Is DOMS Is Good!!!

I sit here writing this today with a smashing headache and sore throat.  I can feel a build up in my chest of that horrible green stuff.   This is the first time I have felt unwell for a while, but unfortunately it has gone through our entire house and we just can’t seem to get rid of it.  Julie is also not well, but we are still planning on attacking this next few weeks with a vengeance before we go to Bali.

I mentioned in my last post how I felt I had hit the wall and was struggling.  This is true and I wasn’t sure how I was going to shake it up to see the extra kilos fall off like I had hoped this round.  It is not as though I am close to goal and should struggle to lose weight, I am still 117kg for crying out loud.  I have been working hard and increasing my run distances and intensity, doing more physically demanding workouts this round than last with the toning part of it, but I have only lost 3kgs in 4 weeks.  I lost that in one week last round.  Whilst I appreciate the body is changing, I am fitter and need to work harder, it becomes a little demoralizing when you don’t see bigger numbers.

This week has been a bit of a yoyo week for me.  I have a 500 gram loss, which in the grand scheme of things I was happy with, but I have been struggling mentally with a few things.  My wife wrote in her blog about being in holiday mode and to some extent I have to agree with her.  Some old habits tried to creep back in.  I was craving a glass or two of wine and thankfully for her willpower and resolve she said no on Friday night and we didn’t.  Instead we went and did our fitness test.  So my battles with my mindset have been my lows this week, which I feel I have managed to win, but the highs have been some other wins which were less than expected.  On Thursday night I decided I was going to do my wall sit.  NO ONE enjoys doing this and if they say they do then they are liars or demented.  Why would you, it kills.  My previous time was 4:07 and was always going to be hard to beat.  I got into position and started the clock and when I finished I managed to get a time of 6:05 but my thighs were on fire and I could have cooked eggs on them.  I still had to complete my workout, which was Michelle’s toning workout.  This only included 180 lunges, clams and a killer crunch section.  Oh my god I was in pain Friday morning. 

So the workout had given me DOMS from hell.  I was not getting any love from my wife or Michelle for that matter.  I sent a tweet saying that this workout was not conducive to being able to walk.  The response from my wife was “Suck it up Princess, Is DOMS is Good!!”  Michelle responded “ha ha, She said it not me.”  Thanks for the support guys.  When I headed out that night for the time trial I had made the mistake of eating a short time before and having a seriously sore right glute.  I had hoped I could knock 18 seconds off my time and get under 5 minutes, but the way I was feeling I doubted it.  I went out pretty hard and approx. 350 metres into my run I thought my right glute was going to explode.  It was tight, sore and on fire.  Add to that, at about 600 metres I coughed and thought my dinner was going to make a second appearance for the night.  Not looking good at all for a decent time.  Oh well, suck it up and get moving.  I was really starting to struggle and doubted I would get anywhere near my last time let alone beat it.  With approx. 80 metres to go I glanced at my timer and I was still under 4 minutes.  I still had a chance to beat it.  How is that possible.  As I got to the line I hit the button hoping to see a 4 but the timer showed me 5:01.  AARRGGHH that is not fair.  But I now know that I will make sure I prepare a bit more before my next time trial and smash it out of the park. 

The ups and downs continue after that as I was spent but managed to continue running and knock out another 4 kms.  I was very proud of this as I have not even contemplated doing any extra after other time trials.  Nice win there and maybe a bit of robot mode.  I came home to do my measurements and was smacked in the face with reality.  I had only lost 3.5 centimetres in 4 weeks.  How can that be.  After a massive 86.5 last round I have not moved in some areas.  Julie and I had a chat and we have decided that this 4 weeks has been a bit of a blip for us, but with 8 to go we can still smash it out and reach our goals. 

Saturday morning saw us with our usual group and a circuit session followed by boxing.  We are really enjoying these sessions and we are both busting our backsides in them to get maximum effect.  We have now started doing them on Tuesday nights, Julie calls them last chance training.

Out of all the above, what have I learnt this week?  You need to keep moving forward. You will be hit by speed bumps, detours and diversions along the way, but so long as you are able to get back on the chosen path, you will still get to the chosen destination.  It may take a little longer, it may not be smooth or all roses, but stick at it.  Giving up is not an option, that got me to 146 kgs and I am not going back there.  As I have said in the past, this is not a sprint, it is a marathon and a lifestyle change, so I am still learning what works and what doesn’t.  This will not happen overnight, but it will happen.    I will be smashing out some big numbers in the coming weeks (well that is the plan) and hoping to be under 100kgs by Christmas.  What a great present to myself that would be.