Blog has moved

Howdy readers - I have moved my blog

Got fed up with this Beta version so I have moved to the more Mac friendly word press.

I won't import my old posts so I'll hang onto blogger.com for the history

You can find me at www.emruns.wordpress.com

hope you like my new site! It is still under construction and will evolve over the coming weeks.

1 more sleep to go.....

RunningBowling and Drinkin'
Phew, it's been a big week, I feel like I have eaten and drunk more in the last 3 days than I have in the last 11 months! Today was a blast, we had a couple of hours bowling at St Kilda Bowls club, obviously as I was holding the mobile phone this is not me in the photo, it is a colleague (who was a much better bowler than me), as you can see it was a fantastic day for it. It started off as a "friendly" but pretty soon became very competitive, especially with me in the side ;-) Despite proving to be an appalling bowler I at least proved to be an A1 sledger which I like to think had a pivitol role in my side ending up taking the day by 1 point. As some school kids had turned up we graciously allowed the losers to buy a round rather than take a topless lap of the green.

After our 2 hours on the green we were supposed to have a BBQ, however the caterer we had booked kindly decided to NOT turn up. Was supposed to be there at 2pm, we gave him until 2:30 but considering many jugs had been consumed by that stage it was time to get to the pub for some nourishment before things got very messy (as opposed to just messy), not sure if the BBQ dude ever did turn up but he did have a mobile number to contact us on.



The remainder of the afternoon was passed very pleasantly at a pub looking over Fitzroy Street. The last time I was at Fitzroy St I seem to recall a great big fecking brickwall greeting me at the very top, I then had to spend the next 4Km attempting to climb over the top of it and finish my half marathon with a PB. The view today was much more agreeable, LOL



Only one more sleep until I can have a run, I don't care how short and slow it is I am gonna love every step of it. Speaking of running, it is not even '07 yet and I have already been mailed a flyer for the Gold Coast Airport Mathaon due to be held 1st July next year. As long as it fits in with the AV season I will be doing this one again, it will be a good course to have a crack at sub 100 minutes and of course my brother and sister live up there too. I'd like to get another 2 half marathons done next year and if all goes well I may be well positioned to give the Melbourne Marathon a go in October '07. A totally terrifying thought because I want to have a proper go at a good time, not just do it for the hell of it. Not 100% committed yet, let's see how the body copes with a winter season first. Then again maybe I am just being too damn cautious and I should just stop analysing things and go for it.

Almost ready to run

After forgetting myself and running to catch a green light I realised that there was no complaining from my foot (ever tried walking up Martin Place in Sydney, so many damn lights of you don't catch the greens it takes FOREVER!) Guess who's looking forward to a gentle run on Saturday??!! And not before time too, I feel like a fat cow. Alrighty, got a cab to catch, can't wait to get home, way to humid up here.

RunningRiding
Another 60 minutes on the bike, rolling hills today. Not such a bad one this evening, managed to get into a "zone" and the hour passed pretty quickly. With the trip to Sydney and some Christmas functions taking up most of the week looks like that will be it for the working week. Still keeping my fingers crossed for a gentle run on Saturday.

Goodbye
I don't have the ticker for much chat tonight. A blogger who I have followed closely since he came by and visited my blog at the start of the year has decided to finish up posting to his blog today after going through some tough times in his personal life. I feel a bit like I have said goodbye to an old friend. I am not posting a link because I have left some pretty personal comments there over the months. Isn't it funny how this brave new cyber world has changed the way we relate to people. How someone who you'll never meet who lives on the other side of the world can still feel like a mate. That you can find yourself feeling empathy and compassion towards them and you can only wish them well and hope for the best for them. This is a bit jumbled because I am not much chop at expressing myself in this way, but I mean well. So anyway, if you stop by again, I can only say take care and I'll miss your posts.

Back to the Pool

RunningDeep Water Running
Back to the pool today on my way home from work. Spent about 40 minutes in the water, 30 minutes of solid "running" with 30 and 60 second intervals. I could really feel that I was doing something today, checking my pulse I was certainly working which is a positive. After that I just did some attempted swimming as a cool down, problem is I do have a tendency to sink :-)

Life
Gotta go to Sydney overnight on Wednesday, shame I am not running because I would have enjoyed running through the gardens in daylight, unlike the terrifying pitch black bolt I experienced back in May. However, as a result of winning a quarterly team award a few months back myself and my 2 team mates have $100 each to spend on dinner, so I am expecing a pretty good feed on Wednesday night. Then Thursday we are having our bigger team's Xmas thingy at Toronga Zoo, God knows what they have planned. No team building/bonding crap I hope, just point me to the bar and leave me the hell alone, LoL! And Then, on Friday I have my Xmas lunch with my Melbourne work mates, lawn bowls followed by a gourmet BBQ (Veggie Burgers on special order for me), now that one I am looking forward to! So a pretty big week coming up hey!

The new blog is coming on, it's just quite a bit more detailed, more like a web page with links to different sections, I probably won't have it ready for another week.

That's me for tonight, dinner is almost ready.

In a forum discussion on Christmas Carols I was reminded of one of my favourite "Christmas" Songs, not that conventional but I am not really into Christmas anyway, the gross orgy of commercialism makes me slightly ill. Anyway, the song in Fairytale in New York, a duet with Shane McGowan of The Pougues and Kristy MacColl

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir Were singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you

Phew, hot!

RunningRiding
Hit the Warby Trail today for a 40km bike ride, in lieu of a long run. My plan was to go early, around 7am and I was up and ready well before then. Of course it's not just all about me is it! So the reality was we didn't get going until about 9:45. Just as we headed off a mate (Mark) ran by finishing his long run, can I say I was jealous, yep, I was jealous :-( but riding it was and I was off to make the most of it.

HOWEVER, it ended up hitting about 42 degrees in Melbourne today, which made for some very hot riding, thank god for my Camelback, 3 litres of Gatorade at the start, none by the end! I was motoring along really nicely, the heat has never really bothered me, but my other half being A) a boy and B) about 20 Kgs heavier was not doing as well. Normally he power's along really well and we push the pace taking turns leading but the heat was too much for him today so we erred on the side of caution and took it easy. Me, being a total clutz fell off my bike trying to get through one of the special gates they set up to stop motor bikes and stray cows, as a result I now have a pretty impressive bruise on my thigh from the handle bar.

New Blog, maybe
I may be switching blogs, Mac have a fantastic set up that has more features and is sooooo easy to use, no more mucking about with HTML for starters and to insert a pic you just drag and drop. The only thing that has put me off so far is you have to pay for the service. Being stinking hot outside I was happy to sit under the fan this afternoon so I signed up for the 60 day free trial and started building my web page, which includes a blog, this is why I am so late blogging here today. I'll still need to fine tune some of it then I'll publish it here and start posting to it in a couple of days. I'll give it a month or so and see how I feel about it. Though I will keep this blog as an archive and so I can still comment on other blogger.com blogs.

Almost forgot to mention the injury, Hmmm, what injury? Today I feel almost like my old self, I was able to walk around barefoot with NO discomfort at all, but not too much, don't want to tempt fate now. One annoying side affect that I haven't mentioned........incidental running! You know, to catch a green light or a train. I must have wasted hours over the last 3 weeks waiting for the lights to change, not to mention all the missed trains!

Deep Water Running

RunningPool Running
Finally got myself to the pool this morning, I got there nice and early figuring it would get pretty busy on a day like today. Got the water running belt on, cinched in nice and tight, jumped in the pool, completely forget that your body kinda changes shape under water and the belt promptly popped up right under my armpits. Flailed around, got out of the pool and tightened the belt, I had it as tight as it would go, would probably be no good for a tiny wee person. Back in the pool and off I went, it would be fair to say that drowning dogs swim with more grace than me. Anyway, took a few minutes but I finally found my rhythm and I managed to stick to it for 30 minutes. Once I got the hang of it I pretty much did intervals. Then I took the belt off and spent about 5 minutes "swimming", unfortunately breast stroke is about all I can manage. God knows how I managed to come first in a 50 metres freestyle in the school swimming carnival one year. I probably could have managed a few laps freestyle but I had my contacts in so was keeping the head above water.

The life guard seemed to be hanging around alot too, perhaps he thought I was likely to need rescuing at any moment, the way I was looking, I am sure the look of determination on my face was pretty funny. Still, not a totally horrific experience and I'll head back there. I think I'll get some goggles though and cool down with a couple of laps in the slow lane next time. And you know what, my legs are sore, so even though it didn't feel like I was doing much at the time I obviously was.

Fun with the kids
My best mate has recently bought a block of land so best mate, her 2 kids (3 1/2 and 2) another friend and I had a bit of a road trip today. First stop the block of land, in a lovely estate at the foot of the Dandenongs with the National Park as a backdrop, then off to Roweville to look at the house she is chosen half built in another estate, then over the Cranbourne to look at the display home, Phew. Kid duty was being shared, our other friend had the back seat for the out journey and I got it on the way home. I figured it would be after lunch and the kids would be asleep. Hmmmm, well, I was partly right, they did go to sleep but not before they both finished cleaning their faces with wet ones and then shoved them in my face and said "look Aunty Em, SNOT!!!". Aunty Em's reaction, Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh, get those things away from me now, in the meantime their mum is nearly wetting herself laughing!

Here are the wee little snot faces, sorry, darlings, playing at the new block, it was so bright I didn't realise I hadn't turned the camera lens on my phone around properly, that is why there is a shadow at the top.

Another Breakthrough

RunningRiding
60 Minutes tempo session today, warm up for 20 minutes then last 40 minutes of steady pace at increased effort. Frankly, the sooner I get off that thing the better really, tonight was a real drag. But I have good news, today I decided I could manage a walk home from the station. Under normal circumstances I always walk home from the station, the bus is never on time and it's only 2km anyway. For the last 2 weeks I have been confined to the bus, but today I had a very pleasant and very comfortable walk home, bliss! And I was able to walk around barefoot for a short while, though I am not risking too much of that, I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Of course this brings me to the next and perhaps most frustrating phase. The "almost better but it could all go to hell again if I try to return to early" phase. So now I must be super patient and stick with the bike and the pool for AT LEAST another week, possibly 10 days. On that note my floatation belt arrived yesterday so I am going to the pool first thing tomorrow for an hour. I'll be well and truly throwing vanity out the window, it looks like some sort of weird bustle sort of arrangement

I bought some more Sofsoles today and at the risk of sounding like a a paid spokesperson, I love these things. In my totally uninformed opinion shoe companies let themselves down with the quality of the insole they put in the shoes. All this wonder technology goes into wizz bang jiggery pokery that does everything but go on the run for you, then they put these crappy tatty useless insoles into the shoe. Now if you have freakishly high arches like me you need something extra. So when ever I get a new pair of runners I buy the Arch Support insole, yes at $50 a throw they are insanely expensive, but as I am generally getting my runners on the cheap from the US these days it's not so bad. And for the sake of my feet it's worth it. Anyway, this is a long way around to getting to the point. Nike came through this time around and my Air Equalons had great arch support so I didn't need the inserts. But I picked up a pair to put inside my street shoes and they made a huge difference so I'll just rotate this pair around all my work shoes and street shoes, keep up with the stretching, look after my calves and hopefully this PF will not become a monkey on my back

Other Stuff
No other stuff today. I was of a mind to have a little whine and a moan (thanks Lilly Allen) about feeling like a fat cow as I am sure I have put on weight (refuse to get on the scales), but you know what! Who gives a rats!!! Let's call December my month off, I need to rehab the injury, I am still cross training and after a year of building a base and losing more weight I reckon I can kick back for a few weeks, have a few drinks and chill, I 'aint gonna feel bad about it. Next year will be huge and any extra weight will surely be gone by the end of January anyway. And let's face it, my definition of indulgence is most peoples Normal.

Been out for a while now, but has anyone heard the latest from the John Butler Trio, Funky Tonight? JJJ listeners surely would have. Man I love that song, I am a big JBT fan anyway but this one is something else. Just makes me want to get up and dance around and sing every time it comes on, really puts a smile on my dial.

A break through!

RunningRiding and Injury Update
Nothing today, very long and stressful day at work then decided to go out for dinner on the way home, a few relaxing wines later and I just decided to pack it in for a change. Guess I am human after all ;-)

Good News, walked all day today with no discernable discomfort, even forgot all about the injury and was power walking a bit at one stage. I can walk up hills with no pain now as well, where previously I was doing this weird side step shuffle. This afternoon when I got home I even tried walking bare foot. Happy to report almost (almost but not quite) no discomfort there as well. Things are looking up!!!!

Ranting
I am well and truly on one of those moods tonight. Quite a stressful day at work, in fact close to one of the worst, I nearly had my first "run to the toilets and cry" moments, not because I was upset but out of frustration. I won't bore blogland with the details because it would just unleash a tsunami of bile and vitriol and that does no one any good at all. Made 100% worse by the fact that I would usually head of for a long relaxing run after work and forget all about it, instead I resort to stuffing my face and drinking.

To add to my aggravation this was the insane scene that met me not long after leaving the office, on my walk to the station. WHY, I ask you WHY, do people insist on entering an intersection, especially during peak hour in the city, when there is clearly no room on the other side, thus blocking said intersection when the lights change? In this case this evening two dumb asses in a ute with the back end blocking the pedestrian walkway and another dumb ass P plater blocking the intersection proper. In a split second lights change, pedestrians start crossing, P Plater gets honked and abused, panics and surges forward, pedestrians (me included) collectively jump out of our skins. In the meantime a poor blind guy with a cane walks straight into the back of the ute and dumb asses start yelling at him, until another guy helps the blind man and gives the dumb asses a well deserved spray. All of this pretty much happens in the blink of an eye. A few weeks ago when crossing the same road I had to jump out of the way as another idiot P Plater who does not know how to do a hook turn also panicked and ploughed through the pedestrians, it is a miracle no one was hurt or killed.

Now I have lost someone very dear to me as a result of speeding motor cyclist meets pedestrian, so perhaps I am a little sensitive. But seriously why can't people just relax and not carry on like total fuckwits, everyone wants to get home sooner rather than later, but just chill and take it easy, for pity's sake.

Hey Pilbara, thanks for the comment about Trixta, he is a He though and while looking fairly cute and innocent in the photo he is in fact a right little bastard most of the time, of course I still love the little rug rat and did name my blog after him.

Something 'aint right with my new toy, Yellbox. In the mac browser Safari I can see it properly, but in other browsers it is cut off along the side. Anyway, too annoyed to work it out tonight, I'll play with the HTML on the weekend. Also not too happy now that I have changed to Beta Blogger, something weird is up with the comments.

2 weeks since I last ran

RunningRiding & Injury Update
I suppose I should be saying what I am doing on the bike because I am not just peddling away aimlessly. Yesterday it was intervals, total ride time was 60 minutes with about 30 minutes of intervals. Alternating between 30 second "sprints" with 30 second recovery and 60 second "sprints" with 60 second recovery. Today was rolling hills while keeping the RPM above 100 to work on strength, this was also a 60 minute session. Tomorrow will be a tempo session, 60 minutes with 40 minutes at tempo pace.

The foot is improving every day. Today was the first day in over a week without being taped up and I am happy to report I felt pretty comfortable. Lot's of stretching before getting out of bed, then on with the Birkenstocks, I could feel the first couple of steps but was fine by the time I got t the end of the hallway. Most notably there is very little discomfort when I get up after sitting for a while, also I am becoming less conscious of the injury.

So it's been 2 weeks exactly since I last ran, I remain positive but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't frustrating. I have noticed that my mood is decidedly downbeat at work, I really struggle to get through the day, and it’s fair to say I am not my usual cheery self. I have read that exercise has a positive effect on Serotonin levels, so maybe that explains things. Sure I am riding but as I have already mentioned it doesn't cut it for me. I am also worried about putting on weight and confess the comfort food has got a bit of a look in lately, still, at least I am remaining active. Hopefully I'll be able to have a trot next week, I plan to ease in Run/Walk style.

Stuff
Found a new toy today, it's called Yellbox, you can get it free from Yellbox.com it's over there in the sidebar, not sure if it will be of much use but I'll give it a go, thought it might be a nifty way of responding to comments left here.

I hooked my digital camera up to my Mac for the first time today, amazing, it immediately started downloading photo's into iPhoto, no hassles. On my old lap top I used to have to stuff around for ages to get the Kodak software to work properly, used to drive me mad. I took a picture of the dreaded exercise bike last night after my workout, though I shouldn't call it that it is serving me well. It's also a rowing machine but I don't bother with that, my puny little girls arms and runners upper body are too weak and I am stuffed after 5 minutes. For some strange reason Trixta (AKA Asterix) loves sleeping on the seat.

RunningRiding & Injury update
Another 60 minutes on the bike this afternoon. At least I had the test match for company, amazingly we turned this one around and got up for a win after the Poms choked and were bowled out easily this afternoon, leaving us chasing only 168.

I took the tape off my foot tonight, damn it was nice to be able to shower without a plastic bag taped to my foot! This also means instead of wearing my runners around the house I can switch to my Birkenstocks, much easier to slip into. Now I can start the regime of stretching and massage, out comes the old baseball to roll under my foot, also The Stick is quite good too, just need to prop one end up on some books. I have a floatation belt on order that should arive by Thursday. My Aunt and Uncle live close by and they have a pool, as Satuday is going to be a stinker I'll pop over there and do my "long run" in their pool, hopefully one of my cousins will keep me company. Will have to remember to slip, slop, slap though.

Perspective and Dim Sims
I was reading Kelly Holmes' autobiography on the train this morning and was a bit embarassed as I started to get quite teary. She had to endure quite a bit of injury during her career, not to mention ongoing abdominal troubles that would cause her great pain after training. I was reading about how low she felt after tearing her Achilles Tendon and rupturing her calf muscle. She went through many periods were she couldn't run for months, it really put my own injury into perspective that's for sure. She has been pretty honest about her feelings during these times of injury. It makes you realise that elite athletes are simply ordinary people with an extraordinary talent, but with the same fears, doubts and insecurities as the rest of us, and with a hell of alot more pressure to deal with.

Please, when are they going to ban Dim Sims on the trains. Nothing makes me retch more than sitting next to someone chowing down on a bag of steamed Dim Sims, I feel like saying, "I don't mind you eating those if you don't mind me vomitting all over you". And YES I could move, but by the time you get to Museum, sorry showing my age, Melbourne Central station there is no where to move.

Zatopek Classic

Riding & Injury Update
After a big weekend on the bike today was a rest day.

I'll have to take the tape off my foot tomorrow morning. It was to stay on for at least 5 days (it was been 5 days) or 7 if it was still doing the job, unfortunately it has loosened up now so is pretty useless. But I have some good news, this afternoon as I was walking back to where my car was parked something dawned on me, I felt almost no discomfort AND I was not walking with a limp! I was getting used to walking funny because of the taped foot so it was great to feel I was walking with a normal gait again.

Taking the tape off also means I can get in the pool, I dug out an old Runners World with a story on water running so I may even bypass the whole class thing and just head to my local. Assuming that is they have a section in the deep end I can splash around in that is not reserved just for swimming. I guess this means I also have to get a floaty belt as well, it'll be like being a kid again.

I have to be able to walk barefoot without discomfort for a couple of days before I can try running again. The rest of the year is pretty much a write off now, I will not race and no speed work. When I can run I'll leave the watch off and just run for the hell of it. It's more important to me now to get fit for next winter than to race over summer, though I am sure by February I'll be racing again. Right now I am just thrilled to be walking with no limp and minimal discomfort for the first time in 2 weeks.

Running

I went to Box Hill this afternoon to watch some of the Zatopek 10,000 metres races. I caught most of the girls B grade where there was a good battle for first between Glenhuntly and Essendon with Glenhuntly just pulling away on the last few laps.

Then the men's E grade race where I was lap counting for an Ausrunner. Sadly I found the whole thing quite exciting but was nervous I would stuff up the lap counting, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4 LOL. Fortunately I managed to keep tabs and had a ball cheering my runner on and standing trackside to call the last lap. Sam, my runner, was battling for 3rd with another mate, Tony when the poor bugger got a stitch. He bravely pushed on and still finished with a pretty respectable 39:55, not too far off a PB.

Of course every fibre of my being wanted to take a spin around the track myself, oh well, maybe I'll give it a go next year, should be looking at running 10km in 45 minutes by then. In fact it is like my muscles remember, my legs felt a bit funny and twitchy, patience, not long now.

Guess what! Went for a ride

RunningRiding
Into the great outdoors today. While my long run buddies hit the Warby Trail at 7am this morning, sadly I was already up, I think I am just used to rising early on a Sunday. Instead I took the bike to Warby and rode about 40kms instead, started in Mt Evelyn, turned around at about 20km and headed back. Gotta tell you I do not have a body built for biking, my bum gets soooooooo sore, I even have one of those gel seat covers, let me tell you, TOTALLY FECKING USELESS. And I can't stand up to pedal because of my foot (being very cautious), anyway whinge over, it was a lovely day for a ride and the trail is gorgous.

Stopped about 1km from the finish at a cafe called Cogs for a coffee and a muffin. I have run past this cafe heaps of times but never had a chance to stop there. My advice, don't stop if you are in a hurry, the guy making the coffee was so laid back he was almost comatose, I am standing there resisting the urge to vault the counter and make the coffee myself. Then again maybe I need to learn some patience and stop wanting everything yesterday. It was worth the wait though, damn fine coffee and a delicious banana and dark chocolate muffin fresh from the oven, pretty satisfying after a long ride. So I did quite a bit of riding this weekend, about 100kms!

Random Thoughts
Back on track with the positive thoughts, I did give in to a bit of self pity yesterday. I guess I was grumpy because I knew I was going to miss a group long run today and I miss my speed sessions. Having an injury does isolate you, the running world goes on around you and there is nothing you can do about it. I am really looking forward to heading down to the Zatopek Classic at Box Hill tomorrow, if I can't run I can live vicarously through others, I'll be on lap counting duty for a fellow Ausrunner, Sam.

Not really sure where I can get some endorphins from, maybe I need to give this a go.......



Or maybe a spot of extreme ironing will give me what I crave......



Well, it was contentious with the panel but I was very pleased to see Jeff Buckley's Grace just came in at number 2 on "My Favourite Album" on channel 2. I won't get poetic about it, I just love it. But Pink Floyd at number 1, hmmmm, not real sure about that.

Need a hug :-( missing endorphins

RunningRiding
Did my long run equivalent today. 60km on the exercise bike, took 2:20:26 and by God I don't want to do that too many times. I had to have a break for a few minutes at the 60 minute mark to restore feeling to my bum and feet and again at 90 minutes. Tomorrow I think I'll take the mountain bike to Warby trail and do 40km or so in the great outdoors.

Good news is that the foot is continuing to improve, hopefully by December 10 I'll be able to have another run. Remaining positive but will admit to being a grump today, I miss my endorphins, riding just doesn't cut it :-(

Every day just a little bit better :-)

Running Riding
60 minute intervals, 27.7km. Passed relatively quickly this afternoon as I had the last hour of the 2nd test for company. Some pretty solid batting from the Poms, this one is shaping up to be a closer run thing.

Injury Report and a delightful if not slightly disturbing hybrid
I am pleased to report that every day the foot gets noticeably better. Particularly this morning those first few steps after getting out of bed were much more comfortable, also after sitting for a while I can get up and walk around with no noticeable increase in pain. In fact I am loathe to use the word pain now, it has stepped down a notch to mere discomfort, YAY! All good signs. The next challenge will be to beat that psychological demon being the fear of re-injury when I start back. I have been sensible thus far so as long as I continue with caution I'll be right. Yes, as I am sure you all know by now I am a very cautious person (apart from when using pocket knives to open parcels), I think it comes from being the oldest child. However I am here to assure you I am more than capable of reckless stupidity and wild abandon, but I am not telling tales ;-)

What? I hear you ask is this delightful hybrid to which she refers? Well, the resourceful John has neatly solved my Craig Mottram Vs Daniel Craig (here after to be knows as The Craigs) battle for the honorary position of wallpaper on my laptop at work. I very proudly present to you all The Craigs



A perfect combination of baby faced sweetness and pure brawn, solving another dilemma of mine, finding myself irredeemably attracted to Buster, inspite of my previous rejection of guys with skinner legs than mine, which for years, until I lost weight pretty much ruled out anyone bar Front Rowers and WWE Wrestlers.

Best I move onto other topics now, lest I be a branded boy mad nutter with a one track mind (well, I'm not dead, a girl can still look). I picked up another couple of books today, Black, White and Gold, Kelly Holmes' autobiography, she is an English Athlete who won 800 and 1500 mtre Gold at the Athens Olympics. I saw her interviewed on Parkinson recently and she seemed like a total sweetheart, and I do remember watching her win her medals. The other book caught my eye because it had Lance Armstrong on the cover, it's called How Lance Does It, a bit of a motivational book, and what I read as I flicked though it I liked alot. I admire Lance because although we are clearly at very different athletic levels I certainly recognise some of his personaility traits in myself. I think I was looking for stuff to help me get my head right as I rehab myself from this injury. I have been thinking on things alot the last week, most notably how I am dealing with injury far better than I thought I would. In particular it has given me some time to get my thoughts and goals in order, I am very positve and motivated at the moment, just watch out when I get back!!!