tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64033602024-03-08T08:01:54.610+13:00mattInAucklandfrom a desk in Mt Edenmattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-6906850360038951732009-06-20T09:32:00.001+12:002009-06-20T09:32:50.698+12:00Miss trouble<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnjk-KSgUcoTiX4VwAraCLVAMp1RViDjEkSSlerRnikz8H0Hidb3bxH5xOlQ6pqEDPWKTCQp3i4VfZQYPbKBo97EqJvTEUEU69P-3u50R9HSNhMupMNvKVnJLTu-En2Yv9WkBGA/s1600-h/image-upload-112-769827.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnjk-KSgUcoTiX4VwAraCLVAMp1RViDjEkSSlerRnikz8H0Hidb3bxH5xOlQ6pqEDPWKTCQp3i4VfZQYPbKBo97EqJvTEUEU69P-3u50R9HSNhMupMNvKVnJLTu-En2Yv9WkBGA/s320/image-upload-112-769827.jpg"/></a><br /><span/><br /></div>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-9205028591080436532008-06-07T18:39:00.001+12:002008-06-07T18:39:11.946+12:00Xterra1<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattinauckland/2557197465/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2557197465_715720923b_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattinauckland/2557197465/">Xterra1</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mattinauckland/">mattinauckland</a></span></div>It was a sunny day at the lake, just perfect for a triathlon.<br clear="all" />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-90969299596489172972008-01-01T08:37:00.000+13:002008-12-09T11:07:53.556+13:00A new year, and a new baby<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ngUPyJc7jBoWtsWl67ISkIytiSMMrGZ2osYaz_UZVOvNhonnUFCTtdtjpw48hz3u_Fr95_tyoy69UIQN5lWuHtIE1VhTsYqdMUrb6sxvrQXsw8V2LE74CbbMYZ9hrKgvOAmS4g/s1600-h/2007_1228Anika0010mini.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5150224036863948034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ngUPyJc7jBoWtsWl67ISkIytiSMMrGZ2osYaz_UZVOvNhonnUFCTtdtjpw48hz3u_Fr95_tyoy69UIQN5lWuHtIE1VhTsYqdMUrb6sxvrQXsw8V2LE74CbbMYZ9hrKgvOAmS4g/s320/2007_1228Anika0010mini.JPG" border="0" /></a> Happy New Year to all ... and welcome to baby Anika.<br /><div>J & I now have a wonderful baby girl, Anika Emily Wong. </div><br /><div>She was born at 9:34am on Friday 28 December 2007, weighing in at 8lb 3oz, 53cm tall. </div><div> </div><div>Last night was her first night at home, and it was a real learning experience for her dad. She was up crying for quite a while, and so mum and dad were up about 3 or 4 times last night. I finally resorted to taking her for a 20 min drive to settle her down at about 4:30am. </div><div> </div><div>But finally she had a good feed at 6:30am and is still fast asleep :-)</div><div> </div><div> </div>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-51784750729715410632007-12-25T20:39:00.001+13:002008-12-09T11:07:53.712+13:00More stuff<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgej-Iv3G75gkUKetmYKxofVjQ9z928wm06u1DWb7R5eOc2Wf9aswmRbMO8MewRdxoOXVsgboBS3ZdnFAD1tH2nYwtw6fqseR3jrpvgMjzUhoS0hzO6PVEOeOawvcj7HF5qeuSGAw/s1600-h/image-upload-63-754917.jpe"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgej-Iv3G75gkUKetmYKxofVjQ9z928wm06u1DWb7R5eOc2Wf9aswmRbMO8MewRdxoOXVsgboBS3ZdnFAD1tH2nYwtw6fqseR3jrpvgMjzUhoS0hzO6PVEOeOawvcj7HF5qeuSGAw/s320/image-upload-63-754917.jpe" /></a> </div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /> </div><span style="font-size:0;"></span><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is the family, looking at this blog, amazed that info can go from phone to blog to the whole wide world in a matter of seconds. </span></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-size:0;"></div><br /></span>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-20438301655279847452007-12-25T20:32:00.001+13:002008-12-09T11:07:53.868+13:00Christmas day<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUEB6P1vMa5Hn7pNMwmAvxAl1x-uqoDlWKyhY7iNy3UhD5a2suzxnU9kpP8lqs_-_2PJL9MYI81FstWTTAkx49sifeXCcS_faNOaw_pk9gLKeqHbNgtFpTj4POgX04D8r5dP0hg/s1600-h/image-upload-111-770254.jpe"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUEB6P1vMa5Hn7pNMwmAvxAl1x-uqoDlWKyhY7iNy3UhD5a2suzxnU9kpP8lqs_-_2PJL9MYI81FstWTTAkx49sifeXCcS_faNOaw_pk9gLKeqHbNgtFpTj4POgX04D8r5dP0hg/s320/image-upload-111-770254.jpe"/></a><br /><span>Mad present unwrapping session. Im a bit tired now. Also im 73.2kg today. </span><br /></div>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-85646794597863652382007-12-24T22:06:00.001+13:002008-12-09T11:07:53.976+13:00Boo <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cP3DFPspK6bClPsPUL_RZEh1QvNRIo036rHNgQahk7oRdGTxHAosHfDcaeSrs1nLCzN410axqwSbTymxGEeld5VY1l9k1heuWi3cu8rHK_QkJbPrRpREXyptBGf7ta4HcVRFtw/s1600-h/image-upload-107-773988.jpe"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cP3DFPspK6bClPsPUL_RZEh1QvNRIo036rHNgQahk7oRdGTxHAosHfDcaeSrs1nLCzN410axqwSbTymxGEeld5VY1l9k1heuWi3cu8rHK_QkJbPrRpREXyptBGf7ta4HcVRFtw/s320/image-upload-107-773988.jpe"/></a><br /><span>This is j at 40 weeks. Hopefully he will wait til boxing day. </span><br /></div>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-89113672346118530982007-12-24T21:06:00.000+13:002008-12-09T11:07:54.099+13:00Me<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLOSh4pDnbL8xcLU-l420oIdLYitvXtY5k2zBQhbPv7unKRDTbsEI2irQLU45V2OMd1p16k6o3Mlkw8_jXDRxDiu9apMywlGRUNB4b5kOwFbAwsqpKhM_dV7OvjstafRDAYsy/s1600-h/image-upload-104-718924.jpe"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLOSh4pDnbL8xcLU-l420oIdLYitvXtY5k2zBQhbPv7unKRDTbsEI2irQLU45V2OMd1p16k6o3Mlkw8_jXDRxDiu9apMywlGRUNB4b5kOwFbAwsqpKhM_dV7OvjstafRDAYsy/s320/image-upload-104-718924.jpe" /></a><br /><span>Just testing<br /><br />(I got a new mobile, and i can blog directly from there now ... ahh, new toys :-)<br /></span><br /></div>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-69749719834544850292007-12-24T20:41:00.000+13:002007-12-24T20:46:50.280+13:00Another year later ...It's been over a year since I last blogged.<br />And yet it doesn't seem like it's been that long - I guess it's a reminder of how time just speeds up. I might try getting back into it.<br /><br />Anyway, so not much in the way of training going on at the moment. I ran 6km off road about two weeks ago, for about 40 minutes.<br />I have been mountain biking a bit as well, went for a short ride on Saturday.<br />Haven't been swimming in months.<br /><br />It's Christmas Eve today, and I guess time for reflection. <br />Life over the past year has been great, but I have probably lacked a bit of drive and passion.<br />I'm pretty sure that will change in the coming year, though ... for two reasons.<br /><br />One, I have a new job.<br />But two, and most importantly, J & I are going to have a baby soon!mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1164009623467031052006-11-20T21:00:00.000+13:002006-11-20T22:37:24.730+13:00MAD ABOUT RUNNING<div align="left"><a href="http://madaboutrunning.blogspot.com/">MAD ABOUT RUNNING</a> - I was reading Vicky's running website, cause she just ran the Kerikeri half marathon, and as it happened, so did I. </div><div align="left"><br />On Saturday 18th November 2006, I stole someone's identity and ran in the Kerikeri half marathon! It was basically a last minute decision to run - here's how it all happened.<br /><br />Ages ago, J planned to run the half. She asked me if i wanted to do it - "No thanks!" was my reply. I have basically lost my motivation to run - right now, I'm enjoying my mountainbiking and it's now part of my Saturday routine.<br />So, J was training for the half, but then she pulled a muscle in her leg. Once that got better, she started training again and got shin-splints. So no more training ...<br />About a week or two out from Kerikeri, she was always mentioning that her shins were sore, so I basically said it was a bad idea to run. (Undertrained + shin splints = bad experience on race day.)<br /><br />Now we had already booked accommodation, and we were planning to go up anyway to support the other runners from J's workplace. (It's become a tradition for quite a few people to go up and run and have a fun weekend away.)<br />So I began to turn over the idea of using J's race number and entering, just to see if I could do it.<br />I told a few people on Friday and they thought it was crazy (but not impossible!) You see, I haven't been doing any regular running at all for months - in fact, my training has been really slack lately. Mostly mountain-biking once a week, sometimes road-riding on Thursdays, and the weekly gym session.<br />So, anyway, I packed my running gear and we drove up to Kerikeri on Friday afternoon.<br />I woke up and felt good on Saturday morning - another guy from our group had to pull out and I ended up using his race number (since I was more likely to get a result being a guy - rather than pretending to be my wife!) So, for the record my name in Kerikeri was "Scott Hodge".<br /><br />So, put on the running gear, and headed out to the start line - got there about 7:30am. It was COLD ... spitting down, and a cool breeze. Oh yeah, and i taped my secret weapon to my arm - a couple of EAS Energy Gel pouches.<br /><br />Lined up at the start - probably about half way down the field. Gun went at 8am, and it took me a minute to reach the start line.<br />I planned to run 6 minute k's for the first half of the race, and then take it from there depending on how my legs felt.<br />So, started off taking "little steps" - well, that's what it felt like, a really short stride, trying to go for "minimal leg damage". Quite a few people passed me, but that's what I expected. I hit every km marker basically right on 6 minutes for the first 10km. I wasn't feeling tired but my legs were definitely feeling tight at that stage.<br />I'd taken half a gel at 30 minutes, and another half at 60 min.<br /><br />The course was going downhill now, so I opened it up a little just to test the legs. It felt ok, but I couldn't keep it up for 11kms, so I stayed at the 6 min/km pace.<br />I figured I'd open it up at 16km (5km to go - anyone can do that!), and just tried to keep it steady from the 10km mark to the 16.<br />By this stage my breathing was a bit heavier, but still didn't feel like i was really exerting myself. I had another half a gel at 80 minutes.<br /><br />Finally, I hit the 16km mark at probably 95 minutes. So 5kms to go in about 25 minutes to come in at 2 hours. I started to stride out a bit, taking my normal running stride. My quads were really tight, but they didn't hurt.<br />I saw J and some other GC supporters at the 18km mark - they all cheered me on, which gave me a real boost, and I ran hard to the 19km. Well, it seemed like I was running fast!<br />I passed quite a few people in the last 2kms, and really ran hard down the main street at Kerikeri. Gave a final little sprint to get to the finish line in 2:00:50 (gun time); 1:59:35 (chip time).<br /><br />Had a rest and a Mizone and chatted to some other GCers at the finish line. Basically hobbled around like an old man for the rest of the day ... walking <strong>extremely </strong>slowly.<br /><br />Overall: I'm glad i did it. I can now say I ran a half marathon with no training in 2 hours. Would I do it again? Only if i trained properly. But that's going to require 12 weeks of proper effort - I don't know if I'll find the motivation to do that. Maybe I'll get hooked on running again ... who knows!?!?</div>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1154429689363486702006-08-01T22:49:00.000+12:002006-08-01T22:54:49.376+12:00It's 10:46pm on a TuesdayAnd I feel like blogging, which is a bit strange.<br />This morning I went for a swim for the first time in probably 6 weeks. I decided to stay out of the pool since I put a small hole in my shin during a mountain biking ride. It was taking ages to heal up so I figured keeping it dry was the best bet.<br />So finally the scab fell off, and my leg was practically back to normal.<br />I mucked around something chronic, and got to the pool by about 8:30am.<br />After that much time off, I figured that I should take it easy and swim 500m easy. But after the first couple of lengths, I was feeling pretty good, so I ended up swimming 750m. It was pretty slow going, and i definitely felt tired towards the end - just no arm strength. But at least it wasn't a complete struggle.mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1153251334315656352006-07-19T07:32:00.000+12:002006-07-19T07:35:34.330+12:00What's happened lately ...Well, nothing much of note has happened lately.<br />I've been mountainbiking a fair bit lately, and also doing a bit of road riding.<br />Went out to Woodhill on Saturday, and did a 30km ride in 2:20. Headed off to the Northern trails - rode NZO course, plus a small section of the Specialized course.<br /><br />Work is busy as ... I'm a bit stressed at the moment, because something went wrong at a client site. We will see today whether it can all be fixed.<br /><br />Anyway, apart from that things are just rolling on as they always have ...mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1147236922770832782006-05-10T16:52:00.000+12:002006-05-24T07:30:10.920+12:00Training update6/5/06 - Raced in TotalSport Summer Series #3 MTB @ Hunua.<br />Did the 30km shortcourse in around 1:50.<br /><br />7/5/06 - Short road ride along North Western cycle way.<br /><br />8/5/06 - Ride to work and back on commuter. Seems to be ticking along quite nicely.<br /><br />10/5/06 - Swim 1km @ Cameron Pools.mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1146479227791400262006-05-01T22:24:00.000+12:002006-05-01T22:27:07.810+12:00Swim TrainingSo I got out of bed at 5:54am this morning. I was lying there for a while beforehand, wondering whether I should get out and go swimming or not. As it was, there was no going back to sleep, so I got up, mucked around for a while, got my stuff together and finally drove off to the pool.<br />Got into the water around 6:40am ... saw Brent there. He was just finishing off his session with the tri-squad. He reckoned I should try turning up at 6am for the next session, and having a go with the squad.<br />Anyway, I swam about 1000m. Couldn't quite be sure, cause I couldn't count properly. My arms are good and tired now. Think I'll go to bed.mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1146350295998309082006-04-30T10:35:00.000+12:002006-04-30T19:48:49.316+12:00Road RideSunday morning: Went for a 35km road ride today - out to Glen Eden, up West Coast Road to Scenic Drive, and back home. Beautiful morning for it. I've heard that Sunday mornings are the traditional "big ride" day - that was clearly the case out in the Waitakere's. Saw at least 20 other riders out on the west coast roads, in fact I tagged onto one bunch coming back in towards Titirangi. Makes a nice change riding with a bunch (although i just stuck on the end of the last guy ... don't know if they'd really want to ride behind some random.) There's a whole art to group riding that I haven't really looked at yet.<br />The other notable thing about this ride is that it's a really nasty climb from Glen Eden to Scenic Drive. I was down in the granny ring (my roadie has triple chainrings - yeah i'm a beginner) and really puffing away. I don't know how you'd get up with standard road rings.<br /><br />Stats:<br />Distance: 35Km<br />Time: 1:20:29<br />Max: 66.5km/hr<br />Avg: 25.8km/hrmattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1140990177111589822006-02-27T10:39:00.000+13:002006-02-27T10:42:57.123+13:00History repeatsWell, we are just suckers for punishment.<br />Back two Saturdays ago, J and I went down to do the Lake Taupo relay again. We went down on Friday night, J stayed up all night and ran 10km at 5am. I went to sleep. And then we drove back to Auckland at about 9am.<br />Got back to Auckland around 1pm, J had a quick nap, and then we were off to Mike and Andree's wedding ...<br /><br />Now this weekend we went with J&K to Rangitoto. We kayaked across - about 45 minutes there, walked up to the top, and then kayaked back again (1:15 or so). I was so stuffed by the end of that.<br />Spent all Sunday lying round feeling tired, and now i'm back at work - still tired.mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1108940804920177102005-02-21T11:44:00.000+13:002005-02-21T12:06:44.923+13:00the weekendwas a success. Very big sporting weekend for J.<br />First of all we drove down to Taupo on Friday night, in preparation for the Great Lake Relay. <a href="http://www.relay.co.nz">http://www.relay.co.nz</a>. J was panicking a little (as she does) but I must say that she is more relaxed pre-race than she used to be. We got in to Taupo around 9pm-ish, met up with the team, and then went out to get some food.<br /><br />We rose 5am on Sat morning so that we could meet up with Helen and get out on the course at around 6:30am. She was walking the 3 legs before J's turn - in fact I think it was around 25km.<br />Did the support thing and distributed water, cheered her on etc.<br />J remarked that it was a lot more sedate this year, because GC had only entered one team, and there were less people around.<br />J started her leg around 9 or 10am and turned in a great effort of 65 min for her 9.8km run.<br />She said that it was a lot better this time round cause she made an effort to pace herself, and not burn out at the start.<br /><br />Then it was quickly back into the car and the drive back to Auckland. We picked up a hitchhiker on the way, he must have been around 16-17. He fell asleep in the car which was kinda funny ...<br /><br />Got back home around 5pm, and had to quickly load up the bike and drive to Okahu bay for registration for the Auckland Special-K triathlon <a href="http://www.tri.co.nz">http://www.tri.co.nz</a>.<br />It was a real mess trying to get through the traffic, and then queue up with the other hundreds of women all registering.<br /><br />Anyway, so up early on Sunday to get out to the course at 6am to setup the gear in transition.<br />Parked at Kohimarama, and skated/cycled round to Okahu Bay. We saw the amazing site of 5000+ women and supporters all busily setting up and psyching up.<br /><br />It was a really great event atmosphere-wise, but actually too crowded and busy to actually go out and set a really fast time. Soooo many women, all shapes/sizes/ages ... but importantly all giving it a go.<br /><br />J did really well, clocking a final time of 58 min-something.<br />She told me the swim was just so crowded, she ended up wading most of it (about 12 min to T1). Then she powered through the cycle leg (28 min to T2). Unfortunately she cramped up in the run - not surprising after Saturday's effort, but still managed to beat the 1 hour mark.<br /><br />I was exhausted myself after all the driving - somewhere like 800 km over 2 days.<br />I don't think we'll try the 2 events in 1 weekend again ...mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1103597652166187322004-12-21T15:44:00.000+13:002004-12-21T15:54:12.166+13:00Quick life updateJust an aside as to what's been happening:
<br />* I haven't been training
<br />* J has (sort of) for a triathlon in January
<br />* Been to the gym a bit, and have made it back to 70kg
<br />* Want (don't need) new car audio stuff, like
<br />* <a href="http://www.infinitysystems.com">Infinity</a> Ref component speakers
<br />* <a href="http://www.rockfordfosgate.com">Rockford Fosgate</a> P1 subwoofer
<br />* <a href="http://www.powerbassusa.com">PowerBass</a> Extreme components?
<br />* Want some new cds
<br />* Not going away for Christmas
<br />* Saw Adalia last night, she's growing up fast. 4 months old now.
<br />* Want (don't need) a new mountain bike
<br />* Want (don't need) a new road bike
<br />* Want (don't need) a few things fixed on the car. Like, new rocker cover gaskets, new rear shocks, new water pump, new cambelt, new engine mounts. Next service (200km) should be a cracker.
<br />* Want (don't need) a new job.
<br />
<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1103597016744234192004-12-21T15:36:00.000+13:002004-12-21T15:43:36.743+13:00Lets drag this out a bit ...It's now December, traditionally the month for sun, sand, surf and drunken teenagers all around the Coromandel. Only, this year summer has gone on holiday, and winter's decided to have another go. It hailed severely over the weekend, especially on Sunday, when we were driving to the Sky City bus station to drop Tiffy off.
<br />In fact, it was like driving in snow - you could clearly see the tracks of cars in front of you, and at one stage I floored it in second gear to see what would happen. All four wheels started to spin ...
<br />As Dan says, maybe it's a little judgment on a country that has by and large decided it has had enough of anything divine.
<br />
<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1099604097529759252004-11-05T10:31:00.000+13:002004-11-05T10:34:57.530+13:00Late as alwaysSo I was running really late, not just usual Friday morning lateness, but real bad.
<br />Moby - "Play" was in the CD player ... kept me reasonably relaxed, although I do tend to get a bit worked up over slow drivers when I'm running late. Case in point - I get to the expressway part - 80km zone, but everyone does 90-100km/hr. Except the two people side by side, blocking the two lanes at 70km/hr ... in front of me. Finally got past them ... squeezed through, and then had to slow down as a motorbike ahead of me decides to pull into the fast land. I think I scared him though, cause he pulled back in, and I went past him.
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<br />Beautiful day in Auckland though, truely stunning. Summer is ever so almost here ...
<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1099000612830814662004-10-29T10:51:00.000+13:002004-10-29T10:56:52.830+13:00driving to work, listening to U2So I was driving to work this morning, running late as usual. Popped U2's Joshua Tree cd into the head deck and just cranked the first 3 songs. There's so much emotion in there, I almost feel like crying ...
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<br />It made for a very unproductive start to the day, because I logged onto epinions.com and checked out the reviews for this cd. I like reading reviews of some of my favourite cd's just to see what others thought of them. Often the more eloquent literary-minded reviewers can bring so many more nuances to the surface, they uncover some of the more hidden meanings and feelings that lazy listeners like myself miss.
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<br />so, without further ado ...
<br />David Martin - epinions reviewer -> <a href="http://www.epinions.com/user-divad23">http://www.epinions.com/user-divad23</a>
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<br />His Joshua Tree review -> <a href="http://www.epinions.com/content_133394632324">http://www.epinions.com/content_133394632324</a>
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<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1098927679837603542004-10-28T14:31:00.000+13:002004-10-28T14:41:19.836+13:00writingSometimes all I want to do is write stuff down. It doesn't have to be coherent or meaningful ... I just want to write things down. Usually it's feelings - almost like I'm giving these emotions and ideas a little bit of immortality. It's almost like I have to do this cause then I'll feel a sense of accomplishment - in a sense I am then able to release those thoughts and move onto other stuff because I've fulfilled my self-imposed obligation to record them in a concrete manner. The written snapshot of the blog has captured some of the fleeting perpetually changing liquid thoughts that constantly flow through my consciousness ... in an imperfect manner, but hey, so long as I can preserve the essence of those reflections ... it is enough.
<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1098925953824961042004-10-28T14:11:00.000+13:002004-10-28T14:12:33.823+13:00my running diaryOk, while I was off not blogging, i was keeping a running diary.
<br />It's over here: <a href="http://www.realrunner.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=18054&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1">http://www.realrunner.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=18054&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1</a>
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<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1098924267777811862004-10-28T13:19:00.000+13:002004-10-28T13:44:27.776+13:00it's springI don't know why - I just feel like revisiting this blog thing.
<br />Maybe it's just because I like re-reading what I wrote a month or so back, and thinking "yeah, matt you were onto it then ..." or "yes, that was right and you did well with that post" or "mmm, not so much ..."
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<br />My running phase has come and gone I think. For the summer anyway ... I loved it, but the main drawbacks were that:
<br />- 1.) Makes me sweat a lot. Duh, no surpise there, but it really irritates my skin ... i have eczema and it gets really bad sometimes. To the point where I finish a run, and all I can feel is stinging around my neck and arms.
<br />- 2.) Takes a lot of time - which in summer I'll spend at the gym and surfing and other stuff.
<br />- 3.) Its antisocial - none of my friends really run (well, J runs but we can't run together cause we run at different speeds.)
<br />- 4.) Motivation is dropping. To keep running I need to have a goal, for example a race. I ran two 10km races plus a 13km leg in a 42km relay, plus 3 casual 5km races this year. However, I'm at a stage now, where I need somebody else to train against. Or at least compete against in a given race, so that I have the challenge to motivate myself with.
<br />- 5.) Makes me lose weight! Obviously this is a big positive for most people, but in my current state, it's making me really skinny. Not so good.
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<br />So what now? Guess I'll wait and see.
<br />mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1088461715717147072004-06-29T10:24:00.000+12:002004-06-29T10:28:35.716+12:00Even the opposition gets it right ...I'm no Roman Catholic. But I do agree with <a href=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3574992&thesection=news&thesubsection=dialogue&thesecondsubsection=>Cardinal Tom Williams</a>mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6403360.post-1087941218846879222004-06-23T09:49:00.000+12:002004-06-23T09:53:38.846+12:0028Ok, I may have lied when I said I wasn't going to blog anymore. This is one last post from the grave so to speak ...
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<br />It's my birthday today - I'm 28. I have to say it's not the most exciting thing in the world. I don't know why but I feel either depressed or unhappy right now, not heaps but it's there. Reminds me, I heard on the radio maybe a month ago, that people are being prescribed anti-depressants when they're actually just unhappy.
<br />There is a difference ...
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<br />28. I wish ... I don't even know what to wish for. I don't want anything, and yet sometimes ... maybe I want to go back into the past and relive some of the fun times ... back when life was simpler and dreams were bigger.mattinaucklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10184353024565022871noreply@blogger.com1