Friday 21 September 2007

Birthday and Running Update

I am now officially in my “thirties” and I don’t feel any different so my fear was unfounded. I had an awesome birthday!! The secret getaway that J took me on was to the Blue Mountains. He had booked a lovely Victorian style room, complete with spa, log fire, strawberries and chocolates and he even booked me into the spa for a facial and massage. It was such a lovely, thoughtful gesture….I was very impressed! It was great to just relax and not have to worry about housework or the dogs (they were at my Mum’s and I love them to death but enjoy a small break every now and then as they are so full-on). We went to a nice little Mediterranean restaurant on the Thursday night and had some yummy pizza and pasta. After this, J produced a small birthday mudcake back at the hotel and he even had ice-cream to go with it. I was so full afterwards but it was all delicious. We had a buffet breakfast in the morning after a great sleep-in and then had our spa treatment. After this, we had a quick look around Katoomba, grabbed some lunch (more yummy cakes) and drove back to Sydney.

Then I had my McDonald’s party on the Friday night with my family. I will post some pics when I work out how to do it!! It was nice and casual and my sister had bought the most amazing ice-cream cake I have ever had!!! It was from Wendy’s and was Cookies and Cream flavour, with scoops of all different flavours on top and the whole cake had big rectangles of chocolate around it….YUMMO!!!!

I got some good pressies too. The best present is the most amazing hair straightener from my sister. It is one of those ionic straighteners which cost about $300. I think the brand is “Kodo” or something like that and it is FANTASTIC!!! In about 15 seconds it heats up to 210 degrees and perfectly straightens my bushy “paddle pop lion” hair in no more than 10 minutes. I am so impressed that I can finally wear my hair down!!! I wish I knew how good these things were earlier!

Well my half marathon is only 2 days away now!!!! I have been nearly “spot on” this week with my food and I have clocked up 38kms of running. Now I have 2 days of complete rest before Sunday. J and I are staying in a hotel at North Sydney on Saturday night so we don’t have to get up at 3am to get to the run (we live on the other side of Sydney) and also so I can have a lovely sleep in a king-size bed without the dogs. My Mum is minding them again. Last week I was feeling sick with a bad cold and I also had a very sore back but I am happy to report that I am all better and ready to “attack” this half marathon. Although I am not sure you can call a pace of 7min kilometres an “attack”?? I feel a little nervous but I know I can do the distance and I will make sure I have nurofen before the run to combat any migraines that may arise. I am actually looking forward to running over the harbour bridge….It should be cool! I bought some fantastic new Asics running tights last weekend and I am just loving them!! They do not move at all and are so comfortable.

So the plan until Sunday is to get plenty of rest, do no exercise and have a bit of a “carb load” on Saturday. Not that I really believe you need it for a half marathon but any excuse will do! I am such a carb addict!!!!

Take care and enjoy the weekend
Miss Pinky

Thursday 13 September 2007

Saying "Goodbye" to my Twenties

It is my 30th birthday tomorrow so today is the last day of my “twenties”. I clearly remember turning 20 and thinking so many major milestones would happen during that decade. I thought I would get married, have kids, buy a house. It was actually a very stressful time for me, signalling the end of my youth….or so I thought! The only thing I managed to do in my 20’s was to get married….and separated soon after! I don’t feel I have achieved very much in the last ten years. I wonder what the next 10 will hold for me?? I guess it is up to me to make things happen. I am the only one who has the power to map out my own destiny.

Last night J told me to “pack an overnight bag”. He won’t tell me where we are going but obviously I am off somewhere for the night. He is picking me up after work and we leave straight away. That is so thoughtful of him! I knew something was “up” but I actually thought that perhaps he was having a big surprise party for me, which I was dreading!!! I hope we are staying in a hotel tonight as I would love to relax! I guess we are, as where else would we be staying? The dogs have gone to my Mum’s….he organised this all without me knowing.

It is his birthday in a few weeks. I know what present I am getting him, which I know he will love (I won’t write it just in case he reads this) but now I am trying to think of something exciting to do. I will never be able to beat what he has done as I can’t afford a night away, as well as his present.

Unfortunately I have not been feeling the best for the last few days…..a yucky head cold. Also, I went to the Gym on Monday night and did this really hard class with lots of situps and pushups and I have been aching all over ever since. I have really hurt my back and I am so worried about how this will affect my half marathon next Sunday! I have gone back to bad eating and no exercise too, so I am totally and completely unfit. I just hope I can finish.

My sister was fired from her job yesterday. Sounds like her Boss is a horrible weak ar**hole who did not even give her a warning or anything. He just called her in at the start of the day and said “It’s not really working out….You aren’t doing all the filing”. She is only 19 and has only ever worked for 7 months of her whole life. She is not the sharpest tool in the shed but she is very sweet. He told her she could either resign or he would fire her, so she resigned. She said she did not cry until she got in her car, which is so strong of her!

I feel really sorry for her as her work was having a dinner tomorrow night and she was really looking forward to it…..It was her first ever work function. He could have told her she could still go to that….but he didn’t. I sent her a bouquet of balloons yesterday to try and cheer her up. I think she should try something like hairdressing, which is predominantly a manual skill job. I think she would do well at something like this, as she likes fashion/hairstyles, etc and is great at talking to strangers. Fingers crossed that she finds something soon!

Leah…..if you read this…..I am very proud of you. I don’t often tell you this but I do love you and would protect you no matter what the circumstances were. You are such a sweet and silly girl, with a heart of gold. The way you got over your past “issues” shows how courageous and strong you are. Stop feeling the need to follow the paths of others and find your own way in this world. I have faith that you will one day find exactly where you fit in and be happy with yourself. Just know that no matter what happens, I will always be waiting to “help you pick up the pieces”. I know you don’t tell me everything that goes on with you but know that I want to hear all of this. You can call me for help at any time of the day or night and I will come. I see a lot of me in you and have probably been through most of the stuff you are going through. You are a little champion Leah and don’t ever underestimate what you can achieve!! :-)

Well I better go and finish up my work before I am picked up for my weekend away….YAY!!!!!

Take Care
Miss Pinky

Friday 7 September 2007

Horrible, horrible day

It is a rainy crappy day in Sydney and, although it is the APEC holiday, I am at work. I chose to work today as I am having my 30th birthday off next Friday instead. I do plan on leaving an hour earlier today though as it is very quiet here.

I have been rather bad the last 2 days with my food and exercise....a bit of chocolate and other things I shouldn't be eating and I am not running today....even though I am meant to be. I am in another "I don't care stage", which I am all too familiar with! It just all seems a bit too difficult for me at times.

I think the main reason for going off the rails is that I am having a bit of a sad time emotionally at the moment. Just some not-so-happy stuff going on personally but I shall work through it....one chocolate bar at a time....ha ha ha!!! Very unfortunately, I am not only a bored eater but also an emotional eater so times like this are fraught with danger for me.

The half marathon is only 2 weeks away and I will run like an overweight corgi on three legs....as usual! My back is still sore after my long run last Sunday and I just hope and pray it gets better by the HM or I will be in absolute agony!!

A very funny thing happened the other day....I checked the mail when I arrived home from work and there was a small padded parcel bag in there. I thought "It must be a little birthday present from someone". I opened it up and it was actually a bronze medal from the Bankstown Half Marathon I did a few weeks ago. I had come third in my age group.....although there were only 3 girls in my age group.....ha ha ha!!!!!! The only medal I have ever received in my life was for coming 1st in my form for Maths in year 12 so I feel very proud to have a medal for running, even though I really came last!

I bought some new runners last weekend. I have decided the $180 Nikes that have only been worn twice will never be getting near my feet again....what a big waste of money!!! They are just so uncomfortable I can't stand it! I bought a pair of my "tried and true" Asics Gels, which is the only runner I have ever worn besides my Nike mistake!!! I went for an 18k run on Sunday in them with no pain at all. I also bought myself a fuel belt so I could run long training runs and a running cap. I am not used to the fuel belt yet but it certainly felt much better after I had drunk all the fluids and it was empty!!! I won't use this for the HM as there are drink stations every km and I don't need anything extra to annoy me as it will be hard enough!

I am not sure what I am doing this weekend?? I should really be doing some running but that will all depend on my mood. Maybe I will just have to make myself do 2 short runs so all my training the last few weeks does not go to waste. I know that technically I should be tapering but, trust me, my life is a taper! I hope I can lift myself out of this dark head space I am in and have some fun this weekend.....But I am really not sure what will happen....

Till next time....
Miss Pinky