Here it is, just after 9pm on the first day of the program. I’m utterly exhausted but oh so proud of myself. Today is one of those days that in the past would have led to me doing absolutely nothing exercise wise and eating crap. But the new me actually coped with everything and stuck to the program!
The day started with a 6.30 am start at work which required a 5am wakeup call – I gave myself an extra half hour as I hadn’t made lunch and snacks to take to work due to socialising etc over the weekend. Now some people would have gotten up at 4 or earlier in order to get the exercise bit done, but I’m sorry that is just NOT me! Plus as a large part of my job involves driving its very important that I get enough sleep (enough sleep is important for EVERYONE and I’m sure I read somewhere that there is some correlation with obesity and not enough sleep). So anyway I made the banana bruschetta which in all honesty I wasn’t looking forward (I’ve never been a fan of cottage cheese, and cheese with banana??? ewwwww) to but it was actually really nice! Not the easiest to eat in the car as I tried to do with the 2nd piece after realising I was running late, but delicious non the less.
While making lunch and snacks I realised I need to buy some more small containers for taking all my goodies! I only had a few that were small enough, and I discovered today they are not watertight (and that cottage cheese looses a lot of water when you take it out of the fridge!). They are the first items on next weeks shopping list for me 
I finished work just in time to head to the sports podiatrist to see if I could get something done about this pain in my leg, (luckily the blisters now seem to be a thing of the past). This guy was great! He did a full bio mechanical assessment on me and I discovered I am overly flexible in my joints (eg my knees will bend the wrong way) and this is apparently not a good thing if you dont have the muscular ability to control the hyperflexing when fatigued. Hence when I slow to a walk after running my leg aches due to the tendon thing working overtime trying to keep my ankle in a neutral position. Let me tell you it was almost as good as a massage having him flex my feet, ankles and knees around too! I told him I’m doing this program and he seemed impressed that I am going about things the right way. He was also really happy that every question he had in regards to my health I knew the answer to, as well as what that answer meant. All this concentrating on those things has taught me more than I realised As I expected I’m in the wrong shoe. Apparently cross trainers are not good for all types of exercise (ok I was dumb thinking that when I bought them) and I would be better off in a running shoe… me… running shoes hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Plus I’m going to need an orthodic to help keep my foot/ankle in the right position while I strengthen the muscles tendons and ligaments that are supposed to hold it there. (I forgot to mention the hugely embarrassing balance tests he did on me where I couldnt stand on my left leg for more than a few seconds and when he asked me to do toe raises on that foot I almost fell over hehehe). It was fun getting a plaster cast made of my feet for the orthodics 
I’ve got some exercises to do for the next week or so while they are made up so hopefully the combination of exercises and the orthodics will mean I can run pain free soon!
By the time I finished there it was almost 6pm and I was feeling pretty weary. I’d decided to do the outdoor program though, and knowing there was a distinct possibility that I would collapse on the couch as soon as I got home, I’d actually gone to the podiatrist dressed for the workout with everything I needed in the car so I could stop off at an oval on the way home and get it done. I’d also arranged to meet another 12wbter there so I would feel even more obligated! My training buddy got mixed up with venues and didnt end up making it, but I didnt let myself use that as an excuse either. I just went down on to the oval and got on with it.
I’ve been doing the couch to 5k program for a couple of weeks, but always on the treadmill. As Mish had included a beginners run program in today’s workout, I decided to give the c25k a go on the oval. (I figured I’d do that instead of Mish’s one as I was already able to run more than 30 sec bursts consistently and didn’t want to lose the momentum I had gained on c25k). I’d picked the oval because its flat and I figured the ground would be softer and fairly even. I didn’t count on how much harder it is to run outside! Let me tell you those 3min runs on today’s program I wasn’t sure I could make it. It was a huge mental effort to force myself to keep going until it was time to walk. But I did it! There weren’t any hills near the oval so I used a low step and did 30sec step ups on each leg (as fast as I could) at the end of each lap of the oval, then did the rest of the program as per the instructions.
It was 7.30 by the time I got home, and let me tell you if I wasn’t doing this plan dinner would have been either home delivery or bread and cheese or something. I was just so tired! Luckily the Spanish chickpea recipe was quick and easy to prepare. By 8pm I was sitting down to a delicious, nutritious and downright filling dinner! I think I’m going to mark that one as a fav. I then got to have the second half of my frozen fruit yoghurt snack (if you havent tried that one do, it is YUM) which felt like a special dessert. Cleaned the kitchen and now sitting down sipping on a mug of peppermint tea and feeling very satisfied with today’s efforts. I’m sure I will sleep well tonight! Thankfully I dont have to work until a more civilised hour tomorrow so I’m going to allow myself to sleep in until 6.30 or 7
I hope everyone else is feeling great. Below is a pic of tonight’s dinner before I added the fish. A feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds
The Search to Find the Real PJ 