Did it, doing it and there is no going back!

So I ran in my first ever fun run. 10 km in the Borneo Marathon which was my goal at the beginning of  my second round of Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation (12wbt). For an almost 38 year old who always hated running and was teased about her running style at school - this was a big achievement. Last August I couldn't run for more than about 3-4 minutes, my first 1 km fitness test took over 7.5 minutes and included some walking. But after two rounds of 12wbt, including this last round doing the 10 km training program I ran my last 1 km fitness test in 4:52 and had done two 10km practice runs before Borneo. 

The week before the race, I ran 10km on Saturday morning and then we headed off to Malaysia, four days in KL with old friends and then six nights in Kota Kinabalu to meet up with Team Brunei and run the race the following Sunday. I decided that Saturday would be my last weigh-in for the round and then really relaxed what I was eating. But the difference now is that if I am going to have a calorie blow-out and need to do some extra exercise, it better be worth it. KL is of course food heaven and we ate amazing Indian, Malay and Chinese (finally I have been to Din Tai Fung). I took the whole concept of tapering off fairly seriously, with lots of walking at the shops and only a 20 minute run on the treadmill mid week.

In KK, meeting up with Pippa (one of the original "Brunei 4" who started 12wbt last year when I did) and her family, I found a kindred spirit. Someone who knew how to relax, eat and drink - but train hard when the time came. It was thanks to the encouragement of Pippa, Helen and others from Brunei that I had even signed up to run. But before the race there were days by the pool, a boat trip and a birthday dinner for her Mum Sandy to enjoy.

Race day started with a 4.15 wake-up, although at this stage the marathon runners had already been going close to 2 hours! An invitation to join Clare, Caroline and Helen to catch a 5am taxi was a far better option than the 4.25 bus! Meeting up with the others doing 10km, we had a long wait before our start at 6.15. I'd mucked around with my HRM so it wasn't working so I just had to run and hope that I was keeping a good pace. Not having run a race before, it was hard to know whether those in front were genuinely fast or were going to collapse in the next kilometre. My one criticism of the race was there were few markers - it was only that I'd read the drinks stop was at 3km and of course when we turned around at 5km I could gauge how I was going. Halfway and I knew I probably wouldn't go under one hour but 31.5 minutes was still faster than usual. The last part of the race seemed to go for ages and then I was running into the stadium for half a lap round the track to the finish line. It was a strange feeling and something I never thought I would do, let alone enjoy. Helen was there at the finish line to capture the moment and I was handed a medal. My watch said 1:03 which was about 4 minutes faster than any run I'd done before. It was great standing around with a group of people who were all feeling really proud of their achievements. Pippa had come second in the half marathon and later discovered that based on her official time, she was actually faster than the winner. Guess who'll be up at the front next time?A fabulous Japanese brunch and lots of champagne - our own "South-East Asia 12wbt Finale" - was a great end to the day.

 In the end I came in 26th out of the 775 in my 10km open women's race. Not bad for a first attempt but reflecting on the race in the days since, I can't help but feel that I could have pushed a bit harder. I thought I'd finish feeling exhausted but I barely hurt the next day. I also thought I might think I'd never do it again, but almost a week later, I'm starting to plan another run - probably Angkor Wat in December - and trying to decide between aiming for a faster 10km time or a half-marathon. Despite not wanting to run in the heat of Hanoi's summer, I'm thinking of joining the running club to really improve both my running technique and race tactics.

And now I've signed up for another round of 12wbt. I'm doing the pre-season tasks with honesty and integrity and am really excited about doing to the lean & strong program which will focus on toning the wobbles and building my strength. The more I talk to people, the more I realise than good runners need a really strong core and butt! Setting up a small gym upstairs in the aircon is also a better option in the Hanoi heat & humidity. I finally got back into exercise on Thursday  morning and couldn't believe how steamy it was at 6am. But more surprising is the fact I can now run 5km and enjoy it!

So while this round my training focus will change a bit, the reality is I still want to train 5 and preferably 6 times a week. I want to continue to eat well, although I'm not perfect and occasionally there will be too much wine, a sneaky G&T or a treat from one of the wonderful bakeries here. The difference as I said before, is that I know that one night or even a whole weekend or week's holiday of indulgence is not the end of the world. I get on the scales, I own the small gain and I refocus on my training. 

But this bit is hard to convey to people. And brings me to the final bit of my post. While I loved the compliments at the beginning, people seem to think I'm still losing lots of weight, where in reality I fluctuate by about 1-1.5 kilos each week and still have about 2 kilos to lose. i am tired of being told I'm fading away and being asked when I'm going to stop. I have to firmly but kindly tell people that sure, I don't really have any more wight to lose and I'm happy with my size, but I'm not stopping. This isn't a fad diet but rather a lifestyle change. I'm not saying I'll always get it right but my aim and my intention is to keep up my training, setting new goals a couple of times a year, competing in different races, trying new sports and eating well. I am sure that some people have my best interests at heart and i can assure them I don't want to be too skinny. However, I can't help but think that for most people, while I continue to train and eat well, I make them feel guilty about their own excuses for not exercising or not being as healthy as they could be. My article for the Embassy newsletter came out this week, which was the basis of my first (and until now - only) blog post. I hope it encourages others to eat well and to exercise but my tolerance for people's excuses these days is limited. What I have learnt from this experience is there is a big difference between supporting people and them actually taking responsibility for their own actions. So I'll just keep doing what I do, knowing that it's not only good for me but it's also good fun and very rewarding.

(Thanks to Helen McGuire for the photo).