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Sandy Point 10Km run

2015-08-23 08.29.36After completing the Run Melbourne 10Km in July, I set some new goals, including running the Sandy Point 10Km in under 1 hour.

Last Sunday I achieved that goal, with a finish time of 59:30.5!

Sandy Point 2015 - 3205 certificateIt’s amazing what a healthy body can do, especially as I only took up running 3 short months ago.

I’m so loving the new me I’m creating.

I was told by one of my trainers the other day that some work on my running technique we can shave another 5 minutes off that time, and I believe it. At the moment I’m just putting one foot in front of the other, so it’s time to develop some technique to get things moving better and at the same time reduce the already short recovery time as well as the chance for injury.

My next goal is to get my Parkrun time down under 25 minutes for 5Km. My PB at the moment is 27:12, and that nearly killed me (the headache took 3 days to go away completely).

 

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Be the one

I love this video

it really speaks to me.

Be the one.

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10Km Run Melbourne

Run MelbourneToday I (Mark) ran my first ever 10Km run! I finished in 1:08:11.1.

I had 3 goals going in, the settle for goal was 70 mins, the push goal was 65 minutes and the BHAG was 60 minutes.

Everything went mostly to plan, except that I used up almost all of my phone battery on the train on the way in clearing out my massively overweight inboxes. I was in the process of taking the pre-race selfie when the phone turned off. So I ran with no music/podcasts, no idea of my time/speed and only the flags on the side of the road to tell me how far I’d come.

In other words, I had nothing but my thoughts to run with and no idea of how fast I was going. I paced myself pretty well though, only slowing to a walk twice for a drink. I managed to find a couple of people (one of whom was about 7′ tall) that was running at a good pace for me, so I kept him as my guide most of the way (I think I passed him about 7Km in)

Run Melbourne Certificate2About 1.5Km in my left Achilles started to niggle but it never did any more than niggle all the way. After about 8Km the knees were starting to get a bit tight, but I pushed through that okay too.

Overall, really happy, and cant wait for the next one. Maybe a half marathon….

oh and if you haven’t donated, there is still time: https://runmelbourne2015.everydayhero.com/au/marksnell

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Why Diets Fail

PearHistorically two out of five people will quit a new diet within the first seven days, and only one in five will make it three months. Of those who do manage to stick to their diets and lose weight after a few months, the majority—80 to 90 percent—will regain all their weight and more

What’s wrong with diets? Why don’t they work?
The weight cycling problem stems from the very way diet is defined. It
usually refers to a temporary change with an end in sight—a fad. Instead
of steady, healthy weight loss, many turn to unhealthy fad diets for
immediate gratification. While weight may be lost rapidly with most fad
diets, it’s likely to creep back on once normal eating resumes.
Weight regain is not simply due to lack of willpower, as some claim.
There are real physical consequences of fad dieting that set dieters up
for failure. Here’s a look at four ways fad diets alter body physiology, and
why it’s almost impossible to maintain weight loss on these diets:

#1: Muscle loss

The typical dieter engaging in calorie restriction loses 75 percent of their weight as fat and 25 percent as muscle. This muscle is what we desperately need to increase or metabolism and stay healthy.

#2: Slow metabolism

Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, meaning it takes more energy
(calories) to be maintained. Fad diets that result in muscle loss ultimately
reduce metabolism, making it difficult to maintain weight loss.

#3: Depriving the body of essential nutrients

Fad diets are often devoid of essential vitamins and minerals, which may
lead to significant side effects—including irritability, headaches, mood
swings, mental fatigue, and digestive upset—and serious long-term
consequences

#4: Poor satiety

On a fad diets we never feel satiety (full) so we are constantly hungry, which can quickly mentally undo all our best intentions. Good nutrition includes regular healthy snacks to keep us feeling full.
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Nutrition and Diet

I read this article from the newsletter of Matt Silk, a Personal Trainer I know and see on an irregular basis. He helps to keep me on track with the right program, do fitness tests and discuss ideas. Matt runs Elevate your Life and I could not recommend him more highly.

Header_EYL_newsletter.1

What I love about the Nutrition Cleansing System we teach is that it is not a diet, but a way of life. Healthy life.

The dirtiest 4 letter word …

This week’s topic is going to explore one of the dirtiest of all 4 letter words. With new years resolutions and changes of seasons (in particular moving from winter into summer) normally comes this word. However it doesn’t have to be new years or a change of season to make a change or changes in your life (but please if you are going to make a change, make it a lifelong choice!!!).

At my training sessions I hear the occasional 4 letter word leave my clients lips. However I have not heard this one uttered towards me in a training session. It starts with D and it has caused a lot of harm to a lot of people all over the world. The dirty four letter word is …… Diet!

Diets have done some people wonders. However for quite a few people it is a horrible spiral of losing body fat and lean muscle when they lose weight. Then when they go back to their normal way of eating they put the weight back on. However this weight they put back on is generally body fat and not lean muscle. So each time they diet this spiral repeats itself, and they get more and more out of shape with less and less lean muscle on their bodies. Remember Lean muscle is King!!!

When it comes to nutrition get away from the diet mindset and work on this simple plan. If you are going to make a change, make it a change that you can do today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and beyond.

So if you are going to make a change to your nutrition make it something that is going to be a constant. As I have stated previously you still have to live your life! However it is how often we live it that is generally reflected in our body shape and the time it takes us to achieve our goals. For example some people love a drink every night. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram compared to carbs/proteins are 4 calories and Fats are 9 calories. Also when we drink alcohol our body switches to utilising this energy straight away and generally with alcohol comes savory and sweet things that are generally high in fat (especially saturated fat). Excess calories are converted to body fat, so if you are doing this every day chances are this could be holding you back from working towards your goal. By cutting out alcohol during the week, and only having a couple of drinks on the weekends, I have seen some amazing results from some of my clients. It will be challenging at first breaking the habit. However once you get over the initial weeks, you will actually feel a lot better for it. This is just one example. The same applies to other things/habits that you do on a daily or consistent basis.

At the end of the day to get what you want, what are you willing to give up or cut back on to achieve your goals. Anything is possible however it is best to look at the big picture and fine tune your nutrition to help you achieve what you want. An all or nothing approach will work for a short time (ie. Diets), however it is consistency with your training and nutrition that will give you your best results and see you keep your results once you have achieved them. Remember, Do today, what you can do tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and beyond! And enjoy the results of your choices and changes for the rest of your life!!!

 

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