Do Life Challenge - Week 4 recap - Buddy Up!

Week 4 of the Do Life Challenge had us buddy up with someone else doing the challenge, and I was very lucky to find Deb as a buddy! She lives in California and is making me slightly jealous with her awesome job!

I love that Deb sent through her goals like this, with a glass of wine. My kinda gal!

Deb's goals

Some of the challenges like getting to work by 8 were a bit tough since she was sick and couldn't go to work. But she's committed to drinking more water, which is fantastic! I've been remiss and don't know where she's up to with the others though! *bad buddy*

Deb is already pretty fit so wants to increase that by running regularly and doing more classes. She's done a couple of half marathons already, and has a 10km coming up next month and a heap of 5kms.

There's a HEAP of reasons why Deb is awesome and should win. So many they have to go in point form.

• She runs races in costume. Awesome. 
• She rocked the Week 3 Scavenger Hunt challenge. Check it out!
• We share a similar theme song - Fighter by Christine Aguilera
• She restarted her blog after discovering Ben Does Life. That's dedication to the cause right there! 
• She's proactive - she approached me, and sent through her goals first, and basically seems to grab life by the horns, which is fantastic! 
• Her cat is ridiculously cute. 

Go Deb! 

My goals

Monday morning run

One of my favourite things this year has been to go for a run on a Monday morning before work. It starts the week of well and if you have plans or it's too hot in the evening, it means you can get your run in. It also makes starting a new week a little less painful - if you're gonna get up early, you may as well get up early doing something you love!

The thing is, my knees were playing up a lot last week. My left knee was doing it's usual, and the right knee...well, something clicked out of place on Saturday and was quite sore, but felt fine yesterday. 

Running when I know I shouldn't makes me feel a little like a junky: It's just one man! I can stop whenever I want - it's just recreational. Just a short 5km, that's all!

Actually, on recreational...it's not. I have the Sunset Super Series coming up on Wednesday. It's my first 'race' rather than a fun run, a series of three 8km runs over a couple of weeks to let you challenge yourself. It should be good though, knee pending - it's through the zoo! 

Source

Are Australians Racist?

Today is Australia Day, a day to celebrate this great nation that we love. However, the question of whether Australians are, in general, inherently racist is something I have been wondering in recent years, and has been sparked again by a recent study that claims that people with Australian flags on their cars are more racist than those who aren't. 

Whilst there are many issues with the methodology of the study, it does highlight a trend that has been more and more prevalent in recent years. More and more, we are becoming a nation that is wearing the flag as a fashion item, and Aussie flags can be found on everything from thongs (that's flip-flops to our international friends), bikinis, cheap t-shirts, and tattoos of both the temporary and permanently etched into your skin kind. While this does seem to be following the American trend, I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I love my country, and I would be proud to wear Aussie apparel, particularly (well, only) on Australia Day. 

But. 

The kinds of people who do tend to wear Aussie flags or have the Southern Cross tattoo are generally the kind of people I don't want to be associated with. The Cronulla riots in Sydney several years ago really highlighted this for me. 

Source: Wiki

Unfortunately, we have a checkered past. The White Australia Policy which restricted immigrants into Australia kind of started this off, and there have been varying policies and the like ever since. Pauline Hanson was a particularly sore part of Australia's recent political history.  The Liberal government's views on asylum seekers is also a worry. Despite having a ridiculously low number of people 'illegally' seeking asylum in Australia compared to other countries, the Liberal  government has exacerbated the issue in the mainstream media (started by ex Prime Minster John Howard and the 'Children Overboard' scandal which essentially won him the election), meaning that many people are actually supporting their current policy of 'just turn the boats back'. I could harp on for hours about that so I will stop there, but it does concern me deep down at my core.

Our potential leader, in a nutshell.

Australians are known for our 'She'll be right mate' attitude. We are known for embracing multiculturalism (Melbourne most of all). We'll give everyone a fair go (or as a previous Prime Minister said once "a fair shake of the sauce bottle". Please note Australians don't say this). To be an Aussie on Australia Day is to eat an English breakfast, have Italian for lunch, Chinese for dinner and a kebab after a big night out, not to start attacking Indian cab drivers and students. How can a multicultural country have so much hate? 

Something I find interesting about it all is that whilst some people hate an entire ethnicity, they have friends of that ethnicity, which suggests that they will give the individual a go, but not the entire group. What does this mean? I don't know, but perhaps it means there's hope for us all to get along yet. 

I love my country. Granted, I fall in love with every place I go, but I'm always so happy to come back home. Despite the actions of a small number of my fellow Aussies, I think we're OK. But I would like to be able to wear a pair of Aussie thongs and not be thought of as a racist fuck. 

Happy Australia Day. Let's make it memorable for all of the right reasons. 

Source

**Edit**

I wrote this yesterday morning before I went out. As I was walking to the train, I went through the local park that was teeming with a range of people. A group of people were playing cricket, and the ball started rolling towards me so I picked it up and threw it back to the batter. I was going to yell out "Happy Australia Day!" but I thought that would be a bit lame. However, the bowler then called out "See? That's the Australia Day spirit right there". 

And so it was. 

I also would like to mention that on Australia Day I caught up with my Asian friend, went to an Indigenous Festival in the city, walked past some Chinese New Year celebrations that were finished (d'oh!), and ended up in an African-safari-themed bar drinking Irish cider and French Champagne, before having Japanese for dinner. These are just some of the reasons why I fucking love my city. 

Do Life Challenge Week 3 Recap. And strippers

What a week! This was a fantastic challenge!

For the scavenger hunt I enlisted the help of friends for lunchtime adventures during the week, and housemates and my fiancée at other times. Unfortunately I didn't get to do everything on them this weekend because I was too busy going to a hen's party which involved rowing along the Yarra River, strippers, and queer burlesque. I like a good mix of things on the weekend, and this definitely was a mix! Good times indeed!

On to the challenge! Items with a photo underneath have been done. All others are fails :(
1. Policeman/woman in your town wearing a Do Life shirt (2 points) or holding a homemade Do Life sign (1 point).
I wanted to do this one SO bad, but all the police we saw were in the middle of, well, policing...

2. You sitting on or standing next to a tricycle with a racing bib on. In public. Bonus points for helmet and sunglasses.

3. Statue in your town wearing Do Life shirt (2 points) or wearing a Do Life sign around its neck (1 point).

4. Ballerina pose during your next workout.

5. The biggest chalk Do Life logo you can make. Outdoor basketball court? 

6. Screenshot of your longest walk/run of the week. (http://mapmyrun.com in case you don't know how to map a run yet. Or any other mapping/GPS device.)
I'm not really cool with showing where I run on the internet. Also I forgot to turn my Cardiotrainer on when I ran this week... :-/
7. You holding your biggest excuse on a piece of paper while defeating the excuse.
8. You holding the DVD of AIR FORCE ONE starring HARRISON FORD the BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Bonus point for your best Harrison Ford

 face. GET OFF MY PLANE.
9. You in grocery store holding a pineapple and a watermelon. At the same time. 
My local supermarket didn't sell pineapple. WTF? It was even on my super healthy grocery list. 
10. Your super healthy grocery list. 

Broccoli is my favourite vegetable - it's green and looks like a tree. How is that not awesome? If it's not in the house I get a little anxious . You'd think I'd learn how to spell it one of these days. 

11. You ignoring a warning sign.

Yep, that's me holding the leash, with the dog not attached to it. In front of the sign saying dogs must be on leash. I'm SUCH a bad ass. 

12. You holding a "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" sign at the local library.

13. You with 80+year-old. Both giving the peace sign.
14. $18.87 in change. 

As another fellow Aussie said, we don't have 1 or 2 cent coins. This scavenger hunt is rigged. RIGGED I tells ya!

15. Picture of a homemade smoothie. Your hand must be in front of it giving a thumbs up.
16. Recreate a famous picture/painting.
17. You wearing seven shirts.

7 shirts, including 2 hoodies. Not the best idea on a hot summer night...

8. You with as many other people holding Do Life signs. One point for every two people. 16 people = eight points. 100 people = 50 points.

I LOVED this one! Tourists are wonderful :)

19. You wrapped in Christmas lights. And them turned on. I'm sorry. I know you JUST put them away.

20. You in plank or pushup position. Outdoors. 

21. Picture of you finishing your toughest workout of the week. Or a re-enactment of your reaction upon finishing. 

Pink top, matching face. After a 12km run on a hot day. Sadly the longest run of the week. 

22. Do Life Dog. (open to interpretation.)

Cookie is a very patient dog at times. I think she deserves another photo. And a cuddle. 

23. You at the most famous location in your town. Wearing Do Life shirt (2 points) holding Do Life sign (one point). 

My tourists from earlier,  in Hosier Lane Melbourne. Well known for it's street art in the laneways. Sometimes the art is less, well, arty and more graffiti. Either way, it's part of what makes Melbourne awesome. Go Melbourne!  

24. You with an apple on your head with an arrow through it.
25. You pointing to your city in an actual atlas.
26. You in a music store rocking out. 

I was actually rocking out much harder than this. I blame my photographer. Who only takes one shot??

27. Do Life Cat. (open to interpretation.)

I have two cats. Neither of them wanted to be involved. Luckily my housemate has mad drawing skillz.

28. You wearing your favorite sport's team's gear. Double peace sign.
29. You holding a sign with how many minutes you worked out this week.

I didn't really keep track this week. Also I want to go to bed and don't want to take another photo. It would have been around 3.5 hours though. 

30. You with someone named Richard. If your name is Richard, you with someone named Lauren. No cheating! ("they won't know his name is actually Bob...")

Richard is one of our committee Chairs and a good guy. Probably thinks I'm crazy now. Mwahaha! 

31. You sitting in bleachers cheering on a game that's not being played. 
32. A homemade painting of your biggest goal. No deductions for lack of painting skillz. 
33. A lawyer's business card. Five bonus points if the lawyer's name is Larry.
34. You standing beside a Ferrari.
35. Picture of you on a treadmill. (2 points if the time is 30+ minutes and you appear to have actually done the 30 minutes.)

I had grand plans of doing some photoshopping genius for this one since I don't go to the gym. However, laziness won out. 

36. You. In a boat.

I should stress here that yes, we did actually leave the dock. Fun fact I learnt - I'm quite crap at rowing.

37. You on the top floor of a building. 
38. You high-fiving the grocery store cashier. 

I chickened out at this. *sigh*

39. You in a top-hat. 
40. You running in a top-hat

14 out of 40. I didn't do them all, but I had a lot of fun doing them! If nothing else, it's a very good conversation starter. Also, people like to help and get involved with things like this - one of my housemates kept on asking when we were going to do the next challenge, and when I mentioned going on adventures for photos friends got quite excited. 

I wonder what week 4 will be? 

30 Before 30 - the recap

Now that I am the ripe old age of 30, it's a very good time to look back at see what I achieved, and what I did not.

I've ticked a couple things off my list from the last time I updated it. Items in pink are ones that I'd kind of done. Ones in green I have done since then.

1. Go to a new country with a different culture and language

2. Learn another language

3. Run a half marathon

4. Learn to surf

5. Learn to sew (properly), as in take a sewing course.

6. Climb a palm tree

7. Go scuba diving - read all about it in a very average format here.

8. Swim with sharks - half done, if you consider snorkelling with sharks in Sea World as swimming with sharks.

9. Travel around Australia - half done - I'm slowly making my way around, but I haven't seen the outback yet. 

10. Go to Tasmania

11. Go skiing

12. See snow
13. Go to the Amazon - half done. I've been to the Amazon Basin but not the actual Amazon River. 

14. Get a degree

15. See the full moon over water (ideally a beach)

16. Live inner city

17. Go camping under the stars

18. See Macchu Picchu

19. Attend a High Tea, preferably with my mum.

20. Go to a gallery

21. Go to the Museum (I have been to museums, but not the Melbourne Museum...)

22. Do the Oxfam Trail Walk

23. Have a stall at a market

24. Go to Canada

25. Buy a brand new car

26. Do Bikram or Hot Yoga

27. Do 10 chin ups/pull ups Done! Completed this quite a few times. I didn't think I would, and my form still isn't 100%, but I've done it. WOOHOO! 

28. See Rammstein Live

29. Go to New Zealand

30. Go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival

Because I realise I don't really have too many photos of me on this blog (but it's the internet. In public!), here's some of my favourites from the list. Which basically means my favourite from life :)

1& 2 (Kind of) The wildlife refuge in Ecuador where I got to work with crocs.
This guy was a 6 week old American Croc. 2009

13. Tubing on the Rio Arajuno in Ecuador 2009

18. Macchu Picchu 2009

 

28. Rammstein, Big Day Out 2011. The lead singer is sitting on
the giant penis that just ejaculated paper.

29. Dan and I in Milford Sound, NZ 2010.

So there's still a heap of things to do. I need to have a think about what I want to do for this year. Amazingly enough, it will be 31 before 31. Who'd have thunk it?! I think some of the items on the list will be a bit random, because frankly, 30 is the traditionally 'big' year for life goals. But there should be some interesting times ahead methinks. I'm looking forward to it :-D

Marathon

It's an idea that has been building in my mind all week, and for a couple of weeks prior. Maybe it's the fact that I got the Marathon Issue of Runner's World a couple of weeks ago, or the fact that I have been reading I Thought They Said Rum, a blog that I discovered through the Do Life Forums, or maybe it's the fact that I need a new goal.  But the idea of running a marathon has been playing on my mind.

I spent a couple of nights drawing up upcoming races and challenges on a calendar, with the plan to draw up a training plan. There's some issues - the wedding and subsequent honeymoon will put a bit of a dampener on training schedules. There's the fact that there are no good marathons until October this year. There's the fact of my dodgy knee, that has started playing up again.

But damn, the idea of it is in my brain now. And I don't think it's going to go away.

Do Life Challenge - Week 3

After my lacklustre Week 2 , this week's challenge is a doozy - a good ol' fashioned scavenger hunt! And it is epic! I cursed it this morning when first saw it, but now it looks like so much fun!

[photo proof required for every single item!]

[each item worth one point unless otherwise stated]

1. Policeman/woman in your town wearing a Do Life shirt (2 points) or holding a homemade Do Life sign (1 point).
2. You sitting on or standing next to a tricycle with a racing bib on. In public. Bonus points for helmet and sunglasses.
3. Statue in your town wearing Do Life shirt (2 points) or wearing a Do Life sign around its neck (1 point).
4. Ballerina pose during your next workout. 
5. The biggest chalk Do Life logo you can make. Outdoor basketball court? 
6. Screenshot of your longest walk/run of the week. (http://mapmyrun.com in case you don't know how to map a run yet. Or any other mapping/GPS device.)
7. You holding your biggest excuse on a piece of paper while defeating the excuse.
8. You holding the DVD of AIR FORCE ONE starring HARRISON FORD the BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Bonus point for your best Harrison Ford face. GET OFF MY PLANE.
9. You in grocery store holding a pineapple and a watermelon. At the same time. 
10. Your super healthy grocery list. 
11. You ignoring a warning sign.
12. You holding a "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" sign at the local library.
13. You with 80+year-old. Both giving the peace sign.
14. $18.87 in change. 
15. Picture of a homemade smoothie. Your hand must be in front of it giving a thumbs up.
16. Recreate a famous picture/painting.
17. You wearing seven shirts.
18. You with as many other people holding Do Life signs. One point for every two people. 16 people = eight points. 100 people = 50 points. 
19. You wrapped in Christmas lights. And them turned on. I'm sorry. I know you JUST put them away.
20. You in plank or pushup position. Outdoors. 
21. Picture of you finishing your toughest workout of the week. Or a re-enactment of your reaction upon finishing. 
22. Do Life Dog. (open to interpretation.)
23. You at the most famous location in your town. Wearing Do Life shirt (2 points) holding Do Life sign (one point). 
24. You with an apple on your head with an arrow through it.
25. You pointing to your city in an actual atlas.
26. You in a music store rocking out. 
27. Do Life Cat. (open to interpretation.)
28. You wearing your favorite sport's team's gear. Double peace sign.
29. You holding a sign with how many minutes you worked out this week.
30. You with someone named Richard. If your name is Richard, you with someone named Lauren. No cheating! ("they won't know his name is actually Bob...")
31. You sitting in bleachers cheering on a game that's not being played. 
32. A homemade painting of your biggest goal. No deductions for lack of painting skillz. 
33. A lawyer's business card. Five bonus points if the lawyer's name is Larry.
34. You standing beside a Ferrari.
35. Picture of you on a treadmill. (2 points if the time is 30+ minutes and you appear to have actually done the 30 minutes.)
36. You. In a boat.
37. You on the top floor of a building. 
38. You high-fiving the grocery store cashier. 
39. You in a top-hat. 
40. You running in a top-hat

I enlisted the help of my housemate and did two of them tonight. One I'm still waiting on since I will probably do a harder workout this week, so here is one official one :)

#4 - Ballerina pose during your next workout. 

Do Life Challenge - Week 2 recap

Week two of the Do Life Challenge didn't go as well as Week One. I'm good at starting things, but not the best at finishing them, which is something to work on. 

The challenges for this week are below: 

• Do something out of the ordinary for a stranger. Find a way to brighten someone's day. Pay for an elderly couple's meal at the restaurant. Give a homeless man a blanket. Volunteer. Compliment someone. Do something out of your way. Something, maybe, you've never done before. 

This one was harder than I thought. Although I think I kind of got there. We have a homeless dude Anthony who sits in the lane near work. We'll chat every so often and I'll give him food or money or something, and just before Christmas I have him some food and a card and we had a good chat. He was saying that he would love to work part time in the gardening industry, as that's the only thing he could really handle. So this year I looked into whether there are any programs like that for homeless people. Unfortunately there isn't, but I did try! I haven't seen him since then, so hopefully that's a good sign. 

• Do something else. Yep, that's (at least) two times this week, you'll be going out of your way.

Again, just before Christmas I looked into volunteering at Second Bite, and organisation in Melbourne who collect surplus food and distribute it to charities and different organisations. It's something I"m pretty passionate about - EVERYONE should have enough to eat, and there is no need for wastage, so it's perfect. Thinking about this challenge reminded me to actually contact them, and I have now volunteered with them to go to a market once a month and collect the food from the vendors. This makes me happy :)

• Reassess your pushups (or plank) today or tomorrow. And keep working them. There are pushup and plank plans all over the internet, or make up your own. Stick with it!

I didn't do it! I don't know why? I did try doing modified (girly push ups) and did 30 of them, but...meh. 

• Reassess your goals. Where are you? How are you doing? Do you need to change anything?

I didn't really reassess them, but they're doing quite well. I caved on Wednesday and had a small glass of wine after really wanting one the night before, but I did make an effort to do a token weights session on the Sunday morning before my party, so that was good. I think it's all on track. 

• Intermediate/Advanced: 30 extra minutes of intense work like last week + 200 jumping jacks. (all at once or spread out)

I totally forgot about the jumping jacks (or star jumps as they're called in Australia). And I don't think I added the intense work, although I did run super fast once and then run intervals for my next run, so...maybe? And another 18km run, which was really pleasant. 

• Write four things you did well. Every night before bed.

Again, I partly do this in my gratitude diary, but I've started writing 4 of them as things I've done well instead of things I'm grateful for. It's tougher than I thought, which is a worry...

Also, it was my 30th this week! Sunday we had a kid's garden party. There were party hats.There were dogs in party hats. It was good. 

Edit: my fonts are all over the place today. I don't know why?

Things I Love Thursday

What a week! Hopefully I can actually keep my TILT going this year. What awesome things have been making me smile recently?

• It was my kitty Scamper's 5th birthday yesterday. I didn't realise until today, but that means it's been almost 5 years since that little ball of fluff came into my life and made me deliriously happy. 
• The Do Life Challenge. It's awesome, and I'm loving the forums. So many inspirational and interesting people. 
• The cheeky glass of red I had last night. Yeah, one of my resolutions is not to drink on weeknights, but goddamn it was good! 
• Getting a full 8 hours sleep last night for the first time in forever!
• Finally getting some wedding stuff sorted - photographer, almost celebrant (hopefully), and invitations are so close to being done! YAY!
• Sarah from SillyGrrl answered one of my questions about how she stays so fit and flexible doing aerial. It looks like stretching in front of the TV is a goer if I want to get bendy-flexy again.
• Organising my 30th birthday party for Sunday. It's a kids garden party. There will be fairy bread and party hats. It will be awesome. 

What has been making you smile this week? 

Interval Training

This morning I got up early to do an interval run. 5kms all up and only a bit of interval training, but doing it before breakfast does not a good run make. 

I will keep on doing it until I make it my bitch. 

In other news, if I were a chameleon, this is what I would be: 

Do Life Challenge - Week One recap

Here we are at the end of the Do Life Challenge - Week One. 

My last post highlighted my personal goals for the week, which ended up mainly pretty well. How did I go? 

1. Run 5kms in 25 minutes (or a 5:00km pace for 5 kms). I did this today. And was VERY excited! I thought I did once before but was uncertain about the accuracy of my Cardio Trainer, but today I started out strong and kept it going, and ended up running 5:02kms in 25 mins at 4:52 pace. BOOYAH!!! It was bloody hard, but worth it. Now to try to do it without dying! 

2. No alcohol on school nights. Going well. I didn't even drink much on the weekend, which was nice. Tonight I would have killed for a red, but powered through with a bottle of water instead. 

3. Do weights at least once a week. I did one workout with them this week. Am planning on doing one tomorrow night but increasing the weight and ensuring I do some shoulder work. 

My weights mat

4. Drink 3 600ml bottles of water per day. I failed once, but was good every other day. Having a bottle in my bag on the way to and from work definitely helps. 

5. Stretch for 2 minutes plus after running. Been good. Although I was sorer after my long 18km run than I normally would be - not sure if due to stretching or just not used to running that distance any more.

Increasing the duration by 30 mins and the intensity. I didn't do this per se, as in it wasn't a concerted effort. However, I did do the weights session, and the long run (approx 17-18kms), which was more than I would normally do. 

Four good things. I kind of already do this most days anyway - I have a gratitude diary which is a notebook in my bag where I list 10 things I'm thankful for. This can be sporadic, but it's normally a couple of times a week (depending on if I get a seat on public transport). However, for the sake of this I'll do my four good things now:

1. Ran above my target pace (5 kms at 4:52 pace)
2. I successfully resisted a glass of wine tonight
3. I got my colleagues excited about cheese Tim Tams (kind of)
4. At work an article I wrote got published. 

I don't really take photos of myself whilst working out, purely because my cardio trainer app is always going and I can't take photos whilst it's going, but I did manage to take some of my sweet new workout gear: 

Sweet new workout gear!

And in random news, here's a picture of my house mate, fiancée and I holding a boa constrictor on the weekend. Coz that's how we roll. 

Tourist much?

Words to live by :)

Do Life Challenge

As you may know, recently I discovered Ben Does Life, a blog which I fell in love with. In a wonderful sense of timing, he and the Do Life team have set a Do Life Challenge which started today.

For week 1, the first part of the challenge was to write down five quantifiable goals that can realistically be achieved by February 1st. They need to be quantifiable though, which was a bit of a challenge. Although I should be in bed, I'm excited and am trying to stay accountable and finish something through to the end. So here are my five quantifiable goals, and current assessment of where I am right now:

1. Run 5kms in 25 minutes (or a 5:00km pace for 5 kms). As noted earlier today, I may have done that this morning (woot!). Although my cardiotrainer also said that I ran 2kms around 3:50, so I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate (would be nice though!). My previous best was 5:02 spread over 7-8kms.  Need to start off faster.

2. No alcohol on school nights. Currently I'm drinking a glass of wine or cider most nights. This has to stop. 'School nights' means that I can have a drink on a Friday night and Saturday night, which I think is doable.

3. Do weights at least once a week. Now that my parents got me weights for Christmas (thanks guys!), I can do weights at least once a week. I've used them once since Christmas.

4. Drink 3 600ml bottles of water per day. Definitely one of the challenges that I had to quantify. I can drink about 2 a day at work, but this fails on the weekend (as shown by New Years). Keep a bottle of water in my bag (or in a smaller bottle) should help with this.

5. Stretch for 2 minutes plus after running. Currently very sporadic - didn't stretch after the run this morning. Gotta just do it!

Ben then asked us to think about the biggest excuse and how it can be eliminated. I identified mine as emotional eating/drinking. If I've had a bad day, depending on the time of day I'll generally end up going "Bugger it, I'm gonna have a coffee/cider/wine/cheesy delight". So my way of eliminating this excuse is to replace  If I'm angry, do some push-ups. Go for a run (one of my faves anyway). Eat some luscious summer fruit. Green tea. Yoga. Weights. Read a book! Heaps of options.

The challenge also asked us to do as many push-ups as we can, and this will be tested each week. I did 24 regular push-ups.

Finally, we were told to increase the amount of exercise that we do each week by 30 mins, and make it intense. I reckon I can do the weights session (or even two!) pretty intensely. I'll have to, for the Tough Bloke Challenge!

I think these are all doable. 2012, I think we're going to be good friends :)

Woot!

This morning I beat my running goal. About two months ago I arbitrarily decided (after seeing a random comment in Tough Mudder) to aim for a 5 min per km pace - i.e. 5 kms in 25 mins. I was sooo close last year, but on my last run I failed dismally (this is what happens when I run because I feel I should, rather than because i wanted to).

But this morning, I did it@ 8.8kms, 43 mins, 4:54 pace!!!


Woot!

Farewell 2011

Ah, 2011. You were a saucy minx, full of good times, great people, falling in love with things and and achieving goals I never knew I wanted to achieve.

We farewelled you in style at the Last Resort party in our front yard, a mixture of random and awesome people with no real plans for new years, mojitos, champagne, totem tennis, and fireworks.

We drank, sang, danced to awesomely bad gay anthems and watched fireworks. Ok, the fireworks were to welcome in your predecessor 2012, but there were more than enough fireworks to say goodbye to you too.

The part of Last Resort did have the best seat in the house when it came to fireworks, with a vista of fireworks from 5 different locations, best of all the racecourse just in front of our house:

Entirely too many drinks were had, and first sunrise of 2012 was seen. The rest of the day was spent in bed nursing one of the worst hangovers of my life, prompting the resolution of Drinking More Water and also, Drinking Less (more about resolutions to come). But we farewelled you in style, and this was fitting. 

2011, I liked you a lot. But I think 2012 is going to be even better. Let's make it spectacular.