Time For A Half Marathon Goal.

You have probably heard that it's important to set goals. Something to work towards, a sense of achievement, etc. etc.

Well sadly, it's all true.

Exercising without goals becomes a bit monotonous after a while, which makes it easier to slip away. Also, you never feel you are getting any better. And finally, you can end up not pushing yourself enough, because there is no particular reason to do so.

I feel I've fallen into a bit of a slump recently with my exercise. I've been going to the gym four times a week because I've got a gym pact where I have to, but I've frequently only been going for the minimum amount of time and surprisingly not really seeing any improvement.

So, today while I was at the gym watching the Iron Men competitions (while jogging at close to half their speed, and they had done a swim and a bike ride first!) I decided it was time to set a goal and train towards something.

For quite a number of years now, I've been saying I wanted to run a half marathon. 10 years ago my goal was to be able to run 3.5kms without wanting to die, then having met that it was to do 10km. However, since doing 10km in 2008, I've been saying I would train for a half marathon. As of yet, haven't done it. Not even the distance just out training.

I would see an event coming up (I get email updates from Start to Finish of upcoming events, which I highly recommend for Australians) and think 'okay, I'll do that.' But then never get around to actually training for it.
 Last week I received an email for Run Melbourne, which noted that I had just over 15 weeks to train for the event, AND they offered free training. Now that might be enough to get me going.

So, Run Melbourne is on the 21st July and I'm going to try for the half marathon.
 
I've never actually run that distance before, so my goal this time is just to jog the whole thing without stopping. Not caring about time or speed, it's just about getting to the end.

Now, Run Melbourne isn't actually my favourite race, as it is usually overcrowded and not always that well organised. For example, I was talking to a friend who did it last year, and part way through the race she was forced to stop and wait as they let traffic through. Stuffed her time completely. And as she said, if you have to stop the participants for traffic, you've chosen the wrong route.

However, since I'm not going for time and they are offering free training, I really think it might be a winner. (And I might need the stops to catch my breath!)

The details of the training as outlined in the email, for those of you interested:

The Age Run Melbourne - Enter now and join our FREE training sessions!

With just over 15 weeks to go until the big day, what better time to enter The Age Run Melbourne, raise funds for your favourite charity, and start working towards your goal - we'll even help you get there!

Join The Age Run Melbourne training sessions from Tuesday, April 30 and we'll help you achieve your personal milestone on July 21! The training sessions are free to all those who have entered The Age Run Melbourne. A $5 fee will apply to all participants who have not yet registered. The proceeds will be given to our Charity of the Week.

Tuesdays - 6pm, Federation Square, Melbourne. These sessions cater for all ages and abilities, with several pace groups aimed to help you build up to the 5km, 10km and half-marathon distances, as well as speed work groups each week.

Wednesdays - 6pm, Running Fit, 170 Queen St, Melbourne. Designed to help beginners complete their first 5km or 10km event.

Saturdays - 9am, Running Fit. A longer run for those looking to better their 10km time or training for the half-marathon.

Now, they are probably going to be packed, but some group training maybe just what you need to get you over the edge! So if you are interested in doing it, I'd love to meet up with you while there. We can both make sure the other turns up!

Or, if you aren't in Australia but have an event coming up,and you want to put your name on the line by declaring your attention, say hello in the comments and we'll keep track on your progress and cheer you on!

In the next post, I'm going to interview a friend who is a state marathon runner, to get her great advice on choosing a good training program and tips for the race.

But until then, I just wanted to encourage you to pick a goal and work towards it. And if you can get free stuff along the way, all the better!

Now Is The Perfect Time To Reassess Your Fitness Program

Some of you will be excited by all the motivational talk about jumping into fitness, starting new programs, looking forward to a fit new year.

For these readers, in my third ever post, I gave you 4 steps to starting a fitness program.

Quickly outlined for those who haven't read it and can't be bothered going back:

1. Test your fitness to work out where you are at and where you you might be particularly weak.
2. Look at your schedule and find spaces where you can realistically do exercise.
3. Start slow - you are starting a lifestyle of fitness, not training for a competition next week.
4. Be fit for fitness sake - that is to say, make sure you have your motivation sorted out.

However, some of you will have been plodding or powering away at a program for quite a while.
In Australia, you might have started it in spring with the warming weather, so have been going for 3-4 months on your program. You find all this talk of starting anew a little bit boring, and want something more aimed at you.

Well, this is aimed at you: start again fresh!

When was the last time you tested out how much fitter you are now? Have you reviewed your program? Have you taken into accounts changes in your schedule this coming year; new family member, changes to your working hours, a new must-see TV program?

Every few months you should be reassessing your fitness and the program to make sure it is correctly adapted. Are you increasing the distance, weight or speed to make sure you are being challenged, and your muscles have not just adapted to the same repetitive motions?

Here are some steps to help you reassess your current program:

- review your goals: are you still aiming for the same thing, or have you found something new to aim towards?

- what have your results over the past few months been like? Have you continued to improve, or have you actually seen a decrease in performance? Can you pin-point what is working and what isn't?

- Is your program balanced? For a while you might want to focus on improving a particular area, such as increasing your arm strength, but for long term health and vigor, you need to make sure you are building up all aspects of your body in equal proportion. This will reduce the risk of injury (and funny bulging muscles out of place!). Also, mix up your high intensity with slower, longer sessions to build both speed and endurance (as well as allowing your body to recover, see below).

- Time for variety! No matter why you are exercising, every now and then chuck in something completely new just to keep your body on its toes. If you are a jogger, try a crossfit workout. If you are a weight lifter, maybe a gymnastics class. Be adventurous and look out for new things!

- Finally: are you factoring in enough rest? Muscles are built when your body repairs from the work of a session. So if you don't give it time to repair, you are just damaging yourself. Hard sessions can easily be mixed in with some aerobic exercise which will increase your fitness and means you don't need to do nothing on your rest days. 'Active Recovery' is what it is all about, just make sure it is recovery and that you don't start pushing yourself again. 

Now that you have considered all this, here are some more practical thoughts on your training plan.

The plan should be both weekly (eg. Monday - Strength training, Wednesday - Endurance/long run, Friday - speed work, etc.) and on a larger cycle to ensure increased performance over the year. 

For evaluating the actual weekly activities, keep in mind FITT:

• F - frequency - how often should/can you exercise?
• I - intensity - how hard should you exercise?
• T - time - how long should each session last?
• T - training activity - what exercise or training activity will help achieve your fitness goals?

An easy way to develop the larger framework of a program is to work in four week cycles: for the first 3 weeks increasing speed/strength/distance by 10% each week, and then fourth week is a recovery week, so keep everything light. Then start again and keep building up. The week recovery will make sure you aren't over training.

So, this week's challenge is to actually take the time to sit down and write out your goals and plan a proper program for the next few months, until it starts getting cold (a good time to change your exercise patterns to include more indoor activities!)

And if you have any questions, or good suggestions, please share!

Sneak Preview: 

Tomorrow I'll look at some tips for starting a strength training program. They are really nothing to be scared of, and can leave you feeling (and looking) great! Climb steps in a single bound, carry shopping with one finger! All this, and more...

It's That Time Of The Year Again: Goal Setting!

 

Ah, Monday 31st December, 2012. To be honest, I always love this time of year. It is a great period for reflection and building up motivation for the coming year.
I am not a fan of resolutions, to be honest. I've tried making them a few times, and found that they just add pressure, stress, guilt and finally a sense of failure.

So, I'm sharing with you my top secret approach to finding motivation in 2013.

Ready?

Forget goals, forget resolutions, what you need is a 2013 Bucket List.

Instead of telling yourself what you must do, give yourself one off challenges that will lead to 2013 being a year of triumph, achievement, excitement, fulfillment and adventure.

What is an annual Bucket List?

In 2012 I made a list of the top 70 things I wanted to try. I divided this into 7 different categories (which might have overlapped a bit) to make sure I was creating a balanced lifestyle. I have seriously enjoyed myself and done quite a few things I didn't think I would.

With 70 items to tick off, you need to be doing 1-2 things a week, which keeps you on your toes, but allows you to choose what will best fit in with your schedule that week.

The nature of the items should vary in difficulty. I had some which were super easy and would cheer me up, such as buying myself flowers just because. Therefore, if I was having a bad week, my bucket list would make it all seem brighter. And as previously posted, I had much harder things such as doing a 21km ergo, which gave me a huge sense of achievement when I completed it.


How to Make the List: 

It's easiest to start by working out your categories. These are areas that you want to develop in your life. For me I had 7 categories, but you can vary this number as much as you like, and I think I will add a few extra categories this year.
This year, my areas are going to be:

- Sport/Fitness
- Culinary
- Spiritual
- Cultural
- Relationships
- Adventure
- Creative
- Learning
- Business
- Finance

Under each I'm going to come up with 7 - 8 items that I want to achieve, making sure I have a good range. For example:

- Sport/Fitness - Complete 10km in under an hour, try a brand new gym class.
- Culinary - Cook a pecan pie, go to a tapas bar.
- Spiritual - Spend a weekend at a convent, read Augustine's 'City of God'.
- Cultural - Go to a Melbourne Theatre Company play, read Faust.
- Relationships - send all my facebook friends a letter, surprise someone for their birthday.
- Adventure - Go on a hiking trip, ride a motorbike.
- Creative - get a book accepted by literary agent/ publisher, go to a writing conference.
- Learning - do a painting short course, learn to use MYOB and keep all business accounts for 2013. 
- Business - monetize fitbuster, create a niche site.
- Finance - save $10,000, start a managed fund.

Some of those will take about an hour, such as cooking pecan pie, and others, such as saving $10,000, will probably take effort all year.

When I did it last year, I also left some spaces blank for a few days and got suggestions from people, which gave me a few great ideas. So don't feel it all needs to be done by tomorrow, it is a work in progress.


My 2012 List?

Now, to be completely honest with you, I didn't tick off a lot of things on my list, in fact I'm only just over halfway. But for that I have competed in a rowing regatta, gone to the races, said 'yes' to a strange invitation, gone to the ballet, spent a day in silence, and learned to cook almond croissants just to name a few. So, looking at the list, it's been a pretty good year.

Therefore, I'm highly recommending this as a great motivator for those who hate resolutions and goals.

Sneak Preview of 2013 at Fitbuster:

I've been doing a lot of reading, and learning about blogging and thinking particularly of Fitbuster and how I can make it better and more useful for you.  2013 is going to be a great year for health and fitness, and I'm going to keep giving you great content and new ideas.

Particularly, I'm looking feedback on fitness programs or ideas that you want to know more about, and I'm searching for volunteers who would be happy to test things out. I'll be offering free stuff to be reviewed or incentives for longer programs. So if you are interested in being on my list of volunteers, either comment below or email me at b.greentr@gmail.com
I will be setting up an email subscription soon, just to let you know, which will include invitations to guest post, try out products and programs, first chance at giveaways, and useful information on designing and developing your own fitness projects. So, keep an eye out for that.

Also, as you can see from my list, I will be trying to monetize the blog. However, I don't want want it to detract from the information and utility of the site. I've signed up with Nuffnang, so it will be very Australian focused, which I think is great. While I know quite a few of you are from overseas and I will continue to provide great content for you as well, I particularly want to encourage Australians to get out and experience health and fitness in our great country.
Any feedback on the advertising; if you find it annoying or you have other great ideas, is always welcome. Email me at b.greentr@gmail.com

Thanks for a great 2012. Better is yet to come. 

Yah For Setting Goals and Being Bloody Minded

At the beginning of the year, instead of making resolutions, which have always failed me, I made a list of 80 things I wanted to do by the end of the year. These were divided into different categories.

In the sporting category I had things such as:
- Go surfing.
- Complete 10km in under an hour
- Do a half marathon ergo.
Etc.

As the year has gone on, and is very close to closing, I've realised I haven't as much time to finish these things as I had thought. So I've been on a made rush to finish what I can, and then will move the rest onto next year's list.

As you all know, I completed the 10km race last Wednesday. I then neatly deleted the 'under', and it was ticked off.

But I had given up hope of doing a half marathon ergo, as honestly I haven't been on the rowing machine for a few months.

However last night I thought I would at least get myself back into the flow of things by doing a Maffetone aerobic row for 30mins. (Yes, reading the book has sucked me into trying it again.)

45 minutes in I thought about whether I could do the full half marathon, but calculated it would take me just over 2 hours, and I was already becoming sore.

Once I hit the hour mark, I knew I wasn't backing down.

At 1:15 my Iphone died so I had no music. Was very tempted to drop out then, but kept going.

The last 20minutes I knew I wasn't going to quit, but everything was in quite a bit of pain, so it was a rather long stretch of time.

And in 2:00.23 I completed 21kms. It was slow, and I kept my heart rate mostly under 150, just letting it slip up to 155 in a few places.

I then had trouble walking back from the gym, but am proud that I ticked it off.

Would I have done that without the goal? No.

Am I glad I did? Hell yes.

So yah for goals.

Am now wondering if I can knock over the jog a half marathon before the end of the year, though it might be a jog/walk the distance, but that would be something...