Well I ran 5 more miles in the afternoon yesterday which gave me a total of 17 for the day, just like last Sunday. Later in the evening I had a craving for ice cream, so I went to Baskin & Robins and got 2 scoops, it was yummy. Though I think as a result I had a crazy dream last night. I dreamed that I was in some kind of race and I had a chance to win it, but in order to finish the race I had to take a C130 transport plane over some mountains to the start of the final lap. I woke up before I finished.
We had nice weather today in New York, a little warmer. I did feel my legs when I was out running, but it felt good.

I finally got to see the Hippy Nuts perform last night. It wasn't the whole band just Kathena and Tim, but they were great. They played at a place called Banjo Jim's on 9th St and Avenue C. It was actually to celebrate Harvey's birthday, a friend of there's.
Utpal had a medical procedure yesterday and didn't feel well enough to go for a long run this morning, so I was on my own. You can see from the photo that there was quite a lot of snow out there, but sunny.
I ran 12+ miles, making our usual stop at 7 eleven, but for only 1 hot chocolate this morning, I did discover that they have mini marshmallows though.
On the way back I remembered some thing Utpal said 2 weeks ago, that we don't see any Birch trees in Queens, I said there are some. So he challenged me to find 2 on the way home, I did in fact find 3, all on the same street.
Well with just 4 days to go I am actually getting excited about my up coming trip.

Well even though the course seemed to be pretty much cleared of snow, the 2 mile race did not take place this morning. I'm not exactly sure why but the race officials didn't turn up. I went out for a 3 mile run anyway and plan to go out for another one this afternoon.
I've spent some of the morning and early afternoon listening to six nations rugby on the BBC. Otherwise it's been a lazy day for me, I guess we need the odd lazy day now and then.

When I left for work this morning everything was covered in snow. There was about 2" ( 5cm ) on the ground. At 5:30 in the morning there is a profound silence as the snow falls.
By the time I got out for a run in the afternoon there had been a change over to light rain. It was a little warmer and there seemed to be a slow melt going on. The streets were slushy and puddles that I ran through were icy cold.
I must say there is a little concern about going into Serbia in about 3 weeks time, but I've been in that region before when things are going on and been OK. There usually is a little tension, but I do have some Serbian blood in these veins, so that probably counts for something.

I had a good day at work, even though it's a bit slow at the moment. That just gives me a chance to catch up on some of the little things I don't have time for when we're really busy.
The walk home was nice, a little cold but bright sunshine and blue skies. Funny though I had a poem come to me and it was about Death, I think it was kind of positive though. After I came back from my run later, I got a poem about Promises. I am getting pretty close to completing my latest collection of poems.

I got an e mail from my cousin Romina in Serbia last night, it seems that my cousin Jelena ( the one who's wedding I attended 17 months ago ) is pregnant. So that of course is good news. I am not sure if I will be able to visit with her on my upcoming trip, but I certainly send her my congratulations.

I got to try out my new MP3 player today at work. It's a Creative Zen V Plus 4 GB player. I loaded about 1 GB of music onto it. It's so small and light and comes with it's own soft pouch. I'm still getting used to the controls, but it sounds great.
Somehow I have decided that this week is going to be a kind of recovery week for my running, since I felt so tired yesterday. So I have just run 3 miles each of the last 2 days, it felt good today.
I have to file my taxes before I leave for Europe next week.

It's Presidents day here in the US, which is a combination of the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington.
When I went out this morning it wasn't raining but there was evidence that it had. When I was half way to work the heavens opened and although I had an umbrella I got wet.. Later it was much nicer with some sunshine.
I talked with my cousin in Croatia and he is happy to have me stay with him when I go there in a few weeks.
In the afternoon my new MP3 player, that I bought on Friday from Newegg.com arrived by UPS and I got it up and running. Which is exactly what I did, as I went out for 3 miles with tired legs from yesterday.

With the temperature just around freezing, Utpal and I set off for our Sunday run. We ran the same route as last week to begin with, but had decided to add some extra miles. At the Shea Stadium, Citi Field site we we headed off in a different direction only to find we couldn't get to where we wanted. After working our way back to somewhere we knew, we took another turn. This one proved to be better and we came home after doing about 14 miles.
I had some breakfast and a little nap, relaxed for a while and then went out again. This time running 3 miles at an easy pace, but with tired legs. So another solid week.

This is Sadhak performing at Stain in Brooklyn last night. We stopped in the village for him to meet his new booking agent on the way.
It was a cold 2 mile run this morning. ran the first mile in 7:53, second in 7:54, for a finishing time of 15:47 which I was quite happy with. Since I upped my mileage my legs are a little tired, but they seemed to come back in the last 1/2 mile. My form was quite good and I really felt like I was racing.
FA Cup 5th round today and the shocker was Barnsley beating Liverpool 2-1 with a last minute goal. Cardiff beat Wolves, West Brom beat Coventry. So there 3 Championship teams left in the final 8.

First of all I woke up on time this morning. When I stopped in for my hot chocolate and stuff, they remembered that I forgot to take my change yesterday and I got it this morning. I gave them a tip.
For about the last 2 months I have had a spot on my left cheek it just appeared there one morning. It looked somewhere between a pimple and a mole. Kind of like the scarlet pimpernel only white. I wasn't worried about just figured it would go away some time. Well last night while sitting at my computer I felt like I had an eyelash on my cheek, when I brushed it off with my hand it felt like something more. Then I realized that the spot was gone. I guess the body creates these things and then takes them away. Maybe it's just getting rid of something we don't need.
I'm going to Brooklyn tonight, my friend Sadhak has a gig at a place called " Stain ".

I overslept this morning, I woke up at 4am and went back to sleep not waking up again until 5:20, the usual time I leave for work. I had to forgo the usual festivities and made it out the door by 5:27.
In a rush I forgot to collect my change at Dunkin' Donuts, which was $16 and didn't realize until I got to work. I managed to go through the day without thinking about it.
It was a beautiful afternoon after the last 2 days of snow or rain. I went out and ran 5 miles as I have done for the last 3 days. Though my legs were kind of sore today at the start of my run.

There was just under 1 inch of snow on the ground this morning, but the temperature was a few degrees above freezing so it was slushy. Not to worry though I had on my trusty Dunlop wellies to wade through it on the way to work.
very little sneezing and not too much of a runny nose today. I did notice that I had a strong appetite, so maybe I'm fighting whatever it is I've got.
It rained quite heavily all day and by the time I left for home almost all trace of snow was gone. the temperature had also climbed up to 50 F ( 9 C ). So it was kind of pleasant.

It pretty much looks like this outside right now, with a bit more snow on the ground. This photo was taken in December, the last time we had real snow on the ground.
I woke up at 2:30 this morning sneezing, I then proceeded to sneeze a total of 4 times then fell back to sleep. I have been sneezing on and off and had a runny nose all day. I have sore red patches around my nose from blowing and wiping it so much.
I did get in a nice 4 mile run this afternoon in the snow. So hopefully a good nights sleep will work wonders.

It's freaking cold here in New York City! I could feel it was cold the moment I walked out the door this morning. The temperature was 12 F ( -11 C ), but with the wind blowing at 25 MPH ( 40KPH ) it actually felt like -7 F (-22C ). It was one of those days when the skin on your face felt cold.
It was also the first time that the tips of my fingers felt cold in my gloves. I have to wear my warmer gloves.
Right now there is a bright sunny blue sky out there, but it's still well below freezing.
I went out for a run just before lunchtime and maybe because of the cold, my legs didn't feel so tired after the 14+ miles I did yesterday.

As you can see we ran out to Shea Stadium again today. Utpal wants me to say that this is where the Beatles played more than 40 years ago.
We did the same run as last week, but by Utpal's suggestion we added a little more by running past the Zoo in Flushing Meadow Park. I like the fact that we are doing a little extra each week.
I went out for my second run about 2:30pm, another 3 miles of easy running. It actually felt better than yesterday, but then I had run a race in the morning yesterday. I am very pleased with the way my training has gone this week.

Woke up this morning with a bit of a thick head. I had woken up in the middle of the night with a sore throat, but that went away.
I put on my running gear and went out the door, it was 35 F. My right calf was still a little sore so I didn't know what to expect from the race. As it turned out once I started running everything felt good. I went through the first mile in 7:43, the second in 7:47, both faster than any mile I had run in previous weeks. My finish time was 15:30, my best time so far this year by 20 seconds. I also won the spot prize, where they pick a race number at random. The winner gets a running log book and a pen. So all in all I did pretty good.

There was a distinct nip in the air this morning. For some reason I was in a really happy mood all day. My right calf was a little sore from my longer run yesterday, for some reason.
When I went out for my run this afternoon I felt quite good. Again I don't know why but from time to time during the day I found myself reflecting on the subject of happiness.
In my net surfing exploits of the day I came across The Henry Rollins Show, so that is something new for me to watch, I like Henry Rollins.

There's been a lot of talk about recession and economic downturn lately. We seem to be really busy at work, just as we seem to to catch up with things a new big order comes in.
As I started out on my run this afternoon my legs felt very heavy, so I decided just to run 5k instead of the 5 miles I had planned. However as I was completing my run I saw Utpal going out on his. So I joined him and ended up running a total of 6 miles. So all in all it turned out pretty good.

It was warm today. When I went out fro my run this afternoon, it was 64 F so I didn't have to pack on so many clothes. While I was out running I passed a group of trees that was completely full of blackbirds. There must have been about 300 birds and they were making a lot of noise. At first I thought they may be Starlings since they tend to crowd around in groups like that, but no they were definitely they were blackbirds.
Oh England won their first game under their new coach today. Beating Switzerland 2-1.

On the way home from work this afternoon I saw some Giants fans coming from the victory parade. Yes there was a victory parade for the Giants in the city, with a presentation I think at city hall.
I felt a little laboured on my run this afternoon, but I did manage 5k just like yesterday, so I am quite happy with that.
I mostly watch TV on the internet these days and have just started watching a new show on HBO called 'In Treatment'. It stars Gabriel Bryne who I like as an actor, I've watched 6 episodes now and I am beginning to quite like it.

I think I am responding favourably to the 4 runs I did this weekend. There was some tiredness in my legs when I went out for my run this afternoon, but that eased as the run went on. I went on my old 5k loop and felt quite strong at the end of the run.
The day started off as quite mild though the temperature was only a few degrees above freezing. When I left work large flakes of snow were falling, but in less than an hour they had stopped. Just before I went out for my run it had rained and it once again started to rain as I finished.
Since I came to New York in 1978 I have been a fan of the New York Giants and I am very happy that they won the Superbowl last night. My street was quiet , but just after 10 pm a couple of guys came out and shouted " The Giants won the Superbowl. They were not expected to win, but they did in the last minute of the game.

At the start of our run my legs were a little tired from yesterday and my 2 runs, but the weather was so nice, with a temperature just around freezing and the Sun coming up. We decided not just to run out to Flushing Meadow but to go all the way out to Shea Stadium and in fact ran around most of the new Citi Field Stadium. Of course I didn't bring my camera this week so no photo's. We ended up running around 11 miles, a little more than 2 hours of running. Now I will see if I will go out for another short one this afternoon.

First of all last night was a lot of fun, though because of the heavy we did pretty wet on the way to the Cafe.
Like last summer I wanted to try an run 2 times a day on the weekends, so this morning I ran the 2 mile race in 15:51, just 1 second slower than last week. Then I went out again this afternoon and ran another 2 miles. In the summer I built up to running 10k for the second run and will try to do that this time, but it is winter and I'm a little heavier at the moment.
I listened to the England v Wales six nations game on BBC five live, at the same time my Welsh friend was listening to Radio Wales in Colombia. We chatted during the whole game on Google chat.
England built up a 19-6, then fell apart to lose 26-19, it was an exciting game though.

I think today is the first day when it has rained all day, since I got back from the UK. Well it was a chance to try out my new rain suit that I got while I was there. Usually a large size in the UK is like a medium in the US. So I got a large and it is, but it's OK. I went out running in it this afternoon and it worked good. It's a navy blue colour, which is a little different than I usually have. In the past they have been red or yellow.
My friend and co-worker Sadhak, the singer-songwriter is playing a gig at the Yippie Cafe again, so I'll be going there tonight to show my support. I should get a chance to also meet his voice coach Kathena, she of the Hippy Nuts. Who I met in October and also supposed to be coming to offer support.

I have 4 friends who are visiting South America at the moment. 1 is in Colombia,1 in Peru and 2 in Ecuador. The other night I got to look at some photo's from Ecuador of them climbing a mountain.
I read a report today that said this was the first January without snow for 75 years. Of course some will say it's global warming, but I can't help wondering if they said that in 1933 when it also didn't snow in January.
The photo is of a swollen river Penk, from about 3 weeks ago.

Things are slowing down a little at work mainly because I have finally caught up with all the things that needed done, I'm sure that will change, but at least I am under control for my part.
The weather is a little warmer and I had a nice run. When I got home I took a shower and it made me rally mellow, so I put my head down for 5 minutes and 2 hours went by. Oh well I guess I needed the rest.

I started sneezing this morning and in the afternoon I had a runny nose, it kinda felt like I had a winter hay fever. I've never had hay fever but that is what it seemed like to me. At one point I thought maybe it was dust at work but it didn't change on my walk home.
I got home in time to check out the mid week football from England. Wolves won on a last minute goal, but the Albion lost. So I was happy, but my nephew and brother in law will not be.
I went out for a run and there were a few aches and pains which felt better near the end. A little while after I got back I took a 1 hour nap and the sneezing and runny nose had gone, so that's better.

I had a lot of things to do today. Worked for a few hours as I usually do on Mondays. When I got home put my washing in the machine 'cause it's Monday. Put my application in for the 10 day race in the spring so now I'm committed to it. managed to squeeze in a chat with one of my friends in Bosnia. Finally bought a ticket for my trip to the Balkans, only cost me $18 more than my trip to England and about $30 less than last years trip. The only thing I didn't do was file my taxes, but I have time.

It was right around the freezing point this morning when Utpal and I went out for our run. Just like last week we went out to Flushing Meadow and ran the longer route this week, which takes us near to Shea Stadium and the new stadium which you can see in the photo. It has progressed quite a bit from when we saw it in November.
Minutes before I left the house to run, Novak Djokovic became the first Serb to win a Grand slam, when he won the Australian Open in 4 sets.

Woke up this morning with a runny, how it got in my bed I'll never know ha ha. I did have a runny nose but only on the right side for some reason.
It was around 26 F when I went out to run the 2 mile race, it didn't feel too bad and I got a good sweat on anyway. Ran 15:50 this week 14 seconds faster than last and it felt quite good.
4th round of the FA Cup this weekend. Liverpool got a bit of a scare from non league Havant & Waterlooville finally beating them 5-2. Wolves their all Championship tie against Watford 4-1, so of course I was happy.

After 5 months of residence in Queens, New York where it was constructed, the World's Largest Pencil was put on to the back of a flatbed truck and set off across country to St Louis. It was cut into 2 pieces in-order to be able to fit on a standard flatbed. It will be put back together, at the City Museum in St Louis and children will be able to climb all over it's 76 feet length.

When I was 7 years old one of my uncles took me to see Wolverhampton Wanderers ( Wolves ) play Sheffield United.
Wolves won 2-1 if I remember correctly, I've been a fan ever since. A little before my time Wolves had a player named Billy Wright, he also played for England and was a real legend of the game. In the photo is a statue of Billy that the Wolves placed outside their ground.
On the day he died so many fans came to pay their respects that the street in front of the statue was blocked to traffic.

This was something I saw one frosty morning while out running in England. Over the weekend and Monday it was like that here, but no frozen pheasant. The last couple of days have been a bit different, with todays temperature reaching 40 F. For Christmas I got a book by Micheal Paling about his journeys through New Europe, in the airport on my way back to New York last week, I bought Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I have been alternating between them ever since.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr day here in the US, when we celebrate the birth of the civil rights leader. The weather continues to be cold with temperatures only in the 20's F.
I have been back in New York for a week now and I think I am adjusting. Yesterday was the NFC championship in American Football and the team I have supported for the last 30 years,the New York Giants won 23-20 against the Green Bay Packers. They will now play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2 weeks time. The Patriots are undefeated all season, so it should be a tough one, but then no one expected them to get this far.

This was the overturned car I encountered while out on my Sunday run a couple of weeks ago. There was some black ice on the roads. Here in New York today it was a little different. the temperature was 24 F (-4 C) with a really strong wind making it feel like 9 F (-13 C). I ran with my friend Utpal out to Flushing Meadow and around the lake. We were running into the wind all the way out which made it feel very cold. I think we were both happy when we completed around 9 miles. We are carrying on where we left off in 2007 and I think it will help us a lot in the coming year.

Yes it's my first Saturday morning in New York this year and of course there was a 2 mile race. Considering I am woefully un-race fit and the temperature was hovering around freezing, I did pretty well. My first mile was 8:05, second mile 7:59 giving me a time of 16:04. So I set an easy standard for the start of the year.
The Ginger tea I got on the way home was most welcome,

Yesterday I was experiencing some pain in my left arch and some minor pain in my right heel. I changed the shoes I walk to work in today and didn't notice any pain. It's funny how sometimes the shoes you wear can be just fine and then suddenly there can be a problem.
he temperature got close to 50 F this afternoon, probably the warmest day since I got back, it was nice to run not so dressed up for a change.
After working a half day as I do on Friday's, it was nice to stop by old breakfast place and get a late morning bagel.

I did feel some soreness this morning from my first day back at work. We have apparently started to get busy the last few days, so there is lots of work for me to do.
While I was waiting for my flight on Monday I stopped by the "Costa" coffee shop in Manchester airport and had a hot chocolate, I think I like the hot chocolate from stores in Europe better than in the states. That's just my opinion.
Bumped into Utpal when I went out for my run this afternoon and we caught up a little.

I was in bed just before 7:30 last night after having been up for 20 hours. I slept for about 5 hours then on and off for 4 more.
Stopped in at Dunkin' Donuts on the way to work for a hot chocolate and a muffin. managed to work a full day without any problem. I did feel tired during my run this afternoon though. I had a bit of an headache from the flight and that was still there a little this morning, but it went away during the day and I'm fine now.

Up at 4:30 this morning, my nephew drove me to Manchester Airport in 55 minutes. I had checked in online last night so all I had to do was check my bag at the fast bag drop counter. I had a few hours to kill, which in fact became more when my flight was delayed fro a further hour and twenty minutes. They needed to put a new generator on one of the engines.
When I got to New York there was no sign of the 2 to 4 inches of snow that had been predicted.
I am feeling quite tired and will probably sleep well tonight.

It's my last day in the UK on this trip and yes it's raining. I did manage to get a run in before it started to rain today. There was a very strong headwind on my way back, which kind of reminded me of running in Flushing Meadow.
It's been pretty relaxing, but I think I need to get back to work and work on my fitness and strength for the 10 day race coming up in the spring. Hey I'm always think about my running!

Evidence that we did have a lot of rain this week revealed itself when I went down to the village this morning. The river Penk had burst it's banks, but it's not too bad as there is only flooding on pasture land.
Watched the Edinborough International Cross Country this afternoon. Kenenisa Bekele won the main race. Andy Ritzenhiem the American I saw qualify for the olympic marathon team in Central Park last year did really well, finishing 5th I think.

The news of the day is that Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit mount Everest has died at the age of 88. I was born the year he summited.
The rainy weather continues here in Penkridge and I noticed this morning that the river is quite high.
I forgot to mention the other day that Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle United manager has left the club. When I was in high school I played basket ball against him as we were in rival schools when we were growing up.
I also heard that a friend of my sister's and one of the volunteer firemen in the village had a heart attack this morning, he is only 47 years old. It makes you think.

For only the second time in the 4 1/2 weeks I have been here, I felt like I wanted to stay in bed a little longer this morning.
We seem to have reached a period when at least some part of the day includes rain. Since I am in a farming area, this is a good thing as it will definitely help the crops come the spring.
My sister is still recovering from her steroid injections and we are trying to help out as much as possible, which included me going down to the market this morning, to do some shopping.

I had this feeling like I had a bit of a food hangover from all the food I've eaten over the holidays. I don't know if I've gained weight because I haven't weighed myself. I thinks it's mainly the richness of the food.
I had a nice run yesterday, running for about 1 hour. There was a light frost and I saw 2 cars that had left the road and ended up in ditches, 1 backwards and the other upside down.
It was FA Cup weekend and my team, Wolves came back from 1-0 to win 2-1 and will go into the 4th round raw later today.
Fabio Capello, the new England manager, officially started his job today. I think the is a lot of optimism, we will have to see.
My sister has gone to get steroid injections in both her feet, to relieve heel pain she has been suffering for some time.

There was talk of snow today and it seems that there was some on the east side of the country. It was quite cold however with a strong wind that made it feel a lot colder.
Being in the countryside you get to experience nature and while out on my run this afternoon I saw a quite large bird of prey. The bird was some kind of hawk but I couldn't tell you what it was exactly.
For the first time I actually thought about New York and the fact that I will be on my way back there in 10 days time.

I forgot to mention yesterday that between Christmas and New Year I went over to the house, where I spent all the years after 7, growing up. It was a bit strange sleeping in my old room. I spent a few days visiting with some of my family and friends and talking with my old neighbours.
Today I had to take care of a few loose ends with regard to my mother.
I also went out and bought a PJ Harvey CD, which was on my Christmas list but didn't get. I have it now and will probably put it on my MP3 player.
They say there is snow coming, but we will just have to see. It is getting a little colder.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IT'S 2008!!! It was a pretty quiet start with my sister and her husband Ray at home. It is a bit overcast but mild and I went for a run this afternoon. Then my nephew came over and we watched some Premier League Football on TV.

This is the photo of me that my Uncle gave me a few days ago, I was so young!

It's Boxing Day, the day that traditionally the children of the well to do boxed up old toys and took them to the children of the workers.
Here all of my family come to my sisters house on this day for us to have our Christmas meal together.

It's Christmas and it's a bit of a wet one this morning.
Since my sister and her husband Ray are working today, we opened some of our presents last night. There was only my nephew, Shadow the dog and myself here this morning. Shadow was a bit out of sorts, probably too much partying last night. Our Christmas day festivities will happen later today when everyone is at home. Once again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Yes it's Christmas eve and it's a wet one.If it had stayed cold like earlier in the month the rain we have today would be snow and we could have had a white Christmas. We must remember however that Christmas is about family and I am here with mine. I am also getting greetings from those abroad.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

It's Christmas eve eve. at least that's what we call it in our family.
Went out nice and early for my Sunday run. There was a good frost but it was bright and there air had lots of country smells in it.Ran for about 1 hour and it felt quite easy. One thing that I have noticed is that my breathing seems much better than it has for a while.

It's the winter solstice. so of course it was the shortest day and it went very quickly.
I have been in the UK for 3 Saturdays now and for the second time I got to see Wolves play live on TV. Last time they lost 3-2 to Burnley, this time they drew 1-1 with Leicester. They will be in 7 th place in the Championship at Christmas, which is 7 places higher than the same time last year.
My uncle Dave sent me a photo of me when I was 17 today. It's amazing to look back.

Yesterday the Queen of England became the oldest monarch ever. At 5pm she became one day older than Queen Victoria was when she died in 1910. So there is a little bit of trivia for you.

When I am at my sisters, it's a bit like having a housekeeper. I get to put my washing in the laundry basket and get it done for me. I must point out that I have offered to do it for her. My clothes come back smelling so nice and fresh.

In New York I sleep on a Futon be, which is quite firm. I've been sleeping on a futon bed for probably 10 years and I like it, it's also a twin sized bed. The bed I'm sleeping on at my sisters is a double with a soft mattress. I sleep on the left side of the bed, but sometimes find that during the night I walk into the middle of the bed in my sleep. I have a nice room in my sisters house.

Went to do the weekly shopping with my sister today.Yes Asda was the place, it took us 2 1/2 hours to do it all.
When I got home I got to go for a nice run.

When I was a kid growing up in England, Football was the game I watched the most. Today I went with my sister, niece and her friend to a place called Holly Bush, which is sort of a garden center. When we got there, there was a long line to see someone. It was a surprise to find out that someone was, Gordon Banks and Bert Williams. Two great goalkeepers of the past. Gordon won the World Cup with England in 1966. They were doing a book signing. I didn't have my camera with me, which was a shame. When I was a kid I thought Gordon Banks was one of the best goalkeepers ever. He is still fondly remembered.
Two nights ago I dreamed there was snow on Christmas day.

When I woke up this morning I didn't want to go out for my usual Sunday morning run, I don't know why but I just didn't.
Today was Grand slam Sunday in the English Premier League. Th e4 biggest teams were playing in 2 games. In the first one ManU beat Liverpool 1-0 to go top, then Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 to back on top. I watched both games and I thought the Arsenal v Chelsea was the better game.

I've been here for a week now and of course it has gone pretty quickly.It started off on the wet side with a couple of days of rain and now it has turned quite cold.I still feel as though I'm settling in a bit.
One big thing that has happened since I got her is, that as of yesterday the England football team now have a new head coach and he is Italian, at loeast through the next world cup.

One of the great legends of Ultra running died on Wednesday his name is Ted Corbitt. You probably don't know who he is, but people in the UR community will. Besides being a great runner and inspiration to many, many runners, he was also the most humble person you could ever meet. I was lucky enough to have met him many times and even had the chance to run a race with him.
It is a sad day in the running community but I am sure it is one that will bring many of us together in remembering him.

Today there was one of the two weekly stall markets in Penridge, there is pretty good mix of different kinds of fare available,
I am doing quite well with my running at the moment, it is so much more relaxed than in New York and I am surrounded by countryside so that of course helps. The weather has also been pretty good so far and it is usually above freezing during the day.

It's turned quite cold here in Penkridge, but it's bright and sunny. Can you believe it, I was born on this day 54 years ago.
There is a small bakery in the village called Jaspers and they make really good Cherry scones, I bought some yesterday, 4 for just £1:65 and they were scrummy.

Well I've been in the UK for a couple of days no. The flight went well and was quite quick, just five and a half hours. I went for a run Sunday morning from my sister's village to another called Acton |Trussle, a round trip of about 6 miles and felt really good. It is really nice to be here to spend the holidays with my family, Stay tuned.

I may have lived in New York for almost 30 years, that's where I live but England is my home and I'm going home for the holidays.I have about 3 hours before I leave for the airport and I'm actually ready to go. Since I am visiting with family it is a pretty easy trip to prepare for. This time tomorrow I'll be checking the football (soccer) scores on the TV in my sisters house.
I will continue to report as well as possible from there.

It was my last work day for the year today, tomorrow I'm going home! I left at lunchtime. i have to finish my packing.
There is a new series on NBC called Life about a detective named Charlie Crews, I even got one of the guys at work watching it. He watches it on TV and I watch it the next day on the internet. Last night was the season finale, when my friend came in to work he said jokingly that I should go straight home and watch it. Well I waited till it was time to leave work and came home and watched. It was totally awesome!

We caught our 11th Raccoon at work today, it was the biggest one so far. he was pretty calm to start with but then he got grumpy. If the Fed Ex boys did their job he's playing in the park now. Though it did get a little snowy and cold this afternoon.
I have to start doing some of my packing tonight, ready for my trip on Friday, I'm looking forward to the break.

I slept well last night and although it was a clod walk work felt good when I got there. I made myself a nice herbal tea, but a short while after that started feel really sick to the stomach. This was followed by sneezing and a runny nose. All the symptoms of a cold. When the guys came in later one of them gave me some ester c powder and that made me feel better. I worked the whole day and even had a bowl of homemade chilli for lunch.
On the way home a did buy a new travel bag, this one has big wheels. I have had trouble before when they have small wheels because they wear out quickly, so we will see what happens with this one.
Oh and Celtic made it into the last 16 of the Champions League!

A Serbian friend from Geneva passed through New York yesterday on his way to DC. We had dinner and it was a chance to catch up on a few things, also to talk about a few possible future projects.
It didn't get above freezing until quite late last night, but then it got quite warm and almost all the snow was gone this morning. Finally vanishing as the day progressed.

We had our first snow of the season today. It started just after I woke up and before I went out for my run. The temperature was in the low 20's F when I ventured out for my run with Abichal and the snow was falling lightly. With the wind in our faces for the first few miles it felt really cold. I went out to run 10 miles again at a good pace, Abichal had a slightly different paln so we split after 7 miles. I felt much stronger this week, but then I hadn't run 2 races earlier.

Though there was bright sunshine it felt really cold this morning when I went out for my run. The temperature was around freezing but there was a strong wind, so it felt a lot colder. For some reason my legs felt very tired. It seems quiet here in New York, maybe the weather has something to do with that. I am sleeping well and it may have something to do with that too, maybe it is part of my natural urge to hibernate.

This is what some of the frames we make at work look like, while they are waiting to be sold.As you can see we have them all nicely stacked waiting for someone to buy them. So the stack of lumber you saw yesterday ends up looking like this. Hey this time next week I'll be getting ready to leave for the UK.

Today I got a phone call from the fraud department of one of my credit card companies. It seems for the last 2 days someone has been trying to buy a few things using my number, only small items for some reason. Well it's not going to happen, but now my account is closed and I have to wait for a new one, only 5 days though.
A few days a week I stop at a local Dunkin Donuts and get a hot chocolate, Cranberry muffin and a cinnamon raisin bagel, on the way to work in the morning. It's a nice start to the day.

This is some of that great Canadian lumber we get 2 times a year. I took the photo with my new Nikon L10 camera, which arrived yesterday and I'm having fun with.

This time of the year Mother nature likes to play a game, she gives us a couple of warm days followed by some cold days and then this continues. Of course your body cannot figure out what is going on.. Nipples, our cat at work is also confused because there is evidence that another raccoon has been in her area and we had just sipped one away last week.

According to UPS tracking my new camera is on a truck, out for delivery. So it should be here some time soon.
It's been a rainy overcast day, but I did get a nice run in. My legs feel pleasantly tired after all the racing I did last week.

This is the Audubon Society building in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

I went out running this morning with 2 of my faster running friends. Though one of them ( Sundar) has a slight leg problem at the moment, he still sets a pretty good pace. I stuggled a bit but managed to hang in there. I feel that this kind of training, especially after running 2 races earlier will only make me stronger.The Temperature was just above freezing, but the bright sunshine and the beautiful colours were amazing.

Oh by the way, this is my 800th post on this blog!

Since it is Saturday morning the was a local 2 mile race, I had decided yesterday that I would run even though I had just run the 5 mile Turkey trot in Brooklyn less than 48 hours before. This race was so different. Thursday the temperature was 55F, today it was 25F. There was a small turnout of about 12 runners and I was in 3rd place for most of the race. With 1/2 mile to go my legs really started to feel tired and I ended up coming in 4th, My time was a slow 16:12, but of course I was happy.

I dedicated the race to my mom who's birthday would have been today.

Woke up this morning feeling a little blah, maybe it was all the food yesterday. Well I went out for a short run and then had breakfast, now I'm feeling better.After I got back from the race I discovered that the LCD screen on my digital camera was broken. So I went online and bought a new one, I have a broken Photosmart 327 5mp which I paid $110 for 2 years ago. Now I got a Nikon coolpix 5mp for $90 andit has more features, isn't progress great!

So it's Thanksgiving and I went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn to run the 5 mile Turkey trot. It was actually kind of warm with a temp' around 55F. I was supposed to meet my friend Luis, but he didn't show. I ran 41:20 which is OK. I did get this medal and bought the hat for $5. It only took me an hour subway ride each way and 20 minutes walk to and from the park.

It's the eve of Thanksgiving here in the US. The last few months have been interesting for me, I have lost a few of the new friends that I had gained in the last couple of years, but re connected with some old friends I had lost contact with. 2 that come to mind are an old running buddy, Charlie who I hadn't talked to for about 10 years and Jackie, someone I new 25 years ago. What an interesting time for me. Serendipity?

I'm getting some really good ideas from the new book and it's making me look at what I eat a little differently. Our cat at work (Nipples) has been a bit freaked out, we caught another raccoon in our have a heart trap yesterday, but the fed ex guys couldn't take it to the park until today. So we had to feed and water it. the cat wasn't very happy with that.I think this is the 10th Raccoon we've had this year.

In all the years I've lived in New York and gone into central Park, I don't think I have ever gone and looked at Cleopatra's Needle. Well on Saturday I did and here is the photo to prove it.

My Photo Album

Photobucket Album

Didn't feel so bad this morning after running yesterday in Central Park, though I did take an extra hour of sleep. It was still quite cold when I went out for my run with Utpal, but it wasn't raining as was forecast.So we managed to run our 10 miles, which made a total or 25 plus for me for the weekend, which I am quite pleased with. I am feeling quite strong 3 weeks after running the 50k in Chicago and after gaining a few pounds while I was sick a few weeks ago I seem to have lost them again.
Oh this is Oz Pearlman the winner of the 60k race.

So I went into Central Park today. I wanted to take some photo's of a lot of different places, landmarks sort of. It also happened that there was a 60k race going on too. To my surprise Oz Pearlman, who won the 50 mile race in Chicago 3weeks ago was running. Just like he did there, he went out fast and won the race in 4:01:37. Stayed out there most of the day helping and running part of the course myself. It seems I ran about 15 miles, I do feel a little tired but a nice shower when I got home made me feel better.I'll post some photo's later.

It was somewhat of a wintry day today, with not too cold temperatures but with a very strong wind, similar to the winds we experienced earlier in the year.I am planning on going into the city again tomorrow. There is a 60k race in central park, which I am not going to run but thought it would be nice to observe. I used to go there all the time to watch races of all kinds and after watching the Olympic Marathon trails I am inspired to go again. I also want to take some photo's of both the race and the Park.

To the left of this photo is Shea Stadium where the mets play now and to the right is the new Stadium being built. I was surprised to see how close they are to each other. We were running near by on Sunday and I decided to take a photo.

I've been checking out the new book I got, it has lots of useful information about drinks and food I can use in training and in races. Hopefully these things will help me to continue to improve in my races in the coming year. About 27 years ago I had a fall while out running and displaced one of the vertebrae between my shoulder blades, a chiropractor friend of mine fixed it for me. Every once in a while it herniates and gives me a little discomfort. It has been doing it on and off for the last couple of months, today I think I got it back in place myself.

The sports nutrition book for vegetarians I bought online came today, a little faster than I expected. I took a quick look at the introduction and went out for a run. I think it is going to be very useful. After the cold days we have had recently it was quite warm today, with the temperature reaching 60 F ( 14 C) not bad for November.

Woke up at 4am feeling quite fresh, seemed to have good energy when I got to work, even though it was a short day for me. The day itself started cold and overcast, but the temperature has climbed up to 50 F ( 9 C).Over the weekend I bought a book on amazon.com called; Vegetarian Sports Nutrition by Dr Ennet Larson-Meyer. Had seen excerpts from it on Scott Jurek's blog and decided to get it.

As you can see from the photo Utpal was carrying the weight of the World on his shoulders this morning. It was cold, right around freezing, but the wind chill made it feel like 24 F. It was a nice sunny morning with clear blue sky and we managed to run 10 miles.

I hadn't run a 2 mile race for some time and I finally thought this week was time. It was cold and damp and I was still fighting the cold I've had all week, but that just makes it more of a challenge.My first mile was 7:37 and I was feeling OK, but then I noticed my breathing wasn't so good, I managed to keep my form and in fact pushed it in at the end. My second mile was 7:47, for a total time of 15:24, which is not bad for an old guy.

There is truly a feeling of autumn. The temperature is in the low 40's F, it is raining softly as I go for my afternoon run and there are finally leaves on the ground.We haven't had a frost yet but that can't be too far away. Oh! and it is the second week of November and the first round of the FA Cup as started.Need I say more.

It is definitely getting colder. This morning when I left for work it was 35 F (2 C), so I had to be wrapped up nice and warm.There had been a couple of comments over the weekend about the green leaves in Central park during the Marathon. Well I think those leaves will be gone pretty soon if it stays cold like this.

I had a visit from my mother today, well at least her essence. Because I have the sniffles I wanted to blow my nose and when I pulled out my handkerchief, my mother's fragrance was all over it. This happens every once in a while since her death. when it does I feels as though she is there. The next time I pulled out my handkerchief it was gone, but I know she came.

I have some sniffles and sneezes but the sore throat has gone. I guess it's just that time of the year.My energy is quite good so I guess it's just a matter of time. The photo is of the large video screen they had set up in Central Park on Saturday for the Olympic Marathon trials, I don't know if they had one like it on Sunday for the peoples Marathon.

My throat is still a little sore this morning, but my energy is stronger. I bought a friends ibook today, it's the first mac I have used in probably 20 years. I am a PC guy but the price was too good to pass up, so I have a new toy to play with.Ran easily this afternoon, I do feel I want to run a race sometime soon, but we will have to see what comes up.

Woke up with a bit of a sore throat this morning, but still went out and ran 10 miles with Utpal. Maybe it has something to do with the time change, the clocks went back here last night. Today was also the New York city Marathon. I haven't run it since 2000, frankly I don't like to run it anymore, it's just too crazy, but I have a few friends that do run. I watched it on TV and was really glad that Paula Radcliffe won for the women.

This photo is of the lead runners in the US Men's Olympic Marathon Trials. I went into Central Park early this morning to watch. It was really exciting, we got a good position near the finish line and got to see 4 of the 5 laps they ran in the park. The race was won by the runner in blue , who won by 2 minutes in a time of 2:09:02. he looked so fresh when he finished. I was a little surprised. It is so cool to see how well trained these guys are. Hey and I was back home in time for lunch.