down-under diaries intro to Perth

Perth is a great place to be - a small city on an large estuary on the west coast. Sunny and hot, but being surrounded by so much water and a constant stiff breeze, is a very pleasant temperature at this time of year. I'm told that mid summer they have a couple of weeks that are unpleasantly warm, but for now it's perfect.  I'm staying with the president of Triathlon WA, Peter Rash, and his family in East Fremantle. Fantastic location for training :o) though it's been a bit of a slow week getting back into it due to the jet-lag and being slightly sick.  But I'm optimistic that I can get a solid 3 weeks training in addition to the swim coaching from Paul Newsome (Swimsmooth) and be in good shape for Busso. I'm certainly coming into the race less F*cked than I was in 2010!!

Peter is racing Ironman next week too, and despite having made a late entry and his extreme modesty, he’s training solidly and looks to be in great shape.  I hope that the relatively short prep period means that he hits the race without the burn out that is so easy to fall into. Yvonne (the wife) is around a wee bit more – she  is also a pretty competent triathlete in her age group and it turns out she was at boarding school in St Audreys, a place on the north Somerset coast that I regularly cycle past, and has relatives who live in Bishop's Hull which is one of the “suburbs” of Taunton! Small world, eh? There are two teenage girls - the elder is about University entry age and is the only one in the family not a sporty type. She is an artist and perhaps a little unsure of what her ”path” is right now. She understands that an Art degree is generally valued by where it was attained. But I have seen her work  -it's really very impressive. She very generously moved out of the Granny flat which she had been living in and using as her studio so that I could occupy it. It is the size of a large 1 -bed flat in the UK. The younger daughter is 15 and is the "sporty" kid - a swimmer of a very decent standard, and especially enthusiastic aboput open water swimming. They are both really intelligent and sociable (for teenagers) towards a stranger in their home.

I daresay that I didn't make a great impression on them though  - I'm still feeling pretty jet-lagged and our first encounter, he popped down to say Hello on Friday morning at about 9am - I was fast asleep and very groggy having carried over that cold/throat infection on the plane. The flight didn't do it much good and it  has turned my insides bright green and my whole nose into a giant scab -  lovely for first impressions !! 

Have been meaning to write a blog covering everything as there's a lot to tell, but my days are pretty full mostly. but at the same time perfectly simple. sleeping well, getting up early, swim training, head home, have breakfast & catch up on emails and a bit of work that needs doing in response to them, head out for ride or run of varying length - back home by 5, tidy up laundry shopping etc , have early tea, a bit more emailing and work, read a bit and usually in bed by 9:30 and often earlier. It’s now almost the end of my time here, and as always I ‘m wishing that I could stay for longer. I’m also winding down in readiness ot race an Ironman next weekend, and so finally have the time and spare energy to sit and put together a blog. The following entry may seem a bit disjointed since parts have been written at various times over the last month.