AMI Round the Bays

Ages ago, I blogged saying I had started running, then that I had decided to run Wellington Round the Bays and become a Heart Racer.  I left you here, with my C25k graduation.

Well, today was Round the Bays day.  And I did it!!!  I've officially done my first running race, and I loved it.  That's not entirely true, during the run, I hated every second.  But when I (finally) arrived at the finish line, I was very very happy.  All that hard work I have done for the last few months has paid off, and now, I can really RUN!

There really were times that I doubted that I could ever do it, and I've finally proven that I can actually be a runner.  Yeah, that's a pretty scary admission; I might become one of them - you know, the ones who get up at 6am on a Sunday to run up mountains?

I've learned some things in the last few months:

• despite being fat and lazy, there is actually an athletic person inside me trying to get out.  I am just one of those people who need to exercise, or I go crazy.  I have more energy when I exercise, and my mental health is much more stable.
• I can be a runner, and actually enjoy running.
• No one's laughing at me.  Today, I saw people of all shapes and sizes, and there was not one person I looked at and thought 'gosh, that person looks silly'.  Not ONE.  I bet no one looked at me like that either.
• Even if there are people laughing at me, I don't give a shit.  Running makes me feel good, and who cares if I look like I've been attacked by a bear when I've finished?  So do most other people!
• Running with music is okay.  Running listening to podcasts is okay.  Running listening to nothing is the most peaceful thing ever.
• Running up hills does actually make you stronger.  It sucks at the time, but my legs are much stronger now that they would have been if I never did the hill thing.
• Running isn't a good way to lose weight, you'll actually have to stop eating crap if you want to lose weight.  But running will make you (or me, at least) want to eat better.  What you put in is what you get out, and I'm not talking poop.
• Running, for me, is selfish.  I do it for me, and I do it to make me feel good about myself.  It's okay to do selfish things, it's okay to take time away from others to spend it doing something good for yourself.
• Doing something that you find difficult is more rewarding that achieving something that you don't find as much of a challenge.  I am more proud of running 7km than I was when I set swimming records or swam 20km.  Running is hard fucking work.  I've never found swimming such a mental or physical challenge.  It's nice having a challenge and achieving something that was hard for you.

So, what's happening next?

This period of the last 12 months or so is the first time in my life where I really haven't been training for something or being competitive.  I started ballet when I was 3 years old, and I did it until I was about 16. I used to have ballet 6 days a week.  I started competitive swimming when I was 7, and did that until I started playing underwater hockey competitively when I was 14.  I kept squad swimming until I was 17. I stopped doing races and stuff when I started doing representing Wellington in underwater hockey at 14.  

When I was playing underwater hockey competitively, I was training for between 10 and 20 hours a week, depending on when it was in the season.

Now I do nothing.  Well, I run 5-ish days a week, for 30m to an hour.  But comparatively, that's nothing.  I'm going to start training again.  I want to represent NZ at underwater hockey and underwater rugby.  And I want to run a marathon.  I'd also like to swim the cook straight, but that's probably realistically 8 years away.

To be able to do this, I need to start training at least 5 times a week for UWH/UWR, plus play twice a week (UWH) and once for UWR.  I also need to run at least 5 times a week.  I'm going to do the bridge to 10k program, then when I've done that, I'll start looking for a 1/2 marathon program.  I'd like to be able to do a 10k in June, and a 1/2 marathon at the end of the year, as well as the 1/2 marathon for round the bays next year.  Then I guess I'll start looking for a marathon to do.

Yes, I know this is 13 trainings a week and it probably sounds insane, but it's actually less that what I was doing when I was in peak underwater hockey training.  Granted, I have less free time now and it will mean that I'll have less of a social life, but I think the end result will be worth it.

What this will mean though is that I have to start running in the morning.  I am not a morning person at all, but UWH and UWR are at night, so that's not going to work out.  I'm not sure how I'm going to convince myself to get up in the morning and run, but I'm doing to try.  Tomorrow, I'm having a day off after my 7km run, 5km run and hard training session.  All I'm doing tomorrow is underwater rugby training, and that's only for an hour and 1/2.  On Tuesday I'll start a morning run (maybe) and also go for a swim in the afternoon.  I'm ready, and excited.  Let's fucking go.

Running and weightloss

So after some issues with a broken shoulder, I've finally reached that point in my C25K journey.  My next run will be my 'graduation run' - the very last run I need to do to complete the program.

If you had asked me on the 12 October 2010, the day I started the program, if I thought I would complete it, my answer would have been no.  If you had asked me any time in November if I thought I would finish it, my answer still would have been no.  In fact, if you had asked me in December, I would have said no.  Really, it's only been the last couple of weeks that I've considered myself a 'runner'.  I don't exactly know what that means for everyone else, but for me, being a runner is having that craving to run, and going, 'you know what, I'm going for a run'.

I am so, so proud of myself, both for finishing the program (well, nearly) and for how far I've come in the last few months.  I never ever thought I could bring myself to like running.  I used to watch people running, and they would look so peaceful and happy, and I never thought that I could be that person.

Running by numbers:

• I started W1D1 on 12 October 2010.  I will be completing my graduation run tonight, 24 January 2011. That means it has taken me just under 15 weeks to complete the 9 week program.
• I didn't run for 4 weeks when my shoulder was really painful.
• I lost 16kg during that period.
• I lost 37cm over my calves, thighs, hips, waist, boobs and arms.

Blogs along the way:

• Day one
• Day two
• Day three
• Week two - motivation issues
• Starting to take it seriously - I signed up to be a Heart Racer for the NZ Heart Foundation for AMI Round the Bays.  I'd still really appreciate any donations, and thanks lots to everyone who has already donated.
• Week 7 - an update on how things were going.

Would I recommend the C25k program?
Absolutely, unreservedly.  Anyone can do this.  Anyone.

The first week I started, I thought the program was okay.  I got through week one pretty easily, then week two was really really hard.  Week 4 was another challenge, and W5D3, a 20m jog with no intervals was hard.  W6D3 was the end of intervals, and in retrospect, it was here that I started feeling like a 'real' runner.

What's next?
I am going to do the One Hour Runner program next. It's based on one long run a week, and two shorter runs. The aim was to have the OHR program completed or mostly completed before the AMI Round the Bays, but this clearly isn't going to happen any more. I'm not too worried.



Thank you so much to my twitter family for supporting me though this whole journey, I really could have done it without you.  Congratulations also to @the_liberator, who's doing really really well with the program - today he ran 5k!!! Also to all of your who are at your various stages of your journey, please comment or tweet @ me and I'll add you to my baby wall of fame :)

The Wall of Fame:
@the_liberator
@MissNickiBee

So how's the running going, huh?

Last night I completed W7D1 of the C25k program. I ran for 29 minutes without stopping. The program says you only need to run for 25, but I kept running through my cool down. I'm secretly very surprised that I'm still going after this long, usually I give up after 2 weeks or so. I've had some lovely ladies (and more recently, guys) who have been doing the program too, and I feel like I can't give up. It's pretty good motivation to keep running, especially because I was exactly a week ahead of @missnickiebee - I had to keep running so she didn't catch up. Unfortunately, she has had to stop for the moment as she's having knee problems.

Anyway, I'm doing well on the C25k program. The first week was the hardest for me in terms of getting my breathing sorted. The second week was hard to retain the motivation. The next really hard week was W5 - W5D3 was a 20 minute run which was a huge mental hurdle. I found it much, much easier than I thought I would, and I got through it really well. Once I got though that run, I realised that I could really complete the program. I have found 5k runs that are held every Tuesday night along the waterfront, so I'm hoping once I 'graduate' from C25K I will start doing them every week. I have also committed to doing the Wellington Round the Bays. As I said in my last blog, I have signed up to be a Heart Racer, where I will be fundraising for the Heart Foundation. The Heart Foundation is a really great cause worth supporting.

The Round the Bays is a 7km race in February, so I'll have about 2 months after I finish the C25K program. I plan on starting the One Hour Runner program after that which should build me up to approximately 10km. The most exciting thing about my running it that I've convinced some other people to run too!

These are the people who I know are running the Round the Bays:
@the_liberator
@simon_w
@jethrocarr
There are some others that I'm trying to convince too.

I'm very surprised, I never thought I would LIKE running, but after about W4 of the C25k program, I fell in love with it. It really helps to clear my mind which is obviously awesome. The best thing about the C25k program is that it steps up quite slowly, almost so it creeps up on you. It allows you to build your confidence before getting harder so you move onto the next run or week knowing that there's not so much of a big change. Most people can push themselves to run an extra minute, and before you know it, you're fitter and it's getting easier, you're building confidence, then it gets a little bit harder. There are no huge jumps. I'm finding the further though the program I am, the more I'm craving exercise.

The running has been good for me. I've lost about 8kg in the last 6 weeks. I've been eating better because I'm craving 'good' food. I've lost a total of 20cm (upper arm, chest, waist, hips, thigh and calf) over that time too. I know this is quite good weight loss compared to other people, but I'm quite lucky in that while I put on weight very quickly, I have a naturally muscular build, so I can loose weight quickly too. It will probably be another 12 weeks, then I'll be back to the weight and tone that I'd be happy with.

I've become a heart racer

I have signed to to be a Heart Racer for the Wellington Round the Bays. It's a 7km race on the 21st Feb - 2 days before my 22nd birthday. I hope to raise $500 for the heart foundation - the money goes to funding research and awareness of Heart Disease in New Zealand - something that is very important to me.


This is straight out of my Heart Racer page page - http://www.heartracer.org.nz/LaurenSmith/

Thanks for clicking on the link and taking the time to read this.

I have become a heart racer because on 2 Dec 2010, my dad was admitted to hospital. He found out that he had recently had a massive heart attack that he shouldn't, by all reports, have survived.

He spend approximately 3 weeks in hospital and needed 5 bypasses. He had very few of the signs of a heart attack, and didn't have most of the usual risk factors like high cholesterol etc. He was finally released from hospital just in time for Christmas, but for months struggled as he had to re-learn how to breath after the operation.

Last week, he was given the all clear - that means that he's recovered from the operation and his heart is healthy. Having a heart attack has changed his live - he has lost over 30kg - and most importantly, he and my mum have started the road to getting fitter and having a healthier heart by eating better and getting more exercise.

We usually think of heart attacks happening to very unhealthy people; those who are very overweight, have high cholesterol, those who smoke. However, this isn't the rule.

Heart disease accounts for 40% of all deaths in New Zealand each year. 16 people, fathers, mothers, daughters, brothers die every day. Some people, like my dad, have no prior symptoms. Heart disease can strike anyone from elderly people to young athletes. You don't have to be a smoker to be at risk - my dad has never smoked.

Heart disease isn't something that only men need to worry about. In 2004, almost 60% MORE women died from heart disease than all of the cancers combined. Women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men.

Heart disease is something very close to my heart (pun intended) - I would really appreciate any donation you can give - no amount is too small. Your donations will save lives - without someone's donation in the past, we wouldn't have known enough to save my dad. Your donation will help to provide awareness, fund research and promote heart health in New Zealand. Your donation will help save someone else's mum or dad.

So, please please donate. If you can't donate, please at least pass this on, and take a moment to reflect on your heart's health. It could save your life.



If you would like to enter as part of our team - please feel free. The team name is "The Tweetsters" - http://www.wellingtonroundthebays.co.nz/