Farewell Perth

Unfortunately, running had to take a back seat on my last days in Perth. My last few days turned out to be really, really busy. We moved out of the apartment last week and stayed in a city hotel for a week. One we arrive in Singapore, we'll again live on suitcases for 12 days until we can move-in to our apartment in Robertson. Was busy at work - a lot of job hand-overs, tidying up unfinished jobs and loose ends as well as a couple of farewell dos organized by the company.

I felt that I've gained some weight due to a combination of less running and (much) more eating. In the last three weeks I only ran about 3-4 times versus 6 times a week previously. In addition, we've embarked on a gastronomical 'pig-out' tour - visiting our favourite restaurants in Perth with an excuse as 'for the last time'. This week, I'll blog my running a bit differently, adding my 'food diary' as well:

Saturday, 20/10:
Medium Long Run: 24k in ~2 hours (5:02 min/km). A couple of ks warm up before meeting my running buddy, Rob at Bell Tower. Did 2 laps of the Bridges for 19k total. Pretty much cruising the whole run despite windy conditions. After bidding farewell to Rob, did 8 x 00:15 strides on grass before running back to the city.
Dinner: Marinated kangaroos, chilli muscles and of course, some pale ale at Little Creatures.

Sunday, 21/10:
Hill Reps: 8 x 170m hill + 3k w/u & 3k c/d. Felt like crap today probably from too much alcohol last night. The reps were done in 31-34 seconds (3:14 min/km avg.) with walk/jog recovery. Was stuffed after the 4th rep.
Dinner: Went to Freemantle for fish n chips then a basket of brownie sundae at Baskins Robbins for dessert.

Tuesday, 23/10:
Recovery Run: 35 minutes (5:28 min/km). A slow run on the grassy area on riverside.
Dinner: A tender, succulent baby goat stew with pasta at Romany in Northbridge.

Wednesday, 24/10:
Easy Run: 13.5k in ~70 minutes (5:08 min/km). Feeling really lethargic, hence had to bag my planned tempo session for my last run in Perth. Hips were pretty sore, presumably from the hill reps session on Sunday. Saw Ben Cousins running in South Perth. It was a shame I couldn't do my last run in Perth on a high note.
Dinner: A famous, cheap Japanese place on Shafto Lane called 'Taka' for lunch, several sushi plates at Jaws for dinner and finished up with a huge chunky apple pie at the 24 hour Fast Eddys.

Will be flying to Singapore later this afternoon, so my next run will be done in Singapore. We'll definitely miss Perth - also thanks to all my running friends here, Rob, Epi, Jon, and Homo. I hope I'll come back and do some races here again !

Singapore...here I come !!