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 :) :)
