Blog Archives: May, 2009
Running – Week 9 – Easy runs and cycling
My running schedule gave me a nice surprise this week — a recovery week, consisting entirely of short distance easy runs. Not much else to say about that.
On the bike trail through Boondall Wetlands I made up for it by going on a 31km cycling tour with some students in my research group on Saturday. We took a train about 40 minutes northeast of Brisbane, to the coastal town of Shorncliffe. From there, we cycled along the coast a bit and then through an interconnecting network of park trails. 
Bike trail in Brighton Park I was impressed at the extent to which they had developed trails in a relatively unpopulated exurb. It was a nice, casual bike ride, at a comfortable pace. I recently invested in some padded shorts and enjoyed the cycling a little more as a result.
Beachfront, Sandgate We stopped for lunch to recover the calories that we burned cycling. We ate at a fish and chips place, so perhaps we recovered a few more calories than we burned cycling. It was a good place along the coast (view from the restaurant at left). We hung out around the coast for a little while after, just relaxing in the sun. 
Quarantined cruise ship From the beach we could just make out on the horizon the cruise ship that’s been quarantined due to swine flu. I think we were far enough away to be safe.
| May 25 Mon | Rest day | |
| May 26 Tue | 5.3km | Easy run |
| May 27 Wed | ||
| May 28 Thu | 4.9km | Easy run |
| May 29 Fri | Rest day | |
| May 30 Sat | XT | Cycling; 31.7km |
| May 31 Sun | 9.0km | Easy run |
| Total | 19.2km | Year to date: 236.4km |
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Caribbean cruise: Grenada
Queen Mary 2 anchored in Grenada After Curaçao, our next stop was the island of Grenada. Our ship anchored a kilometre or so off the coast, as you can see in the picture at left, and then we took tenders — small boats that double as life boats in an emergency — to travel between the island and the ship. 
Tender returning to the Queen Mary 2 I much prefer when the ship docks in a port as opposed to being tendered, it’s much nicer to be able to go on and off ship at your leisure.
Grenada is apparently the leading “spice isle” in the Caribbeans since it grows many different spices. I bought some nutmeg and a small bundle of spices to bring home to my spice-loving housemate Lana.
Mt. Carmel Falls, Grenada In Grenada I took my first excursion, which was a walk in a rainforest to Mt. Carmel Falls, a waterfall with a drop of probably 20-30 feet. (The travel brochure called it a “hike”, but it was only a short 15 minute walk, not a hike in my book.) When we arrived the water looked cool and refreshing, but no one wanted to be the first one in. 
Me swimming at Mt. Carmel Falls, Grenada I was not the brave soul who took the first dip, but I did spend a fair bit of time swimming in the water and even scrambled up under the waterfall to feel it pouring down on my head.
One of the neat things about the walk was that it took us alongside a banana plantation. I absolutely love bananas — I start each day with a banana and orange juice, and my grocery shopping schedule 
Banana tree in Grenada basically revolves around needing to go to the store when I run out of bananas. I saw bananas on some of the other islands as well, but this was the first time I’d seen banana plants and it was great to know where they come from.
Grand Etang Lake, Grenada On our way back from the waterfall, we stopped at Grand Etang Lake in a volcanic crater 1,700 feet above sea level. I loved the mist hanging over the rainforest-covered slopes of the crater.
After returning to the Queen Mary 2 by tender, I had my first sunset yoga class. 
View of Grenada and the bow of the Queen Mary 2 I had taken a few yoga classes during our first two days at sea, but being at sea it’s quite windy and not suitable for yoga outside. Since we were still anchored in Grenada and sheltered from the winds by the island, we had yoga on the top deck of the ship, overlooking the island while the sunset. Here’s a view of the island from the ship just before yoga started.
More pictures from Grenada are available in my Caribbean islands gallery.
Next stop: Barbados!
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Running – Week 8 – 2008 versus 2009
Weekly Running Distance - 2009 versus 2008 - year to May 24, 2009 It’s been a rainy week here in Brisbane — last Monday, the forecast called for 7 straight days of rain. I managed to find a few dry times to go out for a run later in the week, but still missed Tuesday morning’s run. As I mentioned last week, I’ve started adding distance to my long runs. This week’s long run got up to 13.2km, my longest run yet this season, and I managed a good pace for the overall run.
The graph at left shows my weekly running distance so far in 2009 compared to 2008 (the 2008 values are the smaller bars inset in the larger bars). It’s exciting to see how much further ahead I am this year compared to last year, due in no small part to my running partner in Waterloo wanting to get started earlier. I suppose it’s good that I am ahead because the half marathon I’m running this year is in August as opposed to September last year. Still, it’s been a solid start to the year so far.
| May 18 Mon | Rest day | |
| May 19 Tue | Rain | |
| May 20 Wed | Rain | |
| May 21 Thu | 8.0km | Speedwork |
| May 22 Fri | Rest day | |
| May 23 Sat | Rest day | |
| May 24 Sun | 13.2km | Long run |
| Total | 21.2km | Year to date: 217.2km |
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Caribbean cruise: Curaçao
View of Willemstad, Curaçao As I wrote earlier, my parents and I spent New Year’s 2009 in Florida. After a few days in Florida, we set off on a Caribbean cruise on the Queen Mary 2. We visited 6 islands over a 10 day cruise.
We spent our first two days at sea and made our way down to the island of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean, just off the coast of Venezuela. Curaçao is part of the Netherlands Antilles, so I guess I’ve been to the Netherlands now. 
Waterfront cafes, Willemstad, Curaçao For me, the defining characteristic of Curaçao, or at least its capital Willemstad, were the brightly coloured buildings throughout the old town and along the bay. 
Colourful house, Willemstad, Curaçao More brightly coloured than any of the other islands we visited, Curaçao must be one of the main reasons people associate brightly coloured buildings with the Caribbean (and must in part have been the inspiration for Disney’s Caribbean Resort in Walt Disney World, where we’ve stayed before).
In order to get the lay of the land when we first docked in Curaçao, I went out for a run around town. After two days on ship (two wonderful days, I might add), it was nice to get out and stretch my legs. It was a great way to see the town and figure out where everything was.
On a moving pedestrian bridge, Curaçao There’s a floating pedestrian pontoon bridge across the bay in Willemstad for pedestrians to get from one side to the other. But boats need to traverse the bay as well, so every hour or so the bridge swivels aside to let ships pass. The picture at left shows the bridge starting to open. 
Pedestrian bridge in Curaçao In the picture at right, you can see the bridge across the bay with lots of pedestrians on it.
Willemstad was the nicest of the cities we visited in the Caribbean — it had a very European flavour to it, and we enjoyed having lunch in a café along the bay. 
Colourful shop, Willemstad, Curaçao I didn’t get out of the city of Willemstad though, as I didn’t choose any excursions in Curaçao. To get out of town, you’ll have to wait till my next trip report, which will be coming from the island of Grenada.
Curaçao waterfront panorama
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Burleigh Heads beach
View south along the Gold Coast This past weekend I went to the beach for the first time since I arrived in Australia. I went to Burleigh Heads, on the southern end of the 30km stretch of beach called the Gold Coast, about 50km southeast of Brisbane. The most popular beach on the Gold Coast is the famous Surfer’s Paradise, which is behind me in the picture at right. 
Me at Burleigh Heads with Surfer's Paradise in the background It looks like Surfer’s Paradise is a monstrosity of high rises. Apparently the world’s tallest residential building is in Surfer’s Paradise, probably featuring the world’s highest apartment rent prices.
Burleigh Heads, recommended to me by a surfer in my office, is quite different. It’s like a town with a beach. There’s a burger joint across the street and an ice cream stand in a pavilion just off the beach. The water was a little cool, and I ended up walking along the beach and just laying in the sun instead of swimming.
Trees along the trail in Burleigh Heads National Park I also did a short hike in the small Burleigh Heads National Park, which is on a bluff at the end of the beach overlooking the ocean. They say you can sometimes see whales from the lookout atop the bluff, but the only wildlife in the ocean were surfers trying to catch a wave. My skin is a little less pale than it was before the trip to the beach and without a sunburn, so it was a successful trip!
See the rest of my pictures from my trip to Burleigh Heads beach in my photo gallery.
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Running – Week 7
Riverwalk trail near Kurlipa Bridge Although we’re nearly a month into autumn here in Brisbane, today was a warm day for running – 24 degrees Celsius by the time I was done my long run. That certainly makes running harder. This week marks the beginning of a planned increase in the distance on my long runs, adding 1/2 km each week up until before the half marathon in August.
The picture at left is on the trails that line the river. This one is just half a kilometre from Brisbane’s central business district and is a major commuter point in the mornings. I run along here Thursday mornings, and there is a constant stream of bikes heading into the city.
| May 11 Mon | Rest day | |
| May 12 Tue | 3.5km | Easy run |
| May 13 Wed | XT | Rock climbing |
| May 14 Thu | 8.1km | Speedwork (which is getting easier!) |
| May 15 Fri | Rest day | |
| May 16 Sat | Rest day | |
| May 17 Sun | 12.3km | Long run |
| Total | 23.9km | Year to date: 196.0km |
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Running – Week 6
Riverwalk trail on Brisbane River My goal running this week was to avoid stopping during runs. Because I start from home in the city and have to run about 1-1.5km before I hit a trail, the beginnings and ends of most runs involve frequent stops for stop lights. Once I hit the trail, though, I’m aiming for my long runs and tempo runs to be non-stop, and I achieved those goals this week.
My tempo and speedwork runs (Thursday mornings) are along the Riverwalk trails which run quite a ways along the Brisbane River. This week’s picture is the view along the river about 2 km from downtown looking back at the central business district.
| May 4 Mon | Rest day | |
| May 5 Tue | 3.8km | Easy run |
| May 6 Wed | Rest day (rock climbing rained out) | |
| May 7 Thu | 8.0km | Tempo run |
| May 8 Fri | Rest day | |
| May 9 Sat | Rest day | |
| May 10 Sun | 11.6km | Long run |
| Total | 23.4km | Year to date: 172.0km |
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Mt Coot-tha Bike Trip
Biking route from Spring Hill to Mt Coot-tha On Sunday I went for a bike ride from my home in downtown Brisbane to Mount Coot-tha, a mountain on the edge of Brisbane, about 5km from the downtown area.
On the scenic road through Mt Coot-tha Being “Mount” Coot-tha, it’s not all downhill. In fact, there are quite a few uphills. According to my GPS, my total climb was 541m over a 28km ride. It felt like more. At one point while riding up a hill I got passed by a runner who was jogging up the hill. And the downhills never seem quite as long as the uphills were, except for the straightaway downhill out of the park where I topped out at 52.5km/hr, pretty darn fast!
Simpson Falls hiking trail, Mt Coot-tha I got off my bicycle for a little bit and went hiking (or as the Australians call it, “bushwalking”). My destination was the mighty Simpson Falls. But they ended up not being very mighty: a dry summer had just wound up here in Brisbane and there hasn’t been too much rain lately. 
Mighty Simpson Falls, Mt Coot-tha As you can see from the picture at right, Mighty Simpson Falls just isn’t so mighty this time of year. But it was a fun hike nonetheless and good to get off the bicycle seat for a little while.
Near the end of the circuit around Mount Coot-tha was the lookout point. Besides featuring a great view of downtown Brisbane as you can see, it also featured ice cream, which ended up being a very important part of the bike ride. While at the lookout, I parked my bike right next to the bus stop for the bus that went from the lookout at the top of the mountain to the street corner 150m from my home in Spring Hill. 
Brisbane Central Business District from Mt Coot-tha Good thing I didn’t know about the bus until I got all the way up there!
I will probably cycle out to Mount Coot-tha again when I’m looking for a good bicycle workout. I might even try a run around the road there when I’m up for a little more distance. It’s almost exactly a 10km loop, I just have to get out there and back, and I’m sure the bike ride home will be a bit harder after running 10km of hills.
I’ve included below a Google map of my route and an elevation profile so you can see that I really did go up and down some hills.
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