Packed Full of Goodies

The last week has been packed full of goodies. It all started last Friday night when Capital I returned home from Europe/UK after 3+ months away. It's been great to have him back and to hear of all his adventures. It's definitely made me want a gap year or 2 or 3 .... :)

Then last Saturday afternoon I flew to Melbourne to run the Melb Half Marathon on Sunday. It was a bit of a crazy rush to get from the airport to the restaurant where I was meeting Ewen et al for dinner but it was well worth it - good company, good food etc.

Sunday morning I met Ewen at his apartment and we walked to the start line together. It was very congested but we got a decent "middle of the pack" start and managed to keep clear of any pushing, shoving, tripping etc. The aim was to pace Ewen in under 1.40 but with the flexibility for us each to run as we felt. As it turned out we ran the first 3-4km together and then I gradually inched further in front to finish in 1.38.52 according to my Garmin. Ewen reported having a good first 14kms and then needing to have a firm discussion with his buckling leg which was threatening to jeopardise his finish. Fortunately, the negotiation was successful and both his mind and body crossed the finish line in 1.44.

Straight after the run I met up with my friend Fiona who I met when we ran the London marathon in 2006. It was great to see her and even better to see her back running again. Sunday's half marathon was her first running event since the 2006 London Marathon. Go Girl!

From running and socialising in Melbourne it was off to Ballarat where I spent a few days with my mum while she had tests in hospital etc. While some of her health issues are ongoing, the good part was eliminating some of the more sinister possibilities. A side benefit to my Ballarat excursion was a couple of nice post race recovery sessions at Fernwood Ballarat. I just love this reciprocal membership thing :)

After all that, it was time to come home again and here I am :) One good thing about being at home is running on the familiar mountain trails of Ainslie and Majura, and coming across these stumpy tail lizards. I saw three this morning :)