Wrapping Up the Sydney Experience

Blogger Meet Up

It isn’t very often that I have the chance to meet up with a blogger buddy, but luckily it worked out that Melanie (of Mel Tries to Run) was able to come up to Sydney from Canberra on Saturday evening.  We met up with another runner friend of hers, went for cocktails and grabbed some super yummy Thai food in Newtown.  The evening was full of really fantastic conversation and I’m really glad that we had the chance to meet up.  Thanks again for a fantastic evening Mel!!

Hmm, looks like I caught a wee bit of sun…

Running

I managed to squeeze in some final runs in Sydney on Sunday and on Monday.  On Sunday I headed back to Circular Quay and the Opera House, plus I spent a bit more time exploring the Botanical Gardens.  It was slightly less humid when I started running as a light drizzle was coming down, but as soon as that finished the humidity kicked back in.  I went from feeling like I could run forever to feeling…ugh.  But the scenery was great!I hadn’t quite planned to run on Monday morning as that was the day I was leaving for the airport.  My parents had a much earlier flight than I did and they were out of the hotel room by 5:30 am.  I didn’t have to leave until 9 am to catch my flight and as I lay in bed and watched the sky brighten I figured I should really just get up and run.  We were staying in a part of Sydney called Darling Harbour so I just went down there and ran along the semi-circular boardwalk. I’m glad I got a last few miles in before having to rush off and catch my flight.  It was a nice way to end the trip.

Lessons Learned and Things I Was Reminded About in Australia

1. There is no better way to sightsee than on a run or a bike ride in a new place.  I got to see things I may not have noticed if I wasn’t running past it.  Running past the Sydney Opera House and up its stairs was a definite highlight.
2. Humidity and I?  We are not friends.  While all of my runs were incredibly scenic and beautiful they were also fairly hard.  I’m attributing it mostly to the humidity although I wasn’t quite the active runner I would have liked to have been in December.  So needless to say, I am actually kind of looking forward to getting back to running in cold, snowy Calgary.
3. Mozzies (aka mosquitoes) love me.  I do not love them.  My parents would get the odd bite here and there, but by the end of the trip the final count was 21 bites on my right leg, 16 on the left.
4. Swimming in a gorgeous outdoor pool is pretty well all I need to get excited about swimming again.  Time to get back to working on that stroke.

And with that…I’m back in Calgary.  Back to work tomorrow.  And my first block of Ironman training starts too!!  I’ve got a lot of catching up to do with you guys.  Google Reader is telling me that I have just over 600 unread posts!!