December December

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I feel, nay I know that 2007 is going to be the year of the health kick for MLC Man. A visit to the doc to receive news of recent blood tests was not exactly encouraging, the long and the short of it being that I have to work hard next year on (1) exercise - maintaining and building on what I've achieved this year, (2) diet - going to the extremes in terms of healthy eating, and (3) cutting down on alcohol

This is in addition to medication to overcome what shall be best described as an over-enthusiastic liver. Where we had hoped that exercise and a healthy (but not fanatical) diet would be sufficient, in fact things only got worse, so it's time to bite the bullet and tackle it hard.

But not quite yet ... I'll get through the Christmas period first and then become St. MLC Man in the New Year. Not that Christmas is normally a gorge-fest for me in any case, but it definitely isn't health-farm fare either.

I was somewhat despondent about it at first, but it's actually going to be so much easier to do now that I've attained my current fitness level, and I've been contemplating cutting down on the booze for a while anyway. And despite everything, I still have a persistent gut that won't quite evaporate, no matter how hard I hit the treadmill, so I've been contemplating hitting that too. And it gives me extra incentive to plan a couple of other races into the schedule... so look out world, here I come

But just to rub torment and irony into the wounds, my son gives me a really nice present to agonise over (see pic)...

Soooo, I'm scanning cookbooks and the internet for a whole bunch of yummy appropriate low-fat salad recipes (etc) and gut-busting exercise routines, and maybe one or two races to slot into the calendar.

But first I have to negotiate the mine-field that is silly season with its vast glittering array of Christmas lunches, BBQs, DAWFNARs* and the like. Dangerous, but fun And that's not to mention all the associated imbibing to go with the endless summer of cricket of course. I tell you, it can be hell to be an Aussie in the summertime

Anyway, I've been prescribed this awful-tasting liver-cleansing tonic thing called water or something, and I have to drink litres of this gunk; not a teaspoon at bedtime, or made into a tea you can sip slowly with a nice brandy, but litres and litres of it... this might actually be tougher than I thought
Oh well, I'm getting used to crunch time. It'll be fun, won't it? Hello?

Until the next exciting instalment...

MLC Man.




*DAWFNAR = Drinks After Work For No Apparent Reason