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