Category: Husband

Rain and Red Bayberries

6/27/2014

Update for today: 1) it's still raining; 2) my legs are still tight/sore (but a little bit better I think?); and 3) it IS the shoes!!! Noooo.... I should have clarified the other day, that I have two pairs of running shoes (one about 2 years old, and one about a year old, the latter I was planning on racing in) and when I slipped my older trusty pair on yesterday morning to go somewhere, my legs and feet felt fine, no dramas. However, when I put the slightly newer (but still needing to be replaced, they are well overdue too) pair on and skipped out the door to take Puppy for a quick walk when the rain subsided a bit - boom, instant calf ache/pain, and also some foot pain too (the balls of my feet). Hmmm, so it's safe to say that I will NOT be racing in these babies next week. Looks like I'll be back in my older pair, as they don't seem to give me the grief of the other ones, and for some reason don't seem too worn out? (Which is crazy as they are well, well overdue for a change.)

Yesterday we went back to the hotel pool for some excellent sauna and pool jogging/running/playing malarkey. This was GREAT, and I hope has helped my legs? Felt great to be splashing around and occasionally stretching in there too. Managed to do about 50 minutes in the pool! This was a mixture of pool running/jogging, stretching, doing random kicks while holding onto the side, and a few laps of 'proper' (sort of anyway, I am not a good swimmer AT ALL) swimming. Wow, let me just say that, after ONE lap of 'swimming', I was extremely puffed and feeling my heart rate soar, and would swiftly get back to pool jogging instead. I am not a swimmer hey. This is crazy yes? As Husband is a swimming teacher (as well as English teacher and all round Champion/wonderful man). He did try to teach me back in 2012 in New Zealand, but to be honest, I don't like swimming, so we let it slide. However, maybe, just maybe, in the future I like the idea of doing a triathlon, or, dare I even say it, an Ironman!?! So, will eventually have to conquer my fear (loathing?) of swimming.

The first 25 minutes or so in the pool were just me by myself (while Husband was sauna-ing) and, pool running by yourself? Yes, the time goes SLOWLY (I hear you, Kristina!). It was only when Husband joined me and we added in lots of funny aquarobics-style moves, and backwards jogging, funny arms/faces combos, that the time flew by. A few super-hot (are there any other types? lol) saunas later and skulling of a litre and a half of water = feeling awesome.

When we got back to school we went to the leaving 'party' for Grade 9 students (kind of a speech/presentation event with music performances etc) - these were my students last year, and now they are leaving this school in order to go on to high school next term. They are all grown up! Literally. Most of them have shot up and now tower over me.

My former student friend Jenny must have heard my call for increasing my intake of healing vitamin C and antioxidants, as she arrived early in the morning with a basket of these amazing, juicy, delicious little fruits (called 'yangmei', or red bayberries), and told us of the party later in the day and asked whether we would come. There were more in the punnet, but, erm, as previously noted - they are delicious! (Thanks Jenny!) So, a fair few have gone already:

This last shot is Husband and the Principal of the school - a lovely, very chilled guy (like all the teachers here). We often call him the Prime Minister or President as we see him coming, lol, as in 'Look! It's the President!' Lovely guy, and has always made us feel very welcome and respected/valued.

It's easy to see why this town is so lush and green and colourful, what with all this rain! Here are a couple of shots that Husband took yesterday, and I love how colourful and full of plants/trees this school is:

Another highlight from yesterday was seeing and talking to (via the power of Skype) my BEAUTIFUL nephew! (and my bro, my sister-in-law, and my mum too, of course). He has grown up so much since I met him last year. He is about 14 months old and gorgeous. Not sure when I'll get back to England to see him in person again, so for now I suppose he'll have to go on thinking that Aunty Lou lives in the computer.

I'm off to do some (indoor and safely out of the rain) yoga now. Have a Super Saturday!!

Have you seen/tried those fruits before, where you are?

Are your relatives nearby or are you spread out across the globe too?

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Food for Healing, Health and Happiness

6/26/2014

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Aaaaand: the rain is back. I suppose one day’s reprieve is better than nothing? It is raining hard this morning – I believe the technical term is ‘bucketing down’ or ‘pissing down’. That’s ok with me, seeing as I cancelled what would have been an easy paced 9.66km run this morning, as I am still resting my achey/sore legs (both of them feel very sore and tight up the back of my legs/hamstrings now, so the rest will continue, as frustrating as it is). So, it’s quite nice sitting here and sipping my coffee watching/hearing the rainy-season-esque downpour (it is reminding me of my time in a small Amazonian jungle village in Bolivia, where I visited during rainy season and subsequently got trapped there when I realised no planes could fly back out from their grassy ‘airport’/runway if it was pouring with rain. Which it was. Every day. It’s quite a nice, relaxing, lulling sound though).

This means the things and errands we had planned for today (which involved cycling to and from) may now be postponed due to the weather. (Yes, we could always take a taxi, but that’s no fun.)

I don’t often mention it or write about it on here, but I am a qualified nutritionist (before English-teaching-Lou!) however I’ve been travelling and doing other things with my life lately, so this has taken a back-seat (and I hope I haven’t forgotten everything that I studied so hard for!). Next year, I am aiming to go back to uni (in Australia) and complete a masters or post-graduate degree that will give me the extra credentials and expertise so that I’ll then be able to work as an accredited dietician. Anyhoo, I digress, the point I was trying to get at, is that I love all things nutrition related and about how we can thrive and live our lives to the fullest and happiest, and cure any ailments, just by good nutrition and being aware of what we eat. I mentioned yesterday that I’d be eating lots of healthy, healing foods, so I thought I’d expand a bit more on exactly what those would be.

The first thing that comes to mind, when thinking about healing your body, would be protein, and making sure you’re getting enough good quality sources of this. Such as: lean-meat and fish (if you are not vegetarian), eggs, tofu, yoghurt, nuts, seeds, pulses. A protein powder/drink can also be useful. Protein helps to heal and repair the body and build new, lean muscle.

However it’s not just protein that you’d need to ensure your getting enough of. Key vitamins/minerals to up your intake of would be: vitamin C (and antioxidants, to help with inflammation), vitamin A (acts as an antioxidant also, for inflammation healing, and also needed for new cells/tissue) , zinc (needed to repair and grow new muscle), along with a regular supply of B vitamins (for tissue regeneration and repair as well as daily general well-being, energy etc), enough calcium (from more ‘natural’, bioavailable sources if possible, i.e. dark green veg, almonds, eggs, tinned fish rather than bovine sources of calcium for their young, ie. Milk), an adequate intake of carbohydrate (even if not training), and enough ‘good’ fats too (for reducing/eliminating inflammation).

So, to up your vitamin C, people often think ‘oranges/citrus fruit’, but there is an abundance of vit C (and antioxidants) in potatoes (mainly the skin, so keep it on if possible), strawberries, kiwifruit, broccoli, capsicums, cabbage, and many other fruit and veg. So, aiming for a variety of different coloured fruit and veg will help increase your vit C intake (and usually your B vitamin intake too).

For making sure you’re getting enough vitamin A, initially look for orange coloured veg, such as sweet potato and carrots, but also be aware that there’s vit A in eggs, fish, dairy products (aim for eating less of these though), and dark green leafy veg.

Zinc is often thought to go hand in hand with your protein intake, i.e. if you’re getting enough protein then you’re probably getting enough zinc, but if you’re unsure, then aim to add in some: nuts, beans, seafood (i.e. oysters and crab), lean meat, dairy foods (but keep these to a minimum). A zinc supplement can be useful too (although it’s best to aim to get your vitamins and minerals naturally through bioavailable food sources rather than a capsule, but an extra supplement at times, such as when you are aiming to heal and injury or prevent an illness, can be a very good thing).

Good sources of B vitamins: cereals, beans, nuts, meat, fish, vegetables etc (found in many different foods, so aim for a varied and interesting diet).

Eating enough in general, and not reducing your carbohydrate intake is important for healing too. If you eat too few kilojoules or not enough carbohydrate sources, then your body will naturally start to burn your own protein for fuel instead, thus slowing the healing process. Good sources of carbohydrate foods to choose would be starchy, whole-grains if possible, and aiming for a variety of these and not just one type.

‘Good’ fat choices could be olive oils, peanut butter (or other nut butters), flax seeds, oily fish (salmon, sardines, tuna etc), and avocado.

So, these would be the main foods and items to focus on, but don’t underestimate the power of herbs and spices! I mentioned previously re: Husband’s turmeric habit, and turmeric is an amazing panacea that can assist with a number of ailments and issues. I really need to take his advice about this and incorporate it into my daily diet, along with more garlic, especially when aiming to heal quickly. (One of turmeric’s benefits is that it has anti-inflammatory properties).

I think I have most of this covered, as my daily diet anyway consists of a large variety of different coloured veg, a good amount of carbohydrate (from rice, bread, other grains in soups/porridge, potatoes), plenty of tofu, nuts, seeds and eggs, and a fair bit of olive oil and peanut butter. I have also added in some protein powder drinks too (courtesy of my recent prize of a giant tub of protein powder), and I have a zinc supplement (in theory anyway – for some reason I forget to actually go and find the bottle and take a pill out to take it! They’re around here somewhere…) so I will be adding that in too. Oh yeah, and GREEN TEA, loads of it (we drink it by the bucketload here), I will be continuing with that, for its anti-oxidant properties and for making me feel awesome. I will also eliminate any beers or wine and my usual ice-cream addiction for the next week (yep, you read that correctly!), as this will help no end too, I’m sure.

So, in theory: good nutrition + lots of rest/sleep + positive thinking = I will be fixed and have ‘new’ legs again in no time, yes?? That’s the plan anyway.

Here are a few links to articles re: healing and nutrition if you fancy reading more (theirs may well be more technical than my ramblings on here too):

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2013/01/nutrition-for-injury.aspx#axzz35nHbndUz

http://www.livestrong.com/article/303683-foods-that-help-heal-muscle/

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/nutrition-weight-loss/foods-heal

http://www.fitbie.com/slideshow/5-kinds-foods-heal

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/foods_to_soothe_sore_muscles

Oh, Ginger too! Fresh ginger is great for pain relief and reducing inflammation too. (How could I forget ginger?! Another of Husband's daily habits - hmmm, I really SHOULD follow his example more, it seems...)

Are you a fan of protein powders?? (This has been the first one I've really given a go, and so far, so good. It's not my favourite thing to drink though.)

Enjoy your day people! Wow, it's the weekend (pretty much) already, again! How the hell did that happen?!

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New Shoes and New Jobs

6/24/2014

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Another week, another random pain, hmm, what’s going on? Today’s random (and I hope one-off) pain was in my lower right calf, and then another niggling (but more subtle) similar pain occurred in the left calf towards the end of my run too. The pain wasn’t too extreme, just annoying, but in the end it caused me to reduce my last tempo interval by a kilometre, as I decided to listen to my body and call it a day earlier than planned. (Today’s run was as follows: 1.6km warm-up, 2x 4.8kms at threshold pace with 3 mins rest in between, then a final 3.8kms threshold pace instead of a third 4.8kms interval, then the 1.6kms cool-down.)

I have an awful feeling that this week’s random pain may be a shoe related issue. I.e. that my shoes are well overdue for a change. I have read that you should change your running shoes every 800kms or so. Now, I was planning on getting a new pair at the expo during the marathon weekend in the Gold Coast, but now I’m not sure if I should wait and run in the shoes that I’ve got and have been training in, or buy a new pair and hope I can break them in in time for next Saturday’s race, or run in my older, even more worn out but trusty pair of shoes. Hmm, what to do? Or, maybe it has nothing to do with the shoes and is all in my head?? I hope so.

Something that helped immensely today, and not just with the run, but with the actually getting up and out there in the, yes you guessed it, continuous pissing down rain, was a mantra courtesy of Kristen at Glitter and Dust (http://glitteranddust.com/), about not trading what you want most for what you want right now. Thanks Kristen! This actually woke me up, as I was midway through a random dream re: eating a chicken burger (even more random as I have recently gone back to being mostly vegetarian, along with Husband who is newly vegetarian) and was wondering in the dream if I was awake or dreaming this, and if I was awake then why was I eating a chicken burger so close to getting up for my morning run? Then it struck me, oh it must be a dream, and the mantra came in, adapted to suit the occasion, and spurred me on to wake up as I told myself: ‘don’t trade sleeping in again for what you want most Lou!’

I wish I’d remembered this phrase yesterday afternoon though, when I absolutely traded in what I want most (to get a new PB at the Gold Coast half marathon, and thus, sticking to my training schedule, rain or no rain) for what I wanted right then: going for beers and snacks of our favourite marinated cucumber dish and edamame beans, followed by dinner with a nice bottle of red. So, no, yesterday’s run was out the window! Oops…

Another awesome mantra that helped a lot this morning was courtesy of Kristina over at Blog About Running (http://blogaboutrunning.com/) where I reminded myself that ‘I’ve done it before, I can do it again’. Thanks Kristina!!

I have written on here before about how sad we will be to say goodbye and how much we have loved working here. We also often say how this is the best job we’ve ever had and that it doesn’t feel like a job. There’s been no criticism (‘constructive’ or otherwise), no dramas, and no stress. We have been able to plan our own lessons and teach what we like and use whatever method we choose to, and have always been praised and appreciated. The working hours are great as are the perks of the job, and the other teachers are very friendly and warm and welcoming. If you like the sound of this teaching job, then read on: there are two vacancies here at the school we are leaving soon! It is a great position for a couple, or for two single teachers. If you are hold a TEFL or TESOL or other teaching certificate, and would like to come and teach in China, then please get in touch and send me your details, and I can pass it on to the woman in charge of hiring foreign teachers. Here are some more details about the job:

- Work just over 10 hours a week. (Sometimes less when there are exams, sports days etc.)

- Accommodation provided (fully furnished, utilities paid for, all mod cons, air con, TV, internet etc)

- Bicycles provided too!

- Airfare reimbursed at the end of the contract.

- Extra expenses reimbursed at the of the contract too. (For telephone, medical, and travel.)

- Medical insurance covered by the school.

- After the initial visa to get in the country, the school pays for your health examination, resident permit and all renewals etc.

- Breakfast and lunch provided 5x a week.

- Work only Monday to Friday, and usually between 10am and 4pm.

- Lots of time off and freedom to explore this and other cities.

- Teach 13 to 15 year olds (depending on which grade you teach), and between 22 and 44 students in a class or half class.

- Must be a native English speaker.

I’m sure there are lots more details I could tell you about, but if you like the sound of it so far, then please do get in touch! They are looking for someone (or two people ideally) to arrive in late August, for the beginning of term on September 1st.

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of where we live and teach:

I hope the school finds some new teachers in time for September. Of course, we'll naturally be jealous of whoever takes our place! :)

So, tell me, what do you reckon I should do re: my shoe dilemma?

How often do you replace your running shoes?

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Husband, Herbs, and Healthy Food

6/22/2014

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Surprise, surprise, it is STILL raining here in Yiwu. After all my talk of enjoying a run through the summer rain and drizzle, I woke up this morning and was decidedly not keen to get wet out there today, so instead I did this super fun kickboxing workout instead: http://hasfit.com/workouts/home/cardio-aerobic/cardio-kickboxing/ and will soon be doing some relaxing yoga, plus some core work (finally! It hasn't happened yet, even when I've put it down in my schedule, hmm, seems easy to forget about all too often).

Over the weekend (in between and during the downpours) we cycled around to a traditional Chinese herbalist/medicine shop where Husband gets his turmeric from. It is a fascinating place full of things that for the most part we have little to no idea of what they are or the benefits they hold. We actually went in with a list of a few different items as well as his usual turmeric (he has it daily, as well as ginger and garlic, separately though, usually as a small shot mixed in with some olive oil - so good for your health, don't know why I haven't followed suit yet) however it was a case of things getting lost in translation and they mixed all of the other three herbs and ground them up together, instead of three separate bags, hmmm, must be good for something hey. (Super mix?)

The rest of the weekend was spent avoiding the rain and resting/watching documentaries, catching up with family and friends 'back home' via Skype, and eating delicious, healthy meals, as per these pictures below, some of our favourites dishes here in China:

In other news, it is less than TWO weeks now til I get to see this amazing woman (on the left):

Oh, and I will run the Gold Coast half marathon too. :)

In an excellent twist of fate, Husband's best mate from here in Yiwu will be back in town for his summer holiday with his family (he gets back on the day that I leave town), so Husband will be able to have a good catch up with his good friend, while I am on a mission travelling to Oz and back seeing my best friend and running a race.

I hope YOU had a great weekend!

Do you eat/use turmeric in your cooking? Heard/know about its amazing health benefits?

Do you regularly take any other herbs/spices/supplements? (Husband eats a few raw garlic cloves and gnaws on fresh ginger each day, and has about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of turmeric.)

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How About the Humidity!?

6/16/2014

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The humidity here in Yiwu this morning is insane. Just saying. Out of control humid. So, I’m sitting here with a face that’s covered in sweat as I write this, nice…

This morning’s scheduled run was a speed session down at the track, which it seemed I’d not long ago left (I went for a quick 6km run last night seeing as I’d missed the early morning slot). On schedule was: 1.6km warm-up, then 4x 3.22kms at threshold pace (4:07-4:18) with 3 minute rests in between, then 1.6km cool-down. This day calls for a double up run with an 8km run scheduled for later, however, due to already being drenched and soaking wet and not wanting to relive the similar feel of last night’s humid/soaking wet run, I decided to tie these two together and just keep on running and get it all done and dusted for the day, and so, once I’d finished the speed workout, I had a drink of water, a banana, and set off on the 8km recovery run.

A Few Things Re:These Runs:

The humidity caused my speed intervals to be extremely tough. It seemed it was a battle between me and the humidity. Sucks to say but the humidity eventually won out and I cut the last interval short by 1.2km. Booo humidity…

- I was absolutely drenched not long after I began the track run. Soaking wet. Which is not too fun to run in. I think I was getting extra strange looks this morning, not only for being a running laowei but for being a soaking wet/drowned rat kind of running laowei. Check it out, I tried to capture just how wet I was when I got back: the first one will give you the idea of the weather conditions over here and in the second one I was trying to show that it looks like I’ve been in a shower fully clothed. Ohwell…

My feline friends were back at the track, but this time there was an extra tabby and tortoiseshell one. Cute.
During the recovery 8km, something worrying happened from kilometer 3 to 7. Knee pain. Uh-oh. WTF?! Very random knee pain in my left knee, and only very slight. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. It felt kind of like if I had screws around my kneecap, that the ones on the outer side of it were being tightened or screwed in further, if that makes sense. Now, I’m not sure if I spoke too soon re: being fully recovered after the ultra race, or if this is a completely unrelated (one-off) random pain. I hope the latter! I’m supposed to be getting back into things hey! And building my speed back up for the half marathon in less than 3 weeks time! Noo… So, I’m not sure what it was, but it seemed to disappear again by the last kilometer. Strange hey? I will keep an eye on it (and maybe not run tomorrow, not sure), and will be trying out some of those joint capsules that the wonderful Runner’s World folks gave me as part of my prize. Haha, maybe they know something I don’t (more than likely). Can’t hurt anyway, so will give them a go.
My shoelaces came undone during the track workout. TWICE. Kind of annoying and put me off my pace. The second time it happened I was wavering anyway with feeling the full extent of the heat and humidity (it felt like running through a heavy, warm cloud) so I took this as a sign that maybe I should shorten that last 3.22kms interval and start my cool down early. Listen to my body and all that. I hope my laces last the distance on 6th July!
Apart from the not going the full distance in the speed session and the random knee pain during the recovery run, I was pretty happy with my effort this morning. I was able to keep at threshold pace for the distances I had set out, mostly anyway, and felt like my legs can do it. Although it was hard. I guess there’s a reason it’s called speedwork, and not run-at-an-easy-comfortable-pace-so-it-doesn’t-feel-like-work-work. You know your workout is hard and challenging when you are talking to yourself and making deals/excuses, i.e. ‘if you don’t run this last kilometer you will always get it in later in the day’, or: ‘you’ve done extra kilometres walking to the track and during the 3 minute rests, so you can stop early’. Lol…

A Few Things Not Re: These Runs:

- Our staple go-to breakfast a lot of the time (when we don’t feel like going to the school canteen for brekkie) is ‘Eggy Rice’. I thought I would share the ‘recipe’ here. It’s a good ‘un – very easy: Take any leftovers you may have from the night before (for example, for us today: leftover spicy beans and cauliflower with rice that I made last night). Chuck it in the wok after heating a little oil first. Fry for a couple of minutes:

Chuck in a couple of eggs and sort of muller it all together. Cook until you think it’s all cooked through, with some brown bits if you like:

If you’re like me, the next step is to douse it with aromatic vinegar, et voila: Eggy Rice. It tastes a lot better than it looks, I promise. I guess it’s like a Chinese ‘Bubble and Squeak’?

- Very soon, I get to hang out with my favourite girl in the world: Annie. Here is us back in January this year:

I. Can’t. Bloody. Wait. It will only be for 3 days, but that is 3 days that we will definitely enjoy and here’s hoping we can work out how to freeze time during those days. She is amazing and travelling up from outer-state to meet me at the Gold Coast when I fly there for the half marathon. Amazeballs!
The opposite of this excitement would be the awful, awful pain of seeing the man you love being so utterly heartbroken and shattered, and knowing that you can’t do anything to take his pain away or make it better. All the love/hugs, time spent hanging out with him, nutritious and regular meals, support when he needs it, and alone time when he needs it, are not going to bring his cousin back (she was like a sister to him; they were very close), and it’s so painful hey.
Running (when you’re not trying to keep your speed up at the track and are constantly checking Garmin!) is the best form of therapy and also a great time to meditate on the move I reckon. I. Love. Running.
Yesterday in what was both a crazy hot AND humid day, I decided it would be a good day to do a thorough 3 hour clean of one of our apartments here. You know it’s a good workout/cleaning session when there is sweat dripping in your eyeballs.

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone!

Have you experienced the kind of weird knee pain I described above? Do you think I should take some unscheduled rest days or maybe it was all in my head? (I hope the latter.)

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Good Things Come to Those Who...

6/13/2014

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...wait / get told 'no' and thus we go and do something else for the day. Further to our: we thought we were going to have an awesome relaxation spa day only to be told 'mei you' ('no / don't have' in Chinese), we then remembered we had yet more vouchers to a different hotel (also nearby) which offered time in their gym and swimming pool. So, yesterday we thought, why not try there instead? (I don't know why we haven't used all these vouchers before, but hey-ho, we're getting there in our last 4 weeks of living here.) Imagine our delight and joy then when we discovered that it wasn't just a gym and pool that was on offer, but that they too had saunas (and one each apparently, which was awesome - as at the other hotel it was a sauna in the guys' changing room but only a steam room for the ladies) and a giant, cavernous spa that lay adjacent to the large (and empty) swimming pool, complete with fake rocks and palm trees. This hotel's facilities kicked the other hotel's arse!! The only downside was that instead of 12 glorious hours as advertised by the other joint, they limit you to two, but it was just enough time (then we came back to continue the 'rest' portion back in our cool, air-conditioned apartment, ahhh...)

We took many photos of the place (as we're tourists like that) including photos of the very unflattering swimming caps that are mandatory here and the amusing (to us anyway) English signs (my favourite being the 'Men Stop' one, tee-hee. This was at the entrance to the ladies changing room, however there was no 'woman stop' sign for the men's room?). One photo I neglected to take was that of the ashtray in the gym, complete with recently stubbed out ciggie. Only in China hey. Oh, you can't tell from the photos but the no smoking sign shown below was placed, of course, above a table that featured a large, ready-to-use ashtray.

So, here is our day (or some of it) in pictures, starting with a massive, tasty breakfast, before we began cycling over to the hotel.

Haha, maybe we took too many pictures of a hotel's pool/spa?? I think we were excited to be swimming again. (I know, I had a wonderful swim in the last hotel I stayed at in Beijing last week, but Husband hasn't been in one since Bali last August! Shocker.) It felt soooo good to be splashing around in the water. After 30 very sweaty minutes on the gym's elliptical (active recovery! It must have been years since I was last on an elliptical in a gym, but I was excited to use it to test my legs/continue the active recovery practice) I spent the next hour ish with Husband in our miraculously private pool and spa (lucky us) before then sweating it out some more with a couple of sauna sessions. Ahhh, so refreshing. Kind of felt like we were properly 'on holiday', if you know what I mean.

Now, if you've tuned in or found yourself here because you were actually after some RUNNING news/info, then fear not! I'm back! Yes, I finally went for a run this morning (well, it's been a whole week, and I was getting itchy feet, plus my legs have been feeling fine) as I couldn't resist: perfect morning for it: slightly cloudy and wasn't too hot yet, and yay for all the active recovery, as my legs feel great. It was an 11kms easy paced/recovery run, and although I felt a little bit slower than my usual pace, hopefully this is just temporary and I'll be back into it (properly) next week. Just over 3 weeks to go! Can't wait. Just a bit excited for the Gold Coast half marathon (plus seeing some of my favourite people in the world, albeit too briefly and just for a day or so, but hey).

What are you looking forward to/excited about that's coming up?

Do you like to hang out in spas/saunas too?

Have you been to the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia? Or anywhere else in Oz?

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Beijing Bound!!

6/4/2014

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All that talk of keeping things short and sweet in yesterday's post will now come to fruition haha - off to catch my plane to Beijing soon! Woohoo! Excited, but nervous. I don't think I'll have internet access in the National park (deep in the forest/mountains I think), so stay tuned until Monday or Tuesday for an update. Hopefully, I'll have LOTS to tell you all about this 50km trail race adventure weekend. Thank you for all your awesome, encouraging words on here, and thanks to Husband/Coach too! (best coach ever, and I will really miss him this weekend, another reason for the nerves, going there solo, oh well)...

Have a great rest of the week and awesome weekend everyone!

ps - If I had internet or my computer with me, you'd probably here this from me in the next post, so here you are, pre-emptively:

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Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

6/2/2014

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Hello Hello from me, Puppy, and Husband (Husband not pictured as he is the resident cameraman)! Gotta love a public holiday courtesy of Dragon Boat Festival. The weather has turned it on for us too - hot and sunny days, with minimal pollution, yay. Got in a fairly challenging stair running workout (30x reps of our building with a few 100m recovery jogs chucked in) this morning followed by about 45 minutes of strength/weights. Great start to the day. Since then, we've been cruising around eating delicious things and drinking some of China's finest red (well, the finest is debatable, but we like it anyway).

Got my final email re: the race on Saturday. Apparently there is a 12 hour cut-off time!!! Shithouse. Hope I make it. Don't know what to expect really. Oh, and no plastic bottles allowed on the course apparently ,so that might be tricky. (I have a camelback but have lost the bladder which I guess is the most important part if you're using it for water! D'oh...)

In other news: this website is being really RUBBISH and not letting me reply to any comments today. So, sorry about that! Will reply as soon as this is fixed. How frustrating!

I hope everyone has had a great Monday!

Do you run with a camelback?? Do you think I should invest in a new one before I depart for Beijing on Thursday?? (My instinct is telling me 'yes', hmmm...)

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Zongzi-Making Champions!

5/28/2014

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What a fun Thursday morning we've had here in China! We got a call late last night telling us: 'good news! You don't have lessons tomorrow. BUT, you are going to a zongzi making contest and please be ready at 7:30am'. Hmm, our usual lessons would start at half nine, was this really good news??

Yes, it turns out it was. We took part in the annual zongzi making championships, where a local zongzi champ and a foreigner get partnered up and it's a 'zongzi off' to see whose sweet little packages the judges like the best. For those unaccustomed with zongzi, they are: "an essential food of the Dragon Boat Festival. In early times, it was only glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or other plant leaves and tied with coloured thread, but now the filings are more diversified, including jujube and bean paste, fresh meat, and ham and egg yolk". Luckily they kept it fairly 'simple' for us I guess, as we stuck to just two fillings: rice and a small dried fruit (zongzi) or two in the centre.

It was a pretty intense competition, and those zongzi are fiddley little buggers to tie up with string! Especially when there's a camera or 10 in your face, capturing your awkward and fumbley attempts. We can't have done too badly though, as me and the lovely zongzi champ who I was lucky enough to be partnered with (team 12 pictured above) came in first place! This was quite a shock to me, as I was pretty sure mine were fairly inferior, sub-standard zongzi, but there you go. Woohoo! So, as Husband pointed out, I am now the 6th Zongzi Foreign Champion for Yiwu (our city here in China) so I'm quite stoked about that. Husband did awesomely too (better than me, I thought), so I'm surprised he didn't get first, second or third place himself. However, we both got some excellent certificates, a cash prize each (one for taking part and one for winning first place), and some tasty lunch, along with a great morning of bizarre zongzi making fun with some wonderful, warm, friendly people.

Here are some pictures of the event to give you a better idea:

Ok, and onto the running bit: This morning (early early early morning due to our change in schedule - yes, I managed to switch my workout to a 4:30am start in honour of said zongzi event) I was down at the track completing my speed session for week. This was: 1.6km warm-up, then 4x 3.22km at threshold pace with 3 minute rests in between, and ending with 1.6km cool-down. I changed this slightly: instead of the 3 minute rests I carried on running but at a much slower/easy pace for three minutes, and only did a couple of laps of the last set, as I was worried about making our trip in time. All good though. A great, sweaty morning workout, and due to the obscenely early time of the day (which was actually really nice and peaceful, and only slightly unbearably humid and heavy) I had the whole track to myself. Win.

Ever eat zongzi? Have you ever taken part in a food contest? Either making food or eating food?

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Nervous

5/27/2014

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As promised, here is Husband and I hard at ‘work’ being the voices of the English oral exams yesterday. Loads of fun. Hmm, I wonder if we could do this professionally and get paid for it? Oh yes, that’s right, we kind of do at the moment. But I would love to do this on a more regular basis, not just every couple of months. Anyone out there looking for a voice-actor? Who specializes in having a half English/half Aussie accent?? I am available.

Today I’ve got some yoga and a stair session on my schedule, as it’s really NOT. LONG. NOW. Eek… Got another slightly confusing email from the race organizers again, complete with directional signs, course map, and an elevation chart. Shit’s about to get real hey.

Here’s a snippet of the detailed email (translated using Google translate again, so maybe not the best):

“Prior to the beginning and end of the game are located in the Five Sacred Mountains Scenic Village Hotel in clear water, the track length of 50 km, the track surface types include: cement roads, dirt roads, gravel, board the oil, gravel, grass mountain Austin, deciduous jungle road, boardwalk, stone staircase, wild dirt roads and so on. The race track located mainly between the mountains, the highest elevation of 2281 m, the lowest elevation of 553 meters, with an average altitude of 1233 meters, the cumulative climb 2605 m."

The ‘grass mountain Austin’ and ‘deciduous jungle road’ sections sound fun, don’t they? Hmm, there is a fair bit of elevation too.

Nerves are setting in now. For two main reasons: nerves about the course (I am aiming just to finish and not get lost); but also, nerves about going and meeting other seasoned trail runners and ultra running superstars. I will be going sans-Husband (my usually excellent companion/coach/support team/photographer), so will be sharing a room at the hotel there with another runner. Let’s hope there’s no see-through glass bathroom wall that many of the Chinese hotels favour over here. Nothing says ‘hi, nice to meet you!’ like waving at your new room-mate from the toilet.

Do you get nervous before an event? What do you do to calm or get rid of your nerves?

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How About the Humidity!?

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Zongzi-Making Champions!

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