Owls and Shit

Ran with my beautiful son last night. Fabulous, just fabulous.  Things appear to be on the mend in his world which makes me the happiest out of all the wonderful things that have happened of late.

The job - they want to second interview me!!  It went really well!!  I'm pretty excited!!!!  And I won't die if I don't get it, but will be excited if I do.  So that's a great place to be  - especially as I finally got a letter of offer and a contract from my current job - only a couple of years in the making but hey!!  Now it is the Paradox of Choice.....as someone once said.....(but in a totally different concept, the cheeky bugger)....

And that other thing.  Well.  What can I say?  Not much, except a huge big grin from ear to ear.  It's eclipsing the moon at present, that smile.

Three sleeps till Japan!!!  Can't wait.  Two nights in Tokyo, sightseeing in the big city, shopping, eating, drinking, and GOING TO KARAOKE BARS, running round the city in the mornings, chalking up the bars at night....then the peace and tranquility of the Pilgrammage from Tanabe across the mountains.  Now that I am paying attention, I am very very very excited, esp about the hotel on the last night of the hike, which is up on a cliff and underneath is a hot spa in a CAVE!!!  Woo hoo.  And it too has KARAOKE!!!  And in fact an Onsen and a small city in a labyrinth underneath the cliff. Wierd concept, looking forward to seeing this.

Richard has told me he has been doing 10km runs daily.  I don't know whether he thinks I am going to want to run every day AFTER 8 hours of climbing Japanes Mountains and looking at Shrines, but if he does, he is a complete idiot.  I'll be in the bar sipping that Japanese beer and telling war stories. 

Curt and John are very excited because they have AN OWL.  And, as John put it.....HE IS FUCKING BRILLIANT.  Not sure what constitutes brilliance in Owls, but according to John, swooping on your prey without making a sound and catching it comes in first, as does sitting on your clothesline and giving you a death stare when you try to photograph it.   Cos Curt said he got the camera out and the Owls eyes cut right through him with a right fuck off death stare when he tried to take a pic.

So I think I can go to Japan safe in the knowledge that Curt is ok, will be ok, and is making solid plans for his future.  And I have some wonderful things to come back to. :)  All is well.

The BEST weekend

Had THE BEST weekend in as long as I can remember.  And I am a very happy camper right now.  Very happy, very surprised, in fact this weekend came at me from a totally different angle and the total sideswipe was utterly unexpected but totally delightful.

So, in summary.  The Weekend.
First up - dining.
Had the choice on Friday night of fancy Sydney restaurant or small family owned restaurant where they are totally passionate about their food.  Read - Italian hand signalling type of passionate.  Chose the latter. Tastebuds happy with that choice.  Rolled home feeling full and happy.  I didn't think we could match Flower Drum in Melbourne, but it seems we did.  Well, almost.  Flower Drum will be my all time favourite lunch ever in my whole life.  I think I grinned from ear to ear for the entire meal.  Which makes eating difficult, so it was lucky the meal was beautifully simple despite the chopsticks.

Post Hiking - found place with open fire but with people looking at each other unhappily with no food.  Moved next door to Tapas place with comfy sofa, fabulous tapas menu and craft beer.  Spent the afternoon sharing secrets on the sofa and eating and drinking our heads off.  Left with happy, warm, smiley contentedness that was partly related to the exercise endorphins and largely related to the cosy intimacy of the comfy sofa and related tummy pleasing goodies - and the company :)
Saturday night -  Village Indian delights with matching wine - delicious.  Glad we did that massive hike though ;).

Next up - Hiking
Chose the Undercliff Track to showcase the very best of the Blue Mountains.  The nature gods put on the best possible weather conditions for a long hike and the waterfalls were flowing, the lyrebirds were singing and the sun was shining.  Could there be anywhere better in Sydney than a sunlight dappled mountain trail on a Saturday afternoon?  I'm trying really hard to think, but no, there is nowhere better you could be.  And with fabulous company, I guess that is the perfect day.

Finally - The Big Smoke
No visit to Sydney would be complete for an out of towner than a trip to the big smoke so we dutifully made our way to the Oyster Bar to watch the world go by.  Management had a different plan however and found us a table right on the water in the most perfect spot, so clearly the RM Williams country looks pays off in the big city!

The weekend ended with goodbyes, the airport and then lots and lots of introspection on the way home.  How could I have possibly missed these signals for so long?  And what am I going to do about it? 

However, in the meantime, I have Japan to look forward to (five sleeps!!!!) and the excitement of all that plus training for my big race and the possibility of a new job, new company, new life.  For some reason, my life has decided to change gear, step itself up a notch and go full throttle ahead, after a little bit of idling for a while.  That's a great thing for me and I am totally loving it, if not surprised by the alarming pace of it all.  If I had to describe how I feel about it, I would say I am EMBRACING it all, enjoying it, learning from it all and trying to stay compassionate to everyone around me.  And writing it all down so that when I am 70 and have no teeth I can giggle to myself about it all......

Protein Balls

Wow - crazy day.  Actually, today could be and has been a catalyst for a number of rather large decisions both personally and professionally....

But first - home made protein balls are a huge liability in your handbag, especially if the texture isn't right and the glad wrap is a bit loose.  It's fair to say that my new Guess handbag is not looking (or smelling) so great right now.  In fact it looks like someone has taken a dump in it.  And then smeared it around my notebooks, wallet and hairbrush.  Yeah try brushing your hair with protein balls in your brush (just before a first date)....

Thing is, I overdid it on the "good" ingredients (read, the totally WRONG ingredients, the ones with loads of calories).  So my protein balls have very little protein and are laden with dates and nuts and more nuts and berries.  And just a wee bit of protein and cocoa.  And shit loads of coconut.  Nope, don't come to me for a protein ball recipe, that's for sure.

Although despite the codeine I am taking for the Never Ending Fecking Pnuemonia I have to say I am pretty damn regular, if you know what I'm saying.  So maybe I could market them as Laxative Protein Balls?  They are bloody lovely though, and very very filling. 

Anyway.  Work.  Oh Please Lord Deliver Me From These Evil Stupid Fuckwits.  Ok ok, I'm frustrated.  Been working on a project for 2.5 years.  1.5 years ago I say, you know what?  This project is senseless.  If it were my money, I wouldn't do it.  We should get out.

And they said, oh really, do you think so, why is that, listened and then agreed to can it, kaput, goodbye, closed it down.

Actually no, I work for Government so that never happened at all.

So it went like this....we can't do that (because we don't make decisions, we're government), we have to deliver this project, lets pretend we didnt have this conversation.  And on we went.

Now, seriously, 2.5 years into the project, $10m spent, our partner goes, I dont really like the sound of this.  I think this project will make x y and z happen.  And I'm not terribly comfortable with that.

And my response?  Hmmmmm.  Interesting concept 2 weeks from go live, $10m of our money spent later and 2.5 years in the making.  I felt like I was on the set of Star Wars.  Or maybe some other film that was crap and unsuccessful.  So maybe not Star Wars.  Maybe, Weekend at Bernies 3. But seriously.

And I haven't even started on the actual issue behind this, which is like telling Steven King he can't write for shit.  Well, in that realm.  So professionally, there are challenges.  God I love a challenge, but really, this little suite of them make you want to cover your ears and go LA LA LA and rock back and forth in a corner a bit like Carrie (getting the Steven King references in here like a bandit, I am).

And I haven't even started on my handbag story, my Japan theory or the weekend ahead of hiking in the mountains with my interstate visitor who may or may not have a backpack.  Or my still droopy eye.  But it will be a very very big relief to spend this weekend on the trails in the mountains philosophising (is that a word??? is it spelt right??!!) on all this and more with a good friend and by Monday I am sure I will have ALL the answers.  If not, I will have covered some wonderful trails and potentially drank a nice Guinness or two, and talked a load of shite.  Intelligent shite, but shite nonetheless.  Bring on the weekend!!!

Also, I had fun making faces at myself in the mirror this evening when I got home.  And then I looked around to see if anyone was looking.  Which is odd because I live alone.  And then I realised this and made some more stupid faces.  Fuck it felt good. 

Eustacian Tubes

My Eustacian tubes have still not recovered from the onslaught of "gunk" that appears to have been crackling around in there - I'm starting to even consider the crazy concept of anti biotics. I'm a firm believer in natural immunity and that the body will heal itself, but it's just not backing me up here. I don't want to spend a week on the trails in Japan shivering and sneezing and dribbling little bits of snot from my nose....... I must be getting excited because that was the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning. That and my sore ears and droopy eyelid. I'm also excited about WHO I am going with and a little bit nervous!

I'm feeling pretty smug though, being confined to bed (ok ok that's an exaggeration) I've had plenty of time to sort out my house, do my leaf blowing and for the first week in light years, I even remembered to put my bins out! There's a certain satisfaction in having leaf free garden edging and empty bins.

The one thing that has suffered is running. It was TEN DAYS without a run on Sunday, so I laced up my shoes, despite feeling crappy and headed off optimistically for 15km. Realised that my chest and lungs had other ideas and called it a day at 7.5km. I felt a bit shaky in the legs but ok - half an hour later I blew my nose and nearly passed out so I may have overdone it. So early early yesterday I did 3km before work which didn't destroy me all that much. Tonight running with Simon, so fingers crossed I will not scunder myself with needing to stop, cough up a lung or perform minor surgery on my Tinea toe.

Wednesday night I have a date!!! He seems to be a nice man who also runs. He has a very nice smile, appears to have all his own teeth, no priors and looks like Adam Sandler. So that's good.


I've gone crazy and entered some races, I need something to train for! So having talked to Cathie about a 6/12/24 track race in Adelaide, I decided to just enter the Six Hour. I really enjoyed the last one, I've also got a childhood friend in Adelaide I've been meaning to go visit for ages, so it will be a fun trip, and I discovered some other friends are going down, so it's shaping up to be a lot of fun.
It's in July so have a little bit of time to train and to plan!! Also going for Woodford to Glenbrook because frankly, it would be rude not to! And then there's the Glow Worm Half in mid June, so lots to look forward to!

Got an interstate visitor staying this weekend and old friend from Northern Ireland making a flying visit the following Monday, then it's JAPAN!!!!!! Wooooohooooooo!!!!

Viral Pneumonia....

...is not fun.

Let me tell you.

So much for a "low grade head cold".

Anyway, Viral Pnuemonia makes one cranky.  So tonight on the way home from work on the TRAIN.(AKA HOME OF ALL SORTS OF VIRUSES) there were these two little snotty giggling teenage boys with a big farking potty mouth.  And they were doing sweary rudey things and saying FUCK and CUNT really loud and then they started teasing the chinese man sitting opposite me.  Which got my goat.  So I shouted at them and told them in a very authorative voice (so I thought) that I didn't want to hear that sort of talk on my carriage.  And they kept on teasing this poor man, who didn't even look up, so I told them off very loudly again, that I didn't want to hear that kind of language in this carriage (ok ok I made the mistake of saying PISS OFF, instead of get off, but man I was angry) and then I got really really really pissed off because they kept teasing this poor man, and I was in the front seat and I turned around to a full carriage of people who'd rather be asked ANYTHING else, and asked DO YOU PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR THIS KIND OF TALK ON YOUR TRAIN????.  I got a few shakes of the head, a few disbelieving looks and quite a few people avert their gaze, don't look now, the crazy woman has hit town. 

So the little tykes got off the train and I was left with my carriage full of commuters and my red face and I felt like a total moron.

And I put it all down to being sick and tired and grumpy and having cranky pants on.

So I've decided that Friday I will work from home and not share my crankyness and wake up happy and joyful and full of the joys of puppies, spring and NO EFFING COMMUTE.

More Tinea

So perhaps it was in somewhat bad taste to post "tinea?" on this 101 Positive Affirmations photo on Facebook -some people just don't have a sense of humour.....

$16.99 well spent

I bought Aretha Franklins album "Respect" last night.

A very sound investment indeed. Listening to "The House That Jack Built" and trying not to dance sitting down in my train seat this morning. Happy, uplifting way to start the day. AND it's Friday!!! Yahoo!!!

I thought I wanted a Fleetwood Mac CD....

.....I was wrong.

Ryan Adams--Firecracker

So here's the lovely Ryan Adams blowing into his harmonica and extolling the virtues of premature ejaculation - or something.  I do love this song, but who wants to burn "hard and fast"?  Ryan my friend, you need to rethink your ideals matey or you will never settle down and meet a nice girl.




Anyway, now that my Advice to the Stars segment is over - life hey?  What a farking week!!!  Ups, downs, twists and turns.  Culminating in yes I have a job.  But no-one else seems to.  Like musical chairs and I was the last one sitting down.  Or with the parcel.  Or whatever it is that wins.  And still coming to terms with how a beautiful and intelligent girl could get so very very sad that she takes her own life.  Young, healthy, clever, witty, funny - yet depressed.  Northern Ireland is notorious for its lack of help for mental health patients - and I know because my twin sister has been struggling with this horrible disease for years now and I have almost resigned myself to the fact that I may get that phone call one day.

But on to merrier things.  Japan flights are booked!!!  Can't freaking wait.  And we are organising our own trek which means we won't be allowing piddly little 8km days and can climb big mountains and explore what I am learning is a very spiritual and exciting part of Japan.

And tomorrow I go to Melbourne to catch up with old friends.  Four days of laughing, drinking, eating, talking shite and wearing inappropriate footwear.  Can't fucking wait.  Might even do some shopping,  although the culinary delights of Melbourne sound so damn appealing that I think this might be a weekend that takes quite a bit of training to erase!!  Of course, I have optimistically packed my running gear.....with the intention of running around the river each morning.  Ahem.....!!!

Despite everything, I am very very happy at the moment.

Tinea

Tinea.  It farking hurts.

No really.  It's been agony.

Six months later I am still battling with getting it under control and ok ok, I admit, some days I've been slack and not applied RESOLVE TINEA  or FIX TINEA FOREVER or YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TINEA AGAIN cream.  All false advertising mind you.  So on Sunday night I had this dream where Darren got out a scalpel and CUT AWAY my tinea.  So this gave me an idea and I decided to do it myself.  So last night I got a clearasil wipe and a hairclip and covered the hairclip in the wipe and tried to gouge out the horrible white stuff from between my toes.  To no avail.  This morning I had a very sore toe and still had white fur on it.  (Charming I know).  So I put up a crie de couer on Facebook (because Facebook can fix anything) and within thirty seconds, there was the cure.  Pee on your foot.  From two very reliable sources.

Now, being agile is one thing, but getting the exact spot between your toes in the line of fire in the shower takes a certain skill I am not sure I am armed with.  So I decided to cheat and pee in a cup and then dip my toe in it.  And then for good measure I poured it over my toe as if I was peeing on it.  I did this all in the shower for authenticity.  Then I had my shower (you will be glad to hear) and then I dried it really well and then I put on some TINEA BE GONE cream.  Ok ok, it's not actually called TINEA BE GONE but hey that is a good name?  I could be in marketing.

So tomorrow I will update on the status of my fungus.

Apart from that, I ran 7km today.  I am going to Japan in early May!  I am going to Melbourne this weekend to catch up with old friends.  I was all happy and joyous and full of the joys of spring today, and to be honest I still am.  But I had some very sad news tonight.  A very good friend committed suicide.  Somehow as soon as I saw the message from her daughter, I knew.  She was my best friend in High School and we kept in touch - I knew she suffered from depression but had no idea how severe it was.  All I know now is, grab life by the balls.  Enjoy as much as you can.  It is often frightening to let go of your fears and do stuff that is exciting yet a little scary.  But hearing this news, if anything, has made me more determined to live my life as much as I can.  

I am soooo excited about Japan.  A hiking trip to the remote mountains staying in traditional inns.  I was sold when he told me there were hot springs at each inn.  And that the Japs like a beer after their exercise.  And as I will be doing up to 8 hours of walking each day, I will be able to fit in with the Japanese culture.  And we are going to Kyoto to see the Temples and then going to spend a few nights in Tokyo.  And I am lucky enough to be going with a man who lived in Japan and knows the culture, and how to order a beer.  So that's all good then!!  Did I mention I was excited? 

And then boys and girls.....

And then boys and girls, it suddenly became winter, and everything looked really stern and all the fun, happy, lighthearted summery things hibernated for another year, and the sky turned grey and it rained, and no one ever smiled ever again.  The End.

Actually this is not going to happen this year.  Nope.  Winter nights might be on the way.  I might have a cold.  I might be shivery tonight and have the heaters going and the house all cosy and warm BUT THE FUN DOES NOT STOP HERE!!  No way.  Having far too much fun for a bit of daylight saving and chilly weather to stop me. 

So - a list of good things about winter:

1. The Blue Mountains is a cool place to be
2. Red wine is extremely acceptable
3. Fireplaces can be a very nice thing to sit beside
4. Running on cold mornings is just magic
5. Boots
6. Black stockings look good with anything.  Well, most things
7. Distinct lack of mosquitoes
8. Windows look cleaner at night
9. Dinner parties, soup and stew
10. The smell of other peoples fires without the need to clean them
11. Great running weather, great races....King of the Mountain, Glow Worm, Woodford to Glenbrook
12.  Queens Birthday Long Weekend!!
13. Did I mention its an excuse to buy new boots?  Gloves?  Coats?  Scarves?  Accessories in general?

Ok.  I've talked myself into it.  Winter is fab.

There are a number of Autumnal Activities that are exciting me, everything is changing and everything is good.  Now if I could just shake this horrible little virus, I would be much happier.  Running is going well, I went into stop / start mode after my big race.  I thought I was fine and I could run around like a crazy person straight afterwards.  Well running 50km on not much training was not real smart and then smashing out some massive leg sessions in the weights rooms was the end of it all.  I took a "run every other day approach" which was ok but it still felt sore and wrong.  Then I had a week off and lo and behold it is all brilliant again.  Went camping at the weekend and went for a run, planning a 12km run - 6km out and back.  Managed to get lost and miss the turn off and ended up doing 17km feeling really good and thinking that perhaps 12km was a wee bit lazy and now I should be upping the kms each weekend now.  So thats the plan.  Plus am managing a few 8 and 10km runs mid week, and the love of it is back, which is all I wanted.  I've entered Glow Worm Half, am entering Coastal Classic and will poke around and find a few more motivating runs to plan for.  I bought a pair of size seven jeans yesterday.  Seven!!!  Yes they were stretch and probably a big make but after telling the shop lady that it was never going to happen, I left that damn shop with a huge big smile on my face.  I really think this being single lark agrees with me :)





 

Stuff, interesting to me, possibly not to you....

So, it's been about two weeks since the scary race happened, and guess what?  It wasn't that scary at all!  In fact it was fun.  Well, as much fun as running for six hours can be.  But the whole weekend was kinda nice and chilled and then suddenly there was this running bit that kinda had to happen but by the time it did, everyone was chomping at the bit to get it over with, so it kinda worked well.

And the thought of running for six hours is actually much worse than actually doing it.  Running for six hours, especially when you have a goal in mind is a lot of telling yourself stuff.  For me it was "are you totally fucked yet?"  And if the answer was "no", then I kept running.

Later in the night when I wanted to walk, I kept asking myself this. And there was no point where I was so fucked that I couldn't keep going, so I just kept it up.  I walked a bit on the last few laps but was really quite surprised how much I was able to run.  Ok, so my legs were sore, but my friend Tims words always come back to me.  Yes, you get sore, but it never gets any worse so just keep going, he used to say.  And he is right.  Well, you tell yourself that and just keep going.  Suddenly when I got to marathon distance (42.2km) I thought, fuck, I can maybe actually achieve my goal of 50km.

I saw 43, 44 and 45km roll past and had a giggle to myself.  Me, running all that way.  How very amusing.  And then 48km with twenty minutes to go.  Surely I could do two more laps in twenty minutes.  Hell yes!!

By their timing, I managed 50.65km, which was precisely .65 of a km over my goal.  Job done.

My garmin said 53.65km so that was much much more than I expected.  In my heart I wanted to do 50km but had this horrible feeling I would do something crap like 48km, which I would not have been happy with.
So when I got over 50 laps I was smiling like someone who had just drank a large vat of vodka and sniffed a lot of permanent markers.
They give you a little bean bag with your race number on it on the last lap, so that when the bell rings to signify the six hours are up, you drop it on the ground and some race official comes along and measures from the start to where you dropped your bean bag and that is your final distance.  I dearly wanted to keep my little bean bag as a souvenir but my brain wasn't working all that well to be devious and obtain something by deception so to speak, and I reluctantly handed it to the nice lady who told me how well I had done.

The really good thing about this race was that my old friend Cathie was out there too so it was nice to catch up and chat and encourage each other.  She did a fabulous PB and did 80km in the 12 hour.  Actually seeing her do it and realising how demoralising it must have been to see us six hour people finish and she still had to keep going is testament to how much internal strength that woman has.  She didn't look happy for a few laps but she kept going and then it all seemed to come good for her again.  Note to self.  Don't ever attempt a 12 hour race.  Nastyyyyyyyy.

My race finished at midnight.  Yes, running at night is preferable to running during the day so this type of event suits me down to the ground.  The only problem is the funny feeling of not being tired AT ALL afterwards and wanting to sit up all night and watch everyone else run.  Hard to contemplate some of those guys who are running eight, nine, ten plus hours looking as fresh as they did when they first started.  Who has genes like that?  Freaks, the lot of them.

So - recovery.  That night I fell about like a drunk person trying to put my warm clothes on afterwards.  It was like vSOMS - very Sudden Onset of Muscle Soreness.  Next day was worse, especially as we had to sit in a car from Canberra to Sydney.  The day after was pretty stiff and sore too, until some bright spark suggested a spin class.  I think the words "don't be fucking ridiculous" first escaped before I had a chance to think.  But after a little bit of contemplation (still haven't got that mouth brain co-ordination thing worked out) I thought that maybe that wasn't a bad idea.  Anyway, I kept the resistance low and it was a like a little mini miracle.  The legs suddenly felt great.  We also did a few little bushwalks with steps and stuff so that helped too.  I went back to work on Tuesday feeling all smug.  Wednesday my PT decided to give me a one legged weights session.  HUGE mistake.  I was destroyed for days.  Tried to run on the Saturday and had to run really fast (for me) just to get it over with, it was hurting so much.  So two things not to do after a long run like this.  I had to give myself a few days of just getting out on the bike until I went back to normal, but when I did get back to normal, the running seems to have improved and I now feel a teeny wee bit faster.  How does that work?!!!

In summary, I really enjoyed the race and the whole experience and would DEFINITELY do it again.  For sure.  I might even train for it this time!!  I quite possibly wouldn't do any skipping beforehand or a full on legs weights session afterwards, but you live and learn!  For anyone who thinks running around a 1km track is boring - try it!  It really was fun and a great personal challenge and I have to say I was on a massive high for a few days afterwards!

Whose idea was this anyway?

I've had my legs massaged, my patches prescribed, my eyebrows waxed, pajamas purchased, a zappy tens machine purchased, and a few running clothes washed and thrown in a bag. Hmmm, I don't see the bit where "I trained like a demon, got up at stupid o'clock to run for hours...every weekend for months and months." Nope that bit really is missing. And so now on Saturday I get to make a complete eejit out of myself by lining up for a six hour track race. Shite. As Talking Heads so eloquently put it...."how did I get here?".

But, "here" I most certainly am, so time to suck it up and see what the fuss is all about. I have been especially kind to my Achilles this week (read: I have been a lazy cow and done no training) and have self massaged, got a real (very painful) massage, I've got my nitrous oxide patches, a tens machine and my orthotics all lined up. I've been doing plenty of calf work at the gym, lots of leg weights, so my legs are nice and strong. So really, the legs are sorted.

It's really the big muscle on top of my shoulders I need to focus on now. And remember that I am a LION (little Irish obstinate nutbag). With an emphasis on OBSTINATE. Which is really another way of saying stubborn, strong willed, or determined. Isn't it? So, running around a 1km track for six hours, and walking when it all gets a bit hard is just mind over matter. And I have been lucky enough to be blessed with a few special people in my life who practice this whole determination thing really well. So I will just take a leaf out of their book and carry on, and remember to keep smiling. With the knowledge in my mind that at the end of it I will really deserve a nice cold beer and some carbs. Sorted.

So - it is Friday night and the PLAN was to come home and run this evening, except I got waylaid and ended up at the Opera Bar with my high heels on and pretending I don't have a care in the world.....

But I do.  This farking race.  WHY why why do I agree to enter completely ridiculous things on absolutely no training or forethought?  Because I am a dickhead, that's why.

Anyway, I had a big week.  My Auction was on Monday.  What a night.  I got cornered by Government Hating Lunatics and the Auctioneer had to physically push them off me.  It was a point in my career where I really wanted the customer to be anywhere BUT at the centre of 'everything we do".  Note to self - never ever reveal your sources! Or who you work for.    However the Auction itself was incredibly exciting and a fantastic experience to see the products I had chosen raise over a million dollars, and the charity products raise $26,000 each for both charities.  The night was a bit of a blur, it all happened so quickly,  but I had wonderful support from our joint venture partners, who didn't have to be there, weren't making a cent out of it, but just came along to support me.  That felt nice.  I am so lucky in my job.

So, given I didn't run tonight, the plan is to run tomorrow, after a damn good lie in.  Then I will do all the things that have been bugging me and are on my to do list, like apply for my job, get a skip, pick new paint, decorate the spare bedroom, fix the door in the laundry, stop the toilet from leaking, etc etc.
So, if there is any male who is reading this who would like to apply for the job of unpaid assistant, in charge of lawns, fucked up doors and leaky toilets, please apply within.

Risotto Risoni

I have discovered the PERFECT carb loading thing for those days when you are not doing low GI, low carb, wearing sackcloth and denying yourself anything that is nice.

Risoni masquerading as rice - risotto style.

See, I have this new telly.  I kinda had to buy one because the room looked stupid without one and I lost custody of the other one along with the dog and the red pepper grinder.

Big massive room, big long TV cabinet, tiny wee scrawny telly - looked daft.  And I told myself I didn't need a telly, because I'd never watched it.  Which is true.  But now that I come home to no dog and silence, telly for company is nice.  As is a beer in front of it after work.  So I found myself watching Nigella lick her spoons seductively and cook this marvellous looking dish, which was basically three ingredients (four if you count water) and looked alright.

Well, I added some soup stock I had made from boiling a Portuguese Chicken and can I say, despite starch overload, it was totally yum.  Delicious.  Delicado.  However, having spent the morning on Six Foot Track, I could have eaten a small dog (lookout Buffy, if I ever get custody of you again)....but seriously, fry up some pancetta, throw in some frozen peas, some risoni and some water, and watch it turn into risotto.  To finish up add some grated parmesan.  I made a vegetable soup and I have to say, I was rather over zealous with the parsley.  It tasted yum but looked like shite.  So I put it in the blender and it looked like posh soup.  So I put some of that in the risotto.  It was totally yum.  I have eaten like someone who ran thirty km today when in reality I ran 16.  Actually I ran 8 and walked 8.  So I don't even deserve a protein shake, never mind a starch laden pasta masquerading as a risotto....

However, running.  Hmmmm.  This week has not been brilliant.  Saturday 15km.  Good.  Sunday 14km - ankles protesting wildly, run was shite.  Monday, ran in heavy rain, utterly fabularse, about 10km, but I blew up my iPod from the rain, and I tell you, that new farking iTunes has got to be THE most farking frustrating thing I have ever come across.  All I want is a playlist.  It shouldn't be this hard.
Ah then Tuesday, big fat nuthin, Wednesday - wee treadmill run and one legged leg weights session that rendered me almost unconscious, Thursday early run with Simon but on account of the legs session I was banjaxed, Friday arms session with PT and run on tready, Saturday BIG FAT NUTHING AGAIN, Sunday half run half walk, pretty disappointing week really.  Two weeks til this farking race.  Who's idea was this anyway?  Maybe I should just taper and pretend I have trained?  Mind over matter and all that?

Anyway it is a day off work and an adventure in a tent and then I can say goodbye to all this tomfoolery if I wish and go back to my normal life and stop stressing about not having run enough, as if I dont have enough things to stress about at the moment......

Dramarama - Anything, Anything (Official Music Video)

Norm Pounder

Norm Pounder.  That's the name of the "Consultant" who came to talk to us about having to apply for our jobs.  So we had to sit through this two hour meeting with Norm (aged 12) twittering on about how we must all be feeling angry and rejected (no, I wasn't, not until you mentioned it, dickwit) and how difficult it would be when we don't get our jobs because one person on the interview panel took a dislike to us and how there is more to life than your job, and then Peter sitting next to me wrote PORN GROUNDER in really big letters on my writing pad and then Norm Pounder came and stood behind me and then I noticed it and I think so did he and then my day kinda went to shit.  So I went and did a really tough legs session with Matthu and had a little cry then pulled myself together and now I can't walk, with that beautiful painful wonderful horrible feeling in the legs.  So this week, it has been horrible, surprises related to property (The Who Horrorscope predicted this, honest) a break in, another break in,  moving back to the mountains, leaving my beautiful life in the city and the end of something that had hardly even started, maybe kinda sorta perhaps.  But maybe not.  Who would know?  And I haven't even consulted the Who Horrorscope on this weeks impending doom, I am too scared.  And to top it all off the Axe that was used in the break in doors has been eaten away on the handle, so it is a huge probability that my (wooden) house, my big investment, my only asset, has termites.  Just fucking dandy. 
On a positive note though, the running is going well, there's been lots of it, I guess it keeps me sane.  And gives me hope.  And helps me remember that things change.  And is a bit like meditation.  So have been running with Simon again up here, entering races a bit and getting out and about to various places.  Ran something like 75km over the Xmas week (being dragged all over the place by an over zealous runner friend) and keeping up the regular runs has helped me from hiding under the doona all day and rocking back and forth.  Quit drinking wine.  Wine is lovely and gives such a wonderful buzz but it is evil to me.  I forget, I fall asleep and I tell little old ladies to fuck off under the influence of wine.  Wine has not been in my life for about four weeks now and it is no loss.  Beer, now that is another matter.  I don't mind a nice cold beer but at least I can filter the things that come out of my mouth a little better, and to date I haven't fallen asleep, forgotten or told a little old lady to fuck off. Yet. 
So, will life keep dishing up shite or will the universe shift on its axis and everything will fall into place again?  Who would know?  But I know three things:  there is a very cold beer in the freezer, there is a run with Simon on in the morning and a day out to the trails on Saturday.  That's my long term outlook this week. 

Modernising my life....

So I decided I would crash tackle my way into the 21st Century by purchasing an iPad and an iPhone in one foul swoop.  Every time I bring out not one, but two crusty old Blackberry phones there is much guffawing and poking of fun and frankly I think my friends are bored with my inane ability to "handbag text" them fifty times a day with profound missives such as "uuugggppppuuuuu" and  "xyxyxyxyxyx"....I think Emergency Services are a little over my stalking calls too.  Also, the Blackberry has lost the ability to allow me to surf the net, check my emails or create a single "P" (the p button gets stuck and gives me a s-s-s-s-stutter) and also the delete button doesn't work, so all my friends think I am constantly drunk, when in reality I am just in a hurry or trying to minimise the P content of my text by finding roundabout ways of saying something without a word containing the letter P........

So I headed on into the Big Smoke on my own - on a mission.  Well, I tell you, there are Telstra Shops coming out of your arse when you don't want one, but try and find one and they are about as prevalent as those Sunbed Parlours they used to have in the 90's, before everyone realised looking like an Oompa Loompa had side affects not related to bad taste.  Eventually JB Hi Fi looked the go for an iPad.  Even buying one of those required a lot of discussion about sim cards and prepaid things and all sorts of shite, when really, anyone with half a brain would just suggest some kind of package where it is all thrown in and you don't have to look like a nong asking a whole heap of stupid questions.  Next, on a mission to find a shop that sells iPhones.  Came across Dick Smith.  Bought iPhone.  Paid man $29 to "set it up" for me.  Read, turn it on.  Then he proceeded to tell me how to download "apps", play games, check the weather and sync to my iTunes account.  Rookie error and all that, but he looked surprised when I asked him how I made a call and even more important, how to answer one.  Jeez and there was me thinking I was buying a PHONE!!!  Honestly.

So I had to spend all morning on the phone to two telecommunications carriers trying to get the bloody thing working.  How would I know what my user name is for my mobile phone?  I set it up in 1999 before the internet was invented.  Sheesh.  After all that I was exhausted and happy to hear the lusty chirrup of my Blackberry receiving a message.....

In other news, I went Kayaking at Balmoral Beach on Saturday, which I was really looking forward to.  Unfortunately having been out dancing to farewell another IT colleague, I was not feeling 100% and the mixture of the gently lapping waves, the curried tuna and brown rice breakfast, and the over consumption of cheap sauvingnon blanc played havoc with my tummy.   Suddenly I could not hold back and my stomach decided to throw up the curried tuna, brown rice and large long black in a series of noisy, messy and frankly very embarrassing heaves.  And of course being in a kayak, you cannot throw your body over to the side, or else you are in the water, and the last thing I wanted was to be in the water about a mile out to sea with no way of getting back in my (full of vomit) craft.  So I managed to puke all over this canoe, great first impression.  He very kindly pointed out that I had my mascara on my chin, and my eyes were doing an impression of Alice Cooper but apart from that, I think the day went ok.

I forgot to mention that in my purchasing of the my iPad I managed to bump into the man I had the six minute date with, the one I threw five dollars at, said it was lovely to meet you and ran away.  So that was the second embarrasing thing that happened this weekend. 

Anyway, I did RUN at the weekend too.  Despite having my achilles go to pot, I decided to try it out and went and did that Mountainsports 10km around Manly Dam.  As part of the Achilles Management Plan (AMP) I went for a swim in Shelley Beach afterwards (brrrrrr.....was frosty) and then had a massage, and then slept with a nitro glycerin patch on.  My achilles went from very swollen and pissed off after the race, to quite calm and serene this morning.  Those patches are magic.  Inflammation all gone.  Very happy.  You know that apprehensive first placement of foot on ground the morning after a race?  And usually you have to hop around for the first wee while?  Well there was none of that.  It was fine.  So have made appointment with Doc to get more.  Like the Junkie that I am.....

All in all, massive weekend, for one reason or another.  be it technology, first time kayaking, runs or swims.  But I had fun and bring on my new life.  

One Swallow Doesn't Make A Summer

Someone used to say this.  My mind always turned it around.

Anyway, one or two months of "good" (definition of "good" may vary from person to person) running do not make a runner.  As usual, I am injured and not able to run the race that I wanted to run.  So I am grumpy and miserable.  I have Plantar Fascitis in one foot, which is unbelievably sore, and achilles tendonitis in the other, which is same old same old but a bugger to run on.  And I decided I would do SMC at the weekend, which was probably silly.  But the PF had only made itself known on Saturday and the run was on Sunday and silly me thought it would go away.....

Hmmmm.....

So, guess what?  It didn't.  And I have to walk to work - only 1.5km but still farking hard when your every step is painful and you are used to walking like someone on a mission.  Now I am ambling with very little intent.  AND I AM NOT FARKING HAPPY.  Can I just re-iterate.  Not. Farking. Happy.  And then I have to walk home again.  Again.  Not happy.

Anyway, even a pump class is shite with PF.  And I am betting so is a Spin class.

So, this weekend, no running, no walking, no dancing.  No biking because the effing PF goes all the way up my effing leg.  No hiking, no climbing up mountains and no abseiling down cliffs.  Sitting on my arse drinking wine sounds like the only possible solution.  Hello.  

Proper Running

I felt like a proper runner at the weekend.  So that's a first.

And God I am loving these weights.  But Jesus, Mary and Joseph it takes a while to get rid of the oul bingo wings.  Three sessions a week, one legs, one upper body, one boxing, some pump classes thrown in, and then my running at the weekends.  And I still look at my arms and go FATTY FATTY FATTY.  What is it about forty something arms that reek of forty something arms?????

I am only here writing blog shite because I am halfway through a tax return that I am doing for the second time because when I did the damn thing on line, I got to the end and it told me you couldn't lodge online because it was about two years too late. Fark.

So I got the manual version (a piece of paper and a calculator, because qualified accountants don't pay other accountants for their tax returns) and I am looking at it thinking, no, there is something missing.  So here I am looking for divine intervention in the form of downloading all the shite in my brain into words so that I have some room to think about tax returns.  So far it hasn't been working.

So maybe if I just LEAVE the tax return, someone will come along and finish it off and say, yep, your e-tax estimate was right and you CAN go to Bali on the proceeds.  However, in lieu of a Fairy Godmother, I am guessing I should get back to it.....