The Rain, Oh, the Bloody Non-Stop Rain

The last few days here in Sydney have been pretty rainy. In fact, it's honest-to-goodness been raining for a full week, no breaks.

Unfortunately, it's not supposed to stop any time soon.

Rain has brought out the worst in me. On a good day, I spend most of my time squirreled away indoors, reading The Internet and watching too much TV. On days where it rains non-stop? All productivity grinds to a halt. Let me tell you, Steven's lucky I'm still showering (and I'm only doing so because it's the warmest place in the house! Humidity + no indoor heating = really cold house).

Yesterday, I fell to a new low.

I began watching Bachelor Pad 2012. That's right, I'm watching reality show RERUNS, and I'm hooked.

This morning, however, there was a break in the clouds.

Suddenly I got my mojo back! I was more active in these few hours of sunshine than in the past 5 days!

I took a homemade wrap down to Steven during his lunch hour.

We had some Starbucks until he had to go back to the office. Then, I went home, and decided I wasn't going to wait on my run this week. I had sunshine NOW, so I had better haul ass.

It was the muddiest run in my life.

That water was literally FLOWING down the steps, creating muddy puddles everywhere.

However, I don't think I've ever had so much fun on a run before. I was dodging puddles left and right, leaping, jumping, cross stepping like a pro. I loved the patches of sunshine and new green grass on lawns. I even loved the huge hills and massive downhills. I'm definitely going to miss these neighbourhood runs, especially those bush-walky / trail bits that are just so beautiful.

I'm lucky my Vibrams are lightweight, water-happy shoes because I got them soaked.

Post run, I did some stretching, drank about 3 glasses of juice, and showered. Does anyone know how to gracefully get out of sweaty, sticky work-out clothes without pulling a muscle? I need some sort of shoe horn for workout clothes.

My stats:
4.45 miles in 55:07
Average pace 12:22 min / mile

Lost and Longest Run of the year

As of this week, Steven and I have lived here in North Sydney for 4 months. I've done countless runs around our neighbourhood, often venturing outside my regular run routes and discovering new parks. 

Still, my favourite run is my "same old same old" route. It is essentially a bush-walk / trail-run route that goes through Berry's Reserve, through Oyster's Bay, and a loop around Ball's Head Reserve. 

Yet, as I set out today to do this run, somehow my brain managed to turn itself "off" (as if it's ever "on"!) and....

I got lost, and somehow managed the longest run ever to record on my Garmin, which means it's the longest run I've done this year. HUZZAH! 

I've also discovered some new MEAN hills on this route, and I loved it! I went out feeling really strong and ran my energy all out. 

I'm probably not going to qualify for any crazy races with these speeds, but I'm definitely improving, both in speed and distance.

You can see where I got my water / walk break at Mile 3. The water fountain is at the bottom of a hill, which was scary to speed down; it's like at 90 degrees. I decided to walk back up for fear of killing my glutes / puking up all the water I just drank. 

Do you know that feeling of coming home, hot, sweaty, tired, thirsty, and taking that first gulp of icy cold Gatorade? Cue angels singing "Hallelujah"! I might have to seriously begin thinking about bringing water/gatorade on my runs with me; if only I didn't hate carrying things while I run.

After a sweet, hot shower, I got on my new Pro Compression socks. I got the extra smalls this time, and they still fit perfectly.

Lunch was an omlette with all the random odds and ends in the fridge (eggplant, tomatoes, haloumi cheese, and thai basil that I'll be using forever; why can't they sell smaller bunches of herbs?!).

Now I'm hankering for an afternoon snack of some sort, like a Chocolate Cake or cookie or something. I might go out for some later, but Lazy has got a tight grip on me right now, so I absolutely cannot leave the couch. 

Beautiful run and delicious lunch

I set out for an early evening run today to conquer the trail I couldn't find previously.

Well, I did it. I found it.

Ok, I took take a little detour...BUT I STILL FOUND THAT BITCH.

SEE?

This roughly 2 miler loop is called Balls Head Reserve (yes, ha-ha, I know). 

It's incredibly beautiful. 

You start on a gum-tree-lined residential street with the bay in the distance.

Then, the houses end and you get to a peninsula jutting out into the river. This is the start of the loop. To your left is the gorgeous Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

You have a choice here, to continue onto the shorter route along the road, or take a trail.

Sorry for the blurry picture...I was trying not to trip over my feet. 

The trail ends far too soon (I think I was only on it for 5 minutes?), and you exit onto the main looping road. There are gum trees everywhere, and the smell of eucalyptus in the air is refreshing and invigorating. 

I wish Balls Head was bigger so that my run wouldn't be so short. 

Yes, I did just wish for a bigger Balls Head (giggle, sorry I'm 14-years-old apparently). 

No run would be complete without my compression socks. 

I'm loving these socks, by the way. I really do think they help me recover faster, with less soreness and stiffness the next day. 

However, I haven't tried them after a long run, since I'm limiting my runs to no longer than 2.5 miles these days anyway. 

My stats: 

2.25 miles

25:36 min

11:23 min/miles

On a completely unrelated note, I made some yummy food the other day: rice paper wraps!

For the all-important sauce, I bought that shameful Plum sauce hiding in the back. It's horrible, dreadful stuff. Don't use it. Don't waste your money. You're better off licking dishwasher fluid.

Instead of poisoning myself with plum crap sauce, I combined Vegetarian oyster sauce, honey, lime, and chopped parsley. Delicious.

This makes an incredibly easy lunch or snack. 

Douse the rice paper wrapper under the sink for just 3 seconds, set it on a plate. 

Layer on some fresh lettuce, spinach, or whatever green you like. But you MUST remember the Thai basil. That shit makes this so yummy you'll want to slather it all over your face. 

Then, if you have some tofu, cashews or eggplants, put those in too. 

Spoon in some sauce, and wrap it up. 

Go to town.