Cometh the hour, cometh the [wo]man

Temptation

Last week, our circuit training instructor said she wouldn't be around for our session this week, so we should run it ourselves. That announcement seemed to have turned us all into naughty school children. We all nodded dutifully and assured her that we would be fine without her for one session, when in fact we were all thinking "Yay! Day off!"

My husband calls me a Tasmanian Devil because I'm always darting around doing something and keeping busy. I'm always buzzing with energy, and if I didn't exercise, I simply wouldn't sleep. So I got my kit on and went down to the rowing club last night to check the lie of the land. If no one else turned up, I was going to do a session on the rowing machine or do some weights.

Don't Short-circuit!

I got to the club, and I spied Catherine - in the far corner of the gym - one of the faithful. She's usually one of the first to send out an email to check who will be down for each session, and she only ever misses training if she's unwell. You can count on her to be there. I went over and chatted to her for a bit as we waited to see who else would turn up.

After a few minutes, Donata arrived and informed us that one of the other ladies had also been around but she didn't see us, so she left. Oh well. Three's better than none. So we set up our circuit, and got started.

There were about 12 exercises. We did a minute of each exercise, and allowed between 5 - 15 seconds to move on to the next exercise. It was great because we worked together to do the timing, and it felt like team work. We took a couple of minutes break after each circuit, and we did 3 laps of the circuit in total. It felt really good.

Opportunity Knocks

After the session, I went over to chat to one of the coaches, John, who was coaching the para squad at the time. He has coached people to Olympic gold level, so I am always keen to get as much knowledge and input from him as possible and, luckily, he is always very happy to give it. I thought we were just having a casual chat when, before I knew it, he had me on a rowing machine and I was doing a whole bunch of new exercises. It was brilliant! After just one session, I have so much practical and useful feedback that will help take me to the next level. The rowing machine feels like a whole different beast now. So many things have fallen into place since our first session a few weeks ago, and I am aching in new places today, which means that I'm finally starting to engage the right muscles on the rowing machine.

I really need to lose my novice status this year. It will be my second year of regattas and I am determined to win something!

Appetite

These past few days my appetite has started to catch up with my activity levels. I'm one of those people who doesn't eat breakfast, and if I have something for lunch, I'm not hungry at dinner time. I will have hot drinks (no milk) throughout the day, which tend to keep my hunger at bay, although I'll have a cereal bar or some fruit when I feel peckish and something small in the evening. These past two or three days, however, I have pretty much eaten two proper meals a day, with second helpings! I have been ravenous! My muscles are demanding food!

Good Fat for Healthy Organs and Muscles

Because I don't eat a lot in general, I make a conscious effort to eat the right foods. I don't cut anything out of my diet as such, but I do try and add the right kinds of fats and sugars into my diet. I eat lots of avocados because they provide the good fats that my organs need for healthy function, and that my muscles need for development.

Natural is a no-brainer when it comes to food

I use olive oil liberally because it's a good fat. I get worried when I hear about fat-free diets and fat-free foods. Some general rules of thumb that I use are: Good fat is good for you. Processed fat is bad for you. Natural unprocessed food is good for you. Too much sugar is bad for you, but there's nothing wrong with sugar that occurs naturally in food. Simples.