Working For The Weekend

I was all psyched to start racing again this weekend, but first ... Monday, I barely made it through work. Tuesday, I lay in bed all day under the inFLUence (he he, get it?). Wednesday, I spent the day trying to shake off the drugs and clear my head. Tomorrow, I'll start working from home. Then the hard part, a flight to Toronto tomorrow night, returning Friday. Ugh.

Ordinarily, I'd find a masochistic silver lining in this trip (cold? what cold?) to go for a run. Especially since I've never run in Toronto. But not this time. Which means I'll be stepping up to the line on Saturday morning for my first run of the week. Oh man, can we begin next week already?

3/1/07 Update: After all that, American Airlines called me today to say the flight was cancelled due to freezing rain in Toronto. Yes! Then my trip to Phoenix next Monday got rescheduled, and my meeting in San Francisco next Wednesday got cancelled. I'm not complaining.

20K / 4

I've had enough of this slump. It's starting to warm up. It's time to get on the running bandwagon again. I need motivation to run. I need some goals. I'll do a marathon later this year, but for now, I'm going to have some fun with 5Ks for a change. I signed up for four last night, on March 3rd, 17th, 31st and April 7th. There's still two more in April that I want to run, but I'm pretty sure I won't be ending on the SkinnyDipper Sun Run 5K (thankfully, no race pics on their website; it's painful to even think about it).

"Ours Is The Best Sport In The World"

I just happened to wander over the the Runners World site when I found this really interesting article from Amby Burfoot. With apologies to NCAA College Football, I think the title is pretty accurate. Judge for yourself.

California Adventure

I arrived yesterday afternoon, dropped my stuff in my hotel room, raised the blinds, and was met by an unobstructed view of Coit Tower perched atop Telegraph Hill. To the left and in the distance, Alcatraz. To the right, the mighty Queen Mary 2 lay in port. I had to leave immediately for a conference I'm working, and when I came back after dinner, she was already gone ... bound for Honolulu.

I wish I had taken a picture. Tomorrow, I'm going to get my act together and upgrade my ancient phone to at least a camera phone!

In other news, I managed to get a run in today, and man it was something else. I'm in the Hilton Financial District (yay! more Hilton points!), which they might as well rename to the Hilton Chinatown, because you can step off the curb in front of the hotel and you're there.

OK, this is a little pathetic, but I just saw the picture that comes with the hotel website. If I don't get my camera phone tomorrow, you can at least see a reasonable copy of what I see outside my room window!

Anyway, I left the "Financial District" with a goal of going in the general direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. I googled it and knew it was about 5.5 miles away, and I sure wasn't planning on doing 10 today.

I ran up Columbus Avenue, through North Beach, past Ghirardelli Square, around the Aquatic Park, up and down a small but monstrous hill at Fort Mason, through the Marina, into Crissy Field and the Golden Gate National Park. I should've stopped long ago, but I kept on going and thought I could at least make it near the bridge. Well, I went all the way to the base on the bridge at Fort Point. 45 minutes, maybe 5 miles? Oops.

Another runner told me about some stairs I had passed, which would take me up the side of the hill to the bridge. Many, many stair steps later, I was at the tourist shop at the entrance to the bridge. Well, what to do? WTH, worst case, I can always catch a cab back. The sun had just about set by then, and I set off and ran across the bridge and back; them's some dark, cold, windy miles. I ran back into town roughly the way I came, and was so glad to make it back in one piece. Total time 2:16. Way over-schedule.

Tonight, I loaded up with some Garlic Gorganzola Fettucini with Grilled Chicken and Asparagus from the Stinking Rose. What a way to end the day.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary to my S. :-) Wish you were here :-( She was supposed to join me today, but something came up at the last minute. Alright, got to end on a more upbeat note. Let's plan for same time next year, ok S.?

Government Waste

When is a Presidential Suite not a Presidential Suite? When it’s a free upgrade (good), in a Hilton Garden Inn (not so good). Nevertheless, I have more space than I need, a monster 50-inch TV, two AC/heater systems, an ice maker with enough ice for the entire floor, and the pièce de résistance … complimentary Runner’s World magazine sitting on the coffee table. Huh?

Um, sorry folks, I’m a little light on running news.

Without a race goal in mind, and freezing temps in Dallas, I managed only one 6-mile run last weekend. Tomorrow, I have to run, or I’ll go out of my mind. Just have to do it. I’m in Arlington, VA. I’m going to see the sun rise over the Potomac tomorrow.