43 days to run a marathon: the longest race kit collection EVER (in my very short running life)

43 days to go.  I don’t know what to say.  Except maybe, ooops.

As you know I am very, very good at procrastinating, and this time I have procrastinated about going and getting my running kit for tomorrow’s City2Surf.  I can no longer procrastinate, since the race is tomorrow and you can’t run without your kit.  I am wondering how much I want to run it.

I think it will take maybe 2 hours to drive in, park, line up, and drive home.  Which is perfect because we are all heading to a friend’s for dinner in 2 1/2 hours!

As I head off, I am a little concerned by the traffic signs warning me about heavy delays at Moore Park.  That’s where I’m heading.  I should be fine though, its only a 25 minute drive.  I’ve got plenty of time up my sleeve.

As the line of cars continues to crawl along at speeds the speedometer can’t even register, a car attempts to cut in front of me.  I creep forward.  He turns and glares at me.  I use my eyes and hands to express the fact that I’ve been patiently waiting in line, why should I let him cut in?  His reply is not as polite and restrained as mine.  He continues to inch forward and I continue to refuse to let him in.  Then I breathe.  Who cares, the race kit collection point is closing in 5 minutes, and at this non-speed I’m at least 20 minutes away.  Plus I’ve realised, his car is going to scratch my car (or should I say Jake’s car, since I’d taken his because he’d parked me in).  It will cost me more time and energy to continue to push the point, than it will to just let him in.  So I let him into the queue, and surprise, surprise, no thank-you wave. Jerk.

I watch as other cars let their passengers out. I watch the passengers sprint across the road and toward the race kit collection point.  That is the benefit of running with someone.  You don’t have to worry about parking the car or being in a traffic jam 400m from your destination.

Two hours later, as I creep down the final stretch of road to the car park, I pass the race kit collection point.  Technically, it should be closed, but judging by the line out the front, it won’t close for quite a while.

As I turn into the car park, I realise I’ve made a huge mistake.  The entrance gate I’ve used seems to lead only to the car wash area.  Things are not going my way.  As I wonder how to get to actual parking, I hear a voice call out “you can park here”.  Not trusting my luck, I park and hop out.  Did you just say I could park here?  Yep, we’re closed, open parking now.  Finally a bit of luck!  I race across the street, only to be faced with another queue.  It’s actually longer than it appeared from the car.  It winds back and forth several times.  As I search for the end of the line, I contact my friend to let her know we will be late for dinner.  Luckily, she is extremely laid back, and since she knows me well, she’d already guessed we would be running late.  Such a good friend, didn’t even freak out when I revealed that I was still in a line at Moore Park.

The good thing about lines, is meeting new people.  I bonded with a couple of fellow runners who were equally frustrated with the amount of time this whole race kit collection was taking.  We all agreed that Town Hall was the ideal location for this sort of thing.  And they sympathised with my lateness to a dinner party.

Two and a half hours later, I had my race kit.

Three and a quarter hours later, I was back home collecting my family to head to our friend’s house for dinner.

Four hours later we finally arrived at dinner, only ninety minutes late.

This run better be worth it!

Exercise: Stressing about being late to dinner. And it’s always a rest day, the day before a race, even if it is shorter than the long runs I should be doing.

Eating: yummy Asian pork, with veggies and cake!

44 days to run a marathon: building fences

44 days to run a marathon.  I’m not doing it.  I can’t run that far.  It’s over.

Kidding.

No really, I don’t want to do it anymore.

But I will.  Try to.  Walk maybe.

So we have this little puppy, Sofia Sugar Berry Puka.  She is small and very cute.  Unfortunately, she is so small she can fit through our front fence.  Therefore she can’t be left outside.  Until now.  The fencing men have arrived to install a new side gate, and fix up our pool fence, which was compliant, but apparently is no longer compliant (after 4 years?).

The new side fence looks great!  It hides the garbage bins from the street and makes our backyard puppy-safe.  Even better it swings closed!  So no one can “forget” to close the gate.

The altered pool fence is going to take getting used to.  It’s just different, and not what I was expecting.  Although, when I went for a closer look to see why the pool fence is different to what I had pictured, I realised it was not possible to put the fence where I wanted.  No surprises there.  It’s why I’m not a designer or architect.  I’m good at saying whether I like or don’t like something, but I have absolutely no taste and can’t pick anything to save my life.  Its the reason our bedroom has block out blinds and white walls, I can’t decide on curtains or wallpaper or paintings or wall colour or bed side tables, etc.

I would have loved a glass pool fence, then it wouldn’t matter when it was, because you wouldn’t be able to see it anyway.  And that’s the reason we decided against a glass fence.  With five children of our own, plus their cousins and friends, that’s way too many children running SMACK into the glass, or “accidentally” kicking/throwing/hitting balls into it, or CRASHing bikes and scooters into it.

Exercise: Just a 7 km Bay Run in preparation for the 14km City2Surf on the weekend!

Eating: Dam, those boxes of chocolates, I need some earplugs, or will power.

45 days to run a marathon: the things I hate most about organised fun runs

45 days to go…  I’ve starting feeling nauseous in the morning.  I think it’s this countdown to running my first marathon (better be, I’ve already got five children and a puppy).

It’s that time of race prep.  Race kit collection.  I can’t decide which I hate more, being cold before the start of the race, or having to go and collect my race kit.    Right now, collecting the race kit is top of the list.  Once I have the kit, it will drop to second.

I think all kits should be posted out.  In fact that’s my new rule: If it’s too late to get the race kit posted, it’s too late to register.  Unfortunately, some races are kit collection only.  In this case there should only be one collection point:  Town Hall.  It’s in the city, on the train line, and on the bus lines.  No need to drive in and park.  Just hop on a bus and hop off a bus, easy!

Unfortunately, I was a very late entry into the City2Surf.  The last time I ran this race was with my dad.  It was the last time he ever ran the City2Surf, and he ran it with me. I haven’t been able to even think about running in this race until now.  My little sister is running.  This is what finally made me enter.  Unfortunately, she registered early, so we won’t be running together.

Its going to be an emotional run and I’m grateful to be doing it by myself.  Last time, I was fit but not running fit, and my dad egged and cheered me on the whole way.  He sacrificed his own time to help me do my best (that’s just the kind of dad he was, and I miss him so much).  I know he’ll be running with me this time too, the difference is, I’ll only be able to hear his voice in my heart, and the hug at the end will be with my sister.

Enough, sadness!  Let’s get back to the complaining.

I’m finding it very hard to find the motivation to collect my running kit.  I tried getting my sister to get it for me, but she registered early and already has her stuff.  The problem is the collection location is a very awkward place for me to get to by public transport, so I have to drive.  I just can’t seem to find the 90 minutes I’m going to need to drive, park, collect, and drive.  First world problem I know.

On the positive side, my start group isn’t until 9am, so the cold won’t be a problem!

Exercise: hmmmmm

Eating: Seriously, until the fundraising has sold all the chocolates, I don’t even want to comment!

46 days to run a marathon: mummy the doggy’s eating my painting

46 days left of training.  I am cursing the whole concept of the “bucket list”.  Why, oh why, did I ever think I would want to run a marathon?  I was very happy with my two half-marathons.  And yes, if I add them together, they do make a full marathon, but that’s not the point.  I have apparently decided that I want to run for 42.2km.  It must have been some sort of mid-life crisis that made me sign up and pay for the privilege of running for 5 hours.

We have now been the proud owners of a little golden retriever for 5 days.  For the majority of this time Little Lottie Lou (3 years old) has refused to have her feet on the ground, and has managed to move around our house by climbing on furniture.  Our living area is now sprinkled with seemingly randomly placed chairs of various sizes.  The logic of the furniture placement only becomes apparent when Little Lottie Lou is suddenly reminded of the presence of Sofia Sugar Berry Puka.  Our three-year old then sprints to the nearest chair and proceeds to navigate her way around the house from an elevated position.  Buddy, although, five is also utilising Little Lottie Lou’s coping mechanism.  Our repeated reminders of “don’t run, the puppy thinks you want to play chasing” are completely ignored in the panic of being chased by an 8 week old puppy.

After a couple of days at home with just me and Sofia Sugar Berry Puka, Little Lottie Lou is starting to get a bit more confident.  She has realised, far more quickly than Buddy, that Sofia Sugar Berry Puka, will NOT chase you if you stay still.  This discovery was the result of being caught by Sofia Sugar Berry Puka, in the open without any furniture available for an elevated escape.  I think Little Lottie Lou became frozen to the spot in absolute panic.  Sofia Sugar Berry Puka quietly sniffed around a statuesque Little Lottie Lou, became bored and went to rest in the sun.  This gave Little Lottie Lou something to think about.  I watched as she proceeded to move further into the garden, and Sofia Sugar Berry Puka came to see if she wanted to play.  Little Lottie Lou froze.  The puppy, discouraged by the lack of running, went back to her sunny spot.  Little Lottie Lou, as three-year olds do, continued to investigate this very interesting discovery (a discovery which Jake and I had been repeating verbatim for the last five days).

Eventually, reassured that Sofia Sugar Berry Puka was no longer a threat, Little Lottie Lou decided she wanted to paint.  I wasn’t sure if this best idea: a 3-year-old, a puppy and paints…

Using the same brilliant logic that had me sign up for a marathon, I set up Little Lottie Lou with paints and paper in the backyard with our new puppy and came inside to “work” on the computer.

It wasn’t long before I heard yelling from the backyard, “Mummy, the doggy’s eating my painting!”

Exercise: An hour on the treadmill.  I am not telling how far I ran, because I am ashamed of my effort.

Eating:  Man, I wish the kids would just come and collect their boxes of chocolates to sell!  I am doing a massive solo fundraising effort here!

47 days to run a marathon: I’ll just sit here, in the car, until the door magically unlocks itself

47 days left.  I know I’m going to regret my superior abilities of procrastination.

This is the morning I have to get Le Bonn and Tiger to school by 7:30 for choir.   The problem is getting Le Bonn and Tiger into the car by 7am.

Normally, I yell a lot on these mornings.  It’s a bit selfish really.  As long as the boys are at school by 7:30, I can fit in the Bay Run (7km) on the way home and still be home in time to take Prinny and Buddy to school.

The boys hopped into my car half-dressed and without eating breakfast.  If I have time to eat breakfast, unload the dishwasher, put on a load of washing, make 4 school lunches, get dressed, and brush my teeth.  Then they should be able to get dressed, have breakfast, brush their teeth, and pack their bags.  I don’t think this is expecting too much.

I discussed their inability to move quickly and efficiently in the morning, or any time of day for that matter, for the entire drive into school.  I also asked Tiger over four times to tie his shoelaces.

By the time we arrived at school, I was still fuming.  The later we leave, the heavier the traffic and the longer I have to lecture the children trapped in my car.  I told Tiger and Le Bonn to hop out of the car and race to choir.  Le Bonn, who was sitting in the back of the car, jumped out with all his bags and trombone.  Tiger, who was sitting in the front of the car, simply sat there, unmoving.  By this time I’d really had enough and I really wanted the kids to get out of my car.  I yelled at Tiger to “Get out of the car!” and yet he continued to sit there.

“Why won’t you get out of the car?”

“I can’t!”

“Why can’t you get out of the car?”

“It’s locked!”

Argghhh!  Normally, Tiger is the kind of child who would climb out through the window or clamber over all the seats to get out of a different door.  But this morning, he seems to be consumed by a very defeatist attitude (maybe the result of being lectured for 30 minutes by me?).

“Undo the lock.” I state.

“What lock?”

“The door lock.”

“This one?”

“No.” I say as the window goes down.

“This one?”

“No.” I say as he tries to open the locked door with the handle.

“This one?”

“No.” I say as the window goes up.

“This…” At this point I leap across the car screaming, “This one!  This is the door lock!  Can you see this?  This is the button that locks and unlocks the door!”

“Oh”.

Apparently he accidentally locked it while tying his shoelaces.

As I sped away, I called out to my boys “I love you but I’m mad at you for making me late, hope you enjoy choir!” (the last bit I said very sarcastically).

When I arrived home, Chrissy had the little ones almost ready for school.  Buddy complained that he didn’t have his school hat.  I fished the clean but wet hat out of the washing machine, plonked it on his head despite his protests and told him it would dry quickly in the sun.  (Luckily we live in Sydney.  I grew up in Minnesota.  In the middle of a Minnesotan winter, a wet hat would freeze solid on your head.  You would most likely be scalped when you tried to take it off.)

 

Exercise:  I missed the Bay Run and had to settle of 15 minutes of sprints and ABT.

Eating: Continuing my fervent support of our chocolate fundraising effort.

48 days run a marathon: little puddles and smelly parcels

OK 48 days left of training, let’s get running!

Or let’s sit at home and mind the new puppy.

I was planning on spending my child-free day doing a nice long run, after all I only have 48 days to get my legs ready to run for 5 hours.

Instead, I realised that my school morning routine is now even busier as I try to squeeze in doggy patting, feeding, peeing, pooing and cleaning up of said puddles and parcels, into the normal routine of making five lunches (plus one Crunch’N’Sip), ensuring everyone is dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed, skin sunscreened, bags packed and kisses given.

As soon as all the children were dropped at bus stops, school and pre-school.  I came home and cleaned up the new little puddles and smelly parcels, and decided I’d best give in and mop the entire floor (and balcony, poor little puppy can’t get up or down the balcony stairs to the grass, I’ll be glad when this problem is solved).

Then, as I patted my newest baby, I wondered if it would be better to have two puppies.  If we had two puppies, they could play together and I could go for a run without feeling guilty…

Exercise: mopping up the little puddles and smelly parcels

Eating: I opened a box of fundraising chocolates and swapped the Toblerones for chocolates I don’t like as much.  Then I made a donation to the Rugby 7’s fundraising effort, and ate the Toblerones.

49 days to a marathon: Welcome to our family Sofia Sugar Berry Puka!

49 days until my first marathon. That’s 7 weeks!! I am slightly freaking out, while eating chocolate and not running.

Yesterday we collected our new little baby girl, Sofia Sugar Berry Puka. She is a Golden Retriever and is 8 weeks old. Our family is now even. No longer will people be able to say “You’ll have to have another baby so your family is even”. Are they kidding?  Do people seriously think we would have another baby just to make our family even?  What if we had another boy, or worse, twins!  I used to tell people they could have as many babies as they wanted, I was done. Now I’m going to say, we are even, we have a dog and it is a girl.

Although you are not supposed to take puppies out into the wide world until they are fully immunised, I was not going to be leaving our new puppy in the house unattended while our entire family was out at rugby games for half the day. And so we placed Sofia Sugar Berry Puka in the basket she hates, and put her in the car which she also hates, and took her to the local park for Tiger’s rugby game. Tiger was so excited!

Not one to miss an opportunity to reduce my exposure to chocolate, I filled the car not only with one puppy and four children, but also a couple of boxes of fundraising chocolates.

It was difficult to cross the street with our puppy in a basket under one arm, two boxes of chocolates under the other arm, and a handbag over one shoulder, whilst trying to coerce a 3 year old and 5 year old who are terrified of the puppy in the basket to hold onto my elbows as we cross the street. By the time we were half way to the rugby field, I put everything down. Tiger and Prinny were each given a box of chocolates to carry, the puppy came out of the basket and went onto the leash, and my handbag and jacket went into the puppy basket. This new system lasted for about 10 meters. Sofia Sugar Berry Puka is not a fan of the leash. She refused point-blank to walk in the same direction as me, or any of the children. Little Lottie Lou and Buddy refused to walk anywhere near me and the puppy. Tiger and Prinny gave up waiting for us, and walked the rest of the way by themselves. So my bag and jacket came out of the basket, and the puppy went back in. We made it to the field and I plonked all our stuff down as far away from all the other dogs as we could get. I eyed off the coffee van but had to get everyone sorted first. Tiger tried to take Sofia Sugar Berry Puka to meet his team. I told him to bring his team to Sofia Sugar Berry Puka, it would be easier. Little Lottie Lou and Buddy were too scared to sit near our baby puppy, and nervously hovered just out of the reach of Sofia Sugar Berry Puka’s leash. So I decided to send Prinny, Buddy and Little Lottie Lou off to sell chocolates. Prinny and Buddy each held a box. They let Little Lottie Lou hold two chocolates. Off they went chanting, “Who wants chocolates? You have to buy them?”

Sofia Sugar Berry Puka settled down to sleep. She was obvious exhausted after being carried so far. I continued to eye off the coffee van, but couldn’t leave the puppy. People started drifting over to pat the little puppy. It was very social, but would have been better if I’d had a coffee.

Tiger played well. I can’t remember the score. It was difficult to see from my vantage point, way off to the side, surrounded by the crowd of people wanting to pat the Sofia Sugar Berry Puka and give me advice on puppies.

Amazingly, Prinny, Buddy and Little Lottie Lou sold almost one box of chocolates! Personally, I found their selling skills lacking. However I forgot to factor in their selling strategy based on “cuteness”. As soon as Tiger finished his game he came over to sell his box of chocolates. By the time we left the kids had sold almost 2 full boxes of chocolates. People kept asking for Toblerones. I apologised. Toblerones are my favourite.

It was a long way to the back to the car, carrying the puppy in her basket, chasing after Little Lottie Lou and Buddy as they sprinted to the car. The faster I ran (with the puppy in the basket), the faster they ran to get away from Sofia Sugar Berry Puka. The only positive was there were less chocolates to carry.

By the time we arrived home, welcome parties had started to arrive to meet our newest addition. At one stage we had half Le Bonn’s rugby team in our backyard. I ended up doing weeding in the front yard. Jake came up to see me with Sofia Sugar Berry Puka. We chatted on either side of our driveway gate, both admiring our incredible gift for growing weeds. As we talked, we watched as Sofia Sugar Berry Puka passed right through our gate. I picked her up and passed her to Jake, guess she can’t be in the front yard until she’s bigger/fatter.

Exercise: upper body workout using puppy weight

Eating: thanks to the kids, there are now 85 less chocolates for me to eat.

50 days to run a marathon: the arrival of DEEFA

50 days to go. What happened to the other 25?  Somehow I feel like a completely wasted them.  I know I completely wasted them.  People keep asking me how the training is going and are so disappointed when I tell them how little I’ve managed to do.

Today is the big day.  DEEFA day.  As usual the morning is a complete panic.  Buddy has the first game of the day, 8am at beautiful Balmoral beach.  Unfortunately Buddy’s coach is away so Jake is filling in.  This resulted in tears from Tiger.  For some strange reason, Tiger insisted that Jake watch his game this week.  Tiger’s game was not even in Sydney, it was 90 minutes north of Sydney, on the Central Coast! Le Bonn also has a game of rugby to get to, and Prinny has her netball.  After frantic emails on Friday, we managed to secure Tiger a lift to his game and a lift home for Buddy after his game.  Jake would then race from Balmoral to the Central Coast, hopefully making it in time for the second half of Tiger’s game.  I would take Le Bonn, and Chrissy would look after the girls, wait for Buddy to be dropped off, and then take them to netball.  Jake and Buddy, and Tiger and I left home at the same time.  As Tiger and I headed to Balmain for his lift, I started to think about a nice, tasty, way to say thank you to the family driving Tiger up to his game.  The answer was obvious.  Balmain is home to a lovely café Piccolo, who stock those delicious cinnamon scrolls.  What a perfect way to say thank you, and I could get a coffee.

Normally there is absolutely no parking in Balmain.  For your reference, Balmain has plenty of parking on Saturday mornings before 8am.  You will have to wait for some of the cafés to open.  Luckily, Piccolo’s was already doing a roaring trade, which made me panic momentarily, until I spotted a heavily laden tray of cinnamon scrolls.

As Tiger and I strolled down Balmain, weighed down with cinnamon scrolls (Tiger had 5 and I had my one), we chatted about the beautiful cottages and terraces that Balmain is famous for.  The only problem with the village is the price of real estate and parking!

Once Tiger was on his way, I very slowly made my way home to collect Le Bonn for his game.  I listened to the news, drank my tiny little skinny decaf piccolo, and savoured my cinnamon scroll from the outside in!

Le Bonn’s game was in another beautiful part of Sydney, Rose Bay.  Walking miles past beautiful homes on a sunny morning was lovely, pity about the prices and parking!  Le Bonn’s game was fun to watch, but a bit lonely.  With five kids, and Le Bonn playing for two different teams, I haven’t been to watch many of his school rugby games.  I didn’t know any of the parents.  The upside was, I watched the whole game and did lots of cheering.

As soon as Le Bonn had finished playing, I dragged him very reluctantly away from the BBQ, and hiked to the car to try and watch the end of Prinny’s netball.

By the time we reached Prinny’s game it was over.  Even worse, everyone was telling me about the amazing goal Prinny shot.  The goal of the season!  Speaking from experience, people are always far more impressed when someone uncoordinated shoots a goal, especially when it was a long shot.  I think this has been Prinny’s strategy for the season:  Lull everyone, especially the coach, into having very low expectations of your ability, and then show the occasional flash of brilliance and skill to keep them guessing.  It’s the same strategy I use. Except for the flashes of brilliance.  I don’t have those.

At Prinny’s netball, I traded Le Bonn for Prinny, Buddy and Little Lottie Lou.   Chrissy headed home with Le Bonn so he could shower and get ready for lunch.  Chrissy, Jake, Gran, Le Bonn and Tiger would all head out for lunch, and I would take Prinny, Buddy and Little Lottie Lou to visit their cousins.  We would all meet up for “afternoon tea”, aka DEEFA.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.  I was surprised at how well they behaved when I said it was time to go.  They did think they were going for afternoon tea with gran.  I just love the way none of our kids were in any way suspicious about why we would be having afternoon tea so far from home!

As we drove the short distance to “afternoon tea”, I called Jake to see how they were progressing.  Amazingly, we were in front!!!!  I don’t think I have ever beaten Jake and Gran to anything before.  I was so proud of myself and the little kids!

As we pulled up to the big house that belonged to the DEEFA breeder (Jen), the kids were surprised by the homely appearance of the café.  As Jen came out to greet us, the kids tried to place some orders for hot chocolate and lemonade.  Luckily, Jen realised our visit was a surprise and gently steered our children into her backyard.  Little Lottie Lou and Buddy ran straight to the play equipment (Jen’s grandkids are regular visitors to her house, hence the play equipment), while Prinny, Tiger, and Le Bonn noticed some dogs.  Jen invited us all down to have a look at her new puppies.  The kids still had no idea what was going on.  I think they were wondering when their drinks would arrive.  Jen quietly pointed out which puppy was ours.  Tiger was already patting her.  Little Lottie Lou and Buddy came down to join the rest of us with the puppies, and then proceeded to run and scream as the puppy chased them.  That was it for Little Lottie Lou.  She insisted on being held out of the reach of the 8 week old puppy.  Buddy relaxed a little bit, but ran every time the puppy turned in his direction.  Tiger told Jen that when Little Lottie Lou started school we were going to get a puppy, and he hoped it would be just like this one.  “I think it probably will be”, she replied.

The kids still had no clue.

Jake and I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, “This is your puppy!  What do you think?”

They were all so excited!

Prinny, Le Bonn and Tiger were screaming with joy.

Buddy and Little Lottie Lou were screaming.

Little Lottie Lou refused to come home in my car, since I was going to be driving the puppy.  The other four were all very excited.  Buddy’s excitement soon turned to terror, as the puppy tried to climb out of her basket and put her paws on his seat.  After some quick car seat reshuffling, Buddy was secured in the very back of the car, and Prinny and Le Bonn were positioned on either side of the puppy to ensure she stayed safely in her basket.  Tiger sat in the front, his job was to make sure I drove very very safely.

When we finally arrived home, everyone was tired, especially DEEFA.  The first job was to unhide all the dog things I’d accumulated over the week.

The next job was to give DEEFA a name.  I liked DEEFA, but that idea didn’t even make the voting board.  On behalf of Little Lottie Lou, I then suggested Sofia (as in the new Disney Princess Sofia the First).  Bella and Lily were also suggested.  DEEFA’s breeding name was Philena Sugar Berry.  Sugar and Sugar Berry were both added to the voting board.  Tiger suggested Puka.  The whole drive home involved Tiger alternating between telling me about the story he’d read at school about a really, really cute Golden Retriever named Puca, and giving me driving advice.  With these options on the board, the voting commenced.

Tears resulted.

And so DEEFA became Sofia Sugar Berry Puka.

Exercise: nil, just a lot of driving, and heavy lifting (Little Lottie Lou wouldn’t be on the same ground as Sofia Sugar Berry Puka)

Eating: ok if you don’t count the cinnamon scroll I had for breakfast

51 days to run a marathon: chocolate on my ear

51 days to run my first marathon and so little running done this week…

Yippee for me (read this as dripping with sarcasm).  After dropping all the kiddies at school, TeePee and I finally went for a run.  10 km.  We were going to do 14 and 21 respectively.  But motivation was sorely lacking.  We both know we will regret the lack of distance in 51 days (TeePee is doing her first 1/2 marathon).  I guess something is better than nothing…

Once I get home, I start getting the house ready for DEEFA’s arrival.  Tomorrow.  I empty a drawer in the laundry ready for the dog stuff that I have hidden in various locations around the house.  I crawl around the backyard searching for rat bait.  I pick up all the toys and shoes in the backyard.  There are ALOT.  I am hoping that the new puppy will encourage the children to pick up their things!!!!!   I find Jake lying under the hedge in the back garden.  He is securing the last possible escape route.  That we know of… We are still waiting for new side gates and the pool fence to be relocated somewhat (to make it compliant, again.).

Jake and I are so excited about the puppy!  It has been a real struggle this week to keep the big secret!  (Not so hard for Jake since he was away)  Can’t wait for tomorrow!

I spend my remaining “time without kids” at the computer, with a cup of hot water, the phone, my mobile and a couple of pieces of chilli chocolate.  It is only when I finish my phone calls that I realise there is chocolate all over the phone.  And yes, by now it is also on my ear.

Exercise: 10.33km

Eating:  just a bit of chilli chocolate

53 days to run a marathon: ABT

53 days left of training…

This morning I drove Le Bonn and Tiger into school for choir.  I was really looking forward to running the Bay (7km) before ABT.  Since it is the new instructor and he seems to have a low impact focus on ABT, I was confident that I’d be able to run before the class.    Sadly, as I drove home (and towards the Bay) I realised I’d put my handbag in the car.  In my car there is nowhere to hide a handbag, normally I leave it at home and just load up my SpiBelt with my stuff.  Arghhhh!

Since I drove straight home, I was able to rush the kids and drop Prinny and Buddy at school nice and early (for a change!).  Then Little Lottie Lou and I raced to the gym.  I managed to do 3.5km of 30 sec speed increases for 30 minutes which felt great.  I was a tad late for the ABT class because I can be slightly OCD and had to do exactly 30 minutes of running.  I knew I had made a mistake as soon as I saw the class.  The instructor had obviously been given the feedback to increase the intensity of the class.  While it still wasn’t as high impact as the normal instructor (and I NEVER run before or after her class, sometimes I can’t run for 2 days after her class), I was absolutely exhausted afterwards!

Exercise: 3.5 km and ABT

Eating:  continuing my support of our chocolate fundraising