Somedays

Some days are just better than others.  Today is such a day.

Progress

We went to the pub at lunchtime.

Moxy Fruvous - My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors

This is fab and silly andwill stick in your head......

Shopping Ultra

My legs feel like I have done the long version of the North Face or climbed the Matterhorn, but in reality, yesterday I had a shopping ultra.  I shopped from 1pm to about 5.30 in stilettoes OH MY GOD the new Westfields in Pitt Street - shops I have only read about in magazines and that NEW BUILDING smell - shopping mecca - heavenly.  But by god the feet were sore and I organised to have a beer with a girlfriend and I was thinking that walking up Hunter Street, I might not make it, and I don't ever recall my feet being this sore in any long run. - THEN we had our night out with the gang from Novartis at the Argyle and THEN we were so drunk we got lost walking back to the hotel so now my feet are good for nothing except being immersed in a bucket of hot soapy water and being pampered by a small Thai lady wielding tangerine body scrub and a loofah.

The Who Horrorscope continues to amuse, this week being cited a good week to GET MARRIED!  Right, now where did I put that Decree Nisi?  Mind you, it appeared to mistake a "romantic prosposal"  for a tongue pash - when I leaned in to kiss someone on the cheek goodbye and the action was misread.  By about five hundred miles.  Maybe getting married is too literal and I will be married to my new job, or get a piercing or some other life long appendage.

Anyway the challenge now is to get my sore and tired self out for a run before tonights entertainment starts!

Normal Service Resumed

Got over being sad really quickly and bounced back to my normal self now.  This morning met up with Simon at 5.30 am (yes, on my day off!!!) and ran down Mitchells Pass with him - he was going on to run round the river, so I ran back up on my own.  It was pitch black, raining, and frankly, very goddamn creepy!!  There are no street lights, no houses and a large drop down one side.  Fear of the bogey man spurred me on to run as fast as I could up there, I will be honest and say I was terrified.  No more running around dark spots at this time of the morning. 

However, being back out there did feel fantastic, despite my old bits still being old and silly.  My hip really hurts and my achilles is still banjaxed.  I think the hip is related to the achilles as it is on the same side.  I think I need to resume the old core stability work.

So - yesterday was my last day at Novartis and today I am unemployed for a day and Monday I start the new contract with the RTA.  I was driving into work (on the M2 which took an hour an a half because everyone was slowing down to look at the people standing at the bus stop) and had a call from one of the reps which set me off and I spent a good 15 mins in the car having a cry.  However, being determined not to ruin my mascara was a great motivator to pull myself together so by the time I got into the office I was happy having got all that girly crying business out of the way in the car.  Did all my stuff, left just after lunch and treated myself to an afternoon getting a pedicure and some waxing, then came home and had a nanna nap.  What better way to finish off a really enjoyable contract?  Plus they bought me VODKA!!  And choccies!! 

So my new adventure starts Monday!  But for now - back to bed!!!

Training

Sunday - 7km
Monday - 8 hilly kms
Tuesday - 6.5km
Wednesday - fuck all.  Wallowing in a massive big wad of sadness and music and vodka. Feel like I am right down the very bottom of a large hole.  Knew I should run, knew it would make me feel better, but didn't.  I am very shite.

Farrrrkkkkk!!

Then this week got BUSY!!!  Yay it got busy, in all sorts of ways.  Running came back to life.  Simon came back from Adelaide and we ran together and for the first time in ages he was all fit and fast and I was all slow and sore.  Gotta fix that.  And I went back to PT classes and I did runs on my own at night and I can feel my calves hardening up again, so that is good.  A lady stopped me at the ATM machine in the pub last week and said she had to tell me how great looking my calves were.  Probably a Blue Mountains Lezzo but still.  It was a compliment.


Farrrrk!  The Who Magazines' horrorscope was right!!!  I would be the recipient of a "Romantic Proposal" - unfortunately it did not specify from whom, and whether it would be reciprocated!!! 

I got a job!!!  OK OK it is a Contract, and is initially for 3 months but it is exciting and new and really far away and I will have to get a train into the big smoke and I have never worked in the City before and I am quite excited / nervous / thrilled / shit scared.  The job itself is really exciting and I suppose the really positive experience I have had with contract work at Novartis has helped me be a little more confident about my ability to walk into something completly new but still make a difference.  So thank you lovely little Company.  I am really going to miss my little job there and all my gorgeous colleagues and friends.  I am saying goodbye to everyone in stages because our team is so spread out and it is odd to be hugging people goodbye every day for three weeks.  Anyway, Thursday is my last ever day and then on Friday we are having a big night out in the city which should be fun.  And I am going to shop Friday afternoon.  Happy days.  But I feel like crying when I think about not being there any more because I really loved everyone.  The job was ok too.  But on the other hand I am more excited than I can remember about starting a new job with this new one.  Maybe contracting is for me.  I like the challenge of new things, and I do get bored a little too easily.  If I could line them up one after another I think I could be very happy and it would keep me well out of mischief.

Have been gettng my arse out on the pavement too, although having had three weeks of colds, flus and viruses has meant that I am not in top form and strangely despite the big rest, my achilles is still very sore.  I am very very scared about this big race which is in about three weeks time, but will keep training as hard as I can and hope to God my fitness returns for the big day.  This weekend have Woodford to Glenbrook with Monica although we are taking it easy as she has a big one on Saturday.  Simon is sending gloating text messages about how fit he now is and I am running with him tomorrow, hello pain.  How the tables have turned, for a while I was fitter than he was.  Farrrrkkkkk!!!

So all in all, training back on track, job situation on track, nice weekend with the Leader of the Opposition in the Southern Highlands, Offspring bouncing back from a pretty difficult time.  All in all, things are good. 

The Week That Wasn't

So - what happened this week?  Not bloody much, except some germs came to visit, no sooner had I banished the head cold, another creepier one appeared, this time sporting very sore throats, sore heads and strangely still, sore legs.  And I hadn't run now for THREE WEEKS!!!  Farkity fark that is the longest in ice ages.  In fact since I had the now famous bout of swine flu. 

However, today I finally felt better after a lovely sleep in following on from a wonderful night out with the girls last night.  I might add it was wonderful because I was home and in bed by 11pm.  But J9 had some of her friends turn up so it was a nice mix of old and new and my throat is sore from laughing.  Good for the soul.

So I decided to run to the pub and get my car.  I took my trusty friend Buffy, who was looking at me beseechingly saying PLEASE MUMMY TAKE ME WITH YOU.  At least I THOUGHT that is what her big sad brown eyes were saying.  Clearly I was mistaken.  We ran to the pub, got the car, got in, and Buffy boked up her breakfast in three large chunks all over the nice leather interior of my car.  Hmmmm, I forgot to mention that Buffy got the leftover lasagne with the pasta and cheese bit that appeared to have been epoxy welded together and only a chisel could part them.  So the beseeching eyes were really a "mummy I feel sick" and not "can I come on a run with you".  You live and learn.

But I feel good for having run and will go again tomorrow.  I have missed it but somehow I couldn't find the energy to go.  So happy now that I didn't feel destroyed and had that big ENDORPHIN smile on my face today.

In other news, I have given up on the Who Magazines Horrrorscope predictions.  Last week WASN'T a good week for signing contracts or entering into agreements and quite frankly, I don't believe this week I should "prepare to be amazed" or be the recipient of a romantic proposal.  So, despite their advice to throw away the rule book, I will be keeping the rule book firmly in my sights thank you very much. 

Where will you be five years from today?

I bought a book with this title.  It is not a self help book but a series of thought provoking questions and statements.  When you are in a time of change in your life, you go for this kind of shit.  Trust me. 

Anyway, one of the questions was " List five people who can help you achieve your dreams and goals".  And I couldn't think of one, let alone five. 

What is life for?  It is for you.  And at the moment, it is just me.  On my own.  Scary.

Todays Random Thoughts.

• What is so freaking difficult about filling a prescription?  Why does it take forever?  Don't they just stick a sticker on the box and be done with it?  
• I like running with Monica because she smells nice.  
• My personal trainer annoys me.  I understand goal setting and the like - but sometimes life gets in the way.  My conscience is enough of a guilt trip so back off.
• Am I mad enough for this job?
• I'll never do a sprint triathlon. 

Resistance is futile

According to the Who Magazines horoscopes this week, lots of stuff is going to happen (again, the fault of uranus) but they said RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!  The horoscope equivalent of "Suck it up Princess".  So that is going to be my motto for the week.

This week I have done NO RUNNING AT ALL!!  None!  Two weekends in a row on Six Foot Track and some time trials and my achilles were jingling and jangling and my legs in general have been jumpy and sore.  And to top it all off I have a headcold.  And anyway, quite frankly, I had better things to do this week.  So next week I am going to dive back into it head first, with the benefit of a rest week behind me. 

But now - a nap!

Uranus. Revisited.

Judging by the stats here, people from all over the world are reading my blog.  Which is really quite freaky.  Tonight I read that people from  Mexico, India, Germany and even South Australia were reading!!!  Wooo hooooo!!!  I think they are doing word searches such as "shite"  "crap"  "slayer" and "shag"....heheheh I am really quite evil.....

Another el bizarro week....but this time for different reasons.  Like I feel in control and the Who Magazine Stars tell me that is because Uranus is aligned with something.  I can't quite remember what.  Might have been Pluto.  Or perhaps someone elses anus.  Regular readers will recall my reliance on The Who magazines' stars for determining my future and the meaning of life in general.

Anyway, they did say something profound would happen this week and it did.  I came to my senses!!!  That's pretty profound!!!!  I always like a bit of coming to my senses.  Quite different to my usual "cloud cuckoo land" as my mother used to describe it.  But tonight I feel normal.  In charge.  Like I know what is going on and I can control it.  Might be a temporary thing, but things seem clearer in my mind.  Which is a start.

Rock. And Roll. And everything in between.

We are very good parents, in that we gave our son a good private school education, a chance to go toUni and live in the halls of residence, and we encouraged a great love of music, we bought him a guitar and an amp and then a bigger amp and a subscription to "Guitar Monthly" magazine, some strings, guitar picks and let him listen to all our old vinyl and taught him his New York Dolls from his Iggy, his Bowie from his Mott the Hoople and a whole lot in between.

Well yesterday he taught us a little bit about rock. 

Which brings me to be sitting here, with a bit of Slayer playing in the background, typing this and thinking what a funny world we live in.

For Christmas we bought Curt and Fin tickets to Big Day Out - Fin got sick and couldn't go (but we all went anyway), and they both wanted to go to Soundwave, so I duly bought us all tickets for that too.  Well, I had to supervise, didn't I???

What a totally awesome, fantastic, rocking day!!!!  I really thought there is no way I would enjoy any of that shit, but hey, I will go and have a look, having one band that I really wanted to see (which Curt had introduced me to) but I really wasn't interested in much else.  Funny how forking out nearly $700 can make you a bit keener to get value for money, so I started researching some of the bands that were playing - and I don't profess to be a total metal head although I do love my music loud and thumping.  So next thing I am downloading Slayer and the guy from Slipknots new band and before I know it, I am humming "Reign of Blood" or whatever it is called and playing air guitar on the vaccuum cleaner.

Anyway, Festival Day dawns and we take a very cool, old person approach and rock up later in the afternoon, but as soon as I set foot through the door the old heart rate inched up a bracket.  What is it about loud pumping music that makes your insides churn and your normal reserved demeanour fly out the window???  We held it together nicely in the big stadium watching some rather cool bands (mr red haired ranger man from Stone Sour I think you are just fucking marvellous) but take me to a small, sweaty, intimate stage and leave me there, because I forget I am forty, I forget I have a job and a mortgage and I forget that I have any kind of responsibility at all except for ENJOYING the music put before me - and I let the whole experience engulf me and I become someone else.  Fuck knows who, I just forget everything and it is one of the most bloody awesomely marvellous experiences you can have.  So that's just a band that are good and I don't know.  But I have to say, I died and went to heaven when my FAVOURITE band Coheed and Cambria finally got their shit together to play a few tunes, and when I realised they were playing Gravemakers and Gunslingers I suppose it was the music equivalent to an orgasm.  But then they played A Favour House Atlantic.  And then Welcome Home.  I could have just died happy then.  Fearfully awesome, me, forty years old, yelling the words, dancing away and grinning like a great fecking eejit.  Fuck it was MAGIC!!!  Seriously, I had a forty minute smile on my face, reminiscant of someone not quite right in the head. 

But there were other highlights.  Gang of Four.  Old dudes from England that John remembered from our days hanging around punks in Belfast - and I thought they would be shite.  They rocked!!!  In fact, we had planned to leave after 2 songs  but stayed for about six, we were entranced.  Anberlin rocked us.  Murderdolls rolled us.  Slash played Paradise City.  Someone else did a cover of Billy Idols White Wedding.  Bullet for My Valentine did Advance Australia Fair.  It was just good times.  We finished off with a serving of Iron Maiden - who doesn't love The Number of The Beast?   Although I always thought it was "Whoa to you oh Earth"....when it is really "Woe to you oh Earth"....slight difference..  Whoa is wayyyyyy better!!!!!

Came to work Monday morning smiling like someone not quite wise, wanting to tell eveyrone and anyone about our marvellous experience in various moshpits....still grinning like someone let out for the day.  Love my music.  Totally love it!!!!!

Time Trials, Trials and Tribulations, Cape Tribulations, Batman

See the link in the title?  No?  Never mind....

Ok so tonight was the SIL time trial and there was me thinking with all this madzer running I have been doing that I would KILL it, after all, it was only 4km.  But not a flat 4km mind you.  Well I added 5 seconds to my last months time, so that was shite.  Which is pretty much like every other damn bit of my life at the moment.  Ok ok slight exaggeration, but it is certainly not progressing as I had intended, specially on the job front.  I now have a total of five weeks to find a new job before my contract runs out.  Yes I have been talking to agencies and applying for stuff but as yet, A BIG FAT NOTHING.  Which means that I am well placed to go to Bali with Karina for her birthday to shop and lie around the pool and hopefully retain both kidneys.  And then most likely have some time off (which, after 20 years of hard labour, I don't really mind) and then hopefully when the weather gets colder and the beach is no longer an option, I might actually get a job and be respectable again.  Or I could become a professional athlete and be a kept woman.  Somehow I think neither of those things are going to happen, but I can dream.....


So, apart from that, we did big hot run at the weekend which left my kankles feeling very sore all week, but the more I ran on them the better they became.  Hoping my new feet settle into the new orthotics quickly.  Actually, I didn't get new feet, I am still flummoxed from the last paragraph - I got new orthotics. 

Tonight at the time trials a freaky thing happened,  a woman came over and asked where I was from, which is standard procedure when anyone hears my silly accent, only this woman was also from Belfast, also from my part of town and also went to the same school as me!!!  So we had a lovely natter about school, and I am so jealous because she is going on a school reunion with a difference - they are going to the Greek Islands!!!  Now I wonder if we can swap our el cheapo little holiday to Bali to a few weeks on the Greek Islands.....!!!!

Now that would be FUN!!!

Shag

I've now got a "shag" (haircut) in fact, if I had a big round brush or rollers I could do the Farrah Fawcett Flick. 

And the shag behaved itself and went up in a ponytail for todays run.  Which was great.  And yes that is why I am in my nightie at 4.35pm on a Saturday afternoon and considering a glass of sauv blanc.  Just considering though. For medicinal purposes.

That scary scary hanging bridge thing over the Cox's River!!  Scares the shite out of me every time until I start imagining James Bond style moves hanging onto it and swinging through the sky.  Heart Rate of something ridiculous crossing it on the way there and even worse on the way back.

Thankfully today, not one snake to be seen but one very big "fuck arse" reptile thing.  Well, that's how Monica described it when she yelled "holy fuck would you look at that?" and leapt from the track.  I thought it was the cranky snake that we've seen before and was filled with dread, but a large, dog sized reptile was a much more welcome sight. 

I have to say, two Northern Irish women in the middle of the bush was quite funny, every stick was a snake after I told Monica my "rearing up and very angry Six Foot Track Snake" story and there were a lot of yells when leaves moved, sticks were sighted, or little geckos crossed our path.  Placed conveniently at the end of the run was a little flowing river so we got in to cool our weary legs.  It was all very peaceful and nice until Monica jumped off her rock vowing that something had bitten her on the foot - and there was much talk of sea snakes.  Despite being about 150km from the Sea. 

A nice run to finish off a wierdo week.  ANOTHER weirdo week.  When will it all go back to normal?

Goodbye Stone

There is nothing like the therapeutic powers of a good hard run, and todays effort did not disappoint.  Ran from home down to Emu Plains, did a lap of Hunter Fields then back up Mitchells Pass, along the old highway and up the steps at Lovers Walk.  All up 16km and felt good the whole way, except for a niggle from the egg shaped orthotic that the lovely physio stuck to the sole of my shoe.

Speaking of physio sessions, was it just me or was that the weirdest one ever?  He was working on the wrong leg.  And I was so busy enjoying it I only realised when he was nearly finished. 


S texted from Adelaide where he is working for a month to tell me he is running EVERY DAY and losing weight.  This means he will most likely come home from Adelaide fit and faster than me again.  Gotta step up that training!

So much talk last night at Rays about upcoming runs, I just don't know where I will be and what I will be doing, next week, next month, next year - silly to enter anything serious just now. 

This is the second day I have taken the cats to the Vets to have her put down, and they are closed.  So she got a lamb chop and some cream and lives to see another day.  We have to so something, she is not even walking straight now and her ear is completely open and she smells funny.  She only seems happy when being cuddled, so she is getting lots of hugs tonight.....time to say goodbye after 17 years.....

Quite possibly the craziest week of my life.  Ups and downs.  Massive highs and lows.  Wierd wierd wierd things happening.  Coping with running around in the 42 degree heat just to be doing SOMETHING to take my mind off other matters.  Running around in 42 degree heat requires waterproof mascara and an array of ice blocks strapped to your head. 

In other news, Mt Solitary is out of the question now because of the "entry criteria" - maybe in another life.  So I am not really training for anything but just bumbling along having fun.  Last weeks 24km run was one of the best - we set off early and it actually felt chilly at the start.  A very unusual experience of late.  I had my good friend Martin for company and between us we do talk a load of shite, but it is good funny banter and he is good because he runs off and rounds me up like a sheepdog, so he gets spurts of speed and I trundle along with my thoughts and my snail pace and it is all good.  We bumped into a speedster friend at the end who encouraged me to take a dip in the causeway - after the run I felt GREAT and was even contemplating a bike ride later.  However a nap did take precedence. 

This week I've had two early morning runs with Simon, a weights session and two Personal Training sessions, one of which involved running round and round and round the track for an hour.  So feeling good and keeping the fingers crossed for cooler temps tomorrow so I can do another long run.  Note to self - freeze camelbak.

Oh and we went to the Big Day Out - Plan B were AMAZINGLY GOOD.  Rammstein rocked the place.  Rocked the place big time.  I was up front in the mosh pit on Matts shoulders - which is the very best place to be except when the fireworks started shooting out from the stage and I was worried about losing an eyeball.  Or catching fire myself.  Those guys are fucking mad, but hugely entertaining for hundred year old Germans. 

Knapsack 6hr race was good except for my massive spew up at the finish line in full view of all and sundry.  In fact some man I have never met before came up to me in the park the other day and commented on it.  He seemed to find it amusing.  But then again he WAS English.

So - do I spend $160 on a ticket to Soundwave, when there is really only one band I want to see?  And if I buy one, I will have to buy four because Fin, Curt and John will want to come.  Dammit, life is too short, Soundwave, Iron Maiden, Coheed and Cambria and possibly a large number of Crazy Fists - here I come!!!

Solution to Banjaxed Achilles...

Well, my achilles treatment involved a week in Fiji in flip flops, the best calf massage I ever had in my life and a lot of Fiji Gold.  Oh, and no running.  And miraculously, it is better.

I also learnt a lot in Fiji.  I learnt that Pedicures aren't for me, nor is Fiji style braiding and don't put a lot of sunscreen on before a banana boat ride with colleagues.  All that slipping off and not being able to get back on can get embarrassing.  I think the pedicure lady was ready to ask me to leave, nobody told me they took a brillo pad to the soles of your feet and rubbed at all the giggly bits until you are ready to wet your pants.  Nor was I informed before this supposedly relaxing pursuit that they have little dentist-like implements and they cut you with them.  My foot was inadvertantly kicking at this poor lady meanwhile Karina, who had brought me to this torture and lied to me telling me it was very relaxing was sitting there nonchalantly reading a magazine carrying on like she was ENJOYING hers.  People are wierd, I tell you.

I also learnt that my will power is crap.  Dry January was powering along until I got to Fiji,  but as soon as I sat down behind a cocktail menu I discovered I had a FIERCE thirst on me and ordered a Mai Tai, following the lead of the rest of the group (just call me a sheep - baaaaa).  Well, I discovered Mai Tais weren't for me, so ventured into unknown territory of the Mojito, then the Pina Colada and well, then someone cracked open a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and well the rest of the night was a bit hazy.  The next day I declared Dry January back on (easy enough at 9am) but upon wandering back to my room after conference day one via the Pool Bar and meeting up with other thirsty colleagues, my will power wavered and suddenly I found myself with a Fiji Gold in my hand.  I don't know how that happened.  This pattern continued throughout the holiday (conference, schmonference) with each morning being declared the resumption of Dry January and me calling it officially on hold by 4pm.  Needless to say, no running occurred during the entire 8 days of the trip and there was very little sleeping either. I am glad to say, however that I took the FIVE running outfits out of my bag replacing them with a more sensible two.


The day I flew into Sydney, I had an interview set up for a job I REALLY really am keen on.  In fact, it is the job I have been after for a number of years now.  And I really think I am ready for it now.  Timing is good.  So I had to get up early (4am) get to the airport, be delayed, fly for four hours, kill three hours in Sydney, then have my interview.  First mishap was someone making me laugh on the bus to the airport and me spluttering my cup of tea all over myself.  Bit of a wipe down and I was right.  Next, on the plane, I discovered my "nice" linen dress had literally fallen apart across the backside, in a kind of trendy ripped sort of a way that might be good for clubbing but certainly not for a professional interview.  Well, there was something to do in my three hours of hanging around Sydney - shopping.  Found the perfect dress, fixed up my makeup and got into my suitcase to find my hairspray only to find that my little bottle of toothpaste had exploded en route to cover EVERYTHING in little glittery minty squares and a sticky greeny blue mess.  Wiped off the can of hairspray (which was by now missing a cap) and sprayed the hairdo only to find my head covered in little glittery squares and a very strong aroma of mint.  By now, time was running out, and so that is how I turned up to the interview (but at least my bum wasn't hanging out of my dress like it had been on the airplane).

So - trip to Fiji a humiliating lesson in lack of willpower, but I will say I had the time of my life, but will also remember not to go below deck on a Fijian boat after a big night.  Wondering if I should just stay off the ankle until after Australia Day - DO NOT want to let my team mates down - and if I start to run again and hurt the ankle before Wednesdays race I will be very very upset.  In terms of how I feel about Wednesday - FREAKING TERRIFIED!  What possessed me to ask these beautiful but very accomplished people to be in a relay team with ME???  ME!!  Slowpoke of the century.  However this year is all about putting that aside and doing stuff DESPITE that.  So, 6hr relay race, here I come.  Farrkkkk!!!
 

biking up hills...

is harder than it looks.  Farrk it is hilly around here.  Getting the hang of this bike is going to take  some time, but I guess these hills are the place to do it!  Thighs are literally BURNING and I only did 10km!!  And half of that was going WEEEEEEEEEEE FARRRRK DOWNHILL!!!!  Then HUFF PUFF FARRRK UPHILL!!  Was determined not to get off, more in case anyone I knew spotted me - who wheels a bike around for fun?  It's not like running where you can pretend to be out for a walk :) and I will admit to taking the long way home because the hill wasn't as steep.  But Jesus, Mary and Joseph my legs are still burning.  My garmin tells me it used up 381 calories.  My scales tell me I have put on half a kilo (from Tuesday).  My brain says IGNORE!  KEEP GOING! 
Am thinking about a lunchtime swim.....

Edit to add:  30 laps of Glenbrook Pool, flipperless.  Wierd goggle face after.  Feel GREAT!

Kit-e-Kat milk - yum

Yesterday marked the last year of the teens for our offspring and so that was clearly celebrated  by a few too many UDLs last night by himself - and there was a weary looking individual loping around the house this morning.  He has an annoying habit of taking my nicely cooled water bottle out of the fridge and scoffing it.

He won't be doing that again.  I got a text mid morning asking "mum - what was in that drink bottle in the fridge, it tasted weird?"  to which I replied "the cat's kit-e-kat milk.  Oh and some Cat Lax."  His response "serious?".  Perhaps he'll get his own water bottle now. 


Of course, I can be smug about his hungover status, having not partaken in the drinking of the alcoholic beverage since 31 Dec 2010, being all year, or 13 days.  I am super happy with how it is going and how I am feeling.  Perhaps I expected more though.  I have two partners in crime who are 'dry Januarying" with me, and none have faltered, one even went to the CRICKET and didn't have a beer.  And she is Aussie.  She could have used a beer ...but lets not go there.

So - training.  Well the only word I can think of to describe it is "painstaking".  Every run I do is short, but hurts.  Sundays run was terrible.  Mondays run was bloody awful.  I came home so depressed and deeply aware that the things I want to do later this year are probably now out of my reach.  So I rested it on Tuesday - did nothing at all.  Wednesday I ran to PT session, which was a teeny bit better than Mondays.  Tonight I ran to the PT session and it was slow but not as painful in the achilles.  I thought we were getting somewhere.  PT session started with a game of tag.  Of course I get carried away and I'm sprinting and chasing someone and make a quick turn and ARRRGHHHH I freaking pulled something in it AGAIN.  Fuckity fuckity FARK.

Tomorrow I am working from home, which means I am damn well going to bike ride in the morning.  After all I will spend the next 8 days  (and nights) with my work colleagues in humid and flat Fiji.  I have enquired and we can hire bikes - yay!  And we can kayak and swim, and I guess if I rest the gummy leg for a day or two of no running, then running on the flat should be ok.  In fact, I have packed so much running gear, but as yet no frocks.  I don't really want to go to Fiji and I know that sounds ungrateful, but I find it hard enough to stick to diets and training schedules and not drinking, and keeping my house clean and my bills paid and my employers happy that I don't really cope all that well with being taken away from my little routine.  Plus I have to present shit.  Which I don't mind if it is interesting and I think my audience will find it useful, however I don't think they are going to be too excited by my job, I might just make stuff up, tell them I interviewed Keanu Reeves for the Rebates Clerk job or Angelina Jolie rang up wanting to know how to treat her cat for worms.   Honestly, one of the teams that report to me answers calls all day about worms in Llama's, how to apply our products after your sheep has had its testicles shaved (by the way, a sheeps penis is called a "Pizzle"), or how soon after your cat has an enema you can give it a laxative.  Surely to god there is some material there for an interesting presentation.  Anyway I am rambling on about nothing in particular here.

So, in summary - success on the non drinking front.  Small amount of weight loss, but certainly clothes looser (although still a long way to go) - sad and frustrated inside about my running, but refusing to let it get me down. Goddamn achilles.  You will not beat me!