Hanging in the Hunter Valley

On Saturday (aka Boxing Day) I went for a swim, we went for lunch, and then we loaded the car up and hit the road for the Hunter Valley.  It is about a 2 or 2.5 hour drive from Sydney, and is another one of Australia’s great wine producing regions.  We rolled into our accommodations in the Hunter at Parrot Stump Farm just around 5 pm.  Just like the Barossa this place was a self contained cottage in amongst a vineyard.  The owner met us at the cottage just as we arrived.  He was quite concerned that with it being Boxing Day, and everything being closed, that we would be somewhat out of luck for dinner.  He was planning on having a few folks over for ham and he wanted to invite us over.  It wound up being a really fun evening full of good food, good wine and good times as we met a few of the locals from around the area.  Everyone was so nice and friendly that they wound up feeling like old friends by the time the night was over.  It was a great way to start our trip to the Hunter.

Rain, rain…and a bit of running

Sunday I had decided to take as a rest day, and I was definitely happy with that decision when I woke up in the morning.  It was pouring down rain.  It continued to rain all day and well into Monday as well.  Somehow or other I just wasn’t in the mood to slog through the rain.  I had thoughts of heading to the outdoor pool in Cessnock for a swim, but unfortunately I wound up missing the lap swim times in the morning so…another rest day it was.  By Tuesday morning there was a break in the rain so I figured I’d better hit the road!  Much like the Barossa the Hunter is quite hilly although the scenery is very different.  Rolling green fields for as far as the eye can see as opposed to the more dessert like scenery in the Barossa.  Vineyards still dot the landscape though. 

I headed out the driveway away from Parrot Stump and just ran along the road.  There was very little traffic, but there was plenty to see.  This little colt came running up to the fence as I ran past to check things out.Along the way there were also lots of other horses, and some cows, including one very amorous bull.  The area was mostly a few vineyards, olive trees, some houses and the odd bed and breakfast/cottage type of place.  I was hoping to spy some kangaroos as I know they sometimes are nearby.  But no luck…  I ran up the driveway to the cottage and just as I crested a hill I saw some brown lumps way off in the distance.  Could it be?  Might they be kangaroos??  I couldn’t tell directly, so instead I had to get the camera out so I could check it out via zoom and picture.Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have some kangaroos off in the distance!!  Just as I was taking another picture on of the air guns in the vineyard to scare off birds went off and the guy on the left gave a big ol’ leap.Success!  3.1 miles and a kangaroo sighting.

I was wavering on going for another run on Wednesday morning before leaving the Hunter, but as it felt quite a bit cooler and less humid out I figured I’d better take advantage.  I left the camera at home, which was somewhat too bad as I spied a few goats and alpacas out today.  No kangaroos, although I did meet a very boisterous and friendly (thank goodness, although maybe too friendly) sheep dog who was determined to keep jumping up on me and had me wondering if I was going to be able to make it home without him.  Luckily his owner was out checking his olive trees and he was able to grab his dog for me.  Then it was time to pack up and hit the road back to Sydney shortly thereafter.

And what about the wine??

Ah yes, we did do a wee bit of wine tasting in the Hunter.  This region produces some really great Semillons that age nicely in the bottle, along with some good reds too.  We had some fantastic tastings in the area, but the highlight was probably at Keith Tulloch’s.  When you walk into his winery you head upstairs, are given a tasting glass and told to find a spot to sit down.  There are comfy couches inside along with tables on the veranda overlooking the vineyards below.Some of the other places felt a bit like a zoo as you tried to find a spot by the tasting bar to stand, but at Keith Tulloch’s it was so quiet and relaxed.  Every few minutes someone would come by to pour a tasting sip in your glass.  It just so happened that the owner Keith was outside on the veranda that day.  He came by to say hello and we chatted about Canada (like the differences between importing to Alberta versus British Columbia) along with some of the spots that he and his family have skied at in Canada.  And all of his wines were absolutely fantastic.  Lucky for me that he imports to Alberta!

With that the trip to the Hunter is over (along with all of the wine touring) and we are about 20 minutes away from Sydney at the moment.  It is so hard to believe that the final day of 2009 is TOMORROW!!  How did that happen?  Where did the year go?  I am looking forward to spending a few days around here playing tourist and going for some great runs.  Thanks to the lovely Mel I have a few ideas for some great pools to check out too.  I hope everyone is enjoying their final days of 2009 and have a safe and happy New Year!!

Christmas in Sydney

Thursday – Christmas Eve

On Thursday we flew from Adelaide back to Sydney.  Considering it was Christmas Eve I have to say that this was one of the most stress free flights I’ve had lately.  Speedy check in, a quick zip through security, and then a smooth trip over to Sydney.  We checked in at our hotel then set out to explore a bit.  I got my first glimpse of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, then it was on to Darling Harbour for dinner and fireworks. Christmas Eve dinner in my family is traditionally fish.  This year, we took seafood to a whole new extreme!  We shared a platter of chilli lobster, cold prawns, oysters, a blue swimmer crab, fried fish, smoked salmon, some salt and pepper prawns and calamari.  Between three of us we were not able to finish all of this, although we did give it a good try!  Just after we finished chowing down the Christmas Eve fireworks went off in Darling Harbour.

Friday – Christmas Day

I was up early on Christmas Day and raring to run.  I plotted out a route that would take me past a lot of the important sights around Sydney.  I left my hotel in Darling Harbour and ran north along Kent Street towards Millers Point.  It was probably about 7 am and navigating the street north through town things were pretty deserted.  Until I happened upon two gentlemen collecting bottles…or something…on the street.  One guy was bending over and was clearly oblivious to the fact that his shorts has completely fallen below his rear end.  Ahem, just a wee bit more than I was bargaining for that morning!!  Soon I was right below the Harbour Bridge though, with the Opera House in my sights! As I passed the train station a group of cyclists were out for Christmas morning ride.  Not a bad idea for Christmas morning if you ask me!  After running around the Opera House I passed into the Botanical Gardens for a bit.  Next time I’d definitely like to run around here a bit more.  I ran down Macquarie Street for a bit, past the Parliament buildings, Sydney Mint and Hyde Park Barracks.

And after that it was time to head back to the hotel.  Maybe just over four miles later?  Later in the evening we did the quintessential thing to do in Sydney on Christmas and we headed over to Bondi Beach.  Unfortunately the weather wasn’t that fantastic though as the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Laurence rolled into town…   Believe it or not, there are actually people swimming in the water behind me! 

Saturday – Boxing Day

Time for something new – I needed to hit up a pool!  I probably haven’t swum in almost a month??  I headed off to the Cook + Phillip Park Aquatic Centre early in the morning, a 50 metre underground pool right in downtown.  Thanks to it being a YMCA facility I even managed to get in for free with my Calgary membership!  They had eight lanes open for swimming – slow, medium and fast, and freestyle only and other strokes.  I had a bunch of workout cards with me, but they mostly depended on using a 25 metre pool, plus various pull buoys and kick boards.  I decided to ignore the swim cards and just swim.  The best thing about a 50 metre pool is that you may be sharing a lane with two or three other people but you feel like you are the only one there.  I just put my head down and swam for almost an hour.  Boy, it felt good to be back in the water!

One thing that I noticed – men here don’t wear your typical jammer style swimsuits.  They tend to favour budgie smugglers instead…  And with that, it was time to leave Sydney!!  We are in the Hunter Valley for a few days, then back to Sydney in time for New Years.  I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas!

Strathmore Women's Triathlon - Race Report

This morning I raced my first ever triathlon, the Strathmore Women's Sprint Triathlon. I woke up at 4:30...well before my alarm was supposed to go off. I enjoyed lounging in bed for a few minutes, then got up to shower, get ready and have some breakfast. It took just under an hour to get to Strathmore as we headed east away from Calgary toward the prairies. It was looking nice and flat out there. The first thing I did was set up my transition area. I had a towel, my bike shoes, socks, bike helmet, gloves, sunglasses, race belt and running shoes. I also gave my tires one last pump. Here's a shot of me looking nervous in transition:For the record, I was following the plan of alternating how bikes were hanging on the rack until a nearly identical Kona Lisa RD bike next to me hung her stuff up... Anyhow... You could tell that there were all kinds of women at this event just by the different types of bikes hanging up. It was neat to see how many first timers this race attracted. At 8:15 it was time for the pre-race meeting which was a pretty standard summation of all of the pre-race literature. It was then time to get read for the swim.

Pool Swim - 500m
The pool swim worked on a continuous feed. The slower swimmers started first. We were in groups of 4 according to similar swim times and once a lane of 4 swimmers was complete the next group of 4 would jump in the pool. I found a group to go with that I figured would be a bit faster than me by maybe 30 seconds. There didn't seem to be anyone in my same time range nearby so I just hopped on with them. Because of the continuous feed there was a whole bunch of standing around on the pool deck just waiting for the line to move. It was a great chance to chat with other ladies around though. Finally around 10:30 it was our time to get in the lane. I jumped in last since I knew I'd be the slowest. It took me a bit to get into a groove. Maybe it was nerves but I kept getting water in my mouth when taking a breath. On the second half of the first lap I had a head on with the first swimmer. What the? I thought we were swimming counter-clockwise and I was pretty sure I wasn't drifting out my lane... We actually collided a few more times during the swim. She was also pretty fast as she lapped me about half way through. The other two girls lapped me on my second to last lap. Oh well, I kind of figured I'd be the last one out of the pool. Apart from the collisions I thought my swim went pretty well.Swim - 180/257 - 13:51

Transition #1
Transition times were included in our bike split, but I estimate I spent about 2:38 putting socks and bike shoes on, and all the other assorted gear.

Bike - 20km
I had my bike in a nice easy gear heading out of transition and the first thing I did was move into my big ring to start powering through the bike. Almost immediately I passed one of the girls from my swim lane. I felt like I was flying on the bike - I passed the other two ladies from my swim lane probably within the first 5 minutes on the road. The course had a slight downhill on the out and by the time I hit the turnaround I thought I'd barely spent any time on the bike it was going so fast. I kept passing people on the way back, impressing a couple of volunteers as I passed girls on the uphills. I thought I worked my legs pretty hard on the bike as I was really spinning so I wasn't sure what I had left in my legs for the run, but I really wanted to push myself. No one passed me on the bike.
Bike - 27/257 - 39:53 (although I hit the lap button on the Garmin too late, so it is actually slightly lower than this...)

Transition #2
I hit the lap button just after I racked my bike, so it took me 00:45 to swap out shoes, remove the bike gear and hustle out of transition.

Run - 5km
I ran out of transition on what felt like pretty awkward legs. The first water stop was right away and I walked to grab a quick drink, but then kept going. I looked down at my Garmin and saw I was running an 8:30 pace... I can't believe I was going that fast! Of course the pace didn't hold but I kept picking the people off in front of me and passing them. About a mile in my left shin started to bug me. I told myself that this was a 5k and I was supposed to run fast and it was supposed to hurt! With that in mind I just kept going... I stopped to walk the second water stop and was pretty happy to see the turnaround. When I hit the water stop again I grabbed another cup of water and stopped to walk. One of the volunteers was this really perky lady that came up to walk with me. She asked what I was doing walking. Well, I was drinking my water. She pushed my cup in to form a spout and said to try that. Hey, that was better! She told me that there were three walkers just ahead of me and that she knew I could catch them. I promised that I would and I took off. By the time I reached all those walkers they were running but I did pass them. As I hit the last kilometer I knew I still had lots left in my legs and that I wasn't pushing hard enough so I worked to really pick up the pace. As I rounded the corner and saw the finish line I looked down and saw 27:xx on the Garmin. I figured I might be able to reach the finish in 2 minutes so I kicked it in, but didn't look down at the watch anymore. Pretty soon I heard Karen cheering my on from the sidewalk since she had finished her race earlier. I can't remember what she said but it made me fly even a bit faster. I hit the finish line and heard my name, then hit the stop button. Sarah was there cheering some friends on and she grabbed a shot of me just as I crossed the line, then introduced herself. Sarah, it was nice to finally meet you! After saying hellos I finally had a chance to look down at my watch. And oh yeah, no one passed me on the run either...Run - 98/257 - 29:12 -- a 5km PR!!!!!!!!!

Post Race
After the race I grabbed some snacks and took a quick shower to freshen up. It was time for a delicious lunch of hot lasagna with friends afterwards. The final results went up on the wall just as we were eating.

Final Time: 1:26:17.5
Overall 60 out of 257
Women 30 - 34: 13 out of 60

For first time triathletes: 11/97 overall, 3/25 in my age group.

I had a fantastic time and I loved, absolutely loved, this multisport event. Apparently this was the key for me to finally PR that 5km and smash my sub-30:00 goal. Neil came out to make his final appearance as my sherpa/race photographer (as we broke up a few weeks ago) and he commented how much my running form had improved since my duathlon in May. Less shuffling, more nice long strides it seems. Check out my run shots - such air! I definitely see more tris in my future...

Running Manhattan Beach

It was mayhem at LAX on Thursday night....ridiculous traffic getting into and out of the airport. I made it to my hotel in Manhattan Beach eventually, checked in and relaxed. My flight to Singapore wasn't until 8:00 pm on Friday so I had plenty of time to explore in the morning. I picked Manhattan Beach for my layover because of the ease it would present in getting out for a run. Let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed. I watched the news reports of the cool front that had blown in overnight to LA - the low was 49 deg F, high was 61 deg F. I dressed in a running skirt and long sleeve top, just in case this cool front really did feel cool. There was a pathway - Veteran's Parkway - that essentially connected the hotel to the beach.I ran down the pier - whew, it really was windy! Despite that it was an absolutely gorgeous day.I ran the Strand down Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. On my left were all kinds of empty beach volleyball courts. On the right were all kinds of amazing houses.
It was interesting to see all of the different folks out running the Strand that day. There were folks bundled up in sweatpants and sweatshirts, a couple of folks out in shorts and t-shirts braving the cold front. There was one fellow out running in just a pair of shorts (no shirt) and a pair of gloves. I pondered over the point of the gloves... I regretted my decision to wear a long sleeve top - while the wind was brisk it had a cooling effect from the strong sun.
I ran up and down the Strand, ran back towards the parkway and finished up with 10 miles. I walked back to Manhattan Beach and stopped in at one of the restaurants for a late breakfast - carne asada benedicts. It was pretty tasty... A tea latte from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and it was time to walk back to the hotel. I checked out of my hotel and wandered over to a nearby movie theater where I caught an early afternoon showing of Juno. After that it was time to head back to LAX and check in for my 8:00 pm flight to Singapore. This run in Manhattan Beach definitely goes down as one of my favorites - beautiful scenery, a run that felt great, and a yummy reward breakfast. Good times!
***It is 9:43 am here in Singapore...time to start the day!