Running, riding, parking and

It's now a week since the girls ran the Gold Coast Marathon. And what a marathon it was. Their training was interrupted by bouts of the flu, end of term work demands and winter. They were a touch under-cooked.

This photo was taken before the pain began and they're both looking ready to roll

Gene ran a good race which wasn't a PB, but was much better than we anticipated. She came home in 4hrs 29mins.  It was a super effort after too little training and we're pretty happy with the result.  There's a fair chance she'll do it again next year (or maybe sooner) with the so far elusive goal of 4hrs 15min to attain.  Ange found the going even tougher, having been sick for the previous 2 weeks. She was considering dropping out at the 21km mark but found Enda, who paced her for the second half of the run. Again it wasn't a PB but was a brilliant effort and they both felt relief (and a few other emotions as well) at having gone the distance.  42kms is a hell of a long way to run and one of life's great achievements.
 

Running 42km - ouch

This is how they looked after 42kms while being given a little therapy by Enda.

#2688 needed a push to get to the plane

 They were joined in the running by Enda who ran the Half in 77mins. He was aiming for 75mins as a PB but didn't have the legs on the day.

Enda, looking a little too relaxed pre-race

Connor Mac also did the Full in 3hrs 9mins which was a PB and another brilliant effort.  I think Simon was a DNF at the 30km mark with a crook shoulder, but the surprise of the day was Ange's cousin, Laura, who ran her first Half Marathon in an amazing 2hrs 9mins, making her the star performer of the weekend.

Laura is here together with Gene & Ange as the three of them show off their medals.

It was a fun few days, topped off by the traditional steak meal at Moo Moos, which by the vote of marathon runners is the best steak restaurant in the country. 


I did the driving, not yet being ready to do a marathon as the knee continues to recover. As I was working in Brisbane during the week I hired a van to get about, then held on to it for the weekend.  On Thursday I was attempting to park the van in the client's car park in a fairly tight spot. To my delight the woman who owned the car next to where I was parking stopped to guide me safely in. I slowly edged forward following her instructions (yes, yes, you're fine, more, yes, OK, no worries, a little more).  It was all going well.  Then she calls out: You Hit My Car! I didn't feel a thing, but sure enough there was a large dent in the van where I'd hit her car.  FMD! Amazing. She was one of the scientists in a lab there and I can only hope her powers of observation are a little more acute once she clocks on.

Back in Bondi I managed three early morning rides during the week and then did a 100km ride this morning, leaving home at 5am on what turned out to be a beautiful but freezing day. I froze the whole way and didn't warm up until I hit the hot shower back at home. I then met the girls for coffee and breakfast at the beach (they did their first run since the Marathon) and then had a second breakfast back at home. Tomorrow will be a swim day.

So IM training aside I've been working and then hanging out with Gene all week which has been great. She's on a two week term break from work which is always deserved.

The driver and the marathon runner

I read two pieces on teachers this week: one was a short quote by Henry Adams which goes - A teacher affects eternity; she can never tell where her influence stops, which I wholeheartedly agree with and the other was by A C Grayling who said: Part of the problem facing teaching in the contemporary world is that its status as a profession has been undermined by the contemptible view that only what makes money is admirable.  When people lose sight of the invisible rewards on offer in different avocations, many kinds of work that make the world a better place suffer a loss of talent . . .  the danger is that good minds and hearts will be lost to honourable vocations, and people will jostle instead to be employed where pay-packets are largest and effort least. I like the way he writes. and I usually like what he has to say.  Little gems happen on a daily basis in schools, most of it completely unnoticed by the world at large. Her school will turn out its fair share of security guards, workers, business people, professionals and parents, and most of them will be all the better for having attended St Joseph's at Belmore. It's a good gig.