Down Under Arriving

We will stay in London for Thanksgiving and celebrate with friends at a near by restaurant. We fly to Australia the following morning to Sydney and then to Perth. We will be in Australia for a week before flying to New Zealand for holiday.

I sit here trying to find a British television programme to entertain me, as Jack logs his daily training. Tonight, we went out to a near by pub to have a drink in celebration of him completing 20 hours of training; this is the only alcoholic drink this week he has allowed himself to consume. There will be plenty after the race!

In 4 weeks, Dec. 7th, Jack competes in the Western Australia ironman. Here is a link that can provide details: http://www.ironmanwa.com/ironmanwa/index.htm. The swim is 3.8kms followed by a 180km bike and topped off with a 42.2km marathon- all race pace.

Everything he has been doing for the last several months is to prepare himself for this race. He has been experiencing with compression gear in hopes it makes improvements with muscle performance and enhance blood flow and recovery. Jack is hopeful he is better, faster and stronger than the Switzerland ironman he did a few months back; his first ironman time was 9:46:46.

He has recently been getting some weekly swim coaching in an endless pool. It is great to see him swim in one place for so long, and nice for me to learn by watching his swim techniques via recorded, it shows all angels in and out of water! Too cool!
For months Jack watches his sleep, exercise, eating, and breaks in order to create a healthy balance. Interesting how in the workplace he is often times referred to as “different”. Some I suppose believe he isn’t as committed to his job and work duties due to his love and respect for challenging his body’s energies. Many exclaim their admiration and respect for him. He has certainly established a set of “rituals” that help him achieve a goal and he remains disciplined.

Sad how one can get up from their desk for a smoke break and it is considered normal, but if one goes for a brisk walk, stretch or swim and one is “interesting” or some other label is attached. Mind and body are one, when has it become the norm to not care and test our individual fitness reservoirs?

In two days, the U.S. will have new president! What is the current election’s historical context in the texts and books to come? What an election! Election day will be very interesting.

Days are continuously gray here; no wonder earl gray is a popular tea amongst many here. We are really looking forward to some warm days!

Local news- rumours the American Embassy is moving to our little town of Battersea. Also the Bond movie party was at the Battersea Power Station last week.

Ang & Jack

Life in the Fast Lane

To sum up the biggest difference this far, is the fact that we totally rely on public transportation to get us nearly everywhere. Our day typically begins early, as we walk to the nearest train station which is about 15 minutes away. Our goal is to be at the gym when it opens (6:30am), so we can claim a pool lane. Another thing, we have to be really aware and manage our time more efficiently, because certain trains only come at certain times, and if we miss it, it delays us getting to the pool. I think that is what makes London such a fast-paced city; everyone has some place to get to, and a personal agenda, and everyone wants to squeeze more into their life. It feels like such an ordeal to plan to go into town due to the planning of how to get there, etc.

When we arrive to the main train station to catch the tube to our stop, (the tube ride is about 6-7 stops away), it always is amazing how many people are in the main stations. (It is particularly bad during the rush hours). It reminds me of the Jackson Pollock painting, “Lavender” because everyone is going different directions. Some times I watch carefully to see how many people literally run into each other. Usually though, it is like a carefully planned dance with strangers moving at a rigorous pace. Often times, I feel like I need body amour to protect myself from the impact when someone does collide into me.

After we reach our final tube stop, the walk to the gym isn’t too far away. The gym is below the railway which adds some rumbles to our workouts! It is really nice, but when I think about how far under the earth I am, and when I can slightly hear the underground tubes running parallel to the gym walls, it freaks me out a bit. We pay a small fortune to belong to a private gym.

Once we finish with our workouts, we either walk to work or catch a bus if we can manage to squeeze ourselves on. Some times the buses are so full, that at times we are literally pushing ourselves into strangers just to get a lift. The walk to work is about 15-20 minutes at a fast pace.

Jack and I work at the same building, in the same room, about 50 meters away from each other. This was a surprise to us, as we knew we would be working in the same building, but didn’t know it would be in the same floor or same room. Our downfall is the little Starbucks that is right across our building’s front door. At least a couple days a week we meet for a latte.

One of my favorite people and someone I look forward to seeing on a daily basis is our building security officer, John. He is Irish and is such a delight. He greets us each day by name. At times, it is as though he knows when some thing may not be going as planned for me; he is always there to say “Ang, what is up Love” or “Ang, are you okay?” He was the first person Jack and I met when we popped into check out our new office before our first day. Unlike so many people in London, he is always cheerful and smiling.

When our days are over at work, we usually start the commute home together. We only live a little over 5 miles from work, and it takes us either between 1-1 ½ hours to get home due to the chaos and dense population.