Steve in Oz

This morning I ran 4 kilometres - roughly - in 22 minutes. In fact I ran twice, the first time about 10 metres before I stopped and said "stuff it" and then I started again when Susan, who I was walking with, said "Go on" and made me run.

The first 500 metres was hard going and then I settled into sort of a rhythm as I ran along Circular Quay, round the Opera House and then round the pond in the Botanical Gardens and back to the Opera House.

Not exactly a big deal, but now an hour and a half later I'm a bit stiff and sore. Which is rather depressing when I think that I used to run 4 or 5 kilometres, at a much faster speed, as a warm up before doing a 15 k race.

On the other hand I swam 2.4k at Coogee round Wedding Cake Island in a "fun swim" on Sunday (and I was stiff as buggery that night and the next day) - and I certainly couldn't have done that 10 years ago.

So you might say I was at my running peak 22 years ago and I'm at my swimming peak now.

Problem is, at my runnig peak I was really quite good. Not great by any mean, but I was a perferred runner in the City to Surf, I came 5th in my last marathon (admittedly in a small field) and I was certainly in the top 1% or 2% of fun runners.

While as a swimmer I'm happy to get in the top 80% of the field and pleased to beat 25% of the over 50s.

As a runner anyone who finished in front of me was pretty damn good and no-one overweight ever beat me. As a swimmer people who make Jabba the Hut look like Twiggy regularly climb out in front of me.

I guess I'm truly competing with myself (and the waves, jellyfish, etc) but I do miss being young and reasonably good.

Mind you, I was always pretty stiff after a run back then, so that hasn't changed.

So, what's happened since my last entry in - when was it? - November 2005?

Four years - quite a lot really. Let's see.

I've moved to Paris to live for 9 months, moved back, changed jobs 4 times, visited the UK several times, Spain (Barcelona & Madrid) , Portugal, Belgium, Holland, New York a few times, Chile, Colombia, Mexico City, Malaysia, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New Zealand and probably a few I've forgotten.

I've got fat and unfit and then slightly less fat and more fit.

My running has gone downhill, not so much in time (I'm probably running slightly faster) but certainly in distance, I struggle to get more than 4 or 5 k without injury. I can do 3k in less than 14 minutes, possibly faster on the treadmill but i struggle on the road. On the other hand my swimming has improved a lot, I've done about 40 ocean swims, in 2009 I'll have swum close to 170 kilometres by the end of the year and I'm getting close to beating 20 minutes for a kilometre.

I've seen Swindon play live about 6 times and Hartlepool almost as much and I went to Wembley Stadium to see England lose infamously to Croatia in the European Championships. I also saw England lose much more famously, or at least less ignonimously, in the Rugby World Cup Final at Stade de France in 2007.

I've discovered a world of new music; the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the Arctic Monkeys, whom I saw one very hot January night at the Hordern Pavillion in January 2009 and Green Day, whom I'm seeing on December 12th.

On a much less cheerful note my beloved Susan has had fibromyalgia for almost 5 years and is doing it very tough, althoug she tries incredibly hard.

There's so much more to tall but as a) no-one is reading this anyway and b) I keep a diary there's no real point in telling it here.

Back soon with a more up to date and hopefully more interesting blog.

Went to Australia vs Uruguay yesterday - good match, great atmosphere, historic occasion - Australia in the World Cup Finals for the first timw in 32 years thanks to two great penalty saves by Mark Schwartzer in the shoot-out.