Get Well Clarkie!

This past weekend i went down to see Megan and Ned for the Run Auckland event which is part of a fun run/walk series held in Auckland with the idea of getting people out doing exercise.

I wasn’t really nervous even though i am VERY competitive with things like this, and who would have thought, so is my sister!  We got there pretty early but still had about 1 km to walk to the start line, so that would make 7km’s, not that i was counting or anything.

We were waiting for the start of the race down near the back of the crowd and i couldn’t help but notice how many serious people there were there with all the gear and doing all their stretches and getting ready. I though about doing some stretches but decided not to as i didn’t want to wear myself out to quickly. At the start of the race i was waiting for the gun to go off but the guy on the microphone just said “ready, set, go!” and Megan and i turned to each other and just laughed our asses off. I know things are pretty relaxed in New Zealand but come on!

So we take off walking and i couldn’t help but notice that everyone in front of us was running, well they ran for about 100 meters and then started walking, again Megan and i started laughing and that basically set the tone for the entire race, err walk, err stroll on a Sunday for us. We got about 1km in and could hear some people behind us with those fancy running push chair things people put their kids in, our plan was just to stay in front of them but our plan didnt last long as they soon passed us, the bastards!

So we are walking along, cracking ourselves up and the 10km runners who were doing 2 laps started to come past us which was kind of cool. A really good friend of Megan’s Toni was doing the 10km run and as she came by us said yelled out hi, i mean she could have stopped and had a chat but no, obviously running was more important to her, gee thanks Toni!

I have to tell you, some people run very lightly and others are puffing and wheezing and generally making a hell of a racket, i would hate to hear how i run, especially at the moment. So there we are, cruising around and quite happy as we still had one lady behind us and she didn’t seem to be gaining on us at all. The with about 1/2 a kilometer to go down one of the last hills she run past us and then starts walking again, i couldn’t believe it. At first i was like “what a bitch” but then i just found that as funny as hell like everything else that day.

We finished in style by both running across the line and just laughed our asses off at ourselves that we sucked so badly, but then as Megan said, not bad for a guy that was on life support less than 6 months ago. After the run we hung out for a while and got a couple of photos that Megan has already posted up and overall it was a great way to spend a Sunday morning in Auckland. Right now where was my coffee!

Yep, that’s right, my caffeine addiction is back and kicking ass! It was strange being in hospital for so long and not having a coffee, probably being in a coma helped my withdrawl a bit i think, but being at Mum and Ray’s cafe every day has changed that for sure. In one way it is just another step back towards normality for me, and yeah coffee dependency is a big step in my book.

On Saturday i had the chance to have lunch with a really good old friend of mine from my days during my apprenticeship with Air New Zealand, Simon, it was really cool to catch up and meet his lovely wife and kids.

Back in the US as most of you have probably heard about how Fargo, ND is experiencing some terrible flooding which is really heartbreaking as Tedi’s family is there and her older brother has been battling the flood to try and save his house. Hopefully they will be ok and my thoughts go out to those people that have already lost their houses.