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I competed in my 3rd Half Ironman last Sunday.  this was in Port Macquarie (3 hours north of Newcastle) and is on the course used for the Australian Ironman in April.

My aim for this race was to not stop during the half marathon run at the end of the race.  The way the race was started meant that I was with other swimmers all around the course.  This meant that I was constantly battling with others but it also meant I didn’t relax, so I had a good swim time.  Then into the bike ride which went straight into some hills which were hard work.  Once over the hills it was directly into a head wind along the coast.  It was such a change at the turn around to have the wind behind me and the speed went up 7 kn/hr just because of the wind.  The bike ride was 2 laps so I went through it all twice.

The run started off really well, and I felt good and determined not to stop.  I managed this, even though I was running very slowly on the couple of hills on the course.  It took a lot of teeth gritting to carry on especially as I got a huge blister on one foot and some severe rubbing on my hills – so much for new comfortable trainers.

Because I did not stop running I was very happy with my time of 5 hrs 51 minutes, Jack and Grace even managed to join me to run over the finish line.

We now have a hand over date for our house (12th December).  After this we just need to put in a drive, front deck and carpet before we move in about a week later.

There are now some more photos in the house gallery, thanks to Edward sorting out a problem on the website.  The kitchen and bathrooms are in and tiled and now the painter is in there doing there work.

Sarah has been extremely busy arranging all the completion details.  Carpet is booked, curtains and blinds are bought and the drive man and decking guys are arranged to start work as soon as we get the house.

The only problem is that the house we’re renting is due to be demolished a week before we need to move out.  Our lease will be up so we’re negotiating some extra time.  They don’t want to, so it is being interesting negotiating.

Whatever happens we will be in for Christmas!!

This term Jack is being even more sporty than ever.  He has kept up with his weekly basketball and Nippers has started again at Merewether Surf Club.  As last year, this is a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning at the beach.  there’s quite a group of them from his school in the group this week.

Instead of doing Little Athletics this summer, Jack has started going to cricket.  It’s amazing the skills that they are learning even right at the beginning.  It’s no wonder all the professional cricketers can hit the stumps in a single throw if they’ve been doing it since the age of 6.

Grace still does not want to take up any activities, but she really loves pre-school now and meets up with her friends outside of pre-school as well.  It will be a shame to move to Jacks’ school which is not the local school for the pre-school, so most of the others are going to a different school.  But I’m sure she’ll make other friends quickly.

After we were camping there were still 2 weeks of holidays to go.  During the first week both Jack and Grace went to 3 days of sports.  This was run by the people where Jack plays basketball, and was a big success for Grace to go.  It was the first time she has really been away from us except for pre-school and we were worried she wouldn’t stay, but she did and had a good time.

Then it was up to Forster for both Sarah and Grace’s birthday.  It was a lovely weekend and lovely to spend it with Carol and Bob.  We had a delicious dinner for Sarah’s birthday when we arrived up and on Grace’s birthday Jack, Grace and I rented a boat on the Myall Lake.  Dropped the anchor at one point for some unsuccessful fishing and then got caught in a rain shower.  After Grace’s birthday tea I made a good decision not to drive back to Newcastle that evening and to leave early the next morning.  this meant I had a smooth drive down instead of being caught in terrible winds, rain and traffic.

Sarah, Jack and Grace stayed up for a few days more and persuaded Kelly to go up with Josh and Chloe and also Dee and Blake.  Apparently a had a good few days together.