The Double Edged Sword

Today marks the first day of returning to running.

If I were to be strictly accurate I would tell you that today was a run/walk event. It is based on the Couch to 5k training schedule found at Coolrunning.com. So more than half of my time today was taken up with walking.

Since I was taking this giant leap, or many short steps, back into the world of running I thought I would review my running goals as per my old page here on the blog. I had a good giggle at them.

1. Run 5km in under 30 minutes. (Told you I was no Olympic runner!)


2. Run the Taupo Half-Marathon. (Definitely no time goals here.)


3. Run a minimum 30km each week.


4. Run Round The Bays in 50 minutes.

I'm a long way from any of these little puppies.
I think the renewed goals for 2008 should read something like:

1. Run more than once a week.


2. Learn to run with the stroller in such a manner that neither I nor Miss OWW lands in a heap on the pavement.


3. Overcome rebellious gluteus maximus muscles that insist running is too hard!


4. Eventually replace the grimace of determination with a smile of relaxation.

Once these four simple (hah!) tasks are completed I should then be in a place to take on my old "go for glory" goals.

As for the double edged sword - it's the idea that running and exercise in general is good for you, yet your body complains and aches and you find yourself asleep on the sofa at 3 p.m. in the afternoon exhausted from a twenty minute trot around the block.

If I go missing in action here for the next little while don't send out a search party, I have simply slumped onto the sofa and all areas of my body will have mutinied and refused to sit at a computer screen let alone stretch themselves to actually typing. Perish the thought.

For those who may be asking themselves - why are you inflicting this on yourself? The answer is simple. It's my attempt to pre-empt the dreaded XBox 2017 or PlayStation 29. After all it's unlikely she will take kindly to the hypocrisy of "go outside and get some exercise" if her Mum is sitting on the sofa munching her way through a double packet of Chocolate Chip Cookies (yum). And I may be getting old, but I'm not so far gone as to remember how much that sort of hypocrisy really ripped my britches. Although I am now old enough to wish that "do as I say, not as I do" really did work. ;)

I'll see you all once the aching has subsided. 8O

Little Divers

Ever wonder what your baby looked like under water, but didn't have Sir Robert Winston's film crew with you when you hit the local swimming pools? Now you can see what they're up to under the waves.

Our little diver provided us with this photograph today, courtesy of her Gran's camera. Ours doesn't do wet, so she kindly lent it to us to take some action shots.



Miss OWW always blinks and closes her eyes as she is lowered into the water, so it was a surprise to see that she opens them up once below the surface. You live and learn something new about your baby every day.

I can highly recommend attending swimming classes for little tots. It's a great way of getting them confident in the water, a good opportunity for socialising and excellent for learning tips and tricks that you can take away for your own private swimming time.

If you're not comfortable in water then it would be a great idea to get some lessons and confidence yourself before taking your child to classes. In our class it is subtle but obvious who doesn't feel 100% comfortable with being in the water and this definitely seems to translate over to their baby's enjoyment.
And one last tip - don't take the baby to swimming classes (or the pool with the family) if they've been up for ages, they just can't take it and will have a melt down. After about 30 minutes of being in the water Miss OWW begins to get irritable and wants to get out, then after the follow-up washing, drying and feeding she will easily sleep for the best part of two to three hours.

Happy paddling everyone !

A Family Milestone

Today at 7:35 am we had a family milestone.
Miss Oh Waily has now been out in the world with us for a whole six months.
That's half a year.

Good God, where did the time go?

Ah, right. Changing nappies, feeding, walking around as a new parent sleep-deprived zombie, living with family, renovating our house and having your spine fiddled about with. That's how you make six months disappear as though by magic. Feel free to take note in case you want to whiz through your life a bit faster.

Here is a photograph of the little Miss, taken this morning with her new best friend, Sneezy the Dragon.



P.S. Mr OWW is still disappointed that they wouldn't upgrade the titanium screws used for his discectomy to adamantium. ;)

P.P.S. Not sure what adamantium is? Here's a description.