This morning we got up and went down to the beach early for a sunrise. We were there fore about 6AM - 7AM. It was absolutely beautiful! We took tons of great photos on the beach and found some cool shells.

Well my race is over. We just went out for a run @ 7:30AM and 1k in my leg was cooked. Lesson learned, taper means TAPER, ad I'm just TOO heavy. Now I can give Tunes my full attention though. I was a bit frustrated and emotional and probably will be again tomorrow, but it is what it is. Now I think I will run the Sydney marathon Sept 20, close to home so no travel expenses (train fare is even included in your race entry apparently) or accomodation costs, but we'll see what we can afford come then. I have til the end of August to see what the financial situation is like. :)

The rest of today is just about chillin'. We went for a walk south to a different Wooly's, grabbed a few things and headed back for Tunes to chill and get herself ready. I will do EVERYTHING I can to make her have a great day tomorrow. She now has my 110% undivided attention! :)

Today we got high... bad idea before a race? :)

Up at 4:30 AM, all the usual stuff. Chill out and decided to go to the Q Deck today. This building is the 20th tallest in the world, and to put it into perspective, the CN tower is nowhere on the list. We walked along the beach down at Surfer's and collected some shells, then walked back and went to the Q deck for 10AM when it opened. Regular price is $19. We paid $29 total! :) On the elevator and up 77 floors in 43 seconds! It felt intense!

HOLY AMAZING VIEWS! How beautiful is this?! amazing views of the coast line, beach and city in general. The city itself is beautiful with tons of finger like lakes around residential areas. Everyone has a house on the water! They look so cool from above.

After that we came back to the hotel ate and chilled for a bit, then headed down to the expo again to see what was up down there. Expo itself was lame, but we managed to sneak our way into a VIP area (for elites and media) where the press conference was going on and we got some free food and drinks! Home after than and in the hot tub for 15 mins, then sauna for 15, then back and to bed!

Not again!

SHIT! I pulled my quad, just like Canberra, but not as intense, I think I might be ok.

We did tons of walking around down by surfer's paradise, looking at shops and just seeing the sights. After that got boring we came home, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to the beach for some relaxation. I decided to go for a dip in the ocean. It was supa cold, so I was in and out pretty quick. I also spent two sessions in the hot tub, hopefully helping my leg heal up a bit.

It seemed to take FOREVER for 4:30 to come. The expo is open from 5 - 8 today and I've been looking forward to getting down there to pick up race kits and see what was happening! Our bib numbers have nicknames on them that you can choose. Mine says Bizzy, Tuna's says, well, Tuna. :)

After the expo, we came home and went to bed pretty early.

Gold Coast! HAPPPPPY CANADA DAY!!!!

And we're OFF! ALMOST!

It's 3:40AM, Canada Day. We've been up since 3 as we have to catch our train at 4:30AM to head to the airport this morning to catch our 8:30 flight to the Gold Coast! We arrive there at 10:00AM and then HOPEFULLY can catch a buss at 10:42AM to take us to our hotel, another hour or so. Today will just be a chill out day, get some groceries, get settled and organized for the week and do a little sightseeing in the immediate vicinity.

Tomorrow we're going to the expo! That's where the real race excitement begins! The atmosphere will be incredible! I can't wait!

Anyways, I don't really have a ton of time to type up some stuff here but we're both pumped to get goin' and we're surely going to take about 800 pictures!

We're both excited to race. I'm prettttttty confident about my 3:10 goal this year and Julia is confident to go under 4 hours for her first marathon! Despite her knee being a liiiiiiittle wonky still. I can't wait to finish, run and get the camera and capture her finishing. I looked at the course on satelite view in google, looks amazing. check it out!

OK, well I guess I'll try and hand-write (so old school! :p) some blogs over the next coupla days and type 'em up when we get home. I wish I could bring the comp but there is NO room. I'm wearing 4 tshirts, shorts AND pants and two pairs of socks, just to save room. We only have carry-on, it's cheaper that way. :)

OK BYE!

Live from KPS

Today is a special edition blog entry, live from the Keriaville Public School staffroom! I’m here with my laptop, working on the slowmations that the students have made. I’m really proud of them! They were at an automatic disadvantage because we didn’t have a tripod stand at our disposal, so the photos are a little jumpy, but they still grasped the concept VERY well and the videos aren’t half bad at all.

This was all my project, and they managed to get it done over about 4 lessons. They had a lesson of just an introduction to slowmations and were put into groups, then they had a lesson where they planned their slowmation, from resources, to the topic and info and the script. They even made a storyboard! Lesson three, most groups finished their planning and built their resources. Lesson four saw everyone get to film, some groups were behind with the resources so others went first, but all groups managed! That was yesterday. Today I brought in my laptop and recorded each student’s voice as they read through their script. Now I’ve just finished playing with the photos a little and making the voices go well with what you see. All 5 videos are complete and published. I’m proud! I mean they’re not GOLD standard, but given that a prac student ran it, with limited resources (no tripod) and year 2/3s I’m pretty damn proud!
Tomorrow we’re making ice cream. Again this is something that I’m planning and going to teach. It’s linked to both literacy and science and tech because they have to write down the instructions (procedural text) and then understand the concepts of heat exchange and how the ice cream is actually being made. Even if they don’t grasp that though, IT’S FUN! I’m going to bring in the ingredients as a gift for the students, as this is my last week, and I’ll bring in that Sens T-shirt mom got me for Michelle.

I’m going to miss Keiraville! The kids, despite being little turds at times are great! I love help them figure it all out.

OH! gotta run! :)

The enormity of it.

It's hitting me. It's just about time to put up or shut up. I've been bombarding myself and others with '3:10 To Boston'. Everyone at school knows about it. Everyone on facebook knows about it. I put it way out there as extra motivation to train my ass off, accountability is an excellent motivational tool. It's worked. Many a time I've imagined the two scenarios, one where I have to tell people how disappointed I am that I've once again failed to meet my marathon goal, and one of true elation, where I can be SO proud of myself that I've accomplished this enormous goal. The Boston Marathon means more and more to me. It's somewhat of a symbol of success in what I do, a gold standard that separates those who just like to run, from those who really like to push limits and see what they can do. I know I WILL run the Boston Marathon, that's not in question. I get better and better every single year, just a week ago I ran 42.2k in training! And ran it 8 minutes faster than my previous marathon record (and only previous 42.2k run). Those who know me know how impatient I am. I want it NOW. I've been a runner for a few years, I ran my first marathon last year, but I want this NOW. It'll be a testament to the lifestyle I lead and justify it. This is huge. I CAN'T wait to get there. I can't wait to get in the excitement of a race weekend and get to be a part of it. I've raced twice, but they were relatively low-key races, and went to Ironman Australia, but wasn't racing. I crave that feeling of being a part of something huge! There's NO feeling in the world like being at a race, the energy is simply unbelievable, SO many positive people in one area.

I also look forward to seeing Julia finish her marathon and realize her own potential, that will be special also, and hopefully I'll be able to get some good photos of her finish! But who knows, she may finish ahead of me again, just like in Canberra. :)

Ode to Papa

It's Sunday here, which is father's day back home. It's not father's day here, here it's later in the year (sept or oct). Weird because Mother's day is the same date. So anyways, I love you dad and hope you have a great day! I'm sure you'll spend it with Annie and John and Sierra and mom, maybe at their place? I'll be thinkin' about you. I decided to write a funny little poem for you for father's day:

My father is a man who’s taught me lots of stuff
He’s taught me to work hard, even when it’s tough
He’s taught me proper manners and how I should act
He’s been the perfect role model and that is a fact!

He’s given me love and support and always a second chance
But after number two it’s a swift kick in the pants
It takes a bit of time, to see how he’s been right
But I’ll never admit it! Not without a fight!

Whenever I need help, he’s always there for me
Advice, food and shelter, all without a fee!
I could never ever repay him, for all that he has done
Except to make him proud, either in school or when I run!

I am who I am, because he is who he is
A man of many talents, a genius, maybe a whiz!
Determined and hard working and never one to coast
Culinary specialties are brownies and burnt toast!

I look up to him in awe, it’s true I really do
Because a man like him, there are so very few
I guess when I grow up, it wouldn’t be so bad
If I ended up, just like my awesome dad!