I’m still managing to fit in a run though, and am getting a bit stronger each time. I’m two weeks away from the Twilight half marathon, but I’m going to drop to the 10km instead. There’s no way I can finish a half at the moment. But, I’ll get there.

Going back to talking about work, I’m always amazed at how many people spend money at the vet’s on things that are totally preventable. A puppy died of hookworm last weekend. He should have been wormed. That sort of thing is just not on. So, here are my top five tips for keeping your animal healthy and saving money in vet expenses.

1. Pet-proof your home. When you have young children, you protect them by keeping them from getting into things that are dangerous to them. The same goes with your pets. Keep medicines out of reach, prevent them getting access to electrical cords and make sure they can’t get into the rubbish bin. Cooked chop bones or peach seeds are not good for dogs! They get stuck in the intestines, and your dog will need $3000 worth of surgery to remove them.

2. Regular vet checkups are important. Now that pets only need to be vaccinated every three years, you still need to have your pet examined every year. A year is a long time in a pet’s life. In that time they may develop severe dental disease, or heart disease, which are best treated early before they make your dog very sick. Your vet can also advise on preventative care, such as intestinal worming with Drontal (which kills hookworms!!!)  or flea control with Frontline Plus.

3. Feed your pet properly. This not only means feed the right type of food for your pet, but feed an appropriate amount. The number of obese animals is increasing, and it causes many preventable health problems. I saw a 9kg cat last night, it looked like a footstool! Won’t be able to walk in a year.

4. Exercise your pet. This is easier with dogs than cats. You can take your dog a walk, or play ball with him in the backyard. Or, you can take him running!! Good for both of you. Cats can be trickier, however they often like to chase a laser, and that can keep them moving.

5. Desex them. No unwanted babies, no infected uterus and no male dogs wandering to chase a girl, and getting into fights or bumped by a car in the process.

Anything you feel you’d like to add? It’s not rocket science, it’s just basic common sense.

There! Vent over. Back to your regularly scheduled program.

I ended up getting my mum a pedometer for Christmas, and a nice water bottle with a handle. I don’t know if she’s used it yet.

I went for a run this morning, along the foreshore at Redcliffe. I took the big black dog, who promptly peed on every tree. Nothing changed there. I’ve got very little endurance, but I’m finding that I can run up hills easier. I’ve entered the Twilight Half Marathon on 21st March, and I’m on target for a 3 hour finish. Bummer, cos the cut-off is 2.30. Bit of work to do. It’s hard, I’ve lost interest in running, and the one race I was so keen to do (trail run where I have permission to take Guinness) is on the same day as Miss 10’s QLD and Australian Highland Dancing championships. That’s a one in 10 year opportunity for her, so we’re going there instead.

Life is not far off chaos! I’m working extra shifts at work, schoolwork has started for the children again, and I’ve got several writing gigs for clients on the go. I’m tired, short fused, and often feeling a bit flat.  It won’t last forever, but it’s pretty stressful at the moment.

One of my friends suggested fish oil capsules. Funnily enough, they were talking about fish oil on the radio this morning, and how it’s supposed to be good in preparing your body for pregnancy. Not going there! I’ve been Googling fish oil and it sounds like it does you a lot of good.

It’s apparently good for regulating mood swings, and for making you feel less down. Supposed to also help your brain focus better. That’s what I need, my mind wanders constantly. Takes me two hours to write a 500 word article on a topic I know well.

I’m thinking too it’s supposed to help with arthritis and joint health, as well as reduce inflammation. Not that there’s any problems with my joints at the moment, but maybe it’ll help prevent future stiffness as I get old(er).  I wonder if it will mean less soreness after a long run? Maybe I won’t creak when I get out of bed.

The only thing that worries me is the fishy belching that I’ve heard of. I don’t mind garlic repeating on me, but not sure about fish.

I met a lady at work last week who gives her dog fish oil every day, and its coat is stunning! Thick, glossy, and shiny. That could help Guinness too, especially if it protects his joints.

Anybody tried fish oil? Any positive effects you’ve noticed? I figure it won’t hurt to give it a shot, only problem is that the radio said that you get what you pay for with this product. The more expensive capsules are higher quality. Will have a look at what’s out there.

Kidlets haven’t been running much lately, and the Runaway Bay 5km series is starting soon. If they want to go, they’ll have to start running more.

Thanksgiving just serves to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner. I’ve always found it relatively straight forward to buy a gift for Hubby, because there are loads of little useful running bits and pieces Ican pick up. Since I’ve been running too, I’ve seen the same thing happen with my own family – my mum and sisters find it so easy now: a pair of running socks, a book or magazine on running, etc.

Soo, what do you give your running partner for Christmas this year? One item I’ve thought about occasionally is a heart rate monitor. I’ve dabbled with the idea of low heart rate training, I feel it sort of justifies me going slow, hehe. I can say to people, “just going slow to keep my heart rate below a certain level. I really could go faster, you know”, knowing full well I probably couldn’t! How to do you pick the best heart rate monitor though? I guess it comes down to two things, durability and budget. It’s gotta survive the sweat, and it’s gotta be affordable.

My mum is one of the hardest to buy for. Late 60’s, owns her home, and has a few interests, but she really doesn’t need anything. My sister got her an mp3 player so she could wear it walking, but she’s not very technically minded, and it doesn’t get much use. I’m tossing up a pedometer, so she can count her steps. She’s doing the Tony Ferguson diet, and she’s starting to walk more. She’s lucky enough to live not too far from the foreshore, and it’s a nice place to walk. I honestly have no idea what else she may like. I’ve started reading pedometer reviews, because if I get her one that’s too technical, it will spend the rest of its life next to the mp3 player.

Now, for me. I know my Hubby reads this, so I can leave a not so subtle hint. When I bought my new running shoes a month or two ago, I found that I needed a half size bigger than I’d been wearing. My trail shoes are still a size 9, and I’d probably feel a lot more comfortable in a size  9 1/2 now. I’ve got a pair of Asics, but there doesn’t seem to be quite the range when you’re looking for a trail running shoe. It seems to be less important whether you’re a pronator, or whether you need more cushioning when you’re buying a trail shoe.

So, that’s the outdoorsy people in my life just about sorted. Now all I have to worry about are the more sedentary folk, and that’s going to be hard.

I’d love to know what running goodies you fancy for Christmas – I can add them to my list of birthday ideas for next year.

As I have been known to do a fair bit recently, I took on a bit more than I had trained for, yet survived. I decided that it wasn’t that often that Hubby and I had a running weekend away with the kidlets at Grandma’s and the dogs in the boarding kennels, so I figured I’d make the most of it and run both ways. I have photos, but I can’t find the camera, so will upload them a bit later.

Saturday morning found us up dreadfully early and heading to Canungra, where we put our overnight gear on the trailer to Binna Burra and car pooled to the start at O’Reilly’s. The start was staggered based on our recent half marathon times so I started last. Which is fine, because I usually finish last. Start as you mean to finish, I always say.

We set out on the 22km run around 10.45am. The route follows the border trail and it’s very well marked, with some stunning lookouts along the way. I had my ankles strapped to within an inch of their lives, but I was still paranoid about rolling them. As it was, I rolled my left ankle five times but the strapping saved Hubby having to carry me the rest of the way. Walked the uphills, jogged the flats and downhills, and carefully picked my way through the rocky or tree rooty parts. I firmly believe that it won’t matter how fast I get on the road, my trail times will never come down, purely because I’m so cautious. I wasn’t feeling too bad when I got to the other end. It took me 3 hours 45 or so, and the winner did it in 1 hour 20. I don’t think I’m much of a threat.

We had lunch, then had a few hours to kill before dinner. A thunderstorm rolled in,and it started to rain so we decided to skip the bushwalk and have a  sleep in our safari tent instead. The 4am start and long run was starting to take its toll. I snored for a bit over an hour, then had a shower and headed off for dinner at the teahouse. After dinner, a few of us sat around with a few drinks, before heading to bed.

The next morning we were off again at around 8.40am for the return 22km run to O’Reilly’s. I was feeling pretty good, legs weren’t tired, but as we got closer to the start, I was beginning to think I didn’t fancy doing the distance again. About 1km into the run, I was seriously considering turning back and getting a lift to O’Reilly’s, but resisted the temptation. We ran pretty much all the way with the sweep, who was pleasant company. 3 hours 30 on the return trip, so a negative split. I reckon it’s cause of the red wine carbo loading the night before. My legs were totally stuffed when I finished, I don’t think I could have gone any further.On a positive note, I only rolled my left ankle twice on this run.

This was a nice weekend, good company, lovely location for a run, and after a few nights sleeping in compression tights, I’ve got no leg pain. I really think next time though, I’ll plan on doing a bit more training beforehand.

Sooo, what’s been happ’nin’? We did the North Lakes fun run in August with the kidlets, and it was a dog friendly race so of course all four of them came along. The kidlets did well, both of them coming in under 45 minutes for 6k. Heck, I can barely do that myself right now. Guinness’s guts did as they usually do, but I was complimented by another runner because I stopped and picked up everything he did. I’m now starting to think he has some sort of inflammatory bowel disease and I’ll need to approach it from that angle. I may see if I can find a gastroenterologist to chat to.

We also did the Glasshouse 12k, walked with the kidlets and Petrea and Luke, it was a really good day out. 2 hours 20 minutes, and we enjoyed every bit of it. The next weekend saw us at Mooloolaba where I did the half marathon on under 10k a week training, took 2 hours 20 minutes. I was hoping for 2 hours 15 and I probably would have got there if I hadn’t stopped to chat to a friend about 500m from the finish line. The aim was to see if my metatarsal heads still hurt and yeah, they did. Kidlets did the 10k in a 1k run/500m walk program in 1 hour 20. Both won their category but I don’t think there were any other under 12’s in the 10k.

Roseanne came down from Gladstone for her church camp and we went to the 5k cross country. We hadn’t seen each other in months and it was so nice to catch up, we didn’t run, just talked all the time.

Other than that, not much. I’m carrying about 10kg more than this time last year. I’ll know for sure at work tomorrow when I jump on the dog scales. I really feel it too. I need to find a running program to stick to, if I can get something to tell me what to do and when to do it, so I don’t have to think too hard right now, I’ve got more of a chance of sticking with it.

Off to check out your blogs – it’s been a while.

The weekend was off to a pleasant start – our Friday night accommodation at Mermaid Beach was comfortable, the Chinese food for dinner was yummy and the two bottles  of red wine went down a treat! We were all up at 4am on Saturday morning, and after a quick breakfast, we were off to Mudgeeraba for the start.

When we got there, Francis and Will headed off to the finish line to drop off Will’s car, while Steve and Cara and I stayed warm in the pub next door to the registration hall. When the boys returned, Will, Cara, Steve and I picked up race numbers and chips from the registration desk, and it was back into the warm pub for a while. We were a bit concerned about the outcome of the weekend when Will got lost in the carpark before we even started.

The start line was busy. 300 teams of four, with associated family, friends and crew can create quite a racket. After a rendition of the Last Post, and a recital of Laurence Binyon’s familiar verse “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old”, the guns fired, and the race was on.

The first stretch was fairly straightforward, a fair part was through suburbia and flat parkland, although there was a nice bitumen climb up towards the first checkpoint. The route had changed since last year, with the bitumen climb designed to separate the teams so it wasn’t like a traffic jam at that first checkpoint. We were required to swipe our chips at each checkpoint, and couldn’t move on until we had all our team together.

After that first checkpoint, the trek went virtually straight downhill for a few hundred metres. Because it was steep and narrow, there was still a traffic jam. I unintentionally shaved seconds off my time by skidding a few metres on my backside. At this point, we lost Will again.  Steve and I thought he was up ahead, but Cara thought he was behind. We waited a while, but there was no sign of him, so we kept walking, figuring we’d catch up again at Checkpoint 2, which was the first checkpoint where we’d hook up with our crew.

As it was, Will came into the checkpoint around 20 minutes after us. He thought we were behind him, so waited a while for us. Note to self – stay within view of team mates! We had hired a Wicked Camper, with some non risque graphics, for our crew vehicle, and it was brilliant. We had some snacks and drinks, and headed off again.

After checkpoint 2, the good stuff started. Hills, hills, and for something completely different, more hills. It was a good 22km or so before we saw our crew again. Some of the views from the top of the ridges were stunning. You could see all the way to the ocean, which was sparkling in the sun. There was one of the steeper climbs in this stretch, up and over a ridge and through a couple of minor checkpoints, then down to Polly’s Kitchen, checkpoint 5.   We had “lunch” at Polly’s at around 4pm, then headed off to the Numinbah Environmental Centre which was the next checkpoint. The hill from Polly’s is renowned for being tough but I think the hill leading to Polly’s is steeper and just as long.

The Environmental Centre is home to two checkpoints, number 6 and 8. My feet started hurting big time on the stretch to the centre, and I was looking forward to getting there, so I could check them out. I have bad feet, and have been almost living at my podiatrist’s office, working on a solution. We arrived at number 6 after dark, and had some hot chicken noodle soup. That’s where I found that the top of my toes had been rubbed on my shoes, and I now had a bleeding ulcer on top of a toe on my left foot. Ouch. I raided their first aid box and dressed it, then performed some radical surgery on my orthotics. This helped a lot, but I think the damage had been done. My toes were swollen, and were bumping on my shoes with every step. Oh well, the Kokoda Challenge is supposed to hurt.

The next stretch was to the Numinbah Hall, checkpoint 7, where we were to again meet our crew for dinner. We crossed 7 creeks on this part of the journey, but thanks to some branches we used as walking poles, for the most part our shoes stayed dry. This checkpoint is in a valley, so it was really cold, and the mist could be seen descending over the hall and the crew vehicles. It was really pretty, the droplets of water that made up the mist were swirling and dancing in our headlights. A local community group were selling hamburgers at this checkpoint, and they were great! Will was starting to feel quite unwell, but a bit of a rest and a foot massage from Laimon really helped, and he felt he could continue.

L – R – Will, me, Cara and Steve

It was a bit of a mental boost to know that we’d gone over half way. Off we went back to the Environmental Centre and checkpoint 8, but before we got there, there was yet another long tiring hill. After leaving the centre, it was off to checkpoints 9 and 10.

The climb up to checkpoint 9 is long and arduous, and along a steep and narrow goat track. It was tricky going in the dark. At this stage, it was 2am on Sunday morning, it was cold, we’d been on the move for 19 hours, and we were tired. Will had started the climb, but unfortunately his nausea had become progressively worse, and it was at this point he decided he wasn’t well enough to continue, and withdrew from the event. Steve, Cara and I plodded on up the hill, through checkpoint 9 and headed up to Sid Duncan Park, to meet our crew at checkpoint 10.  To add to our discomfort, it started raining on the walk up to the park, and although it wasn’t heavy, we got quite damp. We arrived at the park around 4am on Sunday.

Sid Duncan Park is at approximately 66km and the highest point on the trail, and it is absolutely freezing, so we were quick to grab some warm food and dry clothes. The rain didn’t last long, and I think the cloud cover stopped it from being as cold as it could be.

Leaving Sid Duncan Park saw us travel down “Hellfire Pass”, an extremely long and steep gravel descent which wasn’t very nice at all for sore and swollen toes. I found it slow going, and it took forever. There was one good point – there’s a real lifting of the spirits when the sun comes up and the day comes alive! When we got to the bottom of Hellfire Pass we went through minor checkpoint 11 then it was quickly up again, climbing Mt Nathan. It’s not a long climb but it’s extremely steep, and when you’re that tired, it’s very hard going indeed. This is around 76km from the start, and we’d been on the move for around 26 hours.

We again met the crew at checkpoint 12, where we had something to eat, and changed into our club singlets for the finish line photos. Cara took her socks off and discovered several massive blisters on both feet. Very painful.

I found this last part of the event very hard. The finish line is almost just around the corner, but there’s a 14km loop around Nerang State Forest to walk first.

Checkpoint 13 is in the Nerang State Forest and only 10km from the finish, but as we’d come to expect, it was at the top of a steep climb. The last 10km was undulating, and along gravel roads, so although it was easier to walk, the fatigue was setting in, and the gentle inclines were really tiring. My feet had somehow found their second wind, and I was comfortable (relatively!) walking this stretch of the course. Cara’s feet were very sore too,  so it was just a matter of one foot in front of the other, until we got to the end. We crossed the finish line around 31 hours 55 minutes after starting the event, shortly before 3pm on Sunday. We were presented with certificates and dog tags by two Kokoda veterans, which is a really nice way to finish the event.

I absolutely love the Kokoda Challenge. While I’m out there, I almost hate it, I can’t wait until the pain is over and we’re finished, but no sooner am I done than I start thinking about doing it again. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s long, the sleep deprivation is draining, my feet are agony, and the terrain is so difficult – there is virtually none of this course that is flat. On the flip side of the coin, it’s a beautiful place to walk, the volunteers at the checkpoints are wonderful, it’s great to meet the other competitors and the Kokoda Kids on the trail, and it’s incredibly satisfying to finish something so darned difficult.

Will, you did so well to get to 63km feeling the way you did. I know you said you’d never do it again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you were out there in the not too distant future. Cara, you rock! There was just no stopping you, and how strong are you to finish the event on those poor feet! Steve, I really enjoyed your company on the trek. To our crew, Francis and Laimon, thank you. We couldn’t have finished without you.

I had planned to go to the Gold Coast half with the Moreton Bay Road Runners, they were putting on a bus, and lunch in their big tent. I figured it would save me trying to find parking amongst all the closed off streets etc, so I booked a seat. Imagine my horror when I received an email to say the bus was leaving the Redcliffe Jetty at 2.30am!!

I managed to get up, dressed and to the jetty in time, and off we went. A coffee at Coomera went a long way to making me feel human, and by the time we arrived at the coast at 5am, I was awake.  The tent was already up, so I spent the time trying to get my race belt on and my timing chip laced up in the pre dawn darkness.

About 6.10am I moseyed over to the start, to find my spot in the masses. I was hoping to do 2.15 so slotted into the 2.10-2.20 area. There were so many people!! The race started and it took me nearly 10 minutes to get across the line. It was like a boxing day sale at Myer, with crowds of people shuffling into each other. Eventually I found some fresh air, and off I went.

The first 12km was just great!! Really comfortable, good rhythm, and I kept a steady 6 min/km pace all the time. Then my legs started to remind me that I had averaged one run a week of less than 6km for the past 2-3 months.  My pace slowed a bit, but I still plodded on fairly comfortably.

Around the 16km mark, my feet started hurting again. The left one was realy sore over my metatarsal heads, so the last 5km was a bit of running, a bit of walking. The finishing chute was so long, but I eventually crossed the line in 2.18 gun time, 2.10.47 nett time. I was pretty happy with that. After the run, I had chicken, ham, salad and champagne for lunch as we waited for the rest of the MBRR to come in. We left the coast in the bus and got home around 5pm. I was absolutely stuffed!! Although it was crowded, I really enjoyed this race. It was so well organised, there were plenty of portaloos (that’s a first, in my experience), and the weather was perfect.

I’ve since been to the podiatrist twice, Steve H had left Intraining but thanks to Google, I found where he’d moved to. My left foot is bruised, and the skin is broken over the bruise, which is the worst it’s looked. In spite of appearances, it wasn’t as painful as it has been in the past, so I think we’re on the right track with the adjustments to my orthotics. I’m pretty confident we’ll get my feet sorted, and then I can make some more long term plans.

Less than two weeks until Kokoda. Not that I’m counting.

It was the first event for my good friend Judith, which was sort of sentimental cos it was my very first run 2 years ago. She did well in the 2k event. Here we are, I think this was before the run. Thanks, Tim, for taking the photos.

As it turned out, both kidlets finished just outside the placings in their categories. Miss 9 was 4th in primary school girls, and Master 7 (yep, he had a birthday while the blog was sick) finished 4th in primary school boys.

It was a nice morning, weather was good and it  wasn’t too cold. I like this run, they raise funds for people with disabilities, and it’s always a nice, low key, friendly event.

The devastating thing was, we didn’t win a lucky draw prize. What on earth is the point of going? <G>

There is a new face at running club, a nice young man who is a very fast runner! He is the spitting image of Sacha Baron Cohen’s new character, Bruno, and I think I’ll have to see the movie now.

School holidays – rest, play dates, movies, local show, all sorts of fun things as well as planning for next term with our new distance ed teacher. All’s good.

I think if I were to comment on all that’s happened in the last month, it would be a ten page essay, so I might give that a miss. Had a couple of nice runs. We did the Race The Rattler in Gympie with the children and dogs. It worked out quite well, but I must admit, my embarrasment was huge – the race started and off we all ran, with a police car bringing up the rear of the pack of runners. Well, only for about 50metres, then Guinness did his first (of many) deposits for the day.  He ran well, and Hubby and Sinner finished the race for our team. The kidlets and I trotted off to the finish line but the unseasonally hot weather got the best of us, and we didn’t get back to the station before the race route closed. We all (dogs included) got a ride in a bus for the 2km back to the finish line.

There weren’t any lucky draw prizes for the teams in this event, so we couldn’t clean up again, but we did win the meat tray raffle at our camp ground!

Hubby and I did the 21km at Lake Manchester on Sunday. What a gorgeous run!

It took us 3 hours to finish, and we were again stone cold motherless last. The worst of the rain held off, we just got a pleasant little drizzle about half an hour from finishing. Again, I won a lucky draw prize – a book called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Not sure what I think of it, I’ve only read a few pages, but it’s not as thrilling as my usual fare – Kathy Reichs.

Just had a visit from the kidlet’s new distance ed teacher. Got our program for the second half of the year, and some good ideas for resources.

We had our briefing night for the Kokoda Challenge, and I’m starting to look forward to the event!! After doing the mini Kokoda’s 29 hilly km in 8 1/2 hours on the 14th of this month, I’ve started to remember how big those hills are.

What’s coming up? Spectrum fun run on Sunday morning, Hubby is doing the 8k and the kidlets and I are doing the 5k. It’ll be fun because our friends, the Millers, are coming too. After the run, we’ll have to go into South Bank to pick up my race pack for the Gold Coast Half. I was fortunate enough to score a free entry when a friend of a friend had to withdraw. Having said that, I’m not exactly race fit, but my feet don’t hurt.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program!!

We went to Caloundra for the foreshore fun run last Sunday. It’s one of my favourite runs of the year. Great location and very well organised.  I did the 10k in one hour exactly. Not my worst, but far from my best. There was a lady there running with her dog.  I’m going to start checking to see if we can take the furkids on some of these low key runs.  Hubby and the kidlets did the 3k, which was quite hilly, in just over 19 minutes. I’m going to have to shake a leg, or Master nearly 7 is going to whip my butt! We maintained our winning streak by taking out one of the lucky draw prizes.

We went to the Sorry Day ceremony last Tuesday morning.  It was excellent, very intense. You can read about it all in books and the newspapers, but it’s very moving to hear the stories, straight from those who lived them.  We met a Canadian lady, who explained that the same thing had happened in Canada, and also a Cherokee Indian lady who told how her people had been moved from their native land at gunpoint. People in power have been doing bad things to others for a very long time.

Miss 9 is at camp tonight with Girl Guides. The Gold Coast 5k is on on Sunday and we’re hoping to win a night at the Hyatt, LOL.  This weekend we’re rostered on to clean the Guide hut, and I have 8 articles to write by the end of next week!

We’re going to Gympie to race the rattler, the kidlets can participate this year, so we’re making a family team. Not only that, but I approached the organisers, and they’re happy to have the dogs run with us. Yay!  Looking forward to it already.