THANK YOU, A!

Trigirl was thrilled today to receive a surprise donation on one of her Justgiving pages from 'Friend A'. It has taken Trigirl a few hours to realise who 'A' is, but now she knows!

A, thank you so much for your generous donation and well done for being so mysterious!

For anyone who fancies sponsoring Trigirl, please visit:

http://www.justgiving.com/running4asthma
To support Asthma UK and sponsor Trigirl to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon on 11th October 2009

or
http://www.justgiving.com/trigirlsheila
to support the Parkinson's Disease Society and sponsor Trigirl to compete in the London Triathlon on 2nd August 2009.

Speed Queen

Trigirl felt invincible on her bike today. Amazing as it may seem, it was probably the first time she has had her tyres properly pumped up (see last Saturday's posting) and she also raised her saddle by about 5mm. These two small changes made Trigirl feel that she merely had to touch the peddles to zoom off. Trigirl felt like some sort of Speed Queen.

Trigirl crosses her fingers for VLM 2010

Trigirl got up at 5:15 today. By 5:20 she was registering for the ballot of the Virgin London Marathon (VLM) 2010. The reason for this silly o'clock activity? She spent most of yesterday trying and failing to complete the registration pages on the VLM website. It did eventually completely crash. It was similar last year, so Trigirl decided to get on the website while it was quiet.

Trigirl will hear in October whether she has won a place. If not, she will receive a 'free' jacket as a consolation prize.

Trigirl gets a kick out of boxing

Trigirl is surprised that boxing is her favouring station in her circuit training class. Trigirl is normally fairly quiet and certainly not agressive, but there is something about boxing that she finds very satisfying.

Trigirl 'loses' at hide-and-seek

Trigirl and the Junior Trigirls played hide-and-seek in the sunshine on the lawns of Ightham Mote today. They took it in turns to hide. The Junior Trigirls completely out-hid Trigirl on one occasion and had a great time watching Trigirl looking for them in vain. They eventually took pity on Trigirl and stood where she could see them.

and the lesson for today... pump up your tyres to the correct pressure

Today Trigirl met up with P for a cycle ride for the first time in 2009! He explained to her why she should have her tyres pumped up to the correct pressure. For some reason, Trigirl has never bothered with this before and just pumped until the tyres felt quite hard. This afternoon, she gave both bikes a thorough clean (with the 'help' of the Junior Trigirls) and then put a lot more air in the tyres. She has never, ever, had such hard tyres.

If Cycle Chick G, Swimmingman or M are reading this, they will probabaly all be screaming at their screens 'We told you this ages ago!' Like everyone else, it sometimes takes Trigirl a little while to take things on board. But well done P for nailing this one home.

tired

Trigirl is very tired.

Caffeine fix

Trigirl's coffee machine has broken down. Swimmingman sent it back to Gaggia on April 2nd and they still have not fixed it. Trigirl is distraught because she had assumed that this vital piece of equipment would return during her holiday.

Trigirl felt compelled to get her caffeine fix at the local cafe straight after dropping the Junior Trigirls at school. She failed to persuade umpteen school mums to join her. However, Trigirl was delighted that Ironman and M turned up just after she got there. A most unexpected and pleasant surprise!

Trigirl NEEDS to go to the cafe every day until the coffee machine returns.

holiday photos

Trigirl is is daunted by a mountain of post and suitcases... she has beendownloading her holiday photos.

View the slideshow here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trigirlsheila/sets/72157617124349030/

home, but aching from suitcase lugging

After a hot hour wandering around Plaka in Athens, Trigirl headed off dragging two 20kg suitcases to the bus for Athens airport, where she caught a flight to Heathrow.

Trigirl is back home now, but with all that suitcase lugging, almost every part of her body now aches. She has had some ibuprofen and it hasn't helped that much. Trigirl believes in packing lightly, unfortunately Swimmingman did not attend the same suitcase packing school. Next time, Trigirl is going to audit his luggage.

"Goodbye home"

...said Junior Trigirl 2 as Swimmingman turned the key in the little holiday home.

Greece is too expensive for Trigirl. She has spent over 500 Euros in two weeks, nearly all on food and drink. She has not had any champagne or caviar either. She has eaten mainly fava, Greek salad, oranges and a few baklava.

The Junior Trigirls chocolate cereal costs 3.50 Euros for a small packet which they polish off in two days. A small packet of bran flakes costs 4 Euros. Swimmingman is addicted to butter and a standard 250g packet costs 3 Euros, although it is slightly cheaper in the 'Old Lady Shop'.

cricket

Trigirl saw a cricket today.

She also had a good swim in Livadakia Bay, but having swum at Psilli Ammos, she now realises that the water at Livadakia is cold.

Trigirl had to buy SEVEN Kinder Eggs for the Junior Trigirls today.

The Junior Trigirls are keen to try new foods and do housework in return for Kinder Eggs. Junior Trigirl 1 keeps on saying she wants to 'reach her target of four Kinder Eggs'. She has managed this by lunchtime today by sweeping the entire house (egg 1), eating a boiled egg (egg 2), eating a tuna sandwich (egg 3), eating a large dollop of fava (egg 4). Junior Trigirl 2 has earnt three Kinder Eggs today by sweeping and eating two boiled eggs.

The local shop has nearly run out of Kinder Eggs. Last week they had three of four trays of Kinder Eggs, now the last tray has nearly gone.

swimming with swimming

Trigirl swam at one of her all time favourite beaches today - Psilli Ammos. The beach taverna was open today for the first time. The Junior Trigirls also loved the beach.

Good swim.

Fabulous weather.

Yummy Greek food, especially the dog fish, but the local wine was extremely rough. Oh well, it's always good to try these things says Trigirl.

Swimming without swimming

Trigirl decided to go swimming in Livadakia Bay this morning, which is 50m from her holiday home. She walked around in the water up to her waist but for some reason couldn't bring herself to swim. Her run yesterday evening was similar - it was mainly a walk.

knobbly oranges

Trigirl is enjoying the knobbly local oranges. They would never pass the Sainsbury's aesthetic standards, but they are soooo sweet and juicy.

She is also enjoying the Greek cakes rather too much and the honey.

A small miracle ocurred yesterday. Junior Trigirl 1 agreed to try fava (made with red lentils, very similar to Indian dahl), Greek salad and a meat ball. She had to be bribed with Kinder Eggs. Junior Trigirl 2 very grudingly nibbled at a meatball and just about by the skin of her teeth earned a Kinder Egg.

'recovery' G&T

Trigirl enjoyed her post run 'recovery' G&T yesterday evening. It made a change from her usual nutritrious sports shake.

Just before that, Trigirl and family waved goodbye to MV, R and N. Trigirl was sorry to see them go because she enjoyed their company. However, she was pleased that there was no longer anyone sleeping in the living room because it meant that she could get up when she wanted. This morning, she got up when she woke up and saw the sun come up.

Yesterday, Junior Trigirl 1 had to go to the doctor due to an infected cut on her wrist. The Greek doctor was very nice. Junior Trigirl 1 seems rather proud of the big bandage round her hand and wrist.

Trigirl is treated to smoothies

While Trigirl was writing this blog yesterday, N and the Junior Trigirls were busy creating a smoothie bar back at the house. When Trigirl returned, she was taken to the balcony and the 'waitress' offered a long menu of various drinks. She chose lemon juice and then a strawberry milkshake. Both were delicious and it was extremely relaxing to sit in the sun and watch the view while sipping her drinks. Trigirl cannot remember the last time she was spoilt so much.

The other adults got similar treatment.

After she had finished her drinks, she asked the waitress for the bill and it came to 2.70 Euros for everyone. A bargain! Trigirl rounded it up to 3 Euro so each girl could have 1 Euro.

Hunting Easter eggs on the beach

Twelve-year-old N organised an Easter egg hunt for the Junior Trigirls to celebrate Easter Sunday. She wrote clues that started in the house and took them right to the beach. There were some mini chocolate eggs hidden with the first clues, some Kinder eggs towards the end and a big prize at the very end. It was brilliant and the Junior Trigirls were delighted. They have spent most of the rest of the day hiding their gradually diminishing egg supply for each other.

Trigirl went for a swim in the cold cold sea today. She thinks it is the first time she has been swimming in the sea on Easter Sunday since 1979 (this last detail is a special note for M, since Trigirl's ability to remember what she did when always amazes her).

Last night, Swimmingman and Trigirl had dinner alone in Stamatis, one of their favourite tavernas on this island. A strange meal: pork in lemon sauce, chips, Greek salad, fried aubergine, all washed down with retsina. As long-standing customers, there was also a delicious pud on the house: sliced apple with yogurt and honey. MV, R and N offered to babysit. This is a rare and noteable treat for Trigirl and Swimmingman.

ice-cold swimming

Even though Trigirl loves swimming, she had to force herself to get in the ice-cold sea today. She did, however, have a lovely swim once she got over the temperature. Trigirl is very pleased her holiday home is only 50m from the beach. It means she can have a hot shower straight after her swim.

HOT

Trigirl is hot on her Greek island today. The sun is beating down and there is not a cloud in the sky.

100 points for a cat?

Yesterday evening throwing the rubbish in the community dustbin was very amusing. It was very dark and the path by the dustbin was like a river so Trigirl stood a couple of metres away and took aim with her bag of rubbish. The rubbish flew straight in the bin and Trigirl was pleased at her good shot. The next thing she knew was that a terrifed cat came tearing out of the bin. Trigirl must have come close to killing the poor little moggy with her heavy bag of rubbish.

Trigirl spent the day just sitting in the taverna on one of her favourite beaches - Mega Livadi. The sea was lapping a few feet from her chair. Very lazy but bliss.

Psilli Ammos Dreamin'

Trigirl is on her way back from her run to Psilli Ammos beach. She always imagines this place when she is stressed and can't relax. She hasn't seen it for over six years and was glad to see that it is still as beautiful as ever... fine light light-coloured sand, sparkling blue sea, a beach lined with trees, and all in a beautiful cove.

lunch row

Trigirl had a row with MV today who was trying to feed the Junior Trigirls with Pringles and Maltesers for lunch when Trigirl had already bought them breadsticks, cheese, nuts and oranges.

She is now in the local internet cafe enjoying some time by herself and a Greek coffee called a frappe.

Walkies

A rather poor picture of Junior Trigirl 1 this afernoon during our walk in the showers. The island of Sifnos is in the background.

Drip, drip, drop

Trigirl is doing pilates today since it is cold and rainy here on her Greek island.

So far, she has done alphabet legs (hard!) and has been doing various things standing on one foot (easy). She is going to try that exercise where you try not to squash the chocolate eclair. She can never remember the name of this move.

Trigirl creates a stir among the local boys

While Trigirl was running this morning in her shorts a group of Greek teenage boys wolf-whistled at her. She was thinking of stopping to tell them that she was old enough to be their mother.

Later, she went swimming in the ice bath, otherwise known as the sea.

welcome to Serifos!

Trigirl and family arrived today on the Greek island of Serifos, with friends MV, R and N who they met in the port of Pireus.

While on what Junior Trigirl 2 refers to as the fairy, M and Trigirl pressed their faces up to the window of the bridge and the captain invited them in! There were about six guys on the bridge, none of whom, apart from the driver (pilot??) appeared to be doing anything. The driver was concentrating very very hard and did not appear to notice that he had visitors.

Greece is now very expensive. Today, Trigirl has spent the equivalent of nearly GBP80 on a few basic provisions.

off to Athens!

Trigirl is up early, geting ready to go to Athens for the start of her holiday.

Birthdaygirl!

Birthdaygirl tried to buy herself some new clothes as a treat for her special day, but she couldn't find anything. She did however receive some very nice gifts.

déjà vu

Four-year-old Junior Trigirl 2 came home from school with eight 'high frequency' words such as 'mum, cat, and, dog' to learn to recognise. Her teacher would be happy for her to spent a couple of weeks absorbing them, but Junior Trigirl 2 wanted to commit all of them to memory today, such is her determination to learn to read.

She forced Trigirl to go over them with her about two dozen times this evening. She did amazingly well - at the start she knew none of them and by the end, the only one of the eight that eluded her was 'my'. This inability to remember this one word was unbelievably frustrating for her and she had a tantrum.

Trigirl has this same personality trait and she can now understand the mixture of pride, irritation and exhaustion that she must produce in anyone trying to teach her anything. The only difference is that Trigirl doesn't often have tantrums these days.

Looking back to 2006, 07 and 08

M inspired Trigirl today. She reminded her to remember how far she had come.

Here are pictures of Fatgirl in 2006, then Runninggirl in 2007 (wearing pink t-shirt) in her first ever race (Beckenham 10K - 1:00:02). Lastly, Trigirl in 2008 in the London Triathlon. All these photos were taken roughly a year apart.

Trigirl has the tendency to be dissatisfied with her abilities, which on the plus side means she is always trying hard to get better. On the downside, she can be easily disappointed.

And just in case anyone forgets (Trigirl doesn't), she has M to thank for always pushing her in the right direction.