Holiday motivation!

First of all the Coast to Coast walk, all of 192mile was amazing! Getting Sherpa van to move our stuff around was soo helpful and really added to the enjoyment, I would have hated to carry all out stuff around but now we have done it once I would like to do it being totally self-reliant. Something for the future.

Marathon Training
Not going well. There are times when I wonder if I should give up running the marathon all together, but there is still hope and I may be able to still run it without feeling like death (HA...yeahhhh..). So far my longest training run has been 10miles. Given its further then I have ever ran during training but that's not even half a marathon. I have attempted to go out for longer runs only to be held back by a really sharp pain in my ankle. I have now (eventually) been to the doctors about this and they have put me on a weeks course of strong anti inflammatory. He also recommend new shoes which is a given. Anyway I'm going out tomorrow with the attitude to run as far as I can above 13miles without causing damage, followed by a lovely ice bath.

Nurse Training.
I qualify in 2 weeks. Holy poo.

Holidays.
My friend and I have decided to go on a holiday :D. Not one of those 'Oh yeah we should really go on holiday together' but a get booked at the end of the month holiday!
This is just the PERFECT motivation I need to lose the extra weight I have gained!!
My goal weight 8st 5lb, 117lb, 53kg.
I have 6months
That's an average of 1.5-2lb or 0.5-1kg each week. Seems like a lot but I am determined to do it and I am doing all I can to keep my eyes focused on that goal. We are going to look amazing in out bikinis!
Time for some new weight loss goals which will be changed over there ----->

Ups and downs

...we all have them.

Ups:

• I have finished all academic work for my nursing degree and came out with a good result, just placements to finish and I will be a REAL mental health nurse!
• I am continuing with bootcamp and it is making my runs faster and my body stronger.
• I am doing the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk in a week today! 
• I have two very cute chinchilla who never fail to make me giggle.

Downs:

• I am well aware that I have put on over a stone since my lowest weight of 9st 7lb. I got lazy and thought I could eat anything. I began saying that I will lose a stone in 'x' amount of time and it never happened, and I get disheartened.
• It's freakin HOT here atm. My poor chinnies. They don't do well in over 23c heat and in our flat its getting over 25c! We are doing out best to keep them cool, such as putting frozen bottles of water in a sweet tin in there cage to act as a cooling seat, keeping the window open during the night and not letting them out for play if it is over 23c as they will run around like crazy things and get too warm! Here in the UK we don't have this kinda weather that often so it wouldn't be worth the £250 on an air con unit, at the mo anyway...
• Plus I don't do well in the heat either. I'm much more of a Spring person!
• Not sticking completely to my marathon training plan. Just missing some mid-week runs.
• Eating too much. Simple.

Well over the past few days I have solved my weight loss problem. Well, sort of. I have decided that setting a goal time is not a good thing for me. If there is a deadline, I will not make an effort until the last min and try everything possible often with a bad result. This applies to everything from assignments to weight loss.

My final placement is almost over (no more 1.5 hours of travelling!) then after my 3 weeks off I'm back for my elective placement in York. Phew. This will allow for more time for training.

Eating wise, I am going to try and add more fruit and veggies back into my diet again, avoid dairy where possible and try and cook for myself and Nick as much as I can. At the mo with all the heat, I can't be doing with cooking!

I have refocused my goals which do not have a time scale.

cw: 150lb BMI: 26.6
lw: 133lb
gw: 118-124lb BMI: 21.1

I'm not a fan of BMI, I am only using it as a guide.




Arg. Its just too warm in our little flat atm! I feel sick with the heat, either that or all the water I'm consuming! Boooo!  :(

A look at whats to come!

I have just started a program called X-TrainFit at home. It is a 12 week workout program that progresses every few weeks adding in different workouts and different levels. I am currently on day 2 and after a week I shall update you all and give a review on the program and how I am doing! :)

Went for a 10k run this morning, took... 1 hour. That's 10min miles! I am soo proud, eagerly getting back and shoving my Garmin in Nicks face to get him to confirm that I did actually run that distance in that time! It was a lovely run too, Sunday morning full of joggers and dog walkers with the sun rising on a chilly morning. Lovely. My first fasting run in a while too, I just didn't really want to bother having breakfast before hand and it worked out for the better! :)

Continuing with 1800kcal and so far going really well. Nice fresh weekly shop in today and I have treated myself to some smoked salmon (to those who don't know, I now eat fish), can't wait to get my hands on the stuff!

Planning is finally underway for the Coast to Coast! I know I said in a previous post that it was 220 (some website said that was the actual distance) but I'll go with the majority and say 190miles. Very early stages but I will keep updating on places we are staying and whether we are camping or getting a B&B!

So keep tuned for the review on X-TrainFit and possibly one on my Garmin 410 (i still haven't fully worked out all the ins and outs of it yet)

For now hope you are all well and your New Year resolutions are continuing!

I did have a good title...

It was going to be; end the year as you mean to go on (to be done on new years eve but that didn't happen)

Anyhoo,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now I am not one for resolutions, so I am making goals :)

1. Find and maintain a weight I am happy with and that is healthy
2. Complete the Wainwright Coast to Coast
3.  Get a REAL nursing job!
4. Get my nursing degree
5. Run 2 half marathons in under 2hours 15mins (I have the two planned, now to train!)

Now my monthly goal for January, lose the Christmas pounds that I gained over December.
I also aim to meal plan to a. make shopping easier and b. help me feel a little bit more in control of what I am eating.
AND. POSSIBLY. Take a pic a day of either my food or something special and review them at the end of the week/month.


 In other news... I have a new toy!

Yupp For Christmas my lovely fiance got me a Garmin Forerunner 410. I have used it 3 times so far and it is brill!
For those who don't know this bad boy tracks your time, pace, distance, and place...and much much more!
I still haven't had a real good play but I have my account set up on Garmin Connect which is where all your runs are logged as the Garmin will transfer the data to the Internet and you can analyse your heart rate, pace, elevation, average pace, calories burned. I could go on!
I have had no issues with getting satellite signals and so far I have not lost them during a run so, so far, so good!
It really does help with the motivation to get out and beat your pace, you can even set it up so that you can race against yourself from a previous run!

One of my goals for last year was to do the coast to coast but unfortunately we both didn't have the time or the equipment to do it, but in the sale we got a new lightweight tent...

The Vango Banshee 300. We JUST managed to put it up in our living room and it looks good nice and light and should be a bit easier to put up and down with a bit of practice! The tent is for 3 people.. HA yeah erm... Me and Nick can get into it comfortably and our 2 70L backpacks can fit it making it...cosy. I am looking forward to more weekend walking in the lead up to the whole walk itself, a 220 mile trek from St. Bees to Robin Hoods bay.

I have a feeling 2013 is going to be an exciting and fitness filled year!

Oh and I have a holiday on the 23rd March. Need a bikini body by then! :)