I was super impressed with the organisation of the Great Ocean Road Half Marathon. Everything went according to their published times and their was such a lovely atmosphere of people keen to take in this gorgeous part of Victoria that the Great Ocean Road encompasses.

While waiting in the toilet queue, I met a dear friend and his running companion. It was nice to have someone to talk to as a distraction from the cold!

This is the only scenery photo I took and it is from just near the starting line. Although the blogger in me did want to stop a number of times to take photos along the course.

The starting line was packed, but it didn’t take long for it to disperse. As a novice runner in these types of events, it was the start that was worrying me the most, but it was much better than I imagined.

The course went from Kennett River to Apollo Bay. 23kms in total, so runners received a half marathon and race time (or a marathon and race time if you ran that far!).

I had set myself a goal of finishing under 2 hours for the entire race and was happy to have come in well under that and run a personal best time for that distance.

Thanks to Pete and Cath, who let us stay at their fab place in Lorne Saturday night. Thank you also to another friend Mark and Mr I I for the prompt in getting me to take part in this event. It wasn’t something that was on my list of things to do this year at all, but I did really enjoy the challenge of pushing myself and has me thinking about other areas where I need to push myself out of my comfort zone!

Have you done something recently that has taken you out of your comfort zone?

Current Sponsors:

• Bright Star Kids' Name Labels - Super Cute & Durable Name Labels
• 4MyEarth - Lunch that does not cost the earth.

Great Ocean Road Half Marathon is a post from: Planning With Kids

Normally the reviews I do of places to go around Melbourne are focused on the kids, this is one for the mums!

Shocolate is a beautiful little chocolate shop in Fitzroy (Melbourne). They are a speciality chocolate shop and serve alongside their chocolates other sweets and a selection of beverages. You can also just buy from their extensive range of chocolates.

The indoor space is small, but it was the perfect setting for our afternoon tea. It comfortably fits 12 towards the side of the shop and the positioning providing a lovely intimate setting.

Pamela who is the director of Shocolate was fantastic from the first moment I visited the place to make the booking. She listened to what I was after and sent through a range of options for me to choose from. Our afternoon tea was:

6 chocolates each

2 macarons each

Mouse de biscuit petit four and 2 glasses sparkling wine

While I loved everything I had to eat, there were two stand outs for me:

• Pistachio Chocolate
• Salted Caramel Macaron

Cannot recommend either highly enough! And neither could Gerard, a very special guest who came along as a gift from my gorgeous girlfriend Cath!

Special thanks to Pamela who delivered exceptional service and helped make the day such a wonderful memory for me.

Yes that is a cacti sticking out of his back – he is a dinosaur pot plant!

Shocolate: Master Chocolatiers – The Details

Location:
3/296 Brunswick Street (Enter Via Johnstone St) Fitzroy, VIC 3065

Telephone:
(03) 9415 6556

Opening hours:
sun-wed from 10am – 6pm
thurs from 10am – 10pm
fri-sat from 10am – 11pm

(Just so you know, the afternoon tea was fully paid for by me and I am simply blogging about it because I had such a fantastic time. If you are in Melbourne and are after something a little special one afternoon, Shocoalate is a great place to visit.)

Current Sponsors:

• Bright Star Kids' Name Labels - Super Cute & Durable Name Labels
• 4MyEarth - Lunch that does not cost the earth.

Shocolate is a post from: Planning With Kids

I had intended to attend the lululemon athletica Melbourne Warehouse Sale today (Friday), so when I was then invited to attend the VIP night last night, you could say I was just a little bit excited!

Since discovering the fabulousness of lululemon athletica last year, thanks to the lovely Cate, I have become a 100% convert. It is the only gym / running gear I wear and I love it! I also love the philosophy of lululemon athletica, part of which you can see in their manifesto in the photo above.

Over the next three days the lululemon athletica Melbourne Warehouse will not only be having an amazing sale, but there will be performances, DJs, yoga and dancing – A YOGA REMIX.

I did my first ever yoga class at the VIP night complete with beats from the DJ. While you won’t be able to actually do a class over the next three days, you will get to see some of the fab lululemon ambassadors and local instructors who will be demonstrating their yoga style – keeping you entertained while waiting in line to purchases your lovely gear. And here is just a sample of some of the stuff on sale:

Tanks for running and yoga.

Pants of all shapes and sizes.

Shorts

Long sleeved tops for those of us who are up and running early in the mornings which have now turned pretty cool.

And this is my haul from the sale!

If you are new to lululemon athletica, here is what I love about their gear:

• Comfort – It is super comfortable and designed for your activity – in my case running.
• Smell – I have a number of tanks, including one I bought last night that have silverescent®. This is what they so aptly call Anti-stink. You know how after lots of work outs, even after you have washed your gym gear is still stinks a bit? Well these tanks have a special Silver Fiber®, which inhibits bacteria growth and it really makes a huge difference to the way your gear smells.
• Pockets – They have handy little pockets everywhere, where you can stash a key, cash or tissue if needed.
• Durability - It washes really well. For a while I only had two sets of lululemon gear and was running 5 days a week, so lots of washing was involved. Both sets are still in great condition.
• Style – It looks good! I endeavour to shower every morning after the gym and before the school run, but there are days where this just doesn’t happen. My running gear looks smart, so am fine wearing it to school drop off. There has been the odd hectic day when I have also been at school pick up wearing it too, as time for a shower has just not appeared!

The Details

Hours of operation:

• Friday, April 20 10am – 7pm
• Saturday, April 21 10am – 7pm
• Sunday, April 22 10am – 4pm

View Larger Map
30 Rupert Street, Collingwood

I would recommend not trying to park in Rupert Street. Even on a non sale day, it can be tricky to get a park. Rupert Street is a narrow one way street, which you cannot enter from Victoria Parade. Parking in Victoria Parade might be a better option.

Other things to note:

• All sales are final.
• There are men’s and women’s change room.
• There will be mandatory bag & coat check. No bags will be allowed into the sale.
• They will accept cash, debit and credit (Visa and Mastercard only).
• No gift cards will be accepted.
• Last entrant will be admitted 30 minutes before close.

Throughout the sale members of the lululemon athletica will be tweeting and updating thier FB page. So you will be able to know real time what is happening and how long the queues may or may not be. You will find them at:

• Mini-site – www.lululemon.com/melbourne/melbournewarehousesale
• FB event - www.facebook.com/events/244716782292444/
• Instagram – #lululemonWHSmlb
• Twitter – @lululemonWHSmlb
• Email – WHSMelbourne@lululemon.com

Have fun!

Current Sponsors:

• Bright Star Kids' Name Labels - Super Cute & Durable Name Labels
• 4MyEarth - Lunch that does not cost the earth.

lululemon athletica Melbourne Warehouse Sale is a post from: Planning With Kids