Swandives

Happy New Year! You know, I really should be the kind of person who scoffs at new year resolutions as being completely vacuous and silly but that’s not the case. I love a good new year resolution! I always make a few, and inevitably fail to keep a couple. The longest standing has been to obtain my boat licence - I have had this on my list for at least the past 15 years!

But this year, I am determined. And in order to give myself a kick up the bum and actually accomplish them, I am posting them here. No doubt in 12 months I’ll look back and chuckle at the complete futility of it all but I can’t take the chance that this action won’t motivate me to new resolution completion heights! So here it goes. Resolutions for 2009:

• * Obtain my boat licence - I have already completed the compulsory safety course, so now all I gotta do is pass the test. Good start huh?
• * Become fit enough to run another half marathon - just to prove the first one wasn’t a fluke. Fitness levels at rock bottom right now so I’m essentially starting from scratch.
• * Read Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Then Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Did you know I have never even seen the film?
• * Play field hockey - this is a big one. I haven’t played hockey for 17 years and the game has changed radically in that time. But it’s on the list anyways.
• * Travel to New Zealand to go fly fishing for trout.

That’s probably enough for one year don’t you think? Got any resolutions of your own?

Image via WikipediaCue the Twilight Zone music: something weird is happening. I posted a minor rant about my disappointment with Weight Watchers and it mysteriously disappeared. The WW faeries came and took it away - if only they could do the same for the extra 8 kg of lard that’s hanging around right now. But thank you for all your ideas and comments - they’ve been filed away where I will put them to good use.

Yesterday I ran 4 km and then did a pump class. I was a wee bit weary by the end of it all. But I’ve entered the City to Surf so it’s training, here we come. I wasn’t going to enter because with only a few weeks left, it’s unlikely that I’ll get the 14 km even at my snaily pace, but I had a mini epiphany - I don’t actually have to run the entire way. Hell, most people don’t run the entire way. And all of a sudden, the C2S stopped being this painful chore and started being potentially fun. So that’s the plan, anyway.

Of course, this comes in the first year that C2S offers timing chips, so I’ll know exactly how slow I am. I am very happy about the chips and it’s providing extra incentive to train but why in the very year when I decide to be zen about my time and walking? Oh well. There’s always next year.

… in other news, a truly weird moment watching the news on the tele tonight. Actually, I was listening, not watching. It was all about the wildfires in California, which are pretty dire by the sounds of things. Too many fires, not enough resources to fight them all, forcing fire fighters to pick and choose and leave some to burn. The news coverage switched to the obligatory pollie news grab, and all of a sudden I was listening to Arnold Schwarzenegger declaring a state of emergency and ordering the National Guard to assist in the efforts.

It was a surreal moment because my first reaction was to think, “Why doesn’t Arnie just put the fires out?”. He saved the world countless times - he even saved Mars, for goodness sake! A few fires should be a doddle, right? A few moments later common sense kicked in: “D’uh Swannie, this is real life we’re talking about, not some movie.” Oh yeah. Right. Darn.

There’s nothing like putting on 8 kgs in as many weeks to provide motivation for pounding the pavement. Yes, you read it correctly. Eight in eight. Sadly, I’m not even really exaggerating. Our bathroom scales began lying to me and all of a sudden, my jeans don’t fit. It takes months of hard work to lose 8 kg, but apparently that ‘moment on the lips’ cliche is entirely true. Needless to say, the scales have been retired in favour of a new, accurate set.

So I’m back to running. I tried to motivate myself a few weeks ago to get back into it, to no avail. But the aforementioned weight gain worked like a charm and I’ve just completed 5 km. I’m also considering going to Weight Watchers as I am obviously in need of help.

Many (indeed, I would venture to say most) women have body issues - and many look in the mirror and see something larger than reality. But I look in the mirror and see the same thing, regardless of whether I’m hefty or svelt. You may be wondering, ‘how can she put on all that weight and not notice?’. I have asked myself the same thing. But I don’t notice. I feel like some freakshow. I should add that, apart from a prediliction for chocolate, I haven’t been stuffing my face. But for some reason food just doesn’t seem to taste as good as it used to, and I guess I’ve been overcompensating by eating more in the hope I’ll recapture yumminess.

What a week! First I go run my first half marathon, then I go for tests about the lump. Which, by the way, turned out well. I was pushed and pulled and poked in all manner of ways, but said lump is apparently a collection of fibrous cysts and I just have to keep an eye on them. In between all this was a rather hectic week during which I had trouble walking - payback from the bod for making it run 21.1 km without stopping. Oh my ankles have been sore! And, to cap it all off, the Manly Sea Eagles are playing in a grand final and I’m excited and a wee bit worried all at the same time! As they say in the classics, ‘It’s all happening’.

Anyway, here are my split times for the half. They’re not going set the world on fire, but they’re pretty speedy for little old me. I missed a couple of km markers along the way, so apologies for the gaps:

6.37
6.14 (12.51 -2km)
12.40 (25.31 -4km)
14.06 (39.37 -6km)
21.46 (61.23 -9km)
7.01 (68.24 -10km)
7.25 (75.49 -11km)
8.01 (83.50 -12km)
7.02 (90.52 -13km)
7.35 (98.27 -14km)
8.05 (106.32 -15km)
8.19 (114.41 -16km),
7.55 (122.36 -17km)
8.10 (130.46 -18km)
8.03 (138.49 -19km)
8.19 (147.06 -20km)
8.58 (156.04 -21.1km)

This morning I completed my first official half marathon, in a time of about 2hrs 36 mins! The beloved also competed: his time was around 1 hr 52 mins. So we both ran out of our skin! It was amazing. The first part of the race is across the Harbour Bridge and the last 3km is along the Sydney Harbour Foreshore (you finish at the opera house). I had three goals:

• Finish
• Run fast enough that I wasn’t turned around before I could complete the race
• Run the entire way.

If those three things happened, then I was going to finish under 3 hrs. I always knew I was going to be slow so I went out quite quickly (relatively speaking of course) and then tried to hold on once I got to the 9km mark (that’s where they turn around people who are too slow, because they can’t keep the road open indefinitely for obvious reasons). But I was still feeling great right up to about 14 km. I’ll post times here later. For the moment, I am very happy that the final run was such an amazing thing. I never ever thought I would run a half marathon so I’m pretty pleased with myself right now!

This run on Sunday starts at 6.20am! It’s posing somewhat of a challenge for littl’ old me because early starts are not my strong point. Actually, starts of any kind are not my strong point. Give me my comfy bed and dreams any day. It’s one of the reasons I would make a very bad parent - kids virtually demand early rises. Anyway, this morning I was snoozing away, happily dreaming of my favourite fishing spot in the mountains and of having a BBQ with some amazing musicians when the beloved woke me. I was mildly upset to say the least - it was such a cool dream. There was BBQ steak and everything!

The reason for the rude interuption of my subconcious ramblings is because this week I am supposed to be getting up progressively early so that when I have to arise at 4am - yes 4 in the morning to get to this run thing, I won’t feel as much like death warmed over as I might otherwise. It’s a good plan, but man, what I wouldn’t give to be in bed right now.

So sore. 10-odd km yesterday and 17-odd today. Four more weeks and I look forward to sitting down to dinner with a bottle of wine (or champagne) and just celebrating. I mean, there’s birthdays, wedding anniversaries and the like to celebrate, but I think what I’ll really be celebrating is the end of the running season. My body has had enough I tells ya!

The Swandives theme has changed again. Very short attention span, I have…plus I love a good redesign. Actually, I’m sitting here waiting for the men’s 100 m sprint final to be televised on SBS. (Despite pledging that I would no longer watch the channel until Mary Kostakidis was back on air…but you just can’t beat it for top sports coverage. Plus. Les is still at the helm.)

Oooh…final’s on…oho! Boilover! American Tyson Gay beat the race favourite Asafa Powell! Man, I didn’t think he could do it, but Powell ran third. Wow. Gay has some serious acceleration going on! Ok. Now I can take some Nurofen Plus and go to bed.

Great. As a self-confessed stress-head, this is just what I did NOT need. An article from the SMH, that says Aussie, US and Slovakian scientists have discovered chronic stress triggers the body’s fat cells to grow and multiply.

Yikes!

Yesterday, the beloved and I did the 8 km MS run from Milson’s Point to Balls Head and back. One word: HILLS. Argh. I am very sore now.

But I did a minute better than the Mothers Day Classic, so I’m pretty happy. I powered home, thanks to some downhill and flat action on the home straight…plus running along the harbour foreshore rocks! Oh, and it was freezing, which isn’t good at the start of the race, but helps no end once you’re actually running. I don’t do heat well.

Now I can hardly walk.

The next run is in through the vinyards of the Hunter Valley. 10 km. Should be good.

Because I haven’t posted much about it recently. Yes, I am still running. Well, at my speed, jogging is more accurate. I can pretty much lope along at about 8 min/km for as long as I need to, but any faster and I can probably only get around 10 km max. Yesterday I jogged 11.15 km and it took me about 88 minutes, but I did it easy - had enough in the tank to sprint up the hill and home for the last 500 metres. I’m starting to think a half marathon is doable, if only I could get a bit more speed on. Not this year tho…I’ll concentrate of the City to Surf for the moment.

Now I’m sore tho. And, I have these awful big black bruises on my leg - I knocked myself about getting a darn crosstrainer machine into our flat! So it’s not a good look at the moment.

We’re doing the MS run this weekend…8km of hills with stairs! Yikes.

UPDATE: Actually, it was 88:42. Me slow runner swannie!