Sunday, September 30, 2007

My nephew will be happy because his team West Brom have moved into second place in the Championship, a position Wolves held briefly, not so long ago, before they started slipping down the league. It is still early in the season.I did go out running this morning and ran for about 1 1/2 hours. For those runners out there, Haille Gebrselassie set a new world record in the marathon of 2:04:26 in Berlin. It's amazing they can run so fast over 26.2 miles ( 42km ). It seems that it is also Sufi poet Rumi's 800th birthday today.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

I still don't feel 100% after my bout with the stomach bug during the week, so I decided not to run the 2 mile race this morning. I did go out for a run however and ended up running between 3 and 4 miles. I have some lower back pain which I am not sure is a result of my cold and stomach bug, but it is not stopping me running at the moment. I have a month to get myself together before I go to Chicago for the 50k and we will see what I do about the 6 hour in 2 weeks time. My friend Ray from South Carolina is running in a 24 hour race this weekend in North Carolina, I will go with him to the 6 hour if he comes up.

Friday, September 28, 2007

It's been a bit of a strange week, started off with me feeling sick thinking my clod had returned. Then having some kind of stomach bug, which has not completely gone but is feeling much better. I don't think I mentioned it but my agent informed me earlier in the month that I had been passed by the latest set of publishers, that's 21 to date. So it's time to have a crack at the next 10. A friend of mine who is an architect/ designer, has just left for Paris to look at a project he may be working on. He asked me to look after his Bonsai while he's away.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

I had one of those strange days. I finally started to feel OK and during the morning my appetite was good and no stomach problems. Then I had a nice salad for lunch, about 20 minutes after returning to work I started to get stomach pains and a feeling like I was going to throw up.I decided to leave work 1 hour early, on the walk home I started to feel a little better. I slept for about 90 minutes and when I got up everything seemed so much better. I was even inspired to go out and run a few miles. My legs felt a little heavy while I was running, but later they felt fine,maybe this time I have turned the corner.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The fact that I still have my stomach problem after 3 days tells me that it is not something I ate. Plus there are a few guys with the same problem.I decided to employ an old eastern european remedy and during the course of the day, I sipped hot water and as I am writing this post I can say I am feeling much better, but I don't really have an appetite.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Still wasn't feeling so great today, did go to work and got through that OK. My appetite is kind of strange at the moment, but there seems to be a positive change this evening and I am hoping things will improve through the week. My nephew will not be happy that West Brom lost to Cardiff in the league Cup 4-2.

Monday, September 24, 2007

I had already decided to take the day off today, but when I woke up I wasn't feeling too good.I had an upset stomach and a bit of an headache. So maybe my cold has come back. It was such a nice morning that I thought I would go for a run and maybe it would clear my head a little. One of my friends who also had a cold a couple of weeks ago said he also felt like his had come back. I got a call late morning from a friend in Chicago saying that it was OK to stay there in October when I go for the race, so I'm all set.Though I am running in the 50k I know at least 2 people who will be running in the 50 mile race, so that will be nice.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

last night my right ankle became very weak, it wouldn't bare any weight and was very pianful when I tried to walk. I think this was a reaction to my 2 mile race earlier in the day. Experience has taught me that the problem is actually in the calf muscle, so I worked on this. The Hamstring on that leg also felt tight. Anyway this morning it was still there but not quite as bad and it got better as I walked around which I could do. I decided to run as I usually do on Sunday's and ended up running easy for 2 hours with my friend Utpal. There is still some soreness but I think it will be OK. I have a couple of long races coming up and need to do some serious training in the next few weeks.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

I went in on the subway with Sadhak for his gig last night. The Yippie Museum Cafe where he was playing was pretty small, but had a nice atmosphere. There was a band on first and then Sadhak played about 45 minutes, mostly his own songs though he did do Eve of destruction by Barry McGuire and ended with a Woody Guthrie song. The audience was small but they seemed to like him, it was a good night out and I was home by 11. This morning I had a better than expected 2 mile race. I have found a group of runners that run the pace I want to run at, so run with them and hang on at the end. My first mile was 7:24, second mile 7:17, for a finishing time of 14:41 again my best this year. I have signed up for a 50K race in Chicago in October, so now I have 5 weeks to prepare.

Friday, September 21, 2007

One of my colleagues at work is also a singer/ song writer and is performing at a club in the city tonight. So some of us are going in to show our support. It's funny I go about a year and a half without going in to the city and now I'm going in twice in 8 days. I signed up to run a 50 K race in Chicago today, the race is by the Lakefront on the last Saturday in October. I may run in a 6 hour race 2 weeks before out on Long Island, for me the 2 races should just about be the same.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

One of my colleagues at work had his bike stolen, he is the second on in 2 months. This is one of the harsh realities of living in New York. He locked it while he went into a restaurant and when he came back 5 minutes later it was gone. I ran for the second time this week in the new shoes I got on Monday, I am beginning to like them and will be happy to see how they hold up and if I will use them in a 6 hour race coming up next month.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

This morning I ate 1 1/2 lbs of grapes ( red seedless ) and then had a large salad at lunch. My cold is feeling a lot better. Last night I was a bit spacey and while I was writing something I kept spelling one word incorrectly, I did it 3 times and thought it was OK, until someone pointed out what I had done. Now the Champions League report; Ranger, Man U and Arsenal all won there their match day 1 games, so of the 6 British teams only Celtic lost their first game an this years competition.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

I had a huge headache for most of the morning, obviously the result of my coldm it also included a bit of a tickley dry throat. It did seem to get a little better as the day went on. When I got home though I felt really tired so I took a nap.The weather is getting warmer as the days go on his week and I hope that will help my cold. Champions League started today Chelsea and Liverpool both drew and Celtic 2-0 to Shaktar Donetsk.

Monday, September 17, 2007

My friend Utpal had to go to Home Depot to get some garden supplies this afternoon, I went with him and he dropped me of at Sports Authority, which is virtually next door. I found a running shoe I liked at a good price, but they didn't have my size, which is 10 US, 44 Euro. Well I have learned a trick a women's 11 is 43.5 euro and fits fine, it's also big for women so they don't sell so many. The regular price is $65, but they were marked $49.99. When I went to pay for them they had a register price of $39.97, can I shop or what.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

It got cold last night down to about 50 F ( 9 C ). For some reason I had a bit of congestion in my head. Ran nice and easy with Utpal for about 6 miles, we stopped for hot chocolate and a muffin on the way back. I've had my windows open all summer with the screens in, it's time to start closing them at night, or put an extra blanket on the bed.I forgot to mention yesterday that Arsenal have gone to the top of the Premiership by 2 points, it's early in the season yet.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

This is the Terry Fox track where I ran the 24 hour race last week. This week I once again ran a good 2 mile time, my second best of the year 14:46, my splits were 7:27 and 7:19. So once again I am showing that the races are making me stronger. Basically I am just enjoying myself and getting into race shape, or so it seems.

Friday, September 14, 2007

My hi speed internet service went out this afternoon, so i took a nap and when I came around it was back. So Adele didn't play last night, I don't know why, I saw her there. I had the veggie pie with salad and a root beer at the Australian tuck shop and it was delicious, it only cost me $5. It was only a 10 minute walk to the Bowery Ballroom from there.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I am making one of my rare visits into the city tonight. A friend of mine is going to a club called the Stone and I am going to the Bowery Ballroom to see Adele. He suggested that we go in early so that we can have dinner at the Australian Tuck shop which I am told is very good. OK we will see!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Even though I felt good at work I was really tired when I got home, so I took a long nap. I was trying to follow the England v Russia soccer game but missed the last 20 minutes when the score was 2-0, it ended up 3-0 and England moved up to second in their group. The 24 hour race probably caught up with me and that is why I was so tired. I feel a lot better now.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

6 years ago today I was on a plane flying from Vienna to New York, when we were told that there had been some kind of attack on the financial district and US airspace had been closed. So we returned to Vienna, refueling in Manchester, England on the way. I then spent the next 3 + days learning about what happened. The experience made me think a lot about this world we live in.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Well I jut got back a few hours ago from Canada. The 24 hour race in Ottawa was great. There were about 5 runners in the race who had also been in Drummondville in July, so it was nice to see some runners I knew. Running on a track is completely different, we did change direction every 6 hours so we didn't go crazy, it also helps your muscles. I didn't have any major problems and managed to go pretty much the whole night. I took one 15 minute and two 20 minute sleep breaks. My unofficial total was 81 miles or 131 km, the official results have been delayed. So I improved on the Quebec race, I have to say I feel a lot better the day after than I did in July. So it looks like I may be getting stronger. Hopefully I can post my official result soon. That's it for now.

Friday, September 07, 2007

I'm about 5 hours away from my flight to Ottawa, I actually fly to Washington DC first and then to Ottawa, I have some meeting me at the airport so all I have to do is get there. I went for an easy jog this morning just to loosen things up, so there you go.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Today was my last work day this week. Tomorrow I leave for Canada to run in a 24 hour race. This will be my second 24 hour race in 6 weeks. I hadn't run one for about 20 years and now I am running 2 in less than 2 months. the last one was on a hilly road course and this one is on tartan track, so they are both completely different. We will see what different there is in the results.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

On my walk home from work this afternoon as I passed my local park, I could see that the leaves on some of the trees are beginning to change. So I guess Autumn is just around the corner. I am getting excited about my trip to Canada this weekend and I can feel it in my running, only a few days away.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

A bit of a strange day today. It was one of those days when you don't really want to work. Here in New York lots of people keep parrots as pets and occasionally they escape, sometimes you will see a flock of sparrows with a budgie in there. Today as I was walking home I heard a strange bird call, when I looked up there were 2 African Grey parrots flying overhead. Lots of these birds seem to survive New York's harsh winters.

Monday, September 03, 2007


It's Labor Day here in the US, so I labored. Well I had to go to work for a couple of hours, the cat needed feeding and there was a Raccoon in the trap. Our Fedex guys have been taking the Raccoons to a local park for us, but this one will have to wait 'til tomorrow. This afternoon I re potted some of my Clivia plants ( I have about 11 of them ) and hopefully I will get some nice blooms, like the one in the photo, this coming spring.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

A cool start to the day 59 F. Both Utpal and myself had some congestion, there is a little flu going around. I also seem to get this when I have a race coming up, maybe it's the body's way of making me slow down. Anyway we ran about 4 miles, when we stopped I had a ginger tea he had a froze fruit. Then when I got home I updated my firmware on my router so hopefully it will work better now when I start it up again.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

I ran in my first 2 mile race in about a month, also 1 week after the marathon, so I had no expectation. The first mile felt very comfortable and I thought I must be running slow though the time was 7:26, I tried to pick up the pace but still stay comfortable since I didn't want to hurt anything. It turns out that I ran my best 2 mile time of this year 14:43, with a second mile of 7:17. So you never know what is going to happen when you get out there. I guess that just running easy and allowing myself to recover from the marathon worked.
I ran in my first 2 mile race in about a month, also 1 week after the marathon, so I had no expectation. The first mile felt very comfortable and I thought I must be running slow though the time was 7:26, I tried to pick up the pace but still stay comfortable since I didn't want to hurt anything. It turns out that I ran my best 2 mile time of this year 14:43, with a second mile of 7:17. So you never know what is going to happen when you get out there. I guess that just running easy and allowing myself to recover from the marathon worked.