River walking

Our regions has been in the grip of a drought over the last few years. Parts of our state have been in drought for 4 years so its pretty dire in some places. Things were looking really dry and bare - even by the river. The water itself and the trees along its edge gave some relief to the parched look of the place but it was dry and brown and barren looking

But its summer here and that is when we get our rain. Its still drought in lots of our state but we have had some reasonable rain here where we are and the grass has grown and its all looking rather lush.

My river walk has been revived. The grass has gown long and green. Now when the dog Digby rushes off through the grass as she is want to do we can pick her out (when the grass isn't too tall) Her fur is the exact colour of the dry grass so she is hard to spot when its not green.

Jack our other dog is even shorter than Digby but he is white and brown and so stands out pretty well in dry or fresh grass.

We hadn't had much rain before we went away on holidays. A few showers but not much. While we were away over Christmas the area got some good falls and in fact when we got back to town (January 2nd) it was a bit wet and muddy to walk by the river on the occasions I stirred my stumps to actually go out with the dogs. Finally a week or so ago it was dry enough to walk down that way again and its been beautiful. The grass is long and green. There isn't much in the way of wildflowers around but the grasses are in seed and they are beautiful in their own way.

Friday Fitness

Been a while since I updated my fitness report. I  have been working hard at making sure I make my 10 000 steps each day and haven't missed this last week and possibly not this fortnight... might have had one day when I only got to 8000 steps. Have had a couple of days where I have made it to over 15 000 steps which has been awesome.

Today my 7 day total on fitbit is just over 91 000 and we have yet to go on our afternoon walk. I am top of my friends which is making me smile. (Still waiting for Terje to recover from her broken leg. She is the queen of the fitbit stats when she is healthy. Currently working out on a scooter board so still active)

Weight wise I have been hovering around 87kgs. Have dipped under it a few days but this morning I was plum on it. I would like to get to 80 so still have a way to go but have currently lost 13kgs so am smiling. I am fitting into jeans and shorts that have been too small for a few years now and some I things I have bought in the last 12 months are getting a bit loose... bring out the belts.

Haven't done much running. Well have run but not long distance. I have started the c210k and am now up to week 2 as I have been so slack. Some days I run the whole lot, just run harder on the run parts but some days I just run the run parts. I like to mix it up :)

I was away at a quilting retreat last weekend but I was very determined to keep up my steps and did so by going for a walk first thing in the morning. My local walking buddy was spending the long weekend nearby to where my retreat was so 2 mornings I was able to meet up with her and we had a walk along the beach in Yeppoon. The other two mornings I walked by myself, once along the lake and the other time along a nearby Kinka Beach. Made a change from my usual riverside walks, or walks around the streets here.

sunrise over Causeway Lake

Instead of sulphur crested cockatoos galahs and ibis my birds were pelicans and seagulls

The bridge over The Causeway, looking out to sea

Kinka Beach

Friday Fitness

I am very happy with my weekly Fitbit report last night. I averaged over 10 000 steps per day for the week. Woo hoo. Go me.

I have only run twice in the last week. Once was on Sunday. It was my much anticipated first official 5 km run. Good news. I ran the whole way. I made it to the end and felt good. Bad news... due to the wet weather we had in the lead up to the event the course had to be changed and it was only 3.2 kms which was a bit disappointing for me as I was looking forward to my first official 5k event. Never mind. I along with over 1300 other people from babies to Grandmas completed the course, got covered in various coloured powder paint and had a good time. And I have photos to prove it.

At the start. The official photo

My photo of me. In getting my phone out to take this I dropped my license. Someone found it and it got announced at the start of the race that they had something of mine and to get it from the sign in office at the end of the race ... which meant an extra long walk for me cause it was not near the finish place.

With some of my friends at the start of the race. Only Fiona ran at all. She walked some of it too but still beat me home! (She's in dark shorts) The others walked.

Some of the other competitors at the start - some guys got really dressed up. Obviously I didn't

I ran the race pretty much at my own pace although the crowd did at times push me along and at other times slowed me down. Because I wasn't running with anyone I didn't stop to take photos at some of the photo booth type places. I didn't go for the "roll in the powder paint and get as messy as you can" activities either. I needed to get home asap, have a shower and get up to church as I was helping with the singing

my selfie at the end of the run

 The disadvantage of running on my own was I had no one to take photos of me in all my glory apart from the official after shot. Hence pictures of my arms... not really very flash

The official after shot

I made it to church half an hour late. Some of the others got there on time but they went in all their painty glory. Since I had to help with the singing felt that wasn't appropriate... and didn't want to spread powder paint everywhere.

My second run was Thursday morning when I ran 5k. I ran a different track this time, keeping to the streets. I wanted to see how far our "big" block walk was but realised that it was only about 3k so had to run on past the end of our street and add a few extra blocks on. Its good to have some alternative routes to try.

Whilst I haven't run much I have walked every day and sometimes - often twice a day. With our old dog not well and not long for this world I have not wanted to leave her too much. If I walk she can come too... in the stroller. The other dog loves all the extra walks. We go around the block most evenings (now the days are getting shorter we don't have time to do the river walk in daylight) and I take them down by the river most mornings. No more turtles this week but did see a kangaroo yesterday. It was way off in the distance so not sure you can see it in the photos

the roo is at the end of the road, near the water tower. You can see how much everything has greened up with the rain we had last week.

Weight Loss Progress

Super thrilled to get on the scales on Thursday and to have broken through 88kgs. I was 87.8 after my run so yes I was undoubtedly dehydrated but whatever... I had broken through it and am so pleased. I have been working hard to keep my fitbit stats up this week and its paid off. I don't tend to log my food because... well its a bit hard so just relying on working harder if I eat treats. I do want to track better... maybe this week. I have 7.8 kgs to go! (80 is my goal weight although officially I should get down to 75kgs but I haven't been that since I was a teenager so not hanging out for that)

 I have lost 12 kgs since my heaviest last June, when I was sick with Barmah Forrest Virus. 

Fitness Friday

Not a lot to report this week.

Haven't run at all. Monday I felt like I was getting a cold so didn't run. Tuesday I slept in and didn't have time to  run before going up to the Vet to talk to him about our 9 year old dog Annie who was very ill. Fixit Guy had taken her to the vet on Sunday morning because her belly was so swollen. Xrays had revealed one of her lungs was completely compromised and the vet doesn't think that there is anything that can be done for her. I bought her home after our consultation. She isn't able to walk with us, but she wants to so I have obtained an old baby stroller and for the last two days when I have gone for my morning walk with our other dog Jack Annie has come too in the pram.

I have been very busy this week in the afternoon as I have been preparing for a charity afternoon tea I am hosting on Saturday. Fangirl has come over after work each day and has been helping me with preparations. This has meant that there have been no afternoon walks. 

I also mislaid my fitbit charger. I thought that I had lost it in Brisbane as I could not find it anywhere. Of course my fitbit went flat and I really missed it. I tried to use the pedometer on my phone but it wasn't the same. Fixit Guy found the charger under my bed... it must have come out of my bag when I got home and got pushed there. Its charged and back on my wrist now.

Weight wise  I have put on a little but this week I have had a trip to Brisbane but lots of walking and mostly good healthy choices meant that I didn't actually put on weight. Less walking, no running and a bit of nibbling on the goodies we have been making PLUS yesterday was my birthday and we went out to dinner and there was wine and desert.... so this morning I was up .5kg on the week. 

I did say MOSTLY healthy choices. This was my Max Brenner Choc Brownie Sundae

I am wondering how I will go on Sunday when I go in my first public 5 km run. Its called the Emerald Rainbow Run. 



Having not run all week I have decided that I was tapering :) Yeah... good excuse but I'm going to run with it

Turtles

In the blog post I did last Thursday I talked about it being turtle on the move season. When Fixit Guy and I had been walking the dogs by the river on Wednesday we saw 3 turtles crossing the track. Then when out running on Thursday I had seen one crossing the bitumen road I was running on. Then on Saturday when I was out walking the dogs by the river I saw 3 more. Now they could have been the same turtles I had seen a few days before... I am not much of a turtle expert. This time I was not in such a hurry to snap the photos. The dogs weren't interested... well not very so I wasn't distracted by trying to keep them from bothering the turtles so I was able to take a little bit more time and care. The photos are from my phone so not necessarily as high a quality but they are clearer than the ones I took the other day so worth sharing.

Walking and running

Yesterday my husband, My Fixit Guy(I once joked that I never got anything new cause he always fixed the old stuff) and I went for a lovely walk along the river with our 2 dogs Jack and Annie, and our friend's dog Digby. The road our cul de sac empties onto goes all the way down to the river. 

The street becomes a dirt road just past the last of the houses and when we get to that point we let our dogs off the lead so they can run and sniff and fool around (and pee where and when they want, and wade in the water, chase birds and generally do doggy fun things).

 We put them back on the lead if we encounter any other dogs. Annie and Digby would be fine but Jack is a trouble maker. He is tiny (hand bag sized dog) but at heart he thinks he is a wolf or an Alsatian and wants to take on anything no matter their size.

In this picture My Fixit Guy is walking another friends dog who has to stay on the lead. Our other 3 fur babies are enjoying freedom

Digby at back. Jack (white and brown) and Annie (black)

Once our road reaches the river it turns to run along side it. Actually we don't take the track right down by the water. That is usually more populated - fisher folk and other people enjoying the river. Instead we take the track that runs along the top bank. I really love the walk. It is beautiful and peaceful. We often encounter kangaroos in the paddock beside the river. I am glad the grass is high enough that our little dogs don't see the roos or they would be chasing them. Well Jack and Digby would. Annie is getting a bit old for such activity. 

These photos were taken back in October after a fire had ripped through the paddocks. You can see the  roos grazing on the fresh pick that was coming through

The bird life by the river is prolific too. There are usually ducks and other water birds on the river. I saw pelicans one day.  We have had flocks of sulphur crested cockatoos about the place recently. I came across 20 or 30 of them on the road as I turned the corner one day last week. My presence disturbed them so many flew off immediately. By the time I got my phone out the dogs had arrived and so I took a photo of just one cockatoo... not a great shot and it will sound pathetic when I say there were so many there when I started to take the photo. So I haven't included it

Lots of grass dwelling birds are about at certain times of the year... how do I know... Well Digby in particular loves to chase them. She goes rushing into the grass beside the road and there is a swoosh and and flutter and out come one or more little birds fleeing before her. I don't know what they are and I have never even tried to photograph them but Digby assures me they are great fun to hunt. (I don't think she would know what to do if she caught one)

The paddocks are now thick with grass which is drying off again

The river itself is so beautiful to walk beside. My photos do not do it justice but I am often blown away by the sight of the sun glinting on the water, the green trees, the ripples dancing in the light breeze. 

Our walk ends at the place where there is a weir across the river. 

The bank here dips right down onto a large flat area that is once again very popular with fisherfolk and others enjoying the river. People often make camp fires here too and hang out beside the river. The dips and rises of the bank make it a popular place for people riding trail bikes etc so we don't ever venture down there preferring to keep the dogs out of harms way. Even when I walk at times when others aren't around I don't go down there as the walk to the weir and back home is a good length (about 45 mins) 

Digby surveying the tracks made by trail bike riders

the track down to the river flat where people often fish, swim, make camp fires and hang out. You can see how steep it is and why I don't bother to venture down there

Yesterday I realised that there is a gorgeous tree above the weir with a blaze on it. Explorers came through our district exploring ways to open up our huge country and they marked their way with these huge blazes. This might not actually be a deliberate blaze but instead might be the result of natural phenomenon. I might have just been more aware of it because this weekend a small community near us is celebrating 170 years since Ludwig Leichhardt passed through our area, marking a tree at Comet. I took some photos of the tree and noticed that high in its branches was a native orchid growing. Stunning stuff. 

It must be turtle season... time for them to get a move on because we encountered 3 of them on our walk yesterday. The dogs weren't sure what to make of them and though I don't think they could harm them we kept the dogs away from the turtles. I tried to take a photo on my phone but it was blurry so not worth showing to you. Today when I was out running I noticed another turtle crossing the road. Its a fairly quiet road so I didn't stop to move him off the road which I would normally have done. Not to mention I was 5 kms into my run and if I had stopped to do that I might not have got started again.

Today I ran my greatest distance to date. 7.34 kms in 64 mins. Its not a record breaking pace but I am very proud of my achievement. I am now eyeing a new goal. I would like to be able to run 10 km by the end of the year. I would also like to get my time for 5 km down. Currently its just under 40 mins (39.40 I think) 35 would be terrific.