Posted by: jennnigan | January 9, 2013

Pee in a bottle

I stayed at home today for the annual 24 urinary free cortisol test. I went to the blood guys yesterday for a blood test and to get my equipment for the UFC. I told him that I’d be doing the UFC tomorrow (today), and he asked me when I last peed, as though I could start doing it in the middle of the day when I wasn’t at home. I told him that I’ll do it at home, because I don’t want to lug around a giant bottle of my pee everywhere I go. I think that is a fair reason!

This is the fifth time I’ve done it, and every time I do it I challenge myself to drink loads and fill up the bottle as much as I can. Unfortunately I haven’t been measuring and keeping track, so I don’t know if I’m beating any personal bests…

Probably my cortisol levels are normal. They feel pretty normal, and that’s got to count for something, right? There are other things I am currently unimpressed by (hence the blood test), but I’m going to go with everything is fine and normal. Yup. Perfectly fine. 

Posted by: jennnigan | November 3, 2012

Books and things

This post steps away from the usual programming a little. It is not about health systems, medical procedures and my messed up body, nor is it about fitness, exercise and training. Instead, I want to write about the trip I’ve just been on, but in order to do that, I feel that more context will be useful.

I can’t remember a time before I loved books and reading. When I was a kid (from the time I started school and learnt to read), my free time was usually spent in a library, in a bookshop or hidden somewhere, reading a book. Some of my favourite books as a child are still on my bookshelves today, and still read and loved – the Ramona series by Beverly Clearly, the books about Fudge, Peter and Sheila by Judy Blume, the books about Anastasia and Sam by Lois Lowry, the entire collection of the Baby-Sitters Club (all 213 of them!), Teen Power Inc, the Famous Five, the Magic Faraway Tree, Selby the talking dog… I cannot imagine my childhood without them.

As an adult, I still spend a lot of time in bookshops, libraries and hidden somewhere, reading a book. I feel extremely lucky to have had the education that I’ve had (and am still having), and the opportunities to borrow, buy, and read.

In 2008, I did my Honours research on the topic of independent bookshops in Sydney: has the growth of chain bookshops and online retailing killed off the indie? The answer was a resounding ‘no’, at least in Australia. That year, my love for good books and bookshops was reignited – a bit like a renewal of vows. In January this year, I started a PhD on the topic of public libraries. There is a bit of a theme in my research.

The trip that I went on last month was primarily to see a library. In 2009, I read a book called ‘Leaving Microsoft to Change the World‘ by John Wood. Wood was on a holiday in Nepal when he met a local who said that his library only had a few books. When Wood returned home, he sent out a call to his friends and contacts about his promise to send some books to this village in Nepal. That first call yielded about 3000 books, and in the past twelve years that call for books has turned into an international organisation called Room to Read.

Room to Read is an amazing organisation whose mission is to increase people’s access to education in developing countries around the world. They build libraries, schools, have programmes to help young girls go to/stay in school, have local language publishing programmes which support local writers, artists and publishers and help preserve language and culture, and work with governments to develop reading and writing materials and curriculum.

Apart from having a mission and vision I am completely behind and passionate about, I also love that Room to Read engages with the local community so much. My partner Andy earlier this year donated money to build a primary school library in Cambodia (I’ve donated money to Room to Read too, though nowhere near as much as Andy – there are more limits when you’re still a student). He donated the majority of the funding, but 15% was matched by the local community through money and goods and services provided in-kind. The library is staffed by locals, there is a library committee of locals, and everyone working in the Siem Reap office of Room to Read were Cambodians. This charity isn’t a case of rich Westerners importing their culture and people.

So yes – that’s where I went last month. We went on a two week trip to Vietnam and Cambodia with another friend, and Andy and I went to see the library that he helped build.

Library

Andy and the library, built to a local architectural style. It opened at the start of October, 2012.

Books and shelves

Books and shelves in the library. We went only two or three weeks after the library opened, and there were about 700 books inside. More will be added as time goes on. Room to Read will be supporting the library with training for staff and resources for three years, and then it will be entirely in the hands of the local school and community.

Books

Some of the books in the library, including ones published by Room to Read as part of the local language publishing programme.

Drawing time

Drawing time in the library.

One of the best bits of seeing the library was later when we were meeting with the local committee and classes had ended. We could see students putting library books into the baskets of their bikes – using the library and reading at home! How exciting is that?!

Room to Read Cambodia

A map of where Room to Read has programmes in Cambodia; in the Siem Reap office.

Pretty cool, isn’t it? Massive thank you to Room to Read for giving us the opportunity, and Mott who was our guide and translator on the day. Here’s to books, education and changing the world!

[More photos here.]

Posted by: jennnigan | October 6, 2012

I seem to have forgotten to write here

Oops. I noticed today that the last time I wrote here was before the City2Surf, almost two months ago. My bad! Not a lot has been happening, in terms of training or in my body, which is both a good and bad thing. I did complete the City2Surf, but did something stupid because it hurt to walk for about a month and a half afterwards. Everything is fine now, except for the past week when I had something flu-like that left me sneezing and coughing and generally feeling a bit rubbish.

This means that it feels like I’ve lost any fitness I may have had, and I’m starting all over again. Next Saturday, I’m flying to Vietnam for a two week holiday, and I have plans for an intense training regime to start when I get back.

An interesting note: I last went to Vietnam and Cambodia in March 2010, so two and a half years ago. That was the trip where I developed the travel bug and discovered how liberating, fun, awesome and not-scary travelling was. I’ve since been to almost twenty other countries, and the trip next week will be the first time I’ve revisited somewhere. This time it won’t be cycling with a group of strangers or backpacking alone, but will be holidaying with my partner and a friend. Let’s see if my memories of those two countries are still accurate.

Posted by: jennnigan | August 7, 2012

City2Surf is in five days!

…And I am woefully unprepared. I also just noticed that I haven’t written here since May. That is mainly due to the guilt I feel in not properly training for the City2Surf, but also partly because I’ve been both lazy and busy. So yep, the 14km City2Surf is on Sunday and I think I can run about a kilometre right now. So, good job me. I am doing this with a friend, and I said I’d walk the first few kilometres with her, so I figured I only need to be fit enough to run 9km. Which actually, I’m still not fit enough to do, but oh well. It will be fun!

In other news, I have been a patient case study again, this time for medical students and for doctors who are training to be endocrinologists (two different occasions). I quite like doing these things because I really like seeing the behind-the-scenes parts of doctor training. I would say something about gaining insights into a completely unknown-to-me profession, but really, I’m just nosy. And since the stroke and Cushing’s I have developed a fascination with hospitals, the medical profession, and the health system.

Man, I’m now wishing I’d trained more. Dammit, past-lazy-Jen! What were you thinking!

Posted by: jennnigan | May 20, 2012

Relay for Life

Yesterday was Relay for Life, and it is the reason that I did not get out of bed until the morning was officially over today.

Relay for Life is a great 24 hour event, where teams of people run or walk around a track, and the night is full of tents selling food, drinks, raffle tickets, and it is there that I think you can feel the sense of community in the air. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here, but I’m currently doing a PhD on public libraries. In the social sciences, there are a lot of seemingly ordinary terms that become loaded with meaning and interpretation, like public, culture and citizenship. Community is one such term, but last night I wasn’t thinking about what it means, because last night I could feel it.

Andrew and I were part of my Pilates studio’s team, and I saw that my high school had a team, as well as a lot of other local schools and organisations. It started at 9:30am on Saturday, but we didn’t get there until about 6pm, for the evening shift. We saw the candle lighting ceremony, listened to music, drank an amazing beverage that was like a cross between a hot chocolate and a milkshake (hot milkshake? it was awesome), and ran and walked around the oval a few times.

We left at midnight, and I think we did between ten and fifteen laps, plus a few sets of push ups (I’m now up to 20 push-ups, but am unsure as to how perfect the form is). At one point, Andrew gave me a shoulder ride. He had given me a shoulder ride before (where I sit on his shoulders), but I didn’t last very long before he put me down. In my defence, it’s scary to be three metres above the ground! This time, we’d had a conversation where I’d asked him if he would drop me, and he said no, impossible. So I trusted him more, relaxed a bit more, screamed less. And all was fine until he started running and dancing, with me on his shoulders. *That’s* when I started screaming.

Now, the next events are a few months away, so rest time is over. I’m going to hopefully get back into proper training (and hope that the body parts that hurt stop hurting), and steadily build up endurance and fitness by August, for the Bay Run and City2Surf. I’m still nowhere near as fit as I’d like to be, but the process of getting there is pretty fun.

That sign is for the Pilates studio that I go to, Zest Pilates. If you look closely, there is a blur above the sign which vaguely resembles a person. That’s Andrew, leaping over the sign.

Posted by: jennnigan | May 14, 2012

Mother’s Day run

Hooray! Am alive! Finished! Stayed upright the *entire* time!

…Yeah, I clearly had high aspirations for the run. I was almost dreading it, because I was pretty sure I wasn’t fit enough to do it. I’ve had various body parts hurting over the past month, so haven’t trained as much as I wanted to, so my week-by-week plan of how much fitter I needed to get pretty much went out the window. By the time of the run, I don’t think I’d done a proper long run (long for me, I mean – about five or six kilometre) for about three or four weeks, just short ones and other cardio and weights work. So I was definitely not feeling fit or ready.

We did it in an hour and two minutes. Pat was actually in California yesterday (well, still is today), but he did an 8k run at the same time as Andrew and I did ours in Sydney. Apparently he also did it in roughly the same time!

I know I’ve mentioned here before how much taller and fitter Andrew is, and how we can occasionally be competitive in terms of the amount of training we do. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but it seems a fitting place now: he is also an excellent motivator and I probably would have taken even longer if it weren’t for the fact that he was next to me yesterday every step of the way, running at my pace even though he’s much taller and fitter, and telling me I’m doing well. So Andrew: thank you.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll go for a run before uni, because this weekend is Relay for Life, and there is still a lot more training to do and a lot more fitness to get for the Bay Run, the City2Surf and the Bridge Run later this year. Maybe next year I could throw in a half-marathon, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Posted by: jennnigan | May 12, 2012

Buying a bra is like running a marathon

Okay, disclaimer: I have never run a marathon. Probably buying a bra is much easier. I liken the experience to running a marathon because it is a feat of endurance and patience, and sometimes you think you’re not going to make it/find a bra.

I tried on eleven bras today. Eleven that I remember, anyway – there might have been a couple extra I’ve forgotten. Since Cushing’s, my boobs have grown bigger and become saggier, which actually makes it kind of difficult to find a bra that fits. Added to that is that I don’t want to just own bras that will cover my boobs and not squeeze me to the point of suffocation; I want to own bras that make my boobs look amazing. Even if I am the only person who sees them, I still want them to look awesome – Cleavage Man deserves a good home.

Side note: I have often thought it would be cool to be a miniature person living in someone’s cleavage. You’d be surrounded by lovely padding and have a great view of the world. I have occasionally drawn little stick figures in my cleavage, and in the last appearance of Cleavage Man, he was wearing a top hat and a monocle. Who ever said I’m not classy?

Anyway. So, I tried on about eleven bras, probably driving the salesperson nuts, and have come away with a bra that on its own doesn’t look spectacular (no lace or pretty colours or exciting patterns), but one that should make Cleavage Man pretty happy, should he ever make another appearance.

And speaking of marathons, the Mother’s Day run is tomorrow. I am freaking out slightly because I am fairly certain that I am not fit enough to run 8km. Why did I ever think this would be a good idea?! I hope I don’t die.

Posted by: jennnigan | April 29, 2012

The weekly shop

Arusha, Tanzania, 2010

Every Saturday, I would walk along dirt roads from my accommodation to the local grocery shops, Cash’n'Carry and Pick’n'Pay. I lived with three other volunteers, and we had a meal system worked out: Mondays to Thursdays, we each had a cooking night and a washing up night (there was no dishwasher). Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays we would fend for ourselves.

The other three were vegetarian, and one was coeliac as well as lactose-intolerant. It was here that I learnt to cook meals that were vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, colourful, full of protein, and delicious. I would buy what my non-fruit and non-vegetable groceries were at both Cash’n'Carry and Pick’n'Pay, depending on what the item was – some things were cheaper in one shop than the other, and when you are volunteering, every Tanzanian shilling counts. Fruits and vegetables were bought from Swai, a rasta who had a stall outside Cash’n'Carry, who called me ‘sister’ and tolerated my butchering of Kiswahili (I usually ended up reverting to English after a few fumbled attempts).

I would then either walk home with my bounty, or if I felt lazy, catch the dala dala. I tried to minimise the time spent on dala dalas, because it felt like every time I got on one I was gambling with my life.

Southampton, United Kingdom, 2011

The first month or two I lived in Southampton, I would do my grocery shopping every few days, at a Tesco Express on my way home from work. And then I had a brainwave: the prices at Tesco Express are actually pretty similar to Waitrose, so I might as well shop at Waitrose. Again, it was usually Saturdays that I would walk to the Waitrose in Portswood, and pick up what I needed for the week. I cooked pretty much every night, because I had a lovely kitchen, and because I was unimpressed with the eating out options in Southampton. I also had fewer friends with whom I could go out and eat.

I continued the habits of cooking vegetarian, and discovered Quorn, an excellent vegetarian meat substitute. My shopping bag when I left Waitrose was usually full of organic fruit and vegetables, vegetarian protein sources, eggs, yoghurt (I miss the apple and cinnamon yoghurt SO MUCH) and the weekend Guardian newspaper. I would occasionally look at the contents on my shopping bag and think, “Jen, you are such a middle-class twat” – living in England clearly had an effect on my vocabulary.

Sydney, Australia, 2012

My routine back home is a lot less, well, routine-like. In Sydney, I have a lot more friends I can go out to eat with, more restaurants to choose from, and the option of going back to my parents’ to mooch dinner off my mum. I did a grocery shop this morning at Coles, and I don’t even know which nights this week I will be at home, and which nights I will be cooking. But I think I will let the contents of my fridge and pantry dictate the menu for this week, as well as when I need to be at home and cook.

Being at home should mean that everything is more familiar. And in some ways, many things are. But this whole responsible grown-up thing where I do grocery shopping feels more familiar in British pounds than it does in Australian dollars. Every time I am in Coles, I am reminded of Waitrose and a little part of me wishes I was back in that other home, that other life.

Posted by: jennnigan | April 18, 2012

One step back and a long way down

I spent the past weekend in Hobart, Tasmania with a few friends. We flew down to Hobart on Friday morning, home on Monday night, and had some excellent adventures while we were down there including abseiling down the world’s highest abseil, the Gordon Dam.

We abseiled down that dam. All 140 metres of it. Three times!

It was a lot of fun! The views going down were stunning. When you reached the bottom, you could see the river flowing surrounded by cliffs and trees on both sides – it reminded me of the cave scene in the sixth Harry Potter book. Well, minus the undead and evil spells and fake Horcrux.

To get back up, we climbed 270 ladder rungs (there were 23 ladders separated by small platforms), which was mildly terrifying because the ladders creaked and swayed and, unlike going down, you don’t have any safety ropes to stop you plummeting to your death.

The abseil was the main reason we went to Hobart, and we had fun on the other days we were there too. We drove up Mt Wellington on our first day, which had some splendid views over the city of Hobart – the weather was pretty much perfect the entire time we were there. (Of course, since returning to Sydney I’ve forgotten what sunshine looks like.)

We also drove to some other far away place and saw beaches and rocks and scenery, went to MONA on our last day, and at night entertained ourselves with card tricks, cooking, board games, jigsaw puzzles, and watching F1. All in all, a pretty much perfect long weekend!

On top of Mt Wellington. This photo makes me think we should start a band.

More photos are on my Flickr account.

Posted by: jennnigan | April 8, 2012

Motivation, part two

Before the run

Me: I feel weak for admitting this, but it’s true: sometimes I only do things because there is someone telling me that I can do it, that they know I can. I’ll think, “I can’t do fifteen push-ups or run at a certain speed on a treadmill”, but then my trainer will tell me that he knows I can and then I do it. So can you just keep telling me I can do it?

During the run

Andrew: Going well! You’re still upright, and breathing, and running, and moving forward! There is *no* part of you that’s going backwards! I’d say that’s an A++!

So yesterday was another training day – this time we ran two laps of my local park (we’ve now done runs around each of our local parks – one close to Pat, one close to Andrew, and one close to me). I ran a lap of this alone earlier last week, and I think I ran faster yesterday. I wasn’t organised enough to have any kind of timing device on me this time, but it felt faster, which I’m counting :P

A month and five days to go. Ah, man.

Older Posts »

Categories

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.