High Altitude Training

This morning I found myself doing high altitude training in the urban jungle.

After a hair-raising incident, and a decent chuckle at myself, I knew precisely what to call today's blog.

A few weeks ago I registered for the Adobe Roadshow, which I attend whenever they release a new Creative Suite (mainly in the hope that THIS year, I'll be the lucky winner - not so).

However right before bed last night I (insanely) declared that I wasn't going to go. I have become so enraptured by my new daily routine that I didn't dare risk upsetting it. Could this mean that I'm becoming addicted to the treadmill and weights? [gasp!]

A bit odd really, because ordinarily I'd find any excuse to skip the gym - like, "it's high time I did that basket of last year's hand washing" or, "I need to sew the middle button on that shirt I haven't worn in 18 months" or how about, "I must go to Medicare and queue for three hours so I can claim my $12.13 - every penny counts!"

You know, urgent stuff.

Even MORE odd, is that I LOVE Adobe events. I learn so much and I'm completely fascinating by all the wonderful and 'wow wee' new technology (yes, geek at heart).

So what happened this morning?

The oddness had rectified itself overnight and I woke up with the 'simply must' desire to attend the show. I just could not forgo the opportunity to learn for free. Just. Could. Not. Thus leaving me in a panicked state as I hurriedly prepared for my immediate departure.

Running around the house like a headless chook (Australian for 'chicken'), I quickly put together an ensemble - my 'creative suit' (haha). The look was accentuated by a gorgeous pair of chocolate brown, Italian leather, knee-high lace up boots with killer heels that would have Carrie Bradshaw swooning. Delicious.

En route, I decided that I'd park in my parent's apartment block to;

1. avoid heinous city parking tolls, and
   
   
2. walk several blocks (too many to count), uphill to the venue and make up for lost gym time (I had an appointment in the afternoon, which could jeopardise my attempts to do an evening workout)

It was only after I had embarked on my trek that I realised how the height of my heels, whilst stylish, provided some ludicrous challenges for the half hour hike ahead of me. As I raced along at cracking speed, my pinpoint heel lodged in a cracked cobblestone - thus resulting in an unsightly twisting motion where my knees went in one direction, my hips in another and my arms extending in what must have looked like someone trying to start a Mexican wave.

Had I an easily-bruised ego, it would have definitely been damaged beyond repair. Luckily, with my sense of humour intact, I laughed at the imagined spectacle of myself and mentally assessed the well being of my ankle. Phew, a near miss.

So that my friends, it what I call high altitude training.

Until tomorrow, take a few moments to consider your footwear beyond looking fabulous.

Grace xx

PS. As for my afternoon meeting, it was with a student I'm mentoring. We met at a McDonald's (not my choice) and I decided to stay back and take advantage of their free wifi. In case you're concerned, I haven't eaten a bite. My husband has taken the car and here I am at 8:08pm local time, with 6% battery, freezing (went outside to take the photo of my boot under the ultra-fluorescent lights and I'm still here) and I'm 5km (3mi) from home. Luckily I had the foresight to do my training in the morning - just too bad I didn't extend that vision to influence my choice in footwear.

Flat Out

When you're flat out, it's okay to take time out and regroup. In fact it's considered healthy and is encouraged - but you're too busy to take heed.

Taking time when you're not flat out, should also be okay - only for me, it's not. The permission process is often fraught with guilt, shame and torturous internal battles. I have to earn my time out.

Letting myself 'off the hook' is not so easy being me.

I start by building a case based on worthy reasons with a long list of benefits to support my time out proposal.

In almost all cases, under duress and great stress, I eventually grant myself permission - only I am so depleted by the process that often I can do little more than lie on the couch gazing at the idiot box (a DVD is a bonus if I can drag myself to the video library).

Today, I took a clean break.

Yes, you read it correctly, I took a CLEAN break - meaning without punishment or guilt or longwinded inner arguments. What's more, is that according to my old outdated measuring scale, I didn't even earn it! (do I hear a roaring cheer?)

My brother and his wife invited me on a boat trip with their young family. I love love LOVE hanging out with little people, they are so much fun, and my 5 year old nephew and 3 year old niece are no exception. The decision to accept their invitation was a 'no brainer' - and I did it freely.

We cruised Melbourne's Yarra River (see photo) and the day turned out to be perfect. On the way home, I noted the time and said to Pat "I have to post today's blog in an hour" (I post daily to the US time zone and it clicks over to midnight at around 6pm local time).

So I decided I was going to call today's post 'Time Out' and explain that I was indeed taking time out. The plan was simple, choose a photo from today's outing, put the one-sentence 'Time Out' disclaimer, hit 'Publish Post' and voila! - all done.

As you can probably guess, it didn't go quite as planned. After choosing my photo, I thought 'Flat Out' was a far more appropriate title and look what happened...???

Looks like some habits die hard.

Until tomorrow, may you take all the time out you need - whether you are flat out or not.

Grace xx