own whining.

Went down windsurfing on Saturday afternoon and I finally know what I've been doing wrong the past few weeks. To cut the long story short, over the past couple of weeks I managed to pick up the bad habit of perching too much on the side of the board such that I was basically sailing lopsided. I've been pretty demoralised lately over windsurfing because I just felt I hit a wall windsurfing-wise. I wasn't getting any better and it just seemed I was getting worse! But Saturday Mr Miyagi (wax on, wax off!) came down to the club and all was well once more. He told me what I was doing wrong, he told me how to get better and when the wind picked up just before the storm, I grabbed my board and sail and I flew! Well, there were other people out at sea who'd beg to differ, but to me at least, that was the fastest I'd ever gone and it was absolutely thrilling!

I've got a spin class tonight, I made sure I paid the extra 2 bucks to confirm my reservation, so now I'm good to go and die a miserable death! This week my running mileage goes up an extra kilometre, so tomorrow I shall push for 6km (which might have felt more achievable had I done the darn 8k run over the weekend, and not chosen to laze). Wish me luck for tonight! I'll probably need loads.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Post 5k Hangover

The 5k run was good, did it in 32 minutes and 10 seconds, so the time's going the right way. I was naughty after though, didn't drink enough water, ate just two bananas, drank waaaay toooo much wine for my own good, and didn't get enough sleep... So now I'm here at 11am the next day dehydrated, hungry and worse for the wear. It's my own fault, I know...

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Philosophical Runner

I was talking to an old friend yesterday and he asked me what I'd do after I achieved (he's very optimistic) my goal of running 10k under an hour. He asked whether I'd do a half-marathon after or even a marathon. Frankly I doubt I'd do either. I can't see myself running past an hour (hence the whole running 10k in less than an hour goal!) because I can imagine getting very very bored. I do have the attention span of a 5 year old kid.

Nonetheless, after I finished talking to him, I sat down and had a little bit of a panic attack. What do I do after the run in October? Run it again? Run it faster? Do another run? Run a longer distance? Stop running altogether and get back to watching a lot of tv (in fairness, I did lose a lot of weight doing nothing)?

I kid you not, I actually freaked out because I couldn't see what other running activity I was going to do beyond the 10k run. Of course, in the process of completely overanalysing everything, I started thinking about my attitude in life...yes, sometimes shallow thoughts do end up being a whole study about the depths of my soul (or just a discovery session in the kind of person I am)...

I realise I've never really lived life for the moment. I always need to have a picture of what I want to have and then I try to twist my life to that ideal. But in doing so, I tend to focus on all the bad things that happen in the here and now and completely take any good things for granted. I fret over how the bad things now would completely ruin the future dream, never taking into consideration that dreams could change. I go into relationships thinking about whether the guy would make a good husband or father (I know, I'm scary like that) and then any little thing that doesn't fit into my self-created dream devastates me. Enjoy the moment? How can I when I'm busy worrying about what'll happen in 10 years!

Today I run 5k again. I'll try to enjoy it for what it is and not how it's part of something big. It's a small step in the right direction I suppose, and maybe someday the personality I train as I'm running will be the personality I have as a person. This has become a much bigger project than I envisioned!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Body Fat Woes

I've never really been concerned with body fat percentage...simply because I didn't think I had much. When I was younger I ran around all the time, so everything I ate got metabolised really quickly and I could eat all kinds of crap, but not have it show up. Sadly, age is catching up with me and all the past 28 years of crap eating habits are now ingrained in my very being and the metabolism ain't anything like it was before.

I mentioned previously taking the whole body fat calculation thingamajig and scoring a pathetic 30% (I just found out it was actually 31.3%), well I took that test again today and have now managed to lower the percentage to 28.9%. Woohoo! 4.9% more to go before I have the body fat percentage of a normal woman and even more to go before I can consider myself an athlete. Moments like these are sobering and depressing, 2.4% in 4 months! And all the exercise I've done! Although admittedly, I did slack off a lot in the middle.

Well, I know that for the next week, I'll be good and eat lean, non deep-fried, unsweetened, unprocessed (read: very boring and tasteless) food. But I also do know that I'm not really a bland food kind of person and in no time, I'll probably be back eating a bunch of crap. I guess this means I just have to run longer and further.

The Halfway Mark

Okay, the furthest I've run in my life has been 5.4k (which was in January of this year) so yesterday's run to my halfway mark wasn't all that remarkable. But, I did run quite a bit faster than I did my 5.4k.

Previous 5.4k: 8.3min per km
Yesterday's 5k: 6.6min per km

Now if I could just get it to 6min per km, I'm on the right track.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Upping the Training

Just now I decided to set a proper 'professional' schedule for myself so I downloaded a training log from the Polar website. I have to run 4 times a week! And just this Sunday I'm going to have to run 8k! How on earth I'm going to reach that target distance when I've only run a maximum of 5.5k my entire (albeit short, thus far) life is beyond me. Well, it looks like training just went up a notch!

Spin Class..or Lack Thereof

I had big plans yesterday to go for the spin class at my gym. No, hang on, I've had big plans the whole of last week to go for spin class. I had psyched myself up and was convinced that I could go for one spin class and not collapse halfway through the class and I was excited about it. Unfortunately, despite arriving at the gym a good 20 minutes before the class started, the class was fully booked up. I use 'unfortunately' very loosely, because a little part of me sighed a HUGE sigh of relief. It wasn't that I was chickening out, no, the universe had decided that I shouldn't go for spin class.

To digress, what is with the crowded gym on a Monday? Yes yes, I know I was there on Monday as well, but I'd like to think that because I'm there every other day as well, that I don't count as one of the 'Monday gym bunnies'.

Back to original rant, I didn't go for spin class yesterday, but I do want to go for one to see how bad it is...and perhaps never return. Oooh, there's a class tomorrow, maybe I'll go check it out then. Although, I've got personal training and I know I'll be aching at the end of the day...aaargh, too many decisions! Maybe I'll just leave it till next week and see how it goes.

PS: I did cycle 6 miles on the gym bike and did some half-hearted crunches in the end, so I wasn't altogether lazy yesterday

Monday, August 4, 2008

Aches and Pains

This weekend was spent in extremes. Saturday I went a bit mad, woke up early-ish (well, early by my standards after a Friday night at least), and went for a very short run, went off to the driving range to hit a couple of balls and spent the rest of the day windsurfing. I paid dearly on Sunday...which gave me the very easy excuse to sit around all day 'resting'.

My best friend and I were talking about the runner's high that running people always talk about, but which we haven't to date achieved. I realise I don't get any high from running. I just get tired, breathless and very aware of each muscle aching. As much as so many people claim that after running a while, one would reach a zen-like state, I don't think I've ever come even close to that! That at least is my excuse as to why I only ran a mere 2k in about 15 minutes on Saturday morning. It was oh so hot and about 3 minutes into the run, I sensed a stitch forming. I'm actually curious as to why I get stitches when I'm running outside and not when I'm running on the treadmill? I guess I have to build up the milege run outdoors slowly and steadily. I'm actually getting worried that I'm getting too used to running in a controlled environment and that my body can't get used to the heat outside.

Windsurfing was a bit disappointing this weekend. The wind was my perfect kind of wind ie not too light that I couldn't move and not too strong that I'd get thrown over. The problem was there was a race going on and I was super paranoid about crashing into the racers (?) so when I was miles away from them, I'd be desperately trying to turn away. I'm not the biggest fan of the onshore wind as well. Because one always sails perpendicular to the wind, I constantly find myself going left and right of the shore and having a nightmare of a time trying to get back to shore. Oh well, maybe it'd be better next weekend. I'd hate to think that I'm regressing windsurfing-wise.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Weird Weight Fluctuations

Gone are the days where I stayed one weight no matter what I did or didn't do. Lately since I've started becoming a bit more active, I find my weight behaving strangely. Somedays I'm up 2 kilos and then magically the next day I'm down 1.5 kilos. Of course the net effect of all this is that I'm still up 0.5 kilos, which is frustrating because I think I'm doing more exercise than I've ever done...ever!

I remember when I first started taking lessons with my personal trainer, I had to do a fitness test where they put you on this fancy machine that runs a current through you...blah blah blah...and voila! it comes up with your body fat content. I had started my running regime then and was doing rockclimbing weekly, so I thought I'd ace this test, no problems. I was sooooo wrong. I failed it miserably. I came up with 30% body fat which is way way over what the average woman has.

You see, what happened is (or at least my esteemed theory on the whole matter) is that I started running so I could eat more. So I ate more. I don't snack, I've never been a big fan of snacking, but I did start having 4 full meals a day. Soon I realised that I was no longer eating because I ran, I had moved into dangerous ground, I was eating so much I was now having to run because if I didn't I risked ballooning into...I can't even start to imagine what. Because I don't actually put on weight in obvious areas, I never really noticed the weight gain until I stepped on the scales the other day and realised I had put on a whopping 3 kilos!

So I think I have to start eating like a normal person again. It's not even as if I'm running all that far to justify eating so much in the first place. What can I say? I just love my food, but I think it's time to admit that my metabolism isn't anything like it used to be.

On a separate note, I'm so glad today is my rest day. Drinkies till half two at night and sleeping barely 5 hours do not tired muscles heal. My left forearm's been aching since Wednesday when I finally ventured back to the driving range after a long absence, and my legs are really aching from yesterday's pathetic 4k run. I think what I needed last night was a good long rest and not copious amounts of wine. Ah well, I'll work on sleeping earlier tonight. Fingers crossed it'd all work out well because tomorrow's going to be an exhausting day!