Here’s what happened at Planted Life in February

Light bulb moments

Have you ever felt a sense of anxiety but calm that has you feeling somewhat uneasy but harmonious? This is how I have felt during the month of February. Maybe it had something to do with this month being a leap year with 29 days, whatever the case, it’s not a negative in fact, I’m more comfortable now than I have ever been.

Cultured. Local. Connection and Celebrations

Days 1 -9

Continued to invest in my health by buying up large at local farmers markets for fresh local produce including kale, fresh lettuce leaves and rockmelons recognising how sacred food actually is.

Recognising what is important; and that is family. Majority of my family live interstate in Adelaide but when my nephew headed to Melbourne to play cricket, I couldn’t help but be a crazy supporter on the side lines.

Got cultured. The NGV Basquiat and Haring Crossing Lines exhibition brought me to tears. It was one of the first exhibitions that I had the pleasure of viewing that resonated with my formative teenage years. This exhibition meant something, it raised emotions and walked away recognising how lucky and memorable my life has been to date.

Supported local. Thank you to The Running Company, Lilydale who helped me put together my husband’s birthday gift, the Nike Vapour Fly. Hello carbon. Yeah, I’m in the good books and yes, the hype is warranted.

Continuing with the local theme and birthday celebrations, we visited our new favourite café in Kensington, ARGI who serves up quality, tasty plant-based fare; the vegan Rueben is just out of this world.

Power. Endurance. Unlucky 13.

Days 10 – 16

Put the fun between your legs. The Jayco Tour hit Victoria and spending the day watching world class riders do laps of The Tan, well the roads around it was just phenomenal. What an opportunity to see the power, grit and endurance of these riders before they all head overseas for the European season.

Plants have all the power that you need. Reigniting the passion for the importance of my plant-based message and spending quality time to refine my message to my existing tribe as well as growing my following. Amen.

Recognising injury and understanding ‘perfection can be the enemy of progress’. There is no perfection when it comes to running through an injury; it’s about acceptance for the present moment. This way of thinking is a game changer.

Unlucky 13. Myth or fact? Starting at 5am on Valentine’s Day, I was to embark on my 13^th 100km event, Oscars Hut2Hut. I was a little unsure and nervous about this race, something was just sitting a little uneasy especially race morning but sometimes you need to set that aside and trust.

After being a blistering 36 degrees on the flats, I suffered greatly with heat exhaustion wishing the predicted thunderstorms to arrive.  And that they did. And at the 77km mark, the race was bought to a screaming holt. The race was over and with that, a 2-and-a-half-hour journey back to Mt Buller in a 4WD. Was I satisfied that the race was over and I didn’t get to finish my 13^th100km race? Hmm I thought I was OK until the next morning I woke up and ran 23km to call it 100km!

Life changing. Affirming.

Days 17 – 23

Missing the old but appreciating the new. Last June we had to make the agonising decision to put our 15-year-old ginger cat, Stan down due to cancer. Two weeks later I rescued a kitten from an industrial site and during this month, she turned 1. From the darkness comes light.

Life changing. Around 18 months ago, a friend introduced me to the world of Super Feast; tonic herbs and medicinal mushrooms. And from this moment, day by day my life has moved in a direction I never thought possible. How? Consistency, mindfulness and trust.

Being a teacher or as I like to say being a Vegucator. Being given the opportunity to guide and teach others of the benefits of a Plant-based diet through words and food; how lucky am I?

We are not team players. The sports my husband and I participate in are individual sports but we are 100% there to support each other. A day down at Geelong watching Zac lay it out on the line for his 70.3 triathlon, what a sport to get motivated by.

Take 3 for the trail.  The standard we move past is the standard we accept.

Out for a walk, run, cycle, skip or hop and see rubbish on the trail, the ground, the path? Be sure to pick up a minimum of 3 pieces of rubbish to make our planet better.

Just do it.

Days 24 – 29

Opps she did it again. After a year of ignoring the advice of physicians to purchase a high-profile runner, I finally did it, I swallowed my pride and visited Steve & Bec, The Running Company, Lilydale and run away with the Nike Zoom Fly 3, with a heel to drop of 9.5mm. Oh my, talk about a game changer. My Achilles is feeling instantly better, so my advice when told to change up your running shoe to help with injury, just do it.

Race planning. Constantly looking at how and where to obtain points to help me qualify for UTMB, I signed up to Wilson’s Promotory 100km race, 4 points towards my 10-point requirement for UTMB 2021. No mountains in this race, one or two hill climbs but generally I will be running at sea level on both sea trails and sand. This will be fun (providing there is no head winds or rain).

Rogaining. The perfect sport to cross train and mixes up endurance training, as you are too busy reading maps and hunting checkpoints to notice the amount kilometres you are running. To kick start the 2020 season, a Metrogain starting in Docklands, Melbourne and having us run around the city and beyond. Our team is called Treesome; three wild women who share the love to navigation, strategising and running. Nothing like an early morning Sunday trot with 700+ other rogainers who share the same passion as us.  To learn more about roganing, visit Victorian Rogaining Association.

What’s planned in March?

• Start my compost for fruit and vegetable scraps (this didn’t happen in February because I could only find a plastic one – how ironic)
• Put plans in action for further study; there comes a point where you just feel you need to absorb and learn
• Spend time with past acquaintances who help make up my story of life
• Plan and prepare for Neveresting in April, eek 8848m of elevation gain in 24 hours

Be present. Time goes too quickly on reflection

The plans for the next month don’t need to be many, they just need to be highly achievable and obtainable. The year will unfold as the universe has planned, I am just going to ensure I enjoy the ride and are mindful of every moment, that is what is referred to as the power of now.

Welcome with an open mind, heart and hands the enduring month March.

[Note: this blog forms part of my accountability promises to myself]