Well I looked into the crowd the other night...

...and I saw an old familiar face.

Today, before the start of the Castle Hill Orange Blossom 8k, I had that feeling. Watched the finish of the 4k and saw Cindy, a runner I used to pass most mornings back in my Crestwood days. Then I saw Silvano's wife complete it - also used to go past her even more often. I had a chat with her and then Silvano later when we lined up for the start. They worked out we moved last year, because they hadn't seen me or Mrs BB out and about exercising for over a year. Funny how you know but don't know those you see exercising regularly. In my case, I passed these people for over seven years, and probably spoke more today than in those seven.

Today's race was excellent. I met CRs Colin, Martin Dugdale and Louie. It was great to chat with these gents, and hear what their training/racing plans were. I admire that sort of dedication. Colin was the official pace-setter, riding a bike along the course to help the front runners. It was a good mix of a course: road, bikepath, dirt, flat, some hills, all traffic-free.
I couldn't spot any km markers, so went off internal estimated pace. I wanted to do 40 min, or 5 min/km, but didn't know what the course would be like. My son wanted to beat me. I had an advantage: he had done well in the West Met series, but they were 2k races and he hadn't done any serious exercise since soccer season 2005. Still, I thought he'd beat me, and finish in 38 min. He predicted 42.50 min.
As it turned out, I smashed him, completing the course in 39.50 with Justin doing 42.55 - pretty close to his estimated time (which was an easy target to hit). He was spent, no question, and showed his level of unfitness. I passed him before the halfway turnaround, and even then I felt he wasn't going to re-challenge. Secretly, I was very pleased. It's good to contribute to a lower reading on the cockiness meter.
It was a good-value run; only $10 ($5 for U18s), friendly community atmosphere (lots of "go Hills!" for me as I was wearing my HIlls Athletics singlet - and, naturally, CR cap), challenging mixed course, free drink bottle, "lucky door prizes" at the end. In all, HillsAths did an excellent job. Congrats Steve!

Exercise has been pretty good since last post:
Wed day off (ahhh - relaxing sleep in until 7am)
Thur 8k Clean Streets at 6am - fresh but not cold - the Nike long tights are now mothballed for another year
Fri 18k home/Quakers Hill/Riverstone library 2.15pm
Sat 12k Clean Streets 10am, weights at BLC
Sun 8k Fun Run

Monday is an annual leave day, so will be spending some of it at school. It's Education Week, so YD will be showcasing Kindergarten. I really enjoy being able to be at her school weekly to pick her up Friday pm (my company finishes Fridays at 1pm), and look forward to visiting her classroom tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to pick her up Friday as she was home sick with a cold; still, we managed to get to the library in the afternoon. Mrs BB and she met me there while I took the slow running option.

At last Spring has arrived with warm weather; the combination of solar heating and pool blanket has translated into 30 degrees water temp, meaning swimming for me and YD. Sensibly, Mrs BB is waiting for real warmth: 32 degrees min. She tells me it's a female thing (but not for six year old females, obviously).


On the music front, I am eagerly awaiting the new Elton John CD due out 23/09, while Mrs BB is keen for Tesso's Sherbet concert review.

The AFL finals series gathers momentum, but I still remain three points (1.5 games) behind Don Juan, who must be combining swimming with floatation-style meditation, as he still leads the field on goal difference.

Robert Song (GR) still persists in starting each blog posting with a line from a non-mainstream song; I am more generous and forgiving of my audience. You have a good shot of picking the song in my blog posts, as long as you have a good working knowledge of all things 70s/80s...

"Exit, stage left"