Spongebob says it best

By Virginia Winder

As Spongebob sings: "It's the best day ever."

Yep, today was a good one.

The sun was out, we put the tent up in the backyard, went for a swim at Back Beach and, afterwards, Camille and I headed to the aquatic centre to do some lengths.

I powered through 40 without stopping at all and then did another 10 doing drag and using my paddles.

Afterwards, we had Mexican food for dinner out on the deck and then Warren and I went off to The Most to do our radio shows.
My show, called Waxing Lyrical, was a bit eclectic tonight, to say the least. I started off with Monty Python's Always Look on The Bright Side, threw in songs by Alabama 3, Fred Dagg, Helen Reddy, Gorillaz, Manic Street Preachers and that rock star, Spongebob Squarepants.
Yes, I destroyed my street cred by playing Spongebob on the show and then completely ruined my cool persona by finishing off with a deep and meaningful yuletide song about the insanity of war.
Yes, you've guessed it ... I played Snoopy's Christmas.
At lunchtime I was stood up by a bunch of blokes.
Still, one did turn up although he had no idea I was going to.
Poor fella.
It turns out that Vaughan, from my college days, was the perfect lunch partner. You see he's an ironman and had heaps of valuable advice to pass on about nutrition and listening to your body's needs.
Also went to the physio today and she fitted my shoes with supportive insoles instead of taping me up. Annoyingly, I'm terribly allergic to the tape and the skin on my foot has peeled off. Forgot to get the moonboot for sleeping, so will pop over tomorrow (the physio is across the road from home).
I know that for some time I have been hinting at big news on the horizon, well the news will be released in the new year.
When it is, please know these things about me:
A. I am constantly humbled by the goodness of people.
B. I reckon I'm one of the most fortunate people on the planet.
C. I'm absolutely terrified to put myself out there, but am doing it for a cause greater than myself.
D. It still feels weird to write about myself and I constantly ask myself, if I'm doing the right thing.
E. I still find other people's stories way more interesting and inspiring than my own.

Today, I:
Swam 50 lengths of a 50m pool
Went for a swim in the sea
Worked for 30 minutes
Slept for 9 hours
Drank some water (still not enough!)
Had 2 cups of coffee
Ate fantastically well all day
Hung out with family
Went to physio to get treatment for my plantar fasciitis

Time to refocus on swimming, biking

By Virginia Winder
Sometimes life is a pain in the foot.
Yesterday, the physio diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis, which is inflammation of the tissue underneath my food and arch.
I told her about the sudden pain while doing a step-up at the gym, how it's got worse in the past week and keeps going into spasm. She pushed, poked and prodded, then gave me the PF news.
"You've definitely strained it," she said. "It's quite inflamed."
Tentatively, I asked that dreaded question - how long will it take to mend?
"About 12 weeks," she replied.
"Oh no," I said, thinking of the Tri-Women triathlon I've signed up for in New Plymouth on January 29.
She thinks I could possibly walk it, but didn't sound too hopeful.
The good news is I can swim to my heart's content, without flippers, and I can bike, but at this stage only on the flat, so I might need someone to do the run for me.
As life would have it, the physio has done the swimming section of the Tauranga half-ironman (my 2013 goal), so we talked all about it and she gave me training tips.
When I told her about how I had just started to run, she gave me a website to look up. It's a programme of how to get off the couch and up to running 5kms in nine weeks, hence the name of the site: c25k.
I'm not going to dwell on what I can't do now, but instead focus on what I can - swim, bike and bodysurf.
Summer is here and a sore foot isn't going to hold me back.
The Tasman Sea is calling...

Today, I:
Worked for 8 hours
Slept for 8 hours
Ate three healthy meals
Drank 3 coffees
Drank 2 glasses of pinot gris
Drank some water (got to get over this camel-like hump!)
Did no exercise (food strapped, so am giving it a bit of rest - back into swimming tomorrow)