Chocolate Fuel

Another really busy day today, but in a great way. Easter Sunday done right in our families opinion.

The morning half of the day was spent in glorious exercise and the second half of the day was spent running around with my mad, chocolate fueled children.

For the exercise part of the day I went for a bit of a jog. Still nothing special, but the good stress test results have meant that I am able to jog continuously, rather than having to do a jog/walk. The jog is still very slow, but it is great to be able to get into a rhythm and keep going. It means I am able to cover some reasonable distances too, even if it does take me a while. Nice to get the legs turning over and feeling like they are actually doing something.

After jogging I then went out for a bit of a play on the Standup Paddle board. I had planned to head out for a bit longer, but once I got out on the river it became very apparent that I was reaching my physical limit. The jog from the morning, plus a couple of days or riding, meant that the body and the heart were tired and letting me know about it. Given that I decided that a short paddle was the best course of action and headed back to shore early. Not what I had originally planned, but without a doubt the right thing to do. Such is life at the moment, making sure I am listening to what the body is telling me.

The rest of today was a lot chocolatier and, therefore, a lot more excited. The kids had a great day being fueled by sugar and my wife and I simply went along for the ride.

The main family activity of today was a trip out to Penguin Island, which is a small island just offshore from Rockingham (south of Perth) which is home to a colony of, you guessed it, penguins. There are about 1200 Little Penguins (that is their species as well as a physical description) living on the Island, but being day time we didn't actually see any (they spend daytime at sea) although we did hear some. However, we did get to visit some of the orphan penguins at the Discovery Centre which was a lot of fun. Besides seeing the penguins at the Discovery Centre we just had a great family day out, stopping for lunch, exploring the island, refueling on chocolate eggs, stopping for ice cream, you get the idea, lots of sugar. LOTS. The kids are currently crashed out in bed each of them clutching recently acquired stuffed penguins. It has been that kind of day.

The way that this afternoon was spent is a great reminder to me of the flip side of not being able to race anymore. While I may have had to give up on something I loved before I was ready, the extra time I have from not racing and training so much has meant that days like today are just that little bit more common. That doesn't sound like such a bad consolation to me.