Puppy love.....

I have to say... I am totally unequivocally head over heels in love with my little girl Jemima...(well, not so little given that she today weighed in at 22kg).

All I can say is, thank god I never had children because if I'm this bad about my puppy, I think I would be a total screwball with my kids!!!

glute knots...

My left glute is in absolute agony at the moment.... there I was trying to work out what on earth I could possibly have done to it...when... *PING* ..golden lightbulb moment.... aaaah, that's right, I was trying to brace against my 600kg maniac of a horse on Saturday as he suddenly realised he was no longer foot sore from his abcess and felt FANTASTIC.... Luckily I was sensible enough to be lungeing him on the long rein prior to trying to get on the lunatic. Otherwise I feel I may be in traction rather than just suffering a few knots in the bum.

I'm signing up for this!

For just US$99 you can have access to some of the greatest minds in fitness.....for three months!!
How cool is this? It's a virtual fitness expo on March 25-27, 2008. Presenters include John Berardi, Alwyn Cosgrove, Craig Ballantyne, Jason Ferruggia, Lyle McDonald, and heaps more. Aaaand it's all at your fingertips rather than having to travel anywhere!!!!! Ahem, better value than Filex...



You can download all of the presentation handouts ahead of time, submit questions, and follow along live online or over the phone and registration comes with 3 months of access to ALL of the presentations. So you can see them more than once or pick up ones you missed. There are session tracks for Weight Management, Sports Performance, Nutrition, Mind-Body, Beginners and Students, and many more.

The beach provides stress release...

It's amazing what just being able to go for a run on the beach can do for your mind.
Going to the beach always makes me giggle....which probably sounds silly, it certainly probably sounds silly to anyone who hears me giggling on the beach as I race away from the water before my running shoes get swamped! But... it's all I need to get my brain into a nice space.

So yesterday morning, was my thursday morning partner workout session on the beach. We did lots of sprints, soft sand, boxing, and abs in a bit of a circuit. Was a good 40 minute session.

This morning I was determined to get in another beach session, and I managed to get a 30 minut session in after giving the pup a training walk - had a private lesson for her last night which was fantastic just to cement things in my head about what I should be doing!
So this morning I did a quick warmup walk then jog, then did a circuit of :
hard(ish) sand sprint, walk to soft sand, then jog soft sand, walk back to start of sprint line. So it's a 40metre each length square.
Given my lack of CV fitness at the moment, this was more than enough to get my legs pumping and my heart rate up!

I am currently nursing a strained 'supinator' muscle in my arm (sits next to brachioradialis) and is responsible for supinating your forearm... (ooh, wow, really?! LOL).
So, currently there is no proper boxing for me - just light punches on that arm, but tomorrow I intend to do a nice leg session - just all compound moves - lighter weights, then do some kickboxing.

Stressed & tired...

Being stressed and tired is just no fun at all! Work is just overly hectic with quite a few new projects all piling into one big doozy project which is due for launch in June, and still no replacement for my manager..which leaves..MOI!
c'est la vie.

I've just been working out what sessions I want to attend at this year's FILEX and there appear to be quite a few. Last year at least I could stay at my friend's place which was a mere tram ride away..however, no such luck as they've moved just up the road from us! Which is great, except for when i need somewhere to stay in Sydney LOL.

This morning's workout was back to Legs again - so took pup for her quick walk - our trainer has suggested to ensure she learns to heel and not pull, you just say, okay we're going out for x minutes today. The minute they start to pull, you just stop - when they return to your side, you praise & continue the walk. Sometimes you may only get as far as two lampposts down the road before it's time to turn and go home...but with consistency, you've trained your dog to not pull and walk beside you.
Jemima's version of walking beside me also consists of a few leaps and bounds at my side also... so full of life!
Anyhow, when I got back home, I did swiss ball squats, nice, slow and deep to fire up the joints. Then onto barbell squats, DB lunges (made more difficult as I did have to keep changing directions to avoid a certain pup who just had to be between my lunging legs...!), sumo squats, leg extensions and leg curls.

People never cease to amaze me...

..and not often in a good way either!

Here is the latest doozy:

If you drink beer on its own, ie no food at all to eat with it, then there are no calories, it simply goes through your system as it has nothing to 'cling' to.


This from a fairly intelligent person too!

Can the rain please disappear?

I have to admit, I am completely over the rain. Yes, I know we need it...but, actually, here on the coast...nah, we've had more than enough to last us now until at least another 12 months.

However, they say that it's around for at least another couple of months... this rain has really been more tropical than usual though. Massive downpours - our drainage has had to be redone around the house to cope! Poor husband.

Managed to get down the beach again this morning for a run - I have planned two beach sessions a week - the first one is just a jog along the beach at this stage, then home to do abs. Thursdays of course are with friend and involve sprints and boxing etc.

The sand of course was HORRIBLE. That dreadful soft sucky sand that resembls quicksand. Boy did I feel my lack of CV fitness today. Still, gives me something to gauge just how bad it is and where I need to get back to....!

Puppy of course is gorgeous - and now 20kg.

And finally, back to the beach workout sessions!

This morning marked the return of our weekly burn it on the beach sessions... and surprisingly, we both felt pretty good in our sprint sessions. So next week, we'll lengthen those sprints out a little more....
Jemima wasn't too impressed on being walked in the dark drizzle at 5.30am though...then fed and left behind! Oh, the poor wee pup ;-)
It's getting way too dark again in the mornings... makes me feel as though we are rapidly losing summer, which of course, we are... autumn does start on 1 March after all.

aaah, the great ouch of doms

how I have missed that feeling...
Yesterday I did a really nice session of extra slow tempo squats, lunges and swiss ball curls.
Today I can feel it. Fab.

This morning, after my puppy walk, I concentrated on all core/ab work - Paul Chek stuff using a medicine ball & swiss ball.... and ... the extra resistance of the occasional puppy paw on my chest, head, stomach. I think I even had her attempting to rest her head on my lap while she was chewing on her smelly pigs ear. Nice.

The best thing is I finally completed all of my 20 hours practical training at the gym for my course. So now I just have to tick off the video evaluation & first aid....

Goals on track!

I've been on leave all week, and by tomorrow I will be finished the 20 hours practical part of my course! And..thanks to the rain the other day, I made great inroads into my website also (thanks also to Dreamweaver 8). Peasy.

What hasn't happened much this week is riding the pony...thanks to the wet, but... I've still managed to ride a couple of times so far, so not all bad - especially considering above.

The other thing that hasn't happened which was what I really wanted to get done was our new front garden...which would have involved ordering about 2T of soil and me lugging into place...hmm...thanks to the rain that didn't happen....and now doesn't look quite as high on the priority list as some more remedial work that may have to happen thanks to the rain.... (that word seems to be figuring a little too much lately). It really has been more like tropical downpours and storms than subtropical weather...

Well, off to the beach now with the pup before heading off to the pony to ride...and the gym later this afternoon!