Well it's the last day of 2008. An interesting one to be sure. I have lost some friends and gained a few. I finally made the decision to leave New York after living there for 30 years. I am excited about moving back to live in Europe, in the Spring of 2009, though I know there will be many thoughts of what I leave behind. In a way I have the same kind of feelings I had in my 20's, but as I have said before I always feel comfortable when I am in Europe.

Well the year is winding down, so of course that means last minute things are speeding up.
Had a busy morning with my nephew in Cannock, happy with the result. It's cold out though, -2 C. It didn't feel so bad once I was out there running this afternoon.
I am about 48 hrs away from flying to Slovenia, where I have a mixture of business and pleasure, both there and in Croatia.

I had to go to Cannock, which is a town not far from Penkridge, today. My nephew drove me over there. I was unable to get what I wanted and have to go back tomorrow.The temperature was actually at freezing and for some reason it felt really cold. I have the feeling that I have lost some fat on my body while I have been here and this is why I felt the cold more. I had a nice run out to second tree and actually saw someone out there running in shorts and a T shirt.

Went out for my run just as the Sun was coming up this morning. Unlike the last 2 weeks I did not see other runners out there on the roads. It was not too cold and the run was quite pleasant, running for just over an hour.On the way back I was running towards a golden Sun.

Because of the Boxing day fixtures there are no football games in England today. There was however a game in Scotland, a game between Celtic and Ranger, known as the old firm game.
It's been quite cold outside all day. Went out for my run this afternoon and yes it was cold. I have several routes that I can run in Penkridge and today I ran to second tree.

My sister has a hard time staying asleep for long on Christmas day, so we were up pretty early. Opening presents was in 2 sessions, with a breakfast break in the middle. I managed to get a run in before we were off to my nieces for the Christmas meal. There were 10 of us around the table and of course the food was excellent. We had the traditional turkey dinner, with soy turkey in my case. We are now home and will have a quiet evening.

I wish you all a Happy Christmas, Holiday Season. Be safe and well where ever you are.

The place in England where I grew up is called Gornal, name comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'The place with two windmills'. The local dialect is said to be the oldest surviving Anglo-Saxon language. I have many friends and family that live in Gornal. The area that includes Gornal is known as the Black Country, this said to be because of all the Coal and Steel industry that was in the area. However it may have some other meaning that dates back to Saxon times. I always feel very comfortable when I am in this place of my roots.
It's Christmas eve, there is no snow on the ground and the Sun is shining. Tonight I will go out to dinner with my sister, brother in-law and some friends then sttle down and wait for Christmas day.

Went shopping with my nephew in Stafford this morning, got the last present I needed to but. I think this is the last day of this mild spell we are having.
When I went out for my run in the afternoon it felt like a cool Spring day. I wore less clothes than I have been and was still too warm.. My nephews friend Paul, who boxes Mauy Thai in Thailand part of the year, stopped by. Utpal made a short video about him a couple of years ago. Check it out on youtube. look for the Utpal Marshal channel.

There is a 14th century church in Penkridge and for the last 200 years or so it has had mechanical clock in it's tower. Someone was required to wind this up. The health and safety has decided that the stairs up to the clock are now not safe. So they have suspended winding the clock up. The clock stopped 1 week before Christmas . The village council now has to find the money to make the steps safe before the clock will work again.

The weather is quite mild and it was quite pleasant for my run this morning. I got so warm that I had to remove my hat after just a few miles. I ran a little further than last week and I am quite pleased.

It's Saturday and there is a full slate of English football on.In fact as I write this post the second and third place teams in the Championship are playing each other.
While I sit here it is wet and overcast outside and it seems it is even colder and snowing in New York.
Later today David Beckham will be presented as n AC Milan player, which is big thing to those who follow football.
Yesterday I also found out that in the Christmas Doctor Who Special, all 10 Doctors will appear at some time, a big treat for the fans.

Yesterday while out on my run I saw a pheasant, he was in the hedgerow next to where I was running and would not stay still, long enough for me to take a photo.
Today was quite fruitful for me. I now have the money to buy the farm in Croatia and also booked a flight to go over there on January 1. So the New Year will truly be a new start for me. To top it off I bought some Cherry scones from the village bakery, they still warm! The weather has stayed quite mild, though it is overcast.

A nice morning here in England, at least where I am. Temperature is 10C ( about 50F). Went to do my Christmas shopping with my sister, just have to get her present now. Which I will get when I go with my nephew tomorrow or Saturday. I also managed to get some Soy turkey for my Christmas dinner, so that will be nice.

OK I have been back in the UK now for almost 1 week and I am settling in at my sisters. I am planning to go to Slovenia and Croatia in about 3 weeks time and have to sort out the traveling arrangement. I have made some progress, but need to finalize things. I am enjoying the peace and quiet and the chance to run in the countryside. Christmas is just a week away and it will of course be nice to spend it with my family, it has always been a big family thing in my life.

Though it is quite cold this morning, it is not raining and in fact as I write this the Sun is trying to come out. With the busy day I had yesterday I went out late for my run, it was dark out and that doesn't make it so easy in the country since there is not much street lighting. I did manage to run for 24 minutes without an unfortunate event. My sister has gone out shopping with a friend and everyone else is at work, so I am home alone at the moment. Got to watch some Bobsledding on Eurosport.

There was a nice frost on the ground this morning. My sister asked me to go with her into Stafford to help her with the shopping. It's a little warmer now that we are home. I have an appointment with the Bank manager in about an hours time. I keep an account here in the UK, but usually only get to talk to someone about it once a year. I am finally using my laptop, using my wifi to hook into my sisters network, which makes things a little easier.

My first Sunday run in the UK this trip was quite pleasant. With all the rain yesterday it was quite damp out there, but did not feel too cold. I went out at 8 am which is an hour later than I usually run on a Sunday in New York, of course in New York time it was 3 am in the morning. While out running I saw a lot of sheep and green fields. Running about 6 miles I did see 2 other runners out there. My first longish run was a good way to shake things up a bit.

Just before I left New York someone said to me," It rains all the time in England". To which I said, " Not all the time". I have been here 3 days and so far it has rained at least part of everyday I've been here. Near the end of my run yesterday the Sun did come out for about a minute. Today is Saturday, so I get to watch a lot of football, well English football.

Well the flight to London went wella and the flight to Manchester was even better. The transfer was a bit of a pain, but I survived and spent my Birthday in a state of semi sleep at my sisters. managed to stay awake with a run in the country and slept really well last night. It's cold and rainy here, but then this is England. Happy to be here.

Ran this morning,then had breakfast, finished my packing and last minute details. It was supposed to rain all day, but so far just some occasional showers, which is good. Leave for the airport i less than an hour. Next post will be from the UK.

Well this was my last work day for this year, I will be of to jolly old England tomorrow. I've just spent some time packing and trying up all the loose ends and finally have enough time to tell you about it.

The temperature dropped a lot more than they said it would last night.
When I walked out the door to walk to work it was 20 F. At first it did
not feel that cold, but it did not take long to start feeling it. Some
people have holiday decorations on their lawns, one of them had a
snowman with a sign above it that read Rosty, I think it was supposed
to read Frosty. Yes it was that cold.

There was a light snow last night and it was trying to snow as we went out for our run this morning. The temperature however was 35 F and the snow did not stick on anything but cars parked in the streets.. I was sore from my 2 runs yesterday and was kind of tired at the end of our 6 mile run. Stopped in at our local Cafe for a herb tea and a scone, which was most welcome. The Sun keeps coming out, but it is still cold out there and the strong wind makes it feel very Wintery.

28 F was the temperature at the start of the 2 mile race this morning, but with no breeze it did not feel that cold. My first mile was 7:41 and my finishing time was 15:29, giving me a second mile of 7:48. So a little better than the last couple of weeks. This was my last race of the year, as I will be in the UK in a few days for the rest of the year.
I needed to run an errand this afternoon, so I decided to do it literally and ran about 3 1/2 miles to a store to buy something and then ran back. While out there I saw a couple of gas stations selling gas at $1.99 a gallon for unleaded regular. The likes of which have not been sen for quite some time.
I also saw a police car that had crashed into a traffic light. I wanted to take a photograph, but thought they might not like it.

After running early this morning with my friend Utpal, it seems I spent the rest of the day talking with someone.Sometimes chatting with a family member on facebook, then talking with friends at both Breakfast and Lunch. Then talking with a friend in Slovenia, about my impending there. Before I knew it I was in the early evening. So many things to talk about and do, the important thing being to do.

Do not know why but was feeling really tired when I came home from work today. No work tomorrow, so just 1 and a bit work days left this year. Then it is off to England and Christmas with my family. Looking forward to it I have to say. Still felt a little tired when I went out for my run, but felt better after it.

A few years ago US airlines started charging really big passengers for 2 seats. Well I just heard that in Canada they passed a law that states, large passengers have the right to 2 seats if needed, but can only be charged for 1. I hope I will never be in that position, but it's good to know.
Also, when crude oil was at $147 a barrel, airlines started charging for baggage. I have not heard that this has been stopped now that crude is $47 a barrel.

"I need to get fit" is what Kenny said to me when I saw him out walking this morning, on my way to work. Kenny is about 60 or 70 pounds overweight, he used to work in the Deli near where I live and now drives a cab. He told me that he has been going out early the last few mornings and walking. He hopes to start running also soon. He has seen me out running many times and I think it has inspired him to try and get in to shape.

The Arsenal 'B' team lost to Burnley 2-0 in the Carling Cup Today.

I went to work today after not going the last couple of Mondays.Of course we have just had the long holiday and there were a few outstanding jobs that needed to be done. When I got home there were quite a few things to do there. So I have been quite busy all day and not had too much of a chance to get on my computer. I leave for the UK in 9 days time, so a lot of things to get sorted before I go.
It's hard to believe that it's December already.

There were snow flakes falling as we started our run,this morning. It was not so cold, about 40 F, but it had that wintery morning feeling. We decided to run the 10 k loop by the end of which, there were large snow flakes falling. Stopped in at our local cafe just as it was opening, to be joined a little while later by some friends. We spent an hour or so putting the world to rights.

This morning as I prepared to run the 2 mile race, my second race in 48 hours, I was still feeling some tightness in the right side of my lower back. I thought to myself that I do not have the same speed of recovery that I had in my youth. Once the race started it did not feel so bad and I went through the first mile in 7:44, which I am happy with. During the second mile however my legs did feel tired and the was timed at 7:58, giving me a finishing time of 15:42, which was better than last week.
I am now feeling quite sore, but it reminds me of the way I felt when I was running fast marathons in my younger days.

Well there he is Santa at the 5 mile Turkey trot yesterday.
I was a little sore when I woke up this morning, but was out the door just after 6:30 to run a couple of miles. That made me feel a bit better, after I got however I took a nap. When I woke up from that my right hip was quite painful. It's just one of the muscles back there that is a little sore and I hope one more night of sleep will fix it up.

I ran a 5 mile Turkey trot in Brooklyn this morning with my friend Utpal. It was quite cold, but not too bad. My time was 39 :36, which was 3 minutes faster than last year, very happy with that. Utpal ran 42:27, his first race other than the Marathon in 10 years we figured. Santa was near the finish line cheering people on.

Here in America, Thanksgiving Day is often called Turkey day. Well for me today was Duck Day. I was coming back home on my run this afternoon and as I passed a park, there in the middle of the road were about 30 ducks walking towards me. It was an interesting sight to say the least.
Also, on my way to work this morning I exchanged a simple " Good morning" with someone on the street and it really picked me up.

My friend Utpal has run many races through the years and has a marathon best about 30 minutes faster than mine. The last few years he has only run one race a year, the Self-Transcendence Marathon which is held here in August. Well in 2 days time I will be going to Brooklyn to run the 5 mile Turkey Trot in Prospect Park, just like I did last year. Believe it or not I somehow managed to get Utpal to sign up for it too.
On my run this afternoon I used my Supernova Competition running shoes, I think these will be the ones use for the race.

Well it did not get quite so cold last night and when I went out for my run this morning it was just at freezing. This week is a short week with Thanksgiving on Thursday, but my Monday still requires that I do laundry, so it is being done.
I talked with one of my cousins in New Zealand yesterday, we have not talked in quite a while and she just had a baby girl, Evie Mae 9 weeks ago.
Today would have been my mother's birthday, her 80th I think. I know she is still in our hearts.

The morning is bright and sunny for our Sunday run. We decided to go out to Flushing Meadow, since it is cold enough for the lake to be frozen and it would look pretty nice. However it is usually quite windy out there and this made it feel even colder, well at least on the way out. The temperature was 26 F and I have to say the hot chocolate on the way back was most welcome.
I did stay up and watch the Ricky Hatton fight last night, he won by TKO in the 11th round. It was not that exciting.

With a temperature of 25F and 20 mph winds, I wondered if I wanted to run the 2 mile race this morning. I did run and for most of the loop course it seemed like I was running into the wind. It felt like I running really slow, my first mile time of 8:10 showed it. Then something happened during the second mile, I started feeling strong and began passing some of the people who had passed me earlier. My finishing time was a decent 15:44, with a second mile time of 7:34. Although I was sweating I felt cold.There is bright sunshine so it does feel a little warmer if you get out of the wind.

It was a very nice wintery day. The temperature was just below freezing when I went out for my run this morning. Snow had been forecast for today but that did not materialize, instead we had sunshine and blue skies. It stayed cold, but with little wind it was actually quite pleasant. As I write this post there is a clear dark blue sky with bright stars shining in it. Oh and yeah I am feeling much better today. I got a lot of work done around the house. Hey it's the weekend and I am looking forward to it.

I have mentioned before that I have been fighting something for the last couple of weeks. Well 2 days of cold weather have finally brought the bug out. I had flu symptoms all day, but mostly a runny nose. My energy is quite good. so I guess it is just a case of seeing it out. I have been drinking lots of fluids, which include my Biofar effervescent multi - vitamines.
I did see snow flakes this afternoon, but they were just blowing in the wind and gone in a moment.

It's my friend Utpal's Birthday today!!!

It is indeed cold out. The temperature was 3 or 4 degrees below freezing this morning when I walked to work and 4 above freezing when I walked back. I did however warm up nicely when I watched the England v Germany football friendly. It was a good game England should have scored 3 or 4, but won 2-1, becoming the first team since 1973 to beat Germany in Berlin.
Oh by the way the cat is back after her 2 day hiatus, she seemed hungry but happy to be back.

Our cat at work has been very uncomfortable for a little while now and it is usually because there are raccoons about. Well it seems that during the few days I was not at work they caught 3 of them. Now the cat has gone into hiding, we cannot find her in the usual places, so we are just going to have to wait until she shows again.

I had a strange dream the other night. In it I was having dinner with Britney Spears, she was just a friend and I had 2 children with me. She was very nice, but we we got interrupted by someone coming over to the table to see her. For some reason I guess I needed to see what it's like to be a celebrity. I don't usually try to understand what dreams are about.
This was the first Monday I have not been at work for a while, I got to run early and also get a lot of things done, one of which of course was my washing.

For the last 10 days or so I have been fighting something, at times I feel good, but at others I feel a little under the weather. Well this morning was one of those. Though I have to say when I got out and stated to run it did not feel so bad. When I mention how I feel to someone they say "Yeah there is something going around, a lot of people have it". Anyway I think we had a good run this morning.

I did get some sad news today friend of mine in Bulgaria ran a 2 mile race then promptly dropped dead. I do not have any details.
I did run my own 2 mile race this morning. The weather was wet and windy and once again I struggled with my breathing, though it was better than last week. I ended up with the same time as last week 15:02. So that is encouraging.

It's been a mix of things today. There was a mist when I went out for my run this morning ( I am back on my old schedule of just working 3 days a week), then there was sun in the afternoon and as I write this there is a drizzly rain falling.
I heard a line in a film which said, " We have reached a time in life when it stops giving us things and starts taking them away". It started me thinking. It seems to me that we are constantly gaining and losing things and for a time we hold on to some of them. Life is constant change and some say change is good. Maybe the trick is to always keep moving, onward and upward.

I found out today that some friends I have in Zimbabwe are having trouble getting food. They are in fact in danger of starving to death. They a members of a branch of the meditation group I belong to. We are looking into a way of sending some food aid to them and having it targeted directly to them.
It makes you see in one sense how trivial all this talk of an economic downturn is. When we are trying to cope with less and others are trying to cope with nothing.

A long time ago when I was in college I had an album called MacDonald & Giles, they were 2 guys out of a group called King Crimson. I listened to that album a lot. Well a couple of days ago I found the CD of that album and when I listened to it I was transported back to my college years. Who would have thought all those years ago that I could put that CD on my MP3 player and this listen to it at work this morning.
This afternoon on my run there was a definite feel of a Autumn day with a cool overcast sky and leaves crunching under foot.

Yes folks it's Veterans day here in the U, which means a lot of thing do not happen today. I did however go to work and managed to get in a full day.
It is once again feeling quite cold, but there is nice sunshine in the afternoon while I am walking home from work.
There is nothing more to say!

It has gotten really quiet at work these days. I just popped in for an hour this morning, then had the rest of the day free. It gives me the opportunity to do some writing and of course it is Monday, so I had some washing to do.

The seasons seem to be getting a little mixed up for some things.
While out running today I could see that fall is quite advanced with some trees in late colour and some with no leaves at all. However I did see some flowering cherry trees ( I beleive Prunus Subhirtilla ) and some witch hazel also in flower. This is the second time that these have flowered in the same calender year.
After quite a lot of rain yesterday the morning was very beautiful, with a tempeature of 50F and and sunshine. Utpal and I ran What I call my 10k loop and at the end, sat on a bench and enjoyed the morning.

I was not quite sure how I felt as I went out to the 2 mile race this morning. My right ankle still felt a little sore, but I figured it would not be a problem. Once the race started my breathing seemed to be the main problem. I could not quite get it right. I went through the first mile in 7:22 and the second mile I seemed to be hanging on, running 7:40. For a total time of 15:02. A time I am still quite happy with.

I came home and watched the second half of the Arsenal v Man Utd game, which Arsenal won 2-1,a very good game.

I just watched President elect Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the first time today and I will admit that I had tears in my eyes. There is such a sense of new hope, that we just have not had for a little while.
Today was a day for me to tidy up a few things at home and hopefully get a lot more done this weekend.
My ankle is still a little sore, but there is improvement.

This morning I woke up with a sore calf and was not quite sure where it came from. I then remembered that I had turned my ankle when I went out for my run yesterday. Though it did not bother me much at the time I guess it strained some of the muscles and tendons around it. It seemed to get better as the day went on, but I noticed my hip was a little sore on my walk back home. It should not be a problem, but it just goes to show how one little thing can affect others.

Today in the land where I was born they celebrate Guy Fawlkes. The man who tried to destroy the leadership of a country with his own hands.
Yesterday America elected a man who they hope can restore the leadership of the most powerful country in the World.
I just made sure I got a nice run in this afternoon, on a showery first day for the President elect.

I did watch the New York Marathon on TV and was a little disappointed with the coverage. I was glad that Paula Radcliffe won for the women.
I used to know a lot of people that ran the marathon, friends and acquaintances, but there was only one this year. Someone who I know from the multi-day races is a runner named Shishaldin and she ran.

Well here we are the day before the US Elections and everyone is talking about "History".
I am the only one who can really effect my life. If I can try to live my life in a positive way and deal with the negative things around me, in a positive way. Then I think I can be happy with my life. It may seem a bit philosophical, but we have to be.

Well it's the morning of the marathon and it is quite cool and windy, but with bright sunshine. Probably good conditions for the race. Utpal and I ran around 6 miles (10k)and we plan on watching the TV coverage after a little breakfast. Maybe I'll give a report tomorrow.

Due to other events happening today and this weekend, there was not a big turnout for the 2 mile race this morning. So I found myself in second place for the first mile, my time being 7:20. I had some congestion which did not help my breathing and I dropped back to third place with about 3/4 of a mile to go. With a time of 14:59, I did manage to break 15 minutes and was quite satisfied.

Hey today is Halloween and the weather is just perfect. Believe it or not I spent the afternoon at a pet supply store looking at bird cages. I mean the big one, for Parrots. I had not been in a pet store for quite a while, they can be fun places.

Sometimes when she does not want to deal with everything that is going on in the shop floor. Our cat has a warm and safe place to sleep in the comfort of the lunch room.

I saw this little guy a couple of weeks ago while walking home from work on one of those warm days. It did not seem at all bothered by me.
It seems that while we were getting quite a lot of rain here in NYC, upstate they were getting snow. There is a report that a highway was closed because of 9" of snow and it is still October!

The rain was lashing down really hard this morning and in one place the road was a little flooded. I got a new pair of Dunlop wellies this weekend and I was wearing them, so the flooding was not a problem. I did discover that my waterproof pants are not completely waterproof, oh well!

After several days of cold weather it was quite mild when I left for work this morning. The high temperature this afternoon was about 8 degrees higher than was predicted, so it made for a pleasant day.
Yesterday the clocks went back in Europe, but did not go back here yet, so the time difference is a little closer for a while.

Not quite so cold this morning. Utpal and I went out and ran about 6 miles. We then went into the upper west side to help a friend with some stuff in a storage place.It turned into a nice afternoon, but I spent most of it indoors helping the brother and sister of the friend who died sort through some of his stuff.

Surprisingly it was not so cold this morning for the 2 mile race.The last few days have been a little bit stressful, so it was nice to run the race. It was a bit of a struggle since my legs were still tired from the 2 long races I've done in the last 3 weeks. I tried to just keep my form and stay as close as I could to runners I knew. I went through the first mile in 7:36, the second in 7:29, for a finishing time of 15:05. I am very happy with that.

It was cold this morning, 37 degrees F to be precise. It was the first time that I wore my winter coat.
For my friend who died recently there was a viewing at the funeral home. He worked for Homeland Security and there was an Honor guard by his coffin the whole time. It was kind of special. His brother and sister, who I had dinner with last night, are very nice. She is from the mid west and he is from the Pacific north west. I have some idea what is going on with them.

Things have really begun to slow down at work, but it is hard to say if this is because of the economic situation in the US. We have of course had periods like this before and we were busy at times when we usually are not. So we just have to wait and see.
I have other things to think bout at the moment. The friend who died recently will be cremated on Saturday and there will be a service for him tomorrow.

My run this afternoon marks 6 months since I missed a day of running, or in other words I have run every day for the last 6 months. Today's run was cold and very windy, but the legs felt pretty good.

My upper legs have been sore all day. I think maybe I used some muscles during the race that I have not used in a while and of course they were still tired from the 24 hour race. I guess this is the experience of doing the 2 races so close together. My hip flexors seem to be the most sore. Time will heal them. I did jog a couple of miles again this afternoon.

I woke up this morning and I felt like I did after running my first marathon. My upper legs, mainly my quads were really sore. The walk to work helped to loosen me up a bit. This afternoon I took a short nap and then went out and jogged a couple of miles. This is all part of the recovery, which is all part of running the races. I feel very satisfied with the job I did. By the way did I mention that I was 28th out 90 male finishers.

Today I went out to Sunken Meadow Park, on Long Island and ran in a 6 hour race. It was mostly on trails and was quite hilly. It was cold and windy for most of the race. There were about 140 runners, some from the 24 hour race 2 weeks ago. In fact Byron Lane, who won the 24 hour race, won again today, and it was his 41st birthday. I ran 28.71 miles, which wasn't bad since it was only 2 weeks after doing 76 miles in the 24 hour race.

Well it has been a tough week and this morning I woke up with a slight head cold. Plus the temperature is in the mid 40's F. I decided to help out at the 2 mile race today since I have the 6 hour race tomorrow. I will go out shortly for an easy run. The weather is supposed to be the same tomorrow, so it will give me some idea of race conditions. Otherwise everything else is settling down now.

So today was a pretty normal day, after some of the strange days of the week. The weather is turning cooler.
Did I mention that I am running a 6 hour race on Sunday, I seem to recovered from the 24 hour, but with the odd ache and pain surfacing every once in a while. I think things will be OK.

The day began with the confirmation of the death of a friend who was killed while out running. As a result I spent the day dealing with that, but somehow something inside of me that came from previous experience came into play. I have done what I can do and now just have to let things play out. I am OK.

I tried to call the police precinct today to report a missing person and the desk Sargent at first said I had to come in person to do that. The asked me how old the person was, I said in his 50's and was told anyone over the age of 16 is not considered a missing person. I was the told to wait for them to come home. When is an older person considered a missing person? It seems that the police only want to help find young people who can not legally decide to go missing on there own.

Normally when people put out recycling items, there are a few people that come around and take some of the bottles and cans. This morning on the way to work I saw some guys with a truck pull up in front of an apartment building and load in bags of bottles and cans. I guess they want to cash in with bulk items.

I also saw a large Raccoon running across someones lawn.

Finally. I have signed up for a 6 hour race this weekend, let me see if I can do 50k.

There was not a lot to do at work today, but I got a lot done at home. My friend Carl from the UK called, we had lost contact for a little while. Hopefully everything is back on track now.

Today I ran with Utpal out to Flushing Meadow and we ran around the lake. it was a beautiful sunny morning with a temperature in the low 50's F.
Later in the day I was visited by some friends, Satu and Jennifer Ferentz. They are the wife and daughter of an old friend Dr Ferentz. He passed away on the same day in August that my mother passed away, only 7 years later. I have a very special relationship with them and it was very nice to see them. They had both come to pay their respects on the anniversary of the passing of my teacher Sri Chinmoy.

It is one year since the passing of Sri Chinmoy my meditation teacher and spiritual guide for almost 35 years. Over this weekend many will come to pay their respects. on a kind of pilgrimage to the New York borough of Queens. There was no 2 mile race today. So Utpal and I went out to run a few miles as a start to this day of remembrance.

I have slipped back into a work week where I don't work on Fridays.The workload has dropped in recent weeks and has allowed me to do this. I did get in a nice run early this morning, I felt like I had quite a lot of spring in my legs. So my recovery from the 24 hour race is good.
I am putting together a website primarily for my writing, my poetry etcetera and will put a link here when it is done, it may be a while though.

Photo by Jowan

Ray Kroliewicz is kind of an ultra running legend in the US, he adds a lot of energy to a race and always seems to get any observers involved. He has a family connection in New York and so has done many races here, though he lives in Pontiac, South Carolina. I have known him for probably 25 years, though we were out of touch for about 15 of those. In the photo here you see him at the start of the Ted Corbitt 24 hour race. Giving some direction ( I guess ) to Gary Corbitt, Ted's son.

Photo by Jowan

The guy with the beard is my friend Luis Rios. I have known him for about 20 years. When he was in his 30's he used to run a lot of races organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team and even won a few. Now he runs in some of the same multiday races as me and here he is in the Ted Corbitt 24 hour race that happened this weekend.

When I arrived at work this morning there were 2 Raccoons in the Havaheart trap, yes 2 of them. 2 juveniles, one a little older than the other. They seemed inseparable, which is probably why they both ended up in the trap together. They were quite timid and did not make a fuss when taken upstairs to wait for UPS pickup.
So it's 2 days since the end of the race and my legs did feel a little tired, when I went out for my run this afternoon.

Woke up this morning at my usual time and yes I was a little tight in the old leg muscles. I think the walk to work helped somewhat. I have a sore spot on the ball of my right foot, but other than that everything is good. Last year I ran 72 miles in Quebec and 81 miles in Ottawa, so my 76+ miles this weekend was right in the middle.

IT was supposed to be the perfect weekend for a 24 hour race. Cool and sunny, dry ( no rain forecast). There were 60+ runners at the start of the Ted Corbitt 24 hour race, a lot of old friends and some more recent ones. I got into a comfortable pace, the park where the race was is very scenic so that made the run even nicer.A couple of hours into the race we had a rain shower, but not enough to really bother anyone. I seemed quite comfortable for the first 14.5 hour, then I started to have some problems. I plodded on to the 16 hour mark then took a 45 minute sleep break, this helped and on returning established a solid mix of running and walking. After 1 more hour the rain started and was on and off for the next 4 hours. Sri Chinmoy Marathon team member Arpan De Angelo breifly held the lead in the race and held on to finish second. I was very happy to finish with 76.5 miles, which split the difference between my 2 races last year.
So here I am sore and happy.

Well it's cold out there 46 F and it should be the same during the night hours of the race. Typically I woke up and my Achilles tendon on my right foot is letting me know it is there. It looks like the weather will be pretty much like yesterday, which was very nice in the afternoon. I have time to get an early breakfast and will then take my ride with the other guys from the Marathon team.
The race starts at 10am and so will be finished at that time on Sunday. Wish me luck!

When I went for breakfast this morning I met 2 old friends. Ed Kelley and his wife Kim were in town from Sacramento. It seems Kim's grandmother in New Jersey has died. Ed won the 3100 mile race 2 times and finished second once.It was really nice to see them again.
A few hours later I went out for an easy 2 miles, just to make sure everything is working ok before the race tomorrow.

When I was in college I went to a party and heard the Keep on Truckin' album by Cheech and Chong and later bought the Big Bambu album. I saw a lot of their movies over the years, but never saw them live. They had a falling out and did not perform together after that. Well until now, they are on tour in North America and will be on Long Island later this month. I will however not go and see them, but it's cool to know they are out there again.

With 4 days to go to the start I just received my entry confirmation for the Ted Corbitt 24 hour race this weekend. It seems there will be about 60 participants, most of them local. With 4 of us from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon team. There will be a lot of old friends out there, so I will have an opportunity to catch up with them during the race. My running feels pretty good this week, so I am happy.

Well I came home in time to watch the second half of the Arsenal v Porto match. It was a very entertaining display of football from Arsenal. They won 4-0, but it could quite easily have been 7 or 8. So different to their at the weekend in the Premier League to Hull.

A few days ago I got to see the new DeNiro and Pacino film Righteous Kill. I have always liked Robert DeNiro and of course he was great in this movie. I thought the acting was good and the story did a good job of steering you in one direction, though I did figure out the plot twist before it was revealed. Someone said to me that DeNiro and Pacino alaways play themselves, but I think they are great, so there.

My friend Utpal is sick with the flu again, I think it's stress and he kind of agrees. We did go out and run anyway. It had rained during the night, but it was stopped by the time we went out, we just ran a few miles, nice and easy.
I bought my ticket for the UK, usually I fly direct to Manchester, but it seems there is no direct flight now. I guess it is due to schedule cut backs. Now I have to fly via London, which is a bit of a drag. So it takes a bit longer I am used to that, at least the ticket did not cost too much.

The morning was a little misty, well there was a light misty rain as I went out the door.There were just the usual stalwart runners out at the 2 mile race. I started of about the same as always and felt good throughout the race. Sitting back in 7th place I went through the first mile in 7:08 and finished strong in 14:17 and was quite satisfied with that. I am managing to maintain good times for my 2 mile races. there will of course be a break since I have a 24 hour race next week.

We have not had one for a while, but it one of those rainy days in New York. A nice steady rain that started last night and is continuing through the day. It sort of reminds me of how the Autumn begins, in the past it has been the change, between the Sun and heat of the summer.

Hiccups are interesting things they are not completely incapacitating, but they can be very annoying. I have not had them for quite a while, but I did yesterday afternoon and this afternoon, for about 5 minutes each time. I find that if I relax my breathing a little it does not take too long for them to go away.
I had a short but very powerful run this afternoon, it felt really good.

Yes it's Wednesday and I have been full of energy all day. Actually my metabolism has been going pretty fast and I seemed to be hungry a lot, but when I ate I got energy.

One of my favourite TV shows is back for it's 3rd season. Last night NBC aired the first 2 episodes of the new season of Hero's. I of course got to watch them online this afternoon when I finished my run after work. I think it was a good start.
There is a mosque in my neighbourhood and usually in the morning I see the local worshipers walking to morning prayers. It is still dark and I do not hear the call to prayer as I walk on.

My run this afternoon marked the 5th month that I have not missed a day of running. My philosophy is to just feel when I want to go out and run and unless it's a race day, not have any preconceived idea of how far I will run. In this way I find I totally enjoy my running and when I run every day my body is happy to run. I am very happy with how my running is going right now.

A beautiful fall morning greeted us as we set out for our run. It was time for us to start doing our runs out to Shea stadium. It is the first time since the Spring that we have done this run. In the middle of the run I started feeling like I was really hungry and losing energy, despite that fact that I eaten a granola bar before leaving the house. I tried to ignore it and it went away. We maintained what I thought was a good pace for us. Stopping on the way back for our traditional Hot Chocolate, it was the longest run since the marathon in August.

With a temperature of only 52F, the conditions were nice and cool for the 2 mile race. I had been feeling a little off the last couple of days, but was still optimistic. At the start it felt like I was running slow, but I was up there with the leaders so I knew I was not. I settled into 5th place and just after the first mile in 7:07 was passed by the first placed woman. I stayed with her and passed her going up the one hill on the course. She passed me back and I tried to stay with her for the rest of the race. As I approached the clock I saw that it had just passed 14 minutes and crossed the line in 14:11, my second fastest time in 3 years.

The first fall after we moved into the house I currently live in, I noticed some Autumn crocus ( Colchicum ) in one corner of the front garden. Well it is that time of the year and they are on display. There is a group of 7 of them a sort of purple/pink colour.
The temperature, for the first time since the Spring did not make it up to 70 F. There is a noticeable change in the season..

Almost 30 years ago I was given a book called " The Way of a Pilgrim and the Pilgrim continues his way". I was sorting through some of my things the other day and found it. It calls itself a spiritual classic from Russia. Well I started reading it again and it is very inspiring.
The weather has turned very fall like, it is cool enough in the mornings now that I am thinking of wearing a light coat.
I didn't mention, but my friend Sadhak got a gig this past weekend out on Long Island and he actually got paid. It was a private function organized by a library out there. He has a chance of another one.

The last couple of days there has been evidence at work that there is a Raccoon about, we have not seen one all summer.So of course we put out the Havaheart trap out and this morning there she was. We have noticed that the females are quite docile when captured, with the males being quite aggressive when they see you. So it is time for our Fedex guys to take her to freedom land

We all use some kind of machine these days and they can be quite useful. However when they go wrong they can be a pain. One of the machines I use at work decided it wanted a rest , but as it did so it created another problem. The guy who fixes our machines when we cannot do it ourselves was really busy at the time, so that caused a little delay.
The afternoon has become quite overcast and looking like rain, but nothing has fallen as yet

As I left for work at 5:20 this morning I noticed a very bright Moon in the sky. It allowed me to see that the sky was blue, with a few white puffy clouds.
whatever gave me the sore throat yesterday seems to have gone as there was nothing this morning..
We seem to be in a warm spell at the moment, with temperatures reaching into the 80's F, but more cooler weather is on it's way.

Woke up with a sore throat this morning, but other than that I was fine. Met Utpal on the corner at the usual time. It was cool but quite humid. We ran the 10k loop at a relaxed pace. It was suggested that we maybe go out again in the afternoon. but by the afternoon I did not feel I wanted to run a second time.

The conditions for the 2 mile race this week were the same as last week. It rained overnight, was cool but humid in the morning. This week I had a couple of familiar runners in the race and this helped me with my pace. I was 2 seconds faster through the first mile 7:0, but 2 seconds slower in the second mile. So my finish time was the same 14:27. I am happy that I am consistent.

Last night I couldn't decide if I was going to go to work this morning for just a few hours, or take a day off. Well I slept really well and woke up an hour later than usual, so the decision was made for me.
I went out for a nice run in the morning, it was cool and overcast. I then filled out and mailed my application for a 24 hour race the first weekend in October. I have a couple of friends who have gone up to Ottawa for a 24 hour race this weekend, which I had thought of doing, but didn't really have a ride up there so decided not to.

Seven years ago today I was flying on a plane from Europe to New York. When we got withing about 3 hours of our destination we were told something had happened and we would be returning to Vienna. I spent the next 4 days in a hotel there watching everything unfold from afar. It was very strange for me to return to New York on September 15, the first plane to arrive in JFK. I have never flown into an airport that is completely quiet. Also seeing the plume of smoke rising from lower Manhattan as we made our approach was very eerie.

I have just watched the England football team beat Croatia 4-1 in their World Cup qualifier in Zagreb. They completely controlled the game and should have had more than 4 goals. It seems like they finally played the way coach Capello wants them to. It is the first time that Croatia have been beaten at home ever. I guess the media will now begin to believe in the new coach.

There was some rain this morning and into the afternoon, temp's stayed cool only reaching 71F.
The new laptop is up and running and I have to say it is pretty lively, still have a lot of things to do to make run the way I want it, but I really like it.
Managed to get in a nice run this afternoon and I must say my legs felt pretty lively too. So all in all it's been a good day.

A very nice day here in New York, it's beginning to feel a little fall like.
A few days ago I decided to upgrade my laptop, so I bought an Acer Extensa from Newegg. Well it arrived at lunchtime, I will take a little time to set it up. I am very happy with just the look of it.
Because of the crazy weather on Saturday, the US Open Men's final is happening today. I am watching it as I write this post. Andy Murray, who is in his first Grand slam final, is not having a good match against Roger Federer. Having lost the first set 6-2 and it's 4-4 in the second.

Tropical storm Hanna, which what was left of hurricane Hanna hit around 3 pm yesterday. It was pretty heavy for a couple of hours. but then became just a steady rain. By this morning it was nice for my Sunday run. However Utpal is suffering from a late summer cold, so we just ran what I call my 5k loop. Which was fine with me since I was still feeling sore from the race yesterday.

There was some rain overnight so of course it was humid this morning ( so what's new!). The race field was small this week, only about 20 runners. I was in fact in third place at one time early on, getting passed by 3 runners ( one of them the first woman finisher) about half way through. I tried to use them to keep my pace. I went through the first mile in 7:08. It was hard to breath with the humidity at 91%, but I held on as well as I could. My finishing time was 14:27, second best this year. So my fitness is still good.

It is hurricane season here in the US, well mainly down south. Last weekend Gustav went through down there, this weekend it's Hanna, which is then coming up the coast towards New York. Today it is already affecting the weather, increasing the humidity, that is counteracted by increased winds that make it feel cooler when outside.
I watched the England U21 team beat the Portugal U21 team 2-0 this afternoon. Gabriel Agbonlahor scored a great second goal and Micheal Kightly of Wolves got to come on for the last few minutes.

I have discovered that I can watch the US Open on my computer. So the last couple of days I have watched some tennis before going out for my run and than watched a little in the evening. So far I have watched 2 Federer matches, 1 each Djokovic and Murray and part of the Williams siste 1/4 final.
It has been much warmer the last few days and today more humid. If it was not so cool in the mornings it would almost be like a regular August.

I don't know why, maybe a throw back to the raw food thing, but I had a salad for breakfast and salad for lunch today. I felt pretty good and the day went by quickly at work.

Part of the process of buying my Grandfather's farm in Croatia was to take citizenship to avoid taxes. Well I was told at the weekend that on January 1st 2009, a new law comes into force that eliminates that need. My original plan was to purchase the farm in the new year, but thought maybe I could do it sooner. Now if I wait 3 months I can save time and bother.

Labor Day here in the US, so no work. This meant that I got to go out for a morning run for the third day in a row. It was quite cool and I just ran a couple of easy miles.
The day has been sunny and warm and unusually quiet.
My friend Sadhak called me late morning yesterday to say he had a gig at the cafe just around the corner from me. So I joined a medium sized crowd around 6:30pm and drank Jasmin tea while listening to about an hours.
Oh by the way did I mention that after winning 5-1 this weekend, Wolves moved to the top of the Championship. It is only 4 games into the season.

It's Labor Day weekend here in the US, but this morning was just Sunday morning. This of course means that Utpal and I went for our Sunday morning run. I was feeling pretty good, but he had a hard time in the marathon last week, so it was his run to set the pace. We did what I call the 10k loop and about 4 miles in he called a walking break, which we did for about 1 minute. So Sunday's are back on schedule.

Early this morning a band of thunder storms came through the area and dropped quite a lot of rain,as a result it was very humid again for the 2 mile race, but at least it was not raining. Since it is a week after the marathon my usual expectation is to run around 16 minutes, but last week I was a little better than that 1 day after the marathon. So this I thought maybe I can match it. I thought I was running quite fast, but was not sure, unfortunately there was no split time at the 1 mile this week. I was really surprised when I started my sprint into the finish and could see the clock reading 14:30. I crossed the line in 14:34, my fourth best time this year!

It is now a week since I ran the marathon and the 2 mile race the next day. I have run just easy runs all week, there is still some stiffness in my upper legs, but I feel OK. I am quite happy with my recovery and now trying to decide what my next races will be.

There are just a few days left in August and the mornings are still so cool. In the 30 years I have lived in New York I do not remember it being this cool in August. I am sleeping really well because it is so nice at night, but even so I was feeling quite tired at the end of my work day and took a nap before going out for my afternoon run.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the founder of the meditation group ( Spiritual group ) I belong to. So believe it or not it is a holiday from work. I ran early in the morning in the my friend Utpal and later attended a special meditation at the place where he is buried. There will be several events during the day to celebrate his life.
It is the first time we have celebrated his birthday since his passing in October of last year.

A few interesting things I saw the last couple of days are;While standing outside with some friends the other night a Praying Mantis flew down and landed near one friends feet. I put my hand down and it crawled onto it, allowing me to take it and put it on the grass nearby.
A Sparrow flying behind a Cicada that was trying to fly away from it.
A 2 year old boy walking a Pekingese dog, with his mother walking just in front of him, it was so cute he had a diaper and everything.

Here we are 4 days after the marathon and there is still some stiffness in my upper legs. Of course I did run a 2 mile race the next day so that is probably a contributing factor, though I think it may also help.
It was one of my short days at work, so that wasn't so bad. I have gained back the weight I lost during the marathon. I have had a healthy appetite for the last few days.

I slept very well last night. This morning there was still some soreness, but Utpal and I had arranged for our usual Sunday run and there he was waiting for me ask I came out the door. Of course we were both feeling the marathon, so it was a gentle run. We ran what I call my 5k loop and then stopped to get a drink. Once again the morning was pleasant.

Yes my upper legs felt a little stiff this morning and I jogged over to the 2 mile race not sure if I would run. I did run and expected to run really slow, but as the race progressed I started to feel OK.I went through the first mile in 7:57 so I thought I could finish with a low 16 minute time that I would be happy with. As I approached the finishing line I saw that the clock said 15 something and was surprised to finish in 15:54, with my second mile also being 7:57.

So today was the Marathon. It was in the beautiful Rockland Lake State Park. The weather at the start was quite cool. The first loop around the lake is 2.7 miles and each 1 of 8 more loops is I think 2.95 miles. I felt quite good until 18 miles and then I started to mix in some walking. At that point I was well ahead of my past from last year. With about 4 miles to go I started to struggle a little and my pace slowed. I had been on course to reach my goal of 4 hours and 30 minutes, but I was very happy to finish in a time of 4:45, which is 6 minutes faster than last year. When I got home I weighed myself and I was 4.5 pounds lighter than before the race. I feel really good and if I don't feel too sore tomorrow will try and run the 2 mile race.

The last 2 mornings have been nice and cool with temperatures around 60 degrees F and it promises to be the same tomorrow. The Marathon is upstate and inland a little, so it could be even cooler at the start, which is at 7 am. Ran comfortably this afternoon, so I'm ready to go

Not much to say really, a bit of a quiet day, though I did get a lot done at work. Jogged an easy couple of miles after work

Here in New York you see some interesting phenomena. I quite often see people using a line trimmer to cut their lawns and grass verges in front of houses instead of using a mower.
Or I will see someone using a cylinder type hand mower set at 1/2 inch, struggling to cut grass that is 6 to 8 inches tall. My old teachers in college would go crazy if they saw it.
Ran this afternoon, just enough to loosen up my legs.

Rather than go in and work just a few hours today,since it's marathon week I decided to take the day off and and relax a little more. The morning was beautiful and Utpal and I went out for an easy 3 mile run.

Although it is officially tomorrow. Today is the 13th anniversary of my Mother's death. Yes I miss her, but I remember her very fondly and carry her in my heart always.

So here we are 5 days before the marathon and conditions for the 2 mile race are excellent. I didn't want to run too hard because I only have a few days to recover, but when you get into the middle of a race it's hard not to run fast. Anyway it felt like I was running well and I was quite happy with the time of 14:32, which was still fast for me but slower than previous weeks.I am feeling good about the marathon on Friday.
The GB team are having an excellent weekend at the Olympics, winning lots of medals and moving up to 3rd on the medal table. The first time they have been there in 100 years.

Due to some scheduling problems there was no 2 mile race today, it will now happen tomorrow. So Utpal and I decided to do our Sunday run today. We ran the first 5k together at a nice easy pace, but when I left him to come back I couldn't seem to stop myself from running at a strong pace. A few of my friends have just come into town. Yesterday.
I have been watching on the BBC website how the GB athletes have 7 medals on what is being called "Super Saturday".

Last night we had a huge storm and then it continued to ran for quite some time. The result was that when I got to work this morning there had been some flooding in the basement. I set to with the shop vacs and had pretty much cleared everything up by the time the rest of the guys came in to work. So that they could start their day as usual.
1 week from today is the marathon and I feel pretty good.

While out on my run yesterday I noticed 2 cops in a patrol car had stopped 4 young men ( 2 white, 2 black ), they seemed to be quite cooperative and 2 of them were being searched. This is not of course a typical day in NYC and I am sure not a typical day in most cities.
The weather is getting warmer and more humid, but then it is the middle of August.

They say you should lift with your legs and not your back, that's what I did yesterday. I am feeling it in my legs today. On my way home from work my hamstrings were very tired. I did have a 30 minute nap and when I went out for my run it felt a lot better. With the old method of unloading I would also feel it in my arms and shoulders.

Today was lumber day at work, this usually involves about 8 guys unloading a truck of 14/16 foot boards of Poplar, one board at a time down 2 window shoots. The new way is with 8 foot boards on pallets, unloaded with a pallet jack. However the shipment came with some pallets double stacked, so we had to break these down which took a little longer. The job did only use 5 guys and we learned some valuable lessons to how to do it better next time. This is the first time we have received a shipment this way.
The cat by the way seemed quite content to stay in the packing and shipping area all day.

Our work cat "Nipples" ( yeah I know) is back. I thought I heard her meowing inside one of our sucking air ducts. After opening it up and not finding her, we realized that she was on the floor above us.She had somehow got trapped in a room on the first floor of the building, we are in the basement. Anyway we got to her and she spent the morning walking all over the shop, she was not thin from not eating, so she must have used her hunting skills.
We had thunderstorms again today and it kept the temperature cool, around 65 F (16 C ). So I had a very pleasant run this afternoon.
I must wish my sister a very happy birthday. I did actually speak to her earlier in the day.

This morning it was around 65 F when I went out for my run. The humidity was a little high, but it felt really nice to run. I am 12 days away from the marathon and although I am still running twice on Saturdays and Sundays, I am running less. I am starting what we call a taper. I ran only about 5 miles yesterday and 9 miles today in 2 runs each day.
I am trying to catch something of the Olympics, which seems quite interesting so far. Happy that GB got a Gold in cycling this morning.

My 2 mile race this week was not as fast as last week, but still probably my second fastest time in a couple of years. My breathing didn't feel so great, but everything else was going well. My time was 14:28 and I am very happy with that. We were very lucky that the temperature was in the mid 6o's F and the humidity was also in the mid 60's. So good conditions and a good result.

Abichal Watkins from Wales, who I consider a good friend finished the Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race race today in a New Welsh and UK record of 54 Days 11 hours 36 minutes. I was very happy to hand him the Welsh flag during his last lap.

My friend Abichal is on his lat full day of the 3100 mile race. He has been out there for 54 days and should finish about half way through the 55 th day. He trained hard all winter for this race and will improve his best time by almost a full day. Pretty amazing!

In my post yesterday I mentioned missing things. Well our cat at work has been missing for 10 days now. She has been known to go away for a while in the past and has been gone as long as 2 weeks, only to return happy to see us and apparently none for the worse. So of course we are hoping she will be back soon.

When I got to work this morning one of my tools was missing, I did eventually find it, but it sort of messed up my day. As a result I made a couple of mistakes, which were correctable, but it kind of unsettles your day when something like that happens.

I have mentioned the problem with my Achilles before and that I thought the real problem was my calf. Well it happens that a friend of mine from Chicago is in town for a couple of days and he is a non practicing Chiropractor. He uses the Applied Kinesiology technique. He diagnosed it as a stretch response problem with the fascia of the calf and gave me a treatment. This is the same guy who fixed my foot problem last year.

The weather was really nice this morning, not so humid and a cool breeze. I ran 8 miles in the morning. When I went out again in the afternoon, it was a little hotter and even less humid. I did 4 more miles. I had enough time to get home and shower, then get back to the 3100 mile race in time to see Pranjal from Slovakia finish. The Slovakian Ambassador and his family came out. It was a nice ceremony

It has become a tradition for the 3100 mile runners to run in the 2 mile race, before and after they finish. So today Aprihanal ran the race after 4 days of rest. He ran an excellent time of 12:42, finishing 3rd amongst the men and 4th overall.
I was also very happy with my race. From early in the race I was running with 2 sisters who usually beat me quite easily. When they passed me as they usually do, I kind of looked inside myself to see if I had the capacity to stay with them and I did. For the next mile we see sawed back and forth, with them eventually opening up a 7 yard gap on me. They had however pulled me along to my best time in at least 2 years. A time of 14:08. Very very happy!

Yesterday was the 100 th day that I have run at least 2 miles each day. I had gone 60 days at the beginning of the year, so this is my longest streak for quite some time.
With my increased training and the summer heat, the extra pounds I gained after stopping my raw food diet have almost all melted away. It is just 3 weeks now to the marathon. I was thinking of running a 12 hour race tomorrow, but decided against it.

I know I keep talking about the humidity, but at this time of the year in New York it's a big part of the day. This morning it was 93% while I was walking to work. It was not quite sauna weather because it was only 73 F, but it was pretty close.
As I write this a 3rd runner in the 3100 mile race is approaching the finish line. Grahak Cunningham should finish at about 12 hours into day 47.

For the last 2 weeks cryptic cardboard signs have been showing up, taped to light poles and street sign poles all around the neighbourhood. There is a small notice on the back of each of them that says "Cardboard Bandits". It is a mystery, but quite entertaining.
2 years ago today I found a large green caterpillar, which I videotaped crawling on my hand. I put it up on youtube and it has now been viewed just over 158000 times.Check it out it's called What a Monster.

3100 mile finisher
Asprihanal Aalto the Finnish runner was the first runner home today in the Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race. He finished just after breakfast in a time of 44 days 2Hrs 42 mins 15 seconds unofficially.This is I believe his 7th finish in his 3rd best time. Congratulations !!!

Yesterday we had a lot of thunderstorms throughout the day. Then in the evening it was so nice and cool. When I left for work this morning it was just 66 F which is good for the last few days of July in New York.
I have been taking my Slovenian lessons over Skype, I think I am progressing slowly. Time will tell

About 30 minutes before I went out for my run this morning, thunderstorms passed over the area. Needless to say when we went out it was quite humid. With my second run yesterday afternoon I had completed 9 miles. This morning I ran another 8 and will go out again this afternoon. Not too long after I came back from my run more thunderstorms passed. So I had managed to run between them, however I was so wet from the humidity, it would probably have been nicer to be in one.

I said I was feeling good this week, but as I warmed up for the race I felt some pressure in my neck and shoulders. Once the race started however I felt good. An old friend of mine was running just behind me and told to keep the pace. I felt I was running fast and was really feeling it when she passed me with 1/2 mile to go. I tried to stay as close as I could and came in with a time of 14:20. My best time this year and only 4 seconds slower than my best time last year.
I jogged 2 miles as a warm down and was very happy with my race today.

During the week I was feeling tired and my running was a bit of a struggle, But today that all seems to have changed and I felt quite light and lively on my run this afternoon.
The photo was taken during our visit to the Serbian restaurant Kafana last weekend.

I think I have mentioned before that one of my workmates has been battling Cancer for some time now. Well this week he was told that after 12 different types of treatment, it is spreading and basically there is nothing more they can do. Needless to say it is a bit of a bummer.

This by the way is my 1000 post since I started this blog, it's been just about 3 years since I started, so not bad.

On my way to work in the mornings I pass an area where someone has planted some Mint. It is actually growing through the fence near to the sidewalk. So for the last few mornings I have been picking some of it and making tea at work 2 or 3 times a day.
The copy of my Birth certificate that I ordered came today. They said it would take 3 weeks, but it came in 9 days. I am getting closer to Croatian citizenship and purchase of the farm.

A much cooler day, about 10 degrees cooler than they predicted. It feels nice and there is a nice breeze.


It's not such a great shot and it's a week late, but this is Beth Orton performing at the Celebrate Brooklyn concert I went to 10 days ago.

It is a little too hot and the Sun is a little too strong to do much today. Of course it is Monday and it is a perfect day to do washing, there is even a bit of a breeze to go with the sunshine.
Two of the stores near to the apartment building have been closed for a short time and 6 families have been found temporary housing by the red cross. It seems the landlord had a building inspector say the building was safe 3 weeks ago. So I guess some heads will roll.

As I approached the place where we were to meet to go to Kafana, I saw that the street was blocked off. There were about 10 police cars and 7 fire engines. It seems that in the old apartment building there, the ceilings of 2 apartments had collapsed.
Finally after a few cell phone calls the group of 7 did meet up.There were 2 Americans, 2 Bulgarians, 2 Serbs and me the mix of English Serb.
We got to Kafana a little early and had to wait about 20 minutes. It was the first time since they opened that they were opening for the lunchtime period. We ordered a range of items to get a feel of what they had. We spent 1 1/2 hours there the food was good. Besides us there was a family of 5 and 2 couples in a place that holds around 30.

This morning it was already 78 F and 85% humidity when Utpal ( who just got back into town ) went out for our Sunday run. I ran 6 miles then added 2 more on the 3100 mile race course, I will go out this afternoon for a few more miles. The last few days the high has been 93 F ( 33C), so it's been kinda warm.

This week it was still quite hot 77 F, but not so humid 66%. I was feeling good both when I woke up and as I ran over to the race. I actually felt good when the race started, but seemed to be struggling in the second mile, though some of the faster runners were not that far in front of me. My finishing time was 15:07 which was 5 seconds faster than last week, so I stopped slowing down.
I went over and ran an additional 4 miles on the 3100 mile race course. so a decent day.
I will not be going out again today because I am going with a few friends to a Serbian restaurant in the East village, I mentioned it earlier in the week. We decided to have a late lunch there.

The humidity has not been too bad all day, but it's been quite hot, with a temperature of 87 F ( 31C). The heat index was about 90 F and there is a heat advisory until tomorrow evening. There is a nice breeze which is a saving grace. When you are in the Sun it is very strong and you can feel it burning very quickly
My running is good and I hope that the humidity will not be too high tomorrow for the 2 mile race.

I don't know if it's because of the increased humidity, but I was really sleepy this afternoon. I somehow managed to get through my work day, but it was a long slow walk home.
I think maybe I need to take an early night. Fortunately I only have to work a few hours tomorrow.

A few days ago I read a review of a new Serbian restaurant in the East village. They said the food was just like in Belgrade. So last night one of the guys from work went in and checked it out, giving a favourable account of things. Right now we have about 5 guys who want to go in on Saturday and have lunch there.

I seem to be feeling all the running I did this weekend. My legs felt a little heavy when I went out for my run this afternoon. That is all part of the running game we play. My right achilles is a bit sore, though I think that comes from the fact that my right calf is also a bit tight. This should all get better as the week progresses. It's 86 F ( 30 C), with the humidity at 61%.

With a short day at work, some rain in the morning and it being laundry day. I had to have something to do during the day. So I played this computer game Mafia War. I have only been playing it a couple of days and don't have any "Family" members yet, but I'm up to level 3 and I have some property and a few weapons. I have won a few fights and lost a few, but I'm doing OK.
In other news. A couple of weeks ago I got a pimple on my left knee and now I have one on my right knee. What's going on I'm not eating chocolate!

We had a great night . First we took the Long Island Rail Road to Brooklyn, which is only $6:50 round trip for a same day return on weekends and only takes 15 minutes. Then it was a 5 minute subway ride to Prospect Park and a 15 minute walk across the park to the Band shell. It only cost $3 for the concert, we got great seats and Beth was really good. She did songs from all 3 of her albums and played for about 90 minutes.
I got about 5 1/2 hours of sleep and went out early for my run this morning. Utpal has gone north of the border to visit with his family this week, so I ran alone. I ran my usual 6 mile loop and added 1 more mile on the 3100 mile race course. I will go out again this afternoon.
A note to Utpal, the berries were great this week

For the last couple of days the humidity has been low, so of course on race day it would be 76%. I knew I wasn't running so fast and my finishing time was 15:12. My slowest in 2 months. Three running friends from the 10 day race had come out to see the 3100 mile race. Bob Oberkher ran the 2 mile race, Luis Rios and Shishaldin decided to do some laps around the 3100 mile course, I joined them later and did another 8 miles, giving me a total of 10 miles for the day.

I am going into Prospect Park, Brooklyn tonight to see Beth Orton, with my friend Sadhak. She is giving a concert as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn series

I saw 2 interesting things on the way to work this morning; First I saw a beetle on the sidewalk, upside down waving it's feet in the air. I flipped it over and was amazed at how big it was, about 2 inches long and 3/4 of an inch wide. A real monster.

Here in New York drivers have this tendency to keep driving on a flat tire until they get to where they are going. I saw a minivan this morning where the driver had obviously done this and when he made a turn near his house, had stripped the tire off and driven on the wheel rim. It was an alloy wheel which a piece had then broken off and gauged into the road surface. Only in New York!

I have tried calling the warranty department at Circuit City a few times and always get a busy signal. Maybe this is their way of making people accept what ever warranty they want to give and then not have to deal with any problems that occur.
Today was hot 88F ( 31 C ) but the humidity was a low 26% so it actually felt quite nice. Well to me at least

I think the 2 nights of bad sleep finally made me tired enough to sleep well last night. What a difference it mad, because I felt so much better today.
When I got home I had to call Circuit City to ask about an international warranty for my cousin. After making it past a phalanx of recorded messages I finally spoke with a live person, who couldn't answer my question. She said she would transfer me to the warranty department. After 2 more recorded messages I got a busy signal. so I hung up. The "product assistant" had given me the number before she transferred me so at least I can try later.
My barber friend says that people have been taking photo's of my Clivia that is on display in his shop. That's nice eh.

For some reason the last couple of nights I have not been sleeping that well. It is probably because of the high humidity. Anyway I came home from work today feeling like I need a nap.
Another thing I have noticed this summer is that the Sun seems to be stronger. With my skin type I usually go straight to brown when I burn, but this year I seem to be burning red. I usually do not notice it though because it is not so

Yet another humid day, though there was some Sun today. I only had to work 3 hours today, so it was like my holiday continued.
It is looking like I am going to have to take Croatian citizenship to make it easier to buy my Grandfather's farm, I don't think it's a big deal, but it will save me quite a bit of money in taxes. We will see.
I have now gone 76 days when I have run at least 2 miles each day

So for the first time this summer I went out to run twice today. First in the morning I went out with Utpal, I felt kind of heavy the whole run, but stayed strong the full distance of 6 miles. It was very humid and I was quite wet when I finished.
Just after 2pm I went out again and felt surprisingly strong, it was a little less humid so I stayed out a little longer and ran 7 miles this time. some of it on the 3100 mile course while chatting with a couple of the runners.

It rained through the night and was trying to rain lightly before the start of the 2 mile race. As I started the race I didn't feel like I was running fast, but I knew from my position in the field that I was doing ok. The last 1/2 mile I seemed to be labouring a little, but kept my form and finished well, with a time of 14:51. Some said the air was a bit heavy, but when I got home and weighed myself I realized that I had gained 2 lbs since yesterday. I ate too much on 4th of July.

It is Independence day in America. When I went for my run this morning it rained lightly, which was quite refreshing.
Later I talked with my cousin in Rijeka, Croatia. He has sent me the first edition of the contract for my Grandfather's farm. Through the magic of Skype we talked about the details of me purchasing it. It is quite exciting to think that I will own the farm which was owned by my grandfather Nikola Jakovic and will once again be owned by me Nikola Jakovic.

I just got the last poem to complete my newest collection, it goes like this;

Simply put
the end
has come
when everything
we do
is done...

The collection is called "From a Joker". It is my 8th book of poems.

I saw a headline in the paper today that said, the average price of a gallon of gasoline ( petrol) in NYC is $4:33 and the average price of a gallon if milk is $ 4:37. It's amazing isn't it? They say the economy is slowing down but not in recession, oh well!

I Think I mentioned before, that for the first time this year I have a second Clivia from my collection that is flowering. This year I have chosen to display them in my local barber shop, the barber is an old friend of mine. Over the next few days I will post 2 or 3 photo's from that location. Here is the first one.

This is the last day of this years raw food diet for me. I am very happy with how it has gone, my weight is just about the same as it was last year at this time. Just like last year I have decided to take a few days and then start to build up my running training.
This past weekend the weather was hot and humid, today it is much drier and not so hot, but the Sun is very strong and one can burn quite quickly if not careful.

OK so I am nearing the end of my raw food stint for this year. When I went out for my Sunday run with Utpal my legs felt a little tired, partly from the race yesterday and I think partly from not eating enough protein the last couple of days. The fact that it was also 84% humidity may have helped to make it a bit of a struggle.anyway I managed and near the end I stopped and bought myself, my new treat for my Sunday run, a bottle of Perrier water.

So once again it is Saturday morning and time to run a 2 mile race. Once the race got started I didn't feel so fast. Maybe it was the very humid conditions, because some of the fast runners that usually beat me easily, were only just in front of me for most of the race. In fact I just beat out one runner that I had not beaten for 2 years. My time was 14:55 which is 13 seconds slower than last week, but now I have gone under 15 minutes 2 weeks in a row, so that's good.

The humidity by the way was 84%, so yes it was a little sticky !

Along with a sore back I had a sore neck last week before the 2 mile race. The back got better, but the sore neck kept coming and going during the week.Finally a couple of days ago I realized that the source of this problem is the small fan I have blowing on me while I sit at the computer. It is blowing cold air into my left ear and this somehow is making my neck ache. It has never happened before and I am wondering if in some strange way, the fact that I am on this raw food diet has made my ear sensitive. It only really bothers me for a time after I wake up

For some reason starting this morning and going on all day, I have the the "Smith's " song "Girlfriend in a coma", going through my head.
Today was really humid but wasn't that uncomfortable. One of the guys at work is on vacation, he is the one that does my old job, so I have been covering it and someone else is doing my current job. It's a nice change.

On my way to work I walk past these 2 EMT vehicles parked on a lot behind a padlocked fence. If you look closely you will see that they are supposed to be on call 24 hours a day. So for them I guess there is no emergency.

Well it turns out the sewer was broken, which is not surprising as it is about 80 years old. Fortunately they don't have to dig up the pipes anymore, they insert an epoxy lining and then put a bladder in the pipe, to hold it in place while it sets. This did however mean that we could not any water down the pipes or flush the toilet, for 24 hours. After that we should never have another problem with it, plus it has a lifetime warranty.

I have seen this window decal a few times as I walked home from work and finally decided to take a photo of it. My brother in law is a volunteer fireman so I found it interesting to see.
Our sewer is backed up at home and we have someone here fixing it, but it is taking a long time and we can't use the water while he is doing it. So I am still waiting to take a shower after my run and am not able to do my laundry.

My back is still sore but it doesn't seem to bother me when I run. This morning it was really humid as we went out, but the temperature was nice. I decided to run only 6 miles and Utpal continued on when I turned back. I stopped by the 3100 mile race and everyone seemed to be doing well. I was sweating so much that one of the guys said it looked like I had been for a swim.

Well when I woke up this morning I had a sore neck and a sore lower back. That combined with the fact I ran 50k last week and have been on my raw food diet for 6 days, left me wondering how my race would be today.When I started out to run over to the race my back was so sore that I was not sure if I should run it.
However once the race got under way I felt good and I knew I was doing OK, because I was with runners that usually beat me easily. It actually felt like I was running well so I just tried to maintain my pace. I had to hang on for the last 1/2 mile, but finished with a time of 14:42, my best time this year so far.

Someone told me that today is the summer solstice, though I am not quite sure that it is. Anyway it was a beautiful day, I have noticed that some local produce is starting to come into the stores, so I get a tasty choice for my raw food meals.
My run this afternoon felt really good, I am down about 5 lbs at the moment, but still a few lbs above what I was at this time last year.

So the government here has given out stimulus checks to those who deserve them, to apparently encourage them to buy something to help improve the economic state of the country. Though I have heard that some people will just put it into savings accounts I plan to spend mine. I have a nice Laptop computer picked out, just have to decide when to purchase it.
I have adjusted my protein intake and that seems to have helped my legs when I'm running

For the last few days we have been experiencing normal temperatures, although here in New York normal is actually the average temperature based on past records. After the warm humid temperatures we had, these "Normal" temps actually feel cool.
I have noticed that while I am on this raw food diet my legs take a few minutes to get warmed up when I go out for my run, but once they do I feel like I have a little spring in my step.

I have noticed this before, but when I am on my raw food diet, my sense of smell seems to be really good. This of course can be good and bad. It not only makes the sweet smells of flowers and trees so much better, it makes the noxious smells of the city that much worse.

I'm on the second day of my current raw food diet and I feel pretty good. I did however feel quite sore still from my race on the weekend. I am not sure if this is also partly because of the raw food thing. Anyway I think it is just a matter of allowing myself the time to adjust. At least the weather has turned cooler

yes I felt some soreness this morning, but other than that I'm OK. We had thunder storms over night, but it was still quite warm and humid this morning.
The world's longest race started this morning in New York, it is 3100 miles long. In the photo you can see some of the participants. I jogged out there to the start and back. I will be going out there everyday for the next almost 2 months to see how things are going on. They run around a scool that is about 10 minutes from my house

Just too hot I woke up nice and early and walked the 3 1/2 to 4 miles out to Flushing Meadow for the 50k race. I got there just in time to see the 100k race start. It was already warm and the humidity was high, but as we started the 50k race an hour later it didn't feel too bad. I was mostly running on my own, though there was almost always someone not too far ahead of me. The weather seemed to be getting quite hot and the Sun was feeling quite strong, but everything seemed to be going OK. At 21 miles I was on pace for a sub 6 hour time. Then I started to really feel the heat. I had been drinking a lot and making sure I was well hydrated, but then I started to feel a little dizzy, then nauseous and in the space of 3 miles I had lost it. As I completed 24 miles I knew it was a mistake to carry on. I discovered that 3 other runners had become sick and on medical advice, the 100k race had now been reduced to a 50 mile race. I spent a half an hour sitting in the shade and drinking lots of fluids and started to recover, but I had no feeling to go out and try to complete the 7 remaining miles. I had a problem with a heat related sickness about 20 years ago and have tried to be smart and avoid that problem since.
Once I felt well enough I packed my bag and walked the almost 4 miles back home very casually, getting more drinks on the way. When I got home 1 1/2 hours after I had stopped and after consuming about 50ozs of fluids, I finally went to the bathroom. When I weighed myself I was down 4 lbs even after re hydrating myself. So a lesson learned.

This guys car was still there today, the plates show that it's from the state of Georgia.

Shortly after leaving my house this morning someone walking in the opposite direction wished me a good morning. This simple act really added a spark to my day. On arriving at work the security guard for the building did the same.
On my way home I stopped in to my bank and as I came to the door 3 separate women were walking also to the door, I promptly held the door open for them and was rewarded with a smile and a thank you. I think it made my day and theirs.
My run this afternoon was comfortable and I feel as though I am ready for the 50k race tomorrow, I hope the weather is good, it's supposed to be a little warm, but I remember that it was a little hot last year for my 50k at the end of May.