Exploring Resilience via Lifes Burning Issues

Category: persistence (Page 4 of 14)

Never like a shag on a rock

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Where did the time go?

Sometimes it is surprising how fast another month can slip by…. Like it has since the last post.

An update on Samuel

Samuel has continued doing his own thing, having good days and bad days. Some days heavily medicated and some days less medicated.

Surprisingly he has made it through all of winter without a crashing episode of pneumonia, despite no longer having any of the respiratory support of previous years. The staff at Bear Cottage are just like us, shrugging their shoulders and all they can say is…. It’s Samuel.

His tenth birthday was a milestone none of us expected to make, but it was a great (if insanely busy )week last week celebrating Tanja’s 18th, Taylor’s 13th and Samuel’s 10th.

Another short stint at Bear Cottage

Samuel has been at Bear Cottage since Thursday last week to help us wrap up the week with other events. Taylor and I joined Samuel on Sunday afternoon to spend a few days and unwind, while Jo-Ann and Tanja stayed at home to take care of a few other things.

As usual Bear Cottage is great and provides a good break, and an opportunity to snap pictures like the one at the head of this post.

I love the environment around Manly and take the opportunity to walk/run in places around the beaches and headlands that are such a different view to home. With views like this ….

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A shag on a rock.. Or the beach

Today provided a different sort of exercise though …..

Rather than a run or walk to talk in the scenery I spent 45 minutes doing soft sand and shallow water runs to try and catch a Pied Cormorant (a shag) which had a bundle of fishing line, a hook and a big fishing float wrapped around it’s wing.

Calls to wires and to Manly councils animal services said they knew about the bird but couldn’t do anything!

After 45 minutes, a couple of attempts (failed) and a bite from the Cormorant during one of the attempts, local Manly resident Chris showed up just as the cormorant was about to escape from under the towel during another attempt… And with speed and grace had the towel back over the bird, the bird wrapped up and subdued. We took the bird back to Chris’ place (Chris copped a quick bite in the process) and cut away all of the offending material.

Chris’ partner (sorry I missed her name) called WIRES and let them know that bird had been captured and the line, hook and float removed. At the request of WIRES they then took the bird to a nearby vet, where it is spending the night.

It was a different but fulfilling way to get in today’s exercise.

20130903-181945.jpg Chris, Taylor and I with the Cormorant.

Searching for the meaning of life

In Douglas Adams “Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy” we learn that the answer to the ultimate question on life the universe and everything is 42. It’s just a shame that we never did get to find out what the ultimate question was.

It is even funnier that “life the universe and everything” and the number “42” have taken on cult status across the internet, particularly when Adams says he chose the number randomly and as a joke…..

But there are some things in life for which the number 42 does have some significance.

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A Marathon?

 

Emil Zatopek, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist (one of which is a Marathon medal, after he decided to run in the event at the last-minute) said

“If you want to win something run a hundred metres, if you want to experience something run a marathon”

 

Winning or running a marathon?

Our experience with Samuel has been an ongoing mix of sprints and marathons, somethings we have won along the way.. but the marathon of his experience is continuing….

Picking Milestones…

Last year I picked myself up and ran a half marathon.. (13.6 miles or 21.1 km) or what some people want to call a “PIKERMI” (pronounced pee-KER-mee). The name comes from the town that is halfway between Athens and Marathon. The philosophy behind choosing this name, and not calling it a half marathon, is that running  13.6 miles or 21.1 km should not be considered to be a half of anything……

I’m not one to do things by halves….

Doing my first Pikermi was an interesting experiment, but not being one to do things by half I have decided that it is time to really experience something and to run a full marathon….

While running the marathon is not going to teach me the meaning to life the universe and everything…. after all there is a slight miscalculation with the Marathon being 42.195 Km’s (26 Miles), I am sure that true to Emil Zatopek’s advice I am really about to experience something (including a lot of pain as I crank up my training).

100 Days (ish)

When I decided to do my Pikermi I had 60 days until my chosen event…. some called me crazy.. but I got there.

This year I have chosen and event that gives me a 100 day lead in time.

Where and when?

I have chosen the Blackmore’s Sydney Marathon which happens on Sunday 22nd September (a little earlier than originally planned.. but other plans have ruled out those events 🙁  )

I’ll keep things up to date with my training with an occasional post on here, and some regular updates on my facebook and twitter accounts….

 

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