harbour capital 10k

I was dangerously close to skipping the 10k this morning...hit the snooze button 4-5 times, then finally decided I'd be really mad at myself if I missed it, and dragged myself out of bed for a quick hot shower to warm up and clear my head - allergies have been messing with me lately.

The race started at Westpac Stadium so I walked the ~3.5km down there, stopping at New World for some vitamin water on the way. It was drizzling and cold, and I had to keep reminding myself how good I always feel after a run. Thought I might be late, but fortunately spotted some others in the white and blue race tees, and figured as long as I wasn't too far behind them I'd be okay! I was in a bit of a rush with getting to bag storage and everything, but still made it. The full-on rain started and ended at the same time as the race, of course! Actually, I didn't really mind it - once you're wet, you're wet, so might as well have some puddles to jump in along the way.

I'd decided that, based on how I was feeling, I'd be happy just crossing the finish line having run jogged) the whole way...once I got going, though, I found someone with a good pace to follow, and was feeling pretty good at the turnaround point past Oriental Bay. The course ran along the water the whole way, which was a new experience for me - windy, but gorgeous! I was amused by the giant flouro 'CAUTION: ATHLETES' signs along the way.

On the way back, my pace-setter decided to walk, so I had to pick someone else, and ended up with a negative split - yay! I don't usually manage to do that. Still, didn't run it very hard. Around 8km or so, I saw Toby waving and taking pictures - unfortunately I ended up behind a pole in both of them! I finished strong, and was happy with the race goodie bag - the nice big dry towel was perfect for the weather, and I immediately ate the big Whittaker's Peanut Block (Wellington-made chocolate...the toasted coconut one's the best, but peanut's pretty good too!), had an apple and banana, and was still hungry enough to get a Baby Mac and a chicken snack wrap at the McDonald's by my house! I guess after 10km of running and 7km walking there and back I deserved it though :)

I warmed up with a long hot shower (sorry - I know there's an energy conservation push on at the moment, but all the rain today had to have done something for the hydrolake levels!), handed my old cell phone over to the TradeMe auction winner, showed my car to a potential buyer, and then parked in front of the TV for a few hours. Toby came over in the afternoon - he's been camping in his car in the Te Papa parking lot for the past few days and I know that can get old after a while!

Tomorrow's my first day at the Office of Treaty Settlements, over by Parliament. Since I haven't exactly been frequenting Courtnay Place (party central, just a few blocks from my apartment), it probably would have been a good idea to get a flat on the other side of town where all my work assignments have been...just have to remember walking is good :)

all blacks v. england

What a lazy Saturday...got up around 10 am, but didn't manage to leave my room until around noon. I need to do some gift shopping before I head home, and wanted to go to the mall in Petone since it's got the only Canterbury store in town.

I got there in a roundabout way - but I did get there! - and managed to exercise a considerable amount of self-restraint, not adding a single Canterbury item to my already ridiculously large collection. I did eventually find a shirt for Charles, but no luck on the other items on my list...didn't realize that a lot of the stuff I'd wanted to take back is so regional. I also picked up a merino sweater I'd been eyeing for a while...not Icebreaker (on my 'if-i-still-had-a-real-job' wishlist), but still nicer than most we'd get in the States, and less than half the price!

A potato curry & naan dinner was too appealing to pass up, especially with the hills-and-harbour view from the food court, and then I headed back to the city. Toby, one of the instructors from the sailing school in Opua, had texted me earlier in the week to let me know he'd be in town Friday - Monday, so we made plans to meet in town for the rugby match. His friend Tom, also from Opua but living in Taupo now, met us at Te Papa and we headed to a sports bar to watch the game. The All Blacks won 44-12, although there was still grumbling from the NZ side about the quality of the game, and captain Richie McCaw is out for 6+ weeks with an ankle injury sustained early in the second half.

I just barely escaped from going clubbing afterwards - the boys were very convincing, but I've got the race tomorrow and I'm determined to do it especially as the entry fee was somewhat outrageous!

last day at tpk

Today was the final day of my 3-week assignment at TPK - invoice processing isn't exactly thrilling, but I'll miss the crowd here. Val insisted I take it easy as it was a Friday and my last day, so I took the entire day entering one batch (should take 1 hr or so) and stuffing envelopes with remits and EFT payment advices.

Val, Manu, James and I got several games of table tennis in throughout the day - I'm warming up a bit. At lunch, I walked to the Town Hall to pick up my race packet for the 10K on Sunday. I was interested to see the Heart Association had set up camp there with their This Is How Much Fat Is In Your Fish N' Chips, Butter Chicken And Thickshakes display complete with stomach-turningly realistic fat blobs. I have to question their targeted audience, though - especially since the main event was a marathon/half-marathon, not 'just' a 10K. Haven't seen too many marathon runners who look like they live off deep-fried food!

In the afternoon, the Supply Services group (finance, IT, etc.) had their monthly meeting, which opened with a kapa haka performance - singing, guitar, dancing and poi. Audience participation was 'highly encouraged' [mandatory] for one of the performance, which might have been ok if we had actually been able to see the person leading the dance moves. I wasn't complaining, though - I knew afterwards we'd have hangi, which I'd been looking forward to all week since having some at the museum last Saturday! Val and I even headed out to the $2 store in the afternoon, on Manu's advice, to get some take-away containers for the leftovers we were told would definitely be there.

After the hangi, a bunch of us from finance stuck around for table tennis and other games, then I headed to a pub with some of the guys from the team. I could tell the pub employees were anxious to close, though, and I know from Sullivan's that that's the worst ever when you're trying to close and you can't get people to leave, so I convinced a couple of the guys to leave with me though some of the group insisted on staying. We ended up playing pool down at a bar on Courtnay Place for an hour or so, then I went home to rest up for the race.

all blacks v. ireland

Ann arrived from Nelson this afternoon, after a whirlwind room-cleaning session on my part, for my first visitor to the flat! I'm very excited to finally be able to partially pay back Ann's hospitality, since I stayed at the place she shared with Lex countless times, and her new flat just last Friday.

It was apparently decided for me that I'd be supporting Ireland in the match, so Ann brought me a green, orange and white hat from the nursery where she works and she had a matching one. Phone tag with Rosh and Isaac started early in the day, but we didn't manage to catch up with them before, during or after the game despite many attempts.

Ann and I shared a bottle of Lindauer Fraise before the game, for old times' sake, and I'm glad we did - helped us stay warm(ish) in the cold rain! The rain started on our walk to the stadium, and continued throughout the game so we 'borrowed' some seats in the covered section - lots of other people had the same idea, very few people were sitting in our section, just a couple rows from the field and completely unprotected from the weather. Ann (from Cork) made some Irish friends in the seats next to us, so we ended up with flags painted on our faces as well.

The All Blacks won pretty easily, and Ann lost her voice from shouting at them. We stopped at McDonald's on the way home, and I discovered I get a Flatmate Discount there - woohoo! At my flat, we changed, attempted to re-straighten our hair, and headed out to the Welsh Dragon Bar. Ann was right about the Irish fans - they take the losses well, and were out in full force all having a good time, whereas Kiwis tend to sulk for a week or so (or 4 years, in the case of the Rugby World Cup) over losses. We made it until nearly 5:30 in the morning, heading to Kitty O'Shea's after the Welsh bar - not quite as impressive as some of the Christchurch return times, but still something! I randomly ran into 3-4 people tonight that I recognized from working at the pub there - lots of people in town just for the rugby.