In my shoes...on my road to Paris!

Okay, okay, I know I'm going to Paris in a few short weeks BUT...

The lovely people at CBA Women in Focus are searching for a "global blogger" to travel to my beloved New York and blog for them....and I know the perfect person for the job - ME!!

I'd love it if you would check out my first blog post on their website here...and if you could please, please, please comment on the post, share it on Facebook, and on Twitter or any of your other social networks, you'll be helping to get me to the city I love (New York), to do the thing I love (blog)!

Now, I know it's a big ask, but in order to comment on the post, you need to first create a free profile at womeninfocus.com.au and log in. It's really simple, and you don't have to fill in all the details of the profile if you don't want to.

Thanks heaps people! Love ya :)

 

I Don't Know???

In recent weeks I've been thrown a few curve balls that have caused me to throw my hands in the air and ask the big question...WHY? 

Sometimes things happen and we eventually become fully aware of the reason. However, I've resigned myself to the fact that there are many other times when things happen and we will never know why. It's at these times, I believe, it's just better to simply accept the status quo and move forward.

There's no use trying to work out why something happened, or what I did to deserve it, or why I should feel sorry for myself. All of this expends a lot of energy for no positive return.

Instead, I pour my energies into loving my precious family and the life I have, treasuring each moment on this beautiful planet of ours, and of course, training for the awesome Marathon de Paris. 

I still think I'm crazy, but I'm training to do a 42km marathon to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation (for those of you who may not know), and I'm proud to say that last week I successfully completed a half marathon with these two gorgeous gals...

CANCER SUCKS!

Still on my journey - this was the start of my 12km walk
from Brighton to Dolls Point and back on  14th January 2012

Excuse the French in this post title, but I am going to Paris and as I'll explain, a bit of French was necessary here. 


I know "CANCER SUCKS" because I've experienced the dreaded thing first hand! Over the last couple of weeks, I've also had to get my head around devastating news in regards to some amazing breast cancer survivors I know.

Survival of the fittest...

There have been many a "January" I've started the new year committed to exercising more. But never have I had to contend with grave consequences if I didn't keep it up. This year however, I'm participating in the Marathon de Paris in April. YEP, I'M RUNNING A MARATHON....AAARRGH!!! I have no choice but to keep up with my training!

Things had been going fairly smoothly with my training up until a few weeks before Christmas. I suddenly found myself struggling with my distances. I was up to walking 12 kilometres each day, 5 days a week. But on some days, I felt as though I could just fall in a heap on the side of the road, but I had to conjure up all the will power I could muster to push on - one foot in front of the other until I got back home.

I started asking questions. Why was I feeling so fatigued? I've had the pleasure of meeting a few fellow marathon runners over the past few weeks and was able to pick their brains about what I might have been doing wrong. Believe it or not, I discovered that I've been doing TOO MUCH! Wow, that's never happened before. I've never been one to do too much exercise. I was usually doing not enough! But there you have it. I've had to cut back on my training.

After being referred to marathon guru Hal Higdon's website, I've embarked on a brand new 14 week training schedule, which will take me right up to the big day.  Wish me well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello 2012!

Sydney Harbour fireworks on New Year's Eve

It’s at the beginning of each new year, that most people start making lists of all the things they want to change in their life. Lose weight, save more money, be nicer, smile more, and so on.

But if all we think about is changing ourselves and making new year’s resolutions, we’re in danger of focusing on all the things we think are “wrong” with our lives. And we’d be forgetting something really important – that there are probably lots of things that are “right” in our lives. Things that are cause for celebration, that will help us to start the new year with positivity and excitement!

Making Memories

"You must live the life you were born to live" - the Reverend Mother, Sound of Music

I love the Sound of Music. It brings back great childhood memories, sitting with my Mum and Dad and some of my siblings, entertained for hours by this feel-good family movie. So many things inspire me to live a good life...movies, people, images, words. I came across a fabulous image of Paris a few days ago on Pinterest, which inspired me to wonder if this is how I'll see the Eiffel Tower in a few short months as I walk the Marathon de Paris for the National Breast Cancer Foundation...

Blisters and calluses

One thing I've noticed about walking for hours every day is the great physical fitness that seems to be building up fairly quickly. My body shape is starting to change as well, and I'm excited about fitting into some of my clothes that hadn't fit before.

What I'm not enjoying though is all the blisters I'm getting on my feet. Not only are blisters painful, but they've started to turn into calluses, which are not real pretty! If you've got a weak stomach, then you should probably close your eyes now. But for those of you who have iron cast stomachs like me, here is a photo of one of my blisters-turned-callus!