Updates from Perth

Just a couple of updates from Perth (and no photos sorry)...

Last weekend I ran the City to Surf half marathon. I wasn't particularly fast but it was nice getting out there and just running. There were thousands of competitors (40,000+ over 4 races) and I felt a bit claustrophobic to be honest. I am not sure that I like running with so many people and my next race will have a few less I think.

As the race was a point to point race there were always going to be some logistical issues. But we had an inspired idea... the night before we planted one of our cars at City Beach (the end point of the race). The morning of the race I took advantage of the free train travel for competitors to get to the race. The 10 min walk/jog either side of the train trip served well as my warm up as well.

I arrived at the race start in time to see my good friend Sandy come through half way in the Marathon looking strong and heading towards an AMAZING 3.05 debut marathon.

For the first time in the race I didn't jostle for a good start position, I just started where I ended up. The first KM along the terrace was fast (a bit too fast for my fitness levels) but that's always the case at the start of a race. My first 5km were great, but then it went a bit pear shaped with a couple of toilet stops... so after that I pegged it back and just enjoyed the run to the finish without pushing at all. It was very weird doing a half marathon and not racing it, but nice all the same. Quite a different experience.

Jason biked from home to watch the race and then we got to drive home. I was sooooo pleased we had the foresight to park a car near the end of the race as I didn't fancy battling the shuttle buses with 40000 other people.

The second bit of news from Perth is that after 2 years (I know I can't believe that we have been here two years either) we are moving out of the 1 bedroom apartment and into a 4 bedroom duplex. In addition to the 4 bedrooms the new place (in Tuart Hill, Perth) has a separate laundry, dining room, big lounge, storeroom, 2.5 bathrooms, and a great little back yard and outdoor living area. What will we do with the space??? One thing is for certain, our 4 bikes will no longer reside in our bedroom that's for sure!!!

So our moving plans are to pack up and move all the little stuff ourselves next Saturday/Sunday. We will also but a new bed on Saturday as well and get it delivered to the new place. On Monday we have a removal truck arriving to take the big things- bed, dining room table, couch and fridge etc. Jason is taking the week off to finish the moving and spend time with his Mum (arriving in Perth on Sunday evening).

So that's about it from Perth for the last couple of weeks.