So Monday has come and gone. All in all, it was a pretty good day, even though there really is not all that much to share. As usual, it was pretty freaking cold when I left the hotel room this morning. Colder than usual (well, usual for the past 10 days). In fact, the CFO came in and told me that it had snowed a little in Canberra over the weekend. He said it was really just a light snowfall, and that snow really doesn’t ever stick here. It makes sense, though. When I was driving in on Sunday night, there was one of those electronic news boards on the side of the road with updates. The sign gave the warning of icy conditions on the road. I was wondering where it was coming from, since there really was not much rain coming down. I guess I now know.
But I am starting to think that the winter weather here in Canberra is a lot like Charlotte. Well, except for this past winter. The weather here seems to go from 0 (freezing) or slightly below overnight to 40-50 during the day. I think today was more like 40. I said it once, and I’ll say it again – I am the poster child of how not to pack for your trip to Australia! Not that it has been all that bad. I am getting by just fine with what I have with me. Things should start warming up soon, and I spend most of my time indoors. So it could be a lot worse.
In other news today, I want to give a big “Happy Birthday” to Stephanie! I don’t think it will still be her birthday by the time I post this update, so I guess I really owe her a happy belated birthday on the blog page...
I woke up this morning and had a hard time getting out of bed. Not that I was all that tired. I mean I physically had a hard time getting up. Apparently I did not stretch enough after the race on Sunday. I was a bit sore! I guess driving 3 hours after running 90 minutes is not the best thing for your muscles… At least I was only sore in my calf muscles, clearly thanks to pushing my way up Heartbreak Hill! The worst part today was getting up after sitting for a long time during the day. I kept forgetting I was a little stiff. You all can laugh at the thought of me getting up, taking a step, and quickly figuring out that my legs were not moving like I wanted them to do. Luckily no one really saw me, but it probably would have been pretty funny if they had…
Since I mentioned the race, I have a couple of things to share with you that relate to the City2Surf:
First, I found online that there is a video you can follow along of the race course. Now, do not feel obligated to watch this video. Especially the entire thing, since it is 4.30 long! But it is a pretty cool video if you have a little time to kill, and if you are interested in seeing some of Sydney. If you skip to close to the 2.20 mark (until about 2.40), you can see Heartbreak Hill. Although the video really does not do it justice. I have posted the video over to the right of the blog page if you want to check it out…
In other race news, I thought I would share some sad news with everyone. Sorry, but I can’t be funny all the time. Apparently, there was a 26-year-old guy who died during the race. He was only 200 meters from the finish line. (If I have calculated my metric conversions correctly, he was about 215 yards from the end.) From what I read, they say he had a heart attack and just fell over right on the race course. The paramedics got to him and worked on him with runners going around. There was a quote from a lady who said she saw the paramedics working on the guy, and figured out it was a heart attack when she saw they were using the defibrillator to try to save him. The lady also said that the race officials were yelling at the runners to keep moving around the medics. What a sad situation. Apparently he died around 11 am, which was about 15 minutes after I finished the race. I can honestly say I do not remember hearing any commotion, and no one I spoke with after the race mentioned seeing anything during the race. I guess it was a pretty quick situation that the medics dealt with, and they got him out of there to the hospital in a hurry. But from what I read, this guy had recently moved to Australia with his girlfriend, and was at a really great point in his life. He seemed to be in pretty good shape, too, according to friends. I can’t decide while is the worst part about this story: The fact that the guy was so young or the fact that he was so close to finishing when it happened. He also was not a registered runner. Race officials think that he got the timing chip from a friend. So I am guessing that his friend is also dealing with some serious guilt here for giving the guy a chip to run this last race. With that said, if any of you are into it, I would ask you to add this guy, his girlfriend, his family, and friends to your thoughts and prayers.
Sorry for the big downer there. I am not sure it would be appropriate to try to resurrect this post with humor, so I think I might just call it quits right about now. Besides, I need to run. I am starting to rethink the Indian food I had for dinner last night. Wait, wait, wait. I really need to qualify that statement right now. What I mean is that I am rethinking bring the takeaway Indian food into my hotel room and eating it here. The room is really starting to smell like my dinner, and I need to go and figure out how to make it go away…
So I am going to head off to watch a little more of the Olympic swimming and go on to bed. I’m being nice and not ruining Olympic results for everyone… But have a great Monday, and I will be back with a new post tomorrow!
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