Let Me Start Again

Exercise.  I need exercise.

I've started running again.  I am hoping I can get back to the groove of running in the morning and doing some other exercise in between.

Last Saturday afternoon, I ran for about 15 minutes (and walked some distance).  It was a good run.  Then yesterday, Ardi and I exercised together.

That's a good start, I think.  Now if I can only get past the aching muscles.

Give Me a Hand

I finished the book and I completed all thirty lessons by 03 August.  

So the author WAS right ... you CAN draw in 30 days.

Don't you think Mai and I deserved a big hand?

LESSON 30:  YOUR HAND OF CREATIVITY 

Mai's hand ... 

my hand ...

(Of course, even after those thirty lessons, I still don't know for sure if I can draw a decent house, airplane and donut/bagel.)

Small Circle, Small Circle, Big Circle

Aside from the straight lines, I also thoroughly enjoyed drawing the spheres. 

I was quite impressed when I was able to get some texture in the Advanced Level Spheres lesson. I never imagined that a bunch of spiky and squiggly lines could provide such effects.

When we were small, we would draw those koala bears using the song, 'small circle, small circle, big circle (that would make the face of the bear where the small circles were the eyes and the big circle going around the two small circles made the face), six times six, six times six ... thirty six (that would make the arms and then legs of the bear where the first two sixes made the arms and the last two would make the legs)'.  It didn't make for a very impressive bear, but it did remind you what six times six was equal to (plus it got a big laugh from Ardi when I showed him the bear that came with the "song").  

Below is the koala from Lesson 8.  I surprised myself.  I think I've come a long way from the small circle, small circle, big circle bear.

July Journey

I borrowed the book You Can Draw In 30 Days by Mark Kistler from the library.

http://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Draw-30-Days/dp/0738212415

Mai and I started our drawing journey on the 03 July.  We  figured we'd be able to finish all thirty lessons before the library book was due.


Mai was able to finish all the lessons by the end of July.  All her work on the thirty lesson is posted in my (slightly more public)  blog.   Below are the sketches I am particularly proud of.

The Rose was Lesson 9.   This was drawn on 08 July, meaning we'd managed to squeeze in nine lessons in just five days.

The Lily was Lesson 14.  This is my bonus challenge sketch.  The core lesson was to draw a single lily.

Lesson 16: The Wave, surprised me. It looks so pretty and I actually sketched this.  Can you believe it?  

Based on the date, I was already one day late on my lessons by this time.  Mai was still on track, and possibly ahead already, but I didn't mind.  I was just happy to draw.

The Rippling Flag bonus challenge of Lesson 17.  These started off as five cylinders, can you imagine?

Beauty in the simplicity of Lesson 23 : A City in One Point Perspective.  

I love perspective.  I had a book on perspective back in Manila but I never really sat down and drew.  So, in spite the fact that this sketch is just a combination of straight lines, I still love it.

Moving right along, we see A Castle in Two Point Perspective c/o Lesson 25.  This was drawn on 27 July, by this time, I was already two days delayed in my lessons!

I needed a couple of extra days to finish my last drawing.   The book had already been renewed once meaning I would have to return it unless I wanted to pay a fine.   

As mentioned, Mai was already done by the end of July.  When I checked my mail on 03 August before going to work, I found a  library notice reminding me that the book was due on the 4th.  I forwarded the library notice to Mai with a message saying "Oh no!!!!! I have draw tonight!"   On my way back from work, I found this encouraging reply from Mai, "Draw! Draw! Draw!"

Guilty as Charged!

Look at the date, oh my goodness how fast time flies.  It is almost August.

I admit it.  I didn't get much exercise this month.

I was busy... doing other things...

(So although the label of this blog post is EXERCISE, it is more like :  EXERCISE ... NOT!)

First Winter Run

I knew this would happen.  The winter cold is too good an excuse not to use for staying indoors.  But of course this excuse can only go so far.  I knew that I would eventually stop fooling myself and get myself back out there.

I haven't been exercising and I am actually scared to step on a scale.  My only consolation is that I can still zip up my pants, so I guess I'm still ok. 

Anyway, it was the birthday of Poppop's brother yesterday and he'd sent us a message saying since we were all invited to his birthday dinner.  Menu consisted of an entree of oignon de frit, our choice of mains (beef or pork medley), char-grilled chicken, beef and greens), siding of pomme frites, and dessert of chilled vanilla bean creme with choice of swirl.     In other words, dinner was at Hungry Jack's and we could have onion rings and french fries, a choice of the burger, bacon deluxe or chicken meal, plus our choice of sundae.

Without dinner to worry about (and the thought of burger and fries for dinner), I decided it was about time I went out again and braved the cold.

Off I went in my running shoes and shorts.  (Even I surprised myself.  Me in shorts?  And in the winter no less!  Don't worry, I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a cap, too.)  As I was leaving the house, Gino commented that my legs might get cold.  I told him that I was hoping the run would warm me up.  

It was almost 5 pm so the sun had almost set.  As I started my run, I could feel my body taking its time to warm up.  In fact, the thoughts that crossed my mind involved 'sebo' (grease) and blubber. 

Gosh, it has been a long time since I have gone outside to run.

I didn't want to overdo it because it HAS been a long time.  

I decided to run the length of Parsonage instead of going through my Coolong loops or Old Northern Road stretch.  I went up Parsonage all the way to Windsor Road, then headed back.  

I did a solid twenty-minute run, which I thought was pretty good considering when I first started this journey in February, the 20-minute run was my initial goal.  

I brisk walked the rest of the way home.  

I honestly don't know if I'll be able to manage a second winter run.  It is way too cold in the mornings and by the time I get home, it is dark.  But I figure, at least I was able to go out this once.

No Butts About It

Ardi was down with bronchitis the other week.  It is the weather, I tell you.   He was much better this week.  Yesterday he said he was ready to resume his exercise routine.

"Do you want to exercise with me, Mom?"

Tell me, how can one refuse such an offer?  I couldn't.  

I could have though.  I could have refused.  I could have come up with half a dozen good reasons. 

I could have simply said NO.  

But since it has been quite a while since I've gone out for a run (it just keeps getting colder and colder out there) and I haven't gotten any sort of exercise (outside of mini-dashes towards the bus stop), I figured it would be as good a time as any to exercise.

So I said, "Sure!"

Sure ... sure ... sure I said 'sure.'  That was yesterday.

Ouch ... ouch ... now all I can say is 'OUCH.'

I don't know what it is about exercising with Ardi.   When I do the routine on my own, I go through the motions and the counts.  Of course I do it without the benefit of Ardi's watchful eyes and interjected advise like 'do not let your elbows touch down' or 'try not to lean forward' or 'breathe in as you go down, breathe out as you come up.'  I go through exercises he has taught me and wake up the next day without any aching bones nor painful muscles. 

But EVERY SINGLE TIME I have done the "same" routine with Ardi nearby, I wake up with sore body parts.

Yes, indeed.  Today, my butt is aching.  

[Pardon me.  I think the proper way to say it Down Under is 'my bum is aching.']

Quick Dash

The weather is awfully cold, and getting out of bed to go for a run just doesn't seem like a logical option (even if I can imagine the weighing scale and the tape measure reading higher numbers these days).  By the time I walk outside to catch the bus in the morning, it is not THAT cold, but of course it is also time to go to work.

So that has been the story for about two weeks now.  

Yes, it is sad, I know.  

The best I have done so far is make a mad dash to catch the 610 bus yesterday morning.  

I wasn't particularly late but I figured I'd try to catch the earlier bus rather than the later bus.  Catching the earlier bus meant less time standing out in the cold at the bus stop.  It being a Friday, we got to wear jeans and rubber shoes.  I used this to my advantage by running up to Old Northern Road.  I saw two buses go by.  I thought to myself, if someone were waiting at the bus stop, chances are the second bus would still be there by the time I crossed the street.

I looked right and left (that's what you have to do in a right-hand drive country).   When I saw that the road was clear, I crossed the road quickly and ran towards the bus.

I could see that there was nobody at the bus stop.

The bus could move on any minute now.

It didn't matter, I still had to try.

Run!  Run!  Run!

I caught the bus but had to catch my breath as well as I handed my bus ticket.  I thanked the bus driver for waiting for me.   He smiled and said that he could have left me to catch the next bus.  I smiled back and said that I appreciated what he'd done and that I wouldn't have taken it against him if he had opted to drive away.  He smiled, obviously amused at the fact that I had ran to catch his bus.

I took my seat after he marked my bus ticket and punched the machine for my receipt.

Before the bus moved on, one other passenger was able to ride.  

I overheard the bus driver saying something to the effect that she was lucky because another lady had ran to catch this bus earlier.

So, if anything, my running has paid off slightly.

One Run, Two Run

I haven't been running as much lately.  If it is not raining, it is cold.  Either way, autumn is not the best time for running early in the morning.  I can only imagine what will happen in winter.  I don't think I will have the courage to go out in the cold.

I ran along Old Northern Road the other weekend.  Ardi had pointed out that the Stockland run was 5k and not 5.4k as previously stated.  He had clicked on google maps and seen that although the route was 2.7k by car, it was 2.5k walking. 

There were a lot of things on my mind that day.  I was unable to run the whole length of my usual route.  I walked part of the way. 

For that particular run, I concluded that "TIRED CAN ALSO BE A STATE OF MIND."

If you tell yourself that you are tired and you can't do things, you will convince yourself that you are tired and that you can't do things.  Corollary to that, if you tell yourself that you CAN do things, you will convince yourself that you CAN and you WILL.  

Personally, I like the corollary better.

Last Saturday, after a long  break from running, I decided to 'just do it.'  I was going to put my corollary to the test.  I opted to run along Old Northern Road although I wasn't sure at which point I would turn back.   I pushed myself to get all the way to Olive Street because that would be the 2.5k mark.  

Going back, I just kept plodding on -- one foot in front of the other, one landmark after another.  The house is four bus stops after Tafe.  When I reached Tafe, I contemplated walking but then told myself that I wanted to be able to say that I had ran 5k again.  So I jogged along slowly; one bus stop after another, until I reached home.

I made it.  (Of course my legs were sore until yesterday.)

Busted!

I am trying to keep a low profile in terms of my exercise routine.  I started this blog as a means to keep up the momentum and monitor my progress, and possibly to write down my thoughts in a free-flowing kind of way.  It  has primarily focused on running and exercise but who knows, one day there could be swimming, sewing and cooking in this blog as well. 

I know that writing things down in a blog is not exactly keeping things to myself and is subject to public discover and scrutiny.  And I suppose it was only a matter of time before non-family members found their way here.

True enough, my main inspiration for running has found me out.  Nikki surprised me with a message a couple of weeks back saying that Armand had found the blog.  (I'd clicked on the link to his blog to see what they'd been up to, so that must have triggered something in the cyber world.)   We exchanged a couple of messages on the matter.

She was proud of me for embarking on this journey and reminded me to celebrate my achievements (big AND small).  My first blog post said that she had ran a 16K marathon.  She clarified that she has ran in 3K, 5K, and 10K races.  She hasn't quite taken on a marathon, which by definition covers a distance of 42K, but she has successfully completed a 16K race.  

Well, when I started this blog, crossing the street was enough to get me huffing and puffing.  Sixteen kilometers was equivalent to a marathon to me.  Of course, I know a bit better now.

She is currently training for her 2nd 16K race on 22May (good luck, Niks!) and is contemplating a half-marathon (21K) in CamSur in September (go for it!). 

Me?  I am happy if I am able to get up in the morning and brave the cold.  I decide whether I am turning right towards Coolong or left to Old Northern Road.  My watch has a battery again so I have the option of checking the time if I wanted to.  

The Easter Bunny

Easter morning.

After making breakfast, I hid some chocolate eggs (given by my officemates) for the kids to look for.  

It was still early enough so I decided to go for a run,   

My watch has ran out of battery so I just had to make sure that I had enough time to go around my Coolong loop and be back in time to wake everyone up for breakfast so we could catch the 10:30 am Easter mass.

I greeted everyone I met along the way.  

Jog ... jog ... jog ... "Happy Easter!"  ... (huff and puff) ... jog ... jog ... jog ...

I felt like the Easter Bunny hopping around from one spot to another.  

(An image of Snoopy running around comes to mind, actually.)

Keep on Going

It is getting cold outside but at least it wasn't raining today.

Off I went along Old Northern Road.  

As usual, I was happy to see familiar landmarks which serve as mini-milestones for me --  St. Gabriel's (the school for the deaf), the child care centre, Tafe, Cross Street.

Shall I turn back after the third mystery?  Nah!  Just keep on going, I told myself.

I finished the fourth mystery and I was near the spot I was last Monday.  Not bad.   If I turned back now that mean I'd have run at least 2.7 km.  

I wondered what time it was.  How long have I been running?  Don't look at your watch.  

When I was on the bus to work the other day, I had seen that it was only a short distance to the mall from my 2.7 km mark.  Just keep going.  The corner is not too far away.

I ran up to the corner of the road to the mall.  I made it!

Fifth mystery.  I went around the stop sign then turned around.  I finished the 5th mystery on my way back.

I knew that I had ran a decent distance.  I wondered how I was doing in terms of time.  But I resisted the temptation to check my watch.  I knew that getting a reading of how long I'd run would affect me.  My mind would tell my body that I'd been running for such a long time and decide for itself that it was time to rest.  No, don't check the time.   You can do this.

I saw the landmarks one by one again.  This time the last one came first -- the red flowers on the sidewalk, Cross St., Tafe.    Four stops till our street.  Keep on going.

I made it back without stopping.  

That was a good run.

I don't think I will go much farther next time.   I'm quite happy to get there and back.  It doesn't matter that Google maps says it takes 3 minutes to cover the 2.7 km by car.  I ran it in two rosaries.  So there!

Moving the Goal Post

Last Saturday, instead of doing the Coolong loops then dashing off to mass, I decided to head towards St. Bernadette's at the onset.  I figured that way, I wouldn't have to be in such a mad rush to get to church since I would already be in the vicinity.

I must say, that route is more difficult that my usual Coolong and Old Northern Road routes.  The roads were mostly uphill on that side of Old Northern Road towards the church.  Although I know that the return trip would entail a downhill run, that didn't stop the uphills from being TIRING.

On Monday morning, I managed to get myself out of bed without much ado and go for my run.  I decided it was early enough to run along Old Northern Road and back.    I told myself that I would go a little farther this time.   Instead of turning around after the third mystery, which is my normal half-way marker, I proceeded to finish the fourth mystery before turning back. 

A google maps check that evening showed that the extra mystery translated to about half a kilometer one way.  Not bad.  More or less, I have managed to run over 4.5 km that morning.

I hope to be able to sustain the morning runs as autumn turns into winter.  I must say that cold chilly winds are not as inviting as warm cozy beds.

  

Child's Play

Ardi sent me links to the exercises he does.  He said that it was important to exercise the larger muscle groups first.  So the sequence would be  :

Legs 

Chest (a) / Chest (b)

Back

Shoulder (a) / Shoulder (b) 

Arms 

(You can click on the body parts to see the links.)

We did the whole exercise "together" the other weekend.  He showed me how it was done then he let me do the moves.  He hit the timer button to monitor my rest time in between exercises.

Child's play ... NOT!

They were tough exercises and I was down for the count.  We had done it in the afternoon.  After I took a shower, I lay down and fell asleep until dinnertime.

To See is to Believe

Yesterday morning, I decided to turn left towards Old Northern Road instead of right towards Coolong.  I ran along Old Northern Road passing places I normally see while on the bus to and from work.   When I got to my logical half-way mark (after the third Joyful Mystery), I turned back and headed home.

I looked across the road at the street sign.  

'Cook St.' I said to myself, 'I should ask Ardi to check how far that is from our place so I have an idea of how far I ran today.'

Later in the day, I mentioned to the kids that I didn't go my usual route and that I had ran all the way up to Cook St.  

Ardi was his usual teasing self.  "Where is that, Mom?  I don't know a Cook St.  The only Cook St. I know is in Sydney.  You ran to Sydney, Mom?"

"It is after Tafe but before Stockland," I said, trying to provide some sort of bearing on its location.  "Just check the map, Ardi.  I can show it to you."  But we never did get to check the map.

This morning, we went to mass at Our Lady of Lourdes.  So instead of turning left at Old Northern Road, we turned right towards Baulkham Hills.  As we were driving, I announced, "This is where I ran yesterday ... up to Cook St."

They were 'amazed.'   

I was looking for the street sign.

"I ran up to here,"  I added as we passed Cross St., still looking for the street sign saying Cook St.

As the car continued along the road, we reached Stockland and I still hadn't seen the street sign saying Cook St.

"Oh, I ran up to Cross St. not Cook St."  I admitted.  "Cook St. is farther down towards M2.  I see it on my way to office.  SORRY,  I didn't have my glasses.  I don't wear my glasses when I run."

Poppop couldn't resist but tease me.  "Oh, you ran up to Cross, huh?  Kerrs pala."

"Oh that is SO MEAN. Dad"

Everyone in the car laughed.  

If you check out the map below, Kerrs Road is the first corner after Church Street, very near the starting point marked "A."

Based on this google map snapshot, my (2 minute by car) route is about 1.9 km one way.  Not too bad for a newbie runner like me.

Twenty Minute Work Out

This comes from the Australian Healthy Food Guide.  I borrowed it from the library because it had an article on the best and worst takeaway.

For the record, according to them the best takeaway are the following:
1.  Salad bar sandwich or wrap -- choose salads, lean meat and avocado spread, instead of butter, on wholegrain bread
2.  Japanese sushi rolls -- choose rolls with salmon, fresh tuna, vegies, tofu and avocado.  Skip the fired chicken, beef and tempura prawns.
3.  Fresh rice paper rolls --- fresh vermicelli noodles, salads, fresh hers and prawn are the mainstay ingredients.  All good.
4.  Subway salads or low fat 6-inch subs -- get extra salad, lean meats and take the multigrain or honey oat bread options.  Avoid the creamy dressings.
5.  McDonalds tick approved seared chicken wraps -- double up on the salad in your wrap if you can.

At the petrol station, steer clear of pies, sausage rolls, chocolate bars, sweet muffins and cakes; check out the tubs of yoghurt, cheese and cracker packs and fresh fruit.  (BORING!)

And do you know what else was mentioned in the article?  KFC's Original recipe fillet burger was decreed as the best but sadly, it was the "best of a bad bunch."  Chicken pieces could be a better choice but only if the skin and the fried coating was taken out.  (What good is that?)

Anyway, going back to the 20 minute workout.

WARM-UP

The purpose of a warm-up is to increase the heart rate slightly but not to the level experienced during the work-out.  Try a simple walk or jog on the spot for 5 minutes to get the muscles loosened up.

THE WORK-OUT

Perform one set of 10-15 repetitions of each exercise before moving on to the next one.
After completing all five exercises once, repeat the circuit again twice, totalling three circuits.
If you do this at least five times a week, you will see results.

a.  Mountain Climbers
Begin in a push-up position (arms lined up with the chest, legs extended out)
Make sure to keep your head in line with your body and your stomach muscles contracted throughout the entire range of motion.
Start the movement by bringing your right knee to your chest and then back to starting position.
Then alternate to your left leg and continue this movement.
Repeat 10 - 15 times for each leg.
[Increases core strength and endurance.]

b.  Hip Bridges
Lie on your back with your arms straight out by your side with your palms down on the floor.
Bend your knees but keep your heels on the floor; hip-width apart.
Lift your hips up to form a straight line from the shoulders to your knees.
Your legs should be almost vertical from the foot to the knee.
Hold this position for 10 seconds. Squeeze your butt muscles and then lower yourself to the ground.
Repeat 10 - 15 times.
[Lower back, hamstrings and buttocks.]

c.  Crunches
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent.
Place your hands behind your head with elbows pointing outwards to support your neck.
Keep your neck in a straight line with your spine.
Flex your waist and contract your stomach muscles to raise the upper part of your torso from the floor (exhale).
Lower yourself until the back of your shoulders touch the floor (inhale).
Do 3 sets of 15 crunches (with a 15-second rest between sets).
[Abdominals.]

d.  Lunge Jumps
Stand in a lunge position, with your right foot forward (left knee bent and close to the ground) and your hands on your hips.
Jump up and switch the position of your feet in mid-air, landing in a lunge position, with your left foot forward (right knee bent and close to the ground).
Keep your hands on your hips for balance and support.
Repeat 10 - 15 times.
[Effectively firms, shapes, tones and increases muscular endurance of the legs.]

e.  Close Grip Push-Ups
Get into a standard push-up position on your knees (feet above the ground, ankles crossed; palms on the floor, fingers forward).
Move your hands closer to each other so that they are only about 6-8 inches apart.
Slowly lower yourself until you are about to touch the ground, then push back up to the starting position.
Repeat 10 - 15 times.
[Chest, triceps and shoulders.]

COOL DOWN

Don't forget to stretch afterwards to prevent your muscles from getting sore.

  

Running With An Umbrella

Running with an umbrella?  So not cool.

But what is one to do when one wants to catch the mass yet does not want to catch a cold?

Happy Feast Day!

Rain, The Great Motivator

It is First Saturday today.  I put on a decent shirt and jogging pants then wore my new running shoes.  I brisk walked  to church to catch the 8:00 AM mass.  (The brisk walking was driven more by necessity than by the desire to get exercise.  I was running late  because I decided to start a load of laundry before leaving.)

The weather was nice and cool although it was somewhat cloudy.

After the mass, I was excited to start running.  I left the church compound and headed for the main road.  By the time I got to the sidewalk, it started to drizzle!

That set me off.  I needed to run home because I didn't have an umbrella on me.  All I had were my house keys and my rosary bracelet.

Let me tell you, I got home in record time.

The Price of Inexperience

Today marks my one month of running. 

All this running has taken its toll on my beloved Merrell shoes.  

I never imagined that I could wear out this pair like this.  (Sadness.)

So I told myself, I have to get running shoes.

Rina recommended getting a pair of Asics.  She said her pair has lasted her twenty years.  (Yes, we are that old and I know I should have decided to exercise sooner.) Poppop recommended going to one of the shoe stores that have this gadget that checks your foot pattern.

Off to the mall I went last weekend.  First stop was the shoe store with the foot pattern gadget. I browsed around for a while then marched myself out of the store. All the shoes were way over my budget.   

I went to a sports shop that had a decent selection of rubber shoes.  I looked around  the racks labelled women's running.  If it weren't for the signs, I could have been on the women's walking aisle and not even realise it.  

Honestly, after a while all the shoes looked the same.  Maybe one day my shoe shopping will be more design and comfort based rather than price-based; but at the moment, reality and economics dictate differently.

So there I was trying shoes out in the aisles.  I dislike tight shoes.  As with tight clothes, I feel like I can't breathe when I'm in them.  I like to have room to move.  I need the room to grow.  I am a size 8 1/2 but for some brands I seemed more comfortable in size 9.  (I told you I don't like tight shoes.)

I also tend to avoid sales ladies that like to hover around you when you need space and are never around when you need them.

I didn't find a suitable pair in that second store but I can tell you that I did try on more shoes in that forty-five minutes than I have in the past two years.  

Why is that? 

Let me see.  Yes, now I know why. It's because my current pair came from Z.  And before that, I think my rubber shoes came from an officemate who had given them to me when she passed on Don Bosco uniforms for the boys.  (In between somewhere we took up badminton and I managed to get myself a decent pair of Nikes without much ado because they were pink and they were on sale.  I still have those but they are not suitable for running since they are court shoes, and they are not suitable in rainy weather now that they are pretty worn out.)

I sent Poppop a text message saying that I would be on my way home soon albeit empty-handed.  However I passed a sports shop right before I left the mall and they had Asics shoes on sale within my price range.

Having tried on so many other pairs of shoes in the other store and being pressed for time, I opted to give the shoes on sale a try in size 9.   I asked the guy for shoes a half size larger than the ones I had tried on because the size 9 ones weren't as wide as I wanted them, and I had read somewhere that feet tend to swell when you run.  When the guy said there were none, I settled for the size 9 ones.

I should have known I was in trouble by just looking at the shoes.  They seemed bigger than life.  They certainly were bigger than my current pair.   What really got me worried was when I put them side by side with Poppop's shoes, they were almost the same size!

Yes, in my quest to have comfortably wide shoes, I had forgotten that shoes should not be too long.  Surely my feet have stopped growing.  No matter how many years I waited, I would not have been able to grow into the pair I just bought.

If one's shoes are too big, you end up like Ronald McDonald and are liable to trip over yourself.  True enough, when I tried them out for a run, I worried that I would fall.  

Oh, dear!  How stupid was I to buy a pair of running shoes that didn't fit properly?

I wondered if I would be able to get this pair exchanged.  

I tried to research whether the sport shop had a Return and Exchange policy.  I couldn't find any on their website so I tried other shoe stores.  Sadly all the ones I checked indicated that their policy requires that the shoes be unused and unworn.

Oh, my, if they didn't allow me to swap these shoes, I would have worn the most expensive pair of shoes I have ever purchased for a whole of thirty minutes.

On Thursday, when shops close at a later time than the rest of the week, I went out after dinner to get my shoes returned and exchanged.   All the way there, I was praying that they would take the shoes back without any problem.  I didn't want to pretend that I hadn't worn the shoes because I HAD worn them, but I did want to get a pair of shoes that I COULD use.  

Think positive.  Think positive.

When I arrived at the store, there were several customers.  I had to call the attention of a saleslady on a ladder who was fixing some shirts at the far end of the store.  The transaction was quite straightforward.  I told her that I thought the shoes were too big.  She handed me a pair in 8 1/2 to try on.  (My first instincts were that they were TIGHT and if I didn't know any better, I would get one a half size bigger.)  But I stuck to my guns.  I went for the 8 1/2.  She rung up the exchange.  I walked out of the store with a new pair of shoes.

On the way home, I said prayers of thanksgiving.   Thanks that the store's exchange policy was that the items be in good working order and in a state which could be re-sold.   Thanks that I now had a pair of shoes that with a little luck (and a lot of shoe lace loosening) would enable me to run.   Thanks that the price of inexperience was not equivalent to the cost of a new waffle maker.

Uphill, Downhill

To make up for my 'two steps back' yesterday, I made sure to go out this morning even if it was COLD.  I am sticking to my two rounds of the Parsonage - Coolong - Parsonage loops just so that I have a semblance of consistency in my route.  

I think I have figured out why I seemed to have gotten around the loops much faster the other day as compared to the first time I did a 25-minute jog.  When I went out the first time, aside from taking the Southleigh loop, I also used the pedestrian path on the side of the park which sort of winds up and down.  This made it a longer route than if I had ran (jogged) along the road.

I made it to twenty-five minutes again today.  There were times when I tried to increase my stride a bit so that I could progress from a jogger to a runner.  This is a result of my watching a TV ad showing a runner bump into unlisted home (if you are not listed, you are invisible -- it was an ad for home rentals).  The guy was seriously running.  Each step got him quite a distance from his initial position.  I said to myself, "now THAT is what I call running."   Well, as mentioned, I tried to RUN rather than JOG but ... it was tiring!  So I would eventually revert to my steady (short distance) jog.

After my first round, I was already huffing and puffing.  I considered stopping and walking but then decided that the downhill stretch towards Parsonage would provide some rest so I persevered.  True enough, the downhill was a good breather.  If I had stopped when I first wanted to, I wouldn't have made it to twenty-five minutes.

So by and large, I enjoy running my chosen route.  There is a bit of an uphill at the onset along Parsonage then as one approaches Coolong the road is flat.  There is another uphill stretch as one turns into Coolong then when the road curves turning towards Parsonage, one finds the (long awaited) long downhill.

When I am along the road going uphill and I see someone running in the opposite direction, in between huffs and puffs I envy the guy since he is running downhill.  But then I think, hey, I'll get a downhill run too, and when that happens, the other guy will be going uphill instead.

So it is all good.

Minor Setback

We all know that in order to lose weight one has to exercise and diet.  Well, I think I have taken two steps back because (1) I didn't get up to run this morning and (2) I had two servings from the lunch buffet.

I don't think yesterday's fire drill walk from the 24th to ground nor my after dinner walk to return books to the library tonight can offset the lasagna, prawns, fish, pork belly, ham, pizza, chicken curry, etc., etc., etc. that I had.

It is 10 p.m. and I still feel stuffed.  I dare not see the impact of that lunch in pounds, kilos or stones.