Training Update

8 weeks to go.... yep 8 weeks till we run 42.2 km in Budapest. So far so so average, in fact i am concerned about it, Kat not so much she can run and run, me i gotta work for it. I'm struggling with the weekday running as i'm away for work etc but Kat runs to and from work so does a fair no. of k's during the week.

We knocked off a 2 hour 35 run in Jersey and managed a 2 hour 45 min run today so we are not too far away from being able to 'finish' but gone are the goal times and prospects of finishing in 3.15 , anything under 4 would be gold. however just getting over the finish line will be reward enough.

On a brighter note my work pants are loose again and my belt is no longer at risk of going to the next notch, which is a surprise considering the amount of beer / whiskey and wine i have consumed while away.

Toast

The annual Festival that is Toast NZ, a summer wine and food festival took place last week. After the week of flooding, thunder and lighting that was very very frightening we held our breath that the day would break fine... and it did (well for a while).

We had Tim and Emma over from Dublin to stay in the Studio la Paddington (cosy is a word that springs to mind) and we were up bright and early for the Rugby to watch the abs wallop oz (its not prem season after all) and then headed to Fulham Palace to enjoy NZ beer/wine, food, music and friends.

To be honest the set up was fairly avg.. we ended up eating Thai food ... at least the monteiths summer was flowing. God was obviously not in a great mood and the heavens unleashed at about 1pm for an hour as the Black seeds were playing.. foresight meant there were 1000s of ponchos to give out and our trusty umbrella kept us semi dry. We ended up finishing the day with more beer and very very avg pub food - good times.

Jersey...old folk and no tax

Jersey is a piece of land in the channel islands, it is part of the UK but only 14 Km from the coast of France... long story and since you asked..... It all started in world war II when the UK Held Channel Islands as a strategic entry point, they gave it up to the Germans.. but nobody told them that and they bombed away killing a few folk. The Germans took over for a few years and ruled the roost and many castles, After Victory on D-day the UK refused to give supplies to the Germans and most of the soldiers gave up and the UK took back the island...

learnt all of this from the Jersey War Tunnel museum, fantastic museum from start to finish and very educational...

Jersey is a tax haven where old people go and retire, most tourists appear to be over 75+, breakfast in the hotel was like a rest home....... god bless them.

Jersey is however a great place 27 diffferent beaches and more castles than you can poke a stick at. The tide is also amazing, the marina where all the rich folk keep their boats during low tide is nothing more than a pile of mud with very expensive rudders stuck in the ground, come high tide it becomes a normal marina, again with very expensive boats. The tide from low to high raises 5.5 metres.

We managed a few beach trips, a 2hr 30 run and just generally relaxed. well until we got back to heathrow and my bag didn't show up... in fact not till wed did it arrive mailto:#@%%5E%%5E#m .

In summary Jersey is a nice place but we won't be going back for 50 years.

TDF

The magic of the biggest bike race in the world hit London for the start of TDF a few weeks back, the day dawned with glorious blue sky and sun (for the first time in a few weeks) and 2 million odd folk came for a look. Getting a space track side was ni on impossible so we settled with some friends in front of one of the 11 massive screens set up in Hyde Park with our supermarket bag full of beer. Managed to make it to the trackside to see Julian Dean, NZ's sole rep this year fire past (you can see him in the pic to the left if you look really hard), but he had a crap day and finished well down. Fantastic day and the hype and size of the event is mind blowing.... it is a shame that drugs have again shat on this years race, we had been following it daily from our desktops at work but gave up when it turened to custard. Check out Julian Deans diary for a riders perspective it is good value. JulianDean.co.nz .

tis a shame it's not really possible to ride in Central london, as it would be great to get out on the bike and do a few miles.

Poor Form

aye, its been a while since the last post so we thought it due time to provide an update of what we have been up to. Things are going along at 100 miles an hour at present, so finding half a day to sit and do nothing is quite a treat. Work is keeping both of us busy and i am spending a fair whack of time away in Scotland where i am learning to say aye in every second sentence.

Since Amsterdam we have made it to Jersey for a weekend, watched the TDF, visited the extended family, gone to Toast nz, and got very wet in the London summer amongst others things but i think they were the highlights.....

Slowly but surely making progress on the wedding so good news there....

We are off to Portugal next Saturday for a week to lax in the sun with a group of friends so that should be great...