It's hot and steamy here in Geraldton, and we've had an appalling six weeks since Christmas with very little wind and almost no swell. However I can't really blame the conditions for my lack of progress on the forward loop front - as I haven't really been trying hard enough, and nor has my partner in crime Kate so we're not doing a good job of egging each other on either. But there's still time this season, if only all these cyclones would just settle down and stop buggering up the weather!
It is now six months since I began on my get fit oddyssey, and it's a mere five months till I jet off again to The Land of The Long White Cloud to indulge in my ski goddess persona. At which time I hope to be super fit and totally capable of conquering that mountain without getting jelly legs by noon. So how am I going so far??
Firstly, I am indeed a fully fledged gym junkie. I go to the gym Monday to Friday unless there's decent wind, in which case Wednesday and Friday get ditched for some wave (or lately: flat water cruddy chop) action. I use a heart rate monitor and diligently keep myself in the right training zones so I can improve my fitness and endurance, as well as doing interval sessions for strength and endurance. And I find exercise programs to target the sort of improvements I need for skiing all day - there's some really cool ones I found on the internet involving balancing on Bosu balls which I did with my personal trainer and had us both in stitches. Let me tell you, there's a massive difference between a squat or lunge on stable ground versus trying it balanced atop half a gym ball!! Then add weights for even more hilarious fun!
I'm actually totally surprised at myself for keeping it up so long, and for now being totally addicted to burning calories. I do try to keep it interesting, helped out by having a personal trainer who keeps coming up with new ways to torture me on a weekly basis. But there's something in all that endorphin stuff - it sure can become an obsession. So on weekends, I rest, unless there's wind of course!!
I have also totally changed my diet. It's been a long term aim of mine to eat a really healthy diet, and my current intake is fairly simple. I now eat almost exclusively whole foods, which allows me to indulge in some wonderfully fresh vegetable dishes and salads, along with copious amounts of meat, nuts and seeds. I have become a wee bit of a food Nazi I have to admit, but I'm still chilled enough to be able to eat out and indulge in beer and wine so I'm not totally whacko..... yet....
My body has fundamentally changed. I've lost centimetres from everywhere, meaning at some stage I am going to have to start buying new clothes that fit me, but in the meantime I'm just throwing out the "big" clothes and shimmying back into those dresses I used to look so good in 10 years ago. Yes it's nice that everyone notices when you've been working so hard at it.
You know you're fit when you have a race with the kids next door and you manage to keep up with them, if not beat them. And you're not even puffed!! Then, in hushed voices they exclaim with incredulity that you can run really fast!! Presumably old fogeys like me don't usually put on a spell of sprinting like that in front of impressionable teenagers, let alone almost beat them. Just wait till I shock them by doing just that!! Work in progress....
You know you still have a way to go when the young chappie at the gym puts you through a punishing training session that leaves your legs sore for days. Jelly legs sore. You unkindly inform your usual personal trainer that she's a "puddycat" in comparison, which means from now on I'm in for more punishing and more pain.
If I can get to July with legs of steel and fitness to boot I'll have achieved my goal. If I can ski top to bottom down the powder bowl or cloud nine I'll know it's all been worth it. Who would have thought a broken arm was all it needed??
