That's me standing at the top of the Hill of Death, pleased to be alive after the steep ascent, and hoping I look incredibly fit and taut and trim after all that exercise....Somewhere around the age of 32 my body decided that the Earth was facing an imminent apocalypse, and began to treat each meal as a last-ditch chance to bulk up to be ready for the lean and hungry years spent wandering a nuclear devastated landscape with Mel Gibson Mad Max-like (fascinating they can still source great leather gear after the bombs go off!)..... not one to take a challenge lying down (unless it involves a fantastically long afternoon nap on a Sunday in which case I say bring it on!!!), I started walking my heart out 7 years ago, and took it up a notch about 4 months when I added swimming to the repertoire of fat-attacking after a few years of treating it like my illiterate 3rd cousin, Irma, from the back of Bourke, here to sponge off me.....
From a shaky start when I swore my lungs were going to explode out of my body and hit the walls of the 2 lane, 25m swimming pool in my apartment complex's gym (presented two issues - (a) How to explain all the blood and body parts across the wall and (b) how to do this with no lungs to draw in breath, keep my heart going etc.... a true conundrum indeed), I am now up to 1.5 km a session and loving the way all those laps de-stress me beautifully, strip away the fat, and shape my body into lean muscular contours with none of that boring gym work! It's the perfect way to end all those long stressful days at work and while some may see endless laps as boring as a lecture on slow drying paint in a small country town in Kazakhstan, I love the zen-like calm that descends on me as my mind switches off and drifts on the waves of nothingness.... OK that was just a tad too "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" for me but you get the idea....
Fahmi walks along one of the many paths in Sydney Park, which we usually share with a plethora of dogs and fitness conscious owners.....
I have twinned the swimming with walking which involves getting up at 4.45 a.m. (yep when it's dark!!) and power walking like a maniac trying to reach the post-Christmas sales while the fridges are still priced at $4.95... most mornings these manic walks are done with my very good friend, Fahmi, and it's a great chance to catch up on life, the universe, and everything, and to ponder if we really are insane (I am thinking yes! LOL)... the week day walks happen in and around King Street, Newtown/Erskineville, while the weekend walks (which follow my swimming at 7 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday) take place in beautiful Sydney Park, across from my complex, which is where the photos were taken....
The view from the Hill of Death, which is this amazingly steep hill in the middle of the park (my apartment complex is in the foreground).... Fahmi absolutely loves the ascent.... yep like he adores being poked with flaming daggers....lol
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