My aquathon story...

Well, I am proud to say that I completed the Illawarra Aquathon on Australia Day so that's goal number one for 2011 ticked off. Although I wasn't completely happy with my performance on the day, particularly my swim, I am just glad that I did it.

My swim was terrible! Besides swallowing mouthfuls of harbour water (yuck!), my swim technique (not that mine is that great) went right out the window and I seemed to be struggling with my stroke and trying to look where I was going at the same time! This photo of me coming out of the water kind of says it all.... I was thinking "Thank god that's over!!!"

So now to my run... well, I felt a lot more comfortable running and ended up 9th best runner. I had a painful stitch in my side for most of it - no doubt from drinking all that lovely saltwater (lol). I was happy with my strong finish:

Overall time: 27:31mins. Looking forward to scrapbooking this day :)

Now onto my next challenge... well, there are 2...

1) Complete 5km in sub-23mins;

2) Run the Sydney Half Marathon in May in under 1 hour 50 mins.

Wish me luck :)

Oops... I almost forgot...

to share this double LO I did earlier this month of 2010 Melbourne Cup Day.... I had such a fun day with my girls; Sar, Leesh and Donna.

Just a short post from me today... Seeya next time :)

On a scrappin' roll!!

At Sar's on Tuesday for Savvy Crop, I was on a roll and managed to get 5 LO's done, including one double! Here they are:

"We love getting into the spirit of christmas" is of my boys setting up for Christmas 2009. My inspiration was taken from Pagemaps:

"Innocence" is a page for my gorgeous baby Mason when he was 9 months old. Those innocent eyes just melt my heart. This one is the January 1st Stuck?! Sketch:

"My wish for you" is again of my beautiful Mason @ 3 months old. I just loved this quote I found for this page:

"Mum at 16" is a LO I did for my 52 week album (which is actually my 52 "things about me" album). I haven't journalled yet.... This one is this months Savvy sketch challenge.

"Friends despite the miles" is of me with my running friend, Cath who moved to Dubai in 2006. We always find time to catch up for a run or a coffee... or both whenever she comes to visit... Love ya, Cath!!

Tonight I am going to start working on a small album to donate to the flood victims. I am thinking of just doing a general family album 8x8 size for a family to add some 4x6 photos to. What do you think?

Thanks for looking :)

Aquathon Training

I thought I would talk about some of the training I've been doing for the Australia Day Aquathon that is being held at Belmore Basin, Wollongong... as running and keeping fit is quite important to me :)

I've competed in the aquathon before but never as an individual. I have always competed as a team with my husband in the short course - he would swim and I would run. So, to do the swim AND run is my first fitness challenge for the year. This is why I have decided to do the short course - 400m swim followed by a 3km run. I have no doubt I can swim 400m but to do it in the harbour is what I am worried about. So part of my training is to do a few swims in the harbour before the big event.


It's hard to keep motivated to train and eat well over the Christmas and New Year period... it is also difficult for me to get out and train with our hectic lifestyle and my husbands work hours, but I have managed to train about 3-5 times per week. I am very lucky to have a supportive husband who is also competing in the event!

Here is the training program I have tried to stick to since November (although I do miss one or two training days each week):

MON - Rest or easy swim (usually about 10-14 laps)
TUE - Interval training. Example: 5 minute warm up jog then Run fast 75sec, jog 150sec, Run fast 60sec, jog 2mins & repeat this 3-4 times. 5 minute warm down jog.
WED - 500m Swim & 3-5km Run
THUR - 5-8km Run
FRI - Swim 20 laps
SAT - 40 mins Pilates
SUN - Short Run

This year, I my aim is to just compete in the event and have fun. I have no time goals.

And to end this post... here is a LO of me running the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival Half Marathon:




I hope this post inspires you to start a fitness program or continue training for your fitness goals. I love running :)

My baby boy is one!

Wow, I can't believe the year has gone so quickly. It feels like yesterday I was meeting my little man for the first time... now he is ONE already! He had fun opening his present in the morning:

Here is the card I made for him:

...then we had a little party at the park with family and a few friends. Sooooo glad the weather stayed nice! Here he is enjoying himself:

...and here is the cake made by Mummy & Daddy:

I put in a bit of effort and actually made his party invitations:

It was such a fun day for our precious, happy little boy. Thanks to all our friends and family for making it so special :)

A new year, a new goal...or 5!

Did you make a resolution or two for the new year? I like to make goals and I have a lot I want to achieve this year. I'd like to share them with you and hopefully at the end of the year I will be able to say I achieved them all.

1) Running

• Complete the Australia Day aquathon;
• Run a sub-23min 5km;
• Run the Sydney Half Marathon in May and attempt to run it in under 1 hour 50 mins;
• Run the Gold Coast Half Marathon in July in 1 hour 45 mins;
• Run city to surf in 70 mins;
• Run a full marathon in September.
  

2) Take time out to scrapbook at least once a week and maintain this blog!

3) Start reading again - I have two books lined up "The Time Travellers Wife" and "The Girl with the dragon tattoo".

4) Relax more... try not to do too much all the time and not make too many commitments. Take time to appreciate the little things in life and spend more quality time with my husband and kids

5) Finish unpacking and organising this new house and yard!

We were also asked over at the Savvy forum our word for 2011... Mine would have to be BALANCE. 2010 was just a crazy year and I would love for a little more balance in all aspects of my life... work, kids, keeping fit, homelife, socialising, scrapbooking, travel and making sure I have time to relax....

2010 ended on a high, at Sarah and Daniel's NYE party. Thanks guys for an awesome night! ...and I just have to share this last 2010 LO I did for Kerryn's CC challenge over at Savvy, "Watching you both grow in 2010":








Thanks for looking and happy new year :)

2010 - My year in review (Part 2)

So... I am back to share more of my year and fave LO's with you.

JULY

We signed the contract to sell our house this month so most of it was spent packing, packing and packing! Other than packing, we continued with our usual routine and training for city to surf. Mason is now 6 months old and growing so fast... I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a guest CT for Stuck?! Sketches bonus sketch for August and the LO I did for this was my fave for the month. "Bathtime is Giggle time":

AUGUST

August was moving month. Unsure of how long we would be homeless and having no alternate arrangements, we reluctantly moved in with my inlaws. Anthony and I also ran the city to surf for the Illawarra Coal team. I was very happy with my time of 73 minutes. Anthony's mines rescue team won the local competition - well done, boys! I also attended the Savvy-Delights Retreat this month and had the best time scrapbooking with all my scrappy friends :) Here is a fave LO I completed at the retreat, "2 peas in a pod". It was the Savvy sketch challenge for the month and won a prize in a competition at the retreat!

SEPTEMBER

After running the city to surf, I felt I needed a new challenge. So.... I decided to run a half marathon. Thanks to the generosity of many of my friends, I was able to raise over $1300 for the McGrath Foundation. I completed the run in 1 hour 50 minutes. I'm no Kerryn McCann, but I thought it wasn't too bad, being only 8 months since having a baby. I also did a little casual work and got a trip to Melbourne that month! On the scrapping side of things, I completed very few LO's, but here's one I was pretty happy with, "Bad Santa" (Savvy ABC challenge). The journalling tells a funny story:

OCTOBER

October was crazy... we bought a house, Anthony was away a lot training for and competing in the Australian mines rescue competition in Queensland - his team came 3rd. My Nanna took a turn for the worse and sadly passed away. It was tough. Her funeral brought the family together which was a positive thing to come out of such a sad time. At the end of the month I was lucky enough to go to the SFS retreat. Here are two of my fave LO's from the retreat. The first I did for the quote challenge, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away":

.... and this one for the Savvy ABC challenge, "If only...":

NOVEMBER

Another crazy month - two big and very fun days out were Melbourne cup and Sar's 30th. We moved into our new place and Anthony's team competed in the International Mines Rescue comp and won... we were so proud! We managed to escape Wollongong for a while for a family holiday to Queensland at the end of the month. Mason began crawling... On the scrapbooking front, I only managed 4 LO's. Here is my fave "That cheeky look":

DECEMBER

Still on holidays this month, we met up with our good friends, Ben & Alicia and their munchkins for a couple of days and a photo shoot with Red Door Photography. Then back to reality and more unpacking and sorting through boxes... lots of Christmas parties too. Jared finally went up a level in swimming and got to ring the bell! Mason is now climbing up on the furniture and is very close to taking his first step! Still a few days of 2010 to go so I doubt I will get much more scrapping done! Again, I couldn't decide which LO was my fave so this one is "Me and my boys" for a Savvy CC challenge:

... and this one is "Love my mum":

Such a hectic year... I wonder what 2011 will bring?