summer. coming.

This morning run pic indicates I am justified in feeling hot + bothered post-run and wanting nothing more than to plunge into any kind of cold water body upon finishing. Yup- the frangipani says it all- summer is on its way to Brisbane!

twilight buzz run!

Last night I was so excited to be part of the launch run for a new community exercise crew I have been working on called buzz!
We had a beautiful run through the Brisbane twilight- the city was definitely buzzing after Melbourne Cup lunches and celebrations! We finished with drinks and chats at the Ship Inn at South Bank. We are hoping the group will evolve and grow to make the community come alive by connecting through exercise - so feel free to pass it on and come along- check out the blog or facebook pages for details.

running mates

Ironic really that I should be posting about running right after posting about s-l-o-w-i-n-g down but I guess that's life- fast and slow thrown in the blender and wizzed around. This morning on my run, though not the first time I've enjoyed a d&m or debrief with a friend while running, was a good one. I've spoken about the phenomenal ease with which you can share stories, catch up, vent or muse while running before- it's easy even to share personal, emotional stories- issues which may be difficult to talk about with even your closest friends are opened up and fair fodder for discussion whilst running.
I'm not sure what it is about setting off on a run that brings down barriers- exhaustion? The sharing of a mutual bond, forged in challenging kilometres? I first saw this running/d&m phenomenon articulated by Kirsten Armstrong on her blog. This evening I read about it again in the latest issue of runners world magazine.
Of course I don't always feel like running and delving to the depths of my emotions at the same time- some times the best running partner is simply my smiling red dog (see above!). I'm so grateful though that some of my very best friends are ones I can share kilometres with. This isn't a coincidence- I've also noticed that people I start running with become friends a lot quicker than the relationship would develop if we were non runners... The sharing of life stories and opening up that occurs whilst distracted by the pain of a run (and the distraction from pain through talking about these same stories!) I'm sure is responsible. On a day that's dedicated to checking in with mates- and strangers- to see if they 'r ok?' this post is dedicated to my running mates. The ones who I run with here and now in Brisbane. The ones who I have run with, who might not be geographically here but who i often carry in my thoughts as I run... thankyou all for inspiring me, for motivating me and for keeping me ok. L. X

Springing back into morning runs!

Mornings are back! 6am this morning was already full of sunshine- beautiful streams of early morning light. I have been trying to sort my exercise routine for the last couple of weeks since returning from Canada. I have a couple of regulars locked in each wk but I had been trying to use Monday as a rest day... Until I realised that in fact, I love the feeling of a Monday run! It makes me feel as though I've started the week right, and I have more hope for continuing in the right direction for the rest of the week! Here's to more morning runs (especially on a Monday!) as we continue merrily into spring! L. x

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. :-)

catch-up-o-rama!

Wow, has been a while, after I was in such a good habit there for a while!
Well... I do have some excuses... top of the list being that I moved house! It was all a bit of a whirlwind, dealing with tax, banks, real estates, removalists and new body corporate... but I am in and I love it! I'm @ Torbreck, which is Brisbane's first residential highrise, built in the 50s and still going strong today... I am now just  a few minutes walk from my favourite Brissie 'hood- West End; I have walk and run routes literally on my doorstep; a lovely lap pool down the road and a cool down pool in my back yard- hurrah! I will try to post more often but for now I will give a snapshot overview of my time away from the blog...

Most recently on Sunday 7 November I mud-wrestled my way through the 350m dam swim/10km mountain bike/4km trail run(mud run!) that is the trex off road triathlon... yes that is mud, all over us, at the end of the run, but you cant hide our huge smiles- I felt like a kid again, whipping through the mud, swimming around the dam, and generally loving being outdoors. The event was low-key, family-friendly and great fun... hecks yes I'll be back for more of that!

This is a bit of a Brisbane special- there has been a spectacular Jacaranda season and this was taken mid-run on a highgate hill-uq-regatta-go between bridge route. After coming over the Green Bridge to uq I turned the corner and this boulevard of jacarandas stretched in front of me- made it into a great Saturday morning and an awesome way to start the day!




Finally, this pic from a weekend at the end of october was taken from the top of  Mt Ngungun, one of the Glass House Mountains North of Brisbane. My friend Alana and I had an awesome weekend, climbing up Ngungun early saturday morning, wandering around the mountaintop towns of Maleny and Montville, before coming down to sea-level at Noosa, where we tried stand-up-paddle-boarding around the beautiful Noosa National Park, bikram yoga and lots of delicious, fresh food from around the Sunny Coast...


 I guess the recurring feature of the couple of months just gone has been enjoying exercise- mixing it up, doing it with friends, using it to see new places- always with a smile :-)
Let's keep that going- I can tell it will be a good summer!
L. x

spring = evening dusk runs

The light at the moment is beautiful! The temperature is perfect! The evenings and early mornings in particular feel special, as the light and air changes, night to day or day to night. It's been great to get back into jogging with running friends, sharing the evening air and light as the sun shines its rays onto the buildings of the city before it sets behind the Brisbane Valley mountains.
It is on days like these when you can't ever imagine it clouding over of raining... Of course, the reality is that one always follows the other, but for now the weather has well and truly thrown itself into spring and it feels glorious! L.

Thursday jog

So today I managed to get back to running- hurruh! This morning I took a route along the river where I passed by Brisbane's iconic new(ish!) goma- in the pic you can see two Queendland features- the huge fig tree which  provides much needed shade and also the louvred roof- which covers the gallery outdoor eating area, opening onto the river. Local sunshine coast architects Lindsay and Kerry Clare completed the project and were also this years Australian Institute of Architects gold medallists. Their website shows some of the work they're been churning out over the years, and I think the development of their simple planning and passive solar design principles. So glad this job came to fruition- its position on the banks of the Brisbane river and some of the exhibitions goma have drawn have been amazing, and just what Brisbane needed.
L.