The flag on the bottom left of the scoreboard is interesting. It's the Old Yugoslavian Flag, it hasn't been seen for 20 years. They found it with all the others when they were decorating for the awards ceremony. A lot of people didn't know which country it was.
Seemed to slog a little at the start of my run today, but pretty good at the end. It's warm so it's easier to run.

Now it seems my fourth toe on my right foot is bothering me, but it's nothing I can't handle. It's now been 10 days since the end of the race and these things sort of pop up to say hello.
A nice spring day here in New York with the temperature reaching 71F. So it was nice to go out and run in T shirt and shorts this afternoon.
Oh I forgot to mention that my sister is on holiday in the Cape Verde Islands, that should be nice.

It was one of those days in New York. There was a very strong wind blowing, making it feel quite cold in the morning. Then it started raining, which it did on and off throughout the day.
After running 9 miles yesterday I felt a little sore this morning, but that seemed to feel better during my walk to work. However as the day wore on started to feel more so, especially in the lower back, which was probably due to my hamstrings. Anyway it was maybe a little too much too soon. It was quite tough running this afternoon, but I will survive.

Just like on the Sunday before the race , Utpal and I ran out to the race site and around the lake. You can still see in this photo the faint patches where some of the runners camp tents were. We ran about 9 miles and though I did have to mix in a little walking, I felt good going that far. So I guess this week I can start my training for the 50k race around the lake on June 14.
Here in the US it is Mother's day, so Happy Mother's day out there!

Well it's Saturday morning and technically a few hours less than a week after the 10 day race. So why did I decide to run the 2 mile race, because I like to run. I didn't feel that great since I had a little lower back pain and didn't know what to expect.
Well I ran as hard as I could and produced a time of 16:26, easily my slowest 2 mile time this year, but I felt pretty strong and it made me feel good. That in the end is all that really matters.

There are so many squirrels here in Queens that this is occasionally what happens to them. This was what I saw while walking to work the other morning.
It's one of rainy spring days here in New York. Luckily I only had to work a couple of hours today and got to be lazy in my room the rest of the time.

my friend Sadhak gave me the new Steve Earl CD, "Washington Square Serenade " to listen to and I really like it. He has great observation on life in NYC. Check it out!

It seemed like every night a muskrat came out near the lake to feed, in fact one night I saw one chasing another. Well it is spring I guess. This one came out one afternoon and didn't seem bothered by all the people running by.
I did feel quite tired near the end of the day at work today, I guess everything is finally catching up on me. I will take a short nap before I run later.

I have been sleeping pretty well since the race, though I do wake up at different time just like I did during the race. This morning I woke up at 2:30 and after a quick pit stop was back to sleep. I noticed that my bothersome toe seemed better as I walked to work. I seemed to get through the day with out feeling tired, so that's an improvement.
All this week I have gone out and run a couple of miles, just to help my recovery and it feels quite good. I am planning to run a 50k race in the middle of June so I have about 6 weeks of recovery and training.

When you are running around a city park in circles for 10 days, you get to see a lot of things going on. These 2 guys came out one afternoon and practiced some boxing moves. You also get a chance to reflect on many things, when you are away from the outside world as it were.
For me I realized that I have a few emotional ties that may or may not be helping me, so I need to step back from them and see what I want to do about that.
Being back at work is something that is familiar, though my feet hurt a little, which reminds me of what I was doing last week.

When I lived in London in the mid seventies I was involved in a relay run to celebrate the American Bicentennial. Three friends and I ran from the George Washington Statue near the National Museum,to the JFK Memorial at Runnymede. We got some newspaper coverage and this was a clipping from the time. I am the one on the right, I believe I was 22 at the time.

One of my friends, Luis Rios had his 60th birthday during the race. This was his birthday party, held in the runners kitchen just before lunch was served at the end of day 2. Luis walks most of the race with a little running and usually averages 50 miles a day.

This morning my quadriceps felt a little sore and of course I am still in my race sleep pattern, but I did go out with Utpal and run a couple of miles, just to shake things up a little.

Well I am back from the 10 day race in Flushing Meadow Park. I managed a total of 427 miles, which is right in between the 1st and secondary goals I set for myself. As you can see from this photo we did have some rain,but we managed to deal with it and I will tell you more about the experience in the next few days.

In about 1 hour I will go and have breakfast and then get a ride out to the race site. It is quite hard sometimes to stop myself from getting excited and just relax. In the few hours before the race you get a chance to meet up with old friends from other races and tell a few stories about what has gone on since last we met. I will be back in a week and a half to let you know how things went

I am just doing some last minute shopping and packing my last bag, which I will take out with me in the morning. It was a beautiful day today and promises to be pretty much the same for the next few days. There will be 40 + runners starting tomorrow, so it will be busy on the 1 mile loop course. Then after 4 days 30 + 6 day runners will join us. I will have the chance to chat with a few friends that I have running in both races, so I won't get lonely. Will let you know how things go.

This what the 6 & 10 day race site looks like 3 days before the start. The area where the cones are will be filled with personal tents. The big white ones are the dorms. In a couple of days this place will be buzzin'.
I got home in time to watch the last hour of the Boston Marathon streamed live on the internet. It was great because it continued without commentary when the TV coverage went to a commercial break. The womens race was the closest finish in Boston history.

OK so this is me running in the Ottawa 24 Hr race, but in 3 days time I hope I will look something like this as I start running in the Self Transcendence 10 day Race. The race as usual is in Flushing Meadow park New York, which is not far from where I live.
This morning Utpal and I ran out to the race site to see how things are going with the setup. It was pretty quiet, but just as we got there a runner from New Jersey showed up with some of his things, including his tent which he wanted to set up. We chatted for a little while and then Utpal and I headed home. He will drive me out there in an hours time with some of my stuff, in readiness for the race start on Wednesday.

So I was out all day. It was my turn to be at the gate of our local tennis court. When I sign up for this thing I hope that it will be a nice day. Well today it was. It was nice and sunny with a cool start and I even had a few of my friends stop by for a chat. I got free lunch from a local restaurant, that had been closed for a couple of weeks but had just re opened today. How great is that!
Wolves could only manage a draw today and it is not looking good for the playoffs this year. Manchester United also only managed a draw in the Premiership, making it interesting for the last 3 games of the season.

It's that time of the year again. One of my Clivia plants is starting to flower, actually it started to flower while I was away. Because I was not here to water it it lost some of the flowers. Since I am going away for 10 days in the race that is coming up, I will give it to my local barber to take care of. It gives others a chance to enjoy it's beauty.
I am making some of my final preparations for the race. I got a couple of pairs of shorts from Models today.

This pipe was taking water fro the Buna River into some kind of turbine house. Of course the river was too powerful and there was too much pressure.

The last few mornings I have been serenaded by the dawn chorus on the way to work.

My final count of trees planted on Jamaica Ave was 28. However I have noticed that we have lost 2 of them already. One has gone completely and another has been sawed off just above the root ball. I hope the others survive.

I Have mentioned our cat at work on many occasions and yes her name is Nipples ( Don't ask). We here is a video of the said cat that I took last week. It gives you a chance to see just how cute she is.

When I visit Zagreb in Croatia, I usually stay near to a place called Jarun. It is a park where they have a rowing course, in fact I think they may have had a World Championships there recently. It is a nice place to go and run. Lining to main road around the park is a sort of hall of fame of Croatian sporting greats. I took this photo of Janica Kostelic on my last visit. There is a short Bio of each athlete, in English on one side and Croatian on the other.

When I was in Brcko a few weeks ago. I participated, along with a few friends in an interesting race. You had to follow instructions and run to different parts of the city. When you arrived 1 member of your team had to perform a task. After completing these 3 tasks you then raced to a finish line. There were staggered starts, so you had no idea until everyone had finished what the placings were. It was a lot of fun!

Here you can see one of the cherry tree the city planted yesterday, ready to be planted and subsequently planted. It is very nice that it happened yesterday, since today is the 44th anniversary of my teacher Sri Chinmoy's coming to America and the first since his passing last October.
Utpal and I ran a different route this morning, running our old 10k loop out to Francis Lewis Blvd. It has the makings of a beautiful day out there. happy April 13 th.

This was us getting ready for dinner at the Hotel in Brcko. In the distance is the entrance to the function hall.

Hey my sister has Skype, my nephew installed it for her, but she is still figuring out how to use it.

The city is planting Flowering Fruit Tress in our neighbourhood today. Which is very nice, there are some Cherry and Pear trees. It should make the area even more colourful.

The place where I stayed in Sofia was surrounded by old buildings and new construction. The building in front is a children's Hospital I believe. Do not let the bright sunshine fool you, the temperature was very cold and the snow on the ground did not melt.

I started off the week by lamenting the lack of trees, on the stretch of Jamaica Avenue that I walk to and from work. Today I counted 25 newly planted trees. That will make my walk so much more pleasant.

This is taken from the castle tower above the stone city I visited in Bosnia.

The last couple of days have been warm and many of the flowers have been just waiting for such days. many buds have begun to pop . As I was out running this afternoon I noticed the smell of Magnolia on the air.
While I was running I met one of my Macedonian friends and we ran a few laps around the school, where the 3100 mile race is run each year.

This is friend's restaurant in Belgrade that I visited when I was there.

Each morning I walk along part of Jamaica Avenue on the way to work. This morning I was thinking to myself, that there are not many trees planted there. well this afternoon when I came out from work, the city had planted about 10 of them along the first 2 blocks that I walked. I must have somehow picked up on the vibration.

It's not a good picture but that is the soon to be tallest building in Bosnia. I took the shot from the place where I was staying in Sarajevo. Some businessman decided to increase his fame and fortune in the area by building it.

In personal news. It is hard to believe that on this day in 1978, I moved to New York thinking that I would stay a couple of years just to experience the city. Today I was treated to a beautiful spring day.

This is near the source of the Buna River in Bosnia, as you can see it was running very fast on the day we were there. You can just see the cave that the water comes out of at the base of the rock face. Near the cave is a Dervish House which houses a kind of museum. They charge 3 euro to enter, but if you are with Bosnians and don't speak English within hearing distance, you get in for free.

I took this photo in Bulgaria, I like the mix of light and shadow. The weather was warm and we were walking around a lake reservoir.
This morning Utpal and I resumed our weekly runs out to Flushing Meadow, Shea Stadium and the new Citi Field. It gave us both a chance to talk about our trips and also to get all the traveling out of our systems. It was a bit overcast, but the temperature was OK. I did feel yesterday's 2 mile race though.

When I passed through Zurich Airport on my way out to central Europe in February, I saw 3 of these. They were up for auction, you could bid on the internet, the minimum bid was 200,000 Euro's.
Ran my first 2 mile race in 6 weeks today. I had gained a couple of pounds on my trip and was not race fit, but I did OK. My time was 7:46 for the first mile, 8:05 for the second for a total of 15:51.

This was the view from the balcony of my aunt's apartment in Rijeka, Croatia. Where I was about 4 weeks ago.
Yesterday it seemed like the jet lag finally caught up with me when I got home from work, but after a short day today and a little nap this afternoon, I am back on track.

This is what is known as Tito's train. The story is that the Nazi's where chasing him and he supposedly escaped on this train across the river and blew up the bridge, so that they couldn't follow him. He was in fact in a bunker on the same side of the river as them.
There is a museum nearby that as the whole story, but it was closed when we were there.

This photo is of a piece of Roman wall near a market place in Sofia, Bulgaria.
First day back at work after my trip. Woke up bright at 2 am. Managed to doze and sleep for another 2 hours. Didn't seem to bother me to much at work though, of course I will probably be struggling to keep my eyes open soon.

I am sleepy. It has been a long day up at 5 am, made a wrong turn on the way to the airport, but made it in time for my flight. A quick transfer in Zurich and a nice flight to New York. My head thinks it's 2 am in the morning now, so it will be an early night before work tomorrow.

Today I begin my journey back to New York. I have a flight this afternoon to Slovenia where I will spend the weekend.
I really that this trip has been quite fruitful and I will give more news when I get back to NY.
Last night I was invited to have dinner with an old friend. We had not seen each other for a couple of years and I got to meet his wife and daughter.

After Brcko I went to Banja Luka, which is the capital of Srpska Republika in Bosnia. I have been there a few times in the past, but this time I noticed that there seems to be a lot more construction going on. I guess this means more foreign investment. The second morning after arriving I woke up to snow, but it did not last long as the day warmed up. On one of my runs while there I went by the river which is very swollen from winter rain and snow melt.

Last weekend I entered into Bosnia, I was actually in a place called Brcko, very close to the Croatian border. It is an interesting place because it is like Washington DC in that it is a district and is able to make laws. One of them is that dogs have the freedom of the city and there is a 500 Euro fine if you harm them, so there are a lot of dogs.

went for a nice run this morning by the river in Skopje. It is still a little cold, but is getting warmer and the Sun is shining, which of course helps.
I met with a small group of people who wanted to here about my experience with running and meditation. I am staying with an old friend who runs a small number of gift shops here.

First internet access in a week. I went into Bulgaria for a few days, where I got to experience a lot of nature. It did turn cold just before I left and there was snow. Travelled by bus to Macedonia today and it is still cold and rainy, but they do say it will get warmer.
My sister's dog Shadow was put to sleep yesterday, he had been sick for a while. He will be sadly missed he was a real character around the house, but I think he is happy now.

So I finally got some internet access time. I went from Rijeka to Zagreb for a few days where I had a good time. I am now in Belgrade, I arrived yesterday on a really nice train which cost me about $30. I usually take a bus but this was so much nicer. A freind of mine recently opened a vegetarian restuarant here and I got to have lunch there. Oh and the weather is really warm so that is a extra bonus.

Went for a run this morning and the wind was so strong that it almost blew me over a couple of times. Then to top it off it snowed this afternoon. Though I have to say I am having a great time and will be a little sad to leave in a couple of days.

Well after a short train ride I am now in Rijeka, Croatia and just like it was when I left the last time I was here, it is raining. Well it was when I got here, today it is not, but it is quite cold.

I went with some of my Slovenian friends to Germany this weekend. To a place near to Hiedleberg. The drive took us 10 hours due to some heavy traffic near Munich and Stuttgart. We had a great time and I would definately go there again. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to run so my streak was broken at 60 days. The next day I started again, so we will see how it goes from here on.. Tomorrow I travel to Croatia to visit with my cousin.

Flight to to Zurich was pretty smooth and because of the strong tail winds, we actually got in 1 hour early. I got to take a look around the airport, thier are a lot of shops selling chocolate and watches, as you would expect. I am now in Slovenia a little tired but happy to be here. It is much warmer than in New York, so that is nice. Will post when I can.

Well it's a bit of a cold goodbye. The temperature this morning was 18 F ( -8 C ) with the wind it feels like 3F ( -16 C ), so it felt pretty cold when I was out there running my 5k.
I am pretty well set to go, just a little more packing. I always think I haven't packed enough and when I'm there I think I have too much. I have to be prepared for all kinds of weather, but at the moment I hear that it's quite warm.
I will post when I can. Will be back in New York in the Spring.

Last day at work this winter. Tomorrow I switch winter in New York for winter in Europe.
The late night of a couple of nights ago seems to have thrown my sleep patterns off, I had no problem waking up this morning, but was kind of sleepy all day. The did however go by quite quickly. Of course tomorrow when I fly to Europe my sleep patterns will change again, but then my focus will not be on going to work.
I have a lot of loose ends to tie up before I leave, which I will hopefully do tonight and tomorrow morning.
My run started off a bit laboured this afternoon, but ended quite well.

For one reason or another I got to bed late last night and as a result I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep.I got through the day at work OK though. On the way home I did buy a new travel bag, one of those that looks more like a suitcase. When I did get home I thought maybe the one I got was a little too big, but as long as when I fill it with stuff it doesn't weigh a ton, I'm OK.
I felt really tired when I went for my run so I only did 1 1/2 miles, don't want to get injured before my trip.

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!!!