Either that or emptying the contents of my angsty brain into a blog post has the power to influence my darling children after all!

Last night Ms Nearly 15 was reading my last post, and was most affronted.

"You haven't blogged about Zoe and me!!"

"I know, I know... I will tomorrow. I have Twittered it though!"

So! Just so you know, Internets! ...

SLOTH #1 AND SLOTH#3 ARE NOT SLOTHS.

(And to be fair, #2 was doing 2 hours of rep netball training at the same time.)

Around 4.00 yesterday afternoon Cait said that she might go for another jog.

!!!

"Why don't you take Zoe" I said. "She needs to do some jogging before the school cross country, and I can't run."

"Ok"

!!!!

"Zoe! Get your joggers on. We're going for a run."

!!!!
(Wow... I wish I had that sort of influence!)

She raided the money jar, but I wasn't going to argue. I thought they were only going to go to the headland, and come back to our local shop, and if they did that they could buy something.

But they went all the way to the next beachside town! For an icecream.

As you do.

I just plotted it on bikely/google earth...

That was a 5.5km return trip! and they jogged most of the way!

The creek (that I got my feet wet in the other weekend) was also still flowing out so Cait took her shoes and socks off, and piggybacked her sister across!

And she rang me, twice, on the way back to let me know where they were. As it was getting dark, and I might have been wondering where they were.

Am I impressed?

Yes, yes, and YES!

Now I am going to have to do something today to keep up appearances. I was still a bit sore yesterday and didn't get round to doing anything.

I have just dropped Zoe at a friend's place at that next town.. and told her that either her sister or I would walk/jog to pick her up!

Maybe it should be me!

Labels: daily, endorphins

Late afternoon shot of everyone floating to a stop after crossing the finish line..

With upper bodies throughly 'worked out'... the plan for Sunday was to focus on trashing the legs. (He's in training remember.) A 'walk' in the morning, and a mountain bike ride in the afternoon. Again, despite hearing early morning rain, the weather was kind to us this morning, and we only ended up with a few spots of rain, despite the ominous rumblings of thunder in the distance. (What?! The forecast was showers, not thunderstorms!)

Mr In-Training plotted a route from home out to the state forest, and up some steep state forest tracks onto the ridgeline. Along a bit. Then back down again.

I guess that doesn't mean that much... How about an elevation profile? See what looks like the steep bits in the middle? They were the steep bits.

Photographically:

(Ignore the red spot on the map.) We started off from home... a block back from the beach there. First a few kilometres through residential streets.. .. along the bike path ...

Ooh look, kangaroos... Mum with joey in pouch, plus older brother/sister?

...and then up towards the state forest.

This time we were detouring off our usual bike riding route and heading up "a steep track". At first I was thinking "Oh, this is nice, perhaps we could ride our bikes this way some time."

Then we hit this hill....

Hmmm... maybe not.. or.. well... maybe you could just push them up this bit...

But then...

[Apparently I swore - he heard me...]

"Slippery When Wet." Indeed. We've had rain. It wasn't too easy to negotiate in runners or cross trainers... (Normally I'd choose dunlop volleys when I need some tyres with grip.) So now he is talking about acquiring adventure racing shoes ... there is apparently this whole retail industry set up to sell adventure racing specific clothing and gear! Who would have thought it?!

Looking back down:
I was so busy worrying about traction, I didn't think to get puffed. And you certainly get height value for each step when it's that steep. Before long we were at the top and tootling along a gently undulating track, to be rewarded with the view back down from where we'd come.


And then State Forest emerged back out into farmland. The road back down was pretty damned steep too, but fortunately paved. Some landowner had placed "Private Property" signs at the top, but there was no gate, and as it was the most direct route home, we took it. I was too busy worrying about my knees on the steep downhill and didn't get the camera out.

My feet, legs, hips and bum were suitably 'trashed' by the time we got home, and so I wussed out of the afternoon's MTB adventure. Mr In-Training went off to meet up with a cycling friend to explore some tracks near town... while I stayed home to recover "encourage" the girls to get out and do something. Suggestions of going for a jog to get a bit of practice in before the school cross country were met by an apoplectic and tearful reaction from Ms 9. [So I thought she liked it when she came first last year! Go figure.. who am I to understand.. or to suggest doing a bit of training?! God, it's not like I don't practise what I .. suggest...]

The eldest finally decided to go for a run/walk with a friend - seeing they were told by their rep netball coach to keep their fitness up during the holidays. The other two managed to contact some friends - also sisters - and did a swap for an hour or so. Not quite as active, but then the rain closed in again anyway. If they'd got themselves going earlier they would have had a much more productive and fulfilling day! Just ask their crazy parents.

Labels: daily, endorphins

"Hey kids, what do you reckon about trying cross country skiing?"

I delve through the photo albums from 'the old days'.. (aka "B.C.")
Reckon this one will convince them it's fun?!

Hey, it's ok.. Dad was just trying to be clever.. trying to do telemark turns.

Plus when you get away from the groomed downhill slopes, the snow can be soft and powdery, and it doesn't hurt when you fall!

See, look - Mum is upright here - though that's not cross country skiing in action.. I'm just standing there for the photo....


Actually, you went when you were a baby, Cait! -

You loved it.. you wanted Daddy to go faster!

The thing about cross country skiing is the chance to get away from the crowds. Bushwalking on skis they call it. It's hard work, using all the major muscle groups, but once you've mastered the *swish swish* of the technique, it's very satisfying gliding along... and getting to enjoy the amazing scenery of the Snowy Mountains in winter.

While I suppose (if I manage to pull off this crazy idea of getting down to the snow in the July school holidays) we won't manage to get off the groomed trails and into the back country, hopefully the girls will enjoy the experience enough to want to do it again.

Accommodation... ski hire... appropriate clothing... As usual I am biting off more than I can chew...

Labels: endorphins

"So I'd probably slow you down if I came on this walk with you."

"Nah, you'll be right."

Anyone familiar with me by now will guess that this wasn't going to be a romantic stroll.

He's decided on a course that will take us down the beach and over a headland to the next beachside village... which is actually going to be the headquarters of the adventure race he is training for. (He figures he should familiarise himself a bit more with the surrounding countryside as his team might just be expecting a bit of local knowledge from him. So a bit of beach walking, and a bit of forest roads.)

I got my feet wet crossing the creek that empties out into the surf. (Because I was following him across the rocks and didn't think to look out for the waves washing in. Duh.) Rest of the walk in squelchy shoes and socks.

1km back out to the highway - and then a noisy 1.6 interlude down the highway. Back into peace and quiet in semi-rural residential area, and up a steep hill. It's a good view when you get to the top and look back.



Then into the State Forest.. and a road we were familiar with from our mountain bike trips. (The bugger is you know it's going to take a whole lot longer to walk it than ride it!) Time for a snack (turns out this is about 7km from the start - about half way.)


His original aim was to cover about 12km, but we were still a few kms from home when my pedometer showed that. And by then the wet socks and shoes were starting to rub a bit... And the legs were starting to feel it.

Total distance according to my pedometer - 16km. Total km as plotted on bikely.com 14.9km.

"So did I slow you down?"

"No way, I wouldn't have wanted to walk much faster than that.."

Both a bit sore. It'll be interesting trying to get out of bed in the morning.

Speaking of bed....

Labels: endorphins

I'll keep telling myself that anyway. I've been an active girl today... and despite feeling pretty weary, it's all good, good, good.

With the end of daylight saving (thank goodness!- from the point of view of an early morning exercise convert, it's just bloody silly when it's still dark at 6.30) we were able to ride our tandem from home into town this morning. First light at 5.41, so we left about that time. 75 km later we were home again. Mind you, I think it's more the 5am get-up that leaves me a bit shattered by mid-afternoon, despite the coffee and a second breakfast (of fried eggs on toast!) before leaving town!

Shattered? Pffft. Why not push the envelope a bit more... Today there was no netball! It's the start of the school holidays - 2 weeks thereof, so 3 weekends netball-free. So it was a good chance for the mummy and daddy to do something else for themselves. It's been a long time coming, but finally, this past year, we are getting some regular 'us' time.

Years ago - and we're talking twenty-one of them - way back when we first started going out together - we started paddling canoe marathons (in a kayak, just to confuse you with terminology) in a double "TK2". We started paddling long distances together - gradually getting better as we did so. I'm talking marathons like the Hawkesbury River Canoe Classic (111km overnight) and the Murray River Marathon (400 km over 5 days.) We even progressed to an olympic class K2 (which differs from the touring class kayaks in that it is longer, even tippier, and with a stern rudder (underneath the boat) instead of a trailing rudder. (But that boat is currently in two halves, which is a whole other segue which I won't bore you with here..!!)

Most normal people would progress from paddling shorter to longer distances, but ever the rebels, we did it the other way, and started paddling shorter races (like 20km ones).(Which they still call marathons by the way!) We even won our class (Mixed open TK2 one year) in the NSW marathon series- travelling to a number of races around the state.

We last paddled "seriously" back in about 1990, but then started owner building a house, having babies, and, hard as it is to imagine, the kayaking didn't really get a look-in. Since we moved here 10 years ago we've had a couple of attempts at paddling with this local kayak club who run a handicap race every Saturday afternoon. One last baby and general babysitting issues interfered yet again, and we've never really managed to get back there, despite the occasional "We should try to go for a paddle sometime".

Sometimes all it takes is a catalyst (and for your kids to be old enough ... finally, finally...) A few weeks ago an old canoeing friend from our marathon days let us know about an adventure race to be held in our neck of the woods. We're talking trekking, mountain biking, sea kayaking and roping.

One thing led to another - the one thing being Marc considering doing the 'half' race, if he could find other people to do so with him - and the 'other' being him accepting an invitation to fill a sudden vacancy on this guy's team in the full race.

And I call me crazy....

Fortunately the team (2 men, 2 women) only aim to finish, not to win. Marc has done some adventure racing, back in the past.. He's certainly got cycling experience. He is au fait with ropes. And map-reading. And he can paddle, even if he hasn't done so for a while. And this team doesn't run the trekking part, so if he trains himself up over the next few weeks, he should be able to do it. These guys have just done quite a bit of this adventure racing over the years, while Marc's been busy with family, and working overseas a lot.

Unfortunately they are tandem nuts as well, and so they'll be riding tandems. This is an "unfortunately" because Marc isn't so keen on doing so on dirt - they would surely be quicker on singles. And I'm not so keen on him doing so with Another Woman. While it won't be on my tandem, it's effectively my seat. I am coming to terms with him doing this, because, after all, it is quite possibly this mad streak in him that attracted me to him in the first place. (So he reckons, anyway. ) I am not a good spectator, but in this instance I'll have to leave on the Sunday to drive two kids to Sydney for a recorder concert!)

So, if nothing else, he needs to train up, and if I can ride on his shirttails here, and get the benefit of the training, if not the actual thing (which realistically is beyond me anyway) then that's a bonus.

So today we pulled out the TK2, gave it a tub, and rocked up to the kayak club Saturday afternoon race. (Well, he washed it, and got the roof racks organised - I mowed the back yard, and drove #1 daughter into town to the movies!)

We made a pact to take this first hit-out easy, to make sure we could still do it. We could! Style ok. Didn't fall out. Muscles must have memory. We did the 6.5 km (for 'C' grade at a gentle pace ... and the arms didn't fall off. (I'm hoping my swimming helps.) We have said we'll go back.. Next week we can do so netball free, but after that we'll have to start scheming ways to make it there in time and back to pick up kids.

So I am tired, but happily so. I'd rather fall into bed physically tired, for one. But also, being back in the kayak, doing what we used to do, is great.

Not an easy sport to photograph..with less chance of there being spectators lining the 'course'.. this isn't quite what we look like these days. That was in the old days, in the K2. Somewhere just after that time we switched seats, and so now I paddle in the back (much like on the tandem!), bought carbon fibre wing paddles, and started paddling the marathon series races.

Still.. you get the picture....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next morning: Marc got up at 1.30 am, drove into town, and rode around a velodrome for just over an hour (as a pace rider) for a 24 hour charity ride that was happening. (You think we/he are hardcore? There were people there riding the whole 24 hours - 500km round and round a bloody velodrome!! ) My contribution was not to grumble at being woken up when he got up, and when he came back to bed at 4am! And to sleep in with him till nearly 11.00!!

And he plans to go for a 'trek' this afternoon. Somehow I don't think I'll be able to walk fast enough for him. You can't go doubles or tandem when you are walking!!!

I have this feeling of being left behind in his wake... My only consolation is that because of my swimming, I don't think my arms and upper body are as sore as his after the paddling...

Labels: canoeing, endorphins

Proof that I am TOTALLY crazy. I just signed up to do a 2km 'ocean' swim. On Sunday. The guys in my swimming squad talked me into it.

It actually isn't in the ocean. As such. It's in the harbour. Which makes ALL the difference (!)

The day's events comprise a 2000m swim, a 600m swim (around the jetty)... and a 250m. I did the 600m swim a few years ago, and found it easier than I had anticipated. OK, so I wasn't fast, but then, I'm never fast and never will be. The challenge for me is in the doing, rather than the winning, really. (That time when I emerged from the water, some marshals were exhorting me to run to the finish line, and I was all 'are you kidding? - me + swimming costume = not doing anything that might promote wobbling or jiggling of any uncovered parts. Plus I had Marc lined up to drop my towel down to me from the jetty so I could cover myself asap!)

So. A challenge. It has to be the 2000, because I've already ticked the 600m box. I actually have no idea if I can do it! Could be a bit embarrassing if I have to be fished out of the harbour. I just hope that my 2 x one hour swimming squads per week (in which we total over 2000m in a combination of warm up, drills and various speeds and distances of freestyle) will have given me the fitness I'll need. Sometimes we do a 1km swim in the class. 40 laps of a 25m pool. A lot of turning at each end, though. No turning at any ends with this! (Which is good and bad. It does mean you can get into a rhythm. But it means no assistance from pushing off a wall umpteen times.)

I was never a swimmer when I was a kid. I did learn to swim classes, and once I could manage 50m, that was it. I could 'swim'. About 5 years ago as I watched my 9 and 7 year olds trawling up and down a pool for an hour in their squad classes, I realised that they could swim better than me. Serendipity provided an adult swim squad at the same swimming centre, and I have been going either once or twice a week ever since. It has improved my swimming unbelievably, and it has also improved my fitness. And it re-introduced me to those exercise endorphins, whereby even if you are totally stuffed while trying to do the class, you feel all zingy-zing-zing the rest of the day.

I don't know that I'll feel any zing after attempting 2km, but, bugger it. I'm going to try.

Let's call it 'Mum putting her 'money' where her mouth is in regard to giving things a go.

Or you can just call me CrazyTrace.

Labels: endorphins

I'm about to ride my bike into town. Sounds harmless enough doesn't it? It's a new challenge for me however. The distance isn't the factor. 20 km isn't the issue any more, and Marc and I often ride that, another 30km, and then return, on the tandem of a Saturday morning.

It's the first time I'm riding solo down the highway though, with the first part being a bit 'light on' for shoulder.

So that's with a side order of adrenalin. Trucks and cars... please move to the other side of your lane rather than to the left and onto the shoulder!

I'm probably barking mad, but I decided I was ready for this challenge.

One, because it will save petrol on running into town twice in one day - which I already did yesterday. (I'll pick up the car from Marc's work, do my business, then drive home, sort the kids out, and drive back in and pick him up so we can go together to a BUG meeting, and possibly dinner.)

Just call me the eco warrior. Heh.

Secondly - well, we ride it on our tandem - and I suppose I just want to tick the 'I did it myself' box, and be able to say 'I rode into town.'

Future challenge, lobby for a bike path all the way to town, so more people feel they can do it. Yeah right.

Spare tubes. Check. Tyre levers. Check. Waiting till around 9.30 so that traffic has thinned out a bit. Check.

Deep breath. Check.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made it! Just to make it more fun, I had a bit of a headwind to contend with, as well as the traffic - which is really only an issue in parts of the first 10km, where the shoulder of the road may as well not be there.

I wouldn't have liked to do it with any more traffic (ie. earlier)... and nor would I have liked it without my little mirror that attaches to the arm of my cycling gasses. Best thing since sliced bread! (You can see me 'wearing' it in the picture at the top of this post.) I can see what's coming, and brace myself as a big truck passes, and maybe just edge over to the left a teeny bit more. Or use the actual car lane (which is generally smoother) if I can see the road behind is clear. I can time my run through parts where the shoulder disappears (like over creeks!- Next time you are driving, imagine you are riding a bike along the shoulder of the road, and watch how many times the shoulder itself all but disappears!)

So, I am still on a bit of an endorphin high from doing it... though weariness is starting to set in a bit now. It's a harder ride than the same distance without traffic, that's for sure.

But I'm happy. Mission accomplished. Over and out.

Labels: bike riding, endorphins

... girls....

I have the answer.

Buy a new bra. (Or three.) Like I did today. I can't believe how much better I feel with a nice new well fitting, non-sagging bra. I wore the new one out of the shop and it's put a zingy-zing-zing in my step for the rest of the day.

[Sorry menfolk, all one or two of you that likely read this. I don't know what to suggest as an alternative. Maybe a new pair of undies :) ]

Pity it's not financially sustainable to give yourself a boost like this every other week.

Wonder how long the zing will last.

Labels: endorphins

Somehow or other I've been called inspirational because of my bike riding (thanks BrissieMum..I'll pass it forward in the next post or two..) and I am equally chuffed and nonplussed about it. There are women out there who are far more into the fitness than me, and, sheesh - I don't even have the figure to complement the hype I seem to be perpetrating.

But. Given that everything is relative... If I can inspire anyone of any age to get out and get active then that's all to the good. Maybe people might relate to me because I'm not what you'd call 'athletic'. I'm just 'some random' (as my daughter would say) - with no great sporting heritage and carrying around 10kg more weight than I should be.

As you might have picked up from my last post, I have finally (and somewhat belatedly one might say) realised that exercising is just so good for your health, AND your mind. The earlier you start making it a habit, the better - ie. as a child - but if you can, no matter how old you are, just get out there and start making your heart pump. We ride our bikes with people of all ages - and I am so inspired by the 'oldies'. When I am 75 I want to still be out there with the ability to ride a bike like some of them do. And we keep telling the kids to keep their 'motor' ticking over - and not to lose what they have - because as an adult it is so hard to get it back again once you've lost it.

I didn't do a lot of sport when I was a kid - basically just tennis. Somewhere along the line I played some squash, though not competition. (Too much of a tennis player.) At college I had a go at a few of the team sports I never learnt how to play as a child - a bit of soccer, a bit of softball. But I didn't get really active until around the time I met Marc... With him I started bushwalking, canyoning, rafting, cross country skiing and marathon canoeing. Oh, and I bought my first bike with gears, and we did a couple of mountain bike rides and a bike tour with camping gear in our panniers. I was finally getting my heart pumping - in more ways than one!

The problem with activities like that is that they are pretty hard to do when you have babies and young children. I didn't get round to doing much in the way of exercise (and porked on the weight a bit.) When my eldest was about 9 months old I did find my way into playing Ladies Midweek Tennis for a few years, but then that fell by the wayside (for 8 years!) when we moved here 10 years ago. Marc managed to keep more active - partly because of our 'division of labour', whereby it was easy for him to just leave work and go and play Touch, or volleyball. (He did have me playing volleyball with him, right up until I was pregnant with #1).

My mother disapproved. Because they made the 'sacrifice' of not playing sport when I was a kid. At times I admit I'd get a bit resentful that Marc could just walk out the door without worrying about what to do with the children! (or have to take them with him) ... but at some point I had this epiphany, where I realised how important fitness was for both of us. And if he wasn't leaving work to run up and down a Touch field, he'd still be in the office... And he was working how many hours a week as the sole income earner for the family... (And with all the overseas work he was doing, his fitness was suffering with the inability to get out and exercise for up to several weeks at a time.)

He realised the same about me, and stopped being quite so envious of me getting to play tennis all day, or swan off to a 1pm swimming class, and we've ever since supported each other pretty much wholeheartedly in anything that constitutes exercise. I want to be fitter and healthier (and trimmer) than our parents at 70 when I am that age.

When our older two were about 9 and 7 respectively, I realised that, due to their swimming squad sessions, they were much better swimmers than me! Giving them an hour of swimming up and down a pool each each week was, in fact, a gift to them in terms of giving them cross training/aerobic fitness for anything else they wanted to do. (And their health.)

So I started with an adult swimming squad, and, wow. I loved it. Loved that I was learning how to swim better, but I also loved being pushed to work harder.. because even though I might hate it when I was doing it, I'd feel alive and all 'zingy zing zing' afterwards. I think that's when I realised the concept of endorphins, and all their benefits. Who needs drugs when you can get that buzzy feeling from exercise?!!

While we've always had bikes, we didn't really start riding much, with the kids, until we got the tandems, and, as you know, now we're hooked. And we've found a whole community of bike riders out there.. and it's just great.

And you know what? I am riding at times with people who are around the same age as my parents - but my parents wouldn't have a hope of keeping up with them. I don't know the background of these people, but I do know that I don't think my parents did themselves any favours when we were little by being 'heroes' and not playing sport. Want to be a good role model for your kids? Get out there and get active, and let them see you doing it.

All that said, I still struggle, daily, with my inner sloth. We rode on Saturday - about 50-something km, because we drove half-way to town by which time it was light enough to feel ok riding on the highway.

Yesterday I meant to go out by myself for a ride, but I didn't. So today, I cancelled another appointment I had, and met up with people from the BUG (Bicycle Users Group), and went on a mountain bike ride around a bit of a national park south of Coffs. Almost 30km, including some yee-ha downhills, but also some tough uphills that got the heart pumping alright. We have an aim, you see. On the 26th August, some of us from the BUG are doing a "Century" ride, in the old money. ie. 100 miles. Which is 160km. Madness indeed, but nothing like a bit of madness like that to make you get out to 'train'.

Tonight I feel tired, and a little bit guilty for getting to do what I did today - but dammit, I feel really good 'inside'.

I know that at the moment I am very fortunate to have the time to do this. It is a challenge enough as it is - I seriously don't know how I'd do if I was trying to work as well. (Hopefully by the time I sort myself out in that regard I will have got myself well and truly addicted.) I am also lucky that my body, despite a few little hiccups, is in relatively good working order, and so I can still do most things.

The least I can do is to make the most of what I have - in the hope that I'll have it for longer. And try and remember that I'm supposedly an inspiration to others:

Labels: bike riding, endorphins, go me

Only 5 weeks to go till the end, end, end of the netball season. Hallelujah! says Mum. While it's a bit freaky just how fast the year seems to be going, getting my Saturdays back just can't come quickly enough.

The netball carnivals are finally over for this year... and I'm relieved, even if it is a great day of sport for the girls. Yesterday all three played in an Age Carnival - an all day affair at a town 60 km up the road from here. Marc and I were in charge of the 14s team that Caitlin played in, which means that Marc "coached" and I handed out shirts and bibs and scored.

Alison and Zoe also played - in the alternate timeslot to Caitlin - so we were pretty much watching netball non-stop all day. Hmmm... we've had just a bit of practice at that this year.

But it was a successful day, a good day. Cait's team got up with a win on points countback, improving and improving throughout the day. Alison's rep team, playing up an age division, played a semi and final, and scraped through with a one point win. Zoe played up in the 10s team, and that level is as funny as a circus to watch after you've been watching a higher age and higher standard. But they came a very respectable third.

So more pieces of junk trophies to add to the indecent collection being amassed in this house.

Marc took the managing/coaching job pretty seriously, thinking tactically, and, after the first game, playing the girls in the same positions, which were the best positions for the team. It paid off - and with the help of more tactical advice from our association's coaching convenor, they won! (We see so much of teams through the year, and at carnivals, playing free-for-all with positions, or quieter players getting stuck in unsuitable positions... and the teams just don't improve. It's got to be more fun to play in a team that improves and gels and that.. well, yes... wins!)

And Zoe?! Zoe is turning out to be ok as a netballer too - her coach for the day reckoned she wasn't at all timid or cautious. She has big shoes to fill in netball as well as everything else that she's followed her sisters in; so far she is rising to the occasion in pretty much every area, which is pretty big talk for the #3 child in the family. Everything they've done well at, not to be outdone, she has too. Academic achievement awards? No worries. Swimming? Cross country running? Hey, wow, I can do this too! [The only thing she's lagged behind at is riding her own bike!] So, after yesterday? Add netball to the list, I think. She's got potential.

One thing these carnival days do is sort out the fit from the not-so fit. Our three were tired, as you'd expect, particularly Zoe because she's not used to that much netball in one day, but at least on the court they have the stamina to keep going. It's disappointing to see so many girls without that fitness- you can see them flagging by the end of the day - though at least they were there playing. There are those who choose not to play because it's all too much effort. They 'get a bit tired.'

Some of the teenage girls are carrying a lot of weight already, and, in the normal course of a week, if netball is all they are doing, an hour of training (more ball and court skills than fitness) and under an hour of game on the weekend, just isn't enough. I worry for them for their adulthood. Saying that, I know that as a teenager I didn't do much in the way of fitness - a few sets of tennis once a week, pretty much. Because I didn't have that fitness base from my childhood, it all caught up with me later on. Now I'm playing catch-up in my mid-forties, and I can see, with the wonderful wisdom of hindsight, what a golden opportunity these years can be.

So, despite the fact that I am all netballed out (without even playing the damn game myself), I'm already thinking ahead to next year. More rep for the older two no doubt. The "twisted sistas' intermediate team that we want Marc to coach (but I can see that the other mum and me will be managing the training sessions at least because, despite improvements in his working situation, I can't see him getting away by 4pm one afternoon a week. Which is a shame. He'd be good at it.) Cait wants to coach a Junior team - so she will have to coach her little sister whether she likes it or not - and so that will be another training afternoon I have to be at the netball courts for an hour.

Oh well. Just as well I think it's good for them. Now all I need to do is fit in my own fitness, and the positive outcomes from that will give me the stamina to face another year of their netball. I have another countdown clock starting to tick. March 2008. When it all ...starts ... again.

Labels: endorphins, netball

I had a few plans for today, and for once I actually carried through with all of them. It's not often I manage that. Not that any of it was OTT - but I'm pretty good at putting off things, particularly if it looks as if the day is going to be a bit chocka.

I rode with Zoe to school, then drove into town to the airport to pick Marc up, arriving back from his week away. As he'd not had a night flight, he felt obliged to go to the office, so after making sure I got a few kisses and hugs in, I dropped him off, and then headed to the shops hoping for some birthday shopping inspiration.(Alison's 12th on Monday.) Found a couple of things. Raced home, had a bite to eat.

And this is the thing I am proud of: I rode the 'back way' to my weights class. All by myself! [I did ring Marc at one point when I got to a fork in the road, and I wasn't 100% sure of which way to go!] 11km/42 mins. There were some hills. And more than half was dirt.

You could tell I'd missed 3 weeks of weights. :-/

I left just in time to make it back to school to meet Zoe to ride home with her. All decked out in my bike riding gear - felt like a dick at the school, but what the hell, it's what is comfortable to ride that far in. (You know those pockets in the back of cycling jerseys? - bloody handy!)

(So total = 22km. Hills and dirt remember!)

So, I'm a bit sore, and a bit weary.

Then another drive to town to take Cait to netball training, and to drop off a spare car key to Marc because some guy at work has 'misplaced' the key he left so they could move his car if necessary while he was away. Just glad I was coming into town anyway. A spin through the supermarket.

Dinner, and I've even caught up with the washing up. (Don't raise your eyebrows like that!!... I've always said I was a shocker with the domestics.)

Tomorrow I have the gyno procedure - a hysteroscopy (for a look-see, basically, make sure there's nothing untoward 'up there'). Worst part is having to get up a bit earlier to have a 'light breakfast' before 7. (And no water after 10.00) And the 2 ½ hour drive each way... well, Marc is driving me, but, yes, a bit tedious, especially after all our driving over the school holidays (and for him the fact that he's been on plane flights to KL and back in the past week as well...) And the cramps and bleeding afterwards, but, hey... At least I get to have a 'sleep'. (hah).

Arrgh, my legs are already sore! - and that's without the 2-day after syndrome combined with the after effects of having someone probing whatever it is they use up my nether regions.

Labels: bike riding, daily, endorphins

I've had a surprisingly good start to the day.

No dramas getting kids up for school. All kids ready for school in heaps of time! (Anyone would think they'd had a boring week last week and couldn't wait to get there!)

I said to Zoe, "Do you want to ride?" and she said "Um, I don't know", and I could see us spiralling out of control into the 'Maybe Tomorrow' scenario, so I said "Right. Let's do it. I'll get your bike out." And I did! And we rode. Go us! Go me! Another "first" box to tick - Zoe riding her bike to school! And I didn't feel too bad for a 4.6km jaunt to start the day either.

According to Trace's Theory (the one about endorphins), these feelings of virtuosity over the whole Zoe/bike thing, PLUS awakening those exercise endorphins BEFORE getting on the computer SHOULD have me zipping all over the house today in a positive-minded, positive-action cleaning frenzy. Exercise Endorphins are the battery charge I need. I think. And OK, well, frenzy is probably a huge exaggeration. If I can achieve what normal people do on a daily basis without going on and on and on and on about it, it will be an achievement.

It has worked to a point. So far I've rediscovered the kitchen bench (under all the crap that incessantly hangs about all over it), unloaded and begun reloading the dishwasher, and I'm just about to hang the last load of washing to hang out. I'm psyching up to attack some area of the house - I probably should wage war on the dust bunnies (they are real! I've seen them! they are in my house!) - but I'm not sure how long I'll last before I have to go put myself on charge again. The danger is I'll spend so long agonising over what, where, how I should activate these endorphins, that I'll wind down ever so slowly, like those bunnies in the ads that don't use Duracell or Energizer (depending on which country you've seen the ads aired in!)

~~
By 1.30 pm I've done a bit of vacuuming and, hey! I cleaned up the computer desk - which was so thick with dust it required vacuuming too. (My tired old comedic excuse 'I thought dust was a protective covering' just doesn't cut it, really) I tossed out a lot of crap that was lying around on it. Crap that even crossed Marc's desk-mess boundary; he had got to the point where he huffed and puffed and chucked things around in disgust if he ever had to get on this computer. He should notice. (If I can keep it this way till he gets home tomorrow.) He should even be mildly impressed.

I've also cleaned the inside of the microwave, and cleaned the leadlight windows on the front door and side panel. The door is still filthy, but at least the glass bit looks clean.

My biggest problem is that while I clean something, I only have to turn my head and I see a kazillion other things that need to be cleaned, sorted through, dejunked - to the point that it does my head in, and I feel like collapsing in a 'woe is me' heap.

Only an hour till I have to ride back to school to meet Zoe, so I had better get back to it. Haven't 'endorphinised' myself again yet.. I feel as if a 45 minute recharge will prevent me from achieving more - despite the fact that I've spent at least that long eating lunch and drinking a coffee while reading blogs. I need a logic rewiring.

Labels: bike riding, daily, endorphins, go me, housework

But I got up at 5.15 am to go bike riding. Brownie points for my Exercise Badge anyway. Bonus ones because me getting up at that time off my own bat is still worthy of acknowledgement. I didn't have anyone to grumble to - so I didn't even grumble!

I only rode 24km in 'C' group, and even slower than I could have gone because I chose, after about half way, to bring up the rear to keep a slower rider friend (and a slower 10 yr old girl) company - and we lost the rest of the group. Aren't I nice. But still. It's my comeback - t's 24km better than nothing - and the endorphins are doing a bit of a jiggle.

In the afternoon I also rode around 6km up the beach and back with Zoe and her friend. (So that brings my total to 30k!) This is a crop of just Zoe, (for the sake of privacy and all that stuff...)

Why didn't I get round to having a friend of hers with a bike round to play earlier than this? (She just doesn't happen to have any mates with bikes who live in the same street.) But I now believe there is such a thing as positive peer pressure. "C'mon Zoe!!" Never seen her ride so fast on her own bike to keep up with her friend. She is still a bit 'clutzy' and ultra-cautious, but, wow... They rode to the shop and back by themselves. Then up the beach. (Then I bought them (us) an icecream, and left them to play in the park for a bit, and ride back themselves.)

Marc won't recognise her as the same child when he gets home. What a difference two days can make.

By contrast, the 14 yr old has been Inactive all day. I am a bit concerned that I may have to have her surgically pried from the computer keyboard - and against my better judgement I even went to bed before her last night because of wanting to go to bed earlier than my usual. It isn't a trend I particularly want to adopt, but I probably should choose my battles. It is still school holidays, but I had better nudge her back into a more sensible circadian rhythm by back to school time on Tuesday. I suppose by then she will be back into the netball... and she can afford a few Days of Sloth. I suppose this sloth thing is a teenagey thing to do, and I am risking being called for hypocrisy when it comes to spending an above average amount of time on a computer. It could be worse I suppose- we don't own any form of game station/x-box thingies; she spends much of her time creating graphic 'blends' for various online competitions.


At least she might end up earning money out of it one day. More chance with that than anything that might involve working out 24 hour time. Or cleaning!

Labels: daily, endorphins, kids

It was high time I got back on track after limping around aimlessly in the Wilderness of Sloth there over the past couple of weeks. I can't say that the massage yesterday worked miracles (my back still felt quite niggly this morning) but perhaps it did help me to cross the line back into a state of mind where I could even consider getting my body back on a bike.

All morning, though, I was drawn, as usual, to the computer ... the internet ... blogs ... like some wretched, bedraggled moth to a light globe. I managed to ring the NRMA. They came. He took one look under the bonnet and pointed out that the fan belt had skewed off and sliced into the power steering reservoir, which - look! - was leaking everywhere. Hmmm. He shifted the belt back on, but it was Tow Time. Tow arrived an hour or so later.. and Dopey here handed him my whole clump of keys to move the car out onto the truck. House keys. Car keys (ie. cars - plural). Like I said. Dopey.

Ironically it was the senior moment that finally got me back on the bike. I debated whether to drive up and pick up my 'clump', or to ride my bike! I'm proud to say the ride won out. 9.77km better than nothing. And it felt good!

It's my official comeback!

It didn't cure my back - afterwards it just felt sore in a different way. (And then my knee niggled a bit, but I've decided if I just ignore that it might go away.) Later I lay down and did some stretches (which actually seem to have helped a bit), and then, while I was on the floor, I thought maybe I should do a few of my very basic ab exercises - the ones I have learnt in my weight/personal trainer sessions and which I should be doing every day but I don't because they are boring and niggly and difficult for one with ab flab like me...

.. Oh dear, yes, the old ab flab is the big challenge. I was reminded starkly of this when I was standing starkers (as one does) in the shower at my mother-in-law's last weekend, and it happened that you could get a very clear view of one's nekkid self in the vanity mirror. Very. Flabby. Abs. I would look a whole lot slimmer if not for the flabby abs. And unfortunately they are not something that will be affected particularly much by any amount of bike riding that I do.

I made some (more)resolutions about exercise in general, and abs in particular.

And seeing I can't help but blog, and I'm as unlikely to give that up as give up my glass or three of wine each night, I've decided to take a theme-type leaf out of some other blogs I enjoy, and add a footnote to my blog post each day, bragging listing what I manage to do by way of exercise each day.

Heaven knows I need to find some prompt, some reinforcement, to get on track and stay on track. The theory (according to Tracey) goes: When I manage to get those endorphins dancing, get fitter, feel fitter, lose some weight, (tone the abs), I will be in a frame of mind that will then enable me to confront and get a handle on all the other daily nemeses I have allowed to grow and fester around me.

Particularly the abs.
~~~~~

9.77km bike ride. Not that far, but a good way to ease back into it. Plan is to ride the 20+ km at the community ride on Saturday. As long as I can get the bike in the Landcruiser. And get up by myself at 5am!

Stroll up to shop, and back via beach with Zoe. Not strenuous, but at least it got her out of the house! Once she is out, she does stuff like running! (Pity I had to bribe her with an icecream.)

Labels: daily, endorphins

Nothing like fitting in a two big sessions of exercise in one day. Another cycle/weights double, but this time at least we had the sense to separate the two by an hour and a half. We set off for a cycle at 9.45... and clocked up 42km - some of it a similar route to the one I do on Saturday mornings. Quite possibly it wasn't the same pace as the community ride, but I wasn't too upset about not having a pack to fall off! And at least my legs weren't as sore as they were last Saturday! Which meant I could push a bit harder up some of the hills. Really I did. I' didn't struggle too much, but had well and truly 'emptied the tank' by the time we finished, and K. - my partner in crime, didn't need much persuasion to collapse, with me, at the nearest cafe for some food and, importantly, a coffee!

I would have been quite happy to have just achieved just that in one day, but as K only has one free day a week, (and I'm a bit light on for other women cycling partners) we do the double. At 1.30 we were backing up for a shared weights session with the trainer... and she could tell we were just a wee bit tired from our riding. alternately praising us for our efforts, and informing us that it was affecting our weights.

It's got to be all good for us. I'm sure. I just hope I can move around the tennis court tomorrow. And given that I'm feeling a touch guilty about all this 'leisure' time, I hope I have the energy to really-truly-ruly-this-time get stuck into some domestics on Friday.

****
I picked up Ms 11 from the airport this afternoon. All went well, and according to Grandma, the concert was really impressive. It was a Festival of Instrumental Music by combined public schools - a combined primary schools recorder ensemble (which Alison was in - 700 students!)... A Combined Primary schools string ensemble, plus a few other public schools instrumental solos, quartets and ensembles, orchestras and bands. (And they are doing this with different performers on each of three nights!) Gee, I am kind of wishing I'd been able to see it! As predicted she has come home having been 'well looked after'. Like with bags of rock candy.. and yet another stuffed toy.

So that's one adventure over for her... Next one in only a couple of weeks with the trip down to Wollongong (further than Sydney) for the netball State Age. A lot longer travelling time - bus vs plane! Both she and Cait will be travelling down with their respective teams. Marc, Zoe and I will travel separately.. and then leave Zoe for her dose of getting spoilt by Grandma. She can't wait.

Labels: bike riding, daily, endorphins, kids

I think I can keep up with "everyone" on a single bike, but the sad reality is that I'm a slow coach - relatively speaking I guess, because I am trying to ride in a particular level at the Community Ride (because I know that with the next level down I am more than fast enough on a mountain bike!)

So now you know why we ride a tandem... HE doesn't have to keep waiting for me, 'cos I'm right there behind him, and I can't fall behind. (And as for when I captain the bike with the daughter? I am starting to wonder what percentage of effort I am actually worth! Why does the term "weakest link" keep popping up in my head?)

We took the 'half bikes' in for our favourite 6.30 am ride again today - partly for a change, partly because of his hamstring. [How frustrating is it that he still rides THAT much faster than me, even with a dodgy hammy!]

Hills! Inclines! My weakspot. Nothing major in the 30 km route we take, but start going up and my pace just doesn't seem to cut it; I'm sort of keeping up with the pack as we start going up, then I fall off the pace at the crest, and everybody zooms off, leaving me to play catch up.. which is harder going than riding with the pack, so you get more tired, and it's a vicious cycle. (no pun intended.)

As an excuse (rather than a whine) my legs were already sore after doing my weights class yesterday (catch up from missing it on Wednesday). So they weren't exactly impressed with me this morning. Probably accounted for a small percentage of the slowness. That on top of having done absolutely zilch exercise between then and last Saturday's community ride... well, not my best fitness week that's for sure - and so the body is certainly letting me know about it.

And this morning was CHILLY. (For here anyway... I'll rate 7 degrees C as cool weather for cycling (45F) even though I know serious cyclists in colder climes cycle in far worse!) Also cool weather sitting in an outdoor cafe when it has barely scratched 9 degrees! That was a bit of a shame because today (thanks to the long weekend) we didn't have to race home for netball and, dammit, it was too cold to kick back and have a second cup of coffee!

So, I am currently doing battle in my head over wanting to work at it so I can keep up the pace versus wondering just how much of it is 'recreation' when I feel like crying each time I fall behind on the hills. Best approach I guess is not to get too het up about it, and just keep chipping away at the daily exercise. My fitness has improved this year, and it can only get better... and hell... I'm not doing too bad. For an almost 45 year old me.

So, yep, this is a long weekend, with NO NETBALL!!!, and so I have pencilled in a BIG luxurious sleep in tomorrow. And maybe even on Monday as well. All in honour of the Queen's Birthday (which isn't.) Who cares, I'll enjoy a 'day off' (even if theoretically every day is a day off for me.) Maybe spend some more time on a bike of some description. And maybe some time on a domestic project of note.

Labels: bike riding, daily, endorphins, holidays

.. and putting your luck in the laps of the cycling gods!

So we got up early, leaving the kids asleep (this is getting to be a bit of a habit..) and got into town in time to ride at 7am, despite Marc tearing his hair out (and me doing a lot of eye rolling) before we left looking for his office/house keys. We ended up leaving without them.. parked the cars at his office, jumped on the tandem, and rode the few k's into the city centre meeting spot with 5 minutes to spare! Phew. Half way there he says 'oops, forgot the pump'.

The 'event' was for local cyclists to support the Tour de Cure riders who were coming through Coffs Harbour on their fundraising for cancer charities Brisbane-Sydney ride. A small contingent of us rode the 10 or so k's to Sawtell and ordered coffee/OJ and eggs on toast at the surf club cafe...overlooking the Pacific Ocean.. not bad huh... and mingled a bit with the Tour de Cure riders, including the local Coffs guy who was riding with them. My attention was a bit diverted by having to make a few phone calls home to make sure kids were up, and getting ready for school.. and soothing over tizzies caused by one shouting out a question while the other was talking to me on the phone.. and the one on the phone getting upset.. .and..... oh boy.. just build a bridge and get over it, hey!! No harm done, we've had another call and I've answered the question about whether to lock the house!!!

Somewhere in that time - I think it was when I went to the loo! - Marc decided it would be a fine idea to ride on further with the Tour de Cure group for a bit. He worked a bit late last night, so, what the hell, he'd go in to the office late. Eh what? errr.. Yes.. I was a bit dubious.. the highway south has a bit of a reputation for spots with no shoulders... and there is much roadwork happening (because they are bypassing a reknowned black spot.) There were only two other guys planning on riding with them, and they were going to go further, so at some point we'd be turning back and riding by ourselves. I did think perhaps we were pushing our luck doing so without the pump!!

Whatever.. this is what I often do... just go with the flow .. his flow.. and things usually turn out less bad than I think they are going to be, and I achieve more than I would have if I'd caved in to my anxieties. So we ended up doing about 66km in all by the time we got back to his office! (And the ride back wasn't so bad after all.)

Spontaneity rulz, ok.

I got home and found that a parcel with most of the cycling clothing order had arrived.. (and I also bought some arm warmers! before I came home from town.) Happy days! Great vest.. I like the vest! The jersey is a 'snug' fit around the tum and hips, but feels so 'noice'... it will be inspiration to do my 'homework' ab exercises.. won't it?



On the way home I detoured into the supermarket (self consciously so because I was in my bike nix and cycling jersey, but I think women can get away with wearing them 'around' moreso than blokes...) - so this has all eaten away half my day... what a shame. I am now home, coffee'd up.. blogged up... and ready to .. um... hit the vacuuming? And make spag bol - the usual Friday meal of late because, oh yes.. just because I did a spontaneous extra 50km on a bike, it doesn't mean I don't have my swimming squad this afternoon!

Now if you think I'm nuts, I'd like you to know that I am in good company... my long distance partner in this rediscovered addiction to exercise endorphins and the 'good sore' that is muscles rediscovering their spent youth. Go Strauss!! I really do think that fortune does tend to favour The Brave, as her blog is so aptly titled. The cycling gods did look kindly upon our spontaneity and cycling fervour today by ensuring we didn't get stranded with a flat tyre! And this persevering with exercise throughout "that time" has meant NO cramping - hooray! - and that has got to be a good thing, oh yes. And the best thing is that you also feel far less guilty imbibing of a bit of 'feel good' chocolate when you've cycled over 100km in two days. [ok.. there was a day in between there...] But believe me, I do so eat chocolate!!

I am also very lucky that I have the time to be able to do this... and we are managing to fit this in around Marc's work, and the kids' commitments. I don't know how I'd be doing it if I was trying to schedule in work as well....

But a bit of housework spontaneity might now be in order... perhaps.. do you think? Or a nice lie down and a power nap, if only I could get a handle on doing those - the sky would be the limit!

******
[He found his keys... in his work shoes!!! Duh!]

Labels: bike riding, daily, endorphins

.. I can then focus mine energies on attacking the house. That's the plan anyway, although I will probably arrive back here moaning and wringing my hands and complaining that I don't know where to start on this diabolical mess.

I wonder if I have a problem.

Wonder?! I know I have a problem with this computer addiction thing. Once it was a bulletin board. Now it's blogs and blogging. Probably if it wasn't that it'd be something else.. but ... seriously... the amount of time I spend on here is really over the top. And the house has never been so bad.

So I need to approach today with some discipline. A good starting point for how I mean to continue. Sounds like a plan doesn't it?

I have also checked the tide times, and late morning will be an ideal time to walk up the beach. I haven't done any of my walking for a while. I think it's time to get that back on the agenda, at least one day a week. I'm doing fair bit of exercise I know. Relatively speaking. But it's not every day - and those couple of Days of Sloth per week are not helping me work off what I put in my mouth! And as I am loathe to give up everything yummy and 'medicinal' (read: glass of wine or two), then I have no choice but to *up* the kilojoule burning activity - on a daily basis. (While the weights class helps tone, it doesn't really burn calories... even if it gets the endorphins dancing a bit). I am also a bad, bad girl because I just somehow don't seem to get around to doing my 'homework'.. push ups, abs... even lunges... I could double my improvement rate if I just disciplined myself a little bit more.


Maybe just after one more coffee....?!

************
Ed: 5 mins later: It's raining! So much for the walking. No.. I don't feel like getting wet when it's "only" 18 degrees. Guess I'll have to work up a sweat with the cleaning. Though as I type the sun is shining through. Think it's going to be one of those sort of days!

************
Well, that's one way to make the weather clear up. After a few showers of rain decide you should take the risk on the weather; stride purposefully out of the house wearing tracksuit pants and a bike rainjacket, which you have to remove and tie round your waist within 100m of home. No sunglasses, no hat. It's guaranteed to turn sunny and warm enough that you wished you'd gone in shorts and a sleeveless top AND of course the sunnies.

At least I walked, even if I'm drawn back to the computer like a moth to a flame. I've sorted clothes, cleaned the iron plate, and ironed a few teatowels. And that's about it. Not much in the way of achievement is it... I suppose I have another hour till the kids get home and the taxi run starts.

Labels: clean ups, daily, endorphins, introspection

I am still not totally convinced about this getting up at Ungodly Hours to go bike riding thing. I think I will probably always mutter away to myself, shaking my head as I stumble to the bathroom, and fumble for my bike clothes. For one thing it's still dark, and now that we are mid autumn, it's actually getting a tad cool. All relative, I know, but cool is cool, ok! A thermal (polypropolene) top under my bike jersey wasn't enough to keep me warm in the house, so hopping on the bike at 5.45am just as it is getting light, and cold morning air (around 11 degrees) plus moving through said air at 20-30 kph bringing in to play something called wind chill factor.. well it didn't seem like the most sane thing to be doing right then. Bit of cursing happening from the back of the bike and I kept telling myself "it's ok, you know, you could go back to bed some time during the day - as a reward for THIS". ...hmmm, how decadent would that be?!)

A few k's down the highway I warmed up enough - one of the advantages of being on the back of a tandem. My fingers were tingly warm, but Marc's were still freezing. (Another term for tandem captain is 'Windbreak'). We didn't take our thermals off the whole time, despite riding up 3km of winding road in the morning sun. (After that there was more downhill through shady bits, and our toes got even colder!) We have a new cluster on that tandem too, with a higher and lower gear (same amount of gears, just spread out), and so we could really belt down the hills (higher wind chill factor?!) and we could wind up the steeper bits with the low gear. The speed we can get up to on the downhill is a hoot, and beating our single bike friend UP the hill today was also quite satisfying, given tandems are usually overtaken by singles going up. (We won't mention the fact that he hasn't been on his bike for about 6 weeks!)

Of course by the time I got home I felt oh so virtuous for having ridden around 40km before the time I normally drag my butt out of bed. This morning that clammy feeling you get from sweating when it's cool stayed with me even through my hot shower; I threw on long tracky pants, and a polar fleece top, got a cup of coffee and sat on the back doorstep worshipping the sun. Certainly marks the transition from summer to winter when you're seeking the sun instead of avoiding it.

The younger two kids were up when we got home at 7.35 - (fairly normal) - and I had to wake Her Highness (also normal). Everyone was packed and ready to go with heaps of time to catch their respective buses - it all felt so .. civilised! So I suppose, other than the 'cold', and the insane wake up time, I therefore have no reason to knock back the suggestion that we do it again on Wednesday morning. Iron uniforms the night before, and it's all quite doable.

So, theoretically, I am feeling energised! And ready to attack a range of domestic chores today. Hey ho.

Or I could sit here and look online for long sleeved cycling jerseys and long leg nix. It's only going to get colder before it gets warm again, and if we're stupid enough to be doing this early morning riding thing we need to not get hypothermia from it!

It looks like we're getting even more serious about this bike riding. Marc took my desire to get a single road bike seriously and spent a lot of time on Saturday and Sunday researching women's road bikes online, and then asking me difficult questions that I didn't know the answer to. I've had to mull over whether I want to ride drops, or to get a flat bar style. A women's frame? we think yes, for optimum position and comfort. And a whole heap of other bike-techo stuff, like carbon forks, carbon seat posts, and the 'level' of gear brand - ranging from base, through ok, good, to heaps good, but ridiculously expensive. Womens' road bikes are harder to come by second hand, so we are looking new for me, while he has decided on a mens road bike on ebay. It will be a pick up in Brisbane, so he's decided we find a bike shop in Brisbane to buy my bike. (He's found one online as well where they will meet you on Sundays by appointment - a Sunday being the only day we would have to drive to Brissy and back - and all their testimonials say they spend a lot of time helping you set up the bike to the right 'fit'.) I am a bit freaked by the price; what if I don't like it, or I am not good at it?

I suppose, like anything, you usually don't realise what you can do till you try.

Labels: bike riding, daily, endorphins, go me

82.7 km this morning (already), thank you very much. On the bike (the tandem) that is. We left home at 5.30am. It's not really light at that time now. Marc has invested in a super duper bike headlight, and a flashing red light that you'd have to be blind to miss, but it was still a bit disconcerting riding down the highway.. I don't know where all the traffic was coming from this morning compared to three weeks ago. (Perhaps people returning from school holidays, but being on the road at dawn is pretty keen. Says me, who is on the road at that time on a bloody bike!)

The community ride was more enjoyable than usual - we rode in a group that broke away and went a bit faster, further, and a varied route. The change of scenery was good, and riding faster was good too.

With, by the end of that, about 60km under our belts before 8am, I was feeling a bit peckish! After the ride we sit and have coffee and a bite to eat at a cafe in the city centre square, and this morning I wolfed down my half of the BLAT (bacon/lettuce/avocado/tomato), then paid for it all the way home, with a gut ache. Ech. That didn't stop Marc aiming to crack the 30kph average speed mark by the time we got home. (I wondered why we were really pushing it, even once we turned off the highway! - but I wasn't game to complain.) We did crack it, but I staggered off the bike once we arrived home, and then collapsed on the front lawn for about 20 minutes. Next time, hopefully without pain, we should do it with ease. Nothing like a setting yourself a challenge to make you work hard. And nothing like riding on the back of a tandem to make you put in, when on your own bike you might just slacken off because "ohmigod, my gut hurts"!

We had a few compliments on our tandem riding today, which is nice, as the hyper-sensitive part of me (yes really!) usually feels like other cyclists don't think much of them, basically because they have had no experience of them. (Like they think the one on the back - me in this case - is just luggage, and I always get the "vibe" from women 'roadies' in particular that riding stoker on a tandem is second rate. And - like - why would you relinquish control - to a male! - and not having control of the steering, braking etc.) Someone today, though, told us we looked really professional! LOL. Well, it is easy to look good on a tandem, as you have no choice but to pedal in synch, but, hell, I'll take any praise and bask in it. We blow the single bikes away on the flats and downhills. Yee ha. Yes, perhaps I am a speed junkie. Certainly the speed factor is what attracted Marc to tandems in the first place. And, given that tandems are not as abundant in Australia as they appear to be in the US, for example (where they have tandem rallies of several hundred tandems at once!), then it is a process of educating our bike riding community. And I can take every chance I can to explain the team process involved in tandeming.

I wish we had a photo of us riding it - but so far I guess we've not ridden it where other people have cameras. (And we're going so fast, we'd just be a blur... ha!)

Yesterday afternoon I was true to my re-resolution, and bolted out for a half hour/40min walk up the beach and back as soon as I'd 'got rid of' the kids' friends who came to play for the day. How lucky am I to live where I do - where going for a walk is such a delight to the senses. 150 metres from my front door and I am on the sand and striding up the beach. It is a flattish beach, so at half to low tide, the sand is hard enough to walk on easily, and you can walk half an hour (to the north) without getting to the next headland.

Last night there was an awesome cloud formation which I realised was a storm cell. The top of the cloud was illuminated in a reddish/pinkish glow from the light of the setting sun, and with lightning flashes within, I felt privileged to be witnessing one of nature's light shows. Oh to have had a camera with me, although I know it wouldn't have captured it fully - certainly not the lightning.

On the way back, just as it was getting dark, I even found something in me to break into a jog. I am cautious about attempting to run, as last year when I was determinedly thumping my way around a 2.5 km cross country course I gave myself a lot of hip 'issues'. So I tried 10 jogging steps, 10 walking, 20 jogging, 20 walking.. and increased it by 10 each time till I got up to 70 jogging steps. It felt good. So I will see how I go. It did occur to me last night that if I avoided throwing my back/hips out by attempting to run, the money I'd save per month on chiropractic sessions would help fund my private trainer sessions, which are probably better for me in the long run.

I know, I must sound obsessed with the exercise thing at the moment. Plenty of woman out there way more hard core than me though. I am just determined, this time, to keep doing it enough to reap the benefits, and I am chuffed with myself that this year (after the Big Ride) we are not losing our bike riding fitness, but continuing to push the envelope. The weight loss is only part of it. The zingy-zing-zing endorphins you have jumping around the rest of the day are a more immediate reward - just as long as you don't scoff your BLATs.

Labels: bike riding, endorphins, go me, losing weight, Resolution