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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just wanted to show the Giant pencil from the pointy end.Many people from the neighbourhood have been stopping by to take their photo with it. It will probably become a tourist attraction somewhere.

Tonight I got to go to a free concert given by Boris Grebenshikov, a Russian rock star from the Soviet era. He was performing solo, though he is famous for being part of a band called Aquarium. When he performs he sings in the style of a singing poet, his songs are very sweet and lyrical. The concert was in the open air and it was a very beautiful night.

I woke up in the middle of the night needing to go to the bathroom, I can usually wait till my regular wake up time, but this time I couldn't. When I got up I noticed that my electronic mouse trap had a visitor so I took care of that. When I went back to bed I fell asleep easily, but then I overslept. This sort of thing happens to me 2 or 3 times a year. I find that I am really awake for the rest of the day afterwards. Both Celtic and Arsenal made it into the group stages of the Champions league, so 6 British teams made it.

It was my first day back at work after the marathon and I felt OK in the morning, but as the day progressed I began to feel tired. On my walk home I once again passed the giant pencil, which just looks amazing. There were some Champions League Qualifying games today, Liverpool beat Toulouse 4-0 ( agg 5-0 ) to go through to the group stages,Rangers drew 0-0 ( 1-0 agg ) with Red Star Belgrade to also advance.

Local legend Ashrita Furman is once again making an attempt at a world record. This photo shows the 76 foot pencil he and his crew built to celebrate his meditation teachers 76th birthday. I took the photo as I ran by on my morning run, my legs are feeling much better today and I think my recovery from the marathon is going well.

Went out for a couple of miles this morning, my quads are still sore but they loosened up a little after a few minutes of running. managed to make some arrangements for a place to stay when I go to Ottawa for the 24 hour race. Oh! I forgot to mention that my team Wolverhampton Wanderers won yesterday and moved into second place in the Championship, at least for now.

I woke up at my usual time, but after about 1 1/2 hours decided to go back to bed, which I did for 2 more hours. When I went for breakfast I noticed that my Quadriceps were a little sore but that will go away. Other than that I feel pretty good, it's just a case of allowing myself to recover now. After I finished my calf muscles kept cramping but that seems to be OK now and I don't have any problems with my feet.

I had to get up at 3:45 am to get one of the buses to the marathon. The start was quite humid but cool, it warmed up as the day went on. I ran most of the time with my friend Utpal we were both trying to get under 5 hours. We were both struggling a bit late in the race, but my endurance sort of kicked in on the last 2 laps. I ended up running 4:51:43 which is 22 minutes faster than last year. I am quite happy with that.

Hey I have a marathon to run tomorrow! I left work 45 minutes early today so that I could buy a few supplies. I also wanted to take a nap in the afternoon, since the buses to the marathon leave at 4:30 in the morning. I guess I am as ready as I will ever be. This is really my last long run before the 24 hour race in 2 weeks, so if I look at it like that there is no pressure, not that I really think that way though. Last year I had an injury and just wanted to finish so I was happy with 5:13, I will be happy if I am 1 minute faster, it will be a good endurance test.

I don't know why but for the first time in weeks I actually felt heavy when I was running today. Of course when I got home and weighed myself I wasn't. The fact that I had eaten a sandwich about 30 minutes before may have something to do with it though. Anyway it's just 2 days to the marathon and things seem OK.