Happy to say I had spew #2 at bootcamp this week! Well not so happy for the lucky victim, but any trainer considers it a success. Unfortunately I can't claim the whole event though. The poor love had been out with her husband prior to coming to bootcamp and had drank a Chia Latte. She thinks however that there may have been something wrong with the milk, as before we had even started she mention that she was feeling a bit funny about it.
The program I had written for the days session did not work in her favour either. A lot of jumping, a lot of burpees and a lot of getting up and done. Even my stomach contents of water wasn't 100% loving life, so I can't imagine how this poor love was feeling. She got about half way through the first seet before she had to take her first 'moment'. Thinking it was gone, she soldiered on...for another 10 minutes, but it was all too much!! Poor thing put up a good fight but didn't stand a chance.
The trooper kept cracking jokes and the rest of us couldn't help but laugh at her. I'm not so horrible that I take pride out of this an do f course I felt incredibly sorry for her, but at the same time, bit of a winning moment.
I honestly can't tell you when was the last time we had a good rainfall here in Perth. That was until yesterday. There was a predicted shower or two, but where I was with a couple of friends late afternoon, it poured down. Woo Hoo!!
We had been in Subiaco in the middle of the day, and even with a footy game being held just up the road within the next few hours, we all commented on how quiet the streets of Subi were for a Saturday afternoon. It was a little cool weather wise, but nothing to really stop people from coming out.
The afternoon carried on, and by the time we were in a small bar in Mt Lawley, the heavens opened and there was solid rainfall for a good hour there. Looking out onto the street, it was dead. The first big rainfall of the year had scared everyone to stay inside. The staff were saying they had just had so many booking cancellations due to the rain. But we were perfectly happy sitting inside where we were comfortable and warm and had nothing to do.
I love this weather. The only down side...I washed my car yesterday.
And what is even better then a clean car is when you don't have to do it yourself!! For my birthday this year, my God Mother gave me a voucher for the Magic Hands Car Wash, because she knows just how much I have washing my own car!
You always end up so wet and dirty and I don't know about you but I never manage to clean it properly. You think you've done a good job and then you dry it off and go to put all the equipment away and come back to find some dirt or dust still stuck somewhere....why do I even bother! Car washing was just never a skill I plan to put on my CV.
At this place you drive you car in and a guy comes over to you as you get out of the car, scans your number plate with an iPhone and then asks what type of clean you would like done. I chose the wash, polish and vacuum, all the things I really don't like doing. He plugs this into the phone runs away for a second and comes back with a receipt which you take inside to pay for and then sit and read the paper, do whatever else it is you need to do while they take car of your car.
And they are so fast and manage to stay so dry?! I just don't get how that do it. Nevertheless I am thankful that they are far more skilled at this task then I am!!
This is a weird one I know! And the words Platelet Rich Plasma are going to mean very little to a great deal of people. So let me explain them Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP is an orthopedic procedure used to treat chronic tendon problems. It is a relatively new treatment process that not everyone is sold on at the moment, but what ever works hey? What they do is take out venous blood from the patient, and put it though a centrifuge spinner which is used to seperate the components if the blood, pretty much by spinning it super fast. Certain components of the patients on blood are then collected and injected back into the injured site with the aim to bump up healing and tissue remodelling. Crazy stuff!
It's not the actual process of PRP that I am thankful for today, well I am but it sis more the story behind it. I took over the management of a triathlete a couple of months a go who had been dealing with Achilles tendinopatgy for almost three years and was not getting anywhere. He had pretty much given up of the chance if running again and was stuck to just cycling these days with the occasional swim...I wasn't planning to give up on him. I threw the kitchen sink of conservative treatment at him, was absolutely smashing his calves and was seeing some improvement until he came off his bike and was back to square one.
So I enlisted the help of the orthopaedic specialist I often refer to. Normally I get letters back from the specialists that I refer to or the patient will call me and tell me what's been happening. Not this guy. He went out of I his way to come into the practice at the time he knew I was working to tell me the plan and thank me for pushing him to keep trying. He now has some hope that he will be back to running again in the not to distant future and is excited to see me running in the upcoming Half Ironman, where he is also riding in a team.
It's the good patients like this guy that you get emotionally attached to and do whatever you can to get them back to the things they love doing. Some Physio's get these kind if chronic cases and think, oh man, there is nothing else I can do with this guy. There is always something else you can do. I hate giving up on people and think that everyone deserves to be fought for...I'm going to do it!
I'm not one for outrageous changed to my appearance. For a while there cutting 2cm off my hair was as crazy as things got. I only have one piercing in each ear, no tattoos and am never dressed in the extremely short or revealing many chicks my age sometimes wear. I do what I'm told, be where I need to be and wear what I need to wear.I am very much predictable and have nothing wrong with that. Until I finished Uni.
Don't get too excited, I didn't completely fall off the wagon...I just dip dyed my hair purple without telling anyone. That was a surprise at our graduation dinner for sure. But over time that colour faded and my normal dark blonde hair returned. So middle of last year, I highlighted pink through it. That was fun for a couple of weeks there.
So this week I felt like something needed to change again. And I still don't have it in me to do radicle big changes that remain permanent for the rest of by life. When I say change some people look at changing a careers or jobs or moving house....nup I'll just out purple through my hair again. That's as crazy as things are going to get for me!
I have always said I'm not big on change, but with small things like this to keep me and others around me guess, I will work on it. For now I will keep my purple hair.
It would honestly be one of my most favourite things to have a glance at my diary and see a patient is even five minutes early. I am huge about running on time! I have been on the other end and sat in waiting rooms for over and hour just for a fifteen minute appointment and it really pisses me off.
I appreciate the health professionals I go to see running on time, so I make it key objective to do so for the ones that come to see me. If I am even two minutes over I get slightly frantic and apologize profusely to the one that has been kept waiting.
But as it comes with in the health industry, you get your share of gappy days. Where really if all the patients were just back to back, the day would go so much quicker and be easier to manage. It's on days like this that I will my patients to come early. Yesterday for example, my last patient was scheduled in for 6pm, which was all well and good, until the two patients I had in before him called and cancelled. Hello forty minute gap!
I do get my receptionist to ring and notify of cancellations in case it works in the patients favour to come in a little earlier. Today though the patient thought it wouldn't be happening as he was negotiating peak hour traffic. I was excited then when he walked through the doors half an hour early! Turns out he was flying out to New Zealand later that night and was doing his best to try and get everything sorted as early as possible....works for me!
My regular patients know I am pedantic about running on time, I not early and as a result they do ten to come early for appointments. After all no one wants to be kept waiting, we are all busy people!
Some people hate it, I can understand why. It is very unpredictable and often means your are working late nights or early mornings, or both, they are weird hours. But what is great about shift work is that while the 9-5er's are working away in the office, you have some time up your sleeve to get things done while things are quite, which they put off until the typical after work hours or on weekends such as medical appointments, getting to the shops, meetings, planning...all that stuff they save until the weekend.
Yesterday for example, I worked my morning shift a one practice and just so happened to have a very average looking diary for the afternoon shift...hello 3 hours gap! I got the message from a friend who is still building his way back into work after the passing of his dad, that he needed to get out of the office for lunch, what was I doing? 3 hour gap filled!
I went and picked him up from his office in the city and took him to the Health Freak Café in Subiaco. Sat and chatted with him there for a while before driving him back to work and slowly making my way back to the practice to finish of my day of patients.
So yeah, shift work can be a pain in the butt sometimes - particularly in the Physio world where you may or may not always have clients booked in. But sometimes, when you looking to get out for a break, it can be the best thing ever!
Nothing makes you smile like a kids animated movie. Whether is the cute quirky little characters that only the highly imaginative can dream up, the far fetched plot lines that could really only happen in a make believe world (where else is it possible for meatballs to fall from the sky and girls to have hair long and strong enough for people to be able to climb up) or it's the singing...don't lie, you love the musical numbers!
I find it amazing how as a 23 year old, I can sit (I use this term loosely) and watch a movie that is predominately made for children under the age of 10...and learn something! Or some times is not learning something new, but more helps me put things in perspective. How is it these little yellow Minions can barely say fully formed words and still 1) make me smile and 2) show me what is important in life? It's just weird
But last night I tried really hard to get through Despicable Me. I feel like I was missing the boat on this one. Not only is there a first but now also a sequel and as a dancing teacher with young children last year, I was clearly missing out on something! I refused to watch the second until I had watched the first, and the first took me a little while to track down. Finally got hold of a copy and only had to get up twice in the 90 minutes.
I found myself smiling from ear to ear at the end where (spoiler alert) the evil man reads the bed time story he wrote to the little girls while their are in their pink beds rather then hoisted up the wall and realising that what we do and don't achieve doesn't matter, its the people in your life that matter most.
So go watch an animation, but be prepared to open your mind!
I made it through high school. Survived the year of 18th . Dressed my way through the year of 21st. Graduated university, endured my first year or work in my chosen profession and most recently bought my way into the real estate market. I'm growing up.
But what really made me aware of how old I truly am getting now was that last night I had my first engagement party for a friend that is my age. Its time for marriage! WHAT?!?!?!
I went through a very intense four year Physio degree with the guy, had a lot of classes with him and pretty much carried him through our prac year (though he won't admit it!). Throughout uni he was a traditional Aussie bloke. He had grown up on a farm, came to the city to go to boarding school and then did what he thought he was suppose to do and considering he had the marks went on to study Physio.
One morning though, on the bus together on our way to the major Perth hospital, where we were on the same ward for our Cardio Placement, he announces to me "yeah I'm done with Physio'. I laughed! He has always be a scrape by on the bare minimum effort kind of guy and throughout the four years you could tell that Physio was not his passion, farming was. Harvest and his crops and sheep were all he would ever talk about. So on the same day that we finished our degree ending exam, when the rest of us went out that night and every other night that week, he drove straight back to the farm and started working. And has done the same in the 14 months since.
Throughout these four years I met his new fiancé a number of times. She came to all our balls and social events and it was almost like she was in the degree with us! So celebrating the engagement of these two gorgeous people last night was so exciting and I was thankful to be a part of it.
So I have now entered the period of my life where wedding bells are in the air...no time soon for me though! I would need a man in my life to make that one happen!
I got mid way through my Friday afternoon and I had pretty much had enough! I was agitated, pissed off, confused, upset, angry and tired. Not just from a single event, but an accumulation of things that had happened over the course of the past five days. Seven patients to go for the week and I felt trapped. I just wanted to get out an run, not only just run but sprint.
Six more turned into five, into four, which finally became one more who happened to be a friend...thank God! Absolute professionalism could be dropped slightly as my friend came in and vented about her week...turned out to be equally shocking. Finished her session and watched her leave before throwing on the running shoes and shorts and I was out the door in less then sixty seconds.
I am normally a morning runner, but there is just something different about running at night. There are more people out, in their own little world with their headphones in also trying to shake off the week. There are couples walking, people picnicking and the sun is slowly coming down. I am not normally the biggest fan about running at night for safety reasons more then anything else, but when I need to run, I will run.
Tonight though I was not worried about people around me at all, wasn't concerned about my safety...just worried about pushing on until I felt like I had some sense of control back in my life. It took about 8km but I did get there eventually.
So as I said, I don't always like running at night time, but it is days like this that I am thankful I live in an area where going out along the foreshore when it is getting dark is a common practice for some and have the outlet to run of my week.
It was pointed out to me the other day that at the moment I don't really have a specific training goal, I'm just going through the motions and not really aiming for anything in particular. So for the past couple of days I have been racking my brain...what do I want to achieve next? In what field or discipline am I looking at? Last year I had told myself that sometime in 2014 I wanted to do a half marathon, but after the limited running I've been able to do because of my back that may not happen, so some sort of strength/crossfit challenge? Triathlon? I hate riding. I was stuck.
On the same day as I had mentioned that I still didn't have my goal set, another friend sent me the message...'How do you feel about running a half marathon'. This friend put a post on facebook a couple of days prior asking if anyone was looking for a swimmer for the up coming half ironman event in May...6 weeks away. I could tell immediately that she was now not looking for a team, but trying to create one.
6 weeks to go from running 12km to 21km...could I really do this? I messaged the one who pushes my training/helps sort my head out with the opportunity that has just been presented to me along with the buckets of uncertainty that I had and her response..."YESSSSSSSSSS'. So I got to thinking about it, I had said I wanted to do one...this would actually make me do it. I was going to be down at the event anyway because my brother and my dad were already registered to compete and I had already applied for the few days off work. The only thing holding me back...my own self-doubt.
So I stopped thinking about it, and doubting myself and just said YES. Still kicking myself, what on earth have I signed up for? But on the plus side, training goal now identified and I have 6 weeks to get from 12km to 21 km....AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Google is an amazing thing isn't it? You can find out about anything with the push of a couple of buttons. And I mean ANYTHING!!! I have to admit, I'm a big Googler. And an exclusive Googler as well - I don't use Yahoo or Bing or any of those other search engines...Google is my go to 100%.
The movie The Internship gave me a whole new understanding about my favourite search engine and just how massive the production is! The company has it's fingers it pretty much every possible platform. From general enquiries to scholastic research, to images, maps, books, blogs, youtube....yep Google is a part of that one too! Which is actually bigger, Google or Apple?
The down side to Google though, well the one I come across most - self diagnosis. I get people all the time who come in to the practice and tell me they have plugged their symptoms into Google and think that they have condition X, which means they are going to need this scan before they have that surgery which needs to happen in less then 6 months time otherwise they will be in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. Always straight to the worst case scenario, a diagnosis I have never once came to after their assessment.
So while I am thankful to have a world of knowledge at my fingertips, answering any question in a matter of seconds, sometimes we need to remember to put what we find into perspective.
I feel like there is so much change happening in the world right now. Like the universe is throwing curve balls in every direction and saying CATCH!! Anyone else feel the same way? Almost everyone I know is going through some big life changing event or challenge whether it's a lost loved one, change in career path, going back to uni, changing of business, a break up or feeling totally and utterly lost in life....I can put at least one name to each of those.
But it is during these time where you find out who are the good people in your life. The ones that will drop whatever their are doing, and put aside all the crap they have going on as well to help support you and what you need. You find out who your real friends are and who are the ones that just want something out of you.
We have banded together. We are the sounding boards to each others problems and are figuring it out in a small little army. We are making the sad ones smile and the confused ones see a little more clearly. We are smashing through assignments , job interviews, financial and business plans and working out where we are headed.
Having the right people in your life, the ones that life you up and help you out when you need it is what really matters. After all you are a combination of the people you spend your time with.
I have never been good at ball sports, but with all these curve balls I think I may be getting better.
Yesterday I went to the funeral of a friends dad. The two girls that I went with and I went didn't actually know this man, but went to show support to our friend. We had been talking to him about the upcoming funeral over the past week and he told us that he was going to be running the show. Wow.
The reason behind this was because he and his mother decided they didn't want anyone to speak about his father that didn't know him, and they didn't think he would want a big fuss to be made over the service. So this friend took it upon himself to tell the story of the life of his father.
As mentioned I didn't actually know this man. But by the end of the service, my friend has done such an incredible job of describing the man his father was and retelling stories that he had been told or recounting moments he had seen in photos that he had looked over throughout the week gone by; that I felt like I had met this man on many occasions prior to his passing.
I don't think anyone could have done a better job at honouring someone's wishes and paying respect to how they lived their life then how this service was conducted yesterday. Thinking back to it still brings tears to my eyes.
Today I got to watch this incredible young lady shave her head to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation as part of the Worlds Greatest Shave. As she said at the start of the event, we all know someone who has been affected by cancer and she had decided that this was going to be how she played her heart to come up with a cure, after a friend of ours had recently been put into remission.
Leading up to today she has had the best attitude to the experience. Not nervous at all, 'It's only hair, it will grow back!' she said. For some people, their hair is everything and the thought of shaving it off is their worst nightmare. Not this one. She has done pretty much everything with her hair - short, long, coloured, uneven....so shaving it off is another tick in her checklist. And what better way to do it then raise close to $4000 for this amazing foundation.
After being Strawberry Blonde for the past 2-3 years, this time last week she got her hair bleached blonde. Her idea was to go from Dolly Parton to Kelly Slater, but in a spur of the moment decision, also added some green to the equation. As the clock ticked over 5pm her boyfriend chopped of her pony tail with a pair of scissors before pulling out the clippers to shave off the rest.
Looking bald and brilliant, I am so proud of this chick in her efforts to fight a disease that has affected so many people from all walks of life. I take my hat off to her...literally, her head will be very cold!
I had the best of intentions to plough through my work this weekend. I was going to get myself organised for another big week ahead of me, I was going to get through at least one of my modules for my Cert IV, review some of my goals and do some of my 'homework' for sorting out where I stand in the world. Yeah, it just didn't happen. But not through the lack of trying.
I sat down with each of these tasks in front of me, at one point all three of them in front of me to try and at least get SOMETHING done. Nothing was coming to me. I don't know if I was just not in the mindset to get these things done, because they are all things I do want to get on top of and know how much the completion of each of this is going to benefit me in the long run.
Maybe it was the fact that it's been a long and eventful week, my brain just went into shut down mode and wasn't even going to let me think about the things I need to get done, but unproductive it most definitely was. So instead I got in touch with my inner pre-teen and chucked on the Lizzie McGuire Movie....been a veeeery long time. Totally unashamed. I enjoyed my Sunday arvo of watching (in pieces due to my still present inability to sit for longer then 20 minutes, even when the rest of my weekend has been so unproductive) the petty drama of a teenage American who has to fill in for an Italian popstar (if only they were the problems we all had to face in life!)
So you never know, I may all of a sudden bounce back and smash through all my work tonight ready for a big Monday, or I might not. But that's ok too...I clearly needed the down time!
I've been through it before, summer is not my favourite season. There are of course things I like about summer. Like being able to chuck on a singlet, pair of shorts and thongs and going out for the day. The sun coming up earlier and staying out later. Not having to plan for rain. But the biggest deal breaker for me? The endless days of heat. We can go for weeks at a time of having daily maximums of 35 degrees and higher. I don't do well with the heat.
So when it feels like summer is coming to an end like it does right now, big sigh of relief! We are in that season now where it is a pleasant 28 degrees on average. Perfect weather to continue wearing shirts and thongs if you want, but you can also pull on that jumper without sweating through it in seconds. LOVE jumper weather!
It's perfect weather because you can wake up and pull on the sleeves as you begin your morning, but still get to strip down to the comfy shorts and shirt in the middle of the day. You will be at optimum temperature no matter what you're wearing.
Seeya summer for another year!
I don't know about you, but I have been hanging out for Friday since last Sunday night. After a busy weekend last week it felt like the days were just running away from me and there is so much to do, it's been non-stop!
I teach a boxing class on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I started the Wednesday class this week with 'Happy Friday!!!' which was quickly followed by some strange and concerned looks. Oh dear Chloe, you've got a long way to g! Needless to say my excitement was let down quite quickly.
You have those weeks sail past, you just have to sneeze and Friday is upon you! I always feel like it is these weeks that I accomplish so much, and I get to Friday and think, Yeah! Smashed that week! But then you get weeks like this one....NEVER ENDING!!
I also love how different people treat Fridays. Personally, Friday means I get to fall in a heap. Often the chance of getting me to go out or do something on a Friday night is a monumental effort. But then others hit their second wind come Friday night...party time! I take my hat off to those people.
So no matter how you celebrate your Fridays...enjoy it!
I have had this page open for almost four hours now and I keep going away and coming back. I'm stumped today. Of course I have hundreds of things in my life that I am thankful for every single day...but none of them were right.
I have been sitting here for a little while now, when I realised how quiet it is in my house at the moment. Everything is still, there is no one coming in a questioning me every few minutes about one thing or another. My brother is not blasting his music or the trash TV he always watches. Nope all I can hear is the buzz of the air-con (its really hot!).
My family are goes. Constantly moving and doing a hundred things at once, you would think that my house is something like a hospital. Not because of all the sick people, but because there are always people here, and always running around doing things at a fast pace...yes literally running. And for this moment, while I'm trying to think just about what I am doing right now, I am thankful for not having all these other distractions in the house. There is no one else home and everything is still. It doesn't happen often, but when it does I love to just be able to take in the silence.
And home comes my brother. Oh well the silence was nice while it lasted!
It's true. It's a scientifically proven fact. You've had those days or those times in your life which really you would rather forget about. Where not much is making you feel good. Well here is one thing that will...trust me.
I've had my fair share of times where I am constantly losing and everything is wrong in the world. And it has been then that I have realised just how powerful exercise is. I have gone from feeling suffocated and lost to having some sense of control back in my life in less then 30 minutes. Not even a shrink can do that.
When you exercise there is a chemical change in your body, particularly that affects your brain (along with a whole heap of other organs) that alters your mood. Actually makes your happier. Sure, you may be more tired and sore...but when you think about it, you do really feel better. You feel strong and you feel powerful. You have achieved something and you didn't give up.
I have felt it within myself and I have seen the looks on other peoples faces when they come to then end of a session and are feeling the same way. Even if it's just for a while, the weight has been lifted.
So when things aren't looking so bright or it really has been one of those days, get out and get moving...the harder the better I say!!
I must admit, I am not thankful about work every day. Don't get me wrong, I am so lucky to have a job and even more so one that I do enjoy going to most of the time. One where I get to help people, help them get back to what they want to do or help them to deal with pain. I am definitely thankful for that!! But everyone had those days where really, it is the absolute last thing you want to do.
Today, aside from the fact where I got to help people feel better about themselves, their bodies and what they were able to do; and supporting myself finically; work gave me the chance to get out of my own head.
Throw yourself into you work tasks, and it doesn't matter what is going on outside those four walls, for that period of time it dissolves. It can be THE best distraction if you let it. Put everything you have into what you are doing right there and then. Deal with everything else when you have to.
Let your work take you away, just for a little while.
Yep, we were those people. Working out in the middle of the street. Getting the weird looks from the people walking by....but most of us are use to those looks now.
Yesterday was the South Perth Fiesta Markets. One of the main streets in South Perth was closed off the day and many tents and marques lined the centre of the road. Local and small businesses could apply for site. So Imperium jumped on the chance and hit the Fiesta.
There were battle ropes wrapped around traffic lights ready for waving and bells chucked around ready for swing. We had a battle rope competition which brought forward members of the public trying to take each other out in the longest battler...there was even trash talk!
12pm saw the Jerk Off. The four of us took on a 2 minute jerk test which attracted a bit of public attention, or more so people wanting to watch us die!
Across the course of the day we had people swinging, waving, snatching, skipping and pressing and shared the love of kettle bells through South Perth. Yeah we may have looked like weirdos for a while there, but totally worth it!
Been close to giving up on something you love? I'm here to tell you right now, DON'T DO IT. As bad as something may seem while your stuck in the moment and you can't see any way out of the situation you are currently in, hang in there. That door is going to open. Things are going to work out.
Say you do decide that, no, this is too hard and I just can't do it. How long is it going to take for you to look back and think, hmmm you know what, had I only have tried this everything would have worked out. Or how long will it take for you to be kicking yourself for giving up on something you love.
Imagine if Nelson Mandela had given up on fighting for the freedom and equality of all South Africans, of Thomas Edison had stopped trying to work out how to channel electricity to form light...it would be a very dark and isolated world that we live in. Pretty big and far fetched examples I know.
Every day you make small decisions and perform small insignificant actions which contribute to your over all goal. Even if you don't realise they are linked. Say you decided the walk to the gym instead of drive. You also have to plan your marketing pitch for an upcoming work project. So instead of spending 10 minutes concentrating on the roads and the surrounding traffic, you instead have 20 minutes to spend with yourself. And in that 20 minutes you may come up with the whole concept of your presentation and how to make it happen in that 20 minutes. Not something that would have happened had you chosen to drive You have the big picture in the back of your mind always.
This post today is a reminded to myself to keep fighting for what I want, and also a huge number of people around me at the moment who feel like they are drowning and not to clear about what they are fighting for. HOLD ON, it will be worth it!
I am noticing more and more that I look at trees. And no not every tree that crosses my path, I'm not that much of a tree lover. But the ones that stand out, sure! I was walking down my street and saw this palm tree, well how could you not, it's huge!!
I think they are pretty amazing things. Surely suburban Perth are not ideal growing conditions for this huge tree, but it managed to grow anyway. They are resilient things aren't they?
Thinking about it now, there are a couple of types of trees I have posted about in the past. Leafless Trees, Palm Trees, the Green Leaves on Trees, Christmas Trees (that counts right?) Wow I must really like trees. I never really thought of myself as a nature person. You would never catch me camping, as has been a topic of conversation that has come up a lot this week with a whole heap of different people.
Well not me. But I've thrown the kids back in the water and I am back pacing up and down the side of the pool like the woman running out of Ikea yelling Start The Car!!!
It's been a while since I have coached swimming, particularly with primary school kids like I am doing at the moment. A good two to three years now that I think about it. I got the call from my old primary school teacher about a month ago to see if I would be interested in coaching their swimmers to get them ready for their up coming interschool swimming meet. It was going to be more a volunteer role, coaching for around 45 minutes each Friday for 7 weeks.
Even though my weeks are pretty hectic as is, I couldn't say no. I have to admit I have missed the coaching scene, even more so now that I'm not dancing anymore. So this would give me a 7 week kick for the year and hopefully keep me happy for now.
It wasn't until I got there though that I forgot how good it was to have an influence over kids. You so easily forget what it's like to inspire and motivate kids to try their best at something they may or may not be the best at. The effort I have seen these kids put in over the past few weeks has been exciting to watch and I love seeing people enjoy the awesome sport that is swimming.
So although I don't really have the time for this job at the moment, I am making the time because I am getting just as much out of it at they are.
We had a public holiday here on the Monday just gone...what to do? Question was very easily answered when we were posed a fitness challenge on Instagram. The challenge: to recreate an underwater Kettlebell farmers walk...which means carrying a Kettlebell in each hand while walking underwater. This is just what we do on our days off.
So we piled some bells into the car and threw them down to the bottom of a friends pool. We started off with the farmers walk, and more importantly, got the shot. But with our love of taking fitness one step further and thinking outside the box, we couldn't stop there.
So we started hand standing on the bells, doing underwater swings, overhead swings, goblet squats, walking lunges...the list goes on! We had so much fun and couldn't stop laughing at each other and ourselves for a good hour and a half and this one adventure has given us so many more ideas for extreme fitnessing in the future...look out!
I think the sending on this certificate actually took longer then it did for me to complete it. But I'm excited to have it now in my hot little hands. The decision to complete my Certificates in Fitness was a bit of a tough one for me. I was tossing up for a very long time between registering as a Physiotherapist in BC Canada which was starting to become more of a hassle then it was worth and attaining my Certificates in Fitness. In the end, fitness was the winner.
I am so glad I chose fitness. I have done a bit of group training in the past few months and I am loving the variety I now have between breaking people and then fixing them...I'm kidding, I'm not that hard, usually! But for those who know me well, know that Health and Fitness is my life and I am now working across a huge spectrum of this field.
I get to combine my love of exercise and fitness with helping people. Helping them get back to the actions and functional activities that they are currently not able to do - whether this is fitness related or not. And I also then get to cross over into the fitness role as well. And vice versa. I am also lucky to have jobs that allow me to do both with flexibility. It means big days...going from the gym early in the morning, to the practice until around 6/6.30 at night, followed by back to the gym from there. But I do love to fill my schedule and its fun.
I have always believed that work should be fun and the idea that if you love what you do you will never work a day in your life. I believe that I am close to getting there. Although I am human, and some days it is just not what I feel like doing at all, but so happens in every aspect of life. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Which is when you need to take a break...(still working on that one).
How about you, are your working or just having fun?
As previously mentioned, it was my birthday earlier this week. And it was also mentioned that I don't tend to do much for my birthday, just a casual family thing and that's it for another year. Apparently this is no longer allowed.
I was asked a little while ago what I was doing for my birthday, and I gave my usual response of 'Hmmm nothing much'. I got the reply of 'well you have to do something!'...yeah nah!
So Sunday night I was told I was going to watch a movie, and if you know me, sitting and watching a movie is an extremely difficult task for me to complete. I was told I was going to be worn out prior to make me sit....sounded completely normal to me, it's been done before.
Went out for the walk and came down onto the foreshore where there were a whole heap of different groups of people around doing the Sunday arvo BBQ or picnic thing. We were kind of approaching a tree that had balloons and streamers tried in it and I could see a bigger group of people in the background playing a game of cricket. Cute, I thought, its someone's birthday.
I was then told to stand in front of the tree to take a birthday photo...this is did think was a little weird. Who stands in front of a tree covered in balloons and takes a photo? And I could see someone behind the tree as well...awkward!! But I wasn't getting out of this photo.
Before I know it I hear people screaming Happy Birthday and running our from the tree behind me popping party poppers and throwing streamers at me. Oh wow!! I was completely unsuspecting which amazes me because I am normally very clued in to things like this...but I got nothing until I was told to stand in front of a balloon covered tree....from like a whole week of planning.
I am not normally a fan of surprises. I like to know what is going to happen and when, and I have to know the plan at all times. But just this once I can make an exception. So today and all this week I am extremely appreciative and thankful to the people who care about me and go to this much effort to celebrate my birthday!! I love them all dearly.
Did you know that pretty much in the middle of Perth City there is a huge slide? I sure didn't. I was walking with this lovely lady early Sunday morning and we were taking the long way around to Kings Park and Jacobs Ladder which meant we walked along Mounts Bay Road (a major road that leads directly into the CBD) and crossed paths with this huge 20m long slide! Who would have known. So of course we embraced our inner child and took pause for a minute to slide.
Despite having lived in this city all my life, it never ceases to surprise me. As well as stumbling along this slide, we also found a waterfall, yep in the middle of the city. We truly have one of the strangest and bizarre cities. We have a huge botanical garden right next to the major freeway of the state. We have a river that is more like half an ocean running through the central suburbs. you have drive 20 minutes in one direction and be at a white sandy beach or 20 minutes in the other direction and be in a forest. We have one of the biggest nightlife locations practically next to the state library. Nothing makes sense here.
And in my world of things having to make sense all the time, and my need to know why about everything, it is probably the best place in the world for me to be living. Excited to see what I find next!
I am your typical female driver that hates parallel parking. I was taught to do it when getting my licence, and since then I can probably count the number of times I have tried an successfully parked parallel on one hand...including the times I have ended up around a meter from the curb but given up on trying to get closer.
This morning I was meeting a friend for a walk. Where I normally park was surprisingly busy for a Sunday morning and I was limited with parking choices. My best option was a fairly large space between two already parked cars....yep I was going to parallel park.
First attempt...hit the curb with my back wheel. I had turned back the other way too late and ended up riding the curb. So I went forward a little again and went in for my second try. Success!! I ended up in line with the car in front of me and only 20cm away from the curb if that! A little bit proud of myself I must say. Given, it was a big space for me to get my car into, but only two attempts to get me nicely into that space? I'll claim that!
Ahhh Bruno. Why can more men be like you? Last night I went to his Moonshine Jungle World Tour. Wow! The guy is smooth!! We bought tickets for the show 10 months ago, so it was almost like I had forgotten about it until he recently played the half time show at the Super Bowl. I suddenly remembered that within 3 weeks he would be playing our small Perth Arena....excited!!
After having watched Bruno play the Super Bowl and a past Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, I thought he would be a great performer and put on a really good show. I have heard that he makes his band members go through dance training daily and there is a lot of effort put into unison with their choreography. Well I am happy to say, that I was definitely not disappointed!
They danced and grooved and jumped...it was awesome! Best song? Just The Way You Are, hands down. It doesn't matter that there were thousands of other people in the same room. He was singing to you and you only! Awwww, way to make a girl feel special! My friends and I contemplated buying these tickets last year, now I wouldn't give it a second thought. I would go see him again in a heart beat.
Feeling the love for sure!
