Cycling and paddling

I got back out on my pushie yesterday morning for a short stint- it was blowing a gale and I was VERY reluctant and put off the ride for a few hours before it became obvious that I was just being lazy. I warmed up all the way to Mordialloc then pushed it back to Frankston into the wind doing intervals then turned it around and SMASHED IT the whole way back to Carrum with an awesome tail wind. I was glad I went out and I felt knackered by the end of it.
It is quite obvious that intervals help me get my heart rate up:

I then did some bridges- I was so sure that after my kayaking adventures that I would have a core of steel and be able to do 5 minute bridges. Sure enough, I was still crap and could only manage 1.45 mins.

This morning I went to Warrandyte and did some white water paddling! I had an absolute ball- my favourite kayak salesman (Andrew) and I did a car shuffle and jumped into his boats up the river then paddled down to Warrandyte. It was so much fun but I did come out twice in rapids which gave me a BIG scare the first time. I had my life jacket on so I wasn’t that scared of drowning, but one second I was shooting down the river and then next I was upside down in the water.
I chickened out of the various rope swings that are on the bank along the way- but Andrew had a ball:

Rookie Mistakes

I rode home from work today and learnt the following:

1. If it is over 30 degrees- don’t plan a big ride
2. Drink plenty of water throughout the day- not just two cups of coffee
3. If you plan on getting the train most of the way, stick to that plan
4. Make sure you have at least $7 in your wallet to buy two VERY over priced tiny bottles of “black aspirin” from the closest cafe on Beach Road.
5. If you start getting black spots in your vision, sit down in the shade.
6. Freeze a water bottle so it isn’t as warm as the aforementioned coffee during the ride.
7. Going the long way to avoid the big roundabouts during peak hour is only relevant if you are riding through them in peak hour.
8. Don’t try out a new back pack on a 45km ride in 33 degree heat- it will hurt.
9. Lipgloss and sunscreen are important even if you start riding at 5pm
10. It is important to have an easily assembled dinner so when you stagger in the door at 7.30 there is something to eat quickly. (ie. random thrown together zucchini pasta will do)
11. A northerly wind seems like a good idea, but it is hot and unpleasant.

There was only about 10 other cyclists on Beach Road tonight- I think that is a sign.

Nothing to see here

Wow I have been slack lately- I mean properly lazy and crap. DrK has forbidden me from running at all until I see her about my PF (left foot this time for something different) and a trip to the physio on Thursday confirmed the little tear in my calf muscle from the portaloo incident on the Murray. So instead of swimming, cycling and pool running, I have been doing nothing:)
Until today that is- last night we had dinner at a mate’s house, then left the car there after having way too much to drink, so I rode my bike to his house today to collect the car:

Home- Meysie's by morseyruns at Garmin Connect – Details.

It was a good hit out because it has been AGES since I got my bike onto the road (actually it was the 17th of August!) and it was so strange that I thought I had a head wind because of the noise, but as it turned out,that is just the noise that the air makes when you hurtle yourself into it!

Anyway, I am making a plan to ride my bike in the morning on the way to work, then ride it home the next day until I am fit enough to do both directions.

Plans

I am back at work this week and have been told that my time at DTF will come to an end at the start of Feb- I am sad because I will miss my crew of cheeky smart boys, but I am glad because I have put on 5kg in 5 months and have run up a sleep deficit that cannot be fixed by a bailout from the EU.
I will still be chasing promotion but will be in uniform unless I can convince my boss that I simply cannot leave. BIL has had ENOUGH of DTF and the phone ringing in the night so he will be very happy in February.

So obviously the plans for the year are pretty much the same as the Weekly Resolutions up there on the right. Nothing has changed, potty mouth is back, though the fizzy drinks have been dispatched without a worry. The vegie garden is OUT OF CONTROL and I now have 18kg of zucchini to eat thanks to BIL not harvesting any while I was away- I just hurt my back FILLING A WASHING BASKET WITH THE ZUCCHINI to get them on the scales to weigh them all. Bathroom scales of course.

The good news is that for Christmas I requested a zucchini slicer which makes zucchini into spaghetti so for dinner I just had chicken pesto pasta – with no pasta at all- but if certainly fooled me into LOVING it!
If anyone needs replacement table legs please give me a call. Or wants to make organic body armour (those big ones are tough).

And those are dainty size 10 feet there!

Now that the endorphin buzz is fading, here is my lasting reminder of last week: glove tan:

So plans for this year:
Hawkesbury Classic
Marysville to Melbourne (still assembling a team)
Surviving the family holiday to Fiji in June with Mum still talking to me
(I can’t think of a 4th BIG EVENT- but if you can then please let me know (not a bit corporate fun run- I am not interested anymore).

Christmas, and the Murray Marathon

Christmas Lead Up
More kidnapping of small children- I took Haz and Duck to the farm as a surprise for my Mum’s birthday- she was stoked and it gives her something else to worry about rather than me! We had the usual issues about who was sleeping where because I get shafted out of my own bedroom for my brother and his wife because I don’t have children. This year we got there in plenty of time to get a bedroom with a bed each! Score!

I took the kids up the mountain because Duck wanted to climb a mountain- only problem was that she got blisters after an hour and I ended up piggy backing her the whole way back to the car. Lucky she is only 7 yo and adorable and kept whispering “I love you Sarsy” in my ear while we walked.

Christmas
Awesome gift giving extravaganza from 8am onwards! I gave my sister a Weber Q and I was so excited I made her open it first. I got lots of stuff for kayaking, camping etc and some work out stuff from BIL. Yay!
So much good food and because my sister had brought a boy from work and his heavily pregnant wife, we had good company too (to counteract my brother and his wife).

Boxing Day
I cried as I said good bye to BIL and headed to Cobram armed with a mud map from my Dad that would take me through the countryside the quickest way. I was so apprehensive and scared of the physical and mental pain that would await me over the next five days. I was a mess.
I arrived at the camp ground, collected our hand books etc, pitched my tent and tried to avoid the tears again. Fortunately the kayak guy I bought my kayak from came to rescue and got me out for dinner with his friends.
Vic arrived at 9pm with her Mum and sister Emily (Support Crew).

Day One: Cobram to Tocumwal
94km and it wasn’t too bad- a 6km stretch in the middle of the day helped out. Some clown told me to drink every 10 minutes and before long I was scrambling up the bank to find a bush toilet ie. tree large enough to shield me from the river and the campers. We paddled from 7am to 4.45pm and I was knackered!

Day Two:
Repeat day one because of flooding around the Barmah Forest. I took the opportunity to ask the bogans who were standing around the boat named “B.I.A” what that stood for. The answer came back “B1tches In (the) Ar5e”. They are a classy lot on the river. We also got a serve from bogans because they can’t use their power boats for three hours while we go past- apparently this meant that Christmas, the week and the year had all been ruined.

Day Three: Picnic Point to Echuca
Only 75km! I struggled big time and Vic kept paddling while I stretched out my muscles as we paddled. As usual there was plenty to laugh and talk about as we paddled along. The other participants are a strange lot and we had some interesting chats. There are not too many girls doing the full distance in a sea kayak.

Day Four: Echuca to Torrumbarry
Red Day! And only 63km. Vic and I gave this day no respect and we got run over by it in a big way. Vic was in terrible pain and we battled on.

We got into the spirit of Red Day!

Day Five: Murrabit to Swan Hill
75km. This day I felt strong- my hands were cramping and I had “The Claw” a lot- but we were able to pick off boats up ahead of us even though they were doing the relay. It is quite satisfying picking off relay teams who should have fresh arms.

It felt fantastic to finish- I managed to clock Vic in the head with my paddle as I leapt to my feet and jumped out into the water.

The end result:
5 days
404km
1 river
2 girls
7 blisters
1 jar of peanut butter
15 bread rolls
15 packets of BBQ shapes
5 gels
1 flasher with inflatable sheep
10 litres of water
5 litres of powerade
1 tent
1 macaroni and cheese with tuna
25 new friends
4 new challenges planned
1 dodgy massage
5 hour drive home
1 stop at KFC.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Running, paddling and amateur parenting

I ran 6.5km this morning- slowly getting back into it after my head cold and work stole two weeks out of my life. It was slow and I realised about half way into my run that I was averaging 8min/km so I put the foot down for the rest of it and ended up averaging 7.10 min/km which isn’t good but is better than how I was going.

My BurntBlisteredBruised team mate, Vic, and I went for a paddle this afternoon- 20km in our double kayak in the Yarra- it was lovely and a good little dress rehearsal. We tried a few things (cable ties to keep the rudder pedals in place rather than fiddly little nuts and bolts that take forever). We only did 20km because I realised about half an hour into the paddle that I hadn’t eaten lunch and it was now 5pm and I was wondering why I had a pit in my stomach! It is exhausting, even though my HR doesn’t get very high, I am always catatonic trying to drive home after a paddle which is why…………….
I kidnapped my niece and nephew from my sister’s in Toorak! She was over them in a spectacular fashion so I scooped them up and brought them home- to the DELIGHT of The Lickiest Dog! I finally got Harry and Daisy showered and into bed, accompanied by TLD which is obviously a sign of amateur parenting.
They are now all asleep – I even made them brush their teeth! Hope they like All Bran for breakfast!
(Ice skating in the morning- last ditch attempt to break something before Murray Marathon!)

Blah

The following is threatening to darken my Christmas spirit:
- head cold
- no running due to cold
- missed out on getting an interview for the job I want
- have an interview for the job I don’t want BECAUSE IT IS SCARY
- working 18 hour days repeatedly

Is it bad if:
- I am hoping for this cold to be pneumonia so I can hide in my bed
- I am going ice skating only so I break a bone and don’t have to paddle

Luckily the Christmas carols are on repeat- (The Fairytale of New York I love you) and the cheery disposition should return after the job interview on Thursday, which reminds me, I must go and study up on how to investigate Child Abuse in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities.

Might run again on the weekend when I technically have started leave.

Hi! *waves*

Someone once told me that no-one, whilst on their death bed, ever said “I wish I spent more time at work”. No way I would ever say that because it feels like I live at work-and while I love it, I am getting tired of bumping into friends only for them to say “Wow, you look exhausted”.
I stopped running for about a week because the PF in my left foot was getting bad and I was struggling every day with the pain (and I didn’t have any motivation or time). The time off has worked and I am feeling very little pain- though have another night in heels tomorrow night might ruin that for me.

Vic and I have been kayaking A LOT- which has resulted in her wearing a large divot in her ar5e cheek which bled.
Fortunately I have enough padding to ensure that this never happens to me after 5 hours in the kayak- while Vic was sitting on her life jacket to ease the pain, I was sitting very comfortable.

Anyway, I am going to pull out of Two Bays- no way I can push it from my little 10km run now into a 28km in about 6 weeks without a world of hurt.

I have been continuing my efforts to convince Vic to downgrade from the full marathon to the half- after we paddled 40km on Monday in 5 hours- meaning we will take over 10 hours to complete the first and second days. The half would actually be enjoyable.

Sweet sweet nothing

Woke up this morning and it was pouring rain- and I dead set CHEERED! Because I could be cycling, swimming, running, walking and kayaking- but all I need is a day of nothing. Work has been out of control and I have done my share of 18 hour shifts all week culminating in a 2am taxi ride home on Friday morning (thankfully work paid the $110 fare) after doing raids all day. I was pretty happy to slide into bed and prepare for a 3 day weekend and not think about work for one second (until they rang me at 8am Friday morning).

Anyway, I got out Friday morning for a paddle with Vic- we did 4 hours in the Yarra (stinking tip) paddling past the detritus of Melbourne (if you have lost your inflatable row boat, brown couch, 200 tennis balls, the occasional football, 100 plastic bottles and bags I know where they are). Vic has been paddling alone and I think she enjoyed the company- I have barely trained since the Murray and I just enjoyed floating around).

When this rain clears I am going to Lysterfield Park for a run and a walk.

BIL didn’t notice the rapid decline in cheer, housework or sanity last week bless his soul, or if he did,he wisely chose to ignore it.

Went and saw Moneyball last night (don’t bother-it should be a midday movie at best) and then sat in a carpark in Glen Waverley until midnight waiting for the RACV then a tow truck for BIL’s car. The wait in the carpark was still more enjoyable than Moneyball. The downside is that BIL uses his car for work so now he uses MY car for work which means no kayaking Sunday

Arggghhhhhhhhhh

Having some massive freakouts this week about TwoBays, Murray Marathon and work. Freakouts don’t actually help anything, but I can’t stop it. BIL and I have declared that this week does not count and that anything said cannot be used later as he is having a stressful week too. So I have been a terribly self absorbed girlfriend and have dropped the bundle when it comes to household chores, shopping and general being a fun person to be around. Fortunately I don’t think he noticed.

I have been running – no time for anything longer than a 30 minute run during the week, but I have been extending out my “long” run on the weekend- up to 60 minutes this weekend if the damn rain will ever stop.
Last weekend I was at home for the Dunkeld Races and went out in the morning for 55 minutes through the Grampians- it was lovely and set the tone for a whole lovely day.

I need to get out paddling, and my paddling partner is planning a trip from Fairfield to Williamstown. OMG.