Getting perspective

Yesterday morning I got up and hopped on the scales, normal for a Wednesday morning. Like usual for the past 6 weeks the scales have not changed. Rather than get really upset that I'd worked hard and hadn't lost anything I decided to go and take my measurements. In week 8 I was in Melbourne so I hadn't done my measurements or weigh in. Here's what I found out...












In the 6 weeks I had lost no weight, I had lost 18cm off my body! I knew I'd lost size because I was wearing smaller clothes, but to see the numbers there was really encouraging. I got myself organised and went off to cycle around the Swan River with some amazing Perth Crew girls (and Brent!).

The past two weeks I have made the time to train with my girlfriends from the Perth Crew, even if it is a walk around the river (often a great time of therapy!) just to connect with like-minded people who know me and know my journey. They know where I struggle and they know where I want to go and what I want to achieve...even better, they encourage me to go for it!

I had two really great and different things happen last weekend. The first was my one-on-one session with Emma aka Emazon, which really gave me some perspective on some of my relationships and how I trip myself up and don't resolve issues when it gets tough...and the other was getting a lactate threshold test at the Running Centre. The latter was a present from some of the Perth Crew girls for my birthday and it was a fantastic experience and has really informed my training and racing now. It was great to see what my limits are for training and how to improve based on how my body responds to what I am asking it to do. It was also good to know that I had identified one of the levels (just below my threshold) as my race pace - I knew by my heart rate that I could keep that pace for quite a long time.

So, where to from here? Round 1 is nearly over and I'm still umming and ahhing about signing up for Round 2. I do know that I am learning more and more about training and nutrition and about doing what is best for my body. For me, that means shaking up my nutrition and taking things back to how I was eating for my training schedule in January when I was training for my triathlon. I lost more weight in one month than I have done in a complete round of 12WBT and I was eating a lot more...partly because of the amount I was training. I love to train, and I go hard in my sessions. I have learnt that I will burn out and get sick if I don't support my body with the nutrition it needs.

Coming up I have Step up for MS this Sunday, Relay for Life the following weekend, the Mothers Day Classic and then Round 1 Finale in Melbourne. Not long after that I head to Central Coast for Emazon Stand Your Ground 3 - Road trip weekend! It's going to be a busy term at school, but I am blessed to have the opportunities I do outside of work to keep me sane! Also coming up this year I have the HBF Run for a Reason (14km) and the Perth Half Marathon...and I'm planning on doing Run Disney in Florida January 2013 so I've got some training to do!

Over the next couple of months I am going to be tracking my nutrition, measurements and body composition quite closely and making the adjustments I need. I will also be cooking up a storm and posting new recipes, hopefully each week! I know I still have a long way to go on my journey but I am so excited about what I have achieved and the fun I've had doing it!

In case you are new to my story...check out some of my photos below so you can see where I've come...

L-R: Before (March 2011); Bridesmaid for Bernie (Oct 2011); NYE 2011; Triathlon (Feb 2012); School (March 2012); Birthday dinner (March 2012); First 10km race (April 2012)

Major life changing happenings...

So I started a new blog and have hardly posted....want to hear my excuses? I have soooo many of them! However, when I was a teenager I went to a youth conference where the speaker said that an excuse was 'an invalid reason for a neglect of duty' and this has always stuck with me (I think I've mentioned it in a blog post before). Here's what I've been up to lately:

March 19 - 70km Freeway Bike Hike from Mandurah to Perth

Result - injured calf!

This put me out of action for 2 weeks and it was so frustrating. I did upper body workouts during this time and as soon as I was allowed to do any form of exercise I was back in there! Then about 10 days ago my physio gave me the all clear to run...actually he TOLD me to run! So back to it I was and I was amazed at how easy it was to pick back up.

April 8 - Melbourne Arts Tour (trip to Melbourne with 32 students!!)
Result - got sick...

So I got off the plane last night, and it would have been so easy to give up. I had a goal to run 10km this round of 12WBT and I really wanted to achieve that goal...I had to give up the Bridges run due to my injury and so this morning was the Challenge Fun Run and I wasn't going to let a cold stop me! So I arranged for Natalie to pick me up and off we went!

I'm a runner!
Natalie and I started to run together in November, when Bernie went on her honeymoon and I needed a workout buddy. Our first 'run' was so funny because both of us wanted to stop running and kept going because the other was still running! We had a regular run that was 8km (4km along the coast and back between two beaches) and slowly built up to running the whole thing. One of our first runs we had two skinny fit girls pass us, chatting while they ran and we were amazed because there was no way we could talk while running!

Last week before I went to Melbourne, Nat and I both had the revelation that we were now those girls who could chat while running! This morning was the same, we chatted and supported each other along the way when we wanted to give up - neither of us prepared to quit. The results? Nat finished in under 1:17 and I finished in under 1:20. In December when we first ran our whole 8km route it took us 1:18! So I think it is fair to say that we have improved!

Mindset
I've really struggled with my mindset this round...it has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. Friendships falling apart and old friends reappearing in my life, watching friends have major achievements or major setbacks in their lives, coping with a ridiculous schedule...the list goes on and on. I have had a few things happen over the past week to show me how far I've come this year. My beautiful friend Karin reminded me of a photo that was taken of us 10 weeks ago and I couldn't believe the difference in me! I may not have lost heaps of weight on the scales but I have changed shape, especially in my face!

When I was at the airport meeting the students and their parents for the Melbourne Tour I had several parents come up and make comments to me about how good I was looking, but then one of my Year 12 students and I spoke for quite a while about my journey and she said that her music class were so proud of me and I nearly cried! I have taught these kids since Year 8, my first year at the school and now they are in Year 12...it meant so much coming from her.

Yesterday in Melbourne I went into Lorna Jane for some new workout gear...and ended up with heaps including free stuff! I came away with Lorna Jane's book 'Move, Nourish, Believe' and it just spoke to me. I am looking forward to reading more of this book this week while I'm on holidays and I have time to process it. I've also booked in some 'Perth Crew' time to catch up with some amazing friends.

What comes next?
Well, I've got a few things coming up (not in order)...the Mothers Day Classic (8km run), Step up for MS (1096 stairs!), Run for a Reason, Relay for Life, Finale weekend in Melbourne! It is going to be busy but I'm looking forward to it. I'm making a few changes to my routine, both in exercise and nutrition to get the best results out of my body - so I will be posting more over the next few weeks as I put things into place. Get ready for new recipes - I may even put together a bit of an eBook for people to use :)

Love you all, thanks for reading...

Sarah