Ugh Winter...

I am definately a summer girl. I hate winter - being cold, the rain, the wet dogs, the muddy garden. I just want to hibernate when the weather turns. Unfortunately, the bad weather arrived on Sunday, just in time for the last 10km race. I also had a cold. I seriously considered staying in bed, but dammit, I'd made a commitment to do the whole series, and do it I would.

It was miserable. It rained heavily on the first lap. I thought about pulling out at the 5km mark, but soldiered on, and completed the 10km in 1hr 23mins. Slower than my best time, but not so bad considering the conditions, my cold, and the course (one nasty uphill and one very nasty downhill, rinse and repeat).

So, now for the big challenges ahead. A half marathon on the 13th July, followed by another half marathon on the 3rd August. I'm going to have a couple more days recovery, both from my sore hip (sciatica anyone?) and the cold, and then do a practice walk this weekend over the course for the 21kms I will be doing on the 13th. I feel the need to do the distance just so I know I can - the race organisers did helpfully tell me that I have just under four hours to complete the actual race!

Other news - Mum is recovering well, and getting bored which is a good sign. Our new lobby tiles look great, and just need grouting and skirting board (base boards for you Americans) finished. I had a few hours in the vege garden last weekend and hopefully we'll have some nice winter treats from that. Toby and Katie are good - though Toby still has a tendency to steal anything he can reach. This morning it was a bunch of ripe bananas! Rupes made Katie a sacking pad to sleep on by sewing three sacks together, in the hope that she wouldn't be tempted to rip them apart. She sleeps on it fine, but come morning, it's fair game and the teeth start work, so it has to be put away during the day!

Choosing your child's gender

Reading the paper today, I came across a report that said that parents involved in IVF programmes should be able to choose the sex of their child.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4589190a10.html

When I'd stopped laughing (Imagine being able to choose your baby! Ha! Gee, why didn't the doctors give ME that option?), I checked out the poll the same website is running - asking whether IVF parents should be able to choose the gender. At this moment, the "no's" are leading. Interesting. Is the no vote a "no one should be able to choose the sex" or a backlash against those terrible women who resort to IVF when obviously they weren't "meant" to be mothers? Or the other old opinion that I have heard - IVF is playing God and is wrong! So be infertile and shut up about it!

I don't know of anyone, any blogger, any infertile person who is forced to undergo IVF to conceive a child who really cares what sex that hypothetical child might be. Yes, there are parents who are carriers of certain disorders where the gender choice may be important to ensure the health of the baby, and that's fine. But I believe IVF was NEVER about designer babies, but about helping those who couldn't conceive to at least have a chance. And the ignorance around the whole subject really annoys me. Or maybe I am just a little bit fragile and precious this week? Feel free to tell me if I am.

Anyway, while I am on the subject - I was reading an article in a woman's magazine about a certain celebrity who had IVF treatment. It annoys me intensely when they say "the embryo was implanted into her uterus". Umm no. The embryo is injected into the uterus with the hope that it will attach itself and become a baby. And I wish women's magazines would also get it right - you are NOT pregnant at that stage, and you cannot be confirmed pregnant until 2 weeks have passed and you have a positive pregnancy test.

Right, rant over. In other news, my mother is recovering well from her surgery, though tired and sore. I've left her a pile of DVDs and books to keep her occupied while she recuperates. It was a nice weekend, managed to fit in a 12km walk which actually was pretty good, despite some very amusing policemen who thought that driving alongside me and telling me they were going to book me for speeding was a hilarious thing to do! Otherwise, our last 10km race is this Sunday and then it's the countdown to the first half marathon on July 13th. I'm just a little apprehensive about that - 21km is an awfully long way!

Update...of nothing really

Well, the big awards night was lots of fun, managed to get about 3 hours sleep before we had to fly back to Auckland. My two co workers (who are both blog readers) were way more naughty than me and stayed out later. Oh to be young, or a party animal again! It really was a nice wee trip though, and nice to see Christchurch - such a pretty city on a crisp sunny day.

Training is going fairly well, though I have struggled to put in the km's in since the last race. Managed about 7.5km last night, plus dog walking, but the old hip is a bit sore so I will be making sure to do good stretching every day to try and ease that out. I'm heading up North this weekend to stay with my Mum who has just had surgery, so that will be a nice break (and where she lives is completely flat so I should be able to get some good walking in).

Otherwise, life is quiet. Been to a couple of movies, out for dinner, watched the All Blacks game against Ireland on TV at a friend's place. All general stuff, and nice stuff but nothing to write home about (or to bore you with on my blog!) Work continues to be busy, so am making the effort to keep up to date with everything so that the unexpected doesn't throw everything out of whack too much.

A friend's wee baby has been in hospital with meningitis - I was so scared and worried when I heard, but the good news is that she has the strain that means no side effects and she will make a complete recovery. I can only imagine how her folks felt - it is such a scary word and conjures up some terrible mental images. Awful. I really feel it when children are hurt or get sick - that's a new thing in the last few years, possibly because I now understand just how precious these little ones are. I'm just so glad she is going to be ok - she is a wee darling with the most beautiful mop of hair!

Next race is on the 22nd of June. It involves a fairly nasty hill, so lots of stretching and hill training will be my goal for the next 10 days. There is a hill near our place that is a killer, and I am almost tempted to walk up and down it a few times each time I train. Ugh. I did say "almost"!