April 4, 2015
April 5, 2015
April 6, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Monday, April 06, 2015
Sydney Holiday 2015, April 6
Another early start for an 8am morning race, this time with no daylight savings complications. Because the event was in Centennial Park, about three kilometres away, it meant leaving the hotel around 7am and jogging over to the location. After completing registration and trying to stay warm, the race didn't end up starting until about 8:15, with the half marathon event leaving first and then the seven kilometre race we were entered in.
The start was a mad dash like usual, so I was way down in about 20th place by the first corner, then began to overtake those who had gone out too hard, in the two or three kilometres afterwards. The fun part of this is when other people get overtaken but can't accept it, and desperately try to hang on for another couple of hundred metres - you really have to just run your own race, at a speed you are comfortable with.
By about this point Jason had just moved past me and I was happy to sit behind and follow off his pace for a while, which these days is actually more like trying not to fall behind. Because of the nature of the course being an off-road trail event, it is a little bit more difficult to run fast and close behind someone, you need to spend about half your time watching the ground. At one stage I was third in line and almost ran straight into a big log lying on the ground because my view was obstructed.
For the final two kilometres I was pretty exhausted, but just managed to match Jason's time, I didn't see any point in trying to race him across the finish line since he'd had the lead most of the way, and I wasn't really sure what position we were in overall either. My time across the line was 26:58 for seven kilometres, not great but slightly better than last year.
The reward for running yourself close to death is free pancakes for breakfast at the finish line! Also there is fruit. I got two chunky pancakes topped with nutella while we waited around forever to find out the results. After a long time I found out that I'd finished in sixth and Jason fifth - but you get trophies for the first seven.
After the trophies were handed out it was time for a quick dash back across Sydney to check out of the hotel by 10am - just missed out by a few minutes but it didn't matter. So that was the end of Sydney, for once I had organised plenty of time to get to the airport, have lunch and relax for a bit before the plane arrived on time once again!
That wasn't quite the end of the story though. I jumped on a bus just outside the departure door which was marked for the long term car park, we took off in the bus with several other people, went all the way to the end of the first long term car park, made all of the stops...then ended up back at the airport again! Apparently there are two different buses for long term parking - there is a whole separate bus just making one stop in the overflow long term car park - and of course no instructions or announcements to explain it. Thanks Melbourne airport...
The start was a mad dash like usual, so I was way down in about 20th place by the first corner, then began to overtake those who had gone out too hard, in the two or three kilometres afterwards. The fun part of this is when other people get overtaken but can't accept it, and desperately try to hang on for another couple of hundred metres - you really have to just run your own race, at a speed you are comfortable with.
By about this point Jason had just moved past me and I was happy to sit behind and follow off his pace for a while, which these days is actually more like trying not to fall behind. Because of the nature of the course being an off-road trail event, it is a little bit more difficult to run fast and close behind someone, you need to spend about half your time watching the ground. At one stage I was third in line and almost ran straight into a big log lying on the ground because my view was obstructed.
For the final two kilometres I was pretty exhausted, but just managed to match Jason's time, I didn't see any point in trying to race him across the finish line since he'd had the lead most of the way, and I wasn't really sure what position we were in overall either. My time across the line was 26:58 for seven kilometres, not great but slightly better than last year.
The reward for running yourself close to death is free pancakes for breakfast at the finish line! Also there is fruit. I got two chunky pancakes topped with nutella while we waited around forever to find out the results. After a long time I found out that I'd finished in sixth and Jason fifth - but you get trophies for the first seven.
 |
| Participation award. |
After the trophies were handed out it was time for a quick dash back across Sydney to check out of the hotel by 10am - just missed out by a few minutes but it didn't matter. So that was the end of Sydney, for once I had organised plenty of time to get to the airport, have lunch and relax for a bit before the plane arrived on time once again!
That wasn't quite the end of the story though. I jumped on a bus just outside the departure door which was marked for the long term car park, we took off in the bus with several other people, went all the way to the end of the first long term car park, made all of the stops...then ended up back at the airport again! Apparently there are two different buses for long term parking - there is a whole separate bus just making one stop in the overflow long term car park - and of course no instructions or announcements to explain it. Thanks Melbourne airport...
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Sydney Holiday 2015, April 5
Because Sunday morning was the end of daylight savings I set my watch alarm for 7:15 am (meaning 6:15 am in adjusted time), only the watch automatically updated itself! I managed to wake up before the alarm went off however, so we still made it out in time for the first train to Katoomba, close to the Blue Mountains. The train took about two hours and was quite boring, so I just caught up on sleep most of the way.
At last we arrived at the destination and set off through the main street towards the mountains, which is essentially full of bakeries and cafes and not a lot else, and dominated by two very steep hills. Our first stop was Echo Point, which was also the first stop for all of the tour buses and tourists it would seem. From here you could see the Three Sisters rock formation - which is like a poor man's Twelve Apostles I assume, although there are accurately three of them. I was more surprised by how large the surrounding mountains were, not in height as much as area, most of it looked like it would be inaccessible however, similar to visiting The Grand Canyon.
After squeezing in a few quick photos through the eager crowd, it was off along the Prince Henry cliff walk. Because of all the rain yesterday most of the track was full of puddles, making for slow progress. The trick was to find any dry rocks to get across the flooded points and try not to slip over - so I was two for two.
Almost at the end of the track there was a lookout point back towards the Three Sisters, I was temporarily distracted with my phone and stepped in a big puddle, so that was pretty annoying. At the end of the trail another path was supposed to lead to Katoomba Falls, but it had already turned into a mud pit so was basically inaccessible. A detour ended up at Katoomba Cascades and Reid's Plateau, which had another view of the mountain range.
Scenic World was close by, it has some stuff like a cable car and railway but didn't seem all that interesting so we headed back to the town for lunch instead - uphill all the way on return, and I had packed a heavy backpack with all kinds of stuff that turned out to be useless on the day - like hats, pants and umbrellas...
The train back to Sydney only ran once a hour, so you have to make sure to plan your time in advance - no near misses this time. On the way back to the hotel I visited the Asian bakeries again, only the bottom of the bag broke in under a minute and my buns all fell on the ground! Lucky they were each in separate plastic bags, since I didn't get to pick them up in under five seconds...
Having purchased a daily train ticket for $24 it seemed like a good idea to make use of it, so after getting back on the train to Circular Quay we grabbed the first ferry about to depart, which was going to Mosman Bay and back. As with most ferry routes you get a good view of the harbour to the north and south, as well as numerous yachts and expensive waterfront real estate. None of the stops had anything worth disembarking for, so we just stayed on until the end and came back to Circular Quay about forty minutes later.
 |
| Katoomba. |
At last we arrived at the destination and set off through the main street towards the mountains, which is essentially full of bakeries and cafes and not a lot else, and dominated by two very steep hills. Our first stop was Echo Point, which was also the first stop for all of the tour buses and tourists it would seem. From here you could see the Three Sisters rock formation - which is like a poor man's Twelve Apostles I assume, although there are accurately three of them. I was more surprised by how large the surrounding mountains were, not in height as much as area, most of it looked like it would be inaccessible however, similar to visiting The Grand Canyon.
 |
| Three Sisters at Echo Point. |
After squeezing in a few quick photos through the eager crowd, it was off along the Prince Henry cliff walk. Because of all the rain yesterday most of the track was full of puddles, making for slow progress. The trick was to find any dry rocks to get across the flooded points and try not to slip over - so I was two for two.
 |
| Cliff walk. |
 |
| Blue Mountains. |
Almost at the end of the track there was a lookout point back towards the Three Sisters, I was temporarily distracted with my phone and stepped in a big puddle, so that was pretty annoying. At the end of the trail another path was supposed to lead to Katoomba Falls, but it had already turned into a mud pit so was basically inaccessible. A detour ended up at Katoomba Cascades and Reid's Plateau, which had another view of the mountain range.
 |
| Just Stepped In A Puddle face. |
 |
| Mud pit. |
 |
| The falls. |
Scenic World was close by, it has some stuff like a cable car and railway but didn't seem all that interesting so we headed back to the town for lunch instead - uphill all the way on return, and I had packed a heavy backpack with all kinds of stuff that turned out to be useless on the day - like hats, pants and umbrellas...
The train back to Sydney only ran once a hour, so you have to make sure to plan your time in advance - no near misses this time. On the way back to the hotel I visited the Asian bakeries again, only the bottom of the bag broke in under a minute and my buns all fell on the ground! Lucky they were each in separate plastic bags, since I didn't get to pick them up in under five seconds...
Having purchased a daily train ticket for $24 it seemed like a good idea to make use of it, so after getting back on the train to Circular Quay we grabbed the first ferry about to depart, which was going to Mosman Bay and back. As with most ferry routes you get a good view of the harbour to the north and south, as well as numerous yachts and expensive waterfront real estate. None of the stops had anything worth disembarking for, so we just stayed on until the end and came back to Circular Quay about forty minutes later.
 |
| I'm on a boat. |
Saturday, April 04, 2015
Sydney Holiday 2015, April 4
Saturday morning I set off for the second annual Sydney trip, this time only two days instead of four, since I covered most things last year. The long term airport car park seemed like the best option for two people for three days - cheaper than the airport bus and certainly cheaper than a taxi...
While waiting for the plane I was able to change my Taiwan dollars that had been sitting around since last year - $50 for free! Thankfully there were no issues with the flight this time, and we arrived in Sydney roughly on time. Thirty seconds earlier and I would have perfectly timed the change over from the plane to the train, since I had no checked baggage, but they come every fifteen minutes so no big deal.
Leaving sunny, and mildly warm, Melbourne to arrive in Sydney for a rainy day wasn't my idea of a perfect vacation, but at least it wasn't heavy rain - just never ending as it turned out. It was about time for lunch so we went to the local Mad Mex before I visited the hotel reception - we got to check-in two hours early so that was great.
Since it was going to be a rainy afternoon I figured it would be the best time to jump on a train out to Auburn for the annual Nike Outlet Factory and Krispy Kreme visit - a pretty expensive weekend return trip at almost $10 when compared to current Melbourne prices. Not many bargains in the clothing section this year, but I did find a pair of Fly Knit Lunar and Jason got two pairs of shoes as well.
After a quick stop for donuts it was back to Auburn station, this time missing the train by about a minute. With a bit of time to waste before the next train I decided to have a look around the shops in the nearby street and found a place called Nice Bakery, which was like a local family run version of a Bread Top - with good products and good prices!
I didn't want to carry around a big bag of shoes all day so I dropped them off back at the hotel before adventuring around the city, still in the rain. The same Asian bakeries were operating in Goulburn Street so I had to make a quick stop before continuing on to explore George and Pitt Street. There weren't too many new or interesting stores that had changed since last year, but I did some across a cool Bob's Burgers t-shirt in a comic book store, only problem was it only came in an unfashionable light blue, which looked a bit too much like a Manchester City jersey.
After an early dinner at Grill'd burgers I picked up a cheap Converse t-shirt at Market City behind the hotel, then re-packed a backpack for the night.
We set out on foot through Surry Hills - without an "e" - to Moore Park, where Allianz Stadium is located for the A-League match of the day - Sydney FC vs. Adelaide United - I guess I was supporting the home team for the night. Since the gates had only just opened we managed to find a good seat in the GA section that was undercover, in one of the corners but with a decent view of the field.
The stadium had free wifi to keep me occupied, so the match began in no time at all. Because of the non-stop rain the field was quite slippery which made things a little difficult for the players, Sydney were definitely the better team, with much more attacking play and a number of crosses, only none of them really created much threat of an opening goal.
Early in the second half Sydney thought they had their goal off a free kick, only the forwards had jumped offside just before the ball was in play. The game looked set for a 0-0 result until an Adelaide sub put together a nice solo goal around the edge of the box to set up a good final ten minutes. Sydney increased the pressure and had a number of chances to save the match, but just fell short.
So that it was it for the game, and it was time to head back to the hotel for the night. The rain had started to get heavier in the evening, so the umbrellas were useful for the two kilometre trip back - since there is still no train station anywhere near the football stadium district...
While waiting for the plane I was able to change my Taiwan dollars that had been sitting around since last year - $50 for free! Thankfully there were no issues with the flight this time, and we arrived in Sydney roughly on time. Thirty seconds earlier and I would have perfectly timed the change over from the plane to the train, since I had no checked baggage, but they come every fifteen minutes so no big deal.
Leaving sunny, and mildly warm, Melbourne to arrive in Sydney for a rainy day wasn't my idea of a perfect vacation, but at least it wasn't heavy rain - just never ending as it turned out. It was about time for lunch so we went to the local Mad Mex before I visited the hotel reception - we got to check-in two hours early so that was great.
Since it was going to be a rainy afternoon I figured it would be the best time to jump on a train out to Auburn for the annual Nike Outlet Factory and Krispy Kreme visit - a pretty expensive weekend return trip at almost $10 when compared to current Melbourne prices. Not many bargains in the clothing section this year, but I did find a pair of Fly Knit Lunar and Jason got two pairs of shoes as well.
 |
| Donut days. |
 |
| Nike, also Lonsdale... |
After a quick stop for donuts it was back to Auburn station, this time missing the train by about a minute. With a bit of time to waste before the next train I decided to have a look around the shops in the nearby street and found a place called Nice Bakery, which was like a local family run version of a Bread Top - with good products and good prices!
I didn't want to carry around a big bag of shoes all day so I dropped them off back at the hotel before adventuring around the city, still in the rain. The same Asian bakeries were operating in Goulburn Street so I had to make a quick stop before continuing on to explore George and Pitt Street. There weren't too many new or interesting stores that had changed since last year, but I did some across a cool Bob's Burgers t-shirt in a comic book store, only problem was it only came in an unfashionable light blue, which looked a bit too much like a Manchester City jersey.
 |
| Not as good as The Great Northern Hotel. |
 |
| Raining. |
After an early dinner at Grill'd burgers I picked up a cheap Converse t-shirt at Market City behind the hotel, then re-packed a backpack for the night.
We set out on foot through Surry Hills - without an "e" - to Moore Park, where Allianz Stadium is located for the A-League match of the day - Sydney FC vs. Adelaide United - I guess I was supporting the home team for the night. Since the gates had only just opened we managed to find a good seat in the GA section that was undercover, in one of the corners but with a decent view of the field.
 |
| Still raining. |
The stadium had free wifi to keep me occupied, so the match began in no time at all. Because of the non-stop rain the field was quite slippery which made things a little difficult for the players, Sydney were definitely the better team, with much more attacking play and a number of crosses, only none of them really created much threat of an opening goal.
 |
| Game time. |
Early in the second half Sydney thought they had their goal off a free kick, only the forwards had jumped offside just before the ball was in play. The game looked set for a 0-0 result until an Adelaide sub put together a nice solo goal around the edge of the box to set up a good final ten minutes. Sydney increased the pressure and had a number of chances to save the match, but just fell short.
So that it was it for the game, and it was time to head back to the hotel for the night. The rain had started to get heavier in the evening, so the umbrellas were useful for the two kilometre trip back - since there is still no train station anywhere near the football stadium district...
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Baking Brad Episode 66
This is episode sixty six - nanaimo bars.
Recipe
Good
Bad
Ratings
Recipe
Good
- Good quantity
- New food processor worked well
Bad
- Chocolate broke apart when cutting slices
- Not as good as the previous hedgehog slice
- Should have done 100% for middle and top layer
- Trying to cook chocolate quickly was a failure
Ratings
- The Cook - 5/10
- The Taste - 7/10
 |
| Bottom layer ingredients. |
 |
| More bottom layer ingredients. |
 |
| 75% for middle layer ingredients. |
 |
| Nanaimo bars. |
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Run For The Kids 2015
And we're back for the fourth attempt at Run 4 The Kids - with a third different race distance.
My preparation was pretty average as most of my training sessions had been showing no signs of improvement, which had been quite frustrating. That wasn't helped after a visit to the dentist on Friday afternoon - I tried to start eating before the anaesthetic had worn off (three hours later) and did some damage to my lip and gum, so I missed out on Friday dinner and Saturday breakfast...I don't think the race booklet recommends this.
With all that forgotten about it was race day, Dave turned up to my house in the eastern suburbs (not an apartment in the city) and we were off to the train station in the cold - by some coincidence we all had nearly matching black clothes and gray shoes. The train turned up almost on time and we managed to all get a seat, which definitely beats standing for half an hour before a run...the race booklet should recommend this.
We arrived at a crowded Flinders Street with runners coming in from all lines, almost getting killed on the escalators because people were getting on quicker at the bottom than there was room to get off at the top.
Dave was signed up for the later 9:00am start and had to find a friend so we parted ways at the station and went in search of the starting line for the 8:30am group. After some confusion where all the runners moved up to the starting mats a good fifteen minutes too soon I found myself about ten rows from the front - good enough to not get held up too much I figured.
For some reason we had to wait a few minutes after the elite athletes were sent off - which is pretty pointless because we aren't going to catch them - then it was our turn to go. I managed to dodge through the slow idiots, who always line up in the front rows, by the time we reached the tunnel. Jason started closer to the front so I also caught up to him during the downhill tunnel section as well.
Out of the tunnel the road seems to go on forever, some of it uphill as well, and I started to lose time to Jason on the way to the 6km drinks station at the bottom of the Bolte Bridge, but still comfortably under 4:00 per kilometre. My cut lip was stinging a bit, not helped as dehydration increased, but not causing as much annoyance or distraction as I thought.
There wasn't much wind on the bridge this time but I still failed to match last year's time (according to Strava which compares race segments), about ten seconds slower to get up and down the other side. After the bridge I had a good stretch of the race, and managed a few more overtakes as we passed through Docklands and around Etihad Stadium.
Immediately after stopping in at the 11km drink stop I felt some pain in my stomach all of a sudden which was weird. Maybe because of this I really struggled up the Collins Street hill near Southern Cross Station, barely making it to the top. The rest of the run was pretty flat, through Southbank and back on to St. Kilda Road but my best efforts were behind me and I even had a couple of runners come back past me, which was annoying.
The finish line finally came, and I just managed to sneak in under one hour in a time of 59:16 and 116th overall - I was hoping to break in to the top 100 this year. At the finish I found out I had picked up a nose bleed somewhere along the course - which is quite rare and usually only happens when I'm running too hard.
There was some free water, sports drinks and apples at the end - so nothing particularly exciting - and that was the end, a jog back to Richmond just in time for the train and the race was over for another year. Now to do some more hill training before the next one...
My preparation was pretty average as most of my training sessions had been showing no signs of improvement, which had been quite frustrating. That wasn't helped after a visit to the dentist on Friday afternoon - I tried to start eating before the anaesthetic had worn off (three hours later) and did some damage to my lip and gum, so I missed out on Friday dinner and Saturday breakfast...I don't think the race booklet recommends this.
With all that forgotten about it was race day, Dave turned up to my house in the eastern suburbs (not an apartment in the city) and we were off to the train station in the cold - by some coincidence we all had nearly matching black clothes and gray shoes. The train turned up almost on time and we managed to all get a seat, which definitely beats standing for half an hour before a run...the race booklet should recommend this.
We arrived at a crowded Flinders Street with runners coming in from all lines, almost getting killed on the escalators because people were getting on quicker at the bottom than there was room to get off at the top.
Dave was signed up for the later 9:00am start and had to find a friend so we parted ways at the station and went in search of the starting line for the 8:30am group. After some confusion where all the runners moved up to the starting mats a good fifteen minutes too soon I found myself about ten rows from the front - good enough to not get held up too much I figured.
For some reason we had to wait a few minutes after the elite athletes were sent off - which is pretty pointless because we aren't going to catch them - then it was our turn to go. I managed to dodge through the slow idiots, who always line up in the front rows, by the time we reached the tunnel. Jason started closer to the front so I also caught up to him during the downhill tunnel section as well.
Out of the tunnel the road seems to go on forever, some of it uphill as well, and I started to lose time to Jason on the way to the 6km drinks station at the bottom of the Bolte Bridge, but still comfortably under 4:00 per kilometre. My cut lip was stinging a bit, not helped as dehydration increased, but not causing as much annoyance or distraction as I thought.
There wasn't much wind on the bridge this time but I still failed to match last year's time (according to Strava which compares race segments), about ten seconds slower to get up and down the other side. After the bridge I had a good stretch of the race, and managed a few more overtakes as we passed through Docklands and around Etihad Stadium.
Immediately after stopping in at the 11km drink stop I felt some pain in my stomach all of a sudden which was weird. Maybe because of this I really struggled up the Collins Street hill near Southern Cross Station, barely making it to the top. The rest of the run was pretty flat, through Southbank and back on to St. Kilda Road but my best efforts were behind me and I even had a couple of runners come back past me, which was annoying.
The finish line finally came, and I just managed to sneak in under one hour in a time of 59:16 and 116th overall - I was hoping to break in to the top 100 this year. At the finish I found out I had picked up a nose bleed somewhere along the course - which is quite rare and usually only happens when I'm running too hard.
There was some free water, sports drinks and apples at the end - so nothing particularly exciting - and that was the end, a jog back to Richmond just in time for the train and the race was over for another year. Now to do some more hill training before the next one...
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Baking Brad Episode 65
This is episode sixty five - chocolate hedgehog slice.
Recipe
Good
Bad
Ratings
Recipe
Good
- Chewy and crunchy
Bad
- Took a while to chop up the biscuits and hazelnuts
Ratings
- The Cook - 8/10
- The Taste - 10/10
 |
| Ingredients. |
 |
| Chocolate hedgehog slice. |
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
2015 Goals
These are some of my 2015 goals, not a great sign that it's almost the end of February already. See also 2013 and 2014.
On with the show:
I'll try to take a short break over Easter (was Asia, then was New Zealand, now maybe just Brisbane and Sydney...) and then a long holiday to escape a bit of winter - either Asia or Europe.
I also want to try and make improvements with my running and:
So that's it, now there's only ten months to get it all done.
On with the show:
- Car
- Undecided at the moment due to the amount of driving I have been doing
- Fitness
- Bike
- Planning to buy a good bike, but hopefully not too expensive
- Not sure how much i would ride it on top of a heavy running load
- Just a bit too far to consider riding to work regularly (plus dealing with cars)
- Half Marathon
- See the running section at the end
- Swimming
- Try to swim once or twice a month perhaps
- Just getting a good technique and proper breathing would be good
- Triathlon
- A bit ambitious given the above points, maybe 2016 instead
- Food
- Baking
- Aiming for about 25 recipes, but trying to be conscious of eating healthy too
- Starting to run out of a new things
- Health
- Eat a bit better
- Have a go at the no sugar (or low sugar) diet
- I want to get my weight back down around 70kg instead of near 75kg
- Investment
- Make a decision on property or shares, probably can't do both
- Put a bit extra into super, probably only 2-4%
- Minimal
- Not really sure what this category means
- At a minimum, continue to get rid of junk in the house I don't need
- Find other ways to simplify or reduce wasted time
- Passport
- Make another attempt at the UK passport, after last year's dismal failure
- Study
- Aiming to find and do one certification, even if it's only half related to my current work
- Video Games
- Sometimes I go months without playing, then play in a batch
- Find a bit of time to work through my back collection
- I'll buy a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One if they come down in price a bit
- Work
- Keep my Linked In and resume updated
I'll try to take a short break over Easter (was Asia, then was New Zealand, now maybe just Brisbane and Sydney...) and then a long holiday to escape a bit of winter - either Asia or Europe.
I also want to try and make improvements with my running and:
- Attend some new events
- Gold Coast
- Great Ocean Road
- International
- Europe perhaps
- Hawaii would be great but the two options are:
- Kona half marathon in June
- Honolulu marathon (no half distance) in December
- Find some new routes, to reduce boredom!
- Hopefully I can set a personal best for 10km, and maybe half marathon as well
So that's it, now there's only ten months to get it all done.
2014 Running Review
This is my running year in review, which I also compiled in 2013.
I was overall a little unhappy that my speed has basically hit a wall, I'm sort of stuck around about the 3:50/km mark and not getting any faster. I think my running action might be partly to blame - I often seem to clipping my ankles (as shown by the way my shoes wear out around the ankle) which means I'm definitely not running straight, or optimally. Injuries are also an issue, but have been a little bit less present than in the past - except for the constant left gluteal pain that just won't go away.
A quick summary to begin with:
These were the major races:
I was overall a little unhappy that my speed has basically hit a wall, I'm sort of stuck around about the 3:50/km mark and not getting any faster. I think my running action might be partly to blame - I often seem to clipping my ankles (as shown by the way my shoes wear out around the ankle) which means I'm definitely not running straight, or optimally. Injuries are also an issue, but have been a little bit less present than in the past - except for the constant left gluteal pain that just won't go away.
A quick summary to begin with:
- 2286.88km
- 169 hours 58 minutes
These were the major races:
- February 5
- Sunset Series 1 - Melbourne Zoo
- 3.7km @ 14:27 (15.36 km/h)
- February 19
- Sunset Series 2 - The Tan
- 4km @ 14:35 (16.45 km/h)
- February 23
- Wangaratta
- 10km @ 38:16 (15.67 km/h)
- March 2
- Take On The Lake
- 5km @ 18:42 (16.04 km/h)
- March 5
- Sunset Series 3 - Princes Park
- 4km @ 14:35 (16.45 km/h)
- March 9
- Auckland Round The Bays
- 8.4km @ 31:11 (16.16 km/h)
- April 13
- Run For The Kids
- 15km @ 58:40 (15.34 km/h)
- May 4
- Puffing Billy
- 13.5km @ 52:51 (15.32 km/h)
- May 25
- Albert Park - Angela Taylor (Victoria Road Runners)
- 10km @ 38:30 (15.58 km/h)
- July 27
- The Age Run Melbourne
- 10km @ 38:35 (15.55 km/h)
- October 12
- Melbourne Marathon
- 21.1km @ 1:24:47 (14.93 km/h)
- November 2
- Bendigo Fun Run
- 10km @ 38:56 (15.41 km/h)
- November 16
- City 2 Sea
- 15km @ 57:58 (15.52 km/h)
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
2014 Review
About time I got going on the 2014 review - it's already half way through February !
I might as well start by looking at the 2014 goals - that I think I half achieved.
Here's a few other list items to summarise the year, that were not specific goals:
So that's a quick snapshot of the year, time to make a success of 2015 then...
I might as well start by looking at the 2014 goals - that I think I half achieved.
- Baking
- I'm not sure if this was a goal, but I attempted 37 new recipes - most were successful
- Some of the best were:
- Anzac crumble cake
- Chocolate mousse cake
- Chocolate truffle macaroon slice
- Coconut bars
- Custard Yoghurt cake
- Finger buns
- Spiced honey jumbles
- And some of the failures were:
- Cinnamon knots
- Marshmallow muffins
- Blogging
- I increased from 46 posts to 99 posts for the year - although many were holiday reports
- I went through all of my old ISP emails to try and piece together what happened in the last 10 years, but I just haven't got around to writing it up coherently yet
- Car
- I made a short list of about eight cars I might like to buy
- Since I seem to be driving even less at the moment, I've put the purchase on hold for now
- Health & Fitness
- Half Marathon
- I completed one for the year - Melbourne Marathon
- I just missed my goal of averaging 4:00/km, dropping off to 4:02/km by the end
- Triathlon
- I definitely need to improve my swimming (and arm strength) first
- Buying a bike and doing some riding would probably be a good idea too...
- This will be a goal for either 2015 or more realistically 2016
- Weight
- A continual frustration, I feel like I eat sensibly but have been basically stuck at 74 kilograms for the whole year - I'd like to be around 70 kilograms
- Holiday
- I ended the year the three days of holiday leave remaining, so I'd say this was a success
- Investment
- Property
- I haven't done the research yet that I would like to
- The never ending price increase is quite demotivating
- I'm thinking of a small apartment or similar close to the city, if anything
- Shares
- I made a short list of prospective companies
- The shares had a dip in January 2015, I missed out on the 10% recovery since then
- Superannuation
- My account went from 153,000 to 181,000 for the year
- That's an 18% increase, but it includes both returns and new contributions
- I have not made any super contributions yet but I will soon
- Passport
- I got my new Australia passport, good for another 10 years...
- I made no progress on the UK passport, some of the conditions and rules are a little complicated
- Reading
- My e-book reader seems to lose history when I reload it from my computer
- I think I completed about 12 books, just by reading on the way to work when not listening to podcasts - or too tired to do anything at all
- My favourites were:
- Blake J. Harris - Console Wars
- Stephen King - Insomnia
- Stephen King - The Stand
- Study
- I did not find a good opportunity to get a certification related to my work for the year
- I may be doing some new work in the .NET area, which may provide an opportunity
- Work
- I worked on several projects, but mostly dealing with the same software stack as 2013
- The travel to work and back is a bit of a pain still, particularly having to stand all the way in the morning - in particular it makes dealing with calf injuries very difficult
Here's a few other list items to summarise the year, that were not specific goals:
- Holidays
- This is just a quick list of the holidays and short trips I took for the year, not a bad list
- Music
- I didn't listen to a lot of music (excluding podcasts obviously) and I also found few very opportunities to see a good tour band
- The only bands I saw for the year were:
- Arcade Fire - January 22 at Music Bowl
- CSS and Grouplove - January 23 at Hi-Fi Bar
- The only other one I missed out on was Tune-Yards again
- TV
- There was not a lot of great new series, but I made a few good discoveries
- These were some of my favourites:
- Black Mirror
- Broad City
- Hard Knocks
- Homeland
- Modern Family
- Murder In The First
- Person Of Interest
- South Park (a surprise comeback)
- Survivor
- The Big Bang Theory
- The Challenge
- The Real World
- The Simpsons
- The Walking Dead
- Video Games
- I did not find much free time to play video games, just a concentrated few months
- At a guess I bought more new games than finished existing ones
- The games I played most were:
- Call Of Duty - Modern Warfare 3
- Forza Horizon
- Grand Theft Auto 5
- Gran Turismo 6
- Saints Row 4
So that's a quick snapshot of the year, time to make a success of 2015 then...
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