Footy Tipping

The last time I joined a footy tipping competition was at Whitley College, when I lived there. I was given two options:

1. Put in all my tips for the entire season
2. Tip each week, round-by-round

Knowing that I would probably forget to submit my tips each week, I chose option #1.

Having no knowledge whatsoever of which teams were good and which weren't, I asked a friend to tell me the top four teams and bottom four teams from the previous year's season ladder. I then created a "fool-proof" system for my tips choices - for each game, if one team was top four the previous year, I chose that team and if one team was bottom four, I chose the other team. If neither team was top or bottom, I guessed. Simple.

And it took me less than 10 minutes to complete.

My system proved to be more fool-proof than I would every have imagine, because at the end of the season, they announced the winner... me!

So this year, when I was approached to join the footy tipping competition at my gym, I thought, why not? I have a little more of an idea of the teams' performance, and this time around I am actually committed to a team - Go Sainters!! Besides, James could always help me. So I entered.

My results so far (i.e. number of tips I got correct):

• Round 1 - 4/8 - tipped with James' help
• Round 2 - 2/8 - tipped without James' help so you can see how hopeless I am at it
• Round 3 - 7/8 - tipped with James' help
• Round 4 - 4/8 - forgot to submit tips, allocated "away" teams as my tips
  

Based on the above results and my past, I have made the following observations:

1. Ignorance isn't just bliss. It also helps me to tip better.
2. People who don't support a particular team will probably tip better - if James and I can't decide between our beloved Saints and the team they are playing, we tend to tip our team.
3. If James wasn't available to help me with this, I would probably get better results from not submitting any tips at all.

Deal or No Deal?

James and I made a Deal today. It was actually a pretty important one, which will have a huge impact on our future together. What were we thinking?

Before I go on, let me give you the background on this one.

In our two and a half years of marriage so far, there are two major topics which have been points of disagreement between James and I. We haven't argued about these topics, we have simply had different life experiences which have contributed and influenced our differing opinions.

What are these topics and what are our views?

TOPIC #1: PETS
James has always grown up with dogs and cats as a part of his family. It therefore follows that James would love at the very minimum for us to get a dog one day. At least. Maybe two, and a cat too whilst we're at it.

I, on the other hand, never grew up with pets (except for the kind you keep contained such as goldfish, hamsters and birds). So I don't want a dog... or a cat. Dogs leave hair everywhere. Sometimes they chew or scratch important things or furniture. Dogs don't smell nice, especially when they're wet. You can't have a two-way conversation with a dog. Dogs are great to pet and to play with, as long as they belong to someone else, because then you reap the benefits without having to bear the burden. And when you go on vacation, you can't always bring your dog, so you have to find a pet-sitter or pay $$$ to put him in some form of doggy accommodation.

TOPIC #2: CHILDREN
I am happy with THREE. THREE children plus TWO parents equals FIVE people, which is the number of seats in a standard car. I have one sister and one brother, so three worked just fine in my family.

James wants FOUR - at least. More if possible. I think his absolute ideal would be FIVE, but he toned it down to four for my sake.

James believes that the more we are able to have, the better. I feel that less is more - with less children, I can devote more of myself to each one.

THE DEAL (you're gonna love this one)
James and I went for a run this week and the topic of pets came up... again. After our run, as I was getting ready for work I started thinking about having pets, or more precisely how much I didn't want to have them - ever. Just before leaving for work, I said to James - more jokingly than seriously - "James, I'll cut you a deal. If I agree to willingly and cheerfully have four kids, would you agree to willingly and cheerfully not have a dog or cat or any sort of pet that I am not okay with... ever?"

The response I got was more intense than I could have anticipated. James' eyes immediately lit up, he jumped out of his seat, came running over to me, hand outstretched, ready to shake on it. Just like that.

I was taken aback by how quickly and excitedly James responded. I told him I'd have to put some serious thought into this Deal before shaking on it, because I had meant it more as a joke than seriously.

Well, we went for another run today. We discussed the Deal, and we shook on it.

So, blogosphere, you are now witnesses to The Deal - ten years from now you will find James and Fiona with FOUR KIDS in tow, and NO DOGS.

Group Fitness Instruction

Today, I faxed my enrollment for the Group Fitness Instructor part of my course, which is the final stage of my learning.

However I was disappointed to learn that there is a possibility the course will not go ahead because there are not enough people enrolled for the course at this point in time. There are still 3 weeks to go before the course is schedule to begin, so maybe there will be a bunch of last minute enrollments.

I really hope so!!!

I am just so disappointed. The reason for the growing lack of interest in this course is due to recent changes in the industry, in particular the growth in popularity of Les Mills classes. Les Mills is a company that pre-choreographs group fitness classes to pre-determined music tracks and sells the music with accompanying choreography to group fitness instructors. This means that in this day and age, the average group fitness instructor no longer needs to employ his/her personal skills and creativity to choreograph a unique class. Instead, ANYONE can teach the class if they buy the instruction manual and matching music tracks.

If you have been to any class labeled BODY-something (e.g. BODYpump or BODYstep) you have been to a Les Mills class. I have been to BODYpump classes and I do think they are great. But in the end, it is mass-produced fitness that does not involve individual and unique creativity.

Pros: an average or even not-very-good group fitness instructor can take one of these programs, teach a class and be great at it. I guess the level of choreography in every class becomes more standardized because someone else out there is doing all the choreography for everyone. You're much less likely to go to a "bad" class.

Cons: less individuality (e.g. I have favourite instructors who have their own style of choreography and teaching - if these instructors had limited themselves to Les Mills I would never have experienced their wonderful creativity in one of their classes).

I guess it's like the difference between James and I at a restaurant. James will try new things, but he is more likely to find his favourites on the menu and stick to them most visits. I, on the other hand, will always want to try new menu items. Sometimes I will get a complete dud of a meal, but when I stumble across that never-to-be-forgotten dish, it makes all the duds well worth finding that delectable gem.

In my opinion, pre-choreographed classes are mass-produced fitness. They are the convenience of this day and age - convenience for instructors who want great results (an excellently choreographed class) without putting in the study and preparation required to create their own classes.

It disappoints me, because I feel it makes it more difficult to distinguish truly excellent instructors from the "good" or the "average". Yes, at the end of the day, group fitness instruction is a job for many - a way to put food on the table. But it can also be so much more than that!

A Tribute to Damien

Tonight on The Biggest Loser, Damien was eliminated.

Damien is easily everyone's favourite contestant on The Biggest Loser. Not just viewers and fans, but also the other contestants on the show.

Why? Because he is a natural leader amongst the contestants, leading not by force or manipulation, but rather through encouragement and by setting an example that inspired others to follow. Where other people would irritate one another due clashing personality types and character traits, Damien was loved by all. He always had an encouraging word - a genuine one too - for the black sheep in the house. He was always able to see things from other peoples' perspective.

And my favourite quote of his: "I am not saying I deserve to be in this house more than the others, but I do feel that I need to be here more" - in other words, Damien never once had an inflated view of himself. He recognized what an honour and privilege it was to have the opportunity to learn how to lose the weight he needed to lose.

Damien was not just the greatest guy on the show. He was also the biggest. He started the show weighing 216kg, which is the most anyone in the history of the entire show (all countries, not just Australia) has weighed. Up to this point he has lost over 68kg, which still puts him at 148kg. But his weight loss journey has been amazing. He was especially inspiring because typically in past seasons, the biggest contestant has often been the first one to be voted out of the show because he is the weakest player on the team, but Damien's determination allowed him to continue in the show well past any other over 200kg contestant.

Damien has been an inspiration to thousands of Australians - contestants, non-contestants, other people struggling with their weight, and even those who don't. James, Asher I absolutely love the guy and we were devastated to witness his elimination tonight.

I really hope Damien achieves his goal of a healthy weight, and that he goes on to live a long life so that he can continue to be an inspiration and hope to others who struggle to control their weight.

Half Marathon? Or 14km?

All this week I was torn between whether to run the half marathon (actually 23km) or 14km event at the Great Ocean Road Marathon weekend.

I have finally made my decision - the half marathon it is.

Why?

1. This week I have been suffering from a mild case of post-race apathy, i.e. the attitude that says, "Fi, you just ran 15.2km! You can take it easy for a week... or two". I have learnt in my recent studies that for every week of training you miss, you need 2 weeks to get back to the same level as before. So in order to avoid this happening, I need that extra challenged to keep me training.

2. On Thursday I found a running partner for the event in Niro.

Running 15.2km for the Kids - report back

9:00 - 10:30am, Sunday 1 April 2007
We had a blast! "We" being Daniela, Pete & Katie, Brett & Rehana and me! Devi ran it too, but unfortunately we did not see her all morning. I am hoping to get some piccys from Pete & Katie to post here... soon!

Run for the Kids is probably one of - if not THE - biggest running events in Victoria. This year, the event boasted an attendance of about 26000 people. Furthermore, $21 out of our $34 race entry free went to The Royal Childrens Hospital Good Friday Appeal. That is an impressive proportion - my commendations to all the race coordinators for managing funds so well to enable such a massive proportion to be given to charity!

For me, the race was yet another stepping-stone in an effort to continue to challenge myself onward and upward in my fitness levels. To achieve this was a milestone! Three years ago I couldn't even run 5 minutes without stopping, and on Sunday 1 April 2007 I ran for 90 minutes! 15.2km is now officially the furthest I have ever run without stopping.

Running with Katie was such a pleasure - Dan & Pete ran with us too, but they could easily have run faster and at different points in the race they were ahead but then would pull back to stay with us. Katie and I run at about the same pace - although I suspect she is faster than I - and we took it at a pretty easy pace, chatting about all sorts of things along the way. Our main goal was to complete the full course without walking; speed was not of concern that day.

This race was quite an amazing experience. The route was one which you would not normally be able to run because it included major roadways such as the Domain Tunnel, a portion of the Westgate Freeway and the Bolte Bridge. All these roads were closed down for several hours to allow us to run them. It was also an amazing sight at particular points along the way to look ahead of myself and see just thousands upon thousands of other people running in the same direction as me.

I will try to post some pictures soon, but they probably will not do justice to the atmosphere and feeling that accompanies those photos.

P.S. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE