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.