Indoor Triathlon – Week 4 Mini-milestone

My fourth week Mini-Milestone for 12wbt was going to be something to do with running/jogging/shuffling.  The sprained ankle meant that was not going to happen.

So, instead I’m going to see how well I can go in an Indoor Triathlon.

1.  Stationary Bike – 20 minutes of “Random Hill” program on level 8 – how many kms?

2. Treadmill – 20 minutes of power walking 0 incline, speed 5kms/hr – how many kms?

3. Swimming – laps of pool, starting with freestyle, then with kick board to go 20 minutes – how many metres in 20 minutes.

I’m going to do it tomorrow morning at the gym.

Swim, ride or walk to your nearest goal.

Well I have been inspired by all those 12wbt-ers who entered the Triathlon Pink in Sydney on Saturday.  I thought to myself my week 4 milestone event will be a “gym triathlon” – a couple of laps of the pool, say 10kms on a stationary bike at the gym and 1km running on the treadmill.  And then I thought – why shouldn’t work towards entering the 2012 Triathlon Pink in Sydney?  Only one problem.

Hello, my name is Leonie, I’m 46 years old and I can’t ride a bicycle.

I asked the usually supportive – 120% supportive – Mr. G if he would teach me how to ride.  His response was a mix of a chortle and a chuckle, and said only if you don’t scream.  (Did I mention he has tried before – and there is a lot of fear to get over for me.)

So I posted the following post on the 12wbt Sydneysiders page – mainly because I wanted to vent.  Here’s what I said:

After seeing the pictures of the Pink Triathalon on here and reading about it – I’m thinking is this something I could work towards for this time next year (short course is looking good.) Only one problem though – I just had a look at the website and only kids are allowed training wheels. Yep, I’m 46 yrs young and I have NEVER ridden a bike more than a metre without falling off! So, is there hope for me? Anyone ever taught an adult how to ride – or learned themselves as an adult?

I am blown away by the response to my post.  First, Kristi said she would be able to teach me – and she encouraged me not to wait until I’d lost more weight – but to go for it sooner.  Last night we even started making tentative plans on Facebook.  Thanks to Kristi my whole mind set has changed.  I really believe I’ll be able to do this!

And it’s not just being able to enter the triathlon – but also, to be able to ride on bike tracks with my kids and Mr G.  And I’ve always wanted to go to Lord Howe Island – but the main mode of transport is bicycle – that seems achievable now!  And Mr G. and I visited Rottnest Island when I was pregnant with Master G. – I I promised myself I would learn to ride then (14 years ago) and bring my children back on a cycling holiday of the island.  It all seems to be within my grasp now – and I haven’t even tried on a helmet 😉

Just a little while ago I logged onto Facebook – first time today – and I am amazed by other  12wbt members who are in my position (didn’t learn as a child but would like to learn now), Triathlon Pink participants encouraging me to go for it and members who can ride ready to support me as I learn.

Tonight’s 12wbt task for me is finishing off my week 3 & 4 Reflection, Recognition and Re-commitment exercise set by Mish.  My goals will be centred around working towards a Triathlon Pink next October in Sydney.

I’ve decided to aim high and work towards entering the medium course.

From the website: “The medium course triathlon is a 200m swim followed by a 6km ride followed by a 2km run.  In the 2008 event in Sydney the fastest Pinkie finished in 22 minutes and the slowest Pinkie completed the course in 57 minutes.”  Even if I can’t achieve that this time next year, if I work towards it I will probably be prepared enough to enter the short course.

An unexpected milestone!

Feeling really good today did 30 minutes on stationary bike in the gym followed by an aqua aerobics class.

 I burned 173 calories on the bike.  The first 11 minutes and 30 seconds were my time trial for week 4, since it still hurts to walk, and I can’t keep up any speed walking at the moment.  In those eleven and a half minutes I cycled for 5kms.  In week 8 I will see how fast I can do 5kms at level 10.  Hopefully, I will be shuffling around the oval too in week 8, and I’ll smash my week 1 time!

But as for the unexpected milestone?  During the aqua aerobics class my HRM says I burnt 213 calories between me pressing start and stop.  However, my monitor kept losing the signal when I was doing frog jumps and the like.  Only 44 minutes were accounted for, out of a sixty minute class.  It was really frustrating.

When I got to the change room to have a shower I realised what the problem was – the belt was sort of scrunched up, caught up in my cossie and twisted.  It needs adjusting because now it is too big!  I’m going back to another aqua aerobics class tomorrow night – with a slightly smaller chest strap.  I think that will do the trick!

 

 

 

 

I may not have burned 1000 calories, but I sure had a Super Saturday!

Today was the day for Outdoor Fitness Fun with Michelle Bridges – part of “Australia’s Biggest Health Check”.  I considered not going because of my sprained ankle.  I considered not going because of the overcast weather, and the forecast for showers. I am very glad I made the 75 minute trek to Leichhardt Oval 3.

It was quite overcast when we arrived but the weather held off.  It was great actually seeing Mish for the first time.  After she had been there for a while, someone “official” came over to us and asked us would we be in the background – exercising – while Mish was interviewed live for the Sunrise weekend show.  How could we say no???

 In these photos Mish is giving us our instructions for the workout we had to do in the background while she was being interviewed.                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel (12wbt Sydney Crew) led the exercises – mostly jogging around in circles, push-ups – and horror of horror – burpees!  When everyone else got down on the ground I remained upright and concentrated on avoiding the TV camera, as I didn’t know if I could get back up again with my dodgy ankle.

That done, we got ready for Mish’s first workout of the day.  That’s me there on the left in the photo below – complete with spare tyres!  (Blogger’s note: I can’t believe I’m actually posting an unflattering photo like that.)

 After a few words about the event we got underway with the workout.  I kept it low impact because of my ankle – still managed to burn 176 calories in the 25 minutes.  I haven’t got Mish’s DVDs – but I’m definitely getting them now!

 

 

It was such a great atmosphere – can’t wait for the finale now!  During the workout some officials were on the lookout for someone exercising well to recieve a $299 (Rebel Sports price) heart rate monitor – designed for running as it has built in GPS.  At the end of the first workout Mary from the 12wbt Sydney Crew won one.

Then we all got a hula hoop to keep – Priceline Pink in colour, so we could do a Hula Hoop workout.  Well, my Hula Hooping skills have not advanced from what they were in primary school – I think it’s called an epic fail.  I did manage to keep trying for 5 minutes and 29 seconds, with a calorie burn of 33 achieved!  Most of those calories were burned by laughing – I’m sure!

 

 

 

 

And the highlight of the morning – getting to meet Michelle.  My plan was to walk over (lots of other people waiting), smile for the camera and say thank you.

Instead I looked at her as she smiled at me and I started to tear up.  She said something like – “There’s a lot of emotion there.”  Then I started to blubber, and she started to talk to me – after checking that they were indeed happy tears.

I told her they were because I had lost 14kgs since the beginning of preseason.  It was wonderful to hear her say congratulations – and then give me a little pep talk – and of course I brought up my current ankle problem, and she was very supportive.

 I think I got so emotional because it really hit home what I have achieved the last 8 weeks – and it’s the first time I’ve said it out loud to someone besides Mr. G.

And look – she managed to get me smiling again!  I just hope I managed to get the words “Thank you” out!

(Blogger’s note: I know my shirt is a little snug – but I’m very pleased to say it is a size 22, and I have been wearing size 26.  I’ve got some size 24 clothes on lay-buy, I think its time to get them out!)

After this photo opportunity with Mish we went over to the photo tent.  We tried to get our whole group in the shot – we didn’t quite make it as you can see!

So then the photographer suggested we try 3 at a time. This was a much more successful – though as you can see the graphic on the cover of the magazine were set up for one person – not many people would choose to have a stethoscope land in the middle of their forehead.

It was great being there with so many fellow members of the 12wbt Sydney Crew.  It was nice to put actual faces to the names and profile pics on Facebook and the 12wbt forums.

The event itself was good fun – and there was free bottle of water (with Shannan Ponton on the label), free Forme yoghurt and fruit.  The Men’s Health Magazine had a sausage sizzle – with wholemeal bread – but I stuck with the fruit and yoghurt.  We also got fab sample bags from Priceline.  There were free mini massages and free Heart health Checks, and Mish interviewing the sponsors on stage.

We had a group photo taken with Mish and next thing it was time for Mish’s second workout of the day.  I was deciding wether to do it or not because of my ankle – and I thought JFDI – I mean, how often will I get to do a group fitness class led by Mish – I decided just to keep it low impact again, and stop if I needed to do so.

And am I glad I did.  Not only did I manage to burn 124 calories in the 20 minutes but I also won a Garmin Forerunner 110 Heart Rate Monitor with GPS – just like the one in the picture below.  What an incentive to get back into learning to run again as soon as my ankle is ready! Another member of the Sydney Crew also got a Garmin in the second workout!

I got the cute grey and pink one in the middle 🙂

After feeling a bit blah all week I feel on top of the world now!

I’m not alone on my journey – and I can do this!  Who needs motivation when you can JFDI!  My favourite music from the workout – I think it must be called “Scream if you want to go faster” – going to look for it on iTunes now.

What would you say to Michelle if you met her tomorrow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12wbt Blogging Challenge – What brings you joy?

The challenge this week is to name the things which bring me joy – without resorting to that four lettered word – food! 😉

1. The way I feel after exercising

2. Listening to my daughter read out loud.

3. Listening to my son play the saxophone.

4. Going on bushwalks.

5. Indulging in crafty activities.

6. Spending time with friends.

7. Looking at flowers.

8. Watching my favourite movies.

9. Listening to music.

10. Spending time with my husband.

 

 

 

Suck it up princess and move on!

I haven’t posted for more than a week – because I’ve been feeling sorry for myself.

The thing I feared most – see answer no.7 in this previous post – https://fitandhappynotfatandhippy.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/12wbt-blog-challenge-introduce-yourself/ – actually happened.

Last Friday I was at the gym and aquatic centre.  I did an aqua aerobics class and was feeling pretty pleased with myself.  Then got changed and headed for the gym to do a cardio workout on the equipment.  There had been a storm the prvious night, and part of the roof had been damaged, and repairs were underway.  Because of that I had to enter the gym via the creche.  What I didn’t realise was there was a little step down from the creche into the gym. My foot went sideways and I came crashing down – luckily on top of my gym bag that had two towels inside.  That didn’t save my ankle though.

I made a promise to myself that I would eat well while off my feet.  Until yesterday I kept that promise.  I also promised myself I would do some upper body workouts with the dumbells I have – that didn’t happen.

It wasn’t all bad.  I got on the scales yesterday morning, to see that I had discarded another 0.9kg – for a total of 8kgs since week 1 of 12wbt.

I’m heading back to the pool tomorrow morning, maybe for an aqua aerobics class, and I’ll do an upper body workout with weights at home tomorrow afternoon.  I’m just so annoyed with myself, as I am a teacher and had two weeks off – during which I was planning to really ramp up the exercise.  The main thing is, even though I’ve given in to some indulgences in the last 24 hours, I haven’t given up!