Customer service at it's finest (?)

I know I've talked a few times about the lack of customer service here, but I figured I'd give everyone another example.  After the run on Sunday, I hobbled up to Oxford street to look for a few suits.  I found a store that had one that seemed reasonable.  Found the right jacket size, but couldn't find the right size pants.  So I asked the sales person if she had any other sizes anywhere.  She said there should be one.  I tried on another size and when I came back, I saw her holding the right size but then gave it to someone else.  I asked her if she found them and she said yes, but that she had in fact given them to someone else.  I was so confused at that point, I didn't know what to say.  She told me I could go online to buy them if I wanted.  I guess that's what I get for expecting the matching suit pants to be next to the coat and not on another rack.  I was so blown away by that experience that I put everything else I was going to buy on the counter and walked away.

Walking with a little hitch in my giddyup

I was pretty happy I only had to contend with 8 steps on my way to work this morning.  Two to get on the bus, two off the bus (yes, I took the bus this morning) and four to walk up to the escalator.  It took most of yesterday afternoon to recover from the half marathon, but all things considered, I'm feeling pretty good today.

The run certainly wasn't the most put together race I've ever done.  The start didn't have a clock for me to see when I crossed the start line and there were no clocks around the course to help clue me in.  I have an app on my phone that tracks time and distance using GPS, but I'm not fully confident in the distance part.  I'd say about two thirds of the way in, I start to feel a few blisters forming on the arches of both my feet.  Not was I wanted at that point.  But I popped a few Clif Blocks and kept on going.  I did walk a little bit longer at the water stops and tried to check my phone to see where I was at, but I think that was more of an excuse to walk a little bit.  But, after crossing the line in 2 hours 3 minutes and 42 seconds, I'm wishing I didn't walk that extra bit.  I was really hoping for a sub 2 hour finish, but I guess I'll have to wait for next time.  I think it also would have helped to know the course better.  The loop where I thought we finished was actually right off the bat.  That really confused me, having no clue how far I'd been running.  Here's a map of the run from my phone.  According to the GPS I had on me, with all the weaving in and out of people, I ran 13.96 miles.  Which, at that time, I'd be perfectly happy with. 



The run started at the top by Kirribilli and came down towards the city.  I wish I had paid more attention to the scenery running across the Harbour Bridge, but since this was the first long run I've done without any sort of pacing tool, I was trying to get a sense of my speed than anything else.  The course then went through the Botanical Gardens and then to the highway.  This was when I started noticing the blisters as we went up and down on and off ramps to Pyrmont.  I thought at this point I was slightly ahead of where I needed to be, but I could actually feel the individual blisters forming and squishing.  But I powered on as best I could.  As I came down to the last kilometer, I was feeling pretty spent.  There was a lady who forced me to run.  I didn't catch her name or number, but I definitely want to thank her.  She kept me going for that last stretch, onto the cobble stones of Circular Quay and around the corner to finish at the Sydney Opera House. 

As cool as it is to finish the Chicago Marathon near Buckingham Fountain, this was probably a little bit cooler finishing right on the steps of the opera house on the harbour.  It was some confusion at the finish line.  Nothing was really setup well to keep people moving.  Everyone picked up a bottle of water and then spewed out into the gardens.  No food and certainly no beer.  I had to wait till I walked the 3 miles back to my apartment for that.  You might be asking why I had to walk another 3 miles.  Well, apparently all buses were off that day since most of the downtown streets were cut off or affected in some way.  And since there aren't any train routes that get close to my place, I had to hoof it.  But I did walk along the marathon course and help cheer those people on.  While I'm glad I did the half this year, I'll definitely be doing the full marathon next year, with a proper training schedule.  After I plunked down on my couch I decided to add up all my training from when I arrived in Sydney back in April to come up with a total.  And with pretty good record taking (mandated by the gym), I ran 13.5 miles at the gym since July, 8.75 in August for the City2Surf and roughly 2 when I first got down here in May.  So for running only 24.25 miles, I feel pretty good about my time.  With a proper running regiment, I think I can probably knock a good 10 minutes off that time.  We'll just have to wait and see.

5 Days and Counting

I'm coming down the home stretch for the half marathon on Sunday.  I've been staying true to my training goal of running as minimally as possible to see how the run goes.  It kind of feels like the first half marathon I did and the first marathon, for that fact.  But, all things considered, I'm feeling pretty good for the run.  I was planning on doing a nice easy week.  Eating right, staying away from the booze and trying to do everything as easy as possible before Sunday.

But, I knew that was going to be just a dream.  This is Australia, after all.  This past weekend hit me pretty hard.  I went to my first Rugby match and it was a game between the Australian national team (Wallabies) and the New Zealand national team (the All Blacks).  The game was out at the 2000 Olympic Stadium which was pretty cool.  Granted it was dark and we had already had a few, I wasn't able to see much.  But it's a quick 20 minute train ride to the stadium so I might have to head out and look around.

But on to the good part.  At the stadium, the concessions seem a little more lax than the states.  You can order 4 beers at a time, instead of the two you get at stadiums back home.  So, as soon as we got there we all separated.  And when we made it to the seats each of us had picked up the max.  For the five of us that went, we had more beers than room on the ground below us to store them.

For my first game, it was a good one.  The Wallabies had the lead for the first 75 minutes, only to lose the game in the last 5.  Pretty tough way to lose, but it was a good game.  One of the best parts was that there were no TV time outs.  The game that should take 100 minutes with halftime, took 100 minutes.  After watching a few live sporting events down here, I think I'd be OK seeing sponsors on teams jersey's if it meant fewer TV timeouts.

So that put me out of rhythm for the week leading up to the run, and it's just getting worse.  We're meeting with a few vendors this week which is going to take away a few of the nights I was planning to go to the gym to get geared up.  But that doesn't look like it's going to happen.  So, I guess my carb loading will consist of barley and hops.

Such is life.  If this is anything like 2006 you'll probably be able to find me sitting on my couch with a beer on Saturday night trying to get some sleep before the 6:20am start time (here's hoping I make it)...

A Day in the Life

I wish I had more exciting things to share, but seeing as though it was a regular two day weekend here, it was pretty low key. But it seems people check after a long weekend so I'll try to at least give those few people an update of things to come.

This was another low key weekend, but that's going to change this weekend. I've been to two Aussie Football League (AFL) games and just starting to get the hang of the rules. This weekend we're going to my first rugby match. I don't really know what it is, but there's a Tri Nations on going battle and on saturday we're going to see the Australian national team (Wallabies) take on the All Blacks (New Zealand's national team). From watching rugby on TV I'm guessing it's going to be a long, but fun night.

On another bright spot we spent all week trying to get good tickets to the U2 concert in December with Jay Z opening. There was originally one show and we had a heck of a time with tickets. We couldn't get what we wanted, then tried for the next best thing but we weren't satisfied so we passed and tried for more but they got progressively worse. I scratched the idea and decided to scalp some on the floor for way more than they were worth. But then, luck happened and they announced a second show. Tickets went on sale today and the guys in the office was able to two tickets in the front row while i came up empty handed. I gave up and 5 minutes later tried once more and low and behold, I got one too. Face value. So we have tickets in the VIP section of the stage. Can get there right before the show and go right to the stage, please pass Go and collect $200 on your way sir.

The weather is clearing up too. We've had a few 70 plus days and even had the outlook appointment pop up to book surf camp. The water is stil a little cold but it's looking like the first of October I'll be learning to surf. The half marathon is also coming up in a week and a half. Still haven't been running that much, but my "schedule" says it's the cool down phase so I'll just continue at the gym. I'm trying to find a way to post during the race (if things are going well of course), so I'll let everyone know if i can.

Hope everyone had a nice relaxing three day weekend and enjoyed the end of summer because its my time now.

The sea was angry that day, my friends...

Last night, we went out for a co-worker's birthday and had a few drinks and some dinner.  We stopped by Rockpool Bar & Grill for burgers and wine.  They have probably one of the most extensive wine lists in the city and most of them are priced out of a normal persons budget.  So we decided to try a Cotes du Rhone since those usually are pretty reliable wines and easily drinkable.  The burger was good as expected (though still sweeter than any burger in the states).  But that was off set by the salty (but still somehow sweet) tempura textured onion rings.

When the waiter brought the wine over, I knew there was going to be a problem.  He uncorked the bottle and gave it a quick whiff and the look on his face was priceless.  He was definitely not expecting that smell.  So he brought it over to the sommelier who apparently said it was good.  He poured a little to taste in the glass and everyone got the same displeasing aroma, sewage.  It was horrible.  So we told him we thought there was something wrong with the bottle but he assured us it was fine.  The sommelier came over and told us that this is a typical aroma for Cotes du Rhone.  None of us were drinking the Kool Aid.  And, for the first time every, I sent something back at a restaurant.  But thankfully, it was less eventful that an old man, trying to send back soup in a deli.

But I think the wine gods are laughing at me now.  Because on the way to the office this morning, as I got closer to the building I could smell a rather foul odor.  Same smell, only everywhere.  I tried to avoid going outside today because of the smell, but had to go to Camperdown to pick up the two cases of wine I one in last weeks wine auction.

Hope everyone has a fun and relaxing Labor Day back in the states.  And make sure to think of me as I'm sitting at the office on Monday.