The Right Stuff

A has always been of the opinion that if you are going to do something, you should have the right tools to do it.  Me - not so much.  I am a make do kind of girl. 

When we first moved to Australia, and we were renting, we used to spend a lot of weekends hiking through the local national parks / forests.  We loved it.  And we were kitted out for it - we had decent hiking shoes, clothes that breathed and wicked sweat (even though I had no idea what that meant when we bought those shirts !!), we had camel packs in back packs, we had light weight rain jackets - just in case we got caught in a shower.  We packed lunches and ate them by the sides of rivers and waterfalls.

When we started cycling we used to cycle without knicks.  We realised very quickly that, while we may not really want to wear them, they truly are crucial for cycling.  So we bought them.  Then we bought gloves because they really help your hands.  We got water bottles and speedo thingies that tell us how far and how fast we are going.  We bought lumious jackets so that when we cycled early morning or at night, we were more visible to motorists.

So, as you can see, A makes sure that we have the right equipment to do whatever we are doing.

I have always walked - not always regularly - but we have walked - lots - especially after we got the dogs.  A has a dodgy knee from when he broke his leg two weeks before we got married and so is not able to run anymore.  While he was working away from home towards the end of last year, while I was walking one night I thought "I wonder if I can run half of this block ?" - and that was how my running started.  I have always worn a sports bra when exercising - mainly because my boobs have travelled south a lot quicker than I would have liked and nothing (short of surgery) is going to have them heading north again - and I CANNOT stand them bouncing at all - EVER ! 

WhenA and I were up the north side of Brisbane one day and we stopped off at a shop called Harris & Scarfe (I think that's the name) and while we were looking around there, I came across a Berlei sports bra that had been marked down from $80 to $49.  It was really comfortable and so I bought two - a grey/pink one and a red one.  And I LOVE them. And the best part is that they do their job so well I don't even know they are there !!!

Last week after I had bought my new shoes (which are just amazing I have to add - again !!) we were walking and I decided to run half a block - just to see how my knee would hold out.  My knee was fine but I was wearing one of my old sports bras - man, that was a mistake !!!!  I didn't say anything to A but a few roads later he asked me if I was going to run again - told him I couldn't because I hurt too much after the last little run !

Now that I am exercising 6 days a week, I have decided that I need a few more of those bras - so have just been online and bought myself another two - for $49.90 each. 

This is the dark mocha one I have just bought

I used to run in T-shirts.  They got heavy and cold and were horrible to run in.  But I didn't realise how horrible they were until one day I saw some active type tops at KMart for $10 and we bought a couple to see how they went.  After running in one the next day, I will NEVER run in a T-shirt (or similar) again.  What a difference they make to my comfort during exercising.

The long and the short of this post is that if you want to exercise - it really DOES make a difference if you have the right gear !!

Have the best weekend ever.  I know that I am going to - on Saturday morning I get to get up at 5am so I can go to the airport to collect my folks - I am so happy.  They have been on holiday for 5 weeks and I have missed them heaps.   Then K and I get to share the day together because the baby sitting she was supposed to be doing has been cancelled.  Sunday I am off to meet the lovely Julie and her daughter, and then off to meet a girlfriend and her two children.  Enjoy yours !

Linking in with katesaysstuff for Fitness Friday blog hop - so hop over and check out other bloggers who are doing the fitness thing if you like.

I am also trying to link up with Fitness Friday at [Fitness, Health and Happiness] (but as I have no idea about how to get the little linky things into my blog, I am going to have to ask you to click on the links to get to their blogs !!!  Thanks)

TFTD : Be yourself.  Everybody else is already taken - Oscar Wilde