Mothers Day ... an early morning - a run - and cheesecake!

What a terrific day it was today.  I went down to Geelong to do the Mothers Day Classic, also so that mum could see me run for the first time.  It was quite a different feeling this fun run, not having any of the girls from our local crew or friends there also.  But mum sure made up for it.  Talk about proud, she decked herself out in pink too!  When they called to line up for the start of the race, mum gave me a hug and started crying, she was so happy.

Thought I might get a few tips from one of the lifesavers before the race!!  Hmmm, he was the strong silent type for sure.  Wasn't giving much away.

I was running today for three people.  Firstly my very special Grandma Ivy who passed away in 2006.  Secondly my wonderful mother-in-law Pat who passed away in 2008.  Both not having passed away from breast cancer, but both very special women in my life, so my run today was dedicated to them.  And thirdly I was running for my workmate and friend Trudy who is fighting the fight against breast cancer right now.  Having just finished chemo she is about to start radiotherapy, and it was such a motivating factor during the run that when I hit the rises in the park and breathing got labored and legs got heavy, I just thought of Trudes and how crap she feels with her chemo and it kept me going.

With Mike not down for this run, mum became chief paparrazzi, screaming madly as I ran past.  

Poor mum looked more than a little scared at my enthusiasm after I crossed the finish line!  8km under my belt, running the whole way, first fun run I've done that in (my last fun run being back in February).  I felt absolutely amazing.  Mike even commented that having just finished in this photo, I didn't even look as exhausted as I used to look, although my legs are certainly feeling it tonight!!

THE SPOILS OF VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!   My little medallion and a banana!!  Oh and a Princess sash which I just may wear to work tomorrow.

So after this, home to shower and change and then off to a special Mothers Day lunch at Empire Grill.  Being that one of my step-daughters now lives in Geelong she came with us and it was just lovely.  LADIES WHO LUNCH!  That's what I want to call us.  We had a terrific time.  And this is what it's all about, to be a good role model for my family, for my stepchildren, and to live a good, honest and healthy life with enthusiasm.

Shhhhh ... don't tell Mish!  But I thought 8km run meant I could partake in dessert.  Between us, okay?  Lemon cheesecake, orange shortbread and mango sorbet.  OMG . IT . WAS . GOOD !

Hope that your Mother's Day was as brilliant as mine!

12WBT Finale

Last weekend was the 12WBT MELBOURNE FINALE! What a weekend.  The Warrnambool & Surrounds 12WBT crew totally rocked it.  I love being part of this group, I call them my "health and fitness sisters".  They keep me honest, they keep me sane, they keep me motivated and inspired and continuing on this path.  I sometimes get lost in the forums, as inspiring as they are, but with our local group there is that connection.  And it was wonderful to spend the weekend with so many of them.

And how fitting, my last weigh in saw my total loss of 30kg!  That's 66 pounds!  And I feel amazing.

Here's some pics from my amazing weekend which involved a workout with Michelle Bridges at Lakeside Stadium and a ritzy chi chi pooh pooh party at the Crowne Palladium Ballroom.

Saturday workout with Mish.  It was terrific.  Having one of crew in the gruelling fitness challenge, we were so excited to cheer her on.  So excited that the compere came down to interview us.  Oh dear.  I felt a huge push in my back towards the man with the mike to be the spokesperson.  You think I got a little bit excited???  I don't even remember this.

Our sensational group looking quite spiffy in our new workout t-shirts and hoodies and caps.  I tell you the hoodies came in very handy early in the morning, it was c-c-cold.  

The reason we were all there, the motivating factor behind all of us, the fantastic Mish.  Looks like she was a wee bit cold too!  

Thanks to Alison, one of our crew who wasn't able to exercise, she took hold of my camera and took photos of our team.  Lots and lots of photos, to which I'll be putting together a little surprise for the girls in the next few weeks.    It was a good workout.  The grass stains on our t-shirts became battle scars.  We jumped, we ran, we dropped, we lifted, we had a ball.

And here's the pic we were wanting.  Our crew with the fabulous Mish.

We had gotten to Crowne and had made our way up the staircase with some of the crew and a man and his two young boys happened to go past and I asked if he'd take a pic.  "Sure" he said.  Then 10 cameras were thrust his way.  I saw a fleeting look cross over his face as to whether to take flight.  Lucky for us he patiently took a pic with all the cameras.

We had a ball, our Warrnie girls surely know how to party.  I didn't stop dancing all night, we celebrated our friendships, we celebrated our weight losses, and we celebrated the night.  Oh and I promise I did not pinch Charlie on the bottom!  Loved the Hollywood theme.  

Loved this fun pic of my friend Lynn too!   

We danced the night away.  And I just loved my dress.  I felt absolutely rockin'.  So . much . fun !

Adelaide is the next Finale, hmmmmmm :-)

I've gone and done a disappearing act once again

Life has well and truly thrown it's force at me over the last few weeks.  I've been so busy.  But with lots of good things.

Last weekend I had a terrific weekend away in Daylesford with my three girlfriends here from town.  Our annual pilgrimage away, sans husbands and children.  It was wonderful, oh except for the moment I realised I had left my bag of shoes at home.  Arrrrrgh.  I only had a pair of ankle lace up boots which I was wearing.  So down the street I went and $60 later I ended up with a fugly pair of red zip up walking shoes, which could double as running shoes, as I was aiming to be up early in the mornings to go running around the lake.  Which I did.

Oh and you can be forgiven if you think I'm always off celebrity spotting, but look who I met this week.  Now don't go thinking I'm off cheating on Michelle Bridges!!   I'm not!  However Lisa Curry came to Camperdown and presented "A night with Lisa" and talking about health and fitness and her life and a bit of food science thrown in, and it was absolutely brilliant.  I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking it would be a hard sell for her program, but it wasn't at all.

Oh for the overseas people, this is Lisa Curry.   Olympian, gold medallist in swimming and a terrific motivational speaker.

She was thoroughly entertaining, completely down to earth, and absolutely stunningly beautiful.  Such a fun night, we had a number of 12wbt'ers there.  Hey, I'll take inspiration from wherever it comes from.

A very motivational night.  If you ever have a chance to hear her speak, it's well worth it.  What a fascinating life she has lead.

Oh I mentioned being busy.  This weekend I'm off again.  Actually I'm off tomorrow and not back till Sunday.  It's the end of our 12 weeks and this time the finale party is in Melbourne.  Exercising at Albert Park and then the ritzy chi chi pooh pooh party at the Crown Palladium Ballroom.  I have the most gorgeous dress packed and I'm ready to party.

So will be back Sunday with pics.

Sunday happenings

Forgive me blog, I am still around!  Have to tell you about last Sunday.  And trust me for anyone overseas this is not going to mean a thing and the drool factor, yeah well it may still be there, but you will have no idea who I am talking about.   Anyway I travelled to Ararat to see a couple of familiar faces, and meet up with some of our Warrnambool 12wbt crew, who were also up for a bit of action.   Aussies, do you recognise anyone???  And in my head there was an imaginary conversation going on too...

I dare you not to drool looking at Commando Steve there smiling.  Okay well I caught him at the beginning of a laugh and happened to click, but in my mind he saw me across the crowd and smiled, so we shall go with that turn of events shall we?  And okay so a little bit of literary license taken there, but oh me oh my Commando Steve did have us swooning, I'll grant you that.   

We were fortunate to see some filming for the next season of The Biggest Loser, not to mention possibly being filmed ourselves (think as in an "extra" capacity).  Can't really say any more than that.  Our one second of fame will probably not make the cut, but it was all a bit of fun and a chance to catch up with some of our crew again in the very cold conditions early in the morning at Ararat.

Moving right along, Boxing Day here I come!

The Christmas festivities didn't finish there, on no siree.  We had the kids all over for Boxing Day, so much fun.  Note that the pang hat had a work out!  :-)

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You know, today was a GREAT DAY!  I had an RDO from work, and just knew I wanted to try for my best run.  End result - I ran 10.3 kilometres non-stop, in 1 hour, 16 minutes and 10 seconds.  I am over the moon, and even more happy, when I told mum I fair dinkum think she nearly jumped down the phone to hug me, she's as excited as me seeing my distances grow.

I still shake my head in disbelief.  I actually ran 10.3 kilometres without stopping.  Oh it wasn't pretty, and yet another dog decided to chase me, but this one was a fox terrier and he just wanted to run alongside me for a bit, there was no nipping.

I felt like Rocky Balboa when I got home, I was ready to take on anything that the universe wanted to throw at me ... but after I had a nana nap first! hahahahahaha

And here it is, Christmas Day finally!

Christmas Day was so much fun, it ended up becoming a four page spread!  We really did enjoy ourselves to the max.

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You do realise this isn't the end though, noooooooo!  I like to do things the hard way.  When a lot of people tend to finish on Christmas Day, I figure December is December, I'm going the whole way.  In for a penny, in for a pound right?

A couple more ... will December ever end?? ha.

I'm sure you're just riveted by how I spent my December ... NOT ! ha.  Too bad.

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