Mothers Day Classic

Well its less than a month til this year’s Classic.  During the week we entered online & received our purchased goods in the mail already - most efficient service this year.  The blue cap is an excellent idea this year & I reckon that alot of men will have no worries about wearing them in support of their wives,mothers, girlfriends, etc.  I must admit that I have never been able to build up the courage to wear the pink caps in previous years so I am happy to wear the blue one.  Also when myself & Kylie (my wife) go for a walk with our caps we don’t look like Ken & Barbie wearing the same colours. 
 
The past few years I have been using the MDC as a training run for the Sydney half marathon the following weekend as the course at the Domain is also part of the half marathon course.  It was also a good test in pacing myself when in a crowd & not to go out too hard because invariably you will struggle at the end of the run.  Running in a fun run is always better than going for a run by yourself as you seem to run quicker - not quite sure why but I guess the competitive nature of trying to beat the person beside you would kick in.  Also by participating in a fun run there are alot of benefits that you seem to get out of it … you feel healthier as you train for a few weeks/months and invariably improve the diet with more & more alcohol free days along the way.  You also seem to lose a few kilos which is never a bad thing as the clothes that didn’t fit in January always seem alot easier to wear post-fun run. 
 
This weekend we flew to Adelaide for a business conference.   The trip started with the usual banter that we would be really good & go for long walks every day along the beach & also go for a swim in the hotel every morning.  On our walks we were lucky to experience seeing a few dolphins frolicking at Glenelg beach & it was probably the highlight of the weekend together with being able to have fun chatting to each other on those walks. Our flight home on Sunday was great as we spoke about how great it was spending the weekend together & how we plan on being “good” over the next few weeks & go for walks & runs. 
 
Chookie (my mum) is starting to feel the pressure of the Mothers Day Classic this year.  Whilst it is our favorite day of the whole year for the past decade, she hasn’t exactly been the ultimate professional by never training for the event, instead electing to go into the event without a training session under the belt.  The same old story would happy every year … we participate in the Mothers Day classic … mum finishes with a smile brighter than Times Square … we have a lovely lunch & mum would be beaming about how proud she was in finishing it & how she SHOULD have trained for the event because she would struggle in latter stages of the run … and then a few days later she would say how stiff & sore she was & how she MUST train in future years for the Classic … and how she said the same thing last year … and the year before.  But she loves the day & wears her finishers medal all day & the next day at work as well. 
 
So this year she has felt the need to start getting into training especially as alot of people will be tracking her progress through this blog.  Sorry Chookie!!  Anyway, she has been going for a few walks with Missy (her Maltese Terrier) & has also purchased a bike a while ago in a cross-training bid to get fitter for May 11.  She is in the 60-69 age category for the 4km run and the aim is to not only finish but to try & get a top three placing.  Go Chookie!!
 
Now this bike had been sitting in a box in the garage for over a month.  My cousin from Ireland Mary Ann has been staying with mum for the past few weeks whilst “back-packing” & decided to “help” mum’s training regime by putting this bike together.  Chookie was very happy about this til she saw the final product looked nothing like the picture on the box.  She was somewhat perplexed when she saw “spare parts” left over … so her next door neighbour had a look at the instructions on Friday night & it seems that the spare parts included the brakes & a few other important bits to the front wheel which somehow was “back to front” - not sure how a wheel can be that way - but it was as mum reliably informed me.
 
Over the years we have been blown away with the growth of the MDC … we remember when it was only held in Sydney a decade ago with about 500 people … and now it is so big with so many great sponsors on board as the event is national.  Just seeing the growth in fundraising on the MDC home page brings a smile to my face.  I wonder what the event will be like in another ten years time.  Whatever it will look like, there is one thing for certain … we will be there for it.

Adrian