Time To Review The Year

Back to spin class this morning after walking Bella- I have missed the gym so I stayed after the class and did some weights as well. After my run yesterday I was so happy because my ankle didn't give me any pain at all but it was very sore this morning despite the icing i gave it last night.
I have done a little review of the year but it isn't that comprehensive.

Runs Completed:
Run 4 Kids
Run To G
Sandy Point Half Marathon
Melbourne Half Marathon
STF Xmas Run

Best Run:
Melbourne Half Marathon- great company (thanks Kendra!) and it felt like more of an achievement than the Sandy Point Half

Worst Run:
Run To G- I had never done it before and I thought we got to run into the G.

Achievements:
Losing 16kg!
Making my yard into a little oasis finally

Good decisions:
Changing work location (though I miss having Steve so close by to ask all my computer/running questions)

Bad decisions:
Choosing gardener with gambling problem
Paying gardener too much money up front
Choosing dodgy physio with no interest in my ankle (twice)

Best Holiday:
Driving across Nullarbor with good friend in campervan for $1 a day thanks to standbycars
(4 berth Mercedes with shower and toilet!!!!)

Not So Good Holiday:
Driving from Cairns to Sydney with boyfriend in campervan for $1 a day etc..(he wouldnt even stop at the big banana let alone detour to Tamworth to see the big guitar)

I should have:
Practised my guitar more
Started losing weight earlier so I wasn't going into Christmas with just a few kilos to go

I really appreciated:

Everyone's support with their comments- and the inspiration contained in their blog

My black dog- Bella, the digging drove me crazy and the recent biting incident made me a bit sad, but I love that she likes to sleep next to me no matter what I am doing, even when I do the dishes

3 Laps Of Lake

Three laps of the lake this morning (14ish km)- not very quick at all 1:28:05 and my heart rate averaged 166bpm. A friend rang to see if I wanted to go around the Tan but it was nice and still so I thought I would head back to the lake- I prefer the Tan if it is a bit breezy because the lake is unbearable with any wind.
I had a terrible nights sleep and wasn't going to run but then I was reminded of Smithy and his constant taunt "while you were sleeping your enemy was out there training".
Shane and Leslie came over last night with their minature daschund Baxter and unfortunately there was an incident over a bone and Bella bit Baxter and caused a hole in his neck- it was awful and bled for ages. Dogs being dogs they were back playing nicely shortly afterwards but we were still very nervous- Bella gets into a lot of fights- starts them, joins in etc but she has never drawn blood before. She isn't that aggressive and I thought she wasnt that possessive about food- Baxter had been wandering around with her bone for ages and she didn't seem to care.
I finally bought a hand mower and have mown (?) my little lawn- it is looking very green thanks to the washing machine water. The hand mower is a bit like hard work but I like the non-power feel of it, like I am a bit rustic- though a sheep would be the most rustic option and I am sure Bella would prefer it.

Boxing Day- Mountain Climb
Well Mum and I didn't let Boxing Day disappear into another haze of food and drink- we jumped in the car nd Mum dropped me at the start of the walking track for Mt Sturgeon- she then drove aroue and the mountain a bit and started walking a bit further on. She kept saying, oh I am so old and my hip hurts. I got to where she started in fourteen minutes and then started the chase- Mum must have been running because it took me another 25 minutes to catch the "poor old dear". She said she was imagining I was the enemy and she had to beat me. So then we kept going to the top and back again- I wish I had my heart rate monitor on because I would have had some fair old beats going! It took us two hours and it was great exercise.
We then went to Halls Gap to see how the Australia Day fire areas have regenerated- the trees look hilarious with their green jackets on and no other leaves. There were so many grass trees that would have been hidden by the undergrowth normally.

27th Dec
I trotted out the road again- I did a 8.6km loop that again finished with me trying to sprint up the hill to home- I was knackered. I did get a breather when two sheep were running down the road in front of me obviously thinking I was chasing them (I thought I looked like a vegetarian!). So I climbed through the fence and ran in the paddock around them so they stopped their escape down the road- they would have run straight out onto a main road otherwise. I did feel very silly running through someone elses paddock just so I didn't upset the sheep.

Prue and I then slowly packed the car (Prue's new golf clubs taking up most of the room, though Bella also had to contend with a lemon tree in the back as well- she only chewed it once) and came back to Melbourne. It was boyfriend's birthday and I felt bad about not seeing him at Christmas so I thought I should make an appearance.

Merry Christmas!

Bella and I have had a great Christmas so far- as predicted there was about 20 x 60 year olds dancing to music from the 60's at 1a.m. in the kitchen last night- what else could Prue and I do but join in? They were absolutely hilarious- and by all accounts there were sore heads on all adjoining properties this morning. Despite the (at least) 25 year age gap Prue and I joined in and I have now realised where I get my bum waggle from when I dance (thanks Mum, am also happy with inheriting the calf muscles!).

I didn't run today but Bella and I had a walk before everyone surfaced- my ankle was really sore but I think it is because of all the uneven ground we have been traipsing around.

Christmas lunch was going to be just Mum, Dad, Prue and I, so Mum invited another couple from nearby and Dad invited a two young guys from the property next door, Brian and Rohan. Rohan couldn't make it but Brian did and we were so grateful for someone new to be coming along. Brian grew up in the real bush, Kalumbura (I think) so we learnt all about the customs and tribal ways of his tribe. The poor thing was inundated with (probably silly) questions about his life before he came to work here.

My family is completely white bread so it was fantastic to have a different face at Christmas with a whole new perspective. Brian however, had heard that my mum cooks a great Christmas lunch and said he came along just to see if it was true.
Mum did cook a great lunch and I am so full I can barely have another piece of pudding, unless I have too.

I did very well from unwrapping those bright red packages under the tree, new running shorts and tights, towels, backpack, lamp and books, socks etc. I am feeling very happy with the world (and full of good wine) so I will just say Merry Christmas and good night!
PS It rained today, and hailed as well so everyone in the area had a very merry christmas!

Ankle was a bit sore this morning so I didn't run far- just a quick trot down the paddock with Bella and then some hill work. Normally once I have warmed up a bit my ankle is okay but it didn't seem to get any better so I didn't keep running on it- because I am at the farm I don't have any other exercise options so I don't want to upset my ankle too much. I used Dad's weight bench again (Prue got stuck on the weight bench last night after she didn't realise how heavy the bar was and couldn't push it off her chest!)

We went into town to buy everything for Mum and Dad's Christmas Eve party and now the kitchen resembles a crime scene.

I am obviously loving my new camera- though it doesn't have a view finder so I keep bringing it up to my face then having to wipe the smudge from my nose off the screen. I haven't tested the shockproof feature yet- or the "waterproofness" but it is a matter of time because I am so clumsy! The photos are of our wool shed which is very small compared to others, and Mt Sturgeon which is just over the road from the farm.

This is a photo of the dam on the farm- obviously it is nearly empty so it looks fairly sad. When we moved here in 1980 we were told that the Chinese chef from the large property next door committed suicide in the dam so we have always referred to it as the Suicide Dam. All the other dams have names but they are called "Top Highway Paddock Dam" etc and are much less interesting.

This is the road I ran down today- it is so hard to judge distances when it seems to go forever!

Driving to the farm
I slept in this morning after driving to the farm last night with my sister- the trip took a little longer than expected because Prue and I were coming in separate cars until she rang and said she might take a bit longer because she was at the pub. So I said I would drive her (even though it meant I couldn't take my bike) so I had to pack my car, drive to her place and move all my things into her car then leave. Prue's present wouldn't fit in her car (enormous glazed pot -dwarf lemon tree is already at the farm) so I had to hide it in her flat.
We had just about made it to Deer Park when Prue realised that she had left a bag of presents at home so we turned around and drove back- only adding an hour to our trip- I didn't even get angry. We rang Mum and said we were nearly at the Westgate- but heading towards the city and I am sure Mum thinks that Prue and I will never grow up.
It was finally starting to rain when we stopped in Ballarat and soon it was pouring. Sadly we got to the farm (near Dunkeld) and it was still very dry. It is going to be 15 on Christmas Day- hard to believe that when it was 35 yesterday.

Long Run
This morning I got up, took Bella for a quick walk then put on my ipod, grabbed my camera and went off down the road for a run, thanks to mapmyrun I had set a course- I ran to Manns Road and back which should have been 14km. As I got to Manns Road I decided to try for a negative split so I turned around and headed up the hill into the wind. I hadn't realised how strong the wind was so it was a lot harder than I thought but with a massive effort up the last hill to home I made it. I was really happy with my effort. Averaged 162 bpm, 6.25 m/km.
I dusted off Dad's weight bench and pumped some iron (?). Dad said he had used the bench six days ago but I spoke to the spiders that had moved in and they have been there for a while.

Bella is very happy on the farm- she has been in the trough already and has been hanging out with the working dogs, chasing the cat, chasing rabbits, being scratched by the cat and eating goodness knows what!

No running, spinning or pumping

Okay so the sleep won out this morning and I didn't do spin class like I had planned, I didn't do sprints at the park like I had planned but that was due to the massive ankle and knee pain I had this morning. I think a few days in heels at work followed up by walking around shops in my thongs has aggravated my ankle and it has swollen up again and I think that my knee pain must be related to that.

So Bella got a trot around the park- she has a sore shoulder so we make a great pair.

Heading to the farm tonight- I cannot wait but I don't know if I am prepared for how dry it is going to be. I can't take my bike due to one enormous present that I am taking which is a same because we are right at the foot of the Grampians and the trails are great fun- guess I will have to run along them instead. I used to run up the mountain a bit, but one snake and a rolled ankle made me to hesitant to enjoy it. Dad has some weights so I will have to give them a go- he got them for Christmas a few years ago so I might have to dust them off!

Tan

I ran around the Tan this morning- I don't know why but it takes more to motivate me for a short run rather than a long run. I lay in bed for a few minutes rationalising that maybe I would go to spin tonight instead and have half an hour more sleep. In the end I dragged my butt out of bed and took Bella to the park where she played tug of war with a stick with Arnie (who weighs 20kg more than her!) then went home. I had a work car so I drove to the Tan, one sub-standard lap, then off to work.

I should still try to go to spin tonight but it will depend on how organised I am- I am hoping to head to the farm tomorrow afternoon if I can leave work a bit early- or it will be Saturday morning before I head off.

Mum's birthday today- she must hate having a birthday so close to Christmas but we haven't gone the joint present this year, we have given her tickets to Dame Edna and my sister and I are going too!

I didn't run today, or spin or pump, I won't post any photos to distract you from the truth- I was just plain lazy and I slept in after boyfriends Christmas party (at the same Greek restaurant that we went to last week for my Christmas party) and I missed my spin class.
I have spent the morning racing around finishing Christmas shopping, what a diaster. Every year I swear that I won't go to Chadstone in December and every year I am out there practically three times a week in December.
My nephew rang to tell me that he saw Santa today and asked for a real crocodile but Santa told him that it might eat the reindeer. My sister and I have sent him a 1.5 m toy crocodile (he lives in Perth) and I wish we were going to be there on Christmas Day to see him open it up! I said to Prue my sister, "we could really win Christmas this year!" Apparently it isn't a competition.

Walk, Ride, Run

Took Bella for her usual walk this morning- Arnie, Leslie and Lucy weren't there so it was up to me to get her moving, she had a big run but it isn't the same as when she tears around the park chasing Arnie. I rode my bike to work ( I was thinking about getting the tram because it was a bit drizzly but decided to harden up!) and then ran to and around the Tan and back. It was nice and cool this morning and there were heaps of fit looking people out and about (sprinting past me). The time was ordinary and the distance is unknown but it felt good to be running around- I did the hill twice in an attempt to max out the heart rate monitor- got it up to 100% again.
I did spin last night- the class was so boring and I was seriously about to nod off, boring music and boring exercises- the ride there or home wasn't boring because everyone is in a hurry and distracted at the moment and I am continually dodging doors or having to come to a massive stop because some knucklehead has turned in front of me then had to stop for peds. I am trying to be tolerant.

I made it out for my long run on Saturday finally- I had to walk Bella first so it was about 7.30 a.m. by the time I got to the tan- I did one lap then crossed over the Yarra and ran to Fed Square, back over the Yarra and back to the bottom of Anderson Street - did that loop again then one more lap around the Tan. I bumped into an acquaintance so I stopped for a chat, (where is your boyfriend? was the first question to me) then I bumped into a lady I normally see at the dog park when we are walking our dogs (where is your dog? was her question to me). I had my camera, Ipod and phone (was on call for the weekend) and I certainly felt like I was being weighed down. I can't remember the time etc and dropped my heart rate monitor last night and it wiped all the settings.
Saturday night I went to Carols By Candlelight in Central Park in Malvern- packed a picnic and dragged along some mates to really get in the festive spirit- I do love this time of year- the weather, the impending presents, the eating and drinking (it always comes back to that!)

Yesterday I just pottered around, Bella got several big walks and I did some more Christmas shopping.
I started work at 7am today so it was just one quick lap of the tan this morning - well not that quick because I was very disorganised- ended up running in my dog walking shoes which are just old old runners anyway so it didn't really matter - apart from in my mind!

Bella and Harvey

This is Bella and her friend Harvey who were cooling off in between chasing each other around the garden when it was just too hot to move.

I will stop posting photos in an attempt to distract you from the fact that I have really dropped off the exercise.

Plans for tomorrow

I confess that I haven't exercised today apart from a stroll with Bella, I further confess that last night was our Christmas party and I ate too much (fantastic) Greek food and drank to excess. So my post today is to record for the ages that I promise to run very far tomorrow- I am thinking of 2 laps of the Tan and then 2 laps of the Yarra/ Fed square loop so it should be about 15ish km.

I am just two km from making 1000km for the year- I was hoping to finish the year under 70kg but that is getting harder and harder (see above re:Greek food).

This is a painting I did to put some colour in the loungeroom- I did 2 very similar and hung them side by side- I was happy at the time but now I am bored with them. Gotta be happy with cheap canvas and paint!

I did the run after all that complaining, and it wasn't too bad- I did a time of 27:25 but I don't have a real 5km time to compare that to- it works out to be 5.29 m/k which is okay- I love anything under six minutes! I had enough in the tank to really power through the last km when people were starting to drop off. I was pretty exhausted afterwards. I realise that $30 is a lot to pay for- the showbag was obviously why- hat, bottle, keyring and socks - not that I will use most of it, I don't know if I will happily fork that out for a non-charity run again. Anyway, 10km to go before I break 1000km for the year (missed out on January) so I will have to come up with a suitable goal for next year- maybe 1500? I had ankle dramas for a large part of the early year so that might be very possible.

Nervous about STF Xmas Run

I am still at work just waiting to go and get changed then toddle off to the STF Christmas run around Albert Park- but the thing is I am really nervous, and I don't know why. I should be very excited about getting out and running again instead of turning back into a fat lump again. It is so smoky that I am sure that no-one will see me, let alone notice my shuffly 5km run. This is a bad picture taken out of the office window, but normally the city is as clear as day behind the shrine.

I have fitted the new camera onto my ipod arm band (yes it will overload one arm so I may have to keep swapping it for every run!) so I should be able to get some photos as I run, unless I chicken out.
I seriously have a proper nervous tummy, it is only 5km, lucky I am not doing the 10km or I would be in tears!
I will stop being such a baby and get into my running gear. Stand by for the update.......

New camera (sorry no photos yet)

I got my exciting new camera today- and a 1 gig card so I have been taking photos all morning and as a result didn't do anything other than have a big walk at the park with Bella- it was a fair old power walk with Jane and her dog Wilbur though and I have to say I struggle to keep up with Jane's pace. So I will be a very rested runner tomorrow night for the Christmas run at Albert Park- I think I will just do the 5km so that I have a chance to catch up with Steve at the end rather than finishing in the dark by myself!
I was supposed to go to spin this morning, but woke up with the chest pains that I get occasionally (have had it all checked out and there is no problems with my ticker!). Last Saturday morning I went to the gym at 7.30 a.m. when it was due to open, but unfortunately it was the staff Christmas party the night before and a very flustered staff member showed up to open the doors at 8.15 a.m. and was greeted by a lynch mob! I was jogging up and down the street waiting so I wasn't too upset but I did have a very quick work out.

Missing my holidays all ready

Back at work this morning and I wish I was still at home. I have signed up for internet access at home but it won't be activated until the 20th of December- so back to posting at work again.

Garden
I finally rang another gardener and asked him to come around and finish my yard- the rest is that it looks fantastic and I love to sit and read the paper, eat dinner etc. outside now. I contacted the person who recommended the previous gardener and got very angry down the phone! He told me that Dave the gardener has a large gambling problem and is now being sued by him for causing damage to some properties he was supposed to be landscaping! Thanks so much for recommending him to me was the next thing I shouted down the phone. That is when I decided to cut my losses and get someone else to finish it all off or I would just see the unfinished yard and get angry every day instead of looking at it with love. I will post a picture when I get a bit more organised.

Exercise
I have been pretty good with the running etc- I did three laps of the lake the other day (without Bella) and it was great- the best thing was that I ran in the morning at about 11am- normally I think that I can only run very early in the morning but I was a bit disorganised and discovered that my legs still work when the sun is up!
My knees have been fine but my ankles have been quite sore recently so I will go back to ice etc.

I have stopped losing weight but that is largely to me eating and drinking too much while I am on leave so I am hoping to drop a bit more before I say I am finished with the dieting thing. I am about 71kg and I would love to be in the sixties permenantly- that may be a new years resolution!

Bella
My naughty little dog has been making a huge mess of my yard but I will be putting in some more temporary fencing very soon to thwart her attempts to destroy all the hard work.

The rest
I had to go to Bendigo for a wedding on the weekend (boyfriends uncle) and as usual I complain and hate it- but the only good thing about going to Bendigo is stopping in Harcourt for apples, cherries and pears, then in Malmsbury for pies! (Actually this time I got quiches, apple pies and vanilla slice!)
Two more weeks at work and then another week off - it is ridiculous but I haven't been able to organise my leave into more reasonable blocks- we get 9 weeks a year and I took a month at the start of the year for my trek across the Nullabor in the campervan with a friend but haven't had any more big holidays since then.

Back at work in the middle of my leave again!

Back at work today- briefly I hope! I got up at 5 and took Bella to the Tan for two laps and she was surprisingly good this morning. I have trouble keeping at a good pace because I lose concentration and then all of a sudden I am plodding again- I don't have any fitness problems running a lot faster than I do, but I just find myself gradually slowing down.
I am making a concerted effort to lose weight this week after again gaining on the weekend- so I am trying to be very strict with the diet and exercise. I would love to blame the fact that I have really ramped up the Pump classes and done a stack more weights than I would usually do. On the trailer for the new Rocky movie Sly describes "building some hurtin' bombs" and I have been concentrating on the arms a lot as I have been getting out in tank tops for the first time in ages- but I don't know if they are "hurtin' bombs" yet!
My knees felt a lot better this morning than they did around the lake on Sunday so it must have just been a failure to stretch properly that I have fallen victim to before.

I have decided that the reason I keep putting on weight at fat club is that I have become complacent because it all came off too easily. I have also scaled back the running- my long run has become non-existent and my shorter runs are too slow because I have been taking Bella. So this morning I did my early morning run - only 9.6km because strangely my knees were giving me pain, but I made sure I did it at a reasonable pace. It was a beautiful morning for a run- I started at 6am and there were hardly any other people around the Lake- I am enjoying running around there while there is no Grand Prix construction but I don't think it will be like that for much longer. I took Bella for a short run beforehand and then left her behind and she wasn't happy but she didn't dig a hole.

I then took Bella over to say goodbye to my niece and nephew who have returned to Perth today after a tumultuous month here. Daisy (2yrs) is either very very good or very very bad - she was put in the "naughty corner" so she took her nappy off and peed on the carpet - and not just once! But she loves "Bella Dog" and ever chance she gets, she tries to climb on board for a horsey ride. Harry (4yrs) is just delightful always. I wish they weren't so far away, it was great to have them here.

I have just come from pump class and doing squats really hurt my knees as well so I might ice them tonight- my ankle is thankfully pain free.

I have this next week off as well (but have to work Tuesday which is annoying) and I can feel my leave just disappearing in a blur of eating too much and then frantically trying to exercise it all away! I have all my Christmas shopping too- the plan to send presents back with my brother and his wife didn't really eventuate- yesterday it was either shopping or the Werribee Zoo and of course my sister and I were too keen to build up aunty brownie points with the kids to waste any time shopping.