Run Melbourne Half Marathon. “Anyone Can” – and we did!

Up at sparrowfart today to take part in my first half. Me, Kath and Shells.

We were back of the packers most of the way, though we passed pram lady, Wolverine, Mrs. Wombat and Run-Walk showoff guy. Plus maybe some others.

All hunky dory until about the 13km mark, whereupon I developed a blister. Rolled into the physio station, sat and received a bandaid. What service! Though the blister felt rather like a chisel sticking into my right medial arch at around Km 20 and 21.

The best bit – getting overtaken by the female winner (don’t know her name) at about km 8. She said to us “well done girls” – She used some breath on us! We responded with cheers of “you rock” and “you’re our hero”. Another good bit was having Em et al cheer us on from Olympic park. Man, she has good eyesight.

After about km 15 the hills started to huuuurrrrt.

Great to finish the race, arm in arm, cheering loudly and proudly. We had fun hamming it up to the race marshalls, apart from one on linlithgow who was a bit condescending.

After the race – sleepybyes for a few hours. Then to do a bit of food shopping, then to The Commoner on Johnston St Fitzroy with Hubby, Shells and her partner. It was “Feed me” night where the chef decided what to feed you. Multiple small courses of very yummy food, including the dessert. It worked out to 55 bux a head, not including drinks. Was quite full after that.

Ok. It is nearly 11 o’ clock. Bedtime.

Pee Emm Essing.

I have had bitchy things on the tip of my tongue all week (thank God for my frontal lobe) and have wanted to consume my weight in nutella and cadbury fruit ‘n nut (thankyou again, frontal lobe). My tummy has been bloated resembling a 20 week pregnancy. I have been dropping the f-bomb more than strictly necessary.

It can only be one thing. Men. You don’t understand.

It will pass soon.

This week has been generally better though. Despite mega cravings I have been quite good with my eating, consuming my home-made soups and generally being a good girl.

Went for some personal training on mondee morning, I like the PT, she is nice and her bod is a good advertisement for it. Though I don’t feel like I have worked horribly hard, I have a good honest DOMS afterward. My eeeny weeny girly muscles are growing, and I can do more eeny weeny girly pushups before I collapse.

Had a very humbling moment at work today. I find, as a doctor, just when I am starting to think “I am good at this”, somebody else picks up something I have missed and I think “dang – won’t make that mistake again soon”. It prevents us (or should prevent us) getting too cocky.

I have a really nasty metallic taste in my mouth today – like I have been sucking on a 5 cent piece. Yurrgh.

Have a monster weekend coming up – Saturday – yum cha and silly chickflick with my old school friends (the Proposal – not my idea but will probably derive guilty enjoyment from it). Then Sunday the big race. I have forewarned everybody at work that I will be wearing my medal on Monday (and possibly tuesday and wednesday).

Must go.

Wonky week

Well this week has been quite busy, as I have not had an offsider at work. Consequently I have had to stay back later and miss out on exercise. Quite a bit of comfort eating was done in reaction to the stress.

I don’t mind being busy or doing two people’s jobs at work – just as long as I am not harassed. I got an email from one of the bosses telling me to check the referrals box several times a day (as opposed to twice), and fax through completed referrals as soon as they are ready.

1. I don’t have time to check the referrals box several times a day – it will stop me from actually doing the work!

2. I hate fax machines, they are often not operational and I just don’t trust them. I would prefer to just bring the referrals back to the office myself.

The other thing is, the more advanced in my training I become, the more fallible my bosses become. Yet I can’t all-out disagree with them, because they are the bosses and it is their prerogative to make the decisions (even if such decisions are just wrong). Oh well, I will become a boss one day and will learn to listen to my trainees.

Had a lovely dinner at otsumami on thursday night, followed by a choccy chaser. Mm-mm-mmmmmm.

Went and saw the movie “Sunshine cleaning” yesterday, at cinema nova, by myself. It was a good one to see by myself, and a good movie all around.

Yesterday morning, a very truncated run with Shells, which we walked on the way back and had a good yap. We passed on Kanteen, going to another South Yarra eatery instead for brekky.

Now – to meet with dog whisperer in half an hour. We just gave the dog a bath (she stank) and she did not like it one bit. Dogs are very attached to their stink, you know.

Then to make some soups which I will freeze.

Will try and think more happy thoughts this week, have been a bit down last week. Am doing the run melb half next sunday with shells, which I have to pump myself up for.

Also the plan for this week (and others) is to have at least 2 or 3 nights computer-free, for both hubby and self. I tried it once last week and dang, I got things done!!!

Whimpering….

…..like a little bitch.

That’s what I was doing at the end of the 18 or 19 k run that I did with Ms. Shells today. That’ll learn me for doing a long run within 72 hours of a PT session.

Afterward, we went to (hideously expensive) Kanteen for brekky. We had the $11 poached eggs on toast. The are nice eggs, to be sure. But 11 bux is way too steep. We also had the $7 toast to share. The good thing about the 7 buck toast is that it comes with an assortment of jams and NUTELLA. Sweet sweet nutella. It is really nice, especially after a long run.

I finally figured out why Kanteen is so expensive. We are paying premium for sitting with all the good looking people in Melbourne. Good looking people, dressed to the nines in their designer clothes, with their designer children and their designer poochies. The girls have make-up on! Make up, I tell you! Their prestige vehicles are parked along the road, with my stinky little Astra sat incongruously among them. And Shells and I take great delight in sitting among them, with sweaty hair and dank clothes, eating the least-trendy thing on the menu with aplomb. If we stink anybody out, all the better!

The other thing that shits me about Kanteen is that the menu is mis-spelled. Completely. Do they think that all the beautiful, rich folk would not pick this???

Anyway. Today I partook of some tomato sauce with my poached eggs (see, told you it was un-trendy). I had forgotten how much I like tomato sauce. I think I will write an ode to it. I need a sub-section of my blog, “Sassy’s poetry”.

AN ODE TO TOMATO SAUCE

I’d forgotten how I loved you;

Sweet salty tartness, good with everything.

Then the heartburn comes along;

O, the pleasure and the pain!

 

There, I like it.

Then out shopping at Highpoint.

Numerous things shit me about highpoint.

1. The search for a park

2. The crowds.

3. The folk dressed up in tracksuits, but with fully made up faces. You don’t look sporty, you just look like a bogan. And you know and I know that you never exercise, so why keep up the facade??

However, I did get me some new shoes. Not quite brown and not quite black.

The dog is making weird and disgusting noises behind me. She needs feeding. She has a propensity for pooping in the Garage. But when she puts her little snout on my leg and looks up at me with her poochie eyes, I forgive everything.

Quit yo’ jabba jabba!

As in Mr. T. I felt like saying this to everyone this morning.

It was a very long morning. I did not get lunch till 2pm with NO MORNING COFFEE. What kind of uncivilised society is this !?!?

When I headed back to the ranch for lunch, I was accosted by somebody wanting something (work wise) from me. I waved him away. When I finished lunch, I got back to him and said:

“You have to know something about me. If you see me at lunchtime, looking like my eyes are glazed over – don’t talk to me. I promise, after I eat, I will bring you the goods.”

Because lunchtime is sacred, particularly when you have to wait till 2 o’clock to eat it.

My calves are as sore as buggery today, got the whup-ass from the PT. Couldn’t descend stairs safely, I was whimpering like a little bitch.

Lunch with the Uni Ladies is off tomorrow – Poor Littlesare’s mum in hospital. She had a subarachnoid haemorrhage (nasty brain bleed) recently and I am sure it is just precautionary, but still….

Got my Half Mara number in the mail today. I am imagining the absolute exhausted JUBILATION that I will feel after crossing the line – not far away now!

In other news….will have to beg to differ with AJH re tassie pinot noirs. NZ pinots are much better.

better go massage my sad and sorry butt and quads.

Today is a new day.

And, dagnammit, I am in a better mood 🙂

Wound clinic this am- not too busy.

Arvo off sorry study afternoon this arvo – went to the personal trainer. Had a yap with her and felt not too much pain but dammit my legs were shaky after she worked them – a leg circuit with alternating squats and leg presses. Yeow.

So as inspired by Jaykay and my PT I am pulling my finger out with my weight, yes, if you keep doing what you are doing, you will get what you have always got. So I dug out my old CSIRO book and bought the new one, relatively balanced, lots of vegies but fewer carbs than I am used to eating. I cooked a moussaka recipe from CSIRO 2 and am having some baked pumpkin and steamed greens with it. 

The dog is a bit sad and sorry for herself this evening. She managed to pull a container of lurpak butter off the kitchen bench while we were at work, drag it outside, and eat half the contents of it. There were little pools of dog vomit on the floor (luckily the carpeted area is shut off to the dog) admixed with grass. Well, if I ate that much butter in a sitting I would be sick too. Maybe she was taking a bullet for me; consuming the butter to stop me from doing it.

I am looking forward to the weekend, hubby will be home, I will have to do a quick round at work on Sat am (blerrrrggghhh) but I will be catching up with my uni girlfriends for Sat lunch. Then a movie, probably a long run with Shells, and a glass or two of red interspersed along there.

I take back what I said about wanting the swine flu. There are 4 people, I believe that most of them are young, in intensive care at the moment with it.

Better go eat tea.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Have had a very anger-inducing day.

First on the way to work this morning nearly got ran off the road by a stupid lady turning right onto the road I was driving down.

Busy morning.

Difficult afternoon. Then dealing with obstructive doctors down in Traralgon. I yelled at one of them. I don’t normally do that but they pushed me.

The temptation is to go home and drink a couple of reds. That would not be productive. Exercise – much healthier. Or even just sitting down and patting the dog and reading a book. Would be good if I were not worried about losing the dog.

I was actually thinking that I would not mind getting swine flu, it actually doesn’t sound too bad and it would get me off work for 3 days (7 if I don’t get tamiflu).

How do I get my calm and serenity back? Have lost it the last few days……

Cooking and Cleaning – Pity I’m not paid for it!

Hubby doesn’t know how lucky he is 🙂

Have been dagging about the house, cooking, cleaning, listening to music, surfing the net and finding out obscure facts in wikipedia. Did you know the song “Foreign Land” by Eskimo Joe is an oblique reference to Heath Ledger? Have also been singing to songs on the ipod and making up dance moves to Lady Gaga songs.

My fave songs at the moment are:

Love Game- Lady Gaga (brazenly sexual but very infectious!!), Chase that feeling – Hilltop Hoods and Foreign land – love the middle eastern trumpetty hook. Have been downloading some itunes lately.

With regards to the cooking – I have cooked Capsicums stuffed with ricotta and herbs and some braised cabbage. The cabbage is for another night. The thing with vegies is that they must  be cooked in a tasty fashion. A bit of butter goes a long way. 

There was a beat-up on trans fats in the newspaper – I have heard that saturated fats such as butter are now less maligned than they were!

Have also been playing with the puppy. Thankyou to everyone for their messages of support. It means a lot to me. I know there are two sides to every story and there are times I feel bad but we have been treated really poorly by the dogs home and it really means that no adoption of an animal is a secure one. They have defended all of their policies which clearly need some change to them.

Enough of that for now! Could rant on with that forever.

Work will be a bit of a challenge tomorrow, as it always is with the first day of the working week.

I think I might go watch some vintage NCIS now – I have worked hard!

I run better when I’m ANGRY.

Despite not sleeping particularly well last night, I got up early to do a long run with Shells. It went like a flash because I was consternating, fuming and despairing. All up we did just over 17kms with a nice strong finishing kick. 

The article- not exactly a beacon of journalistic integrity. A few untrue statements. Interesting to learn that there was not even a collar on the dog when she was lost! Hubby is wanting us to sit tight, saying that it will blow over. He continually gets threatened with legal action in his line of work so it really doesn’t scare him. I wonder whether it is worth all the hassle, but then the dog looks up at me with her big brown eyes and I really don’t want her to go! Also, there has been no offer of any compensation for the money we have paid in purchasing and keeping the dog, nor a satisfactory explanation as to why the lady took 3 months to come after the dog. It is also worrying that they could track the dog down on the pet registry (but not our details). 

The dog has been quite clingy today, perhaps sensing that all is not well.

Anyways – worst comes to worst – we lose the dog. Then we go to another (broadsheet) paper to let them know what went on. I still have my hubby, my health and fitness, my friends.

Am cooking dinner for a friend tonight. Nice veggie pasta.

Thankyou to Em and Andrew for their messages.

WTF # 3

OK so am comfortably numb after a few glasses of red. Feel a bit better.

A bit stressed out today. Dang I have a stressful job sometimes. Like it but stressful.

Got a very very upsetting call on my mobile at work today.

Something about our dog, from a proprietor of a major dog pound, a past owner and a said owner talking to a certain tabloid trashy bullshit newspaper.

“******(Past owner) have talked with ******(shitty tabloid)….would you like to make a comment” Then further talk about *****(past owner) “being desperate”; she threatened to “throw herself off the westgate bridge” and would “stop at nothing” to get the dog back.

What the fuck????

Where are the lawyers? We can handle them. Show us legal process, not sensationalism. If a judge hands a ruling down – we obey. This is rubbish.

Not something I want to be dealing with when dealing with sick people and their relatives. Hard to hold it together.