Day Seven

Day Six doesn't get a post cos I didn't do any exercise :) I was saving up for this morning's run ... I aimed / dreamed / envisaged to do 12 ks. I was kinda more hopeful than anything that I could actually do it!

Turns out I could ... and more! I miscalculated on the maths, so I ended up running 12.3 ks.

Do you know that this is the furthest I have ever run?!

And I did it all by myself cos our running group members were ill / otherwise occupied. It was a great run - I felt fab the whole time.

So, even though I was by myself, I needed to celebrate. Limetree for breakfast it was. Amazing how good a banana smoothie can taste after a giant run.

Unfortunately, I also got scrambled eggs. While the were yummy at the time, I have been feeling queasy all day since eating them. I think it's cos since I moved to Dubai I haven't eaten many eggs and now my stomach can't handle them. Actually, I have no idea if that's the reason, but that's what I'm going with.



This is Safa Park - betcha never knew the desert could be so green and lush! There is a 3.4 km track that goes around the park. Most of it is beautifully shaded and I love gazing at the greenery as I run. Also, it makes it really easy to calculate your distance. (Today's error an obvious exception that that!)

Day Five

A great after school swim of 40 laps capped off a great week of healthiness!

Day four

Day four started with a 'pyramid' interval run for 30 mins. It was great and it was the first time I have run the whole time with intervals ... up until now my intervals have been walking interspersed with fast running. Proud of myself but feel I could have pushed myself to go a little faster in the fast intervals. Still, for the first workout of this type, I was happy with how it went.

I also headed to Body Balance in the evening. I usually love Body Balance but I do not love egotistical, primadonna instructors who roll up 15 minutes late! Then, this instructor proceeded to conduct the class as though it was all about him. Like a "Look at me, look at me, I'm so fit, see what I can do!". I was over it before it even started, but I still stayed and did the class (begrdugingly!).

Note to self: Give Body Balance on Wednesday night a miss :)

Day Three

Today is a rest day from excercise ... mainly cos I am getting up at 4.50am tomorrow to go for a run and then I also have yoga tomorrow night.

As for today, I am excited cos I have just started to sprout some goodies for the first time. So, in a few short days, I should have a bounty of mung bean sprouts! Good for you in so many ways.



Project mega healthiness is going strong!

Day Two

Today consisted of hours of sitting through a professional development session. During the session, it would be accurate to say that for a good 80 percent of the time, I dreamed of my after school swim. (The other 20 was spent dreaming of what I would cook for dinner... I settled on yummy salmon pasta). As for the course, yeah not so much thinking done about that.

It was pure relief, therefore, to finally break the cool, clear water with my first splash and begin my 40 laps. What a great way to finish the day! Swimming still remains my fave form of excercise.



In other health news, I am now having withdrawals from putting the kybosh on my decaf latte consumption. I gave up caffeine about 4 months ago and slowly started bringing decaf lattes into my life. I've decided that since I was at the point of craving one every day that they can't be too good for me. So, I'm now going to have just one decaf latte a week. But my question is this: How can I be so addicted to decaffeinated coffee? Hmm, maybe those baristas have been playing funny buggers on me...

Love the coffees from Limetree ... a wholesome, fresh and delicious cafe that we frequent each Friday after our long run!

Day One!

Day one of the 100 Day Challenge is here!

I woke up at 5am and bounded out of bed with as much excitement as one can muster at that time of the morning. After a 4 day hiatus from excercise, due to my bad back, I was looking forward to a run. I also felt the very intense need to burn off some of those calories from the weekend ...

Apparently, however, my body was not quite so happy to be excercising. It went into some kind of protest within about 2 minutes of my run. Everything ached and my breathing was so labored it was as though last night's oily pizza had clogged my lungs! I was not a pretty site as I dragged myself around my Mirdif 'loop' - a distance of approx 5 ks.

But ... I did not give up. I did not stop. I did not even slow my pace. There is work to be done on this body, my friends... and work it is that I will do.

And of course, when I got home I marvelled about what a great run it was and how fabulous I felt. Isn't it amazing how once the said torture is over, the mind forgets and your body thanks you??

When I got home, I did a mega foam roller stretch and had a warm shower ... all was well with my world.

Then, to give my body some energy at the end of the day(after a gargantuan day of sitting during a training session), I headed off to the gym and did 30 mins of weights / stretching.

So yup, proud of my achievements for day one!

100 day challenge

This weekend we headed away to what's called 'The Empty Quarter'. This is an amazingly isolated place just on the Saudi / UAE border ... err... hence the name. Honestly, it is one of the most stunning places on earth I have ever been to!

Along with much dune-viewing and relaxing, there was much eating and drinking. So in the spirit of doing things properly, I am doing two things evening. 1. Having pizza and wine for tea to round off a weekend for over indulgence 2. Setting some new health related goals! Hands up if you think there's something wrong with this logic?

So, there are approx 110 days until we depart for our summer vacation ... so I am going to do my 100 day challenge!

Each day I am going to set a goal ... be it food / excercise / mind / balance related. I am also going to record on my blog my daily food intake and excercise! Some may find this boring but I think it will really keep myself accountable.

Main goals
1. To have NO MORE back or knee pain ... I will up the ante on my yoga / foam rolling / stretching
2. To be able to run 20 kms by the end of the 100 days!
3. To do a lot of crosstraining to condition my body so that I can run 20kms! ... swimming / yoga etc
4. To maintain my normal pattern of eating unprocessed, natural and healthy foods.

I also plan to reward myself! Things such as shopping, foot spas, fine dining etc should fit the bill quite nicely! All this will help me to be a tank top and short wearing running machine come June :)

I love being healthy and am looking forward to getting started on the above!