Happy Halloween!

It doesn't seem quite like Halloween - there's no blizzard warnings or little kids running around all dressed up and asking for candy, nor jack-o-lanterns on doorsteps or ghost and goblins adorning the lawns. Apparently there is some acknowledgment of the holiday in Australia (our local movie rental store had cobwebs and spiders up throughout the store yesterday), but they really don't get into it like we do back home. No costume parties and not even much trick-or-treating from what we've heard. We've put up our decoration in honor of the holiday, but there will be no candy this year (probably a good thing as it would be similar to the year we were in Minneapolis when it was so cold we only had 2 groups of trick-or-treaters that braved the weather, and we ended up eating all of the rest of the goodies ourselves!)

On another note, I went past Fed Square today and they already have the big (metal) Christmas tree up. I don't know how long it's been there, but they could have at least waited until November!

Grampians National Park

You just can't beat a good road trip. This weekend we decided to get away from the city for a couple of days of relaxation so we headed up to the Grampians (about a 3-hour drive northwest of Melbourne). We had read that the springtime blooming of wildflowers was quite beautiful in addition to the spectacular views and hikes the area has to offer, so we were keen to check it out.

We packed up the car to the brim and managed to head out of town by 4:45 on Friday afternoon - a sheer miracle based on our track record and the fact that we had to pack everything and the kitchen sink so Josh could continue his training on the road. There were no dramas with traffic and we easily made it out of the city and to Ballarat, where we stopped for a swim (there are no public swimming pools of a reasonable size to swim laps in the area of the Grampians where we were headed, so Josh modified his training schedule and swam his Saturday morning workout on Friday night - Kristi had a swim too, so she wouldn't feel left out).

After an hour and a half of swimming we were back on the road and on our way to Halls Gap, which is the only town actually located within Grampians National Park. We decided to push ahead an try to find dinner once we got to Halls Gap, but unfortunately luck was not on our side and all food establishments were closed up when we rolled into town at 9:45 (on a Friday night mind you!) However, a nice lady at the Kookaburra Cafe took pity on us and made us some beautiful spinach crepes and a vegetable stack for take-away so we wouldn't go to bed with empty stomachs. Take-away in hand we found our accomodation for the weekend - a beautiful self-contained chalet within walking distance of Halls Gap. With full tummies we crawled straight into bed and had a very good sleep.

We awoke Saturday morning bright and early to the sounds of nature, and looked out of our chalet to find hundreds of kangaroos enjoying their morning meal. Josh took off for a couple of hours of cycling around the countryside and Kristi walked into town to explore (everything was still closed). Back at the chalet we had a quick brekki of eggs on toast and then were off to see the sights.

As recommended by the visitor's centre, our first stop was The Pinnacle (pictured here). It was a fair hike, but we were rewarded with beautiful views on a very warm and sunny spring day. Then we headed for vistas at Boroka Lookout, followed by another walk for views of MacKenzie Falls. We stopped for lunch and a much deserved ice cream treat, and then made our way to Reed's Lookout and walked to The Balconies for our final excursion of the day. After all of the driving and hiking we were beat and ready for a shower and quiet reading time back at the chalet before dinner at The Balconies Restaurant, where we were treated to a 3-course meal with live jazz music.

Sunday morning (the start of Daylight Savings time) came too early and with massive amounts of wind and rain. It was impossible for Josh to consider completing his workout, so we decided to sleep in and enjoy breakfast in bed before heading back to Melbourne - what a lovely way to start the day! Unfortunately now that we are back home Josh is spending the afternoon/evening completing the workout he could not do this morning, but all is well as it is giving Kristi time to clean up the apartment, do the laundry, and get everything ready for the week. With the work completed, we're now off to enjoy a Sunday evening Date Night - yay for more adventures!

Rhymes with Banana (at least if you're Aussie it does)

'Arana' is the Aboriginal word for moon (at least that's what we've been told), and it is now the new name of one of Australia's largest biotechnology companies.

Kristi's company, EvoGenix, recently merged with a Sydney-based biotech company, Peptech, and the newly formed entity decided that re-branding was in order to create a new face of Australian biotechnology - voi la, the birth of Arana. Here is our new logo, lovingly known as the Arana donut!

To commemorate the unity of the two companies and to share the vision of Arana and everyone's role in the future of the company, all of the folks from Melbourne were flown up to Sydney for a day-long 'Integration Event' last Friday. Although there was much skepticism surrounding the event, in the end everyone had a lovely time - and who can complain about a free trip to Sydney!

Our morning was basically spent playing get-to-know-you games and listening to presentations from the management team, and then in the afternoon we were split up into teams to go on a treasure hunt around portions of Sydney (we were led by pirates and all - too funny!) My team actually ended up winning (thanks in part to one team member's red undies) and were rewarded with a wonderful bottled treasure to take home. Here we are doing one of the challenges for extra points...anyone interested in wagering a guess as to what in the world we were trying to do???

After the afternoon of running around we were treated to rides at Luna Park (the venue for our event). It is wonderful being given the opportunity to be a kid again and, after enjoying the sunset from the Ferris Wheel, I joined various colleagues in rides that hung us upside down, threw us up and down, and spun us round and round like we were in a centrifuge! However, my favorite ride of the night was the 'Dodgem Cars'!

At that point the night had just begun as we headed inside for dinner and dancing. The meal was beautiful and afterwards it was quite fun to see folks come out of their shells and shake their booties on the dance floor - although the constant flow of alcohol all afternoon/evening probably helped some break that shell more easily!

Before heading home on Saturday afternoon Kristi spent time meandering through the Rocks market, taking a run across the Harbor Bridge and past the Opera House, visiting Bondi Beach, and spending time with friend Nikki (we met up with her on our initial Sydney trip). It was an absolutely beautiful couple of days in Sydney!

The Life Aquatic

Over the past couple of weeks we've shown you that Josh is diligently practicing his running and his biking - so it only seemed logical to share that the man is also getting in his swim time. He does some of his workouts in the pool in our apartment (location of the below photo-shoot), but as it is only a 20 meter pool he also spends a fair amount of time at MSAC where they have both indoor and outdoor 50 meter pools.

Gold Class

We had a very posh date night tonight...we enjoyed watching The Bourne Ultimatum in the Gold Class theater at Crown. We were able to get a couple of free ticket upgrades so we decided to make a night of it - never mind that we had to have our arms twisted to buy a couple of Magnums to do so, but between the yummy ice cream and the fancy movie experience it was so worth it!

You enjoy an intimate setting in Gold Class - the theaters only accommodate about 28 people and you are seated in comfy recliners so there isn't a bad seat in the house. But the fun doesn't stop there...prior to entering the theater, they take your food and drink order and note at what point during the movie you would like to be served. We decided to split a set menu for dinner, with a side of popcorn (it's just not right to go to the movies without popcorn!) It was fabulous - they brought us our bread and dips entree right at the start; then we were served our mini gourmet hot dogs, beers, and popcorn about an hour in; and then with only half an hour to go they brought in a warm pear and rhubarb strudel! We were stuffed by the time it was all said and done, but we had an absolutely splendid time. Why they haven't figured out how to offer Gold Class service in the States is beyond us - it's definitely the way to go for that extra special movie night!

No Rest for the Weary

Monday evening we both enjoyed myotherapy treatments to help work out some of the knots from Sunday's run and massage the sore muscles, but by Tuesday morning Josh was back on the bike and continuing with his IM training. Here's a picture of Josh on his trainer in the living room - this is what Kristi wakes up to every Tuesday and Thursday morning these days!

So we recently discovered myotherapy when we were looking for a place to get a good sports massage. Literally 'muscle therapy', the practice offers not only a treatment for sore muscles, but also a consultation and recommendation of preventative care (stretching and strengthening techniques). We've each gone to a few sessions at a couple of different clinics and have been told that myotherapy is the 'highest level' or 'most technical' form of massage and falls somewhere between sports massage and physical therapy. The therapy not only utilizes massage to loosen the muscles, but also uses techniques like 'dry needling' and 'cupping therapy' - we've had both techniques used on us and they seem to work well, even if they do feel a bit weird! Although the practice apparently originated in the US, we have to admit that we had never heard of it before moving to Australia - and even Googling the term seems to find many more Australian sites rather than US sites (both offering treatment and offering schooling/Bachelors Degrees). It doesn't cost much more than a regular massage here, and sometimes less, so we've really started to enjoy it!

Marathon #4

Today we finished our fourth marathon and our first international marathon - the Melbourne Marathon - which we learned is the largest marathon event in Australia (the race director compared it to the Boston Marathon, but he never should have even gone there - see below). We'll start out this race report noting that this definitely wasn't our best marathon, nor was it our worst. We were happy with the overall outcome - an unofficial 4:33 - considering the lack of training that went into our race preparation (prior to this race, Josh's longest run in his IM training program had been 13 miles; and Kristi managed to only get in two 20-milers and struggled with doing any speedwork) and considering how often we've managed to get sick over the past couple of months (the Friday before the race Kristi's sinuses flared up yet again, but fortunately she caught it early enough that she felt okay by race day - yeah to the mum for donating Tylenol Sinus to the cause!)

So on to the race report (also check out the photos). It was a warm sunny day (resulting in sunburned shoulders for both of us) with a cool cross wind at points throughout the race, which was refreshing. The half and full marathons started together, with the half marathoners turning off about the 14km marker. After the half marathoners turned off, there was an out-and-back portion of the race (about 6-7 miles in each direction) with rolling hills and beach views, and then we turned with about 9km left and headed towards the MCG. The highlights of the race for us - seeing friends Sean & Jenn at the 11km marker cheering us on and taking pictures; the inflatable snake with someone handing out gummy snakes around 28km; and passing a Swiss fellow who was running with a jingle bell on his wrist and yodeling at various folks as he ran past (he was truly enjoying his day).

Unfortunately the low-lights list is a big longer than the highlights - the race started 20 minutes late because they didn't clear the course of cars in time (which meant it was even warmer by the time we actually started running); the second water stop was completely out of water and sports drink; all drink stations were out of sports drink after approximately the 15km point (thank goodness we had packed excessive salt tablets) and some had even run out of water!; there was minimal crowd support, especially in the last 10km (we were extremely thankful for those that did come out and support - it was interesting, there were a lot of people out around town, they just didn't really take notice that a race was going on); in the last 5-10k Kristi had serious stomach cramps and Josh experienced a new quad pain; when we did make it to the finish line, there was barely anyone around to cheer us in (they sell this marathon on the fact that you run into the MCG on the same course as the Commonwealth Games and it is 'so amazing' to have the energy of all the spectators in the stands cheering for you...we expected a Bolder Boulder finish, but instead we got a couple of cheers from a few friendly volunteers); the post-race nourishment included water, sports drink, and half of a crunchy pear; and to top it off, Kristi ended up in the med room after her massage with dizzy spells and nausea (fortunately, the medics were great and after spending time laying down and bundled up with a warm cup of tea, everything magically got better).

Despite all of the complaining, we did finish and lived to tell about it. And it was interesting to be cheered on by a different crowd - instead of always being 'almost there' we were told we were 'nearly there', a small difference but it made us smile. It was an experience, but let's just say we will not be signing up for the Melbourne Marathon again. We would consider the half, but will likely find a different event for our second international marathon.