The morning after the long weekend

Howdy all. coming to you after a long weekend. Except that I worked 8 hours yesterday, on public holiday Monday. And spent half the day with a dumbass lawyer. But nevertheless, it will still feel like a "short week" because the rest of the office was missing. So I'll take it.

Anyway, what else has been going on? Well, there has been much running. I think I left off last time after an awesome Thursday run. Friday's run was much less awesome, as I was suffering some feet issues. I am quite mindful of my running technique, and trying to focus on heel striking less. I bought some Nike Frees which should theoretically help with this, but they gave me blisters like you wouldn't believe. So my poor toes are all taped up, and I've gone back to the Asics. I might try some walking in the Frees to see if I can get used to them, but I'm not that hopeful at this stage.

Saturday was long run day, and went quite well. I had plans for the day, which was helpful in getting me up and out of bed early-ish. I wish I would do this more often, it is a whole lot easier to run when it's 20 degrees and still pretty shady than when it's 28 and in full sun. So anyway, I covered 11.1km, in a time of 1:11 (doesn't that just have a lovely symmetry to it!) I felt pretty strong for the most part, which is encouraging. Kilometres 5 to 8 were fairly taxing, more so mentally than physically. I've come so far, but still got so far to go type of talk. But I pushed through, and finished off strong. The course I covered had an 82m ascent and decline in it as well, so it's not all smooth, flat work (which could also explain the pain in km 5 through 8... all gradual uphills). This is good training though, because the Greenbelt HM, while downhill overall, has quite a lot of undulations along the way I believe.

Outside of the Saturday run, my weekend was rather hectic. On Friday night I went out for dinner with the lovely Kylie and Ross, after Kylie's big head shave for the Leukaemia Foundation. What an awesome brave chick! They are actually an awesome couple all round - every time I catch up with them I always leave thinking that I should see them more often. You know those people who you just instantly click with and just feel completely comfortable with? They rock.

On Saturday, after the morning run, I picked up Mum and we went to the Gardening Australia expo. I love a good expo, although this one wasn't the best. A lot of very overpriced plant stalls, that's for sure. We did pick up a few bits and pieces though - I got a great tray table for outside, to go with my new barbeque (this is quite hilarious seeing as I never invite anyone to my house, but I'm setting it up just in case I ever decide to become sociable). On Saturday afternoon we hit the shops, and then on Saturday night I went out with some friends for dinner and a movie. Mixed results for the night out - breakfast pizza (bacon, egg, mushroom and bbq sauce) was a winner, it was devine. The movie, Catfish, was bloody weird.

Sunday morning started with the markets at 6am as usual, which is now very dark and being done by torch light. 3 weeks til the end of daylight saving, in case you're interested... Useless brother (who is being slightly less useless at the moment for some reason) came around with my niece later in the morning, and she was in quite good form, not a single tantrum. The new baby is due in a couple of days, so it will be interesting to see how the family dynamic goes once Lara isn't the baby of the family any more. On Sunday arvo I got into the garden, and finished off one of my vegie patches. Tragically there are 3 more to go, and the edging bricks are so freaking heavy and difficult to lay it's unbelievable. My hamstrings and arms were killing yesterday when I got up - I don't think my HM training program caters for "gardening exercise" and training breaks caused by gardening related muscle strain. Alas. On Sunday night I went out for dinner with the parents to Outback Jacks. I'd never been there before, but it's great. A bit pricey, but excellent food and service.

No wonder I'm tired after that weekend. Plus, I just can't seem to put myself to bed on time these days. I keep staying up watching bad TV and flicking around on the net. Tivo has a lot to answer for - it downloads programs it thinks I might like to watch, and I keep watching them, damn it! Last night I was kept up late by someone who was drunk-texting me from the overseas. That went on until about 11 and was actually quite hilarious, but I'm thinking he will be very tired and seedy today.

Anyway, time to get stuck into some work, huzzah.