Was at Yarraville trying out a cafe called the Cornershop which is nearer to our place in the Western suburbs. The textures in this area are really amazing for photography and if you spend enough time here, you could probably get some really cool shops of the old buildings and absorb the busy atmosphere of this little tucked away area in this suburb.

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Just some cakes from the Cornershop, where we had baked eggs + chorizo and some hotcakes with poached fruit for breakfast. Vyanne and I hadn’t gone out to a new cafe in a long while since we settled the house, being busy packing, moving and settling in, we have a little more time now to explore the suburbs around us.

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It’s been pretty cold this winter and previously I only needed to keep a room warm. Spent a lot of time in the living room watching Masterchef Australia, which ended tonight and it was an epic two hour finale. Was happy that our choice of contestant in the final two won but it’s amazing how much skill one can pick up cooking over the course of two months (I guess it’s possible, when that’s all you focus on doing then). Heh, at least now my weekdays are freed up to do other stuff, mainly spending a little time studying each day for the coming exams.

Back to the cold weather, it’s been a challenge trying to heat the house. We used the central heating quite a bit, until a dinner at a friend’s place discussing energy bills and how expensive they can get made us a little more frugal after that. The only problem was that we started freezing in the living room. It’s between suffering now (cold) versus suffering later (hip pocket pain), so I went out to get an oil fin heater. At a 1000w, it probably won’t cost as much to run, but it did a poor job of keeping the living room warm. Had it on during the World Cup final and other than plastering my face on the heater, it was as if it wasn’t there. Part of the problem was the large surface area of the living room and that we had an open courtyard in the centre only covered by glass doors meaning the heat got sucked out pretty quickly.

I looked at alternatives, and the heating elements just consumed more and more juice, up 2400w. Heh, that isn’t exactly cheap to run either so I started thinking differently and that’s when I found the solution I was looking for. A heated throw! It’s like an electric blanket so you use that cover yourself while you are in the living room and the heating element keeps the throw warm and you don’t lose any heat. It’s between 50W to 100W, which is definitely much cheaper to operate and other than having a cold face during the coldest days, it does its job pretty well.

It’s just good to have the opportunity to solve different problems while at a new place. Heh, I just setup the guest bed today and I’m just waiting on some new quilts I recently purchased so hopefully it will be in time for the guests that start streaming in starting August and September.

It’s good to keep busy.

Everyday while driving home I’ll see epic clouds in a dazzling array of colours. Heh, if I carried my camera with me all the time, I’d have a library of cloud images showing the wonderful collection that showcased how awesome natural light is.

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Got my official run time, which is clocked at 2 hours 27 minutes and 9 seconds. Heh, the average time was 1 hour 55 minutes, and I’m one of the bottom 5% of the people who ran. It was within my targeted 2 hours 30 minutes, but I know there is room for improvement, considering I didn’t train much prior to this run. I wasn’t tired, but my body was aching so it’s more form than stamina.

I checked out the world record for a half marathon and the fastest anyone has completed one is in 58 minutes give a few seconds. Heh, can’t imagine how these people run at the speed they do and keep up the pace for the entire duration.

There’s a run in October that my other cousin and her husband will sign up for. They are doing the 10km run, and I’m not sure I’d want to participate in that yet, given that I have guests coming between August and September, and the need to prepare for the CPA papers in October.

The only improvement I’d like now is to be able to run 10km in about 50 minutes. It just means I need to improve my pace. Heh, at most I’ve been running 4 to 5km, and walking another 1 or 2km in the last few months. I’ve read that the most efficient way to get an improvement is to run less but with more intensity.

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Feeling much better after two days of rest and binge eating. My whole body was aching yesterday, with the shoulder muscles, back muscles and thigh muscles all complaining when I massaged them. I’ve learned to roll my feet, so my soles didn’t feel nearly as bad compared to the first time I ran and you don’t calluses from rubbing your feet against your shoes as much.

Heh, still feeling the rush from the run, and it has made me more eager to get things done around the house. Expending energy gives you more energy it seems. Looking forward to getting on the track again for a jog.

Heh, proof I did my epic run. It does cheapen the experience that these are handed out wrapped in plastic as soon as you finish, but at least you get a medal.

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Finally did my half marathon. Got up early at 530am, had a quick breakfast of oatmeal and some Milo, both with soy milk. Apparently milk gives you stitches. No way to really verify that but I’ll just follow whatever advice is available online.

Heh, Jerome and I used to just wake up and we could make our way to the starting point of the run in the city. Now that both of us have moved further out, it does take a little longer to get to our destination.

The run started at 730am, and I just started with my regular pace. For the Kid’s run I did in March, I started off running too quickly, so I was tired out by 6km. Was a little short of breath the first kilometre or so but slowly got into it as I warmed up my body. The markers were helpful and I knew the progress I made throughout the run.

This run seems to cater more for hard core runners. Most of the people just ran slightly faster than I did and they kept going. Only towards the end did I see a small handful of people walking towards the finish line. Kept my pace and I realise that this route is more hilly, which would hamper me towards the end of the run when I was so tired that when I saw a hill, I just started walking.

Anyway, my cousin was running with me and our pace was pretty similar, so we were together for most of the run. I didn’t really check the time, but based on the digital timers they put along the way, I estimate doing 10km in 1 hour and 2 minutes. Pretty good stuff, considering in my last run I only managed 9km in 1 hour. I was doing fine until the 12th km and was starting to slow down. By kilometre 14, I was slowing down at the hilly areas, and my thigh muscles started cramping. My right knee was also starting to give me problems, so it was a start stop occasion for a while.

By the time I reached the 17th kilometre, my feet cramped so bad, I just stopped for a minute and rubbed the muscles out. Then I just continued running and walking towards the end. For the last 400 metres, my thighs were really aching. I tried slowing down to a walk, but that made it hurt even more, so I just jogged that last stretch as quickly as I could.

It was an amazing feeling just touching the finish line. Heh, at least I’m proud to say I’ve achieved a half marathon, even if I didn’t train terribly hard for it. I guess the momentum built up from the Kid’s run in March helped with the preparation quite a bit.

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This is my fourth run in as many years. I remember the first time I did the 15km route. My feet hurt so bad I couldn’t really walk properly for a week. This is almost as bad, but it’s not the muscles that hurt too much, but rather the joints. Have trouble going up and down stairs at the moment. Will just need to eat more to replenish the body this week.