Blaxland to Springwood to Winmalee and back via pushbike!

Another weekend sort of zoomed on past without as much as a bye your bye.  Or whatever the saying is.  Bloody hell, I will be seventy five before I know it.....life is just getting busier and time is just flying past.


Two nights out in a row normally mean absolutely no training for me, but this morning got up and did lots of garden work and then a fantastic bike ride.  It is funny how friends show you things.  I believe every single one of my friends is here to teach me something or show me something.  Some more than others.  Some very deep and important lessons, some lighter and more fun, but I believe that is why people come into your life.  And deep down, we are all here to learn and grow and help others learn and grow.  That's just how it is.  Or should be.

So Karon, god bless her, who is terrified of freeways, showed me the back way to Springwood last week when we drove up there to have lunch.  And as we are driving, I was thinking.....SUPERB BLOODY BIKE TRACK - with a few hills, I'll be in that.  I dunno about you, but riding round and round the same track is as boring as sin, but it is SAFE.  (Actually, when was sin boring?).  And going on the roads on my bike scares the living shite out of me.  But this was quite a good "beginners" ride, with enough need to signal, stop, etc to be good, but so little traffic to be a little bit safer.

Anyway, it is all uphill so the gradual climb was bloody excellent, and all those spin classes must have helped.  I am still chicken with the speeding downhill, but tried to keep my hands off the brake and just coast, at times I managed it, at times I nearly shit myself, but that is ok. 

So up to Springwood, and along Richmond Road to Winmalee is a terrific little ride - so when I am pushed for time and can't afford to get to the M7 or Homebush or The Lakes, there it is.  I had no car today on account of that eejit and my tyres incident so had to improvise. 


The achilles is still sore despite no running since last week - so I just thought I would let that one go.  My zen moment in the bush last week was great, but I fancied something different today.  Amazing what you see from a bike that you would never notice from a car, and I loved the journey today.  Perfect day.

Rocking Tuesdays

I know everyone else hates Mondays, (especially Bob Geldof) - but I love them.  I am not always keen to get out of bed to greet them, but once up, out there and embracing all that a Monday has to offer, it is really quite good.  First of all there is coffee. Ok, it is a bit of an addiction, but I just love my first coffee of the day and enjoying innocent pleasures is one of my favourite passtimes.  Enjoying naughty ones is another but that doesn't always fit with Monday mornings (although has been known to happen.....).  I have Spin class with Tony at 12, so I only really have to shuffle stuff around on my desk for three hours, talk to people and ask them about their weekend for a while until I get there.  The expenditure of all that energy seems to vitalise, no matter what I've been up to at the weekend, and then I get to have a nice shower and fix myself up and spend the afternoon planning and strategising with my favourite colleagues.  I do love them, they make me laugh, they show me exciting stuff and we have a giggle about stupid things, and I always come away feeling good.  Yes, I love Mondays and Bob Geldof was wrong. Maybe playing in a band made Mondays crap because they didn't have a gig?

Tuesdays, on the other hand, don't always have the same appeal.  Firstly, we have a boring meeting at 12 which means I cannot get to the gym.  But mainly because we have a boring meeting and we have been having the same meeting for a year and it makes it feel like Groundhog Day and it never changes and afterwards we all talk about it being a reality show and we are the cast and we just don't know it.  Think - The Truman Show.   Did I mention it affects my ability to get to the gym?  But today I challenged boring Tuesdays by wearing the most colourful red dress, red suede knee high stilletoe boots and a very big cheeky grin.  By the end of the day I was feeling cheeky and grinny and the sun came out and it is the last day where day is longer than night and it made me feel good.  And I wore my super mood enhancing body lotion and all was ok when I got a whiff of myself.   And the man in the hairdressers said my boots were the perfect antidote to boring Tuesdays and I think he was right.  People were especially nice to me today.  Could they tell I needed a lift?  Or was it just the boots?  Or am I imagining things and people are always nice? 

Anyway, that little secret place in my heart that has the joy and the sadness and the pain and the calmness and the peace was tickled today.  Always a good way to live.  A little bit of joy, a little bit of sadness and a lot of strength and more than anything, a lot of hope. 

Saosin - I wanna hear another fast song [instrumental]

Back

I am doing the best that I can right now, and I think I am doing a great job.  But I have lost something that was incredibly important to me, and I cannot share that with anyone at all. 

My attempts to meditate continue to frustrate me yet encourage me.  If that is possible.  It gets a little easier and yet I know I haven't nailed it yet.  I guess it is a bit like running.

So - running.  Three runs last week.  Then a break and a spin class and a pump class.  Lots of physical activity happening, lots of nice endorphins flowing.  Planning on going to the Circa run on Sunday with Steve, Janis, Ray and Co, and looking forward to seeing everyone again.  It is a bit like a long lost family, and a culture and community that I was once part of, but moved away from.  I guess now is the time to reclaim it. 

Met some old friends tonight, god it feels like I have been on Saturn for the last six months.  I have forgotten everyone I loved and cherished.

Life moves in the most mysterious ways, but sometimes we know.  We just know what is coming, and maybe it is not that great but we prepare ourselves and we adjust and we overcome and we look back and we think "it is ok".  Because it really is ok.

I've run three days in a row and then done a spin class today.  The running has been brilliant.  Friday I ran alone.  Saturday morning I met up with about ten other kindred spirits to test out the new Sydney Marathon Clinic course.  It is great and it was a fantabulous morning.  The sky was blue, the air was crisp and there was still a pale full moon in the sky.  The running was superb, the company excellent and nothing could have gotten me back into the running vibe better.  Loved it.  Loved it.  Did I say I loved it??

Sunday ran with Kelly.  It was a bit more subdued due to a late night dancing on the grass and drinking vodka and generally being childish but having fun with old friends.  Running in the midday sun after a big night isn't such a great idea. 

Today, a spin class with Tony - which was excellent.  Life is good.  Life is good. 

Eleven kinds of Awesomeness...

I ran! I ran! I ran!!!

Right, this is starting to sound like A Flock of Seagulls tribute blog.

But - I did!  I ran!!  And it was AWESOME!!!

I think it was a text message from my old running partner that made me think about it.  He got me thinking about our winter early morning runs and our summer hill repeats and the fun we used to have.  And how I missed it.

And I have been wearing sensible shoes to and from the station and stretching my calves every night and I was pottering about today and I realised - no achilles pain for quite a few days.  And I HAD been waking up with pain after absolutely no activity at all (except maybe heels) so things must be working.

I have been doing my calf lifts too.

So the run was only short - because the last two attempts to get back into it, I have gone from nothing to 10km which, in retrospect, is fucking daft.

So today I did about 4km, no garmin, and I walked the last 750m or so because it was uphill and the ankle started to niggle.  I can build on that.

I thought the Spin classes would have kept me fit.  But noooooo.....embarrassed to say I was all red faced, sweaty and uncomfortable.  But those videos of Cox's river that some eejit posted on Facebook this week made me YEARN - yes - YEARN for the trails and a chilly Saturday morning out on the trails cannot be beaten.  I cannot think of anything I would rather be at.

So the gradual build up to normal running again resumes.  I might even get my old running partner back to play which would be just fabularse.  And suddenly all my gorgeous running friends have come out of what appears to be woodwork, but maybe I have just not noticed they were always there.  It feels nice.

Radiohead

This is my life.

Important things come to light at 6am when I log onto my computer.  I hide them at the back of my brain.

I intend to release them later in the day.

I forget.

I get caught up in the day to day.

I come home and log on to my computer and realise I HAVE MISSED MY ONLY OPPORTUNITY TO GET RADIOHEAD TICKETS IN THE REST OF MY ADULT LIFE BECAUSE SURELY THOM YORKE WILL BE TOO FUCKING OLD TO TOUR AUSTRALIA AGAIN. 

Feck.

Double Feck.

Anyway.  There is no point me keeping a blog about running, because I haven't run since god knows when.  I am really over fighting with my achilles and my work schedule.  I am what I would call "burnt out" at this point.  Four hour daily commute has dampened my will to live pretty much.