Week 4 training roundup...

Week 4

Activities: 5

Distance covered: 20 km

Average pace: 7:59 min/km

Calories burned: 1,170

Time spent 2:39:21

 

Sunday: 2.52km (extra run)

Monday: 6.55km training plan run - 45 min run with 5 min walking warmup

Tuesday: 3.52km (extra run)

Wednesday: 3.68km training plan run - 3.2km moderate run with 5 min walking warmup

Thursday: rest day

Friday: rest day

Saturday: 3.38km training plan run - 25 min interval run 60 sec moderate run with 90 sec light jogging x10

 

As you can see, I am following the training plan but also adding in a couple of my own runs every week, to try and build myself up better. On my extra runs I never run further than the training plan asks us to each week, so this week that was 3.2km.

 

I actually felt quite disappointed that I couldn't fit in a quick run either Thursday or Friday; I've had a rough week at work and I was really itching to get out there and take my feelings out on the pavement. But I still think five runs a week is pretty impressive for week 4.

 

Next week our training plan is upping the distance and we are concentrating more on 4km runs, which I'm looking forward to because I can't wait to see how far I can go and how close I am to being able to complete the 5km race easily.

 

On Saturdays and sometimes one day in the week my sister and I train together, and as we run together and she is slower than me, my distance and calories will vary quite a lot to when I am running by myself. But I love training with my sister and seems as I make sure I push myself when I run alone, I'm quite pleased when we get together and the run is less pressure for me.

 

The fourth week of my couch to 5km training is now over and I feel as though I had a really good week. I finished off 1.2km short of beating last week's distance covered but overall I'm pleased with everything else. And more importantly, I'm still enjoying getting my trainers laced and getting myself outside.

 

Dans

It's bonus time!

There's nothing I like better than a Clinique bonus time!

I've been holding out for one to launch at Boots since Christmas when I got a giftcard from my family - I've even resisted the bonus times at Debenhams and John Lewis (still ongoing) because I just knew the Boots one would be fab and it is.

It's strange that we have two huge Boots in our city centre and yet neither of them do Clinique. So my sister and I went on a shopping trip today so I could get my hands on one, and I was not disappointed!

To qualify for bonus time, one item has to be skin care and so I bought my regular foundation (Even Better, shade #1 Alabaster) and the Anti Blemish Solutions cleansing foam - this is excellent if you have combination skin like me with the monthly pimples that just seem to flare and not go anywhere. It is quite drying but makes blemishes disappear sometimes as quickly as the next morning if I apply it before bed.

1. Moisture surge - I love this moisture surge and always use it as well as my regular moisturiser. It's perfect during the winter and I always make sure I stock up in time for summer holidays too, because as soon as I seem to step down off of the aeroplane steps into a hot sunny climate I come out in a heat rash that covers half of my face, and this really helps to make it disappear after a couple of weeks.

2. All about eyes - I've been hooked on this ever since the first time I tried it, and put it on nightly before bed after my three step, along with my moisturiser and moisture surge. It does really well to make my eyes look more awake and if you use it in the morning after a three step it can also help to keep eyeshadow / liner in place throughout the day.

3. Rinse off foaming cleanser - I've had this before in a giveaway and wasn't very keen on it. I find the texture very strange and I don't like the way it doesn't glide over my face as easily as the regular Clinique wash off face cleanser.

4. Chubby stick - I love love LOVE Clinique chubby sticks and can't rate them highly enough. DC bought me a pack of five a couple of Christmasses ago and I was automatically hooked. They give a good coverage of colour and I was surprised that they actually last a reasonable amount of time before they run out. The only downfall is that I find them quite drying on my lips, just the same as the regular Clinique lipsticks, although applying a little bit of vaseline just before application usually sorts that problem out.

5. Quickliner for eyes - this is the only product in this Bonus Time that I have never tried before, but my fellow Clinique-obsessed friend J swears by them, and goes through them like I don't know what. This is something that I've going to have to try out, and blog about later. I usually apply one of the Clinique dark eyeshadows under my eyes with a tiny brush for definition, but I'll try this eyeliner this week instead and see how I get on.

6. High impact mascara - I have been loyal to Maxfactor's Masterpiece for many years now and never thought I would find another mascara that I would love as much. When I got my first high impact mascara, I didn't even bother to try it because I was that convinced that it wouldn't help my lashes as much as the Masterpiece does. I only happened to use it when I had ran out of the Masterpiece and didn't have anything to use - and then I was changed woman! It's an excellent mascara even for fine lashes like mine. It adds definition and length and can help with both a day and night look - one coat for work, or for a night out build it up and it can look really striking. I now alternate between buying and using the Maxfactor mascara, and switching to Clinique whenever I get a bonus time.

As you can see this bonus time is great for me as I've used most of the products before and absolutely love them. It's annoying when you look forward to a Bonus Time and when it arrives it doesn't include anything that you would really use, and then you get a build up of products in your beauty cupboard that you don't use but don't want to throw away. But Boots always put on a really good deal and I always find myself pleased with what I get. Plus, the Clinique beauty assistants in my Boots are a hundred times more helpful and pleasant compared to our Debenhams and John Lewis. They always have a smile on their face and are more than willing to help. Bonus Time + excellent customer service = happy beauty shopping.

Dans

Quote of the week #1

 

Nothing is impossible.

The word itself says "I'm possible"

 

- Audrey Hepburn



Thursday night weigh in

I've been a weightwatchers member since January 2009, finding that I was putting more and more weight on due to constantly indulging at uni, which I think is the case for most of us!

My friend and mum also wanted to lose weight so off we trotted to our nearest weightwatchers meeting. Obviously back then it was the original points plan, and I found it quite easy to follow although I can't say I was ever really a saint and followed it completely strictly every day.

It took me nine months to go from 10st 7lb to my goal of 9st 5lb, and was sent my Gold membership card on 13 October 2009!

I actually found my card the other day and was surprised that it had survived two house moves and a messy me. Finding it also came at a good time because it gave me some good motivation to get my bum in order and get back on the plan!

I have always gone to meetings every couple of weeks since I got to goal, but some weeks I will follow the plan well and other weeks fall off the wagon.

Lately I've found a new love for recipes and home made cooking (it is a running "joke" that I apparently can't cook although they can't say that any more!) and it's made me love the points+ plan again.

But I still haven't really been able to get down from the high numbers I've been weighing in at since January, unable to get off all of the pounds from those mince pies at Christmas!

With all of the running I have started doing, I was crossing my fingers that it would start to show, and eventually on week 4 it has. Last night I lost 1.5lb and weighed in at 9st 8.5lb. This is the lowest I've been in a long time!

Only 3.5lbs to go to get back to goal, plus a few more just to feel a bit more comfortable. After last night I feel motivated again, and I know I can do it.

I've started following quite a few weight loss journeys on blogger now and am really enjoying reading how you all deal with your points+ plans so differently.

Next week I'm aiming for 1lb off, so I need to stay focused and hopefully I will soon be summer ready!

Dans

Bake off #1

So it was my turn to cook in the weightwatchers evening bake off this week - every Thursday we weigh in and then go to one of our houses to cook for the evening, rotating each week whose turn it is to cook. The challenge is to keep main course and dessert to 20 points+, and ideally keep it under £10 for each person.

So in an ideal world it would be a cheap, healthy meal after a successful weigh in. But the reality is that I bought Mary Berry's new recipe book the day it came out and I haven't had a chance to cook from it yet. Everything looks so delicious and simple to make - she always tries to keep her ingredients list down to a minimum - but they aren't exactly weightwatchers friendly!

I've had my eye on these mini banoffee pies ever since I first flicked through the book and I couldn't wait to try them!

 

I have to admit that the most satisfying part of making it was bashing the digestive biscuits as hard as I possibly could with a rolling pin, to make the crumbs for the base! To set the base I used 5 bashed up digestives and stirred them into 40g of melted margarine (Mary recommends butter).

 

 

I have also never tasted anything as delicious as the tin of caramel that I bought from the Co-op for the banoffe sauce - although at 24 points+ per tin, I probably shouldn't have been dipping the spare digestive biscuits in it and munching through them whilst I was making the dessert...! The whole contents of the tin were melted along with 40g margarine and muscavado sugar, before pouring the sauce over the base.

 

I left the caramel and biscuit to set overnight before adding the bananas and cream today just before serving... and can you believe it, on my very first food blog post... that I forgot to take a photo of the finished product with the cream on!! After all of the effort I went to... oops! They were meant to have double cream whipped on top but instead of that, I used low fat squirty cream in my attempt to make them a little more weightwatchers friendly. I think they came out at 8 points in the end, which is better than the ones you can buy in the supermarket!

 

But I can vouch that it was the most amazing home made mini banoffee pie I have ever tasted!!! And my weightwatchers bake off guests didn't seem to mind it either! I will definitely make this again in the near future, and they are perfect for dinner parties!

Thanks Mary!

Dans

My life in pictures #2

This is me in October 2012, taking part in the Whizz-Kidz Neon Nightwalk with 20 of my colleagues from both our Head Office and one of our branches. The challenge was to walk 10 miles through the night through the streets of London to raise money for children in need of electric wheelchairs and other mobility equipment, taking in the wonderful sights along the way.

 

All together through corporate and personal sponsorship, we raised over £6k, putting that towards the amazing fundraising total of £18,576 that our company managed to raise for Whizz-Kidz throughout 2012.

 

We started the walk at 7pm with over 100 other people and it was hard to keep all of our ladies motivated for the whole 10 miles, especially with the hustle and bustle going on all around us! We finally got to the Mall at 11.50pm just 10 minutes before our coach was meant to leave from Victoria station, and so unfortunately we missed out on the last five minutes of the walk (and missed out on enjoying the cupcakes and welcome celebrations back at Whizz-Kidz HQ!) but it was such a great feat to achieve - and I think we had actually completed 10 miles if you add on the accidental diversions when we got slightly lost along the route!

 

Whizz-Kidz is a charity that is all about giving disabled children the chance to lead a more independent life. They estimate that over 70,000 children at any one time are in need or on the waiting list for electric wheelchairs or other mobility equipment that will give them a better quality of life and help them to have what they deserve - the chance to be a kid. They have been our corporate charity partner since May 2011 and we are continuing to support them until the end of 2013. 2011 saw a shaky start for fundraising, as our company was not used to having a charity partner and this was all new to us so ideas were slow off the ground. But as Charity Co-ordinator I was so happy to achieve such an amazing amount last year. We had branch golf days, colleagues taking part in brilliant runs such as the Edinburgh half marathon and the Great North run, plus an event I organised a Back to the Floor Directors' Challenge, where branches put together a fundraising plan to bid for a Director to work at their branch for the day, doing whatever the branch decides they should do - whether that is making tea, sweeping the warehouse, answering the phone and more!

 

At our annual conference in January I invited a Whizz-Kidz ambassador to join us and give a presentation to show us first hand how Whizz-Kidz has helped his life and many others throughout the UK. It was safe to say that I have never seen so many grown men with a tear in their eye!

 

Whizz-Kidz really is an excellent charity and I can't wait for our branches to get into the flow of coming up with bigger and better ideas to raise even more money this year. I am hoping to somehow incorporate my new found love of running into a fundraising challenge, so any ideas you may have would be much appreciated!

 

Dans



A new way to clear my mind...

I have to admit, I am a worrier. I was shy at school, with rosy cheeks that would flare up at every given opportunity. Raising my hand in class was possibly the worst thing I could ever have dreamed doing! And I suppose I have taken this personality with me through the years. If you saw me you would probably think I was quite a confident person, and although this is not true I do think that my job has helped me enormously to grow into my own.

Whenever things get on top of me I can never really find a way of making it go away. I could run a situation through my mind a million times until I have made it a thousand times worse than what it actually is. I guess I just have a sensitive nature, and that's not something that is going to go away in a hurry.

Yesterday we had some awful news that my mum's friend had passed away. She had leukaemia and even though a stem cell transplant was a success, she just couldn't fight off an infection that came with it. My mum is obviously devastated, she was her closest friend - they met in hospital 20 years ago when mum had fallen and slipped discs in her back, and her friend had been ran over by a car, shattering her knees. They were side by side in hospital beds together for weeks and formed a great friendship.

I went to my parent's house yesterday after work and when I came home it was coming onto 8pm and I knew I had a training run scheduled for me to do. It was a 45 minute brisk walk/ slow jog and after a draining day I just knew I did not have the energy or motivation for it.

But DC persuaded me to go and once out there I was focused and ready to take it on. When I came home I felt like a lot of things had been lifted from my shoulders, and I slept better for it too. I also managed to beat my previous 45 min jog, covering over 6.5km and cutting 30 seconds off my km/min.

Now that I have started running I have realised that I have always come back home feeling happy and relaxed, even after a gruelling training session. I think I've found the perfect way to de-stress myself... And it is free. Obviously nothing will take away the grief at losing a family friend, but I am certain that when other things crop up that I feel I can't deal with, by introducing a new coping mechanism it will help me see that I am stronger than what I give myself credit for.

Dans