Sober Ramblings on Life by Jenjer

11 th May 2012 – 162 days to go… Last weekend I took part in the Perth Relay for Life, which is basically a 24 hour walk to raise money for Relay and the Cancer Council, and I was part of a team organized by Liz (Warman) of 7 adults and 3 kids. The event kicked off with a ‘Survivors Lap’ which Liz and David (her other half) took part in as David, who has been through some serious cancer shit in the last year, was fit and healthy enough to walk.   It was a truly emotional moment watching the survivors and their carers walk proudly in defiance of such a buggery bloody disease that will affect 1 in 2 Australians. So we all took turns at walking in 20 minute shifts, strictly adhering to Liz’s schedule (not!!) and carrying the relay baton which in this case was something to do with kite surfing (one of David’s favourite pastimes), dutifully collecting a coloured bead each lap to add to our lap counting chain. I won’t go into too much shenanigans over the weekend, s...

5 th April – 198 Days to go OK – so the 30k ride didn’t go too well…actually it was rubbish as I barely managed 20k’s – and that included riding to the train station and home again. As the Queen of Excuses, I think where I am struggling is the pace I ride at.   I like to ride at ooooh 10-12kph…and Sar likes to ride at 16-18kph…so there is always a huge gap between us and the mental issue of ‘being last’…something I am not used to. How to up the pace? I know the answer is to ride faster (D’oh) but I literally do not appear to have the legs for it.   Now my legs have always been pretty strong, but recently they are all fat and no muscle, and my riding goes something like ‘pedal pedal glide’ as opposed to ‘pedal pedal pedal’ which invokes much piss-taking from Sar, my brother and even my Mum. How to remedy this? Physically, I am assuming more time on the bike and weights will fix this - Doris , help me out here? Mentally, I really really really need to find my missing ridi...

14 th March – 220 days to go So, after a couple of rides over small distances i.e., to the beach and back, the first test is looming this Sunday in the form of a 30km charity bike ride. 30kms, I am rationalizing in my head, is not really that far…its basically from the new place to the bottle shop 30 times....how hard can that be…right?! What I’m not looking forward to is the sore arse I know I’ll have the next day despite wearing those lovely chamois padded lycras….I’m also not really looking forward to the 7.30am start….I mean Sunday is sleep in day, and cramming in breakfast and exercise at that hour is frankly, quite rude. This ride will be a good mini test for a longer ride and I am actually looking forward to it. To celebrate, I have new gel riding gloves (with pink & white flowers of course!) so I am keen to get them out for playtime! After a training run on the hockey pitch last night, I realize exactly just how unfit and lazy I have become (yes…’become’ to all those ...

7 th February - 256 days to go So after my last self-indulgent blog, I have decided to lighten up and get with the (training) programme… To start, after my Biggest Loser/Excess Baggage/Woe Is Me moan about my starting weight…I can report that after weighing myself again a month later….I weigh exactly the same!!!   Exactly!!!   Go figure! Thrusting that from my mind I can also report that my ancient treadly in back in the land of the living and is actually a very very comfortable ride.   OK, so it’s a little rusty and my bike rack is still on the back despite half a can of WD40 and smacking it with a hammer…but I hop on it and the years roll away taking me back the best part of 30 years….Gads. The training plan has arrived from the GB   Tri-athlete responsible for beasting us, although I have to admit I have not been able to open my training programme on either my work computer or laptop   :o   But we have had an entertaining conversation on the phone a...

16 th January 2012 - 278 Days to go So, the training is going…but going slowly…after riding down to the beachfront for the photo shoot just over week ago - a total of 1 km from home I might add – my thighs felt like jelly and I was seriously out of breath…time to forgo the pipe smoking   methinks. Since then, I have put a more comfy seat on my bike and am currently shopping about for a hi-vis vest, as even on my small ride I took my life in my hands with the cars…seriously, give a My ‘proper’ bike is still in getting fixed (some malarkey about waiting for tires) so I am still on my mountain bike which has to be the most god awful uncomfortable thing I have ever had the misfortune of sitting on…apologies for all those facebook status’s relating to the state of my arse, but I fear they will keep coming as it is SO painful…surprising really when you see the size of it! Anyhoo – in terms of actual riding, I’m going for another ride today after work, I have no idea how far or where...

4 th January 2012 – 290 days to go Happy New Year Everyone! So - 2012…this year is THE year…there is no escaping it; there can be no more excuses – my participation in The Ride to Conquer Cancer draws ever closer. There is, I realize, a whole lot more to this charity bike ride thing than first anticipated - in addition to the actual physical side of the ride I mean. On the outside, mentally speaking I am ready to go, or at least I can sure as hell talk the talk...on the inside however, I am filled with doubts – will I actually be able to do this; will I make a fool of myself; what will people say if I cant or don’t do this; will everyone say I told you so…typical Jenjer etc… I have reached a stage in my life (and some of my nearest & dearest will already know this) where I am seriously not happy with me. The truth is, I’ve been in this ‘stage’ for the last 15 years – but in true Jenjer style I have glossed over it. – does “you don’t need to be fit to score goals” sound famili...