Sydney Marathon

We had a nice time again at Mum and Dads while in Sydney. The Marathon was good weather (actually quite hot) and the course is terrific, starting over The Bridge (I ran backwards for a while in the middle of the six lanes to take that in) 'round Macquaries Chair, Centennial Park, Anzac bridge ect ect finish at Opera House. Dad and his mate Graham ran with me around the last bit at The Quay which was cool. I then spotted Ayako and Tia a few hundred meters from the finish line - so I put Tia on my shoulders to the line. She liked the crowd cheering us on, I did too. Nice moment. We even both received finishers medals. Good fun, might have to do this one again next year.

Time: 3:22:01 Place: 189th Age group place: 36th.

50km Glasshouse Ultra

Ran in a 50km ultra marathon event called The Flinders Tour. It's a scenic course on trails through the pine forests and bush in the middle (and up one) of the Glasshouse Mountains on the Sunshine Coast.

I didn't have a ideal start, stupidly rolling my ankle in a hole within the first couple km while admiring the glorious sunrise and not paying attention to the ground. Being so early in the race I knew right away it was a simple but big error. Feeling it wasn't serious enough to quit yet, I ran through the pain - albeit at an awkward and slow pace - it kinda went numb after a while. So 6 hours 26 mins later, yay I get my nice handmade finishers tea cup trophy : ) Place 28 out of 38.


Pretty tough event, the mind battle definitely came into this one. But all-in-all I enjoyed myself and the food and people at the aid stations were awesome...mmm baked potato's and brownies never tasted so good.

Mini Kokoda (approx. 29km)

I ran a grueling bush trail event today called the Mini Kokoda, it is run through the National Parks near Springbrook. The course is VERY hilly and the hills are VERY steep with little reprieve by way of flat sections, at least 10 creek crossings, and dozens of trees laid out over the track from the recent storms and no aid stations - must carry all your own water etc. A hill that sticks out in my memory was the evil gravel fire trail half way through the course that was something like a 300m vertical incline over about a km and a half. ouch

It was a solid test of attrition, I'd say one of the hardest physical challenges I've ever done. Pain aside, I enjoyed myself and would do it again any day.

Results:
Time: 4:08:30
Overall - 30th place out of 469
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11th place out of 158 individual competitors (most of the participants are in Teams/Groups that make up the 469 overall)
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Sunday Run 25km

Ran the 25km leg of the goldcoast100.com this morning in a group of about 30 runners. Time 2:02:13. Coming out of a bout of the flu I was a bit off today, so just ran in the comfort zone and enjoyed the run. It was a beautiful sunny Gold Coast winter morning.

Interesting to see the 100km guys at it. Many are running near my 25k pace. Amazing!

Dodgy Head

Shaved my head a few days ago. Then I thought I might try to shave it shiny bald. I quickly discovered my facial razor is not the right tool for the job with this much hair and so left it with a few cool bald chunks. haha

Pink Bubbles

Tia and Mummy playing with pink bubbles. click pic to enlarge

Beach Foam

The amazing weather we endured over the past few days with over 100km/h winds, exaggerated king tides and unprecedented rainfall left the beaches in a state of debris and erosion. The winds also whipped up quite a bubble bath of sea foam.

Tokyo Marathon

I ran my 1st Marathon and pulled up at the finish feeling ok with a respectable time of 3:22:11. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the canyon like streets of Tokyo. A great day all round. Now I'm off and running - I suppose it is the first of many.
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Kurrawa to Duranbah 25km

Ran the 25km Kurrawa to Durranbah without too much pain and a reasonable time of 2:12:13. I could have probably shaved off the 7 mins to make a 2:05 (5min k's) but would have had to dig really deep for that, it was quite a hot sunny day. My plan was to take it easy and not race the clock and use this as just a test run to get to know my ability level and learn how to keep a pace - I've never run that far before.

I placed right in the middle - 20th out of 41 (25k solo runners).
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Maybe I'll have a go at the 50k another year but this time I was happy to not be running all the way back again. The return would have been a hot 30°+ in full summer sun. The course is somewhat unique, in that you can see to the finish from the start. Its a bit full on looking down to Coolangatta way off in the distance thinking "shit! I have to run to there!! is this a good idea?" but its surprising how quickly the k's disappear.

Anyway it was good fun and I'm now confident I can cover 42.195km with another 14 weeks until the Tokyo Marathon.

Faces

Just hope the wind doesn't change.

Side Garden

The side strip at our place has gone through a metamorphosis in the past few months. Previously a barren unused weed garden, now a luscious green grassed space with a stone way and thriving vege garden complete with gate and balcony accessibility... much nicer.

Monster Storm

This shot is taken from Cabarita headland. It looked amazing in real life. An almost living, moving surging mass.

Swimmer

Tia is becoming very comfortable in the water. Since last week she has learned to now take 4 or 5 breaths, swim about 10 body lengths and hold her breath to pick up items at the bottom of the pool. Amazing. Yes I sound like the proud Daddy... but with justification... she is half fish ; )

Tia drawing on her whiteboard

Have you seen my birds?

My Little Birds B and C have been missing for a few days now – too long. They were very loyal to return each day, so this can only mean that they have gotten into trouble and probably will not be seen again.

I can justify their fairly short lives (13months old) by the fact that they were ones full of adventure, fun, good health and prestige over their wild brethren (they had the best of both worlds - being free to live and fly outside also with the security of their cage(home) always offering good food, fresh water and protection from the weather and predators). I know they knew they had it good.

R.I.P. little birdy's. They have given Tia Ayako and I much enjoyment throughout their lives. These photos were taken of them sitting in their favourite tree just a few days before they disappeared.

Brandenburg Orchestra

We went to The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Brisbane again last night. The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.

This year they played Handels - Water Music. Very enjoyable. Followed by a few Belgium beers with Matt, one of the violin players, since we were in the vicinity ; )