Watching the State series and getting re-inspired.

Since Chris didn't have to work afterall this morning, he had the lovely idea of travelling down to Windsor to watch the State Marathon Series race. I had originally said I wanted to go down their to race, but with being sick all week this was not an option. I also wanted to talk to a coach down their and put some ideas to them about some long-distance coaching (ie coaching me from afar). It also gave us the opportunity to watch my nephew play soccer (and you were awesome Rowan), and go out to dinner for his birthday afterwards.

Watching the race was great. I saw Jen and chatted to her, whilst Mick and Jack were racing. There were other club members there but I had a hard time working out who was who. Anyway, I got talking to a few spectators and kayakers who have now convinced me to maybe turn up to one of the sprint series races. One girl I talked to is just learning K's as well and she's going to give race:2 a go, so I think I might to. Apparently there will be all kinds of paddlers there, of all different abilities, so maybe I wouldn't make a huge fool of myself.

Anyway, it started to rain, and the boys were getting restless so we headed off before the finish. But it was a great day, finishing with a great dinner out with family. Oh yeh!

Catch-up post

Well, life and sickness have gotten the better of me over the last 2 weeks and instead of doing individual posts I'm taking the short cut (easy way out) and just doing a catch-up post.

Running
Was going fantastic. I really feel good running now and on Thursday (last week, not yesterday) I booked the boys into the kids creche at a local gym (due to the weather) and ran 40 minutes on the treadmill. I felt soooo good. And of course...then got sick. So the next run I did was today and was a 10 minute shuffle pushing the double pram. Hopefully I'll get back to the level I was at fairly quickly. How frustrating!

Kayaking
Has been going ok, but am still not improving much in the balance department. It's a bit disappointing really as I improved much quicker in the Van Dusen. But I guess that's the difference between being on the water 4 times a week instead of my 2 which is the most I can do at the moment. I just need more time on the water I guess, which is basically impossible at the moment due to short daylight hours and Chris's work and Soccer. That's just the way it is.

Anyway, I had a few really good paddles and I haven't fallen out since the last time I blogged it. I did a lap time-trial in 48:30 which I was a bit disappointed in because I thought I would go a fair bit faster than that (I had been hoping for 47 min), but again lack of time on the water is probably at fault there too.
I also had an interesting session with Mark and Anton last Saturday. I felt wheezy as soon as I woke up and just had that feeling that I was coming down with something. I felt wheezy and short of breath the whole session and the boys even commented that I wasn't talking. When I feel this way, I just can't talk or I end up having a full-blown asthma attack. Normally I'm alright as long as I don't talk or get my heart rate up too high. Anyway, I really struggled and at the end the boys had a mini-race and of course the wash that Anton's TK1 put up resulted in me shouting some rude words their way. When we got back I had a huge whinge and "took the piss outta him". Really fellas I WAS only joking...you'll know when I'm REALLY mad!!! :)
And...no surprises throughout the day I felt worse and worse, and by the time I woke up Sunday morning I knew that I shouldn't go training. I was soooo pi$$ed off. I really wanted to train, but knew that it would have been a very bad call.
The rest of the week I was sick and miserable, and totally unable to train. Not training makes me mad now. It was sooo frustrating. Anyway...I'll ease back into it this weekend and will hopefully be back on track.

Treetops Adventure Park
Well the photos below are from our time at Treetops adventure park. We went there to check it out and Connor loved it and wanted to give it a try, so we booked him in for the following weekend. I can't believe they have a high ropes course for 3-10years. It was fantastic. He looked so cute all harnessed up, and after a hesitant start, he was doing the course with ease. It was sooo high up for a 4 year old, but he was amazing. The reason I've included it in this blog, is because it represents part of my philosophy on parenthood and raising children. I think it is unreal to be able to provide such a wonderful opportunity to children. To get them outdoors, doing physical activity, and gaining a love for challenges. It was so good for his self-esteem and at one point he cried out in joy..."I'm doing it!!!! I'm doing it!!!!". Maybe I need to learn a lesson from him. Next time I'm scared of falling out of the K1, I just have to do my best and so what if I fail. Sometimes, just giving things a go, is the hardest part.

Beautiful boys in the pram

This morning I attempted to go for another run with the boys in the double pram. After some stern words on Thursday and this morning I think I frightened them into good behaviour. They have missed out on going to the park afterwards for a couple of times in a row now (due to their behaviour), so I thought I'd give them another go.
They were beautiful. They were such good boys. If Clayton started doing the wrong thing, Connor would tell him to stop it because he was being naughty and wouldn't get to go to the park etc. They sang, and talked, and played games and kept their hand off each other. They said hello to people we passed. I was sooooo proud of them.
I ran the usual bridge to end of path and back, felt good and thoroughly enjoyed it. And the boys got to go to the park again.

Naughty boys in the pram

Well most of my run this morning was spent refereeing the 2 boys. They were yelling at each other, hitting each other, pulling heads, throwing items and anything else you can imagine. That's the only problem with the double pram...that they sit right next to each other within easy reach. I was fuming and boy did they know they were in trouble.
I somehow managed to do the usual bridge to end of path and back run, but did not enjoy it at all. In fact I hated it.

Wednesday Sprints

My wonderful husband Chris worked right through today (without any breaks) so he could get home in time for me to go to Wednesday night sprints. I was feeling good. I got there a little bit late and everyone was already off doing a warm-up, so Anton and I headed off to do a shortened warm up on our own.
We missed the first sprint, but got there for the rest. I went in the first group with the others a few seconds behind. Overall I was really happy with how I went. I managed to put in a bit of effort without losing my balance, and was generally coping well...other than at the start calling out "I can't stop, don't make me wait too long, lets go...etc". Anyway, it was getting dark quick, and it was starting to affect my balance a bit. By the time we did the group start for 500m I was feeling pretty nervous. I managed ok until everyone came past me and I had their wash. I did ok at first, but had to slow down and hang back becuase I was just going to fall in otherwise.
By the last sprint which was another group start at 250m I lasted about 50m, then called out "I'm out", and headed across the river until most of the wash was gone. I can only just cope with it in good light, but at dusk there was no hope. Pretty disappointing really.
It's really only at dusk that I have the problem. Years ago I had laser vision correction which has been wonderful. One of the best decisions I've made. The only problem I have is with my night vision at dusk. It's still heaps better than it was before the surgery and driving and everything else at dusk is great, but paddling is difficult. I did notice it last year when training for the Hawkesbury Classic. I even found it difficult paddling the Mirage at dusk and in the dark. But with practice I got more confident. I guess I'll just have to practice in the Stealth at dusk and in the dark too. Hopefully I'll get more confident in this too.

The boys are getting heavy!

I did my run this afternoon with mum - from the bridge to the end of the path and back. I pushed the boys in the double pram and wow are they getting heavy. It's quite hard now pushing them and I feel every incline. Mum was also running quicker than she has been over the last few weeks, so I think I was feeling it more because of that. I really can't run fast pushing them because of only having 1 hand on the pram, having to keep swapping hands, and basically not being able to run normally. The system I've got worked out works well, but I think I'm at the top of my speed limit now.
Anyway, at the end of it we'd done a pretty fast run, and I was happy with the effort I put in.