Gadgets...Running Shoes...Training Clothes...

I have come to realise I am a gadget junkie when it comes to exercising. I have a Garmin 910XT (with heart rate monitor) which I love, today I got all excited when I found at my favourite sports shop a swimming gadget, it beeps when you are below or above your chosen pace for the distance (eg: 50 meters), so I will be picking this up on Saturday, and trying it out on Sunday when I do my first endurance swim. So yes I am super excited.

Mind you I have this challenge from my physio that has said not to use any gadgets for a week and do you training sessions by feel, well after a late night last night and working about 10hrs,  I did a swim session this morning, and yes I was feeling a little less than great. For the first time in ages I got a pool noodle and sat on it and cycled up the lane and back working my legs. It was great fun.

So back to the gadgets, I am someone who downloads data onto Strava and Garmin Connect, and go over everything in some detail. I compare runs that I do if I have done the same route. I am someone when I am out running parkrun trying to reach a new Personal Best. Though I have to stop doing that so much and focus on good running form and in time the Personal Bests will come. I need to focus on enjoying the run and not trying to check every niggle of discomfort in my body and over think it all. So this weekend will be my first parkrun with no Garmin. I will have a finish time as its a timed event every weekend, so the final results will be very interesting.

Now lets talk shoes...ooohhh my other favourite things. I have 3 pairs of Newton Runners, 2 pairs of Asics (Noosa Gels), 1 pair of Brooks (wear for work). Each time I go into a sports store, its straight for the clothes, then shoes then everything else. Total Junkie :)

My wardrobe is 97% sports clothes with brands such as Lorna Jane, Nike, Asics, Adidas, 2XU, Running Bare, Newtons, Orca. Yes I love sports clothes, they are so comfortable to wear and look great too.

If you are a runner, do you use a gadget to keep a track of your running times, distance and effort, or are you a naked runner (no Gadgets) and run from feel and not worry about distance, etc. No matter what your style, I hope you enjoy each time you go running, swimming, cycling or what ever your chosen sport, form of exercise.

parkrun Canning River 3/11/14

Have a great rest of the week, and enjoy the moment.

Hayley xx

Open Water Swimming...

Today I woke at 5am to take on a 2.5km (4 mile) open water swim (ocean). This is the first open water race/swim for the series and season. It has been about 8 months since I last did that distance. Today was a little hard, but managed to get through it. I have just looked at my official time 58 mins 55 sec 2:21/100m. I wish the time had been better, but as its been a while since I have done that time I am ok. The first swim like this allows me to sort through where I have to make some changes to my training program and where I want my time for the next swim. Now I also need to take into consideration the weather when we are out on the water. Its started off reasonably nice, not to rough, but as the clouds and breeze started coming in, the swell picked up a little, it always makes for a little harder swim.

I find putting challenges in front of myself whether they are big ones or little ones, it gives me the drive to try to reach them and takes me out of my comfort zone of trying to control everything. Many people who know me know that I am a control freak. So by taking up challenges whether I am have made them for myself, or someone has put to me, I am always happy to see how I go, and learn from them as well, whether they go well or not.

So when is my next swim challenge, well it will be on the 11th January 2015 with doing the Point to Point swim which will be approximately 5 km (8miles), also I have been given a challenge from my physiotherapist to start running by feel, so no Garmin watch to keep track of my pace or distance, which for me is very uncomfortable to do, as I like to analyse my runs, but as the challenge has been put before me I shall take it and over the next couple of weeks have one run a week where I don't use my Garmin. It will be interesting to see how I go.

Its interesting that I keep coming back to this quote, it states everything positive and lifts my spirits when I dump on myself for feeling like I should have done better and in some cases I probably should have, but in the end, as long as I am doing something and staying healthy and being a role model for my kids and others that is all that really matters and that I am as healthy as I can be.

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Here is another question, If you couldn't fail at anything, would you be as wise as you are now? I believe we use our failures or short falls to help us gain experiences and wisdom to go further in our lives, if we didn't have these experiences and everything was "perfect" I don't think there would be anything that would stand out to ourselves or anyone else.

May we step into another new week and reach for experiences that will teach us something new, or bring us to a new understanding.

Hayley xx

Weight Loss...Weight Gain...Healthy Living...

 We constantly hear about obesity, we constantly hear about ways to live a healthy life. We are bombarded by recipes for unhealthy and healthy food on Facebook, on TV, everywhere in the media. So where does one start to understand what is the best way to live a healthy lifestyle, and what is a healthy lifestyle?

I know many people whom are looked at, at being obese, when really their lifestyle might not be as healthy as it should be in the face of the media. BMI (Body Mass Index)

 What does BMI mean?
BMI stands for Body Mass index. It is used to give you an idea of whether you’re underweight, overweight or an ideal weight for your height. It’s useful to know because if your weight increases or decreases outside of the ideal range, your health risks may increase. http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/Pages/bmi-calculator.aspx

Over the years we have heard about BMI, for me personally I am not sure if I agree with the way this is used. For example my BMI is: 20 I am in the healthy weight range for my height. Now the issue for me with this is I know for a fact that I could be healthier, in the sense of eating better. I might be healthy by the numbers, but in regards to the food I put in my mouth and the exercise that I do, I am healthier than I have been previously, but I could be better. 

What people don't understand in my point of view is the real problem is not just the external fat (the weight held by a person that we can visually see) but the internal fat around our organs. This is what kills in the end. Heart Disease is a big issue in the western world. So what are we doing about it?

There are people who are changing their lifestyle to eat healthy, and exercise daily to keep their weight under control. There are also people who seek weight loss centers to help. There are people who seek information from many different places. There are people who take dieting to the extreme and end up with an eating disorder. There are others who don't care about their health and just eat what ever they want.

So what is the best way to be healthy, well that also depends on your interpretation of being healthy. For me its maintaining my weight at about 53kg seeing I have had an eating disorder, keeping my exercise to a level of not doing (junk miles) and maintaining 3 meals a day with healthy snacks (which isn't always easy). Drinking water, and yes allowing myself to have a little bit of chocolate, cider, wine and other delights. 

For others I know changing their diet in order to loose weight meant not drinking alcohol (or at least reducing), not eating junk food (take a-way meals, chocolate,etc) and doing a lot more exercise to raise their heart rate in order burn the calories.

In my opinion I believe doing the, what I call traditional style healthy lifestyle, which is to reduce alcohol, high sugary foods, high processed foods and high fatty foods, and add more salads, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and drinking lots of water. It really comes down to calories in to calories out. So let me put this into some numbers. I am on around 2500 calories per day with out exercising, and depending on my exercise for the day and how many calories I have burnt I need to add that on to my total to make sure I get enough nutrition to match my exercise to maintain my weight of 53kg.

So this is my question to you, what do you see as being a healthy lifestyle for you? 

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hayley xx

Courage to Start...Support all the way...

As we dream, we need to have the courage to start making our dreams come true, and also the help and support of others in our lives. Our support comes from our family, employers, colleagues, team members, coaches and friends and many others. With this support it helps us to find the strength to endure the road to our dreams becoming reality.

Last year I spent eight months training hard for the Busselton Half Ironman. This was a dream that I had, had for a few years. I signed on with F4L Coaching and had the support from my family, my boss at work, friends, and fellow triathletes from the same training group. Now there are days that you can spring out of bed and get into your training and then head to work. There was also many a morning where you didn't want to get up and do your training due to fatigue, but you knew you had to. There were many a weekend where I barely saw my family and their understanding was invaluable. If it wasn't for the support I had from everyone around me I wouldn't have made it to the finish line on Saturday 3rd May 2014.

Even today I have the support of my family and friends and so many more people in my dream to get to the Boston Marathon. When the day comes that I can line up at the start line in Boston I will hold in my heart my family, friends and supporters.

I had a message from a very close friend of mine recently looking for support on a goal that they have. For me there wasn't a moment of thinking do I or don't I. I answered with "I have your back, all the way" as I know I have had his support in every way as well.

Having support from people around us helps in so many ways, from being accountable, and having a shoulder to lean on when needed, or someone to talk through some problems that we are having, or just to tell them how great everything is going.

I hope that with all your dreams and goals you too have a support crew that helps you.

Have a great Friday and weekend.
Hayley xx

Dreaming the Big Dream...

The Boston Marathon 2017 is my big dream, and I will do everything I can to reach it. Along the way I have some smaller dreams as well. Today was my second day of training for this week. Yesterday was an awesome day of training with a triple session, easy swim in the morning, an upper body gym workout and an awesome coached swim session last night. Believe me I slept very well after it all. This morning I was supposed to do a 10 kilometer run, which by the 3rd kilometer I had decided it was going to be cut short, as the left ankle was still not quite right. Now believe me I was also in the mind set of pushing myself. I got to the 4th kilometer and decided to call it a day. Frustration kicked in and I wasn't happy, but I knew I had to turn a negative into a positive, and here is how it worked. If I had pushed the full 10km I would have a swollen foot, and have it be very sore and not be able to run on Thursday or Saturday. So this is where listening to your body works, as long as you are not just giving up.

I have less than 12 weeks till my next half marathon and am a little concerned, but have put into place a new strategy of doing my long runs on an anti-gravity treadmill. It will allow me to do the distance and set a good pace, without having 100% body weight on the foot. I have used this treadmill before and it works beautifully. So my Tuesday long runs are now set and I feel happier about this alternative option.

Busselton Jetty Swim is the same weekend as the half marathon, a 3.6km swim around this amazing jetty. I have so many people ask me if I am scared of sharks, as we have had a large number of sightings here in Australia. I always answer with a resounding "no!" The ocean is their territory and we need to respect that. If there is a sighting before the race, it won't take place, the event co-coordinators won't put peoples lives at risk. This has been a dream for a little while, as I have swum 1.9km here before doing an Ironman 70.3, so swimming around the full length of the jetty which is 1.9km long will be amazing and if the water is clear and calm the view underneath will be amazing. This swim can be done as a team of 4 or 2 and solo. I will take it on as a solo swimmer, and am super excited to do it.

As someone who is very driven, once I have my heart set on doing something I will put together a plan, and push myself to make that dream come true, I have seen that life is to short to hold back and wait. You never know what lays a head for us tomorrow.


So as I go into day 3 of this weeks training I have another swim and gym session (legs). So its time to refocus tomorrow on swimming technique and high elbows to glide effortlessly through the water. Also to start getting mentally ready for this weekends open water swim of 2.5km.

What ever your dreams, your goals and your plans for tomorrow, may you stay positive and reach for the sky and beyond.

Have a great day tomorrow and a great week. Be happy :)

Hayley xx

A Room Of Inspiration....

Last night I was fortunate to sit in a room full of athletes from many different sports whom have competed in Commonwealth Games, World Championships and more. It was inspiring to see able and unable bodied athletes all there for an awards night. Before the formal start to the evening we were able to mingle with some athletes, and were speaking with a couple of people who are kayakers, able and unable as well. I spoke with a mother, whom her son is a Kayaker (K2) at the elite level and listening to her talk about her son's training and the places he has been to compete is amazing. Also a young man whom had a hand accident and had one of his fingers amputated. So you can imagine as a kayaker you need to have your pointer finger to help hold the paddle. Listening to him speak about the way he uses his prosthetic was inspiring, to know that he is still able to compete at such a high level in a sport his loves.

During the evening, there was an amazing lady by the name of Shelley Taylor-Smith whom was a marathon swimmer and holds records to this day. She was inducted into the Hall of Champions and listening to her say her thank yous was awesome. She is a very humble person and shows such love for her sport and fellow athletes and supporters and followers. To go to an evening like this is a dream come true, even though you don't personally know the elite athletes getting the awards, you take away such an awe of determination, perseverance, drive, passion, dedication, and so much more. Its intoxicating and all day today I have this inner fire and that is burning so bright that I am pumped to get into my training tomorrow and this week, ready for my 2.5 kilometer swim on Sunday and to start pushing myself mentally and physically harder and look for the deep inner drive, passion that I have for running, swimming and my training.

 Finding that thing in your life, whether it be your career, your sport. That thing you are so passionate about and being able to pursue it to what ever your dreams and goals are is truly amazing. This week begins Take 2 of my journey to Boston with my first open water swim and time to push and get myself totally focused on everything I am so looking forward to.

May everyone have an awesome week and find that determination, passion, that burns with in and pursue it to allow your goals and dreams to be alive.

Have a great week everyone...Hayley xx

Tranquility...

 Your quiet place to think...

We all have places that we go to, to be alone, to think, to reminisce, to cry, to laugh, to be yourself. For me the beach is my place. I feel like the world stops for that short time when I am by the beach. I can take time to just listen to the waves hit the sand. Taking a walk and remember times growing up by the beach with my grandparents are tranquil moments for me, then we have the other end of the spectrum where running can have the same effect. The pounding of each step on the pavement, or trails. having your music playing in your ears as you take in the sun, the rain, the breeze and the scenery of the place you run. Also the sound of your breathing, the sound of your heart beating and your blood pumping through your body.

As we step into this weekend, no matter what we are doing I hope you can find tranquility. Take the moment and take it all in, breathe deep and live.

Have a great weekend

Hayley xx