sjh - mountain biking running linux vegan geek spice - mtb / vegan / running / linux / canberra / cycling / etc

Steven Hanley hackergotchi picture Steven
Hanley
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email: sjh@svana.org

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Sun, 04 Nov 2007

It almost makes me want to learn Russian - 18:50
Though I have not seen the movies yet, a few of my friends have told me the movies Night Watch and Day Watch are pretty good. So instead of seeing the movies I went out and purchased the three books Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch and read them. Unfortunately the fourth book in the series is not yet released in English, as I suggest in the post title, it almost makes you want to learn Russian. Though there are no release dates I can find record of, I suspect the translation of Final Watch will be released in January (matching up with the every 6 months schedule of the last three books), I had better wait for that as it will be easier than learning a Language <g>.

These are really good books, fascinating use of magic and mythical creatures in modern society. No idea what makes me like them so much but I did, one thing I find strange is the marketing blurb on them all suggesting it is like JK Rowling in a Russian setting. I have to say, it really isn't. Sure the marketing is probably just trying to convince more people to buy it, however the focus of the books is more adult as are the themes and stuff happening in them. Though they may suit readers of Rowling it is obviously not a direct overlap, as I personally do not find the Harry Potter series hard to put down. Though I have all but the final book in the Harry Potter series in my possession, and have had them all for most of the year, I have still only read the first 4 books (I read these 3 or 4 years ago borrowing them from a friend) and do not feel a strong need or inclination to finish them at the moment.

On the other hand I rushed through the three watch books in less than two weeks. No idea what this says, but I do think they are a great read.

Looking at the wikipedia entries about the films I am a little disturbed by how much they appear to actually differ to the text of Night Watch, however I suspect treating them as related but seperate works would mean they will still be good to see.

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Mixing up the legs a bit - 18:22
The triple triathlon is coming up in 2 weeks. As usual I am entered in a team of three, however this year we thought we may make a change or two. Shanyn is alas busy with something on Sundays this month so is unable to swim, I think we have managed to find another swimmer, however this has meant we have changed the team name (32 Flavours will be back in action next time we are racing in the traditional team).

Another change we made is for Bruce and I to swap 2 of the legs, as I have been doing a bit more running recently, and Bruce bought himself a new road bike so has been out on the bike a lot. We decided to swap the last bike and last run legs (assuming of course the final swim is in Lake Tuggeranong so the second last run has a break before the final bike leg).

So I decided I should head out and see how I went running the 13 KM final leg of the triple tri. I drove over to the YMCA yesterday afternoon and then rode my single speed across to the tunnel under hindmarsh, locked up the bike and a backpack of cycling gear and went running.

I was not fast, and probably never will be, however I managed to hold sub 5 minute KMs for all but the steep up hills which meant I was able to run alright over the 13.4 KM leg (see GPS data here, it is good to see I kept speed and heart rate remarkably consistent here). I completed the run in 1h10m, however from the lady denman drive underpass I was running along with another competitor out training on the leg and chatting to him, so I could probably pick up my pace there a bit. That is unlikely to be a concern though as I will be somewhat worn out and a bit dehydrated form the first two bike legs of the day and thus could be a bit slower running no matter what.

I have the Gravity 12 hour mtb race in Victoria next weekend, I should probably try to head out for a running lap of the course on Sunday morning. I am also seriously contemplating using my cyclocross bike for the second bike leg of the triple tri this year. That leg has less steep climbing than the others and not much single track (though with the Mt Stromlo facility open there should be more single track in play) so it could suit a cyclocross bike well.

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