Friday 14 October 2016

Awake at 5.30am. Out and onto the pathway for my run. There was no rain as I started, but it had been teeming down all night and it’s going to be back for sure before this run is over. After thirty minutes or so, I turn off from the ocean and the sea spray to go inland along a small river. Numerous white-baiters are dotted along the shore, all looking intently into the water, just waiting to sweep their morning catch into their huge nets. While I’m around, they only seem to stand there waiting, not so much as a yell or any untoward movement, but catch the whitebait they obviously must, just not when I’m about.

Further round the river bend, I come across a very busy mother duck with no less than eleven ducklings! She’s busy trying to get them all down onto the water for a morning swim. It takes her a while and, as they all scuttle past me, I’m tempted to scoop one up just for a moment but I don’t dare upset the mother duck! They ducklings can only be described as CUTE! Anna would have loved them!!

I turn just after that and pick up the pace a bit as I can see rain approaching. If I had been hoping to stay dry, then I had no such luck. Huge, black, stormy clouds come sweeping across the ocean and it begins to pour. Oh well. As I run, I see a familiar face coming towards me. A face from Auckland. As we pass each other I say “Hi!” There’s a look of utter disbelief from Scottie until he works out who he has just run past. We stop, turn round, retrace our footsteps a little and quickly exchange details before returning to our respective runs and our headphones, promising to connect later by email.

Back to Cuzzie to do a quick, boot camp-style circuit in the park. If there had been anyone else around, I guess I would have looked rather nuts doing this thirty-minute circuit in the pouring rain but no-one else was daft enough to brave the appalling weather. By the time I had finished, I was saturated and probably looked like a drowning beetle as I lay on the ground doing my workout.

At last I’m able to get my wet gear off, to brew a hot drink and then get on with some boring mundane stuff. A quick Cuzzie clean, laundry to be done and food to buy. I also find a free wi-fi location to do a heap of updates to apps on my mobiles, an ongoing saga. It doesn’t take long to get all this done and then it’s time to catch up with more friends who are in town from Auckland. Xabi & Pippa and their gorgeous wee daughter Alaia. We had a great lunch at Federal in Fitzroy and then, after big hugs and my thanks for the lovely café lunch, we head off in separate directions. Me to go walking in the park. What a lovely, serene and tranquil place. I spend way too long wandering the tracks, looking up at the now clear, blue sky and at beautiful, dappled green leaves. Down by the ponds there were more ducklings and a water sculpture that, to me, looks like floating popcorn!

All too soon it was time to head back to have my water therapy session and swim a few lanes. Just before leaving Cuzzie to do so, I get a text from a mate up north. When I said I was going to do a few, quick lengths, maybe forty, his texted reply was "Forty? May as well round it up to triple figures. Giving yourself a break on a Friday when no one’s around? Lol!!” Well that was all I needed! After a hundred and twenty lengths I stopped. My dear mate, you just come and swim with me and see what you say when you have done only forty lengths! In a weird way, I was happy he had questioned my shorter distance. I probably was thinking of being a little lazy!

Back into Cuzzie and off down the road to a new location for tonight. Dinner cooked, blog written, looking forward to relaxing and enjoying my meal. Then I make the big mistake of the evening. I hit the “delete” button instead of the “save” button and all my hard work on my daily blog has gone, disappeared into the ether. (Oh, s***!!!) I wait another hour or so before starting to rewrite it, hoping against hope that somehow I could retrieve it, but no such luck! Now it’s been re-written, it really is time for bed.

My smiles today:
Running and training in the pouring rain.
Ducks and ducklings. So cute!
Café lunch. Thanks, guys.
Just one text message made me up my swim distance. Haha thanks, Ev!
My chats by mobile and texts to friends always make my day.
Alaia jumping in puddles in her very cute, wee, pink gumboots.

My thoughts today:
Talking to your best friends is sometimes all the therapy you need.

Red, Cuzzie and Louise.

Ma Te Wa.

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