how about a run?

Ran for 90 minutes the morning=9.32 miles with agility work thrown in every so often (grapevines x4, high steps x4). The run was technically a negative split; 46:23 out and 44:48 back. Back to work today, OK!

Yesterday afternoon Dianne made scones. It was cute. I was working in the yard pruning the red oak and she called out the front door, “tea time!” Ok, all together…I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK…..

 Happy Running!

Gee, it’s good to back home

Ahh…back to the “normal” routine. It’s funny what you miss when you’re away. Did a four mile run with Susan and Deena through good old familiar Bridlewood yesterday. I’ll start back on some sort of regular running schedule this week.  Here are two links to Volume, the interactive exhibit at the Victoria and Albert museum. The first has an explanation of the exhibit by the currator of the museum.

 Happy running!  

We’re Back

we had a great time in london.  it was a trip of a lifetime and one of the big reasons why is… we met triathlete.  he hooked us up with oyster cards, maps and valued, sagely advice. our trip went so well because of his assistance.  we didn’t gossip about any of you here in blogland really, as we were busy talking about “life in the big city”, both his city and ours. we also couldn’t get time to get a run in together so we’ll have to go back when it’s warmer.  

i should mention oyster cards here.   they’re like debit cards linked to an account that allows a person to use the public transport system and they have great ticket offers shows and concerts linked to them too.  when getting on a bus or passing through the turnstile in the subway, you scan your card and the fare is debited from your account.  one tops up the account as needed. none of the citys we’ve ever lived in had this but, i know it’s pretty common.

here are some things i liked/noticed about london:

every crosswalk on every street in central london has which way to look for traffic, which is to the right, painted on the street so one doesn’t get run over. this was the first thing the cabbie told us on the way from the train to our hotel on the first day. not how to get to the royal albert hall(practice), or what tube station goes to the tate modern but, “when crossin’ the street, look right”.  good advice.  it didn’t seem like pedestrians have the right of way there either.

public transportation. the tube is 2-3 blocks from everything and trains usually run every 1-2 minutes 24/7. i wish dallas had a tube. you don’t need a car and our triathlete doesn’t own one. it’s actually more trouble to have one unless one lives way out in the ‘burbs and commutes. there is a $16-20 a day fine for driving one into central london. how do they know?  it’s called cctv. the state has camera’s everywhere; intersections, shops, sidewalks, etc., and they know when you’ve been bad or good.

the sense of history. there’s been a cathedral on the site where st paul’s is since 604. the current cathedralhas been there since 1660something. the fire of london burned the previous one, which was the third one on the site which was built in 1048. there are some indigenous mounds here in texas that are that old, but no cathedaral’s. 

there were runners everywhere. there is a running club called the serpentine that has group runs in the park(hyde and kensington) and track workouts on tuesdays and thursdays. we didn’t make it to any of these but, there are people running in the park everyday, at every time of day, regardless of the weather. there are also runners everywhere else all the time. we got runs in on sunday (3mi) and on tuesday(5mi) and both days were windy with the temp in the low 30’s. i did see something about a running tour of london and there is an 8 mi route on the serpentine website that takes you through hyde park, greene park and st james’ park. the last two parks are where buckingham palace, the houses of parliament and big ben are. factoid: big ben is named that for the 13 ton bell in the clock tower that chimes the hour. westminster abbey is also there.     

there are things there that feel very much the same as they do here. what i mean is the health care system limps along and people complain about it just like they do here; people complain about the taxes just like here; people wonder what there elected officials are really doing and who they are really serving; there was a headline in friday’s paper about how uninsured motorists are increasing in number because they’ve raised the tax on registering cars and on insurance rates. And just like here, daily life goes on. the tube is packed like a sardine can every monday through friday with people on the way to work, all reading their paper and waiting to hurry off the train to their daily responsibilities.

we saw blue man group at the new london theater. the place was small, we sat sixth row stage left, which was really close, but not so close that we got a blue plastic poncho to wear during the show.  the audience was very diverse; some folks looked very buttoned down, some very much not. to summarize blue man group; it is an interactive (they spend lots of time in the audience and use people from the crowd on stage) comedy theater group that explores what it is to be the outsider or alien. they don’t speak, have many inventive props, have created and play instuments using pcv tubing and have a great band that plays mostly, but not entirely, straight ahead hard rock. it’s very creative. 

 more people smoke there than here.

london is very culturally diverse. what a fabulous mix of people. it’s a good people watching city and i thought los angles was good…

tiny cars. i don’t know what company makes this tiny car. aygo is another made by toyota and mercedes makes a tiny car too.

the crypts at st paul’s and st martin in the fields have good restaurants in them.  

we signed up for a one day thai massage class thinking we could make part of the trip a tax deduction and meet some of the local massage therapists and do some networking. our accountant said we could only deduct the cost of the class itself and we wanted to see and do other stuff so we didn’t go. i was looking forward to talking with local massage people so here we have another reason to back.

here’s an outline of things we saw. the links are to the pics. enjoy. i’m so done for now, but i’ll be posting a video of the interactive exhibit at the victoria and albert in the next day or so.

we arrived saturday morning and took the train from gatwick airport to london, checked in, meet tri. sunday: run in the park, take a guided bus tour and thames rivertour.  monday: buckingham palace for changing of the gaurd (rained), national gallery (which faces trafalgar square) to see top 20 paintings ( van gough sunflowers, etc.). tuesday: run the park, then walk to the victoria and albert musuem. the v&a had the best stuff and the coolest interactive exhibit i’ve seen in a long time. eat at the v&a, walk to harrods, blue man group. wednesday: dianne unwell morning off, meet tri for lunch, tube to covent garden market. thursday: st paul’s (good view from the dome), walk over millenium foot bridge to tate modern museum, tube to charring cross road to walk down to st martin in the field’s (it’s the church thats being restored), back to hotel after dinner at french cafe’.  friday was a travel day home. ate breakfast, train to the airport, home.   

out of pocket

it’s been so busy. everywhere.

there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day.

or, maybe i’m not very organized.

i’ve been running and getting to the gym but not really sticking to my program. i may revise my running goals for the near future. did i mention i ran my first 5k last saturday? i was pleased with a 27:29.

i actually saw this ad in the greensheet:

FOR SALE: barbques, wheels/tires, much furniture, wounded dog.

i didn’t call.

and did i mention that dianne and i are going to london tomorrow? we’ve never been and right now the weather there is warmer than it is in texas.

 i’ll take lots of pictures.

 happy running!

Find…

1.  the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123 (123 was a picture so I went back to page 121).
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.

i wasn’t tagged, really, i just thought this was kinda um, fun. i need to get out more. when you read this consider yourself tagged.

the book is what to eat by marion nestle, page 123.

Bunge (company that is the largest soy bean producer in the world) was particularly interested in this issue at that time because after years of lobbying by nutrition groups on one side and the food industry on the aother, the FDA had just ruled that the label of every packaged food would have to disclose its trans fat content, starting in 2006. The industry had balked at dislosure for three reasons. First, trans-fatty acids are so demonstrably bad for health that disclosure might depress sales.

the opposite of a lucky break

here’s a quick post…ran 12 on sunday morning over hills, etc; a two hour run with the last 30 minutes at race pace. that race pace thing…it didn’t happen. we had a great time saturday night; we went out to dinner, went to a coffee house after and heard some jazz. i got up in time to get the run in but my guts weren’t happy. trying to let a little wind by with 3 miles to go turned out to be a bit of a bad idea. so was the coffee saturday night. i know better,too. the hot shower after the run never felt so good. i think hot showers are now my drug of choice. well, another run is done. log it and on to the next one.

make a messy plan, don’t worry

today’s run was so nice; 48 degrees, dark, not much traffic, misty and humid. i ran a hilly 5.3 mile loop and added 2.2 more for 7.5 total instead of the usual out and back route that serves me so well. i didn’t take a heart monitor, just a watch. i wanted to let my legs and brain unwind. on february 10th i’m sitting for the a.c.e. personal trainer exam and i’m tired of feeling unprepared and worried that i won’t pass it. i would feel more comfortable if i could attend a hands-on workshop, which is available, to prepare for this, but dianne and i will be out of town. friends, worry won’t get anyone anywhere productive. i’ll put together a study reveiw schedule and be ready by the 10th. 

 happy running!   

got sleep?

my brain wants to work, or process, or something… so, rather than lay there in the dark thinking about stuff, i got up to put notions on the page (and make some notes), after which my brain and i will return to bed.

i did not run yesterday. or lift. i missed my window for a morning run by sleeping until 8:00am, which felt pretty darn good, and as the day went on the opportunity for a run just didn’t happen. it’s raining now and cold so i’m not sure what will happen with a run today yet. running for heart rate (effort) and time has been different in a good way and i think i feel stronger. walking lunges contribute to that feeling too, i’m sure. that’s all for now…

happy running! 

The Gig… and i catch a break

the gig went fine. i played with some old pals i played in bands with in 1986 and through the years. johnny and trixie have a duo called “the big idea”. he plays sax, she sings and their laptop is the band.  for larger club gigs like this one they have a guitar player and a drummer that play along with the laptop. that may seem strange, that we would all play along with the tracks, including the drum tracks, from the computer. however, it sounds good, full and layered as long as everyone playing can hear the tracks and plays their part in time. i had an especially good turn of luck. there was a nice set of gretch drums at the club and the guy who owned them didn’t need to move them for his gig so i got to use them and didn’t have to set mine up or TEAR THEM DOWN AND BRING THEM HOME AT 2:30 IN THE MORNING. i was so happy. i had my sticks and my pay check and was out of there before the guitar player, which has never happened to me…ever. as far as being in a bar packed with people on new years eve, i had another pleasant surprise. usually new years eve is “amatuer night”, but the people in this bar were all experienced old hands and nobody played the fool or appeared to be overserved. maybe they’re just that loaded all the time.