Traing Day 10 - 1 Mile on the Treadmill

I finally managed to get all my iTunes songs off one computer onto another and then onto my iPod Nano. I'm all kitted out, with my Nike shoes, the iPod and the Nike + iPod Sport Kit.

My pulled muscle isn't pulled anymore, and my right ankle doesn't hurt anymore! I did one mile on the treadmill again in 9 minutes! Whoohoo - I am getting there!

Either this Marathon training/run will khock me out completely, or I'll end up looking like Kareena Kapoor in Tashan! She's become a size zero. Well, I can dream at least!

6 Weeks Left! - 21 June

OMG! 6 weeks left!

My right ankle hurts! :( Got to keep going though... well, not today though. Going to a Barbeque Birthday party...

Training Day 9: 1.4 Miles - And 2 Dozen Bananas!

Friday evening - and my workout consisted of walking to buy 23 bananas. No, I don't have any apes or chimpanzees as pets, although my apartment did smell like a monkey's zoo!

I also ended up pulling a muscle after Wednesday's workout!

Back to the bananas - Milk Chocolate and Pecan covered forzen bananas, and White Chcolate with Coconut and Toffee crunch frozen bananas! Yum yum! Its all for a party tomorrow.

Training Day 8: 1.4 Miles - Over The Half Mark!

Whats the best way to start the day before working? A good brisk walk! 1.4 miles and I'm halfway over my progressive total!

I needed to go to a UPS store. On the way there I saw a FedEx Kinkos store. I was tempted to go to this, since it was nearer! BUT I didn't! I'd already planned my miles from home, so stayed with the longer distance!

Whoohoo! Hows that for dedication now!

Whoohoo! $1400 Raised - 93% of Target! - Which Calls For An Increase!

One month ago on May 20th, I set up my website, and received my first donation. My initial target then was to raise $1000. I did wonder whether I would reach my target. As the donors started pledging, I saw my little blue thermometer and the gauge on my raise-o-meter increase!

On June 1 I reached 91% ($912) of my target, so I raised it to $1500. Come this morning, I've reached 93% ($1400) of my second target!

All this hard word calls for another raise! My target is now $2000! Never had I thought I could get this far! I know I can do it - with your help!

Come on, if you're reading this and haven't yet donated, now is a good time! :)

Training Day 7: Swami - The Personal Trainer! And 1 Mile!

Swami IM's me today asking whether I was going to the gym. And I knew I had to! Especially after all the good advice I received from My International Fitness Guru - ex-playing Professional Rugby Player coach yesterday!

Swami showed me how to program the cardio equipment and use the weight machines, and showed me how to use the weight dumbells. 10lbs! I can swing a 10lb bag of carrots that need juicing, but the weights were just too weighty for my skinny arms! I did say that I wasn't going to cartwheel or handstand the race. To which I received a stern reply "you need to work on the whole body!" Sorry Swamiji!

I am exhausted! I ran one mile on the treadmill within 10 minutes! I know I need to get this down to 8 minutes, so will persevere. I also did some weights. For my legs and arms. Don't ask me which muscles. Its all a bit too much to take in! I am just so tired!

All in all, an hour or so in the gym! And I am exhausted! The main thing is that I am clocking up the miles. 11.1, and 12.2 to go before the race day! Whoohoo!

My daily horoscope for today stated: "Today's Full Moon in philosophical Sagittarius floods our consciousness with powerful feelings that arise from the most hidden reaches of our subconscious mind. " Aha! So that explains why I was at the gym today!

Advice From My "International Fitness Guru - ex-playing Professional Rugby Player"

So its nearly 10pm, and I've finished working... Hmmm... so, to cut things short so I can watch "Ace Of Cakes" on the FoodNetwork channel, I'll just paste some of advice I received today! I also need to find a decent picture of the Superstar ex-playing Professional Rugby Player from somewhere... with his approval of course! So, here goes the advice - applicable to all!

It all started off with a discussion about wobbly legs:

Guru: Lots more water, cause your legs will always feel wobbly
me: Ok Doc. Sports
Guru: Seriously, if you start training, it's something your body has not done for a while so you need to focus on getting your body ready to run
me: Yes, actually, my diet in CA is very different to when I was in the UK. I have one of those power juicers, so am always juicing. My friends think I'm nuts.
Guru: Juice is good
...
Guru: Ok when you get to the gym you need to do the following: Warm up which will mean a 5 mins brisk walk on the treadmill or 5 min bike ride at a brisk pace
me: Ok [add a few nods for the full imagination]
Guru: you need to do this to raise your pulse rate. So you will actually feel a little warm, as the blood flow around the body increases
me: Ok [more nodding]
Guru: The reason it increases is because internally your muscles are working and therefore heating up. So the body gets rid of excess heat by increasing blood flow to the surface of the skin, then you need to stretch. And thats all major muscle groups
…
Guru: Brianmac - warmup So stretching, you need to focus initially on all the major muscle groups. Legs, arms, chest, back
me: Ok [even more nodding]
Guru: So legs = Calves, hamstrings, quads hip flexors and abductors and adductors. Chest, or top half of the body, abdominals, pectoralis major and minor. Back = Latisimus dorsi (AKA wings. These allow you to move your arms above your head and down again)
me: Okay, I am going to need to Google to see where these muscles are
Guru: Arms = Biceps, Triceps etc . Don't worry I'll send you an appropriate link. Finally the most important one baring in mind you're running is you glutious maximus. Aka you bum
me: Cheers!
...
Guru: So all of those need to be stretched before you even think about doing anything over a long distance. The first step is knowing where they all are and what they do. The next step is getting your body used to them working again. So for the first few days of using them you will be in pain. This is normal
me: Yes, pain, no gain
Guru: After that you then need to work on your stamina. Basically, thats getting your heart and lungs used to working together to pump oxygenated blood around your body economically for you to use whilst excercising. At the moment thats not happening. Hence why your legs were wobbling after a short run
me: Yes - stamina is what I need to be able to do this, and hence all this advice is great!
Guru: Yes stamina is what you need, but you need all the other stuff to be working before your stamina can be of any use
me: Exactly! And that I wasn't all aware of!
...
Guru: Mayoclinic.com - health - stretching good site for basic stretching techniques
me: Excellent!
Guru: Also very simple one of the major muscle groups and their names Wisc-Online
me: oooh
Guru: This is actually better img - quamut - chart
me: Awesome dude!
Guru: and finally wikiHow -Prepare-For-a-Long-Distance-Run great tips for the day before
me: Well, I have running shoes, and legs to get started with
Guru: To be honest, the nutrition side of it you need to do from now. So lots of carbs, fibre and water just to get your body used to eating and taking in this type of energy. You will feel tired initially but that will go.
me: Okay, you can be "My International Fitness Guru - ex-playing Professional Rugby Player"
Guru: Haha! Brilliant

Later this week, I have a Swami teaching me how to use the equipment at my Gym... Watch this space!