A dog, cats, the kid - and even a run!

Thursday 08/02/07:
First things first...
Thank goodness for SD and 2P supplying the name of that show John Stamos was in - "Full House" ! Was driving me nuts trying to remember it last night, so thanks guys! Oh and Em, he's lost the mullet and looks pretty good with short hair! Shame same can't be said for Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen - they used to be so cute in that programme - then they grew up and now they're brats!

Also, 2P I have to admit that I haven't actually visited the Treaty House at Waitangi, so you probably know more about it than I do! Something I must do one day...

Righto, running talk...
The weather conditions were perfect for a mid-week long-ish run when I headed out the door at 5.30am - alot of the humidity from yesterday had dissipated and the air felt almost cool at first, there was not so much as a breeze and once the sky lightened enough I could see it was perfectly clear above. Had planned a loop in my head that I have not fully done in quite some time, but used to run an awful lot from my old house. The plan called for 60mins with 20mins of that at "up-tempo" and the rest at "steady" pace, so this is what I did:

Brisk walk warmup: 5mins
Steady paced running: 20mins
Up-tempo running: 20mins
Steady paced running: 20mins (For a total of 60mins - approx 12.5kms)
Brisk walk cooldown: 5mins

Yep, plonked the faster stuff right in the middle! This was a rather satisfying run as I felt good and quite strong thru out. Sure that after the up-tempo section, my steady pace was then a little quicker than usual and my distance may have even been slightly more than stated but definatley wasn't less. Sooner I get the "gadget" the easier this will be to work out! By the way, I have made my choice - definately going with the Polar RS200sd. It has all of the features I want, plus a few - and its not too big for my scrawny little wrist! Thing is tho, it retails for NZ$490 in Rebel and Stirling Sports!! But as they say, its not what you know, its who you know - and with Todd being in the sports trade and supplying these stores, he has a few contacts. Currently waiting to see what sort of discount he can wangle, but he's away till Sunday (how rude!) But if its not that good I may purchase on-line instead. Only trouble with that is that between the exchange rate and international postage, it may not end up much cheaper - plus I don't want to wait too long! Once I make up my mind... and all that!

Anyway, it was a good run and I think the up-tempo did me good, but I have to say the legs are feeling rather tired on it by tonight. Tomorrow is a rest day and I actually feel ready for it this week - a good sign. Only part of this run I didn't like was when I was going past the new park in the dark, I suddenly sensed I was being watched... On the other side of the road (fortunately) in an area where they are currently excavating, was a large but scrawny dog. I don't know if he was wild or stray or just from one of the neighbouring farms or houses, but it gave me a bit of a fright as I'm a bit scared of dogs I don't know (got bitten twice when I was a kid for no reason.) I kept my eye on him as I continued to run past, but luckily he didn't move a muscle. There really would have been some fartlek going on if he did!! Felt abit sorry for the poor bugger in case he was lost or hurt or starving, but there's just no way I'm going to approach a large, strange dog in the darkness, alone in a vacant park area! Hope he was OK tho... Oh and the other bad thing about this run was that over half of it had to be done on the footpath, as some of the main roads were just to busy and have no cycle lane, which I usually run in. But it was nice to run a familiar old route again.

Heard something rather sad on the radio news today... An elderly man collapsed and died from a heart attack when out running in a central Auckland suburb on Sunday morning... Worst of it is, they still don't know who he is or where he's from. No one has reported him missing and he had no ID on him... Its Thursday... surely someone must have missed him? Very sad indeed.

Right, on a brighter note - I've had the camera out again, so time to post a few more pics... Here's one I like of Courts and I after being at the hairdressers last week.

And as promised, one of her yesterday heading off to school for the first day of her Year 3 year, complete with a new back-pack, stationery and sandals! I have met her teacher, Miss Somervell, who seems extremely nice and enthusiastic. Courtney informs me she is the ripe ol' age of 22 ! God that makes me feel old!

I also said that I would do a Baxter update - for the cat lovers! Well we may have only had him 2 1/2 weeks, but he has grown heaps as he eats like a horse! He now has more toys than most small children - the garage is littered with balls, pretend mice, skipping ropes with various things tied to the ends, plastic rings off milk bottle necks that he carries all over the house in his mouth, etc, etc! He races up and down the stairs like a tornado and has made friends with Courtney's remote controlled "Pound Puppy"!

Up until a couple of days ago, I would have said he and Bungie were still not getting along. She has made herself very scarce since we got him, which makes me feel a bit sad... But just yesterday, while he was having a romp around the fenced back courtyard, this is what they were doing...

And she seems to have stopped hissing and swiping out at him too. I think Bungie is slowly coming around, as tonight they have even both been asleep here on the office floor... sure they were in seperate corners, but for her to even doze in the same room as him is a first and a sign she is feeling more relaxed about having him around I hope. Doesn't help that he constantly runs up the her and wants to jump around a play whenever she appears! She was never terribly playful, even as a kitten.

She actually looks fairly small here, but trust me, shes not! Mind you, when we took Baxter to the vet for his first vaccination on Friday, the vet commented that she thinks he will be a very big cat! Great, less room on the couch for me!