Cat pix

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• ok so THIS one's mine
• no..this just doesn't smell right
• boo hoo  nothing for me...I've been forgotten

oh well I love Ernie and Ernie loves me

End of another phase

Well one thing's for sure...I cannot now work an 8 hour day AND train if I'm on my feet literally all the time except for lunch and a bit of computer time.  I'm just too stuffed by the time I get home.

• Thankfully I've come to the end of my 6 week clinical locum. Since New Year I've had to put in 8 hour days 'cos  the ward, which was s'posed to have  only 20 beds open, ended up with 25, 26 or 28 patients depending on the day and I was the only lonely Physio.

• For the next 13 weeks I get a bit of a physical rest but more  mental stress as I go through a vertical learning "curve" as a project officer. Wish me luck.

• Training was going well til this week, but hopefully I'll quickly get back on track :-) this weekend and next week as I start to prepare for the State Masters Track Champs in Feb.  I've given the women's Omnium the flick as I'm fairly sure I'll need a rest period afer my first week on the new job rather than a full day's racing...could it be that I'm developing a modicum of sense? I rather hope not.

• My European plans are still fuzzy due to not yet knowing if there'll be a European Masters Track Champs. I hope they decide soon...I need to plan for 2 weeks  in an Italian Language school in Italy to mesh in with them.

• And yet another slip of the tongue this time  from a social worker to a male nurse:  Hey Scott...you're really good with the ladies in the shower!    WE knew what she meant but a good belly laugh is always great medicine.

• I've just eaten my first home grown tomato and strawberry (not together of course)..yum!

2010 reprise..a year of trials and mixed success

2010...the year I decided to stop permanent employment (retire in fact) and the year I decided to try cycle touring. It was also  the year I discovered neither was right for me!

I was well and truly over being a slave to having to front up for work regularly and only having 4 weeks/year to do what I really wanted to do, but when push came to shove I realised that retirement sucks and actually I enjoy the work environment as long as I can engage with it when I want to ...so locum work is the go.  Currently I am coming to the end of a 6 week clinical locum and after that have a 13 week project officer job.  Then.....well who knows, but I'm going OS on June 30th and that's a ticket already bought and paid for.

Cycle touring...I adored Italy, just loved the hilltop towns and villages, the olive groves and the Italian people but discovered that touring for touring's sake didn't grab me at all which meant that riding through bad weather or boring terrain was not for me...I enjoy a physical challenge but I rapidly  lost my sense of humour when things got boring, went on too long or got really wet and/or cold, 'sides which too much touring wrecks my race legs.

So...2011 brings occasional work, no touring, racing on road and track both OS and in Aus.

goals are:

Track

Masters Nats  in March

Masters European  if it eventuates in Italy in July

Masters Worlds  in manchester in October

Road

racing in Austria for 2 weeks during August

and to make these goals happen  positively:

train consistently

manage fatigue levels

return to race weight

and finally just to demonstrate I'm not one dimensional(!) attend an Italian language school in Italy to supplement the classes I'm taking here.