By Virginia Winder
Life has got in the way of my blogging.
Blame training, end-of-year-celebrations and being way too laidback. Add tiredness, a series of annoying headaches and a few computer malfunctions into the mix and well, you've got all the "dog ate my homework" excuses. We can't blame Xena though - she is an angel.
So big apologies for being slack.
Let's go back to Wednesday, when I went for a ride on the Pink Beast. Went to the port and back, which is a few kilometres, but not many.
I enjoy biking, but am a bit useless with the gears. Clunk, clunk, clunk they go. I never seem to get the right pedal speed - it's either too easy or too hard. This is obviously an IQ test; one I'm failing.
Got up a sweat though and felt some burn in my thighs, so all is good.
On Thursday I went swimming and realised I am way too social.
Although I meet interesting people like Cathy the doctor, Maureen the ocean swimmer and Slope the former lifeguard who has a hankering to write, my chats slow me down.
And being one who loves to find out everything about people and what drives them, my chinwags last too long.
Or sometimes I am misunderstood.
There is this woman I've met who has been doing fartlek swimming training. Fartlek is Swedish for "speedplay" and includes aerobic swimming for endurance interspersed with faster lengths.
"How's your fartlek swimming going?" I asked a young woman who joined my lane.
She looked at me aghast.
"You are the woman doing fartlek aren't you?" I ventured.
"I don't know what you're talking about - I hardly ever come swimming," she said.
I apologised for getting the wrong person, explaining that when people have swimming caps and goggles on, they all kind of look similar. Don't they?
I took off for a couple of lengths and when I returned to the western end, she had disappeared. Then I got to thinking, perhaps she thought I was accusing her of farting in the pool.
Then I started to giggle. Swimming and laughing - not a good combination - but the mirth just bubbled from me.
On Friday, I got hit by a blinding headache in the middle of the day, so headed home for a quick kip before a bunch of journalism students turned up for an end-of-year barbecue. The first arrived around 4.30pm and the last left about 1am. We sat outside for most of it, with the stereo on the outdoor speakers and the chimenea fired up.
Yesterday, I flagged training because I had another headache and ached all over. Now, I'm sure you may think that was because I had been drinking, but I had little alcohol - only four glasses over eight hours and lots of water.
As yesterday progressed, so did my aching and, wisely, I headed for bed.
Still aching today, but will go for a wee walk to see how I feel. I may add a swim in too, but only if I'm feeling OK. It's incredibly important to listen to your body.
For those concerned that I'm not drinking enough water, I have been downing heaps.
But when you've gone from doing no exercise to heaps, plus eating much less and losing weight, it must take a toll on your body. Will research this and get back to you.
This past week, I:
Swam twice
Walked twice
Biked once
Did one gym workout
Slept badly most nights (racing thoughts!)
Worked 38 hours
Drank heaps of water
Had 4 alcoholic drinks
Drank about a dozen coffees
Mostly ate wonderfully well - low carbos, lots of low-fat protein and fresh fruit and vegetables
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