Woooo hooooo half way!!!!

I had 7km to go but only needed a 5km training run tonight.  Well actually I needed to do three 5km training runs this week in the Mind Body Motion km-athon and had already done one on Monday and with arctic weather conditions forecast for the remainder of the week thought I best do number two tonight.  So where was I?  Ha.

Yes I wasn't going to settle for less than a 7km run tonight, intervals no less, and I pulled out an 8km coming home in the dark, thank goodness I grabbed the torch on the way out the door!!!  

So why was it so important I hear you ask?  You did ask didn't you??

Because this chick has now run over 500 kilometres for the year!!!!!!!! Yahoooooo!

As my friend Munuela told me tonight, it's all downhill from here! Ha if only.  Will I make the 1000?  Eh, don't want to rule it out but I'm already ahead of the game from last year's efforts.

I have also signed up again for the August round of 12wbt.  I need to nip this baby in the bud.

Feeling positive.

A weekend without rain ... what is that?

I'm not wanting to speak too soon, but it hasn't rained yet.  This would be the first weekend for a long long time!  In face I have been out in the garden and giving the couple of roses we have a bit of a prune, and digging up some weeds from the driveway and generally tidying the flowers and cutting off some ratty bits.  Feels like an accomplishment.

So I had planned to do another 5km run after work yesterday and it ended up being 6.  It was a terrific evening for running.  Still chilly so I wore my vest over my t-shirt, but the sea smelt wonderful.  I always chuckle when I go past this sign ... travel slowly!  I reckon they put it there just for me, cause I'm a plod for sure.  Couldn't resist a quick snap.  Yep it was a little bit blowy which you can see with my hair.

I'm about to start chopping butternut pumpkin for my Thai Pumpkin Soup from 12wbt which I absolutely love.  It's a soup night tonight for us, plus I bought Mike a big cheesy herby pull apart to have with his soup.  Delicious!  I feel like I'm back on the straight and narrow all thanks to my friend Chloe.  We have become each other's cheer squad with regard to our eating habits.  She's got me using My Fitness Pal again, so there's no hiding my eating now!

Before I go here's a page of darling Saxon.   I love watching him while he's sleeping, he does these amazing big stretches.  A bit like his Grumpy who never gets up without a big stretch.

Products used:  Designer Digitals.


I do believe there will be some crochet and knitting in my future, by the fire tonight  It might not be raining but it's sure chilly.

Yet another challenge - keeping me enthused !

So as well as the fun runs I've entered, as well as the Licorice & Olives virtual 5km monthly challenge, I've now signed up for yet another challenge.  I'll do it all or die trying right?  I've worked out for myself I need something to work towards.  I have been a bit aimless, but now have that plan forward.

So what is this new challenge I hear you ask.

You did ask didn't you?   ;-)

It's the Mind Body Motion Multi-Stage Kilometre-athon.  Training started today and I hit the pavement for a 5km run.  Plus an added challenge they threw at us, to take a selfie wearing green.  Lucky my green running shirt is one of my faves!

So I've signed up for the 20km challenge and basically we are using a training schedule provided by the effervescent Kaz to ultimately (for my challenge) to run 20km on the weekend of 18 and 19 October.  Well I figured I would already be running 10km on the 18 October at the Mosaic to Mountain fun run at Dunkeld.  So it will be interesting how the training goes for me running on tired legs as it will require another 10km run the next day.  I"m up for the challenge.

And so aside from running, we had a lovely visit for dinner from Tab, Aaron and Saxon last night.  Oh be still my heart, the little man is already 1 month old today.  It's so much fun watching Mike go all gooey over him, he really is just the most captivating little man, and the faces!  I could have watched him all night.  He better get used to the camera, that's for sure.  I had to take these photos with a high ISO and wide open and no flash, I don't want to startle him, but I'm going to have to invest in one of those flashes that throw the flash to the side, cause the grain is killing me in the photos.

Enjoy this baby goodness.  :-)

Saxon loves his Grumpy and listening to Mike having complete conversations with him and Saxon pulling faces is just the best.

And I just melt.  He is so alert and knows what is going on around him.  I tell you being a nanna has made my life complete.

And lots of cuddles can be real hard work and he put up the Do Not Disturb sign when just like that, a click of the fingers and he was asleep!

Precious.  And oh how I am loving taking photos of him.

Coincidences and Epiphanies

So it's no secret but I've been struggling with my eating of late.  Yummy yummy things have just fallen into my mouth at regular intervals and the scales have started to groan.  Well I reckon if they could they would.   And I'm not sure where my resolve has gone.  Well I know it's somewhere other than with me.  

So last night I went to bed mega early, I was so tired after a big week.  Now I often have thoughts of doing early morning runs but I usually open one eye, then the other, listen for wind or rain, then roll over and go back to sleep only to go later.  But this morning after a really good nights sleep I bounded out of bed, got dressed, fed the menagerie, and then I was out of there.  Go me!

This is where the epiphany comes in.  An early morning run really does set the mood of the day.  I have eaten really well and clean today, I haven't wanted to ruin the good start I had set for myself.  Whereas it's made me think, that when I run after work (which I enjoy) it's after a hard day, I put in the kms, then I feel the need to reward myself for a job well done.  Cause it's after work that my food resolve crumbles.  My disorganization, the cooking on the fly, the extras that get bought at the supermarket because I have no idea what I'm cooking.

So I really need to rethink this early morning running gig, don't I?  And yes I'm sure everyone bar me has worked this out, and I know about getting the monkey off your back and all, but the flow on effect to my eating, or lack of bad eating, has really struck me today.  

Anyway this morning's run totalled 8km and I realised what a mess the rain had made of some of the roads I run on.  :-(.  Err no kidding ...

And it was cold when I set off but after 2km my running jacket had been tied around my waist and I was sleeveless.  Makes me laugh when I run past someone out for an early morning walk wearing coat and scarf and gloves, and I go running by in no sleeves!

However I did have a wee mishap and almost went arse over turkey when I slipped on this track you can see behind me here.  It was muddy in parts and I was switching tracks and jumping from one to the other, I mean to say I don't want my Mizunos to get dirty!  So did the funky chicken dance as I was slipping and righted myself but ouch felt that strain in my hip, like I had wrenched myself.  So whilst it slowed me down I continued on, albeit at a slow pace.  But thumbs up, I did it.  

And hey, got my Road ID bracelet in the mail so took it on it's first outing.  So if I am found unconscious on the side of the road, they can return me to sender!! ;-)

As for coincidences, or I should say outright surprises...

During the week I was over in Portland for a work functionthat was being conducted and afterwards was chatting to one of my colleagues and a woman came up to me and said something like ... "Thought I'd come over to see if I could (slight pause) Find Carol" and I do believe she winked.  My work colleague said "Well you've found her" and he wandered off.  She again said something like "So looks like I might have been successful in FINDING CAROL" and again accenting the words.  

OMG it dawned on me, this woman has read my blog and recognized me!!! What a crack up.  And of course my mind did an instant oh flip what have I written of late! Ha.  

So mystery lady (because I'm sorry I have forgotten your name) I'm glad you said hello, hope you excused my shocked expression and then manic laughing when I realised you had read along.  You just never know who you're going to meet out there.


And finally on the scrapbooking front, who doesn't love a happy dog, right?  It doesn't take much to make Lucky happy.  And here you can see one of the routes I usually run, how lucky to run in all that country goodness.

Credits for supplies: Designer Digitals.

Kiss the Cook !

Mike didn't know what came over me today, I did a bit of forward planning.  Early on doing 12wbt I was very industrious but all that forward planning (for a rainy day, of which we've had many!!!) has fallen by the wayside.

I am going to say a lot of my problem is that I don't think ahead and then when inspiration hits I'm here at home.  Oh to have a 24 hour supermarket within easy reach, or to have a supermarket with a wide selection full stop.

We have 2 small supermarkets in town.  I won't go to one as I've been caught far too many times buying goods that were out of date or tasted stale.  The other one is the hub of town but being an IGA it is limited in the variety it sells and ends up for the most part being expensive.

But today I was prepared.  I started off making the sensational 12wbt banana bread.  I've found it so much easier to cook it in muffin tins to get 16 even pieces.  Bagged up separately, it freezes well, and it's a quick grab for a breakfast on the run.

Then I made up the yummy granola from a recipe a friend put me into from The Healthy Chef.  Honestly this stuff should be lethal. It's soooo good.  Added to the almonds is a gorgeous taste of vanilla bean, honey, apricots, dried blueberries and currants.  What's not to love.  

This pic is not from today but from last time I made it, but it looked just as good today!!

Then for an easy dinner a fave 12wbt Cauliflower Soup.  Doubled the recipe for 8 serves so my freezer is stocked with soup for my late nights home from the gym.

Here it is waiting for it to boil.  The result after blitzing at the end is the most silky smooth texture, oh so good.  The man had a few too many pieces of bread and butter but he says it's extremely dunkable!!

So feeling quite positive about the week ahead.  A good run yesterday, a cook up today, what's happened to me!!??

And today I've been working on some digital scrapbooking pages, there's a couple of pages of our darling grandson.  Here's one I did the other day of one of the first glimpses we had of him.  Be prepared for many many more pages of this sweet little boy.

Product Credits Designer Digitals.

She's back !!!

This winter has been bitterly cold.  Yes I know, not as cold as my northern hemisphere friends, but icy cold for us.  And the wind and rain has been horrendous.  And it's been so easy to squib out of running, it really has.  Alarm goes off, open one eye, hear the rain on the room, pull the doona back up.  And on it goes.  I've been really ad hoc with my training over these cold months and lately my runs have been short, nothing more than 4 or 5 km.  

So this morning I bounded out of bed ... okay, so I really dragged myself up, but I put on my gear, running jacket would be necessary this morning and I went out.   I did it hard, I don't mind telling you, how quickly we lose form.  But I did it, despite quite a few quick walk breaks.

The road was wet, it was bone chillingly cold, but I was out there.

The sun was shining over the mount so there was a big glare happening here, I had to take a pic of the cows grazing. No sooner did I take this pic than it started raining again.  Oh no!   Right, well I could have called this run over and ran back home down one of the roads, but nope, a little bit of rain wasn't going to kill anyone right, I kept on.  I took my phone out of my pocket as I didn't have it in a plastic bag and tucked it into my jacket sleeve next to my wrist so it wouldn't get wet.  Except it got heavier and heavier.

Had to stop at the park during the run and it was sooooo tempting, I was soaked through, and I could have swung down one street and been home in 2 minutes, but nope, I kept going the other way and a few laps of the lake which added another 2km to my run.  Go me!  Still smiling.  Wet, but smiling.

All up 8.2 km, so I was happy with that.  AND SHE'S BACK !!!!  I have to get the kms back into these legs for sure if I'm going to even make the distance at Stawell next month.  And let me tell you once I got back home and stopped, the shakes started, I was freezing and wet through.  I jumped into the hot shower and it was heaven!

So I had yesterday off, CWA and all, and we had planned to take the menagerie to the vet for their annual visit.  Why oh why do we do this?  Two dogs and a cat at the same time!  Getting Miss Bo Bo into her carry case is a trial in itself.  I say we take her by stealth, have the case ready, pick her up unawares and in she goes.  But oh no!  Mike actually puts her head first so she sees the case and gets prepared to act like she's doing the splits.  It's really stressful.  So much so that she scrabbled in Mike's arms and he got a claw to his throat, ouch!  But mind you she's an angel at the vets and when time comes to go home she walks into her carry case as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

We got to see the head vet this time and had some chats about Molly.  Poor love, once we go to bed, decides it's time to just wander up and down the passageway, ad nauseum.  We keep a light on all night and a CD playing until it stops, but she can be asleep in the loungeroom until we decide it's time to go to sleep and then she starts.  We thought we'd combatted it by moving her bed right close to the side that I sleep on so when she starts moving I can pop my hand down and reassure her she's not alone.  I think that's a bit what it is, she gets confused at night time, once we stop talking, she might think she's alone.

Anyway the vet really noticed her stiffness in her hind quarters, just the way she was walking, so after a lot of discussion we have started her on a course of Cartophren.  One needle a week for four weeks, and hopefully (cross fingers) six months of pain free movement.  He also mentioned that she is getting cataracts.  Sucks that our furbabies age so much quicker than us.  We just want to ensure this old girl is nice and comfortable for the time she has left.  I think the thing that we struggle with, or at least I struggle with, is that she's always so happy, she doesn't give any indication that she's sore, she's such a good girl.

And today, actually all week, I've been thinking of my Designer Digitals Creative Team member Aino who lives in Israel and is daily hearing rocket fire and sirens to get into the bomb shelter.  Brenda, one of our newer CT members suggested a Peace Challenge and it's been incredible seeing all the beautiful peace pages in the Gallery, each so very different, each a reflection of the thoughts and feelings of the designer.

Here's mine.

Product credits Designer Digitals

Now an evening sitting in the warm loungeroom by the fire and crocheting is in my future.  Hope your Saturday was good, wherever you are.

Righto, inspired !

I have spent this weekend battling a two day headache, I think it may be eye sight related, I am overdue for my eyes to be tested.  Add to that the terrible weather, and people, I DID NOT RUN this weekend!  Oh the shame.

I have however spent most of the morning checking out the incredible ladies (and man) of our 12wbt Runners Connect Group who were up on the Gold Coast running various distances, not to mention six of them who ran the full marathon.  I was in awe.  They had a website where you could check the live splits of each 5km they passed.  I swear my refresh button went into overdrive.  We were in a frenzy watching along on our facebook group.  Totally inspirational.

Oh and a shout out to my good friend Sharon, who's hubby also ran the marathon.

Made me want to get out and run, the mind may have been willing but the body wasn't today.

I have however got my act into gear and sat down and made a plan for the rest of the year, and now have three races entered.

• August 10 : Wimmera Grampians Heart Challenge in Stawell (10km)
• October 18 :  Mosaic to Mountain Fun Run in Dunkeld (10km)
• November 16 :  City2Sea in Melbourne (14km)

I wonder what else I can add into that mix.  So now no excuse, I must get out there and get back training on a regular basis.   Pretty excited as my online running buddy from up north, yes Chloe, that's you, is doing all of these too.  Well at least I know she's doing the last one as that entry is in.  Hopefully doing the top two as well, so I will get to meet her, so I know she's not a figment of our facebook group  ;-)

So one other thing I did this weekend is ordered a Road ID wrist band.  Probably similar things here in Australia, but this one came from the US, well priced and cheap postage.   I think this is a great idea, because firstly, here where I live we run on the roads as not many of the streets in town have footpaths.  Secondly, despite the fact I carry my phone, if I am knocked unconscious no one will know who I am as my phone is locked.  

I like their marketing too, once ordered I got an email from them confirming my order which stated:

"Hello Carol,
Thank you again for your recent Road ID Order.  You have made a very wise investment in safety and peace of mind - it's astonishingly obvious that you are a highly intelligent individual."

What can I say!  The word is out there  ;-)

Now the other thing I've been thinking about this weekend is my blog.  I have two blogs - one is a family/crafty orientated blog.  The other is this one - about my health and fitness escapades.  I decided to keep them separate and well people who know of my other blog have no idea about this one.  I mean to say, did I want people in my every day life to know how much I weighed??!!  Gulp.  That was only secret, in here.

Anyway as time has gone on it's hard keeping two blogs going.  And a lot of my health and fitness escapades ARE my ordinary every day family life now.  A lot of the time I was just copy/pasting the same detail on both blogs.  So that's just silly.   So I am going to keep this blog going, and so as well as my ramblings about all things running and health and fitness, you're going to see a bit of the other side of Carol, the one who likes to digital scrapbook and knit and crochet.  That makes for an all rounded me I guess.  

So hope you hang in there with me.

And so, to that end here's a recent scrapbook page where the challenge was to document a moment where we met someone famous.  This was from earlier this year at the Surf T Surf in Warrnambool where I got to meet Mona.  Well, he had no choice, I was about to follow him mercilessly after the race to get the photo, but as it happened I really did turn around at one stage and bump right into him and grabbed the opportunity.

(If you want to read the journalling, just click on the image to bring it up larger)