Ok, so how does social networking work again?

My third month is almost up and yes I have missed the mindless gossiping and catch-ups that Facebook brings, but at the same time I'm glad I've had the month to get it out of my system: I'm definitely going to limit my intake from now on.

What I'm not going to limit though is my time spent jogging. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I may have been converted. Sadly the work, weather and holiday gods have conspired against me the last couple of weeks and I haven't been as dedicated to the exercise as I might have liked, but I've now got the basics under control and think this could lead to a positive lifestyle change

Now I'm enjoying a glass of wine as I type this thinking about the next plethora of challenges December is going to bring: I m SO getting halo points next month ;-)

Two more days..

... and I can annoy everyone again with my rambling status updates!

I know I've said I miss it but after watching the frequency with which my friends updated it over the weekend while we holidayed together, part of me is glad I didn't have access as I don't really need to read about things in my news feed I've literally just done. Although admittedly, some of it WAS worth re-living (wiki, wiki, bum, bum...)

Maybe I should make a habit of blocking people I'm spending time with over a particular weekend so they can update and check-in to their hearts content without filling my news feed and then I can unblock them once the weekend is over and we go back to our respective boring existences??

I think there's some logic in that.

I am of course reminded of a trip to the other side of the country with the same group of friends where me and one of the others had an entire conversation on FB despite being in the same room, but I'm choosing to blame the alcohol for that one!!

It will be nice to 'see' everyone again though and I'm thinking some long overdue catch-UPS will be in order.

posted from Bloggeroid

Success!!

I jogged this morning before work and DIDN'T spend the whole day eating afterwards.

That's gotta be progress right? I even found that I wanted to run more often than I actually needed to.

On reflection though that was probably more to do with the fact it was about 7 degrees and I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt, as opposed to finding enjoyment in jogging...

posted from Bloggeroid

I'm missing the crazy...

.. I'm missing the crazy people I was friends with on FB.

You know, the ones who have domestics, air their dirty laundry and trade insults? I think I'm addicted to the drama.

I've discovered two things about jogging...

One, I get bloody hungry later in the day, and two, it's very hard to say "good morning" to my fellow early-morning walkers/ joggers.

Though it does seem I'm in the minority for worrying about that last point.

At my work meeting last week, one of my board members and I were commenting on how we make a point to say "hello" or "good morning" to people we encounter. His daughter - in her early to mid twenties - is mortified by this behaviour and finds it embarrassing and now refuses to exercise with him.

I found this laughable until my boss said the same thing: he's fine with a polite head nod or half-assed smile but actually uttering a greeting?? Good lord no.

I found this quite bizarre as my boss is quite an open personalble fellow so the concept of him not acknowledging someone surprised me. According to him it's not that he doesn't want to say hi, it's more that he's concerned the additional effort exerted involved will make him either splutter at the stranger or collapse.

I like the approach of my board member though: he made it his mission to get every person he passes regular to say 'hi' back to him after within 12 months.

And he did.

Even after he stopped jogging for 4 months due to injury, on his first day back in the saddle every person he passed say hi.

I think that's why I've had a low opinion of joggers: all the ones I've seen/passed subscribe to mg bosses way of thinking and for an eternally bright person this not talking to others really doesn't work for me

posted from Bloggeroid

Work is such an inconvenience

Man work is a right royal pain in the butt when you're trying to stick to something! Being away for essentially 3 days totally messed up my (kind of) impeccable jogging program and I feel like I'm back to square one.

I did do some jogging while I was away, it just wasn't totally in line with c25k-powers-that-be but tomorrow I'm taking a flex day from work so I'm going to get right back into it and jog Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week before returning to my Monday, Wednesday, Saturday routine.

One thing I have started to notice though is how restless I get if I happen to miss a day of walking or jogging. I get twitchy and feel all out of sorts but a spin around the block gets me feeling better. This does mean I also understand why my superiors at work have issues travelling on buses for so long during our site visits, but I still think this is better than forking out $$ on charter flights.

And thankfully, none of them argue with me :-)

As for no FB, I am surprised at how much I'm missing it after just 14 days. Admittedly there has been some abrupt changes in my family which has meant I'm desperate to check up on them (which FB allows me to do without appearing over-zealous), I've had some great weekends with family - plus a big one coming up with my besties - and I've just wanted to post piccies and share the hilaarity.

I just generally miss hearing about people's lives - even the dysfunctional ones!

I will persevere though as it is important for me to focus on my life instead of everyone else's...even if my is somewhat boring in comparison!!

More inspiration....

So I mentioned to some colleagues that I had taken up jogging, and was surprised at how helpful they were.

I expressed my doubts at actually being able to run 5km after 9 weeks and was met with " what's with you being negative?"

Turns out there's a common held- and apparently proven - belief that once you get past the 6 week mark, you'll be amazed at what you can do. For some reason our bodies (and I'm guessing, our minds) like to make the first 6 weeks difficult before letting adrenaline and previously unrecognised athletic ability go free and you start to think you're the next Ussain Bolt.

I've only got 5 weeks to go til that hits: just in time for Olympic qualifying??

posted from Bloggeroid

If I was on Facebook right now..

I'd be commenting on how f&%$#@& unfair life can be, and how shitty cancer is.

We all see those stories of people and families touched by this rotten condition and are silently thankful that it isn't affecting our own.

Until it does.

Stay strong, stay positive and give that bastard the fight of an era.

posted from Bloggeroid

A slight bump in the jogging plans...

So here I was all set for the last of my week 1 jogging program and wouldn't you know it - my calf muscles seized up.

Crap it.

I know it's commonly believed it takes 3 weeks to form a habit but I was getting right into the c25k program and now I've fallen back out of pace. This normally wouldn't be a problem except I'm travelling for the next 3 days which will throw the pattern out even further.

Guess I need to make a sacrifice of some sort over the next three days to fit it in: I don't need to sleep really, do I?

What's the internet for again??

What is it that people spend hours on the internet doing if they're not on Facebook (and let's forget about porn)??

I've never been one to surf the net aimlessly, but with the exception of checking emails and research, I can't remember what I did on here. In the absence of FB I've been trying to entertain myself by playing a few games, researching options for selling my wedding dress and trying to find the last bit of my nephew's Christmas present on eBay, but that's about it.

Today is the first day though that I've actually missed FB. Sitting at cricket surrounded by obnoxious teenagers and whinging adults who seriously ought to know better, I'd usually update my status with what I was thinking. In absence of the opportunity to "status-ise" I verbalised it and as a result made enemies on two opposing sides. Well, not enemies per se but I doubt anyone will be volunteering to score with me next time they play us in case they get their heads bitten off!

Hubby is happy with this no-FB thing though, because if I was on-line I would've publicly panned him for the shit shot he played which resulted in him making an early exit from the game.

I have taken to writing random notes down on bits of paper in absence of updating my status so should have a nice retrospective collection next time I'm on there.

In the interim, anyone want to email me to let me know what's going on in their world???

Yep, I'm not smiling...

I promise to never complain about joggers not smiling again.

I've now completed two days of my c25k challenge as part of my taking up jogging for November and I will be the first to admit I haven't been smiling while I do it.

The concept of c25k is pretty simple. It's a program which promises to have you up from the couch and running 5km in nine weeks - that's NINE weeks. The best bit I like about the program is you only have to jog three days per week and undertake the set program on each day.

I've decided my jogging days are Monday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning. Far enough apart so I don't collapse in a heap the next time I go to do it, yet close enough that my muscles and joints don't get too relaxed.

I started on the Wednesday just gone with the week 1 program: 5 min walk to warm-up then 60 seconds jogging followed by 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes in total. I'm pleased to say I found it ok. Not easy going but I wasn't bent over dry-retching at the end. After a shower to recover I sat on the futon and couldn't move from sheer exhaustion. Hubby came home to find me looking zombie-like asking him to cook tea because it was to hard to move.

I'm pleased to say I snapped out of it about an hour later and returned to normal but by Thursday my legs were aching and so were - oddly - my hips. I felt like I needed a double hip replacement.

This morning was day 2 of week 1 and I was surprised at how much harder I found it to complete. I think my body was suffering PTSD and knew how much hurt it felt last time. Still, I completed it and this time didn't feel like bunking down in bed for 4 hours afterwards.

I can see how people enjoy jogging, but I'm not sure I'm at that stage yet. Still, I've got three and a half weeks to get used to it :-)

Bye bye Facebook, hello jogging!

First day back wearing make-up and I thoroughly enjoyed it - but isn't it a pain in the butt taking it all back off?? Oh well, have to take the bad with the good I suppose!

November has rolled around in all it's nearly-summer glory and that partly inspires my "taking up" for this month: jogging. As for giving up it's bye-bye Facebook.

Giving up: Facebook
I LOVE Facebook. It really is a brilliant invention. In a time when many of us are too busy to socialise and by default lose touch with people from our past, it's a fantastic tool for leaving our mark on the world. It's our chance to say to our friends and family "Hey, see what I've achieved this week."


I thoroughly enjoy browsing through friend's photo albums and can happily spend hours doing so. Hubby considers this borderline stalking, but as I'd like to think people would browse through mine, I like to think "fairs fair."


Of course there are those people who insist on airing their dirty laundry, engaging in domestic disputes, drink-updating (the "new & improved" drink-dialling!) and let's not forget about those who seem to update every time they do something as mundane as cook breakfast, walk down the street and - I kid you not - have a bowel movement!

I'm also kind of argumentative - I love a good juicy debate on all manner of topics but I don't consider Facebook a good platform for that. People get too personal. You can't really voice an opinion in opposition of someone else in the course of a wall-post-discussion because then four-letter words get posted about like emoticons and next thing you know the argument reverts to something that happened ten years ago and people starting talking about AVOs...

But I do find sometimes that I spend a little TOO much time on there. When our alarms go off in the morning, hubby checks the weather and I check Facebook. In doing so, I have realised that more things are starting to annoy me than I actually like so it's a good vice to give-up this month.

I'm far too curious a being to give it up entirely, but a month will be a good challenge - and I've had hubby change my password to avoid temptation!

Taking-up: Jogging
Two reasons I hate jogging:

1. You never see a smiling jogger. They're ALWAYS grimacing or looking like they want to throw up. As someone who is happy and smiling 90% of the time, I find this disturbing
2. I'm rather - how to put this delicately - asset blessed and I hate anything that draws unnecessary  attention to the girls. 

This final point is bizarre for two reasons: I play competitive netball which involves both running and jumping; and I'll happily run on a treadmill facing a mirror in a crowded gym.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.

Still, I can't deny the benefits of jogging, especially when I've seen the changes it has made in friends and colleagues who have taken it up.

I've actually decided my dislike of jogging is genetic. My parents were quality sportspeople and my brother is fairly adept at sport too yet I've never seen any of them jog off the court/pitch.

Not to fail at the start, I've been introduced to a program call c25k - Couch to 5km so think I'll use this as my guide.

Wish me luck!!