February is conspiring against me:

By Guest Blogger Renae

The high of the *New Year New Me, New Life* is fading. The daily drudgery of routine is sinking in. February, why are you such a downer? If February was a person it would be an insipid passive aggressive whiney, talk-behind-your-back co-worker. I don’t have kids remember – no return to school joy for me. Small slips start to sneak back in, a bit less oomph into a work out, bit of extra wine in the Saturday night treat, a bite of my husband’s cake. It’s getting darker in the mornings and the extra half hour in bed, instead of walking the dog then, is very very inviting….



February has also seen me experience a few bodily insults;

Food poisoning: oh me oh my, I had forgotten the feeling when the crampy pain, nausea, cold sweat, elevated pulse and ‘get out of my way’ crescendo together….all night…..and the next day. But what else it did was stop me from training, dehydration, weakness and feeling a little sorry for ones self.
What to do when your body just won’t go? Rest, re-hydrate and rest some more. No guilt. I did take a gentle stroll with the dog once I was sure I did not need to be near a toilet. She kept looking back at me, I think wondering when we were going to up the tempo.

Plica syndrome: I have been diagnosed with plica syndrome. Now doesn’t that sound wonderfully mysterious and exotic? I had never heard of it before, and it is nothing serious, not even remotely exciting. It’s a sore knee basically, an inflammation of the soft tissue in my knee, easily helped with anti-inflammatory drugs and a really simple knee strap.

Phew. I had been putting up with an uncomfortable right knee for a while, imagining hospital admissions and arthroscopies, bone cancer and amputations (remember the lymphoma incident; self diagnosis is not my strong point). Finally off I went to the Doctor. Why did I wait so long? I didn’t want to stop training. I didn’t want to miss out on my 100km walk (52 days to go), so I put up with it hoping that it would just fix itself.



No body double or air brushing used in the production of this image.

February also brought me an emotional week that also seemed to drain my motivation, life and ability to reason. Now had I kept my reasoning ability I would have realised maintaining my clean eating and training would have only been beneficial during this time. Keeping habits actually means less things for my head to think about.

And to top things off, February, or Dreduary, has an extra day this year. Oh when will the insanity end….?

How do I get that vitality and oomph back that I had at the start of January? Well, it is nearly March and that is always a much more joyful month. But just in case, a get back on track plan: I was going to split this bit of my blog into three headings; mind, body and soul (cliché much?) but as I was writing I was finding it difficult to put the plans under any particular heading. They are all intertwined too much.

So the plan:
I will remember my reasons for eating clean and exercising, besides the 100km walk the least I can do for myself is be the healthiest I can be. This body will get me where I want to go in this world if I help it be the best it can.

I will remember how great I feel when I am on track.

I will kick myself in the butt, suck it up, and become the warrior woman I see in my mind.

This quote helped me see my body in a different way, when it is put like this, why wouldn’t you look after your body?

“You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” ~C.S. Lewis

Hard Core…..or just hardly able to move

A post by Carla

So you may have noticed that I have been very quiet lately about running.  That, dear readers, is because I have sustained an injury that I have been struggling with since December.  Unfortunately, I have a butt injury.  Yeah….okay…..that is not exactly the truth but it sounds far more dramatic than the real diagnosis which is gluteal tendonitis and sacral torsion.  This injury stems back to the Bruny Island Ultra Marathon that the S7 did back on the first weekend of December.  I chose to do the first leg of the run which was 16km.  Unfortunately the first 11km was on a dirt road which, while breathtakingly beautiful, was also sloped.  So I was running with one foot hitting the road lower than the other and thus putting my hips on an angle.  I pulled up with a sore hip that day that just would not go away.

When I finally went to find out what was going on I was told not to run.  While I pretended to the S7 that I was shattered, I was actually secretly delighted because it gave me the perfect excuse to spend the summer focusing on strength training and trying to 'lift like an animal' [Humungousaur's words….hasn't happened yet but I remain hopeful].

So anyway, the point of this post is to wax lyrical about the ignorance of youth and how we take our nimble, able bodies for granted when we are young, only to come to a screaming halt somewhere in our late thirties as we approach middle age and start to suffer injuries.  Joints wear out, tendons start to protest, toenails fall off, and muscles just ain't what they used to be.  At any given time, at least one member of the S7 is nursing some sort of injury.  It doesn't help that most of us are pretty hard core and refuse to stop training.  In fact I often joke that even if I was in plaster I would still ask to train the remaining able limbs.

So I did stop running, but I did not stop weighted squats, plyometric work or spin classes which have all triggered my tendonitis off just when things seemed to be getting better.  This is my own fault…I take full responsibility.  This brings me to my next point.  I may be an average middle aged stay at home mother….but I have an elite team of professionals helping me to achieve my health and fitness goals.  WTF????   How on Earth did that happen????  Twelve months ago I just had a gym membership…..now I have 'people' [you know as in 'get your people to talk to my people'].  So let me introduce you to Carla's team of awesomeness……

Personal Trainer
Well firstly, of course, there is Humungousaur who keeps me on the straight and narrow.  A particularly patient man who humours my many athletic whims such as 'I want to be able to do unassisted pullups' and 'I want a 6 pack by the end of the summer'.  He never responds "Are you out of your freaking mind?"  he just smiles his little bemused smile and says "C'mon then".  And then he uses my goals to torture inspire me whenever I am hurting really bad and in a hole and about to die needing a little bit of motivation.  As much as I hate to admit it, Humungousaur also has a really annoying habit of always being right…I don't know how his wife puts up with it…..

Sports Masseuse
That's right, I have a sports masseuse.  Let's just call him "Mr Hurts so Good".  Now I have actually written a blog post about him and I don't want to give too much away.  So lets just say that Mr Hurts So Good was instrumental in fixing my shin splints.  He also has an uncanny knack of feeling your weaknesses through your muscle definition [or lack thereof].  For example, The Machine went in for  a massage for sore calves after a speedy run and left with instructions on how he needed to develop his glutes.  Mr Hurts So Good does not advise me like this because seriously, where would he start?

Sports Physio
Yes, I have also seen a Sports Physio over the summer holidays for a shoulder issue that has now [thankfully] resolved.  Humungousaur actually picked up the problem [always right remember?] which was that as I started to lift heavier, I would roll my right shoulder forward.  This along with too many tricep dips triggered off some tendonitis [again with the tendonitis - bit of a theme here, isn't there?].  Nothing some massage, taping, and proper technique [enforced by Humungousaur] couldn't fix.

Osteopath
Lastly I have my lovely Osteopath, Miss Magic Fingers, who has been helping me with my hip and sacrum.  The hip issue I know was the result of the Bruny Island run but the sacrum problem goes back to my last pregnancy.  Once again Humungousaur picked this up [always freaking right remember?] and expressed his concern that something was going on in my lower back.  I have to admit that I am a bit in love with my Osteopath and her Magic Fingers.  I can walk in hurting and leave pain free - what's not to love??   I did suffer a moment of panic when she suggested we start pushing our appointments out from weekly to fortnightly and now every 3 weeks.  It sort of feels like breaking up.

So there you have it, behind every fat middle aged woman trying to dominate the athletic world is a team of people working on her sore, battered body so that she can live to turn up to another training session.  But at the end of the day, I would far prefer to have these people in my life keeping me fit and healthy than a team of medical people tending my 'dis-ease'.  Sometimes reaching your fitness and health goals is difficult [and sometimes downright painful] but the secret is to never give up, never lose sight of your end point, and to keep on trying.

In case you can't read this quote from Arnold Schwartznegger, it says "Strength does not come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strengths - when you go through hardships and decide not to surrender. That is strength".

Beck and Carla get Phat

Jen Hendershott is an IFBB Fitness Pro, 2 times Ms Fitness Olympia, and Ms Fitness International Champion.  Jen is also a personal trainer with a huge online fitness community….but even more than that she is amazing, dynamic, inspirational and has a personality that can set a room on fire.

Would we like to spend a weekend training with her????  HELL YES!!!!!!

Thanks to the amazingly generous team at Flush Fitness - our favourite supplements provider and the company who stock Humungousaur's store UFN, Carla won a double pass to attend Phat Camp in Melbourne.  To say that we were excited would be an understatement.

However is wasn't all champagne and streamers because even more terrifying than the requirement to pack your bikini and competition shoes (oh dear…) was the fact that we would have to share a room for the weekend.  The horror did not end there…….we were heading off into the 'burbs of Melbourne with no Lygon Street clean eating options, forcing us to find food worthy of eating in front of Mr Universe [more on him later] and other gym junkies.  How would we cope???

SESSION ONE - Friday night [cardio and seminar]

Registration was where we realised that women of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities had come together for this amazing experience.  Carla was delighted to discover that Jen had achieved so many amazing things despite being even shorter than Carla [sorry Jen] which is no mean feat.

For those who don't know, Carla [being an ex nurse] is a germaphobe and we quickly discovered that Jen likes to use the floor... a lot … and also requires people to partner up with complete strangers who are extremely sweaty.  At any point Beck expected Carla to flee into the corner of the room breathing into a brown paper bag, but she coped remarkably well.

Beck, on the other hand, went into a state of catatonic fear when the dancing broke out.  We discovered why Jen has been described as having the best choreography in the industry - that girl can bust a move!!!!  She also has gymnastic abilities that left our jaws on the floor!  Unfortunately for Beck, this meant that Jen had no qualms getting campers to prove they had 'the moves like Jagger' in the middle of a room of strangers.  Amazingly, Beck managed to avoid making eye contact with Jen so fellow campers never had to suffer through Beck's rendition of the Tassie two-step.  Let's just say that Jen is an amazing dancer, as were many other camp members.

Previously we have steered clear of airing our dirty laundry on the blog but it is now time to reveal publicly that Carla has a little problem.  She is a self confessed supplement addict and was therefore absolutely delighted to discover that Flush Fitness had a trade table at the gym and were supplying campers with freebies all weekend!  Pre-trainers, protein shakes and Xtend were provided in abundance allowing people to try flavours they had not tasted before and develop new addictions loves [like Blue Raspberry Xtend….mmmmmmm].

The gorgeous Jen in front of the tubes of Xtend where Carla spent a lot of her weekend….[image from Flush Fitness]

SESSION TWO - Saturday [cardio x2, strength x2, seminar x2]

While the camp was held in an awesome gym [Re-Creation Health Club in Caroline Springs], it has to be said that Jen has an amazing repertoire of strength and cardio exercises that require minimal equipment and yet left many campers feeling absolutely smashed.  Carla was surprised to discover, after doing 100 pushups on her toes in the warm up, that there were many, many, many, other variations of pushups that one can do.  She may require counselling about this sometime soon.

Beck, on the other hand, found the one exercise that she truly excels at…..picking up a very sweaty Carla and piggy backing her down a 50m sprint track [Yes that's right….indoor sprint track….awesome!].  Beck knew she would be fast and so overtook the teams who had started before her.  The only thing she didn't contemplate was a wall mounted fan at the height of Carla's head.  A last minute cry of 'DUCK!' was the only thing that saved Carla from rhinoplasty.  This exercise took Carla and Beck's relationship to a whole new level as Carla the germophobe doesn't really 'do' touching.

BTW, Jen Hendershott can SPRINT (as well as dance…and do gymnastics….some people just really do have all the luck).

SESSION THREE - Sunday [cardiox1, strengthx2, seminar x1]

Sunday morning saw a whole group of campers arrive walking in a very awkward fashion, many of them clutching sore body parts or packets of panadol.  We quickly perked up, however, when we discovered that even better than supplement freebies from Flush Fitness, are freebies served by Mr Universe himself, Warren Clampit.  It wasn't the pre-trainers that had our hearts racing as Warren addressed the group.  We are sure we speak on behalf of all campers when we thank Jen for suggesting giving as the order to hug Warren and thank him during the course of the day.  Who were we to refuse????  Warren is a truly lovely person and an absolute wealth of knowledge on Flush's products and all aspects of supplementation and body building….at least that's what we have heard.  We were too transfixed by his physique to actually concentrate on what he was saying.

During the strength session we teamed up with the only other Tassie Girl at camp - the sensational Steph from Planet Max in Hobart.  Beck loves to lift and it was abundantly clear that Steph knew her way around a weighted bar, so Carla put on a brave face and tried to hide the fact that she was suffering.  Once again, Jen wowed us with her amazing ability to give a whole room full of women a great workout using minimal equipment.

It was Carla's turn to gloat in the afternoon, however, when we did legs.  Carla firmly believes the LiftBigEatBig motto that "if you can't fix it with squats and fish oil then you are probably going to die" and was delighted to get her "arse to the grass" Phat Camp style.  Happy Days.



Phat Camp was an absolute blast.  Not only was it truly indulgent to get to do 8 training sessions in a 48 hour period, it was also great to be trained by a female for a change [sorry Humungousaur].  The fact that that female was the energetic, motivational, knowledgable and all-round awesome Jen Hendershott just sweetened the deal.  Jen amazed us with the freedom with which she generously shared her time, her knowledge, her experience and her story.  She was unflagging in giving every camper the attention they needed.  Her passion and dedication to health and fitness was clearly evident and inspirational for all those who attended.

Thanks to Flush Fitness, Beck and Carla spent the weekend getting Phat.  We loved Phat Camp, and Jen, and we have told the S7 to start saving…..Phat Camp 2013 is ON…….who else wants to come????

Did you really just say that???

By our guest blogger Renae

My husband has been noticing the change in my body shape. 

It went down something like this; I was doing my “I’m wearing big pants dance” which is very similar to my “I’m wearing my (bright, burn your eyes out) green pants dance”. By pants I am talking undies.  By dance I am talking waggling my rear around a bit like a duck.  This is not a sexy thing, it is a ‘look at me being stupid (but incredibly adorable) thing’, and I like to make my husband laugh, and oh does he laugh a lot (at me) in our marriage.

Me and Bridget J, would get along just fine 

Why do I even own big undies? Ummmm….. people give them to me…. (By people I mean relatives, not just random people handing out pants.  Not my husband, he wouldn’t dare give me bloomers.  He has great taste in clothes, underwear, and women….).  Why do I wear them and not turn them into dusters….I can’t turn down a bargain…. I love doing the “I’m wearing big pants dance” and well, they are quite comfortable.  OK, I buy them myself sometimes, and I’m proud.  Secretly my husband loves it too, he just won’t admit it…..

So, back to the story; on completion of my big pants dance my husband says, ‘You can tell you are losing weight’.

Me: full of delight and glee and expecting some lovely words about muscles and curves being noticeable, a comment about the peach like quality of my gluteus maximus, an admiring word about the lack of wobble in my thighs…

Husband: ‘Your tattoo is shrinking; soon it will just be a black blob.’

Me: WTF?

I have a tattoo or few. The one he was referring to is on my lower back (Sorry Beck I am going to be one of the 70 year olds with a droopy tatt or two.  But it did look bloody fantastic for many many years prior to then and still does).  This is the type of tattoo that is also referred to at times as ‘butt antlers’. You get the picture.

This is not me, my tramp stamp is not as literal as this, nor as large (Image from tattooartistsregister.co.uk)  

                                         

So now we get to the point that I am trying to make – When is a compliment not a compliment, but a WTF moment?  Se below examples, I have been collecting these.

“You look great, what have you been doing to get fit?  Oh I could never neglect my family to spend time exercising”

“Wow that’s a lot of exercise, it’d be great if exercise could get wrinkles out of your forehead”.

“It’s a shame your wrists / calves / butt / double chin (Insert body part) is not responding to all this work you are doing.”

“What, you eat that crap, you’ll never have any energy?” (salad and chicken)

“Oh your poor husband, you never cook him cakes or biscuits.  Here take these biscuits home to him.  I’ll bake some more next week for him”. (Yes really)

Have you got any ‘WTF did you just say to me’ moments?

The big walk is 9 weeks away, and I think I will be wearing my big pants for it.  But for now fundraising is taking up some time. 

Travel and Training Dont Mix???

By Renae our Guest Blogger

This week I had a set back. I left my normal routine to travel for work. I guess I had grown a little ‘cocky’ about how well I was doing and so didn’t make a plan for how I was going to eat and how I was going to exercise whilst I was away.



Airports for me have traditionally been places where I ate crap whilst reading a crap magazine or two whilst waiting and always involved a Krispy cream (original glazed) doughnut.
In an airport I felt like I had diplomatic immunity, I was anonymous, what I ate at the airport left my mind as I left the plane.
This trip I avoided the Krispy cream, but did let portion control slip away, let alcohol and chocolate back on the menu and let exercise slip.
I have more work travel coming up, so I have decided to get my shit together and sort this ‘travel cornucopia of food’ and ‘laxity of exercise’ out! I need a travel and training plan, and your help to get one together.

The situation:

Thursday arvo I flew out to Melbourne, for a skill training day at the Peter Mac cancer hospital in Melbourne, I was then flying home Saturday evening. I was very pleased to be staying at a friend’s house for both nights.

The issues:

1) My normal routine totally out the window
2) Catching up with a friend whom I have not seen for a while has a celebratory feel to it – which habitually for me involves food and alcohol.
3) Limited resources of clean food at airport
4) I did not discuss that I would be travelling with my trainer or the ‘A-Team’.
5) Food supplied for whole group at training day and I am too timid to specify a food request. When I’m hungry and the choice is a chocolate biscuit or nothing…..well I’m not going to go hungry.
6) Laziness in a new place to put on sports gear and go out the door (I did take my sports gear, didn’t wear it though)

The solutions:

1) Suck it up, be adaptable, I have on my CV that I am adaptable to new situations, so I need to just do it! Make a new ‘travel routine’.
2) Start a new way of celebrating when catching up with friends – offer to cook them dinner.
3) Pack myself some handy snacks in my handbag, some nuts or a protein bar.
4) Discuss travel and exercise options with trainer. (duh me)
5) Make food requests at upcoming functions, it is not unusual these days, and there is usually a space on the registration forms for this.
6) Make myself accountable to you guys, the A-team and myself. Next travel is coming up in March – I will tell everyone what I plan to do whilst I am away. I exercise at home, therefore I don’t need gym access when I travel

Any other ideas that people have for a game plan whilst travelling and remaining in training mode will be welcomed with open arms and much joy, so let’s hear them!