Christchurch

Katrina Galbraith – 38yrs. Claims Consultant. Christchurch

I moved to Christchurch on September 1st 2010 with plans of creating a fantastic new life for myself.  I had previously completed events like the Contact Tri and had found out dates to aim for once I was settled in my new home.  The move was going to a new beginning - a new me.

Well, to say that the last 12 months have been hard is an understatement!  Living on edge has definitely taken its toll emotionally on me.  Add to that I badly broke my ankle in 2 places 7 weeks after moving here and the road to recovery has been long (and not over yet).  I have found it hard to get my motivation into fitness back and weight has crept back on over the last year.  I have decided its time to get serious about fitness again, even though I feel like I’m back to square one, I know I have done it in the past and I CAN do it again.

I am definitely not a natural born athlete! But I had begun to enjoy the benefits and sense of achievement that comes with exercise (along with the weight loss of course!) over the last couple of years.  I have struggled most of my life with weight and the motivation to change, so the fact that I had actually got myself to a point where I could go for a 3km jog was mind-blowing – I could DO IT!!

Being told I was one of the It Girls was amazing!  A bonus for me is that it will help me be even more focused on getting back (and staying) on track.  I want all women who doubt themselves that they can do an event like this to know from very personal experience that YOU CAN DO IT.  I still remember the first event I signed up for that I did alone because none of my friends thought they could do it.  So there I was, very overweight and doing it alone thinking to myself “why do I think I can do this if others can’t?” I was a bundle of nerves come race day and even considered pulling out - but there I was lined up with all the other women and I did it!! The feeling of achievement that I actually crossed the finish line was amazing.  If I can help to encourage even one woman to enter this event for themselves it will be a fantastic bonus for me (watch out to everyone I work with – I plan on having a team day out and get as many of you as possible to come along with me!!!)

If there are any women in Christchurch who want to join me on my journey please get in touch with me – it would be great to meet new people and have some training buddies!!!

I feel incredibly honored to have been selected as the Christchurch It Girl, I’m well aware that there are so many people who have been effected by the last 12 months in Christchurch – stay strong everyone.

A quote that I found (and still have on my wall) after I finished my first event:

“The miracle isn’t that I finished – the miracle is that I had the courage to start”

My first update has taken me a while to get done – not a great start!!
 
My training was going well until my run Wednesday last week and I started to get quite a bit of pain in the ankle that I broke last year.  I went to physio today and I’m not allowed to run for the next week – she’s recommended that I see a podiatrist because my ankle has quite limited range of movement so when I run I’m not running evenly.  So hopefully he’ll be able to do some magic (or at least recommend what I can do to help out!!!).  So for the next week I’ll have to concentrate on getting back on my bike, which might not be such a bad idea because I’ve been a bit slack with that.
 
Following on from my painful run on Wednesday, my week went badly down hill emotionally when my flatmate found my beautiful 9mth old long haired tortie kitten had been hit on the road.  She is my second cat I’ve buried since moving to Christchurch, I had to put my gorgeous 17 yr old cat down in Feburary (2 days before the Feb quake).  I was devastated and have been quite emotional the last few days, so training hasn’t been high on my mind.  One thing I’m pleased with tho is that when I get down I tend to go and buy junk food, but I did at least resist that!
 
My head is a bit clearer now and I’m feeling like I’m up to getting back out and about, so even tho I’m annoyed that I can’t run for the next week, I’m determined that it’s not going to get me off track!!!

Wow. I can’t believe how fast time is flying!!!

I had a few appointments last week, the podiatrist was great (tho not so much on my wallet!!) with a new pair of running shoes that will better suit my very flat feet & orthotics I should be back on track with no pain in my ankle * yippee *

The other appointment wasn’t so fantastic, I am booked in for an MRI on my other foot this week and then back to see a specialist mid November, and there’s a possibility of surgery being needed (I would strongly recommend to EVERYONE that it’s really not a great idea to drop a railway sleeper on your foot!!!!) but that’s not likely to happen for a while if that’s what’s needed – nothing is going to stop me from my race J

So this week I’m going to get back on track with my running, not liking the idea of biking in this horrid wind, but I somehow think I’m just going to have to suck it up and do some strength training into the head wind!!!!!

I'm keen to get some others together and look at some group training - a great way to stay motivated and meet new people.  If anyone is interested at all feel free to get in touch with me kat.gal72@gmail.com