Perspective

Nikkis mum passed away on tuesday night.

I always had a soft spot for yaya. She was your classic first generation immigrant, as she took nothing for granted. Like the rest of her life, she didnt go down without a fight. But it was time for her to go and we were all comfortable with that. I think she was too. I am going to miss her. The rabbit and yaya were pretty close too and we still have to let her know, I am not sure how I going to brooch. Mother is being her usual pragmatic self however she has allowed herself to let her guard down occasionally. We were driving in the car and a KISS song came on the radio and there were a few tears. I figured yaya must have been a massive Paul Stanley fan! Not likely unless he had done a zorba remake somewhere in the early 80s! The truth is that it probably took Nikki back to a time when it was her and her Mum going it alone. Nikkis mum was fairly advanced in years when she had Nikki and unfortunately Dad was no longer around. There wasnt a great deal of coin floating about, they did it pretty tough.

So through (and despite) their fair share of parent/sibling clashes a real bond was formed with these 2. I know Nikki will have a fairly big hole left and that makes me sad because you never want to see your loved ones to hurt. But that is part of life.

On the running front 4 days of good runs as follows:

17/7 - recovery grass run 35 mins around Gore Hill Oval and surrounds
18/7 - Bridge Run. Did this in 52 minutes last week and this time around just over 50 minutes. Ran with Ray Wareham from the north side bridge steps to North Sydney.
19/7 - Same run as last wednesday. I quite enjoy this run as you are forced to take it easy going down via the trails but then the hills get you coming back. A good run that forces you not to go out too hard but makes you work on the trip home.
20/7 - 6 * 1km repeats (90 - 110 second recovery) with 10 minute warm up and warm down. I did this on part of a loop around the RNS and Gore Hill Oval where the finish was at a higher point then the start. The last 500 metres was a pretty solid climb so not only did I get a fairly good speed session for my buck but also a good strength hitout. All the efforts were under 4 minutes (not by much mind you!) but I can guaruntee that I nearly lost my lunch after each effort. The last few required extra recovery (I try and keep it at 90 seconds) but it was really needed. I actually think this was one of my best hitouts since returning, I really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone for this type of effort. I reckon as I get fitter I will run this much faster but a benchmark has been set on a new session which will require me to work hard to better. That can only be good.