Changes in Sydney...I ran a marathon, and I have a new flatmate! :)

So, after my nice, long holiday, I had to get back to work and my normal life in Sydney.

I picked Kai up from the airport on 27/August at the ridiculous hour of 6am. I think I was still half asleep, but I was so happy and excited to see him, I didn't mind too much! :) We spent the next week and a half getting settled into our house....bought a new bed frame and went shopping at IKEA for some other things to add to the house to make it "ours".

We've just been having fun, enjoying the nice warm weather, catching up with our friends, and going to some great restaurants. We tried a sushi place with live jazz, govinda's - a great vegetarian indian restaurant with huge couches to lay down on and watch a movie afterwards, and a korean bbq place where I finally got to have kimchi again! ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi ) We also went to see Pete Murray, an Australian singer. It was at a small venue down the street from our house...such a great atmosphere! It was a really great show!

We did quite a bit of running this month to prepare for our races. We ran from Bondi Beach to Maroubra Beach one weekend, and then ran 26km to Centennial Park the next weekend. We've also taken up squash. Kai's played before, but he's been very patient with teaching me how to play. We play every week, and I keep improving so I think I'll be able to kick his butt pretty soon! :) Roxie is getting to enjoy the warmer weather as well. She's been to the puppy park a few times, and this week she's going to get her nice summer haircut. :) And, of course, I've been trying to learn German again. We've labeled tons of things in the house to help me build my vocabulary. It's a slow process, but I'm hoping I'll actually be able to start speaking and understanding more very soon.

Two weeks ago, we had a birthday party at a restaurant in Kings Cross for Ali (one of the girls on my soccer team). It was meant to be a surprise, but a 'reply to all' email message changed that! :) We had so much fun...great food, great friends! Then, Saturday night, Kai and I had a nice quiet night with a big pasta dinner to load up our fuel for the race the next morning. Kai ran the half marathon, and I ran the full marathon (42.2 km or 26.2 miles). Kai had a great result of 1 hour, 49 minutes...I was so proud of him!!! I finished at 4 hours, 4 minutes....just shy of my 4 hour target, but I gave it everything I had so I was happy! I was really just excited that I actually finished it. It was really tough...especially kilometers 30-37...that's when I started to feel nauseous and a little light-headed. But I just loaded up on energy gels, jelly beans, and water at the next station, and then I was able to get through the rest of the race. That afternoon, I took a little nap and did nothing but lay around the house. Kai was so great about taking care of me and getting me whatever I needed. :) The next day, surprisingly, I felt ok. My knees were a bit sore, but my muscles and everything else were fine really. So, I guess now I'll have to run another one and try to get my sub 4 hour time....I'm crazy, I know! :)

This past weekend, we went to the end of year soccer party. It was such a difference to see everyone all dressed up and looking nice! It was at a hotel in North Sydney, and we just had some drinks and did a lot of dancing...We had so much fun!! Sunday, I went to the beach. The weather has been so nice lately. I think most weekends now will have to include some beach time! :)