When life gave me lemons, I made lemonade.

I woke up this morning feeling awesome after my first run/walk yesterday. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING hurt. I didn't even have any tightness which I was half expecting. I had been given a fairly big hurdle and I overcame it. My persistence in taking it so very slow has paid off and I cannot wait to get back into it. The feeling I got after yesterdays run was "too much" for words. I remember saying to Susan yesterday that most people would have given up by now with everything that I have gone through in the last year, but I have come way too far to give up.

I am consistent with my stretches, even thought they still hurt like crazy. I religiously take my Neway's supplements because I know they are helping me with my energy and muscle repair. I try with all my might to maintain a positive frame of mind and look at every obstacle that I overcome as nothing more than that "an obstacle". It does not define who I am or what will be instore for me in the future.

Exercising everyday is my life and now that I can mix it up again and get back into my proper training I will do so with so much excitement but also with a little bit more restraint. And no two consecutive days of running or cycling. Atleast for now.

So today I cycled on the trainer and felt great. I didn't go hard and I increased the time by another 10 minutes. So I rode for 40minutes and did 15.3km. Nice and easy and it felt good. The last 2 days have been awesome.

"A little ray of sunshine"

I woke up this morning with unbelievable excitement, today was my first day back running. I went to bed last night thinking that I was going to have to postpone as rain had been predicted for the whole of Sunday. But as the skies started to lighten, I realised that there were patches of clear sky and the sun was shining through. This was definately a good omen, or atleast that's what I was telling myself.
The clouds were still looming as I approached the run site but I knew they would hold out for me. Today was my day and the rain god's were going to hold out for me, I could feel it in my bones "no pun intended". I was quietly having words with my hip and groin, my shins and my knees and telling them to behave. For them to cut me some slack, I have been behaving and now it was their turn to reciprocate some niceness. After all I have been looking after them like a new born baby.

Susan and I started off with a nice 5 minute warm up walk, so far so good. I know, what's a 5 minute walk and why is she saying so far so good! But I was reading into everything today, looking at how I walked, placement of feet, torso and core and making sure I was doing everything right. As I took off for my first 1 minute run I had this brief thought flit across my mind of picking up the tempo from where I left off. WRONG. This had to be slow, very slow even though my body felt good.
As we ran along the dirt track I was amazed at how smoothly I was running. And as a result of not feeling any pain I got to admire the scenery along the way. I love this track, its quiet except for the chirping of birds, ducks and water hens. Oh and of course the incessant chatter of two women. This track is exceptionally beautiful in the summer, all the trees shade this path and it makes for the most magical run ever.
Anyway I finished up having done 6 x 1min runs at a very slow pace and the remainder of the distance we just walked. What a great way to start my Sunday. As we finished the clouds came over and it started to rain. I had been blessed today, not only because of the sun that shone while I ran, the good company I had, the beautiful scenery but also because I finished with absolutely nothing hurting at all. My hip and groin feel fantastic.

I got home stretched and iced everything and now its just a waiting game to see if all pulls up okay overnight. But so far so good.

What are some of your pet peevs?

I do alot of reading. Heck, the one thing I have learn't since becoming a member of the Triathlon world is that "the more you learn, the easier things will become for you and others around you". There is always a wealth of information at your fingertips in cyberspace, some things that are useful and other things that are down right ridiculous.

Whilst on FB this morning I came across an article posted by active.com in regards to Triathlon Etiquette. The Top 10 list is awesome, simplistic yet so common sense it's not funny. The Triathlon I competed in in March was by no means a massive event and so I did not experience the flailing arms and elbows in the swim component - mind you I am lucky enough to be a good swimmer so I was out the front. But it got me thinking about when I was younger and doing open water swims with the Surf Life Saving Clubs and how it used to get a bit aggressive in the water. My strategy was to swim on the outskirts even if it meant swimming a little extra. It did save me a black eye, squashed nose, cracked rib.

I can understand how things get a bit CRAZY in the water. There could potentially be 100's of people all hoping to get prime position, clusters of people who have the same swimming ability, a swarm of arms and legs all moving in the same direction trying to get to the one exit point. But after listening to one of my friends who is a middle of the pack swimmer say she was struggling to get air as she was systematically grabbed at and dragged under - I think some people just don't think about their fellow competitors welfare. I am all for trying to do well but not at someone's expense.

SO, I would have to say that even though I am a total novice, my one pet peev would be unsporstman like behaviour. When I was doing the bike leg I was smiling at everyone, encouraging, letting people know I was going to pass them. I feel better knowing I have gotten to the finish line without having intentionally hurt anyone along the way.

Whats your PET PEEV?

For the past couple of months my husband has complained on/off of not feeling too crash hot. But like most men he just put off going to the doctors. For one reason or another it was not really a blip on his radar to get it looked into. I love my husband dearly but working is his number one priority (apart from us) as is bringing home the "bacon" so we can all enjoy life. Like I said, I had been on his case for months about getting a blood test. Well he finally succumbed to my constant ranting and raving and thank goodness for that, his cholesterol is through the roof.

I have somehow taken this as a bit of an attack on my expertise in the kitchen. I know, silly, but I am the one that cooks in our house. I always thought I cooked healthy food. I only use olive oil - and sparingly at that, I don't cook with salt, I only ever buy wholegrain bread and brown rice. I need to sit down and go right over the household menus and go right through the pantry with a fine toothed comb as the doctor said he has 3 months to try and lower it. Time to get supremely focused.

If it does not lower then possibly it is genetics. I think his grandfather passed away from a heartattack and I don't want the same thing happening to my husband. So, if medication is what he needs than so be it, but first things first - DIET. And exercise - yes, he will get cracking on some exercise. Daily, regardless of the whinging and whineing, I will get him walking or running, intervals on my bike trainer - whatever it takes. At the end of these 3 months if it hasn't budged, it has not been through lack of effort.

Yesterday my daughter woke up with an inflammed right middle knuckle - sore to touch. She hasn't hit it, knocked it, there are no bites on it - nothing I could see. So I took her to the GP today and he is testing her for Rheumatoid Factor due to my history with arthritis. He is not sure what it is and feels it could have been a bite from something, but just to be on the safe side he ordered bloods to be taken. I have just about everything crossed on my body for it to just be nothing. My heart would just break into pieces if it shows up with something. My kids are my absolute life.

Anyway some news just given from physio is that I can get back into walk/running. I will start this Sunday as my introduction into getting ready for this Half Marathon. I can't wait - but believe me I will go into this with the reigns on. No sprinting, or galavanting around like a prancing pony. Nice and slow it will be.

I CANT WAIT

Reminder to self: Check pool program

I am keeping up with my swimming as you all know, and have been really lucky to almost have the pool to myself on most occasions. There has been "maybe" 10 people sharing it with me which has meant that I have been lucky to get a lane to myself . Last night however was a different ball game altogether. Club Championships were on as well as everything else you could think of.

The main pool was a frenetic hussle and bussle of parents, children and time keepers. It brought back a tonne of childhood memories - some good, some not so good. There were learn to swim classes in progress as well as aqua aerobics enthusiasts splashing away to "I feel like a woman" among many other tunes which added to the buzz in an indoor pool. I could hardly hear myself think.

As I was getting ready to jump in my lane, one of the timekeeper/parents said "I'm sorry but we are closing lanes 1 through to 6, you will have to jump into either 7 or 8". That was fine until I realised how many of us were expected to jump into 2 lanes. I have definately been spoilt and was a bit "miffed" I had to share. Not that I showed it - I politely smiled, and inside said everything I wish I could have said outloud. But I quickly slapped myself upside the head and reminded myself that this is a "public pool" and I HAVE to share.

So, I started swimming and soon realised that the program I had set for myself was going to be difficult to say the least and I should just "go with the flow" today. So I did a 1km warm up and the rest was broken up into sets of 25's and 50's. Some with flippers and board, others without. Some of it butterfly and others breatstroke. All in all I totalled 2.5km and got out of the water feeling okay about what I had achieved despite the circumstances. I would have much preferred to have done my set session but I had to make do. And once again I finished off in the spa/sauna. The cold water thing isn't bothering me at all now. I jump under like it nothing at all and I come out feeling absolutely revitalised. You should give it a go.

So another thing I realised yesterday is that I have less than 300 days to go to my Half Ironman. I am officially in the "200's" and when I saw this my stomach did a gut wrenching somersault. Holy crap, you would think I would be more scared about the fact that I have less than 80 days till my Half Marathon and I am so going into this undercooked, but 200 and something days till my HIM gives me the jitters. I mean it only feels like yesterday that Michael Jackson died and that was a year ago.

All will be good. SETTLE PETAL.

My butt feels good.

I did another naughty but it's all good. I am just checking to see where I am in my recovery process. I don't like tempting fate but I do like to see where I am so I can feel like the rest I am having is not in vain. So I got on my bike trainer and just did a real easy 20 minute spin. And by EASY I mean super easy. There was nothing fast or hard about this spin and it felt great. I am so "hanging" to get back into some form of routine, it's driving me nuts. But I can understand why I needed this rest.

That afternoon I invited my best friend Kimberly to the spa/sauna and we both enjoyed a full hour of just relaxing and cooking/basting ourselves. I think she really enjoyed it as her last year has been tough and it was nice just to see her sit back and just think of nothing other than herself. It was nice to just sit and talk about things other than Triathlons and injuries. We spoke about the old days when we were studying nursing back in "94" and how our lives have changed. About how much our kids have grown and whats next in our lives. I had a really enjoyable time. Kimberly and I are never short for words or laughs.

The following day was a total rest day, the kids and I slothed around in our pyjamas all day and just watched DVD's in a pretend campsite we had set up in the study. We ate yummy popcorn and drank loads of fizzy drink and I totally disregarded anything healthy for once. I was licking the salt off that popcorn one grain at a time and just relishing every morsel. Delicious. We ate lollies and chips - my favourite Salt n Vinegar could not go down quick enough. For lunch though I made a yummy tuna, egg, snowpea and rice salad with whole egg mayo. It went down a treat. The kids and I had a ball and later that night I dumped the comfort of my bed and my husband and slept out with the kids. Well, I didnt actually get to sleep, I cuddled the whole night with all my kiddies.

Saturday morning after practically zero sleep I put on my swim cossies and went to the pool for a swim session. 3km to be exact and I must admit I NAILED IT. I felt so strong and invincible. Every stroke I took came through that water with intention - a sheer feeling of power. I felt myself gliding through the water like it was nothing and it felt great. This session I planned on giving it my all - my head was clear and focused and I knew that I needed to harness how I was feeling and make the most of it. So I did.

• 1km Easy Fr/s Warm up
• 10 x 50m Fr/s kick with flippers on 40 secs - 15 secs rest
• 8 x 100m Fr/s on 1min 20sec - 30 secs break
• 8 x 50m Br/s at 80% effort - this was tough
• 300m cool down

And of course I finished off in the spa/sauna again - I swear by this treat.

As I was walking out of the pools one of the lifeguards whom I see all the time gave me a nice compliment and I walked out feeling really good about myself. I still had it. I don't often get compliments like that from strangers and it made me feel nice. Thankyou Mr Lifeguard.

I did a sneaky...ssshhhhh

I know I said I wasn't going to run for 3 weeks but I couldn't help myself. It wasn't anything historic nor anything we should alert the media about, it was a mere 600m but I just wanted to see how things felt. Nothing hurt - nothing at all. Zip, nada, niet. I do believe things are mending nicely and I couldn't be happier.

Now this doesn't mean that I am going to get back into running straight away, it was just a taste test of the wonderful meal to come. With all the strength work I have been doing, stretching I have been enduring and swimming I have been loving, it has allowed things to net together nicely and there is no way in the southern hemisphere I am going to jeopardise it.

It sure felt nice though to loosen the cobwebs. My brain however went into overdrive analysing every movement, stride, pace. And I made sure to make this run as slow as I could, a bit hard when my legs are quite long, but I think I accomplished it. The one thing I did feel strained and that was my breathing. Not sure if it was the cold air or that I have become that unconditioned to running already. I hope it isn't the latter.

Before my small running comeback I went back to the pools in the morning and completed 600m of a aqua jogging as well as the spa/sauna again. Things are feeling awesome, I am so happy. I also completed my strength workout written up by Sandi, a good friend on DM.

This was my session:

• 20 backward leg swings (R & L)
• 20 sideways leg swings (R & L)
• 20 backward lunges swinging leg forward when coming up

• 3 sets of 15 of the following using 3kg dumbells
• lateral arm raises
• bicep curls
• shoulder press
• tricep extensions

• 3 sets of 20
• ab curls
• bicycle crunches
• standard situps with 3kg weight

• 3 x 1min planks

I have made it my goal to stick to this session 3 times a week as it will give me much needed strength when I well and truly get back into the running and cycling full swing.

One thing I have noticed since not running or cycling and focusing on my swimming and upper body is how tight my shoulders have become, so I am now off for a massage. Can't wait.