Greetings from the Nation’s Capitol! No, sadly I’m not home for Christmas in Washington, DC. We’re in Canberra and it’s 5:35am and we’re here for the 14th annual Canberra 70.3 half Ironman race.
If you’ve never been to Canberra, it’s worth a trip for a weekend if you don’t have anything else to do. I’m biased when it comes to Capitol cities and on a scale of 1 to 10, Canberra is there somewhere. It’s not Washington, Paris or London but it’s well laid out and well planned. Even amongst Australian cities, I can’t say it’s in my top 4 but I have to say watching the sun come up over Lake Burley Griffin is pretty special.
But that’s not why we’re here or why I’m up before the sun. A half ironman, if you’re new here is just what it sounds like. It’s half an Ironman. So 1.9 kilometers in the water, 90 kilometers on the bike and a half marathon (21 kilometers) to finish!
For The Runner it will be an exciting day pushing himself to his limits and taking in Canberra’s best landmarks. For me, well not so much. It’s a day of watching, waiting and wondering if there’s any good coffee in walking distance— so far unlikely! Luckily, I do have a chair and a newspaper and late checkout at the hotel which is only a 2 minute drive away. Hooray!
Wish us both luck and see you at the finish!
