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You are here: Home / 2014 / Archives for January 2014

Archives for January 2014

#walk400 – the final tally

OperationMove · January 31, 2014 · 4 Comments

walk on

I am having issues with the fact that we are a month into 2014 already. My brain has really not caught up to the idea that the year is well and truly underway. But regardless, time marches on and we try to keep up with it.

I’ve mentioned a few times how much I’ve enjoyed the #walk400 challenge, and I’ve loved following you all on Instagram too. It is so interesting checking out the scenery where YOU walk!

For me, walking with my kids and taking the time to enjoy the gorgeous countryside where I live has been a great way to start the year. I smashed through the 400 minute target, but by the last couple of weeks I was barely even thinking about minutes. I was too busy enjoying myself.

So here we are at the end of the month already, and well done to Anita @FitMotherHubbard who is our fourth She Science winner! 

To pick up your 20% Rockwear voucher and be in the running for the major prizes, please email kate@operationmove.com.au with your email address, mobile number, longest distance walked, your fastest pace, your total distance and your greatest elevation. Details must be in by February 7 to be considered for these great prizes so hop to it!

So how about you? Did you make your target? Has #walk400 helped set you up for a brilliant year too?

And where will you go from here? Are you ready to take on #Feb450 and keep up the walking, or will you join our Learn to Run group?

The choice is yours, just keep moving.

Dorothy’s Story; Walking Out Of Depression

OperationMove · January 29, 2014 · 9 Comments

 

IMG_5706

Sometimes I have to remind myself that just getting out the door for a walk is a huge accomplishment.

I am great at beating myself up for not moving enough, for not eating healthy enough, for just not being enough.

So I have to remind myself.

I have been carrying an extra 20 kilos for the last 15 years, which is exactly how long I’ve been on anti-depressants. I suspect that nothing short of a major lifestyle change will enable me to shift it and going off my meds is not yet an option.

So I have to remind myself that a) I have depression and b) I am on medication. When my mood is low, getting out the door and moving really is an achievement.

I will never be a runner, nor do I want to be one. I am, however, a walker. It’s been my favourite form of exercise for like, ever. As a child, I was allowed to roam the neighbourhood pretty freely and walked huge distances just about every day, especially on holidays.

I have lovely memories of summer holidays in the Polish countryside where I rambled through wheat fields, cow pastures and the local cemetery. There were favourite houses I checked on on my walks and the best spots to pick wild flowers.

I walked to and from school, went bushwalking on holidays and explored several European cities on foot.

When my babies were little I regularly walked with the pram for both exploratory and exercise purposes and when they grew I walked alongside them on their bikes. The older they became though, the less willing they were to get out for a longer walk. And, frankly, walking with small children is more of an exploration than actual exercise.

My moving became haphazard over the years, especially since my youngest started school. I can’t blame lack of time, it was pure laziness. Walking along the same streets day in day out became really boring for someone who’s always equated walking with exploring.

Looking for motivation and accountability, I joined Operation Move and it’s been life changing.

When everyone in the group is moving and discussing their moving, it is hard to keep sitting on the couch or in front of the computer. There have been many occasions when just thinking about the group has got my butt out the door and walking.

Whenever I feel bad that I’ve only walked once in a week, rather than my goal of three, someone in the group will remind me that it’s one time more than somebody who hasn’t moved at all.

OperationMOVE has shifted my view of walking from exploration to serious exercise and so now I take it seriously. I still walk the same streets, but I concentrate on what I’m doing, rather than on my surroundings. I focus on the work my body is doing and repeat affirmations as I go. Sometimes I look up to take in my environment and am grateful for making the move out of Melbourne.

Taking walking seriously, I even bought workout singlets and sports bras and am no longer ashamed of my body as I walk. Because I AM moving.

I doubt that my goal of walking 3 times a week will make much of a difference to my weight, but it is definitely making me fitter and I have lost a few kilos, as I also adjusted what I eat.

My walking pace has improved heaps since joining Operation Move and taking walking seriously helps me feel better about myself. My mood is better when I walk regularly and I am slowly beginning to organise my days around my walks. Sometimes we do family walks, but I prefer to walk alone.

Walking is one of my strategies for managing depression and anxiety. I’ve already reduced one of my medications and will try to reduce the other soon.

Being medication free and sane are my ultimate goals. Losing all that weight would be a bonus. I wonder if I can get there.

 

Dorothy fitspo

 

Dorothy has been blogging for over five years, most recently at Dorothy K. She blogs to keep herself sane, more or less, writing about resilience, mental health and solo parenting.

A sole parent of two boys, Dorothy is also a freelance copywriter, thinker and problem solver. Since beginning blogging she has launched two businesses and left Melbourne to live in Ballarat.

 

Diana Nyad: If you have a dream, find a way

OperationMove · January 27, 2014 · 1 Comment

Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida. She was 64, and it was something that no one else had ever done. It took her 53 hours and many, many attempts.

Here she talks about team work, how the journey builds character and the tiny amount of sadness she felt at the end of her epic journey.

#walk400 – moving on and moving up!

OperationMove · January 25, 2014 · 8 Comments

the road less travelled

 

We are rapidly reaching the end of January, despite my best efforts to drag out the long days of Summer holidays with my kids.

I will admit that I didn’t think #walk400 would be that much fun for me. I’d been sulking about not being able to run and I felt like it would be a pretty poor second best to my usual running training.

I could not have been more wrong. I have spent hours enjoying the sunshine and the countryside where I live. I have listened to fabulous podcasts, I have had beautiful conversations with my children when they’ve joined me, and I’ve been able to take some gorgeous photos as well. All things that I can’t do when I run.

So many of you have already smashed through 400 minutes of walking, which is fantastic! I know many are very close to it and some may not quite get there this month. But isn’t the very best thing about goals that whether you reach them or not, you always have the ability to make new ones?

So as we wind up the challenge for this month, we are asking you where you want to go next.

We have two options for you to think about over the next few days.

Maybe you are loving walking and want to keep going. Fantastic! In February we’ll be asking you to extend yourself a little with #Feb450. Our current forum group will continue but be renamed #Feb450 because we know you have that extra 50 minutes in you! And just like this month we will have some prizes on offer too, stay tuned for more details on those.

Maybe having walked for the month you think you might like to learn to run? Guess what! Our wonderful life coach Lee from Brightside Coaching will be running a group just for you! And it is for EVERYONE and ANYONE who wants to give it a try. You do not have to have run a day in your life before, you just have to be willing to try something new. Who knows, you may end up as crazy about it as Zoey and I are! And if you don’t that’s fine too, because you will know you tried something different and challenged yourself.

So what amazing thing are you going to attempt in February? For me, February will see a return to running training and I’ll be sharing that in the Moving Machines section for the loopers who are going a bit hard core. If you’re a casual mover you might like to jump in to I like to move and make some friends there, and if you are brand new to this moving gig you can find your crew at New Movers.

So what is your February plan?

 

Congratulations Michelle @twolilcrickets who has won the #walk400 She Science gift voucher this week! We’ve loved watching you smash this challenge!

Struggletown. Population Me.

OperationMove · January 24, 2014 · 5 Comments

There’s usually no rhyme or reason to it. It just happens. Pops out of nowhere when you are least expecting it. You head off for a workout (or in my case a run) and it’s just freaking hard. Far harder than it should be. Feet like lead. Lungs at about ten percent capacity. And that ability that you take for granted, to be able to push through and find that magical next gear show up is just gone.

three-cs

 

Who are you competing against?

Is it you? Because it should be. There’s no quicker way to make your workout feel like shit than comparing it to someone else. You are your best and only competition. Anything else is a distraction unworthy of your time. You know what you should compete against? Not your time last week or last month. But that voice in your head that says you can’t. That voice is excellent competition.

Stop looking at your time, pace or distance.

It’s ok. I’m a PB addict as well. I understand. But when you know you are not going to get there, let’s not having a glaring reminder of how much today is not the day. Get back to what you loved about it before their were times and records. Outside? That’s pretty awesome. There are beautiful skies and trees to look at. Sure you might occasionally have to leap over a dead snake or rabbit but mostly so pretty. If you have kids you will probably just enjoy being on your own because how often does that even happen?

Break It Up.

Most things are intimidating if you look at them in total. If you break them up they suddenly seem more achievable. The other day I had a crossfit circuit that was 50 x squats, 7 dips, 7 chin ups and 10 power cleans with three rounds. Now if I’d looked at that in total I would have probably died. I mean 150 squats?! But it’s just a round. Anyone can do a round.

It is not a waste.

Don’t think because it’s incredibly hard, that it’s a waste and you might as well give up and try another day. It’s exactly the ability to keep pushing when you are mentally exhausted that is going to improve your speed, endurance and capabilities in the long run.

Measure a workout by the effort you put in.

Was it hard? Congratulations, you just did all you will ever need to do.

Just Finish.

You made a commitment to yourself. Finish it. It doesn’t have to be fast, it doesn’t have to be stellar. You don’t even have to like it. You just have to finish. By any means at your disposal. And then you take that ability to finish and you use it the next time that voice in your head shows up. You proved that voice wrong once and you will do it again.

And once you’ve done all of that, talking to other people who totally get it goes a very, very long way.

 

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