Celeb spotting in Brighton - of the A-list variety!

So last Sunday, I was at the gym, per usual, just minding my own business on the cross-trainer.  I love me some people watching, and the gym is a great place to spy.  As I was looking around, I noticed a slim blond woman, and thought to myself, "Ha, that woman looks like Renee Zellweger!"  I didn't think much of it and carried on with my cross-trainer.

Hmmmm, let me take another look because it's Sunday and not very busy....

"Wow, she REALLY looks like Renee Zellweger...she's a total doppleganger!"

More cross training.

More looking.

"Dude...that IS Renee Zellweger..."

"What the hell is she doing in the LA Fitness at Brighton???"

So yes, I saw RZ at the gym last Sunday, with another woman (who I believe is her trainer) and it was very bizarre.  But awesome to have a PROPER celeb spotting!

Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon

and they're off!

This past weekend, I had the chance to run my first ever half marathon race!  On a whim, I decided to sign up for the Breast Cancer Campaign team to run the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon, and I'm really glad I did.  While I wasn't religious about following my training schedule (2-3 days a week average, instead of the prescribe 4), I did make sure to keep up with my long distance runs on the weekend and it was great to keep training after the tri.  And it paid off!  I felt calm and relaxed on the day, and chugged on to a 2:13 time.  Not lightening speed, but certainly respectable, especially considered I split 1:06/1:07!

 showing off my medal (and so happy it's over!)

Look at that, I didn't even break a sweat!  But I did hobble around like a granny for a full 48 hours before I could even think about a swim.

I enjoyed the race so much, I'm thinking of signing up for the Brighton Half Marathon in February, to see if I can get closer to a 2 hour time.  And of course, the next obviousl step is the...Marathon (dun dun dun).  Unfortunately, Brighton and London are now full, but I have my eye on both the Belfast and Edinburgh Marathon (early and late May), so I have plenty of time to think about it.

Where has water-logged Kira gone??? Who would have never ever in a million years contemplated running 26.2 miles???  I dunno, but I'm really enjoying myself, and hope to keep up with the running bug :)

10 miler

I just ran the farthest I've ever run.  Booyah bitches.  10 miles (actually 9.8, damnit gmap-pedometer, why do you have to be so precise!).  I ain't fast.  I ain't pretty.  But I put one leg in front of the other, and, an hour and 40 minutes later, I arrived back where I started, albeit with very sore legs.

3 miles is easy peasy now.  5 miles is my normal 'go out and chug away' run, still feels good, but can be rough around the edges.  During triathlon training, I got into 7 and 8 miles, and they felt okay, just a bit longer than my 5-6 milers.  But I definitely felt the extra 2 miles today.  By the last 20 minutes, my knees started aching, and it became more and more difficult to maintain my pace.  But I pushed myself the last 5 minutes and finished strong, woot woot.  My legs will be sore tomorrow, but it's good to know I can do it!

And suddenly, 13 miles doesn't seem so bad...good thing because I'm running it in one month!  Sponsor me!

My running future

I haven't even done the triathlon yet, and I'm already onto my next big project - the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon on 10/10/10!

I had been contemplating a half marathon for awhile now, and wanted something to dive right into after the triathlon.  I've already pushed myself to 8 miles, so I feel like I could join into a 16 week plan at the half way point.  I looked at the Run to the Beat race, but it's the weekend before my *gasp* 26th birthday and I'd really rather relax that weekend :)  Then on Twitter, Zest Magazine tweeted that the Breast Cancer Campaign had two places left for the Royal Parks Foundation HM, so I got in contact with the BCC and two days later....Bob's your uncle!  With the triathlon on the 8th, and say 2 days off for good behaviour, that gives me officially 2 months (8 weeks and bit) to get myself into half-marathoning shape.  I'll scope out a few training plans, but I already have a workout strategy in mind to be honest.  I'd like to start doing yoga a bit more, and try to fit in some strength training.  My tentative post triathlon workout schedule looks a bit like this:

Mondays
Gym - 30-60 minutes on the cross trainer with 30-45 minutes weight training

Tuesdays
Run - 30-60 minutes, either intervals or hill runs

Wednesdays
Yoga - my gym has a class from 5-6, plus some jacuzzi action afterwards

Thursdays
Run - 30-60 minutes, either intervals or hill runs

Fridays
Gym - 30-60 minutes on the cross trainer with 30-45 minutes weight training

Saturdays
Run - long easy runs, working on increasing mileage

Sundays
Rest!

Most HM training plans have you do 3 mid-week runs, plus the longer Saturday runs.  However, I want to take that down to 2 mid-week runs, so I can give my legs a chance to recover and do some cross training as well.  And I've already managed to increase my distance to 8 miles with only 1-2 runs a week. 

I've finally reached the point where I (kinda, sorta, maybe) ... enjoy running.  I'm not sure how that happened, but I slowly started noticing things like, perferring a run to a bike ride, or pushing R to go out for a run (and not vice versa).  And then one Saturday morning, I said to R, 'I'm going to go a bit longer today, I'll meet you at home.'  I was actually enjoying myself and wanted to push myself further.  Well, K, you've got over 13 miles to push yourself, that's definitely further than you've done before!

Tri training update

I thought I'd do a quick update on my triathlon training this summer.  It's been going much better than last year (exactly one year ago I was battling a gnarly strain of the flu and was bed ridden - less than 3 weeks before the big race!)

So how is training going better this time around?  Well first of all, I'm actually getting in my proper cycling.  I've done a few 20+ mile rides along Brighton, and into Shoreham and Worthing.  On a nice day like today, how can that not be totally awesome?  It's all along the coast, too, which is a definite (and flat!) bonus.

Here's my little baby:


Last year, I was a little frightened of the drop handles, but I'm finally starting to get the hang of them.  After about 20 miles my neck starts to stiffen a bit, but all in all I feel pretty good on it.

My runs have also been going well.  I was battling some leg/hip/back pains last month, but I took a bit of time off, and now I feel much better.  On Saturday, I did my first ever 7 mile run!  And I felt great, totally in the groove and I definitely fel like I could have kept going.  I've also done a brick workout, with a 12 mile cycle and a 4 mile run, and I felt pretty good.  I'm looking forward to my 27 mile bike ride tonight, and my 8 mile run on Friday.

It's still tough to try and balance in 6 workouts a week, and to be honest, I'm mostly doing about 4 a week.  But as long as I make sure to get my long cycle and long run in, I'm okay.  The other thing I need to focus on is a couple of outdoor swims in my new wetsuit.  I'm not swimming as much as I should be, but I'm glad that I'm focusing on my weaker legs.  Maybe this week I'll get a proper swim in!

I also got my start time - I'm in the 8.30am wave on Sunday morning - look for number 6664!  Last year, I didn't start until around 12 or so, and I felt awful all morning, too anxious.  I'm glad I won't really have time to think about it, I'll get up, eat, head out and go!  All in all, I'm feeling really pumped! :)

cross training: pros & cons

Part of the reason I decided to train for the London triathlon was to start doing a bit of cross-training for my workouts. Well, maybe just to start working out. Same difference. Anyhow, cross-training seemed like a good idea for fitness and weight loss. But overall, I'm not sure if it's the way forward for me. Like any good libra, I've decided to weigh up the pros and cons of multi-faceted training.

Pros:
-Enjoying a little bit of everything: it's great to have variety in my workouts
-Less wear and tear as you use different muscles
-When I feel like blowing off a run, that's okay! I can swim or cycle instead!
-When I feel like blowing off a run, that's okay! (I think this point needs to be stated again, as it's a biggie)
-I've enjoyed cycling, and I wouldn't have gotten into it at all if I didn't have the triathlon as an excuse

Cons:
-Limited weight loss: running is really what I need to be doing to lose pounds, and as good as swimming and cycling are, they just don't cut it
-I feel like I'm not able to focus on anything. By swimming once or twice a week, I feel like I'm just maintaining my fitness, rather than improving it. The same goes for running - I don't feel like I'm improving as I can't focus on it.
-Sometimes, I just want to do something different, like the cross trainer or the rower, but I feel like I'm spreading things too far anyway, and there is no benefit to it if it won't improve my triathlon training

Overall, this has been a really good experience, and it's pushed me to exercise 4-5 times a week. I'll have a better impression once I've completed it, but as things stand, I'm pretty sure I'll continue to try and do more triathlons. I'm really looking forward to doing a sprint event, too. But I have to admit, it will be good not having to stick to a precise schedule, and have a bit more freedom with my fitness.

wooo it's been awhile

I have to throw my hands up and admit I'm pretty lame when it comes to keeping up with my blog. I keep thinking, 'oh gosh, I'll wait until something a bit more interesting happens' and then when it does, I'm too busy doing interesting things to blog!

The most interesting thing I've done since my last post is seeing Waiting for Godot with Ronan, Jon and Kate at the Brighton Theatre Royal last weekend. We were lucky enough to see the production with Gandalf and Capt. Picard, er, I mean Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart!

What a fantastic performance! I saw a production of Waiting for Godot back in LA when I was in high school, and I was really struck by the despair and hopelessness of it. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see a production that was a bit more lighthearted throughout, and really concentrated on the bond between Didi and Gogo, because it made the final scenes so much more effective. All in all a wonderful day at the theatre!

This weekend was also really enjoyable. We planned on doing some spring cleaning before we leave for LA so we can come home to a clean house, but got slightly distracted and ended up at the movie theater to see Monsters vs. Aliens, in 3D! We even got Buddy Holly specs to wear! It was great hearing all the kids go, 'wooooah!' when things would pop out, watching all the little hands grab at the screen :) And it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Afterwards, we had the chance to meet up with Janine and Steve who were in Brighton celebrating their one year wedding anniversary (guess who else's is coming up soon? wink wink). Sunday was lovely and slovenly, and we had a yummy fry up in town and watched Chicago and The Wire (double dose of McNulty, score!)

Now we're getting prepared for LA, and I'm so excited about heading home on Friday! It feels really strange going back so soon - we'll have seen my parents twice before we've seen Ronan's parents, and they live a one hour flight away! But it's going to be a great trip, and I can't wait for my cousin's wedding.

On the triathlon front, training has been going okay. I haven't been great about sticking to my plan, but I definitely feel like I'm getting in proper training sessions, which is good. My swims are feeling strong, and my cycles are definitely improving. I feel strong and steady through them. Runs have been a bit more difficult - I'm getting better at the the distance, and can now run the full 6 miles, but I'm starting to get twinges which aren't good and are most likely a result of an uneven gait. Normally after about 1-2 miles, I get twinge below my left knee, and I've had a constant bruised feeling on the ball of my right foot for several weeks now. When I say constant, I do really mean ALL OF THE TIME, even just walking around in chucks or boots. It's really frustrating, but I'm going to take a week or two off from running and see if that helps at all. Luckily, I've given myself enough time that two weeks now won't seriously effect my training, and as long as I keep up the swims and bike rides, I should be fine! *fingers crossed*

20 week plan, 1 week in

I have to admit, I'm not off to the most brilliant of starts for my 20 week triathlon plan. There was the unfortunately coincidence of St. Paddy's day falling on day 2. Whoops. Cue 2 day recovery, which of course equates to zero exercise.

I think I'm off to a bit of a better start for week 2. Ronan and I went for a 40 minute run on Saturday, felt okay, but I keep getting pain in my left foot, around the arch, as well as my left knee. As I'm not a runner, it's hard to tell what's a 'normal' running pain, and what I need to watch out for.

I did a 52 minute bike ride yesterday at the gym, that felt pretty good, and I got in some crunches and weights. Unfortunately, my double workouts are on Mondays, but it's impossible to get a swim in. I'll have to start going for a swim before work, but this week, I'll just make it up on my 'off day'.

So, what do we have left for the week? I've got a 26 minute run today, I'll do my 26 minute swim tomorrow, the horrific 88 minute bike ride on Thursday, and get in a nice long 44 minute swim for Friday. I'll go off track on Saturday, and try to get in a nice long run with Ronan, I'll be aiming for 6.5 miles. Whew, Sunday will be a well deserved rest day!

On a side note, I'm looking to get my hair cut before I go to LA, hopefully early April. I'll definitely being going blonde blonde blonde for the summer, and I think I'll just go for a nice short bob, with a short fringe, something easy to straighten and easy to muss up with some wax. Perhaps a bit 'Katie':

but without Mr Cruise

smug married couple

Today, I am smug. I am one half of a smug married couple. This awesomely bodacious smug married couple woke up this morning and went for a 5.5 mile this morning. Upon our return, we had smoothies (mango, pineapple and papaya, with apple and mango juice) to replenish our smug selves. Then, we devoured our homemade bread from our homemade bread maker. Yes we are so smug we even prepared our bread BEFORE our run to be ready for lunch.


After cleaning the flat (more smugness) we are now watching the rugby and drinking beer, waiting for friends and bangers and mash for dins. Life is good.

get your cycling butt into gear!

I've had such an amazing weekend! As per usual, we did fuck all on Friday night (well, I was frantically sewing away in order to finish Claudia's bag before she arrived), but I still love doing fuck all on a Friday. It's lovely. Anyway, we went for our run as usual, this time 5 miles (5.5 including the walk back from Tesco!) and saw Woodie's diner which I really want to explore now. I love American diners in Britain. They're never remotely authentic, but brilliant in their own kitsch way. We also had my amazing strawberry, banana and organe juice smoothies!

But we got to chill with Claudia this weekend, which I've been looking forward to for so long. It all goes so quickly! I can't wait for her to get her butt down souf.

Then I got to see Claire on Sunday, who's just returned from her around the world travels. Also really good to see her, she looks fantastic. Maybe I need a trip, too....hmmm.

Did my measurements again, 2 weeks on:

Chest: 41.5" -0.5"
Waist: 34" -1"
Hips: 40.5" -.05"
Thigh: 27.5" +0.5" :(
Arm: 14" same

It's good to see some inches coming off the waist and hips, but damn my quads! Well, I'm heading the right direction, so I need to stop skiving the gym when the weather gets a bit wet. Because lets face, I live in the fucking rainiest fucking country in the world, so I better get used to it!

BTW! Looks like good things come in twos.
Shady Ninja and I both got our visas returned to us last Friday! Lets celebrate! Only took the bastards 4 months!

Monday's Gym Sesh

Had a really good gym session, just felt really strong. I did 45 minutes on the bike, including my 8x(5x1) minute sets, increasing the level for each 5 minutes, repeating 8 times. I was going to do some weights afterwards, but I wanted to see how I felt springing right onto the treadmill (an early attempt at 'brick work', stacking your training for swimming right into cycling, or cycling right into running), and was surprised at how good I felt. I thought I'd just do 5 minutes, which turned into 10, then 20, and I would have stayed for a full 5k, but there was a big queue for machines (gym memberships skyrocket in January - uh, hello Pea-Funk - but I can't wait for the massive dropouts to start. I'm banking on first week of February?), so I let some other people get on. But it was one of the few times I felt like I could 'just keep going'. I think it's because I don't normally get warmed up enough before I go for a run. The blood was pumping, and I didn't have any tenseness in my quads - just a bit in my calves, but I think they would have worked themselves out.

I made sure to stretch properly, and got in a few crunches. Then, I was treated to my favouritist dish ever, made by my lovely, amazing, chef-f Po, prawn tagliatelle. So so so yum, it totally made my day :)

I definitely need to update the pod - this playist is about 1.5 years old, and includes some major crap (ie, Ronan's music) since we did a combo mix for the drive down to London. But I got a few goodies in there, and they always remind me of special times.

The Killers - Somebody Told Me

Without fail, this song always reminds me of my first year in Scotland, particularly Eve, my fellow American in crime. There's even a little Eve dance that goes with, which unfortunately cannont me translated into html. In general, it just makes me think of studying in Edinburgh, going out and getting pissed (and possibly snogging Irish men). Good times. Good times indeed.

Sugarhill Gang - Apache

Sun God! My university, not particularly well known for it's social aspect, had one redeeming feature - Sun God Festival. Every year, on one special day in May, you get pissed, go to campus (note, campus, not class), and enjoy the concert at night. My favourite Sun God was the one I went to once I was no longer a student. Lauren and I headed down and gate crashed at my old flatties, Artie and Alicia. Gin n' tonics, taboo, fags and Apache (on repeat). What's not to love?

Now I just need to get together an awesome playlist so I can rock out to my bad self at LA Fitness!

Triathlon Training Part 1 (of many, hopefully)

Although it hasn't been 'officially' signed up for (I'm still waiting to hear from the Terrence Higgins Trust), I've decided to do the London Triathlon come August. I've wanted to do a triathlon for awhile now - I guess it comes from being a retired swimmer, looking for a new challenge. And I figure if I'm going to do it, I might as well go big, so I'm starting off with an Olympic length tri. That's a 1.5km swim (open water), a 40km bike and ending it all off with a 10km run (dear god). I know that I can finish it, and with proper training, I could even have a good time. That depends, of course, on my ability to stare my nemesis down, and conquer her once and for all. Yes, nemesis, your name is running. The bane of my existence.

See, I'm a water creature at heart. I remember my mom telling me, age 10, how it was amazing how graceful I looked in the water, since I could barely walk without tripping over my own feet. My high school basketball coach went as far as to call me 'waterlogged'. I suppose there are worse things to be called as a gangly, spotty 14 year old.

I tried getting into running a couple summers ago, and I was doing okay with it, but it just sort of fizzled out (which happens when you dont set goals). So this time, I have a goal. Several, actually, to help me reach the ultimate goal of doing an Olympic length triathlon. First one is to build up my fitness level to even begin contemplating doing actual training for this bloody thing. I have a nifty 20 weeks programme to help me (focusing on running, I'm such a masochist). To help keep me motivated, I'm going to keep track of my training. Any advice or insight anyone can provide will always be greatly appreciated!

I joined LA Fitness early this month (I get 1/2 membership with my job, woot woot), so have been doing some random cardio/weights/crunches for a couple weeks. Here's a recap of the week:

Saturday (17/1)
Ronan and I went for a 4 mile run up to Brighton Pier and back. I feel alright getting there, but always enjoy our little 'halfway walking break'. I should definitely try to start breaking myself of the habit, but I think if it helps me increase distance in the meantime, without tiring or demotivating myself, than it can't be too bad.

Sunday - Tuesday (18-20/1)
Not much happened - I was pretty achy from the run (I don't think I'm stretching properly after my runs, boo), and I had an inauguration to prepare for!

Wednesday (21/1)
Dear god, I had my 1-on-1 induction with LA Fitness. Not only was I measured, weighed, and BMI calculated (as per standard induction procedure), but I was fat percentaged (too high), muscle percentaged (too low) and 'metabolically rated' (how many calories I need a day - 1520 if you're curious). The results were disasterous. Actually, that's not true, because my running book tells me to think 'Okay this is the fattest mcfat face I will ever be because there's no where to go but down, baby!!!' (or somewhere along those lines). Anyway, we set up a basic treadmill/spinning cardio workout for me to improve fitness, as well as some strength training and swimming when I feel like it. All in all, a pretty helpful (if not terrifying) day.

Thursday (22/1)
My gym work is supposed to be M-W-F (2xbike, 1xrun), but I've decided to come in and do some cardio work, so I do 20 mins on the treadmill and 20 mins on the cross-trainer, with 200 crunches.

Friday (23/1)
I set out to try the cycle programme the trainer suggested (basically 5x1 minutes, increasing either level or cadence, 8 times) but I really struggled on it. I managed 20 minutes before I scurried to the easy comfort of the cross-trainer. I'm going to need to buckle down next week and just try to get the 40 minutes down, no matter how crap it is. I definitely need to get used to cycling as it has been years since I've done it. Boo. I thought running was supposed to be my nemesis? I can't hate 2/3 events of a triathlon!

Saturday (24/1)
Ronan and I have decided to do runs every Saturday mornings, trying to increase our distance every week, so I can work on distance on the weekends, and intensity and speed during the week. We went about 4.25 miles today, again, I felt pretty good on the way out, but struggled at about 2 miles. Coming back felt pretty good, but then I got a godawful blister (thanks new running shoes) so I'm currently packaged up in pirate bandaids on my feet.

I've also decided to do 'bikini shots' (I need before and after pics!!!) to help keep me motivated, so we'll be taking them every fortnight. I also took my measurements:
chest - 42"
waist - 35"
hips - 41" (that's what I call an hourglass!)
thigh - 27" (yikes, that's what I call a fatty!)
arm - 14"

All in all, I'm feeling pretty motivated. I'm working on portion control and keeping my meat intake to a minimum. I've definitely been sleeping better, and I realised how much I miss the feeling of being sore after a good workout. The world sure does look good from the moral high ground!