2/3 of a movie - Does it count? Hell yeah.

After 37km, I would say I had an eventful day today. I started off with going for a 7km walk/run with my best friend Susan, her sister Melanie and father David. I was initially going to make this a full 7km run when I got out of bed, but I really enjoy their company and decided to go along with them. And after a yummy coffee (cause we sooooo deserved it) I ventured home with the aim to get a full movie's worth on the bike trainer.

I moved my bike into prime position in front of the TV and loaded up the coffee table with the essentials - remote controls for the TV and DVD player, a large glass of water, my mobile and house phone should someone ring and an electrolyte drink. Extremely important items - oh and a cushion to rest forward on as I don't have Tri bars. I was set, this 90 minutes or so looked like it was easy.....WRONG.

My legs and backside fizzled at the 60 minute mark. I was going hard for a solid hour and I have no idea what my cadence was but I was spinning at a constant rhythm. So I was happy. I would have preferred to have sat through the whole movie but 2/3 was better than nothing at all.

Distance: 30.24km
Time: 1:01:37
Max speed: 42.7kph
Avg speed: 29.3kph

I would say that even though I didn't quite make it to my goal I got 2/3's of the way there. Better than nothing I say .

Mothers Day is the best.

My Mothers Day started early, one day early to be exact. Yesterday Stephen and the kids came home from shopping with the best ever Mothers Day present. I was given a bike trainer. I got so emotional, my prayers had been listened to, or was it that I said my prayers OUTLOUD. Actually I do believe I spoke about this trainer heaps. My family listened - yay, I am truly the luckiest person ever.

Then to make things better, I got two massive bunches of the most beautiful flowers.
I absolutely love flowers and the bunches I got were to die for. They had Gerberas, Birds of Paradise, Chrysanthemums and loads of green foliage. I guess my family loves me :). After such a wonderful Saturday I didn't think it could get any better, but I was wrong.

I woke up this morning knowing full well I was going to my first ever Mothers Day 4km Fun Run with my daughter whom did exceptionally well. I was so proud of her - this was her first ever 4km run and apart from some occasional little pits stops due to fatigued legs - she rocked it. We both crossed the line in 24min 24 secs. What more could I have asked for. I shared real special moments during the run, we held hands running. I haven't had that kind of opportunity for a while - kids are growing up and things like that don't happen much and for me it was the total highlight. If my day had of ended right there I would have been the happiest mother on the face of the earth. But when we came home from our run we were greeted with yummy pancakes which my husband had made for myself and my mother who had come to stay overnight. We all scoffed them right up.

About two hours later I decided to make use of the bike trainer. It looked lonely and I hate seeing things upset, so I got on my bike and rode for an hour.

Distance: 28.17km
Avg speed: 27.3kph
Max speed: 41.5kph

I also decided to try my first Gel - I am not quite sure I like it. It was a mixture of salty and sweet and it was a bit slimy. Not sure if they are all like this, may have to try the blocks. I guess everyone's taste buds are different and what some find yummy others find BLAH. Not sure if this is something i could get used to. On the pack it said consume with 400mls of water which I did however it still left that funny taste in my mouth. Will have to try something else.

I had the best Mother's Day. Love you Stephen for making every meal for myself and the family today. Love you Kurtis, Taillah and Kyle for making me the proudest mother on the earth.

I love chlorinated H2O

Woke up this morning feeling absolutely freezing and thinking to myself it's still too dark to see what the weather is going to be like - I hope it's warm. However as the sun came up over the horizon I realised that today was going to be another miraculous day. A new day with new opportunities to grasp with both hands and make of it as I wanted.

Firstly the usual routine - wake up the family, make lunches for school and work, help Kurt get dressed as he is a "one armed bandit" for a while and have breakfast. Stephen then took the twins to school (Kurt felt well enough to go) and I took Kyle to a dentist's appointment much to his disgust. Nothing majorly traumatic went down at the dentist and then took Kyle to school late - once again "Not happy Jan". Never mind - I had a date with the pool today.

I really truly could not have been blessed with a better day to get in the pool. Perfect blue skies, slight cool breeze in the air and just right water temperature. If all days could be this wonderful. Whenever I get to the pool I don't have a set session, I kind of make it up as I go. There are many variables to have a set session - mood, weather, family, time. So I just see how I go.

I had all intentions to do a 500m Freestyle warm up, but as I got to the 500m mark I felt too good to stop. So I did another 500m Freestyle. After 1km though my arms did need a break so I let them rest for a couple of minutes, put my flippers on and off I set for 10x50m Freestyle kick with flippers. I set myself a bit of a target though to do them in 40 secs, give myself a 20sec break and take off on the minute. This totally canes my legs, you can hearing me grunting as I get to the end of the pool. It's not a loud grunt like a wild beast, more like "oh dear god - somebody bring the end of the pool to me PLEASE".

After finishing those kicks and realising I had only done 15oom and being a bit of a glutton for punishment I added 5x100m Freestyle at about 75% effort. That was hard. Very hard. I only gave myself 20 secs rest between sets. By the last one I could feel acid rising up my throat. But that had taken me to 2km. My last swim session saw me complete 2.3km - and not being one to go backwards I cooled down with a 300m Breastroke up Backstroke down. Ahhhhh bliss. I would say my date with the pool went swimmingly.

UPDATE: my left knee feels heaps better today. No pain, my nutritionals cream from Neways has been a godsend. I have been applying it religiously before and after activity and before bed as well as icing the affected area and it does not hurt at all. I love this stuff.

Oh Oh!!! What a day.

What a day. Started with waking up and realising that my left knee was and is sore. It was sore from the moment I put pressure on the ground. It's not an intense pain that makes me see stars, but on movement I can feel a soreness on the outer lateral aspect of my patella. It is not sore to the touch, only on movement which I find disturbing. I am not sure if I documented after my 17km bushwalk the same thing happening and after a couple of days rest and some Ibuprofen it settled. So I am hoping that the same will happen this time. I have it bandaged and have iced it as well as taking Nurofen twice today.

So anyway after waking up and realising it was sore I still had things to do today. I have been exercising with a friend to help her get on track. I like walking with her and teaching her things that I have learnt along the way. Today she started on the walk/run program. It was 4 mins walk/1 min run x6. All in all I think she did great - she was a little breathless and she did say she felt like to be sick once but she recovered really well and we finished off doing a 3km walk. No sooner had we finished and just gotten back to the car I get a phone call from the sick bay nurse at my children's school saying my eldest son Kurtis had a mishap. He had collided heads with another pupil and in the process of trying to save himself he jarred his left wrist. So off we went to the GP and then for an Xray.

Good news is the Xray does not show a fracture, however that is not to say there is not an occult fracture of one of the carpal bones. So his arm was placed in a backslab for the next 7-10 days and if the pain does not subside he is to have a CT scan. Fingers crossed it settles. What poor Kurt is not happy about is that fact that the GP has said no physical activities till the backslab is off. This has crushed him as he wanted to do the Mothers Day Fun Run with me this Sunday. I told him if all is okay in a weeks time we can run the 4km around the neighbourhood and I will "Rent a crowd" to cheer us on the way home.....only kidding about the Rent a crowd I will get family to cheer him on. That just made him laugh.

Whilst I was at the GP I thought it wise to have my knee looked and I am having an Ultrasound on both knees next week. Hopefully nothing shows as well. But I have a feeling it might in my Right knee as I think I may have a cyst. What makes me think this? I feel like I have a marble sitting behind my patella when I bend it. It doesn't hurt, its just a nuisance. I have had this for a while and thought I better get it looked at considering I don't want it affecting my training.

My day has only just come to an end and it is now 8:30pm. I have just finished training another friend. She did absolutely fantastic but I fear she may have trouble raising her arms over her head for the next couple of days. Sorry Marisa. What a long day I have had. I am totally knackered, beat. Time to have a shower and head to bed. I wonder what adventures I shall face tomorrow. Hopefully much nicer ones.

And then some.

The above saying could not more accurately describe how I have viewed my journey to date. At first I didn't think I could feel better, then I didn't think I could get fit, then I thought I could not run and then today I squashed all self doubt once again. Little by little I have inched my way through each goal and kept setting personal goals to reach my next goal. And my next goal was a 10km run. I DID IT. I have a 10km run under my belt and all because I wanted to. And I know I shouldn't have timed myself but I am have become a bit of a numbers freak. I did it in 59min 15 secs. I was so happy to have done it under the hour mark, now it's just a matter of maintaining that time or getting better.

Maybe I am looking way way ahead of myself, but I am feeling pretty good about my running at the moment and think I may just be okay with doing 21.1km. Not right now of course, but I don't think it will be too far in the future either. I like this longer running business. It gives me much the same feeling as when I am swimming - loads of time to think. But this time I think about my breathing, my stride, the pace I am running. Whether or not I am slumping forward or holding my posture correctly. Lots of time to analyse, critique and correct to make it feel easier. I think about how it would feel to actually be running at that pace for well over two hours after having come off a 90km bike ride. Could I hold that pace or will my legs seize up.

I am sure all these questions will be answered as my training intensifies. So far though I am tickled pink with my progress.

I feel strong.

Another beautiful day spent in the pool. Even though it was overcast the temperature of the water was just blissfull to dive into. Diving in when the water is cool is not one of my favourite past times, ask my mum and childhood coach. I was the one found on the side of the pool shivering and crying and making up excuses as to why I should not have to get in the water - "I'm sick, I have a headache, it's too cold, I don't want to", yada yada yada. Totally painful I was as a child. But, now that I am adult even though I still hate it I will do it. Today however was like diving into a tepid bath and as my session began and I swam a mere 200m I was already feeling hot and knew that I would only feel hotter as the session went on. Boy, I feel my complaining coming on again. Gees I'm a whinger. So I will stop complaining now.

My session today went as follows:

• 500m Freestyle warm up.
• 10 x 50m kick with flippers - Freestyle up, Backstroke down.
• 10 x 100m Freestyle catchup - every 25m changing breathing side
• 300m cool down - Breastroke up, Backstroke back.

Quite an enjoyable session really, another 2.3km to add to my training. Not too hard but I could feel the burn in my shoulders from the catch up. It's amazing, when I am training it gives me time to think about everything that is going on in my life and the things I should be doing at home like vacuuming, mopping, washing clothes and grocery shopping. Not looking forward to it but I must do - so when I got out of the pool I went to the shops bought stuff for dinner that was on the list that Taillah made - Italian stuffed capsicum is on the menu for tonight. I have been blessed with a daughter who loves to cook. Quickly got home and did three loads of washing and vacuumed the floors. Then it was back out the door to pick up the children from school. An action packed productive day. I love it. I can feel that I have more and more energy everyday and I thank my nutritional supplements for that. They give me the energy to get out there and exercise and as I exercise I get stronger - I am a winner either way I look at it.

So tomorrow I look forward to going for a long run as I cannot do it on Sunday. This Sunday is Mothers Day and whilst I should be resting and getting totally spoilt I will be running with my son Kurtis in the Mother's Day 4km Fun Run. Tomorrow I am hoping to do 10km but not sure how this will pan out. I will keep my fingers crossed and just try to stay focused for a run that could take close to an hour. Something new for me and one that I will try to accomplish.

I'm SOOOOOO hungry.

I made myself and the family a yummy tortilla tonight. It was made with potato, onion, eggs, ricotta cheese, fresh parsley and basil and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on top. And may I say it was exceptionally yummy. Taillah my daughter decided she wanted to add a salad to the mix and made a divine Carrot Salad. A totally vegetarian dinner and it was to die for. I can safely say now I am full, but prior to eating my meal and as I was cooking I was ravenous.

Last night's meal was a feast fit for any carnivore on the planet. A juicy T-bone steak with a green salad. That was absolutely finger licking good. I not only gnawed on the bone I did not leave one bit of meat on that bone. I even think my dogs would have turned up their noses to the naked bone I left behind. I just can't seem to eat enough now, I am always hungry.

I remember back to when I was trying to lose weight and having to re-train my brain to eat smaller portions. All I wanted to do was eat cause my portions were so small they would have only fed a sparrow. Now I am always hungry cause my metabolism has sped up so much I am burning more than I can put in and I even think I can put Fred Flintstone to shame eating the amounts I am beef I am eating. My body is obviously craving protein and I can't seem to feed it enough. I guess it's ok considering everytime I exercise I am burning a tonne of calories. And if I don't fire up the engine with enough fuel then it's just going to burn out. And anyway, I feel in tip top shape doing what I am doing. The scales never show weight gain at the moment if anything they are either sitting pretty even or showing a slight deficit in the weight department.

I seem to be managing ok on my own so far.