phew

well that was a week
father-in-law bad fall + heart attack + poor nursing care ...but home soon
spousal unit rushed to hospital yesterday morning with elevated bp and abdominal pain - turned out to be kidney stones but maybe, just maybe he'll start looking after his hypertension and blood sugar better? I hope so...the ambo said I should make him take his medication, and when I told Noddie this she said but Mummy, you try - you try and try!
Le sigh
Anyway he's home and in no pain and the f-i-l is on the mend
I've used exercise as stress management and logged my food and set little limits, like you can't have a bikkie until you've hung out the washing. I haven't gained any weight and I did all my core work and weights which I think are the building blocks for remaining injury free.
I've got some more complicated things to say about injury and weight but I'm still quite tired so if I wrote them now they'd sound like whingeing. I'll get onto it later
In the meantime, I am just grateful that J is better and we live in a place where we can ring the ambulance and get looked after so well soeasily.
More anon, smilers!

FTW

a bit's been happening at Casa del LBTEPA. Among other things, the Spousal Unit's Dad is in hospital, which is very worrying. So your heroine has been sleeping badly and eating a bit of who-can-be-stuffed-cooking-at-eight-thirty-pm.
This morning I had to go out for my walk, as I am out this evening. I didn't want to go. I. Did. Not. Want. To. Go. When I found myself on the front lawn in my exercise clothes with a FLAT 1p0d, it was crunch time. Oh so many excuses filled the LBTEPA noggin. Legitimate reasons also featured. I was torn! So..I went back inside
....found the spare 1p0d and set off. I hated every second of it. There was no sweaty redemption. I still felt like crying when I got home.
But - and this is the point, if there's anyone out there reading this who's at the beginner/will I won't I stage of his or her athletic life - I did it. The sweating got done. My health will thank me.
SO I WIN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA
sorry got a bit carried away there
More anon, stargazers!

Happy

I'm in a good place lately. I like it. I am seeing myself as an athlete again. I'm feeling proud of my strength and how it's gradually increasing. I'm stepping back from comparisons with my old self and with others. I love being outside on my own exercising, listening to music and concentrating on holding my form and on my hydration and nutrition strategies. I'm so buzzed on my long walk/runs - because yes, my friends, I'm doing a teeeeeny little bit of running on my long runs now, just 30sec every 3 minutes, not enough to piss off the achilles but keeping the pace up - that I'm enjoying my gels!
I've no doubt this enthusiasm will ebb and flow, and there will be other sufferfests as well as superwoman days, but geez, peeps, I travelled 18km on foot last Friday! It was meant to be 17.5 but the mozzies were so feral I had to keep going until the Spousal Unit came to pick me up. Me, all by myself! No achilles pain, plenty of core/lower back/bum soreness - just as it should be. I got into my post-run compression tights for the first time in forever, 'cause I'm seeing myself as that sort of athlete again. I'm saving my injini toes socks until I go over 20km, though. Can't be too excitable.

 I love the rail trail

More anon, sweaters!

Sneaky

I came home from work yesterday with my head feeling as though it was bruised - I think I'm getting a head cold or something, but oh my word last night it just ached and ached. So I dosed up and went to bed early and then woke up early and I thought, if I get up now and go for my walk, I'll be back before I realise how dodgy I'm feeling! So I did! Haha! Gotcha, stupid bug! I'll do weights and core after work, they're easy (in that I don't have to go out and I can watch Ir0nman on y0tube).
No long walk last week, the Ballarat rellies arrived unexpectedly so we all went to the beach. Fret not, avid trackers of ESM* training, I'm still On Schedule so it wasn't a drama.

I was very happy about a couple of exercise-related things on the weekend  (I was happy about a lot of things, but this blog isn't about hot cross buns): firstly, I got to the end of the music on my ip0d! It's in alphabetical order (don't judge), so when Abba rang in my ears on Friday, I knew I had spent more than 21 hours walking over the last few weeks. This pleases me enormously.

The other happy thing was a lovely walk with the family along the backwater to the Entrance and back along the beach. It was very nice to be out, but the most exciting thing is that it was sand all the way. Sand, as my five faithful readers will know, is the enemy of the unstable gait. Wet sand and walking lopsided in the water on a sloping beach, even more so. But I did it, and I have had no achilles niggles! This. Is. Huge.

More anon, wave-jumpers!

Gosh we live in a nice place

*Extremely Slow Marathon

mixed feelings

hi blog (hangs head) I've neglected you, I know. No ticks on The Chart this week. Actally hardly any in any boxes - although I have done most of my cardio, 2/3 of my weight workouts and all of my piano practice! But my life is all about veering back to my path so that's what I'm doing. In exciting news, I've banned BFD (Big F***ing Deal) from my life! By this I mean, so what, I went for a walk 3 times this week. BFD, I used to be able to run 8km without thinking. This type of thought is now being ruthlessly eradicated from my noggin.

(Thanks for the quote, Tea! It's plastered all over my house now)
It's a good time  for it, becuase a couple of days from now is the third anniversary of my arrival in Planet Broken Hell. Three years ago I was 15kg lighter and could run 20km without too much bother. This week I've given myself a little 'present' of 15 seconds of running every time I cross a road or turn a corner on my shorter walks. I worked out it's about 4 minutes out of 30. This doesn't actually make me feel very pleased or triumphant. It feels rubbish. I accept that. I have to go through now to get to later.
Don't start on me, please. I AM a deliberately  and actively grateful person. I am very much aware and appreciative that the Spousal Unit and Noddie are happy and healthy and I live in a pleasant small town in a peaceful first world country. I can go and buy a coffee whenever I like. I can walk for 3 hours, which I am happier about than I can say. But I did start this new 'running' program yesterday because only being able to run for 15 seconds feels like a f***ing joke. Mixed feelings, you see.
I'm walking 17km tomorrow, but not to get a pie becuase it's good Friday.

 Next post I will tell you all about it, and also how I am using the government to help modify my habits.
More anon, mysteriosos!