An Ex Cyclone, A Flood, A PhD Meltdown and A Run

Tags

Ex Cyclone, Flood, Meltdown, PhD, Running

So remember my last post. I was relatively optimistic that the ex cyclone bearing down on us was no big deal. How naive.

Turns out we got smashed. Sideways rain for a day and a half. Winds up to 120km an hour, minor flooding in our living room, trees breaking in our backyard. The neighbourhood looks demented even now, even one week on. There is so much dead tree vegetation everywhere, trees fallen over, huge branches everywhere. It needs a massive cleanup.

To add insult to injury, our city and neighbouring city Ipswich flooded again. In 2011 there was a big flood that damaged thousands of homes and in comparison, this one was small. But a flood is a flood and lots of businesses on the river front in Brisbane city were badly damaged. There is nothing like that weird waiting to see how high it will go. Eery.

Our fellow Queenslanders north of us in Bundaberg, Rockhampton and all the small outback communities have really borne the brunt of this. Bundaberg north has only today allowed citizens in to inspect the damage, Rockhampton is bracing for a 8.7m flood. Its so heartbreaking to see all these people in evacuation centres and the frightening images of homes swept away by floodwaters. Literally floating away. So sad.

Its the same up and down the east coast of Australia, and many places have been damaged. This type of weather event is super weird and it really took everybody by surprise; in intensity, duration and reach. In my opinion, these weird events confirm that Climate Change is real, happening now and inescapable. My hope is that world governments can agree on mitigation strategies for communities that will suffer the most from rising sea levels and unpredictable extreme weather events.

In other news, I experienced a ‘rite of passage’ this week concerning my PhD. I got feedback on my first two chapters. Not bad, but not great. I completely lost my shit for a day. Bawling my eyes out. Major self doubt. Felt like giving up and running away from it all. My darling husband talked me down. I recognise now the classic symptoms of a meltdown but yesterday as it was happening it felt too real, too raw and too huge to enable me to calm the fuck down. My eyes puffed up and I looked and felt like shit by the time I crawled into bed last night.

My standard advice to anybody feeling bleh is to go for a run. So I took my own advice and hit the streets this morning, dodging tree debris and just running for the sake of it. It has been weeks since I last ran due to bad weather and flooding so it was not fast, nor lovely to watch but it was so cathartic. I needed to sweat it out, have some time for myself and to recognise that a PhD crises is a very unique first world problem and I need to get a grip. I feel much better now. Much better.

So in all, a mental week. I am happy it is over – for me at least.

I hope you all kicked some goals this week and had fun:) That is going to be my motto for next week….

Over and out: Runninbear

PS There is going to be a Color Run here! You know I am going to enter. Yes I am!!

There’s an ex cyclone in our backyard.

Tags

Archaeology, outdoors, ParkRun, Running

Well, lots to tell.

I was out in the wild this week. Like no phone reception, using a GPS to get around “in the wild”. It was super fun. Lots of walking, lots of flies, a bit of interesting archaeology and tons of laughs with some of the traditional owners of the land we were working on. No running as we were working early to finish early as the temps were up around 41 degrees Celcius at 11am. I was totally exhausted by the time we got back. Fell into bed super early. Yay!

I did get out for a parkrun last Saturday, it was mediocre. Not the event, but me. I have to learn to run without music, as I stuffed around for ages trying to fix my tunes – first I could not hear anything, then it was skipping and carrying on. I ended up bailing on the last km as I was dripping in sweat and was over it.

This weekend, there is an ex tropical cylcone north of us. We are unlikely to get too much drama down here in Brisbane, but it has been wet for 2 days now. The rain is going to be nutso tonight and then keep raining till Tuesday. I need to get out there and smash a run. Maybe there will be a break in the weather that I can sneak out. Or just suck it up and run in the rain. Poo. I really don’t like getting rained on.

It is Australia day here today, so we are heading to a bbq. Thats a Barbecue for my non aussie readers. Its basically a day where people get super drunk and forget our colonial beginnings. It is often called Survival Day or Invasion day by Indigenous Australians. Check out Twitter for some alternative voices about what Australia Day means for Indigenous people over here…. @LukePearson and @AnitaHeiss are a good place to start.

Well, not much else to report, hopefully a run will be the main star of my next post. Hope all of you had an awesome week, and get out for a run this weekend

Cheers

Runninbear

Sick Part 2

Tags

health, healthy-living, ParkRun, Running

You know, I thought I had nailed it. Took the antibiotic bomb, got back to normal then boom. Back to sick and in a theatrical and spectacular way. Gastro is evil. EVIL.

Went to the doctors on Wednesday, got more antibiotics and he asked lots of q’s about how my body responds to different foods. He thought I might have coeliac disease, which I freaking hope not as I love love love my pasta, although it often makes me feel blah.

Waiting for the blood tests to come back. Not overly concerned unless it is true, THEN I WILL FREAK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Till then, its thesis and hopefully a parkrun on Saturday. Its been tooooo looooonnnnnggggg…..

A nutso week

Tags

health, PhD, Running, Sleep

Well, its been ages. Sorry. Life is super crazy at the moment. Where do I start?

Last week, I was working like crazy. Trying to burn both ends of the candle and then wondering why I was not sleeping well. Backstory – I am a natural sleeper, I can sleep for 10 hours straight and still feel like a bit more snoozing. As a teenager my Mum would have to bribe me to get out of bed. Weekends – she didn’t stand a chance.

So getting 3-4 hours on average for the first part of last week was killing me. I was having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Booo. I was in a fog all Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before I decided to do the sensible thing and tucked myself into bed at the grandmotherly time of 7:40pm on Wed night. Things are getting back to normal as far as sleeping is going although last night I had Nicki Minaj in my mind when I was going to sleep. What is that about??????

Barbie Minaj (Source)

To top off my mental week, I caught a tummy bug off someone and started feeling sick on Thursday. By Sunday, I was feeling terrible so I took an antibiotic bomb and am now starting to feel better.

You can guess what has happened with my running schedule. Zip, nada, nuthin. I am BUSTING to get out there and run. No matter what, tomorrow am is my time to shine!

In other news, husband and I have bought a new car. The old one was dying a slow painful death. We bought a Ford Focus. We are pretty excited. Hoping to pick it up sometime this week. Ah I love new car smell…..

Well, that is all I got right now. Hope everybody is happy out there and that your new year is bringing what you hoped for….

What were hills invented for anyway???

Tags

5km, Running

So I was hungover and bleary on 1 Jan. To be expected really after a post midnight decision to switch to Bourbon. Ouch.

As I am almost 1000 years old, 2 Jan was also bleary. Dehydrated and feeling blah. Despite my previous revelation of after midnight bourbon, I sometimes am sensible, so I guzzled water all day and went to bed early.

This morning, I was on the road, feeling the love. Planned out a 5km loop where I usually run. I normally do an out and back so I was heading into unknown territory for the second part of my run.

Quelle Horreur. Hills. My nemesis. Needless to say, I was a total slow poke. I am too ashamed to even tell you how slow I went. Walking! I know right, walking! I was meant to be RUNNING!!

Needless to say, I am a tad excited to have a hilly route. I guess I was pissed about it this morning because it was unexpected. But I do love a challenge so I am going to do it again. Saturday. Maybe I won’t be so ashamed of my time……..

Stay tuned…….

 

2012 in review – Word Press Confessions

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The end is the beginning….

Tags

half marathon, healthy-living, new year resolutions, PhD, Running, weight-loss

I have been off the radar, you might think I have been partying it up, but sadly it’s just because I am in thesis crunch time. I am so close I can smell the ink on those pages (this is an attempt at irony, as these days, to submit a thesis, you make a pdf and push the upload button – a bit of a letdown….)

Crimbo had it’s ups and downs this year. Great food, everything was going well until late in the afternoon, when we had our very first family Christmas argument. I am going to keep the details private but I can say this – WE ARE NOT HOSTING CHRISTMAS AGAIN!!!! Next year, we will visit Husbands family interstate, and the year after that, I want to go overseas and have it just between Husband and I. Maybe a white Christmas. There. I said it.

Moving on. Those who know me outside of my WP friends know that the end of the year is when I get super anxious for the new one to begin. Its like Christmas happens then there is this weird week that seems to go forever, and nothing really happens. I get all itchy and desperate for the year to be over. This year is no different so I am getting in early with my New Years Resolutions. I have to warn you all – most of my inspiration comes from my WP friends. You can blush if you want…..

1 Cory B from http://myroadtothetely10.wordpress.com has been my main inspiration for my first NYR. He is on a pledge to not eat fast food. Its such a simple elegant statement, but the repercussions of this is amazing. Cory B, I can see every time you post a picture of yourself how this is working for you. I have never posted a picture of me, but I promise to do so. MY FIRST NYR IS TO NOT EAT FAST FOOD. This is a total ban on junk. If it comes in a paper bag, wrapped in weird paper and dripping with fat, it can’t be good for you. Why I continue to eat this food is beyond me. ITS OVER!!!

2 Kat from http://runningkattales.wordpress.com, Evelin from http://evelinruns.wordpress.com and Meg from http://megvschub.wordpress.com, plus all the other dedicated runners out there inspire me to run better, run faster, run more often. I can’t even begin to think of all the times when my motivation has been low and reading the amazing stories out there from all of you gets me off my ass and hitting the pavement. MY SECOND NYR IS TO TRAIN FOR A HALF MARATHON. At the moment I have no idea how long it could take me to run that distance. But I am getting faster all the time. Watch this space.

3 Another amazing thing I have observed is how everybody fits so much into their days. My routine at the moment is very confined. Its a run in my local neighbourhood. Then back to the computer and thrashing out words. Once this thesis is handed in, I am going to instigate a much better life work balance. Before I can do that, I need to work like a crazy banshee but after that, it’s going to be rancho relaxo with lots of fun things OUTSIDE the house for Husband and I to do. MY THIRD NYR IS TO SEEK MORE FUN.

That wraps it up for NYR. I think three is manageable, and lets face it, the only one that will be hard is the running, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the other two will more than make up for it 🙂

On to running. I have been hitting the roads and I am getting faster. Today I did my fastest km – 7.07 minutes. If I can keep this up, I might even smash out a 30min 5k soon, which has been a goal for me for ages. I have been stretching a bit more often and it really is making a difference.

I am thinking I will think of a total kms goal for 2013. I have not crunched the numbers yet but maybe 1000km??? It’s do-able especially when I will be piling on the kms for the half training. This is on my to do list before the new year starts so I will let you all know of total number once I work it out.

Weight progress: I have been eating whatever I want, drinking beer and having a great time with food. My weight has gone up by only 300g which is nothing really. I guess running through the silly eating season has helped keep everything in check. I am still fiercely holding on to reaching my goal weight of 65 kg, I have a long road ahead, but I am going to switch my focus from eating to lose weight to eating to run better. It’s really going to be the same kinds of food, but I will listen a bit more to my body as in the past I was a bit hungry sometimes during runs and felt like I ran out of steam.

Other than that, it’s head down bum up for the next few months as I hit frantic mode in thesis land. You might not see me on here that often in the next few months but I promise, come March 3, it will be over. Then I will be free.

I sincerely hope all of you have an amazing New Years, however you will celebrate it. And I wish for everybody to have a kicking 2013. Filled with fun, love, laughter, good food, great wine, yummy beers and tons of running.

Hearts – Runninbear

 

It’s not the Apocalypse, you can relax…

Tags

Christmas, food, Running

Because of the date line, Australia is in the future. I woke up this morning and checked out the state of the world. It’s my moral obligation to inform you all that it’s ok, there is no Apocalypse today.

So, I thought I should share with you what we will be eating on Christmas Day.

We are hosting it at our place. This is mainly a convenience thing for us, we can settle in and not have to go anywhere which is my idea of relaxation.

Xmas Eve: Corned Beef with salad. Probably beetroot and fetta salad. YUM!

Xmas Breakfast: Cherry Bircher Muesli YUM!

Xmas Lunch: Ham with Bourbon and Maple Syrup Glaze ( A secret recipe that I will share if you like the idea of it). Roast Chicken. Crispy roast potato. Steamed Broccoli, Beans and Carrots with a chilli and soy glaze. Potato Salad.

Xmas Dessert: Fruit Pudding with Brandy Cream and Madagascan Vanilla and Salted Caramel Ice Cream. Fruit mince Pies.

Xmas Dinner: Are you kidding? There will be no food. Lunch is gonna be huge!!!!

Running Update

This week, I ran 3 km on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I have been concentrating on speed and everyday was a bit faster than the one before.

BUT THEN We went out to a Christmas Party on Wednesday and we got a bit too excited and ended up in a nightclub dancing till well after midnight. I was tired, hungover and feeling rubbish all day yesterday. And again today. Booo. My running streak got derailed. So to make up for it here is the Christmas running schedule….

Monday Christmas EVE 3 km

Tuesday Christmas DAY 3km

Wednesday Boxing DAY 3km

Thursday 4 km

Friday 5km

It’s going to be an awesome week. I can’t wait.

Sad Run

Tags

Newtown, Running, Sadness

The news of the shocking events in Newtown reached us in the early morning on Saturday. My heart goes out to that community and all those grieving families. Sadly, it seems all too often now that we hear about people conducting shooting rampages in America. When will it stop? How can this be allowed to continue?

This event makes me so freaking thankful that I live in a country where it’s not normal to own or even want to own guns. I don’t know a single person other than police and military who have guns in my community. I feel safer knowing that.

I could not muster up the energy to do much more than work on my PhD and incessantly check the news about what was happening in the States. All weekend, I have been very sad.

I took myself out for a run today, to get away from that feeling. It was an ok run. Nothing special.

Such sadness in my heart….

A Lovely 4km in the Sun

Tags

Lawn Bowls, Running

This morning, we got up and went down to the skatepark. I set off for a run, again not too much, making sure that back stays well behaved.

The sun was shining and it’s not too hot at the moment, so the first 2km heading out were totally blissful. It was a bit tougher on the way back, the sun was directly on my front and I had to do a bit of walking.

Overall, I managed to do my fastest 1km ever, clocking a 7.25 min km. This of course made me happy. My overall pace was 8.10min per km cos of the walking, but the first two km were swift! SWIFT!

In other news, I am going to a Christmas Party tonight. Have you ever heard of Lawn Bowls? It’s a sport that old peeps do, which we all know is a thin disguise for beers at lunchtime as all the venues are licensed. We are going to do that, but barefoot. It’s pretty fun, and the beers are ridiculously cheap. So that will be uber cool, I will get some pictures of the shenanigans for you all.

This is a man, my legs are not that hairy!

We have been eating more conscientiously this week, and so far I have lost another 500g. The proper weigh in is next week, and I would so love to see more weight gone. No point wishing though, gotta work hard!

Ok, back to PhD. Will follow up with some pictures tomoz…..