beautiful brisbane mornings!

 This is just a super quick post of piccies- these are early morning shots taken from my bed (yes, really!)... this is the reason NOW is my favourite time of the year to go running- the temperature is perfect, the light is stunning and there is nothing better than the feeling of invigoration you get from watching the sun rise... The fact that I can see this from my bed is probably what makes it so easy for me (most mornings!) to get out of bed and get going- why wouldn't you when it looks this beautiful?! That said, it isn't like that every morning- there are definitely times when I struggle! But it is definitely days like this one that make it all worthwhile! Hoorah, going to be a good day, I can feel it in my bones!!!

Early morning mangrove run

The nights are drawing in a bit and bringing the new season... there is just a hint of it in the air... or so I thought until yesterday when it hit 31degrees again! My mind and my body are definitely ready for a change of season and although the hours of light suggest it is on its way, last night was still a muggy, hot one- hard to sleep in that! Oh well, I'm sure I'll be dreaming of the long summer days in a few more months but for now I just have to practice patience- in a few areas of my life... something I've never been very good at! At least with the changes to the light it makes running in the mornings and evenings at the moment more interesting- the sunrise and sunsets are a softer light, full of colours (rather than the harsh light that suggests half the day is already gone, that you wake up to in mid-summer). This pic of the mudflats under the mangroves at the brisbane botanic gardens that I ran through this morning capture this light... Bring on beautiful autumn runs!

full of bliss-ful energy!

These pics are all that remain of the yummy scrummy energy bliss ball attempt by moi! Inspired in part by my dear friend Alana's love of 'byron bay bliss balls' in cafes around SEQ (Australia?), in part by the lululemon blog on their 'bliss ball challenge' and in part by the desire to cook up something yummy and energising to share with my friends at the uq twilight run today... these little goodies were born! It has been a miserable/grey/overcast/rainy few days but nothing would make me pull out of the twilight run... If it were only for me I may have, but most importantly this was the first race of my amazing friend Carmen's... and she made it! We all made it! What made it even more exciting was the fact that Carmen breast-fed minutes before the race... yes that's right- not only was it her first ever run, but it also was a run that showed where she has come from- giving birth to her beautiful daughter only just over a year ago, Carmen has turned into an inspirational running machine... It was so wonderful and really kind of special being able to run alongside her and my own mum (and at the event to also have the support of Paul, Maya and Kara!) that I think there was some kind of karma that parted the clouds for us and allowed the whole run to be completed sans rain! I am so glad that I have been able to run with my mum and create a little world of running love, full of friends who I can go on running dates with... there really is nothing more exhilarating than being able to share a run (and a post-run coffee!) with people who are really near and dear to you... So, thankyou to those near and dear to me for the amazing twilight run (and also I guess to the few thousand others in the race who aren't quite as near and dear... yet!)... I hope you enjoyed it and found it as wonderful as I did!

L. :-)