Warning: Don’t kiss any pigs

Kermit must be freaking out right now.

If I die from the swine flu I’ll take it all back, in the meantime I am not going to start bidding on ebay for the hermetically sealed bubble quite yet, mass hysteria never was a good colour on me.

Visions of the future and alternate realities

It is heartening to know that at least most of you have heard of 1984, if not read it. I am always taken aback if someone stares at me blankly if I mention it; I just thought it was one of those cultural icons. It wasn’t on my high school curriculum; however we did watch Animal Farm, which of course I then read which lead to 1984. I saw the film on video when I was in about grade 6 (my parents were happy for me to watch the strangest things when I was young, I remember once being woken by my father to watch open heart surgery on TV because he thought I would find it interesting, then again he also thought is appropriate to teach a four year old to read using Wilbur Smith novels), but it didn’t really register so I watched it again after reading the book and yes, it did come across quite well as a film.

This lead to me think of some of my other faves, there seems to be a pattern emerging –

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K Dick – Made into the film Bladerunner which I love. A few of PK Dicks short stories were adapted for film, Total Recall and Minority Report, I’ll admit to seeing Minority Report, even if it did feature that evil alien munchkin Tom Cruise.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – the film was pretty good, if you ignore the bash you about the skull seventies ness of the costume and set design. The book takes a bit of getting used to as Burgess writes with quite a bit of made up slang.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll (and before you ask I thought The Matrix was crap)

All of this rambling is a just a smoke screen for the fact that I am not saying much about running lately. I have been having a small crisis of confidence, I said a week or so ago that I feel like this is my danger period, having laid the ground work for injury this same time over the last two years. Fact is I am near paralytic with fear over it! I think I have lost the ability to discern between a minor don’t worry about it niggle or the potential onset of a stress fracture. Last week I pulled up a little sore from a run and was in a deep and dark mood all the next day, by the time I pushed off for my run on Saturday morning I was nearly sick with panic, two steps in I realised I felt fine and calmed down a little bit.

As a result I’ve not done much at all over the last 10 days and have lost my direction somewhat and the fear has robbed me of the enjoyment. I’ve decided to stop fretting about the Sandown 10km at the end of May, instead admit to myself that I won’t be at my best and not rush to get into shape for it. I’ve even gone all new age and bought something called Zen Therapeutic Tincture, it is a muscle rub that is supposed to help reduce inflammation, who the hell knows if it will make any difference, but I’ll give it a go. Right now if I was told that dancing naked under the full moon would prevent a stress fracture I’d be inclined to give it a go. Incidentally that is not a cue to suggest that I dance naked under a full moon as obviously I am joking (just don’t go driving past my house during the next full moon, you may get a fright).

I am not totally neurotic though, my shins were tight as correlated by Corrie last night when I had a massage, however there was nothing specific and trust me, this is no sweetness and light aroma therapy massage, it’s H A R D, if there was anything awry in there I’d have been jumping off the table.

I have my regular appointment with the Doc in two weeks, where no doubt she will slap me around for freaking out so much instead of making a time for her to have a quick dig in my shins and give me a yay or nay.

I might give intervals a miss tonight though, feeling a bit run down as well, all this worry is exhausting stuff, maybe a light 8km or so is in order.

Big Brother is not reality TV

I happened across someone today, my age, similar upbringing and education, someone who has NOT read Orwell’s 1984, not only that, she had never heard of it!

I was honestly shocked, isn’t this one of those books that everyone reads at least once?

My copy, purchased second hand countless years ago is falling apart. If I were to be sent to a desert island and could only take 5 books with me this would be one of them, no hesitation. I won’t wax lyrical, suffice to say I LOVE this book, Love it and re-read it regularly, it didn’t translate too badly to film either.

Have you read it, am I over reacting?

Cross Country – Rd 1

Eeeeeek, a personal worse for the Jells Park XC course

Thought I had actually run my best time for the course, turned out to be my worst by about 27 seconds. Funnily enough though I had a great day and am not out on a ledge about it, Round 1 for me has traditionally been a poor one for various reasons. It probably didn’t help that I did 10km as a run leader this morning, remind me to check my diary next time I agree to fill in

Jells Relays are always a good day out and the weather was perfect, despite some threatening black clouds and it was great to catch up with mates before getting down to business. I had already paid for my uniform so I went though the box looking for a small singlet, found one, only problem is the uniform supplier must have though they were outfitting a rugby team My singlet is HUGE, it covers my shorts and falls off my shoulders! I am going to have to take it out to mums and ask her to run it in up the sides, not much that can be done about the length so I will have to become a tucker, either that or I lose a Kg or two, do some more sit ups and wear a crop top.

I was running in the open team with a 14 and a 16 year old girl, both of whom ran bloody well considering that hadn’t done 6km in XC before. My run was alright, I ran pretty even splits for both laps but it’s not really anything to blog home about, 28:42 in the end, I decided to just get around and not flog myself too much. Partway though the first lap there was a junior girl struggling up a hill, wheezing a bit, so I slowed briefly to make sure she was going to be OK, poor munchkin had given it her all I think. Oh, even though it wasn’t my best performance I did manage to get back 3 places (I was the second runner), so not an altogether bad day on the park.

There was a good atmosphere amongst my new club mates, so in spite of the giant singlet I think I am going to be pretty happy there. Next round is a 4′ker in Warrigal on a pretty challenging course, looking forward to it, with a few more weeks training in the legs I should be in better shape and hopefully by then the last of the Trailwalker niggles will have settled, I was getting some twinges in the backs of my knees out there today, ITB fine though.

Good to see some fab runs from some mates out there today, Jo got my measure for round 1 pipping me by about 20 seconds Corrie absolutely kicked butt with 26 something and lived up to my prediction that I will be looking at her back for the rest of the season and of course all the speedy pants boys I know where speedy as usual. A couple of them ran around 20 minutes and were warmed down and sipping hot chocolate by the time I got around, my male club mates easily won their division!

So there you go, not such a great day out running for me but all up an enjoyable afternoon. Oh yeah, remind me again, no 10km warm ups in future.

Warning: This post may contain sarcasm

“Hi, would you like to sign a petition saying No to violence against women?”

Of course I say no to violence against women, equally I say no to violence against children, men, animals and in a more metaphysical sense, the environment.

Violence is abhorrent and to inflict physical or mental harm on another living creature is the lowest act, how anyone can harden their heart enough to look in the eyes of another and cause pain is beyond me.

However when a rather earnest and be-dreadlocked young man flashed his Amnesty International credentials at me last night and implored me to sign aforementioned petition I must confess I had to politely decline. Last year, when I was sitting about Federation Square and had some time on my hands I did argue the toss with another AI person who asked me to sign a petition condemning censorship in China.

My view is that I don’t think collecting the signatures of several thousand or more well meaning pedestrians is going to change anything. I don’t expect that they power brokers of the Taliban or Mujahideen and sitting about the campfire in their cave somewhere discussing the latest western opinion of their gender relations policy.

“Oh shit brothers, a coupla thou in Melbourne (where?) seem to think that beating your wife and gunning down gobby women with too many opinions is a bad thing, perhaps we need to change our way of thinking here”

Likewise I hold grave doubts that the Reds in China are going to implement freedom of the press on the back of an AI petition

Years of sustained embargoes on Iraq seemed to do little for Saddam’s resolve; the population were starved, deprived of vital medial supplies and routinely “disappeared” at the hands of the ruling elite, do you think a petition condemning his actions could have helped?

Ok, it’s all very well to lay on the sarcasm, at least dreadlock boy was trying to do something, even if that something was as about as useful as asking Robert Mugabe really nicely to maybe think about easing up with the whole despotic murdering your naysayers into submission thing.

I certainly don’t have the answers and admit that the problems of the world are far bigger than me, so I continue to be grateful that I was born in a country where our biggest concern is that our elected leader is a toxic bore and not a murdering psychopath and that I can blog pointlessly and sarcastically without fearing for my life.

Running

Just a little bit of that since last post, lets see…..

Run Leading on Tuesday night, an easy 10km, rest yesterday and off to training tonight.

I certainly heed your advice Ewen and it is as sensible as always, problem is I love going to training because I get to catch up with my mates and have a laugh as well. I will try to find some middle ground, and look at laying off the speed work as I increase my mileage from June or going easier at sessions.

Made it!

Eventually, it only took two and half weeks!

Jo and I finished the last section of Trailwalker today, for some closure and for Jo to be sure that her recalcitrant legs would not have carried her over the last section had she made the decision to press on.

Having never done that section with fresh legs I was unsure how long it would take and thought maybe 2 hours, I was way off, GPS clocked the distance as 9,7km and it took us 80 minutes, I reckon we probably ran about 6km and walked the rest, remember there are a few hills in this section.

It was very satisfying to finish and I even had a flutter in my stomach as we came out on to the oval. There were some horsey people doing horsey things nearby, not sure what they thought of a couple of women bursting from the bush, running on to the oval and doing a victory dance.

So, I can draw a line under TW ‘09 now, the cross country and road racing season is about to start. April and May is also my danger period, the work I have done during this time in the last two years has lead to stress fractures in June. So, careful, careful, careful is the mantra, I wish there was a magic way of knowing when one is forming so I can back off but experience tells me that by the time you know it is sadly too late. All I can do is curb my enthusiasm, train conservatively and hope for the best

The one thing that I am going to do that is different is keep the long runs down under 15km until June, I have a half marathon in early September and I am hoping I can get away with slightly lower mileage until about 3 months out. Well, it’s gonna have to do, I would rather be slightly off my best that risk breaking down again.

And that’s another Easter long weekend done, I have really made the most of it this year, the weather was perfect, I got some enjoyable runs done and my garden is looking great ahead of winter. What a shame I have to go back to work tomorrow, I was getting used to this relaxed lifestyle and to add to the pain Tuesdays I have to get up at 5am!

Alone, bush trail, sunny morning

and as close to perfection as I think I am ever going to get.

I am not one of the shiny happy people and nor do I think I ever while be, I think a certain melancholy will probably always dog me, but that’s fine, I’ve lived with my slightly dislocated personality this long and will surely live with it for many more years to come.

Sometimes, when I least expect it, I am granted a brief moment of serious contentment, my mind is clear, things that are bothering me are forgotten and I can just get lost in the moment.

I went to Lysterfield Lake for my run this morning and apart from a couple of runners early on I had the trail to myself. The morning was beautifully sunny, the temperature just right and I was happily trotting along at a nice gentle pace, I had no plan on where to go or how far so I just followed my nose. One thing though, I wanted to run up Wallaby Track, I’ve only tackled it uphill twice before and both times it got the better of me. I measured it from the bottom, it is about 1.25km up, not serious up, but a long steady persistent climb.

Well…..

I made it

Not super fast, but no walking and no stopping, I just concentrated on good form and plugged away until finally the top was in sight. Luckily for me no one was around to hear my triumphant whoop and to see my little happy dance, I had a little breather, drew a smiley face in the gravel with a stick and continued on my way.

It was stunning out there today, I can’t describe how wonderfully peaceful it was out there on the trails all alone, seriously relaxing.

I got back to my car in a little under 12km so continued on to the kiosk for a drink and then back to the car for 12km. Not a super long run and at just under 70 minutes not especially fast either, but a very enjoyable one, 43km for the week and thanks to a soak in the cold lake afterwards a reasonably happy ITB.

I have some pics but am still working from my old lap top and don’t want to start uploading stuff to it because my little brother is getting it next week.

Ahh dear, back to reality now I suppose

Can I have chocolate now?

I love easter, it is my fave time of the year, a guaranteed four days off work, bliss

So far I have spent my days sleeping late, working in the garden, having a nap and then going for an afternoon run, something I could quite happily do all the time if I had the means.

Today I transplanted a camellia from a hidden corner of the garden and gave it pride of place in a great big pot. It seems to have naturally formed a standard habit and has a rather unusual trunk that has twisted on itself. It came out of the ground reasonably well and despite serious neglect was pretty healthy, now it has been given a generous dose of seasol I am crossing my fingers that it survives the move.

I also planted up a heap of pansies and violas in pots and have arranged them on my deck and on the steps, a little bit of colourful cheer to lift my mood on winter days and finally a couple of lavenders in big blue pots, phew.

After that it was nap time, ahh the joy of a little early afternoon kip

This afternoon I decided it was time to test the legs for a little bit of speed so I settled on a warm up, 5 by 500 mtre and a cool down, all up 7km, the results of the reps are as follows, the recovery was 90 seconds –

2:12 @ 4:23
2:07 @ 4:13
2:01 @ 4:02
2:03 @ 4:05
2:03 @ 4:05

A bit shaky at the start but I settled in for the last three, felt harder than it normally would so I was pleasantly surprised at the pace.

Tomorrow it’s back to the trails for some easy running around Lysterfield, not sure how far, 12 to 15km I suppose.

I think I would really like some chocolate now, is is just me or does it taste better when shaped like an egg and covered in colourful foil.

Hold on

and if you have a god start praying.

That’s my advice to you if you accept a lift somewhere with my mum. I despair for her, I really do, frankly I don’t know how she has not been in a serious accident. We went to see Judith Lucy last night and she picked me up in Ringwood after I had my massage, normally I offer to drive but she insisted last night. I think the scariest moment was when I realised she had driven over the unbroken yellow line and on to the tram tracks, I just closed my eyes and begged the lights to change before the rapidly approaching tram started dinging like a madman. Of course, like all women of a certain age she is totally unflappable and won’t be told, I think once a woman is over about 55 they take on a certain sense of entitlement. It also does not help that I have a pathological need to be in control at all times, I hate being in the passenger seat and get so tense that I nearly snap my spine, possibly I need to learn to lighten up a little bit

The show wasn’t bad, though having been up at 5am for coaching I was pretty stuffed and really just wanted my comfy couch and a glass or three of red wine, it ended up being a late one, Mum was enjoying herself so I treated her to a fancy dinner before we headed home.

This morning mum, step dad and my step brother aka the Canadian Bear where over with the trailer to cart away all the debris left behind when my french doors were installed a few weeks ago. My step dad is very sweet and won’t let me do any heavy lifting, probably because he can’t handle watching me attempt to haul big bits of wood about with my puny girls arms, he thinks he is being subtle by asking me to go and make him a cup of tea

I conceded my weakness and let them get on with it while I planted a heap of daffodil bulbs, once they start poking though I know we are on the right side of winter

Running
Still trying to take it easy after imposing two easy weeks on myself, I’ve just taken two days off and was keen to get out for a run this afternoon. I headed down to the Dandy Creek trail with no real plan in mind, I finished up with 9km in about 46 minutes. My ITB is still pulling a bit but after some stretching and icing post run it feels fine.

I might try a fartlek session tomorrow, see if I have any speed at all left in my legs.

Jo and I are heading back to Milgrove on Monday to finish that last section of the Trailwalker course.

Now, didn’t have time to get to the shops yesterday, nothing in the house, looks like Fish ‘n Chips for dinner tonight.

Cross, but not hot

The sun is going down earlier these days and as if on cue the weather has taken a wintry turn. We have been training the last couple of Tuesday nights in lovely Indian summer conditions, last night it was chilly and a little windy with the occasional refreshing burst of near horizontal rain.

It’s at times like this that a training group comes in handy, without the motivation of meeting others to run I dare say I’d have been on the couch with a blanket and a bottle of red wine for company. It was an easy recovery session last night, a very cruisy 9.5km or thereabouts as a group at 6 minute Kms, followed by a few strides and then a short cool down. My ITB had tightened up a little after Sunday’s run, fortunately it behaved itself yesterday so the niggle was probably just chucking up some death throes.

With the end of daylight savings a new training venue was required and with a new fun run training series starting on Tuesday nights a new training day was required, so speed work has been moved to Monday nights which could be a bit tough after a Sunday long run. Alternatively I could move my massages to a Wednesday night and get out to Berwick on Thursdays for training, bit of a drive though, Hmmmmm, what to do?

For a great read from an athlete who competed at the recent World Cross Country Champs in Jordan have a look here , Marilyn was part of the Canadian Women’s team, make sure you read the days leading up too. This girl can really run and I get a heap of inspiration from her blog.

I am having a rant about hot cross buns, what’s with all the messed about with alternatives? I fancied one for afternoon tea yesterday so I popped out to the Bakery,

Em – one hot cross bun please
Bakery Chick – Mocha or choc chip?
Em – sorry, was after a hot cross bun, not ice cream
BC – they are hot cross buns
Em – I just want a normal one
BC – we sold out of those this morning
Em – Umm, bye

Marketing 101, if at lunch time you have sold out of the normal hot cross buns but have oodles of the new fangled ones left going begging here’s a hint, make more normal ones!

I went to an independent non franchise bakery today and joy of joys that had a big pile of normal hot cross buns fresh out of the oven, yum!!!