Gone are the days of painfully kneading pizza dough... yippee!!!

I just ran for 10 minutes (1.83km)

cycled for 10 minutes (5km)

and rowed for 10 minutes (2046m)

which is hardly a triathlon (besides, I didn't want to get wet), but it was tough anyway.

This whole getting fit thing sucks sometimes.  After a work out, the aches and the tired and the I've-worked-really-hard feeling is really good, but pre workiut? During??  No, thank you very much.  The getting one's self out of bed to drag oneself to the gym?  Urgh!!  And then usually at the 5 minute mark where it all looks horribly uphill... can I stop now?

the thing is, it allows me to eat chocolate croissants... and chocolate... and KFC... and all the other healthy things I want to include in my life.

So as far as a weight-loss tool, it doesn't really work, but as a 'dont end up looking like a whale' tool it is doing a fairly good job.

 

And whoever said that girls dont sweat, they 'perpire' - whatever, folks, they made that up.

The Neon Run

After we ran (mostly) the 10k Bridge to Brisbane in September, they advertised for the 5k Neon Run, which is a night run with lots of neon lights and disco music, and we thought ooh, that would be fun, let's do it!  And having spent the last few weeks desperately training so that I could run 5k without stopping (I did manage it once, pre-Neon) we read the event package they sent us last week and realised... well this was more of a have-fun-drink-beer-dance-to-an-open-air-disco-and-meander-5k than a run. 

Being very stubborn and determined people, we decided to still treat it like a run.  Having planned to run 5k, and having been timing ourselves and pushing ourselves and being generally horrible to our poor aching bodies, it was only right that we got to run 5k despite the odds.  The Neon Run organisers were strictly "we're not timing the run, it's just for fun" which didn't sound much like fun to us, because it's running so it's supposed to be really really painful - so Kurt used his new Garmin running watch, and I used my i-phone's GPS, and we religiously tracked and timed ourselves while attempting to dodge large groups of meandering walkers.

We (all 6,500 of us) were segregated into groups named after bands and singers, ours being "Coldplay", and we were about the tenth group called to start the run.  The first runners left at 1900, the event having been "opened" from 1700, including the bar.  We arrived at 1800 and ate pizza and corn-on-the-cob and bought neon shoelaces and found abandoned glowsticks to stick in our shoes and on our wrists.  Our "event package" included a battery powered neon bracelet which was sound activated (so the closer you got to the stage, the more it would blink, until it couldn't handle the noise any more and just remained on).

Finally, we started running.  Okay, it was only about 1920 at that stage, but as we were runners 4396 and 4397, you can imagine how many people were already on the course!  Most of these weren't running, so it was quite interesting and very frustrating at times, trying to duck, dodge and weave our way through the crowd - while trying very very hard to keep running.

Every km of the course they had a "station", whether it was a foam station - positioned precariously under a bridge next to the Brisbane River, with runners walkers standing around blocking the path so that you had to run on the very edge of the walkway... with a six foot embankment (about 60 degrees steep) into the river which if just one of these human obstacles took a step backwards at the wrong time... swim time and dinner for the bull sharks.

We survived.  But only just.

By about the 3rd kilometer, we had left the majority of these Incredibly Annoying People behind, and managed to go a bit faster.  My fastest kilometer was still only 6'12" but I was still pretty happy with that given the winding-ness of the course, and the 6498 other "non-competitors" we had to avoid.

As you can see, there is quite a marked difference between us pre-run and post-run !!!

there was too much reflection on the windows today to get any decent pictures

But that's Bribie Island and the Passage, in between the reflections on the glass

I've missed 3 or 4 days, I don't know where the time goes!  It's been a busy time, I had the club shoot on Sunday, which I bravely went to on my own as Kurt had the BMW ride (bicycle ride, NOT motorbike).  I once again wasn't very good, and really need to practise more with my new bow.  I'm pretty sure the dodgy shooting is due to the bad operator. 

Sunday afternoon I headed back to the old house to do more cleaning - having done several hours on Saturday too.  Monday brought a certain level of exhaustion, so I didn't do much that day, that I can remember, anyway.

Tuesday, which was yesterday, was when the carpet cleaners came to the house in Banyo and I finished all the floors and thought it was all finished.  Kurt went over after work to install the extractor fan filters that I didn't know how to fit, and discovered that the kitchen was still fairly filthy, despite my housemate having told me that his friend had thoroughly cleaned the kitchen.  Unfortunately, this means that this morning will be spent re-cleaning the kitchen!

Tuesday afternoon we went to play squash with M&H, which was lots of fun.  It's been a long time - about fifteen months - since we last played squash, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it!  I am quite achy this morning - it uses a lot of muscles that I don't use with running - and is quite a workout.  We must do it more often!

As I said, this moring I am going to Banyo to do Yet More Cleaning, and then hoping to go shooting this afternoon... we just upped the poundage of my bow a little to make the longer distance arrows fly straighter instead of dropping off as much, so will need to re-sight the bow - again!

That's pretty much the last 3 days in a nutshell, and now I must clean the kitchen, as I am a very very messy cook, and I don't like cleaning up after myself, so I usually leave it for Future Kate who really really hates Past Kate, and hates Present Kate most of the time too... as she gets lumped with pretty much every chore!

We went to a BBQ in Ningi last night.  I didn't take a sweater because a) I wasn't cold at the time and b) I may have been throwing one or two toys out of the pram about not owning any nice sweaters in the whole world.  It was chilly but once Kurt had the fire lit, it was cozy warm - at least, my front was!

I also met an awesome tree frog.

I tried to take a couple of pictures to dhow his size.

Next to a jumbo box of matches:

But then realised that the Non-Aussies of this blog might not know how big a jumbo box of matches is... so I moved on to a toothpick:

Mind you, he was sitting up for the toothpick picture and lying down for the matchbox one, so the matchbox pic is more impressive - given that the short side of the matchbox is approximately the length of a toothpick.

I also lied to my host and said I liked Australian sausages, when asked, as I felt a little bit guilty about my seafood phobia the previous night.  However, I was saved by the advent of steak sandwiches and celebration cake that left no room for sausages!

Kurt's dad being one of ten means that there are a large number of C's.  Also a large number of Mr & Mrs C's, and I am now contrjbuting to the problem!  I think my sense of humour seems to fit in, though, which helps!  I like to think that I can hold my own...

This morning, Kurt has gone to do the BMW ride, a 88km cycle around Brisbane that started at about 0500 this morning!  I am heading up to Petrie shortly for the club shoot (archery) at Lakeside Bowmen Club.  I'm a bit nervous as this is the first time I have gone without Kurt... I think Krispy Kreme's will be in order on the way!

Yesterday, we went up the coast to visit Kurt's cousin, for dinner.  She is a chef and lives in Broome, and had arranged a night of seafood.  When I heard this... I have to say I became quite apprehensive.  Apprehensive to the extent that it made me quite nauseous!  

I enjoyed the fish course, I was not 100% certain how I felt about the gravlax, and I was brave enough to try the scallops and the prawns.  

I thing was, they didn't taste all that bad. Actually, I'm not quite sure what they tasted of, as the overriding sensation was fear.  Completely irrational, of course, and I am glad I tried it - but even if it was not objectionable, I am not sure it is something I could ever enjoy.

The dessert was creme brulee , one of Kurt's favourites, and as his cousin already knew I wasn't a massive fan, I had chocolate chip icecream and a large amount of toffee - a very satisfactory finish to the meal!

I just ran 5k, which is the furthest I've ever run without stopping.  I did it in 30:05, set at 10kph, 6 minute k's, which went slightly over because the treadmill had to speed up.  I ended up having to run 30 seconds a bit faster due to that as well - and still ran very slightly below my goal of 30 minutes.  Still happy though, although even with an incline of 0, the last kilometre was torture, and my muscles are now complaining !

I only use a treadmill when I'm on overnights - apparently it can help to alternate between real running and treadmill running, for training, as per the physio, so the 4 or 5 times a month I get to use one, I try to make the most of it.  Ok... not always.

I'm in Rockhampton, by the way, and I didn't take any photos.  However last night there was a lunar eclipse with a forecasted blood moon, and although people on the ground only got a good view of the undersides of clouds, we spent 20 minutes over Maleny, going around in circles, watching the shadow slowly engulf the moon.  It got about half-way across before we left Maleny and descended into Brisbane.  Thanks, BAC for the extended holding... it was quite interesting for once!  Unfortunately even iphones don't take good pictures of the moon, in partial eclipse or otherwise, so I didn't even attempt it.

I don't think I ever mentioned that the Waikiki meatballs and chicken curry went down well.  The meatballs are long gone and the curry is following on its heels.  I suppose that means I need to cook something else. 

I'm on reserve this morning... my calendar shows me that they are going to call me, but they haven't yet.  They are pushing it because they appear to want me to sign on at 0940, and with a 2 hour callout, they should have called me 30 minutes ago!  Not My Problem.

I've finally sorted out my passport application to change to my married name (eek) and will mail that off this morning.  One tiny step for mankind one giant leap for Kate?  I'm not sure how that one goes...

I don't really have anything to say this morning but am bravely writing a blogpost to say nothing anyway, as I said that I would.

Maybe after flying today (if they ever call me), I'll have some more aerial photos to bore you with.

Apparently, when you're doing 31 days of writing, you're supposed to pick specific themes from your post from whoever it is who organises the thing.  Well, I didn't know that until now, so I'm going to ignore it from now as well.

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There's a creek by the apartments, it is dirty and dark, and runs along the back by the big grassed area.  It has broken concrete, and murky shallow pools, and a faint smell of not-so-nice.

Here it is, in all it's grubby glory,

 but if you look a little closer, you will see it's beauty.  

These little purple flowers were covering the bank,

 and if you listen, you will hear the trickle of the water tumbling over the broken concrete steps.

 If you have a moment to stop and take notice.

Today is Labour day, which means that almost every shop in Queensland is closed... except for DFO at the Airport.  Apparently everyone in the state had the idea of going shopping at DFO today, because it was ridiculously crowded.  Unfortunately, I had made the decision that I was going to cook today, and not having all of the ingredients I needed, DFO's madness was braved.

Waikiki meatballs are made and ready for dinner tonight, and chicken curry is reducing on the stove for tomorrow's meals.  I feel so accomplished.  Okay, not 100% accomplished, as I haven't cleaned the kitchen up yet... and I think I am possibly the messiest cook ever.

Kurt is at work, so that is somewhat of a license to be an even more messy cook than usual... but it will be cleaned up before he gets home!  (And he is probably reading this anyway, hehe)

31 Days of Writing: Day 5

I think I should retitle this series 31 Days of Writing Minus The Days That I Forget.

That would make this -2.

Yesterday was pretty full with a cousin's wedding - so no room for blogging... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  It was a beautiful wedding, but very strange to be watching another couple get married so soon after our own... so many memories!  It was different in many ways, and I am happy to report that despite all of the changes the weather threw on us, I wouldn't change a thing about our special day! 

We stayed the night up in Bribie with the in-laws, and had an easy-going morning there before coming back down to Brisbane at lunch time.

Bribie Island is about a 50 minutes' drive north of Brisbane, which to me would make it "up".  However everyone seems to refer to it as going "down" to Bribie and "up" to Brisbane, which I find very confusing.  Must be something to do with the Southern Hemisphere and standing on their heads for so long.

Tomorrow I am on reserve and have lots of plans for it.  Of course, we aren't supposed to make plans while on reserve, for obvious reasons, but I prefer to be thoroughly disappointed by the ruin of my day when I get called in to work...  So far, our plans involve archery, visiting Grandma, and writing thank-you cards. 

One, two, or maybe even three of this to-do list will be completed, depending on motivation and levels of procrastination in the morning!

31 days of writing: Running

I've started running, in a bid to get fit.  Strange, I know, but when running up 3 flights of stairs leaves you puffed, you know it's time to change things.

Pre-wedding, we (Kurt) decided to enter us in the Bridge to Brisbane 10k fun run. The plan was to train for a few weeks - he did, but I didn't, as the running combined with pre-wedding stress made my neck sore.

So the Bridge to Brisbane came, and we ran it, with a little walking (8.4k running) and finished with a respectable time of 1h14.

I then hurt my foot due to having started running too much too soon, so had to stop for a couple of weeks - and have now been trying to get back in to it.  The goal is to run every other day, at least 3km.  Yesterday I really pushed myself and managed 3k in 16'10" - with a best time of 5'14" for the third kilometer.  Woohoo!

Proof:

31 Days of Writing : Wedding

What a big topic, although one would think it would be exhausted by now.

In the months leading up to the wedding, we put many things off, deciding to do them post-wedding.  Dinner dates were postponed, archery went on the back burner, and we didn't rock climb for weeks. 

When we got married, it was like everyone got the idea all at the same time that we now had plenty of free time, so all of our days off in the last 5 weeks have been filled with catch-up.  Catch up and moving house, and we're only 3 months late on our tax returns so far...

Tomorrow, Kurt's cousin is getting married, and I really feel for her!  I can remember the excitement mingled with fear and uncertainty in the days leading up to the wedding, and my relief when the day finally arrived.  Six weeks later, I hardly feel ready for another wedding - even though it's not mine this time!

We still haven't quite moved out of the old house in Banyo - the last of the furniture is listed on Gumtree, with a few items to move across to the apartment next weekend.  

And then I think we run out of excuses not to have our friends around (cue lots of cleaning...)

By Christmas, maybe some actual days off? :)

Bribie Island on fire near Kurt's parents' suburb

31 days of writing

yesterday, one of the blogs I read wrote about 31 days of writing.  The idea being to spend 5 minutes a day for a month writing a blog post.

And I thought that was a good idea, and that I could do it, and resolved to start yesterday for the month of October - and now it's 2 Oct... and I am already a failure.

1 minute into writing my 2nd 5 minute blog, which is actually my first, because I am a terrible person, I have finished explaining the 31 days of writing idea (which incidentally I found on The Harris Life blog) and have to think of something else to blog about.

The thing is, it's much easier to read other people's blogs than write my own.  I marvel at others' honesty about writing about their lives, and personal stuff, and about how life is hard, really hard, and how they're still there and that there are good times in the hard times and that the good times are really good.  And then I get to writing my own blog and I think - do I want people to know about me?  To see me?  To see all the things about me?  Or shall I post another photo of the sky being pretty and hope that nobody asks?

Because there are only so many flying photos that this blog can handle.

Brisbane Airport