Hello September, Goodbye August!

Time flies, and it's zooming by really quickly.

Where are the brakes?

I don't want the year to end so soon!!

It's been 2 years since I've moved to Melbourne and there's so much I've yet to experience or see. We probably need to speed things up a little but it's hard when a) they can cost a bomb and b) we just want to stay at home and do some gardening, or go trailrunning, or catch up with friends.

Winter has been tough, in a sense that we don't feel so inclined to go out there and run. We found ourselves doing a bit of workout in the comfort of the gym and I have to say that multi-tasking (watching TV while running on the treadmill) makes me a happier person - I wanted to watch Masterchef Australia!

Now that Spring is coming, we can't wait. More daylight means being able to tend to the garden when we return home from work! We'd feel more energised, too when we arrive home after work. Winter's dark evenings kinda sucked the life out of us that made lazing in front of the TV more tempting than going out for a run.

Last weekend saw us taking an hour drive from our place to Olinda, Dandenong for a 20k trail run. Jon wanted to recce the route for the Dandy Hipster Run (taking place on 26th Sept) and seeing that we needed some training for our race this weekend, we succeeded in dragging our fat wobbly arses out of bed at 5ish am. 

Disappearing into the wilderness.

Photo credit: Jon.

We felt so alive! Wooooo....

We walked up this stretch and joked about setting up a few mobile coffee stands along the way.

I thought it was the end of our run but turns out that we had another 2k to go after this this.

It was great running in the Dandy's again. We love love love being surrounded by the lush green and tall trees and the muddy trails. I rolled my left ankle when I tripped over nothing and it took 10 minutes of rest before I could continue on. With 5k to go, it seemed like a huge feat but somehow, I could walk OK, especially on the inclines. Once my ankle felt much better, I managed to jog the last 3k as the route was flat. I was pretty pleased; thank goodness no major injuries. *mixed feelings*

Yet somehow I managed to twist my RIGHT ankle a few hours later. In my tired state of mind, my foot slipped off the pavement while we were walking towards Freedom. Arghhhhhhhhhhh!

Now that hurt 10x more than the earlier incident!

I sat around on the sofas in Freedom while waiting impatiently for Bin to make his purchase and go.

I hobbled around most of the day and it was only at night (after our dinner guests had left - we invited them over at the last minute so we could continue catching up) I managed to ice and heat both ankles.

Anyway, to cut the long story short about my being a heroic idiot with 2 injured ankles, I haven't been able to walk properly not because of them, but because of my very sore quads! My ankles are good, albeit just a little swollen. :)

Website: Inaugural Dandy's Hipster Coffee Run

We managed to make a trip up to Lake Mountain with the Kweks two or three weeks ago for a bit of fun in the snow. We bought our pants, boots, gloves and I bought a snow jacket - Eugene laughed and said it would have been a waste of our money if he decided to cancel the trip altogether.

(You can choose to hire the clothing and shoes instead of purchasing your own, at the same ski hire centre where you can hire the toboggan, skis and snowboard.)

It took us 3 hours to reach the resort, as there was a long queue to enter the premises.

Took a short walk up one of the tracks.

My first snowman experience, with Izelle and Neve. :)
Photo credit: Bin.

I chose to toboggan 'cos I was too scared to learn how to ski.
Photo credit: Bin.

Tobogganing is pretty fun if you can go as far and as fast as you can. The toboggan run was rather short, but I guess it's more for the kids. You had to walk up the slope and back to the start line - now that was a bit of a workout!

Sent this pic to my sister to show my 3.5 year old
niece and she said Olaf looked weird. :P

Now Bin tells me that we have to pick up skiing next year.

Website: http://www.lakemountainresort.com.au/

N2's Ferrero Reveal.. mmmm

Earlier in the month, Kirsten took me to her favourite gelato shop, the N2 Extreme Gelato at Sutherland St (opening hours 1pm - 11pm). She has a sore spot for their salted caramel creme brulee while I opted for their Ferrero Reveal, both priced at $9 each.

I loved the chocolate covered rice bubbles, but the chocolate hazelnut gelato with chopped hazelnuts tasted a bit bland on its own. Hence the need for one to grab a spoonful with all its elements together for a yummy taste - gelato + chocolate rice bubbles = awesome!

I took a hobble walk to the store yesterday only to be disappointed with its choice of flavours for the week. In a way, it was good news for me, I saved my $9. So I walked all the way back to the office, empty-handed but relieved. Haha!

Website: http://n2extremegelato.com.au/

Well, it seems like nothing much happened in August. September will be a bit more exciting, I suppose, as my family will be visiting us. I can't wait to see them again! :)

Ohh, I forgot to mention that I have started Zumba classes!
That's pretty exciting, I suppose, especially when I'm not very good at dancing haha!
Since it's free, I thought I'd give it a go. It's a fun workout and I enjoy it, even though it can be quite embarrassing not to be able to follow the class well. :)