#maxineschallenge2015

Still feeling like rubbish with this virus and this morning woke up with a sinus infection and pain so it was back to the doctor again. I now have antibiotics (which I hate taking because your body becomes resistant) and made sure to get probiotics too so my tummy doesn't get upset from the medication. Seriously over being unwell and pretty sure this year is the sickest I have been in a long time. I haven't been sick over and over like this for about ten years so I can only assume stress at work and at home has gotten to me more than I realised. I rarely get sick, even when my training and nutrition aren't so great, so it's really driving me nuts. Race day on Sunday will be a cruisy long run as training for my next half marathon in late November, I highly doubt any PB's will be broken by me, the aim is just to finish in about 90-100mins. If it takes longer then it is what it is because I certainly won't be pushing myself. My nutrition has been good even though I have been unwell, carbs have been a little high as I have been eating extra fruit than I normally eat but my body must need the exta vitamins. I have had an extra piece of fruit each day this week but hopefully it won't affect me too much in the long run. Extra carbs (even healthy ones like fruit) mixed with my hormones (due to that time of the month) have got me feeling extra soft and waterlogged but fingers ctossed it's settled by next week when I have my follow up scan xx

Crappy virus got me like😷...started losing my voice on Sunday afternoon and it still hasn't come back properly yet. The cracking headache and cough are driving me insane! Not much you can do except stay hydrated and get plenty of rest. I booked my next follow up scan today for late October, it's the only date I could get close to the end of our challenge. Unfortunately I will have to do last minute weight and measurements myself when the challenge ends a week later but it can't be helped. At least the scan will show if the weight loss is muscle or body fat as my composition won't change too drastically in the final week xx

Daylight saving has kicked my butt this year. Set my alarm for run club this morning and turned it off saying to myself "I'll just lay here another couple of mins" yeah right, slept solidly for another hour and missed run club altogether. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise as my hammy has been painful all day despite stretching, driving me i.n.s.a.n.e! Race day Sunday and taking it easy this week with extra cross training to make sure I don't aggravate it too much. Attended the group session this evening and had a blast. A friendly group makes the time fly by and I really loved flipping the big tyre. I was being cautious with my hammy and didn't attempt the tyre jump into the bigger tyre, I was also worried I would fall in instead of jumping like you were supposed to (I am not the most co-ordinated little fittie LOL). There's a reason I never do aerobics or step style classes at the gym, you know that person who is always going the wrong way or facing the wrong direction? Yep that's me! Off to bed for some much needed rest and fingers crossed this hammy settles enough for a legs session tomorrow xx

Cracker day today with parkrun at The Beaches parkrun. Two laps of sand running is a great workout but I ended up with a couple of blisters under my toes because I haven't run on the sand in so long hahaha I have to be up early for long run tomorrow before it gets too hot but it's going to be a struggle with daylight savings starting xx

So t.i.r.e.d I can barely keep my eyes open! Started of the day with a 20km stationary bike ride and then spent the majority of my day sitting on my butt while my daughter was getting her hair cut and coloured. In between waiting I got my hair thinned out and about three inches trimmed from the bottom too. My hair wasn't super thick like my daughter's but the thickness I did have doubled with the length meant I was getting headaches nearly every day even when my hair was in a low bun. Fingers crossed less weight and length mean less headaches. Completed my leg mobility/flexibilty exercises of squats, lunges, deadlifts and glute bridges this evening and the hammy has pulled up ok for now. I also did a shoulder/bicep/tricep workout to round out the session. Back to work tomorrow and hoping for an early start if I can get out of bed early enough xx

Well today didn't go as planned :/ I wanted to go for a run this morning and was planning a leg session at the gym. Waking up this morning with sore legs and my hammy still tight as ever I knew it wasn't going to happen. Walked as much as possible trying to keep blood flow to the legs but it was still super tight this evening for a treadmill walk and my group strength session. For someone whose usual race distance is the half marathon and normally training runs are between 10-16km a few times a week this year is tougher with less kms each week. I thought a reduced training load in the year following my marathon would give my body plenty of time to recover between sessions but the effect seems to be the opposite which is frustrating. Anyway tomorrow is another day xx

What a cracker weekend! volunteered at parkrun yesterday morning and did an upper body workout at home yesterday evening. Completed the Maitland River Run 11.5km run this morning and achieved my goal (just) of a sub 70min time finishing in 1:09:23. My left glute/hammy started to play up by the 4km and was starting to get really painful by the 8km mark. It was only determination to finish what I started that got me over the line today after a quick stretch at the drink station near the 9km mark. I was planning to do a leg session at the gym this afternoon but didn't want to aggravate the leg any further so it was a heat pack, spiky ball and stretching trying to settle it down. It seems to have worked so heading to the gym tomorrow for my leg session, a late session is better than no session at all. Sometimes you have to listen to your body and adjust your training/recovery to suit xx

Cardio and group strength at the gym this evening. It was very crowded to our usual little group as it was one of the challenge sessions but it was great to see lots of new faces who are enthusiastic about the challenge. I can’t wait to see the changes they make over the next nine and a bit weeks and to watch their confidence grow. We are nearly halfway through our challenge and it excites me to see the progress I have made in my training and definitely nutrition! It’s just me against me to see how much positive change I can achieve, there may even be some abs by the end of it all hahaha xx