El Camino and the lost child

By Virginia Winder
I defy you to listen to The Black Keys' album El Camino and not want to dance.

Put it on the stereo - up loud - and get grooving.

Dance. Go on, let yourself go.

Now, if you have an iPod, an MP3 player or any other portable device that plays music and you've been lacking motivation to get moving, El Camino will do it. So put those headphones on and head into the great outdoors with a beat in your step.

Inside your head you'll be a cool cat, so when those teens look at you with haughty scorn, you can give a sneer back, because, hey, you're listening to The Black Keys. OK, so they've probably never heard of them and are more than likely still in Bieberty, but street cred is all in your own mind anyway.
Remember, I also play Spongebob Squarepants... "It's the best day ever..."
Music, as I have mentioned many times before and will again, is my great motivator.
I would even say it's my Muse.
That works for both writing and exercise. It's my way of tapping into the great beyond, so to speak.
So, if you see me before a sports event, warming up with earphones in, barely acknowledging anybody, don't be offended, I'm just doing my Jonah Lomu thing.
OK, so I'm not comparing myself to the rugby-playing great, however, I will be gathering myself in the same kind of way. Hyping myself up, focusing, visualising and all that.
One of my greatest sporting heroes used to do that. Her name is Sheryl George and no, she's not the New Plymouth District Council member, but one of the most amazing sportswomen I've ever seen in action.
She was a New Zealand champion surf lifesaver at beach sprinting, ironwoman, tube rescue, board - she was the ultimate all-rounder in the water and on the sand. But she was also a Silver Fern and a Tall Fern, which is amazing in itself.
Before racing on the beach, Sheryl would go inside her head. Simply withdraw.
I was the nervous people pleaser and it's only now, looking back over the years, that I understand what my rival was doing and why she was a champion.
Sheryl was focused, visualising her efforts and already winning that race.
So it's taken me a bit longer to learn all this and probably way too late to take any major titles, but I'll still do my best.
Don't worry, I haven't turned into a sports snob or anything - I'll be as friendly as anything after a race, but not before. I will be inward, thinking about transitions and what I have to do.
That happened at the Sunday Farmer's Market the other day.
I was on a mission to get something before it closed and I only had a few minutes to go. A lovely woman stopped me and I was caught, mid-stride, and know I was extremely vacant.
Poor woman. She probably thought I was unfriendly and a bit rude, but I realise that's what I'm like on task, on deadline; I kind of blank everything else out.
It comes from 29 years of this journalism gig, I guess.
So apologies to anyone, especially those who phone me during pressure times.
Or those who want to chat while I'm out training.
I won't be stopping, sorry, but I will wave, smile and call out "gidday".
When I'm out walk-running it's all go, but sometimes I do chat at the end of the pool while swim training. On the bike, you can talk with the person you're riding with - if my husband can keep up - hah!
Have been for some great walk-runs, some long walks and some testing bike rides.
Am sitting here in my new Sarah Ulmer Brand (SUB) bike pants that I got for my birthday and eating my breakfast as I write. Love those summer nectarines. Mmmm.
On the food front, I've just been enjoying everything that summer has to offer. Salads, barbecues, watermelon, corn on the cob, roast garlic, basil, tomatoes and avocados. The latter are eaten at nearly every meal in our household because they contain everything damn fine - good oils, vitamins, mineral and protein. They are, in short, the perfect food and yet people still shy away from them and think they are fattening.
They aren't!
I am living proof of this.
Yes, I have lost more weight.
The other day I was at the beach and a friend got me to pick up her daughter.
She felt heavy and even hurt my ailing shoulder (which is now getting better). She weighed 26kg, which is how much I have now lost.
My eyes filled with tears, my throat clogged up.
"I was carrying you around all the time," I said to the bewildered 11-year-old.
Then I beamed.
"But not any more... not any more!"

Today, I:
Biked for 14km (lots of uphill)
Swam 10 lengths of a 50 metre pool (first swim back after shoulder injury)
Drank lots of water
Ate 3 fantastic nutritious meals
Drank heaps of water
Had 2 cups of coffee
Had 1 cup of peppermint tea
Worked for 6 hours
Slept for 7 hours
Had a leg massage

Yesterday, I:
Walked for 45 minutes
Swam in the sea for 30 minutes
Drank lots of water
Worked for 6 hours
Had 3 cups of coffee
Slept for 7 hours
Went to physio for shoulder

Monday, I:
Worked for 13 hours (bad, bad, bad)
It was a rest day for exercise
Ate pretty well, but did clean up all the chocolate macadamia spread in the house

Drank lots of water

Had 3 cups of coffee

Slept for 6 hours

Sunday, I:

Went for a 60-minute walk (endurance!)

Ate three nutritious meals

Didn't drink enough water

Had 2 cups of coffee

Worked for 2 hours

Slept for 8 hours

Time to be the tortoise

By Virginia Winder
Restraint and endurance are my new key words.
These come from Coach Clint, who is doing his best to contain my over-zealous enthusiasm for aerobic training.
Both words are aimed at preventing me from injuring myself, plus endurance will help me build up stamina and muscle condition.
In other words I have to be the tortoise, not the hare, which is a major personality switch for me. 
I did practise restraint today.
My left Achilles tendon is niggling a little, so I refrained from running this evening and instead did a power walk. Or should a say a power dance.
When I have those earphones in, pumping arms and legs like a maniac, I get lost in my own world. I imagine finish lines and passing people, and often, like tonight, I replay concerts.
Tonight I relived last year's Green Day gig in Auckland by walk-dancing to Holiday. Then I pounded the pavement to Resistance by Muse (BDO last year) and got a little bit of rhythm via Michael Franti and Spearhead (Power Station 2009).
Earlier, I swam 40 lengths with my niece, Rebekah.
I felt slow in the pool tonight, but I kept going, pulling through the water saying "endurance" to myself over and over.
Did some tough arm-weight exercises at the gym last night, but don't think I'm ready for those yet.
Coach Clint wants me to stop doing weights until July, when I move on to strength.
Because I've committed to the gym for a year, we've come to an agreement. I need to strengthen my core and do more stretching, so the gym's combined Pilates-yoga class will be ideal for this. I'm also sure I'll head to the gym on bike-training days when it's too windy to be safe outside.
Let me tell you why Clint is worth listening to.
He's been doing triathlons since 1993 and has represented and also captained New Zealand at a couple of World Triathlon Age Group Championships in Lausanne (Switzerland) and Hawaii. His first degree was in physiology and he has lectured PE students.
He's positive and practical, insightful and inspiring, and best of all he understands why trying to be a career woman and dedicated mother didn't leave much time for exercising. Add my ridiculous drive into the mix and you have a recipe for poor physical and mental health, leading to burnout. Hi, I'm Virginia and I'm a workaholic... you know the story.
Anyway, after chatting with Clint today, I feel confident that I will be able to conquer this half-ironwoman race in 13 months' time.
But I have to repeat my new mantra - endurance and restraint, endurance and restraint...

Today, I:
Swam 40 lengths of a 25m pool
Ran four lengths of the pool
Walked 3.6km in 38 minutes (I now have Map My Run ap)
Drank 2 cups of coffee
Had a good breakfast, didn't do so well at a morning tea shout, had a good lunch and healthy dinner.
Worked for 5 hours (see, I am getting balance!!!)
Drank some water, but not enough

Water opens creative floodgates

By Virginia Winder

Water is the answer to many woes - especially writer's block.

For the past week I've been struggling with a piece of work, but tonight, on length No 7, an idea swam into my head. Then another and another until creative thoughts began to stream through my brain as the water flowed past me.
For the next 10 lengths or more, I submerged myself in creative thoughts. It was like a flood gate opened and let my Muse in.
When writing is your craft and career, suffering from severe writer's block is a curse.
It doesn't happen often and any minor blocks can usually be cured with a long shower. That trick hasn't worked all week though.
But in that pool, with the methodical plunge and pull, plunge and pull, breathe, my mind relaxed into a meditative state, all worries disappeared and now, I'm brimming with ideas and ready to write.
Don't ask me why, but water is my conduit. Perhaps that's why I also need a cup of coffee or tea at my elbow when I'm drafting ideas.
Even now I'm sipping on spicy chai in between tapping out these words.
You'll also be pleased to know that I talked to "grumpy man" about his verbal attack on overweight people.
After my written rave, I had a think and realised his mood was out of character.
So I visited him and, as he was about to apologise, I stopped him.
"You upset me the other day," I said, "but then I realised I wasn't a good friend to you. You were obviously upset about something and I didn't take time to listen. I'm sorry about that. Now what was wrong?"
As life would have it, my friend's grumpy mood had nothing to do with me - or the obesity issue. He shared his concerns with me, I listened and then he apologised profusely for his anti-big-people comments.
You see he got to thinking too and realised he had been unfair and unkind.
I forgave him.
We hugged.
All is good with the world.

So often when someone lashes out with thoughtless and angry words, they are only revealing how they feel inside. If your thoughts are poison, that's what flows from you.

I'm not perfect; I get angry too, but I do my best to be kind to everyone in my life.

On my phone, I've written the words: "Speak with a kind heart."

So I do.

Today, I:

Worked for 6 hours

Slept for 8.5 hours

Swam 40 lengths (2km)

Ran 2 lengths in the pool

Ate amazingly nutritious meals

Drank more than 1.5 litres of water

Drank 2 coffees

Drank 1 chai

Yesterday, I:

Tried to work for 8 hours (read major writer's block)

Slept for 7 hours

Went for a 45-minute walk (OK, I was meant to bike but it was windy, wet and getting too dark)

Ate perfectly - no more skipping meals!

Drank 3 coffees

Drank 1 green tea

Drank about 1 litre of water