Saturday, July 31, 2010

Project 365 - Made it to Cologne!

We made it to Cologne and are having a great time. We are staying in Dusseldorf outside Cologne and this morning I went for a 7 mile run along the Rhine River. Great place to run as there are bike paths everywhere! Yesterday we picked up our registration material and the opening ceremonies are tonight! The city has been taken over by mo's and everybody is very friendly!

The picture if the day is the Cologne Cathedral - construction started in the 13th century and was completed in the 1800's. We took a tour yesterday.



Our rail pass has been great! Headed to Cologne right now for a boat trip on the Rhine.


Thanks for all the well wishes!

Jim

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Thursday, July 29, 2010

First Class Upgrade!

The trip to Cologne is starting off great with an upgrade to first class!


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Update to Project 365

Before I head off to Europe I thought I'd get caught up on my Project 365 postings!  As I've said, although I have not been posting them daily, I've still been taking daily photos. The last Project 365 post was for the 10th of July.  The photos below, starting with the bird fountain, begin on July 11th and continue to July 28th.

July 11th - Kent and I have been doing a lot of yard work and this is a picture of one of the seven water features in our yard.  I love it and so do the birds who love, love, love to bath in it.  Kent bought this for me last year for my birthday.

July 12th - Our boy Toby with his cool doggie goggles. 

July 13th - Again, we are working in the yard a lot now that the weather has gotten better and this is a picture of the fish in our pond.  I've managed to keep them alive for two seasons!

July 14th - Another sweet picture of our boy Toby!

July 15th - Another of the water features in the yard - I've had this one for years.

July 16th - This is a funny one. It does not happen often but once in awhile right before I head to bed I realize I've not taken a picture for the day.  This was one of those days!  This is a piggy bank that Kent has had ever since we have been together.  I don't know the story but I've always thought it was funny and it was right there so there you have it - poka-dot-pig!

July 17th - Pot of flowers on the back deck.  I bought this in California when we were down there for my Mom's 70th birthday.  I'm not certain it would be something I would find in the nurseries here in the northwest  since it's really not hardy here but it makes for a nice annual!

July 18th - My parents arrived from California today!  They are here for a couple of reasons.  For Christmas Kent and I bought them a trip to British Columbia.  They are here for that and the they are going to house set for us while we are n Europe. This is a picture of there dog Lucy - a hairless Chinese Crested.  She and Toby are having a blast!

July 19th - Flowers taken at one of my favorite nurseries down the street - Furney's.

July 20th -  Kent and I in out "Team Seattle" shirts that we will wear as we march in the opening ceremonies of the Gay Games on July 31st in Cologne Germany.

July 21st - Beautiful evening for baseball in Seattle.  Mariners win over the White Sox in the bottom of the 11th inning! Part of a five game pack I bought for Kent for Christmas.

July 22nd - This is a house that is part of housing stock in Seattle for recovering homeless women.  I was touring housing of one of the providers I work with and was impressed with the home and the women who lived there.

July 23rd - This is a bit of a cheat and is a picture actually taken the next day and placed on Friday.  I've not done that before but made an exception here because the picture of the day was more dog pictures and I've already posted so many and two I wanted to post our friends Sean and Barbara who we went to a concert with the following day.

July 24th - Terrible picture but great company and great concert.  We went to see Jamie Cullum at the Chateau Ste. Michelle is a winery in Woodinville.  We had never taken in a concert there and what a find!  We will definitely be back!  The venue is outdoors and you can bring a picnic and they sell bottles of local wine.  It was really nice - now I know what I've been missing after all these years and to think Kent and I used to live just a few short miles from there!

July 25th - One of my favorite urban nurseries in Madison Park.  To be honest I don't even know the name but they sell beautiful inexpensive plants in a great neighborhood store.  I have a dream that one day Kent and I live in this neighborhood - Keep saving Jim!  The neighborhood in right on Lake Washington and s near Madison Park our favorite place to go swimming in Seattle during the summer.

July 26th - Last spring while at a Husky men's baseball game we won a free pizza from a local pizza place who's name totally escapes me at the moment.  The offer expired at the end of this month so we made special effort to get there tonight.

July 27th - My passport finally arrived!  Nothing like cutting it close!  This picture was snapped by our security camera as the delivery was made!

July 28th - We went out to dinner with my parents tonight to celebrate our departure.  We went to our favorite Chinese restaurants in North Seattle Judy Foo's Snappy Dragon - Delish!  Check it out sometime if you are ever in Seattle - you will not be disappointed!

So there you have it!  I'm all caught up on my Project 365 and I'm all packed for Cologne!  Now time to get a few hours sleep - it's almost time to get up already!

Have a good one -

Jim

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Week Fourteen Training Update

Well first of all I am happy to report that my passport finally arrived yesterday! Nothing like cutting it close! Just over a week to go before the marathon and other than packing tonight – I’m pretty much ready to catch a plane tomorrow and fly into Amsterdam and from there take a train to Cologne. We ended up purchasing a rail pass that is good in four Countries for unlimited travel for two over a 10 day period. Since we are flying into Amsterdam and we wanted to make it to Berlin and Luxembourg we decided it would be a good deal. We may even make it over to Brussels - I can tell it's going to be a busy 10 days!
I've been nursing a slight leg injury that occurred last week when I did some speed work and ran a nine mile run in a 7:59 pace with several hills. A couple of the miles were at a 7:15 pace which is where the injury was sustained. I've been taking it easy - icing and ibuprofen and a little pain-relieving cream that my Mom gave me (smells like old person) but at this point I am doing everything possible to heal. I've not missed a run and today did 7 miles at a 7:56 pace and feel pretty good. All the heavy running is behind me with the longest run before the marathon being 8 miles this coming Sunday.

I am not sure how much access to the net that I will have but hopefully I'll be able to post periodically. We leave tomorrow just afternoon and arrive on Friday morning. There are several welcoming parties and the opening ceremonies to the Gay Games on Saturday the 31st. We will then have an entire week to travel around before the run on the 7th of August.  Check out the video below of the opening ceremonies from the last Gay Games held in Chicago!  Looks like it's going to be fun!



Week Fourteen mileage update:

Sunday: 20.01 long run
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 9.41 easy
Wednesday: 11.03 speed
Thursday: 9.01 easy
Friday: 9.12 easy
Saturday: rest

Wish me luck!
Jim

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Week Thirteen Training Update

Hard to believe that we leave for Cologne a week from tomorrow and that the marathon is just over two weeks away!  My biggest concern is getting my passport in time to travel!  Yes - I am still trying to replace my stolen passport - it took a while to get my birth certificate which was also stolen and now I've sent everything in and should have it back by Tuesday of next week just in time to fly out on Thursday.  Talk about cutting it close!  I'm not going to let myself get worked up about it and trust that it will arrive in time and deal with it at the time if it does not.

I mentioned that we picked up our team shirts last week - I had my Mom take this picture for my Project 365 picture of the day for yesterday.  BTW - I've not given up on Project 365 and have in fact continued to enjoy taking photos - I've just been negligent in getting them posted.  I'll get caught up soon!

 
Training has been great although I have to admit that I've grown tired of the double digit miles 4 times per week during the weekday.  It makes for a very long day!  Fortunately I completed my last 20 mile run this past Sunday and today I ran my last double digit run on a weekday.  Another milestone today was surpassing 700 miles in training since starting the program back on April 18!  As of today I only have 11 more training runs before the marathon on August 7th and the longest run left before the marathon is a long run of 12 miles this Sunday.  The almighty taper is in full force! 

I'm not sure what my time will end up being in the marathon - I'd love to break 3:30 and I'll give it my all to do so but I'll be happy with anything under 3:45. 

Training schedule for week 13 was as follows:

Sunday - 10.61 easy run
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 12.14 easy run
Wednesday - 11.01 speed
Thursday - 11.09 easy
Friday - 10.10 easy
Saturday - rest

Have a good one! 

Jim

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Book Recomendation - Zeitoun ( pronounced "Zay-toon").

One nice things about traveling for work is that you tend to have extra time on your hands whether at the airport, on the plane or in the evening that if at home you fill up with chores. I used my down time while in DC reading Zeitoun. I picked it up in Atlanta a few weeks ago at a bookstore where I heard a guy talking to the clerk about it.


It's basically about a guy and his families experience of his false arrest and lack of due process following Hurricane Katrina. I've actually been interested in Katrina and the rebuilding of New Orleans from a public policy perspective since the event in the super dome unfolded so publicly on TV. I recall being on vacation at Lake Chelan and watching in disbelief what was occurring in New Orleans. I was involved locally in planning for the arrival of Katrina evacuees in Seattle and have been to New Orleans twice since the hurricane. I was not aware of this book until I heard about it in Atlanta - what a find!

In some ways reading this book was transformative in nature in that I learned a lot about Islam, the Qur'an and Muslim's. It's challenging enough to deal with natural disaster but when the larger challenge becomes the man-made response it's outrageous!

Imagine being arrested - guilty or not and not being allowed to notify your family. What a sad chapter in our history. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Check it out - happy reading!

Jim


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