Fitness Editor Blog

Whadda week… I have only been to CrossFit once this week and I can really feel the difference, I am missing it terribly. I also haven’t run in two weeks and am almost twitchy I want to run so badly. However, at least until next week, I cannot do any exercise that involves using my hips. Which is pretty much every exercise.

Pour quoi? Because I have bursitis in my left hip. Awesomeness.

Thankfully it’s not a serious condition, you can read about it here, but it’s quite painful – especially after a physio session which involves lots of vibrating machines, gels and massaging…. alas, none in a good way.

However, I have found a fabulous physio at Intercare Parklands, Lizette, who has not only been treating (torturing) me, but has also unveiled something about why it happened that explains why I struggle with a lot of other exercises in Pilates and why my squats look more like a bad replica of the Hakka than an actual squat.

Y’see I have had three knee operations in my little life, two on my left knee and one on my right. The last one was a big op on the left knee because I dislocated the knee and fractured the kneecap and they had to cut the muscle on my left thigh to ‘release’ the kneecap back.

Trust me, it was as horrible as it sounds.

And it took freaking forever to heal as well. I also had a shocking doctor who was good at his job but such an arsehole chauvinist that he would never speak to me about how to exercise the knee or what had happened, but only my boyfriend (now hubby).

Still makes me mad thinking about it… I would sit in the next room on the examination bed with a knee the size of a bowling ball and he’d sit at his desk showing Grant pictures he took inside my knee (I know, wadda weirdo...) as well as illustrate to him with a model of a knee what had happened and how they’d fixed it…grrr…

Anyhoo, the physio asked me to take along my running shoes and she looked at the wear and tear on them which shows that I am still favouring my left leg as the right foot running shoe is all worn down, showing that I land very heavily on it, both heel and ball of foot, while the left foot shoe is by comparison quite bouncy still.

So apparently I have been running in a weird limp-like fashion for like a year now – thanks all for noticing!!! I must look RIDICULOUS! Galloping along with the right leg and barely touching the ground with my left.

Monty Python auditions for the Ministry of Funny Walks auditions this way…

Hahahaha, what a sight. There really is no dignity in exercising – and if there is, I certainly seem to avoid it rather well…

Hopefully the bursitis will be sorted out by the weekend cause I can’t actually handle another week of not exercising, it’s made me realise how much of an outlet for stress and aggravation it really is. Also I really miss the freedom of running, especially my Sunday afternoon runs.

I have another physio session on Monday and am buying new running shoes this weekend from Tyger Runner in Bellville (physio recommends them as they actually fit you with the right type of shoe and test your running style etc). She will be giving me some exercises to strengthen my left leg muscles, so leftie, you better enjoy this weekend off – after that it’s no more riding on the strength of the right leg buddy!

The Paleo nutrition challenge for CrossFit is going well, I am still missing the odd thing such as cheese and dark chocolate, but my cooking is getting more and more creative and I’m eating more types of vegetables than I did before and I’m also more aware of the ingredients lists on certain foods – which are shocking most of the time! Seriously, once you start looking at those labels it’s freaking scary how much crap is put into food that you thought consisted of just one product… take tinned tomatoes for example. I went through about 6 different brands of them before I found one that was only tomatoes!! Talk about complicating a very simple thing…

However as far as support goes I’m afraid that is sorely lacking. Of course hubby is very supportive, and some of my friends are, but a lot of people are downright bitchy and scathing of me without even asking what it is I’m doing or why. Honestly, I have been quite taken aback by the reactions of some people, as if MY cutting out of certain foods affects them in any way.

I’m not pushing it on anyone, nor undermining the way they eat – I never have. Yet a lot of people have taken it as quite the personal assault that I have dared to undermine their eating habits by changing mine. I still haven’t got my head around that and quite frankly I don’t think I want to, I have a feeling it will lead me down a road littered with more angry and irritated people and there are quite enough of those around already.

So hopefully next week I can get back into the swing of things, it’s only about five weeks till the Energade Triathlon and I really need to get some swimming in sometime soon.

Good luck if you’re doing any races this weekend, think of me as the start gun goes off and have a super-duper weekend!

It’s day five of the CrossFit Nutrition Challenge and so far so good… No cheating as yet, although the weekend is sure to present some difficult challenges. I have caught myself looking longingly at the cheese in the fridge on more than one occasion, but haven’t as yet given into temptation.

Apparently Jo has been holding strong too so I msut not underestimage my competition….

Hubby Grant also unwittingly bought me a slab of my favourite dark chocolate, forgetting that it’s on the no-no list and no doubt hoping for some brownie points… but thus far my resolve has held strong and the chocolate remains untouched. (Note to self: HIDE THE CHOCOLATE)

It’s actually been quite an interesting week food-wise, as I have had to seriously think about what I’m going to have for dinner (which in turn affects lunch the next day) and one night after cooking till about 9pm I realised that this way of eating has actually opened more doors to different foods and different food combinations than it’s closed.

For example, omelette muffins!

 (Not mine, but pretty similar!)

Not only is everyone in the office drooling over my yummy looking breakfast of omelette muffins made from eggs, chicken, spinach, chilli and peppers compared to their watery cereal, but one more than one occasion I have caught them staring intently (and longingly) at my yummy tuna salad lunches and biltong snacks. Yup, so far this is working just peachy!

The weekend however, will be the test of my resolve. No alcohol apparently. And let’s face it, that’s hard. I really enjoy my weekend wine as I never drink during the week anyway, so this will really be quite the challenge…

The only side-effect so far that I can tell was a weird headache on Thursday, although that could also be from the weather, but I have a feeling it was more down to what I’ve been told is a ‘carb-hangover’ from not eating the usual carb-culprits for a few days. It wasn’t terribly serious though, I’m a migraine sufferer so silly little headaches like that are more of an irritation than a concern – and anyone who has ever had a migraine will know that those are the bad boys of the headache world. They’re the ones walking around in too-tight leathers chewing tobacco and kicking the barstool out from under pathetic little ‘carb-hangover’ headaches.

On the fitness front I took a break from running this week to thank my legs for not collapsing on me during the half marathon, but carried on with crossfit and tortured other parts of my body instead. My arms are especially sore from too many ring rows and ring dips and I suspect tomorrow will bring with it yet more small bruises in strange places.

Tomorrow however I am planning to hit the road again in the Road to Vineyard 10km race. Hopefully the legs will be back from their holiday and raring to go!

Have a good weekend everyone and think of me while you sip that cabernet….

I did it! I ran the Outsurance Gun Run Half Marathon yesterday – and I didn’t die! This is of course, awesome in and of itself, but the fact that I finished it - and did so in 2h21m are two facts that are still blowing my little mind.

It was tough, I mean it was 21-freaking-kilometres, so it was no walk in the park. I’m still staggered that it’s all over. Of course I just need to try stand up and feel my aching hips and calves for a painful reminder…

However if it wasn’t for Cape CrossFit’s coach Wayne running with me the whole way and giving me bucket-loads of encouragement and motivation I’m not sure I would have done it in such a good time – so a BEEEEG thank-you to him!

If anyone out there needs motivation to run a half marathon I’m sure Wayne would LOVE to help, he apparently digs running really slowly on a cold, wet and very early Sunday morning..

Today, although I am aching in some strange places, I’m really not as sore as I thought I would be. My calves are of course sore, but that was a given, and my one hip is quite grumpy about the whole thing, but other than that I feel fine.

It could also be the fact that I stretched before and after the race and then continued to stretch throughout the day – or it could be that I’m still so stoked from finishing a goal I had honestly thought was perhaps beyond my reach that the little physical niggles I have just don’t compare.

Thanks for all the advice and support everyone, I did take it all  and never drank the coke they handed out, I walked a few times for about two minutes at a time and listened to all the random conversations going on around me. So thanks for all that, it was sterling advice and I will duly pass it on to the next person I know running a half marathon!

The Diane and nutrition challenges

As they say though, no rest for the wicked – this morning I had to drag my protesting body out of a warm bed and out into the wet and cold morning to do the Diane Challenge which started at crossfit this morning. It’s similar to the Fight Gone Bad Challenge in set-up, i.e. you do a set workout now and then repeat it in eight weeks so you can measure how much you’ve improved.

As usual I underestimated how difficult it would be (stupidstupidstupid) and limped away with a firm resolve to never underestimate a crossfit class again.

The challenge consists of a 21-15-9 set of deadlifts and handstand push-ups (with bands… I’m not superwoman). I originally wanted to do the intermediate challenge, which is obviously heavier weights and less-tight bands. However, after learning that a certain crossfit superwoman found the intermediate level hard I changed my mind right there and then to do the beginners challenge…. which was with a 24kg weighted bar and stronger bands for the handstand push-up.

Then it was 21 deadlifts, 21 handstand push-ups, then 15 deadlifts, then 15 handstand push-ups… you get the idea.

It was hard. Those last few push-ups almost killed me, even though it was with such a strong band. However, it is done now and the only thing left to do is improve on it.

The nutrition challenge also started today – Jo re-issued her challenge so the stage is now set and we have both opted to go for the Paleo Diet over the next eight weeks, so if we stick to it our results should be quite interesting.

Read more about the Paleo diet challenge here on the CCF website.

I have already been cutting out as much as I can from my diet to prepare for the paleo diet, which has been a lot easier than I initially thought it would. It basically involves cutting out all dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, processed foods and alcohol.

I haven’t really eaten much dairy in a few weeks and yesterday I had two sips of a chocolate milk and my stomach went into a spasm, so I know that I’m not really going to miss that…

One really interesting thing about this diet is firstly that it makes sense to me – to not eat anything that wasn’t available to our ancestors.

We weren’t built to digest hald the stuff that we eat without even thinking, and once you actually start to really think about every single thing you put into your mouth and what benefit it will give your body (and not just your tastebuds), it’s amazing to realise how often you just eat without any thought.

Another thing I’ve found particularly interesting is that it’s not that hard, in fact I am really enjoying thinking of different ways to prepare food, and different combinations of foods that hadn’t occured to me before.

Check out what our DietDoc says about the Paleo Diet - she gives it two thumbs up!

So here’s hoping I can keep this momentum up for the next eight weeks…. otherwise I fear dear Jo might win this challenge

With only one day and a few hours left till the gun goes off at the Gun Run Half Marathon I can’t help wishing it was still another week or so away so I had more time to prepare. I mean I’ve run as close to the training programme as possible but still… the fact that it’s almost twice as long a distance as I have ever run is really starting to freak me out!

The only reprieve I had from worrying about it was this morning’s CrossFit class… and that was purely because it was such a hectic class I was more focused on NOT DYING than the race.

Although truth be told the thought did cross my mind that if I could survive that class I could survive a road run no matter how long it was!!

It’s actually only in the last two hours that my hands have stopped stinging and my face has relaxed after being contorted into a not-quite-ladylike cringe every time my fingers hit the keyboard. What could possibly make me so sore?

Rope climbs! LOTS of rope climbs.

Yup.

Then, JUST BECAUSE, we’ll throw in a few walking lunges (make sure your knees touch the floor Amy…) and purely for shits and giggles let’s add in 75 jumps with a skipping rope… but if you trip up you will have to start again! And THEN, because that’s all just so much fun already, let’s do it five times.

(Left: What a rope climb is supposed to look like. Fortunatley no-one was taking pictures this morning to show you what I twisted it into…) 

I know.

Insane.

It’s been a longtime since a workout has been that hardcore that I was still trembling in the showers afterwards. My hands continued to sting for a long time after that and I suspect the rope-burn on my ankle where the skin rubbed off a bit will take a little longer to heal.

However, it did make me think that it’s all about perspective. If I made it through a class like that and still came out the other side thinking ‘next time I’ll wear long socks’ rather than ‘I’m never doing that again’ then surely a 21km run won’t kill me either..

Right? (you might as well agree, it’s too late to change my mind now anyway!)

Anyhoo, I HAVE to survive the run.

Cause on Monday two new challenges start at CCF which I have signed up for - a fitness one and a nutrition one. Now normally I just sign up for the hell of it, but this time it’s different, this time I’ve BEEN challenged.

Yup… another girl at CCF has decided she will be the winner of the nutrition challenge, but I beg to differ….

…….so, Jo, consider the challenge ON sista!

P.S. Thanks to everyone for your advice and kind thoughts for Sunday’s race, I have taken it all to heart and will let you know on Monday how it went. Think of me please!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG…. no I’m not freaking out at ALL! Why? Because this weekend is the Gun Run half marathon. EEEEKKK!!!

Ok, I have trained for it and I’m fit enough to do it, but do you know how far a half marathon is? It’s FREAKING far! Ridiculously far! Get-in-your-car-and-drive FAR!

So yeah, I’m a bit nervous about it. But nothing I can do now, I’ve entered and I’ve trained as much as I can so there’s nothing left to do except show up and do the best I can right?!

Any advice here would be GREATLY appreciated peeps…

Anyhoo, the ankle is much better, it still hurts a little if I turn it in a funny way, but I just need to stop doing that and it’s ok. No swelling or bruising or limping so I’m guessing all is good.

It help up ok for the Two Hill Trail Run in Blaauberg this past Saturday – which was one of the worst organised races I have ever been to, by the way. The run itself was awesome, it was only 8km but it was a mix of sea-sand running (very hard work) and uphills (very steep and long uphills) but with magnificent views and a downhill that was rocky but fun.

However the organising, not so awesome.
We were initially told to meet at the Eerstesteen Resort which is at the beach near Big Bay. We were initally going to cycle there as it’s quite close to where we stay. Thank goodness we didn’t though, cause it turns out that wasn’t the real start! It was just where we went to pay and then got give the ‘real’ directions to the start of the race…. which was past Melkbosstrand and off the road that joins the R27 to the N7. Weird huh?

Naturally this meant that everyone was a bit delayed getting to the race as I’m sure a lot of people decided that if it was so close they’d just arrive at the Eerstesteen Resort five minutes before the arranged start time of 8am. So for thsoe of us who got there early, it meant a lot of standing around in a chilly wind waiting for everyone to arrive.

I’m not sure if the route had been marked before then either because there seemed to be a lot of confusion with the organisers too. So we only started the race at 8.40am.

Not a train smash, but if you’d planned things for later that morning it was a bit of a nuisance.

However, like I said, the race was brilliant and I’m sure once everyone got to the top of the second hill and saw the breataking view below, all was forgiven! I will find my pictures to download soon…

Anyhoo, as for me, I’m off to the WCAC tonight and will hopefully pick up some half marathon training tips from some of the pro’s there. Every day that gets closer I feel a bit more nervous….