A Picture of Health

As part of Kath's unofficical 12WBT blogging Challenge she's asked two questions for week 2 post:

• What is (to you) a picture of health? 
• What is health?

 There's not a straight forward answer for this one. Being healthy and fit comes in all different shapes and sizes. Just because someone has a BMI of 20 doesn't mean that they are fit and healthy. They might be what I've come to refer as "skinny fat", or having a low lean muscle percentage and eat crap all the time. Sure they might look fairly good but unless they're one of the lucky few it will catch up with them.

I had a search of the net for the pictures below. I saw these, and some others a couple of years ago and I find that they are a fantastic visual representation of health, body image and our differences.  All the women in the pictures below are/were olympic athletes. Their heights, weights and build all vary and as they are at the top of their field you can only assume they are in top physical condition and health.

Source: amazingasset.com via

Source: amazingasset.com via Kym on Pinterest

 Source: theskinnytimes.tumblr.com via Kym on Pinterest

So what is health to me? To narrow it down for me it is my body and my mind being in sync.  It is me being free to do whatever I want to do, to not be restricted by weight, emotional or physical baggage.  Yes it is possible to tick all the boxes in relation to your PHYSCIAL health and fitness but if you aren't able to do the same emotionally and mentally then something is out of balance.

Source: getfitorbust.tumblr.com via Kym on Pinterest

You don't have to have the resting heart rate of an Olympic long distance runner, the body fat percentage of a gymnast or the strength of a weightlifter to be healthy. Being healthy aids in your body being able to repair itself and to handle the stresses that we throw at it everyday.  Being a picture of health helps you stay in a happy place and lets you be free.

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It's All in the Mind

You've probably heard it before but today I proved to myself that running is all in the mind.  Today everything seemed to be conspiring against me getting up and doing my run.  My internal battles and mind games started at 5:15am when DD2 came toddling up the hallway.  Being a Sunday it was too early to expect DH to put her back to bed so I scooped her up into our bed and got her back to sleep at around 6.  I had been planning to get up then but everytime I moved she stirred and with an eventful morning planned I didn't want a grumpy bubby on my hands.

Event 2 - Its been raining and my gear is still wet at 7.  We need to leave by 9 and my long run takes 1.5hrs so I decided not to wait for the dryer and do it this afternoon.

Event 3 - DH has to stop by work on the way home from our morning activities so running while the girls sleep goes out the window.

Event 4 - I've lost my favourite running shirt.  I've turned the house inside out and upside down and I can't find it.  I'm hoping its in the lost property (if they even have one) at the gym and will find out tomorrow.  OK so this one is just another internal excuse - but I grabbed some other gear to wear.

Event 5 - I discover my iPod is flat.  Stick it on the computer for enough charge to get me through my session.

Event 6 - 5 minutes before DH gets home from work DD2 decides to pee all over me.  OK yes it was my fault for not watching for her cues a little more closely while she was in undies but now my favourite running pants are soaked.  I pull out a pair of all pants that are more suited to yoga than running but its all that I have left that's dry.

Event 7 - The stupid blister block won't stay one my blisters properly.   They get reinforced with bandaids and I'm nearly ready to go.

So at 3:55 I finally get on my way and I just know that this isn't going to be easy.  I try to run through things to relax.  I try to focus on my breathing but nothing seems to work.  The first 700m passes relatively pain free and then the hill starts.  From somewhere I manage to run the entire length of Jackson Road without walking (even if my run was more of a waddle) and round the corner.

After a short respite on a down hill section the climb starts again.  I don't stop, I keep moving, I don't walk and sweat is running down my face.  Every muscle in my body wants to stop, my knees are starting to hurt (which is probably due to the 1km sprint yesterday) and I start remember a design of a T-shirt an online friend designed - "Sweat is fat cells crying" and I keep going.

Ming's Shirt - If you like it please vote for her here

I round the next corner and I want to stop but I keep going.  I can feel a blister on the un-taped up foot starting but now I'm about half way so I'll just finish what I started.  I'm feeling a little down about it all as by this stage last week I had hit "The Zone" and today I just can't get there.

I make it over the railway bridge without stopping even if I slow and round the next bend and start the next small climb.  I make it over the crest and pick up speed on the down hill run.  I pass the train station and the voice in my head is saying just stop, go over the train bridge and you'll be home in 3 minutes.  The other voice in my head (I can have a few going at anyone time!) is saying come on its ONLY another 2.5km.  Thankfully good prevails and I keep going.

I make it to the level crossing and the sun is starting to dip early today.  The sky has a slightly beautiful colour to it but I'm really not in the mood to admire it.  Everything is hurting, my breathing is rather laboured but I'm nearly home.  I round the second last bend, and I know my energy is nearly spent, I round the last bend and have 100m left and I can't pick up speed as usual but I make it to my driveway and hit the stop button and sigh with relief.

Now this is where it shows how much of running is mind set.  I found this run so frigging hard and I was sure it was really slow but it turns out it was only 10s slower than last week which over 10.29km is nothing.  My brain had set me up for it to be hard.  I then thought I'd look at my heart rate stats.

• Last week - Max HR 179, Avg 170
• This week - Max HR 174, Avg 164

So in the space of a week my fitness has improved a little and I've proven to myself that yes running IS all in the mind.

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