Fitness freak in disguise

By Virginia Winder
Lots of people have begun saying that I look different.
Some haven't even recognised me because my hair is longer and I'm getting smaller.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with my sunglasses. But are they Batgirl or Catwoman glasses?
It was interesting wearing them out walking yesterday because people's reactions were so different.
Some adults just wouldn't look at me, like I was a madwoman, kids grinned at me and teenagers gave me that OMG look, thankful I wasn't their mother.
The truth is they were the only sunglasses I could put my hands on in a hurry. But I quite like them, simply because they are so ridiculous and one should never take oneself too seriously.
My kids bought them for me at the Big Day Out this year, so they've got to be good, don't they?
Walked 7.8km yesterday. I've got this great gadget - my Sony Walkman (no they are not sponsoring me) - which tells me how far I have walked, how many steps I've taken, how many calories I've burned and, of course, it plays my fantastic walking tracks to inspire me.
As I walked along yesterday, I grinned at the world with Monty Python's Bright Side of Life playing in my ears. The weather was lovely and I saw one of my friends on the walkway near Ngamotu Beach.
"I nearly didn't recognise you," Irena Brooks yelled from her bike.
"I suppose it was the glasses," I replied crossing the road.
"No, they helped me realise it was you," she said.
Damn, cover blown.
Perhaps a cape next time?
"You look different - fitter, healthier," she said.
We chatted about fitness and what a great day it was. I told her about my stair sprints and she admitted she didn't know I was a sprinter when I was younger.
Everybody always assumes that because I was a surf lifesaver I was a great swimmer. I'm not bad, but my reason for joining was to race along the hot black sand. If you're reading this from afar and never been to Taranaki, you may not know we have black ironsand on our coast.
On sunny days it burns your feet, so you have to run over it. I've always reckoned that's why our region has always had so many top beach sprinters.
You have no idea how much I would love to sprint again.
I have sprinting dreams, kind of like flying dreams. I also have skateboard-riding dreams, but that's another story, completely.
The closest I get are those hills, which I power up in my walking version of fartlek training, similar to what I did in my running days.
Anyway - that was yesterday.
I'm sitting here finishing this off in my togs!
Just walked to Fitzroy along the walk way (including underneath Kawaroa) and went for a swim in the sea with Warren, who went for a run.
It was gorgeous.
I wanted to go for a bike ride today, but didn't fancy pedalling home and getting hot again. Guess I will get used to that though, because I'll be doing it lots this summer.
There are things I'm looking forward to as I get fitter and slimmer:
Getting a new pair of togs (when I get under 100kg).
Wearing a T-shirt with those short, short sleeves (when my arms are firmer).
No longer having to only shop in the larger women's section.
Having a waist again.
But most of all, being able to run again.
Hmm, I wonder if I could skateboard again too - or at 48, perhaps I should leave it to the next generation.
Second thoughts... a long board for my 50th birthday? I reckon!

This weekend, I:
Worked for 6 hours (Sunday)
Have eaten only delicious, healthy meals
Walked for 7.8km (Saturday)
Walked for 4.9km (Sunday)
Slept for 7 disturbed hours (Friday night)
Slept for 10 blissful hours (Saturday night)
Drank lots of water
Drank 4 cups of coffee (2 each day)
Started reading a book (I haven't read one for months)

Importance of a good night's sleep

By Virginia Winder

Have a new swimming goal - to beat my niece in a one-length sprint.
Tonight Rebekah's cheeky face popped up at the end of the outdoor pool and so I joined her lane. Rebekah is a machine in the water. She lapped me a few times, but when we did a 50-metre sprint, I wasn't too far behind her.
She swam 70 lengths tonight and I swam 30, which is equivalent of 60 inside.
Gosh it's great to be outdoors - so fresh and clean. Way less cramped too.
Am still focusing on my new style, which means I'm not yet as fast as I used to be. Elbows, elbows, elbows!
Next week is looking great for lots of training and I feel excited about having a few days of double doses.
The good news is I've lost more weight and am now down to 106.3kg.
So, my training is going well, eating is good, work hours are slowing down, but my big challenge is getting enough sleep.
Feel like I've had days of broken sleep, mainly because I have. This is for a whole variety of reasons, 99% of which have been out of my control.
Lack of sleep or disturbed sleep is no good for training, working and health - both mental and physical.
The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

Now you know why my big focus is to get enough shut eye.
Am getting tired just writing this!
So, hi-ho, hi-ho, off to bed I go...

Today, I:
Missed breakfast (not ideal) and had fresh Mexican food for lunch and dinner (mmm)
Drank 3 cups of coffee
Two few glasses of water (again)
Swam 30 lengths of a 50-metre pool
Worked for 8 hours
Slept for about 7 hours, but it was broken sleep so probably managed about 3 hours straight

Uphill battles of life and legs

By Virginia Winder
When I was young, I loved hill sprints.
Standing at the bottom of Calvert Rd, a steep hill round the corner from home, I'd psyche myself up and then go for it; pumping my legs and arms as fast as they'd go.
Sometimes I'd put on my spikes and sprint the grassy hills in the school behind our house.
As I powered uphill, I'd hear my Dad's words in my head.
"Go, go, go," he'd yell at the end of our jogs through Pukekura Park and I'd fly around the terraces of the cricket ground.
It was such a joy to push myself so hard, to sweat and feel the energy flowing through my body.
A few decades on, I still love those steep slopes and the feeling of speed.
Tonight I walked up the Morley St hill and it wasn't too hard at all.
Then I did stair sprints.
There's this great set by the old Barrett St hospital, so with Michael Franti singing in my ears, I went up those steps lickety split.
What's so good about doing stair sprints is they don't hurt my Achilles tendon, which is still a bit niggly. Raced up three times, which is a good start, and then headed around and up Churchill Heights.
What's amazing to me is that a few weeks ago, hills took my breath away, but not now.
Workwise, I've had a quiet day, mainly because I had other things planned.
However, didn't even do those because am still feeling down and it's taking its toll a bit.
Don't really want to talk too much about the ups and downs of my life here, but just know there are times when I struggle. Now is one of those times.
Thank goodness for those wonderful exercise endorphins and my wonderful, crazy, funny whanau.

Today, I:
Worked for 1.5 hours
Barely slept (someone was intermittently letting off fireworks - even at 4am!)
Drank 2 cups of coffee
Drank 1 chai latte
Ate 3 great meals - muesli with blueberries, grated apple and Bio-farm yoghurt, a chicken salad and spaghetti bolognaise (small portion) and lots of green salad
Upped my water intake - thanks Irena!

Turtle comes out of shell in search of air

By Virginia Winder
Finally got on my bike.
But it wasn't a fun ride with views of the sea; it was an inner-city outing looking for a petrol station with free air to pump up bike tyres.
Not my pink beast, but my husband's purple bike. For some reason he thought it was OK to head out with flat tyres, believing the nearest servo would do the trick. But no, BP and Shell both failed - their air machines had crosses over wee pictures of bicycles.
So they both get the thumbs down for their lack of support for human-powered transport.
Caltex, however, get the big tick for cycles.
Out on my today bike, I learnt a couple of things.
1. I need wing mirrors to see behind me. You can get that grin off your face - I know you're doing it because my husband gave me the same look. The truth is I can't turn my neck to see what's coming up behind me. I'm sure this is some sort of karmic payback for teasing my Dad about how he couldn't turn his neck properly while driving. He always looked like an awkward turtle. Now I'm the turtle.
2. I'm more bike fit than I thought, but it could just be a comparison thing. When you do normal, out-in-the-open-air pedalling, it's a doddle compared with spin class. I could pedal up the hill past the Taranaki Daily News with relative ease and that surprised me. For those not from New Plymouth, it's a bit of a climb, but not too strenuous.
3. Intersections scare me, especially when faced with a standing start.
4. When you're in the bike lanes, cars whizz past and they feel incredibly close.
5. The biggest surprise was that I enjoyed biking. When I was a teenager I biked everywhere and raced the boys home from high school. They were on 10-speeds and I was on a bike with no gears and I often used to beat them. My body is starting to remember that.
So there you have it - I'm back in the saddle for real and it feels damn good.

Today, I:
Biked for 20 minutes (a start!)
Worked for 12.5 hours
Slept for 6 hours
Drank not enough water
Drank 3 cups of coffee
Drank 2 glasses of pinot gris
Ate two healthy meals and one that was a bit rich, but delicious (went out for dinner with the witches - you'll meet them soon enough)

We Are The Champions - a perfect soundtrack

By Virginia Winder
Saw a special sight when I was striding along the coastal walkway this morning.
A bloke was on the beach wearing an All Black shirt and cap, but the best accessory was his dog. It looked like a golden labrador and was trotting along with a wee All Black flag tucked into its collar.
I was wearing one of my husband's long-sleeved All Black supporter T-shirts and so I called out to this kindred spirit, who was so proud to honour the new rugby world champions, and we gave each other the thumbs up.
In my ears at that time, I was listening to Queen singing We Are The Champions, so that little exchange had the perfect soundtrack.
Last night, was the most tense I've ever been watching a match. But I know I wasn't alone; it appears the whole of New Zealand felt like that.
Weirdly, the more stressed I got, the calmer I became.
The only other time I've felt that was at Movie World on the Gold Coast when I took the Lethal Weapon ride about six times straight. At the end of those rides I wasn't a nervous wreck, but in a zen-like place of utter calmness.
That's how I felt during the last 10 minutes of the game.
But when that final whistle went, oh the joy, the relief and the swelling of pride and the feeling of rightness. Woohoo!
So there it is, the Rugby World Cup over for another four years - and it's ours. I use the collective "ours" because it did feel like the entire country was behind our boys last night.
My sister sent me a text from Australia that used words I can't repeat here, but it gist was of relief and happiness. I had sent a few texts to my brother, a rugby coach, in Perth, but he didn't answer. Concerned, I asked if his heart was alright - and how was he? His answer came in one word: Tears.
Just before midnight our French daughter, Camille (who had been an exchange student with us), contacted us on Skype and we learnt she was one of the 10,000 who gathered outside the town hall in Paris to watch the game on a big screen.
She was sad her team didn't win, but happy for the All Blacks. She has a soft spot for Dan Carter, you see.
So my exercise today was a 6km fast walk to powerful music thinking about triumphs and personal goals. My playlist included Queen, Eminem, Michael Franti, Muse, MC Hammer, Kasabian, Pink, the Black-eyed Peas, Proclaimers and Violent Femmes.
Now I'm off to plan my week, which is what a good friend of mine recommends doing to help de-stress herself and stay on top of things. She plans exercise and her work week, so everything can be fitted in.
Am feeling a bit better, than Thursday and Friday, but still a little fragile.
What I do know is that giving to others helps, which I have done this weekend. But I've got this policy not to talk about any kind things I do, unless it's to help promote someone else's cause. That's because my mum taught me not to talk about your good deeds.
But from a healthy mind viewpoint, doing things for others does stop you focusing inward.
This week will definitely be outward.
It's not about me... it's about those victorious Men In Black.
Good on ya Richie and the boys.
You made me and my whanau cry with pride.


Today, I:
Walked for 6km
Had a protein smoothie for breakfast and salad for lunch and dinner
Drank a moderate amount of water
Had no cups of coffee (ah, that's why I've got a headache!)
Had 1 chai latte
Worked for 2 hours
Slept deeply for 8 hours

Exercise, friendship and hugs chase blues away

By Virginia Winder
Swimming didn't hurt my left shoulder tonight.
Did my 60 lengths, slowly, but concentrated on the style points that Ayla Dunlop-Barrett gave me and it wasn't painful.
She says that when you swim with a straight arm you put a lot of pressure on your rotator cuff, which is group of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder.
I've got friends with stuffed cuffs, but it's possible she's saved mine in time.
Also, the exercises I do at the gym for my lower arms now make sense. "This is good for swimming," the instructor told me.
Now that I bend my arms after reaching out in front, I can feel those muscles working. Goodness knows what I was doing before.
Exercise is a great tonic if you're feeling down.
On Thursday and yesterday, I felt those niggles of depression start to worm their way into my gut and mind.
To be honest, yesterday was a terrible day. Faced some shorter deadlines because of Labour Weekend, slept badly, had stress chest pains again, and had to sleep for 30 minutes between writing stories.
Never got out of my PJs all day, just wrote, slept, wrote slept and felt myself spiralling down. Still felt yucky today, but after getting random hugs from my beautiful husband and talking to an understanding workmate and then a dear friend, I felt better.
Then I had the energy to knock off another story, spend time in the artroom, care for my son who's been feeling sick and then go for a swim.
After my session in the pool the endorphins kicked in and I feel great now.
This has made me rethink the rest day idea. Perhaps, for my own sanity, I need to do something physical, but it could be something a bit more low-key, like a stroll with my husband or a friend (and the dog of course!).
When I was a teenager and feeling a bit blue, my mother would send me off for a run and I'd always come back my bright, chirpy self.
Mum was wise, wasn't she?

Yesterday, I:
Worked for 12 hours
Did no exercise
Slept off and on during the day
Drank 3 cups of coffee
Drank hardly any water
Ate extremely well thanks to my attentive husband

Today, I:
Worked for 6 hours
Swam 60 lengths of a 25-metre pool
Slept deeply for 10 hours
Dranks 3 cups of coffee
Drank some water
Ate fantastically well, including lots of salmon and seasonal veggies

Oh, the things I have learnt... and other obsessions

Do nothing by halves - that's my motto.
A friend of mine reckons us adults with OCD, well a form of it at least, are driven people. When we decide on a goal we go for it and we become blinkered, yes, alright, obsessed.
Last night shared a gorgeous, healthy pot-luck dinner with friends and realised, that boringly, I keep talking about sport, training - and myself.
So here I am again, doing the same and the Gracious Me and Ego Me, are having as much of a battle as Inner Athlete and Wheedle Voice.
What happens is that the GM keeps downplaying my efforts, in a joking, piss-take way, just to keep EM at bay. "Stop putting yourself down," one of my friends said last night.
The EM agrees, of course, but the GM is the boss. See what crazy psychological games happen in this quest for fitness, balance and peace?
In this journey, I have discovered some telling things about myself:
1. When it comes to walking (or running, when I get there), I prefer to train alone. So please don't take offence if I decline your offer to stride out with you. It's just that you won't be able to match my rhythm, simply because it completely depends on what is blaring through my headphones. Also, my life is extremely social, so this is my dream time and I spend a lot of it refocusing myself on what I have to do in terms of training.
2. I am terribly competitive. That doesn't mean I be first all the time, but when I'm walking, I want to pass people and when I'm swimming I subconsciously race the people in my lane or the next. I don't often win these aquatic races, but they spur me on.
3. While I love variety in most things, especially work challenges, in sport I could walk every day and do nothing else because I love it so much. But to do a triathlon, I need variety, so I'm mixing it up big time. This is taking an effort.
4. Am coming to the conclusion that I probably need a rest day, or at least one when I don't do a full-on, sweat-it-up, training session. It's about recovery, I guess, so am thinking Thursday might be the day because that always seems to be my downer of a week. If I look back, that's always the day I want to sleep a lot and, work-wise, I always find it a struggle. It's also the day I'm most likely to get sick. I like the idea of having indulgent Thursdays, so will earmark this day for massages and other pampering activities.
5. I hate being the bottom of the fitness class. When I was at school, I was one of those kids that excelled at PE and was a Sporty Spice. Now in my late 40s, it's horrible to find myself the worst in the class at exercise dancing and bike spinning. It's quite off-putting and it's tempting never to go back to these classes and, instead, do what I find easy. However, that's not going to happen because I need the spin classes to help me get cycle fit.
6. While reading stuff to find information is great, I prefer to get it straight from the experts. Yesterday, I had a swimming-style lesson with Ayla Dunlop-Barrett, who is one of New Zealand's top surf lifesavers. She's actually a world beater. Ayla takes squad training at the aquatic centre and was extremely practical, helpful and encouraging. I knew my style was completely wrong and I was right. Now I have to do lots of elbow bending and not worry about the fact I only breathe on one side - she does too! I have to reach through a hole in the water and reach out for a pocket of firm water and pull it towards me with bent arms. Lots of lovely images there to think about while swimming.
7. I need to read the sports pages more. Ayla introduced me to her partner, a rather handsome young man with a lovely smile. His name is Glenn Anderson and he's been sort of rail-roaded into putting together a triathlon-training programme for me. This is all part of their training business, so remuneration will be happening, I'm sure. Anyway, I arrived home feeling buoyed and told my husband, Warren, about this. "What did you say his name was?" he asked. "Glenn Anderson," I replied. He shook his head in wonder and said: "He's the captain of the New Zealand surf lifesaving team." I grinned: "Really?! Oh well, may as well go to the top, eh?" Note to self: Keep up with the news, Virginia, you're a journalist - and a former lifesaving reporter!
8. I do need moral support and encouragement. In fact, I thrive on it. Every time someone puts a positive message on on Facebook or sends me an email, it gives me the biggest boost. I suppose this makes me a bit needy and I know, from all the self-help books, that I should find inner contentment, not rely on outward sources, but I still love them. My niece Sarah called me from Perth last night and that left me sooooo uplifted. My whanau are so brilliant and so are my friends. Arohanui to you all. xxx

Yesterday, I:
Walked extremely fast for 45 minutes
Had a swimming-style lesson
Drank heaps of water
Ate three incredibly healthy meals
Drank three cups of coffee
Worked for 8 hours
Slept for 7 hours

Today, I:
Decided to have a rest day
Worked for 10 hours
Slept for 6 hours
Have eaten one healthy meal and one that was a bit too cream-cheesy (that was lunch and am yet to have dinner)
Have had two cups of coffee
Had two green teas
A few glasses of water