St Kilda

Very annoyingly, the injury to my knee reopened and I couldn't run for a week. I'd moved to 4 runs a week and was finding things getting more comfortable. I started back to running this week with a very heavy legged 10km. I started a bit fast and maybe over estimated how far I should have gone to start with. Probably an easy 7km would have made more sense. Anyway, I followed that up today with an easy 12km. After about 48 hours rest, the run today began with pretty stiff legs, but they soon eased and I actually found the run really easy. The plan is to build up to over 40km per week in the 4 runs I plan. I'm currently not working for 2 weeks so this seems plausible. When I get back to work it will be harder to maintain the enthusiasm!

Pigeons playing Pooh sticks

I ran along down to the bay and along to the neighbouring suburb, St Kilda. I'd driven through St Kilda a few days ago and saw a big tent on the waterfront so I went to investigate. Actually, it wasn't as exciting as I thought it might be. St Kilda is a buzzing sea front suburb in the summer but it becomes much quieter in the winter. The tent represented the winter festival and housed an ice skating rink. It's a nice idea, but Australia struggles to really "do" winter and to me it seemed a bit lame.

An empty St Kilda beach on a warm and sunny winter's day

St Kilda has is an amazing hang out for eating and drinking. Acland Street is full of cafes and restaurants, the Espy sits on the top of the Esplanade, which links Acland Street to the other major eating and drinking area in Fitzroy Street. In some respects, St Kilda comes across as Melbourne's version of Bondi in Sydney. Both areas have attracted bohemian and artistic elements, and now attract a young, party crowd. There is a European feel to both suburbs but a darker reputation also exists with drugs and prostitution linked to them.

Personally I can't stand St Kilda in the summer. It is heaving with people, the service in cafes is either rushed or unfriendly, and the suburb becomes badly littered. On the other hand, today in mid winter it was great. The beach was clean, the streets were litter free, and there was space to walk along the paths. St Kilda became a normal suburb, rather than a tourist resort. There were more families walking dogs than skateboard groups and St Kilda beach was beautiful on a mild, sunny day. In some respect it was a shame I was out for a run as it would have been great to hang out in St Kilda today.

Temporary ice skating on St Kilda beach