What happened?

Wow, I got busy! Not sure if anybody is still popping in here but I sure will try to do it more often! I got busy with fun things though! First of all, school. My new school is really great, and I have finished a whole semester now with great grades, so I am very happy. If all goes well, I have four semesters left until I graduate. I feel absorbed in anything that has to do with nutrition. The curiosity is endless and I actually don't even want the summer break. I just want to go on and on... maybe not the healthiest for the brain though :-)

The other fun thing that happened was that I got a job at the Food Bank I was volunteering for. So now I can apply anything I learned, and learn practically at the same time. It can't get better than that! It is a temp position, so I am not sure how long it will last, but I am happy for whatever it will be! I got work through the summer at least. I work in the community kitchen together with a great chef, and we are cooking meals for children who will not get a meal at home, or who will not get a nutritious meal at home. It is work that leaves you with a great feeling of accomplishment every day.

The list of things I want to do is long. I also want to volunteer at a hospital and shadow a dietitian there, and help out in any way I can. I am very curious about sports nutrition as well, as exercise is a big passion. I have also started to look out for a potential mentor. Someone who can meet on a regular basis and provide feedback and give advice, and hopefully I can provide something for that person as well.

Another area I am curious about is the behavior and nutrition area. The interaction between the brain, behavior, eating habits, nutritional status, emotions, psychology and so on. I think a lot of nutritional problems has to do with behavior (to simplify it a lot). This is very interesting.

So you see, a long list and too little time! Although, at least I will not run out of interesting things in the near future!

Milestone

Today I have reached a milestone. I was accepted, transferred and registered at a ACEND-approved dietetics program. I am so excited! For those who don't know, in order to become a Registered Dietitian, you have to graduate from a ACEND-approved Bachelor program in dietetics. Once you have completed this you have to apply for an internship. This is a highly competitive process. Only ca 50% get into an internship. Once you have completed an internship (about 1200 hours) you are eligible to sit for the Registered Dietitian exam. If you pass, you get your license. This is a long road, but I just made it over the first hurdle. I have about half the bachelor left to do before I graduate.

What is a Registered Dietitian? Click here!

Friday the 13th is not necessarily a bad day... ;-)

How is your plank going?

So if you are doing the January challenge, how are you doing? Are you improving? Are you struggling in any area? Do you see any benefits?

My current record is 3 minutes and 12 minutes. There is a lot of mental will power in that time. On a general level, my mental mode is determining if I do around 2 minutes or more. If I am not motivated, too tired, or just don't feel like it, I have a very hard time pushing myself. On the other hand, when my motivation is high and I feel great mentally, I can squeeze out a lot of more time even if the muscles are shaking like crazy and everything hurts.

Do you have a trick when doing the plank that helps you?

2012 CHALLENGES!

 This is motivation to me. Are you in?

 2012 CHALLENGES

Month	Exercise	Goal by end of month
January	A plank a day –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_iG_DWLdN8 Do one plank exercise per day for as long as you can hold the position.	Jan 31 - Stand in plank position double the time you managed the first day.
February	Regular burpees - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KydSeXAzR60 1st day do 1 minute of burpees – then add 10 seconds each day.	Feb 29 - do 5 min 40 sec of burpees
March	Tornado raises - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bphhll8rsAs&feature=related Do the exercise with or without the rubber band for as long as you can. Measure your time the first day.	March 31 - Double the time you managed to do the first day.
April	Cardio push-ups  - do the first exercise in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s02aJhakLJw 1st day do 30 seconds – then add 10 seconds each day	April 30 - Do 5 min and 20 sec of cardio push-ups.
May	Single legged bridge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJavnzBKylo&feature=relmfu Do the exercise with or without the rubberband. Start with 10 on each leg and add on 1 per leg per day.	May 31 - Do 40 per leg.
June	Super Abs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLAUkzbs734 Do the first exercise of this video with the twists. Do as many as you can each day. You can start with the feet on the ground, but be sure to advance the exercise and lift the feet up when you feel ready.	30 June – do 100 twists with the feet off the ground.
July	Knee kicks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWA1JRoY--Q&feature=endscreen&NR=1 Start with 10 on each leg and add on 1 per leg per day.	July 31 - do 40 knee kicks per leg.
August	Raised arm push-ups - Do the last exercise of this video where you stack your feet and raise one arm up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s02aJhakLJw Do 5 per side per day and add on 1 per side per day.	31 Aug - Do 35 raised arm push-ups per side.
September	Forward Skaters Challenge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHjmRXIkOks&feature=relmfu Start with 20 for the first day. Add 4 per day. Always end the last one on each leg with a 10 second hold.	30 Sept - Do  136 forward skaters.
October	3-way jump squats - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5L_2pvsvDU&feature=relmfu Do 5 for the first week. Then add 5 more every week starting with Monday. One squat is all the way out and all the way in with the feet.	29 - 31 Oct - Do 25 squats per day.
November	Toe to elbow touch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPtlHT8VUNI&feature=relmfu Start with 10 on each leg and add on 1 per leg per day.	30 Nov - Do 39 toe to elbow touch per leg.
December	Side burpees - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KydSeXAzR60&feature=relmfu Start with 5 per side and add on 1 per side per day	31 Dec - Do 35 side burpees per side.

It is done!

So it is done! I had 3 goals this fall.

* The 5k at the Lakefront
* The 8k Turkey Day race
* The Ole Man River Half Marathon

After finishing both the 5k and the 8k I was feeling good. However, I did have a bit of ankle problem.

I wasn't sure if it was the RA acting up or something else. I rested and it got better, however it wasn't completely gone. My half-marathon training got all messed up and I decided that I would just go for it and that the time wouldn't matter and I would just walk, run, walk, run the whole race.

Well, close to the race day my foot felt better. But I had no expectations at all since I hadn't done a training run of more than 10k for the past 1½ months. I skipped the HR monitor and the watch (so my brain could relax).

And I went for it.... I ran and I felt great... I felt so great, that I managed to run all the way to 11.5 miles (18.5km). My breathing and my HR was still good at that point, but my leg muscles were very tired. I walked 3 times for about 50 yards and ran the rest.

When I came to the finish line I saw my time and I could barely believe it. 2 hours 36 min 6 sec! I almost cried. If I had been able to do my training properly I had hoped for a time close to 2 hours and 30 min, so this was freakin fantastic!!

I am sore in my legs now of course but not as bad as I thought it would be. Awesome!!

One down!

 So the first goal is reached! Saturday morning I ran the 5k race. My goal was to have a finish time of 32.30 or less. I finished with 32.22. Phu! The first part of the race I ran slower than I wanted, because my heart rate was going up too high. The second half I felt pretty good despite the heart rate issue so I increased the speed a lot.

One of my problems is that my heart rate goes up so high when I am running a race. Don't get me wrong, I don't compete to win, I compete against myself, but it doesn't matter. It is race time and my adrenaline gets going. I think it may be an old habit I have from my track and field days. I used to be a 100 meter sprinter. If you are a 100 m sprinter, you WANT that adrenaline when you are standing at the starting line. It will help you being as explosive as you need. However, if you are to run several kilometers, that adrenaline and high heart rate will only give you problems.

I used my breathing before this race start to try to control my heart rate. After the warm up jogging I had a heart rate over 140, and standing on the start line I used controlled slow breathing to get it down. Once the race started my heart rate was 120. Not exactly where I wanted it to be but good enough. It went up to 160 pretty fast though and that is why I ran so slow for the first half. This is something I need to keep practicing so I can run the half marathon in December without getting a heart attack :-)

Schedule

So I started making a schedule to keep myself on the path to the half marathon. During Friday I was out doing speed work. I must say I still hate speed work. It feels great afterwards but it's like a torture session while it is going on. Half-mile repeats (800 meters). I walked in between, otherwise my heart rate doesn't come down enough. The goal is to be able to jog in between, and of course, to be faster.

Today I am up crazy early on a Sunday for the weekly long slow run. Can we say afternoon nap?