A Half Marathon in a Day

Anyone in Melbourne will tell you that the upcoming week is going to be a heatwave, with most days forecast to be between 38 and 40 degrees. As a result, with the exception of Monday night run group most of my planned workouts will be indoors (gym or yoga).

I therefore set myself a goal for today to complete the distance of a half marathon (21km) but do it with no time limits - the key criteria were to enjoy it and be outdoors as much as possible.

Here's how I did it ...

1. Walking to Church - leisurely 800 metre return walk

                                                            Christchurch Essendon

2. Walking to one my local libraries to return some books - 3km power walk

                                                 Blue skies outside Moonee Ponds Library

3. Running intervals in a lovely local park - 4km

                                   Queens Park - beautiful location for some interval running

4. Run around my local area - 6km

                               Exploring local parks finishing in one at the bottom of my street

5. Walking to my favourite local café for lunch - leisurely 1km return walk

                                   Grilled vegetarian wrap and fresh orange and ginger juice

6. Challenging bike ride on an interactive bike at my gym - 6.2km

                                        Interactive bike that allows you to choose different
                                        routes, distances and levels of difficulty as well as
                                        keep a record of rides for comparison.

Goal achieved and 1070 calories burnt! I must say I found it very enjoyable being out in the fresh air so much and feel relaxed and ready to face a week of hot weather, tutoring at a music camp and working out in air conditioning :).

Look after yourselves in the heat everyone!

Working out over the Festive Season

Working out over the festive season can be a challenge sometimes. Many people are away or spending time with family, my run group and normal yoga classes stop for awhile and gym has limited hours and classes. As I mentioned in my previous post, I've also had to modify my running program due some minor knee issues.

I've overcome this by trying a range of different things - below are some of the highlights :).

Running

1. Christmas Day - I was really pleased to encourage my whole family to come for a walk/run around the Maribyrnong River after Christmas lunch - Mum and Dad walked a 4km lap while my sister and I ran 8km.

2. Victorian Road Runners New Years Eve Run - I enjoyed doing another 8km run around the Tan to celebrate the last day of 2013 - free breakfast was provided afterward as well :).

 

3. New Years Day Run - I was really keen to work out on New Years Day and start the year off well, but my gym was closed and the weather didn't look promising - overcast and raining on and off for most of the day. However, I still managed a 4km run, some speed intervals and time on some of the outdoor exercise equipment down by the river.

 

 

Yoga

 

1. Trying a new Yoga Studio - A new yoga studio opened in North Melbourne and I was able to take advantage of their off of a free first class in between Christmas and New Year. It was a relaxing studio and excellent class.

 

 

2. Christmas Yoga Voucher - My sister gave me a ten class voucher for my favourite private yoga studio for Christmas - Yoga Flame - so I'm enjoying taking advantage of that while I'm still on holidays.

 

Trying Different Things

 

1. Boxing - A lot of the gym classes I normally enjoy haven't been running over the past two weeks so I tried a Boxing Class. It turned out to be and really great upper body workout that I may even consider going to on a regular basis.

 

 

2. Gut Check Polar Fitness Challenge - This morning I was invited my some people in one of my Facebook fitness groups I'm in to attend an outdoor boot camp with sandbags, different exercises and even some running through the water.

 

 

So while I'm looking forward to resuming my usual routine it's been fun and refreshing to experience a range of different workouts.

 

Detox

While I'm blogging, with the exception of two pre-arranged gatherings with family, I'm trying a free detox program this weekend suggested by a friend to start me off well in 2014. Wish me luck!

 

Ginger, Lemon and Tumeric Drink

                                                         Potassium Balance Soup

                                                         Green Drink with Spirulina

 

Enjoy the weekend everyone! Katherine :).