Finally today I had confirmed something that's been cooking for a few weeks now - which is that I'm moving to Sydney in two weeks time for at least three months of work (and possibly permanently)! I guess this is much like Englanders moving to London or Americans moving to New York - Sydney is definitely Australia's "big apple" and I'm very excited to be going.
This is no small life-style change - it means (for example) going from a 6 minute commute to work to an hour-plus; from a quiet, relaxed life-style to a frantic, fast-paced, crowded and hectic one. Where time is measured in seconds rather than seasons... and frankly I'm ready for it!
However it throws up enormous unceraintly as well. The bad news is that it makes the Adelaide marathon less likely as a target race. The good news on the other hand is that the Sydney marathon - a wholly more interesting prospect - is a distinct possibility. Even better: being a few weeks later it gives me a great opportunity to recover from my injury set-back and get back on track in terms of training.
So for the next two weeks my focus will be on getting a little mileage back into my legs and preparing for the move to Sydney and indeed just getting there. Then we'll see about restoring a serious training programme. With so many uncertainties I'm not quite sure where I stand at the moment, and to be honest life is too confusing and busy to give top priority to running. Even so, I've now recovered from the shin splints and want to properly hit the streets again. How much time and mental energy I can devote to it remain to be seen, but undoubtedly the Olympics will once more fire me up and it won't be long before I'm back into some form.
It's a bit sad to see Adelaide disappearing from the radar, but greater things are afoot, so don't give up on me yet!
Whoo-hoo - Syders eh?!! Nice one. Only place I've been in Aus (and only for seven days) but loved it to bits. Wild and crazy city. Good news on the rehab opportunity too. When's the Sydney marathon? Now that would be a cracker . . .
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
...but the newest member of the household, a spaniel/terrier/russell cross called "Eddie Your Ship-Board Computer" ... 10 weeks old and massive trouble. Definitely *not* going to Sydney...
Ho ho . . . he's got them crazy 'Bowie' eyes and looks not unlike Wayne Rooney after a night out with his pals in Concert Square. Trouble, capital T. Great dog.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:...but the newest member of the household, a spaniel/terrier/russell cross called "Eddie Your Ship-Board Computer" ... 10 weeks old and massive trouble. Definitely *not* going to Sydney...
Me (Male): Hey, look at my Aussie mate's new puppy....
M (Female): My god! Look at the colour clash of those carpets!
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Yeah thanks folks, the move to Sydney is only a week away now and life is frantic as I get myself organised.
The Sydney marathon is on September 21 and on paper looks very do-able. However the Sydney thing is going to be very messy, involving long hours of work and frequent trips to Adelaide as well, so training will be haphazard at best. What I'm saying is that I'll wait until I see what the routine is like before committing.
For the moment I am just looking forward to working in a big city finally and enjoying the warmer weather there.
Can't let the Tour de France go without a mention. I managed to watch most of yesterday's stage 10 where Cadel Evans snatched the yellow jersey by a single second - the first Aussie in the yellow since Robbie McEwan's brief flirtation with it in 2004. More importantly it's the first time an Aussie has been in yellow in the second week (and therefore with a realistic chance of winning the event) since Phil Anderson in, oh God knows - about 25 years ago.
I've been impressed too with the Manx fella Cavendish. Not just a great rider but plenty of guts with it. He lost nearly two hours yesterday after a bad crash but got patched up and kept going - pretty astonishing since he has an Olympics campaign to prepare for and his time in the race as a sprinter is basically over.
But then that's what the Tour is all about really - and so far this has been one of the best tours I've seen for guts and glory. Five different yellow jersey wearers so far after only ten stages ... brilliant. Let's hope they've now got the worst of the drug doping scandals behind them and this can again turn into the superb guts-and-glory event it should be.
My favourite rider though has to be Erik Zabel - 38 yo, and way past his prime but he keeps at it and still he manages to snatch points here and there to remain on the Green Jersey leaders board, though not a serious contender for it. You just have to admire his perserverence - he'd be a great marathon runner methinks. Inspirational guy!
I must away. More packing, more errands, more farewell drinks to attend to!
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:The Sydney marathon is on September 21 and on paper looks very do-able.
They all look like that at first Cobber.
It's when they're ripping your heart out on the road it really starts to sting
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:I've been impressed too with the Manx fella Cavendish. Not just a great rider but plenty of guts with it. He lost nearly two hours yesterday after a bad crash but got patched up and kept going - pretty astonishing since he has an Olympics campaign to prepare for and his time in the race as a sprinter is basically over.
The mad manxman was on the radio this morning and was asked the question about how his heroics might be impacting his Olympic prospects 9he's riding the Madison with Bradley Wiggins). His reply was pretty simple; for him The Tour is the Olympics; the side-show in Beijing is very much secondary. Cavendish is the first Brit in 35 years to win two stages; brilliant effort.
Hmm . . . could it be that now many of the drug-fuelled bastards have been forced to lay low one or two honest Joes are coming to the fore?
Sssh! Best not tempt fate . . .
Good luck with the move.
Nice to see somebody moving around here . . . :o
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Sweder Wrote:Hail, fellow crock-ed one; what news from the antipodes?
48 hours left of my time of servitude in Van Dieman's Land ... and so I'm running around like a blue-arsed fly at the moment. Sadly, not literally running, but dead-set keen to get back into it once I land in Sydney Town. The bod's fine and ready to rip!
As well as preparing for the move I'm playing host to my eldest son who's visiting for my last few days here, and so it's also given me an opportunity to do those touristy things you never seem to get around to doing in your own town... such as visiting the Tasmanian Devil park and doing a brewery tour, which I must now dash off to do. Here's a couple of snaps of the locals...
If you read the Just So stories by Rudyard Kipling it explains their evolution. I think they were Cat-Rabbits who got chased by Dingos and they had to hop over rivers and stuff.
I remember seeing them on the beach at dawn south of Sydney. Some horse-whisperer-type I was with said they drink sea-water for breakfast.
You should get over to Australia EG. Lots of boutique vineyards, restaurants, sport and natural beauty. Not sure what the shopping is like though.
Well I read that Captain Cook's crew asked the aborigines what the strange hopping creatures were and they answered 'kangaroo, whick is abo for 'what are you saying'.
Probably complete bunkum though. One for MLC to research when he unpacks his lappie.
Seafront Plodder Wrote:Well I read that Captain Cook's crew asked the aborigines what the strange hopping creatures were and they answered 'kangaroo, whick is abo for 'what are you saying'.
Probably complete bunkum though. One for MLC to research when he unpacks his lappie.
Yeah it's bunkum. It was actually aboriginal for "Get off our land you white bastards or we'll boil your testicles down into scab ointment".
Sydney Marathon Campaign - Week 0 of ??
