Dream a little ...

Well, this is a little embarrassing, I’m obviously not the busiest of bloggers ;)

My running is going OK. I've been reading this book (The Ultimate Runner’s Guide) and discovered that I've been stuck in The Black Hole of running. When you keep running but there is no progress, you're not getting faster or fitter, not really. So, now there is serious changing going on in my training routine. Variation is key. And keeping the hard days HARD and the easy days EASY. This is what the specialists say will work so I will give it a try. The only thing is that I need new stuff. 

It would be good to have a pulse clock. My Garmin is very good, with a GPS and different gismos but it doesn’t measure pulse. So I wonder if I should get one of those. It would also be good to have a bicycle for alternative training. I’m planning to use the local swimming pool, swimming is a very good cardio training. One day of swimming, one day of bicycling, two days of running plus strength training sounds like a good plan to me. 

I have also been thinking about getting a treadmill. I can get one without braking the bank, so even if I don't really have a lot of space, it could be a way for me to do away with excuses and go for a run while watching my favourite show. It would also be an asset during the cold Norwegian winter, and looking at the cost of buying one against the cost of a gym membership, I have a feeling the treadmill would be cheaper, at least in the long run. I've been planning to get myself a new TV, but maybe using my money on a bike and treadmill would be a smarter move. Right?

This summer I've been improving my diet again, no extremes or craziness, just smart choices. I have a few good recipe books that have been given me some delicious meals. My mini-kitchen is FULL of ingredients and equipment to cook with, and I've been going around the immigrant shops in downtown Oslo, buying all kinds of spices and sauces and other ingredients to cook with. And the prices there are ridiculously cheap given the general food prices here, so I'm happy as a clown :) I'm actually loving the fact that I'm planning my meals, reading about what to eat before training and what to eat after training. I'm not looking at weight loss recipes at all, so my weight loss is slow as I'm probably eating too much carbs and fats plus all that protein, for faster weight loss. But I need those things too build muscles and keep up enough energy for serious training on my hard days. The weight will get lost eventually; I'm not worried about that. 

At the moment, I'm enjoying my little summer holiday in fantastic weather. Temperature in the mid-twenties, sun and warm breeze. Fantastic! Will start a new job next week and I'm looking forward to the autumn with many great runs and fun times to be had. I'm thinking that after my 10K at Oslo marathon, I will take a few weeks rest and then start to train for a half-marathon. Dreaming and planning to run a full marathon in 2015, a great way to celebrate my fortieth birthday. Right? Many plans and dreams and opportunities for my future. I love it :) :)

Yellow leaf ...

This title has nothing to do with my blog today, I just think it is very funny. Those of you who understand, great, and those of you who don’t, hihihi...

So today I had a full day with my choir and therefore decided to skip my running group training and just go for a run myself later. Didn’t feel like being stressed for time on a holiday, too much of that in other days! After the choir thing, I came home and got relaxed in my sofa. Watched The Simpsons in Iceland, had a friend for a short visit, and watched the newest Game of Thrones episode. I really need someone to kill that Geoffrey monster, seriously, he is too horrible!! It was very difficult to get off the sofa and out for a run. I almost didn’t make it. But I did. Hurray for me. 

I was only going to do 5K today, have been feeling tired in my legs and feet and don’t want to overdo it. It was a disaster. I hit a wall, basically. Just couldn’t get any speed and barely managed to run half of the distance, walking the rest. Seriously, what is that all about? Shoes? That’s what I think. So now I am prioritising buying new shoes as soon as possible. I feel like my stamina and form is fine and getting much better, but I’m just so tired in my legs that I just give up trying to run faster and I don’t really do fartlek or interval training at all. I use hills, but that’s all. Let’s hope that next week I will be running like Speedy Gonzales with my new shoes.

I have actually been very active for a while now. Seems like I have a routine. Running on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Walking/hiking on Tuesdays and Sundays. And rest days on Wednesdays and Fridays. Plus strength training 3xweek. I think it is a good routine. Right?

Operation systems ...

These last couple of weeks have been totally without running. First, I went to Dublin and didn’t take my running gear with me as I was flying RyanAir without luggage and simply no space in my luggage. With that as an excuse, I just enjoyed Dublin and the lovely people there. I did walk some, but mostly just relaxed. It was lovely. The following week I got the flu, and had to work on an article 

 I’m writing plus another project that had deadlines on the 2^nd and 5^th of May. So no running for me. 

But now I’m back. On Tuesday I went for a fantastic walk with super lovely women, 10 km in lovely Nordmarka in Oslo. It was fantastic but serious workout at well. Today, I went for a 5km run in the pouring rain. My time is still not so great, 5km in 35 minutes, so there is plenty of room for improvements. But I can feel that my form is much better already, but I feel very tired in my feet. I think now I just have to go and get better shoes, can’t wait any longer! Well, will have to wait for my next pay check due to overspenditure in Dublin, but that is a story for a different blog (shopaholic’s blog, perhaps!). And today I went to meet other Icelandic running enthusiasts here in Oslo and we are on our way to form a great running group that will meet a couple of times each week. It will be great to have that support and discipline a group training gives you. I look forward to our first meeting next Monday :)

I have discovered that I have two modes of operating. Well, I’ve known this for a while, but finally I’m able to put it into words. One mode is “safe mode”, where I only have the most necessary systems operating. I sleep, eat, go to work, watch TV and try to meet a few people around. Basically I do very little. Not good at all as I get very very lazy in this mode, it kills down every initiative and interest, very very terrible! 

Then there is “windows mode”, where I have all possible programs running at the same time, working, running, singing, socialising, 10 tabs open in the browser, logged into Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype, Gmail and god knows what, listening to Spotify, playing majong or solitaire, watching videos on Youtube, working on several documents on word, multitasking de luxe. That is the mode that fits me best and I get super effective, doing everything I need to do plus everything else. Great. Today I seem to be back to “windows mode” and I’m loving it. Hopefully, there will be no viruses crashing my system in the near future ;)

My first 10km run of the season is getting closer. I am only concentrating on finishing that run in one piece, and actually looking forward to the atmosphere and experience of a street run :)

In the moment ...

Today I checked my running plan and realised I had to do a 5 km run! So I did. Decided to go to the woods and this beautiful lake that I live close to, Nøklevann, which is my favourite lake here in Oslo. There are a few other places here in Oslo that I also love, like Sognsvann, Grefsenkollen, Frognerseteren, to name a few. But Nøklevann is by far my absolute favourite place. It has everything. Beautiful lake and gorgeous woods. And it is close to my place. Today, however, was not a good day for that lake. Still some ice on the paths plus lots of water as the snow and ice is melting away. So I was quick to realise that I still have to wait a couple of weeks for my run around the lake. The path around the lake is 8.7 km so of course I’m not running around the whole lake in the nearest future, but it will be a great run later in this summer when my running form will have improved. The only drawback is that for me to get to the lake, I have to run up a hill. And not just any hill. A monster hill! I don’t mind running up hills to be honest. It is fantastic for your thighs and butt and the cardio vascular system, my heart was pumping like crazy. But I don’t like running down hills. Last year in Malta I had knee problems because of all the hills there. So now I basically run up hills (well, that is still a work in progress) and walk down them. 

But anyway, back to today’s run. So I turned from the lake and went for a lovely 5km run around my neighbourhood. Lovely part of Oslo although now it is a little messy with the naked trees, melting ice and mud everywhere. And the smell is kind of like sour hay, not very nice. But still, today was lovely. It rained earlier so the air was so fresh and lovely and I felt pure happiness running around, lost in the moment. This is why I love running, those moments when you feel totally happy in the moment. Love it!

I’ve been looking at my running plan and have to admit that it is a little too ambitious. A friend of mine commented on it earlier, that it didn’t look like a running plan for beginners. Of course, I would not admit to that, but I think I may have to swallow my pride and readjust this plan. Pride comes before a fall or something like that so as I don’t want to fail at this I just have to do something. According to this plan I am supposed to run 6 km on Sunday. And 8 km the following Sunday. I’m really not ready for that. So I think I will just repeat the first week again next week (if I decide to bring my running gear to Dublin) and repeat every week after that. I’ve signed up for a 10km run on the 1^st of June so I have plenty of time to work up stamina for that. No need to kill myself, and that is the reason why I always quit training. It becomes too difficult too soon, that becomes boring, and I don’t like boring! Life is too short for boring! That is why I like to listen to this when I run :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXazVhlyxQ

 

My diet is getting better again. I’m still using Herbalife but haven’t decided if I will continue. It helps me to get back to controlling what I eat, but I don’t like to eat artificial food and I really want to remove all sweeteners from my diet. So I’m still thinking about how to do that. I figure if I keep to super healthy weekdays, no sugar or sweeteners, lots of fruits and vegetables etc. Plus training. Then I will have plenty of room for a little indulgence during weekends. Trying to keep away from extremes.

Can’t believe it has been such a long time since my last blog, time sure does fly! 

At the moment, I’m planning my running summer. There will be a lot of running. I can’t wait. I’ve been diagnosing my issue with training, the fact that I always start strong and then give up after several weeks or months. I think I’ve found the reason. I always start with a bang, way too fast and ambitiously and my training ends up being way too difficult too quickly so I give up. No wonder, I suppose. So now I’m taking a different approach. I’m starting very slowly. Too slowly, maybe, but I will stick to it and see if things turn out better than in the past. I found a great little running program for beginners that I’m following. I am pretending never to have run more than 1 km before in my life and am starting as if I’m a total beginner. This week I’ve had 3 runs, 3km each. Easy peasy you might think. Well, I am embarrassed to say that it is not so easy actually! My running form seems to have forsaken me completely in the last few months (no wonder, I might add!) so now I really am in beginner form. I still feel like I want to run further and faster than I do, feel a bit silly actually. But I will stick to this plan. This coming week it will be 3 runs, 2x3km and 1x4km. This plan does, however, only include running, so I’m thinking to add a little bit of strength training. Will be careful not to overdo it, so I will not be too sore to run, but my muscles are in need of some workouts so I have to include that. Anyway, I’m excited about this summer and have already 10 km runs on my plan, Reykjavik marathon and Oslo marathon. I’m also planning to join a running group through Runners World Norway and hopefully will find some more fun runs to join. It is necessary to have such plans and something to work towards during training, otherwise it just gets boring.  My goal is to run either or both of my 10km runs in 55 minutes or faster!! Ambitious but doable!

Food, food, food. I’m back to eating gluten. It felt very good to be off it but I found that so many gluten free products have sugar/sweeteners in them so I prefer to remove the sugar and keep the gluten. When possible, I remove both. Now a days I keep to a super healthy diet in my everyday life and don’t worry too much about having sweets or other delicious food items on occasion. No extremes any more. I did learn a lot during my extreme weeks, and feel I’m much more able to make good choices when it comes to food. Yesterday, I made ovenbaked salmon with oven roasted vegetables (sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, red peppers, garlic and jalapeño), delicious with coconut oil!!! I´m having the leftovers for lunch now J