scared but doing it anyway [Morag] kicking up the gear

[Morag]

October 8th, 2016

 

 

All these people are sooooo young and fit and wow.... scary obstacles too.... but I have the ticket hanging on the fridge. I'm going. Fear be damned. So better get the training on track, summer lull is over. It's time to move!

 

Details will follow.

 

love you folks.

 

[Raxie]

Woot so excited!!! Definitely following

[Elastigirl]

Way to go,slay those fesr dragons

 

 

[Morag]

I did 3x 10 knee push ups and 40 (20 per side) alternating curl to overhead press (of meager 2,5kg) (standing dumbbell). My more versitile dumbbell is a single, this is the heaviest the pair can be.

 

Food is getting there. Noticing a decrease in junk (that had crept in) and a effortless if slow going back to less starch, but not paleo yet.

 

I think I will go and keep a log of how much I move. Pushup, Inverted Rows (none yet), lunges (20 per side yesterday), dips (none), weights moved.... and maybe I will even go back to the ab challenge.... no promises. I'm just glad I am getting moving.

 

Trail shoes are ordered. I know what shirt and pants I will wear, will just have to figure out how much layering I'll have to do, the race is in early October afterall...

 

 

Gratitude.

@Casbin: You are awesome. And someone should tell you! (again and again)

MyOlderKid: he's actually starting to grow up, it's so cool to whitnes and be involved in.

MySmallerKid he's learning sooooo much lately, leaps and bounds as well.

(Thank you all for being in my life.)

[Casbin]

Hey,

 

did I mention that I really am looking forward to what you are going to tell about the race afterwards?

Oh and about those shoes, naturally.

Well, and thanks?

 

You will do this!

[alienjenn]

heya girl!!

 

 

OCRs are so much fun

 

if you have any questions feel free to ask!!

 

 

cheering you on

 

[Morag]

Thursday update.

knee push ups {60}

Curl to overhead press {40}

Inverted rows 3x3 today {9} (limiting factor awkward grip on underside of bed)

lunges {20per}

dips {0}

Dance classes 2 this week one medium and one advanced skill {1M 1A}

Cycling (to and from class counted individually for bigger numbers) {4}

Runs (none yet) I got my $H*7 together too late today, it was already 30+°C and with dance class later... excuses.  {0}

Fitness classes {0} (Summer break)

 

So far not too bad. Will do my overdue run tomorrow before it gets warm, since "they say" it'll be awful hot out until the thunderstorms hit on Sunday.

The shoes were delivered yesterday night, fit well and are yay (these ones: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTI9kLAXK7b6ICE2ssVqqp0IW5gxdnJKzIZA125uc__7ZCnK1Nohw). Gaiters are comfortable too... All is good in the world. The car that drives south is RAPPIDLY filling up with (self-)invited spectators though. Plan is: me behind the wheel (being my mum's car...), my best friend (who I invited ages ago when I first figured I would do this on my own, hubby, who I KINDA want along and kinda am afraid to have along if for example I fail (or something) ... the dutch friend who is in the race with me, and a friend of ours (hubby, friend and me), who's visiting dutch friend for his birthday, because who's staying in wintery australia for their birthday, if they can visit europeans during their summer and couch surf and watch people get muddy. And of course it is never as simple as you try to summerize. But that makes it 5 people in a VERY tiny car... Food for thought.

One full week and then our summer break will finally be over and fitness classes start back up, thankfully. And I can't find that stupid squishy that I only bought to practice my grip strength and it's gone and .... first world problems. All of them. Life is good and I know it.

 

 

Gratitude.

non-monogamy. and good communication (or people giving communication a good effort anyway)

My google fu (I love you subconcious, you give good pointers)

• https://www.buzzfeed.com/lorynbrantz/if-disney-princesses-had-realistic-waistlines
• http://jirkavinse.com/#portfolioModal7
• http://www.boredpanda.com/inspiring-women-dolls-wendy-tsao/
• http://www.boredpanda.com/tree-change-dolls/
• Just to name the ones with the biggest punch

And thirdly........ not sure.... life. Just ... Just that. life is a weird thing, it kicks you. Hard. And then when you are just drifting by, happy things let up... someone comes by and they are not polite and therefore friend-able, when you ask how they are, they tell you. They might preface it with a "do you have time, because this could take a while" and you do and they tell you and you think a few things while conversing:

• life is a bitch to everyone, it's nothing personal.
• other people struggle with the same things you have always struggled with, and it feels good to give gentle nudges, or kicks in the head if they are being stupid.
• they have traversed terrain you haven't, seen things you haven't even thought about looking out for, and they nudge you gently and tell you to not be stupid if you need to hear it.
• Thank you for these kinds of people.... and moments... Life.... it's funny huh?

[Morag]

Saturday update.

 

Time for another update.

Did my run Friday morning as promised. Walked to park, ran around park twice (okay walked at least half the time, not sure what that translates to distance-wise though) and walked home. Total of 4,57km in 58 min, given HOW SLOW some of the walking was I was wowed by the 12:39min average pace per kilometer. Not entirely sure if that is good or bad or anything, really, it's just where I am starting it seems. Listening to Radio Abel and looking at the run log afterwards gave me a clear feeling of "I can do 6k". To simulate the race I would have to run around my park 4x with probably something like 5 obstacles per circuit... that is I don't know, it feels doable. ?? Am I being cocky? I don't know. Some of the obstacles seem horrible (monkey bars, the high walls, ramp wall thingy...) while others seem... mentally a huge deal, but okay physically... once you climbed up the fricking flyer... there is only one way down so close your eyes and keep your hands in... I don't know. I don't usually worry about these mental gymnastics... There is people with bigger height anxiety issues out there than me. I'll get there when I get there and I'll go through them because they are part of the race. Or at least that is me hoping. I'll know when I get there.

 

Shoes are good. My ancle was twichy the day after but I did my exercises (thanks xena!) and I'm feeling okay. I wasn't anywhere near my limit. I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow and Tuesday, doing less more often so not to tweak anything.

 

I also went to visit a friend Friday night, when hubby (early shift) and the kids were in bed, and I did so on my bike. another 3.2km for the distance goal, of the mini?? maybe... I haven't read up yet on the rules.

 

Life is still goot, hoping your challenges are treating you well.

 

Katrin

 

Gratitude

Vikings on amazon prime

fittest man on earth (doku movie 2015 crossfit thingy) was gooot (and motivational)

the men in my life. parental unit aside they are all AMAZING people and they teach me all so very much (yes, the parental unit too)! thank you.

[alienjenn]

a lot of the challenge in an OCR is mental. That's why I LOVE them

 

I think if you can do 4.5ish K then you can totally do 6k.

 

 

you got this girl

[Morag]

Thank you, @alienjenn, for the vote of confidence. I really truly appreciate it.

 

 

Tuesday update:

I keep forgetting to get on the scale before eating Monday mornings. Monday was on almost all other fronts a resounding success. I got the kid out of the house, not early but it all went as it should, TheOlderKid was being a lazy sleeping-in child, and since it's the last week of summer break I was in a "good for you" attitude about it. He knew to message me if he needed anything and I went straight from kindy to the park.

I saw four robins (Rotkehlchen), 3 black birds (Amseln) and 2 squirrels, but honestly I think I counted at least one robin and the squirrel twice... my gut says so. The leftovers of the burned out car were still where they were Friday and the day was beautiful, wet ground, mild temp, sunlight and smell of earth...

 

Anyway to the facts Just after starting my little Zombies! Run! told me I had done 1km (walking there, guess I should only turn it on when I start running, huh?) I did two laps around the park, and was feeling pretty good, the bra will not be the one I will be wearing for the race, and neither were the socks, but I had pushed minor discomforts aside, and I was kinds enjoying myself. I was checking my energy levels and decided that I was good, and did a third lap around the park.

A while after I had heard the "5km in 50-something or other minutes" message I finished my run. I still did walk a lot, but there were quite a few songs that I ran all the way through and it felt like I had a better pace all told. After I turned the mission off in the app, I saw that I had done "0.34km in 1:06:00", clearly an error in the app. Therefore I am guesstimating I did 4,5ish km in (I arrived at the park at around 11min) 55min, giving me a training pace of 12:13min/km (=12,22min/km).

On my first run I did 4,57km in 58 min including ca 1,5km and 20min of walking to and from the park, netting me 12:23min/km (=12,378...min/km). That's not too much better in the stats themself BUT I did 50% more and there was way less walking and during the older one I did some VERY slow walking there in the middle somewhere, so my math tells me what I already knew: I am happy with my progress. I can do this.

 

@Casbin was so kind as to offer his cheering-  and supporting- abilities along with his car, so we will all get to my race and get there without too horrible a drive. THANK YOU BEYOND WORDS!!

 

I'm implementing the weekly routines from flylady now. Yesterday, because of my run, and because of walking to my hubbies place of work to save him from bordom, I wasn't at home much at all, so today I did the Weekly Home Blessing thing that was due Monday (10 minutes of little bits of cleaning for an hour(ish) total, eye-opening and definitely gonna stay. Today I am supposed to plan and play, I haven't had a chance to do that yet, but there's plans for Infinity (tabletop) lateron, so I better go do some planning, I guess.

 

I am much excited about classes starting next week, I have baught crap I thought I might need, and am crocheting a .... not sure what you call it in english. A "pen and pencil case" the translation website tells me, that is inadequate though. We (germans) take a huge deal of pleasure from sorting and organizing, at least that trait of mine has been (repeatedly) attributed to me being german, so Federtasche, Schlamper, Federmappe, all those things name just a few versions of what I mean. So I am chrocheting a rectangle, will add two circles, close it up to form a cylinder and add a zipper up the height of it. But it's gonna be a small one, I am lazy and I don't need a million pencils and crayons and stuff... (sadly)

 

I'm gonna stop here, cause I am rambling and I should go ready your threads and not blather on endlessly...

 

 

Katrin

 

Gratitude.

Sunshine - I have LDD, or winter depression, and the summer being as gentle and golden as it is right now is a true blessing.

Flea markets and what pleasure of treasure hunt they may hold, and the joy of remembering a good one and sharing it with especially little ones, they are so easy to excite.

Elation - it's a good word. And I am glad I am learning this language and glad to find treasures like this one hidden in good stories or good conversations. Language. Fun thing.

 

[alienjenn]

I'm glad you're progressing with running sometimes I think we get too focused on the numbers and not on how the run FEELS.

I'm glad you're doing both

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[Morag]

Wednesday update.

 

Had a good training run this morning. The goal was to not stop running to walk at all during the first circuit around the park. That happened, then I walked for 150-200 meters or so, then I ran around the park 3 more times without any walking at all... total of 5,31km in 1h(00m)50s, average pace of 11:28min/km. I'm not winning any speed records yet, but dang I'm gonna nail that race!

Funny thing I was really pounding out that last bit of the track, my new-favourite wood-chip-covered path, (something close to 6-7m/km) and it all was thanks to (one of) my long time favourite songs. I'm not a huge fan of live recordings of things but this one isn't bad. Have a listen...

 

So yeah, was a gorgeous morning. I am thinking about what to prep for all the big things heading my way: license classes to become a fitness trainer, meeting online friends for the first time, my first race, which is also my first OCR... so much, so much, so much.

 

@alienjenn You offered to answer some questions, and ... here goes. What do you bring for an OCR? I mean, sure you arrive in your race clothes, with a bag of after clothes, food and drink and shower stuff and rarara, cable ties to attach the gps tracker on quick lace laces, that's all a no brainer, what I am asking after are the little things, I saw someone somewhere whip out a pair of biking (or lifting?) gloves when they reached the monkey bars, while I'm not planning on doing that, a tiny towel to clean off hands before having to climb anything might be helpful, is that a silly thought? What is permittable and what is silly and what do you take with you onto the race track, besides your shoes and wits?

 

Thanks so much for offering to answer my NO0ß questions. I really do appreciate it.

 

@Casbin Would you like to come running with me sometime next week or the week after? I am thinking about mixing up the track a bit soon, so I don't get used to running the same old park paths over and over, maybe find some elevation, hill sprints or something. I was thinking Viehburger Gehölz or something? Let me know.

 

Anyway.

I gotta go, the kid asked if I'd go for a walk with him, and I think I better go do that.

 

Lots'o'love

Katrin Morag

 

Gratitude

Endorphines - nice little buggers!

Sabaton - Good music and happy memories

Kids - They are a lot of hassle, but overall, they sure are worth it.

[Morag]

Saturday update.

 

Friday run was quiet, Thursday my knees and legs were tender. Legs did not hurting but not happy either, but the knees weren't happy at all. Because I have a tendency to get hurt doing too much too quickly I opted for a 2 circuit (3km) run, with walking and two sprints (because I wanted to try out that zombies! Run! feature. Not sure how it works, the first time I was utterly surprised and the second time was pretty fun, I walked a bit with the kid afterwards, he was catching all ze water pokemon, and then home and a quiet day.

 

Will do some slow and faster running Monday too, I'm not having any issues today so I think 3-4km will be okay.

 

Gratitude

Bacon

Coconut oil and nutella

hubby buying groceries on his way home from work.

(Yes, I'm hungry I haven't had breakfast yet and it's past 1pm)

[Morag]

Wednesday update.

 

I ran 6, 03 km Monday. I did so slow as a snail (1h22m total, pace of 13:42min/km). I fumbled a vault over a boulder, slipped and bumped my knee on the bolder. Walked a few paces, jogged very carefully, and it was all okay, just a bruise, nothing hurt. But dang anytime I bump or twinge anything the fear horses run wild in my head... The next 3 circuits I made myself vault over the boulder, there were no problems at all, but dang it was hard to make myself do it. I don't even want to know how I would feel now if I hadn't gotten back in the saddle, so to speak.

 

Tuesday evening was Fitness, Kondition und Spiel (fitness, condition and play aka FKS) class which I arrived at late (the Older Kid is going to Karate again and his class ends when mine starts, since during hubby's late shift the Older Kid is babysitting, I am only leaving once he is safely home, and (mentally) arrived. Kids had bread, and fruit, and yoghurt  and a movie for dinner and when I got home after class the little one was sleeping, my Older One, is really getting maturity boosts lately. (Plus the younger one is starting to accept his brother telling him what to do). Moment of pride.

 

Being 20 minutes late, I missed the running, Deuser bands and part of the 2kg wall ball things... we did jump rope (my legs don't like), sprints (sorry, no) and ball throws... and stretches after that and I think that was it, then 3v3 volleyball afterwards. Tough games, but fun.

 

Today (I mean to say this morning) I wrestled the kid to kindy, then went for my run. It was miserable and awful and I finished two circuits with lots of walking and then went home. I was so stuck in my head, guh! (2,67 km in 35m57s, pace of 13:28min/km) glad I did go a second time around the park. I will have to figure out how to recharge, expecially since next week will be INTENSE exercise wise. Where this week is heavy on the planning, packing, and organising, next week I will have 3 runs, two fitness classes (2h each) and 2 dance classes (1 1/2h each) and yeahhhhh with my focus on getting ready for the race, I may have to adjust something... Maybe I'll skip a run and count the 15 min of running at the start of Thursday FKS as running, but I am also riding the bicycle to dance class and back... so yeahhh not sure. Plus Medieval Things at our favourite park, plans for hubby, my mum, the kids and me to go there Sat/Sun... there will be some, but not too much, walking there... we'll see. First I have to survive THIS WEEK.

 

Back to my list it is.

 

Morag

 

Gratitude

Good friends (I'm looking at gifts from Scotland :heart: )

Flowers from hubby (at least for our wedding anniversary in March AND our first kiss in September -- 15 years, wow!)

Rimworld, my go-to diversion these days... 208h total (ouch!!)

 

EDIT to add

Monday animal log

2 Columba palumbus (common wood pidgeon aka Ringeltaube)

1 Columba livia (rock pidgeon aka Steintaube)

1 Sciurus vulgaris (Eurasian red squirrel aka Eichhörnchen)

3 or 4 Turdus merula (common blackbirds aka Amseln)

multitude of Canis lupus familiaris (dogs, of course)

other runners... I think it was in the vicinity of 11

 

Wednesday animal log

1 Columba palumbus (common wood pidgeon aka Ringeltaube)

1 Troglodytes troglodytes (Eurasian wren aka Zaunkönig)

4 Canis lupus familiaris (with their humans on their leashes)

1 Felis silvestris catus (house cat, with gorgeous black and white coat, and no human, naturally)

other runners 5 (I think, but I was rather stuck in my mind)

[alienjenn]

Ok. So I'm a minimilst at heart.

I wore gloves because my hands suck. ( for my stadium ocr not the mud ones, the mud ones didn't have monkey bars)

Phone in a zip lock.

Water (with Gatorade powder) 3 L hydration bladder

In my rei flash 18

Fitbit

Small first aid kit in a zip lock

That's it. Change of clothes and towel in the car for the mud ones. I didn't plan on being out more than four hours so I didn't need snack just water and electrolytes.

I also don't TRAIN with snacks unless I'm training more than four hours. If you're planning to take it with you train with it. Get used to the weight of your pack. Know your equipment. Know the pockets on your bag and make sure your pack won't fail. You don't want to lose vital equipment because a pocket won't close right. Find mud to train in. Get wet in training. If you think you'll encounter it? Train it. Train the mileage AND obstacle practice on the same day (although it's ok to short on the mileage a little if you get all your obstacles, adrenalin will help come race day)

You're looking good!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[Morag]

UPDATE TIME

I can't belive that the fourth week is almost over (AGAIN). How and when do the days go by? I never really notice anymore!

 

So I am currently HARD PRESSED to find those rest days, which is bollocks, because rest is where the muscles are made, so I better rest! But dang it's difficult.

Current week's schedule

 

MON - Done.

Morning run 6,23km 1h28m (yes, I'm slow, I know)

TUE- Done.

Evening FKS class (18:30-19:30, plus volleyball 19:30-20:45)

(Bloody heat!)

WED- Done.

morning run - sprint practice (2 circuits around the park ca 2.7 km 33min)

(A bit too much, but stopping after the second round was good. Got a bit of a feel for running a quicker pace than usual)

Bike ride to dance class (~15-20min)

Dance class (advanced) (18:00-19:30)

Bike ride home (another 15ish minutes)

THU - Done.

Bike

Dance class (medium) (18:00-19:30)

Bike

Evening FKS class (20:15-21:45)

FRI - Done.

morning run

SAT (plans)

lazy morning

shopping for drink stuffs (aka carry things around)

p.m. knitting circle

quiet day with hubby

SUN (plans)

medieval festival with grandma, hubby, and the kids: Linkeylink

 

I'm tired. I need to find more rest times in between. Somehow. I should train my own training plan and prioritize my training over classes... but I wouldn't. I know I wouldn't. The peer pressure is a wonderful thing that is really useful. I am pretty certain I would revert to couch potato if I didn't have the men and women in the classes I'm taking.

 

So I'm between the chairs. Loving my classes, but needing more specific training upper body, and running, and ra ra ra... but I'm busy with dancing and fitness and trainer-training and first aid class and a million things.

 

#rangerproblems (I guess)

 

I'll post something more substantial in the next few days.

Thank you, @alienjenn your input is vitally helpful.

 

 

EDIT to add " - Done." to the things done, and "(plans)" to those not yet done.

[alienjenn]

14 hours ago, Katrin Josephina Morag said:

So I'm between the chairs. Loving my classes, but needing more specific training upper body, and running, and ra ra ra... but I'm busy with dancing and fitness and trainer-training and first aid class and a million things.

 

#rangerproblems (I guess)

 

I'll post something more substantial in the next few days.

Thank you, @alienjenn your input is vitally helpful.

 

 

that looks like you're doing really well!

 

 

 

[Morag]

I should wrap up this challenge, make a propper tally, figure out what worked and what didn't, but honestly I'm not too sure about what worked and what didn't.

 

I am really bad at keeping track of actual numbers. Or I should say I am bad at tracking exercises like push-ups, inverted rows and stuff.

I did a lot less than I had hoped, but since I was neither doing this as a pvp nor really tracking it... it's kinda a no brainer that it didn't happen.

 

What did happen?

 

I did go to classes:

• Fitness, conditioning and volleyball/basketball classes every time they happened.
• Belly dancing classes. I skipped one. And a few fell through because I don't go when hubby isn't home to babysit (I do go to FKS classes, because it's just 5 min down the road, belly dancing is 15+ minutes away on a bike, I don't know why, but it makes a difference to me.)
• 3 runs per week (no excuses, no negotiating. I did sprints for 2 circuits around the park one time, and just similar distance the one day nothing worked, but I went, and I ran.)
• I did half the intro class to become a trainer (second half and exam are next weekend), this is just the theory, the hard/physical stuff is first half next year.
• I will do the required first aid thing coming Tuesday.

 

Food is getting there. Though I am not happy with how difficult -and therefore eradic- my logging is.

 

I have to go to bed. It is late here.

Will make a new challenge and stuff early next week (=as soon as I can)

 

Love you guys.

Thanks for helping me and accompany me on my journey

 

Katrin

aka Morag

 

Gratitude - I missed a few but I think this final post needs one more:

The internet. meeting your tribe, in whatever form, so much easier than 50 years ago.

Depression. Having had that ailment, helped me learn things and see patterns, and help me and mine.

My Kids. because they are wonderful a young man and a big boy.

[alienjenn]

dude you are rocking things

 

 

please link me your new challenge so I can still follow you

 

[Casbin]

7 hours ago, alienjenn said:

dude you are rocking things

 

 

please link me your new challenge so I can still follow you

 

Couldn't sayit any better.

 

I hope things are quieting down a bit; hang in there, you nearly made it!

 

Later,

Casbin

[Morag]

Thanks, you two, I am still trying to figure out and write up the next challenge... not coming easy this time. I'll let you know.

[maegs]

I thought this was in the current challenge area because it was the first thing that came up in my search for "morag", and I got halfway through reading before I looked at the dates! So I'll just go back to lurking and wait for your actual new one  

[Morag]

8 hours ago, maegs said:

I thought this was in the current challenge area because it was the first thing that came up in my search for "morag", and I got halfway through reading before I looked at the dates! So I'll just go back to lurking and wait for your actual new one  

SOOOOORRRRYYYYY

[Morag]

As promised, better late than never: