Reidy writes

Wednesday 8 August 2012

My confession

Wow it's been a long time since I've written a blog post, I hope you're all still interested. This one will be short and sharp but I am going to be getting back on the blog program over the next month and start to do it every 2 weeks or so. 


My life is almost taken a total 180 since March this year, well maybe not a 180 but a few things have definitely changed dramatically. Around 3 months ago I set 3 big goals for myself. The 1st of them to try and run the 21.1km Sydney Half Marathon in under 80mins. The 2nd being to run the 42.2km Gold Coast Marathon and try go Sub 3hours. And the 3rd to run the 14km City to Surf in under 50mins.


Now I know some of you think I'm already pretty fit and the goals I have set myself aren't that hard. Well I have a confession to make, I've been a closet, 12 a day smoker for the past 20 years of my life. Some of you might say its disgusting and I am inclined to agree with you. It's not something I'm proud of and I really did always hate it but unfortunately I was addicted. Funnily enough, I could always pass my physical tests for work but was just never really competitive when it came to our lifeguard races. I was always in the bottom 10 and always had this attitude that "If I could still pass my tests then it can't be doing me much harm" or so I thought. Its a whole new world out there once you are released from its claws and thats exactly what happened after I was hypnotised.

Since meeting my saviour, Lucy the Hypnotherapist from Lucidmind 6 months ago my life hasn't been the same. I can't put into words how much better my life is now and for what she did for me I will be forever be truly grateful.

Nick Chappy my buddy from Shift 60 put together a training program for me and the fun began.

First up was the Sydney Half Marathon where I wasn't overly confident of breaking 80mins as I'd only been training properly for about 4 weeks and my PB over that distance was 86mins. I ended up running coming in at 78:21 and was over the moon.
Nick Chappy and I happy after the race.

Very happy with my time.
Next up was the Gold Coast Marathon but unfortunately it didn't quite go to plan. After my Half Marathon time I got overly confident and made a huge rookie mistake thinking I could maybe run a 2:50. I went out way to hard and blew up at the 27km mark, things went down hill really quickly after that. I ended up running a 3:01 and was devastated. The thing that got to me the most is that I know I could have gone 2:59 and I would have reached my goal. It was still a 7min PB for me as the last Marathon I ran in Melbourne was a 3:08 so I was still happy but I will get under the 3 hour mark one day. The highlight of the weekend was by far the after party the crew at BodyScience put on for us after. We had a house right on the beach with DJ's, fun people and ice cold Coronas!
With Dan Mac at the start line!
Running 3:55 per Km and thinking I'm killing it at 10km mark.
High 5's all round at the 20km mark.
Okay, welcome to the hurt locker, 32km mark... GET ME OUTTA HERE, I WANT TO QUIT...
Best party ever... Thanks BSc
In 4 days time I will try and reach my 3rd goal. In 4 days time I'm going to try and run the race of my life. In 4 days time Christmas comes to runners and the gun for the 41st City 2 Surf will be fired. The C2S is, as far as I'm concerned is one of the greatest fun runs on the planet. 85.000 people all running 14km's from the city to get to the beach and have a beer. What more could anyone want? This will be the 7th time I have run it but only the 2nd time Ill be racing it and hoping for a fast time. The last time I raced it was 4 years ago and came in around 53mins. This year as you know, my original goal was to break the 50min but things got interesting the other night at the footy when Hoppo, Kerr Box and I were exchanging some friendly banter over a beer. Many people don't know this but Hoppo used to be a very good runner back in the day. He only weighed 72 kilos and ran the City to Surf in a blistering time of 48:52. Well anyway, the challenge was thrown down and a bet was waged (thanks to Kerr Box). If I beat Hoppo's time of 48:52 in this years race Hoppo has to Rollerblade 2 laps of Bondi's promenade in a specially made Body Science Leopard print Mankini. If I DONT make the time then I have to... GULP... Now if any of you have ever seen Hoppo or I on rollerblades then you will understand that its not healthy for either of us to be doing it.

Very honoured to get a seeded bib, hope I do it proud...
Ciao for now...

Reidy :)

17 comments:

  1. ha ha awesome! good luck with the run, I'm sure you can do it!!
    Well done on the quitting smoking too! I was a 8-10 a day for the past 24 (nearly 25) years, I gave up 39days ago today. Every lung function test I ever took came back as 'I must do lots of sports', whereas I haven't for years lol. But I have decided with a BIG birthday fast approaching, it's time I quit and started getting fit again! Not sure I'll ever run fast or even very far, but I'm sure as hell going to try!!

    It's nice to follow people like you who can give other people like me the motivation to get off my backside and give it a go. Thank you x

    Kathy.

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  2. very inspiring I must say reidy!! my husband was a heavy smoker for most of his life and it'll be 14 yrs this year since he gave up, something he never thought he'd be able to do. it's always good to be able to set yourself goals. I've been lazy with that I think but have had difficult family circumstances to contend with with my son but have now at 33 yrs old set myself realistic (I think!) goals. I will not rest till I reach them! 'difficult but never impossible'. keep going with the blog's, I really enjoy reading them! :-) xxx

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  3. Good u stop smoking :)
    Good luck with the run, I'd like to see Hoppo on rollerblades xP haha Good luck Reidy :)

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  4. Oh well done, you clearly have the motivation and that deserves praise in itself. Really wish you all the luck in the world for achieving all your goals. X

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  5. Well done Reidy. Have missed your blogs and it's so wonderful to see you doing well and also inspiring others. I too have that nicotine monkey on my back and am trying to quit. It's hard going and I hope to take some inspiration from you. When I come to Bondi in December I hope to be able to give you a big non smoking high five lol! Best of luck with your run - I'll be looking forward to seeing Hoppo all pretty in pink!

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  6. good luck reidy for the c2s!! Great to see you blogging again. Missed it!! xo

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  7. Glad to see you back blogging again mate! You're an inspiration xxx

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  8. So happy to see you back blogging Reidy! And super congratulations for your quitting! I'm a strong believer of hypnoterapy.
    Good luck for C2S! I'll keep my thumbs up for you :-D

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  9. congratulations on quitting smoking! and thank you so much for sharing your story with us..and this lovely blog. =D

    wish you all the best for C2S!!! let us know how it goes!

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  10. Well done Reidy, I hope you succeed this next run. Good luck. I'm proud of you.

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  11. Reidy is a non-smoker - well done! And now to be super save you could read Allen Carr's The Easy Way and I promise you will neverever try it again :)
    Greetings from Munich and keep blogging! Helen

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  12. well done on quitting hun n gud luck 4 the race not that u need it :)

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  13. Hei! This is my first time reading your blog - very enjoyable.
    Looking forward to the photos/video of you rollerblading in a mankini! lol (Your time in the C2S was awesome)
    Have fun x

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  14. So pleased to see your blogging again, I've missed them.
    Well done for packing in smoking, it's not an easy thing to do.
    Good luck with your third goal, looking forward to hearing how you've done. X

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  15. Well done on quitting it will be the best decision you ever make in life. Your words are very inspiring but how do you stay so motivated? I have been trying to get fit and really need to
    lose weight for ages now but just can't stick to it!! Any advice?
    Good luck on your 3rd goal, you can do it x x

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  16. I'm attracted to everything about you

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