The Thursday with a Migraine and an epic commute

 It's Mike here, subbing in for Angela while she has South Island adventures. 

My day started as normal, and my squats session was going well - until I realised that I couldn't read the signage properly and people had bits missing from their faces. So time to pop neurophen and go home. I actually felt relatively okay and did a bit of work, getting some low stress admin tasks knocked off.

That meant I was home when Angela set off on her Blenheim adventure. It starts with biking to the ferry - and then biking from Picton to Blenheim! Lots of fun. 

Waiting in the ferry terminal with Maureen

Feet. Truck anchor. It's art.

Um, that's on the ferry

And breakfast in Blenheim

Have a great time, Angela! And have a great weekend whereever you are.

The Tuesday at work

 Hi,

Busy day at work. I did see Mike briefly before work for an iced latte. And he got me a sandwich for lunch. But other than that - never saw him. Despite only 2 rows of desks between us.

Morning iced latte

Dinner at 40

I rode home after work and fed the cats then headed out to Petone to wait for Mike. He ran from work to Petone. I passed him on the motorway about halfway. He looked strong as he got to the car.

Had fish n chips with John at Sally and Andrew's house. Good catch up. Then home and into bed.

Up to ride in. Only got 1 bar on my bike. Might be a tricky ride home. Hahah.

Have a great week. I am off to Blenheim tomorrow.

Love,

Angela

The Monday at home

 Hi,

Working from home means you can get things done in your lunch break. And I got my wee pumpkin seedling and tomato seedling planted out in the greenhouse in the drizzly rain.

Moxley stretched out and asleep

Sourdough

By the time I finished work it was sunny! Weird.

I baked a sourdough loaf. And set up my new Zwift enabled bike trainer. Yay. Took me a while. Maybe an hour. It was lucky Mike got home when he did because I could not get the rear wheel quick release off my road bike. That was holding me up.

Going to try that now with the app the trainer comes with. And then try the free trial of Swift in January after the break.

Mike got home from Rebecca's house (checking her presentation) and then went into a meeting for some ADHD group. AGM for them.

Then off to bed not long after.

Up for my ride in and PT session.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela.

The weekend with tramps and work around the house

 Hi,

After a chill Friday where I packed for our overnight tramp, I headed into town to pick up Kara. She was waiting in a perfect spot for me to pull in and have her jump in. Then we were off to Catchpool, via Kathmandu to buy some gas.

Away tramping by 15:25. Pretty good timing. And the conditions were lovely. The river level was 0.2cu (last time I crossed with Maureen is was 4cu - so I was keen to see the river today).

And we're off

Kara passes under Toby tree

Coming down the diversion we were passed by a group of women and a man that looked to be a wee bit older than us. One of the women took a tumble on the steep downhill, but managed to land on her backpack and do a fabulous roll and come to no harm at all.

Hump bridge at 2 hours 10.

Evening light

Kara and I got to the single channel of water and I had a good look at it. At its very deepest, it might have come up mid shin. But you could choose more shallow areas to cross. With boots and gaiters you would probably stay dry.

We decided to use our Crocs and Tevas and keep our feet dry. I carried Kara's pack over and she tackled the stream and had no issues at all.

Just as we had crossed the wee stream we saw Janine and Andrew with Bruno on his lead coming over. So we waited a bit to watch them cross before heading up the shingle fan to Waerenga Hut.

After dinner in the hut

The river was a stream

We chatted away before we got dinner on. And around 21:00 we all hit our beds. I thought I had a restless sleep with being awake a lot. But apparently the dog was snuffly and people got up for a wee all through the night. And I never heard a single thing. So - there you go. I had a great sleep.

Overnight oats

Brekkie was good. We tidied the hut and we were away by 9:30am. Good easy walk out. Slightly overcast with a hint of drizzle in the early morning that faded.

Heading home

Nice walk out

Janine headed away from Catchpool with Bruno to get washing done.

We went to the pie shop in Whites Line East for lunch and enjoyed a catch up with Sally and Mike. Mike had stayed the night with Sally so someone was around should he feel a bit off. He didn't feel bad. And was only 10 seconds slower in Park Run than his PB!

Got the sledgehammer from Andrew for Kara and dropped her home. Mike and I went to Scorch-o-rama for a coffee and shared a meal. Then home.

Saturday night BBQ

Mike and I had the first BBQ of the season. And a kaka came to inspect our dinner.

We had a guest

Cheeky kaka

Skink sunbathing on Sunday

Sunday saw us to a bit around the house. Mike got the pit door sanded and primed so it can open easily now.

We popped in to see Sally and Andrew again (and took the sander back). That was so we could go to Bunnings and Mitre10. And do some shopping.

Back to assemble the new plastic greenhouse. Yay! 

All jobs well done! Ta Mike for a great weekend.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with a hospital visit that explains no blog post

 Hi,

Well, Wednesday was not your ordinary Gilbert day, that is for sure. Mike woke up feeling his left arm was a bit dead, or numb, or unresponsive. 6.30am he really noticed once he got up. He decided he had slept on it funny. I later found out he spilled his coffee trying to use it and then hit himself in the face with his toothbrush. Okay.

He was running late so cancelled gym with Quentin when he missed the bus. I was going to ride in later so I changed to bus in with him. It is not often we get the chance to bus in together.

But as we walked from The Terrace bus stop to work, he said his left leg was also going dead and not doing what he expected. His face looked fine when he smiled. But he decided the symptoms were just enough like the start of stroke to muck around. His first aid training kicked in and he said if anyone told him this, he would call an ambulance immediately. There are two things you don't mess about with and they are chest pains and aysmmetric weakness.

So, just outside work, he rang for one. Described the symptoms. They said they would send an ambulance and a few minutes later, Gus and Kate turned up and took Mike into the new rig to assess. After a lot of FAST checks, Gus said Mike was fine, but he'd like to err on the side of caution and take him to ED.

When Gus asked Mike to squeeze his fingers, Mike gave them a good squeeze. I saw Gus wince and he said that Mike was really strong. A few other tests had Gus saying Mike was so strong. He repeated that to the ED nurse when he handed Mike over to her! That was good. And also - kudos to Quentin for making sure he is that strong.

So after our sedate ride to Wellington hospital (no lights and sirens, what a shame) and got admitted via the ED entrance. This was at 9.20am now. Mike got to sit on a stretcher in the middle of ED for about 4 hours while his case got to the top of the queue. He got his bp checked and had blood tests taken every hour. By about 10.30am Mike felt fine. But now we wanted to know if we could find out what had caused it. Certainly nothing like he had experienced before.

Mike got offered lunch - sandwiches. But I was still full from the quiz night (ooh - I did not tell you about that! Green Man quiz. Me, Mike, Celia, Madeleine and Lisa. We came 9th - but we think they got our list answers wrong, We got 10! And they gave us 5).

Patient waits patiently

Hooked up

Then he got into a room and hooked up to the monitor for ECG scans and bp. We stayed in here for a while. Just as we moved to the room at about 3pm a volunteer asked if we wanted something to eat. I got a veg sandwich and a wee banana and a Milo.

Taking ECG and bp all the time

From here he went for a CT scan. And then around 6pm moved to the ED observation rooms. Here we scored dinner. Mike got mince and mash and boiled veg. I even got dahl and rice. A huge thank you to all the ED staff. From the paramedics to the ED staff (nurses, orderlies and docs) and volunteers, it was all a fantastic experience.

What does this handle do to the bed?

We did not tell everyone about this visit. We were not sure what was happening right at the start. And then once Mike felt fine, it seemed silly to worry people when we knew nothing.

The neurologist came to talk and check Mike around 7pm. She spent about 2 hours off and on with Mike. Testing reflexes. Checking his pain receptors. And Mike ended up getting blood thinners for 3 weeks and having an ultrasound and MRI booked for some time in the next week.

So. No one knows what it was. No sign of a stroke. But the symptoms could be (could!) a TIA. So they are treating it like a TIA. Doing the ultrasounds and MRI and having the blood thinners. We get to watch Mike like a hawk for 3 weeks. That is the typical length of time after a TIA for a stroke to occur.

We do not think it is that. But happy to take the advice of the health professionals.

We ubered home and fell into bed. 13 hours from the ambulance to the Uber. A long day. But every single person was great. And the people that knew (mainly from work and Quentin) offered such amazing support.

Back to normal today. I had garage gym with Quentin. Deads. 70kg 5 reps x 4 sets. Mike is heading into work. 

So there you go. Huge day. But mostly just a waiting game. I was only worried once Mike said he needed an ambulance until Gus checked him. Then it went down to a normal level of concern about being in a hospital. Especially as Mike soon felt fine.

Let's hope we do not need to go there again for a long time.

Love,

Angela

The Monday working from home

 Hi,

We did have a lovely day yesterday in Wellington. The cats were happy I was working from home and found every scrap of sunshine they could.

Smudge lolling in the sun behind me

Both out on the deck

Mike went for a run after work and did a cheeky 5k and felt fast and strong. I declare him recovered from the mega weekend.

I made dough last night and when I got up this morning I shaped it and popped it in the fridge. But we are out late tonight so probably won't bake it until Wed evening.

Bus ride in this morning for gym. Squats. 80kg 1 rep. Then 60kg 3 x 3. And some shoulder work.

The morning is lovely but it is expected to change just after lunch time today. We're off to Green Man for the pub quiz after work.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend in New Plymouth with Janine and Callan and some running fun

 Hi,

New Plymouth, you have wowed me with your town. Great places to visit and poke your nose into, great cafes. Would visit again in a heartbeat.

Thank you to Jason for looking after the cats too. They would have been very happy to get attention from you.

Coastal 5 was the event that got us all up to New Plymouth for the weekend. 5 running events totalling 42km over the two days of the weekend. 

Mike and I left home early Friday morning - before we had to leave. Yes, we were ready early. Headed to Aotea to pick up Callan and Janine. Janine was driving there from her place.

Driving to Aotea early Friday

Iced latte at Bulls

Charge up at Bulls while we got some food. That went well too. Then back in the car to drive up the west side of the maunga to New Plymouth. But to do that we needed a bit of extra charge. So we stopped for some food at Hāwera - in the cafe attached to the library. Nice place.

Further up the highway

The back seat look ready

ōpunake beach

Great views

Lovely beach

Maunga looking fine

Views down the coast

Walk back

Hāwera Woollies for Toby

We were staying at the Plymouth International hotel on Devon St East. Really nice place. Easy to park in their car park each time. Good rooms.

Plymouth International - our room

Saturday morning at 5.45am

Up at 5am Saturday for the first event. The half marathon. Nothing like getting the bulk of your distance done on the first event. But at 5.15am I peeked out the window and was greeted with Rain and wind. Uh oh. But by the time the event started at the wind wand at 6.15am, it had almost stopped a drizzly rain. And by the time they ran past me after 6km it was already starting to get sunny.

Walking to the start

He looks ready

Start line forms

6k in and he looks great

Sun is coming out

The course stretched out along the coastal walkway and then headed into the streets and parks of outer New Plymouth. Fairly flat course with some little risers to keep things spicy. That was the marketing speak.

Mike had Glympse on so I could follow his progress. He was always looking consistent whenever I took a look.

Callan finished first, about 500m ahead of Mike. Both looked strong going over the finish line. And Janine was only 10 minutes behind Mike - also powering through to the finish.

And done.

21km done

To the finish line

The 5k was next - up in Pukekura park. And we were early there so we got distracted by the gorgeous wee zoo right next to the start line. Loads of cool animals. Otters. Meerkats. And the capybara had been moved to Wellington to keep their capybara company. A lovely connection to our zoo.

Otter

Eating s rat lunch

5k at Pukekura park

Zoo

This 5k run was twice around the park. And had a steep uphill on the first lap through. Callan ran the entire way up the steep hill. Mike and Janine were more measured in their approach to the steep section. And why not? They still had another 5k event after this!

But we had to refuel. Went to Elixir cafe and the three of them were tempted by the famous Mince on Toast. Callan might have built up some anticipation there. I think they all liked it. My bagel was good.

Elixir cafe famous mince on toast

Nice drinks

I watched the women's cricket (BBL) while the team drove to Bell St for a bus to their 3rd event. 5km up some hill Pukeiti. Sounded like hard work.

Sydney got some hail

After the events for the day, Mike, Callan and Janine went out for some kebabs. But I was still full of bagel so stayed in the room. They were back early and we were all asleep pretty fast.

I got up at 4am to watch the rugby. England v All Blacks. What a dire game for NZ. They have a lot of room for growth. At least the Silver Ferns beat England.

The team headed out at 5.40am for their 10km uphill slog. 4th event. And it seemed it was pretty good. They were back before I knew it. And they showered and we checked out and headed to town for the last event.

We grabbed some kai at The dept cafe. And then into the start area to watch the waves before theirs. Elite athletes first. They did it in 5 mins or so. Then they ran the kids event. The boy that won their 5k wave in the park won the kids events. So fast. And some of the kids were barely beyond walking stage. But so heart-warming to see.

Their event was last. And it was great fun. Callan smashed it. Mike also ran super-fast and got 8 minutes in his time. Janine was no slouch either and after running over 40km they all ran really well.

Before the 1.6km sprint

Looking ready for the last event

And done

Medallists

We finished all the races in glorious warm sunshine. They all looked fresh enough to continue running. And that is what you want from a race weekend.

We left and immediately hit traffic as roadworks slowed our departure from New Plymouth. We got to Bulls to recharge and visited Maccas. Then down to Wellington. We hit Transmission Gully closures so were in a traffic jam on the expressway for about 25 mins.

Dropped off Callan and Janine. Then home to see the cats and unpack. What a great weekend. The team were so good. Plenty in the tank.

I would recommend this event to anyone wanting to stretch themselves.

Have a great week.

Love,

Angela