A vegetative weekend!!

Its now just less than 4 weeks to go and I must say I’m remarkably relaxed for this Busselton Half Ironman. I’ll do the Darlington Half Marathon on Sunday. A workmate of mine will likely go under 1hr 30min so I’ll tag along with him as long as I can. Another friend, Richard Kelly, did a fine job in the Tour de Perth 100km ride on Sunday finishing 7^th out of around 150 riders. A strong rider – a strong ride. We cycle home together quite often and he’s just a strong, tough rider, physically and mentally.

My son Matt got his driving license so, combined with a Commodore and a ‘suburb-shaking’ sound system, everyone else will soon realise that he is on the road. We saw a bad accident today on South St in Leeming so it was a salutary reminder of the need for care when propelling these mechanical missiles.

Had a bit of a lazy weekend. Matt’s Melville U18 soccer team had a win. He has his indoor grand final this Friday. They play this game full tilt and I can tell you there’s no room for ‘nancy boys’. Did my usual parent thing and took my daughter to the OBH for a 21^st on Saturday night.

Congrats to Brynt McSwain on winning the Hillarys Triathlon last week. My Colnago commuter bike has a pedal crank ‘threaded’ so I’ll need to buy new ones. D’oh!! He’s in the Raf Baugh Front Runner training squad. I’m just happy to be training alongside (ok then, around a few hundred metres behind) these people.

I’m still having my protein shake every day with some magnesium, fish oil and zinc tablets for good measure. Back to the good old 10 weetbix a day for breakfast. Govinda’s Hare Krishna looks tempting again but their midafternoon $2.50 special in Northbridge has shifted to a later timeslot of 4.15pm to 6.15pm. Pretty late snack now.

I’m still going to Central TAFE gym. I have to renew my membership soon but at $30 a month its cheap really. I get my flu jab on Wednesday…..which also happens to be my 44^th birthday. My pressie will be a nice meal Tuesday night with my better half.

It’s weird but Dee and I still see Mts Meru and Kilimanjaro as a holiday so far away….but its only January 2009…….and I’m sure it’s an effort we will give plenty of respect to.

I had a rather amusing moment at work today. One of the team leaders here commented on how frustrated he was this his other half had a new laptop and kept quizzing him on how to use it. She phoned him and asked how to use Google Earth. He sounded exasperated and regaled us of her internet inadequacy. I piped up and said, ‘Hey Geoff, you’d better calm down mate….she may be watching you right now, give her a wave’…..ok, you probably had to be there!!

Finally, my gripe of the week. As someone for whom bicycle helmets has saved his life, I get frustrated when I hear major media outlets giving an airing to someone claiming that helmets are not effective and may, in fact, be doing the wearers more damage. I’d like to show them the helmet I have with two large chunks taken out of it where a friend driving behind me saw my bike get smacked sideways by ute completing a U turn and my head striking the kerb with full force. Thank God for the helmet…and to the ambulance that took me to hospital.

There you go….it’s purged now.

Oh, also, I’m a long-suffering Carlton supporter. Judd, Betts and Kruezer all did well ….and Nick Stevens. We just need more like them.

And another thing…….as a Gunners supporter, Man Utd were soooo lucky!!!

Adios amoebas

CHRISTO