Kmac does Kili

An Apology

2010-05-10T08:17:00.000+01:00

Dear blog world

I've not broken up with oyou, and you've not done anything to upset me. This really has been a case "its not you, its me"...

:o)

I've not forgotten about my little blog here, in fact I've been feeling guilty for not updating as regular as I'd like. But those who know me know why I've been preoccupied.

This blog is not a blog about anything other than my quest to conquer Kilimanjaro, and I'm more determined than ever to do it in light of recent events. Everything with me is fine, that I can promise you. I'm stronger than I thought and I'm seeing this through.

When I'm able to I'll blog about whats been going on the past couple of weeks, most of it good - but right now everything has to be kept quiet :o) The walls have ears...

I'll try to keep you updated more often, I promise.

Love

Kmac xxx

No longer a 10k virgin

2010-05-03T09:29:00.000+01:00

Date : 3rd May
Weather: Bright and sunny, but a bit chilly
Footwear: Cute wee black ballet pumps

Morning bloggies!!

If Carlsberg did weekends.... I tell you, what a weeked I've had.

All last week I was tied up with Jesus Christ Superstar rehearsals, dress rehearsals, tech rehearsals and on Thursday night we opened. We opened after 12 weeks of long rehearsals, lost voices, missing Apostles, costume issues with my pants (loong story)... to be part of the show was something really special and quite often you'll hear people talk about "post show blues" and its so true. You spend so much time together with your fellow cast mates, and you see each other when you are hyper, shattered, ratty or ill that you become family and for show week you spend more time in a dressing room than you do in bed. But its all worth it. What we managed to put on last week was a spectacular show and I've not heard one bad review or comment about it. So well done JC cast and crew - heres to working with you all again soon.

Some highlights of show week for you all (apologies if they make little to no sense... some of you will know what I'm on about)

" Oh my fucking god"
"Herods dancers, bigger pants please. The guys in the fly tower dont know where to look"
"Good evening Jews, Romans, assorted Judeans and Herods Whores, this is your 5min act 1 beginners call"
"Welcome to the Alhambra Fm, and if your name is Clarke this one is for you. Act 1 beginners to stage"
Anything that came out of Kate Haley's scarcastic Irish mouth - That girl is compedy gold!
"Why wouldnt we find you attractive Vicki, you wear anal beads as accessories"
"See my purse.... its empty" ( When Ed forgot his line of "See my purse I'm a poor poor man" how anyone can forget a line halfway into it..!)

So many memories and the photos are just coming back to haunt us all on facebook....! No detagging now...

Now onto my race recap.

Yesterday marked the day that I would run my first ever 10k, and those of you the know me know that recently I was regretting the decision to do that. However, after the show on Sat night I went home, got an early night (didn't even watch 24!) and got up at 8am to start my race prep. Rob stayed in bed, knowing that hes going to be standing around Holyrood park for the best part of an hour wasn't really a motivator for him to get up early.

I had arranged to meet Mrs Fudge and Mr Fudge at 10am at the Scottish Parliment, then we all headed into the main area for teh start of the warm up. Mrs Fudge and I looted the Eat Natural stand and also the Powerade stand before the race, leaving the boys to carry our stash for the rest of the day. If we are gonna run 10k they can carry our refuel for later.

Fudgey and I has said from the start we would start together and meet at the end, but we'd be running independantly of each other because we both pace differently, and we are both really selfish runners! Normally we chat all the time, but when we are running there is no chat at all.

The first 5k went by perfectly for me, I was timing myself using the highly complex method of Ipod song lengths. Usually 5k for me takes me to track 7 on my ipod, but yesterday I hit the 5k mark by song 5/start of song 6 so approx 27 mins. A new PB.

Then I started to feel slightly unwell.... and decided the best course of action would be to throw up at the 6km marker.

This slowed me up and for the next 2 k I alternated between walking and power walking and light jogging.

Then I saw the 9k marker in the distance and decided to go for it, wasn't fun and my body was telling to stop, there were even a few tears because I was starting to think I couldn't do it.

Then somehow the next thing I knew I was crossing the finish line.

I'm going to be honest, this was not the most fun I'd had running and I wasn't at my best. I was shattered from a busy show week and other bits and pieces, but to hear that Rob and Mr Fudgey thought my time was around the 65min mark really perked me up. Then Mrs Fudgey sent me a text about 2 hours after the race to tell me...

My first ever 10k race time was 64mins and 53 seconds.

I was totally over joyed and wanted to do it all again. Until I got to Robs, felt sick and threw up again.

Moral of the story here kids, never run a 10k after 4 nights of JCS and never eat the cherry flavoured energy bar (designed to be eaten during excercise) after excercise - It'll make you feel great for about 20 mins then you'll feel super sick.

Today I feel great, knees are a bit stiff but thats to be expected.

Next stop Kilimanjaro!

Kmac xxx

I survived!

2010-04-20T10:42:00.000+01:00

Morning blog world!

I'm back and fiting fit (ish) after my weekend full of hen party fun, singing, dancing, hot tubing and then rehearsals on Sunday. I totally lost my voice on Sunday night and just getting it back now but a small price to pay for what was a wonderful weekend!

As promised, I manged to sneek in 2 cheeky runs while I was away. My run on Friday morning was glorious, it was a lovely day in Edinburgh and I decided to step up to my fear of running outside and I took to the pavements for a quick 40mins around HolyRood park.

Saturday morning around the lake and golf club at the lodge resort we were at for the hen weekend provided the location for the run. A lovely 30 mins around the lake (avoiding the angry swans and ducks that chased you) and up over the hill back to the log cabin.

I spent the weekend with some of my closest friends and one of the biggest moments for me was when one of them commented on how good I looked. She hadnt seen me since Oct/Nov last year and said she saw a difference in me and thought I looked great! Its always nice to hear things like that about you, but when you know the person really really means it its even better :o).

I wont go into the full hen weekend goings on (mainly because the walls have ears) but what I will tell you is that bubbly, hot tubs and WII Kareoke mix really really well and a lime and ginger salt exfoliation with a massage the next day is a fantastic hangover cure. We had a good selection of food for both nights, we brought our own so lots of healthy options like vegetable sticks and corn on the cob and salads, however I think my attraction to Sailor Jerry rum undid all my good work. Never mind, your best friend only gets married once right!

Hit the gym yesterday morning, not feeling 100% I decided to work on my upper body but soon realised that even that was too much, so I hopped onto the X trainer for 20 mins of moderate excercise on that. Better than nothing I figure!!

Today I'm resting, back to the gym tomorrow for a long run. I'm planning to reach 9k or even go the full 10k depending on time. Its 2 weeks until the Bupa 10k in Edinburgh and I'm getting nervous that I've never ran that distance before and I'm starting to feel me put pressure on myself to get a good time. I need to keep reminding myself that this is a training run for Kilimanjaro and that times don't matter. But if I take longer than 75mins to do it I'll be gutted.

Hope the volcanic ash isn't disrupting too many of you - my thoughts go out to all the families spread out all ove rhte world unable to get back to their home. The sheer power of nature is eye opening.

Kmac xx

Its the hen weekend

2010-04-15T08:35:00.001+01:00

Date: 15 April 2010
Weather: Nice but we have a volcanic ash overcast. Thanks Iceland Vocano!!
Shoes: My black lattice boots

We are now into final countdown for hen weekend number 1 this year. My fabulous best friend is getting married very soon, and this weekend 10 of us are heading to a log cabin to have a weekend full of girly shenanigans.

But fear not blog world because I have scheduled in 2 runs during my time away. I have a short 30 mins run planned for Friday afternoon as I arrive slightly before the other girls and I've got a 40 -60min run planned for Sat morning. That should blast away the cobwebs from the night before!!

I can't say too much about the weekend because the hen might be reading and she cant know what we are doing... but rest assured its going to be nice and tasteful, none of this " lets dress the bride up as a giant willy" nonsence.

I ran 8km on Tuesday morning which is the longest I've run to date, may not be the best distance compared to many other runners but for me this is a huge milestone to reach. I'm learning to be proud of what I achieve and not to benchmark myself against other people.

The Edinburgh 10k is only about 18 days away, the fabulous Fudgey is running the Dublin 10k this weekend, and she is less than 6 weeks away from her half marathon. To think this time last year Fudgy was focusing on her own wedding plans and I had just started training with Andy at my gym - Its mind blowing the change in 365 days.

Anyway best be off to get some work done before I head off at 12pm to start hen prep!

I'll be back next week ( when I've gotten over the hangover) to blog all about it..

Kmac xx

158 days to go....

2010-04-12T16:10:00.003+01:00

Date: 12 April 2010
Weather: SUN SUN SUN
Footwear: Black ballet pumps

Well its 158 days until we depart on the trek to Kilimanjaro and I'm starting to get scared, excited, worried and anxious. The enormity of the task ahead has finally hit me, the training, the altitude, the distance from home and the very real chance that I *might* not make it to the top.

Some quick fire facts about Kilimanjaro for you all...

Kilimanjaro sits 19,340m above sea level - Ben Nevis is 1,343m above sea level.
Kilmanjaro is the worlds largest freestanding mountain.
Its lost nearly 83% of its ice caps since 1912
In the year 2000 over 1000 reached the summit to watch the sunrise into the new Millenium.

Some quick fire facts about me...

I've never been more than 251m above sea level before
I only recently found out that I'm not infact Amphibious, I am actually Ambidexterous...
I can't read maps and don't understand why a compass moves ALL THE TIME!
I brought in the new Millenium on my backside because I'd slipped on the dance floor in the club that I was in.

So you can see there are some pretty huge challenges for me to face.

I have my boots (yucky brown colour... but apparently Hiking doesn't DO chic), I have my gators, I know where Kilimanjaro is so I'm part way there...

I heard that bugs arn't so much of an issue the higher you go because they are all DEAD thanks to the altitude (always comforting...) and I've read a number of travel blogs that decribe the lovely effects of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) and the 5 star toilet facilities.

And yet I'm excited. Yes - I have been called insane recently.

I'm not the worlds most confident person and I have self-esteem that, at times, is so low its below sea level and my recent party trick is to perform a panic attack when in the company of strangers or in stressful situations (Never underestimate the impact years of being told you're not good enough). Kilimanjaro will be a massive achievement for me physically and mentally and I'm going to do it. I'm doing it for me and for my charity. Nobody else.

But I know that I'll have people rooting for me and waiting for me to get back. The support you are giving me is pushing me forward, I don't want to let you down!!

I'm climbing Kilimanjaro for CCLASP, an Edinburgh based charity that helps children and adolescents suffering from cancer and leukaemia & provides advice & support for parents.

I've volunteered for CCLASP for around 2 years, ever since I moved to Edinburgh and its been so much fun. Christmas parties, Summer picnics, X Factor trips, Stacey Stroll's, Ladies Day at the Races to name but a few events I've helped at. But CCLASP also provide transport to and from hospital appointments, running a drop in centre, run a telephone helpline, arrange holidays, fundraisers, newsletters and the weekly clown entertainment on a Wednesday (theatre day) for those in hospital.

Please please please dig deep and donate to this wonderful and monumental charity through my justgiving site JUSTGIVING

I (and the rest of the Kili team) want to raise over £10,000 for them to help them continue the amazing work they currently do.

Kmac xxxx

April Fool!!

2010-04-01T08:26:00.000+01:00

Date: 1st April 2010
Weather: Crisp and cool outside (and inside)
Shoes: Black knee highs

Morning all. Have you been fooled yet? I've not had anything yet, but I suspect that at some point during the morning I'll get pranked!!

Its been a busy few days in Kmac land, the house move is tomorrow so I've been getting ready for that along with my 2 housemates.

I've been getting lots of training in, and I asked for an extra PT sesison just to really give me a jolt back into hardcore training because although I'd been doing my CV I've been a little lacking on the resistance work. So Friday saw me on the Olympic bar, bench pressing and cable pulling. Sat saw the DOMs hit my shoulders big style, and I was at Jesus Christ rehearsals all day!!

Sat night was lovely and relaxed, had some dinner and a couple of glasses of wine... and Sunday morning I was back at JCS rehearsals. The show opens in 28 days!! Not long left now.

I think I did some damage to my groin the other week with my monster runs, so I decided that on Monday am, which is usually CV day, to continue my CV but use the X-trainer.

The X-trainer and I dont really get along. I find it a boring bit of gym equipment so tend to steer clear of it in favour of the treadmill or free weights area. But Monday morning came along and I had to face the fear. I had to do 30 mins on the Xtrainer.... I swear it was the longest 30mins of my life!!

Had another PT session on Tuesday which was hard work, swiss ball press ups on the powerplate, assisted chin dips, weighted squats on the bosu ball and some woodchops were the stars of the show. Wednesday (yesterday) wasnt so bad on the old DOMs front, I could feel that I'd worked but I wasnt walking like the tin man or anything.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Till next time (and from the new flat..!)

Kmac

I am not defined by a number

2010-03-25T14:00:00.000Z

A wee emergency blog before I go and do something silly!!

I ordered a lovely dress online from Debenhams. Size *insert your own choice of number*

I get an email today saying its ready to be picked up.... so I tootle along from work to get it.... I get it.... and tootle into the changing room.

So far so good.

I open the pack to see my gorgeous, beautiful black dress with white edging staring back at me.

I unzip it.

It doesnt fit. Its too big up top (damm small boobs) and far too tight at the bottom (fat legs apparently..).

So now I'm sat at work feeling a bit pants because my gorgeous dress doesnt fit me because of genetics and cup size.

ARRGGH

Return of the Kmac

2010-03-25T09:38:00.000Z

Date: 24th March 2010
Weather: Dry, cloudy but great running weather
Shoes: My favourite black platformed shoes

Well good morning all!! First of all I really should apologise for my hiatus from Blogland recently, I do have a couple of good reasons...

1) I've moved desks for 3 weeks and as a result I can't always blog in the morning like I used to do
2) I'm moving flat in less than 10 days so everything at home is starting to be packed up!
3) My dad was down visiting me (more on that later)
4) I bought a new zoom zoom

So you can see its been pretty busy is Kmac land, and thats without the inclusion of my workouts.

Since my confessions post I've been far more aware of what I've been putting into my body and how I've been treating myself. I even went so far as getting a facial and manicure recently to totally relax, I also got a sports massage for my lower back and also my shoulders to help loosen them up.

I've been getting to the gym more and been getting up in the morning far better. I feel I have more energy and I'm not crazing coffee as much anymore.

I picked up my *BRAND NEW* car on Sat. Shes called Milly, and shes a wee Mazda 2 so I've been zoom zoom (ing) - see what I did there..?! lol - around in her over the weekend, such a joy to drive a car that doesnt clunk/grind/rattle. My weekend was a rather busy, stressful and chaotic one, I'll give you the run down now...

My dad came to stay over the weekend, not usually a problem. But we are in the midst of packing up the flat so there are lots of boxes around and my bedroom looks like I've been robbed!! My dad isn't the tidiest of people (neither am I to be fair) so his crap added to the crap in my room didn't help the stress level.

I got so worked up on Friday night, that Saturday (the day Milly was born) I made myself really quite sick. Went for dinner with dad to a lovely wee pub just about 10 mins drive from my flat, after dinner I got home and spent most of the night on the bathroom floor!!

Sunday we were going for lunch, which was lovely, but again, I got stressed out about my dad and ended up being a bit of a cow for the duration of the lunch!! We got home and dad decided he was going to check into a hotel because he could see I wasn't well, he tootled off to the hotel and I got a few hours to myself.... and a talking to about just relaxing.

So as you can see its been a bit of a roller coaster..!

Back to the land of the living now though. Hope all is well with everyone.

Kmac xx

Dare to dream

2010-03-18T10:42:00.000Z

Date: 10 March 2010
Weather: Bright but cold
Shoes: Grey fabric flats

Well its 2 days until I pick up my name car, her name shall be Milly the Mazda. I'm looking forward to it, its been 7 years since I got a new car so I'm really really excited!! Also my dad is coming down to visit me at the weekend so he'll be there when I pick up the new car.

I've not seen my dad since January so it'll be nice to spend some time with him and get him new clothes. The reason for his visit is that he wants to start treating himself and getting new clothes. Hes a 65 year old widower so this is a huge step for him and I'm so proud that hes starting to take it. Baby steps is the best way forward.

Yesterday I ran 7.5km in under 50mins which for me is a new PB. I want to run a 10k in under 65mins so I'm a bit off my target yet but I'm determined to get there. My view is how can you ever achieve anything if you never have an ambition..?

Today marks 6 months exactly to the day until we start the Kilimanjaro climb and I cant wait. I can't belive that a year ago we sat down and planned to do "something" for charity. But nobody really thought we'd be doing something this big. And as the big day looms closer I'm not getting scared, I'm getting excited!!

Hope all is well in blog land

Kmac xx

New house.... New car!

2010-03-15T13:43:00.000Z

Kmac has a new car!!!!!!!

This has been a pretty hectic year so far... new house and now a new car. I went car shopping at the weekend for a new wee car since Chloe was slowly giving up the ghost (after 7 years solid service to me she's ready to go into retirement).

And I found my new, silver, shiny baby. A mazda 2 Tamura. I'm still undecided on the name yet, but I am thinking about Mervin or Milly.

Any suggestions bloggies??

In other news, I ran 7km this morning in the gym. Not bad for being a bit hormonal and my head not really being 100% commited to a longer run. I managed it in 42mins which is a new PB for me. I'm not the worlds fastest runner and find it quite uncomfortable to run at a high speed, but I can maintain a decent enough pace for a while and inject some sprints to keep the heart rate high.

Hope everyone is well!

Kmac xx

Mojo is back

2010-03-09T10:16:00.001Z

Date: 9 March 2010
Weather: Dry, cloudy but birght enough. Its getting lighter in the mornings so time to get running outside methinks.
Shoes: Black stilletto platforms

I'm back! The workout mojo is back! My desire to eat is back! I think they all went on a wee vacation somewhere and have come back with a vengence.

Yesterday I was hoovering up any food I could get my hands on, bananas on toast (wholemeal bread), Claires oaty biccy she made me, soup and salad at lunch time, wholewheat pitta bread with peanut butter and some carrot sticks and then the left over from my spectacular dinner on Sunday night.

But that was all because I had a PT session with Andy. At 6:30am I rocked up to the gym, knowing that last weeks combo of crap diet and lacklustre excercise would have me hating life in approx 20 minutes, but I turned up anyway and got to work.    60 minutes later I looked like I'd stepped out of the swimming pool but I felt amazing.

Because its getting very close to Kilimanjaro climbing date alot of my training is working on fatiguing the muscles and then pushing them through endurance training. I can feel the strength increasing in my legs and I've never felt my upper body feel stronger than it does now. But there is still work to be done.

I need to start increasing my running distance so Andy has given me a running programme to follow on days when I'm not doing my programme. I'll see if I can get my programme and scan it in so you can all see what I do. There is so much on it I have to carry it around the gym with me as a prompt!!

This morning I arrived at 6:30, starting to feel DOMS from yesterday but enjoying the burn sensation (because I'm a freak...!), walked up to the gym and started a nice easy 40 mins run.   10 mins in I decided to challenge myself, a 20 min sprint with only 1 rest/walk break allowed. The result was 4.80KM in 29mins. And a very VERY red Kmac on the treadmill.

After my sprint I hopped off and did:

3 x 15 60kg legpress   (superset with)
3 x 30 "mountain climbers"

3 x 15 4kg lat raises (superset with)
3 x 15 25kg single arm pull downs

3 x 15 swiss ball situps (superset with)
3 x 15 cycle crunches

Then I trudged down from the gym to the changing room.   Fudgy will know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that the Grumpy old women were in.

Gym Ninja's blog mentions a variety of people that she spots in the gym, however in my gym we have none of these. Instead we have "the complainers". Every morning they arrive and do the same classes... moan about the choice of music/temperature in class/instructor... and leave. COme back the next day and do the very same thing. Regardless of who takes the class and what music is played, they ALWAYS have an issue. I wouldnt mind so much if they did their moaning WHILE CLOTHED! These woman stand around starkers and whine about the class. Why they need to shower is beyond me because its not like they actually work hard enough to break a sweat, the stairs up to the class are the most sweat inducing thing they do for the 40 mins they are in the gym.

So I put my changing routine into turbe and just legged it out the door. I'm too young and innocent to see such sights. However it does act as a reminder that we won't always be so taught and pert....

Have a wonderful day bloggies!

Kmac xx

Another Sunday - Another day to see my wares...

2010-03-07T20:22:00.000Z

Date: 7 March 2010
Weather: 9 Degrees.... OMG its nearly summer!
Shoes: Brown cowboy boots and then my dance shows

Well this has been a great weekend for me, I hope its been just as good for you all.

Friday after work I went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D which was just fantastic, so good that when someone in the audience got up to go to the loo, I thought they were actually part of the film!! Then went for some dinner and I decided to indulge in 3 glasses of white wine.... which, for those who know me, is alot o wine for me.

Saturday was a lovely relaxed day, including a late lunch, 2 dvds watched in bed and a guitar hero match - which was a draw by the way ;o)   I kicked some serious butt during Paramore - Misery Business... but did get my butt kicked during some random Oasis song.

And this brings me to today.....   Sunday.... the day of rest. Or, for myself and the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, the full day rehearsal of our Rock Opera.

Today we were blocking 2 songs Temple (1 and 2) and also Simon Zealotes. For anyone who isn't familiar with JCS the show the Temple scene is basically Jesus seeing all these people selling and trading and money lending in a temple, a place of worship, and he goes "rajj". All types of people are in this temple, oil and olive sellers, money lenders, cloth sellers and whores....

Would anyone like to guess what I am...

Yup I'm a whore. I get to wriggle about on stage standing on a table and propositioning most of the men on stage. I cant say that I was totally upset at the idea, given that since audition day I've been adament that I want to be a tap dancing leper whore. So I jsut need to get the tap dancing in there somewhere. However I do feel sorry for a couple of the guys who didnt know what I was when I jumped off my "table" and started gyrating up and down their leg like a dog on heat - sorry sorry boys but you now know what I'm up to. 2 chickens and some oil will get you some quality wares.

If anyone wants tickets please let me know, this is gonna be an amazing show and I cant wait to get into the theatre and get back onto the stage.

I promised more pictures so here is a random picture.   This was taken the night of my work department Christmas party... I decided after about 5 vodkas that I wanted to try doing the PLANK on a chair. This was the result.

I made the most amazing dinner tonight as well, but being the utter pie that I am I pretty much inhaled it the minute it was on the place. But in essence it was meatballs with roasted courgette, onion, pepper, butter beans and kidney beans with a handful of pasta and some homemade tomato sauce!

I've got my mojo back!

Have a gorgeous evening bloggies.

Kmac xx

Its Friday

2010-03-05T11:15:00.000Z

Date: 5th March 2010
Weather: Its Scotland. Its March.... If I said it was sunny I'd be lying..
Footwear: My black riding style boots.

Last night I had an epithany. In order to be happy, you really have to strive to be comfortable with your failings.

I'm a happy person, annoyingly happy most of the time and like my sister put "I was brought up with a sister who lives in the land of Disney and believes world Peace will happen when Tinkerbell finds her fairy dust and sprinkles it on the world! FREAK x"    Isn't she a charmer !

My point is, how can you be happy with what you've got if you are constantly wanting things you'd never get? You can never appreciate what you've got if you want something better.

I've got amazing friends, supportive family, good health, a job that I enjoy doing and I live in a flat with 2 people who care about me so much that we fight about me making bad decisions!! Of course there are things that I'd love to have, but would I hand over everything I have NOW for the things that I'd love to have... no.

I want skinnier legs - I work out at the gym and if I get them I get them. If not, I'm improving my overall fitness and having a great time doing so.

I want my happy ever after - But that will include my friends and family so I'm not going to alienate them or push them away.

I want a wardrobe full of designer clothes - But I'd rather not spend all my hard earned money on material to cover my body, I'd rather spend my time and money having fun and keeping in touch with my friends and have general clothes..

Do you all see where I'm getting at?   I hope so.

Today is my rest day from the gym and I've so far had a great morning, got up at 7am (and not 5am!), headed to work and battered through my to do list before 9:40am.   Met fudgy for our usual morning coffee and brekkie catch up before heading back to our desks and now I'm updating you all!!

Going to see Alice in Wonderland tonight, really excited. I'm a HUGE Burton/Depp/Bonham Carter fan and I love the story so fingers crossed this lives up to all the expectations and hype.

Today marks the final 195 days until Kilimanjaro... less that 200 days to go now. So the hill trianing starts very very soon. Because of my show commitments I'm not able to get up any hills until May but I've got every confidence that I'll do it.

Hope you all have a great weekend and I'll try check in over the weekend.

Kmac xxx

Did you see I waved?

2010-03-04T10:39:00.000Z

Date: 4th March 2010
Weather: A bit misty in Auld Reekie today
Shoes: Black kitten heeled court shoes

Well last night I was back at Jesus Christ Superstar rehearsals and it felt good to get a good sing, although I suspect I was slightly off key given my wobbly throat and lack of water at rehearsal!! We've got about 8 weeks to show time so its all go go go, this is going to be one heck of a show though.

Wednesdays and Sundays are pretty much off limits to anyone now until the show is over, singing on Wednesdays and blocking on Sundays (and a couple of Saturdays as well..!). This means that my weekend training needs to be a bit more sneaky..

See I need to be at rehearsals at 11am on a Sunday and they are 1hr away from my casa.... my gym opens at 8am at the weekend ... soooooo Kmac can roll up to the gym at 8:05 and punch through a 1hr work out, shower change, back to the casa, into the car and head to rehearsal.

You see you can always fit in a workout regardless of what you are doing!

This morning I was up bright and breezy at 6am, headed to the gym and mananged....:

10mins level 11 on the cardio wave machine (burned a massive 165 cals!)
3 x 15 pressups
3 x 15 pull downs 37.5kg/35kg/32.5kg
3 x 16 Bosu Ball oblique crunches
3 x 15 5kg dumbell push press
3 x 15 5kg lat raises
3 x 15 pykes
3 x 20 Russian Twists
15 mins sprint (just to finish me off)

Just a quick hour in the gym but was enough to set me up for the day. I've got a PT session on Monday am so dont want to hurt too much before that, because I know that come Tuesday morning I'll be lucky to walk!!

Hope you all had a fantasic day yesterday and are now on the slide to the weekend. Yippeeee

Kmac xx

Confessions

2010-03-03T09:04:00.000Z

Date: 3rd March 2010
Weather: Cold and bright. Perfect morning to clear your head
Shoes: HUUUGE black platforms from Topshop circa 2009

OK, this post is a confessions post.... recently I've been up to alot of things that, perhaps, I shouldn't have been so this is me hanging my dirty (training) laundry out for you all.

My diet has been dreadful. In the past 5 days I've consumed 1/2 an indian take away, a total of 8 slices of pizza, 2 (big) bars of cookie crumble chocolate and 3 litres of diet coke. And I wondered why I got heartburn yesterday...
My want to train has gone. I've lost it. So if anyone sees a "training want" wandering aimlessly around Edinburgh please pass it back to me. It might be with my motivation and mojo...
I went on an ITunes binge and bought music I probably didnt need
I've not been sleeping enough recently
I've not been getting to the gym and dont really have any good reason not to go, however I've been finding reasons!
My beautiful long nails are all split and bitten :o(
I've not had a haircut in over 12 weeks...

So there you have it... my dirty laundry hung out for all to see!

I have a goal right now though... loose 1/2 a stone in 3 weeks and feel better about myself. I'll be keeping a food diary (partly as I have to hand it to Andy every week now thanks to confession number 1) and I'll try to get it posted here so you can see how I'm getting on.

Anyone got anything they'd like to confess??

Kmac xx

Another night in my flat!

2010-03-02T08:17:00.000Z

Date: 2nd March 2010
Weather: Icy cold
Shoes: Nike plus shox (pink)

Well I found my motivation (finally!!) and yesterday I managed to do the following in the gym in the morning
5k run - 34mins
1k high incline high speed walk - 8mins
Cardio Wave machine, level 13 SPM at 160 - 5 mins then dropped to level 10 with SPM 130 - 5mins
5kg lat raises - 12 x 3
6kg lunge and press 15 x3
(proper) pressups 15 x 3
37.5kg pull down 15 x3

And then at lunch time I did a spin class.

Overall a great day for getting back on the band wagon and I'm starting to feel it slightly today.

Last night I started clearing through some of my stuff getting ready for the flat move, and 4 bags of rubbish later you still wouldnt know I have removed anything. I have too much stuff. Actaully its not "stuff", its clothes!! As I was doing this myself and my flatmates decided to whack on some Rhianna "Rude Boy" which ended up in us all doing a very strange dance routine around the house... Poor wee Charlie the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel could just sit and look at us like we were insane.

So a Kmac challenge is to try and thin down my thighs AND my wardrobe :o)

I apologise for the lack of pictures recently, a combination of nothing to photo and technical issues is to blame. But dont worry, I'll be back on the picture train very very shortly.

Hope everyone is relaxed from the weekend, and Monday came and went without much fuss.

Kmac xx

Motivation - or lack of it..

2010-02-26T08:02:00.001Z

Date: 26 Feb 2010
Weather: Bleak, grey and yuck
Shoes: Silver wellies to get to work and then black biker boots (again)!

How do you stay motivated?

Right now I'm suffering badly from lack of motivation again. I've not noticed a change in my strength, my shape or my stamina and I'm starting to feel a bit deflated. I've only managed 4 sessions in the gym this week, and really if you were to grade them I'd get 60% for effort...

So, my lovely bloggies, how do you stay motivated? All tips/ass kicking welcome...

On another note, the fundraising for Kilimanjaro is coming along nicely. We have a raffle on the go just now which is going to be drawn on the 15th of March, got some amazing prizes like holiday vouchers and personal training sessions and personal chefs.... so if you want a ticket let me know!! £6 each or 2 for £10.

I'm very excited for my friend Fudgy.. shes starting her 12 week 1/2 marathon training plan next week. Its all flying in so quickly and I cant wait to check her progress as the weeks go on. Maybe I should get the Fudge to kick my butt???

Also, on the same day as the 1/2 marathon is the full Edinburgh Marathon which my best friend's fiance is running. She is due to marry him about a week after the race, so fingers crossed and prayers that he doesnt get injured!! I suspect that weekend will be a busy one here in Edinburgh.

Just over a month to go until the big house move..... anyone want any of my stuff?!?!? I'm starting to notice I have so much stuff that its worrying me.... however I feel a cull of clothes is required and possibly even getting some books out to charity shops etc. My shoes though, stay with me. Nobody is making me part with my babies!

Hope all is well with everyone and untill next time!

Kmac xxx

Snow again!

2010-02-24T09:14:00.000Z

Date: 24th Feb 2010
Weather: SNOW!
Fotowear: Silver glitter wellies and black cowboy boots (to wear in the office)

Well its back to another midweek post by Kmac because shes been naughty and not updated since last Thursday!!    Its been a busy few days for me and here is just a wee highlight...

Friday was a work day for me, but because I was due to be off on Monday I had 2 days work to do in 1 day!! After work I headed up to Radio Lollipop and helped present the show with the Friday night team.   My time at Radio Lollipop is really special to me because I love it so much.   The fact that I go into the sick kids hospital, go around the wards and play with the kids is just so much fun. I can forget everything that has been stressing me out during the day, and just have fun. Seeing the kids in the hospital really does put things into perspective for you.

Saturday I was training with Andy. Hard work but felt great afterwards.   I really enjoy my training sessions, I'm a gym junkie but sometimes you do need that kick up the backside to keep going and thats what Andy does. Kicks my butt and makes me hurt in places I didn't know I could!!

Sat night was a night out with some girlfriends. Myself, Sheryl and Holly all hit the town with one intention: To have fun!! And we certainly managed that. I suspect these nights out will become a regular thing. Although I did fall off the healthy wagon slightly, I usally drink vodka and soda which if you are going to drink is a healthy(ish) option. I went for champange cocktails and crazy flavoured vodka shots so my body was going into sugar overdrive!!   I managed to remember to drink water so the next day I didnt feel too unwell... although I did have to drop my wee car off at car hospital.

Chloe my little corsa has been poorly recently so I took her to the car hospital to get looked at.   She was due an MOT so that got done as well. But because of the cold weather we've had since about October time she's taken a bit of a beating.... and alot of damage has been caused because of the snow/ice/rain.   To the tune of £700!!!!

But I paid the money and got Chloe back, I love my wee girl and she is running well now. Means I can get from A to B a bit easier now plus it'll make the flat move much simpler!!!

Sunday was a lvoely relaxing day, did some shopping and watched some dvds and generally just was a lazy so and so and was spoiled with cups of tea and juice all day long :o) I'm a lucky girl.

And that was the weekend. Monday saw the shower in our existing flat get fixed because its been broken for some time and then I was back to Radio Lollipop.

All in all been hectic, but fun.   And in between those times I'd managed to pack in a couple of hours in the gym between training and then I did some cardio work on Monday also.

How has everyone else been? Hope you've all had really good weekends and here is to a happy wednesday!

A wee surprise for a Thursday morning

2010-02-18T10:12:00.000Z

Date: 18 Feb 2010
Weather: Dark and drizzly
Shoes: Black fold down biker boots - Tres pretty

I arrived in to work this morning to find a wee Fudgey package on my desk... The most amazing lunch a girl could ask for especially on her rest day from the gym..

Fudgey gave me a portion of sweet and sour chicken (home made!) with 2 of her yummy home made oatcakes and a wee slice of low fat cheese. Accompanied by 10g of cacao nibs, a wee bag of Goji berries, a small bag of seed mix and also a ceral bar.

THANK YOU FUDGEY!

Fudgey often gives me healthy food parcels and leaves them on my desk. I remember to start with I thought there were food elves in my office :o) Mr Fudgey gets a lunch everyday which often instills lunch envy between his colleagues, and everytime I get a wee Fudgey surprise my desk mates get jealous!

I told you I have the best friends ever.

This is my rest day from the gym, and after my exciting day yesterday I certainly need a wee rest. I've got a massage booked for 10:25 in the office. We have a service once a week that costs about £9 for 25 mins massage which is amazing, I've been working my back alot recently in the gym so like to try to loosen off those pesky muscles.

I've got a PT session on Sat morning which I'm looking forward to, although I feel a cold coming on but I'm going to battle it with Vit C and some of the Goji berries to see if that helps.

On another matter... one of my fellow trekkers, Barry, received a very generous donation for our Kilimanjaro climb. £300 cheque for our charity of choice which was just amazing. For those of you who'd like to help us raise the £10,000 please go to our fundraising site and make your pledge. For any donantions received I'm promising copies of the crazy/ funny photos that are unlikely to make my blog/facebook or twitter page. It'll be worth it. Also Richard has said he;ll wear a mankini if we reach the top AND raise £10,000

Kmac xxx

Exciting times

2010-02-17T17:33:00.000Z

Date: 17 Feb 2010
Weather: Crisp and bright, but right now its 4:40pm and getting dull outside... there is a lilac hue over the Castle here in Edinburgh
Shoes: To walk to and from places = Uggs   In the office = Regular black patient Mary Janes.    A bit boring on the shoe front today.

BUT THE SHOES ARN'T THE REASON FOR TODAYS BLOG!!

The last couple of days have been possibly the best couple of days I've had in about EVER. Ok well maybe recent ever, not ever ever but still you get the point!

I've had some amazing news - Kmac is moving house.

For those who don't know Kmac's living arrangement... I live with my 2 great friends in a pretty flat in Edinburgh. However recently our gorgeous flat has been getting expensive... and the final straw came when we discovered another flat in our courtyard being rented for nearly £300 cheaper.

So, unless we were renting from Robin Hood, which we arn't, we felt we were getting a bit of a tough time.

A flat came up just down the road from where we are now, same size but my bedroom would be up a wee staircase so I have lots of privacy and it feels like a treehouse because its all hardwood floors, which is cheaper by miles.   My roomies saw it yesterday and fell in love with it... so I contacted the agent to make an appointment...

1:30 today I walked into my own personal Disney-esque flat. By 3:30pm the Disney Tree House flat is ours!!

The new flat is also closer to the HUGE park in Edinburgh so no excuses for me not to get out and run. Its got free parking for the Kmac mobile and its just gorgeous.

We'll be moving in a couple of months but I wanted to keep you all posted with the good news!

I also have other news but I'll blog about that another time... but its just as great news.   Kmac is having such a good time at the moment.

On a training front I've managed to complete 20k run (in total) since Monday and did my upper body resistance programme today (Andy would be pleased).

Still struggling to do my lat raises with the 4k dumbells and not 3k but I'll get them one day I'm sure!

Kmac xx

Monday Monday

2010-02-15T11:16:00.000Z

Date: 15 Feb 2010
Weather: Bright and cold - but a very pretty day in Edinburgh
Shoes: My favourite black Nine West peep toe courts with 3ins heel.   Gorgeous I tell ya!

Morning blog world!

I hope you've had a lovely weekend and no matter where you are, what you were doing, Valentines day treated you well. In the words of my beautiful friend and flatmate, even if you are single on Valentines day you are not alone - 3 steps behind you is your angel.

My weekend was really really good, although very bad on the excercise front. Recently I've found that I've been so busy with various other things that I've not been able to get as much training in as I'd have hoped.    But I guess life has to take over sometime, but ultimately I am in control of my time and I have to prioritise!

Friday night was a bit of a late one, we had a leaving party at work so I went along for that and ended up getting in at about 2am. A great night was had by all and I was a little bit bleary eyed on Saturday morning but I got up and discovered something dreadful......

My laptop had a virus!!!!! Now being as daft as I am, I dont have the first clue about how to fix this type of issue... so I went through to see if anyone was in the house... Ewan was!! Ewan is very level headed and knows things and is a very claming influence on my life, and in this time of need he was there with his MAC Book Pro to help fix wee Lappy. Turns out she had Security Tool which is a bugger of a virus that pretends to be a virus scanner, it "scans" and tells you that you have some virus' etc.   But you don't..... and it just starts to eat everything in the laptop (ok maybe not eat.. but its the best way to describe it).

So Ewan managed to fix that for me. HUGE hugs and thanks to Ewan for that!

That was the eventuful Sat morning, Sat avo I was lunching at Nandos and watching Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief which was a great film with great company :o)

Quiet Saturday night lead to a monster rehearsal on Sunday through in Dunfermline and this week it was all about the Overture (recap on what we did to slot some more people/new cast members in) and also Hosanna.   So far so good, although the venue was super dusy... but I guess Jerusalem would have been a bit dusty so we are just getting in the mood of the day!   I need to source some gladiator style sandels... so give me a shout if you know where to find them?!

And then its all back to Monday.   I got up this morning and headed to the gym, being a regular morning person you tend to see the same faces so a morning is quite nice. A wee hello to the other people you recognise and jump on the treadmill. Ran 3k in about 22mins then start to get a bit bored so thought I'd nip up to the spin studio as a class was starting at 7am.

As I headed up the stairs I bumped into Andy (my PT), turns out hes taking spin which means its going to hurt!! But it was what I needed.   Kicked me into touch and a grand way to start the week.

This week is crazy busy, but my mornings are all being handed over to the gym.   I've got a hospital appointment this avo and if all goes well I'll be back on top form in no time.

Its also only 213 days until Kilimanjaro!    Please please please show your support and sponsor me. All money goes to CCLASP which is a beautiful charity based in Edinburgh. I'll be doing a wee post on CCLASP very soon, but in the meantime if you head over to Fudgey's blog you'll be able to read her post on CCLASP. Fudgey and I work together, train together and generally have a riot together and this year we are both doing events that challenge us physically and mentally to raise money for CCLASP.

To sponsor me all you have to do is click HERE!!!!! and follow the instructions. I'm trying to raise £10k so need all the help and support we can get!

Have a lovely day everyone

Kmac xx

Another crazy challenge

2010-02-09T09:49:00.000Z

Date: 9th Feb 2010
Weather: Bright, cold but grey skys. My view to Edinburgh castle is stunning today though with the dramatic sky.
Shoes: Grey Carvella patents with 3ins heel and ribbon tie.   Delish.

Morning blog world!! Hope you've all had a wonderful evening and ready to face Tuesday with a clear head and big smile.

I can't believe that I've not blogged about these 2 things before now.... again, naughty naughty Kmac.   I've set myself 2 more personal fitness challenges spanning 2010 and into 2011.   This is because this year I have Kilimanjaro, and I'm really enjoying the focus its giving me to push myself and also the challenge its providing.

So.... my first challenge...    RUN TO FRANCE!   Those of you who know me will be aware that I volunteer at Radio Lollipop on a Monday evening, well as this is a charity we need to raise money and our management team came up with an idea to run the distance between Edinburgh and Paris between the Scotland - France rugby match (which was Sunday 7th Feb) and ending on the day of the France - Scotland game (sometime in Feb 2011 in Paris).

This is giving the team of runners just under 365 days to run over 1100km.    We have a website Run To France and we are tracking our miles using Nike +.   I'll keep you posted on how many km I've done every now and again. So far I've clocked up just over 20km in 2 days, with another 12km to add on so off to a decent enough start.

And my 2nd challenge will start and end in 2011, but the training will need to start this year (but the Kili training should help).   Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon!!    Assuming my favourite theme park is still holding the event in 2011 (registration hasn't opened yet, 2010 is still to be run) then I'm going to be there.

Its a womans only 1/2 that runs around the Magic Kingdom - through Cinderella's castle!! And I'm going to try to get a group of girls together to run it with me. I'll still do it alone, but I think crossing the line will be so special that I'd love to run with friends.   So girlies - if you fancy it... let me know!!

And thats my wee update on what the future holds for Kmac post Kilimanjaro. Still running, still training and most certainly still challenging myself!!

Righty to work I go....

Kmac xxx

Vacation Kmac

2010-02-06T19:12:00.000Z

Happy Saturday everyone. Sorry I've been a bad blogger this week and not updated once *smacks wrist*... its been a busy few days so I'll give you all a wee update..!

Sat 30th Jan - Dads birthday

My wee sis and I headed into the wild Borders of Scotland to meet my dad (who was down staying with our Aunt and Uncle ) for his birthday. We went to a fantastic wee place called The Howgate for dinner and this is what I managed to practically inhale..

Haggis Balls with a wee side salad. This was my aunts starter, but just how yummy does that look??

This was may starter - Pigeon salad!

This was just as aamzing as it looks... far too much though, but I was starving to ate all of it..

Onto the main course...

This was duck on spinich and wilted greens with the most creamy mashed potato EVER!

So you can see it certainly wasnt a meal that I wasn't concious of the sheer amount of calories I was consuming, but I dont mind. Its important to be able to enjoy yourself while keeping a close eye on your diet and fitness.

Katie stayed with me for a couple more days, joined me at the gym for a training session on Monday. I was seeing Andy while she was just having a wee run. But afterwards she commented about how I was doing "Man pressups" (full press ups!) and how Andy was keeping me motivated. Shes had a bit of an interesting time with her PT recently and I think she wants to get back into the training routine. Although, shes far fitter than me anyway so she knows what she is doing when she hits the gym!!

We had our first Wednesday night music call for Jesus Christ Superstar, got the rehearsal cal schedule through as well so my diary is filing up well.

I love looking at busy diary!!

Ok this has turned into a HUGE post ( I've had to stop for a cup of tea while I was typing it) and "So you think you can dance" has just started, being the dance geek I am I'm going to settle down and watch it! Go Alister!

Kmac xx

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2010-01-29T14:11:00.000Z

Date: 29th January 2010
Weather: Sunny but cold here in Auld Reekie
Shoes: Grey platform boots

Afternoon bloggies!

Its been a mixed week here in Kmac-land. Good, bad, indifferent, loud, quiet and sometimes very confusing. Currently on my lunch break at work and listening to Alanis Morissette "Not as We" which is making me a bit reflective which is always a bit of danger!

As many of you will know, I'm a bit of a shopper and this week has been no exception. I bought the following items...

Pretty pink down jacket

Pretty pink/purple triclimate jacket

Only a wee short one today as I'm super super busy... will update more over the weekend. Its my dads birthday so family feasting tomorrow evening (I'll try to be good) and my sister will be spending the weekend with me so gym sessions will be in order I suspect!!

Kmac xx

You've left me speechless...

2010-01-27T10:20:00.003Z

Date: 27 Jan 2010
Weather: Slightly cloudy, a bit chilly, but over all dry.
Shoes: Grey suede shoes with neon pink trim and heel.

Lada Gaga obsession is still very much alive, with the songs "Monster" and "Speechless" playing on my ipod constantly. I'm such a song whore - I'll get a new favourite song and listen to it over and over again and then I'll get bored. And find a new one!!

Well the article was published in the local newspaper, the 900 words that the lady had writted were edited down to less than 150 and the picture they used was possibly the worst one of the lot. Needless to say I was not a happy Kmac so I emailed the paper explaining the errors and why I wasn't happy. They have amended it and published it again, but still no mention of the justgiving website or the charities own site. Like hitting my head against a brick wall sometimes I tell you. And the lovely lady who spoke to me about my story is most certianly not to blame, she wrote a great piece on us and why we are doing the climb.... it was the idiotic editors and new desk people who thought they knew better who cut it down.

But never mind, you live and you learn.

Training has been fantastic this week. Managed a good long run on Monday and yesterday I did my programme (one day I'll get it out the gym and type in for you all to see) and today I focused on legs only. I had a minor Op on my arm yesterday so I'm not allowed to do any heavy lifting or lift my arm over my head for a couple of days, ideally I wasn't supposed to do any training this morning but I had twitchy legs and I only did low impact stuff:

20 mins x level 10 on X Trainer
10 mins steep up hill power walking on treadmill
10 mins on the new "wave" machine thing!

Glad I went, really perks me up in the morning. Its my Kmac time when I get into the gym, headphones on and just go. I've never understood people who use the gym as a social club... they turn up, have a chat in the dressing room and then go up to the gym and all go on the same equipment, walk at a snails pace and just chat. Why not go outside and get some fresh air and chat and walk?!? Anyway - I guess I should be happy taht people are taking an interest in their health and fitness and making it to the gym, I'm sure there are lots of people who do nothing!

Anyway loves back to work I go

TTFN Kmac xx

GRRRRRRRR

2010-01-25T09:43:00.002Z

Need to get this out..

ARRRRRRRRRRGH.

*exhale*

Feel better now.

Just needed a forum to vent and chill otherwise I'd be a very angry PA today :o)

In other news - hit the gym this morning and battled through my anger and got just under 8k done in 40mins. 4kg lat raises (4k each hand) and then some swiss ball tricks - looked like a performing monkey on the ball but I'm told they work.

Been listening to Lady Gaga "Speechless" pretty much on repeat. Its a great song, it was also on "So you think you can dance" with a GREAT contemporary routine which I'm jealous of. I really wish I could dance like that..

Kmac xx

Funday Sunday

2010-01-24T21:43:00.005Z

Date: 24th Jan 2010

Weather: Typical Scottish weather - grey, cold and dull. But it is what you make it!

Shoes: Grey flats with bronze buttons

Evening all, had a wonderful weekend? Full of frivolity and fun? I hope so... I hope you've been enjoying the time off before another busy busy week ahead.. I have!

Its been an interesting weekend for me, and a dreadful one in terms of exercise and diet.

I've not really been feeling right all week, a bit woozy and generally not with it. I'm blaming it on worry though, waiting on some results from a doctor and I dont like waiting!!! So finished up work on Friday night and headed out for a couple of drinks, was very well behaved and had white whine and soda - Kmac remained sober and upright for the entire evening you'll all be pleased to know...!!

I've done NO time in the gym this weekend and my food has been "snak" like. Its been healthy but not plentiful, so I dont have any pictures. But I've been keeping up 3 ltrs of water per day.

Saturday was spent in the flat, generally relaxing and taking stock of things. I've been a right worry wart recently and I've made a decision to stop it. Worrying does no good, read above... I'm convinced its been making me sicker. So here and now it stops.

Then today I was at a rehearsal from 11 until about 4. Felt so good to have huge songs to belt out, I can just feel it in my bones that this is going to be great show. I've forgotten how rehearsing and shows make me feel. I forget I'm Kmac, and I become a character in the show and for those few hours I am totally engrossed in the music and I just love it. 14 weeks and counting.... Although I am jealous of the Apostles who get to sing "whats the buzz tell me whats a happenin'" just such a cool line.. yeah I'm a geek..

Random photo time... I found this on my laptop and thought I'd share with you all

Proof that a) I DO eat and also b) I do eat CRAP sometimes.

**This is a rant warning.. **

Since I started taking care of what I eat and also the exercises I do I have been faced with people who like to assume they know more than the experts I've consulted. I've been told I don't eat. I've been told I'm getting too skinny. I've been told "your legs are really fat" and I've also been told to lighten up and enjoy myself.

I've spoken to my doctor - I've had to because of the small thing of KILIMAN BLOODY JARO. I am perfectly healthy in terms of diet and weight/height and if anything I should keep doing what I'm doing because I'm no longer an anaemic controlling her condition with pills. I'm controlling it with diet and healthy living.

I am trying not to get too consumed with weight because its just a number, how my clothes feel is far more important to me. But I weight 9stone and 9lbs and I'm 5ft 3ins tall. I wear a size 8 on top and a 10/12 on bottom and I'm happy. My gym going and training is NOT to loose weight, its to get fit, healthy and active.

My "fat" legs are the product of dancing and now the retraining of them to accommodate weight training. They may be bigger than some peoples, but thats the way we are made. My legs are certainly not fat, so please think before you say something as hurtful and callous as that again. Not everyone is as strong as me.

My training is my way of enjoying myself. Can you imagine a stressful week at work, I'm sure you've all had one, and now think just how good that glass of wine tastes to help you relax or how great you feel after a shower and a sing song. Well I feel that way batting out 5k on the treadmill and some clean and press'. Is that so bad?

**RANT OVER**

Thanks for indulging me. I needed to get that out my system.

Hope you all had a lovely evening, now... go to sleep, rest, relax and have a wonderful Monday.

Try not to get worried....

Kmac xx

Kmac = Gym Bimbo

2010-01-21T19:38:00.004Z

Date: 21st Jan 2010

Weather: Grey and Dull :o(

Shoes: Red patent kitten heels

Ok, let me clear something up. Im not actually a gym bimbo, however after the photos that were taken last night one would be forgiven to think that. Myself, Richard and Barry were doing a quick photograph for a local paper to help raise awareness of the charity and also the trek we are.

Because I love shoes, the reporter thought it would be funny to have the guys in their kit in the gym and me in my girly girl clothes and super high heels. While on a treadmill. Or a spin bike. Or a pink swiss ball. All while holding cottonbuds for weights (1k dumbell in each hand... Kmac usually lifts at least 6k in each hand). So the pictures were taken, and hopefully in the paper tomorrow of Sat... I'll try get a copy of the picture on here for you all to laugh at!

On the food front I've been fantastic!! Made some fab dinner this evening...

Chicken with pineapple salasa (homemade) and stir fried brocolli, yellow pepper and spring onion with ginger and red chilli. Yummy!

Hope everyone has has a great day

Kmac xxx

Orange!

2010-01-19T14:06:00.004Z

Date: 19th Jan 2010
Weather: Purple sky this morning, tres pretty
Shoes: Peep toe Nine Wests in Black

Its Tuesday and this week is starting to get a bit longer. Not sure why but after my great fun weekend these past 2 days have seemed to drag.

I got some amazing news last night, I made it into the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar!!! I'm going to be in the ensemble/dance team for the show which goes up late April this year. I'm so excited, and a bit nervous because I've worked with the production team before but helping them out.. I've never been in a production with them. Here's to not letting them down !! Expect lots of blog updates in the coming weeks...

I have an amazing ability to cook food that turns orange, honestly. I have a love for sweet potato and butternut squash which maybe explains this trend... but one of my fav dishes to make is Butternut Squash chili, and just for JAG here is the recipe...

*Was my friend Claire (Mrs Fudgey) who gave me the original recipe, so thanks to her for showing me the yummiest food ever!!

1 Large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped
1 Red onion chopped
1 Regular onion chopped
A handful of mushrooms washed and cut in half
1 Red pepper sliced
1 Yellow pepper sliced
1/2 clove of garlic
Tin of chopped tomatoes
200g Kidney Beans
200g Butter Beans

I use chili powder, cumin, paprika and coriander. But I never measure.. so just add to taste!!

Cook the garlic and onion together until soft
Add the butternut squash
Add in the first of your spices (for me this is always paprika) and stir really fast to stop sticking
Add the tomatoes/peppers/mushrooms/kidney beans and butter beans
Add 1 cup of water and the remaining spice.

Keep on a medium/high heat bubbling away until everything starts to break down. Add more water if required, I like my chili quite thick so tend to let the water simmer off.

You can add in Chorizo as an alternative to a totally vegetable dominated meal. But I love it just as it is.

And that's it!! Super simple.

I'll get more recipes up when I remember what I cook.... I have a habit of just throwing in a pan anything I have in the house...

Hope everyone has had a great day!

Kmac xx

Disco Spin!

2010-01-18T09:09:00.007Z

Date: 18th Jan 2010

Weather: DRY! Honestly... and I think somewhere there is sun...

Footwear of choice: Black patent boots that lace up. Very lovely.

Picture the scene... You wake up and start getting ready for the regular Monday morning walk to the gym, the normal 6k run you usually beat out on the treadmill, the usual race for the fast hairdryer in the ladies changing room, and the habitual walk to work and coffee at your desk.... but today you're routine is different...

You wake up late so have to get a cab... (lazy I know but bear with me)... the route the cab would usually go is sealed off by police because there is a "jumper" on the bridge... at 6:30am... I don't know if he/she did but I prey that they didn't and they are getting the help they need now..... you finally get to the gym at 6:45am and all psyched up for your run. And you bump into Paul.

Paul was taking spin this morning and somehow manages to convince you that wake up spin is "cooler" than running... so you get guilted into the class (which you actually love so spinning isn't the chore, its the missing running you are a bit guilty for).

You change, head up to the spin studio, arrive at the door and notice something isn't quite right. All the lights are off and the disco ball is moving to the beat of the music. Have you taken a wrong turn and ended up in a nightclub? Nope - welcome to Paul's very own Disco Spin. Making a Monday morning feel like a Friday night.

The 45 mins flew by. And now my legs feel numb and slightly heavy.... always a good sign.

In other news....

My weekend was a good one, nice and relaxing. Saw Up in the Air on Saturday night and have to admit I really enjoyed it - I wasn't too sure I would because it seemed a bit of loose story but it really worked, because you can easily imagine George Clooney's character to really exist.

I've decided that this shall be my jacket for Kilimanjaro. A combination of a lovely colour (pinkish) and also a recommendation from a girl who climbed it very recently and she had used the very same one.

Also, yesterday I dabbled in the world of musical theatre once again! I auditioned for the ensemble in Jesus Christ Superstar with The Melodramatics/Limelight. The show will be going up in April and I'm so excited. Its such a great show with fab songs its going to be amazing! I'll be writing wee updates on how rehearsals are going so keep your eyes peeled... but dont worry I wont be giving the game away. I want you all to come see it.. plus Moz will hunt you down if you don't - Won't you! Crazy MD he is....

Righty off to do some work this morning... got archiving and filing and note typing to do. All with the aid of my lovely pink Ipod and pink headphones...

Kmac (the tap dancing leper whore coming to a stage near you soon)
xxx

Yummy food and Pj night

2010-01-14T19:48:00.005Z

Date: 14th Jan 2010

Weather: Rain, slush and cold :o(

Shoes: Right now I'm in slippers, blue zebra ones to be precise. Earlier I was teetering on 4ins black patient Mary Janes.

Its very nearly the weekend - Everyone excited?!

Today has been a pretty interesting day, started in the gym where I ran through my PT programme sheet (minus the pull downs because the machine was broken and the alternative option was being used) and because I've got a tightness in my left calf I was reluctant to run for the final 30mins. Andy was working, so popped my head in to see what he thought... and no running for Kmac :o( instead I got to use the new fancy "Cardio Wave" machines that have just arrived.

They really work up a sweat, 10mins on that thing and I was panting and puffing like I do after 40 mins of running. Really enjoyed the new machine.... this could be the start of a lovely relationship. Also, you can play games on the screen while you work out! Seriously. Not that I will be, I'll be too busy working out but if I wanted to I could play Sudoku or 4 in a row with the wave machine... technology these days!

Work was run of the mill until I received a phone call. A local paper wants to find out more about the Kili trek/the team and run a wee story on us to help raise awareness of the fundraising and also of the charity. I'll keep everyone posted about when/if it is going to get published... might even be photos :o)

I've had the most tastebud tingling dinner tonight as well. Baked sweet potato and home made soup (made by the fabulous Fudgy!!!). Thats what the picture is at the top of the page!!

Currently sat in my pjs away to watch CSI. Got a 6:30am PT session tomorrow morning so taking in easy tonight, need to get rid of stress so heres hoping Andy will get me punching things!!

Have a great night everyone.

Kmac xx

Cherry Coke....

2010-01-13T12:32:00.003Z

Date: 13 Jan
Weather: Grey and raining. However... NO SNOW AT ALL!
Footwear: Zebra print shuboots to break up my all black work ninja look.

After slacking a couple of days in blog world I'm back. Miss me?!

Monday night was great fun at Radio Lollipop. I volunteer there most Monday nights and this Monday past I was handed the challenge of getting the show live on air because the usual Monday night presenter was off sick, and our fantastic stand0-in was running late. No disasters to speak of, and I had a great time. Can't wait to do it more often!

Then I took poorly through Monday night, so spent the day in bed yesterday watching Greys Anatomy and drinking green tea. Foodwise it wasn't a great day, only had a bowl of cereal at about 1pm and then some chicken at about 6..

Made it into work today though. And I also checked in at the gym. Decided to take it easy and just use the treadmill... set myself a time limit of 50mins and I just ran. Clocked up just over 8k in that time so I'm pretty impressed with myself. Need to start getting the distance up for my 10k in May.

Had an email from CCLASP about publicity for the Kilimanjaro climb also, its really taking off now and I'm sure the next few months will fly in. Can't wait for September but also getting more nervous the closer it gets. Has anyone been to Kili or know of anyone that has? Do you have any tips for me??

Have a great day blog world!

Kmac xxxxxxx

Monday Monday

2010-01-11T10:32:00.004Z

Date: 11th Jan
Weather: We have pavements and roads in Edinburgh. Its a rare sight.
Shoes: Trainers to walk to work in, black heeled riding boots to teeter around work in.

Happy Monday blog world!

11 days into 2010 and so far so good. 249 days until day 1 of the Kilimanjaro trek and the team are really getting into training mode.

There are a team of guys and gals from my (and Richard's) office who are taking part in the Caledonian Challenge this year and they are doing huge training walks over the Pentlands every 2nd weekend, so the weekend Richard will be joining them to start getting his walking boots broken in.

I've been doing my running and today I've just signed up for the 10k in May. My first ever 5k (well technically 4k but we won't split hairs over 1k!) has given me the racing bug..!!

Richard and I are also going to be doing the 3 peaks challenge in June.

Katie has been battling snow and ice and sub zero temperatures up in Inverness to train. 3 hours spent in the gym on Sunday is a testament to her dedication to training even in the extremes of weather she is experiencing.

Barry has been keeping up his fitness, as a Personal Trainer in Edinburgh hes got a great level of fitness. I'm hoping hes working upper body as he might need to carry me up the mountain!!

So overall, a good few activities going on ontop of the gym training with Andy (for me), Roddy (Katie's PT) and Barry (yep, Richard is training with Barry). Bannatyne's have been fantastic with us to date, very supportive and long may this continue.

Also..... This is very much a "I'm thinking it so I might just write it down" but I'm about 70% tempted to make a note to sign up for the 2011 Disney Princess 1/2 marathon in Orlando. Any thoughts?? Should I? Shouldn't I?

On the Ipod today I have Legally Blonde: The musical to keep me going. Great cheery songs and very sing a long. I love it, my colleagues most likely do not!

Have a great day loves.

Kmac xx

I did it!

2010-01-09T17:44:00.001Z

I ran the Great Winter Run in 25mins and 09 seconds!!!!

The course had to be shortened because of bad weather, so the 5k was actually only 4k... but I dont care, Im over joyed with my time since it was my first ever race. Bring on more where they came from any day!

Here is the recap (with pictures...)

It started snowing this morning which wasn't really the best way to start a race, but I pulled on my running gear and made a pact with myself - I complete this I can hibernate for the rest of the day... So I grabbed my brekkie of porridge (with flax seed on top) and some green tea with citrus.

Then it was time to go and meet the Fudge down at the Parliament and get cracking with the pre race warm up, photos and general chit chat. Fudge has ran before and shes pretty ace at it, so her chat helped calm my nerves.

I thought it would be best to layer up, so I had on 2 sports bras, a sports crop top type thing and a nike running top... all covered with a HUGE hoodie.... needless to say even in -7 at 11:40am I was roasting so I whipped off the sweater to reveal RACING KMAC.

The race itself went great, I was really worried about running in the snow but all that I did was adjust my pace and keep myself focused on what I wanted - sub 30mins. The first 2k were killers, running on snow and ice covered grass and the 2nd kilometer was uphill on snowy grass. I had to walk about 500m as I was loosing my footing.

Crossing the hill and onto the final 2k felt far better, the sense of being 1/2 way through and also running down hill helped. Everyone was in great spirits and lots of people were cheering as we passed.

I saw the sign I'd been looking for all during the race... FINISH.. and just sprinted it out.

My ipod/nike training time said 28mins 42 secs but that started from when I started walking in my corral towards the start line, my official race stats....

Time: 25mins and 9 secs

Overall Placement : 964 (over 2000 people were running)

Fudgy and I met at the finish line....

And then it was time to collect my things and come home for a lovely warm bath and mug of green tea with orange and lotus flower!

Overall a great day, great race and I'm so proud of myself that I managed to run that distance. Kilimanjaro better watch out. Kmac is coming.

Kmac xx

Race day

2010-01-09T09:21:00.000Z

Date: 9th January
Weather: Dry, bright(ish) and icy.
Footwear of choice: My blue zebra slippers, soon to be my running shoes....

Just a quickie this morning (ooohh errr). Its 09:22am and in just over 2.5hours I'll be getting ready to start my first ever 5k race.

I've never ran in an organised event before, even in school. I was always the kid with asthma who would have an attack just at the thought of running - Drama and English were always my better subject areas. So this will be a HUGE achievement for me.

I know alot of you reading this will be able to eat 5k distance for breakfast, and one day I want to be able to do that.

Andy has challenged me to do a sub 30min 5k, I'm hitting approx 35/36mins in the gym (and thats me battling overheating feet and the man who farts next to me). But Fudgy and I just discovered that the race is using an alternative route because of the apocalyptic weather.

So my first 5k will actually be my first 4k. Meh. Its still me, running, outside, with lots of other people. This is the view from my bedroom window, and that hill you see in background... thats where we are racing!!!

I'll update you all when I get back..

Whatever you are doing today, have a great one and enjoy it. I was told yesterday by a very wise man "enjoy each weekend like its your last". I want you to but I hope it isn't.

Kmac xxx

I laugh in the face of Sub Zero!

2010-01-08T13:26:00.000Z

Date: 8th Jan 2010
Weather: Yesterday's -11 makes today's -7 look tropical.
Footwear: Unsexy walking boots for the "commute" to work, in the office I'm sporting my brown, heeled shuboots again. A cardinal sin wearing the same shoes twice in the same for me...

Happy Friday blog world!!! Its the end of the first full week in 2010, I hope everyone has had a productive one.

I hit the gym at 6:40am, planning on just a gentle 40 mins on the X-trainer as Andy told me not to run but do something today. But Paul hijacked me, convinced me I needed to get to his spin class at 7am because it was gonna be a good one. So I do 15 mins of X trainer warm up, skip up the stairs to spin, set the bike up and proceed to gradually knacker myself in the space of 45 mins. Great class, good music and good variety of moves to do, but bloody hell was it hard work. I love spin, but I hate it when its just a basic stand up/sit down/ cycle fast/ stand up... Certainly need to get back to more of the Spinning classes at my gym.

This week I've managed to... ( in no particular order)..

Run 21k over 4 days - an achievement considering this time last year I'd never even ran 21k in my LIFE!!
Rearrange my bedroom so its tidy (yey!), logical and organised. Lets see if that lasts past the weekend.
Arrange flights and travel for my work people even though every airport, airline and cloud seemed against us. PA's are miracle workers don't ya know.
Upset some people who are important to me with a silly remark, working on resolving this but goodness knows.... I'm sorry!
Sorted out my finances for when I get paid.
Wrote out a kit list for Kilimanjaro.
Signed up for the 3 peaks challenge - I'm classing this as "training" for the biggy in September.

Its been a busy ol week for me, but its been very productive. Next week I'm hoping to have more than 30k under my belt distance wise and I also want to get a grip of my diet. Its been very so so recently, not super bad or anything, but not as great as it once was. Naughty Kmac.

Kilimanjaro is becoming a very real event now, the team and I are getting some PR from our gym (Bannatynes) and we've been talking about the hard core training you need to do. I'm hoping to get some pictures up on here of our training, fundraising and general antics soon!!

Fudgy and I are running (read that as SKATING!) a 5k tomorrow, so expect an update after the event. But before that I'd love to share a text message I got from the Fudge last night. To explain, we are both in different starting zones because of our past racing time...... "We can still hang about until the start and then meet in the first aid tent" You can tell we are both very optimistic about getting through the race injury free!!

If anyone reading this is a first aider in Edinburgh/Doctor in Edinburgh/Nurse in Edinburgh/Paramedic in Edinburgh I look forward to seeing you tomorrow :o)

Catch up with you all laters

Kmac xx

You've gotta swim.

2010-01-06T15:10:00.000Z

Date: 6th Jan 2010
Weather: Still snowy. The entire country is at a standstill, Scotrail have given in, Schools are closed but yet most of us get to work.... hummmm.
Shoes: Black leather kneehigh boots with 4ins heel, teamed with black dress and pink shirt combo.

6 days into the New Year and already I'm hearing whisperings of "Oh I've broken my resolution already" or "I'll start the diet tomorrow". 6 days people! Jeebus. I guess you have to be 100% committed to the resolution for it to work, which makes me question why people make them to begin with?

To put it in context, if you said you'd do something at work to your boss (the resolution) and then a couple of days later you'd given up how would you explain it to him/her? So why should giving up on yourself be any different? Surely the one person you can count on and rely on should be yourself.

The last 12 months have taught me that I have to listen to my body, my instinct and those close to me. I know I can rely on my ultimate judgement, but its taken me a while to get to that point.

So the moral of the story is - DON'T GIVE IN. People are amazing creatures, and are able to do so much but the one thing we are all guilty of is underestimating our ability. Push yourself, push the line and then see how good you feel.

My Kilimanjaro training is coming along nicely, so far this week I've clocked up just over 11k on the running distance and I've been pushing the weights like its going out of fashion. But I'm on a rest day today. My back is a little tight from yesterday's gym antics so dont want to risk and injury.

Fudgy and I are still going to be running the 5k on Saturday around Holyrood Park, however just how fast we run or indeed how injury free we remain is still yet to be decided!!

Thats all from me for today folks...

Kmac xx

Still 256 days to day.... Official post 1

2010-01-04T13:42:00.000Z

Date: 4 Jan 2010
Weather: Snow and Ice on the ground, cold in the air and bugger all gritters on the roads
Footwear of choice : Brown Kurt Geiger Shu-Boots in the office, Brown unsexy walking boots for outdoors.

Great start to the day... I didn't sleep much last night, maybe 4 hours max. So I decided to get up and head to the gym.

Managed to knock out about 6k on the treadmill before I felt my leg muscles yelp in protest. I'm running the Bupa "fun" run 5k on Saturday with my fabby friend Claire (check out her blog...
http://fudgeyrun.blogspot.com ) so need to start getting the running practice in. I'm not made for running. I look somewhat like a chicken being chased by Bernard Matthews. Honestly.

Got into work and felt amazing. The run made me feel grand so the day has been Rosy so far.

Other news.

Need to start buying kit for Kilimanjaro and if there is one thing I'm good at right now is shopping. This is the part of the process I'm looking forward to. I'll be hitting the mountain dressed in pink, think Barbie and you've hit it right there. I've promised Kilimanjaro Barbie so I will deliver Kili Barbie. My sister has picked a sea blue/green colour. As soon as we have our kit I shall post pics and you can decide how crazy we look!

Tonight's plan is to get to Radio Lollipop without falling on my bottom and then home for an early night. I'm planning 2 x 6k runs tomorrow in the gym so need my rest to make sure I get up in time.

Adios!

Kmac xx

256 Days to go

2010-01-04T13:10:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to my little blog.

Most of you reading will know me, the hair brained things I tend to get up to and the fun I love to have along the way. If you don't know me... I'm sure this will become apparent very quickly.

Living in Edinburgh, working away I love my wee life. I've been lucky enough to be blessed with good health, good friends and great family - these are the people and things that keep me going and keep me motivated. But I started to get itchy feet. I wanted to help others who maybe weren't as lucky as me.

Cue CCLASP becoming charity of the year at my work. CCLASP is a charity based in Edinburgh for Children with Cancer and Leukaemia, Advice and Support for Parents. And they do just what it says on the tin. CCLASP treat every child the same, whether they are ill or not and they are there for the entire family. The charity represented something close to my heart and I'm so glad I've been able to help out in the last 18 months.

In August 2009 I started to think about possibly doing something "big" to raise money for CCLASP outwith the office, this was when the Kilimanjaro idea was passed around. A number of weeks later we (Richard and I, and a couple of others who for various reasons had to pull out) agreed to do it. We were going to climb the worlds largest freestanding mountain.

All great in theory. But I'm a 25 year old shopaholic who couldn't tell you the different between a slope and a Munroe. How the hell was I going to drag my Kurt Geigered feet up that mountain? Enter a gym membership and fantastic personal trainer to stage left.

Between the support of family and friends and Andy kicking my ass every week in the gym I'm determined to get there. And this blog is my way of documenting my journey from stiletto wearer to accomplished mountain hiker type lassie!!