Is she going on a holiday?

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Yes she is. And so is Hubs. And Chanbe. And Quinnbe. We leave tomorrow night for Brisbane, then on Wednesday we are heading to Rainbow Beach for 4 nights, then the Gold Coast for a night, then back to Woody Point for a night before heading to Melbourne. We will spend a couple of nights there, then go to Wang for Thursday night, then back to Melbourne until the following Tuesday. We then head back to Brisbane for a couple of days before Hubs drives back up to T’ville. The kids and I will stay down at Woody Pt for another week or 2 after that.

What? I didn’t say it was going to be a relaxing holiday! It’s what we do. We don’t mean to do it, but it always ends up this way. Hopefully there will be a few days here and there where we can take a deep breath and chill. The last 2 weeks have been quite relaxing a great, with a couple of visitors, some wine, some jazz, and lovely sleep-ins followed by cooked breakfasts. Yum!

Life is pretty damn sweet. Hope to see you in your home down during the next month. And hope to be here blogging about it too, but as always, this will depend on internet access.

26 hours til we leave! I should really start packing…

My first 5km fun run

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I did it! It was hard going, but I ran (jogged) the whole way and didn’t stop til I got to the end! It felt really amazing, even though I was in a world of pain by the end of it. My sciatica wasn’t too bad during the run, but my hip was sore pretty much the whole time. And it was when I stopped that the sciatica pain flared up. But that doesn’t matter!!! I did it!

Here we are before the run, at the starting line:

And here we are at the end:

As you can see, Beth hardly broke out in a sweat, but you would come to expect that of a personal trainer who completes triathlons and trains every day 🙂 It was so good having Beth there to cheer me on the whole way. Once I got to the half way mark, I knew I could do the whole thing. It was slow going (45min total) but I didn’t stop. And I’m feeling really proud of myself right now. And even though I’m pretty sore still, I’m already looking forward to the next one in a month! Bridge to Brisbane, here I come!

Staying positive

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Well it was bound to happen. It’s what I do. I was attempting my first 5k run last Sunday in the lead up to this Sunday’s fun run, and at 3km, sciatica pain hit. At 4km I had to stop. I was quite sad and couldn’t help being a little (very) frustrated. I came home, took some pain killers and have been hoping for the best ever since. I’ve been doing what all the articles are telling me to do – stretch, heat, cold, rest, pain killers. Today is the first day I’ve noticed a small improvement. I really have my heart set on running this Sunday, and I’m just trying to stay positive that it will happen.

I’ve never stuck to a plan like this before, and there’s still a part of me that can’t believe I actually made it (almost!) this far. I feel like, if I can do this, there are so many other things I can believe I’m capable of.

I just have to get through Sunday. Wish me luck!!!!!

A 3 point turn

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Life has been weird lately. I’ve been getting cranky for no reason, been in crazy moods (up and down) and getting frustrated over things that shouldn’t be consuming so much of my energy.

But yesterday, I had a bit of a breakthrough. 3, in fact.

1. Chanbe’s toilet training has been hard work. I never thought I’d have a 2.5+ year old in nappies. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with that, I had just decided that he would be toilet trained by 2. Because that would be convenient. For me. But he just wasn’t interested. And I know I know – the more I push it, the more frustrated everyone gets. So I’ve been really trying to just let it progress at his pace. And finally, we are having breakthroughs.

What I know to be true: Chanbe will not be wearing nappies forever.

2. My running has been going pretty well, but yesterday I pushed myself and actually ran for probably half of my 4.4km run at different intervals. It felt amazing to actually be covering some serious ground at a good pace. I felt like I was running, not just shuffling along.

What I know to be true: I will be running the Townsville fun run and Bridge to Brisbane and it will feel amazing when I push myself to run as fast as I can across that damn finish line!!

3. Lately I’ve been having a self-diagnosed existential crisis. Ever had one? Yes? How much does it suck?? No?? It sucks. A lot. I’ve been trying to work through it on my own and with Hubs, and after going on strike last week, not doing any housework (because what’s the point?) I decided to get some help. I had an amazing appointment yesterday with the counsellor I’ve been seeing this year (she really helped me earlier in the year when we had so much adjusting to do) and I left feeling a certain clarity that I haven’t felt in a long time.

What I know to be true: I’ve been functioning at an insanely stressful level these past few months (18 months??) and finally life is a bit more stable and predictable. And that’s okay. I need to breathe, enjoy it, and slow the hell down.

Life is good. Our kids are amazing. Hubs is beautiful. Holidays are a-coming. I choose to enjoy it.

Chanbe’s car trip

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There’s a fair bit of road works going on a few kms from our house, and although it would be quicker to avoid it, I’d also miss out on this each morning:

(Re: the “smiley face” he’s referring to: There’s a temporary speed sign that says 40 and has a speed camera on it. If you’re going 40km/h or under, it gives you a big smiley face.)

(The size and quality are better if you click on the “YouTube” icon on the bottom right, and view it via YouTube.)

And of course, if I’d kept filming for another 5 seconds, you would have also been treated to a big “BOBCAT!! Bobcat Mama!!!”

I love the delight the Chanbe finds in a boring old trip in the car. It’s definitely a highlight of my day 🙂

Mind over body and lungs over legs

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I’ve gotten to a stage with my running where my cardio fitness has surpassed my physical abilities, and it’s hard going. I feel like I’m doing well with the “mind over body” with positive thoughts (I can do this; just keep running; nearly there) but my legs are finding it hard keeping up with my lungs. I wish I had added some leg muscle strengthening exercise into my training, but it might be a bit late for that now.

Or is it? I’m worried that if I start doing squats and lunges, I won’t be able to walk the next day, let alone run! Maybe a few days of pain now will be worth it in the end though? The fun run is only 18 days away, so I can’t imagine I’ll be able to achieve much in that time, but maybe it’s worth a try!

And here’s the big news: I’m also going to do the 5k leg of the Bridge to Brisbane this year!! I looked at the dates and it’s on the 1st of September which is only a few days after we were going to leave Brisbane after our holidays. I had a chat to Hubs and he was very supportive about me staying for the extra week so I can do it (and recover) and fly home with the kids a few days later! He has to come back for work, otherwise he would have stayed to cheer me on.

I feel really excited about committing to this, as it means this isn’t, for now, just a passing faze. And the other exciting news? My clothes are fitting so much better! I pulled out my jeans and 3/4 that I put away when I got too fat pregnant (both??) and couldn’t fit into them. I tried them on a few months ago and they still didn’t fit. I hadn’t even considered that they might fit now, but 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of black pants and 4 pairs of 3/4 pants now fit me again!! So even though I haven’t lost much weight, (that’s all about the food) I seem to have toned up enough to have dropped a size. Woo!!

To be honest, I haven’t felt this good about my health for years. I feel like things are getting back on track, and I’m really enjoying the benefits of regular exercise. Now I just have to tackle the food…

Smile!

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It is my mission at the moment to try and get them to smile at the same time. Quinn is a bit of a blur in the first one, as Chance wasn’t supporting her too well! If I could merge the 2 together, we’d have it!



I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I’m still on a high. Yesterday I completed Week 5, day 3 of the couch 2 5k program. I know I know. I started the program 11 weeks ago, but I had a few setbacks that slowed me down a bit. So I restarted 7 weeks ago, and have been working my way through the 9 week program a little slower, so I can do it right.

And last night it paid off. The summary for last night’s run was: (From RunDouble)

“Day 3 follows (the warm-up walk) with a single 3.2km run.”

and then it says:

“Don’t be put off, you’ve been preparing for this for 5 weeks, just keep a steady pace, and keep going.”

Oh I was put off. I mean, the last few weeks of my training have been going so well. I’ve really been enjoying the runs, and haven’t stopped during any of them. My pace has been anywhere between 7min 45sec to 9min per km, but that doesn’t worry me. The running feels good. My feet feel good. My knees, hips, ankles are fine.

But 3.2km?? The furthest interval I’d run was 1.2km the day before. But since the running had been going so well, I decided that I could do it. Even before I put my shoes and running gear on, I knew I could do it.

And I did it. It was so awesome. I have NEVER run/jogged that far in my adult life and it just felt so amazing. I’m really proud of myself (can you tell??) and I’m 100% sure that I’ll be running the 5k by the 4th of August – less than 5 weeks away.