Injury Cloud

I'm seriously running out of excuses for my slackness. This maybe takes the cake though. I made grand promises about my commitment to blogging eight days ago and then went missing for over a week, so I guess that says more about how I'm going than anything I write here.

First things first. I'm not getting on the scales again until I get back to Brisbane on July 4. Put simply I don't trust these ring-in scales and they're doing my head in. After getting on last week and posting that glorious figure of 105odd, I got back on later that evening prior to my shower and discovered I was 2 kgs heavier. Having had a good day I found this hard to believe and damn annoying. So after a few of these issues in the ensuing days I decided to put the scales away until my return to sunny Brisvegas.

And won't sunny Brisvegas be a nice change. This is the first extended Canberra winter trip I've had in many years and I can confirm it's stupidly cold here. So much so that the dodgy Smeato body has begun a revolt, and is pressing a union claim for a return to warmer weather. I went ok for the first week but thanks to the ongoing minus 0 temps and a fairly heavy exercise regime in the last week or so, every dodgy joint in my body is going on strike at the same time.

Despite the stiffness and pain I'm off for my last Canberra ride today before the bike is packed up and shipped home. It is a real treat to ride the bike after the first 5 months of the year on the hybrid. I'm really looking forward to my first Brissy ride when I get home and we'll see how "Tiger" (bike's new name) goes in the balmier conditions. The Canberra rides have been good for my bike maintenance education though. Sunday morning's 60km ride was the toughest I've done since getting back on a treadly for a number of reasons. First, I haven't been that far this year so the last 10km was tough considering the group I was with kept the pace up. Second, the Mount Stromlo climb introduced me to the joys of low gearing. It's amazing how you just keep shifting down until it will shift no more and all you can think of is "I wish I had more low gears". Finally, I had my first puncture and was forced to do an on road tube change in -3 degrees. Needless to say, prying off a cold stiff tyre with plastic tyre levers and using numb fingers is not my idea of fun.

On the diet front I've remained on track so wouldn't expect any tragic news upon my return home. Having said that I don't seem to be heading south on the scales anymore despite my good work and it's a constant source of frustration. I had grand plans of knocking off the triple digit numbers by the end of June but it seems that goal is dead in the water and will need to wait for another day. I know its simply a case of persistence, and that every weight loss journey has its "Plateau's", but fair dinkum this bloody plateau has no end in sight. To elaborate, I was around 107kg in early May and now eight weeks later, I seem to float between 105-107 and I'm a bit bloody sick of it to tell you the truth. I feel a bit like a horse dragging a cart because of the bloody carrot on the end of the string in front of my nose, but that damn carrot never gets any closer.

Anyway, that's enough whinging for now. My carer duties come to an end tomorrow and I hope I've offered my Mum a break from the ongoing task of looking after my Dad. His condition is pretty stable and we'll know in a month how his broken leg has healed but unfortunately the dementia issues will continue.

I'm off to Melbourne on Saturday morning for a weekend with some mates which I'm sure will involve some questionable behaviour, the odd beer and plenty of footy. It will be a great way to wrap up the trip south before returning home to lie down for about a week I reckon.

Alrighty then, the bike and a Lake Burley Griffin Loop beckons so I'm off. I'll take my camera with me this time and get a photo or two to add to the blog as proof I put my money where my mouth is.


So until next time (sooner than this time I promise)

P