A Dirty Weekend and Fitness

The Cyclist, who is not after all the author of this blog, felt that the title of this post should be "Keeping Fit on a Dirty Weekend".  Huh??  This is not a PG rated blog and I would like to keep it nice and clean.  What is he doing anyway making suggestions as to blog title?  But, after some thought I decided to go with his suggestion as Dirty Weekend.  It may generate some extra hits!

Hottest Day on Record for Sydney

The Grandparents are here with only 10 days left to go, so The Cyclist and I decided to treat ourselves to a night away in the Hunter Valley, a beautiful wine growing region less than 2 hours from Sydney.  Let's just say, if nothing else it was a HOT date.  This is the temperature as we travelled out of Sydney.  It turned out to be the hottest day on record for Sydney and I hear that it did in fact reach temperatures of 47 degrees in the Hunter Valley.  The air felt like walking into an oven as we stopped for a delicious lunch of squid and pear and rocket salad (with potatoes for The Cyclist).  

Salt and Pepper Squid

Pear and Rocket Salad

Speciality Chocolate Shop

The coolest place was the speciality chocolate shop next to the restaurant.  I could definitely have stayed there all afternoon.  I was fascinated with the Gluten Free/Sugar Free chocolate on offer but decided to go with a more traditional option (at $9.90 - you must be joking!).  After much indecision we decided on the dainty selection below.  Owing to extreme temperatures, immediate consumption was vital.  

We stayed at a beautiful venue called Chateau Elan, with stunning views over the golf course.  Our attempt to relax at the swimming pool met with failure as just sitting in the shade outside was  sweltering.  Also, I find noisy kids super annoying when, on the rare occasion,  I have dumped my own for the night.  I now understand why there is such a thing as a "no U12's venue"... 

The best cool and quiet place to chill out was the spa - they had both a hot and cold plunge plunge pool.  I tried both.  Thank goodness a thunderstorm brought a break to the heat in the evening.

Dinner was completely over indulgent.  We ate at Muse, an award winning restaurant.  The food was exquisite in both presentation and  taste and it was a real treat not having to have a buzzer vibrate and  alert me when the meal was ready.  After fish and chips for our wedding anniversary evening out 3 weeks ago, it was wonderful to have the real deal and we did not hold back on the food.  (Although I did limit myself to one glass of wine).  With an appetiser (salmon cake), tuna starter, seared salmon main for me (and duck for The Cyclist) and dessert - dark chocolate indulgence (me) and creme brûlée (the Cyclist) we literally wobbled out of there.  

So, of course, what can a girl do but run?   There was no way we could actually run off all of those calories but we could at least make a small dent in the dessert. The Cyclist required some gentle persuasion but eventually agreed to join me for "a short, slow run".  These were his very words.  He clearly had not planned to run as he ran wearing his swimmers and T-Shirt but one good thing about running is that it doesn't require lots of special equipment (unlike cycling).

The Cyclist is a very annoying running partner:

- He starts off really slowly ,

- He doesn't chat (isn't this what running partners are meant to do?)

- He gets INCREASINGLY FASTER on the uphills - my heart rate got to 170 trying to keep up.  Once again I mention Ironmum Karla's article on why it is impossible for women to compete competitively with men.  We just don't have the lung capacity and lean muscle - not fair!

- When I stop to take photos he races off and expects me to run extra fast to keep up - I have on record that I was running at 3min30 a km for at least 400m on the downhill trying to catch him. 

- So basically, he treats the whole session as a race rather than I nice way to exercise together.  Competitive or what! 

Running in the Hunter Valley

But I can't complain - any company is better than none and I was pleased to get some exercise that wasn't originally planned.  The scenery was lovely, the weather had cooled down substantially and the kangaroos were out en mass cooperating for photo opportunities.  And yes, The Cyclist can also run!

What is the hottest day you have experienced?

Have you ever run close to a kangaroo or any other wild animal?

Is your partner super competitive?  Would you run with him/ her?