I'm not obsessive or anything, but I never tire of watching aircraft, especially big ones, hang in the sky (as they seem to do). This comes from living near a flight path I guess. Also on the train in the mornings as we approach the city I often see planes coming in to land at Sydney airport, the effect even more pronounced as they fly low over the city on approach from the north.
I had been anticipating, therefore, the arrival of the first Qantas A380 giant double decker Airbus behemoth. And now I've seen it! Delivery of its first A380 was this morning, and I was outside my home in the northern suburbs at 9 am to watch the thing as it arrived. I was a bit too far away to be overwhelmed by it, but there's no doubt in my mind that if these monsters can hang in the air like that, then there's nothing unbelievable on earth, really. Tell me you saw a policeman transmogrify into a potato in front of you last night at the pub, and I'd have to say that I've seen something even more impossible - because I've seen an A380 actually fly.
Or maybe I'm just easily impressed. Dunno.
Not quite as impressive, but yesterday I went kayaking for just the third time in my life. I went out with a couple of guys who were training for a 110km race coming up in a few weeks - I was seriously out of my league, but I kept up by battling through the pain and fatigue. It did reinforce my thinking that kayaking is great cross-training for runners, as it builds upper body and core strength but also draws on the endurance and aerobic fitness you build as a runner.
There seems to be an increase in the popularity of kayak/cycle/running multi-sport events, and these appeal to me, as I'm an utterly crap swimmer and dislike it intensely as a result, otherwise I'd been keen to do a triathlon or two. Kayaking though is good fun. Must suss this out a bit more.
Running is still light on as I continue to work absurd hours (14.5 hour days the standard) and disappear interstate when on days off. Next weekend I'm off to Canberra though, which hosts one the great marathons, so I may well get all inspired again. The 2009 race is in April, so a training program would slot in well.
I have a job interview in a week or so which will determine my fate, that is, whether I stay in Sydney permanently or return to Tasmania next month. We shall see.
Meanwhile though I'm keeping fit and healthy and the weight is staying off so it won't be long before the desire to run a major race returns. The other good news is that the new uber-orthotics are working well. Final judgment is reserved however for the completion of a major run ... soon ... ish.
Nine tenths of five eighths of not much.
