Significant progress!

Yes, I know, it has been a while between posts but there has been so much happening since we got back!!!

So we are finally in a proper house and the kids are back at school. Most of the unpacking etc has been finished and we now also have 2 cars which is very handy!

January saw some good steps back into getting going on the running front. I have now done quite a bit of "exploring" in Garigal National Park, getting lost a few times but it was good to be back in the bush!

With less travelling and dedicated time at home I am now starting to get more consistent in the running training. I have entered for 6 foot, no chance of a superb time but the goal is to use the build up and actual race as a good basis to establish a foundation to build upon for the rest of the year. As part of that I have joined in on the beer bet on Cool Running and also have decided to raise money for the McGrath foundation by wearing a pink skirt with a number of others. So quite a bit of sekrit training has been going on...

This weekend just past in particular was quite heavy in the build up, starting with the Striders 10km at Lane Cove, my first for 2 years! The goal was to get as close as possible to 45 minutes and I ended up with 45:46, clearly my biggest challenge are hills at the moment.

Then, I went and purchased a "welcome back to oz" gift for myself which is below.



Saturday afternoon, I went out with a couple of mates to break it in on the dirt and had a great time, although it was quite warm, the legs suffered a little on the steep dirt climbs that we found.

Sunday morning and I managed to stuff up the alarm clock and so arrived at the Hornsby STaR after the 6am group had already left. It seems that nowdays there is not a 6:10 group as I set off with just one other and he quickly disappeared in the distance, even though I was running 5:30's!

The run was a great testing run through the bush with some significant climbs. I managed to clock my head on a low branch climbing out of Bobbin Head which rattled the teeth. Clearly my challenge is to reduce the weight as I struggle massively on the hills (not a good sign for 6 foot). But once I was on level ground I was quite comfortable in knocking out 5:30 min/km pace.

So, I'll try and be a little more regular with the posts now that everything is more settled, but will stay a little in stealth mode as the 6 foot build up continues!