There should always be a least one day a week that you should have a rest day, and I usually take mine on a Sunday but with house hunting, and usually an event happening I will try and take it off whenever I can.  The morning started off with meeting up with the beautiful Linda (my old personal trainer from Fernwood), she is such an inspiring person that has an enormous passion for health and fitness, that you can't help but find it somewhat contagious.  She really has helped so many people along with their fitness journeys.  Also it was the first time Dave got to meet her, I always find it a little strange that their are some people that have such an influence in your lives, but usually don't get a chance to meet each other.  The only down side was that both of them started to go onto me about becoming a Les Mills Body Pump instructor, as I keep saying I love training, I love being trained and love pushing my limits.  To deal with other people and to have patience, that I definitely don't have.  It was definitely great catching up, just a shame we can't do it more often.

My rest day then consisted of going to the gym and playing on the slide board and skipping for a little while, nothing to strenuous, took it nice and easy.  Also still practicing my pull ups and have now progressed onto the yellow bands, now just need to progress onto the pink and then finally my own body weight.

The afternoon turned into a beautiful sunny day, so we took the dog out again to enjoy a bit more of the sunshine, really have to say that when its so sunny outside the last thing you want to do, is waste it sat indoors cleaning.  You are always better off getting out in the fresh air and enjoying the blue skys.

The great thing about doing a class built on HIIT, is that you are most certainly pushing past your own personal limits both physically and mentally.  To get to a certain stage in your fitness on your own is always difficult to conquer, but when you have some pushing you to more than what you think you can achieve is definitely something else. 

Stepping off the treadmill today was more like wobbling off the treadmill, there was a stage when my legs didn't actually feel like my legs any more, they just felt legs jelly, your breathing is so heavy and hard that it doesn't feel like its you doing it, but you just have to push.  Although there were points today when I did stop to catch my breath, will the feeling of not being able to get past it is just horrible. There was points that I truly did think I was going to see todays lunch again, but the worst thing about it, you move on and within a minute you've recovered and then you question yourself, can you push yourself harder or longer.  Is there a point in my own head that I stopped not because I couldn't actually do it, but mentally I started to struggle.

Have to say that there is something so addictive about feeling of achievements afterwards, that you have achieved so much more than what you expected and you can give so much more.  24 hours is a bloody long time and will be a challenge both physically and especially mentally, but having faith and belief that we can do it will make the world of difference.

I was lucky enough to meet up with Julia on Monday morning, so I had the opportunity to push myself that little bit more, as we came yo with our own morning met con session.  After the haul warm up we did the follow 1 minute intervals moving to each station within 30 seconds, 5 rounds:

There is something about it when the sun is shining and its warm outside.  Considering we are in Autumn, it was great to have a 28oC.  Since Sunday are taken as a rest day, instead we went for walk down to Elwood along the beach to St Kilda, nothing too strenuous.  The beach were full of the usual hustle and bustle, giving you an array of people that gives St Kilda is character. 

Not sure if the dog enjoyed as much as me, but it is always good to get out of the house and enjoy the fresh air and atmosphere, get out of the gym especially after spending the morning in the gym yesterday.

I thought I would participate in a met con session yesterday, but didn't actually know there wasn't anything on, so I ended doing my own thing.  Roxy gave me a couple of ideas which is great to apply for to other sessions that I would do on my own, and surprisingly it took a lot longer than what I thought it would take.

Run for the Kids was also on today, this year being the first year in the last 3 years that I haven't participated, after my performance last year, I really didn't want to go through it again and of course risking any issues with my knee, especially with the 24 hour endurance run, definitely not worth risking it and there is no way I was going to walk it.

With Jake being away we had Roxy aka 'mini Jake', the sweat came quick and fast especially on a 31 degree day.  After the warm ups, including some sprints, we did a circuit as follows:

1 minute on x 3 rounds

• Side shuffles
  
• x 30 rope slams / x 50 rope slams / x 60 rope slams
  
• Sled runs
  
• 45 sec treadmill 11km 8% incline
  
• Hammer slams on tyre
  

After doing Spartan last week, I noticed the massive change in my overall strength and abilities.  Although my weight increased overall the last year, my overall strength has also improved and increased.  Tonights strength and conditioning, I found that I was more focused on improved technique and building strength.  Increasing the weight on the bar bell squat, but ensuring that goo technique was still being performed.

After completing the warmups of skips, side shuttles, thrusts and craps.  We got stuck into the class which consisted of:

My morning tuesday morning boxing class has now been cancelled, it was a great class just to keep active first thing in the morning and to build up a sweat.  Apparently the numbers were never high enough, I will now probably start to feel lost on a Tuesday morning.  At least we had a good session this morning, with a mix of drills and 1,000 punch sprints.

First we did a set o punch drills from upper cuts, jab cross and hooks.

• Side steps with 4 punches
  
• Pistons
  
• Step jump with 4 punches
  
• Plank with punch
  
• High knees 8 punches
  
• Crunch and punch

We finished off completing 1,000 punches:

• 100 uppercuts
  
• 100 jab / cross

Now I have to start making up my own routines.  Especially since, Dave got some gloves for Christmas.

I then just had a wonder around the fitness expo, and then suddenly there was all this commotion, as Arnie was making his way through the crowds of people, pretty much mauling him as he went.  I actually thought there would be no hope in hell that I could make my way through the crowds of people, so I carried on my merry way.  To my surprise, he was actually heading in the direction I was in, so getting pushed aside by the security and phone at the ready, I got a small glimpse of Arnie.  At this stage I was happy, and with a gloating text to Dave, I carried on looking around.

The next thing I knew, I was getting pushed back AGAIN - only this time I actually didn't have anywhere to go, so I apart from the security guys I saw Arnie up, close and personal.  I then turned into one of the those crazy fans (not quite screaming), but reaching my hand out for him to shake, and to my upmost surprise, he looked me in the eyes and shook it, even now just writing about it does not seem real.

How amazing my day was, these are some of the reasons why I love keeping healthy and fit.

The weekend has been a little crazy so hence why it has taken me a little while to update the blog, finished work on Friday, got home, drove to the Mornington Peninsula for Hellfit, finished at 12.30ish got home about 1.30ish, got up about 6am Saturday morning and then was out all day, but this post isn't about the whole weekend its just about Friday Night.

Like most events that we do and especially the ones that we have never done before, there is always the anticipation on what we will be doing (4 hours in the dark), all we knew was that we needed torches and our water packs.  The first was always trying to find our way, especially when we haven't been there before and it was being held somewhere in Mt Erica. It was an absolutely amazing location and a perfect spot for an event like this.

It all kicked off with some introductions with group intro activities, and shaking hands with someone you haven't met, it then moved onto hugs (hug the person you just met like they're an old friend).  It was a really great way to get everyone together and to break the ice.  

We were then put into teams of 9 or 10, we were team Charlie or the Red Team, each team was allocated four 25kg sand bags in which there were a couple of rules:

1. you were never allowed to leave your sandbag
   
2.  your sandbags must never touch the floor for the whole night ;)

A couple of warmups in, we started with 50 step ups each, and then moved onto the bear crawls, then were wrapped together in glad wrap for a team race.  After this, the team leader had to roll the dice to determine the fate of the team.  We were lucky and received 20 burpees and while we performing these burpees, another team unfortunately rolled to take a sandbag from another team until the next fate check point, we were the lucky team)...

We then had a trek through the ranges, up a massively steep hill, of course during this time, there were 10 ribbons located around the trek in which we had to spot and collect (sounds easy in theory, but remember its pitch black except for our head torches).  It was getting to the stage were we thought we missed a few, but we started to find them along the way (we did miss the best one (the one that had the protein balls included), but not to worry.

The team were in good spirits, having come first in the steps ups and third in the team run, our points were in quite a good position.   After the trek, we came to another check point, in which we got our sandbag back and rolled to speak in a Indian accent (actually quite difficult, but a lot of fun).  The exercise had to come eventually, with the planks, jump and crawls team tasks, a run around the parkland with the sandbag, we then moved onto the next section which consisted of 8 rounds of the following:
Tabata, 8 sets, 20 seconds on 10 seconds rest

1. Dynamic Lunges
   
2. Dips
   
3. Cussack
   
4. Plank
   
5. Pushups
   

Due to time restraints we had to miss the plank and pushup rounds.  We did roll the dice, in which this time we had to sing - which was interesting since we could definitely not sing.

The last task, in which determined the winning team.  For an additional 50 points, we had to go through the ;ale.  For our team, there was no question that we were doing it.  We were first and received an additional 10 bonus points for being the first team to go through.

Our final task was not to lose our ribbons, while the zombies chased us and through water balloons. 

It was an amazing and fun night, and definitely looking forward to the next one.

To check that both Dave and I were up for the challenge of a 24 hour endurance run, we had a full body service.  Checking blood pressure, heart rate cholesterol etc..  Of course we want to make sure we are at our best for when we do it.  We of course get the blood pressure results straight away, which I was fine and Dave was a little high.  Next came the blood test results, Dave got a phone call on Tuesday to come in today for the results, I am still waiting for mine.  Not sure why mine would take longer, I am just presuming that because of Dave high blood pressure his got fast tracked.

Dave results weren't the greatest, and due to the high risk of them being skewed due to minimal hydration etc a re test needs to be done in a  couple of weeks.  Also a liver test was conducted, in which he we will receive the results in 3-5 days.

• Ideally cholesterol levels should be between 3.5 and 5.5 - Dave's result 6.4
  
• Urea result was also high at 9.4 (normal range is between 3.0 and 8.0)
  
• Triglycerides were also high at 1.5 (this is usually associated with a high fat, high alcohol diet).  Anything less than this amount it ideal

Apparently all these can be associated with a high protein diet, we really do have to find the right balance.  It also goes to show that not all healthy eating plans work for everybody.  We will continue to monitor and then amend if we need to.

It also goes to show how important it that we are doing this for the heart foundation, everyone can be affected by heart disease even if your on a healthy diet and exercise regular. Your heart health is always important. 

On the bright side of things, at least I did my ankle now rather just before the event.  I could stand and walk without too much pain, so I knew it wasn't anything too serious.  The hardest part would have been to cancel all my classes this week, to ensure that I will be fit enough to participate in Hellfit this Friday (a four hour endurance event in the dark), I just have to make sure I am on the mend, and everything is working as it should be.

Of course a visit to Ben at Mosiac Health helped, especially to have some reassurance that its not as bad as I thought, and with rest and some more exercises I should be ok to go on Friday.  I know its not that far away, and I am sure I can cope with not going to the gym for a few days.  Somehow I have to keep on track with my diet since I am not heading to the gym, at the end of the day its only a few days and its better a few days than a few months.  Slowly learning not to be so stubborn to help get fitter quicker.

Although there a few areas that we need to improve upon including our overall running capabilities especially up hills, overall we did it without any issues.  Including the ROPE climb!!! I actually conquered my own innate fears of climbing a rope and actually did without help! Although the start was sloppy, it did get there in the end. The whole day was a great success and as always look forward to the next Spartan event.

That moment when you realise that 3 months today, we will be under going the most brutal event that we can ever put ourselves through, and 3 months really isn't that long.

Well tomorrow we have Spartan Super so it will be good testing point for us, and also we can then analyse the areas we need to improve on.  A 14km, 25 obstacles course that will test us physically abad mentally, not to mention the 4am wake up call to ensure we have breakfast, get there, register etc.. Oh the fun of these events and how the nerves kick in, not really knowing what the hell your getting yourself info.

Yesterday we both went for a general health check, since we will be participating in a 24 hour obstacle thought we best get everything checked out.  We don't get the blood tests for another couple of days, but we did have our blood pressure and heart rate tested. Nothing too exciting, and we could have probably done it at home, BUT we didn't and it is probably and good thing that we didn't.

Although Dave is a healthy, fit person he still has HIGH Blood pressure, coming out with a result of 150/100.  It does not fit your typical stereotypical 'high blood' pressure criteria, and all the things that need to be done to reduce it, he is doing.  

Based on Dave's results, he is going to have to wear a monitor for 24 hours, and then go back to the doctors.  The monitor isn't available for another couple of weeks, so we will keep you posted.  Of course this puts everything into perspective and goes to show that you can't take everything for granted, even if you lead a healthy, active lifestyle, the importance of heart health is always paramount and should aways be taking seriously.  I was normal, but will continue to monitor to ensure that my heart is performing as it should... 

The morning started, as most morning do ;) with a workout.  Started off with an 1/2 hour bootcamp session, the only major thing that was probably most concerting would have been the additional pushups on the bosu ball, considering my workout yesterday also consisted of pushups as well as a full on boxing class.  Felt good to get through it, 4 and a bit rounds of the following:

• x15 box jumps
  
• x 15 ab crunch (legs high and straight)
  
• x15 kettle bell row 12kg 
  
• x15 plank up/downs
  
• x90sec treadmill 14-15km
  
• x15 push ups on bosu
  

and then we incorporated the 20,000 plus steps done today (to be far this does include the run later on in the day), and then a 5km run.  Felt great and good to be moving again (missed having those run moments), and now just need to increase the distance which I am sure I will get there with some time and patience.

Felt like a full on crazy workout today, my usual 'boxing partner' was not here this morning, so I had the pleasure of training with the trainer and doing two sets of circuits.  Which to push yourself to new limits are always great, but most definitely hard work, although surprisingly the 'killer' part of the circuit would have been the touch jumps, doing them for 30 seconds for 3 sets, your legs start to feel pretty heavy.  The usual combos, are always a mind beep, especially at 6am!!  So my major workout this morning consisted of the following TWICE

Of course when your training for a 24 hour endurance event, your training doesn't stop first thing in the morning.  The second session of the day had to happen after work.  This is more strength and conditioning based rather than cardio, but is still a killer workout:

Why is it when you feel like you are actually achieving something, you end up doing something that ends up setting you a couple of step backwards.  After feeling a little lost this morning without my usual PT session with Megan, it took me a little while to work out what to do in the morning.  Not really sure what to do when you don't automatically get up and put on some gym clothes, and run out the door. Made up for it after work, creating my own kettle bell workout, that was after a 30 minute stretch and warm up session.

4 sets:

• x12 8kg Single Arm Swing
  
• x12 8kg Renegade Row
  
• x12 12kg Squats
  
• x12 12kg Figure 8
  
• x12 8kg Russian Twist

After an hour in the gym, topped it off with a 5km run, yep this is where I rolled the ankle.  Taking an over excited dog with you on a run is probably not the best idea in the world, and when he starts getting under foot stride, there is no real surprise that the ankle ended up going.   I hadn't gone too far, but it would have probably taken me the same amount of time to walk back as it would to continue running, so I continued running.  Annoying it was a really good run, apart from the dog, and felt confident I could have gone on longer (if not for the ankle). 

Trying to stick to a clean diet over the weekend is definitely the hardest, especially when there is so much temptation everywhere.   Didn't go of the rails too much, but trying to stick to a healthy eating plan when you realise that:

• you don't have the actual food on the plan in your fridge
  
• your timing throughout the day are all over the place
  
• temptations is around everywhere (including leaving bags of jelly beans at the house auctions).
  

The jelly beans lasted until we were walking home, so not really that long (plus it had been a really long afternoon, walking from one house to the best).  The good thing the dog had an amazing walk today, and is now fast asleep.  Really is a hard life being a dog ;(

No gym workouts today, having a day of rest but I think we compensated with the walking instead.  Back to the gym tomorrow.