Goodbye 2006

Weight	72.9 kg
Walking	15.1 kms
Running	31.2 kms

Street-O @ Mill Maze

Walking tonight: perfect weather, and not a bad little course either. Very long way from home though... and the third straight night of Street-O. Rest tomorrow!

6.6 km in 9:02/km

Street-O @ Hawthorn East

Another struggle-run. I had a mild guts ache all the way around, and had several walking breaks. Ended up running with Catherine again, only this time I faded towards the end, and she finished strongly.

6.4 km in 6:22/km.

Christmas

Christmas Day: spent most of it inside watching the rain. Went out for my usual loop along Victoria Rd to Killara in the early evening. Victoria Road is geeting badly corrugated near the edges (but only on the uphill bits) which makes for uncomfortable running. Today, though, I used them as steps, and ran across the top of every second one - some parts I was striding out, and others I was running very short steps. Quite fun, and they made short work of the hills.

8.3 km

Street-O @ Royal Park

Boxing Day: this is a Western Series event, which I don't usually go to. And I nearly didn't go to this one, but at 5pm I decided that I could either stay home in front of the heater and watch telly all night, or go into the city for a run. I went into the city.

The course felt like hard work! It was cold at the start, and I'd worn my long tights, but after not very long, I was hot and sweating. I had no energy (too much Whisky Cake perhaps?) and took a couple of long walking breaks.

7.9 km in 6:26/km

Christmas Eve

I've done no exercise this weekend; but spent the time repainting my bedroom (I slept on the couch last night), and doing a massive Sudoku puzzle made by the son of a running friend (11 interconnected grids, difficulty = "diabolical"). And eating my way through most of a Whisky Cake, and a tonne of cherries and grapes.

Weight	72.8 kgs
Walk	12.2 kms
Run	14.9 kms

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

It's Raining... finally

I don't often get homesick, but this last week with the bushfires has been particularly bad. It all seems so hopeless here - water is running out; the powers-that-be seem powerless to take any real action (and banning me from watering my lettuces doesn't count); these monster bushfires that cover the state with thick yellow smoke. Everything's so dead and yellow.

I've been here nearly 7 years. And it's nearly 7 years to the day (Christmas Day, in fact) when I realised what a farce my relationship was and decided to leave my partner.

I haven't had a relationship since. The only relationships (flings) I've had have been with non-Aussies; I don't seem to have any connection with Aussie men - it's like I'm from a different planet not a different country.

And I miss that.

I miss the easy friendships I had in New Zealand. I miss the dance scene. I miss the compactness and nearness of everything. I miss the beaches.

Am I ready to go "home"? No. There's still things I want to do in Australia.

But I feel like I'm at a crossroads.

I want to trade my car for a campervan to make Orienteering weekends more comfortable. But I want an expensive one (a VW Kombi), which means I want to lease it through work. But that means staying with the same employer for another 3-4 years, and I don't know if I'm that motivated to stay.

We're moving offices next year, from Mooroolbark into St Kilda Rd. Which makes living in the Yarra Valley somewhat impractical. I'm wondering if I should buy a unit closer to the city (probably can't afford a house). This would also help my social life as I'd be closer to things I want to go to.

But I want to buy a 2 acre bush block too.

And travel around Australia.

So what have I achieved in the last 7 years:
* I've taken my scuba diving to another level (from Adv to Tech)
* I've taken my running to another level (ie, I can actually run for 5km)
* I've learned rock climbing
* I've learned orienteering
* I've learned to save money(!) but it helps having an income where there's some left over at the end of the month
* I bought a house on my own, and I'm halfway through a renovation. My partner never wanted to spend money on our house (until I left). I sometimes wonder if I've bitten off more than I can chew
* I've learned to be independent. Until I left, I'd always saw my future with someone else in it - almost as a requirement of "growing up". Now I know that's not a requirement, or a necessity
*

Street-O @ Templestowe Heights

HOT HOT HOT and HILLY. It's nights like this that I'm very glad that I walk on Thursdays. 36°C at 7pm. Took it fairly easy for most of the course, but had to push a bit at the end to get back in time. Home with 15 seconds to spare!

6.4 km in 9:33/km

A small group of us went to a local pizzaria afterwards - Pizza Expresso, in Macedon shopping precinct. Very nice - lovely thin base and just the right amount of topping. Shared with the local midges. Ian J and I stayed afterwards and had dessert. Yummmm...

According to WeatherZone, the temperature didn't drop below 30°C until 10pm. I didn't get home until nearly midnight!


* muesli
* raisins
* Burger King Whopper Cheese Burger value meal
* pizza
* gelato

Tuesday

Tuesday

* muesli
* Nando's Supremo Chicken Burger, chips, Coke
* cherries
* leftover tomato bread, vegemite, peanut butter, cheese
* leftover prawn skewer

It feels like a Friday. Not sure why...

Wednesday

I haven't been sleeping well over the last few nights, and today I was wide awake way before the alarm. I've also had a sinus headache which I've bombed with drugs.

Walk 5.8 km. Overcast (smoke) and the sun is a large orange ball in the east.

* muesli
* apple
* sushi
* dried fruit
* BBQ: cold chicken, salad, small glass champagne, chocolate frog, slice of Judy's orange cake (melt-in-your-mouth amazingly delicious), tiny bit of Tina's homemade Baileys (evil)

Street-O @ Mitcham

Funny sort of a run. Well, not *funny* exactly. I started off slowly - uphill (rule #1: never start uphill!), and caught up to Catherine about half way around. We ran the next few controls together, discussing the map and route options (she's not an orienteer), before I left her behind on the hills toward the finish. Spent a bit of time running slowly and/or walking as I explained my route choices to her. Muggy night, with heavy air pollution from the bushfires.

Sant-O Claus (Pete) running around in fluffy hat and a bag full of chocolates, looking very hot and bothered!

Club BBQ afterwards.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
6.6 km	6:34 /km	160 bpm (84%)

Street-O @ Brandon Park

Ran like a slug. Well, it felt like it anyway. Had several walking breaks, including one to get rid of a stitch. Warmed up about halfway around and finished well. I deliberately didn't look at the Gizmo for pace, time, or kms, but had it set on the HRM display. Running at "perceived effort" had me in slug mode early on: felt heavy, with the HR between 150 and 160 bpm. Once I warmed up, I was running between 160 and 170 bpm, and churning around quite happily.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.3 km	6:01 /km	160 bpm (84%)

* juice: oranges, lemon, ginger
* muesli
* KFC Toasted Twister
* raspberries
* raisins
* peaches (2)
* miso soup: rice noodles, prawns, bok choy
note to self: don't use wide rice noodles in a soup - they're impossible to scoop out!

Weekend roundup

Friday

Run along Victoria Rd to Killara and back along the trail. 8.2 km in 7:36/km

* muesli
* Office BBQ: sausage, vege burger, small piece of chicken, bread, salad, champagne
* raspberries + blackberries + strawberries + banana
* 2x muesli bars
* raisins

Saturday

* muesli
* apple & raisin iced scroll
* apple & berry shortcake
* raspberries
* cherries (lots!)
* rice crackers & dip
* rice noodles & veges

Went to the RSVP Christmas Party in Richmond. It was okay, I suppose. Except when they started throwing streamers across the dance floor, and idiot men who bring their drinks onto the dance floor and then spill them. And how the hell can you dance with a drink in your hand anyway?! It's not cool, boys... Anyway, drink plus streamers made for a very sticky dance floor, and I kept having to remove wads of drunken streamer from the bottom of my dance shoes.

I went to this party mainly because I wanted to dance. The music started off good, but then turned into doof doof which is a bit boring to dance to. And only a few people actually *dancing* - most were just shuffling their feet in time to the booze.

I guess I need to make the effort to go along to one of the dance studios and find out when their regular dance parties are.

Sunday

Went for a spin in the late afternoon along the Warburton Trail from Seville to Launching Place. Trying to get some miles into my legs before the MTB orienteering season starts. I'll do some hills next time. 26.2 km.

* muesli
* sandwiches: avocado, tomato, cheese
* grapes
* miso soup: noodles, calamari, bok choy
* more grapes

I was browsing through the Asian section of my local Safeway, when I spotted sachets of miso paste high up on the top shelf. I don't normally like miso soup because it's too strong, but this stuff is nice. It's pale, not dark. Boil up some noodles, fry up some calamari, pour boiling water into soup bowl, add miso mix and bok choy. Add everything else, and serve. So simple.

Weight	73.2 kgs
Walk	12.3 kms
Run	22.2 kms
Cycle	26.2 kms

Street-O @ Diamond Creek

Very hilly little map. It was hot during the day, but a cool change had come through in the late afternoon, and it started raining quite heavily (rain... remember what that is?!) about halfway through the course. Got quite soaked by the end.

I was following a couple of young things into a recreation reserve at the top of a steep road. There was a grassy bank about 2-3m high leading up to the reserve, and one of the girls tried climbing up it. She got about halfway up, and started slipping in the long dry grass. So funny - she slid nearly all the way back down. Her friend and I were both laughing.

Managed to cover a fair distance, considering it was all uphill.

6.5 km in 9:18/km. 216m elevation climb.

Drove past a McDonalds on the way home without a single glance. Okay, I *did* give it a glance and considered stopping, but kept on going and had some healthy rolled oats when I got home.

* muesli
* Fasta Pasta, garlic bread and Coke
* chocolate slice thing that my manager was handing around (couldn't say no!)
* handfull dried fruit
* porridge + honey

Street-O @ Valley Reserve

HOT, HILLY and HARD. I made what I thought was a silly navigation decision at the second control and walked for a while trying to figure out the best way out of my predicament. I walked up the short hill near the creek, and I walked up the longer hill at the halfway mark. Red and sweaty.

As it turned out, there were a lot more people worse off than me, and I did okay in the end...!

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
6.2 km	6:20 /km	161 bpm (85%)

Slept in again - this is getting to be a habit!

* muesli
* Burger King whopper cheese burger value meal... *sigh*
* handfull of raisins
* chocolate muesli bar
* boiled egg on toast

Weird driving through the city with the sky filled with smoke from the bushfires. Like a fog... only not as nice. A yellow twilight.

Tuneupday

Problems getting vertical this morning so didn't get out for a walk. I Roundup'd the blackberry seedlings instead...

Tuneup #1: quarterly visit to the chiropractor. He prodded and tweaked, and declared me fit. All is well.

Tuneup #2: monthly visit to the myotherapist. He poked and prodded, and amazingly, nothing hurt. My body is "looking good". Yipee! I told him that I hadn't yet got back into the long runs and he suggested that I hold off for another month - just concentrate on getting my strength and speed back.

* muesli
* sushi
* peaches (2)
* a whole packet of chocolate caramels
* ice cream (good healthy diet going on here - this was before the movie (Casino Royale) because I was really hungry)
* fruit salad when I got home at 10pm: strawberries, banana, mango

Monday

Walk 5.8 km. Overcast and cool, with a couple of light spots of rain. Lovely.

* juice: orange, carrot, cucumber, capsicum, ginger
* muesli
* KFC Twister Meal (+ chips + pepsi)
* raspberries
* strawberries
* fried egg on toast
* handfull of chips

Street-O @ Dingley Village

Nice flat area that might fall into the "too far" category next time. Long drive there, and an even longer drive home.

Good run though; cool weather and a very tricky little map, at least for the first section. In hindsight, it would have been best to do it in the opposite direction, and leave off all the double-back controls.

Before the run started, Dale and Robyn joked that I must be getting my fitness back because I'd beaten both of them last week (heh heh). Dale and I ended up doing the same route, with her about 200-300m behind me. And I HAD to stay in front!! God, it nearly killed me. Robyn beat us both back though - she is the stronger runner.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.7 km	5:58 /km	164 bpm (86%)

The HRM was playing up again. I saw it reading 192 at one stage, and then it stopped displaying anything until I was walking back to the car. But Training Center only shows about 10 minutes missing.

Standing Still...

Another stinking hot day. Did a few renovation-type chores in the morning while the temperature was still low, then hibernated with a book as the INSIDE temperature climbed towards 32°C (outside reached 40°C) - then I succumbed and turned on the pathetic, elderly, air con.

* grapefruit + cherries
* muesli
* stir fried pork
* grapes
* handfull raisins
* Heaven ice cream (yeah, went for a short walk in the late afternoon...)
* chips and dip (...to the supermarket for junk food. :-) )

The cool change came through around teatime; I thought about going for a run, but decided to dust off the bike instead. While I was setting up my 2007 event chart last week, the first things to go on were all the MTB events for next year... and the realisation that I haven't ridden the bike since my stack outside of work nearly 6 months ago!

Quick scoot up the trail to Woori Yallock and back, to turn the legs over and get a numb bum - I didn't bother changing into knicks, and my rear end reminded me that I need the extra padding (not that my bum isn't padded enough). 17.9 km

Weight	72.7 kgs
Walk	34.1 kms
Run	13.2 kms
Cycle	17.9 kms

Street-O @ Warburton

An end-of-year special set by Tina along the river trail and surrounding streets. With the temperature over 36°C only one (mad) person opted to run. The rest of us walked in small groups trying not to expend too much effort.

Splash in the river afterwards followed by dinner under a tree in the BBQ area - pity none of the BBQs were working.

5.2 km in 13:37/km. Very sedate!

* grapefruit + cherries
* muesli
* few chocolates
* hawaiian burger
* strawberries + raspberries + grapes

Friday

5.8 km walk.

* juice: oranges, ginger
* muesli
* apple (2)
* pork fried rice
* apple

Work Xmas party - some dancing, lots of drinking:
* champagne
* buffet dinner (medium serve) + dessert

Street-O @ Donvale Pines

Could not get out of bed this morning. Quite sad really, I think I need a good long holiday. Didn't bother going for a walk.

* muesli
* Cha Koay Teow (rice noodles with assorted meats)
* strawberries

Mini-golf with the guys at work - surprisingly enjoyable!

Spent what was left of the afternoon drawing up a 2007 calendar of (mostly) orienteering events, and planning a holiday to New Zealand (Christchurch). I found a mountain race at Mt Lyford in North Canterbury on the last weekend that I'd blocked out for my visit. I wonder if I can persuade my parents to drive me up there and back...

Street-O @ Donvale Pines

Powerwalking. Like most of the Northern Series, this map was very hilly! I churned around everything I wanted to get to, including a "gamble" to #20 which paid off, with 2 minutes to spare.

6.4 km in 9:30/km.

I guess if I want to do this mountain race then I need to get lots of hill work in. It's 11 km and ~700+m climb.

* boiled egg on toast
* tinned peaches

Street-O @ Ringwood Wilds

Cool night, up-and-down rollercoaster course. I possibly went out a little hard, partly because Debbie and Allan were in front of me and they shouldn't have been! I'd passed them both by the 3rd control but was then faced with a long slog uphill to the 4th and 5th controls. I think they choose a better route, but I beat them both home. phew!

Running well, trying to keep my cadence up. Needed at least one walking break but kept it short.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
5.4 km	6:09 /km	159 bpm (84%)

---

Morning walk 6.0 km

* juice: oranges, ginger
* muesli
* Fasta Pasta, garlic bread, Coke

Okay, I think I've gluttoned enough for the week.

* dried fruit mix
* protein shake

Tuesday

Walk 5.1 km

* grapefruit, mango
* muesli
* apple
* IGA satay chicken pasta
* strawberries
* a whole packet (200g) of Chocolate Caramel fudge from Chocolate Passion. Mmmmm.... :p

Our work Xmas piss-up is this Friday, so I wandered into a few clothing shops at Chirnside looking for a cute black top I could wear with black pants - I HATE clothes shopping, BTW! I didn't find what I was looking for, but I saw the same little black dress that I wore last year in the same shop for $30 cheaper than it was a year ago. Well, hey, if it's still trendy, then I'll wear it again! I might brave Eastlands tomorrow...

Thinking about pizza...

* pizza. The whole thing... such a guts...
* grapes

Street-O @ Knox Fields

Gentle, energy-sapping hills, that should have been runnable but which required the odd walking break. Balmy evening which had all of us red-faced and puffing.

I noticed that after I was thoroughly warmed up, I was running comfortably at a fairly high heartrate (~170), and my cadence had increased - short fast steps, rather than my usual slower "lope". Interesting...

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.8 km	6:01 /km	161 bpm (85%)

gee, if I hadn't taken a rather long walking break early on, I'd be under 6 min/km again. So close!

Monday

5.7 km walk

* juice: carrot, cucumber, grapefruit, ginger
* muesli
* IGA satay chicken pasta
* 2 chocolate biscuits (well, they shouldn't have been left in the kitchen!)
* apple
* dates
* boiled egg on toast

Blogger looks a bit broken - no preview, no bold/italic buttons, no view option. I also can't save my November mileage in the template widget. I hope the Plumber fixes things soon...

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Bit of a backwards step in my weight this week. And Christmas is coming...

Weight	72.9 kgs
Walking	23.8 kms
Running	23.2 kms

Saturday

* muesli
* yummy anise and fig bread, jam and marmalade
* prawn fried rice
* 1/2 bottle of champagne that had been sitting in the fridge for a couple of weeks...

Sunday

* juice: carrot, cucumber, oranges, ginger, garlic
* muesli
* prawn fried rice
* champagne ("hidden" in a drink bottle at the CR Xmas BBQ :-) )
* strawberries, raspberries, grapes, cherries
* small piece of English Fudge
* several pieces of Sue's Xmas Stollen
* fish and chips
* chocolate

Friday...

Run to Wandin and back. I was planning on doing another "speed" session on the homeward run (like on Monday), but halfway there I was sweating buckets and feeling wobbly. I cut it short and turned around at a road crossing, and wobbled back home. Several walking breaks. Mild - 15 degrees.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.2 km	7:46 /km	140 bpm (74%)

* juice: carrot, orange, ginger
* champagne breakfast to celebrate the end of Movember: ham and cheese croissant(s), chocolate fudge cake, champagne... >hic!<
* sushi
* strawberries
* grapes
* leftover cheese and tomato sandwich
* more grapes

Street-O @ Bundoora Parade

Hot night. Powerwalked. Phil had set an interesting course with four clusters of controls. Logically, you would clean up a cluster and then move on to the next one. It worked perfectly for me - getting all controls in three of the clusters; but didn't work so well for the faster walkers as the last cluster was too far away for them to attempt. So there'll be a big bunch of us all with the same score, and it all depends on who got back first.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
6.8 km	9:09 /km	130 bpm (68%)

I ran this up for Debbie - my route as seen on Gmaps Pedometer:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=567031
It has me at 7km, which is interesting. I zoomed in to get it accurate, and I didn't include the 200m fumble which had me questioning my sanity and the map, in that order!

Thursday...

Sucky 8am conference call which made it impossible to get out for an hour beforehand. Okay, not "impossible". I could have got up earlier, I suppose. And not enough time after the call to walk, eat breakfast, and get into the office in time for my fortnightly massage.

* muesli
* Nandos Supremo Chicken Burger, chips, coke, badness....
* raisins
* 2 pieces toast

Street-O @ Blackburn North

Cool night - excellent for running. A "score" course tonight: Course C had to be back by 7:45. I much prefer running by time than having to count the number of controls to get. Running easily - felt good. Didn't look at my pace during the run, but noticed the HR up near 180 at one point when I felt like I needed a breather!

Got back with less than 30 seconds to spare - working hard over the last 500m to (a) get home in time, and (b) stay ahead of the guy just behind me! It hurt.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.3 km	5:52 /km	167 bpm (88%)

woot! under 6:00/km

Wednesday...

Up long after the birds. Nearly 8am before I headed out. Did a route I don't do very often (because it's marked steep in the Melway, and it is!). 5.4 km. Slight drizzle for the last 15 minutes or so.

* grapefruit, orange. I've been juicing Ruby Red grapefruit, and they're so yummy I just had it plain this morning - in a bowl with an orange, and a "sauce" of honey and a pinch of minced ginger. V. yummy.
* muesli
* KFC Toasted Twister
* strawberries
* apple
* protein shake

Bloglines

wildthing said...
Hey Louise, you just appeared in bloglines. How did you do it?

Welcome back everyone! I missed ya. :-)

Tuesday...

Up with the birds, and out the door before 7am. Foggy breath. 5.8 km.

* juice: grapefruit, orange, carrots, ginger
* muesli
* apple
* prawn fried rice
* dates
* double chocolate-chip cookie (sigh... better not slip into a bad habit. Besides, these things are $2.70 each!)
* raisins
* mango
* 2 pieces of toast

Monday... here we go again

Big problems getting out of bed this morning, not helped by about a thousand possums starting World War III in my trees and across the roof last night. Cold ~10 degrees. Didn't get out the door until nearly 8am for my usual Seville-Chandler Rd route - 5.7 km.

* juice: grapefruit, carrot, cucumber, ginger, garlic
* muesli
* sushi
* strawberries
* triple chocolate cookie (yum!)
* fried rice with prawns, egg, veges.
I've rediscovered the wok! My stove is really pathetic, so I'm using a camping gas cooker on the kitchen bench. hey - whatever works. :-)

I didn't go to Street-O - tonight's event fell into the "too far" category (Caulfield), so I went for a run from home instead. After a slow plod on the slight uphill to Wandin keeping the heart rate around 150 (79%), I decided to pick up the pace to 160 on the homeward run. I just kept going faster and faster until the HR was sitting around 170 and higher (90%), and it still felt comfortable. Being slightly downhill, the pace was pretty quick and it felt good to be going that fast.

Pace on the way out was around 7:30/km, on the way back around 5:10/km. I held it for just over 3km to the start of Station St where I slowed down to trot home.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.7 km	6:37 /km	156 bpm (82%)

Sunday...

Jumped on the scales this morning - 71.8 kg! Wahoo!! Not sure whether to read too much into it or not - 1.5 kg is a lot to lose in a week and I expect that much of it is fluid, and the result of being virtuous all week (except for a small lapse on Thursday night). I'm celebrating with takeaways tonight tho'. :-)

Shins and feet are a bit tight, I guess from yesterday's run.

Went for a long walk through Jells Park after lunch to set an orienteering course for the CR Xmas Bash next weekend - 7.9 km. Nice sunny afternoon.

* juice: orange, grapefruit, lemon, carrot, ginger
* muesli
* apple
* leftover pork fried rice
* strawberries
* cherries
* fish and chips

Weekly summary:

Weight	71.8 kgs
Walking	36.1 kms
Running	23.8 kms

Saturday...

Went for the Seville Shuffle that I didn't get up early enough for yesterday - out to Killara Stn along Victoria Rd and back along the trail. Walked the first and last bits (1 km total). Felt nice and easy...

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.4 km	7:37 /km	149 bpm (78%)

* juice: orange and ginger
* muesli (around lunchtime)
* grapes
* chocolate muesli bar (Mmmm :-)
* pork fried rice (homemade, of course)

I picked up a packet of liquorice allsorts in the supermarket... and put them back before I got to the checkout. My halo is glowing.

Friday...

Slept through to 5am with no disturbances. Didn't manage to get up with the alarm though, and I had to be at work early for a performance review (I passed) so I didn't get out for a walk.

* muesli
* apple
* leftover pasta
* small ice cream from Wendys (damn kid that I saw eating one...)
* strawberries
* Happy Hour: Coke, pizza, garlic bread, few lollies
* handfull raisins

Street-O @ Boulder Dash

A new map at Northcote - the "boulder" reference is a boulder walkway which we had to scramble up to get control #20. There was a track winding around the hill of course, but hey - we're orienteers. Why go around when you can go through!

I did the Power Walkers course, and came in a few minutes early.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
6.2 km	9:17 /km	125 bpm (66%)

Thursday...

Another restless night waking with a coughing fit and a very sore and scratchy throat. And several drinks to try and calm it down only resulted in several trips to the bathroom a few hours later. Ugh. Woke up late this morning and got up even later - nearly 8am by the time I staggered out the door for my walk. Still cool, thankfully.

5.4 km in 10:39/km

Sinuses are good this morning. Yay.

* juice: interesting mix in the pot today - grapefruit, carrot, cucumber, raddish, lettuce (seedlings), ginger, garlic
* muesli

he just emailed me: "I feel totally crap for letting you down. I find it hard to describe what I am looking for and even if it's possible." Good! I feel totally crap too, and I've been trying to convince myself over the last few days that I'm grieving for what might have been, rather than for the man himself. In all my "when I grow up" musings, I never imagined that I'd spend most of my thirties alone...

* tuna, egg & asparagus pasta from the IGA Deli
* raspberries
* apple
* Mmmm... McDonalds!
* strawberries

oh crap, my Yahoo horoscope for today:
"A proposed get-together with a love interest might have to be postponed until much later tonight, or perhaps even until another evening. This could make you a little blue. Your insecurities might even get the better of you. Does your friend not want to meet up with you? Don't fall into this kind of thinking. Accept that there's a reason for this, then go with the flow. You'll enjoy the date that much more for the delay."

*sigh*

Street-O @ Highbury Hill

So much nicer weather than Monday, only 19 degrees at 7pm. Nice run too - actually felt like I was running tonight. At one point I checked the Garmin and I was running sub-5 min/km - and it wasn't downhill!

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
6.4 km	6:09 /km	165 bpm (87%)

Wednesday...

Woke up around 3am with a throbbing sinus headache. Put up with it until just before 5am when I got up to take a sudafed and paracetamol. Bloody sinuses... and now that sudafed (pseudoephedrine) is a banned substance, I have to ration my dwindling supplies carefully. The replacement (phenylephrine) does nothing for sinus pain.

WALK 5.6 km in 11:14/km

* juice: oranges, lemon, ginger, radish, parsley
* muesli

I called into the Lilydale Fitness Centre on the way to work to check it out. They have a 2-month special which I might take advantage of ($125/2 mths) and then see how it fits into my day. Working from home means I can go mid-morning when the main weights room is empty. There are also mid-morning yoga and pilates classes which suit me too.

* rice salad: mango, avocado, pinenuts
* apple
* protein shake after run in evening

Tuesday...

Bloody hell, it's 27 degrees already (at 8:30am). Hot walk around Seville - dragging tired legs up the hills. Glad to get back home and into the cool house. Must get up with the alarm instead of lounging around in bed for an hour...

5.2 km in 11:18/km

Food...
* juice: grapefruit, cucumber, carrot, garlic, ginger
* muesli
* apple
* smoked salmon and brie pasta from the local IGA deli
* strawberries
* fried rice, egg, veges
* more strawberries

Reading the latest R4YL in the evening, the article on weight-loss tips says fruit snacks between meals are fine. That's good! 'Cos I love my fruit.

Street-O @ Mossgiel Park

HOT! I'd been feeling a bit "off" all day, and while we were waiting for the run to start, I had to go and sit in the car in the shade. It didn't get a lot better once we were running - slow plod and lots of walking breaks. I also wasn't sweating, which was a worry, but I was getting pretty overheated.

Long run in the heat - I took over an hour to complete the course. 31 degrees at 7pm.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.9 km	7:32 /km	156 bpm (82%)

Beat up Monday

Would he like me better if I was skinnier? No, No, No... it's his problem, not mine. Why do women beat themselves up so much....

Regardless, I have some weight to lose. And six weeks until 2007 - that would be 1/2 kg per week - should be do-able, right?! I'm also going to try and keep working from home in the mornings. It removes the morning rush, and makes better use of the "dead" time that you get in an office situation.

It also means that I can plan my meals, eat lunch at home and (hopefully) not be tempted by junk.

So I've been for my walk this morning - 5.8 km - and had a glass of juice (2 oranges, 1 lemon, 1 carrot, 2 cloves garlic, 1 piece ginger (I have a sore throat)). I'll have my muesli later on.

later on...
I had my muesli about 10ish; but didn't feel like lunch at all. I was hungry, but didn't feel like eating. I eventually put a salad together and took it into work to have at 2:30. Then an apple later on; and after my run I had a protein shake.

Salad: rice (brown, cold), avocado, mango, raisins, pine nuts. Undressed.

Normal Service has been resumed...

Right, I've dug out the bathroom scales, repopulated the bathroom, and really need to get off my arse and onto my feet.

Too hot to move very far today.

Weight	73.4 kgs
Walking	6.0 kms
Running	6.1 kms

A question for the blokes: How do you know when a guy is spinning you a line? This guy that I've been seeing called it all off last night: "Wrong time in my life, can't deal with it right now, sorry, sorry, sorry..." etc. He's had a lot of crap go wrong in the last few months, but is this a cop-out way of wriggling out of a relationship? Should I leave him alone to retreat back into his cave? Will he come back to me? I thought that we had something going... dammit.

Rejection always hurts. I'll get over it/him, but I'm feeling kinda down right now.

Street-O @ Mount Cooper

WALK. Still pretty cold, where did summer go? Smooth enough walk, although I wasted some time near control #14 looking for the marked creek crossing, while some Course A runners on the other side of the creek did the same. They eventually waded across what would have been a dry boulder crossing last week. I wimped out and opted to keep my shoes dry. And missed out on 4 points.

6.1 km in 9:36/km average pace.

Street-O @ Mullum Mullum

I wasn't sure if I was going to make it tonight. I had a meeting in the city which I left just before 6, and then spent the next half hour crawling through the CBD in peak hour traffic. Ugh. Then I got hailed on along the freeway - really freaky watching the hailstones bounce/float off the road surface. Luckily everyone was well behaved and the traffic kept flowing smoothly. I got to Mullum Mullum with just enough time to get changed in the carpark and run behind a convenient bush.

Bit of a slog tonight - I was keeping pace with Georgia (collie-cross) who kept stopping dead and jerking her lead out of Bryan's hand, causing him to stop dead too. I suggested that she come with me and let Bryan get a decent run in!

6.0 km in 6:33/km. Hilly area. Not a lot of energy.

I'm Cured!

Visit to the Myo tonight, and he's pronounced my hip pain/injury fully cured. Thank Christ! It's been a long time coming...

Now to get my mileage up and my weight down. I haven't weighed myself since I emptied the bathroom and packed the scales away. And working from home actually means I'm not pecking at so much junk food.

I missed last night's run because I wanted to do two more layers of paint (with 2 hrs between coats). The bathroom is now painted and plumbed. I'll give the shower a test-drive tonight, even though I'm missing the shower screen.

Roll on summer!

Distractions... bathroom renovation

I know this is a running/exercise blog, but I have been somewhat distracted this week with a bathroom renovation - working from home in the mornings (to supervise!) and dealing with a port-a-loo, and showers at work in the evenings.

Original (4 photos)
What can I say - I didn't do it! I'm sure it was considered trendy and modern at some point in time.

Day 1 & 2 (5 photos)
Toilet wall dismantled, floor and ceiling ripped out to allow replacement beams.

Day 3 & 4 (10 photos)
New floor in place, walls and ceiling plastered over, shower hob created.

Day 5 & 6 (6 photos)
Waterproofing and tiles.

Day 7 & 8 (2 photos)
More tiles. Who'd have thought that tiling would be so labour-intensive. Emergency mission this morning to get a couple more boxes of the wall tiles, as he'd chewed through more than I'd calculated for.

Day 9 (3 photos)
Grouting and plumbing. Damn, it looks good. I'm blown away. And having a flushing toilet in the house is pretty cool too! Still waiting on a few tap parts and the shower screen, and it's up to me to finish off the painting.


Photo Album

Street-O @ Blackburn South

Cold! What happened to summer? Hard work too - the whole course seemed to be uphill, and I struggled the whole way around. Lots of walking breaks.

6.1 km in 6:37/km avg pace.

Melbourne Cup Day

I got sick of watching paint dry so went for a long walk during the afternoon, along a previous running route - out along the horse trail on Victoria Rd, and back along the Warby trail.

8.3 km in 10:40/km pace

Street-O @ Rowville Lakes

A cool, windy night. My kind of weather. Had a slow, steady run that came together quite nicely.

7.5 km in 6:22/km pace.

Have just added up my mileage for October, and it's way down again. Partly because of my hip - I haven't wanted to push it over the edge again; partly because of this bathroom renovation - I have to be ready for the builder, but that's a pretty crap excuse really: he knows his way around by now; and mostly because I really like sleeping in in the mornings!

Street-O @ Blind Creek

The start of Summer... still daylight at 8 o'clock. Nice.

The season actually started on Monday, but I also had a Myo session on Monday, and he likes me to let everything settle for 24 hours before I run. The session was pretty painful, but he seems happy with the hip - and it didn't trouble me tonight at all.

On a scale of trudge<->floating, it was definitely toward the trudge end tonight. Quite warm, although I don't really know what my excuse was. Felt like hard work.

6.4 km in 6:24/km

Street-O @ Yarra Bend

The last Saturday event until daylight savings ends. A nice warm day and a well-set course - but I found it hard going! I did my usual Course A, but came in after 54 minutes. Lots of short walking breaks.

8.3 km in 6:31/km

No run for me last night - I was course setter for the last Street-O in this current series. I got to sit around in the cold waiting for people to come back in.

On my way to the event, I pulled up behind a car with Qld plates and noticed the slogin: QUEENSLAND - THE SMART STATE. Indeed. This is the same "smart" state whose Premier agreed that daylight savings caused increased rates of skin cancer. Right...

I have a bird tale to share with you.

I was out this morning "inspecting" the garden when a female King Parrot landed on the clothesline and reminded me that the bird feeder needed refilling.

I took feeder and birdseed over to the deck lounger - I sat down straddling the lounger, with the feeder sitting on the lounger between my knees (if that makes sense). As I unscrewed the feeder, the parrot landed on the edge of the chair and waited for me to take the bottom off. So I'm sitting there holding the feeder upside down, and the parrot is picking sunflower seeds from the tray just inches from my hand.

Way cool.

She actually brushed against me at one stage as she worked her way around the edge of the feeder. So tame! She even nibbled my finger when the seeds ran out - lucky she didn't bite!

And there was a rainbow lorikeet squarking in frustration on the deck, too nervous to join us on the lounger where the food was!

Street-O @ Waverley Woods

The last of the Monday Specials. Judy had set a Wonka-O complete with Golden Tickets and letterboxes full of chocolates. I didn't find any golden tickets (but Rick said I must have missed the one at #13), but got one chocolate from #34. If I'd known they were worth 5 points each, I might have grabbed one from #6 as well, but it was hard enough carrying one. We had to get them home uneaten to collect the 5 points.

Had a nice steady run, with the usual stops at each control point to write down the tag number, and argue with Rick about #13. I only planned to run for 30-40 minutes, but each time I decided to get "just one more". Finally called it quits after a long slog uphill from #7.

The guy at the pizza shop came out with a large hawaiian pizza once we were all back in (his treat! awesome...), and Judy exchanged the Golden Tickets for Wonka Bars, so everyone went home fed and happy.

Hip is good, although I'll roll around on the rubber ball once I've posted this. My right glute felt a bit sore (on the other side) - probably a leftover from the weekend, but I'll roll around on that side too.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.0 km	6:39 /km	159 bpm (84%)

Victorian Orienteering Champs

An orienteering weekend away with the Middle Distance Champs on Saturday and the Long Distance Champs on Sunday - both events out towards Ballarat. We'd had to pre-enter a few weeks earlier, so I'd entered down a grade because I wasn't sure what my hip would be up to. I went in W21AS - "A Short".

Sailors Creek

Lovely flattish, open, runnable forest, and I ran nearly the whole course. Once I'd remembered the difference between a pit (brown V) and a mineshaft (black V) and found the first control, I was off - nailing every control, not wasting time, and generally having a good run.

My feet hurt a bit across the top of the arch - I was wearing my orienteering shoes which have spikes and a hard sole, and I guess my feet were out of practice on the hard terrain. Both hips were a bit achy afterwards from the jarring.

Course: 5 (W21AS)
Course Length: 3.2 km
Actual Distance: 3.5 km (red-lining it!)
Elevation: 92m
Time taken: 44 minutes

Second place (out of 4)

Overnight at Paddys Ranges State Park

Beautiful area. Very glad I packed my sub-zero sleeping bag as the temperature dropped below zero overnight. As long as I didn't wriggle too much and let any cold air in, I was toasty warm.



edit: -4°C in Ballarat overnight.

Mount Beckworth

Hilly, rocks everywhere, and a lot hotter than yesterday. Today was the real reason I dropped down a grade - my "proper" grade (W35A) was twice as long.

I don't navigate very well in rocks, and the brown squiggly things in this area (contour lines) are too complex to make much sense. I started by dropping down to the road and following it until I had a clear entry point to control #1. From there I went okay, carefully following rock features and having an amazing run of luck. I pretty much landed straight on top of each control, and at no time did I wonder where the hell I was or where the control might be hiding.

I wore my softer trail shoes and had no problems with my feet. Hips were fine.

Course: 10 (W21AS)
Course Length: 3.9 km
Actual Distance: 4.9 km
Elevation: 310m
Time Taken: 1:14

First place! (out of 2)

bling:

Street-O @ Wantirna South

An excellent run - the hip moved very freely and I could maintain a steady pace up and down the shallow hills. Felt strong. It was a nice course too - the controls followed each other easily and I didn't need a lot of time to map-read. Only a couple of very short walking breaks. All up, a very good night.

Back 30 seconds late, but who's counting.

6.4 km in 6:02/km average pace.

Hip Update

Visit to the Myo last night. I told him the sorry story of the last 5 weeks (rolled ankle, no activity, rubber ball torture) and he showed me photos from his Safari trip to Africa.

He's happy that the rubber ball seems to be doing the trick, as he dug his elbow into my hip and butt. I'm allowed to do short runs and take Voltarin afterwards. I also need to get back into my morning walks as walking helps strengthen the medius muscle. He gave me a couple of exercises to do too - stand on one leg, and slump and raise the opposite hip; and on my back in 'bridge' to activate the glutes. He's not too fussed about muscle strength/weakness though - it's fine. He only gave me these exercises because I asked him about them.

I've also been under attack from my sinuses for the last few days - and now that our caring government has removed the only decent drug from the market (pseudoephedrine), I'm stuck with some half-arsed substitute that only lasts four hours and doesn't do as good a job. Ugh.

Run tonight - running helps the head, if not the hip. And I have good drugs for the hip(!)

Street-O @ Maroondah Triangle

This was my course. I had everyone collecting street names, with a twist - the value of the control was based on the scrabble score for the initial letter of the street sign.

The hip behaved and I had an enjoyable short run - 6 kms in 6:37/km.

This is part the report I wrote for the Street-O website:

Scrabble-O

One of the privileges of being the course setter [on a Monday Special] is that you can plan the perfect route in advance. The one that will net you the greatest number of controls or the highest possible score in the shortest possible distance. Pre-planning means that you can simply run without having to calculate "where to next", or endless route choices and changes of plan.

I did none of these things.

The aim of tonight's run was to collect the first letter of the street sign. "Hopkin's Notation" was introduced early on in the season, and I've always found it easier to look for large plain street signs than small fiddly yellow post tags. So street signs it was.

To make it more interesting, the value of each control was based on scrabble scoring. So a street sign at Joseph St gave you a "J", which in scrabble terms is worth 8 points. Posts which had 2 street signs were worth double points. The sign on the corner of Beaufort Rd and Diana St gave a "B" and a "D" which equals (3+2)*2=10. This meant that you didn't know the value of the control until you got there.

With 25 controls on offer there were plenty of options.

I hadn't realised how far it was to #4, or how steep the hill was near #6. I'd forgotten which controls had doubles and I couldn't remember which one the triple was at. And what a stupid place to put #10 (sorry!). It made a lot more sense in the daylight, and in the car.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, which is the main thing. :-)

Weekend update

Planted out a tiny bit of garden on Saturday, and spent most of Sunday stripping wallpaper and cleaning walls in the toilet and laundry. This particular wallpaper (yellow flowers) didn't want to come off so it wasn't as easy as it should have been.

Then went for a walk around Lillydale Lake with two beagles and their owner - nearly 7 km in 2 hours. Bloody freezing.

My weight is fluctuating between 72 and 74kgs, and the hip is mostly behaving itself. When I miss my rubber ball torture for a few days, it starts to get achy again, so I guess it's not quite 100% yet.

Street-O @ Montmorency

Wahoo, I'm running again! Very hilly area, and I took a few hill breaks, but the running felt good and the hip played along. Warm evening - WeatherZone recorded 25 degrees at 7pm.

One blonde moment when three of us (girls!) had trouble deciding which way to leave control #20 (should have followed Len (it was a complex map, okay!!)); and a control oops at #6 which cost Dale and I a few minutes. The map was correct - there was a lit lamppost at the control point - but no control. We found it eventually hidden at the base of an unlit power pole.

Back a few minutes late.

5.7 km in 40 minutes. MotionBased has my moving pace at 6:54/km (including walks)

Street-O @ Bulleen

Felt pretty good tonight. Almost "normal"! I walked a bit at the start (uphill) and on a couple of other uphill bits, but towards the end I was running the uphill bits comfortably. The hip lasted until the 45-minute mark (approx 5.8 km) before making its presence felt.

David had us collecting lamp posts again, with a fill-in-the-gaps scoring system based on the yellow tag on each lamp post.

7.4 km in 53 minutes

My Hip Gets Mondayitis Too

Damn thing. I had a pretty lazy weekend after my midnight run, and I was actually feeling pretty pleased with myself that nothing was aching and that I might soon be back to "normal". I spent some time last night rolling around on the cricket ball (no pain) and stretching out the hip. The knee-to-chest is painfull, although knee-to-underarm is not. It's a very specific stretch that has always hurt on that side.

So I wake up this morning with a slightly achy hip joint and tendonitis in the right arm. Wha??? The only thing I can think of is that I was pruning some large branches into smaller ones so they would stack nicer. The wood was still very green and hard work in places.

But that doesn't explain the hip. Grrrr.

8 Mile

Well, not even 8 km, but after watching the movie 8 Mile on TV last night, I suddenly really wanted to go for a run. I had Eminem on endless loop in my head as I headed out at 11pm for a quiet shuffle up the Trail. A full moon meant that I didn't need the torch, and I didn't see anyone else out enjoying the moonlight either.

7.3 km in 55 minutes.

Street-O @ Rooks Run

Ran slowly and carefully for 40 minutes.

I didn't mean to, of course. I only meant to run for 20, but I suddenly found myself at Control #15 when I thought I was at Control #12, which meant that I had further to run than I expected, and not enough time to do it. Back a few minutes late.

Hip and opposite knee a bit unhappy. It was a bit ugly to start too - it feels like I've lost so much fitness, although it felt okay once I'd warmed up. Slow, but okay. I didn't take any walking breaks, but I stopped and took a break at each control.

Garmin has me at 5.6 km in 7:14/km
MotionBased has 6.1 km in 6:32/km
take your pick!

it felt more like 6.1 km in 6:32

Yoga Tuesday

Funny sort of a day today. I put in a call to the plumber this morning who finally turned up at 5 o'clock and stayed until nearly 6 (chatting about all sorts of non-dripping-tap sort of things). Anyway, being at home meant that it was an extra 20 minutes to the yoga studio, but I actually felt like going.

Traffic was perfect, and I got there in just over an hour. There's a new organic food market in the same block, so I went shopping before the class and stocked up on lots of drygoods. I plan to make this a weekly thing, and I'll be more organised about buying veges next time.

Yoga was hot and sweaty and dizzy. Definitely dizzy spells (and not just my head saying No). My vision went blurry and my ears started ringing. Slightly better than last week though, but my ankle and hip gave me just as much trouble.

I should explain about Bikram Yoga - it's done in 38 degree heat, and tonight the humidity was close to 70%. I sweat gallons - I reckon I probably lose a litre of water in the 90-minute class.

McDonalds again on the way home - mostly for the sugar (coke) and salt (chips). The burger is just there to make up the numbers seeing as I haven't eaten anything substantial since lunchtime.

Balwyn T Party

Not to be confused with the Boston Tea Party, which had nothing to do with tonight's course.

Mark had us looking for T Intersections. But not just any T intersection, these had to be north-facing T intersections (the T as you hold the map facing north, ie, "normally"). No sideways or upside-down Ts, no crossroads, and no pedestrian-only Ts.

Walked 5.4 km in 10:12/km pace.

MetrO @ Albert Park

Wouldn't you know it - the hip knew I wanted to go out today. Bloody thing. I'd planned on taking it to yoga yesterday afternoon, but by the time 4pm rolled around, I couldn't be bothered travelling all the way into Richmond.

But this morning, I could be bother driving even further into Albert Park for an orienteering event in the park area on the south-west side of the lake and surrounding streets.

I hate Sunday traffic - too many Sunday Drivers.

The event was uneventfull. Very windy though, but pleasantly warm. I did PowerWalker A course, and walked steadily, not fast, but enough to stretch my legs.

4.8 km, average pace 9:35/km

Yoga

Went to yoga (first time since August last year)

Hated every minute of it ("I'm going this for my body" - repeat until done)

Hip complained during the two knee-to-chest poses
Ankle complained during the several kneeling poses
Body complained during most of the standing poses (felt dizzy)

Stopped for a late dinner at McDonalds (my "reward", and the salt and caffeine went down very easily)

Got home close to 11pm, and didn't get to bed until 12:30

Dizzy spells at home too - after bending over to brush my hair out (blood rush to head). Weird - felt like I was bouncing off the walls, and only felt "safe" when I was horizontal. I had to get up a few times during the night (drinking too much too late), and I felt a bit spaced-out then too. Like I was drunk, but without the happy feeling that goes with it.

Okay this morning

And the hip is ache-free. :-)

Street-O @ Camelot Rise

Finally took the hip out for a run. Did a short warmup to see how everything was travelling, then headed out on C Course. Like last time (but without the ankle roll), I ran for ~20 minutes, then ran/walked for a grand total of 33 minutes. I had the dubious honour of being first home (5 minutes early).

Distance	Avg pace
4.6 km	7:17 /km

The hip is now sore. :-(

It feels bruised right below the hip bone, on an area that feels like it should be solid bone. But I guess it's tendon because it hurts. I've rolled around on the rubber ball a bit, but will DEFINITELY go to yoga tomorrow to give it a good workout.

Couch Potato

I hate being injured. I eat too much crap and turn into a walrus. I have no idea what I weigh (I'm too scared to look). I've been drug-free for a week, and was planning on going to Street-O tonight - so this morning I wake up and the hip and ankle are both sore. Sheesh.

It hasn't been all bad - I worked my arse off over the weekend (until the storm hit) digging the last of the new garden and laying 4.5m3 of pine bark mulch. The blisters are healing and the tendonitis is subsiding.

Several times over the last 2 non-running weeks, I have packed either my swimming gear or my yoga gear, but then cried off when it came time to actually go to the pool or the studio. I realise that I MUST do these things for my health or suffer the consequences (hips and ankles).

So in the spirit of a Spring Resolution, here's my apres-work timetable:

Monday - run/walk
Tuesday - yoga
Wednesday - run/walk
Thursday - cycle
Friday - swim

Like the ad says, Just Do It

An Elvis massage

Elvis is our "15 minute" massage person that does the rounds at work. Even though I've been a couch potato for the last week, my hip still hurts on occasion. So I asked him to have a dig around. And boy, did he dig!

I can't believe that it's still sore.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. Another week of couch-potatoism? More massages? I bought a hard rubber cricketball from Kmart at lunchtime to roll around on - a tennis ball doesn't go deep enough (or perhaps my rolls of fat simply cushion the impact).

Grrr.

The ankle is not 100% either. Perhaps I could amputate.

Still Not Running

My ankle is still slightly swollen, and I don't want to risk it in its weakened state. It's also a good excuse to give the hip a decent rest, so I'll stay off my feet for another week. On the plus side, I got to wash both pairs of running shoes.

The diet has been pretty good - takeaways on Monday lunchtime (Fasta Pasta) and Thursday night (Noodles). Still haven't had any chocolate, lollies, potato chips, or icecream. Except for a dinner party last night, and that doesn't count. ;-)

Spent all weekend in the garden - finished hacking up the last of the clay and green stuff (which might have been grass once), forked most of it over, laid out a vege garden, and shovelled 1.5m3 of topsoil into it. I have the day off tomorrow (to supervise installation of a new hot water service), but I need to let my blisters heal before I pick up the fork again. Then just mulching and planting before I start on the next area!

I may not blog for a while - it is a Running Blog after all. I should be back within a week or so.

Street-O @ Cathies Corner

Be carefull what you wish for...

I was thinking this afternoon that what I really need is a decent break from running to let the hip properly heal.

So at Street-O, I signed up for C Course (40 minutes) with the plan of running for 30, then walking whatever was needed to get me back to the finish. It was all going to plan until minute 22. The HRM had been playing up and I was constantly checking it to see if it had come back "online". Anyway... I fell off the footpath, over the guttering and onto the road - and going over on my ankle in the process.

Oooouuuch!

I leaned against a gatepost for a few minutes considering my options (waiting for the pain to stop), before deciding to abandon my route and head straight for the finish. The last 1.6km slow walk home took longer than the 2.8km run out, and every uneven bit of road jarred it. Hopefully the swelling will go down overnight (yay drugs!) and I haven't done anything stupid. And just a few weeks short of the 12 month anniversary of shredding all the tendons in that ankle.

sigh... bloody hell.

Not quite what I was thinking of when I was thinking about a running break.

Distance	Avg pace
2.8 km	6:25 /km

Grounded again

Well, not grounded exactly, more like just got my wings clipped.

Went to see the Myo last night to check on my hip. Once he started digging elbows and fingers into it, it really started hurting again.

The result: I'm allowed to run, but not for more than 30 minutes. I guess that rules out Sunday's 2-hr event then. :-(

And a decent hit-out tonight. Hmmm, I think the shortest course in winter is C Course - 40 minutes. Guess that'll have to do - maybe with the last 10 minutes walking back.

He also told me to cross train - cycling and swimming. Guess I can do that too.

Street-Oholic

Dante - yes, anyone can just turn up to any weekend (or Wednesday) event. Schedule is at: http://street.orienteering.com.au/

The next Saturday run is 2 weeks away at Williamstown; and there is a 2-hr event this coming Sunday at Croydon Hills.

If you let me know you're coming, I'll keep an eye out for you. If you wear CR clothing, I'll come and talk to you. Otherwise just ask someone to point me out to you, and you can introduce yourself.

Street-O @ Kerrimuir

A regular-style score event which had us running around gazing at streetlights to record the last digit of the yellow id plate. The map said it was 1:10000 scale, but it seemed to take a long time to travel anywhere - the general concensus at the end was that the scale was wrong.

Feeling a bit of fatigue in the legs, I suspect as a result of all the gardening over the weekend. I went for a walk this morning, and they felt okay, although the hip was a bit achy during the day, and walking up the slope to the office it was noticable.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.8 km	6:31 /km	157 bpm (83%)

I spent a productive day at work (NOT) playing with Coreldraw and planning a cunning Monday course for next month. Watch this space.

A Gardening Day

Lots more digging (nearly done!), a bit of forking over, and a bit of shovelling leftover dirt from the gas connection. Nice working in the sun, and met my neighbour's cute youngest son (~late 20s).

weekly wrap:

Weight	72.9 kgs ▲
Walking	5.9 kms
Running	32.4 kms

Spring Diet Goal #1: no added sugar -- does ice cream count?? otherwise good.
Spring Diet Goal #2: no added fat -- fish'n'chips last night, otherwise good.

And to respond to Ewen's comment about added sugar in an iced roll - it only counts if the food's sole purpose is sugar. For example, chocolate, lollies, etc. An iced roll is primarily bread, so it doesn't count. :-))

Spring Diet Goal #3: limit of two takeaway meals per week
eg, one lunch, one dinner
Some weeks are better than others. When I actually cook something, I'm pretty good at taking leftovers to work for lunch. But when I can't be arsed getting into the kitchen, I'll have something from the foodcourt every day.

Cake-O @ Surrey Dive

I think I'm out of blah mode (yay!). I dug dirt for a couple of hours this morning, so wasn't expecting great things from this run. I ran consistently the whole way around, but struggled in some hilly sections and had 2 walking breaks to recover. I knew I was pushed for time with 15 minutes to go, and I was still on the far side of the map.

With 1 minute to go, I abandoned the chase for control #6 (only 300m away) and pushed hard to get back on time. I got back on the last beep of the last minute, and slid my control card under Andrew's nose as the clock ticked over to 3pm. Made it!

I was seriously bent over trying to get my breath back, and sat down next to Princess (Geoff's dalmation dog) who'd been tied to a tree in the sun. Geoff brought me over a piece of Judy's passionfruit sponge cake which was literally dripping with something sweet and yummy. Divine... I had a second piece when I managed to stand up and get my drink.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
9.8 km	6:08 /km	165 bpm (87%)

Haven't yet been able to crack 10km on a Saturday Street-O, but this is the closest I've been.

edit: I got docked 3 points for getting in late. Damn! That lost me 3 places. :-(

Yawn...

Bumbled up the trail for a slow trudge towards Wandin, turned around and trudged slowly back again. TGIF.

I need sugar!!!

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.3 km	7:26 /km	142 bpm (75%)

After talking to Judy last week about how the Nimbus VIIIs have changed, I promptly ordered a pair of VIs from springersports. I was tempted to order another pair of VIIs too, but decided to wait and see if they supplied what I asked for first. They didn't. The shoebox arrived in the mail yesterday - a pair of the dreaded VIIIs.

Lovely colour... but I wish they'd just supply what I order, or cancel it.

Went for a quick walk around the house - they feel okay. Comparing soles against my current VIs and VIIs, the rubber tred is narrower at the toe end, but the toe box seems the same size. The heel is identical.

Whatever - they'll sit in the cupboard until I'm ready to rotate them in.

Street-O @ Waterford Valley

Very cold to start (10 degrees - today's high was only 11!), and took ages to warm up. I was nearly a non-starter for tonight, as I'm still feeling really tired and lacking energy, and the thought of curling up in front of the heater with a book was very tempting.

I started off in plod mode, thinking that nothing much was going to happen tonight. But about 10-15 minutes into it, I'd warmed up and was running smoothly. It helped that the area was almost dead flat, and the light breeze cooled the sweat.

Came in 5 minutes early - I'd finished the loop, and didn't really have anything else that I could go for.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
6.7 km	6:16 /km	155 bpm (86%)

6.66km @ 6:16/km on 6/9/6 in Nimbus 6's 666 6 6...

Mid-week report

Didn't get out for a walk either today or yesterday (too cold, too wet, too late to bed); last night I scoffed pizza until I couldn't fit any more, then chased it down with strawberries, lychees, and a real banana. Today I bought a blueberry custard Jesters Jaffle pie.

Am I off the wagon?

The only fat on the pizza was the cheese, and the only added sugar in the pie was, well, everything... :-(

And my hip is achy again - it only seems to ache on running nights. It was sore on Monday too, for no good reason (except too much garden perhaps). Not sure what its problem is today.

Street-O chez Bernie

Double-O: two sets of controls, one set in the top half of the map (where the start/finish was), and one set in the bottom half. And a considerable distance between the two. Forty controls, with normal scoring, but only the best 20 count towards your score.

So there was no point in getting "the lot" (although Bryan did, in 71 minutes, just for the hell of it and because he could!), but the ideal course would be to get the 10 top scoring controls in each half. I did a middling sort of route through the middle of both sets, picking up 21 controls.

Hilly course, and I needed a few walking breaks. And navigational breaks. And calculating breaks.

Geoff asked me how my running was coming along (after the hip thing). Ugh, not great. I'm stuck in plod mode.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.6 km	6:50 /km	155 bpm (86%)

Had 2 slices of pineapple fruit slice afterwards (very healthy - not at all like the bakery tray) before I remembered that I'm supposed to be on a diet. Body is sore and achy all over from the weekend activity.

Run-free Weekend

Another non-running weekend. On Saturday, I finally finished cleaning and stacking the last of the pavers - all 400 are now neatly stacked and I hope to never have to touch them again. I did a little bit more digging before deciding to prune the snowball tree instead. An hour later I had a HUGE pile of prunings that I wasn't sure what to do with. And a very truncated tree.

So I went shopping.

And came home with a garden shredder. As luck would have it, it was raining on Sunday morning so the neighbours were spared until later in the afternoon. It took a couple of hours to turn the mountain of twigs and branches into a metre-high pile of mulch. Awesome toy!! Don't know why I didn't get one before.

Snowball tree: October 2005


September 2006

Weight	72.5 kgs ▼
Walking	10.8 kms
Running	30.1 kms

Spring Diet Goal #1: no added sugar -- tick!
I made it! It was a struggle for the first few days, but seemed to get easier. I had tons of raisins instead, and the odd piece of iced roll.

Spring Diet Goal #2: no added fat
eg, croissants, garlic bread.
This one's a bit of a cop-out, because there will be no more croissants in the mornings, and I think this Friday's Happy Hour is cancelled so there won't be any garlic bread either. But I need another week to consolidate the sugar withdrawal.

Running on Empty

Or "Not Running" as was the case this morning. Unseasonably warm - 15°C at 7am. I headed off down Victoria Rd with the intention of looping around at Killara, but on the way up the hill to Chandler Rd I discovered the tank was empty. I had zero energy. My heartrate was still low - in the 140s - but I just couldn't keep going. I turned down Chandler Rd and cut the loop short, with several walking breaks on the way home.

No idea why it wasn't happening this morning. Perhaps the heat, perhaps the light meal last night (2 slices of fruit bread and a handfull of dried fruit - I had a big lunch though), who knows. One of those days...

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
5.9 km	8:16 /km	137 bpm (72%)

No bakery tray this morning - apparently it all ended on 31 August. They couldn't even make it last until the end of the week. Ah well, I reckon I did pretty well staying off the sugar for the last four days.

Thursday

No walk or run this morning - a day off.

I have the Bolero music on endless loop in my head. Arrgh! Serves me right for watching the Ice Dancing on Tuesday night. I reckon the other guy should have won it, but then, I didn't vote for him either.

Today's temptation:

Nothing in here of much interest. The Cherry Ripe Slice used to tempt me (top left corner), but I've gone off them in recent weeks. Still had my warm half croissant this morning though.

Only one more day to go.

Street-O @ Balwyn Central

Horrible little course. John had been particularly nasty and made us go to Control #10 FIRST. It was, of course, on the edge of the map, so there was a great long line of us all running the 1.3km to this one control. Jenny was waiting for us to make sure we hadn't picked up #9 or #13 or #17 on the way. Then we had an awkward route choice to figure out the best way of collecting them all on the way back in.

I ended up following Geoff all the way around - with him always about 40m in front. Comparing notes afterwards, we decided that we should have dropped #7 and #3 and gone for #19 and maybe #20 instead. Hindsight is a wonderful tool.

I struggled a bit with the run tonight - especially the uphills, which all seemed a lot longer than marked on the map.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.3 km	6:21 /km	155 bpm (82%)

I didn't succumb to the chocolate fudge slice either. It was a close call though - after our staff meeting, I walked up to the tray and picked up the knife ready to cut the last piece in half. Dharmesh joined me and was waiting to retrieve the other half, when I came to my senses and said No! and walked away. Ten minutes later the rest of it had disappeared.

Humpday Double

But first, Temptation Island - and look, there's CHOCOLATE FUDGE SLICE in there. Ohhhh..... be strong Louise, be strong...



Cold and foggy outside this morning. Weatherzone says -1.1°C but there was no ice on the frog pond. Definitely glove weather though.

I don't usually run on a Wednesday morning (because of Street-O at night), but I headed out on the trail for a slow Zone 3 shuffle to Wandin and back. Lots of people on the trail this morning - not sure whether it's a Wednesday thing, or whether people have suddenly realised that Spring is nearly here.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.0 km	7:52 /km	140 bpm (74%)

Eat me!

Tuesday

And the yummiest part is eating the croissants while they're still warm. Mmmmmm...

Too cosy to get out of bed this morning, but made it out the door eventually for a trundle around the block.

Distance	Avg pace
5.0 km	10:20 /km

Street-O chez Bryan

Bryan's speciality is radio orienteering, so he'd set out a couple of radio transmitter controls as part of a regular score course - the 2 radio controls were worth 10 points each. But you had to find them first!

I decided that I couldn't be bothered wandering aimlessly around a park listening to the antenna bleeping and burbling away, so opted for a straight running course.

Hilly area, and a fairly complex course, so while it felt like I was running well, I had a lot of pauses to figure out where to go next.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
9.0 km	6:23 /km	158 bpm (83%)

Running for an hour (57 minutes) is also pushing my fitness at the moment - I can run 7-8 kms without too much effort, but I struggle over the last couple. I need to get back into my long runs...

The Bakery Tray is Evil

You didn't believe me, did you... sometimes the tray is nearly overflowing.

Someone's already been at the jam donuts. No Ultra-high sugar lumps to taunt me today, thank god. Only one more week of this evil to go.

Walk around Seville this morning. Pretty normal - talked to the cows (with apologies to LL) and a couple of horses.

Distance	Avg pace
5.8 km	10:26 /km

Quiet Weekend

Very quiet weekend - cleaned and stacked a few dozen more pavers and went for a walk around Seville. On Saturday, I dragged the deck chair off the deck and into the garden and sat in the sun for ages. Lovely.

Weight	73.5 kgs
Walking	15.4 kms
Running	25.0 kms

I deliberately didn't go for a run this weekend - I really want my hip to get fully better before I start pushing up the mileage again. And besides, my energy levels are still low, and I don't want this cold to come back. One week of misery was enough. Unfortunately though, I'm not burning enough calories...



Spring Diet Goal #1: no added sugar
eg, chocolate fudge slice, chocolate, fudge, jelly beans, etc. I can get my sugar fix from dried fruit and plain biscuits.

Friday

Very late start this morning, after a 90-minute conference call at 7am. When I finally got out the door, the air was very steamy after 20mm of rain in the last day or so. One pile of mulch outside a neighbour's yard had steam rising off it.

Did a usual route out along Victoria Rd and back along the Trail - walking the first and last kilometre to stretch out the hip. It's still not 100%, but any residual pain disappears after a couple of voltarin and a few hours sleep (or work).

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
2.2 km	9:32 /km
6.2 km	7:21 /km	151 bpm (79%)

I've been unusually tired this week - even falling asleep after the alarm went off yesterday. I think I still have a bit of residual cold leftover from last week. There's 2 days of bush orienteering this weekend, which I think I'm going to skip - I'll stay home, mend the letterbox, do some more digging, and generally have a quiet one.

Street-O @ Forest Chase

Actually felt like I was running tonight, although I started out with a really lousy route choice, and then I got lost within a maze of tiny streets. After about 2km, I sorted myself out, and it felt like I was running strongly. Not pushing it - just letting my legs pull me along.

On the way towards Control #2, I had several people - including a bunch of kids - tell me, "don't go to #2"... and, "he's about to hit somebody". Robyn got told that he was going to "put her away".

I decided not to go to #2.

Very occasionally we get neighbours that get unnecessarily agro at people running down "their" street. Normally you can just laugh it off and tell them to get a life, but this one sounded particularly unpleasant. Someone suggested calling the police - if this guy is intimidating mature-aged women and young kids, there's got to be something seriously unstuck upstairs.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.8 km	6:08 /km	163 bpm (86%)

Presentations for the Iceberg Series afterwards - no placing for me this time (not enough non-injured runs to get a decent score), but plenty of good food to be had.

Cupboard Love

It's all over. The company that's loved us for 24 years is taking away our breakfasts to save US$2.2 million per year (Newsday story).

On the upside, nothing like a spring diet resolution to help kick that, erm, "winter padding" that's crept on in recent months. It should be so much easier without having the bakery tray crying out for attention every time I walk past it.

Went for a walk yesterday (got rained on again); slept in this morning. Run tonight.

Street-O @ Mullauna

Another Monday Special - no chocolates tonight (Judy really did set a very high standard!) although Lauris gave us 25 controls to chase instead of the usual 20.

I found it hard going tonight - really struggling on anything slightly uphill for the first half hour, and my breathing was all over the place. Heartrate was still relatively low. I settled down for the second half for a more relaxed run with the HR steady in Zone 4.

I guess I'm out of practice.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.8 km	6:37 /km	157 bpm (83%)

Bloody kids

So there I was, late last night just heading off into the land of nod, when there's a loud crash... thump... youthful laughter, and running footsteps. I peer out the window, it's pitch black, and no sign of movement. This morning, I discover my letterbox lying on the ground, having been knocked off its post. Grrr.

Late getting out of bed again this morning, and it started drizzling on the way back - if I'd left on time, I wouldn't have got wet. Sigh...

Just walking. Took the camera to get some photos of the Trail in full wattle bloom.

Distance	Avg pace
5.9 km	10:18 /km

Spring has sprung

SATURDAY

Did a few hours digging and clearing rocks and pavers, then headed out for a late afternoon trot around the block - Victoria Rd to Killara, and back via the Trail. Wasn't watching either the HR or the time, but ran at a comfortable pace with several walking breaks.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
8.5 km	7:24 /km	150 bpm (79%)

SUNDAY

More digging, then a lazy afternoon. Went for an afternoon stroll through Seville with the camera. 3.7 km. Everything is flowering, and I still haven't pruned the neighbour's plum tree, or my snowball tree. Guess they'll have to wait until next winter now.

weekly wrap:

Weight	73.2 kgs
Walking	11.8 kms
Running	28.4 kms

doona-itis

Trouble getting out of bed this morning - eventually headed out the door very late for a quiet trot along the trail. I've decided to integrate more walking into my runs, as the striding out stretches the hip (whereas slow running has the opposite effect). So I walked the 1km to and from the trail, and ran the trail. Slow trudge, watching the heartrate. Nice sunny morning - t-shirt and vest. 6°C.

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
2.2 km	9:35 /km	110 bpm (58%)
5.2 km	7:05 /km	150 bpm (79%)

Street-O @ Camberwell Central

Easy run around the hilly suburb, finding that I could still pull myself up hills without too much extra effort, although I was starting to tire towards the end during the last uphill bit home. I'd worked out a route that made sense at the time(!) with a couple of 2-pointers to collect near the end if I was early. I was halfway towards the first of these when I realised that it was further away than it looked, and I was fast running out of time. I abandoned the chase, and got back with 10 seconds to spare, with the heartrate sitting in Zone 5 for the last 500m.

Slightly faster run than on Monday, with the same average HR. Well on the road to recovery... :-)

Distance	Avg pace	Avg HR
7.3 km	6:32 /km	161 bpm (85%)

Visit to the magician last night, and the hip looks good. He found a tight spot on the TFL(?) which HURT LIKE HELL as he massaged it out - we think probably caused by the run on Monday, rather than anything related to the hip injury. It's still bruised to touch.