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Breaking Barriers June 28, 2006

Have you ever noticed that when you have a perceived performance barrier you’re working at, you keep coming close to it day after day, week after week, and you start to wonder if you’ll ever beat it? Then one day you break through it, then you beat it again during the next couple of attempts, and pretty soon you’re beating it every time. You then wonder what it was that was stopping you from reaching that limit all that time.

This morning I ran 5 km (3 miles) in 26 minutes 22 seconds, beating my previous personal best (from 2 days ago) by 23 seconds. My previous best before that was around 27 minutes 45 seconds.

I’d been running the 5 km in around 27:40 to 28:00 every time. My times haven’t been improving for weeks, and I was wondering how I was ever going to beat the 27:30 barrier. This time corresponds to 5:30 per km, so I’d been using my GPS to keep an eye on my pace and try to keep it under that level. I did pretty well for the first 3 km or so, but every time I’d run out of energy towards the end and my time would come in at just over 27:30.

Two days ago everything seemed to go right. The temperature was nice, the hills didn’t seem quite as hard, I was breathing and stepping comfortably, and my pace was good. I realised towards the end of the run that I was making very good time, so I put in as much extra effort as I could muster and really ran in the last 300 m or so. My final time was 26:45, a whole minute faster than what I was previously doing!

This morning I did the run again, and this time I came in at 26:22!

It seems that once a barrier is broken, it’s shattered. A switch is flipped in your mind that suddenly removes whatever thoughts were holding you back. You know you can beat it and so you do, again and again and again.

The hard part is beating that barrier for the first time.

Whatever it is you’re doing, if things seem to be going really well it’s a sign that this might be the day. Dig deep, put in as much extra effort as you can, and make the most of whatever is going right for you today. Tell yourself that this is the day you smash the barrier. Think about what you’re doing, strive to keep up your pace, and focus on the end result you’re hoping for. If you truly believe you can do it, chances are good that you will.

If it doesn’t come together this time, think about what went wrong. Did you have energy left at the end that you could have used earlier? Did you do anything differently? Did it work or hold you back? What part of your performance could you improve? What’s the one thing that’s holding you back the most? Work on these things, and eventually they’ll all come together on the same day.

Once you’ve broken that barrier, think about what it was that allowed you to achieve a new personal best. Did you do anything differently? Did you use any new techniques? Did you prepare differently beforehand? Did you pace yourself differently throughout the activity? Did you go hard towards the end? Did you start out hard, or save your energy for the end when you really needed it? What did you focus on or think about? How did you feel during the activity? How did you feel afterwards?

Next time out for that activity, remember all these details. Go over them in your mind before starting. Think of them during the activity, and try to repeat the same thoughts and actions throughout. You know you can do it, and you know how you did it last time, so chances are good that you’ll do it again this time. Once you’ve beaten the barrier a few more times, it’ll seem easy and you’ll be enjoying operating at your higher performance level.

And pretty soon you’ll encounter a new performance barrier, and you’ll get to repeat the whole process again!

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I Ran 5 km In Under 27 Minutes! June 26, 2006

This morning the front light wasn’t on at A’s house (our signal to each other when one of us is not running this morning), so I ran alone.

This was not a bad thing, as I had a few podcasts I wanted to listen to (Tips From The Top Floor (photography), Up To The Top Floor (digital media business), and Part II of a great interview by Yaro Starak with an Australian eBook writer named Daryl Grant).

Maybe it’s because I was distracted by the great podcasts, or maybe it was because I’d had a couple of days of no running and was rested up, but I felt great running this morning and broke my old personal best for 5 km (3 miles) by about a minute! I ran it in 26:45, which is an average pace of around 5:21 per km. I had a lot of energy left towards the end, and was able to really push hard for the last few hundred metres, shaving valuable seconds off my time.

I need to start increasing my distance a bit now, especially if I’m going to run in the 14 km Sydney City To Surf race in mid-August. I don’t expect to be able to run the whole thing non-stop, but I figure if I approach it in stages of 2 to 3 km each, with a walking rest in between each stage, I should be able to put in a respectable time.

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Weekly Weigh-In 2006-06-25 June 25, 2006

Weight Loss Chart for 25 June 2006 All time weight loss chart up to 25 June 2006

What an awesome week! As I mentioned in my last post, by simply changing a few of my daily habits and getting back into the weight-loss frame of mind, I was able to step up my weight loss rate dramatically. Where I had been losing 0.3 to 0.5 kg per week for many weeks, I have now stepped the rate up to over 0.8 kg per week. I’m hoping to push it over 1 kg per week with a little more work this week.

I’m a little concerned that a portion of my weight loss each week is from fat free mass. My body fat percentage isn’t dropping as much as I’d hope, and I don’t really know why. I don’t do any weight training, so I guess that’s one obvious reason, but I would have thought all the running I do would be building up my legs. It’s possible I’m not getting enough protein in my diet to maintain my muscle mass, so I’ve started drinking a protein shake after each big run I do. We’ll see how that helps. I’m also open to other suggestions!

Being fit seems to have really helped my ability to recover from illness. Every winter I get one or two bouts of the flu, which typically hang around for a week or two. The one I had last week only really hung around for a few days, and then I was quickly back to normal. Maybe it was just a weakling strain of the flu bug, but I really think my improved overall health had something to do with shaking it off quickly.

My surge in weight loss has seen me start to move up in the Biggest Loser Rankings (my username is ‘ttgf’) over at PhysicsDiet.com. I’m now pulling ahead slightly of a couple of other people I’d been stuck behind for a while, and am nipping at the heels of a couple more. I find it motivating to have a bit of friendly competition – it keeps me striving to do more, and gives me a sense of progress and feeling of achievement. Somehow I doubt I’m ever going to challenge Matt’s phenomenal weight loss of 43.7 kg (96.3 lbs) though! :-)

The Power Of Commitment June 22, 2006

Wow, who would have guessed what a difference a “kick in the pants” would make?

On Sunday I resolved to get tough on my diet and try to get my weekly weight loss moving again. I stated that I wanted to lose 0.5 kg this week, and 1 kg next week. As it turns out, I’ve already met this week’s target, and it’s only Thursday!

My daily weight measurements for the past three days have been 91.5, 91.0 and 91.0 kg (previously they had been for a while around 92.5 or 93.0 kg), so the moving average weight loss still has some room to drop before it catches up. This should give me the momentum to reach my target next week as well, and potentially far exceed it if I keep doing what I’m doing. Fantastic!

So what have I been doing? Not a lot, really. I think what was preventing me from losing much weight over the last few weeks was that I was straying from the ‘default’ eating habits I’ve installed over the last 6 months. I’ve been bringing leftover meals to work for lunch, instead of eating my normal healthier lunch. I’ve been having slightly larger meals at night than normal. My wife has baked a few cakes and muffins in recent weeks, and I’ve been bringing them to work as snacks. I also bought lunch at work (mmm, Chinese!) a few times instead of bringing my own.

All I’ve done this week is to go back to my normal habits. I’ve been bringing my normal lower-calorie lunches to work every day again, I’ve reduced the size of my evening meals, and I bring healthy snacks to work instead of cake and muffins. It really wasn’t much effort at all, but it seems to have made a huge impact.

I don’t have much further to go before my BMI reaches 25 (it’s currently 27.6), at which point I’ll officially no longer be overweight. My medium term goal is to try to reach that point before my birthday, August 15. Time will tell!

Weekly Weigh-In 2006-06-18 June 18, 2006

Weight loss chart for 18 June 2006 All time weight loss up to 18 June 2006

This was a much better week for exercise – today was the only day I didn’t run. I’ll probably have tomorrow off as well, due to a flu I’ve picked up. Hopefully it won’t last long.

My weight loss has slowed down in recent weeks. I’m not sure if it’s winter, being more busy, or just a dip in my resolve – whatever the cause, I need to get things back on track. I’ve been taking leftovers for lunch a fair bit lately and eating larger meals at night. That needs to stop, as do the muffins and biscuits I’ve indulged in a few times lately.

I’m going to aim for 0.5 kg weight loss this week (since I’ve lost my momentum), and 1 kg the following week. Nothing like a challenge to kick-start things!

Weekly Weigh-In 2006-06-11 June 11, 2006

Weight loss chart for 11 June 2006 All time weight loss up to 11 June 2006

I took the advice of Holly and Matt from last week’s Weigh-In, and bought myself some new pants this weekend. Man, what a difference! I’ve dropped 2 or 3 sizes, and the new pants feel so much more comfortable than my old baggies. I’m planning to never fill out those old ones again.

Not a lot of exercise got done this week. We’ve had a lot of late nights for the past few weeks, and it’s caught up with me this week. That, and the sudden cold spell that makes it so damn hard to get up at 5:30 am! The guy I normally jog with was away most of the week, too, so I didn’t have the whole “not wanting to let my mate down” thing making me get out of bed.

Weekly Weigh-In 2006-06-04 June 4, 2006

Weight loss chart for 4 June 2006 All time weight loss up to 4 June 2006

This was a pretty bad week for exercise – I only got out twice! Part of it was the rain, but I now have an exercise bike and can do a workout indoors if I can’t go out. I also had some problems with children keeping us up through the night (who can get up early when you didn’t get a decent night’s sleep?!). A couple of times G woke up about half an hour earlier than usual, so I had to get her up and give her breakfast. Hopefully things will improve next week.

Despite the lack of exercise, my weight loss picked up a bit this week. I’ve been a bit more conscious of my diet, although I’d still like to be losing closer to 1kg per week.

I’m definitely starting to get sick of my now-baggy clothes, but I don’t want to buy new stuff just yet – I probably have another 13 kg or so to lose before I reach a reasonable weight. Anything I buy now will be too baggy in a few short months. What to do? Maybe I should just buy some stuff from a second-hand shop to see me through.

Training for the City To Surf run didn’t progress much this week. I need to try to fit in some more 5 km runs next week, and then build up to 7 or 8 km within a few more weeks. I’d like to be able to run at least 10 km once or twice before the event, so I can give it a decent effort. We’ll see.