Wednesday, June 10, 2015

running up hills and america

I'm training hard. I'm eating tons, but training hard.

So, I'm clocking up 5 kms on the treadmill a day, and can't seem to go further.

I've realised why.

"What incline are you running at on the treadmill?"

"Oh, about a 4. Sometimes a 4.5, and then I add some uphills and raise it to a 7."

"Er...you mean a 0.4 surely."

"No.....I almost certainly run at a 4."

"Show me."

[We walk to the gym in my building]

"Ah.....So you're training to run up hills, basically."

Now, this has to be a good thing surely? That I've been running for hours on end up hills and not on the flats?
I just thought a 4 was most realistic, ie more like a real-life road, than running at a 1 on a treadmill. So I wanted to cover my bases. 

But, apparently it's better if I do 10 minutes of pure interval training (sprints and cool down) than run for 45 minutes, even up hill.

So I'm going to give this a go.

As of today, I am sitting at 77% of my funding goal to help Sands. So if you're thinking of donating, or even just toying with the idea, every penny helps! Please support this cause, come on, do it!

I am going to America

I am doing my first real, long work trip away from my son.
I'm going to California on Saturday, for a whole week.

I've never been away from my child for more than a night here or there, and certainly not inter-continentally.
I am a bag of guilt and anxiety; and I am also very, very excited. I swing between both.

On the one hand, I worry about him and the Brit and whether the Brit will cope looking after Sebby full-time for almost 8 days, all by himself. I think he will cope fine, and he will make it work, but I also think he is going to be strung out and exhausted by the time I get home.

On the other hand, he does work trips all the time, so it will be good for him to sit on the other side of the river bank and experience it as the Stay-At Home Dad.

Then there's the positive.
I'll be, like a normal person for a week. I'll do what normal people do. In that, I'll feel like a person who perhaps has a full-time nanny, or who doesn't have a baby for a week.

This is pretty exciting, in terms of:

1) I can sleep. Jesus Christ, I can sit on a 12 hour flight and sleep, watch movies, do absolutely fucking nothing, then land, and if I feel like it, go straight to the hotel and sleep. Even more.

2) I can lie in. Until at least 7:30am every morning.
Only people with babies will get this, but yes, that is a lie-in. When your baby wakes up between 5:30 and 6:00am, this is a lie-in. I can also wake up to the sound of an alarm clock and not wails.
Just my luck, I will wake up at 5:30am anyway, and will miss his wails. I bet that will happen.

3) I can go out on a bender.
And not worry about the aftermath that awaits me the next morning. Hangovers are shit, there's no getting around it. As we age, the three glasses of wine you had the night before suddenly feel like half a bottle of tequila.
Add a baby into the mix, where you have to just keep on keepin' on, and continue the day, not indulge in your headache or nausea for one second, and you have the Super Hangover.
I used to think going to work with a hangover was stupid. Where pushing a mouse around all day, avoiding any career-limiting conversations, avoiding eye contact with the boss, while necking cans of Coke, just wasn't worth the trouble.
Now, going to work with a hangover I've realised, is about 8 000 times easier than staying at home with Sebastian, with one.

4) There is sunshine in California.
Oodles of it. I'll basically be wearing sunglasses all day long. Possibly even inside. This is exciting.

5) Shopping.
This is where guilt and/or anxiety really peaks. Shopping for Brits on the dollar is cheap; and it is plentiful. Especially when you're staying in Union Square in San Francisco. Whenever we go, we always shop.
This time I have to really stick to a budget (I just don't have the disposables for crazy shopping anymore), and I will probably come home with things mostly for father and son.

6) A few of us are going to LA for the weekend.
I've been to San Francisco a bunch of times, but never LA. A few of us have decided to fly to Santa Monica for the weekend prior to our conference and hit up the beach and shopping; Hollywood style.
I'll be looking out for Caitlyn Jenner while I tan my child-bearing hips on the sandy shores of the Pacific.

7) I can sleep. Did I already mention this? I'll be very jet-lagged and it'll be nasty, but I can sleep if I want to! Sorry, did I already mention this? I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. Not that Sebby wakes up in the night regularly, it's just that he wakes up extremely bloody early in the mornings, and I haven't had an afternoon nap in two years, so yes. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep. I can sleep.

8) Mexican food.
Southern California does it very well.

As long as I can park the guilt and missing my baby so much I won't know what to do with myself, I'm sure I can manage a week. Right?

3 comments:

Coffee and Books Cape Town said...

Love the animations...
Palo Alto???
X

Val said...

Enjoy!!!

It's a pleasure treasure said...

Hilarious! Xx