Big Hairy Audacious Goal!

Last round I was plagued by injury until the final crunch, I was diagnosed with an arthritic knee.  My goals were no longer achievable in the current form.  I was devastated.  I put on a couple of kilo while I waited for my body to heal.  I really thought I would be running into my 90s.  Alas, this is not to be.  My goal to carry the weight I had lost was no longer achievable, my half marathon run not possible.  I was miserable.  Where to from here.

OK, well at the time I thought this was not going to be that bad.  I was trying to get excited about something else, a different goal, I was going to become a ‘walker’.  Oh yeah, sounds exciting doesn’t it.  What if I threw in a ‘marathon walker’, I mean why the bloody hell not.  I am not dead afterall, I just cant run.  It has taken a while for this to gel in my head.  A few things helped:

1. I met my long time 12wbt friends Karen and Susie who suggested just picking a few things to sign up to and concentrating on those. 
2. I am meeting up with these wonderful ladies along with our dear fellow 12wbt training buddy Kimberley and they will help me stay true to my goals.  Because that is what friends do.
3. I commited to not trying to ‘get to everything’ but concentrate on the most important part of this transformation – ME!  Not selfish just ready to finish transforming and I need to concentrate on me for that.
4. My family bought me a Christmas Present – a membership to Goodlife which allows me to adapt my training and concentrate on the ‘strong’ part of Lean and Strong.  The Lean part is going to have to come from clean eating.
5. I got stuck into my Cozi Calendar which allows me to put in everyones appointments including my gym times and it lets me do some meal planning.  It is very clever, it even has ‘to do’ lists.  If only the family would ‘to do’ them!
6. I looked for some ‘walks’ I could train for on the net today.
7. I understand that the gym classes I want to do may move around, I can make that work as needed, I understand that I need to get my weight training done at least 3 times a week on alternate days.
8. I sat down and worked out a training program/calendar and found out it is achievable. 

This so doable!  OK, so here it is.  I am accountable only to me.  I understand that I may have to compromise around family commitments but I just never ever give up.  Come the day of the big walk, the Bribie Island Bash, I am there, I am going for it.  Training or no training, no matter how good or bad I am, I am going to walk the beach for 30kilometres as quickly as I can.

Squeeeeee, whos with me?

My walking program – 30km!!
Weeks		Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
		PILATES 7:30pm	ALTERNATING SLOW/FAST	YOGA 7:30pm	SPEED  WALK & ZUMBA 6:30pm	CYCLE 6:00am	AQUA 9:30am	SLOW FORM	Weekly km total
12WBT – week 1	16/01/2012		4		5			7	16
2	23/01/2012		5		6			9	20
3	30/01/2012		5		6			11
4	6/02/2012		5		6			12	23
5	13/02/2012		6		5			7	18
6	20/02/2012		6		6			9	21
7	27/02/2012		6		7			11	24
8	5/03/2012		6		7			13	26
9	12/03/2012		6		5			9	20
10	19/03/2012		6		7			11	24
11	26/03/2012		6		7			13	26
12	2/04/2012		6		7			15	28
13	9/04/2012		7		6			11	24
14	16/04/2012		7		8			13	28
15	23/04/2012		7		8			15	30
16	30/04/2012		7		8			17	32
17	7/05/2012		8		7			13	28
18	14/05/2012		8		9			15	32
19	21/05/2012		8		9			17	34
20	28/05/2012		8		9			19	36
21	4/06/2012		9		8			15	32
22	11/06/2012		9		10			17	36
23	18/06/2012		9		10			19	38
24	25/06/2012		9		10			21	40
25	2/07/2012		9		9			17	35
26	9/07/2012		10		10			19	39
27	16/07/2012		10		11			21	42
28	23/07/2012		10		11			23	44
25	30/07/2012		10		11			19	40
26	6/08/2012		10		11			21	42
27	13/08/2012		10		11			23	44
28	20/08/2012		10		11			25	46
29	27/08/2012		10		11			21	42
30	3/09/2012		10		11			23	44
31	10/09/2012		10		11			25	46
32	17/09/2012		10		11			27	48
33	24/09/2012		10		15			23	48
34	1/10/2012		10		17			25	52
35	8/10/2012		10		19			27	56
36	15/10/2012		10		10			29	49
Bribie Island Bash	22/10/2012		10		5			30	45

So you thought Aqua Aerobics was for wimps………………..

HAHAHAHA, it’s not!  Just saying. 

Here is what I learnt in my first ever Aqua Aerobics class this morning at the Christmas Present.

1. you may be wet but it is hot!
2. you may think you are strong but your body does not like fighting water with floating dumbbells.
3. if you are a floater you struggle to stay down and if you are a sinker you struggle to stay up.
4. try kicking madly at the edge for 30 seconds on 30 seconds off repeat and repeat again!  Friggin’ ouch to the thighs and buttocks.
5. old people, fat people and pregnant people show you up despite your fitness level (what the?????).
6. your entire body gets a work out.  Imagine the shock to my obliques when I asked them to do fish tails in the water. 
7. you move fast and then try to move faster (because aqua aerobics is for wimps) only to be told you can burn between 350 calories and 600 calories.  Who knew?
8. you have to be a bit coordinated and you can’t see yourself so your body and mind don’t necessarily gel (hoping this rectifies in time).

My tips for those willing to take up the Aqua Aerobics challenge:

1. wear sunscreen
2. wear a hat
3. wear sunnies  
4. get a pair of bathers that keep your boobs secure (mine were bouncing right out)!
5. Find a friend!  Thanks to my new 12wbt friend, Carolyn for encouraging me while I moaned and groaned and lived in shock of just how hard it is.
6. Try it again!

Oh I will be back.  Best darn whole of body workout I have in a while.  I started with weights and core before hitting the pool.  Worked the entire me.  Then I shopped for school books, groceries and ‘new bathers’.  I am now ready for a sleep.