Hi All,
It has been quite a while since my last post, I know. I have been busy with work, mostly organizing swim meets for my students.
I did my 21.1km run on the 9th of November and boy was it tough. My mother accompanied me through this journey (she didn't run though). We both woke up at 3am and I was already like "ok i've got to get my shit together", I had to keep on telling my mind that everything is going to be fine and that it will be over before I know it. I started getting changed while my mum made a peanut butter with jam bread (yummm) and at 3.30am we started walking to Sembawang MRT where the shuttle bus would pick us.
When we reached, we put our bags away and I took a power gel from GNC and thats when I started feeling the 'nervous feeling'... you know the feeling where you get butterflies in your tummy? Yeah I had that, except it wasn't for going on a date with a hot dude, It was for running 21.1km which is a totally different butterfly feeling. haha!!!
The race started at about 5.30am and there were exactly 2957 ladies all geared up and ready to run half a marathon. I must say, I am so proud of every single one of those ladies who participated, there were even ladies above 50 years old, and ladies who were a bit chubbier, RESPECT to you guys!!! And to those ladies who were sleeping, I bet it felt nice hey? (: maybe you should give it a try next year, maybe 10km for a start, whatd'ya say??
Anyhoo, it was raining!!!! And I could barely hear what was going on, there was a DJ speaking and saying good luck to us I think? and within 10 minutes of standing still waiting for my turn(and those around me) I was anxious to just move, I was excited yet afraid at the same time. "what if i don't finish it?" "what if I pass out?" "how will I get back?" ... So many what ifs in my mind. And I remember my darling boyfee who said "oh you know usually at least 1 person will die from a half marathon" errrrr...... "WHAT IF I AM THAT 1 PERSON????" gosh (slap you).
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPP" off we go!!! YAY!!! oh no yay..... -.- we were all getting squished and the water from peoples shoes were splashing into my eyes, someone accidentally spat on my shoulder "WHAT THE.....!" gosh you ladies are beasts!!!!
I ran and I ran and soon we were all not so close anymore, I had more and more and more space and then after about 7km I felt quite lonely :( So, knowing me, I started looking around at others and smiling and I looked like a total idiot I swear... I had a flu too so my nose kept leaking (eww gross, I know)... was a pretty unglam run i must say.
I reached 10.5km "YES HALF WAY POINT!!" wait what??? "why am are you doing this Chanty? Why? Why you wanna die so young" I swear I actually said that in my mind, then I laughed to myself (TOTAL WEIDO MOMENT, I hope no one saw).
As I reached my 15km point it was all about having a STRONG MIND. I remembered a quote "time is going to pass by whether you are doing something or not". And that really helped me going as I knew no matter what, I will reach my finish line, I've just gotta keep going, keep pushing. At the 16km mark, my legs started hurting, my ankles, my heels, my calfs, my hips... I was aching in places I never knew existed.
Then I decided to take a stop and just walk a little, well... limp a little... I swear it was so easy to give up but I didn't want to give in no matter what. There were old ladies running past me " GOSHHHHHH!!!! IM A NOOOOB".. Then the pacers came by me (2hrs 30mins pacers) with green and white balloons... I said "ok Chanty... just follow them all the way till almost the end and then you can ditch them and run as fast to the finishing line as possible...
Well... I did just that!!!!! I ran and I ran... and there were people taking photos of me but honestly I couldn't give a **** at this moment... LIKE DUH!!! you want people to smile for you? go to the starting line lah!! HAHAHA! (most people actually did smile and pose for the camera though, kudos to you!)
And then........ I could see the finishing line..!!!! And I started sprinting... UMMMM I thought I was sprinting well I felt like I was sprinting but then again I could barely feel anything... In the video my mother showed me, it looked like I was walking :/
I PASSED THE FINISHING LINEEEEEE!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!
Chantal Kristel Windley did it with a time of 2 hours and 17 minutes ( I aimed for below 3 hours) So I was OVER THE MOON! I came in 382nd place out of 2957!!NOT BAD CHANTY!
HOWEVER..... I will probably never in my life do it again, but then again... I am very random. Thanks for those who supported me, especially me mother!! :*
We had to run up the spiral bridge at Marina Barrage!! MADNESS!!
I promised in my previous post that I will share with you what I did to help kick start my fitness journey.
Ready to hear it??? It may come as no surprise but basically all I did was jog and gym.
You don't have to run every single day to be honest and you do not have to run fast or sprint or whatever...
My way is pretty simple and YOU yes YOU can do it too!!!
First thing I did was set a date, and the date I set was the 4th of January 2014 (Saturday).
I ran that day and I ran slowww. Just run slow, you're not rushing at all. You have your whole life in front of you to run so run slow take it easy.
I ran about 4-5km every alternate day. SLOWWW (I emphasise on this) why run slow? The slower you run, the longer you will be running for and when you run for a longer time, you burn more.
On the other alternate days, I head to the gym. I do heavy weight trainings for different parts of my body. And I will train one or two muscle groups, depending on how much time I have, together with Abs exercise at the end so that is a total of three muscle groups each gym session. These are all your muscle groups (biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings, abs, butt *see the picture below*)
Now for you ladies out there who think "I don't want to have big muscles and look like this......... :O
Or... THIS
Do not worryyyy lah!!!! I promise you, you will not look like that.... I know, I know. Unless you take steroids, but then you will look like that ^^ if you want, be my guest.
In fact, you will look more like this... Bella Falconi (MY FAV!!)
Paige Hathaway
Emily Skye
Michelle Lewin (SECOND FAV!!)
And then... There's Me :D Chantal Windley who is still working her way up to achieve her dream body.
Shot taken by @oneclickwonders he is an amazing photographer!! <3
*More photos from this shoot in my next post starring ohchanelly!*
So yes, I only spend about 20-40 minutes in the gym lifting weights non stop but of course having a break in between.
I will elaborate more on what sets/reps I do soon...
I hope this has help you get started and move your bum!!!
SET YOUR DATE NOW AND GET STARTED. REMEMBER, START SLOW (:
See ya all soon :*
Chantal, the help to your dream body.
Follow me on instagram: chantal_kw
Write me an email maybe? : chantals.fitness@gmail.com
