Sunday 22nd August

Saturday started with a text from Enda asking if I was up for a ride to La Perouse, the Park & back. It was my first ride since the dreaded operation & I was a little tentative about how I'd go.  Happily Enda was just 12 hours back in town from a quick trip to Ireland so he was tired and not up for his usual high paced long ride. We ended up doing a two hour ride & it felt great, then caught up with the girls doing their training run in  Centennial Park. We beat them home so cooked up the big breakfast for them when they finished. It's the sort of morning that's hard to beat. Ange & Enda have the perfect sunny apartment with the perfect sunny balcony to have breakfast.

The afternoon was spent at Mitch's bucks show at the Clovelly Bowling Club, located smack bang on the coast (two beaches south) which was fun. Anywhere where grog flows so freely is never really my thing, but the guys were good company, Mitch & his brother put on a good show, the Irish boys are always a pleasure and I was able to catch up with some of the guys whom I'd not seen for a while. I finished that off with Gene cooking one of her brilliant roast dinners.

Then today I was back in the water for the first time since the op. Again it felt good to be back.  Marc joined me for a swim & we managed a lap of the beach then met Ange & Gene & later Enda, who did a lap himself. We hung at the cafe in the sun for a couple of hours exchanging some craic, banter, chat & so on & then we went to the Junction where Gene bought a fairly flash exercise bike & I got some fresh goggles & ear plugs.

It's all a slow & steady start to getting back into training for the Husskie Long Course Triathlon (not till Feb next year) & to get the girls into a team event at Husskie. The challenges will be to get the right knee back into shape & re-join the girls in their running sessions; to get Gene comfortable on the bike which will be slow & steady & to get Ange in the water & feeling comfortable with the pool & then the ocean. It's going to be
a fun Spring.

Tomorrow I'm off to Tamworth for two days.