Roll on August

First day of August tomorrow and I'm all in.  Last month of winter (thank goodness!!) and I'm going to be all about challenges.

First things first I'm doing the No Junk Food August.  I did it last year successfully.  I mean come on it's only 31 days right?  How hard can it be to eat clean.  Come on join me, you know you want to!!

And second challenge I am aiming to finish winter with a bang.  I want to run 100km for August.  I started winter and ran 103km in June, fell in a heap in July with the flu, so aiming to finish winter with a bang.  I have a number of friends from our online running group also doing it so we shall urge each other on.

Feel free to join me on both or either of these challenges.  It's only 31 days!!!

Shopping!!!

Got to love my Fridays off work, best thing I've ever done!  And perfect for today.  My brother's birthday is during next week and I bought a gift that was way too big to mail.  Doh!  It was one of those lovely furry rugs in a leopard print.  Love Catch of the Day! ha.  But when it came it was in one of those suck-you-in-vaccuum-type-bags.  Which I undid to wrap up the rug and poof, it was kinda huge!   Wrap it I did and it ended up being 2.5kg without even being placed in a box (and in any case the biggest box I could buy from Australia Post was still too small) ... I really don't think these things out do I?

So what's a girl to do but take a trip down to Geelong to deliver said present in person!  Plus a spot of shopping while there.

First stop the yarn store.  Love Twisted Stitches.  Ended up with some beautiful Silk Noro which I will make into a scarf for the CWA competition next year.  Starting with the crafts early.  

A visit to Kathmandu to buy yet another beanie, Mike liked the beanie I bought for myself yesterday for running so much he wanted one too.  Lucky for him there was only one black one left, otherwise he may have been sporting a lilac one! ha.

Then lunch at the Pickled Duck ... or was it the Pickled Rabbit ... it was the Pickled something.  Corner Malop and Yarra.  Lovely little cafe I had never been to before and the most delicious cauliflower and bacon soup.  Yum.

After a bit more shopping, headed over to mum's for a surprise visit and to leave the pressie for my brother, so he could collect it after work.   And on the way home, what's a visit to Geelong without a quick stop in at Rebel.   Sale on too!  Bonus.   Stocked up on some GU as they had 8 for $15, yay!  I've been told the peanut butter and chocolate one is nice, so I added that to the stash of GU.  Jury is still out till I try it.

And look at this little number, wooo hoooo, no I'm not off to a disco, this is my new reflective running shirt.  By day a mild mannered black number with greyish white dots on the sleeve.  By night with a bit of flash added in, whooooosh!  I become a super hero, haha.  I was so in love with it I started running round the back yard with a torch.  Mike was mega impressed, he didn't even gulp at the price when he could see how well it worked.   Too bad at the moment it's that darn cold that my bare arms will not see the early mornings without a jacket on too, but all in good time.

So I would call this a very successful day's shopping.  And now I can hear torrential rain outside tonight so lets hope it rains itself out so I can go out for a shuffle in the morning.   Half Marathon training is back in full swing.

I'm baaaaaaack ... just!

Well after a horrid two weeks I feel like I'm starting from scratch again, which annoys me no end being that I was so happy completing my goal in June.  I have coughed and spluttered, and choked and sore nose from blowing then the sneeze days started and yes, it has been horrible.  Both of us have never got the flu shot but we are re-thinking that now, I know people who get the flu shot can still get the flu, but apparently the symptoms are not as bad.  This has hit us both for six.

So after my mild freak out at my half marathon plan slipping away, and even though I wasn't 100 percent better last week, Mike kicked my sorry tail out on the road and I was so glad I did.  Small runs.  3.25 km in the rain on Monday complete with hat and raincoat so I remained nice and dry.  Followed by 4.4 km on Wednesday running blockies around the neighbourhood, heck I picked the darkest night with no moon to speak of, looks like I'm about to head down into the mines.  Followed by a decent 5km run on Friday which although cold started out dry, but I got a drenching about 1 km in, I thought briefly about taking the short cut home but on my headphones came the song 'What have you done today to make you feel proud' and seeings I was already wet, I kept on going to put 5 km into the leg bank, and yep felt pretty proud.  Amazing the power of music.

Then today the Athletics Club had a 6km run.  Oh how we laughed and laughed.   Last time we all got together we all turned up wearing pink.  I swear we don't do a gear check before hand.  When our jackets came off we just looked at each other and cackled like the four yellow chickens we looked like.  How funny!   You weren't going to lose us in a crowd, that's for sure.

I toughed it out today, started off on the knocker in the handicap and was the last across the line.  I had some wheezing in my lungs so there were a number of walk breaks to catch my breath.  So glad I did it, and this Athletics Group is so encouraging, there's nothing shameful about coming last.  In fact Leah's hubby and another very encouraging lady Sally in the group came back to me and ran the last 200 metres with me.  High five to them.  Very much appreciated.

Got home and Mike had gone to art group so tried to light the fire, I just couldn't get myself warm this afternoon.  I think I went through almost half a box of fire lighters.  Would probably have helped if I actually cut some kindling instead of using the smallish looking logs.  But got it going and just took it easy this afternoon.

Want to get back into it next week, the first half marathon is eight weeks away, gulp!

Too late!

When I hoped I wouldn't catch Mike's dreaded man flu it was too late I reckon.  Ticklish throat had started.

And here I am after coming home from work Monday afternoon and a couple of days off work and still feeling dreadful.  Although of course not as bad as any man who had had man flu right?? Ha

My little buddy has not left my side.  I can't make a move without him following along and then settling down by my side.  Precious boy.

I'm already freaking about how many runs I've missed, my last run was last Friday so I've missed my all important weekend LSR.   I'm week 3 into my next half marathon program and can't even contemplate when my chest will feel ok to run.  After being so on track and kicking training goals I'm now in Panic panic mode.

PS I wasn't squishing Lucky in that pic it was just a pic together.  I wouldnt use him as a pillow!

No LSR for me

Firstly this happened ...

Yay I did it, 29 June this was my total.   I set out to run 100km over June, the hardest month of the year I find to run, and I did it - through rain and wind and cold mornings and cold evenings and darkness and rainbows and a little bit of winter sunshine thrown in.  

Then this happened ...

And let me tell you, when he gets sick, he REALLY gets sick.  Yes we joke about man flu but he's on antibiotics, he has no energy, he has been barking up a storm.   

And a lot of this has been happening ...

Aided of course by Nurse Lucky making sure he stays put.  He's coming out the other side now, still a bit weak but the barking has stopped.  Just in time as we are going to an American Theme Night at a local restaurant for 4 July tonight.  

However I feel like I'm on the beginnings of it.  Just a tickle in the back on my throat that I can't shake.  I'm on the Olive Leaf Extract courtesy of advice from my bestie, urrrgh it tastes horrid.   But I woke this morning thinking hmmmm I was planning my LSR (long slow run for non-runners reading this) today and I thought I would be tempting fate.    Will see how I fare tomorrow, although I want to be up super early cheering my friends on who are up at the Gold Coast this weekend for the marathon festivities.  Love that we can live track them and see how they are going too.

And with 4th July upon us, there were lots of American style goodies in the Designer Digitals store this weekend so I put them to good use.

Goodies I used from Designer Digitals

Take that universe!!

Firstly I'm going gangbusters on my #100kmforJune.  Will I make it, time will tell.  But every run I've taken a photograph of my run and continued the tally, you can see I'm still steadily rising.

I have run around town, with an audience of cows...

I have run along the foreshore after work in the cold chilly air.  Who am I kidding, it's cold nearly every morning and evening now, and all through the day!!

I have found incidental runs, like when I had to pick up my car after it got it's first 1000km service (yep, how quick that rolled around), so decided to change in my gear and run from work, and then drive back to pick up my bag, coat, etc.   I'm sure they thought I was quite mad, they kept saying "but we could have sent the courtesy car to get you".  

I ran during early weekend hours, while the town was snoozing, I saw the sunrise.

I felt the cold and the long tights have been the order of the day, brrrrr.

Take that universe ... I became completely tough hard core bad ass and ran after work in the rain and wind and rainbows and unicorns.  Okay okay, there were no unicorns, but I did feel like the universe was throwing everything at me.  I got to test out my new raincoat and gave it the thumbs up, very comfortable.  Someone mentioned to me I was glowing with health and vitality here.  Errr, more like the setting sun was making my sweat glow! ha.

And as of tonight's run I ran when I got home from work until it was too dark, heck the nights come in early now...

Actually I was desperate to run tonight.  Last night's rainbow run had me running till dark around Warrnambool, actually I was just about to my car and ACDC's Thunderstruck came on my headphones so I ended up doing another blockie, ahhh the power of music!  But when I got home I realised my yearly tally was 499.23.  WHAAAAAAT????  If I'd known that I would have run up to the corner and back.  

So as of tonight I'm into the 500's.  June hasn't yet finished and I'm halfway, that was where I wanted to be.   But still I've got just shy of 18km to run in the next seven days.  Can I do it?   One thing is for sure, this 100km for June challenge I set myself has had a marked improvement on my fitness.  I'm feeling great.

100 km for June

Well I must say it's adding up.  Nothing like having a goal and working towards it.  I've been taking some pics of my journey in clocking the k's (and then putting fun filters on them through apps on my phone.  Fun to keep track.

Bridge down near Lake Pertobe, have worked out a good route to run after work.  Was up to 29.24km on this run.

Running after work lately means getting back to the car on dusk, or at times when it's dark.  Don't worry, making sure I'm parked in a well lit area.   And the dark part of my run is through town under street lights.   34.38, building the k's.   

Thank you Warrnambool for a beautiful end to the working week, this was Friday's big just shy of 9km effort after work.  Able to see the sun go down.  It was a superb evening.   So as of right now I'm up to 43.14km as at 13th of the month.   I'll be happy to be at 50km by the 15th, that will mean I'm on par.

I'm feeling pretty positive.  Kinda.  Sorta.   ;-)