Weight Watchers = Role Playing Game. It’s a pretty fair comparison, actually. I think that’s why I was so successful on it. If you’re smart, you can work out a winning strategy pretty quickly. The problem, of course, is that by viewing it that way, I wasn’t really changing my longterm habits. I was just playing (and winning) a game. When the game’s over, you go back to real life… which is the problem. For the last week I’ve actually been playing around with Calorie King, which is a free nutrition and exercise tracker. It works the same way as WW Online does, and their support for Australian foods is really good. I’m hoping that by avoiding the WW “Points” abstraction, I can concentrate more on getting a healthy and varied diet and less on tricks and hacks to let me win the game.
Author: Kris
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Tough Bloke Challenge
I am actually considering entering the Tough Bloke Challenge. It’s a outdoor run with a bunch of obstacles you have to complete, like balance beams and mud pits. Fun, huh? Up until I get to any obstacle involving upper body strength, I suppose…
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How to Organize Your Kitchen
How to Organize Your Kitchen. I really need to do that this weekend.
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David Sedaris
Just got home from a visit to the Sydney Opera House to hear David Sedaris read from his latest book. I was accompanied by Amy, Fiona, and the Sock Victim, and we all had an awesome time. Sedaris was oddly boyish for a 50-year-old, I thought, but his stories had a packed-out concert hall rolling in the aisles. Judith Lucy introduced him and interviewed him after the reading, and you could tell she was a big fan. We thought about hanging around for a signed book, but the queue was going to take hours. Nope, it was off to Lowenbrau for dinner and good cheer…
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Archery!
Note to self: Book in for the Come-N-Try archery lesson sometime this Spring! (Link courtesy of Steph and Eva.)
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Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburgers
Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburgers. I would SO try one of these. To misquote Joey on Friends (as the Snook and I often do): “What’s not to like? Donuts: good! Cheeseburgers: good!” (Link courtesy of Big Fat Deal.)
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Marathon Thoughts
Marathon Thoughts
Did anyone else watch the Olympic women’s marathon yesterday? It was fantastic. I thought it would be boring to watch people run for 2.5 hours, but I was pretty much mesmerised by the strategy and form of the runners. Some of them ran the way I dream of running: relaxed, springy, with a rock steady upper body and a confident expression. But there were also several who run the way I fear I run: tense, shuffling, with arms, shoulders, and neck heaving all over the place. Like the commentators, I spent the first half of the race focussed on Paula Radcliffe, who was coming back from a recent stress fracture. (I hear her voice on the Nike+ quite a bit, so somehow I felt like I should barrack for her.) It became pretty obvious though that Paula wasn’t going to be a medal contender in this one. Then out of nowhere, some random 38-year-old took off from the pack in a sprint. The commentators – and myself – scoffed at her strategy and started predicting how long it would be before they caught her. BUT THEY NEVER DID. It was awesome. I couldn’t believe it as Constantina Tomescu extended her lead out to a minute-and-a-half. She ran the entire second half of that race by herself. How did she do it? I find it difficult to push myself on a solo training run; I can’t imagine the mental effort in sustaining her speed up there alone. And hello? SHE’S 38. It was inspiring to think that maybe my own best running years are still ahead of me. -
RunningBlog
I really like this schedule of having a hard week followed by a recovery week. It was good to back off a bit after pushing through the jet lag and the City 2 Surf. It felt great to get back out on my usual neighborhood routes. I realise now that all the aches and pains and struggles I had in LA were purely due to running on a treadmill. I hate treadmills! Out on the road I can do 45 minutes without feeling bored at all.
Week 6 distance: 11.5mi (18.43km)
Week 7 distance: 17mi (27.2km)
Week 8 distance: 12.25mi (19.6km)This week was a step-down of nearly 30% from last week, but it was still a slight increase from my last recovery week. Yesterday’s workout was meant to be speed-intervals… but man, I suck at them. I just don’t think I’m meant to run fast. I was doing laps around Victoria Park with intervals of 90 seconds at my goal pace of 6:00/km. The problem was that I’d take off much faster than that, usually somewhere between 5:00-5:30/km. Then I’d try to slow down a bit only to realise that I still had 45 seconds to go, and I’d struggle just to finish out the interval without stopping. Then I’d walk for a few minutes and berate myself for being a big lumbering slow-poke. Repeat ad infinitum. Also, I have very little willpower and I find it difficult to push myself beyond my comfort zone. Running a bit farther isn’t hard, but running faster involves getting into that anaerobic zone where it’s hard to breathe. Maybe I need to actually get a coach for these sessions, someone who can motivate me to push a bit harder…