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Last Sunday I managed to get around the Lake Macquarie Half Marathon.  This was based around the top of Lake Macquarie and was in a really scenic location.  However, during the race I didn’t notice the location as I was doing everything I could to keep going.

This was the second half marathon i’ve done, the other was 15 years ago while I was training for the field gun competition with the Navy College I was working at.

It was a glorious day, sunny with a cooling breeze off the lake and a couple of hundred competitors.  I think I finished about midway in the rankings in 1 hr 57 minutes and 3 seconds.  I was very pleased with this, though struggled to walk afterwards.

Sarah, Jack and Grace had gone to a birthday party, so when I got home I spent about an hour standing in the swimming pool which was very cold.  I’d heard it’s good for your muscles to have an ice bath after exercise and this was probably as good.  I even swam a couple of length at one point.  The other end of the pool was out of the sun so it was even colder (ice cream head).

When the kids were home, Sarah was feeling under the weather so went to bed and the rest of us went for a cycle ride along the Fernleigh Track.  Jack is now confident on his bike so Grace is able to go on the trailer bike.  This means that we can go further than with Grace on her bike, so it’s a lot more fulfilling.  It was a lovely ride keeping out of the sun under the trees.  I’m sure there’ll be plenty more of these rides coming up.

This past weekend we were up in Forster with Gina, John and Jessica.  Jessica is one of Jack’s friends from school and we all went to stay in Carol and Bob’s house in Cliff Road.
There are the most amazing views of One Mile Beach from this house and it is just waiting for planning permission for Carol and Bob to renovate it.

The kids were up early on Saturday morning so we all went for a walk to the view point on top of Cape Hawke.  This is the highest point in the area and we were able to see a couple of whales blowing spray just below the headland.

Then, after an ice cream, we had a picnic on the beach.  It was really sunny and John and I both had swims in the sea.  Later on Jack and I went scrambling round the cliffs and were watching a fisherman catching a fish every couple of minutes.  It must have frustrated his son next to him who didn’t catch a thing!

Carol and Bob joined us for supper that evening and once they’d gone and the kids were asleep, the four of us drank wine and played Cranium.

Sunday was disapointingly wet and Gina, John and Jessica had to leave at lunch.  So I went for a swim (at the leisure centre) and the rest played with Carol.

It’s only 2 weeks till Mary and Lance arrive now so we’re all getting very excited.

This weekend Sarah and I had a pleasurable weekend without the children.  Carol and Bob came down to Newcastle to look after Jack and Grace while we went down to Sydney.

On Saturday afternoon Sarah went to a baby shower for Cassandra, who’s due a boy in 3 weeks.  While she was ther with a table full of other girls, I had a walk around the city centre and the Art Gallery of NSW.  Later that afternoon I met up with Sarah and we walked some more around Wolloomooloo and Paddington.

Sunday morning was the annual City to Surf.  This is a 14 km run from the centre of Sydney to Bondi Beach.  I was part of a OneSteel team, and one of 65,000 runners and walkers overall.  It was a big event and a great atmosphere.  A very hot morning so I went for a swim at the beach after I’d finished.  OneSteel had a corporate tent on the beach so we were able to have a barbeque and lots of liquid before we went back into the city and drove back to Forster.

Jack and Grace had had a lovely weekend with Carol and Bob, but were still overjoyed to see us, even though we’d only been away for one night.  We were very tired that night and in bed by 8:30!