Bad habits and my marathon countdown goals...

I was reading this post by Runner's World today about 10 bad habits of runners and found that I was guilty of a few too many, and here they are (plus a couple that I am actually good at)...

I think this is quite true and relative to running (source)

Ignoring your core: 
I have been rather terrible at strength training this time around, particularly my core. It is really important for runners to have strong cores, and this should especially be an area of focus after having a baby. I have never had the strongest core before a baby and now, even 7 months later, there is still way too much weakness and jiggle going on around my mid section. It's not pretty!

Starting a race too fast:
This was one of my mistakes from last weekend's race. I get all ambitious and excited at the start and instead of trying to set my own pace, I just follow the crowd. Oops! GPS watches are great for helping if you tend to have this problem too - another reason I need one NOW! 
 
Being your own doctor:
Totally guilty!! Doctor Google and Doctor Rachel are frequent collaborators in running injuries (as well as other things!).
"Runners tend to be hyperaware of their bodies, self-medicating with ice or ibuprofen to treat aches and pains. But minor injuries could turn into serious ones. Instead, see a doctor sooner rather than later. If the pain has lingered for three days, schedule an appointment."

Fixing it all: 

"There's plenty of advice on how to become a better runner, but try to focus on what's manageable." I really need to remember this one! I often can become guilty of trying to fix everything in my running instead of focussing on one thing at a time, thus the reason for the below goals.

Habits I actually am not that bad at:
Skipping stretching:
Thankfully I am quite good at stretching now... Most of the time. This is a really important thing that you want to make a GOOD habit.

Not getting enough zzzz's.  

Well this is pretty much just par for the course when you have a new baby but thankfully we have an awesome sleeper so if it does become a problem for me, it's either my own fault or just a wee phase Fletch is going through. I definitely need lots of sleep though so tend to feel it if I haven't had enough.

So because there are only 5.5 weeks (38 days to be exact!) until my marathon I thought I should set some goals for these last few weeks. It's never too late right??

Goals:

1. Work on my core - It's not like I don't know that I need to do this, or how to do it, it's just that I am lazy... Time to stop and time to get my abs working. Aaargh! Goodbye Mummy tummy!

2. Keep stretching - You can never stretch too much... Can you? 

3. Be wise with fuelling and resting - Make sure I have a good balance of carbs and protein to reful after runs, as well as gels during long runs. Rest, well you don't need to remind me twice about that one!

That's about all I can think of for now, so now it's time for me to go and work my core! Yikes!

Which of these are your bad habits? Which are your good ones?

Are you good at working your core? 

What's your favourite post race fuel?

Mine is a green smoothie - a good mix of carbs and protein.

Keeping active with two weeks to go...

So I am almost there... 2 weeks to go today! Yikes! I feel like I could pop now, this heat is not fun, but I am trying to make the most of everyday that I have without the baby. We are both very excited for when it all does happen though, and we have that wee little bubba in the world with us!

Woah Belly! And yes, I pretty much only have two sets of workout clothes I can fit now... Sorry for the boring wardrobe.

As you may recall from earlier this year (if you regularly read my blog) one of my goals was to stay as active as possible up to as close as possible to the birth. I think this has been going well so far and I am confident I will be able to keep going for the next couple of weeks (or however long til baby is with us). I feel good and enjoy the exercise and it helps to keep me sane - just ask Tim what I am like on a day I don't exercise...

Although it is extremely hot right now I have been able to keep up my walking, as long as I go during the cooler hours or stick to shaded paths. So yesterday I contemplated death by heat, or a nice walk in the shade... You guess which one I chose.

We have some beautiful tracks where I live and this is one of them...

Beautiful shaded paths

The track runs along a river - always makes for nice scenery

Evidence that I was actually there :)

It was about a 5km track with a slight bit of undulation. Would you believe that I even jogged a little bit during this walk?? Ok, so only about 50 metres, then I had to stop before my insides fell out (well it felt that way), but it just felt so good to jog!
I have also been using these bad boys to get in a bit of weight training so I don't end up all totally jelly once baby is out...

5kg hand weights - perfect for pregnancy workouts!

My other workouts consist of dreaming about post-baby running and getting back into it when I am able to. I will have a post up soon about different plans and options for post-baby running and race training. I have also been working my arms by holding up a book and a bit of thumb training thrown in there with turning pages. It's awesome, a workout I highly recommend!

How are your goals coming along? Have you been keeping active lately? 

If it's summer where you are, what are your tips for exercising during the hot months?

More on goals and how I've been keeping busy...

How are your 2013 goals going so far? Mine... Well it's a little too early for most of them as most consist of post baby stuff but here's how my keeping active in pregnancy goal is going:

Thursday last week I was lucky enough to have a personal training session with my lovely PT friend, who is also preggers. We did an all over body weights workout and I was super tired afterwards!
Friday was a small walk and a whole lot of wall paper stripping and sanding - hard work but it keeps me busy for sure!

Thanks for the shorts Tim!

Earning my keep

Saturday was Pump class. If you want to know more about Pump with a Bump you can check out this post here. I think this was probably my last pump class for pregnancy. Although I can still manage it just fine, a) my concession card has run out, and b) it is getting a little more difficult in some areas than usual. But mostly just the concession card thing. I am so thankful that my pregnancy has been a great one that I can still continue to be active right through. I know not everyone has that privilege so I really am grateful that I do!

We then spent the rest of Saturday at a family event with Tim's family where I got uber sunburnt... Oops! But i did manage to go from the photos above to this:

Phew! I bet you are glad I let Tim wear his own shorts here!

Sunday and Monday both were actually rest days from the exercise but there was still a lot of Sanding, stripping, painting and repeat that we wanted to fit in so they definitely kept me busy. Tim has been wallpapering today and the room will be finished soon. Yay! Then we can begin to get the baby's room all sorted - that's exciting!

Well, our work is complete for today so now we are off for a walk together through a track that goes along the waterfalls. Bliss!

Don't forget to keep an eye out for my giveaway that will be coming really soon to celebrate my one year blog anniversary!

Have you fallen off the goals wagon already or are you still charging along?

2013 Goal setting - have you done yours?

Workout today: Sanding (by hand) all the windows and skirting boards in our spare room, and painting them... In 27°C heat - which at 33 weeks pregnant feels more like 37°C... Fun!

So I didn't work out today but I really felt that that hard work was enough of a workout in itself. Plus I think I was still recovering from walking up Mount Parihaka yesterday which, for those who don't know, has about a gazillion steps (give or take), and it was hot.

So here it is... The post about...

source

 I am not really one (anymore) to get to Jan 1st and think: 'I had better make some goals that will change my life', and then they only last the better part of a month... If that.

Not anymore...

Not that any of us have ever thought that, I just thought this was funny!

Instead, I like to look at all areas of my life and make practical and achievable goals relating to those areas. Actually, this is something that Tim and I do together, we make goals for each area of our lives together and have reviews throughout the year - sounds nerdy, I know, but it's such a great exercise to do as a couple.

The goals for this year that I am going to put on here are actually my own, individual goals, not mine and Tim's. But these are just as important, having your own goals, as well as 'couple goals'. I think a great thing with goals, too, is to set small, achievable ones that you can measure throughout the year, not just at the end. This is probably why a lot of people don't achieve theirs because the end of the year is always 'so far away'. So anyway, enough of that, here are my 2013 goals...

1. Continue to stay as active as possible up until the birth of our baby.

2. Be a good Mum

3. Be a good wife and help and encourage Tim to achieve his goals

4. Be more committed to things at Church - help out more, and if I say I will help then do a good job! Same goes for helping friends and family.

5. Get back into running and training, as soon as my body will let me, post baby

6. Run the Auckland Marathon - the first weekend of November - possibly in 4 hours if I can get my body up to scratch. This was my goal for the Auckland marathon 2012 but then I found out I was pregnant so goal was deferred.

7. Be a good money saver/non-spender!

8. Get back to my pre baby weight by the time of the marathon - 8 or so months (hopefully this will be easy with marathon training thrown in there.)

9. Run a half marathon as part of my marathon training and to help gauge my progress towards the marathon

10. Blog regularly and improve my blogging

11. Be generous with my time, giftings and life!

Each month I will break these goals down to make a part of them achievable. For example, with the marathon training goal I will set monthly mileage goals to keep me on track and to make it easy to measure. For the weight loss, I will set small goals each month based on weight, food and exercise - small changes that can be measured. And maybe there might even be the odd reward in there for months where I have been successful!

 Are you a goal setter? I definitely am, as you have already seen - I have to have goals otherwise I am just useless!

Have you set your goals for 2013? If so, how do you do it? 

What is the goal you think will be your most difficult for this year? Mine would definitely have to be the 4 hour marathon and getting my body in shape for it... And possibly being a good Mum - eek!

July, sweet July....

I have decided that I am in a bit of a lull at the moment and need to set myself some goals... And what better place to announce them than on here for all of you to read and hold me accountable for... I will probably regret this later when I would rather be snuggling on the couch than out running in the cold winter rain, but nevertheless, here we go!

Next week officially marks the start of my FIRST 16 week training program, as mentioned earlier from this book (the top one):

So my goals for the next 16 weeks will look a lot like this:

1. Follow the plan to a tee - no excuses, no missed trainings, you are NEVER too tired to run, and don't let the weather get in your way!

2. Eat a well balanced diet with lots of good carbs and proteins to keep me going longer and less of the things I truly love, like these:

Oh cookies how I do love thee...

(Which will be a treat ONLY after a super LONG run). I think I'm going to start drinking protein shakes...

3. On that note, practice better self control... In more areas than one!

4. I will encourage other runners who I know have the same goal as me and will try and run my long runs with others as much as I can

5. To keep a good balance between work, running and social life (this sometimes is a problem as I get so wrapped up in myself... Gasp!)

6. To raise around $1000 for my next marathon cause:

 

7. To run a sub 4 in this marathon:

So, what are your goals for July/ the next few months/ the rest of the year? Do you need to practice self control? What protein shake would you recommend?

I'd love to hear what your goals are!