You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2007.
Exercise: 10 min Bike, 10 Min Ski Machine, Weights - Back
My girlfriend at work is a member of Fernwood and she gave me a guest pass, so I made the most of it today and went back to my former gym. It felt very comfortable walking back in there. There are all new machines now with the little video screens in each one and they’ve changed the gym around which utilises the space much better.
I have made the decision to rejoin, as long at they waive the joining fee. I know that I’ve got the equipment at home but for some reason it’s just so much easier to get to the gym, especially as I live and work literally 2 minutes away from it.
We’re off to Echuca this weekend for a nice family getaway. I’m hoping to get a couple of runs in while I’m there, although the weather forecast is not looking too good. Oh well, we’ll just wait and see when we get there 
Exercise: 7.5km Run - MMCT (7’s Blue)
The decision to run this morning was purely based on what the weather was like when I got up. Luckily it was not raining so there was no excuses 
Hasn’t the temperature plummeted over the last 24 hours!! Rugged up warm with singlet, long sleeve top and sleeveless jacket, with my fingerless gloves firmly in place on my hands too! I even considered putting my ear warmers on underneath my cap, but I thought that might be going a bit too far 
Michelle and I questioned whether to run the trail or not as it regularly has fallen trees across it if the weather is windy. We decided to risk it, being the dare devils that we are, and set out slowly, also watching out for puddles that we might step in accidently.
As usual, I needed the loo so we veered off to check out whether the ones that we’ve used in the past were open. Unfortunately they were still locked, so a nice bushy area of the track was the next best thing 
Just as well I come prepared for all eventualities (actually it was more luck than judgement as I was wearing the sleeveless jacket which had a couple of tissues in the pocket) 
With about 1km to go we upped the pace a bit. You could hear that Michelle is much fitter than me as she was barely breathing hard, whereas I sounded like a dinasour approaching, my breathing was very erratic!!
Okay, so for anyone who had a guess at where Sunday’s run was, I’ll put you out of your misery. Beki, it was indeed a trail that you’ve run before. We parked at The Parkway and ran to Westerfolds Park via the Yarra Trail, got to the top of the park where the big house is, and then turned around and ran back the way we came. It’s a really lovely scenic trail, with a bit of undulation and a few minor hills when you get inside Westerfolds Park. I certainly knew that I’d run some hills yesterday as my calves were quite tender.
Now to my favourite subject of conversation at the moment - BIG BROTHER!! Has anyone else been screaming at the TV any time Emma opens her mouth to say something nasty?? I was so hoping that Andrew would put her up for nomination so that she’d get evicted this week. I just can’t believe how hypocritical she is. Oooh it makes my blood boil!!
On another note, Michelle and I have decided to do the Run to the G Half Marathon. It’ll be more as a training run than anything else, but I’ve got to try and run more km’s without stopping for a stretch and a drink and then another stretch etc, and I think that by entering some half marathons, it may help…..hopefully!! Don’t want to worry about times, just about running the distance without the need to stop. If I set Gav to pace us for about 6.15 pace, that should get us to the end without the need for a stop. I’ll wear my fuel belt so I can carry drink with me and avoid the drink stations. Really hope the weather is nice
Anyone else doing this race?
Alana’s Quote: “Mummy it’s dribbling!” (she meant drizzling)
Exercise: 16km Run - Yarra Trail, Westerfolds Park (6’s)
Congratulations to everyone who picked that the photo was indeed of the You Yangs. It was taken whilst on our way to Apollo Bay last weekend. The top of the mountain was covered in a huge cloud and it looked awesome. Michelle and I will get over that way one day to run there.
Okay, so where did we run today?
It was a lovely morning for a run, not too warm, not too cold. The wind was a little blowy in places but certainly not as gusty as if we were running along the bay, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately today’s run highlighted that my glutes are pretty tight and are hindering me quite a bit when we run up hills and inclines. Might have to get over to see CV very shortly so she can give them a good massage. I’m also going to nip over to my Dads place and nick a couple of his golf balls, so I can have one at home and one at work. A golf ball is a much better size to sit on than a tennis ball and because it’s that bit harder, gets into the muscle better.
I’ve become addicted to these things
I was never a lover of rice cakes as they tasted just like cardboard. I was given one to try last week which was a Nacho Cheese flavour. OMG - they taste just like Doritos :-). I went to the supermarket the next day and they also had them in Salt & Vinegar flavour, so bought a packet of those. Unfortunately they didn’t last long Neither did the packet of Nacho Cheese ones that I had at home I suppose it’s not too bad that I’m replacing these for my normal chocolate intake so it can’t be all bad
Alana’s Quote: “I want my legs to be as strong as Mummy’s”
Exercise: 5km Run - Lilydale Lake (7’s Blue)
Hubby has decided that he’d like to add some running to his training program. He plays cup grade Squash. This was fine by me. So we headed out with Alana tagging along on her bike behind us. Hubby was hapy just to do one lap running and then another lap walking as he didn’t want to overdo it on his first run. I ran with him on the first lap and then did another one on my own.
It was a lovely afternoon and it wasn’t too busy either, which makes a change. I’d love to do this more regularly as it means that we’re doing things as a family and we’re all getting out and doing some exercise too
I made Pizza tonight. Hubby wanted a seafood one (yuck) and me and Alana wanted Hawaiian.
Before cooking
After cooking. Didn’t get a picture of the hawaiian as I’d cut it up before I remembered to take a photo!!
I didn’t want to drink too much as I’m running tomorrow morning so I just had a glass of red wine, which I’d bought for Hubby. It took me nearly all evening to drink the glass. I’m just not a red wine drinker (I know you’ll probably find it hard to believe ).
Alana’s Quote: Hubby: “What did you say Alana?”
Alana: “One car” (she was playing on her Playstation)
Hubby: “Oh, okay. I thought you said something else!” 
(say “one car” fast and you’ll understand)
Exercise: 10km Run - Local Streets (6’s)
Michelle came over to my place this morning and we ran a fairly flat course from there. We’ve decided that we need to do more some speed work. At the moment our pace is really slow. I really don’t think that I’ve improved at all over the last 12 months, in fact I’d say that I’ve gone backwards. This morning’s run was an average pace of 6.27. That’s not good at all! Yet looking back on our 19km run a couple of weeks ago and we did a 5.57 average pace. We ran faster over a longer distance 
How can that be??
Last year I was running 1/2 marathons and was doing longer distance training runs. It all seems to have ground to a halt this year. So what I’d like to do is jump on the treadmill every 2nd night and do a bit of speed work. Just 5km. That’s all I need to do. But start increasing the speed at each session. I’m going to walk in the door and put my stuff on straight away and go out to that treadmill. No stopping, no sitting down, no nothing! Just walk through the house and out the back door. I’m sure everyone won’t mind waiting an extra 1/2 hour for their food. And I’ll still have finished in time to watch Big Brother
Okay, let’s have a game of “Where is it?”
I love this picture. I took a photo of it so that I could remember it. When I first started at my current job I had to bring Alana to work late one afternoon and this is what she drew on my whiteboard. Since I’ve moved out of that office nobody else has occupied it. I went in there the other day and found the picture still on the whiteboard….so cute
And these are my friends who keep me company at work. There’s Jackpot at the back. My Mum sent him over to me when I was living in the UK. She knows that I’ve got a bit of gambling blood in me
Then there’s Nicholas. I bought him from the hairdressers that I used to go to in the UK. He was so cute and is a reminder of the lovely people who cut my hair (and also how much money I spent in that place).
And in the front is Angel. He was a pressie from my bestest buddy and is my new favourite friend. He is purple, of course (my favourite colour) and takes pride of place at the front
Alana’s Quote: “Mum we’re living in a broken house!” (we’re renovating!)
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Yellow)
It was slightly cooler this morning but still nowhere near as cold as it was at this time last year. And for some reason it seemed really dark for most of the run. Had our running lights on for the majority of the time. It was only just getting light when we finished (7.00am).
I am back to putting stuff on Ebay to sell. Have just finished selling off a whole load of Videos and DVD’s that Alana no longer watches. I made nearly $170 from them, which will go into Alana’s bank account. I think I’ve missed the window of opportunity with her old summer clothes so will have to pull out all of her winter clothes that no longer fit and put those on. There’s also some perfume and facial stuff that I haven’t used that I can add. If you ever want to see what I’m selling just click on the link to the left
Well hasn’t Big Brother been riveting this year? I’m enjoying it much more than last year that’s for sure. I think Nick will go this week as he’s just so whiny and bitchy and nobody really likes him that much. The new intruders will probably cause a little bit of a stir but not much I don’t think. And I reckon that Andrew will come out of his shell a bit more now that Hayley’s left. I have to agree that it really wasn’t fair having them both in the house. They were a pretty lethal combination.
I’ve decided to sign up for the Melbourne Half Marathon. I wasn’t interested in doing it at all until they announced that the course has changed and is now being run through the city. I can run with Michelle for part of the distance and then hopefully hook up with some of the Ausrunners who are doing it and continue running with them. And to be able to run onto the MCG is quite exciting. Not sure about seeing myself on the big screen though
I’m taking Alana to the dentist shortly as she is having a filling. It’s her first filling and even though she knows what’s going to happen, I left out the part about having an injection Naughty Mummy!! Wish me luck
Alana’s Quote: “Mummy, you’re making me turn purple!” (she was angry about something)
Exercise: 7.1km Run - MMCT (6’s)
I’m still here. Just haven’t done any kind of exercise for a week now (unless you call eating crap and drinking alcohol exercise ).
This morning’s run was shorter than normal, due to the fact that it’s the first time Michelle has run since her Marathon on Sunday, and also that she had to get to Uni for 8.30am. I was more than happy to do the shorter distance as it was good for me to ease back into the swing of things without killing myself.
Strange morning weather wise though. Last night it was really chilly. Getting up this morning, I dressed for very chilly weather. However, walking out the door it hit me that it wasn’t actully cold at all. It was pleasantly warm even. It did, however, start to rain at about the 4km mark, but it didn’t last long, so I’m not even going to complain. In fact, it felt nice to run in it. It was very light though. If it had been much heavier I may not have been so happy.
*Edit* Just checked Weatherzone and it was 11 degrees at 6am!
Going back to the weekend, we had the best time. It was so nice to get away for a girly weekend. And it was nice to get down to Apollo Bay before all the weekend traffic. We stopped for lunch at the Anglesea Pub, which was virtually deserted and I had a very yummy (and very big) Chicken Parmajana (sp?). We then continued on to our cabin, which was in a Caravan park about 2.5km out of town. Here’s the view from our little front deck
Went into town to grab some food to stock up on, then back to the cabin for some much needed Champers and munchies. We all enjoyed Big Brother Friday Night Games.
Went back into Apollo Bay on Saturday morning to watch the finish of the 6.5km race. The wind was very strong and it rained on and off for most of the morning. We waited around until the pub opened and then had lunch there. By the time we finished eating they were setting up for the start of the 14km race, so we hung around and watched everyone start. Then we nipped over to the beach for a little while so the girls could have a bit of a play and run off all their built up energy.
Saturday night was fairly quiet. As Michelle wasn’t drinking I had the pleasure of downing a whole bottle of Champers by myself. Could only manage 3 glasses before I got too tired. Michelle was up at 5.15am so that she had enough time to get into town to catch her bus to the marathon start in Lorne. Me and the girls lounged around for most of the morning before loading up the car and heading off into town to see the half marathon and marathon finishers.
It was fantastic to see Michelle come into view. I’d been sending her text messages regularly to keep her spirits up and I did send her some audio messages but her phone couldn’t receive them. We sat at a spot where Caitlin could join Michelle near the finish and run across the line with her. I have to say that it was a very emotional experience for me, not just watching Michelle finish, but seeing everyone come struggling into view and run that last few hundred metres. I remember how I was feeling last year when I completed the half marathon.
We stayed in Apollo Bay until the road opened again and then made our way back home. One complaint has to be the amount of traffic lights going through Geelong. I could not believe how long it took us to actually get out of there. They really need to do something about that road!! 
Once past Geelong it was pretty plain sailing back home. Coming over the Westgate Bridge into town is always a beautiful sight. Melbourne is just so pretty at night
Weight wise, all is not good However, since Monday morning I have been determined to do better and have dropped a little bit of weight since then. Next weeks weigh in will be better
What is it they say about the best laid plans??
Unfortunately Alana was not well yesterday so I stayed home to look after her. This meant that the run I had planned from work to the car dealership did not eventuate. Actually there was no run at all
I’m trying to watch my food intake due to taking part in an 8 week weight loss challenge on the Ausrun forum and a 15 week challenge on Beki’s Blog. In for a penny, in for a pound I say
I hope it doesn’t rain too much over the weekend. I know that we really, really need the rain, but if it could just hold off during the day and pour in the evening I’d be very happy. Can’t decide what to pack for Apollo Bay. Do I take winter clothes or not so winter clothes? Decisions, decisions!!
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Blue)
Don’t you just hate it when you go to bed at a decent hour and then your brain just won’t shut down and you end up feeling really crap when you wake up because you didn’t get enough sleep
This morning’s run was just that. Nothing good or bad about it, except that it’s still really warm. I keep thinking that it’s going to be colder than it is, so I’m all layered up and I have to keep taking the layers off as I get too hot.
I checked back on this time last year and the weather was so much colder than it is now. I remember because we were at GOR Marathon and it was freezing cold. For goodness sake, I can’t even start to wear my new winter wardrobe yet because it’s too warm.
Michelle and I are driving down to Apollo Bay on Friday morning. It’s going to be a girly weekend with me bringing Alana and Michelle bringing her youngest daughter too. Should be a good laugh and I’m really looking forward to it. Just hope it doesn’t rain on Sunday for Michelle. Running 45km in rain - YUK!!
I’ve got my car booked in for a service tomorrow so I’ve decided that I’m going to run from work to the dealership when it’s ready. I can either run the quick way, which is about 4 or 5 km (and mainly uphill), or I can go the back way, which will be about 11km, but is mainly flat apart from the first 3km….hmmmm - now which one should I choose?
Exercise: Netball Game (6’s)
I had the crappiest day at work today. Budgets, Senior Management and Sales Managers do not make a good team….aaaggghhhh!!! Okay, deep breaths!
Another enjoyable game of Netball tonight. Okay we lost, but it was still a good game. I’ve decided though that I’m not going to play the winter season. I know last year I really didn’t enjoy having to go out back out in the cold once I’d got home from work, so I though the best decision was not to put myself in the position of not wanting to play each week. I just need to find something else to do exercise wise instead.
I got on the scales yesterday I’m back up to my heaviest weight again
Even though at the back of my mind I knew that I wasn’t eating very well and wasn’t exercising enough it was still a bit of a shock to see the numbers. The fact that I’d deliberately avoided getting on the scales should have been a warning, but I just decided to put my head in the sand and plead ignorance
Time to get realistic again. Watch what I put in my mouth and include some form of exercise every day, even if it’s just pushups, tricep dips and situps while watching TV.
Exercise: 19km Run - Dandy Creek Trail (7’s Yellow)
I have just come back from the best run in ages. I made sure that I drank plenty of fluid yesterday, including a litre of gatorade last night. I also made pasta for tea, along with some turkish bread, so I was all carbed up too. I even managed to get a decent amount of sleep.
I’m sure this really made a difference today. The first 5km were hard though. It was cold and foggy. Probably not the most motivating of environments for me. We stopped at some toilets at about 6km and it was only then that I realised I’d warmed up and wasn’t running like a scarecrow
We hadn’t made any real firm decisions about how far we wanted to run, we just played it by feel. Got to about 9.5km, which is where the path then forks under the road and decided to turn back. The sun didn’t actually appear until we were about 13km into the run, but when it did come out it was absolutely perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, just right (sounds like a fairytale doesn’t it!!).
I’ve been finding that I get to about 15km and hit a bit of a wall, but there was none of that today. It was only when I stopped at about 16km to have a stretch, a drink and take my long sleeve top off that I realised I hadn’t hit any walls today. Things are really looking up
I stopped off at the Roller Skating Rink when I’d finished to see how Alana was going and hubby noticed that I had blue lips again. So I’m still not drinking enough the day before. I’d drunk close to 2 litres but it just mustn’t be enough. Must try and drink more. I’ll be wearing a mark in the carpet from my desk to the loos soon
For anyone who is watching Big Brother, Rae posted this link to a fantastic blog which gives an overview of each evenings show. It’s absolutely hilarious.
Okay, must go and clean the house and do some washing while the sun is out
Exercise: 10km Run - Lilydale Lake (6’s)
Just a quick one tonight. Can’t miss Big Brother now can we
I met Michelle at lunch time today and we did 3 laps of Lilydale Lake, also incorporating the hill at the back of the lake. If ever I run the Lake it’s normally in the evening and is very busy, but today it was almost deserted and we had plenty of room on the trail.
It actually felt a bit chilly when I got out of the car. The sun hadn’t come out at that stage. Within about 10 minutes of starting, it got warm really quickly. Not sure if it was just because we were running or whether it actually warmed up, but it was really pleasant to run.
When I got back to work I realised that I’d had a 2 hour lunch Oh well, I’m sure they didn’t miss me at work anyway
Right, Big Brother calls
Exercise: Netball Game (6’s)
I think I prefer getting to the early games at Netball. Tonight’s game started at 6.45pm, which gives me enough time to pick Alana up from After School Care, get home, get changed, and walk back out the door to get to the stadium in time for the start of the game. No time to sit around and consider not playing. It’s the later games that really zap my motivatation. The 8.25pm game is the worst. I’m just starting to get comfortable at home and then have to try and find the energy to get out and do the exercise. At least it hasn’t started to get cold yet. Once the winter season starts it’s even worse
We won our game again tonight, but the other team only played with 6 players after half time. One of their girls wasn’t feeling very well so came off the court. It was pretty even up until then, but we ended up winning by 8 goals. My finger is still a bit sore where I flexed it back at Netball last week but it didn’t really hamper any effort to play the game.
I missed most of Big Brother tonight. Saw a bit of the nominations but it wasn’t really very interesting. I want TJ out this week. She is just so awful to everyone and has a real attitude. Hopefully somebody will stand up to her and put her back in her place soon.
Alana’s Quote: “Mum you’re just not doing it right!” (I was trying to straighten her fringe)
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Yellow)
Hello all, I’m back!!
That damn cold took a hell of a lot out of me and today is the first day that I’ve been out and done some exercise. Luckily I didn’t feel as if I’d lost too much fitness, thank goodness.
Well, where do I start, so many things to tell you all about.
So the run this morning was okay. A bit chilly at first but me being me, I was well rugged up and was all snuggly warm. I’ve got a little bit of a twinge in my left glute, but nothing that sitting on a tennis ball won’t fix
I had a wonderful day yesterday. As I wasn’t going to run Puffing Billy this year I thought it only fair that I go and cheer everyone over the line who was running. I met up with the wonderful RunJaneRun, who had made some really cute little large name tags that we could put on our tops so everyone knew who we were. A huge congratulations to everyone who ran the race. It was just perfect running conditions - the sun was out, there was no wind, no rain, no hail - like I said, perfect!
As for the cheering people over the line - it would have been great if we’d actually been able to figure out what all our friends looked like on the day. It’s so hard trying to recognise people if you’re not actually running the race, and because we hadn’t seen anyone before the race, we didn’t know what everyone was wearing, so we kind of half cheered who we thought were our friends
I found Beki & BlkBox who I was giving a lift back down to Belgrave and we met up with lots of Coolrunners and Ausrunners at McCawbers. It was great to catch up with Beki and finally meet BlkBox. And I have to give a huge congratulations to MorseyRuns and Deege who were both running Puffing Billy for the first time. Wonderful effort ladies
My gorgeous daughter is growing up fast. It kind of hit me on Saturday. A couple of weeks ago she told me that she wanted to get a fringe cut into her hair. She saw the movie “Elektra” and wanted to look like Jennifer Garner. This is also the movie that gave her the idea that she wanted some swords as well. Hopefully she won’t want to wear the outfit any times soon
Now anyone who’s seen a photo of Alana knows that she has very long straight hair. I have always managed her hair, cutting it etc so it was a bit of a shock to me when she tells me she wants to do something different to it. She’s never really had any kind of opinion on her hair, just let me do as I liked with it. As a child I was never allowed to grow my hair, it was always kept short, so it was wonderful to let Alana grow her hair long, which she loves too. So it was with great reluctance from me that she got a fringe cut into her hair on Saturday. She absolutely loves it and can now be found more often than not preening in front of the mirror I just hope that she doesn’t want to get it cut shorter any time soon
Alana’s Quote: “It’s okay Mum, hold my hand and I’ll help you!” (we were Roller Skating)
