TTFN

The only good thing about a 40-degree day is that washing dries almost instantly.

I hibernated inside once the temperature got to 30°C, and re-read a couple of "diet" books: "Fat or Fiction" by Donna Aston, and "Fattitude" by Craig Harper. I think perhaps that my currently lethargy is caused by not enough protein in my diet. I'm a pseudo-vegetarian - I don't cook meat at home, so I only have it in takeaways. Yeah - good quality stuff, haha. And I'm not dedicated enough to make sure I get enough non-animal proteins. Anyway, between the 2 books, I've roughed out a menu plan that has 5-6 small meals each day, with no processed crap. Now I just have to be ORGANISED and STICK TO IT. As Harper says, Finish what you start.

I also bought an iron supplement ("Floravital") which I took over the weekend, and will finish off when I get home again.

Weight	72.5 kg
Walk	22.9 kms
Run	5.4 kms
Cycle	0 kms

I'm off to visit family for a couple of weeks. I may or may not post while I'm away.

The Gang-Gangs are Back

What's a Gang-Gang?, I hear you ask. One of these...


(photo from last year)

I walked up to the shops this morning (for bananas), and heard familiar crunching sounds coming from the side of the road. Sure enough, a family of gang-gangs were eating berries on a tree low down by the road - completely unconcerned about me or the traffic that sped by.

Street-O @ Eltham Parklands

Warm, muggy night with thunderclouds overhead and lightning flashes in the distance. But the rain held off during the event, thankfully. I dithered badly at the start, heading up to #16, then changing my mind and heading back down again to #9. It made sense at the time.

Walking well through the rest of the hilly course, but lost a control at #2 - several of us were looking for it under a light pole, when Tina waltzes past and punches it. Oh, that light pole. Onwards and upwards with a last-minute gamble to #18 (a 5-pointer), but didn't make it back in time and lost 3 points for being 41 seconds late.

6.6 km in 9:24/km

As this is my last Street-O for a couple of weeks (I'm going on holiday), I said goodbye to a few people. Geoff asked if I'd been ill - yeah, sorta, I guess. He's a subtle/polite chap, so I put him out of his misery and admitted that yes, my running has been crap. He suggested that it might be low iron levels; apparently one of the A-Course girls had a similar slump in energy a few years ago, and it was traced to a low iron count. An interesting idea, and one that I might follow up when I get back. Along with eating better, and going to the gym, and... what was the other thing?

Also walked this morning, 5.2 km.

Street-O @ Mullauna

Score course tonight so I had 45 minutes to get as many controls as I could. I started off plodding like a lead brick and never really got out of plod mode. After 20 minutes (when I've usually warmed up and running well) I was starting to flag. Plotted a short route back to the finish, on the theory that if I went for #18 near the edge of the map, I was going to die in the arse and be late back. As it was, I came in 5 minutes early, so I probably could have got it.

5.4 km in 6:36/km

My RSVP date last night was okay - the guy is nearly 50yo, but he's an "old 50" rather than a "young 50". He's interesting, but he's an old man already (unlike some very cute 50yo's on CR!). Fit and active (he says), but about 30kg overweight. We went to the same secondary school FFS! Lived within walking distance of each other - twice. Sheesh... I know New Zealand is a small place, but.

See, that's the problem when Kiwis get together - all we talk about is where we lived and who we know!

Spent a couple of hours this morning shovelling the mulch that was delivered yesterday. One of my neighbours came over to see what progress I'd made, and offered his services as a renovation jack-of-all-trades for $20/hr. Hell, yes! Got a sledgehammer?! He's also a building inspector and a qualified carpenter, so I can make good use of him. :-)

Dead Ant...

There are dozens of dead ants all over my table... charming. But hey, they're dead!

No playing in the garden today - I have some mulch being delivered (for the herb and drystone gardens) but I have an RSVP date tonight, so won't be shovelling anything until tomorrow.

Walk this morning, 5.3 km

An Ant's Life

There are ants in my study again. But they're all swarming around the ant bait that I put on the desk last time, and they appear to have left the laptop alone. So I'm resisting the urge to squash them while the bait does its work. Die, little bastards, die...

Walk this morning, 5.8 km.

I skipped Street-O again tonight, and spent a couple of hours shovelling a cube of newly-delivered topsoil into the vege garden, topping up the drystone garden, and sculpting the herb patch.

Another Quiet One

I didn't run or cycle this weekend; instead I read a lot (Snare, by Katherine Kerr) , finished the drystone wall, and prepped the walkway and a herb garden for mulch.

The backs of my legs are really stiff - I guess from all the digging and lifting I've done. I really need to get back into yoga. And weights. And more cardio. And to stop eating takeaways in front of The Biggest Loser. :-)

Weight	72.0 kg
Walk	22.9 kms
Run	9.47 kms
Cycle	0 kms

Ewen, they've been selling easter eggs since Christmas!

Street-O @ Bulleen

Power Walk: good energy (see, pizza works!), striding up the hills with no problems; even had time for a last-minute dash to #4.

6.8 km in 8:56/km

I'm tempted to go for a run tomorrow morning "just to see"... but that wouldn't be giving myself a week off now, would it.

Mmmmm, pizza

I didn't go to Street-O last night; instead I curled up in front of The Biggest Loser with pizza and FOUR chocolate easter eggs.

Walk this morning, 5.1 km. Feeling slightly more energetic.