Have Spikes. Will Travel.

Orrrr... I could just travel for sake of it.

Dunedin is not the most exciting place on the face of the planet (if you have suggestions as to where is, I'm all ears). To that end, this weekend I'm branching out and visiting... Christchurch.

Yeah, so it's not much of a step up. Some might even consider it a step down. I'm going with sideways, due to the fact that it's for a good cause and has the added benefits of catching up with old friends (one of whom I haven't seen since 2005!), even if it means leaving Jelle here. Sigh.

Speaking of Jelle, he was disappointed at the lack of mentions he gets on here. I reasoned that it was because if we break up, I don't want to have an entire blog full of raving about him. His response? "Fair enough". Yeah. Gives me hope.

Anyway, back to Christchurch. The original reason for my visit is that Mandy is competing in her first duathlon on Sunday morning. I made the rather brave offer of dressing as a cheerleader and well, cheering. "Brave" here having the meaning of "idiotic, based on my current size and as such, expected appearance in cheerleading outfit". Sooo, might give the outfit a miss and just take an airhorn along, along with a giant size saying "I LOVE MANDY". Hopefully she's not too disappointed.

I thought that was a pretty good reason to visit ye olde Ōtautahi, so you can imagine my excitement when it came about that the New Zealand Track & Field Championships are being held in the same place, on the same weekend! Can you say, kill two birds with one stone?

Or... maybe ten birds, since that's about how many people I'll get to catch up with on Saturday. Good!

Naturally, I've been told by more than one of these ten people that I "should be racing". Ha. Like that's going to happen. I'm racing tonight. In a 5k race that's sure to leave me permanently disabled (moreso than I already am, obviously) - it's been that long. Buuut, gotta start somewhere, right? I figure it's better to start running now, rather than this time next year, when Worlds are "just around the corner", and I've had eighteen months of inactivity instead of six.

To that end, no I will not be racing this weekend, however I will be trackside at QE2 on Saturday, and... roadside at the equestrian centre at Maclean's Island on Sunday morning, supporting those who have clearly made a better commitment to their fitness than what I've shown lately.

Get out there.