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Last Wednesday David and Rachel had another baby boy.  Ethan William Crane was born in the evening and Sarah, jack and Grace went to the hospital to meet him the next day.  He seems very healthy and is now at home with the rest of the family.

Today has been my birthday and a very busy one at that.  I got up very early for a Newcastle Tri Club race.  Only 2 weeks to the Ironman so I am in peak fitness at the moment, and this paid off as I came 3rd in the race.  Then after a barbeque breakfast, back home to see the others.

We’ve spent most of the day at Norah Heads lighthouse.  We had a picnic with some of Sarah’s family who live nearby and then walked from the lighthouse down some steps to the rocks and sand.  We all had a good time playing here and the kids went for a swim in the rock pools.

Once we got home, Carol and Bob, David, Rachel, Blake and Ethan all came round for tea.

Then a couple of phone calls from the Uk and I’m very ready for bed.  Photos to go on the website tomorrow.

We’ve now been in the house 3 months so we’ve just completed our list of remediation for the builders.  So far theres’s 104 items for them to rectify, most of them only little.

The back yard has almost slowed to a stop as we’re in discussions with the council.  Still doing little bits ourselves,  but we’re getting quotes to finish the full job off.  We’ve got lots of ideas about what to do, including a native forest with a path leading to a cubby house for the kids, lots of lawn, and hopefully space for a veggie patch.

This week has been the peak of my training for the ironman.  So I thought I’d write up what I’ve had to do this week.  Monday evening I had 90 mins swimming in the pool, then Tuesday morning I had a short run before breakfast then another swim straight after work followed by 90 mins on the bike.  Wednesday I was due a 75 min run but I set the alarm clock wrong so didn’t wake up, then it was pouring with rain later so I fitted the kitchen sink instead of running.  Thursday I went for a 2 hour ride before work, then Friday was an hours swim before work.  After work on friday was a 3 hour run (28 km), then finally a day off on Saturday.  This morning I was up early for a 6 hour bike ride (172 km) followed by a slow 20 mins run.

Next week is a recovery week, so lots of short sessions, then I start 3 weeks taper into the race.  This is when I slowly reduce the intensity of training to ensure that My body is ready for the race and I am not too tired.

All this training paid off a few weeks ago when I competed in the Newcastle Foreshore triathlon.  I never stay around for the presentations as it’s just time hanging around, but this time i should have, as I came 3rd in my age group and ended up with a medal!