Merry Christmas

Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a wonderful, healthy, happy and prosperous new year!

And she grows

Well, we've discovered a great training trick to stop chewing.... metholated spirits. You just wipe the 'illegal' chew things with metholated spirits and just the smell is enough to deter young pup from chewing... and nice juicy meaty little bones... keeps her occupied for ages!

I managed to get to the beach for two runs in a row yesterday and this morning...which has just been divine. We have a routine at the moment, one of us sleeps on the lounge to do the night 'toilet' training - which is done by way of pup sleeping in crate (a very comfortable one) - and she lets us know when it's time to go....then we wake up, take her out , then put her back in crate. It's working a treat. Then at 5.45am the other one gets up to feed her and play with her in her morning session! So far I've been the one doing the 5.45am tag - which has had me trying to workout in amongst playing & feeding... no mean feat. But the last two nights i've had toilet duties - my husband usually goes back to bed when I get up, but... I can't do that... 5.45 is my morning workout time... and I feel so much better for going for a run as opposed to trying to sleep for another hour..

Tomorrow would have been my mum's birthday, so I will go and scatter some rose petals off the point where I scattered half of her ashes. Then I'll go for a quick run after.

Here is my rapidly growing baby.... Jemima.

HELP! my puppy has been replaced by the Jabberwock

...with jaws that snatch!....and razor wire for teeth...
ohmylordylordylooo - those little piercing teeth do hurt - especially when she manages to engulf your ankle with her jaw and chomp. Ouch!
No amount of co-ercing with the puppy Kong, the Tug toy, the teething Kong, the jingly ball could make her see that those toys were far more interesting for her to chew than my ankles!! Oh the fun of puppies!

But god, she's so gorgeous when she's sleepy...hehe. She snuggles in to you making all sorts of cute puppy noises.


Workouts....SUPER EFFICIENT!!!

catchup

My posts here are getting more sporadic as spare time becomes more of a luxury.
Life is more than a little hectic at the moment, between work, trying to fit in some hours doing the practical side of the course (which is going great so far), and now we have our beautiful beautiful little girl, Jemima - all the photos of which are her at 6 weeks. She is now 8 weeks old.
Trying to fit in a very efficient workout in between playing with the little one is interesting.... this morning my shoelaces were her preferred toy out of everything... makes squat jumps etc very difficult. Luckily her on/off switch is quite defined at the moment and she switched off back into sleep mode with 15 minutes left for my workout!!
I've also had some swollen gland, congest throat and now cold lurgy...

Practical time and harbour bridge climb!!

Well, tonight I get to start my practical component of my certificate. FINALLY... hopefully it should knock about 2 or so hours off the 20... small chunks..small chunks...

Tomorrow we're being treated by some suppliers to go on the harbour bridge climb...with the weather that is forecast it should be ..interesting.... never thought of myself as a lightning rod before.. ;-) will have to check out the gym in the hotel the next morning!

A quicky but a goody

Well, had to do a quick blitz on the bike this morning - a good half hour session as I had to drop my car in for service.... so I blitzed through my bike intervals mixed with walking lunges.
My legs are really feeling it!!!
11 more sleeps to puppytime. LOL then there will be many broken sleep nights as we house train!!

Thank god for bike trainers and great leg programs...

Well, it was pouring with rain this morning as I awoke - but I was grateful in the knowledge that I had planned on Leg Workout A this morning, which is a mix of dumbbells, bodyweight and plyometric exercises. Preceded by a 5 minute warmup on the bike, and followed by some heavier resistance cycling and sprints.
My legs were already a little fatigued after doing my beach sprints the morning before, and also kickboxing last night - now, with kickboxing, I stopped doing weight workouts on the mornings of the class as they would generally focus on a lot of muscular endurance stuff during the class. Well, last night, they focussed more on sprints in between fast boxing rounds.... geeeeez.... one day I might pick it right!! I was a tad tired last night, but hopefully it'll have the desired effect on those extra blubbery bits ;-)

Faster than you can say 'blah'it's Monday again

Well, I keep thinking the weeks are flying, but... do the weekends have to go quite so fast? No sooner have you bought the weekend papers, then it's all over and back to work.

We had to go to a car club christmas function yesterday, which of course was a buffet affair... there were also loads of other groups there, but... do people really have to put quite that much food on their plates? Do they ever stop and wonder why they look the way they do? Or should I just stop being so judgemental and think...hmm... potential client.

Now, I just got an email from our ridgeback breeder with some photos...so ... one of these is our little girl... do not ask me which one though!!!

A great Craig Harper post...

..so I had to link it here:

http://craigharper.com.au/2007/11/personal-development-back-to-basics.html

..and another Friday swings into town

These weeks just seem to be completely flying past at the moment... it seems like about 2 days pass in the week then it's Friday again...
Well, my new regime is going well, this morning was bike & bosu workout - amazing how much one can sweat..you don't generally notice it as much (convection method) when you're moving due to the evaporation, but...when you're stationary..whoa! pass me the towel.

Diet is great - about 1600-1700 cals / day.
We're off to the piccies tonight to see Death at a Funeral - so should be fun. Having been to the movies for aaaages.
Will do a full body weights workout tomorrow morning, then we're out for a xmas lunch, and some well needed gardening (and pony preening - I avoided getting his farrier out until he had passed the 2 week good immunity levels on his first vaccination, but of course now, he is way too long and feel the angles in his feet up in his shoulders - imagine running around in awkward shoes and you'll get the picture), but the farrier can't make it until 29 Nov...so no riding until after then -and then we'll probably get our 2nd vaccinations through so that will be a few more days of no riding...
Sunday will be an exercise day of rest - just gardening and painting the house.

Procrastination no more

I finally spoke with someone at Fitness First about doing my practical training with them. So, on 1 December, I shall go in and perhaps make a start!

Outdoor fun & cardio

Well, at least that's what Liz called today's workout!
I figured it was good to schedule this in today as Thursday's are my buddy workout with Ms D.
Imagine this...
two 40-something women sprinting up hills, scrambling up stairs, doing bulgarian split squats off stairs...etc. etc. etc...
My legs know about it now.... they cringed (well, if felt as though they cringed, or maybe it was me?) when faced with the work stairs this morning...

Project 4x4

Okay, have decided to do a short burst hard 4x4 project... ie..lose 4kg in 4 weeks.
That'll be the 4kg that have somehow crept on since returning from Bali, losing our gorgeous girl, going through the dramas of training the new girl - and consequently not getting enough exercise...and also...Afterburn..!
So, reassess my diet cleaned up back into Precision Nutrition with no hidden extras.
Did Liz's Bike intervals workout A this morning... how much can a girl sweat and a girl's heart pound?
All good.

Biggest Loser

Omigod. I actually watched some of this on Friday night - 2 hours? wha?
Now I used to like Kim...but geeez...has she got a complex or something with Jillian being back on the show?
It was highly annoying to see her pouting in her little midriff singlet, saying, you guys are really pissing me off in her annoying little whiny voice...while these poor overweight people are just standing there having to take it...abs n' all.
Empathy? Nah.

Leg Workout A complete....

What a killer....
I'd forgotten how hard burpees are...especially when combined with a killer set of other exercises....sheeeeesh.
Sweat..baby sweat!

Weekend & new puppy...

Well, what a whirlwind weekend.... and I did get my bike sprint intervals done first thing Saturday morning to get my body into gear! Yesterday we chose our ridgeback puppy, a little 5 week old girl, and we'll call her Jemima (means bird of peace). When you are surrounded by about 9 fully grown ridgebacks it's an amazing experience - all just coming for cuddles and love... but god they are HUGE. These ones just seem enormous!!! Will be interesting when we eventually have 2 in the house! LOL> will there be room for us?
So now we have to get ready for being woken during the night by puppy cries, toilet training, no, please don't pull the washing off the line...and they are my shoes, not your toys... aaaah, fun times ahead!!!

Just read my program from Liz - bought a legs program...looks like extreme punishment, so that will be good - just what I need leading up to Xmas.

blink...and then it's Friday..AGAIN

Okay, where are the weeks going? They just seem to be flying past even quicker... and it's not just that I'm getting older, at least I hope not.

The house is empty again of our little soul. Staffy Rescue are going to properly assess her and see what they can do to try and rehabilitate her. She seemed pretty relaxed though - greeted them like old friends as though she had just been away on a nice holiday. It's almost as though she knew - she gave me the biggest arms around neck staffy cuddles yesterday morning as though she knew she was saying goodbye. She jumped up on to the wall and then just put her arms on my shoulders and kissed my tears.

Sometimes you just have to know when things are outside of your control and capability, and we're not dog psychologists.

Back to the drawing board for us - and back to our original plans of ridgeback puppies.... so we have some to inspect who are 4 weeks old on the weekend....

To console myself I went back down the beach and jogged, then did 8x80m sprints... was very tiring!!!

Might do some bike sprints tomorrow...as well as riding the horse - who should now have a great deal of immunity to EI thanks to his injection two weeks ago.

Bittersweet

Weekend was lots of fun - was my birthday so we went out to dinner on Saturday night with friends - great food and company!
We came to the heartbreaking decision that our little dog is potentially dangerous and as such, we can't keep her. She will be happy and lovely with us both - then all of a sudden a cloud comes across her face and she launches aggressively at husband's face. I don't want to get to the stage that this either might happen to a child, or I'm driving husband to hospital to have his face stitched back on. I hope staffy rescue treat her with all the care she deserves, but I honestly feel it's not a situation anyone should be in - she's 98% perfect...just 2% really screwed up by whatever happened in her past by males. With women she's loving and adoring.

I got my bike trainer, it's noisy! I did some sprint intervals yesterday morning, and managed to get to kickboxing last night. Trained legs this morning and will go to the pony tonight to get him back into work AGAIN, after his vaccination break (and then weather..)

My challenge...

Since I am going to have to fit my workouts in around keeping the dog exercised enough and sane...as well as work and riding and..and...and...
This is how my weeks/workouts are going to be planned based on being able to get a good night's sleep:

Monday:
5.50am - get up - cut up cabanossi for bribes & grab dog for her walk or walk & run. Staffies are muscular little beasties that need a good warmup and can't be allowed to overheat either, so all care must be taken!!
6.20am - return home, start playing fetch in between workout - rest = throw kong.
Workout - Legs - Heavy day - which will consist of a combination of:
Swiss ball squats - nice and deep to get joints lubricated.
Barbell squats.
Walking lunges
Romanian deadlift
Deadlift
4 sets of around 8-10 of each exercise with 2 mins rest in between.
Monday afternoon - if I finish work on time - kickboxing

Tuesday:
Pooch walk all the same, then workout:
Chest, Shoulders & Abs
Warmup with pushups
Barbell bench press
Incline dumbbell chest press
barbell military press
barbell upright row
dumbbell lateral raise
Swiss ball crunches
Tuesday afternoon: ride horse... Yay - unless it continues to rain the way it has and it's still too darn wet - these things are always conspiring against me!!

Wednesday:
Pooch walk all the same, then workout:
Intervals - hopefully next week on bike trainer :-) my nice birthday pressie.
Evening: kickboxing - again, based on being able to leave work at 5.05pm at the latest... class starts at 5.30!

Thursday:
Up at 5.15am for pooch walk, then at 6am down beach for partner punishment. Okay, I possibly punish her a little more

These consist of jogs on hard sand (if available) soft sand - more likely, sprints on hard or soft sand as before... kickboxing with kickpad and boxing with focus mitts. Lots of ab work - crunches lifting up to two punches on the kickpad and back down. It's about 50 minutes of hard slog.
Thursday eve: ride

Friday:
Back up at 5.50am (ooh, sleep in!) for walk/jog
then home for intervals - this morning I did plyometrics. Killer. :-)

Saturday:
Back, Biceps & Abs or Kickboxing.
Walk dog, Ride

Sunday:
Rest. Dog training, ride.

I think I like being in control of my workouts. It's great to try something different, but.... I need to lift heavy I think - especially for my east german legs ;-)

So, my challenge for the next four weeks is to really get stuck into my newly designed workout and shed the fat that I have accumulated from afterburn... I already feel better after this first week!!!

My other challenge is to damn well pull my finger out and do my 20 hours practical. I will call Fernwood Woonona tomorrow... I will ... I will.....

Afterburn update

Well, after working through Afterburn - not 100% but probably around 75-80%, I have to say, I would either have to trial it 150% or just accept that it is not suitable for me.

I feel fatter, and my clothes are tighter. So.... this week I have gone back to heavy weights, 4 sets 8-12 reps and guess what? fat's dropping again.

Go figure. Horses for courses I guess. I am currently awaiting a bicycle trainer so that I can hook my bike up and make it stationary so I can do some HIIT after I've walked/jogged the dog. I think for me to make the Afterburn effective I would need to alternate 4 weeks of Afterburn with 4 weeks of heavy training.

cancer & weight link

Watch weight to cut cancer risk: study
People should aim to be as lean as possible without becoming underweight if they want to cut their risk of cancer, a major international study said.
In what it claims is the largest ever investigation into lifestyle and cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund says body fat and obesity are more closely linked to the disease than previously thought.
The study recommends avoiding adult weight gain, steering clear of sugary drinks and alcohol, not eating processed meats like bacon or ham and limiting red meat consumption to cut the risk of cancer.
Report project director Martin Wiseman said the advice was the best possible based on all the scientific research completed to date.
"This report is a real milestone in the fight against cancer because its recommendations represent the most definitive advice on preventing cancer that has ever been available anywhere in the world," Professor Wiseman said.
"These recommendations are not based on one study but are based on 7,000."
A panel analysed 7,000 cancer studies from around the world dating back to the 1960s.
Sir Michael Marmot, who chaired the panel, said people should aim to be as lean as possible within the healthy range.
"This might sound difficult, but this is what the science is telling us more clearly than ever before," he said.
"The fact is that putting on weight can increase your cancer risk, even if you are still within the healthy range.
"So the best advice for cancer prevention is to avoid weight gain, and if you are already overweight then you should aim to lose weight."
People with a Body Mass Index (BMI), a calculation which takes into account height and weight, of between 18.5 and 25, are deemed to be within a healthy weight range.
The study says their risk increases as they head towards the 25 mark, however, and recommends people try to be as close to the lower end as possible.
Two-thirds of cancer cases are not thought to be related to lifestyle.
But the report said there was "convincing" evidence that body fat played a key role in the development of cancers of the colon and breast - some of the most common forms of the disease.
The report also links the kind of food consumed to cancers, especially colorectal ones.
In particular, researchers say people should stop eating processed meats and limit the consumption of red meat to 500g a week.
They also say alcohol should be avoided to cut the risk of cancer, but accept that drinking small amounts could help protect against other diseases.
No more than two drinks a day for a man, and no more than one for a woman were suggested.
Sugary drinks should be avoided because they promote weight gain, and fruit juice consumption should also be reduced, according to the study.
The report also urges breastfeeding to protect against cancer, arguing it may reduce breast cancer in the mother and prevent obesity in the child, although this has not been proven.
Source: AAP

Hectic times

Well, life's been busy busy busy... no time for reading or writing blogs! But this came in my inbox today... and it's worth a post:

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.
A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.
We've added years to life not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.
A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Thank god it's Friday

...especially since it's the last Friday I need to be at work for a whole blessed week! Yay.
Still, it means next week will be filled with horseing, playing with the dogue, painting the house, exercising and making bubbly stuff at home...more hubble bubble toil & trouble. I want to make things similar to the Lush bubble bars.... watch this space ;-)

If you hear on the news of any explosions happening in Wollongong, well, maybe it's just me and a bad experiment.

More Equine influenza ranting

Okay, to whoever out there that's listening... this has gone on for more than long enough. People are losing their income, losing their jobs, losing their horses all because the DPI completely bungled the whole handling of this outbreak from the start.

We are not the first country to suffer from EI - but it's the first time we have - so why didn't the powers that be call in overseas assistance in best practice for containment and eradication? Why did they foolishly think that a 'containment' plan by isolation would work in this country?

Did they tell all the ducks, deer, cockatoos etc that hang around picking up scraps of feed from infected snotty nosed horses that they should ensure they disinfect themselves before heading off to the neighbouring properties to do the same, or to swim in the dam where other horses may drink? Possibly not.

Only high value horses and those few that are in the miniscule 'buffer' zones are being vaccinated - well, sorry you d!ckheads but my horse is pretty valuable to me - even though in the eyes of the government he's expendable, along with all the little lives already lost, and the mares that have gone into premature labour only to lose their foals that they have been carrying for 11 months. Oh, and what about the people that have to fork out for all the bute, the decongestant and antibiotic drugs for their horses at around $200 a pop? All because the Government FAILED in its duty of care to ensure adequate procedures were being constantly carried out at the AQIS facility at Eastern Creek!!!

THIS IS CRIMINAL. WAKE UP DPI, WAKE UP GOVERNMENT, THIS WILL BE AN ELECTION ISSUE....

aaah. okay, off my soapbox for now.


Lucky I went kickboxing last night - this could have been much worse ;-)

Gotta love that sweat!

Last night's kickboxing class was really hard. Our instructor, Rosanna Lavelle is fighting on 19 October, and she's a third dan black belt... so I think she's currently in hard training mode... so, consequently are we ! I was literally dripping at the end of the class, so all in all, well worth it!

Got in another Afterburn training session this morning, again only 2 sets, but managed to fit it in after my 20 minute terror/terrier walk.

Shark or dolphin?

Well, I cannot wait until daylight saving kicks in - I wake up in a panic at 5am thinking I've slept in at the moment...only to find I could safely sleep for at least 45 minutes more...

Anyhow, we went down the beach this morning, Tamsin and I - and down the Northern end of the beach I looked out at the waves and just saw this fin cutting the surface and disappearing again. Just one, lone fin.

I am thinking more shark than dolphin. Didn't see any other fins, and ... it didn't really look dolphin fin-ish...

Glad I'm not swimming down there today :-)

Off to kickboxing tonight - it's great resuming some semblance of a normal routine again. I am such a creature of routine and habit - as sound as that sounds, but I absolutely detest having my routine mucked around and not being able to do all that I had planned in a week. Makes for one cranky Caroline!

After feeling dizzy all last week, my left gland has been swollen and that side of my throat kinda scratchy... I'm thinking must be a bit of an ear infection from the cold residue - courtesy of my deviated septum thanks to faceplanting off a horse many moons ago.

blind english referees?

Okay, here is a quick world cup rant.

Firstly...how on earth did England beat Australia in the rugby??? I have this thing against English rugby. They turn it into soccer with an oval ball. Guys, you're meant to run with the ball and score tries... not just rely on one player to boot the ball over the goal posts.

Secondly... well, I knew my beloved All Blacks would choke...just not this soon..and not to FRANCE. FRANCE of all countries...!!! Sacre bleu!
But - at least it's mainly down to the blind ENGLISH referee allowing a forward pass which then became the winning try.
Hmmm.

I hereby renounce my English citizenship.

Um. Go Fiji.

Aaaah sunshine

It never ceases to amaze me how much happier and brighter I always feel when the day dawns and it is bright sunshine & blue blue skies...
but then it hits me that I have to spend the entire day stuck in an office.
Oh well, c'est la vie! Missed a call from Fernwood at Woonona yesterday, but they didn't leave a message so I don't know who to call back.. I hate that. Hopefully they'll call back today and hopefully it will be to say yes, I can do my 20 hrs practical there. Don't want much do I?!

Went for a jog on the beach this morning with the little chunky monkey... actually managed to tire her out, so she didn't need an additional play with the ball afterwards. We just jogged both lengths , so about 1.6 km.

Tomorrow is supposed to be HOT HOT HOT and windy - mmm coupled with bored school kids on holidays tends to = bushfires.

Was going to go to Ikea to get some bits and pieces to make our spare bedroom into a big walk in wardrobe, but..think I might wait until it's not going to be so hot. The last thing I want to do is have to go out West to my horse in the early afternoon when it will be at it's hottest and windiest.

So...my plan is: get up, take the chunky one down the beach for a quick run, come home, do an Afterburn workout, shower, breakfast up to the horse to check wound and temperature & snot free zones.

Enjoy the warmth for the rest of the day.. maybe do some housepainting. Then my sister and her partner are over for barbeque dinner.

Then Sunday I actually need to make some peppermint & lavender foot cream for an order for a lady at work... best get in and do some hubble bubble toil & trouble!! Need to make more soap too in time for Christmas - it takes a month to cure, but it's better if you leave it longer to really get nice and hard, otherwise too fresh and it lasts 5 minutes.

Kickboxing & Beach

Okay, I am officially tired..
I went to kickboxing last night - and it was stifling in there given it got to 35 degrees here yesterday. Luckily we had a nice cool change come through around 8pm, but this morning when I got up at 5.15am it was pretty cool.
Did our beach workout again this morning, similar to last week's but instead of soft sand runs all the time (we only did one) we did lots of hard sand sprints in between our boxing, kickboxing & abwork.
We're out to lunch today for one of the girl's birthdays at work - so off to Vietnamese - at leat we can have a good healthy option for a lunch out!

A new bright & sunny day!!!

Well, woke up this morning literally stumbling out of bed all dizzy.... interesting head spins!
I have emailed the NSW Kennel Council or Dogs NSW whatever they're called now to complain about the unethical behaviour shown by one of their registered breeders. I have written to said breeder complaining that she broke a contract and acted in an unethical abhorrent manner after we had invested so much, personally, financially, and all of our time wasted - let's face it, I don't have a lot of spare time to waste another 12 hours of my weekends on visiting a dog that isn't going to be mine.
Blah.
Anyhow
onwards and upwards.
Rosa is now Tamsin Starburst - yes, it started out as a joke name, but it kinda suits .... and she comes to it...
We are finding out so much about this poor little chunky monkey. I found a tattoo in her ear the other day which according to my vet means that she has been through the RSPCA or another rescue organisation when she was desexed - they do it so that they don't open them up again if they return to them.
She's afraid of men - sometimes.
We went out to dinner with friends on Saturday night, and when I opened the door I heard a 'thud'. As I walked into the house she rounded the corner and saw me - straight away her tail rammed between her legs and her ears went flat back and she made this mewling sound - she had been up on the bench and thought she was going to get belted. Well. Yes. I am a sucker and you can't chastise a dog when it's after the fact, ie she wasn't caught in the act of being on the bench. Not that I would do anything other than make a loud noise. So, of course when I saw/heard the fear in her, I melted into a gooey pile of slush and gave her welcome home cuddles. The last thing I want or need is for her to feel anything other than totally safe and secure in our home. Poor little angel, I feel she must have suffered a few beltings in her time and she's not a bad dog - just a little misunderstood.
There is much work to be done with her, so not having the puppy coming home so soon is probably a godsend for us - we can really focus on training/socialisation with her until she feels totally safe.

But back to this morning - what a hot day we are going to have! 32 degrees, but WINDY. Tamsin and I went for a run down the beach and had a lovely time splashing through the water.
AND I get to go back to kickboxing tonight - which should be HARD work I am sure.

Equine Influenza

warning..rant about to happen.



It's now been 6 weeks since the first outbreak of this EI epidemic. Only now have horses started receiving vaccinations - but who's been getting them? Geez predominantly racehorses, so that racing can go on - the mighty punter will prevail to ensure the government stops losing more money out of gambling coffers...



The information from the DPI is frankly scant and inaccurate - you try and keep as updated as possible, but they don't report the real truths - the amount of horses that are dying from secondary complications, things like colic and pneumonia. Mares are aborting foals, foals are dying. And who has to foot the bill for all of the treatment? the hapless owners. As if we don't have enough vet bills to contend with on a regular basis.



Now I just sit and wait until my horse gets EI which should be..ooh, roughly in the next few weeks given the rapid spread - it's marching southwards, and gee, we just happened to sit in the shire above the buffer zone. Not that the buffer zone is much of a buffer zone - 300 horses near Mittagong - out of how many thousands.. like that's going to stop any spread further South? Doh.

stop lurking..

Unethical behaviour

I rang our ridgeback breeder on Friday to see how 'our' little boy was going and to organise pickup for next weekend. I was abruptly spoken to, and asked 'had I not received her letter?', to which I replied 'no'.. she then informed me that she had bad news, that she had decided to keep the puppy and she had returned our deposit moneys in this letter.
Now, if this is how registered breeders treat people, then they certainly give backyard breeders a better name...
I was so upset. I emailed another breeder who had said she was mating her bitch just around the time we had been offered our pup. This other breeder said she wasn't surprised as the breeder had done the same thing to her 6 years ago, so she said obviously nothing much has changed in that time!!!
I think I'll report her to the kennel council for this - it really is not on - to take a deposit and allow someone to travel 8 hours visiting the puppy in the belief they would be taking this puppy home in 8 weeks is just inexcusable.
Grrrrrrrrr.

Excellent workout this morning

Well, I met up with my weekly workout partner down the beach this morning, and, as planned, took the kickshield, focus mitts & gloves (and a towel). Neither of us are feeling particularly fit c/v wise at the moment due to several factors....and there was no hard sand to speak of, so our workout this morning consisted of:
Warmup walk in soft sand
Jog in soft sand
Punch/focus mitt work
Punch & kick work
Soft sand jog
Ab crunch with two punches, then return
Soft sand jog
Punch & kick work
Soft sand jog
more ab work
more soft sand
then just kickwork with the shield,
finishing off with a soft sand jog.
*yawn*
this was all after I'd taken Ms Rosa for her quick round the blocker
Was a great workout though.

you have to laugh.. or am I just evil?

Now, I have to preface this with... I do not buy New Idea... it just appears free each week on my desk, courtesy of our media agency.
Anyhow... even though I have complete disdain for it, I can't help but look at it... after all, it's good to check out what Guy Leech is rabbiting on about each week to see if there are any pearls of wisdom..
But I digress.
It's pretty funny when you see photos of people that are in the news today, back when they were a lot younger. Then you start to compare the facial changes [doesn't everyone, or am I just a freak?] - and I don't mean the normal ageing facial changes, I mean the under the scalpel facial changes.
Erica Baxter - well, Erica Packer - believe it or not, she once had a nose - I'm not sure you could call what she has now a nose, it's more like a michael jackson pretend stick on thing that really is just nostrils.
Kylie.... whoa...did you know Kylie's eyebrows once used to sit just above her eyes... now she's permanently surprised. I read on the back of the SMH on the weekend that people are likening her to Joan Rivers...

saw this link

on Skwigg's blog...and if you've never read skwigg's blog go and do it right now.. no. NOW.
anyhow, it was a link from her blog which is SO worth borrowing
http://againfaster.squarespace.com/articles/you-are-beautiful.html

Two workouts in a row! Could it be?

Is it that my life is resembling a little more normality? well, I won't get too excited, but it's starting to resume normality... apart from having to go to dog training tonight instead of Kickboxing...but I am going to take my gloves, focus mitts, kick shield down to the beach tomorrow for my beach workout with my friend. That should get us exhausted..!
So I actually managed another Afterburn workout this morning - again 2 sets only, not 3 - if I had gotten up at 5.15am instead I may have been able to fit the extra set in after the dog walk.

It's so nice and warm outside today, it seems such a waste of a day to be stuck in the office today, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... hopefully the warmth might hang around for the weekend since it's a nice long weekend ahead. Then the following two weekends are long for me as well - since we are picking up baby Keith next weekend, I have taken the week off to help settle them both together, and the following Monday is our work's 'picnic' day - so three long weekends in a row for me... Yay :-)

Reasons why not to go surfing in the middle of the day...

Well, only one reason... husband emailed me yesterday after 'sneaking' out for a morning surf.
Unfortunately he took his old old ancient old mal which weighs about 40kg due to being so old and waterlogged... did I say it was old?
Anyhow... he misjudged a wave and ended up with a broken nose.
Was a little worried about being way out in the middle of a reef with blood pouring out of his nose..
Crazy kid!

Onwards and upwards

Well, last night I went back to the dog training club as the Sports Dog Club was training there and that's where my trainer goes with her dogs. I just wanted to go and have Rosa in a nice stress free environment, no hassle, get her to focus on me, and just get it all happy and nice again. Mission accomplished.

A trainer did ask me if the poodle had been 'broken' I said..No, not a mark or anything on it... she then said my dog was a good dog because her dog would surely have punctured the thing for being so rude and in her dog's face. I felt a bit better after that!

I have been doing so much reading on dog training methods, clicker training, socialisation, aggression etc... my head's spinning, but I feel better equipped now.

We went for a walk this morning and she was excellent. I then managed a full Afterburn workout (just 2 sets through though not 3)...and finished with more attempts at hula hooping.... got a few good ones in then went like a nong again...
The things you took for granted as a kid hey?!

Hula hoops

I forgot to ask... how hard is hula hooping?!?!?!

Yes, I bought a hula hoop the other day as I passed them in K Mart. It has water in it. I swear the water makes it incredibly so much harder.
Either that or I am a complete nong at hula hooping.
The dog isn't sure what to make of it yet either.

Dog training and Poodles with attitude...

Well, dog training on Saturday morning proved to be interesting...and offered more setbacks than solutions.
Rosa proved to happily play with puppies that were around her size - and not fluffy, however, did appear to be growly towards fluffy things that yapped at her. One in particular, was a toy poodle called Mia.
Mia just yapped incessantly and got in Rosa's face.
Time came when we all had to pat each other's dogs and introduce them to each other. Mia yapped in Rosa's face and Rosa snarled and lunged.
Then some wise decision was made by the instructors that now as a good time to go to the offleash area. I kept saying, Rosa is going to eat Mia. Seemed to fall on deaf ears. What would I know? They are the 'experts' after all.
Anyhow, all dogs were off leash and happily introducing themselves. Rosa made the mistake of introducing herself to an onleash dog who was being re-socialised. All was fine, then she must have pushed the boundaries of his comfort and he lunged/barked/growled towards her. Being a staffy, she won't back down from a fight - she didn't do anything, just lots of awful noise and snarly looks. We pulled her away, and then Mia got in her face. She pinned Mia down by the throat. Hmmmm. No damage. Only to Rosa - who was bleeding from the chin.
The trainer said, Oh, she's just got her in the classic trying to get her submissive pose. By this stage I was feeling very uncomfortable. Then they said, okay everyone off leash again - Mia the poodle was still in her Mum's arms. Rosa hopped up and grabbed Mia down and had her pinned again. Obviously hadn't felt that she had finished making that thing submissive. A toy poodle is no match for a staffy though.
The trainers then had the gall to say, oh , this has never happened before.
Now I have to try and determine what it is about fluffy yappy things that causes her to go nasty, and try and work through that....
I spoke to my dog trainer last night and told her, and she said that she couldn't believe the stupidity of letting first time mature dogs off leash....
doesn't help my issue now though... especially with our puppy coming in two weeks.

..and back to blonde

Well, a trip to the hairdresser last night resulted in me returning to blonde after being brunette for several months. It's perhaps a little 'too' blonde, but ... what the heck. Change is as good as a holiday - and my hair is sooooo short that it'll be gone in a couple of weeks!!
Dinner last night didn't end up being a stir fry... I had dear husband mince up the chicken breasts with the good ole' meat cleaver, and I made up the chilli chicken recipe from Survival of the Fittest - it's basically just chicken breast mince stir fried in the wok with garlic, ginger, then you add in some sweet chilli sauce and fish sauce, and I usually add in a dash of lime as well.
Serve 'san choy bau' style in lettuce leaves and you have a pretty good meal! I did have a dark chocolate lindt ball with my green tea after though, and a glass of red wine...
tssk tssk.

Went down the beach with the little girl again this morning, she's so funny. Really gets fixated on birds and wants to hunt them down. Should be interesting when I get her up to the horse property and see how she goes with all the wild ducks in the dam.... could be funny...or disastrous.

This weekend is set to be another busy one - off to dog training tomorrow morning, hopefully start horse back in work - lungeing only - until he builds up some muscle, take temps to ensure no flu symptoms. Then maybe more house painting..

Planning on getting back to kickboxing next week....I am sure I will die...

Almost a full workout this morning!

Aaah, things are looking up - went for the poochy walk this morning, then recommenced week 5 of Afterburn - got about 2/3 of the workout done in between the throwing of the ball.
Had to forego my Thursday morning beach workout session with my workout partner though - wasn't sure that my lungs would work enough to run that much - and still trying to get rid of this cough.
Thank god for Codral with pseudoephedrine..

Food today is :
1: 2 cottage cheese pancakes with sugar free maple syrup, nat peanut butter and blueberries
2: Musashi SLM bar - just discovered these whilst in Sydney on my course - and haven't made any of my Precision Nutrition 'poo' bars for a while so these had to suffice!! Will have to make some more of those tonight though.
3: Chicken breast with greek salad
4: Greek yoghurt with blueberries and handful raw nuts
5: Stir fry chicken and veges

Lots of water & 2 cups of green tea.

The Road to Recovery...

Well, I managed to sleep the majority of the night last night - woke up about midnight coughing again and started to stress out as I thought it was going to be yet another night like the last...but then the 2nd nighttime Codral kicked in and stopped me. I didn't wake up until the alarm went off just before 6am... bliss.
My lungs and abs are so sore from all the coughing though! What a workout.

Took the girl down to the beach for a walk this morning, and as we got down to the beach I spotted a loose dog walking with his owner in the distance - next thing I knew he was bolting towards us - I thought, oh well, this will be an interesting test. She just stood there watching, whilst i just said, good girl (feeble..I know)... then they happily said hello to each other - luckily he was a german shorthaired pointer - all wagging tail and not much going on up top... so it was a good experience for her, so she got a nice treat for being so good.
Onwards and upwards.
She seriously loves the beach though.
My husband calls her piglet, because she looks and sounds like one (cute). I think she looks more like Yoda...
But we are loving having a dog that sleeps through thunder and fireworks... our house still bears the scars of Suki's scratching at doors. I guess we can hopefully fix those now - unless Keith comes with phobias...hopefully not.
Off to see pony tonight - we are now in a 10km radius of EI - which isn't good. This thing has just spread like wildfire, and doesn't show any real signs of abating as yet. So far my horse's temp has remained normal, no spikes, so fingers crossed we may be okay..but I somehow doubt it.

Lurgy No. 5

Okay, I am really over all of this illness that I have so far succumbed to this 'season'. I spent all night last night attempting to cough my lungs up (or whatever's left of them now after all these flu and cold viruses).

Still, having time to contemplate life and the universe it has given me much needed time to reflect on having completely lost focus with where I was headed business wise prior to going on holiday - which then ended up in a whirlwind of emotion following the loss of Suki, horse injury no. 5, etc..
So, now that we have young Rosa (or Tamsin Starburst as I prefer to call her) getting settled in, she's going to be attempting agility training come next Monday night - that should be fun - wonder who'll have more fun? me or her?!And then in a couple of weeks we'll have the young rambunctious Ridgeback, Keith coming along - hopefully they will get on okay - it's time to be able to refocus a little back on moi. So, as soon as my lurgy has finished I need to get back into my workouts which have been too easy in the past two weeks - not enough focus on kickboxing or weights, then I can call a couple of gyms to see where / when I can complete my 20 hours practical component.
Oh...when I was up with my horse the other day, one of the other ladies who has a horse on agistment has just signed up for 10 weeks with the Commando....http://www.commandosteve.com/ - $900 . I asked if she'd watched the Biggest Loser and she said No... I just said I hope you enjoy punishment..! I shall report her progress.

Full on day!

Well, it was up at 4.45am this morning to take little pooch for walk - had to be in Sydney for an 8.15am start at a two day presentation skills workshop.
Definitely not for the fainthearted this workshop, but excellent to get tools to enable you to feel a lot more confident about presenting in front of groups.
One of the things I would like to do when building my PT business would be to give talks to groups of business women at networking functions - hence my enthusiasm to do this course... Generally I would prefer to have teeth pulled then present in front of a group. But I am not alone!
Said Pooch decided that the 800g lump of chicken breast that was defrosting on the bench was far too tempting to just leave be...
She is now sleeping off her excesses ;-)
You just have to laugh and hope that they don't eat far too much for their poor little stomachs!!! Yes, I am totally in love with this little girl.

It's almost like the before & after shots...

Someone had her first experience of the beach this morning. She bristled at the sight of a charred piece of wood as she wasn't quite sure what it was - but she figured she better get her hackles up and stay well clear just in case... until I walked over to it and patted it, then she realised it was okay.

The sand was fun - but the water was scary!

Here she is enjoying the sun - the heater's not on, just holding her up.

It's Monday and I'm exhausted....

Well, I think we packed as much as we possibly could into our weekend. First up was a night with friends on Friday night, and we stayed overnight and headed out from there to go and visit young Keith, who is now 4 weeks old and mobile, gorgeous and growing rapidly.

Then we went over to Staffy Rescue and met and picked up Rosa, our new addition to the family.

She had baptism by fire in relation to meeting her 'extended family' ie, our friends who all came over at various times of the weekend to meet her. Some of our close friends decided to bring her a gift of a squeaky Pumba toy. Unfortunately, they forgot it is their daughter's 1st birthday in a week's time... revenge is sweet. She might become 'little drummer girl' }-) - but I digress.

Rosa was described as being an outdoor dog who only came indoors if/when invited... the way she reacts to the indoors you may be forgiven they got that all round the wrong way! Because our friends stayed on the Saturday night, Rosa got to sleep in her basket next to my bed...however, she kept trying to sneak up on the bed during the night (which is a no-no for my husband!!), so we kept telling her to get in her basket.. which she did, and she remained there for a few hours, then tried again! It's hard to be stern when you're giggling because you have this cute staffy snuffling you during the night. Not to mention her snoring. At one stage i thought it was my husband and was thinking about poking him in the ribs, then I realised it was her!!!

Then come Sunday we had more visitors to see Rosa - and last night we attempted to move Rosa's basket to the laundry, so we had more nocturnal visits during the night. But... when I got up she was in her basket, and stayed there until I popped my head in and said hello. Then it was all waggy tails and snufflings.

This morning I took her out for a walk, then we played chasey in the backyard - then I tried to do some of my workout in between more chase the ball.

I have four weeks to get Rosa settled in and some obedience training and socialisation training before we introduce Keith the gorgeous ridgeback puppy to her. (Blame my husband on the Keith thing...) Hopefully it will go well and she won't attempt to eat him....

Myer in Wollongong show a complete lack of wisdom....

Ha! Well, I just went in to Wollongong at lunchtime, thought I'd pop in to the perfume counter at Myer to see if I could try some new perfume. I've been using the same perfume, Fragile by Jean Paul Gaultier for a couple of years now and thought I'd like to 'trial' some others with a view to purchasing my new perfume.
Well, if you want to do that in Myer Wollongong, it's pretty difficult unless you know exactly what perfumes you want to try. Why? They are all behind the counter, so you have to ask the assistant to try each one. How goddamn ridiculous.
Buying perfume is an experience. You have to experience the smells before you know what you want to actually put on your skin - especially when such a huge proportion of them I just don't like! Anyhow, I expressed my indignation and said I'd go elsewhere.
At least in David Jones, you can try what you like at your own leisure. So I purchased my new perfume, Chance by Chanel. Yummo!

Workouts and stuff..

This morning went down to the beach where it just happened to be howling a gale! The beach was littered with a mixture of blue bottles (North Easterly!) and cuttlefish. One that had washed up honestly looked like a hand - until you got a bit closer and realised what it was. Eeuw.

Anyway, we got through our jog and sprint sessions - just in a very wind blown way.

My legs were really fatigued throughout though - probably due to the gruelling sessions I had the previous two days - the workouts in weeks 5-8 are fairly heavy on the legs! Squat jumps with a barbell are not for the faint of heart at all. Last night I also did a kickboxing class, which was equally punishing, just in a different way.

Two more sleeps until we get our staffy. Then the house will feel like a home again. Yes, I'm excited.

What a weekend.

Well, since we are picking up our new addition to the family on Saturday, we had to work double time to get our new fencing & gates built....
I spent Saturday applying timber decking oil to the timber slats, and painting the metal posts (back breaking stuff). It will look fabulous, but is only about half way finished after all that time.

I also decided that I best give the dog kennel (it looks like a mini house complete with bullnosed verandah) a spring clean also - since it hadn't really seen any doggy activity for quite some time - the dogs had moved to sleeping indoors due to having old dog privileges.
What a dusty/cobwebby job that was!! eeeuwww. I had to keep emerging to breathe & sneeze.
Still, all better and cleaned out in readiness for the new children when they eventually want to use it. Just need to go out and buy some new large cushions to fill it with and then it will be snuffle heaven again.

The horse's leg is looking decidedly good and healing nicely... I have a feeling his retirement may not happen just yet ...but let's not speak too soon. Still no flu emerging around our properties. Although there has been an outbreak in Picton, about a 15 minute drive away, so we'll see if the wind carries it over our way or not. Fingers crossed it doesn't. Someone at work foolishly asked me what the big deal was - I said, you've seen the size of a horse's nose haven't you? Can you imagine the size of the snot globs? That stopped 'em! Hehe.

Since my c/v fitness has suffered a little I decided that a good beach workout session was in order this morning. It's lovely having the sun starting to rise at 6ish again - so much more pleasant than darkness! So, I did a light walk, then jog warmup, then just did about 12 x 60 m sprints, and did a longer fast run. Tonight I should be able to go to kickboxing for the first time in a week - can't wait!!

I will start my week 5 Afterburn workout tomorrow morning.
I think when our girl arrives next week will see me heading down the beach with her for my workouts, and I'll just have to reshuffle the Afterburn workouts in amongst those somehow.

another day..another dog...

Yes, I realise I had said..no more searching...but again. I found my fingers scrolling to the staffyrescue site.. Just for a look..HONEST..

And then I found her.

Rosa. A beautiful 18 month old staffy girl who sadly had to be surrendered by her family due to changes in circumstances.

She will be coming home to live with us on 8 September and I can't wait to get her.

Back to the beach again!!

Well, after being locked away in meeting rooms for three days I was going a bit stir crazy... and literally feeling overly energetic (which is really unusual for me at the end of a long one day meeting!) which just happened to go overtime and mean I missed kickboxing class..
God forbid.
Husband went into overdrive to put my punching bag up in the garage for me because I was desperate to punch and kick something... hehe. Oh the power.

Met up with my beach workout partner this morning nice and early at 6am at Sandon Point and we did a nice jog then several sprints interspersed with walks & jogs - we're not as fit c/v wise as we were last summer - me thanks to injuries and refocusing more on weights, and her thanks to new job, but... we're back into it so we can be jumping out of our skins in no time again.

I am looking forward to kickboxing on Saturday morning though - it's such a great workout and the only time I am not in control of the workout.

All hell breaks loose in the horse world...

Wow. What a difference a weekend can make!! One minute I'm feeling all sorry for myself and my pony with his leg....then people are in lockdown unable to go anywhere with their horses....Some people can't go and see their horses for 30 days as they are in the flu zone... People who have travelled to Parkes to compete with their horses are stuck there now for at least 40 days until the last horse gets rid of its flu...
Hopefully our ponies will remain uninfected. Maybe that's the reason I've not been able to compete this year...
Or maybe not!
Still.
Well, exercise for the past two days has been a very short sharp 20 minute burst of circuit work... since I've had to be in the city for a course by 8.30am. Sleep...that'd be nice.

Have decided to wait until our dear little ridgeback boy comes home before pursuing his potential partner.... Common sense has prevailed. I must be getting old or something.
I was far too emotionally overwrought last week ...

How beautiful the weather has been here too, the past two days... it reached about 27 degrees today... too bad I was stuck inside...

Sore Glutes

Well, I think the combo of Deadlifts, Bulgarian Split Squats and the supine hip / leg extension thingy have really killed my glutes.... of course followed that evening by kickboxing.. then a beach session this morning.

I think I have come to a (difficult) decision regarding my horse. It's time he went out into the big green retirement paddock and played out the rest of his days, without me desperately trying to get him sound again for one thing or another...or simply just to ride. I can honestly say I could count the number of times I've ridden on both hands since October last year....so just shy of a year... if it was just an abberation I could cope...but it's not..it's been more the norm. I think in the 9 years I've had him, probably had about 2-3 good years.... the rest have all been downtime/injuries/recovering....and now he's rising 16.... no spring chicken!

Still, on the bright side, I'll have more money for the time being...and more time to get my business up and running (and time for me to finish my practical side of the course)...and of course, time for our new babies.

Now, I was supposed to stop looking for a second 'child' for the time being. I did promise...but how can you, when you know there are thousands of poor unwanted dogs out there just looking for someone to love them for the rest of their doggie days...
..enter Flick
http://www.petrescue.com.au/view/13275#pic.
who is:
(a) Alive
(b) Available
(c) Has been looking for someone to love her since February..
(d) In the same town as me with her foster carer

Now... I just have to chat to the husband.

I'm not superstitious...but.....

I can't help feeling as though I must have broken a mirror some time ago.

Now, did I foolishly say I was going to ride my horse on Saturday? Silly me...
Saturday morning dawns and I had a phone call from the agistment property... 'Kado has cut his leg'..
When I get there, it appears that Kado has spiked himself on a stick - obviously a very sturdy one as it has left a nice puncture in his front leg - and also chipped a small piece of bone off with it. Excellent.
Faster than you can say, vet bill, the vet's there and it is all bandaged up. (after he'd fossicked in the wound to see if there was any more broken bits...eeeuuuuww).
$Kerching $Kerching.
Hopefully it will heal up nicely, otherwise it may get an infection in the bone.
$Kerching $Kerching.
Which would mean an operation. Hear that cash register ring!
Still... all was not lost on Saturday. I met our gorgeous little tiny bear boy - his eyes were still closed. So cute.
His Mum is divine. I had forgotten just how seriously beautiful ridgeback girls can be. So serene and majestic.
I would have missed my flight on Sunday morning too, had it not been for my friend who was driving me up waking me up with her knocking at the door..... Unbelievable!! I never sleep that late..... a mad race then ensued showering and getting dressed to still get to the airport on time!
Enjoyed the birthday party, then on Monday got up and did the big drive home from BrisVegas to the Gong.
Finally got in at 9.30pm...knackered!
Yesterday I made the mistake of googling to see if I could find the breeder who owns our little boy's dad. Came across a 4 year old Ridgeback girl who had been rescued from euthanasia.
Did some quick grovelling with dear other half and he said yes, happy to save her. Only to call the foster carer and find out she had died after being desexed.
Poor little angel. So I have promised to not do any more searching for our second 'child' yet...
Too much of an emotional roller coaster ride.
Off to kickboxing tonight...had to miss out on weekend and Monday sessions!

BrisVegas or Bust

Well, life has been pretty hectic since we returned from holidays.
Our Bali trip was just exactly what we needed - total relaxation (the Balinese are keen to tell you constantly to just relack!)
We knew our little beloved girl was being looked after at home by our good friends, so we knew she was in good hands, so we enjoyed ourselves totally - cocktails, swimming, sunning, even went running each morning on the beach - saw Michael Klim going for his run too.
Husband got in 19 surfs - so he was pretty happy too.
Oh....did I mention the shopping? hehe. What would a Bali trip be without some good old retail therapy? Got some fabulous silver jewellery too.

Our house is so empty with no 'puppy' love in the home at the moment.... we're quite lost without our little girl.

Well, my calf muscle has well and truly healed, thank goodness, and I am nearly completed week 2 of my Afterburn program. This morning met up for the first time in aaaages with my beach training partner, and we recommenced our weekly beach session.

This weekend I will be:

Saturday: am/ Afternburn workout mid am/ ride horse lunch: drive to see newborn 'son' - a little Rhodesian Ridgeback boy that we will have in 7 weeks time :-)
Sunday: am/ Fly to BrisVegas for Brother in Law's 50th birthday, then drive back with husband (who has left towing the snotmobile for a surprise racetrack day already) on the Monday.

RIP Suki

The little dog with a heart of gold, and too many names passed away last thursday.

Is sorely missed...

Last sleep

Finally the last sleep has arrived!!
This morning I thought I'd best weigh in just to see what I am before holiday mode!! I am sure it will shift a bit - hopefully not too much, I will remain in control, have packed protein bars & taking my yoghurt maker.... sad but true! But at least I'll get my acidophilus to fight the old Bali belly!
It appears that somehow I've lost 2 kilos - must be due to the fact that I've had to change my morning beach workouts to something less cardiovascular! Just goes to show - too much cardio is a negative thing!
Slathered on the old St Tropez fake tan last night - will be so much better when the real thing takes over in the next few days!
See you all in blogland in a couple of weeks.

Final days!

How exciting, in just a couple of days I'll not only have another new hair colour to get used to, but ...will be sunning myself on the beach at Legian.
Fab.

And ...relaxed in the knowledge that all of my exams are now complete...with just the practical to take care of.


My last physio session before holidays went well, he's pleased with my calf..not pleased with my toe which is still twice the size of the other one.... so he's put a new strapping on it. He feels, as I do that two weeks of no kickboxing will probably do it the world of good (there was no sympathy there from him!). The funny thing will be me trying to only run on every third day of my holiday... I had planned on a run each morning. Hmmmm.... will have to get creative - may pack my focus mitts & gloves for my friend & I to punch each other on the other days.

Exams...Bali....

My final exam is tonight! It will be a great relief to have that part of the course all over ..done and dusted!

Then I can just focus on the practical - poor long suffering husband has been my guinea pig for 'body fat' testing - hmmm he's as lean as can be, so this has been interesting!
..Then there's the blood pressure - which, according to moi, was normal! Fun.

Just really have to find somewhere I want to go and do my 20 hours practical - that will be my post holiday challenge!

3 more sleeps to Bali.


Oh, the rebounder is getting the biggest workout - from doing pop squats on it, to sprint intervals.... it's amazing what you can do on a mini tramp LOL.

Success or failure?

I was thinking a lot the other day about the things that make people succeed in long term weight loss, and the high amount of failure rates and the reasons behind those.

I know that when I first did Body for Life, it was all about the 12 weeks. Well, of course, once the 12 weeks finished, old habits started to creep back in, and before you knew it the scales were creeping up and the clothes were getting tighter again.

You see it all the time with others as well, after all, it takes a great deal of planning & dedication to ensure that you have enough good food choices on hand for each day, and sometimes it all gets quite hard - and that's okay..occasionally. People tend to forget that by resuming those old eating habits after a 12 week regime is going to eventually spell disaster.

It's been quite some time now since I've just accepted that this way of eating is the only way I can live in the body I want, to make sure it's as healthy as possible.

Of course, the other factor in the equation is exercise, and like with the food, it does require a little forethought and planning - and of course, the most important success factor with both is that they must be enjoyable.

Enough of my rant today!

travel warnings...

Okay,
there have been car bombs diffused, and car bombs going off in the UK, yet smartraveller.gov.au still lists the UK as only a minor grade - be aware type of warning...
yet Bali has been upgraded to 'avoid travel' if possible type warning...
sorry... I'm still going on my holiday - I figure, I have more chance of being killed/injured in a car each day, then I do of a terrorist attack.

**************************************************************************************
Workouts at the moment are consisting ONLY of trying to strengthen, rehab the calf muscles, with lots of intervals now on the rebounder, followed by modified calf raises on a step, which then lower down to bent heel stretches which stretch through into the gastroc.
Added in a few barbell deadlifts and VMO squats too....
tonight is kickboxing..! yay.

*************************************************************************************

Apparently dengue fever is rife in Bali at the moment... (terrorist mosquitoes?)..so off to buy all the necessary "bushmans" stuff today...

bouncey bouncey...

Well, I purchased the rebounder... it really is a great way to rehab the old torn gastroc, the bouncer combined with a good calf raise down to a stretch off a step...
add that in with my swiss ball half squats with medicine ball between my knees to activate my VMO... sound like a right crock!
then a nice additional circuit of swiss ball upper body russian twists, dumbbell walking lunges, dumbbell deadlift with a shoulder press, T pushups then back around!

Back to kickboxing tonight.... and ugh... all day meetings in the city tomorrow...
10 sleeps to Bali

Super Ras el Hanout

Don't you just love getting freebies in the mail? The shop where I get my spices (www.herbies.com.au) sent me out their latest and greatest invention, it's called Super Ras el Hanout, it has just a whole heap more spices added in then their standard Ras el Hanout.
Now...to make it into one divine meal, all you need is:

1 Lamb loin fillet.
Rub some good virgin olive oil into the lamb fillet, then rub in a good rub of the spice mix.
Sear on a super hot sizzley hot plate, so fillet is brown all over, and then transfer to oven for 10 minutes.
Serve on a bed of wilted spinach leaves & some green beans with some couscous on the side.

not a soul in sight...

well, actually managed to drag myself back out of bed to recommence a (somewhat) normal routine... this morning I went down to the bike path which runs adjacent to the beach - in Wollongong we have around 30km of bike path that runs parallel to the beaches - to do my 2min walk, 2 min jog x 5 as prescribed by physio. HOWEVER. This was prescribed when my calf was in use and starting to respond to rehab... doh.
Didn't really think about that part... first jog...all felt fine.... second jog...ouch... bit painful...push through it (doh again).... feels pretty rough ...
Think I might go out and buy myself a rebounder to do that rebound / calf stretch circuit that he made me do...
that'll help!
Toe's starting to look and feel almost normal again though...
anyhow, back to the bike path - it was dark, but there was some light starting to emanate on the horizon - but there was not a soul in sight.... quite bizarre. Up until a couple of weeks ago (the last time I got down there for a normal morning workout) there was always people starting to get out for their runs/walks/bike rides.... not this morning... very unusual.
Perhaps everyone's got the flu!
I started my first Afterburn workout yesterday morning - amazing how just a few exercises can actually exhaust you, when prescribed in a certain way!
12 sleeps to Bali.

It's amazing how quickly a week passes...

when you've been in bed for three days of it!! Some dreaded lurgy managed to 'stop' me in my tracks this week...aches..fever..swollen glands..
I could hear my body saying, well, you broke your toe...you didn't stop
you tore your calf muscle..you didn't stop
you WILL stop now!
so I did.

The trouble is, being such a creature of routine, I love my routine... get up at 5.45, workout, shower at 7..
I just hate having it broken. Still, I had plenty of time to read my new books, and I am itching to start my new workouts! I should also be able to have my final theory exam in the next fortnight, so looking forward to that. Then Bali.
I am also very over the rain.... and bleak weather.. at least today there is some blue sky and sunshine!

Books!

I love reading as much stuff as I can...but felt guilty at 'extra' reading during the theory portion of my studies.. so it's nice to have a break from the theory stuff and now read stuff that has just appeared in my mailbox..
The New Rules of Lifting http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583332383/wwwalwyncosgr-20?creative=327641&camp=14573&link_code=as1
and
Afterburn http://www.afterburntraining.com/

whilst at the physio...

well, I can at least start back kicking in the kickboxing again! Yay. Now have to do 20 minutes of a walk x2min / jog x 2min session to see how the calf goes...

Anyhow, whilst I was having my tens session (following my 40 minute calf massage!), I was reading the local rag. There was a snippet of really disturbing news. Apparently a car that turned into a parking lot hit a child, injuring it. A crowd had turned on the driver, then the passenger got out to defend the driver...the passenger was then beaten to death. How sick is that? It was in Austin, Texas.
Bizarre world.

Something interesting in my inbox

I had my usual email newsletter from Dr John Berardi this morning, and it's just worth posting as a constant reminder around the myths that surround exercise and nutrition...

so, courtesy of the aforementioned Dr Berardi, here it is:

Fitness Myths and "The Truth"
I was recently asked to contribute a few fitness and nutrition myths to a popular magazine. After some consideration, I included 4 biggies - the cholesterol myth, the protein myth, the exercise volume myth, and the aerobic exercise myth.
1) The Cholesterol Myth
Eating eggs leads to high cholesterol levelsAdults are continually told that eating foods rich in cholesterol can elevate an individual's risks of atherosclerosis and heart attacks. As egg yolks are a major dietary source of cholesterol, this has made them public enemy #1. However, research studies consistently show that dietary cholesterol intake does not correlate well with blood cholesterol - in other words, eating foods rich in cholesterol does not necessarily increase blood cholesterol or cardiac risk. Because the body makes its own cholesterol, eating more means the body produces less. And eating less means the body produces more. It's only a small % of the population that doesn't regulate blood cholesterol well - and in these individuals, blood cholesterol can be high regardless of dietary intake. If blood cholesterol is a concern, the best way to deal with it is to increase exercise activity and improve the overall quality of your diet - not to eschew foods because they contain cholesterol.

2) The Exercise Volume Myth
Exercising for 30 minutes 3x per week improves health outcomes.For years we've been told that 30 minutex 3x per week was all we needed to do to improve overall health and body composition. However, according to most research, this minimal amount of activity does very little to improve either health or body composition. New government guidelines suggest that to improve health, one should shoot for 30 minutes of exercise every day. And to improve body composition 60-90 minutes a day is required. Now, before you go whining about time - North Americans plop down in front of the TV for an average of 19.8 hours per week. Surely we can make the time for 3.5-7 hours of exercise per week.

3) The Aerobic Exercise Myth
Aerobic exercise is the best kind for fat loss.Although aerobic exercise burns a higher % of fat per minute spent exercising, aerobic exercise alone does not necessarily lead to leaner bodies. Recent research papers with titles like "Aerobic exercise does not lead to weight loss" are demonstrating that steady-state aerobic exercise is an activity of diminishing returns - the body adapts so quickly that to really get the benefits, you'd have to keep increasing your duration - leading to sessions that would be impossibly long in duration. So the real "best" exercise for weight loss is a combination of high intensity interval exercise, strength training, and a small amount of aerobic exercise. Of course, nutrition is important too.

4) The Protein Myth
Protein builds big muscles.Although athletes and exercisers have believed for generations that eating more protein builds big muscles, this statement isn't always true. Sure, if an individual is undereating protein (getting less than the recommended 1.5g/kg) then they might see some muscle growth with an increased intake. However, additional protein above this intake won't build more muscle. However that doesn't mean that this additional protein is a waste. In fact, additional protein intake helps improve body composition by helping maintain a higher muscle to fat ratio. Same muscle mass - less fat - sign me up!

You can find more pearls of wisdom at http://www.precisionnutrition.com/

It's done.

I have now submitted my final assessments (all 22 pages worth) for the last module.
Sometimes there is a good side to bad weather!

Now I can just get the last bit of final study done in readiness for my exam... then onto the practical mode.

The practical stuff can happen when we return from Bali, where we're headed mid July for two weeks of sunshine.

_______________________________

So much for category 2 cyclonic winds... they didn't really eventuate, thank goodness. Would have put our new roof to the test!

Rain, Rain & more Rain..is good for studying!

Well, we have had such a wet old time here in Wollongong. Saturday saw so much rain I thought we were going to have another flood like we did in 98. Luckily..we didnt. But still, with so much rain, all I could do was study. So I have 99.9% finished my last module's assessments. Just have to research and write an article on some innovation within the fitness industry and I will be done...
Went back to physio this morning and I can go for one run between now and Friday morning ( my next appointment) but only on grass and only for 15 minutes...

Apparently we are supposed to be hit with even more violent weather tonight. Hopefully it will be after I have been to visit my pony to make sure he's okay, not too bored...warm enough, dry enough.

physio

Well, I bit the bullet and figured I should really make some time for myself and go and see a physio. So...off I toddled. It turns out that I do have a tear in the belly of my Gastrocnemius, but the bleeding has gone into the Soleus deep underneath - hence my thinking that it was more soleus than gastroc.
Still, a bit of good old ice, compression, some cross training on the bike...boxing, no kicking..stretching...and apparently I should be good to go again in a week...although only jogging, not sprinting...damnations.

***********************************************************************

This weekend looks like it will be yet another in the wild wet cold & windy stakes..just perfect for staying indoors, studying...and finishing off module 5.

Not so good for horseriding though....pony will be bored.

Might see if we can go hunting for floorboards too...

Will go to kickboxing tomorrow morning...warm up on bike and then just box.

Falling apart...

On Monday since it was a public holiday, there was no kickboxing class..so since I now have a bag in my garage under the house (which I can only hit VERY lightly otherwise it shakes the whole house as it's attached to a floor beam....and the dog gets very upset) I thought I'd do some technique practice. Somehow my calf muscle in my left leg seized up a little... no problem I thought. Husband kindly massaged it.. and I thought for sure it would be okay in the morning.

Wake up, head down the beach...notice my calf is still a little stiff, but figure I'll walk & warm up then try a light jog. Ha! well, I started to jog and then 'ping' felt as though something snapped and excrutiating pain..there must be a slight rupture in the soleus tendon as it is really deep and really hard to locate. Well, all I could do was just laugh (despite the pain), purely at the sight of myself attempting to look and be fit and healthy, and there I was in the pitch black hobbling pitifully to get back to my car. I didn't know which leg to hobble on...the one with the broken pinky or the other one..
Still...a day later and it's starting to ease up thanks to nurofen gel, ice gel, ice...you name it.. and I made up my 'knit dem bones tm' concoction to heal my toe and already it appears to have shrunk a little...

Oh... I got 87% in my exam! So far that makes it 86%, 85%, 92% and now 87%... all good!! Hoping to have the last module finished pretty soon - all pretty basic marketing stuff, so should go well enough -

Exam...

Over and one with.... and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would/could have been! So for that I am eternally grateful.
Still.... better wait for the results before I say it wasn't that hard.... I could have been seriously mistaken!
Started on the last module last night - all about business & marketing... oh, and there's even a section on computer skills.... given that I have been doing marketing for 10 years, have worked in conveyancing, e business, and many other businesses...hopefully this one will be a breeze....

Managed to put my running shoes on today and run in them, rather than just hobble and quickly remove them. Luckily that I was able as this morning was pretty cold on the beach. Still no whales...

Missed my kickboxing class last night which I was upset about... my big boss decided to call me in for a chat to make sure all was still okay after all that has happened over the past week or two... that was the time I was supposed to leave to get to the KB class on time.. still. had to be done.

Builders are back today to finish the last of their work in our renovations.... should be all finito by the end of this week. Oh, what luxury... but then, we have more hard work in finishing it off properly to come. We will still be doing the rendering outside, which will include blueboarding over some of the old weather board along the sides of our house, and repainting the whole thing... then painting the new room inside...then we can move our loungeroom to that new room..and redecorate the existing lounge room to make it the new large family / dining room. Not that we have any family save for us and the pooch...but still.. it will be fab when finished.

Another day another busted toe...

or so it seems! well, if my little toe wasn't broken before, it sure as heck is now.

Saturday I went kickboxing, as planned, then took Suki - the very clingy hound up to see Kado, the very patient pony (well, pony trapped in a very large 16.3hh horse's body).

Suki just really seems to think that Kado's just a big dog. She happily bounds along beside, between, through...you get the drift, of his legs, as he's moving. It's quite scary.

Anyhow..on to my toe. After all this excitement, my poor foot really looked a bit swollen that night, so I just iced as usual. Got up off the lounge and promptly managed to catch my little toe on one side of the large caster wheel and the rest of my foot on the other whilst walking...and then falling to the floor in so much pain....it was truly excrutiating. Two Nurofen Plus allowed me to sleep (mixed with a few glasses of red).

Who would seriously have thought that something so small can create so much pain.....
I did some research on the net and basically best thing to do is strap it to your next toe and off you go! A bit of good ol' Ibuprofen and icing and all will heal .... I might make myself up a comfrey extract solution to add to the mix as well....knit dem bones

I did still run barefoot on the beach this morning though. And I will be going kickboxing tonight too....

Well, I have my penultimate exam tonight - a bit nervous about this one as it's a heck of a lot of information - the special populations one which includes - Rehab, Pregnancy, Older Populations and Kids. Seriously, each one is a massive subject on its own, but put all together.... HUGE! If I pass not only will I be surprised, but extremely happy.

Winter's here!

I couldn't believe just how cold it was this morning..... I had been woken at 2.56am and failed to return to my slumber...when I dared look at the clock next it was 4.59...and I knew it was only a small matter of a half hour before that rude bleeping would force me to get up.
I fleeced up, with hood...and put my running shoes on, despite my toe not being entirely happy ensconced within the shoes. I only managed to walk the beach - just did about 2.1km, then I braved (or stupided if that can be a word!) the cold icy sand and went barefoot to do some sprints - managed 4 x 80m sprints on the firm sand - before I decided to get out of the freezing wind (it was still only 8 degrees), get some shoes back on my frozen feet and get into my shower!
More of the same tomorrow.
Tonight I was going to ride the pony, but... that same cold southwesterly was blowing, and it's always a few degrees colder up there than down here on the coast - and I just didn't have the heart to take his warm rugs of, to make him prance around at my expense in the cool. If I had some competitions planned, it might be a different kettle of fish, but with nothing immediately looming on the horizon, Saturday's another day!
He didn't seem too perturbed.
Tomorrow's back with those dastardly agencies that love to put all sorts of junk on the tables in front of us. Still, it's easy to resist these days. I've got my lunch ready - pecan crusted chicken breast with baby spinach leaves.
Back to kickboxing on Saturday morning, then off to ride.
Our concrete slab is being poured in our back room on Saturday morning - consequently our laundry is non existent at present - which makes washing clothes interesting, or it will anyhow come Saturday.
We had an attic ladder installed today - so much room up there! No wonder Diamante our lovely python has enjoyed that space! No sign of her at present, so she must be keeping a low profile.

Some things you may not know about me

Okay, I've been tagged by the lovely Cherub.

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I was born in Bridport, Dorset in the UK.

2. When I was 7 we moved to Auckland, New Zealand where I lived for 13 years.

3. The very first job I had when I first left school was packing smoked eel in Whenuapai in the evenings...

4. I hate the smell of milky coffee.

5. I am allergic to coriander leaf. Just the smell is enough to make me want to hurl.

6. I have never wanted children - and luckily (for them for that reason!), I don't have any.

7. I always wanted to be a hairdresser when I left school, but was offered an apprenticeship on the proviso that I provide 'extras' for the luxury of having that job. Needless to say, I decided hairdressing wasn't for me (LOL, hence the smoked eel soujurn). That was Graeme, the owner of Saks Hairdressers in Auckland. Eeuuw.

I am tagging
1. Sue
2. Pip
3. Jadey
4. Barb
5. Linda
6. Leanne
7. Michelle

Fabulous weekend

Well, this weekend the wind luckily decided to disappear - we have had the strongest, coldest southwesterlies blowing last week. Now they have been replaced by ..just beautiful deep blue sky and warm weather - well, 22-23 degrees.
I saw in the paper that the whales have started their migration Northerly - with one humpback photographed off of Long Reef beach north of Sydney last Friday.
So...my scanning of the waters has commenced in earnest!!! I can guarantee it will almost be like the Kit Kat ads.... I'll be looking, looking, then head up to my car and then they'll all be their, breaching, leaping... frolicking...
I had to jog on the beach barefoot this morning. It's still too painful to put a shoe on my foot - poor little toe is still twice its normal size.
Figured that the frozen-ness of my feet on the run would help keep the swelling down.
Sort of therapy .
The saddle fitter came back to readjust my saddles for my horse - what a difference a few weeks back in full work makes to a horse's muscles - when he readjusted them before my horse still had a marked muscle wastage on one side, so he had to account for that when he restuffed them. Now all that has gone and my horse had shown crabbiness again under one saddle - well, it appears that one was built up a bit more on one side to allow for the muscles - which have reappeared, so it was sitting heavier on that side because of it.
What a difference when I rode him in the new fixed version - he felt like a dressage horse...

off to kickboxing again tonight.
We've now officially lost the use of our back room before the new slab is poured on Friday...so a whole week of my dog trying to go through to the back room to get out to the backyard and us having to walk her around through the back gate...
hope she can hold on during the night... otherwise I will have to shove my husband forcefully in the small of his back to go and help her ... hehe.

work, toes and silly things....

What a week.
Well, during the kickboxing warmup on Wednesday night which consisted of a 30 pushup/30situp interlude, during the switch from pushup to situp my little toe must have caught on the matting and wrenched backwards.."Ouch" I proclaimed, then watched it swell to about three times the size of the other one. Hmmm. No matter, keep going, just being careful not to miss-hit the bag when I was kicking.
Got home, iced. ..oh...and showered...
next morning, still swollen, tried foolishly to put running shoe on, decided that Thursday morning was not going to be a usual run, so I barefooted down to the garage and did a small dumbbell circuit.
Got into work, got humiliated yet again by my 'manager'..I shall use the term extremely loosely.
Somehow, my emailing a PDF document through for approval, and the subsequent manager approving, and then denying... was my fault. No matter.
Had a chat with the bigger boss today and told him what's been going on for a while and that I was really considering my employment options at the moment as I was finding that type of attitude really difficult to continue working with. I've now been humiliated in front of a company that we were sponsoring an initiative of, and a few too many times in the office. Scorpios and Geminis should never work alongside each other!
Looking forward to the weekend - hopefully I'll be able to get a riding boot on my foot so that I can safely hobble around my horse and also so that I can ride.