Well, my small cold I caught my second day in Australia lasted the entire trip. I coughed my way around the entire country, likely sharing all of my germs with hundreds of innocent people. My voice was hoarse, and at about 40% there, not a good thing as I had 8 speaking presentations ranging from 2 to 5 hours each.

I saw one doctor in Sydney who gave a few antibiotics and some cough medicine and had to go to another clinic in Adelaide to get scrips for refills. My doc here says the antibiotics were not nearly powerful enough for me and my diabetes.

I managed to get through them, get to each city, and meet some great people. I did have time here and there to see a few things, like AC/DC singer Bon Scott’s grave in Perth, a short hike in the Adelaide Hills, a bit of the river in Brisbane, and a hike in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. You can read all the tales at http://cogdogroo.wordpress.com or see the photos at http://flickr.com/photos/cogdog/tags/cogdogroo.

The crowing event was the morning of my last day, when my new friend Westley offered to take me out on his kayak on the Sydney Harbor, and we rowed below the famous Bridge and past that cool Opera House.

So while my running schedule is in the trash (and actually I was still sick another week at home)… I have some great memories.

I am currently in New Orleans for a conference my organization is putting on, and I have brought my running shoes and shorts… but feel like I am back to training ground level zero.

Did you know... "The top 10 countries, in numbers of sufferers of diabetes, are India, China, USA, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil Italy and Bangladesh." (from World Health Organization)
See more diabetic facts...