Your mountain is waiting.....So get on your way.

Just like that, in a blink of an eye Otto has started school.  I could go on and on about time being a cruel mistress, but we all know that, I have lost track of the amount of times I have said the phrase "the days are long but the years are short", not always believing it to be true because some of those days felt as though time stood still!
However, nothing compared to seeing Otto run off happily to evolve and start the long journey of self discovery without me by his side.  It was both elating and incredibly devastating to know that the time has indeed gone, never again will that little two year old tell me all his secrets, stumbling over words that he hasn't learnt yet, holding my hand at every opportunity or bringing huge armfuls of books to reading time.  I will treasure those moments forever in my memory while at the same time I am really looking forward to what this new stage will mean for us all.

Otto is already soaking up school and all it offers, they started homework on the first full day and he hasn't looked back, each day he is more than excited to tell me what new letter they learnt that day and the rhyme that goes with it.  The first library borrowing experience was beyond exciting as is each playtime he gets with friends.  I on the other hand am so grateful for the community of other mums that we have managed to build in this area from kindy and other places, the facebook messages going between us all have provided me with not only support but wonderful laughs as we all navigate this new phases together.

Oh well, one down and one to go, thankfully Hugo has another year at home before starting Kindy or I wouldn't know what to do with myself!

Coastal dreaming.

On Monday we loaded up the car for a quick overnight trip up the coast to visit family and friends.

I love it when we do these trips, they are always last minute, grab what we think we need (always forgetting something important) and head north listening to some strange assortment of kids music, singing at the top of my lungs while the boys plead with me to stop.

We had a great time frolicking on the beach, swimming in the pool and spending time catching up with people who are important to us.  These are my people, the ones that have seen me through all sorts of challenges and triumphs, the type of friend that doesn't require constant checking in or phone calls, where a firm hug and warm smile upon seeing each other again brings us right back to where we left off.

I saw one girlfriend and her now teenage daughter, it constantly blows me away that I held her tight as a baby, my first experience at seeing love grow before my very eyes, not only the love of her mother but my love as an extension of the affection I felt for her mum.  It was probably the first time I saw a glimpse of the intensity motherhood would later bring me.  To see her now flourish and begin her own journey to adulthood make me so proud of both her and her mum.  It makes me think that every now and then you are given a moment which is such a gift, a moment in time which gives you pause to take stock of what a journey this all is.

I love these moments, and on days which don't go to plan and feel overwhelming it is wonderful to have these firm hugs and warm smiles to look forward to.

Superhero running in the rain.

Saturday was the first anniversary of my local park run, and because runners are generally crazy and like to have fun it was superhero themed.  Hugo found this so amazing as he has only just started to become interested in superheros and especially spider man, the torrential downpour that occurred just as we started running was an added bonus.

It was a hard slog, and probably the last run Otto will do in the pram, we figured out that with both kids weight and the pram weight I am probably pushing close to 40kg around an undulating 5km run. The current weight gain of both kids is being felt in my legs and also I have noticed a huge shift in my times.  About six weeks ago I was able to run at a 5:17 pace, currently I am around a 5:44 pace with both boys.

The rain made me a bit slower as I was worried about slipping with the pram, but this run was all about fun and trying to catch and overtake the other superheros!

I love how excited Hugo got while we were running, and how much he gains from this experience, I only hope that Otto will continue to somehow come with me, either a combination of running and pram sitting, or scootering beside me.

A fellow runner came and shot a great video of us setting off and towards the back of the people you see me come through with the pram, it was hugely busy this week so I stuck towards the back.

Later that afternoon we headed into the city to see 'Erths dinosaur Zoo' at QPAC.  I was a little bit concerned about how the boys would manage it, so it was quite a relief when they loved every minute of it, plenty of children ran away crying as the dinosaur puppets were often very life like and behaved erratically, although that only added to the atmosphere. 

We had such a wonderful Saturday together, and a great way to start the new year!

Farewell and good riddance 2014

I have spent a fair amount of time contemplating this little spot on the internet, as life got hard this year my blog was the first thing to go, followed quickly by my sanity! (you think I am joking but it got close there sometimes).

However, as many people do while contemplating a new year dawning, with all the hopes, dreams and possibilities it holds I am hoping there are some pretty awesome gems for my family, and I would love to document them, so fingers crossed I can start to write here regularly again.

This year Otto starts prep, I have three more triathlons to complete and a few other as yet undecided events that I would like to compete and secure some PB's.  It is my last year with Hugo home full time and I am determined to enjoy and embrace each experience, the years are flying and I am learning to take each day as it comes.

So with the final day of this bad year dawning I set my alarm to run before work along the river, a favourite place of mine.  The only drawback being the consistent and ever so familiar pain under my diaphragm.  I can't even begin to explain what it was like to wake up and have that pain, after all the injections, hot flushes, mood swings, vagueness, insomnia and worry throughout my treatment, it didn't work.  The old pain was back and I was pissed off, both at my body and at the timing, how dare this "thing" come and ruin the last day of the year, remind me of how scary and painful some of these months were and how much I paid personally for it, but I am nothing if not stubborn and "ran" (jogged) anyway.

The pain would increase whenever I tried to run faster so I kept it at a slow and steady pace, sometimes smiling, sometimes holding back the tears, but I was determined that a disease which has taken so much from me this year would not take my one saviour, my one driving force (other than my family) which got me through some hard and horrible weeks.  The ability to run, to fill my lungs with air and clear my head, to tell me that no matter how hard it felt, how much it hurt I would be ok. So I did it, laced up those shoes and ran anyway.

It was a hot and humid morning, even at 6am but running along here is always my happy place, usually a rare moment when I get to run without the boys, and feel a part of the community of fellow exercisers with wave, nod and smile as we pass each other, drawing our own strengths to face our individual challenges from the sweat running down our cheeks.

So farewell 2014, you have taught me so much about myself, what and who is important in my life and a strength I didn't know I had, but kindly leave now and let me move on.  There are bigger and better things waiting for me and I am going to grab them, with both hands and hold on tight for whatever comes my way, because I know I can do it.

Happy New Year from 3/4 of us, we wish all our friends and family the happiest and most loved 2015.

The week that was.

This week has been a bit of a quiet training week, after last week my legs needed some rest, I had a few back to back hard training sessions both in the pool and on land and by Sunday night I was taking myself to bed just after the kids went down!

Monday "brick" session is going well, after doing swim squad I hit the bike track circling the swimming complex while Hugo is in kids club and waves to me each time I pass, I need to start doing some more interval training on this day but for right now my aim is to run negative splits as close to race pace as I can, so far I am finding this pretty good.

I know that soon I need to start incorporating more strength workouts into my weekly routine, I find especially with swimming that my upper body and core strength are really letting me down so I am hoping that I will start to do that on either a Tuesday or Thursday night but as yet I haven't found the motivation to do anything except research them!

Tuesday Hugo and I usually head out to do something together after riding with Otto to kindy.  A group of friends usually meet at a library for rhyme time and coffee but I had yet to work out how to manage that on the bike without a pram for Hugo once we got there.  This week I had my light bulb moment and had a great time chatting and riding with Hugo the whole way there.  Our set up got a few comments but it worked for us and allowed Hugo a much nicer spot to nap on the way home.

The extra weight of the carriage on the back certainly added to my resistance and while it isn't a long ride, I certainly felt it on the way home!

Wednesday is usually a run day but my whole day got mucked around this week so nothing really happened.

Friday was back to swim squad and I was proud to be able to keep up with other women that were well out of my reach even a few months ago while sprinting off the blocks.  It is nice to see some improvement after swimming during the colder months when it would have been much nicer to stick at home and cuddle with the boys.

This morning was park run, and while it wasn't a PB, this run was the first time I really noticed my strength improving.  When I first started I guessed my pace to be sitting around the 5:30/km pace as that is what it felt like, imagine my surprise when I was actually sitting around the 5:06/km pace, for the first 3 km, slowing down as always for the hills and incline towards the finish line.

I hate that hill in the picture, it is within the final 2km's and from here on there is a slight incline almost the whole way to the end!

Tomorrow is Father's day, so no training tomorrow, just celebrating the wonderful man that supports and sustains us, and helps me to reach my goals in life.

An update.

So I have been missing in action for a while now, for no good reason in particular except that I haven't felt like writing here, life gets like that I suppose.  

Training has started in earnest for the triathlon season of 2014-15, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous by the prospect, having spent a good amount of money on gear, coaching and racing I am keen to make it all worthwhile.

My first race is actually next month doing the Bribie Island series, it is a shorter course than the olympic distance and a great place to practice before the Kingscliff Triathlon in November.  In total I will be doing 4 short course triathlons and 2 olympic distance events between October and March!

It is certainly going to be an interesting summer.

I am hoping to come back here a bit more regularly in the future to keep a good log of my training and race performance throughout the season, and of course I have to update the half marathon and duathlon results, but for now, my training weary body is going to bed.

Half marathon eve.

Well tomorrow is the day, I am excited and nervous all at once to get this half marathon under way, unlike last time I know how much pain this will bring but I also know how amazing it will feel to finish.

This time my goals are a little different, my time at the twighlight half marathon in March was 2 hours 8 minutes, this time I am really hoping to better that time.

Achievable goal:  2hrs
Hopeful goal: 1hr 55min
Would love to goal: 1hour 50min

My "would love to goal"  is probably wishful thinking, but it would feel amazing if I could manage it, I am pretty sure that it is unattainable and I haven't done enough training to get there but you never know what could happen on race day!  My plan is to run with the pacer for 1hr 50min for as long as I can, but hopefully not dropping back any further than the 1hr 55min pacer to ensure that I can cross the line in that time.

I am off now to enjoy a quiet day with Han as the boys are having a sleep over and rest while enjoying as many carbs as I like.