Saturday, 4 November 2006

Getting ready for the Striders 10k I was pretty excited thinking it was the last race of the 2006 season. I had no real expectations of time, just to run the best I could (as usual). Blue Dog and arrived nice and early to meet the SWEAT clan for our warm-up, drills and strides. By the time I got the start line I was drenched with perspiration, I found the conditions quite humid. It was again another huge crowd which took a bit of negotiating to get through at the start but after about 500 metres I found a clear running path. I kept focused on Katie’s hot pink hat throughout the race. I felt pretty flat through the race, but ran as hard as I could and finished in 50:17, which is way off what I have been running lately, but it was the best I could do on the day so I have to be happy with that.

I then enjoyed a very nice post race breakfast, which unfortunately I had to cut short. I then headed off to my parents place. While I was doing their house work, my father was conducting some research for a shopping trip, a new car. He found a couple advertisements, made a couple of phone calls and we headed off to do some serious negotiations. He did very well; I pick up a brand new Hyundai Getz on Thursday for an amazing price. We phoned Blue Dog (who was at work) to let him know what his hard earned had bought. Blue Dog was very appreciative of my father's negotiations skills and happy with the purchase.

Sunday, 5 November 2006

I met Katie, Ray, Kerry and Deanne at Bronte for our long run. We choose this location for something different and a good excuse to view the “Sculptures by the Sea”, that were really good. However, I don't always understand the artist's impression but I can appreciate their hard work. Speaking of hard work, I think we did manage to find every hill in the area (groan), and then the journey home was in a strong head wind. Overall it was a really great run, but one I was happy to finish. My energy levels just don't seem to be at their usual standard at the moment. In total we did 20kms in a little over 2hrs, slightly slower than our usual pace, but we had to soak up some culture for the day.