Introducing : Fiji - Stronger than Winston

She is a very striking young lady, daughter of a Senior Naval Officer (Retired) and successful self employed businesswoman.

While living in London, she worked successfully in Investment Banking, and having recently qualified as a Freelance Journalist now works in Marketing.

What is known to all too few is a passion for Animals, a devotion to Family and a strong, extremely strong care for others including an in built obsession to think of others and put their well being and interests ahead of her own.

She is engaged a daily battle to just maintain a semblance of good health, living in a world where being 75% well is truly a great (and rare) day.

Over Christmas, along with a Girlfriend, a luxury holiday to a Resort in Fiji was booked for March. 

Then the cyclone hit, devastating much of the country, particularly the poorer outlying areas.

Many who know her on the surface, will be surprised to know what happened next.

I consider her a friend and have been granted the privilege of getting to know her well so to me, what happened next was of no surprise. I am proud to be her friend.

The following link tells a small part of her week in Fiji.

http://hailshealthyliving.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/fiji-stronger-than-winston.html

Why I am going to New York

Scott Sullivan was in his late 30’s and a Father of two working in a Management role with Suncorp (Group) when he was struck down by MND. Rather than sitting back waiting to die, he established the MND and ME foundation to raise funds to support sufferers and their families,  and to join the fight to search for a cure, a cure that would never be found in time to help him.

Over the 3 years prior to his passing, Scott worked full time generating awareness of MND and raising over $3 million to create the MND Centre and Fund to research for a cure.

We now continue to help his legacy, find a cure and support those who have the disease and their families.

MND is a disease that is non-discriminatory. It cares not for age or gender, how much or little you have or the work you do. It cares not for ethnicity. There is one certain outcome - death.

My trip to New York to run the Marathon is motivated by raising funds for the Foundation and ultimately to contribute to no other children losing a parent to MND. I ask for your support by way of a donation made by clicking on the link below.

https://mndandmeny.everydayhero.com/au/colin-1

Donations are tax deductible.

RAW Passion

On Thursday evening I attended “Sensory May 2015” presented by Raw Artists.

“Raw Artists” is an international organisation, or an international concept with an objective of allowing local artistic talent a vehicle to display itself.

There are over 60 cities world wide where regular “Raw” events are held and we can be both proud and grateful Brisbane is one of them.

The Venue for this event was The Met nightclub in the heart of the Fortitude Valley entertainment precinct and I confess to being just a little amused that as someone who just happens to be over 25 years of age that I was heading off for a night at The Met. But hey, age is but a number.

My prime motivation for attending was to catch up with, and support Alberto from Monte Rego Photography (http://www.monteregophotography.com) who was exhibiting a superb sample of his landscape, scenery and wave images. (Alberto’s image of the Burleigh Surf Club is amazing)

Alberto was one of several photographers presenting their work, and they were joined by fashion designers, make up artists, sketch artists, painters, musicians, short film makers, art and craft and a near naked woman being drawn on.

Overall, it was a very impressive display of local Brisbane artistic talent, much of it “young” and others just young at heart.

However, I was impressed by much more than the talent on display.

The talent was diverse, but the diversity of the crowd in attendance also impressed me.

There were what you might describe as “artie” types and dressed as you might expect. But, but there was alsobusiness people dressed in their corporate finery, others dressed to kill as if on a night out at an exclusive restaurant or event and others ready for a nightclub. It was incredibly invigorating and motivating to see such diversity, mixing and mingling in perfect harmony and without judgment.

But what impressed me most, what motivated me most were the exhibitors and the common theme of all exhibitors.

All were passionate about their particular artistic pursuit.

All were doing what they wanted to do, following their dream, making it come true, or doing all they could to make it come true.

How many of us genuinely pursue our passion or passions?

How many of us have the self honesty to even identify and articulate just what our passion is?

It is a wake up call for me.

To conclude, I am going back to Alberto and will then end with his words.

Many years ago when living in Adelaide, Alberto worked as a photographer in a specialist field.

Very many geographical moves and many jobs later, fatherhood, cycling and travel, Alberto has acknowledged and accepted his love for his art and is pursuing it.

His words to me were enlightening, honest and motivating.

In respect of his photography, he said:

“I feel like I have come home”

Running to New York

Its time to get Blog “active” again and the motivation to do so is my entry in to the 2015 New York Marathon. I have always wanted to do a Marathon, one Marathon, and figure that I may as well do the grand daddy of major city events, which means 1 November 2015 and New York.

My entry is as part of the group representing the MND and ME (Motor Neurone) Foundation and it is with much pride that they have adopted me for this event.

I have a training program courtesy of myasics.com and with this, I am transitioning from cyclist to runner, be it only (at this stage) until the conclusion of the Marathon.

And the transition is interesting. In the space of three weeks, I have run my best 10k road run in some 25 years, begun to enjoy, even look forward to running and am watching my diet from not just a health perspective, but looking in to diet from a performance and recovery perspective.

Which brings me to my training run on Saturday morning. My program called for a 12 kilometre medium paced run. I have gained great confidence the last week or so by completing similar runs very comfortably. My average heart rate has been getting lower, my energy burn reducing and my times improving. It has actually been comfortable, verging on the edge of being easy.

However, this morning was really difficult. It was hard to get in to a rhythm, I was aware my heart rate was higher than usual and I just felt sluggish.

Not withstanding, I pushed on, paid particular attention to my running posture and breathing while at the same time looking for anything to distract me.

I completed the run; in fact, I added extra 2 kilometres just for the sake of it and was quite surprised to find my average pace was 4 seconds per kilometre quicker than the equivalent run only two days before. However, my average heart rate was 27 beats per minute higher and my energy “burn” was 334 units more than 2days prior.

So, what was different? Why the sluggish feeling? Why the higher heart rate?

I went over the period since my last run, 36 hours previously. What had I done differently?

The answer was simple and obvious.

I left work for home at about 4.30pm Friday hoping to get a head start on the weather ravaged traffic in a Brisbane that had been hit by freakish weather conditions. After driving nearly 3 kilometres, in 2 hours 10 minutes, I executed a “doubtfully legal” U Turn and returned to the office.

Back at work, I consoled myself with three Gin and Tonics supplemented by a large packet/container of Pringles.

On finally getting home at about 10.30, I had some soup, watched the end of a movie and went to bed.

Given my attention to diet has been somewhat fastidious, and my alcohol consumption basically zero, it is obvious that the difference was wholly and solely diet related.

I should note that sleep time was consistent as have been weather conditions (run in the rain excluded).

I have never been a fan of supplements but will now research them. I will also look closer into diet and what further I might be able to do to assist training performance and recovery.

If one relatively small diet divergence can have such a huge negative impact, it stands to reason there is an equal positive impact ready to be discovered from more attention to diet detail.

Watch this space…..

Facebook Delivers

Facebook impacts different people or groups of people in many different ways.

For all too many parents of teenagers, it is the vehicle by which communication with child becomes challenging because “you always have your head in your phone”. Heaven forbid there be a “friend” status update that is posted 30 seconds or more without the chance to comment. The speed responses are posted is astounding.

For many others, Facebook is a great vehicle for sharing photos of family and experiences eg Travel, sport, celebrations etc

And of course there are the negatives. The parties that find their way to Facebook and get out of control due to the number of unintended attendees is one such example. There is also the negative of hate pages.

 Major Corporations have become better at managing their images and use social media to connect with new demographics, however this can come unstuck due to the inability of the “Spin Doctors” to control feed back or comments made on their pages. And for the small business, Facebook is a low cost avenue to support other marketing and sales initiatives.

 Facebook has allowed me to follow the progress of a number of staff who worked part time for Ideal Image and it has been a delight to see them establish careers, have families and to see these families growing up 

Events of the last 7 days have reinforced one of the reasons I use Facebook, even if it has taken these events to fully appreciate this reasons.

During the last 2 years, I have re-connected with a number of people I had completely lost track of. This includes several I went to school with who I literally had not communicated with for over 32 years. One lives in the USA and has for most of their Adult life.

 I have also reconnected with a former work colleague who I knew well but we went our separate ways about 28 years ago.

Reconnecting via Facebook has resulted in several face to face catch ups and to hear and learn what has transpired in their lives has been fascinating indeed.

The benefit of using Facebook were even more clear for me this last week when I discovered a message from someone who was a much valued and trusted friend quite some years ago. For a number of reasons, we were unable to maintain, or be in contact however due to changed circumstances our contact has been re-established and hopefully, will now be maintained for life.

Thank you Facebook.

It should be said however, that my skills using the message functionality of Facebook are somewhat under developed and it was only by accident that I actually found the message. The message to me had been sent some weeks ago and had been sitting unread. In fact, if I had not clicked on a button/icon by mistake, it may well have gone unread for many weeks, months or longer.

Lance Armstrong

Let me state front and centre. I have been a Lance Armstrong fan since 2002 when I became aware of this amazing story of recovering from cancer to come back and dominate the world’s hardest, most demanding annual athletic contest.

Since I started cycling in 2004, I have read many books on the subject including those written by Armstrong and several about him and his Tour wins.

I have also worn a Livestrong band since 2004, partly in support of the cause and partly because I like the general concept of the message “Livestrong”

In addition, when I confronted my own (non cancer) health challenge in 2008, I adopted the “Livestrong” mantra as part of my recovery philosophy and have continued to do so in subsequent years. Also, I adopted words Lance stated when talking about his Cancer treatment as my motto “You’ve got to strong, you’ve got to be brave”

I regularly reminded myself of his words particularly during some of the less than pleasant processes before, during and after surgery as well as in the initial rehabilitation period. I continue to adopt this motto today.

Having said that, my first real bike was a Trek however I was not familiar enough with the sport of pro cycling at the time of purchase to realise that this was the bike of Lance and his team. In fact, I was somewhat disappointed to discover it was his bike brand as I have always avoided purchasing sporting equipment used by the mega stars. For example, I never used a Gray Nichols cricket bat largely because this was the brand used by the test stars when I was a teenager.

I have also been an advocate of “if you test positive for banned substances, you are guilty and serve a suspension” and I don’t care of you are a famous cricketer or world ranked Australian swimmer taking a head ache tablet. The circumstances leading to your positive test are irrelevant because you are responsible for everything that goes in to your mouth. By logical progression, if you do not test positive, you are innocent.

All that aside, for many years now it has not been logical to me that Lance raced clean. Every competitor who challenged him at the Tour has subsequently returned a positive test or been implicated in doping. By extension, I felt it highly likely that Lance also doped.

So how do I feel now with the basically irrefutable evidence that Lance Armstrong built an athletic career largely based on being able to plan, participate in and execute the very best drugs in sport regime there has ever been?

I feel hollow and sad.

My hollowness is as a result of being fooled by the most extraordinary non military propaganda campaign ever. What’s more, it was an institutional campaign seemingly implemented and enforced by aggressive, almost bully boy methods and anyone who dared protest was pursued and dealt with, be it cyclist, staff member of journalist.

If you look at how the behaviour of  the teams of Armstrong evolved over the years, a pattern of increasing paranoia is evident. This increased paranoia is almost understandable behaviour and can be compared to anyone involved in long term illegal activity.

My sadness is born from becoming aware that it is possible for a person to perpetuate such a lie for so long and do so aggressively and assertively while cutting down the careers and lives of anyone who sort to challenge the legitimacy of what was being achieved.

Would it make any difference now if Lance came out and confessed all – I don’t think so. It may appease Lamond, Landis and many others but to normal fans like me, I don’t think it matters any more. It is too late.

I am fan of pro cycling and will continue to be. I want to believe in the cleanliness of the sport as evidenced these past 2 or so years. I also want to believe that such a systemic doping program as that in play at US Postal could never occur again – I just need some time to be convinced of this. I would also like to be confident in the drug testing science and that it will actually catch cheaters.

A part of me is uncomfortable with the evidence against Armstrong being testimony and not science based. I should add, that my discomfort is not so much with the Armstrong case but with where this could go in the future. For example, could several cyclists with a grudge to bear against another make baseless allegations? I like the science and perhaps the main challenge for the UCI and others is to convince us the science is solid.

Finally, I am still wearing the Livestrong arm band however I do so and want to continue to do so for what it means to me, which is primarily why I have worn it these last 4 years anyway. Sadly, I am already being challenged about why I am still wearing it.

Gender Equality - Yes or No?

This coming Friday, Catherine marries William in what is being described as the wedding of the century.

Who is planning their day and evening around following this event and watching it on television? Do you prefer the serious and traditional take on the wedding on offer at ABC 1 or is the offering of the Chaser’s commentary on ABC 2 more appealing?

I vividly recall watching the wedding of William’s parents at a party at my Sister and Brother in Laws house. All the guests at the party were required to wear the same clothes as they wore on their wedding day. It was a fun night of celebration for the future King and Queen of England (and Australia) and a couple who were destined to set the standards for the next 30 years.

Sadly, in many ways they probably have. Arguably, the interviews they gave to the press as their relationship deteriorated represented our first exposure to the reality TV revolution that seems to dominate so many peoples’ lives today.

The wedding of Charles and Dianna was to be the start of an optimistic future at a time when the world was rapidly changing and values were under attack. It was misplaced optimism.

Unfortunately, the Royal wedding of 2011 represents a massive lost opportunity.

In my opinion, this week’s Royal wedding should have provided the motivation for some significant and tangible leadership in gender equality.

The current succession line to the Throne is in order, Charles, William, Harry and Andrew.

As the Law stands, the eldest male child of the monarch is the next in line to the throne. As both of Charles children are males, there is no controversy about who is next in line.

The lost opportunity however is that there may be no better time than now, and before William and Catherine marry and have Children, to finally acknowledge that males and females are equals.

There should be a Law introduced into the British Parliament with effect from the date of the wedding of William for the future line of succession to the Throne to be the eldest Child of the King or Queen irrespective of gender.

As I wrote in April 2009 (http://philosophyfunandfantasy.blogspot.com/2009/04/monarchy-gender-and-religion.html) there was a Bill introduced into the British Parliament to do just this but it was voted down by the major Parties.

Now is the time to introduce such a Bill again and to have it passed unanimously. To not do so, relegates Women to an unequal position in society, and a society that believes itself to be tolerant and fair. It is not. What possible better example could there be of leadership of gender equalisation of opportunity?

And while we are at it, let us also rid ourselves of the religious discrimination that applies to the British Monarchy.

I for one will not be watching or following the Royal Wedding on Friday.

Instead of watching the wedding on Friday night, does anyone want to join me for wine and dinner to celebrate the concept of hope for gender equality? I am sure the restaurants will be empty.