It's halloween,and the weather is apparently "normal" , with temps at night in the high 40's and during the day in the 60's.A friend of mine from london,who was very sick in the summer has come to New York for a week for a visit.It is really nice to see him looking so well and he seems very happy to be here.

So time went backwards this morning,well 1 hour anyway.It is that time of the year when we go back to standard time ,so we get 1 more hour of sleep.I still woke up at the usual time which was 1 hour early.It has gotten ( bad english I know ) a little warmer and the sunday run with my friend Utpal was very pleasant,with bright sunshine included.I got a reply from the childrens book agency and they want more information so that is a good sign.

In June I had a problem with my right calf while running my saturday 2 mile race,making it difficult to train for a week,thogh I still managed to run a marathon 1 week later.This morning I awoke with some tightness in my right calf and wondered if I was in for a repeat.It was quite cold
(about 41f ),but I warmed up as well as I could and managed to run the 2 mile race in 15min 39 sec wich is 13 sec faster than last week,and my right calf feels pretty good.

My children's picture books ( the Dilly and Dally Tales ) were self published in eastern europe,and when I have the time,I am trying to get them published here in the US.I have just discovered a new agency for childrens books and will send them a query letter today and see what happens.

Here's one of my poems from "Be Happy";

Just be up
don't feel down
wear a smile
not a frown

Put a skip
into your step
see the sunshine
all around.

This is what came to mind as I was walking to work this morning.The actual temperature was 40f but the wind chill factor made it feel like 37f,yes it is that time of year again when they tell you the wind chill factor.This photo was taken in Bosnia and Herzegovina in march.

Heavy rain and srtong winds this morning.Apparently the records state that in 1903 13.3" of rain fell in New York City till now the most rain to fall in the month of October,but so far this month we have had 16.5" of rain with possibly more to come before the month is out.

It was a white breath morning on the way to work today.I oversplept just a little but managed to get to work on time.Maybe the change in season is making me want to sleep more.The air is still crisp, but there is bright sunshine to go with it now.

It really fels like fall is here,the temp this morning when I went for my run with Utpal was 46f ( 7c)
though it is supposed to rise to around 60f today.As we were running I was thinking that at the same time ,the Danish runner Jesper Olson who has been running around the world .Is in London running towards Greenwich to complete is almost 2yr 10 month journey.Congratulations Jesper!!!
Check him out on worldrun.org

This photo is for a young friend from the Ukraine,who has started visiting the blog. My hamstrings felt a little tight today during the 2 mile race,it may have something to do with the fact that it was 49f and raining,but my time wasn't so bad 15mins 52 secs I think 1 second faster than last time.it looks like it will be a cold rainy weekend.The heating has come on in my apartment for the first time since March.

Over the years I have discovered that machines can be interesting things,they often react to the environment around them,temperature,humidity, etc.Also to the operator's mood or attitude.When things are going wrong,if the operator gets frustrated more things seem to go wrong,but if they take a minute to calm down things seem to sort themselves out.it is as though the machine is trying to tell us something about life.

Many years ago during my first winter working after leaving school,I experienced problems with my hands becoming very dry and sometimes they would crack and bleed.My hands would always be getting wet during my work and the cold weather punished the skin.My mother told me that I should put ahnd cream on before leaving for work,being of the the male gender I was a bit reluctant to do this ,but when I did I found it helped tremendously.In later years I discovered that farmers often use axel grease from their tractors to protect their hands when working in the fields.I mention this because for the first time this year I noticed my hands are becoming dry from the cold weather.I will continue to use my mothers advice.

At this time of the year it is still dark when I leave to walk to work in the morning,dawn breaks just as I get to work.
This photo is of a harbour town on the Adriatic coast of Croatia.

A sprinkle of rain early this morning,but then the afternoon was nice,though a little windy,mid 60's and bright sunshine.I am watching Manchester Utd play Lille in the Uefa Champions League as I write this post,there is no score and Man U are down to 10 men with 20 minutes left.My friend who is recovering from colon cancer came in to see us today at work ,he has lost a lot of weight but seems good.

All last week while it was raining so much,I spent all the time walking around in my "wellies",and I am not so sure this good for the feet or maybe even ones posture.Anyway I have a few aches and pains,but seemed to have a good start to the work week.The weather is glorious,cool and bright sunshine.I work a short day on Mondays so I can enjoy the rest of the day.

A very nice morning 54f ( 6c ) with bright sunshine,ran with Utpal about 7 miles.He is still recovering from his flu,but we had a good run.Though it has stopped raining the wind has now become quite strong .Hopefully this will not mean that a lot of trees will be blown down ,as in the past.My nephew Marc will be very happy because his team West Bromwich Albion beat Arsenal in the EPL yesterday.

Woke up this morning a little foggy,must be the change in the weather it has finally stopped raining and there is sunshine kind of like the picture you see here.I think it will be a nice weekend.I am making a shout out to my uncle Alf and Aunt Doreen who are visiting with my sister for the weekend . 

An old friend and fellow ultra runner Ed Kelley and his wife Kim are visiting from California.I got to have brunch and spend some chatting.Ed reminded me that it is 6 years since we were both in the same place together.Which only shows how fast time flies.In that time Kim has begun working in the Sacremento basketball organisation.Also, it began raining a week ago ,and we have so far had 12" of rain and it is supposed to continue through tomorrow.

Since I was born in England and my father was born in Serbia,I am happy to say that both England and Serbia & Montenegro both qualified for the soccer world cup to be played in germany in 2006.England beat Poland 2-1,and SGC beat Bosnia & Hercegovina 1-0 yesterday to complete their qualification.I look forward to seeing them both do well.It is still raining and things are getting pretty damp here,but it is good for the garden.

It's been raining now for 5 days on and off,and we must be reaching totals of close to 6".The temps are in the high 50's low 60's,so it is cold enough to wear rain gear and not get all hot and bothered.There are warnings that flooding could occur in areas prone to flooding,so it might be wise to start looking for the Arc in a few days.

It is definately a lazy afternoon,with not much to say,other than the fact that my sister e mailed me to say she has my bus ticket,for when I go to see her in december.That's it! 

Jesper Olson is a young Danish runner who has been running around the world since January 2004,he has been in New York for the last 3 days and I have had a chance to spend some time with him.His journey is quite remarkable,and if you want to know more go to his web site at www.worldrun.org .He leaves New York tonight for Ireland and plans to finish in Greenwhich england (where it all started ) on October 23.It was really nice to spend some time talking to him about his adventure.

Man! did it rain yesterday!We got about 2 1/2" of rain in 24hrs and some really strong winds blew down trees and some power lines,there were repair crews out all day and part of the night.Things seem to be back to normal today.It was cold and damp out this morning,my friend Utpal has recovered enough from his flu to run ,but didn't run too far.

Today I am doing a kind of comunity service.There is a tennis ground close to where I live ,and for 1 day every 2 months each member acts as the gate keeper for the day.You get a free lunch,and you get to sit around and greet people all day,however it is raining today,so it will probably be quiet.There is of course a good chance that it will still be raining when I go for my run later,so that will be nice.

Maybe it's because I'm an englishman,but I like to run in the rain,though I have not had much chance lately ( it hasn't rained really since the middle of August ).They said it was going to rain today,and when I went for my run it looked like it was going to.well I ran around and around for a while but it didn't rain,though an hour after I finished it tried to.This morning I strained my right forarm at work,but after my run it felt a lot better.Sometimes doing things you like, makes things feel better.

This is a photo of Jamaica High school I took in the spring,I was focusing on the Dogwood tree.This where I saw the film crew.They say the film is called "Around the Universe" so look for the school if you see the movie. 

Just a few minutes away from where I live is a high school,called jamaica High School,it is closed for couple of days fro a holiday.Yesterday when I was going past it on my run,I noticed there was a film crew on the grounds.It seems they were filming some scenes for a movie,starring Richard Gere.I didn't see him but it was interesting to know that it was going on.

A quiet day ,though I did get an e mail from my sister.For those of you that missed it this is the tree that fell over in front of my house acouple of months ago. 

A light mist this morning made it feel quite nice on the way to work,now the day is warming up .Of course it is Monday and once again laundry time.I feel a little tired after all my running on the weekend,but it is a good start to the week.

The weather once again was wonderful this morning,unfortunatly my usual running partner Utpal was not.He has finally fallen prey to the flu bug that has been going around for a while.So I ran solo this morning,and it was great!I ran strong for about 35 minutes and it was a good recovery from my race yesterday,and I have the whole day ahead of me to enjoy.I'ts Sunday!

A few days ago I said that I was starting to feel like I was "running" in my runs.Well today in my 2 mile race I ran 15min 22sec which is an improvement of 31sec over last week.The founder of the race came out and walked the course which was a big encouragement.The weather was perfect,mid 50's.When I run like this in the early morning it really sets up the day for me.