So a bit of a different Easter this year

This time last year, Easter Sunday night, I would have been in a chocolate stupor.  I had no stopping power, and I would eat and eat until the chocolate became tasteless.

What a difference a year makes.  This year I have indulged in a hot cross bun on Friday and today, but it has been planned.  I put the shout out for no chocolate this year, and I love that my mum gave me a lovely door stop with a bunny on it instead (no matter how old I get, mum still gets me something!).  Mike true to my wishes gave me the two planned hot cross buns from our lovely cafe in town.  And my brother, well!  He gave me chocolate.  A block of my beloved white choc and a big Cadbury bunny.  Can we say saboteur?  Mike has very graciously offered to take them off my hands.  Win-win for him huh?  And he's hidden them so I have no idea where they are.

So all in all I'm going to announce this a very successful Easter.

Yesterday I didn't mention that I travelled down to Geelong to visit with mum and go shopping.  I had a number of gift certificates burning a hole in my pocket so was able to do a whole lotta shopping for hardly any money.  Bonus!

Big W saw me with a new pair of Mish leggings.  And my Westfield voucher had me heading for Lorna Jane.  I've never bought anything from them before, but yippee they had a sale on.  So I now am the owner of a hot orange racer back bra.  I sound like such an old nanna but I don't like my bra straps showing when I wear my racer back tops.

Eeeeek .... (and again with the butt shots no matter how many times I tell him not to!)

So I bravely tried on some different ones, wondering if they would fit me, did a bit of jumping around in the change room to check out the bounce factor and very happy with the bra I chose and the service I got there.  She talked to me like I was real, visible, asked me about the runs I'd been doing, talked to me like a fit and active, healthy individual, like I mattered.  It was a revelation.

All of a sudden I wasn't the fat girl going into the shop where there was obviously going to be nothing that would fit and the shop assistants would snicker behind their hands, so I would pretend I was buying something as a gift for my step-daughter, all the while furtively glancing at size labels hoping that I'd find a 18-20.  Those days are well and truly gone.

So tomorrow I'm planning to go out early and see if I can do a PB in running.  I'm not pushing these big runs (and I'm now calling anything between 5-10 k a big run) because let's face it, I've taken up running at age 48 and there are definitely aches and pains for a few days after I truly exert myself.  Errr my butt has certainly felt it the last few days and it did a lot of protesting in the 2 hour drive to Geelong yesterday!

I'm back !!!

After a small hiatus.  I've become very time poor at the moment and in amongst it all, I haven't blogged  :-(  Funnily though I drive to and from work and compose blog posts in my head, they just never make it to the www.  Ha!

Firstly I just want to say Annie, you are hysterical !  After my comment about wearing the dress to work and wondering if I should wear my other new one the next day, Annie comments:

Carol you have to calm yourself and think of those poor souls at work. What will it do to them to be confronted with such a sexpot twice in a row? The mere sight of your legs - the knowledge that you do indeed HAVE legs has probably put them all in a spin as it is! You need to pace yourself, ease them into it... one dress a week for a month, then up it to twice every other week and so on. :)

Annie you do make me laugh.  Whilst on the subject of Annie, do check out her blog, it's a ripper.  Finding the Thin me Within me.

So you may ask what I've been doing the last few weeks that have been so important.   Well in amongst work and home and doing lots of other things I've been ...

TRAINING!

I have taken this running thing by the horns and I just can't stop.  I am addicted.  They said it would happen and by joves it has.   And the funny thing, some people had told me that once I hit the 5km mark in my running non-stop, that it would quickly grow from there.   And it has.

Just looking at my Runkeeper and I've had runs (and they've all been non-stop runs)

• 16th March :  5.4 km
• 19th March : 5.76 km
• 23rd March : 6.45 km 

and are you ready for it ...

• 29th March, yesterday : 7.81 km

Yahoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   It was so addictive to try to run further each time, and I did.

Although yesterday's run at 7.81km I got to the end and went to hit save on my Runkeeper, because there's something oh so satisfying in seeing the map later, and I hit cancel by mistake.   I was cursing myself all the way back up the driveway.  Smart arsed (but well meaning husband) suggested I run it again just to get another map.  Oh how funny!  NOT.   But there's always my next run right?  ;-)

Ain't that the truth!

The competitive streak

Oh dear.  I was reading my friend Kylie's post on facebook the other night and sadly shook my head.  Kylie, Kylie, Kylie, are you kidding me?   She had mentioned that she usually loaded up the leg press at the gym and would beat the guy beside her, even though he did not know they were competing.  Ha!  Sad Kylie, oh so sad.

But what have you done to me?  It happened to me tonight at the gym!!

I was having a row and a lady came by and started using the rower next to me.  She had absolutely no idea but I started racing her.  There was no way I was going to stop before she stopped, I kept glancing across to see how much longer she was rowing for.

OMG my butt hurt, my arms screamed and my legs ached but I kept on rowing.  And then she stopped ah haaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WON !   I WON !  I WON !

Well I did, didn't I?  She stopped before me.  That's the rules.  I stopped short of doing a happy jig in the seat, I promise, and I stopped perhaps 5 more rows after her, got those in just for good measure yanno.

Please tell me now that others do that too???

Now I must tell you, my head at the moment is doing a bit of woop woop woop.  It's gotten a bit big for my body.  I wore a dress to work today.   Now I can't even tell you the last time I wore a dress (let alone even a skirt and top) to work.  I'm a trouser at work girl.  But I wore for the first time one of the new dresses I recently purchased.

NOTE THIS IS NOT MY HEAD !  Totally cute dress though huh?

Well way to make me feel fantastic.  I got so many mentions today about how great I looked, I even got called "skinny" in the carpark from one of my dear workmates, there were even a few double takes as I walked by.  What a stroke to the ego I tell you.  Do I dare even wear my other new one tomorrow?  I don't think I'll be able to walk back out the door my head will be too big! hahahahahaha.

I finally did it !

I can sit on the 5K couch now.  I can wear the badge.  I can shout it from the roof top.

I RAN 5 KILOMETRES TODAY WITHOUT STOPPING !

The very first time.  I am over the moon.

There's a lot to be said for plotting a course and not just going out randomly running.  I plotted the night before what I was going to "attempt" first thing this morning.  I didn't even tell Mike what I was planning, just that I was going to try to beat my last best run in distance outdoors without stopping (which was 4.4km).

So I set off on my course and every time Runkeeper told me my 5 minute stats my smile was getting broader.  I ran up a few hills as well and got to the top knowing I could coast down the other side.  Still not stopping.  I got all the way over to Ararat Road, woah that's clear over the other side of town (mind you it's a small town) and still I kept going.  Another 5 minutes, and yet another 5 minutes, it all kept adding up.

As I was on the homeward bound stretch I heard Runkeeper say I'd only just hit 4km.  How could that be?  It seemed so much longer in my head.  I mean I *DID* just run clear to the other side of town and back.  So despite being only a block away from home I kept running and started zig zagging up and down each block just to add up more kms.  Finally I was heading closer to my street and I heard the magic 5 kilometre come up.

As I rounded the corner back into my street I was grinning like a mad woman, I think I even let out a whoop, and I was fist pumping the air.  Yep, I think I've become known as the crazy running woman of this town now.

All in all I did a grand total of 5.4 kilometres in 40 minutes and 05 seconds.  I'm not setting land speed records, that's for sure.  But right now I'm aiming for endurance over speed.

I think back to when I started 12wbt and I tried to run around the back yard and I couldn't make it.  I was heaving by the time I did one lap.

I think back to my first 1km time trial and there was no way I could run 1km without stopping.  I walked the majority of it.  Oh that was when my saggy track pants didn't fall down, I remember running and having to hold them up.

I think back to the very first time I ran 1km on the treadmill.  I was at the gym with the inspiring Tania from the Warrnambool & Surrounds 12wbt crew, and I couldn't believe it, I ran a kilometre.

And now I'm running over 5 kilometres.  Un-freaking-believable.  I'm on top of the world.

I was reading a blog post by the ever inspiring Leitchy tonight.  I do urge you to read it, it's about celebrating  the small wins.   And I whole-heartedly agree.  Although my 5km to me is quite huge, it's still a win and worthy of being celebrated in the highest order.

And I know there are a few people out there that will "get" my excitement, won't you Ruby Slippers   :-)

Now I just have to figure how to be awesome again tomorrow.

Well laaah-de-daaaah to me!

I went for another run after work tonight, this time around the lake and then almost a kilometre up the road and back, only a total of 3.6km, which miffed me a bit because I know the lake on it's own is 3km, no matter.  I think the GPS gets lost underneath the thick canopy of the norfollk pines along that road.  Either that or I'm too fast for it !!! (remember I can run to Hay in NSW in 3 seconds a kilometre!!  :-)

So I'm on my run and getting some strange looks tonight from runners going the other way.  I did a quick check, no nothing was undone, pants were still there, everything that was not meant to be seen wasn't.  I wasn't sure what on earth they were looking at, was I imagining it?  Nope, there it was again.  I do have my phone tucked into my bra so there was a bit of square boobage going on, but I didn't think that was it.  It was very unnerving.

So I just kept on running.  Finished the run, recovered a bit, did some stretches, and drove the 50km home hot and sweaty.

Decided to just hit the shower straight away and as I went into the bathroom and caught sight of myself in the mirror I did a double take.

Mish black leggings - check
Bright pink Slazenger running top - check
And a lovely ritzy chi chi pooh pooh strand of pearls - oh Lordy Lord.

Shoot me now, in my haste to get out the door from work tonight I quickly changed into my gear and forgot to take my pearls off.

Definitely a laaah-de-daaah run tonight.

Who knows, maybe I'll wear a tiara tomorrow.  Stay tuned.   One must maintain standards, even when one is sweating in lycra!!!  bwah ha ha ha ha.

Not one to blow my own trumpet ...

But ...

Last week I was heading down to the foreshore to run after work, before going home.  Have come to really enjoy that part of the day.   I knew last Wednesday I was really going for it, I felt great, the run was feeling really good, there is something to be said for getting miles in your legs.

CHECK ... IT ... OUT

You can't help but be impressed, right?

506.23 kilometres all done in 21 minutes and 54 seconds.  I quite like the fact that I ran a 3 second kilometre too!  Where are the Olympic sign up papers?  But only having burned 563 calories, I think I was short changed in that department.

What on earth happened? ha!  I was running around the Warrnambool foreshore and yes I'll admit it, approx 3km.  I could hear Runkeeper mumbling something on my phone but it was only when I stopped and got it out of my pocket did I see it thinks I ran from Warrnambool to Hay in New South Wales.

I kept thinking about the running clinic I went to where John mentioned that when we run imagine that we are taking off with our feet and spinning the world.  Yep, I pretty much span the world right off it's axis last Wednesday.

It did give me a giggle though.  I was sitting on the chair in the park recovering and slugging down a bottle of water and my phone rang and it was one of my 12wbt friends as it happened and we had a right giggle on the phone when I told her the stats.

But the funniest thing came later.  I got an email from Runkeeper telling me I was busted for a moving violation!  Well that certainly had me giggling all night long.

So since then we've had my husband's Uncle from Scotland visiting so it's been quite an up and down week.  What a jolly man he was too.  I couldn't understand a word he was saying though!!  So I really was out of routine, I made him his favourite meals like lasagne (alas not Mish approved) and we had a terrific picnic in the Grampians which involved the yummiest passionfruit icecream in a waffle cone for dessert!  And breakfast at the surf club which involved a good choice (muesli and yoghurt) but it was so delicious and the bowl was waaaaay big and I ate nearly the lot of it.

However what I did make sure I did whilst he was here was to get up with the birds and out the door running each morning before the sun was up.  Number 1 before it got too hot.  Number 2 to make sure I got my exercise in.  Number 3 to counteract any bad food choices.  And I feel terrific for doing so.

In fact this morning, I was out running again and I just couldn't stop.  Strains of "RUN FORREST RUN" in my ears and I just kept going.  I got back to the corner back to our house and decided to do another blockie, and then I came back to the other end of our street and kept running down to the highway.  Where was this coming from?  Has it all finally clicked?  I just know I have felt on top of the world all day, apart from when I was melting from the heat!!!

Facing my fears

So 12wbt is not just about weight loss, or getting fit, it's about getting healthy in the mind as well.  As my heading mast says "a journey of discovery - mind, body, spirit".

So Friday night our fantastic Warrnambool & Surrounds 12wbt crew decided to face our fears.  Nine very nervous girls decided to go ... horse riding!!!!   You may scoff, pffffft, but each one of us were either scared of horses or had had a bad experience on a horse.

I haven't been horse riding in well over 30 years, and okay so, that was my first and last time, but it had left an impression on me.  I remember being told to try to mount and get off a few times as practice and one of those times my fly somehow got caught on the saddle as I was trying to slide off.

Imagine if you will the world's biggest wedgie being given to me whilst hanging off the side of the saddle by nothing more than my trousers.  OMG, the horse was getting restless, I was flailing trying to get myself loose, it wasn't pretty.  I will say though with assistance I was able to dislodge and no one was harmed in the incident.  But I've been a tad wary, well okay lets just say downright scared, since then.

Roll on to Friday, with a sense of bravado my hand went up, I was ready to face my fears.  We had booked for a twilight ride and were to meet at 6.30pm at the horse riding place in town.  Must admit from about lunchtime onwards my knees started shaking every time I thought of what lay ahead.

So we signed our lives away and got kitted out in riding helmet and boots.  Funny thing about weight loss, it shouldn't be but it's all about the size right?  Well I've got a big head, there, I'll say it out loud.  I like to think it's because my hair is thick, but let's face it, there's a boof head on my shoulders.  When a number of the girls were fitted to wearing a size 59 helmet, I made sure my darn head would squeeze into a 59, cause I didn't want to be the only one wearing boof head size 60, because they had the sizes marked clear on the front of the helmet.

Right, so looking the part, they asked us of our experience on horses.   Errr next question!  And then set about assigning different horses to us.

Trying to look braver than I felt.  My knees were definitely knocking!

I love that they had a step to help us get up on the horses.

Here's Kellie letting Maverick her horse know what's what and who's the boss.

Rach is just checking where the 'stop' button is, 

there's was one on there somewhere wasn't there??

Janelle I think was the most confident one of us,

she looks quite the horsewoman there.

I was so glad to know that Kerrianne was as scared as I was!

And finally my horse's name was called.  Huey.

With a sense of reckless abandon, I grabbed the camera from my pocket.

And then Huey decided to move.  OMG!  

So here's an action shot of us moving from one side of the yard to the other! 

Daring aren't I?

Soon enough we were heading down towards the beach.

Sara's horse needed a bit of 12wbt intervention, it kept stopping for the munchies.

Actually they all did.  We were meant to show them who was boss and lead them away

from the lush grass, yeah right, as if that was going to happen.

It was truly magnificent.  Riding along the beach.  The wind was blowing,

the surf was crashing, we were riding on the water's edge and every now and then

the wave would come up around the horses legs, and the sun was setting.

It was truly incredible, and quite surreal, I had to keep pinching myself.

By now we were so much more confident and knew we could 

trust these beautiful creatures.

The world wasn't really on that much of an angle,

either was I.  I was just hanging on for dear life!  :-)

I absolutely love this photograph, I'm so proud of myself,

happy, and incredibly blessed to really be living.

I love this photo too.  How good are these horses standing in a line like that.

Okay so Huey had to line up twice because he decided to keep walking

the first time and I had to have help to get back into line!

What a terrific photo, we had mastered our fears!

Kellie took this photo and has made a by-line of it:

I overheard Carol say "Thanks tour leader, I will take it from here."

Huey decided it was time to lead the girls home!

And all too soon, well a couple of hours later, it was done.

We got back to the farm just as it was getting dark, funny how the 

horses picked up the pace as we got closer, they knew

the end was nigh!!  

So what do you think, does this look like I have mastered my fear of horses?

Saying goodbye to Huey before he turned in for the night.

Mission accomplished!

What an experience to have with our local 12wbt girls.   So lucky I got together with this group, they are challenging me like no other - climb mountains, run races, walk huge distances, and now ride horses!

I got home late and as I sat eating my dinner at the kitchen table Mike surprised the bejingos out of me and says out of the blue "you've never looked more beautiful than you do right now".  Well knock me over with a feather.  Doesn't say much for how I look other times, I had a serous case of helmet hair, my face was flushed, I was jibbering to the dozen telling him about our evening.  But he went on to say that I looked alive and so happy and just full of exuberance.  Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder.  So glad he's mine.