So, what now?

So, what's next?

I ran my 5k on the weekend, what do I do now?

Well, at this stage, I have no other events I am entered into.  I've been thinking about the 5km NEON Run in October, which is a night event, kind of a 5km-disco-nightclub type event.  It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.  I had been thinking about it last year, but hemmed and hawed and missed it.  It's for one of my favourite charities, Beyond Blue.  Australia's national initiative to raise awareness of anxiety and depression.  I think the work they do is fantastic and so, so, so important.

After the B2B, I'd been spending most of the afternoon, whilst recovering, looking up other 5km events that are occurring this year.  There are still a few more coming up, so I am starting to put together a list of dates and costs.  More to come on that L8R (later).

I'm also counting down the days to when the swimming pool at work re-opens.  I have access to a 25m pool outside of work hours.   Cannot wait until the covers come off and the pool is cleaned and treated and ready for use again.  Even though I didn't swim as much this past summer (2013/14) as much as the summer before (2012/13), for the past two months or so I've been really missing swimming.  A lot.  So much so that while I am waiting for the work pool to be ready, I might (if I have time, the next two weeks are really busy!) duck into the council pool to have a swim.

I think at this stage I have two goals I want to accomplish.

1. To complete Couch to 5k and run 5km by the end of the year
2. To swim 1km non-stop by the end of the year.

Now, I haven't run them through SMART yet to see if they are reasonable/achievable goals, but they are what I want.  

• I'm already making progress on being able to run 5km.  

• When I was swimming in 2012/13, I was swimming around about 700m each session, three times a week.  

Given that I have been working on exercises that are more aerobic in nature (running & Zumba), I'm keen to see the effect that it will have on my swimming ability.  I've been (hopefully) building the muscles in my legs by running, so my kicks should be stronger.  And Zumba & running should be improving my cardio & lung function so I won't get as out of breath as quickly.

I'll be back with another post soon, ~2weeks and let you know my plans for getting there.

Oh!  And probably up date my weight & measurements!  : )

2 Feb. 13

Just a quick update to let you know that I am still blogging and looking after myself and working towards getting healthier and fitter.

Work has been really busy.  Still trying to get my feet on the ground.  Lots to learn.  I’m in a much bigger organisation than I was.  However, because I’m new, I don’t have to have as many responsibilities, which means getting to go home sooner – yay!  My client workload is about the same, however, there are more people to bounce ideas off, which is great.

We had awful weather last weekend.  The remains of a cyclone had tracked its way down along the coast and caused a lot of localised flooding, power cuts, trees over roads and so on.  It was a mess.  Also, unbelievable that so much damage could come from an ex-cyclone.  I don’t ever want to be caught in a real one!  Horizontal rain was not an exaggeration. 

It was also impossible for me to get to Aqua Aerobics on Monday night because of the rain and storms.  So disappointed.  But I can’t wait to go again this Monday.  I have even been swimming for nearly two weeks and I’m really missing it.  I found swimming quite relaxing and meditative even though I was pushing myself to swim stronger.  I need to get myself a routine happening so that I can get to the pool before work.  Either that, or remember to pack my swimming gear into the car, because I have a key for the pool at work.  That would only be an after work thing I think though.

Roads cleared enough by Tuesday that I was able to go my dance class on Tuesday.  Only 1 other girl from last week came back.  I don’t know whether it wasn’t what they expected or what, but I was kind of expecting them to not come back.  I could kind of tell from last week, that they weren’t as into as they should have been.  On the other hand, there were four other ladies there.  And they seem like they’re going to come back which is cool.  Also, the teacher convinced me to come along to the intermediate classes.  *Rolls eyes* Two lessons at beginner level and I’m already intermediate.  Go me!

Thursday night was another dance class.  Different style to Tuesday’s.  Tuesday’s dance class is faster and more aerobic while Thursday is slower and more muscular.  In fact Thursday s two classes back to back.  So, two hours of dance – yay! 

I may or may not be trying to make up for the fact that I missed out on dancing for the last five years by now cramming four hours of dance in a week.  J Honestly, I’m very happy about it.  I probably shouldn’t take up any more hobbies or activities at this point though, not if I still need to keep the house clean (and finish unpacking.  I have two rooms still full of boxes! O_O), and meal plan and go grocery shopping and cook dinner on the nights when I’m not dancing…

Weekends are my time to relax.  So I’ve spent all day catching up on webcomics, blogs and watching the Twilight movies. 

Tomorrow, I’m going for an early morning swim and then shopping for some more professional work clothes.  Everyone dresses in a far more corporate style here. 

Yet another reason to keep working on getting fitter, healthier and losing weight J

Splish splash

Well, I had better not keep you in suspense any longer and I’ll tell you what I was rushing off for on Monday evening.  Still water based, just not swimming laps…

Aqua Aerobics!

Yes, as daggy as it sounds, I donned my togs and went down to the pool to do aqua aerobics.  Monday was the second session this year. 

I had never before ever done aqua aerobics in my life.  Whenever I heard the words aqua aerobics, I always sniggered to myself, thinking it was the daggiest thing ever.   Coupled with the fact that I don’t really enjoy being in water, I never ever thought I would do it.

Oh how wrong I was...

 

Ohmagourd! Aqua Aerobics is best fun eva!!

 

Seriously.  So. Much. Fun.

I went along not really knowing what to expect and I was really surprised to see how much I enjoyed it.  And I’m so glad!  The teacher, Bronwyn, is super fit.  She has these skinny little arms and legs – that are all muscle!  She reminds me of an English teacher I had at high school who was big into aerobics like that.  Bronwyn is also really good at pointing out the different intensity levels available for each exercise and is always quick to point out if you have a back or knee injury (that’s me!) what variations she wants you to do.  She has good taste in music too.  This week was some remixes of ABBA and towards the end, a techno/club song I remember from when I was 15.

I was trying to explain to my friends on Friday night what it was like, but I don’t think I was doing it any justice.  A lot of the moves are your regular aerobics moves – just underwater.  The trick was to stand in water deep enough to chest level (that’s the deep end for me), to really increase your resistance, and thus, how much your body was working.  We did star jumps, leg kicks, Jackie Chans (high side kicks), knee repeaters, squats, punches, running on the spot, ab work, arms, playing the bongos…. Okay, so that one’s not your typical aerobics move, but it works great underwater!  Trying to play them fast is so hard!

One of the other things that’s really hard to do, is to keep yourself from drifting up the pool.  Trying to keep your heels planted on the ground, your arms underwater, and do the moves quickly is tough!  But I took that as a challenge.  I decided I would use that as an opportunity to really work my core – clench those abs!  As a result, I feel I might have worked harder than I did the first week.

And the other ladies (yes, it’s all women) in the class are good fun as well.  Some have been coming for a while, some like me, are new this year.  Unfortunately, it seems the girls who are closest to me in age – they look to be 26 – aren’t interested in being friendly.  But after the class, I overheard a woman (who I don’t think was there last week) talking about another class on Thursday night at a different pool, and when I asked her about it, she seemed happy to talk to me about it, so yay.   : )   The Thursday class is Aqua Zumba.  According to this woman (whose name I didn’t catch) it’s a lot of the same stuff but it’s also a bit different, and with different music.  It sounds interesting, and I think I’ll give it a go.  I can only go for 2 weeks anyhow, because after that my dance class starts up again, and it will have priority (and how!). 

So my monthly challenge of swimming every day is going to be side-tracked slightly into swimming every second day, because I don't think I'll swim the days I am doing aqua aeorbics.  Hmmm, unless I swim some laps before hand, say, for 1/2 hour and then stay on for aqua aerobics?  I wonder how that'll work for entry pricing?  I might have to make an enquiry later on this week...