Tribesports Performance Wear & Update

First of all, apologies for the very delayed blog post dear readers. Explanation below. Before that though, I'd like to gush about something exciting that my favourite sports site has launched.

Tribesports has launched its own range of sportswear. And it's pretty rockin'. 

Granted, there are lots of sportswear on the market today, so what is it about the Tribesports performance range that makes it different? For starters, it's developed by the everyday sporting community, funded by the everyday sporting community and geared towards the everyday sporting community. 

That's right, regular folks... no pro-athlete or celebrity endorsements. 

What was awesome about the range is that pre-launch, they gathered requirements from site users (yours truly included) and then posted up the idea on Kickstarter for funding. User-oriented sportswear cutting out the middle man to bring you very affordable prices. If memory served me right, they reached their funding target in a day or two, and the final number quadrupled the original goal. How insane is that! I guess that shows how much the sporting community really believed in the project (it also helped that the gear looked really, really awesome). 

Enough with my silly ramblings, you'd really rather see photos now wouldn't you? 

Tribesports also run a monthly social media comp. Post a photo of yourself training in Tribesports gear on Instagram or Twitter with hashtag #OwnYourMarks and you stand to win US$100/£100 store credit.

What are you waiting for? Check out the entire range in the Tribesports shop, and thank me later.

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I've been missing from blogosphere for a while. Unfortunately, that happens when you juggle part-time postgraduate studies and full-time work. I also hurt my knee again from running, and this time the injury was quite bad so I had to lay off anything physical for a while. It seems to have healed, but I'm a little hesitant about placing any strain on it. I've done a couple of light jogs with knee support bands, but I'm still so paranoid that it will go back to how it was especially since it's not the first time this has happened. Krill oil seems to help a little, but not by much, and I do love running so I'm a little torn up inside.

In other news, I finally received my Sadie Nardini 21 Day Yoga Body that I pre-ordered way back in August I think. Woohoo, review to come soon.

Keep posted, because I promise I will update again soon. 

My First Race - De Castella Run 2013

One of my running goals in 2013 was to do an organized race, but life just kept getting in the way! I had nearly lost all hope that I would be able to meet this goal by the end of 2013, particularly when I hurt my knee and couldn't run back in March-April, and again in June-July (can you tell that I'm a glutton for punishment yet?).

Coupled with motivation from my sister who is also my occasional running buddy, and trainnng with the RunDouble C25K app for Android, I finally signed up for my first organized race ever, the De Castella Run.
The De Castella Run was organized as a tribute to Rob De Castella, Australia's Olympian Marathoner who won the Boston Marathon in 1986 (coincidentally, when I was born! It was a very good year :P). It's held in Kew every year, and features the training route that Rob used to train for his runs, along the beautiful and scenic Yarra Trail. The run begins and ends at Xavier College, and follows the Yarra River into Yarra Bend Park. It's an amazing trail even just to go for a leisurely walk, so check it out if you are ever in Melbourne!

My sister and I are both race n00bs, me having done none in my entire life, and my sister having only walked the Mother's Day Classic. So, we had no idea what to expect! We showed up early on the day at 7am for an 8.15am start, only to realize that we didn't need to get there so early since we had pre-registered. Still, better early than late right?

They had a lot of complimentary activities, including free Zumba sessions to warm runners up! We did a little bit of a session, then decided to do a brisk walk to keep warm. Then, it was time to race! Everyone was really keen and excited at the start line, so I was expecting a rocket start when the gun went off. But, it was surprisingly very, very slow. So slow in fact that it actually took us 18 seconds to reach the start line, because we were standing somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

One of the unexpected obstacles I discovered during my first race was having to slalom through the conglomerate of slower runners at the start. I probably should have started closer to the line, but I thought I was a pretty average runner, and kept towards the middle. After about 5 minutes of trying to push through the crowd, I was able to concentrate on keeping a good pace, which is quite challenging on the hilly terrain of Kew!

How the elevation was on the route... some steep hills
from the De Castella Facebook page

It was both inspiring, and demoralizing to see the 5km leaders already on the way back when I was only about 40% into the race. Some of those 5km leaders were primary school aged! Anyway, I tried as best to keep going, it was certainly a lot easier to maintain a good and steady pace in a race because your competitive spirit drives your resilience and stamina! Towards the last 400m, I sprinted for dear life, and managed a very decent race finish of 27:27 minutes! My net/chip time, which was my actual race time from start to finish was 27:09 minutes which is my Personal Best !! (remember it took me 18 seconds to get to the start line?)

Run Forrest! Run!

I finished in 25th place in in the Women's 18-44 years category, 38th in the Women's Overall, and 147th overall. I was very pleased with my category results, 25th place out of 207 is more than I could have hoped for.

They had restorative yoga sessions after the run, courtesy of Kozen Yoga. We borrowed the mats to warm down with some asanas, since all the runner yogis there seemed to be doing their own, and left before the sessions started. We then had a wander around the Mind/Body expo. There wasn't too much on display at the expo, to be honest. A Mizuno tent, a new sports bra shop, a supplement stall, and a couple of food/drink tents. The best part of the expo, in my humble opinion, was the children's petting zoo! The animals were sooooooo adorable. I'm embarrassed to say that the most photos I took at the event was of the petting zoo, I just couldn't help it!

Every girl's dream come true - a petting zoo!

Every finisher received a goodie bag, and as a freebie lover, I was thrilled to pick mine up.

Freebies!

Lots of sample power snacks and vouchers 

I really enjoyed my race experience. If you are a running newbie and thinking about signing up, I strongly suggest that you do because the experience is so amazing. I'm considering signing up to my next one before the year end as well, hopefully a 10km run!

How Running Changed My Yoga

It's no secret that yoga helps runners. Most runners know some basic asanas to help them warm up and cool down, and yoga is one of the best activities to complement running.

(Source)

Since running though, I've also realized that my yoga practice has begun evolving. I don't really think of it as for better or for worse, because a yoga practice is just that. A practice. There are no "good" or "bad" practices, each practice is unique in its own right. But my yoga practice is so different now to what it was two years ago.


For starters, I'm no longer as flexible as I used to be. Running does that to you apparently. I used to see runners in my yoga class struggle with forward bends and have no empathy. Well, empathy I have now, and lots of it! However, being less flexible means that I'm no longer pushing myself in the asanas. I'm letting myself just be, I deepen into poses and I'm in each and every moment.

This shift to more self-awareness and mindfulness is a big step in my yoga practice. I have a lot of trouble with self-regulating, and with holding back. I use running to expend all that energy, and I use yoga to centre it all back.

I bring yoga into my running as well. Both are melding into each other in a way. When I run, I practice pranayama, and when I'm in the zone, I'm almost in a meditative-like state. I can't imagine one without the other, so I'm glad I have both.

Because running is such a high intensity activity, my yoga is all about gazing inwards. I focus on nurturing poses like child's pose, forward bends, supine twists... I hardly ever do backbends anymore and when I do, they are gentle.

What is most important is that I feel that I am now truly practising yoga and not just an aspect of it, which is what I've wanted all these years. Strangely enough, gone are my aspirations of becoming a yoga teacher. My practice has become something intimate and dear to me that it's so personal. Sharing it with others just doesn't feel right.

I look forward to reflecting on my practice again next year to see how it has further evolved. Chances are, it's not going to be the same, but I'm also ok with that.

Couch to 5K final run & the Blogstar Awards!

I completed my Couch to 5K program today, and what a run! I finished it in 28:55mins. It's definitely my best 5km time to date. When I first started running last year, before I had my knee and ankle injury, I was finishing in about 32-34mins, so this is a massive improvement for me!

My new goal is now to get it under 25 minutes! 

I've been very happy with the RunDouble app, so happy in fact that I've already purchased the unlimited upgrades, because I'm planning on doing the 5K improver as well as the 5K to 10K program. All in due time :) 

If you've missed out on my Couch to 5K updates, here are my previous updates, in chronological order. 

Week 1 

Week 2-5

Week 6

Week 8-9

Whoops, looks like I missed out on posting an update on Week 7! Luckily, my app has stored all my running records, and a quick looks tells me that I was running 4km, at a pace of about 6:15min/km (how terrible!). This was the week I went back to running after being sick for over a month! 

In other news, one of my previous posts has been shortlisted as a finalist by Beautyheaven for the annual Blogstar Awards under the Health Guru category! 

I would be honoured if you could vote for my entry - What you should REALLY listen to when you exercise. It takes a few minutes to sign up in order to vote, but you could win yourself 1 of 100 beauty prizes! 

Check out all the entries for the Health Guru, and if you like my post, please sign up and/or  vote for me! 

Couch to 5K Week 8 and 9 updates! Plus 75% OFF Sadie Nardini's yoga course!

I've just completed my Couch to 5K final Week 9 run today, and gosh the end is so near I can feel it! I'm very pleased with my progress so far, I've been sticking to the program and doing my three runs a week - my pace has improved so much!

I think I'm going to be in good shape for my first charity run at the end of August. Yes, I'm finally going to do it... my first charity 5k run! I'm so psyched, my running buddy and I did the race route this week and it wasn't too bad. We'll definitely squeeze a few more in before event date. 

Here's my Couch to 5K summary 

Week 8 Run distance 4.4km with the 5min warm up and cool down. 

Day 1 Distance 4.44km, Pace 6:11min/km 

Day 2 Distance 4.43km, Pace 5:57min/km 

Day 3 Distance 4.44km, Pace 5:57min/km 

Week 9 Run distance 4.8km with the 5min warm up and cool down 

Day 1 Distance 4.83km, Pace 6:19min/km - This was test running the race route, which was unfamiliar... we got lost a few times! Hence the poor timing. 

Day 2 Distance 4.83km, Pace 5:50min/km 

Day 3 Distance 4.83km, Pace 5:47min/km 

I know it's not a truly fantastic pace yet, but I'm so thrilled with my final pace. I've also improved more on my form I think, because I've got much less shoulder and back aches now. I've only got one more final run to do, which is the 5km run to "prove that you can", according to the app. I'm hoping to be able to do my 5km run in under 28 minutes, that would really make my day! 

In other news, Udemy is having a whopping 75% off on most of its courses, including Sadie Nardini's 14-day course, which I have reviewed and love! 

Just use the discount code HEATUP. Please note that I'm not affiliated with Udemy or Sadie, I really do love having so much information at your fingertips. I've purchased quite a few courses from Udemy, they've really stepped up their game and videos are now much better quality, and you have the option to download some of the content too. 

Great course, complete wellness package 

Fantastic for meditation newbies

Other great courses that I can recommend if you're planning to get into the sale are the Love, Peace and Stillness Meditation Retreat by Teagan Fea (review here), and Yoga for the Career Woman by Taryn Hughes, which is a much more beginner-friendly yoga course than the Sadie one.

Happy shopping, and have a great weekend! I'll be heading to PAX Australia, and spending my time in ultimate nerd-vana.

It's now my turn to sit next to Big Daddy
(Source)

Sore Running Shoulders & Couch to 5K Week 6 Update

I've put my running shoes back on, which I'm so happy about. It was tough trying to get back into a fitness routine since I fell sick, but I believe I'm there again. I'm a bit miffed that my running performance seems to have suffered. I'm running a lot slower than what I was doing pre-sickness, but I did take about 3-4 weeks off exercise altogether so it was inevitable. Such a bummer though considering I was going so well! 

Something I noticed while running was how tense and sore my shoulders would get. I always made conscious efforts to release tension if I noticed it, but yesterday, my shoulders were aching so much that I had to do shoulder rolls while running just to release tension! It was quite difficult to continue running but I completed my 4km. 

I warmed down with some shoulder openers but I think I might need to keep doing some more just to loosen them up a bit. They are still sore today. I'm thinking keeping out the shoulder stands but bringing in threading the needle, and cow-face pose. Simple shoulder rolls help too. #andthisiswhyeveryrunnershoulddoyoga

Threading the needle
(Source)

Cow-face pose
(Source)

Part of the reason why my shoulders get so sore is poor running form, I think. I noticed that while I don't hunch my shoulders up like some runners do (I make a very conscious effort to drop them), I've developed a habit of craning my neck forward while running and that puts extra tension on shoulder and neck muscles. I don't even know why I do it! Maybe I think it helps me run faster if my head is in front of my body? :P I'm trying to stop doing this but it's a lot harder than you would think! 

Before I fell sick, I completed my Couch to 5K Week 6. The program varied day to day, but built up to a straight 3.6km run. At this stage, my pace was a good 6 min/km, which is probably my best speed running long distance yet. I did this way back in May though, and I've only just managed to start Week 7 now. 

Damn you cold virus!

I think that's all for today. Do you experience any tensions while running and what do you do to alleviate this? 

Couch to 5K: Week 2 to 5 Progress Update

And before you know it I've already finished Week 5 of the Couch to 5K program. Time sure flies!

Initially, I was going to do a week by week progress update, but considering my blog update rates, that sounds like a recipe for disaster! So, here is a concise summary of what's happened in the last 4 weeks since Week 1. 

All the runs every week begin and end with a 5 min walk. 

Week 2 

The program is 6 reps of 90 sec running, followed by 2 min brisk walking. 

I found this to be quite challenging. I really wanted to improve on my time, so I used the intervals as sprinting challenges. 

Week 3 

The first of the paid version of the app, the runs this week are 170m running, then 170m walking, 365m running, then 365m walking. Repeat. 

An easy week, it was nice having a break from Week 2. At this stage, my best pace is on average 4:45min/km. 

Week 4

400m running, then 200m walking. 800m running, then 400m walking. Repeat. 

Best pace in 800m is 5:28min/km. 

Week 5 

First day: 800m run, 400m walk - repeat 3 times. 

Second day: 1.2km run, 800m walk - repeat. 

Third day: 3.2km run 

This is the first week that every day had a different training routine, so I was caught unawares on the 2nd day. The 3.2km run was a lot easier than I expected - finished it with a pace of 6:05min/km because I took the first half at a very cautious pace. 

For my general review of the RunDouble app, read my Week 1 progress update. 

Couch to 5K: Week 1 Progress Update

I recently started the Couch to 5K (C25K) running program. I am using RunDouble's app for Android, using the timed version of C25K. So far, so good!

If you've followed my blog from the beginning, you will probably already know that I can run 5km. So, why on earth am I doing the C25K? Well, a bit less than a year ago, I sustained a knee and foot injury on my left leg - my joint injuries are always so stubborn and they take forever to heal. I've only just fully recovered, and am hoping to recondition my legs to running again. 

I have major issues with self-restraint. Cut me loose and I'll probably just run until my legs break. Some people call it motivation, and to be fair that quality has gotten me places in life... I guess it's both a blessing and a curse :P 

The C25K is a program to help non-runners to get into running, so what better way to ease myself back into running than to have a program that does it all for me? 

I have never used an app like this before. I've previously used Nike + to track my runs, but I like the RunDouble app more. It does everything for you... the C25K tells you when to warm up, run, brisk walk, cool down, when you are half way, when to do the harlem shake... you get the gist. Ah, technology... where would I be without you! 

The only trouble I have been having with it is to create a playlist... the Nike + app just goes through my entire music library. With the RunDouble app I seem to only be able to access folders or playlists, which means I will need to go through the painstaking process of creating a playlist. But, I want to run, dammit not spend all day adding files to a list. 

Week 1 went without a hitch, and best of all, no joint pain. Also helpful could be the fact that I recently got myself some new kicks... the Asics Kayano 18... and I am in love with them. 

Here is a summary of how it went: 

Week 1's program is 8 repetitions of 1 min running / 1.5 min brisk walk with a 5 min warm up and cool down. 

Day 1: Couldn't get the GPS to work, but I only started to get into running with ease by the 3rd interval. 

Day 2: Total distance 2.72km, fastest pace 4:55min/km 

Day 3: Total distance 2.75km, fastest pace 4:47min/km 

Week 1 running pattern

I love autumn runs

There is nothing more centreing than a nice, quiet run, and no better time to do it than in autumn.

Why? Three good reasons:

There are less people. 
My running/walking track is very popular because it's along the beach. All the locals walk/jog there (thankfully there's a separate cycling path, or else there would be that too). And Port Melbourne Melbourne people aren't the most courteous of walkers... they hog up the lanes and often don't give way so you have to run around them. #firstworldproblems. Autumn time fixes all of that because no one wants to walk right next to the chilly icy sea breezes of autumn! Huzzah!

See... completely barren

The temperature is perfect 
Ok, it might be a little chilly to begin with, but you won't feel it after 10 minutes. It definitely beats running on a 38 degree day. Plus, Melbourne autumns are mild anyway, look at that clear blue sky!

The crisp autumn air
I can't run in humidity. Breathing in humid air while running makes me breathless. There are also less allergens in the air. I'm not one for hay fever, but running in summer makes my lungs burn.

I'm not even a fan of the cold. The BF says my tolerance range for temperatures is between 23-25 degrees, and he's probably not wrong. I wouldn't do outdoor yoga in autumn and freeze my little toesies off in savasana. But, running in autumn? Sold!

What's your favourite season to run/exercise in?

Running injuries

I've always been a short to mid-distance runner. When I was a school athlete, my events were 400m and 800m runs (and occasionally, the 1500m, and once, the 3000m, although that did not end well :P).

When I went back to running this year, I thought I'd train up for some fun runs next year. I think the minimum mileage for those runs are generally 5km, which my body isn't used to yet, hence the training. During my first run this year, I clocked 3km in 25min... not great, but I was pretty happy considering I hadn't been running since... well... since I was 17 (and I'm currently... 17 with 9 years experience). Now, I can do about 4.5km in 30min, which is getting close to my goal of 5km in under 30 min.

All I want to do is run free... and have great legs....
(Source)

Last week though, I started to feel a twinge in my knee. It's not painful, I'd rate it a 1-2 out of 10, but it is uncomfortably worrying, especially since my mum has a bad knee. Two years ago, I would have ignored the pain and kept running and probably ruin my knee, but after last year's struggle with my wrist injury, I know to listen to any body aches and pains, particularly joint ones.

So, for the next few weeks, until I'm satisfied that the pain in my knee has subsided, I will not be doing any high-impact running. All runs will be substituted with the dreaded crosstrainer. The problem I have with the crosstrainer is that I find it harder... all that resistance means I clock up less km (and I like my resistance up high), and therefore, am not sure if I'm meeting my goals of 5km under 30 minutes, although I guess if I can do 5km on the crosstrainer, I can definitely do a 5km run easily, possibly while carrying mini-weights.

My current plan to combat my knee injury is to:

• Substitute all runs with crosstrainer 
• Wear a knee support band 

Any other suggestions? I'm open...