Run In Intense City

March 1: Consolation

2010-03-01T07:47:00.002+01:00

If it is any consolation to my American friends who may be lamenting their loss to the superior Canadian men's hockey team - it was an overtime loss, so at least you will still get one point for your efforts...

Feb. 28: Running Recap

2010-02-28T17:58:00.004+01:00

This blog was originally started so the JD and I could communicate our Berlin training progress with each other to help keep us motivated through the gruelling training prescriped by the original JD. Well here we are again both planning on running another marathon together but this blog is not being used at all to keep each other motivated. I know that he is training in his usual dedicated and intense way whereas my running (noticed I did not use the word "training") has been quite spotty, so there really has not been much for me to report. This was a good week though.

Monday: 4.25 miles with the Lagos Hash House Harriers. This was like running fartleks. At some intersections you were not sure where to go (based on the symbology used by the HHHs) so you would have to run down a street, realize that you were on the wrong path, turn back, and step on the gas a little to catch back up to the correct path.

Tuesday: 6 exciting miles on the treadmill.

Thursday: 6 exciting miles on the treadmill.

Friday: 5 miles. I was invited to the Chevron run, which Chevron sponsors for its employees. It was a great way to finish the week. The run leaves from Chevron's compound and winds along a sandy road to a bonfire pit on the beach. After watching the sun set, and meeting a few other runners, a bus takes you back to the compund. This run occurs every week - unfortunately it is a long way away and starts early at 5:30pm. I am not sure how often I will make this run, but I am hoping I can figure something out because it was great. (In the picture I am sure you can recognize Banana Island. The distance to the Chevron run may not seem like much, but with Lagos traffic it is not a simple task to get there. The satellite photo also highlights how the run felt like I was actually running out in the country - note the concrete jungle on the left (aka my usual hangout) vs. the green vegatation on the right).

Saturday: 10 miles (4+6). I started the day by running 1 lap around Banana Island (4 miles) and I finished the day with 6 exciting miles on the treadmill.

Sunday: 12 miles (4+4+4). This was interval training - Nigerian Style. I ran one lap around Banana Island clockwise, then I went for breakfast. I returned to run another lap but counter-clockwise (to keep it fresh!). Upon arriving home I decided to add 4 exciting miles on the treadmill.

In total I ran 43 miles this week. They were all very slow miles, but they were miles none-the-less. I am pretty happy with my running this week...even the little guy seems pleased!

Feb. 23: I thought I was coming down with something...

2010-02-23T20:06:00.002+01:00

...but it turns out that I am just eating a lot of fibre.

I blame Patience (aka Precious). She has been doing all of my grocery shopping for the last little while and I have pretty much given her free reign to buy whatever she wants. She has a general idea of the types of things that I like. The trade-off between getting a few surprises in the fridge vs. wasting a Saturday afternoon in a sweaty market shopping is worth it.

Now I know that amongst several (all?) of you that I have a reputation as being an eater. JD tells me that it goes straight to my ass and having to lug it all around a marathon course is what slows me down. Apparently Patience thinks I am quite the eater as well - she went shopping today. Upon returning home from work I was greeted with an entire fruit and vegetable section in my refrigerator.

And beside the fridge I have all the stuff that could not fit in the fridge.

Let me just take a second to highlight some of the things that you may or may not have missed from the above pictures: 2 coconuts, head of cauliflower, 2 heads of broccoli, 3 heads of lettuce, enough oranges and grapefruit to prevent scurvy for entire armies camped out in winter, 2 pineapples (+ 1/2 of another already cut up in a tupperware), 4 mangos, 2 dozen tomatoes, a dozen pears, 8 apples, a dozen plums, a batch of grapes, a sack full of potatoes, 4 croissants, a jumbo loaf of bread, and a 2 foot long fish. I am sure that I missed something but I think you get the idea.

At least I am eating good food...right?!

Hold that thought...I got to go to the bathroom.

Ok where was I? Oh yes, I also wanted to mention that I met up with the Lagos Hash House Harriers last night and got in 4.25 miles. To be honest, I have always avoided the Hash because it has never really sounded like my thing. And I am still not sure that it is my thing. I am just happy to be running with others.

They were a great group of people and I enjoyed myself but I find that there is a lot of wasted time. What happened to the days of showing up, running, then meeting at Panera Bread when you are done (if nothing else just to make a public appearance in your short shorts)? But with the Hash it takes all night just to run 4.25 miles. If I were anywhere else in the world I probably would be bothered by that. Since I have nothing better going on, I think I shall make a habit out of meeting them.

Today I hit the treadmill for 7 miles (or 1 1/2 episodes of Heroes).

I am off to the bathrooom again - have a good day!

Feb. 21: Why is there so much crime?

2010-02-21T19:01:00.004+01:00

Of all the places that I have ever lived I have never seen such a place like Lagos when it comes to religion - in particular Christianity. Everywhere you look you will see bible verses painted on cars, trucks, boats, sides of buildings...well pretty much anywhere. (Actually that also reminds me of when I lived in Missouri and saw "Jesus" signs everywhere). At the workplace you hear a lot of mention of God and Jesus and people are not shunned or discouraged from bringing their religion into the office (as is the case in North America). If something good happens you are told to praise Jesus. (The only time you see someone praising Jesus in the American workplace is if you consider the NBA or NFL a "workplace" and a player (i.e. a "worker) pounds his right arm across his chest before shooting it to the sky while nodding his head in thanks. I have often wanted to do this after a sweet PowerPoint presentation before spiking my notepad on the ground but I digress).

People are named Sunday to celebrate the fact that they were born on God's day. Speaking of Sunday, it is a pretty special day because EVERYone goes to church. In fact, this is the only day that it is recommended that I can drive on my own - the roads are completely empty (unless you drive past a church).

Sure, I have experienced many of these things in other countries as well but not to the same magnitude as I see here in Nigeria. This brings me to the title of this blog - by all appearances this is the most Godly place I have ever lived in so why do I have to be escorted by an armed gaurd? Furthermore, why do I keep getting emails offering me financial windfalls if I help some Nigerian prince transfer his funds he just recieved by pillaging a new country or something?

I am sure the answer is something simple. All the locals that I know have jobs and are gainfully employed. It stands to reason that the majority of my impressions of the locals are formed by them. I am sure that there are a few sketchy characters amongst the ~10 million inhabitants who have learned how to cash a ransom cheque with little difficulty. My random thought of the day while swerving back 'n forth across two lanes of road today because I had it all to myself. But if anyone were to ask - I was just warming my tires - Nascar style.

I ran 35 miles this week - 27 on the treadmill. I finished the week by running 10 miles today, which is huge for me because I have not done a double digits day in an eon. To break it up I ran 4 miles outside (at lunchtime in the heat and decided that was completely stupid) then came home and did 6 on the treadmill.

Feb. 18: Winter Olympics

2010-02-18T20:51:00.003+01:00

My favorite time of year, every fourth year, is the Winter Olympics. I love watching them. I find myself completely mesmerized and glued to the TV for the latest news and highlights.

In '98 I could not get enough of Schmirler the Curler, nor of the American men's hockey team trashing their hotel rooms (hmmmm hotel rooms, or rooms in the athlete's village?...hmmmm, if I recall correctly it was their hotel rooms...that does not seem very 'olympic-y' but that is not the point of this post).

In 2002 I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Canadian men's hockey team beating the American men's hockey team ON american soil - that was pretty sweet! I will discuss the women's victory later.

But I think my love for the olympics started in 1988 when I got to watch ski jumping, bobsled, hockey, and figure skating (just to name a few) all in my own back yard of Calgary. I was in grade 4 at the time and was fascinated by the "Battle of the Brians" and the final threads of the cold war - the hottest ticket in town was anybody vs. Russia. I instantly loved Eddie the Eagle and even got to watch him "soar" from the ski jump. And who could forget the Jamaican bobsled team - I even managed to get their autographs on a sweatshirt (too bad I ruined that sweatshirt!).

A lot has changed since then. Jamaica sticks to the other olympics (can you imagine if Usan Bolt decided to become a bobsledder instead?!), professional athletes are now allowed to partake, Mr. Gorbechev tore down his wall, interpretive ski-dance never made it beyond an exhibition sport, snowboarding became a sport (the highlight being when Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati was stripped of his gold medal for failing a drug test. He argued that the marijuana was from second hand smoke during a going away party before he left for the olympics. He got his gold medal back and became a national hero), Katarina Witt posed for playboy, speedskate technology changed - the new speedskate was dubbed the "clap skate" and instantly all records were demolished, mogul skiing was introduced, Tonya Harding proved that anything can be accomplished with a tire iron, Alberto Tomba seems to have been forgotten, and women started playing hockey.

Now, I agree with all of the above changes...well all but two. I often felt that interpretive ski dance was a vastly under appreciated sport. The other sport that I do not think belongs in the Olympics is women's hockey. (I will wait patiently until the rotten eggs and cabbage have been thrown my way to explain my point).

Why would any red blooded Canadian denounce hockey of any sort? To be honest I could care less if Canada won only 1 medal in the whole olympics - as long as it is gold and is for the men's hockey. So, what is different about women's hockey?

Competition. That is what is different. Every year the gold and silver medal goes to Canada and USA. All the other games are complete blowouts. Do not get me wrong, I love watching the women's hockey. The passing is phenomenal and the goals all belong on highlight reels. I am all for equality and think that it is great that both sexes have the opportunity to play hockey. Unfortunately this opportunity only seems to be prevalent in North America. Until women's hockey can prove to be competitive at the world level, I think the olympics should push this sport aside and make some more room for interpretive ski-dance again.

I am off to watch the day 5 highlights! Go Canada!

Feb. 16: Ocada - Lagos

2010-02-16T20:13:00.007+01:00

If you are ever cruisin' the streets of Lagos...hmmm, let me correct that - If your driver is ever cruisin' in Lagos with you in the car, you will undoubtably see the ocada. What are the ocada? Basically, they are motorcycle taxis. They have the distinct advantage of being able to weave in and out of traffic to get their passengers across the congested, thick Lagos gridlock.

Despite their valuable service that they provide to the pressed Lagos business man, the 'real' drivers (i.e. those that drive cars) all seem to hate them. In fact my driver (a.k.a. my main man Sunday) hopes that they will some day be banned from the streets (apparently they did this in Port Harcourt - but I cannot confirm that statement).

Personally, I find them kind of entertaining to watch (but I am not driving). Here are some photos that might show you why the drivers hate them though.

This is a picture taken in my side mirror while waiting to cross an intersection. They line up along side and in between the vehicles.

For safety reasons I am not allowed to use the Ocada to get around. But if I were to use an ocada, I would definitely use this guy.

Here they are waiting to cross the same intersection as the first two pictures. This was taken from a different point of view.

This intersection is not quite as busy. You can see the business man in the white shirt catching a ride to his next destination.

Happy cruisin' in Lagos!

Feb. 13: Time Changes Everything

2010-02-13T18:17:00.003+01:00

10 years ago I was dating the most wonderful girl in the world and was months away from graduating from University. The whole world was my oyster (as they say) - I was young, happy, and had no idea what future lay ahead of me. All I knew was that it would be awesome!

5 years ago I had married that girl I was dating and we were enjoying the footloose and fancy-free life of DINKS (Duel Income, No Kids). We were both young professionals and could not possibly imagine that life could get any better.

1 year ago we began to wonder if perhaps we were missing something. We were still very much in love and happy but were missing something we had not yet realised. Soon after my vocabulary was enriched with such words as "ovulation chart" and 'peak ovulation time' and 'you are not going for drinks with the boys tonight - you need to come home immediately after work'.

10 days ago I had realized that knowing what I know now, I would have gotten familiar with those new words and phrases a lot earlier. I was the happiest I had ever been. Telling people that I am a father is the proudest thing that has ever left my lips.

1 day ago I went to sleep alone, 17 hours by plane away from my family. I was sad and lonely and truely missing what I only dreamed about 1 year ago.

1 hour ago I watched the highlights of the Vancouver Winter Olympic Opening ceremonies and realized that those musical video montages that they do on TV make me cry. Well, I was fine until I saw the moose wading through a swamp with some ryhtmic native drumming in the background...don't ask.

10 minutes ago I saw Mason on Skype getting ready for his first Baby Bjorn outing - it was the highlight of my day.

1 minute ago I got off Skype and started feeling really lonely again (Wow - I know what you are thinking - I must be a fast typer!!).

Time does change everything. Sometimes it is for the better and sometimes it is for the worse. I keep reminding myself that even the bad times take me moments closer to the good times ahead with my precious son and my beautiful wife again.

ps - If you could pick a winter olympic sport that you could compete in during the olympics, what sport would it be?

Jan. 27: Happy Diner

2010-01-28T19:46:00.004+01:00

Perhaps it is time for me to rename my blog - I am clearly not running "intensely" and there is definitely a baby focus right now...but would you rather see little Mason or heart rate graphs and talk of VDOT's and intervals?

That is what I thought...here is the little guy trying to have a little burp after dining at mommy's all you can eat buffet.

ps - Steeeeve, Starbucks has yet to offer something as delicious as mommy's latte...

Jan. 26: Sound of Music

2010-01-27T18:36:00.003+01:00

There is a new sound of music playing in our household...it is like satellite radio - non-stop and commercial-free.

To be honest Mason is generally very content throughout the day. He really wakes up from 9pm-1am. We are hoping that his circadian rythyms will change soon to something a little more human.

After 72 hours he has lost 10.8% of his birth weight which has us a little concerned (he is now 7lbs 1oz). He has been feeding really well this past 24 hours so we hope that we will get some good news today when we go to get him checked up again. We are taking him in everyday until his feeding and weight start to stabalize.

A little later he might go for his first Starbucks coffee with Grandpa. Get 'em hooked young...

Jan. 23: Mason Levi

2010-01-26T19:47:00.006+01:00

This is one of those posts where I really do not need to say anything...

Mason Levi - 1 Hour Old

Mason Levi - 3 Hours Old

ps - Mommy and baby are doing excellent. Mason Levi was born at 10:07am on Saturday, January 23, 2010. He weighed 7lbs15ozs and is ~ 22 inches long. Daddy could not be more proud of both of them.

Jan. 20: 41 weeks and counting...

2010-01-21T00:56:00.002+01:00

Today we went to the hospital for Jennie's 41 week ultrasound. The point of this ultrasound is to make sure that the baby is still healthy and thriving. If the answer is no, then induction is seriously discussed. If the answer is yes, then you keep waiting. We are still waiting...

Infact, the doctor said the baby is doing perfectly well and is perfectly happy hanging out (in?) with mom. The tech also took a few measurements to estimate the baby's weight. Let's just say that poor Jennie has a little (big?) tank growing inside her right now. After hearing the estimated weight of the baby I have noticed a heightened level of fear and a tremble in her voice.

I told her that she should also ask what the diameter of the baby's head will be too because I imagine that will be pretty significant information for her to know as well. Given the estimated weight of the baby I can only imagine how much of that is certified Minken Melon. Strangely she did not seem to think that was quite as funny as I did...

In light of all this new information, we are not sure how this baby can possibly make it through the front door. The sunroof might be the only option!

The highlight for me was seeing an image of the baby's face. You could see the little pudgy cheeks, pug nose, and just a little bit of hair growing. Jennie thinks that the baby looks like me. I guess we will just have to wait a little longer to find out.

Jan. 19: What's New...?

2010-01-19T02:48:00.007+01:00

I arrived back in Calgary on Saturday, January 16 just in time (for the baby?) to take Jennie out for the 'last supper'. I thought it would be nice to take my lady out for a date before having to worry about baby sitters or sucking up to the grandparents and in-laws for free child care.

Since my arrival we have just been passing time waiting for the baby. We have gotten no end of advice as to how to induce labor. So we have been taking vigorous walks, eating spicy food, and...ahem...ahem...but still nothing. Our time to be alone together is growing longer everyday. Not that that is a bad thing, it just means one less day that daddy gets to spend with baby. :(

We have played a few games (Schottentoten).

We saw the 2010 Vancouver Olympic mascots as the Olympic torch passed through Calgary. This is me with Quatchi at the Olympic Plaza.

And here I am getting ready to strut with Miga.

Miga and I dancing down Stephen Avenue Mall together.

As a side note, I have to say Miga was certainly my favorite mascot. Originally (on paper) I liked Quatchi the best but after seeing his costume I am not at all impressed. He looks like a hairy ghost from pack-man. The costume looks like shag carpet draped over a giant egg. Whereas I thought Miga was really cute.

While walking home from the festivities we enjoyed the Olympic torch that was lit on top of the Calgary Tower. This torch was lit every day during the Calgary Olympics in 1988 so it was really neat to see it lit up again.

We also enjoyed Jennie's first serious contraction. There was only one, but at least I finally feel that we are starting to move in the right direction!

We will keep you posted (hopefully sooner than later)....

Jan. 11: Hold....Hold....

2010-01-11T20:45:00.002+01:00

Well, if Jennie was going to have the baby without me, I was hoping that it would be today. Why? Because I love the way the date looks when you write it. 01/11/10. But, now that this day has come and gone (well almost, but I am rounding up) I just hope Jennie and baby can hold on for just a few more days...(Think Braveheart and his army with large wooden sticks vs. a multitude of charging war horses).

ps - I ran 42 miles on the ol' treadmill last week.

Jan. 9: Great Excuse

2010-01-09T20:12:00.004+01:00

Today Jennie informed me that her and the future milk junkie where going to go and get a pedicure. Her and I both agree that it will be best for me to stay "north of the border" during the delivery (being Canadian, this only seems appropriate) yet we both know that we will be looking anxiously and expectedly towards the south during the sweat session.

So what exactly will our vantage point offer? I imagine that I will see a doctor wearing a full face mask, similar to that of a welder, looking back in our general direction (I am hoping that there will not be a lot of small talk because that would just be a little awkard). Then I am hoping everything else is covered (we do want to have another later you know!). But it is possible that her toes might be peeping out from under the covers - thus the importance of getting a pedicure.

So there you have it. That is quite possibly the best excuse I have ever heard from the wife as to why a getting a pedicure is important. Like most discussions with a pregnant woman she, of course, is completely right.

Now I just need her to keep the baby prisoner for one more week. The scene from Wedding Crashers comes to mind...lock it up Jennie.

Jan. 3: Restless Night

2010-01-03T18:46:00.003+01:00

Do you ever have one of those nights where you are just not comfortable sleeping? Where you are feeling hot and sweaty under the covers but as soon as you pull them off you are freezing? Where nothing you seem to do really seems to help? Where you can feel a little swamp forming around you and soaking into the sheets? And all you want is a little relief?

And then you realize that you have to sneeze. This is your opportunity! You roll onto your back and sneeze with all your might straight up. Moments later you are greeted with a refreshing cool mist raining down upon you. It is pure bliss...ahhhhhhhhhh.

Then you realize that was kind of gross and that your butt is still sweating.

If only I could sneeze again....

ps - In running news I ran 43 miles this weeks...all on the treadmill. Good times!

Dec. 29: Time Flies

2009-12-29T20:45:00.002+01:00

Can you believe that it was a decade ago that Prince blessed us with the last big hit of the millenium (and arguably the best party phrase) as he taught us how to "party like it's 1999"? Despite all fears that our computerized world was going to melt down and cease to exist as we knew it, we partied anyhow and have lived to tell our tale.

Now here we are 10 years later and I must take a moment to reflect on all that has happened in this relatively short time frame. I do not want to dwell on things - I would just like to provide a quick flipbook, if you will, of some highlights from 2000-2010. The rule is that each year gets one sentence.

2000: Graduated from university for the first time.
2001: Dropped out of university for the first time and road-tripped across USA to see the lady for her birthday - realized our relationship might be serious.
2002: Got engaged.
2003: Graduated from university again, got married, and moved to Texas.
2004: Spent Thanksgiving remembering the Alamo.
2005: Ran first marathon
2006: Started working with current employer because I wanted to see the world.
2007: Became a Yukon Sour-Toe, crossed the the most northern border between USA and Canada, and swam with the turtles in Hawaii.
2008: Moved to Paris and ran marathon PR.
2009: Got pregnant (well not me - but I have been putting on the sympathy weight), survived living in the woods with the boys, and moved to Nigeria.
2010 (sneak peak): Become a dad!

There you have it! Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

Cheers!

Dec. 27: Vivid dream and a little running

2009-12-27T19:35:00.003+01:00

I had the most vivid dream on Christmas Eve. I dreamt that I was logging on to my email and I saw that I received an email from my lady. The subject of the email was, "So the baby is scheduled". I opened the email and read, "We are going in to have the baby on January 18 at 3- to 4- pm."

Since I will not be arriving home until January 16 (and the baby is due on January 12) perhaps it is my sub-conscieous trying to will the baby to stay a little longer with mommy before I get home? (Jennie says that she is going to keep her legs crossed until I get home. I told her that if she kept her legs crossed in the first place then, perhaps, we would not be in this situation to begin with...!) Or perhaps I have crazy pyschic abilities?! I guess we will know in a few weeks!

In other news I have actually done some running outside this past week. I am still trying to decide what I hate the least. The overwhelming heat and humidity of running outside in Nigeria, or the mind-numbing process of running on the treadmill. Anything that breaks up the daily routine of living in a "secure" (hmmmm....gaurded anyhow) place is good I suppose.

I am authorized to do outdoor activity on Banana Island. It is almost exactly a 4 mile loop. I did 4 miles yesterday and 6 today. It has been a while since I have lived in Houston and my body is not at all used to working in these weather conditions. Well, who am I kidding - my body really isn't used to working at all these days!

And here it is...(oh my goodness I thought he lost it)...a garmin image of my run today!

Dec. 23: Man Up

2009-12-23T06:29:00.003+01:00

Hmmm....if I am going to be a dad that any kid will actually take seriously, I better stop crying while watching movies such as Rocky Balboa....

ps - Jennie is now full term! The baby is now just getting fat, growing hair, and chillaxing in his/her own personal VIP area.

Dec. 20: Dear Baby

2009-12-20T20:27:00.002+01:00

Dear Baby,

I have not yet met you, but I miss you deeply. Is it possible to miss someone that you have never met?

I have talked to you. You have heard my voice (hopefully over the hum of all of your mother's internal organs and internal processes). I have heard your heartbeat. I sounds strong and vibrant, just like daddy's. But I still wait anxiously for you to have a voice in the world. I cannot wait until you can talk to me. Before that day, I cannot wait to hear whatever gurgles and gargles that you want to share.

Dear Baby,

You are already acting up. You are supposed to be "in place" by now. Your head is supposed to be down and you are supposed to be getting ready for your first ever journey. You will not be going far but for me it will be the most important journey of your life.

Instead of having your head down, you are a little lop-sided and your butt is sticking out and creating a little bulge in your mom's belly. If you ever get mad at me for disciplining you later in life, just remember that your mom was the first to spank you regularily.

Dear Baby,

I apologize for not being able to call you by your name yet. Your mommy and I do not know yet if you are going to be a girl or a boy. Mommy wants a surprise and daddy wants whatever mommy wants.

Based on our difficulty in determining baby names, your mommy and I think that you will be a boy. We had no difficulty in coming up with a girl's name. Infact, we knew what it would be since this past summer. The boys name has been more problematic. For this reason we believe you will be a boy.

Dear Baby,

Please keep your mom company for 4 days after you are supposed to enter this world. I will not be there to join you both until then. If you can do that for me I will not pester you for the first year of your life to say "daddy" before you say "mommy".

Although I am telling you to wait I really wish you would not. I cannot wait to see you.

Your daddy.

Nov. 22: Travelling Revelation

2009-11-22T15:08:00.002+01:00

The best way to travel is with the one(s) that you love. If they are not available make sure you have a good book instead.

ps - A got a few sympathetic comments and responses from my last post. So thank you for that. It was perhaps a little long for a post with such negative energy (sorry). I find that I really do not have an outlet to 'vent' or to express frustration. It is hard to vent to coworkers because I do not like bringing that kind of crap into the workplace. If I have to vent in french that will just add one more thing that I want to vent about, so that eliminates everyone else that I normally see every day. So, unfortunately for you guys who are reading this, you are my whippin' boys.

As an update, I am finally out of Nigeria and in France. I spent all of yesterday walking around Paris. I had no particular destination in mind. I just wanted to enjoy the crisp autumn weather and the last remnants of the autumn colors. Currently I am really enjoying hi-speed internet in the hotel lobby. I never thought I would be so excited to see how quickly I can navigate the web!

pps - My treadmill is working again. A couple of days after my last post I re-plugged it back in to try some troubleshooting on it that Landice had sent me. Before I started the troubleshooting the treadmill just started to magically work again. David a year ago would be trying to figure out exactly how this was possible and would spend endless amounts of time investigating. David today does not care and is just happy to be running! As an aside, the customer service and professionalism before, during, and after I have purchased the treadmill has been spectacular. Not only that, the treadmill is spectacular. I highly recommend them.

ppps - If you had to choose to only have one type of meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Your choices are breakfast, lunch/dinner, brunch, high tea, midnight snack, post workout recovery meal, or other.

Nov. 15: Being optimistic is highly overated

2009-11-15T14:05:00.004+01:00

Today is Sunday. Today I am supposed to be in Paris eating baguettes, adding 'eh' to the end (or 'le' infront) of english words that I do not know the translation of hoping that the French will magically understand what it is that I am saying, and drinking bitter over-priced coffee. Instead I am sitting in Nigeria, eating pickles straight out of the jar and convincing myself that it is a well balanced lunch. How did I get here? I think we need to start at the beginning...

I woke up Friday morning with a airplane ticket in hand, full of optimism that by the end of the day I would be whisked off to Paris for the weekend. Then I was off to the south of France for a week, which would be followed by a journey back to Canada to see the Mrs, whom I have not seen since August. It was a blind optimism. I was still without my Passport.

Since arriving in Nigeria, my passport has been travelling through the entrails of my company, the bowels of the French system, and the corruption of Nigerian authorities. To be honest, at any one time I could never precisely tell you where my passport was, what was being done to it, or if some political refugee was borrowing it and starting a new life in Canada. My passport was like the electron in Schrodingers atomic model - at any one time you may know the location of the electron, but not the speed, and visa versa (if I remember correctly).

What made me think that I was going to get it back on Friday? Oh yes, because I was naive enough to believe the same people who told me that I should have had my passport over a week ago, that today was THE day. At any rate, I would not know for certain until 3:15 pm. I did not even bother packing as I left for work. If I REALLY was going to leave, I would just come home early, pack, and be on my way. (I remember that there used to be a time when travelling across the Atlantic, or Pacific for that matter, was a big deal that required a lot of planning. Now it feels no different than catching a bus across town, but I digress).

Oops, I forgot a minor detail - even if I wanted to pack the night before, I could not. My power and phone were out all night. Sitting in my underwear in the dark, trying not to sweat, I contemplated the future and the probability that I would leave the next day. My optimism on Friday morning stems from my own positive power of persuasion on myself (self hypnosis perhaps...is that possible?).

Back to Friday. I am not superstitous by any measure but when HR hung up on me when I called them in the morning to get a status report of my liklihood of travel that day I recalled that it was Friday the 13th.

Like the great Salt Lake, my optimism was high as though a rainy season had refilled the reservoir but it was starting to receed quickly, leaving crystals of doubt. By the time 3:15 rolled around a thick sheet of salt was all that was left of what was once a great sea of optimism. I started to shift my plans to going to play poker instead with some co-workers.

After work I was greated by a hot and stuffy home still without power, phone, or water. There goes everything in the fridge. No worries - I did not really have much since I was preparing to be leaving for 3 weeks anyways. So, maybe I will just go early to Poker night, drink someone else's beer and win big - that will turn things around, no?

Oh what's that, mantatory evacuation from the flat to the Eko hotel? Let's go. Oh what's that, heavy traffic - it will take over an hour to get there? Sure, whatever. Oh what's that, you could care less now about poker night because now the thought of speaking French all night just seems like extra unnessary stress?

Unlike Friday, I woke up on Saturday a little grumpy. I had the night to sleep off my initial disappointment of not leaving but now I was grumpy because I had an 'optional' meeting that night at work at 7pm. What?!! Back the truck up...did I just read that correctly?! Although it was an 'optional' meeting, a second meeting had been planned for Sunday in case this one conflicted with your schedule. I figured I had to go because I would not be surprised if roll-call was going to be taken. So, what to do until then?

I would like make a brief interlude in this dismal story to say that brunch at the hotel was fantastic! I do plan on going back some weekend just for brunch.

After brunch, I waited 1.5 hours for the shuttle to take me back to my flat (with power and water now - still no phone). Then I waited another 2 hours for a car to come pick me up to go grocery shopping. Then I got stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours on the way to the store. The store itself was packed - not with shoppers, but with locals who had gathered around the tv showing the Nigerian soccer match - big day, they qualified for the world cup!

Normally I go to the local pub if I want to watch the big games with my team. Going to the grocery store to watch my boys vie for the Stanley cup has never before popped up on my radar. I am sure it will now - "Hey man! Big game tonight! Let's go have some beers and watch it! Sure, but we better get to Krogers quick - all the best spots next to the broccoli and cucumbers fill up quick!"

I got home just in time to squeeze in a quick run on the treadmill before getting picked up for the 'optional' meeting. Well, I thought I was going to go for a run until it became clear that the treadmill's motor got a little cooked from all of the power issues of the previous day. Earmuffs - Insert your favorite 15 swear words here ___ ___ ___ __ ___ __ __ __ __ ___ __ __ __ __ __. I am optimistic that I will be able to get it fixed. As you may recall, I was also optimistic on Friday morning and we all see how that has worked out for me.

Before leaving for the meeting I slipped a bottle of Reisling into the fridge to get chilled. "You and me are getting drunk tonight," I informed it as I left.

To my 'joy' the meeting was held all in French and finished past 10pm. What struck me as odd, was that I was the only person who seemed to think that it was strange and inappropriate for a company to have a meeting at this time. I find it odd that companies talk about the relationship of corporate values, personal values, and family values and how important it is to nourrish these values. Then on your one free night of the week to really let loose and to call your own, they take you away from your family to meet in the boardroom to discuss strategy.

But why was I the only one who seemed to have an issue with this? That is the more scary question. Or, perhaps with all of my waiting around this weekend I have nearly read all of George Orwell's 1984 and my brain is looking around me at the conformity, uniformity, and the inability for people to say no when 'big brother' demands things. At what point in time will I just start accepting this type of thing from the company with no questions asked? It seems that there are a great many people who are like that. It is sad. Seeing it yesterday was really scary. It even made me forget a little about the treadmill.

Arriving home I went straight to the bottle, cut the foil, and was greeted by a moldy cork. "No worries," I thought. "I have been to the caves of Moet & Chandon Champagne and there was loads of mold and things growing down there. This should not be a problem." The mold ran pretty deep into the cork, which was not snug in the bottle. In fact, I pulled the cork out with my hands. I took one sip and quickly decided that I was more in the mood for some red w(h)ine tonight anyways.

I started to screw into the cork of the red wine and started producing copious amounts of sawdust. The cork was dehydrated beyond recognition. I am no wine expert, but that was definitely a skunky bottle. So, I went back to the white and decided that alcoholic vinegar was not so bad afterall.

I fell asleep on the couch thinking that I can only go up....or sideways, from here.

Sunday has been an upward progression. It was a big morning for me - I ran outside! I ran from my flat, around Banana Island and back. The heat was stiffling, but boy did it feel good to be out running! My biggest issue was with my lungs. Normally my lungs feel like they are burning and ready to explode. Today they felt like they were drowning and in desperate need of a life raft. All in all I ran 45 minutes and walked 45 minutes (I walked home).

While running I could feel the eyes of everyone watching me from a distance and then piercing through the back of my head as I continued past. I felt as I have always imagined the President would feel when running with his entourage and the media following him. Living in Houston I always thought that it would be cool to lay out a threshold run during such instances (if I were the president that is) and then watch them talk about how greasy fast I was (for a president) on all the major news networks!

There were a few other runners out there too....it appears as though I have opened a new and interesting chapter here in Lagos. If my treadmill had not broken down I never would have discovered this. Oh oh, there I go with that optimism again...

Nov. 3: Restless Nights

2009-11-03T06:40:00.005+01:00

Lately I have been having very restless nights. The type of nights where you are dead asleep for a short interval, wake up, roll around for a little bit, then repeat many, many times until the alarm sounds (and out of pure habit I will still hit snooze after a night like this...what's the point of that?). Normally when I am sleeping by myself (and I am not talking about when I have to sleep on the couch because I am in the dog house with Jennie!) I sleep on my normal side of the bed and wake up pretty much in the same position. Normally I only only disturb about 2 feet of the covers on the side that I am sleeping on while the rest of the bed looks as it did before I went to sleep. I think this is a result of marriage - before I got married I used to fall asleep in a spread eagle position lying in the middle of the bed - the whole bed was used (Well, the whole bed was used during the honeymoon too, but I digress...). But now I have been "trained" to sleep on my side of the bed.

Maybe it is because I have been gone for so long now (too long) that I have started to fall back into my old habits. I am waking up with my head where my feet should be, my arm hanging off the bed, and a lagoon of drool collecting in my ear. But the thing that gets me are the dreams I have been having. I am not sure what to make of this last one...

It starts off with me back in Houston (I think...I am not sure - but everyone from Houston was there). Actually, to be clear I am at some Strider running event. But my focus is on my main man JD who is making fun of me because I am actually skinnier than he is (in my dream). But I remember being confused because I did not know if that meant that I lost weight or if he grew a fat ass like mine.

So, then we took off running - we were both really excited because I had just returned from Africa and this was our first run together. But before I knew it, all the Striders were passing me like I was standing still. By now my main man JD was long gone. They kept looking at me surprised but nobody said anything to me.

"Why I am so slow?!" I cried.

Then off in the distance I recognized JD's voice yelling at me, "Because you run slow on a treadmill."

(As an interlude, this part of the dream clearly comes from my 3 weeks of treadmill running at an 8:00 min/mile pace. I am convinced that the pace on a treadmill is much faster than the equivalent pace outside. If I try to run my usual 'easy' pace of 7:15-7:30 min/mile I feel like my legs are about to spin off.)

All I remember after this is walking around confused until I come up to a bridge over the ocean (long bridge I guess) with no railings and I see JD and the rest of the Striders running towards the edge of the bridge. At the last second JD realizes that there is no railing and turns to warn the others. Before he has a chance to alert the others the momentum of the herd (imagine a Buffalo jump here) throws him and everyone else into the ocean.

So - before anyone gives me a hard time for having a dream with my buddy in it know this - in that same dream I killed him! (Sorry dude).

On another note, the longer I live by myself, the less utensils I use. I think I am turning back into a caveman. Just as Darwin went to the Galapagos Islands to discover evolution, I have come to Nigeria to discover anti-evolution.

I also saw yesterday a huge running group run by my apartment. I would have ran out and joined them if I was not on my work shuttle at the time. I must find out who these people are (I believe they are the Hash House Harriers...I have been told that they have a presence here).

Oct. 25: Dilemma

2009-10-25T17:46:00.003+01:00

Ok, first before I start this blog I have to pay tribute to the number one dad in the world (well, until January at least!!) and wish my dad a very happy 64th birthday! I really wish I could be home to celebrate it with you dad.

This weekend was a bit of a strange one. My car got hit by a motorcycle taxi, or 'Okada' as they call them here. The Okada T-boned me just behind the rear wheel on the driver's side. So, I guess you could say that it was more of a passing glance but it did result in 3 grown men scattered across the road. My driver got out, felt and rubbed the newly formed 'ding' while still cursing at the men who were busy evaluating their road rash - still on the ground. Then he jumped back in the car and we drove away. The reason the Okada hit us in the first place was because they were trying to avoid the cops. So the cops were right there and they could care less that they just witnessed a motor bike accident. Hit 'n run Nigeria style I guess. (Note to self - try not to create too many bad habits while in Nigeria. What is normal here will surely put me in jail back home.) I wonder if those guys are all right?

In other news, Precious has passed her one month trial period (durn, has it been that long already?) and I decided that she is a keeper. But this is where my dilemma begins. I had her drop by on Saturday to have her sign her contract and to pay her for her first month. Now, I made the contract out to "Mrs. Precious", which kind of reminds me of those Mr. Men books you read as a kid like Mr Grumpy, Mr Happy, etc. But that is normal here in Nigeria - everyone is Mr or Mrs then whatever their first name is. So far so good. The problem is when she signed the contract - it turns out that her name is NOT Precious afterall. WHAT?!! Yes, I knew it was too good to be true - her name is, in fact, Patience. She must be patient to have put up with me calling her by the wrong name all this time.

But I am really puzzled - how did I get her name wrong all this time? She was introduced to me by my French neighbours who, of course, have an accent so I can see how if they introduced me to her as Mrs. Patience how it could have sounded like Mrs Precious. However, I remember being so struck by the name that I repeated it several times as "Precious" to confirm that I heard correctly. I distinctly remember doing this - wouldn't you if someone was introduced to you as Precious and she was not a working at a "gentlemen's club"?

Now I have been calling her Precious all this time. At first I felt a little creepy, which is documented in an earlier blog, but then I got over it realizing that it is just her name. But it is not her name - what has she been thinking all this time?? I JOKED that it felt wrong to be calling her what to me felt like a little pet name. But to her I WAS calling her a little pet name. I might as well have been calling her "babe" or "darling" all this time. Yikes!

So the dilemma is what do I call her now? It is kind of like that guy in the office that you always see at functions and meetings and talk to all the time but you have no clue who he is because you really have never been introduced - it is always just sort of assumed that you know each other. After a while you just cannot introduce yourself because you have gone beyond that point. So instead you spend an hour on the company directory trying to covertly figure out his name so you don't look lame by finally admitting that you have no clue.

So do I keep calling her Precious, which she responds quite favorably to? Or do I switch covertly to Patience and hope she does not really notice? (but how would she not notice someone calling her two different names? I would notice!) Or do I talk to her about it? That option is a little scary because what if she tells me that she wants me to call her Precious?! Now that I know that it is not her real name, I really would feel creepy calling her it. All I need now is a thin, upper lip moustache, tight pants, and gold chains to make the image complete.

I also have to confess that I am really disappointed that her name is not Precious. Precious just had the "Wow" factor to it when you told people about her. And now, oddly, Patience just seems too normal of a name. One thing is for sure, she certainly lives up to her name by letting me call her Precious all this time!

Maybe I will refer to her as "the nanny formerly known as Precious"?

Oct. 21: Finding Solutions - Nigerian Style

2009-10-21T21:25:00.003+02:00

Since I have moved into my flat I have been making constant complaints about the condition of things. The stove does not work, the patio does not lock, I found cigarette butts and ashes on the floor upon arrival, and the patio has a leak that is damaging the tiles and makes half of it un-usable. Each of these complaints (among the others I have not mentioned) have been addressed in typical Nigerian fashion. This basically means that instead of coming with the intention to fix these problems they are more eager to enter your house just to see what you have and if anything might be worth stealing. Then they report back to their superiors that the problem is fixed. This leads to multiple phone calls and emails by me to convince their superiors that they were lied to and the problem is still just as bad as ever (but thank you for continuing to waste my time).

Regarding the patio leak I previously mentioned, here is the email chain concerning this issue (and I am quoting the emails exactly):

Me (first email): "There is a leak on the patio, which damaging the patio railing and floor. Thank you for helping resolve this issue in a timely fashion. "

Me (second email - 5 days later): "I am still waiting on this issue. What is the status of this requests? Thank you"

Response (6 days after initial request):
"The problem: The slab of Flat 6B balcony accummulates water which drips on the balcony of Flat 5B . The water gets inside of the slab through Tile joints, which inplies that the surface of Flat 6B bacony was not properly water proof.

Solution: We advise you to put a Flower pot on the spot to absorb the water and make the spot pleasant to view."

Welcome to Nigeria folks.

Oct. 10: Living in a Corrupt Country

2009-10-20T22:36:00.002+02:00

This weekend I am not allowed to go anywhere without a police escort. Well, not really a police escort, but a privately hired police escort who have bigger guns than the local police. Why the increased security you ask? It is because they are expecting more police than normal to be within the area.

Now, coming from a 'normal' country's perspective this seems very strange. One would think, "Hmmm, if there are more police in the area, I should be safer, no?"

But from a corrupt country's perspective it just means you have to have more money available for bribes when out driving. It is a delicate balance of what is the minimum amount of money required to make them go away and what is too much, which encourages them to lookfor more.

So, this weekend I will be staying at home. Not because of kidnapping or terrorist threats, but because there will be too many police corrupting the streets. Good times.

ps - another 40 minutes on the treadmill today - more good times.

Oct. 19: Now what?

2009-10-20T08:39:00.001+02:00

Last night I finally made one last push for the summit on my latest goal - to read all 1201 pages of Les Miserables. I finished just before 11pm! I cannot believe that I have read the whole book! What is more I only started at the beginning of September. This tells me that I have a lot of solitary indoor time these days. This is a good thing because it allows me to accomplish some of these things that I once thought would be impossible (1200 page book...seriously, who normally has time to read that in a month and a half?). It is a bad thing because it is solitary indoor time.

As for what I think of the book - it is the best book I have ever read. Period.

But now what I am supposed to do?!

Oct. 16: Running Style

2009-10-18T16:37:00.003+02:00

On Friday night I went for some Italian dinner at a place called Il Sorisso, which was overprized and not very good. However, that is beside the point. What was interesting was a conversation I had with a co-worker of mine from Paris who has also managed to get assigned to Lagos. For reference he also has run a few marathons, so he can appreciates quite well the task at hand when running such an event. It went something like this:

"Dave, the first time that I saw you and that you told me that you like to run I thought to myself, 'Yeah, he is a pretty fit looking guy - I can see that he runs.' Then later when I found out that you ran a sub-3 hour marathon I thought, 'BLOODY HELL! How does someone who walks like Keyser Söze from the Usual Suspects manage to move that fast?!!'"

"Really? You think I walk like Keyser Söze? Wasn't he a cripple in the movie?!"

"Yeah. you bob around a lot when you walk. The fact that you can bob-around so fast is bloody amazing!"

"Thanks! I always thought that I walked with more of a swagger...I had not put myself in the cripple category quite yet."

"Bloody amazing I tell you! I do not know how you do it! The best that I can manage is a 3:45 and I can walk normally!"

"Tell you what - let's go out this weekend and I can show you a few things that might help you understand how a sub-3 hour marathon is possible. But let's not stop there. Let's meet every night for the next six months, and perhaps you will see how 'my swagger' is able to run a sub-3."

"Bloody hell."

Yep - I guess I walk like Keyser Söze. This is not really news to me. People have always told me that they can pick me out of a crowd because I have a very distinct walking style. I have been told that I walk like my grandpa. And now to my coworkers they imagine a cork bopping around in the water, and that is me running!

Always being aware of 'my swagger' I have tried in the past to change my running style to be more steady up top. This has usually led to very stiff and uncomfortable running. So, I just let my body do what it does naturally and let it move side to side like a metronome. Running styles are as unique as a fingerprint and just because it is different, does not mean you will be any better or any worse than the person next to you. The key difference is if you actually get your 'running style' out the door and put it to use. That being said, I off to visit the treadmill!

Cheers.

Oct. 12: Shipment - Part 1

2009-10-12T21:31:00.013+02:00

Yesterday I got the phone call that I have been eagerly anticipating for the last 3 weeks, "Mr. David, we have your shipment. Can we deliver it today?"

"Hells yeah you can!"

Infact I have two shipments coming because in true North American fashion I (we?) seem to want to pack everything with us. Yet within my family I have a reputation for ruthlessly throwing out key momentos and such. At any rate, I definitely spend more money to move my "neccessities" around the world than I should. In my defense, I figured that if I could ever justify a place in which I need my gear to survive - Nigeria is that place.

Check out how high the back of the moving truck is. For reference, that is a full grown man loading a box onto his shoulders. Perhaps it is time to introduce the back of truck loading ramp to Nigeria?

After 1.5 hours of lifting and hauling, I was left with this mess.

It looks like a lot of stuff but one thing that has puzzled me with this move is why the total volume of all my stuff is so much higher than the total volume of stuff I moved from Houston to Paris. I made several key purchases, but even after taking those into account this shipment was twice my previous shipment. This resulted in me paying more money to the movers and it has been a question that has been bothering me since summer. After opening the first box I finally confirmed that I was not going crazy because the answer was obvious.

The two key purchases I referred earlier to were my new treadmill and Jennie's Pilate's reformer with half-cadillac. We had these shipped straight from the States so it was quite exciting to open them up. It took me two hours to get the treadmill set up. (I was amazed how excited I was to actually be getting ready to run on a treadmill - definitely the most giddy pre-treadmill run feeling I ever had!)

Since I sweat like a pig you will notice the strategic placement of the treadmill below the AC.

The reformer. It is still not quite set up (my priority was the treadmill).

Jennie - this wall is at the foot of the reformer and treadmill. I am thinking mirror in the middle and perhaps a little TV/DVD on the drawers to the left to watch the Pilates videos on. And of course, the shower is nearby to wipe of my man grease when I get off the treadmill.

ps - Today I did my first real run on the treadmill. 30 minutes - time to start excavating this body for that long lost athlete who has some stories left to tell.

Oct. 9-11: Weekend

2009-10-12T14:59:00.006+02:00

Fridays these days are just not filled with same sort of eager anticipation I used to have when I worked back in Houston. In Houston I only worked half-day Fridays, which meant that if you strolled in a little late (which most people did), went for a coffee with a couple co-workers (which most people did), and headed out a little early for an "early lunch" (which most people did) you barely had enough time to check email and make plans (usually a little Golden Tee and beers) for that afternoon and/or the weekend. (The Koz and I call this "early dismissal Friday" and it was awesome!)

Now in Lagos, everyone generally works at least a half day on Saturday, which leaves Friday with a pretty normal feeling associated with it. The only time that people get really excited and giddy around here is on their travel days when they are headed out.

So, on Friday I woke up and commuted to work as usual.

After putting in my usual day of "changing the world one seismic interpretation at a time", I headed out for some beers at Bunglows. The general Friday night routine is to meet for beers at Bungalows, go home and "freshen up", then meet back at some restaurant (hoping that you do not have to pay any police bribes while crossing Falamo Bridge), to be followed by some more beers.

But remember be to responsible about your beer intake. You would hate to be caught in a situation where you might be forced to pee on somebody's wall.

No seriously - do not pee on his wall.

I think I see at least one person peeing against walls, or posts, or cars every day. But strong warnings like that should make him think twice...no?!

This sign (below) made me laugh for two reasons.

1. My mom used to tell me this all the time when cleaning was to be done. (This is another shameless parenting technique of guilting you into making your bed or putting your toys away!)

2. I took this picture on a Sunday, which is one of the few days that I can actually walk around and that my company will authorize personal driving. Why Sunday? Because all of the people in Lagos are in church and there is no traffic. But Lagos is the dirtiest place I have ever seen (besides a dump). So, perhaps you can see why I find this sign ironic?

This is my new home. You would think that it is garbage day with the garbage out front. But to be honest, I am not even sure that is our garbage.

Me heading into the building with the weekend drawing to a close.

Another week has passed, which means I am one week closer to returning home to seeing Jennie and baby!

Cheers

Oct. 9: Random

2009-10-09T07:35:00.002+02:00

I think I pay Precious too much. She just had massive hair extensions done and is sporting some new threads. I was told that she needed the job to put her kids through school. (Don't mind the fact that you cannot read son, doesn't your mom look great?!)

Jennie is 26 weeks pregnant. Apparently the baby is as long as an English Cucumber and is starting to put on some baby fat. That is something that daddy and baby have in common....when will my treadmill arrive?!

Jennie thinks she will have an outie soon. Of all the changes that a woman goes through during pregnancy, this one makes me giggle.

When we lived in Paris, we already had visitors by now. We even talked about having a guest book to remember all the people who came and visited during our stay. I just laugh at that thought now!

I just passed the 900 page mark on Les Miserables - only 300 left!

My shuttle is here - off to work. Have a great day!

Oct. 7: Words of Wisdom

2009-10-07T23:10:00.003+02:00

(overheard at a Nigerian Bar from one office mate to another)

"I used to pray to God for a bicycle, but I soon realized that God does not work that way.

So, I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness instead."

Oct. 5: Precious

2009-10-05T22:15:00.004+02:00

Of the many things that I was told to do upon arrival, one of the main things that sticks out in my mind is to hire domestic staff. In fact, my company will not allow me to NOT have a driver. I must be driven everywhere. The traffic is terrible - it is much worse than I-10 on a Saturday during the height of its construction while trying to navigate around Beltway 8. But no worries now - I just let the driver deal with all that while I sit back and read, or sleep, or try to process in my mind what it is that I just saw at the last corner behind me. (I actually do not have my own driver yet, but I am taking the "company taxi" provided for us newbies).

The other important thing is to hire a nanny/maid. Lucky for me, my neighbours recommended someone and she started working for me immediately. She is great! I have absolutely no complaints. The only thing that I wish, is that I could say her name without either laughing or feeling like a creep...her name is Precious. I still feel dirty when I say, "Would you mind washing my underwear Precious?"

At first I was only going to hire her half time - afterall, how dirty can I actually be? (do not answer that). But then I figured that I would splurge that extra 20 euro/month and employ her full time. It is awesome! She sterilizes all of my fruits and vegetables (another post), irons all my clothes (including my underwear, and I am pretty sure my socks, but I have not confirmed that one yet), washes everything, makes my bed like they do at hotels, and pretty much anything else to help out. At first I was apprehensive about moving to Nigeria, but I could get used to this!

As an example of her skillz, here are before and after pictures from when I left for work this morning to when I returned this evening.

Before work:

After Work:

Pretty sweet isn't it?!

(If I tried doing this while Jennie and I were living together I do not think that I would be allowed in the same bed as her at night. Now I can do this AND go sleep in a bed that was "preciously" made for me!)

Oct. 4: Did you Miss Me?!

2009-10-04T17:41:00.009+02:00

So, for the last 2 months I had big grandious ideas of uploading blog posts from all the things that I did last summer (yeah, remember, that thing that ended a long time ago?) but life has decided to make things very busy, and when things were not so busy, life decided to take away my internet. I have many posts in "draft" mode, which I will publish one day, but I figured I better get on with the here-'n-now. Otherwise it will be Christmas and I will be trying to remember what I did on Sunday, October 4th. So, without any further delay, let's get reaquainted shall we?

On August 23, 2009 I kissed the Mrs. Goodbye and boarded a plane from Calgary back to Paris. She, being pregnant, was not allowed to come with me on my next square on this boardgame that's called Life. (However, she will be pulling a "Go directly to Lagos, if you pass Go collect $200" card in the spring after the baby is born and ready to travel). Ultimately I was headed to Lagos, Nigeria but I had to stop in Paris first and await my Visa.

What was supposed to be a 3 week pit-stop turned into 4.5 weeks. Surprisingly it was not because I had any immigration issues, but because I had to stay in Paris for some "very important meetings". This was a bit of a blessed curse - you see I was quite looking forward to hanging out in Paris, checking emails, catching up on my blog, and basically being a slacker while I waited for my visa. Instead, the boss-man decided to put me to work and make me earn my pay-check (the nerve!). Although I got to delay my eventual depart for Nigeria, my work kept me quite occupied.

Finally on Sept. 22, 2009 I jumped aboard a 1-way plane to Lagos, Nigeria. The first thing I did, of course, was discover the local beer. A lot of Guiness is drunk here, but I seem to see Star more often. They are served in huge bottles (reminds me of Oktoberfest serving sizes - so sorry Andrew, you probably would not be able to handle yourself over here!). When I am with others we often split the bottle so that we have half-a-chance of at least drinking it while it is still cold.

My first week was spent holed up in a hotel (The Millenium). It was a little depressing. My life was dictated by the schedule of the shuttle that picked me up at 8am for work and dropped me back off again at 6:15 in the evening. The next 5 waking hours I was held prisoner within the small confines of my hotel room. Without a gym, local running route (ha ha), tv (unless you count CNN on a loop as TV), or internet my options were limited to reading and watching TV DVD series that I packed from home. I am currently reading Les Miserables, which I bought at the Calgary airport en route to Paris) and have made it to page 800 (only 400 left) - I owe this progress to my solitary confinement. (As an aside, although I am only 2/3 of the way through (ha ha), this is the best book I have read...it is an amazing read!) If I was not reading, you would see me like this (below) burning out on Friday Night Lights. (I watched all 3 seasons in 2 weeks...I told you I burned out!).

Outside of my solitary confinement, I was "working". Well, trying to get everything in place so that I could work would be a better way of putting it. Although we have been planning for this since the spring, I have learned that nothing is done here unless you are physically here. I am, more or less, up and running now. By all standards my installation was lightening quick. My office mates who arrived 2-4 weeks ahead of me are still waiting for things.

While waiting for things to happen, I got to enjoy this view (below) out of our conference room. In most offices that I have worked in before, the conference room is generally a place where a company likes to show itself off a little. Here we show off the neighborhood. (The reflections from the window are quite bad but, trust me, if you look closely you will find 2 cows down there).

Finally on Sunday, Sept. 27 I moved into my new residence.

I am still awaiting my shipment of goods so I am still living out of my 3 suitcases that I packed so long ago. Practically, what does this mean? Well, I have used my towel as a blanket, rolled up clothes for a pillow, and sometimes have to pull double duty on my underwear to make them last until my next round of laundry. Thankfully, I have some great neighbors who have lent me some bed linens and a pillow that have dramatically improved my nights! They also had me over for dinner on my birthday (oh yeah, that happened somewhere in the mix too - I never knew 31 would be this exotic!).

The first couple of days at my flat were tough since it was given to me in disgusting condition. It was dirty and the workers (i.e. squatters) who were supposed to fix my tub left cigarette butts and ash all over the place. Since I was not yet moved in, I have good reason to believe that these workers and families lived in my place before I arrived. (Yeah - high five to my security for keeping a tight wrap on things like that!). Furthermore, I discovered that I was not given all of my keys - one had magically gone missing. (I am learning that many things "magically" happen here in Nigeria...or "magically" do not happen - whichever is the worst thing for you!). After replacing all the locks, I could start enjoying the sunset view from my dining room a little more.

Being out of the hotel I better opportunity to venture out and start exploring the "city" (well, the little radius of the city that I am allowed to explore anyhow). Future posts, I am sure, will have many adventures to add on this! People are always sitting on the corners, or walking in the traffic trying to sell something - here is a fruit and vegetable stand not far from work.

And, alas, we have arrived to today. I am starting to discover my stride and am learning that although things are very different, you can still enjoy some of the comforts of home. Take my breakfast for example.

And after breakfast, I played a solo game of Le Havre. I have been looking forward to this all week - sort of my weekly reward for making it through the entire week!

Later I went to the store and you will never believe what I saw...!!!

Texas' own right here in Lagos! Now here is a question - how much do you think it cost? If you said 18 euros (~$25) then you win! Needless to say, I never bought any!

There you have it! Welcome to Lagos and welcome to my new life!

Tuesday, July 21: TdF - Day 3

2009-07-28T23:30:00.010+02:00

Today everybody woke up a little extra giddy than the past few days. The reason was simple – we were going to watch the Tour de France live and in person today! I thought that it was a little ironic that my first live experience of the TdF would occur in Italy as we were planning on watching the tour somewhere along the ascent of Col du Petit Saint Bernard. Today’s stage started in Switzerland in Martigny, cut through Italy, and ended back in France at Bourg Saint Maurice.

We left our hotel in Les Houches, drove through the Mt Blanc tunnel and arrived in Pre St. Didier, Italy. This allowed me to check off another new country off my list. My impression of Italy so far – it looks just like France.

Today’s ride started in Pre St. Didier, which was also the base of the Category 1 Col de Petite Saint Bernard.

Most riders in the group agreed that it was not the grade of the climb (average = 5.4%) that made it a category 1 but its length (23 km). The objective today was simple – just climb. The elevation profile of the ride clearly illustrates the daunting task ahead.

I started off by myself just spinning and getting into a rythym. Although most of the “good riders” agreed that the gradient of the climb was not steep , I found it plenty steep for me. (Perhaps I am the most out of shape rider in the group? Or perhaps I am the most honest?)
It was quite exciting to be climbing the very road that the best cyclists in the world would be riding just hours later. Near the base of the climb there were spots of people camped out and eagerly waiting the tour. These spots turned to thick throngs of campers, cars, tents and TdF enthusiasts near the summit. The practiced their cheering as I rode past, which made for a sweet experience.

There were many other cyclists on the mountain that were also looking for the same experience. I was surprised by how many cyclists there were – all searching for bragging rights to say they too rode the same climb that would be broadcast worldwide later that day.

All of these thoughts ran through my head as I just concentrated on grinding each mile after mile. I am quite sure that you learn a lot about what kind of person that you are on these types of adventure. Some people like to take their time, stop for pictures, and make the ride up as “relaxing” as possible. Others like to race up against others for bragging rights. Myself, I just wanted to ride from bottom to top without stopping. That was my challenge. I figured I could sight-see on the descent.

3D View of Col du Petit Saint Bernard. The Yellow line is the Italy-French border, which is at the summit.

84 minutes later I crossed under the polka dot banner signifying the top of the climb. I had done it! To make sure that the ride would be a proper challenge I packed up a bottle of champagne and some plastic stemware to have a champagne toast to celebrate. One of the Aussies in the group told me that was something that an Aussie would talk about doing but would be too lazy to actually do it. So he made me an honorary Aussie. He also mentioned that if this is what I would do for this climb he is scared to think about what I will do to celebrate Mt. Ventoux in a couple days.

It seems that most (all?) people think that my bike is really heavy and they think I am crazy for what I pack around in it (i.e. champagne). But none of them seem to mind the champagne toast. And after being one of the first people up the climb (7th in the group), their joking is definitely out of respect.

After the toast I pointed my bike in the opposite direction from which it had been pointed all day and finally let gravity start to work for me. The throngs of people, the fact that the road was still open, and the sure length of the descent did not make it as enjoyable as I had imagined it might have been. I did, however, stop twice for two great photo ops.

The first was with Dido – the ever famous guy that you see on TV every year dressed as the devil. He has the reputation for being overly stinky, but he must have showered recently because I was still able to get quite close without any sensory damage (or perhaps I have gotten used to hanging around stinky French people for the past year and a half?).

The second was with some fellow Canadians. That maple leaf always does my heart good.

Back down in Pre Saint Didier I met back up with Jennie. We positioned ourselves just off the base of the climb to watch the tour. Before the tour comes the caravan, which is really quite an experience in itself. The cars fly by with people just throwing freebies hard down on the road infront of you. It is like being involved in a drive-by shooting but instead of dodging bullets you are diving away from sugar candies, dried sausage, and key chains.

The men of the tour arrived about an hour later. I made the mistake of telling the people that I was with that I got shivers up my spine seeing them go by. They thought that it was funny that men in lycra gave me the shivers…

Team Astana leading the charge. Lance Armstrong is the fifth person back wearing the black helmet. Alberto Contador is in the yellow.

Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) is in the center. The sprinters like to huddle together for support and security in the mountains. For them it is a matter of survival.

One of the team cars following the riders.

What a great experience – I cannot wait to do it again tomorrow!

People are now just starting to call me “Dangerous”. (I am sure my kid will read through this someday and think, “surely they are not talking about MY dad.”

A+

Monday, July 20: TdF - Day 2

2009-07-28T22:42:00.011+02:00

Today’s final destination is Chamonix. Actually, the people who paid full price get to stay in Chamonix - the rest of us are bunking in Les Houches ("Les Hoochies" is what I prefer), just outside of Chamonix. To break up the day, we started by riding the first 50 miles from our hotel in Beaune to Cluny.

The Fonz has nothing on me...Haaaaaaaaaay. Getting Ready to depart.

In Cluny we had lunch, a red neck shower, which consists of squeezing the remaining water from my water bottle over my dirty bits for a little rinse. It is important to clearly distinguish the water bottle from the gatorade bottle BEFORE you start cleaning - you do not need your cheeks sticking to the bus seat for the remaining 4 hour bus ride Les Houches.

The ride is shown on the left in blue (point-to-point from North to South). We drove the remainder to Chamonix (bottom right).

After yesterday’s hammer-fest I decided to start the ride with the “slow group.” It was a beautiful, sunny day for a ride – riding through the French country side with the sun shining down on you is the most fun you can have with lycra on. As Ms. Beckistan would say, “you got to punish the lycra”.

As it turns out, the “fast group” took a wrong turn and had to repass us further down the road. They went from being called the “fast group” to the “development squad” or the "soft tops". When they caught back up I decided to jump on and join them since their new names that we had bestowed upon them were no longer intimidating to me. (Whereas before I had given them nicknames like White Goodman in Dodgeball..."and there riding up front is Blazer, sitting next to him is Lazer, followed by Tazer..."

It was all good until the first crash of the day, which occurred just two bikes ahead of me. We were approaching a climb and, as it appeared to me, when the riders got out of their saddles to start digging into the climb there was a little rubbing of tires. (Sometimes a little rubbing is a good thing, but not in this case...). Two people went down, some flesh was used to patch a few holes in the road and, thankfully, that was about it.

After this incident I figured I better ride with the “slow group”. Perhaps this more casual group would decrease my risk of going ass over tea kettle in the French countryside. Again, all was going smooth until the second crash of the day. I was near the back when suddenly the whole group infront of me slowed in the middle of the track. Everyone was touching their brakes or slowing for some reason. The ripple effect to the back of the group had disasterous consequences. I hit the bike in front of me (who happened to be ridden by the guy who started calling me Dangerous Dave) and got thrown from my bike.

Having been in this precarious situation before I instinctively unclipped my left foot, skied along the pavement with me cleat while unclipping my right foot as my bike hit the pavement and skidded between my legs. Miraculously I ended up on both feet with my bike lying beneath me. Unfortunately the lady behind me did not have quite the same performance on her dismount. When the peloton slows/stops without warning the back of the peloton is definitely put at risk. To avoid these situations tomorrow I think I will just go for the yellow jersey and let all the people behind me worry about the perils of the peloton. The tips of the ladies fingers got chewed up pretty bad...she is now known as "claw".

Was it coincidence that I was at the scene of both accidents in the two different groups? “Dangerous Dave” is really starting to catch on. (But seriously, by all accounts and witnesses, I was not at fault for either accidents…I swear).
It has also been suggested to me that I should have a little scoreboard on my “suitcase” on the back of my bike so people riding around me will be fully aware of the risk they are taking when riding next to me. Since the first accident occurred infront of me, the group on the bus has decided that my score is 1.5.

It is a rest day in the TdF so Astana can perhaps have a little team building after yesterday's "fireworks". Unfortunately for Lance, I think the fireworks came from the wrong person!

View from our hotel room.

Les Houches.

Jennie in Les Houches.

Me in Les Houches.

A+ from Les Houches.

Sunday, July 19: TdF - Day 1

2009-07-28T22:07:00.007+02:00

Today my new friends and I left Paris en route to Beaune. Beaune is about a 3 hour bus ride away, which allowed plenty of opportunity to “bus-bond” with everyone.

Loading the bus in Paris.

While it seemed that the front half of the bus was enjoying the quiet tranquility of the French countryside, which lulled them to sleep, we were in the back half of the bus with the more rowdy crowd (led by big Geoff and his crazy toe slippers (shoes?)). I was hoping to catch a bit of a snooze myself but sitting in front of Geoff all but guaranteed that would not happen!

We were dropped off 27 miles from Beaune giving us all the opportunity to “stretch our legs” through the vineyards and country roads into town.

Dave had mentioned to me (later in the tour) that there is always one guy on these tours who rides a really old bike (mine was the oldest - or as I prefer to say, "the most classic") and has not bought new bike gear since the florescent phase. Hmmm...it looks like I am "that guy". Might as well ham it up a bit.

Yep, I am definitely "that guy".

I somehow managed to get caught up with the front guys where, starting with the first climb the hammer was dropped and remained that way all the way into town. The only reason why I was able to keep up was because the really phenomenal climbers who chewed up the first hill decided to descend and reclimb the hill so (in their words) they could “keep warm”.

The first climb seemed to take most people by surprise. - it was a little longer and steeper than "we" (?..or maybe it was just "me"). It was an abrupt reminder that my vacation has now begun...hmmm - something seems wrong with that statement. I am hoping that it awoke some of the deep muscles that have not been used in a long time in time for the alps in a few days!

The countryside was phenomenal! Beaune, being the center of the burgundy wine country, meant that the whole ride rolled through the beautiful surrounding vineyards. A strong headwind motivated me to keep up with the fast guys infront (Brian and Dave) because, although I am used to generating a lot of hot air myself, the last thing that I wanted to do was to battle the wind solo.

A point-to-point ride gauranteed that the wind would always be against us.

I finished the day hoping that every ride will not be like this one! Sure it is great to throw down the hammer from time to time, but with the mountains looming ahead I was not so keen to do it on day one! Either way, it seemed that most people were just trying to figure out the group dynamics. From what I could tell you had two groups:

1. The Tazmanian Devils who were here for training

2. The rest of us.

Jennie stayed on the bus with her new found friends and barely beat us into town. Upon arrival the very next priority was to find a little pub where we could watch the Tour de France. We were all excited to see the stage since Lance promised “fireworks” on his Twitter page. (This information was brought to us by "Team Livestrong" (aka Jim and Angela) in the back of the bus. This was to be the first of many such instantaneous twitter updates.). There were fireworks alright – it looks like the tour has entered a new era – The Contador Era! Finally, the tour is getting exciting…or is it already over?

A few more beers in the beautiful Beaune town square with my new French buddy Francois (who was being overwhelmed by the Australian contingent of our group before I arrived), nice dinner in a cave restaurant, and I was knackered!

Jennie in beautiful Beaune.

Of note, my bike seems to be getting a lot of attention amongst the group. I am still getting a lot of flak for having my “suitcase” (i.e. my “small” saddle bag) tied to the back but they all love my “old school” bike. Glenn told me that I “make uncool cool”. I am pretty sure it was a compliment…but stay tuned!

I have also been given the title of “Dangerous Dave” from Paul. That’s right Ice man…I am dangerous!

A+

July 18: TdF Stage 0 - Prologue

2009-07-18T17:00:00.005+02:00

Ok, ok, for those of you that follow the Tour de France (TdF) you are well aware that the tour is well beyond the original prologue stage, which occured in Monico nearly 2 weeks ago. However, today I joined a big group of strangers who have all traveled to Paris to follow the TdF through the Alps. We will catch up with the tour on Tuesday, but in the meantime we are just enjoying riding in France while we travel down to join the tour. Since today was the first "get to know each other" kind of ride and an opportunity for all the travellers to stretch out their kinks I will refer to it as our prologue.

I had a distinct advantage of living in Paris so I was able to ride to the hotel to meet the group. Already they think I am a little strange, whatever - after dealing with frenchies for the past year I am more than used to being the outsider!

I am really excited about the next week. It is really awesome to be around a group of like-minded people who are all totally into the TdF and keen to ride. Right now I am sitting in the hotel bar, watching the tour, hearing everybody discuss the tour and getting excited about it, and drinking a beer with my gal...vacation has indeed started!!

I rode 22 miles from my place to the hotel, which is beside the airport. Jennie joined me later with our bags.

As a group we rode an additional 25 miles around the countryside from the hotel.

Today's ride total: 47 miles

TdF total: 47 miles

A+

July 16: 500 Euros a slide

2009-07-16T17:33:00.003+02:00

So, I am sitting here in Lagos, Nigeria waiting for my driver to take me to the armed shuttle, which will take me to the airport to return back to Paris tonight. It seems as though I have just arrived in Lagos (last night) and here I am already leaving! The point is that I had to present a few slides to some people. In my downtime I calculated how much it cost the company to have me present these slides (see the title of the post) and it hardly seems worth it. And trust me, what I had to say was definitely not worth that at all! ...oh well, extra air miles I guess.

Speaking of airmiles, when I was returning from London on Monday the customs officer had to flip through my passport twice before he found an appropriate empty spot to stamp. Considering that my passport is still less than two years old and that I already have to get a new one because it is full tells me that I have been spending a little too much time on trains and planes these past few years!

Tomorrow I am back in the office until my vacay officially starts on Saturday. I will start my vacation by watching the Tour de France climb its way through the rugged Alps. If you are watching the tour on TV, just watch for a streaker running infront of the peloton. I will try to keep things updated as they happen, but no gaurantees.

And with that, the real TTR champion is on his way back to Paris!

A+

July 9: Pin Cushion

2009-07-09T21:14:00.003+02:00

For the last couple months I have gone from a nearly empty vaccination booklet to one that consists of two booklets stapled together. All of this to get prepared to go and live in Nigeria. Today I had my last dosage of vaccinations in conjunction with my "exit medical exam" to leave France. Lately I have been a pin cushion for my local neighborhood doctor. This has become my standard look:

One of the things that they do in the medical exam is to xray your chest and check your lungs. After consistently breathing second hand smoke (and sometimes what I am quite convinced is first-hand smoke from the guy sitting at the table beside me while insisting on holding his cigarette infront of my face) for this past year and a half I was sure that the doctor was going to diagnose me with the black lung. Or, at the very least, warn me about the dangers of working in a coal mine or something...but fortunately this was not the case!

Tomorrow I am off to England for what looks to be a very wet and soggy weekend. I guess that just means more beer, Tour de France, and boardgames inside...let it rain!

A+

July 7: TdF update...

2009-07-07T21:00:00.002+02:00

...so Lance is 'fractions of a second' behind the yellow jersey! I have to admit - I did not expect that! That being said, I certainly made my day to see team Astana do so well today in the team time trial! There is only one thing left to do to make this day complete...

A+

July 4: Havin' a Bud...

2009-07-04T18:06:00.001+02:00

...to toast all of my American friends out there celebrating Independance Day today! Oh yeah, and also to toast the return of Lance Armstrong to the Tour de France, which started today.

Currently he is sitting 3rd (with some of the real contenders left to depart) after the first 15km time trial in Monoco. This tour is looking like it will be one of the best in a long time...I am also super excited since Jennie and I will be watching the tour live once it hits the Alps.

While watching the tour I have been "deboxing" all of our dvds. To cut down on storage and shipping space, I am throwing all of our DVD cases and putting the DVD's in a CD booklet. Here is my pile...moving sucks!

I ran 8 miles today, making 30 so far on the week with one day left...it feels good!

Happy Independance Day!

July 3: Eaves dropping on the metro

2009-07-03T23:00:00.002+02:00

Today on my way home from work I was sandwiched between two english speaking people who deemed it necessary to continue their conversation over my book, around the other two people standing between them, and during the times when the brakes of the metro were squealing, which just meant that they should started talking louder. No longer able to concentrate on my book I decided to have a little listen...

Her: Can you believe it? I had a 61 euro dinner last night on the Champs Elysees and all I had was an entree, a plat, and a glass of wine.

Him: Wow! That is expensive! The Champs Elysees is a big street you know, perhaps you can find some place cheaper tonight?

Her: Yeah. I should also try to find a wine store. I think some people would want me to bring home some French wine.

Him: That sounds like a good idea. My wife wanted me to bring her home some French face cream but I cannot believe how expensive it is!

Her: Really?!

Him: Yes. Everything I can find is 200 or 300 euros. For that price, I would rather send her to South America for some black market plastic surgey instead...

This is where David looks up to see if he is actually serious...he did not look like he was joking. If I only knew French better, I am sure I would hear these gems of conversations all the time on the metro! Good stuff!

A+

July 2: Steak & Potatoes...

2009-07-02T22:43:00.003+02:00

...do not make for a good pre-run meal! It has been so sticky and hot that I have been running these past few nights between 9-10pm when it is a little cooler, which means that I head out after dinner. I was actually quite thankful for the side cramps and the beef-burps I had during the run because, unlike Jennie, my dinner was still in my stomach!

The poor girl has seen nothing but porcelain and toilet water these past few months. If anybody has any advice as to what the correct thing for the husband to do during these episodes please let me know. It is a pretty helpless feeling - you really want to help, but the best thing to do is just to leave her alone. The one thing that I can do, which is a preventative gag reflex measure, is to use the toilet brush to clean up after each time I use it for the "big" jobs...I am sure that she appreciates that the only streak in the house is her running to the bathroom!

So far this week I have run ~ 22 miles and easy running is actually starting to feel, well, easy again!

A+

July 1: Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T23:03:00.002+02:00

Today we celebrated Canada Day by going to the Canadian Embassy in Paris to have a few beers. Unfortunately, the beer that they poured was nearly all foam and I had to wait until the beer was nice and warm before all the foam magically turned back into beer. I guess the cargo ship that the beer was on hit some big waves and was well shaken up while crossing the Atlantic.

Jennie and I infront of the Canadian Embassy in Paris. Seeing that Maple Leaf, especially in other countries, always does my heart good.

At the Canadian Embassy we met one of Jennie's classmates and her friend from Alliance Francais (french lessons) and we joined them at The Moose for some more Canadian beer and cheeseburgers. (Jennie, of course, has not had anything to drink in the last 4 months, whereas I need to get it out of my system so I can be a good influence!)

Having a Moosehead at The Moose.

Have a great Canada Day, eh!!

June 30: Hmmmmm.....

2009-06-30T17:41:00.004+02:00

Who do you think this most resembles?

Mommy or daddy?

Here are some more pics if you are interested:

June 29: Inspired Running

2009-06-29T21:42:00.002+02:00

Today I finished up my last big meeting here in the Paris office (Woohoo!) and I just have report writing left to work on for the final 2 weeks that I am in this office (bummer). Feeling a lot lighter on the shoulders after getting the presentation out of the way I went for an invigorating 6-7 mile run in the stagnant heat of Paris.

Granted, running out in the best heat that Paris has to offer still falls about 20 degrees shy of the average temperature that Houston boasts during this time of year. But the real killer is when I get home where the average temperature in my apartment is about 20 degrees hotter than the average temperature of my sweet, sweet air conditioned place back in Houston.

After my run I just cannot cool down. I have even tried to adopt "domestic animal rules" of finding cool cement or tiles to lie on to cool myself. Unfortunately there are only two tiled areas in our apartment - the bathroom and the kitchen. The bathroom is out (because to be honest I am not sure I had sniper aim last Friday night after a few beers) and Jennie seems to object to seeing my bare ass lying so close to dinner. So, here I find myself spending another night in swassy-land dreaming of a nice, refreshing Canadian winter...ahhhhh...

A+

June 28: Flying a Chopper..

2009-06-28T22:08:00.003+02:00

As it turns out, whenever the boys and I get together for a boyz night it seems that lately it always ends with beers and flying model helicopters. It seems that now the cost of admission to hang out is to have your own flying machine (I know, we are geeks...but only those of you who have not yet tried flying a 'chopper are saying that...the rest of you know exactly what I am talking about)!

So on Friday at lunch I went with some of the guys to Toys R Us and I bought a 'chopper. I have spent this weekend getting some flying time under my belt. At first it seemed like I had to beg Jennie to fly it, but once she realized that she is a really good pilot she is having some fun with this thing. Here she is taking it under the coffee table...I am so jealous. (It does not sound like it was a completely clean passage...perhaps the passengers spilled a little coffee on their shirts, but they made it through none-the-lesss).

No more blogging for me...I got some training to do. Jennie says that she might let me be her co-pilot some day...ouch.

A+

June 27: (North) American Breakfast

2009-06-28T07:22:00.004+02:00

This might not look impressive to the average North American, but having bacon 'n eggs with a side of big fluffy pancakes breakfast is unheard of on this side of the Atlantic. Myself along with many of my friends who have spend time in America all agree that nobody does breakfast better. However, the staff at Breakfast In America certainly did a darn fine job of making me feel at home on Saturday morning!

To top it all off they serve proper "bottomless" coffee, which certainly beats the 3 euros it normally costs for a thimble of overly-bitter sludge I have come to expect. When Jennie was searching for a good ol' american breakfast in Paris place online it was interesting to see some of the websites/blogs that she found. It seems that searching for such a thing is highly frowned upon out there in web space. So many hits were of people chastizing anybody for going all the way over to Paris just so that eat what they have at home.

I think this is the difference between the tourist and the ex-pat. I agree that the tourist should make sure that they squeeze as much value and culture out of their trip as they can, which of course includes indulging in the local cuisine. But the ex-pat realizes that although it is important to assimilate into a culture, it is also important that you still hold on to the things that make you unique and to not let your own culture completely disappear. A sore belly full of eggs, sausage and silver-dollar pancakes is, indeed, one such 'pleasure' for me!

Afterwards we walked all around Paris just enjoying the nice day. We got our bronze on in the Jardin de Touleries (Jennie below with the Louvre in the background).

Afterwards I ran 7 miles in the Bois de Flesh (i.e. Boulogne). Nice days like this bring out all the speedo clad men and the bikini'ed women (for better or for worse) who just lounge on the grass all day. And if you forget your lycra, no problem, your underwear will do! You gotta love the French!

A+

June 22: Oh yeah, I have a blog...

2009-06-22T22:31:00.002+02:00

...and apparently it is a running blog too! Lately I could call this blog 'run in deserted town' or 'too busy at work taking it from the man to blog...city' or something like that.

But for those who care, I actually managed to put together 29 scrappy miles last week. These are my first real runs since the Paris marathon. To be honest, I would have preferred to be on my bike but I just do not have the time to make a ride worthwhile. I am not sure what the point of riding is if you cannot get out for at least over an hour. Similarily for running, I have a hard time justifying a second shower for the day unless I go for at least 45 minutes. But seeing that I have been really pressed for time lately, running wins as it requires the least time commitment. (I admit that the problem with my logic above is that sometimes all you can do is squeeze in 20 minutes here or 20 minutes there and if you ignore these opportunities because they are "too short" then you find 2 weeks has gone by and you have nothing!)

Anyhow, I am definitely starting from scratch again with running. It was a humbling week as I found that I had to build up to my 8 mile run at the end of the week. My lungs were on fire for the runs at the beginning of the week whereas my legs picked up where my lungs left off by the end of the week.

Today I ran another 8 miles and am starting to find some semblance of a fit (?) runner again. Around mile 4 I thought of my sister who ran her first 10km a few weeks ago and I got shivers. Then I thought of my brother who has signed up for the Perth half marathon and I got more shivers. Then I thought of the runner I once was, and the runner I would like to be again, and I got even more shivers. Then I thought of the treadmill I just bought because that is all I will get to run on in Lagos and I was instantely hot and sweaty again.

A+

June 13: Mixed Bag O' Nuts

2009-06-13T20:11:00.001+02:00

Well, to start I am back in Paris and I must say that I have a new appreciation for every tree that I walk by, every patch of grass I can lay out on, every footstep I take outside without fear of being run over...ok, I take back that last comment - we are in Paris afterall and the Parisian drivers are notorius for their "pedestrian friendly" driving style.

For those of you who are interested, we did get apartment #1! This is awesome as I totally disliked my other two choices. When the HR lady asked me to rank the 3 apartments I told her, "Apartment #1 is my top choice, so I give it a 1. The other 2 are 4's". She replied, "But I need you to rank them in order 1, 2, and 3 so I can compare your choices to other people's choices and then I can try to make everybody happy." So I replied, "I know. My ranking stands". Jennie calls moments like these my "little Dougie moments" but sometimes you have to be firm and assertive.

In other news I can finally check off "Take a picture of a UFO" from my 100 things to do before I die list. The other day I was taking pictures outside of our window (as usual) and I noticed something floating in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. Excited I yelled, "Jennie, Jennie - I have photographed a UFO! Call Roswell! Call the Enquirer! Come Quick!"

I took another photo immediately after for comparison.

Although Jennie thinks it is a helicopter, I stand by my initial assessment. Further corroborating evidence was provided the next morning when I woke up sore. I won't say where I was sore, but all indications suggest that I was probed....

Today I had my first real run in over 9 weeks. I ran 7 miles and concluded that I am out of shape.

A+

June 9: The First Day of a New Adventure - Lagos, Nigeria

2009-06-09T23:09:00.002+02:00

Today was my first full day in Lagos, Nigeria. After only 1 day it is clear to me that a place like this simply cannot be described or explained to anyone who has not been here. I am definitely opening the book to a new and, what I am sure will be, a very interesting chapter.

Today I checked out my company's health clinic where I was happy to learn that they have a special bullet wound kit. From there I went car shopping where I learned that the Nigerian version of Pimp my Ride is that instead of choosing 22's and spinners I get to choose from a variety of bullet proof glass. From there we went looking for our future home. I was taken to only 3 places and had to prioritize them in order of what I wanted. As far as I am concerned there was really only one choice - I really hope it is the one that we get...I should find out by the end of this week.

Despite the safety concerns I have mentioned, you can actually walk around and do many "normal" things on your own. Today I walked to a Supermarket all on my own and bought some bottled water. I needed this so I could brush my teeth (which I have not done yet since I have arrived....gross!). You will see in the pictures that my hotel water is quite dirty - without bottled water to brush my teeth with I found myself in quite a predicament both last night and this morning. I opted to avoid the water and tried to cover my funky breath with terrible coffee breath instead today. Luckily tomorrow I will be minty fresh again!

At my work there are security gaurds at the end of each corridor. To go from the front gate to an office on the second floor I passed 6 security stations, each one verifying my ID badge.

I was also given a special walkie-talkie today with a speed dial to the government's special police. Should I ever get stopped by the regular police I hit the speed dial on this walkie-talkie, which will send the armored police. Upon their arrival I am instructed to leave immediately and let the 2 of them "negotiate".

Here is a link to the photos taken today. Most of them were taken from the car while driving. Although not of great quality, they are meant to paint a little picture of Lagos.

Lagos - Pre Affectation Trip

A+

June 8: Welcome to Africa

2009-06-08T20:46:00.004+02:00

I started this morning in (1st world) Paris and tonight I find myself getting ready to tuck myself into bed under the watchful gaurd of semi-automatic rifles and surrounded by walls with coiled razor wire on top in (a totally different world) Lagos, Nigeria.

Actually, the best part of the journey was once I arrived in Lagos. Everything that could go wrong in Paris, did go wrong. There was some issue with the metro, which led to no cabs being available, which led to Parisians trying to jump the taxi cue "because they had something/somewhere important to do/go" (but when you try to tell them that we all have places to go, they just do not seem to understand!), which led to David being slightly stressed to make it to the airport in time.

I finally got on the plane and was (not so) pleasantly reminded that I was travelling to a country where cleanliness is a very low priority. The plane smelled like a high school locker room after two-a-days in August. I managed to get a seat next to a guy with a "I (heart) Jesus" hat, when I only wished that he had a different hat saying "I (heart) soap". While I was watching my movie (with my Bose noise-cancelling headphones) he put the hat infront of my screen and asked me if I knew Him. I had to politely respond that "what I do know, is that I am watching a movie". (For the first time I actually thought that one of my sister's invention ideas would actually be useful...)

Upon arriving in Lagos I was put into a van with some other guys from my company. In the front seat was a local wearing a flack jacket, a helmet, and was armed with a machine gun. Behind us we had another truck with 4 other individuals dressed the same way. When surrounded with people like this I never know if I should feel safe or in danger? One one hand you feel safe because you have some serious fire-power surrounding you, but on the other hand you feel in danger knowing that this protection is required.

I did not have a chance to take any photos today. I am actually here to find a place to live for Jennie and I for the next 3 years. So there will be plenty of time for photos later and, besides, I do not want to scare Jennie just yet!!

What struck me though was all the people. All along the freeway people are just standing, or walking in amongst the cars, or walking. There is just no end of people. I started to get the impression that they were all standing there waiting for a car or bus to pick them up. But every vehicle on the road was filled to at least double or triple occupancy, so I cannot really imagine how they will eventually get home.

The roads are terrible. It feels like driving on an old country road (even though they are paved). So, it looks like we will be in the market for a big ol' Texas 4x4 Truck or Texas Soccer Mom vehicle again.

Tomorrow I will be looking for our prison, I mean house, and I promise pictures. I cannot wait to see more of Lagos!

A+

June 1: Chantilly

2009-06-01T21:33:00.003+02:00

A day off work means another day trip somewhere around Paris - today was Chantilly.

More to follow later...I am tired.

A+

May 31: I'm an addict

2009-06-01T20:45:00.003+02:00

Saturday morning I woke up, looked outside, saw that it would be a beautiful day and was excited about the beginning of my weekend. I was also a little extra pumped because yesterday Jennie asked if we could play Dominion together. We have played Dominion before and I was only luke-warm about the game after my initial experiences with it. But on Friday night I really started to feel the excitement with it (even though I lost, and by a HUGE margin, each time). On Saturday I still had boardgames on my mind and decided to look for a boardgame store in Paris. As it turns out, "the biggest boardgame store in Paris" is less than a 5 minute walk from me...score!

I was unsure if they would have French or English (or both) boardgames but I thought that I would go check it out. We got there right when the store opened and for the next 45 minutes I was like a kid in candystore. Most of the games were French, but I managed to find a few that have been on my radar - Rail Road Tycoon (the boardgame), Mamma Mia, and Le Havre. Somewhere along the way Jennie decided to go home without me - I am sure she told me while I was reading the back of a box sometime...

Le Havre was the whole reason I wanted to go in the firstplace (the other 2 were well-priced bonus items!). At first I could not find their Le Havre games, but I finally found a stack of about 8 Le Havre games up by the counter. I held my breath in anticipation as I turned the box around, hoping to see english, but was extremely disappointed to see French. "Bummer," I thought, at least these other 2 games will be sweet.

So, I walked up to the counter, ready to officially introduce these two new games into my game collection when out of the corner of my eye I see the bottom corner of a box half sticking out of a pile of Fantasy magazines (remember this is a boardgame store - not that other type of store that may sell these types of magazines) that resembelled Le Havre. I walked over, moved aside the magazines and like Hannah from the Heavens, there sat the 1 copy of the Australian version (i.e. english) of Le Havre. I am quite sure that I may have let out a school girl's giggle at that time, but I cannot really remember - it was all just happening so fast!

10 minutes later I was leaving the store with 2 big bags full of my games in my hands, whisteling a tune, and skipping down the street. When I approached the traffic light I noticed there was a little old lady who seemed to be having some problems, so went up to her, offered my hand and helped her cross the street. Today was a great day!

After coming home and letting Jennie see my euphoria first hand I realized that this type of reaction may mean that I could be an addict. Consider this post as step 1 - I admit that I am an addict. As an ammendment to step 1, I would also like to add (since I am already in the process of admitting things) that I am only here at this meeting because I am hoping to find more people just like me who want to go have a good time after the meeting!

We have played all 3 games now and I am even more giddy about them now!

A+

May 13 - 16: Cracow, Poland

2009-05-23T19:40:00.024+02:00

After spending several days in beautiful Prague, Jennie and I boarded Czech Airlines en route to Cracow, Poland to spend the rest of our week. Cracow was once the capital of Poland (1038-1596) but this distinction now belongs to Warsaw. Presently Cracow is the capital of the Province of Malopolska (Lesser Poland).

We really enjoyed Cracow. It is relatively untouched from the World Wars allowing glimpses of the past as far back as 200,000 BC. Western tourism dollars have yet to really infilitrate the city making it a little less renovated than what we saw in Prague. That being said, most of the city was under construction and renovation while we were here. Given the shear beauty of the city as well as all the periods represented (prehistoric, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Boroque, and Medieval), I am sure that it will not be long before Cracow is "discovered".

We spent the majority of our time exploring Central Cracow, which includes the historic Old Quarter, Wawel Hill, as well as some of the surrounding quarters - in particular the Kazimierz Quarter.

OLD QUARTER: Market Square

Cracow's Market Square has been voted by the Project for Public Spaces (an American non-profit organization) as the best municipal square from their global list. We really enjoyed coming here to people watch and to hang out. Unfortunately places like this always attract those people trying to sell garbage - particularly annoying was one guy who sold little whistles for kids - when a group of children walked by you were gauranteed to hear endless racquet for the next 30 minutes. Thankfully the Market square is the largest market square in all of Europe (200m x 200m) so there was always plenty of space to relocate ourselves. I really enjoyed watching one guy who made large bubbles for the kids to play in.

Since every road in Central Cracow leads to the main market square we must have walked through it 5-10 times/day. Depending on the time of day the atmosphere of the square was completely different.

Typical streets in the Old Quarter leading away from the Market Square.

Statue of the poet Adam Mickiewicz. (Left-morning. Right - afternoon). We thought it was interesting how people just crawled all over this statue...don't mind the chain fence people!)

The Market square is dominated by the Church of St. Mary, which is (argueably) Cracow's most recognized feature. Every hour, after the bells ring, a bugle call is made from the high tower. In the picture above you will notice everybody's attention is to the tower during one of the bugle calls.

The church certainly provides a nice backdrop to a few drinks and relaxing.

In the center of the square is the cloth hall (left), which orginally was a covered market.

On the other side of the Cloth Hall is the Town Hall Tower. The Tower is the only remaining fragment of the Old Town Hall.

WAWEL HILL & THE CRACOW CATHEDRAL

This area is a "must-see" while in Cracow. The most ancient signs of life in Cracow, the Royal Residence, and the Cracow Cathedral are all found within the Wawel fortifications and towers. A "wawel" is a hill surrounded my marshes.

Now, I really had high expactations and wanted to enjoy their "first-class collections" on display, representing many different ages of the inhabitants, but found that I preferred to enjoy Wawel Hill from the outside and was rather bored or annoyed with the paid displays. Part of my annoyance may have been due to the fact that there were so many tour groups. I was never really allowed those quiet and intimate moments sometimes needed to appreciate some of the displays. The other part of my annoyance was I did not feel that you got what you paid for.

Cracow Cathedral (left) inside the fortifications and towers of Wawel Hill.

Me infront of the Sandomierz Tower - One of 3 Wawel Defense towers.

Wawel Hill and the Cracow Cathedral behind me.

More importantly, there was a guy cooking Polish Sausage on a grill infront of me.

Cracow Cathedral.

Jennie infront of the Cracow Cathedral.

CRACOW FORTIFICATIONS

In 1285 Duke Leszek the Black gave Cracow the right to have the city surrounded by walls. Eventually there were inner and outer moated walls, 8 fortified gates, and 47 towers protecting the city. The walls were later dismantled in the early 19th century as they became less practical. You can still see the remnants of where the wall once stood in the Planty Gardens, which surround the old quarter.

Here I am in Planty Garden with the wall outline behind me.

St. Florian's Gate along with a small section of adjoining wall have been preserved.

Jennie and I infront of St. Florian's Gate.

Across from St. Florian's Gate is the Barbican. It was constructed in 1498-99 after being defeated by the Turks in Bukowina. Further Turkish invasions were feared. This is the best preserved barbican in Europe. It used to be surrounded by a moat and attached to St. Florian's Gate (right).

KAZIMIERZ QUARTER

Kazimierz used to be an independent city, founded in 1335 by Kazimierz the Great, that competed against Cracow in position and wealth. In the late 15th century King Jan Olbracht moved the Jewish population here and the town soon became a leading center for Jewish culture. It became a part of Cracow in 1791 and still boasts a distinctively different character.

Corpus Christi Church

Jennie keeping us "guided" on Szeroka Street.

OTHER

Vistula River

When we first saw this guy we thought it was hilarious. In this picture it looks like he definitely uses his own advertising. After we saw him every day, we just felt sorry for him.

Jennie enjoying a beverage infront of Kosciusko Mound. The mound was built from 1820-1823 to commemorate the leader of the insurrection of 1794.

Jennie and I on top of Kosciuszko Mound. Cracow is in the background. It is from this vantage point that we both realized that Cracow is beautiful city when walking amongst the streets and the buildings, but from afar it is not at all spectacular.

We took a walk through the Cracow ghetto's to see Oskar Schindler's factory located on 4 Lipowa.

We stayed at The Pollera where we could view the Slowacki Theatre, which opened in 1893, from our window. More importantly, the Pollera had great Polish pickles included in their free breakfast buffet. I do not know why I have not had pickles for breakfast before, but they gave me a little something extra to look forward to when I woke up every morning.

OUTSIDE CRACOW: WIELICZKA SALT MINE

We took a 1/2 day trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. We started the day really excited and finished the day pretty disappointed. The tour of the mine was generic, uninformative, and (remember that this is someone whose career is based on geology speaking) uninteresting. If I were to do it again I would do the self-guided tour.

The salt mine is an impressive underground network of 3000 chambers for a combined length of 300 kms. Underground chapels and alters were carved within the salt deposits from the miners who prayed for God's providence and protection against accidents.

Jennie in the Chapel of St. Kinga

Me in the Chapel of St. Kinga.

Ok, this is not a chapel - it is a bunch of dwarfs working. "Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work we go..."

POLISH CUISINE

As usual, I could not wait to wet my pallete with the local cuisine. With Poland's offerings of sausage, pierogies and soups I was like a kid in a candy store. Or in this case, I was like a dude in a sausage store...wait a second, that does not quite sound right...

Me enjoying a frosty beverage. It took a few tries to get this picture just right. This is what I do while waiting for Jennie to find and use the closest bathroom.

Polish pretzels are sold every day by street vendors all throughout the city.

While eating the delicious barszcz soup (beetroot soup) I was already eyeing what was coming next. If you notice the bread plate, the tin of "butter" closest to me is actually lard...and it was delicious. I think they literally scrapped the grease of their grills and put it in these serving cans because there would be little chunks of "flavor" mixed in. Yummy!

Pierogies, cabbage rolls and beer...no wonder I am smiling!

Most women do not like to get pictures of them "stuffing themselves" so here is Jennie outside a Polish restaurant.

Here I am inside the same restaurant for what was an awesome dining experience. It was just the two of us in the main dining area, with live music and singing, with a window view, for a 2+ hour dining experience, that cost ~15 euro. No wonder I am smiling!

More pierogies!

Poland is Atken's approved.

Jennie enjoying the cuisine.

What a great week! Now I am back in Paris and my vacation is over. Hmmm, re-reading that last sentence just does not seem right does it?!!

Do widzenia

May 14: Auschwitz & Birkenau

2009-05-17T12:43:00.013+02:00

I really do not know of a good way to introduce this post. When we were planning our trip to Prague and Cracow, I have to admit that coming to visit Auschwitz was one of the things that I was looking most forward to while in Cracow. But it seems grossly inappropriate to say that. To mention that visiting Aushwitz was the highlight of visiting Cracow also seems to be a very poor choice of words. So perhaps I should just say that Auschwitz will be the one thing from our trip that has left the deepest and most impressionable mark on me. I was certainly not happy to visit such a place, but its impact made it well worth the visit. It is not a place I want to return to, but it is a place that I think everybody needs to visit in their lifetime. It is too important not to.

There is no exact figure has to how many people were killed in Auschwitz and the neighboring Birkenau camp but it is estimated that 1.5 million were killed in these two camps. Auschwitz was the original camp originally designed to house and incarcerate Polish political prisoners. Mass arrests of Poles at this time had their existing prisons overflowing.

So many Poles were arrested because the Nazi's needed to eliminate the people they regarded as dangerous, undesirable, and unneeded (the intelligentsia). The Polish political, cultural, and social elite, along with people suspected of organising a resistance were arrested in mass.

We start our day in Auschwitz.

The entrace gate has the phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei" written above it which translates to "Work makes you free." Despite the slogan, labor was used to break the people down in the camp and was never intended as a means for them to attain their freedom. Murderous labor was a key contributor to the high death rate among prisoners.

Jennie getting ready to start the tour. The organized tours were excellent because they used the headphone system. There were so many people there, speaking so many different languages, that this certainly made things manageable.

Our tour group in Auschwitz. Auschwitz opened in 1940 on the site of former Polish Army Barracks.

The SS adapted the Polish Army Barracks as their concentration camp, surrounding it with an electrical fence. The building in the background is where the poison used in the gas chambers, Zyklon B, was stored.

The "Wall of Death" located adjacent to Block 11 (building on right). Block 11 is where the prisoners of the camp were held. Here they were 'tried' for their crimes, which meant that the SS only had to verify that they had the right person as, usually, the death sentence was already written on the documents before the trial even started. Death was by a firing squad against this wall. The hooks on the right poles is where a bin was kept to put the dead bodies in.

If not sentenced to death by firing squad, the prisoner would die eventually by being placed in a starvation cell, a suffocation cell, or in a standing cell in the Block 11 building. The standing cell was no bigger than 2-3 phone booths where up to 4 people were placed at a time for 12 days or so. The entrance to the cell was like a dog door that had to be crawled through.

Block 10 (building on left above) was a hospital. This was not a hospital as we know it. Instead it was a place where they performed human medical experiments, including infertility testing on women.

Prisoners were also publically hanged during roll-call infront of the camp kitchen.

Roll Call Square is where roll call occured up to 3 times a day, which could last for hours at a time. Increasing numbers of prisoners forced them to eventually take roll call infront of the individual barracks.

This is the first gas chamber and crematoria, which began operation in 1941. Small holes in the roof allowed the SS to drop pellets of the crystallized poison (Zyklon B) into the chambers. It would take 20 minutes until everyone was dead. It was not until later gas chambers were constructed at Birkenau that they added shower heads to the gas chamber.

The first gas chamber (above) was eventually discontinued and converted to a bomb bunker for the SS. It was discontinued because it was too close to camp (notice the camp buildings on the right). The SS did not want the screaming and noises that could be heard during the 20 minutes of death to be heard in camp.

Auschwitz II - Birkenau

Birkenau is many times larger than Auschwitz containing over 300 single-story barracks. It opened in 1942 just 3 km's away from the original Auschwitz camp in the village of Brzezinka. The residents of this village were evicted to make way for the camp. Birkenau was used primarily for execution. Here the Jews were immediately executed upon arrival. Sometimes so many people were arriving so close to each other that they had to wait until the gas chambers were empty before offloading the next shipment. Note the 3 off-loading tracks below.

The gas chambers and crematoria were situated at the end of these tracks on the horizon. These were destroyed by the SS in an effort to remove evidence of their crimes.

Hell's Gate/Gate of Death. By 1944 so many people were arriving to the camp that the rail line was extended into the camp through this gate.

The prisoners were allowed to use the latrine twice a day, located in separate buildings. There was often lines and fighting outside the latrines for place - the ones worst off were those suffering from diarrhea. Befouling the ground outside the latrine meant horrible punishment.

Jennie listening to our tour guide.

The barracks were meant to be horse stables for 52 horses. Instead they housed up to 500-600 people. The beds were stacked 3 high, with 2 people assigned to each bed.

The interior of a reconstructed wooden barrack. Although there is the appearance of ovens and a heating these were not used.

There is so much more to say about this day but I think it is best saved for internal reflection and thought.

May 9-12: Prague, Czech Republic

2009-05-17T11:59:00.023+02:00

Like many of our vacations, Jennie and I choose our destination and the timing of our vacation based on a particular city's marathon schedule. The Prague marathon was well timed and is a city that we have wanted to visit for quite some time now after hearing countless people say that it is the most beutiful city they have ever seen. Naturally, our vacation (officially) started as soon as I was finished the marathon! Here are some of the highlights.

GENERAL
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic at the geographical heart of Bohemia and Europe. Its beautiful cityscape was created by various emperors, artists, and religious communities earning it the distinction of being referred to as "the mother of cities", "city of a hundred spires", and "the golden city."

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain Prague has benefitted from a large influx of western tourists all wanting to see this hidden gem. We found that the crowds were dominated by French, Italian, and (North American) english.

One thing that surprised us was how many marionette stores and theatres there were. Apparently there is a special type of marionette - the Rod marionette - which is Czech. We were unable to go see a marionette show, but I will certainly plan to go to one next time.

Jennie and I were blown away by the beauty of Prague. What really grabbed my attention was how colorful the buildings are. Over the past year I have gotten used to "Paris Gray" where one building seems to melt into the other for miles throughout the streets of Paris. In Prague each building was colored differently adding to its unique character and charm.

Typical Prague Street.

Prague is bisected by the River Vltava, requiring the construction of many picturesque bridges to cross. Here is the Manesuv (foreground) and Karlov (Charles) Bridges taken from Letna Park.

Cechuv Most (Bridge). Here I had a post marathon ice-cream bar and climbed those stairs on the other side of the bridge.

Those stairs led some really nice views of Prague from Letna Park. At the top there was nothing but skateboarders, rollerbladers grinding on every curb imaginable, and a giant metronome. This metronome marks time where a giant statue of Joseph Stalin once stood. Here is Jennie overlooking Old Town.

Another great vantage point is from Petrin Hill. Jennie and I spent our last day walking around the wooded pathways that popped in and out of fantastic vistas overlooking the city.

We found a lot of enclosures carved into the rocks along the hill. They looked as they there were once used as shelter/housing. Now we suspect they are just a place for the local kids to smoke weed.

However, you do not have to climb high to get a good view as pretty much anywhere in Prague is nice! Here I am on the Most Legil with St. Vitus's Cathedral and Charles Bridge in the background.

Walking down from Petrin Hill we also ran into the sculpture below, which shows (from top to bottom) evolution from an incomplet man to "the complete man". Naturally, I felt that there should be one more man added in front...there, perfect!

It is hard not to be a "poser" when it seems you want to take a picture around every corner (I think they spelled "poser" wrong!!).

Very close to our hotel in New Town was the Dancing House. Apparently this building is supposed to resemble two people dancing. Personally I thought that it was supposed to represent a cannonball that had been shot into one side of the building, which was showing the impact of the force. Jennie informed me otherwise.

OLD TOWN SQUARE
This was a marketplace during the 11th century. In 1338 John of Luxembourg gave Prague's burghers permission to form a town council , then the old town hall was built. More importanty, Jennie and I found that prices of EVERYTHING decreased the further you got from Old Town Square where all the tourists could be found. In fact, if you are looking for your Starbucks fix, you will find it here.

Astronomical clock (left) and the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn (right). Every hour, on the hour, people gather to watch the astronomical clock. Bells ring and little doors open, which reveal rotating and dancing 15th century statues of the 12 apostles. The astronomical clock tells time and relates the movement of the planets around the earth and the sun and the moon through the signs of the zodiac.

Astronomical Clock on the side of Old Town Hall.

Sun setting behind Church of St. Nicholas. We went inside this church, which is extremely small and used for concerts.

CHARLES BRIDGE (KARLUV MOST)
The Charles Bridge began construction in 1357 under the reign of Charles IV. Peter Parler was his chief architect who also undertook the construction of the St. Vitus's cathedral. There are 30 statues, installed from 1683 onwards, along the bridge of saints and other religious figures. The idea was to lead the masses back to mass.

Depending on the time of day you decide to visit Charles Bridge, you will get a completely different character to it. It the mornings and evening is was quite peaceful and relaxing to enjoy the city from. During the day it was full of musicians, street vendors, and (of course) tourists. One of the musicians has inspired me to buy a harmonica!

During our final hour and with our last 200 crown, we took a paddle boat on the Vltava river. This provided a unique view of the city (Jennie with Charles Bridge in the background).

One of the many statues along Charles Bridge.

MALA STRANA (LITTLE QUARTER)
Crossing the Charles Bridge from Old Town you enter Mala Strana. There were many really interesting restaurants and streets to explore here. One restaurant was accessable only by a very narrow gap between two buildings. It was so narrow that they had to use a traffic light to control the direction the way people would walk since there was no room to pass each other.

Here we also stumbled upon the John Lennon Wall. The wall was started by a Mexican student after Lennon's assassination and has since been painted over many times.

NERUDOVA STREET
Within Mala Strana, Nerudov Street leads up to the Prague Castle and St Vitus's Cathedral. This street requires special mention as it has the highest concentration of house signs within the city. Prague did not use house numbers until 1770. Before that time houses were identified with symbols, which often had alchemical significance.

Looking up Nerudova Street

The Golden Key. Castle goldsmiths worked in this house in the 17th century.

The Red Lamb.

The Three Fiddles housed violin-makers in the 18th century.

ST. VITUS'S CATHEDRAL and THE ROYAL PALACE
These are the structures that dominate the Prague skyline high atop Hradcany Hill. Jennie began to wonder just how many pictures I had taken of it because it seemed that everytime I looked at it, it was worthy to captured "in just the right light"! As far as (man-made) backdrops go, one would be hard-pressed to find one as beautiful as this. (I emphasize 'man-made', because nothing can compare to wild flowers in a mountain meadow).

Taken from Charles Bridge.

Taken from Petrin Hill.

Charles Bridge, St. Vitus's Cathedral and the Prague Castle.

Jennie and I went up and in the cathedral as well. We arrived early to beat the crowds. Although we beat the crowds, our eager-beaver antics were rewarded by getting soaked by a 2 hour rain storm (other than that, we had perfect weather for the entire week!). If we just would have slept in we could have saved 400 crown on our overpriced umbrella sold at the gift shop and we would have been dry for rest of the day (I will use this argument in the future when I do not want to get up!)

This is the main entrance into the Royal Palace. Today it is the home to the President of the Czech Republic. Personally, I just thought that the sculptures on either side of the gate were awesome. Some people have "Beware of Dog" signs to ward of intruders but not the President of the Czech Republic. He has these 2 bad ass statues, which say, "if you trespass you will get a beat-down with a piece of lumber and my steak knive."

Going past the Cathedral is Novy Svet. This street is full of low-lying houses built in the 17th century for castle workers. Their previous slums were burned down in 1541. It is also supposed to be a good place for "romantic strolling." So, we romantically strolled. Please note the overpriced walking umbrella - Jennie thought it gave me a distinguished air...

To finish off, here I am enjoying what I look forward to most on vacation - the local cuisine. Jennie was laughing at me because, although I started by saying we plan our vacations around marathons, she knows that I plan it around the local cuisine. How else can I explain why we have taken 2 trips to Bavarian county (Munich - Oktober Fest, 2008) in the past year where it is nothing but meat, starch, and beer?! Although some people hit the sights hard, I hit the food hard!

May 10: PIM Marathon

2009-05-17T11:42:00.019+02:00

Trying to take advantage of the fact that Jennie and I are living in Europe, I have been trying to run marathons in as many different European countries as I can manage. So far I have managed to leave tread marks in England, Ireland, Germany, France, and today I was going to add the Czech Republic to that list by running the Prague International Marathon. (Although it is referred to as the PIM marathon, this is not to be confused as the goal race for a local Houston training group...I think this one might be a little longer!)

I was really excited to run this marathon as I have heard from many people that Prague is, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I was looking forward to the opportunity to form my own opinion one footstep at a time. It took me 3 hours and 19 minutes to arrive at the same conclusion. I must admit, however, that the most beautiful sight in all of Prague is the finish line!

Here I am (pre-marathon) infront of the finish line in Old Town Square. The Church of St. Nicholas is in the background.

We arrived in Prague the day before the marathon to go to the expo to pick up my race packet. Even the building where the Expo was held is beautiful!

This makes my certain pain tomorrow official. The guy behind me must be one of the elites!

After picking up all my gear, it was off to carb load. Well, that probably would have been a good idea, but I am in the Czech Republic, home of Pilsner beer and hearty bavarian cuisine. I am not about to let any meal go to waste on something silly like carb loading - I can do that at home. So, we headed to the nearest beer hall (U Fleku) for some of their own dark lager, gulash, and dumplings. The live entertainment certaintly reminded us that we were, indeed, in the city that created the Beer-Barrel-Polka.

The next morning I woke up, took a look outside and immediately thought to myself, "Wow! Today is going to be a perfect day! .... to watch a marathon." This takes me to the first of 4 key things (excuses?) that added complications throughout the marathon - the heat. After my Houston readers stop laughing at me, I knew that the bright, hot sun would require me to dig into my marathon experience to prevent rookie mistakes, but I did not - I am on vacation afterall, I do not want to have to think too hard about these things afterall! I did, however, take water with me to the start line to give myself refreshing redneck showers even before the race started.

Here I am infront of the Old Town Hall waiting for the marathon to start. Note the cloudless sky, the fact that it is 8:05 am and the marathon still has not started. These europeans do not like to wake-up early, even if it means beating the heat...I still had another 55 minutes of "chilling".

After getting my bronze on waiting for the race to start we were finally off. Things were going just fine (as the usually do within the first 5 kms) until I reached the first water station. Wanting to keep hydrated and cool, I ran through grabbing 2 cups of water and began my normal dance of attempting to put more water in my mouth than up my nose. I was quite unsuccesful, but for a reason that really caught me off gaurd..."Is this mineral water?!!" I choked to myself. This was the second complicating factor. (But at least now I know what the 100 euro entry fee was spent on.)

I continued to choke the mineral water down for the next several water stations, only because I knew that I had to keep my fluid intake up on such a hot day. After cruising through the 8 mile water station, I started to go through my post-water station routine of blowing errant water out of my nose, wiping my face and eyes so I can see clearly, burping, and repeating as necessary. I knew something was wrong when my burp suddenly took root deep within my inner core. Like a nervous volcano my stomach and throat began to shake in its digust and disapproval of the mineral water (or perhaps it was the lager and gulash the night before?!) so I closed my mouth to trap whatever was coming its way. Not wanting to waste this half cup of recycled GU, I swallowed it back down and kept running.

About a mile later I saw Jennie for the first time along the route. Despite what just happened, you always have to smile for the cameras!

After I got over these initial stomach issues my attention turned to the running surface...miles and miles of hard, unforgiving cobblestone roads (issue #3). There were areas where the cobblestone was divided by thin, paved sections where all the runners would start running single-file just so that we could get off the cobblestone.

All of these previous issues were minor compared to the real issue (yes, time for me to be honest with myself) - Lack of Training. I blame the difficulty I had in the final 6 miles (actually, more like the final 18 miles) on this fourth and final issue of the day. With only 4 'training' runs under my belt since the Paris marathon (5 weeks ago), which was also ran in a grossly under-trained state, I entered this marathon knowing that my legs and I would not be pals when it is was over. We usually get along just fine. It has even been said that we are 'attached at the hip' but with all corny puns aside, I knew they would be angry - I was right.

Here I am at the 32 km mark. I stopped for several minutes to get some fresh water from Jennie, tell her that I would retire from marathons in 10 kms (what a drama queen!), and to get my picture infront of St. Vitus's Cathedral and the Royal Palace.

In retrospect I think about the marathons that I have trained really hard for, where my legs are in constant pain for the better part of 4 months, and the marathons which I use to kick-start a vacation, such as this. Sometimes I think that it is better just to accept the fact that you WILL hurt for the final 8-10 miles of the marathon AND for several days afterwards and rejoice in the fact that the pain is short-lived and not dragged through every missed Friday night happy hour and every early Saturday morning track-long-track workouts over the course of nearly half a year. Instead, enjoy yourself, sip the French wine, and find yourself waking up one morning going, "Oh dear, what did I sign myself up for?!" This approach to marathoning also requires that you are not embarrased by walking backwards down stairs the following day.

Despite my 4 key issues, it was a phenomenal marathon - definitely one of my favorites! One thing that was not an issue, and has never been an issue in any of my marathons, is that I did not have to stop to pee or use the bathroom, despite the suggestion by some of the sculptures in Prague. (These sculptures moved and rotated and did pretty much everything you would expect from a guy peeing except giving it a shake at the end!)

Here I am back by the 32km mark, but as a smelly and dehydrated spectator. What is cool is that this is my 15th marathon and it was the 15th anniversary of the Prague marathon so their medal is dominated by a large 15 across the front - it was almost like they made it special just for me!

Once my stomach finally seemed to get under control, I went and enjoyed the local cuisine again.

But I think I may lay low on the marathons for a while. I just do not think my stomach can handle it...or maybe it is just these marathons in "man-food countries"?!

Regardless of what I do and where, I am just glad to be doing it with her.

Na shledanou (good bye)

ps - here is the route as recorded by Garmin. The course had several out-n-back portions (bottom) and a repeated loop section (top).

May 7,8: Pictures From the Window

2009-05-17T11:34:00.002+02:00

One of favorite views in all of Paris is right from our own window when the sun is setting. Here are some pictures taken from our window as I was getting familiarized with our new camera before our vacation.

To capture lightening you really need a tripod. Here is the best I could do just with my hands.

May 2: New Camera!

2009-05-02T21:06:00.002+02:00

I was quite excited today because our new camera arrived! To make sure that "we" do not drop this one I decided to attach the Ninendo Wii wrist stop instead of the more inferior wrist strap that comes with these cameras. That should work! (Now I just hope I don't throw my Wii remote through my TV...).

Below are just a bunch of pictures taken mostly from outside of our window with me playing and experimenting with the camera. I was having some fun with the color filters.

We also decided to ride around the hippodrome today and managed to get in a sweet 41 miles today. Time flies down there because it is a continous game of cat 'n mouse, finding people to draft off of, thinking that you are riding alone when you suddenly realise 5 others are now drafting off of you, trying to drop them, cranking the hill....good times! This is Jennie's bike getting tuned up before we left.

Paris sunset from our window. (Overkill I know!)

A+

May 1: Monet's Garden - Giverny

2009-05-01T22:34:00.010+02:00

Today was May Day, which meant a sweet, sweet day off of work. May Day actually originated in the USA in 1886 when American Labor Unions went on strike to limit work days to 8 hours (judging by today's american workplace, these efforts were clearly unsuccessful). But now USA celebrates this day in September (Labor Day)...why? But any day devoted to national strikes and union protests is certainly up France's alley and results in a day off nonetheless.

With this freedom, Jennie and I along with 3 other friends went NW of Paris to see Monet's Gardens in Giverny. We have been looking forward to spring to see the garden's with the flowers in bloom and were not disapointed. I also find it quite exciting when you find yourself exploring the very area where history was made, one brush stroke at a time.

We took a train up to Vernon, rented some bikes for the day, then rode the ~4km bike path to Monet's house and garden.

Jennie crossing the River Seine - Vernon in the background. Of note, we went into that church later in the day and stumbled upon a women singing Ava Maria (in preparation for a wedding the next day). It was beautiful to sit and listen to her - it is always exciting when you stumble upon these little gems or surprises throughout your day that just cannot be planned.

Monet's house.

Andrew and I sitting outside Monet's house waiting for the ladies to get back from touring it. Neither on of us had any desire to go in and see an old house. We were more interested in sitting in the garden and getting our bronze on.

Monet's Japanese Garden. These gardens are where Monet's Japanese Bridge and water lily paintings were inspired.

The garden's adjacent to the house. The house is in the background.

Jennie and I getting inspired!

Who is this clown?

Andrew, Jen, Jennie and I.

Group shot: Andrew, Krista, Jen, Jennie, David.

Jennie looking glamorous.

After the garden we continued to bike around Vernon and Vernonette and just enjoyed these quaint little villages and the nice weather. We finished by having a little picnic (is it still called a picnic if you are only drinking wine without food?) along the river Seine.

Andrew, Jen, David, Jennie.

Bonne Journee!

April 27: 100 psi girl

2009-04-27T21:42:00.003+02:00

Jennie and I have been doing a lot of cycling lately, which has reminded me of my university days when I rode my bike everywhere. Yesterday, prior to our 25 mile ride, she made the comment that she is always waiting on me to leave the apartment before each of our bike rides.

"Why, of course dear, I apologize that I am always making you wait while I MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BIKE IS READY!"

Now, do not misunderstand me - I love tinkering on our bikes. I generally cause more damage than what I fix but there are certainly some zen-like qualities to spending hours crawling around your machine tinkering away and learning how things work. Now, being married, I find that I spend twice the amount of time working on bikes (mine and hers) and sometimes I am a little pressed for time making sure that they are both ready before our rides.

So, with that being stated I proceeded to tell Jennie, "Honey, I love working on your bike, but if you do not love waiting for me, perhaps you could learn a to do a few things to help me out to get out the door quicker?"

"What can I do?" was her response.

"Well," I replied, "The number one thing to remember in bike maintenance is to respect your tires and air pressure. The rest of your machine can be in shambles but ultimately it is your wheel goin' round 'n round that gets you home."

"Ok, no problem," she says, "I will top up the air in my bike tires."

So, Jennie proceeds to loosen the valve cap, unscrew the valve, trys to attach the pump, unlocks the pump, retrys to attach the pump, looks at me confused, trys to pump the pump, realizes that is still not attached properly, unlocks the pump, again retrys to attach the pump, hears a lot of hissing but cannot get the pump to lock again, looks at me in desperation, takes off the pump, pushes the pump back on, gets the pump to lock but realizes it is not on all the way, unlocks the pump, steps back from the bike, recomposes herself, looks desperately at David and waits for him to step in.

I step in, attach the pump correctly then hand it back to Jennie and say, "Ok, pump."

Jennie starts to pump...well she pushes the pump 1/2 way down and says, "Wow, the tire must still be full!"

I look at the pressure gauge, which reads 90 psi, and tell Jennie that I normally fill both of her tires to 120 psi. Jennie's eyes suddenly look alarmed and full of disbelief. "120 psi!!! How the heck am I supposed to fill the tire to 120 psi?!"

So she continues to struggle, trying everything from leaning on the air pump, sitting on it, and generally hoping that she will be able to will the pump to move...it does not. She finally gave up at 100 psi. She is my 100 psi girl. (If you are interested, once I shooed her away from my work space, I got her bike to its normal "ride-ready" state, which includes 120 psi air pressure in the tires...)

So that takes me today...Jennie was awfully quiet while waiting for me to leave for our bike ride after work today...hmmm, that is strange....normally she has so much to say to me while she is waiting....!!!

A+

April 25: Great Day!

2009-04-25T21:13:00.003+02:00

Today I finally had my 'life partner in crime' (aka the wife) back with me for the weekend from her recent trip to Houston and Boston and so we headed out for the same bike ride that I did last weekend. However, while we are the topic of Boston I would like to give a very special shoutout to this guy, who continually inspires me with his no-nonsense approach to training and running, to this guy whose motivation and training is just completely awesome, and to this guy who I just met prior to leaving Houston but makes me often wish I could be on the west side for what I am sure would be some great runs and great conversation. I also need to congratulate my sister-in-law for posting a PR of 3:34 at Boston. She has run 4 marathons now and every single one of them has been a Boston Qualifier...that is just awesome!

Also, my brother turned 32 yesterday! He is in Perth and experiencing the new learning curve of life right now. This can be both a very exciting time and a very challenging time! As the French would say, Bonne Chance! Happy Birthday Jon!

Ok, back to today. Jennie and I got on our bikes nice and early this morning and rode 50 miles outside of Paris. I was really looking forward to taking Jennie on this ride and to taking some pictures to show all of you the beauty of the trip. Unfortunately, as it turns out our BRAND new camera that Jennie took to Boston with her kissed the pavement along the Freedom Trail (or what I will now refer to as the 500 Euro trail) so we are (again) without a camera. For those of you who keep up with this blog, you may recall that Jennie decided that our previous camera should be introduced to the pavement beside that Eiffel Tower just several months before! So after our ride we went shopping to replace it but all of Paris is out of stock of the camera I wanted. Regardless, we pre-ordered it and are currently waiting for our new camera to be delivered, which we should get prior to our vacation to the Czech Republic and Poland May 9-18.

So, although I do not have pictures to show you I can tell you some weird highlights. Just along the Marne River we saw a donkey (looked just like Eeyor (sp?)) eating grass with no tether or person nearby in a highly urban area...it just seemed out of place and was quite unexpected. Later in our ride we came across the Paris Pompier (the firemen) pulling a dead body out of the canal. A mile later I saw a guy fishing but decided that it would probably be too much effort to try and tell him that he may not want to eat the fish in the canal today...Bon appetite!

Also of note, Jennie is still getting used to riding with clipless pedals, which she says really hurts her ego (especially when she falls sideways at a stop sign infront of traffic trying to clip out of the pedals!!). I thought it was really cute...but the bruise on her elbow does not agree!

Jennie showed me this on You tube today and I thought it was hilarious! What Jennie and I thought was interesting was how many people just sort of ignore this guy but if they just stopped to enjoy the world around them they would realize that there is some pretty fun things going on (instead of going home and watching it later on the iternet!). Enjoy!

A+

April 19: Cycling Along the Marne River

2009-04-19T19:26:00.009+02:00

After stumbling on this website (which, so far, has been a great resource), I finally decided that this would be the weekend that I would bike outside of Paris. I was really looking forward to having a nice, peaceful ride. I attempted this ride on Saturday with EPIC (not good) results. In summary I took a few wrong turns, riding in rain the whole time, got 3 flat tires, broke the stem on my tube AND on my spare tube, had to walk 7 miles with my bike back into Paris (through Parc Vincennes), take the RER back to L'arc de Triomphe, fell on the stairs while carrying my bike, walked another mile to get home, completely destroyed the cleats on my riding shoes by all the walking, and got home at 4:30 when I thought I would be home before noon.

Today, I wanted redemption and headed out again. It was drizzling for most of the ride, but nothing serious. I only had one flat tire (where did that glass come from?) and did not have any navigational issues. In a nutshell, this ride was absolutely spectacular. There are are a few, very brief sections of riding on roads with no shoulders. Otherwise, it was mostly bike lanes or extremely quiet and friendly roads. I apologize for not having pictures but Jennie has the camera right now (but I will take her for a ride on this route when she gets back and update with photos!)

Total Distance (from door-to-door): 50 miles / 80 km's

The following directions are basically for my own benefit so I know where to go next time!

Big Scale

1. Riding through Bois de Vincennes. You can either spend extra time enjoying this park, or you can take one of the most direct streets through as indicated. The important thing is to end on Ave. de Gravelle heading East.

2. Both yesterday and today I get tourned around here. I always want to veer right, which takes me quite a distance away from the Pont de Jaunville (where I need to cross the Marne River). After the bridge, take a u-turn to the right and follow the bike path back to the river. Turn right and enjoy the ride for 6-8 miles!

3. Once the bike path starts looking 'more urban' again, and after a sharp meander to the East, cross over on the pedestrian bridge just prior to the islands in the middle of the Marne. Turn right on the road (Quai de Mariniers) afterwards.

4. I ate lunch at the NE corner of this long (2km) retangular lake in the Park of the Nautical Basin of Vaires. Beautiful view.

5. Details to ride through the town of Vaires-sur-Marne.

6. This is where I got my flat tire. This is also where I noticed that EVERY house in this area has big dogs (German Shepard or larger).

7. Making my way to Villevaude.

8. Entering Villevaude. There is a pretty monster hill that leads into town (this picture and the next). Before entering town you ride alongside a field with MASSIVE powerlines/poles. This sleepy little French town must use the same amount of electricity per capita as the average North American!

9. Riding through and leaving Villevaude. The road after the traffic circle has no shoulder and can be tight. However there was little traffic and this section is short.

10. Crossing under the two highways here is the only real urban riding (not counting getting out of Paris) required on this route. I had a lot of fun here though because I was keeping up with traffic and since I was, I was treated with real respect as a car (not just an annoyance on the shoulder of the road).

10. Riding through Villeparisis. I had to walk through the market just before turning onto the canal to go back into Paris. The market was packed. This would be a good place to check out if you had the time.

Once you get onto the canal, you just follow the path, which is clearly marked, all the way back to Parc de Villette in Paris. This is VERY enjoyable section that winds through the national forest for a bit too! Before the forest, the path will make a u-turn. However, there is another pass that veers right - take this path! Then follow it until it leads back to the canal.

All 'n all a great ride...I hope to do it again very soon!

For those who made it this far, after the ride I met up with a guy I met at a birthday party on friday and ran ~12 very enjoyable miles through the Bois de Bologne.

Now my pizza has just been delivered and I do not want pizza sauce on my keyboard, so go read someone else's blog.

A+

April 15: BRIGHT Test

2009-04-16T22:13:00.003+02:00

Today I finally bit the bullet and re-wrote the BRIGHT test. What is the Bright Test? Well, it is simply a quick and efficient way in which I can prove that my French language skills still suck. It is a test, scoring from 0-5, that my employer uses to gauge one's fluency in any language. The Frenchies have to take the English Bright test and I have to take the French Bright test.

Theoretically any employee has to score 2.5 or better to be allowed (I mean, given the priviledge..ahem) to set foot in the promise land to work. I scored a 1.0 before coming to Paris, which basically meant that I could hold a french conversation with a orangataun at the Paris zoo. So how did I manage to work here then? Ah yes, of course, I promised that I would only stay for a short while EN ROUTE to Nigeria. It is amazing the policies that they overlook as soon as someone volunteers to go to Nigeria!

So I rewrote the test and scored 2.1! What does this mean? Well now I could probably not only talk to the orangataun but to his keeper as well (but nothing more than the weather and to tell him to go fetch me a banana as well!). Hmmm, now that I think about it even talking about the weather is a little sketchy. If it is a nice and sunny day I could probably nail it, but if there are variable conditions and storms I may just have to tell him to call me when it is sunny and leave quickly.

I am actually quite happy with my score. It is a huge improvement from the first test and has given me some (much needed) confidence with my language. Generally I feel that this language thing will never happen for me and it can get quite discouraging. A good result like this certainly helps. This is just in time before I move, excellent!

ps - only 1 run in the last 10 days (8 miles with Jennie). But I have been riding 20-25 miles/day since Easter.

A+

April 12: Paris

2009-04-13T21:37:00.004+02:00

Spring is here!

So after going to Epernay, Jennie and I recovered by enjoying the garden's of Paris in the beautiful weather.

Jennie in Parc Monceau.

David reading one of his bilingual books (hence the stern look of concentration during his 'relaxation time') at a fountain just off the Champs Elysee.

Jennie on the same bench as David, but having a little more fun because she is not reading a bilingual book!

A+

April 11: Epernay, Champagne Region

2009-04-13T19:32:00.012+02:00

Today Jennie and I headed out to the village of Epernay, the capital of the Champagne region in France, with two of our other friends Jen and Andrew. The day, of course, was centered around champagne tasting, champagne drinking, and all 'round just acting important!

After a 1 hour 20 minute ride from Gare l'est in Paris we arrived at Epernay. We started by first touring the champagne house of Moet & Chandon. This is the company responsible for introducing the Dom Perignon brand to the market in the late 1920's so it was, obviously, worthy of our first visit. For those of you who like bags (I know I have at least one reader who does), Moet & Chandon is a merged company with Louis Vuitton. It also is the champagne supplier to Queen Elisabeth II.

According to legend, after much experimentation with the double fermentation process to create champagne and its successful discovery Dom Perignon ran through the abbey shouting, "Brothers, come quickly...I'm drinking stars!"

Jen and Jennie infront of the statue of Dom Perignon outside the Moet & Chandon house

Jennie in the wine caves. The numbers on top of the board are code that only the champagne makers know that indicates to them the specifics of each batch. The lower number is the number of bottles in that particular rack.

More wine racks.

There are a lot of wine racks! 26,000,000,000 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne is sold each year.

David in the Moet & Chandon wine caves.

To make champagne a second fermentation process occurs in the bottle by adding yeast and sugar. This is done to create carbon dioxide, which is ultimately responsible for the bubbliness of the champagne. The dead or residual yeast precipitates out and is left in the bottle.

Here is a bottle of champagne currently undergoing the second fermentation process.

Champagne bottles.

The Moet & Chandon champagne caves.

After touring the champagne caves we experience the best part - the tasting (and it was not even noon yet!). Jennie, Andrew, and Jen...getting warmed up for a great day in the Champagne region!

Jennie leaving the Moet & Chandon champagne caves.

The Church of Notre Dame in Epernay.

When shopping for some champagne for a little picnic in the park I came across this. Although I am not sure of the quality of this champagne, I figured someone who reads this blog may think it is probably the best.

We ate lunch on the grass of the town-hall. Eating baguettes and sipping champagne in the French countryside.

David with his desert (Nid de Paques).

Andrew and Jen...did he have any help with that bottle of champagne?!!

David in the garden.

Jennie relaxing too.

Jennie on the Avenue de Champagne.

We decided to do a second tour at Mercier champagne. This is the number one selling champagne in France. Infact, 80% of their total production is consumed in France alone - I guess it is so good that the French do not want to share it with the rest of the world!

Jennie and I on their laser-guided train. Andrew and I decided that any tour that included a ride on a laser-guided train was one worth doing.

Jennie in the Mercier champagne caves.

Jennie and I tasting the Mercier champagne. We tasted 3 of their champagnes (brut, 2004 vintage, rose).

Jennie tasting the Mercier champagne.

Grape vines outside the Mercier champagne house.

Our final stop was at C-Comme. From what we could gather this is a collection of many of the smaller champagne makers who have pooled together to still have a presence amongst the larger champagne houses in Epernay. Here we bought and drank several different bottles to finish the day with class!

Jen acting important with the local champagne experts.

This is supposed to be a picture of us "in love". But Jennie could not take me seriously.

The next morning I woke up with a slight headache but well worth a great day in Champagne!

A+

April 5, 2009: Run in the Merde

2009-04-05T12:58:00.009+02:00

After reading Stephen Clarke's 'Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French" I have been inspired to recapture my experiences of running with the Frenchies in the Paris Marathon using the same format. Although the commandments are the same, their application will be slightly different.

1. Tu Auras Tort (Thou shalt be Wrong)
Being a foreigner who is lucky enough to run on French turf and who is priviledged enough for the French to even allow you to run behind their scrawny spandex butts, you WILL yeild to all French runners who decide at the last second to turn 90 degrees and run straight towards the refreshment's table to get a bottle of water. Should you happen to catch a piece of their heels at this sudden and unpredicatable motion, then shame on you. Lucky for you, your French is still so bad that you have no idea what insult he is yelling.

2. Tu ne Travailleras Pas (Thou Shalt Not Work)
Although there are plenty of port-o-john's and even portable urinals at every possible place for runners to use prior to the race, standing in line would be just too much work and effort. Instead, it would serve you better to just pee on the street while waiting for the starting gun to go off. Lucky for the people standing downslope from you the Champs Elysees is composed of cobblestones that allows the pee to percoloate around the cobbles on which you stand instead of around your shoes.

3. Tu Mangeras (Thou Shalt Eat)
Why settle for pre-packaged Gu's and Power -Gel's to be given out near the end of the course? Instead demand fresh seasonal fruit such as oranges, apricots and plums. If this does not wet your appetite perhaps you will be more interested in raw, un-cut cane sugar? Just because you are making your legs and lungs suffer does not mean that your taste-buds should be sacrificied either.

4. Tu Seras Malade (Thou Shalt be Ill)
After finishing the marathon and walking through the area where the runners will reclaim their drop-off bags, do not be surprised to see some runners who could not wait that extra 5 minutes to find someplace more discreet to change out of their sweaty running clothes. If running the marathon did not make you sick, seeing a bare, sweaty 'n salty ass will definitely cause the stomach to churn. Although France has, arguably, one of the finest public healthcare systems in the world, I do not believe I can find a prescription to help me for this ailment.

5. Tu Parleras Francais (Thou Shalt Speak French)
With plenty of crowd support along the course it is imperative to understand what the spectators mean when they are yelling "Allez, Allez-bien" and "Allons-y"! They are saying, "Hurry up, get off my road! I just need to cross it to buy my cigarettes and croissant."

6. Tu ne Chanteras pas (Though Shalt not Sing)
Around mile 16 the marathon route becomes confined to an underground tunnel for approx. 1 km. I started to get lost in a trance of listening to the echo's of the collective breathing and of the accentuated foot-strikes around me. This trance was soon broken when a runner directly behind me would sing/yell a high-pitched note every 10-15 seconds that would reverberate down the tunnel. At the time I found him very annoying. As it turns out, most people when they go through this tunnel yell in unison from back to front creating a vocal wave throughout the tunnel. I guess it is one of those things that if everyone is involved it would be fun and exciting. However, if it is just one it is just annoying (Fermez la bouche!)!

7. Tu ne Sauras pas (Thou Shalt not Know)
After abandoning my Garmin and watch during my regular runs prior to the marathon, I decided to run "sans Garmin" (without Garmin) for the marathon as well. The only time that I knew my pace was when I caught up to the 3 hour pace group at mile 15. "Merde," I thought, "this is much more aggressive than I wanted to be today. I better slow down." My legs had forgotten the punishment that 26 miles is capable of and were cruising as if I were only going to run 15...they did not know the tenderizing that lurked ahead.

8. Tu n'Aimeras pas Ton Voisin (Thou Shalt not Love they Neighbor)
Although I wanted to slow down after catching up to the pace group I found that I had run into a wall of people all clustered around the pacers. My natural running stride became shorted as I delicately danced between the maze of intertwined and determined legs. After 1 mile of this nonsense I dropped the pace group on a small incline along the Seine. A move I knew I would regret, but one that allowed me to run under the shadow's of the Eiffel Tower alone and in peace.

9. Tu ne Seras pas Servi (Thou Shalt not be Served)
The people handing out the sponges at the sponge station near mile 10 were exceptionaly energetic. Instead of waiting for you to run up to them and take a sponge they would just throw the sponges up into the air and let them rain down into the crowd of runners coming at them (because I am sure they must have been well warned about commandment #1). If you wanted a sponge just reach up a catch one!

10. Tu Seras Poli (Thou Shalt be Polite, while being simultaneously rude)
Although the spectator may mean well when yelling, "Go, go, keep running..." I have to bite my tongue when they finish by saying, "you are almost there", although you just passed the 17 mile mark.

Final Time: 3:04:55

David - Marathon Expo

David - Infront of the L'arc de Triomphe before the race.

David - In the Red Corral before the start of the race.

Champs Elysees - Prior to the marathon

1 km - The Lead Pack

David - Reason to smile again!

Opps..toda is march 28

2009-03-28T00:57:00.001+01:00

I go tmy wrong [ost wrong...oppsie.

ps - this is just liek drunk dialing...good times!

March 29: Jennoe Birthda\

2009-03-28T00:52:00.002+01:00

Jennie mjust tunered 31 53 minutes ago and we have ben celbating all nigh (can you tell?1!_

Mu cousin is arribing tomorrow and here is an emali I just sent him...time for bed I think!

"Jennie and I have just finished 3 bottles of wine celevrating her birthday! I do not know if you will get this berfore you leave, but we are really excited to have a few extra bodies to help dilute the wine a little!!! Looking at all the spelling mistakes I can tall that I am a little drunk! I will see you in 10 hours!"

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March 22: SAG Wagon

2009-03-22T18:06:00.005+01:00

Today I was really keen to get out on my bike

whereas Jennie was really keen to go for a run.

(Jennie running beside Jardin d'Acclimitation).

So I decided I would bike along with her today while she ran and be her 'prevent a stitch bitch'. This is what Jennie and I call the support crew that carries your water, first aid, etc. Your general lacky for the day...pretty fitting term don't you think?

Windmill beside the Hippodrome.

Jennie finishing her loop around the Hippodrome.

The Etang des Reservoirs. This is also along my normal running route. The yellow flowered bushes are very vibrant.

Spring is definitely in the air.

Jennie excited to be finished.

What a great way to spend the afternoon!

All 'n all, other great weekend in Paris!

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March 21: Picnicing

2009-03-22T17:57:00.003+01:00

Saturday was such a beautiful day that Jennie and I rode our bikes to the park (after our runs) and had a picnic lunch. We camped out right along my normal running route and watched the people go by. At this point of the day I was very happy to be on the other side of the path relaxed and watching versus actually running.

Me chillin'. I love the trees in the background. It is one of my favorite 'forests' to run by.

Jennie diggin' in.

We got home just in time to jump back on our bikes to ride up to Montemarte to meet some friends for wine and cheese on the grass infront of Sacre Ceour. The slope was a little steep, but the view and the people were fantasitic!

It is a pretty popular thing to do. A lot of people like to hang out on the steps of Sacre Ceour (especially when the weather is so nice!)

All 'n all, a great Saturday!

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March 21: Confidence Builder

2009-03-21T17:02:00.002+01:00

As a runner the best way to build confidence is one step, one mile, and one run at a time. So today I decided to build 20 miles of confidence.

7:18, 7:15, 7:12, 7:18, 7:17, 7:08, 7:17, 7:15, 7:12, 7:13, 7:16, 7:04, 7:10, 7:08, 6:59, 6:47, 6:38, 6:15, 7:21, 7:15 min/mile

My goal was to run 18-20 miles but if you know me and my running 'style' (I would not call it style, but perhaps 'running method' is better) you know that means 18 OR 20 miles. Because if I run far enough past 18 (i.e. far enough of a fraction that it is worth posting on here - an additional 0.5 miles for example) then you know that I will keep running until I hit 19 miles. And there is NO way that I am going to run 19 miles and NOT run 20...that would just be absurd!

Such a beautiful day today means that we are off to get publically intoxicated at the base of the Sacre Ceour Cathedral. (Doesn't that sentence just sound wrong?! "So what did you do today?"..."Got drunk outside a church"..."sweet".) Truthfully, we are have some wine, fruit and cheese packed up to go meet some friends and enjoy being outside at Montemarte together...should be fun!

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Brilliant

2009-03-20T23:13:00.003+01:00

Why is it that after everytime I talk to someone from the UK I am always so inspired to used phrases such as "That's lovely" or "Brilliant"? Then I try using them and realize that it is definitely lost in translation.

Genius!

March 20: It's a Starbucks Day

2009-03-20T22:42:00.002+01:00

Ok, for those of you who knew me in Houston and were well aware of my self-imposed Starbucks ban (that lasted for well over a year I might add), you may not want to read the rest of this post because you will just shake your head and say, "Boy has he changed."

Since moving to Paris I have been frequenting Starbucks quite a bit. "Sacre bleu!" you say, "Of all the places to avoid Starbucks, Paris should be it!" Well, at first I would agree with that. But then I challenge you, my reader(s...if I should be so lucky) to find a LARGE cup of hot liquid that you can enjoy for a solid 30-45 minutes anywhere inside the Paris city limits. If you are the type of person who can make an espresso last this long because you take 2o minute breaks between sips, well then kudos to you, you are a Parisien at heart. I am not that type of person - if I have a drink in my hand, I will sip it on average (I am guessing here) at least once every 2 minutes...plus I have not drunk coffee in quite some time now but I do enjoy a nice cup of tea.

Also, knowing the location of the nearest Starbucks also means that, by default, you also know where the next clean (questionable at times) bathroom is while you are out and about. Sure, most cafe's have one but sometimes I do not want to devote an hour and half of sitting in some cafe just so I can use the bathroom.

Today I found myself in Starbucks after lunch waiting in line to get my afternoon tea and I was amusing myself with my usual game of " 'tourist?' or 'not a tourist?' " I can usually tell the tourist or the fresh fish (if you will) because they are the one standing in line looking very intent, overly concerned, and a little too full of nervous anticipation for a such a 'simple' task of ordering a coffee. Today I thought I saw a 'tourist' but then I looked over his shoulder and I saw a notepad full of french writing. "Hmmm...bad guess today," I thought. Then I looked closer and I saw the french phrases were:

"Je ne parle pas francais" (I do not speak french)
" Vous-etes american?" (Are you American)

Clearly this guy had just come from french class and he must have just arrived if those were his notes for the day. So I introduced myself. Turns out he has just been here for 2 weeks, will be here "indefinitely, and has already been mapping road bike routes in and around Paris (Have I mentioned that I just finishing getting my road bike assembled this past week for that very same reason?! Good timing!). Anyhow - seemed like a really nice guy...We plan on going for a bike ride soon. So, if you are keeping track, it has only taken me a year to meet a new friend outside of work and work acquaintances....lol

Later this afternoon I returned to Starbucks for another tea (shhhh, shhhh, shhhh...I don't want to hear it!) and while standing in line I see a good friend of mine's wife of whom will be meeting tomorrow night! What are the odds?! I know nobody in a city of 10 million people, yet Starbucks has become my social hub!

So today was definitely a Starbucks day. Perhaps on Monday I will go three times...imagine how popular I will be then?!!

In other news - Jennie and I went to see Marley and Me tonight. Cute movie. One that I could have easily waited to watch on the plane during some future flight, but cute none-the-less.

You stay classy Paris.

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March 18: Happy Anniversary!

2009-03-18T22:55:00.003+01:00

1 year ago Jennie and I boarded a plane with 4 suitcases loaded to the brim to begin an irreversible, life-changing experience. I remember the check-in lady telling me that one of my suitcases was overweight and that I had to get rid of something. So I asked her what she wanted. She looked confused and told me that I could just send somethings back home. "Listen ma'am, in the last month I have sold my house, 2 cars, all my furniture, paid countless cancelation fees, and you are currently baggage claiming my world as I know it today. So, unless you want something in that bag I would like to ask if you just go ahead and put on a 'lift with legs' sticker and look past the 3 pounds that I am overweight here..."

And this was just the first of many challenges to come. What a year! I could go on and on, but that is what that blog archive on the right is for.

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March 16: Weekend Rehash

2009-03-16T22:40:00.003+01:00

After rudely telling my readers on Friday night that I had better things to do than "talk to them" on a Friday night, I went ahead and had a great weekend! The weather was great, which allowed Jennie and I to stroll the streets of Paris on Saturday afternoon where we eventually found ourselves relaxing in the Jardin de Touleries infront of the Louvre (JD - very close to where we hung out the one day) like so,

(the corner of the Louvre is in the background)

and like so..

(Note that I am wearing my running socks in anticipation of my run that would soon follow...I hate getting two pairs of socks dirty if I do not have too, so if I know I am going to run, then I just wear my running socks out and about prior to the run). Speaking of my run, I ran 8 miles as follows:

7:09, 7:18, 7:18, 7:07, 7:07, 7:02, 6:58, 6:45, 6:40 min/mile

On Sunday I got up, worked on our bikes all morning (they are now ready to go...I cannot wait!), went for a picnic in the park, then headed out for a 15 miler. As it turns out I have a marathon on my schedule in 3 weeks, so I figured I better "get serious" about this whole thing! The run went as follows:

7:18, 7:04, 7:08, 7:10, 7:11, 7:05, 7:05, 7:08, 7:13, 7:05, 6:49, 6:55, 6:30, 6:41, 7:11 min/mile

Now, I was happily running along, trying to maintain 7:15 (ish) pace until mile 11. I must have been dragging my feet and building some serious static electricity during the previous mile because I attracted what Jennie calls a "clinger". This is the person on the trail that you easily pass as you are just running and doing your own thing, but in doing so you just ruined this poor guy's run. In a desperate attempt to salvage his day he does everything he can to not only catch back up to you, but to pass you (but just by a few feet before settling back into your exact pace) just to prove that he could take you whenever he chooses to.

Well, about 2 minutes after I passed some random guy I start to hearing loud, labored breathing OVER my Ipod (and seeing that I practically deaf, this means that this guy is working very hard to maintain his dignity over there!) Out of the corner of my eye I see this guy sprinting like ESPN is broadcasting this moment live around the globe - all the eyes of the world were upon the most heroic runner ever about to take down some unsuspecting prey who had the audacity to pass him just several moments earlier.

Naturally the following thoughts crossed my mind:

"What the Hell?"
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Bye."

And that cumulated in a slightly faster mile 11. Truth was, after 200m I did not see him again, but that was all I needed to break up the monotony of the run. After that, I just felt "good" and let my legs finish anyway they decided they wanted to.

I took today off, tinkered on the bikes somemore, and finished watching season 1 of 24. I figure I should be caught up to the current season in about a week!

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March 13: Don't take this the wrong way...

2009-03-13T22:10:00.002+01:00

...but it is Friday night and I got better things to do than burn-out on the computer rehashing stats of tonight's run (which was awesome by the way...great weather, relaxed paced, and cleared the mind of a long week). I ran 8 miles at an average pace of around 7:10 min/mile.

The weekend has now started and I have looked at computer screens for way too much time already this week to spend one more second on this one. So have a grea

March 11: I need something to train for

2009-03-11T22:19:00.002+01:00

For those of you who know "Training for Berlin David" you have probably noticed a lack of intensity in most of my running posts since then. The "Training for Berlin David" saw every city he visited/lived as just another city to pound the miles with only one goal in mind - Berlin. My dedication to this ideology was, infact, ingrained in the title of this blog.

The "I have achieved my goal, I am have been training consistently hard for the past 2 years, I am going to take some time off David" soon followed and has made himself quite comfortable since October. During this time my blog could (should?) have been titled something like "Running from running" or "Pudgy butt and beer gut". Ok, it really is not that bad - I am just making the point that running has really turned into a very recreational event for me vs. a very strict, regimented, pre-planned (24 weeks in advance), sometimes my day (and EVERY weekend) will revolve entirely around my run(s) kind of activity.

Sure, I am signed up for 2 marathons in the near future. But those are just for fun.

In the past couple of weeks my body (and mind) have started to give me signs that it is getting restless and needs something to keep it honest. Every run that I go on my body just keeps accelerating - it has done nothing the day before to really stress it to cause it to slow down. My mind will not tell it to do otherwise because it knows that there is nothing coming the day ahead to prepare for. So I end up doing bursts here and there, sprinting for ridiculous goals such as a walk sign that just turned to red and I am still 100m out (and actually making it!), seeing if I can beat a car during the final mile stretch to my house (and thanking the last red light just before the traffic circle that stops him one last time to see me cruise by), seeing how big of a puddle I can jump without breaking stride (and realizing that I will never be a Carl Lewis), among many other things that "Training for Berlin David" never had the patience (or the energy) to do.

So, what should I do to keep honest and give my running some structure again? Absolutely nothing. I have not had this much fun running (solo*) in very, very long time. I look forward to my runs every day again and feel so revitalized after I am done (this is done a feeling you get when deep in the heart of a Jack Daniels binge session). It feels great running.

That being said, I ran 7.25 miles today as follows:
7:34, 7:05, 7:13, 6:57, 6:14, 6:34, 6:10 min/mile

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* I would gladly trade any of my solo running fun for some sweet, sweet intervals with "The Beast", trade trash talk with the Suga Land Boyz, pace the Koza to sub 20 minute 5 km, or to give bones to whoever is the parking lot after the run.

March 10: Pin Cushion

2009-03-10T21:44:00.002+01:00

The last couple of days I have been spending a little time down in the company infirmery getting poked and prodded to get up to date with all my vaccinations and what not before my stint in Nigeria. I feel a little like a pin cushion. Everyday for my morning break I walk down there, roll up both my sleeves and let them poke away. I do not even know if they are injecting fluids or taking fluids anymore...hmmmm, maybe I should be paying more attention?! (If I see an improvement in my running I will suspect that someone gave me "the clear").

Speaking of Nigeria, I was actually supposed to be there this week for some meetings. However, I was told by my company that they were waiting on the Nigerian Embassy for my visa. After some further investigation, it turns out that the people in charge of this sort of thing (in my company) never even sent my application to the embassy to begin with! Apparently my request did not have "avec urgence" written on it, so they decided to not do anything at all. Now, I could let something like this ruin my day but it WILL happen again in the future on something much more important so I, instead, went for a nice 7.5 mile run as follows:

7:30, 7:21, 7:20, 7:08, 7:14, 7:09, 7:06, 6:52 (last 1/2 mile) min/mile

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March 8: Great Weekend!

2009-03-08T19:27:00.003+01:00

This weekend took a little time to build momentum (and I generally do not have a lot of time for a weekend to get firing on all cylinders since I really only have 48 hours to work with), but once it did it settled into another enjoyable weekend with hints of spring all around. In fact, I made a promise to myself that I would take note of the very first bud I saw on a tree this year so that I would not find myself saying (like I do almost everytime the season changes), "Man, I cannot believe all the leafs are already on the trees! When did this happen?!" Saturday, March 7, I can proclaim that spring officially started for Paris as I witnessed several blooming buds along my run! I ran a little over 10 miles on my "first day of spring run" as follows:

7:12, 7:09, 6:33, 6:31, 7:02, 6:58, 6:24, 6:14, 7:08, 6:42 min/mile

Miles 3 and 4 can be explained because I just ate a baguette, a tartlette aux pommes, and a grand bouteille d'eau as I was changing into my running clothes prior to my run. I was cramping up pretty badly in the first two miles as my food was still getting acquainted with my stomach. So I decided a couple 400m bursts should smartin' things up and get my system refocused on the task at hand. Miles 7 and 8 on the other hand were just letting my legs go...they just kept accelerating and I just strapped in and hung on for the ride! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I think I had a little extra energy as I was cooped up at work for most of the day and I was just delighted to get out before the sun set!

After the run Jennie and I headed over to a friends for games night! We played Ticket to Ride: Europe and had a blast! I love this game! If you are into games and you want to break out of the Monopoly genre of games, I definitely recommend this one for a very enjoyable night! (If you are looking for a 2 player game - buy this and get the Swiss Map expansion, which is ideal for 2-3 players).

Today I capitalized on a 3 hour sunny break and ran 13.25 miles as follows:

7:21, 7:21, 7:04, 7:03, 7:04, 7:13, 7:05, 7:03, 7:02, 6:57, 6:50, 6:53, 7:15 min/mile

It was pouring rain this morning and is raining again now. But the window inbetween allowed me to enjoy the sun (this is definitely a luxury in Paris during this time of year) and stomp through mud puddles. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! And for my cousin that is reading, I do not have any new numbers to add to your chalkboard at home...still too early for that kind of action! (Or maybe because today is the sabbath they were taking a day of rest!)

If I rewind back to beginning of the weekend it was also my sister's birthday. Bon Anniversaire B!

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ps - Jon - saw your video - Classic! (I hope you do not wash your hand for a week!)

March 4: Nerd Night

2009-03-04T20:36:00.002+01:00

So how can you make a group of 3 guys consisting of 2 geophysicists and 1 IT guy sound even nerdier? Put a Risk board between the 3 of them on a Tuesday night and let them battle each other for global domination into the wee hours of the morning! I have not played Risk in 7 years (I used to play it all the time in grad school and the wife does not have the 'motivation' to learn!), so I was really amped yesterday to have a loooooong overdue boyz night. (If you are intersted, I won!).

My late night festivities meant that I had to run in the morning. I did just that as I ran 7 miles to the Opera, along the Champs Alysee, past the arc de triomphe, then back home. I averaged a 7:05 min/mile pace.

Tonight I ran another 7.25 miles as follows:
7:09, 7:08, 6:26, 6:48 (deliberate back-off), 5:48 (deliberate acceleration), 6:49, 6:43 min/mile

Tonight's run felt great. I played with pace a little and pushed during mile 5 for the sole purpose of feeling lactic acid coarse through my veins...it has been a long time since I have felt that, and like any junkie I need my fix!

Oh yeah, I did 10.1 miles on Sunday.

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March 1: Great Weekend!

2009-03-01T12:07:00.004+01:00

It seems lately that I have just been so busy that I suddenly realize that I have not blogged for a week and people must think that I am not doing anything! (But if I am going to abandon my blog for a week, I am glad that it was Cher who manned my blog as the latest post!). On the contrary! Last week I did some more easy runs (8 miles here, 6 miles there), worked with my man-trainer for my usual hour of dude sweat, got better from being sick, and (most importantly) welcomed my dad at the Paris Airport on Friday night! En route to London for work he was able to swing into Paris for the weekend! (I just love how 'tiny' the world seems these days...don't you?!)

Saturday was a gorgeous day (+14 degrees C) in Paris. We biked to Starbucks where we could enjoy a large cup of coffee,

Jennie and I at Starbucks

then we decided to take a walking tour of the Opera Garnier. I have always admired the beauty of the Opera House from the outside and it was certainly a treat to admire its inner beauty as well.

Dad and I in the main concert hall.

Dad and I by the grand staircase.

Jennie and I in the Lobby.

What I found ironic about the Opera House is that it was commissioned by Napeoloen III in 1858 (construction was from 1861-1875) with many special features built just for the emperor. There is a special entrance, a gaurd's room, and a special box on stage left that would allow people to view him at the theatre. However, by the time the Opera House was built he had been exiled and had already died. All these things that were specially built for him were never once used by him.

For those of you in love with the Phantom of the Opera (and I know that one of my very close readers is), you may be interested to know that the underground lake (where I believe the Phantom sings Angel of Music) and the falling chandelier in the Phantom of the Opera were inspired by this Opera House.

We finished the day by going to see Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. I had no idea what to expect from this movie, other than Clint Eastwood would probably spend much of the movie looking like he would be grimacing in pain and looking directly into the sun the whole time. That was definitely true! However, great movie! The acting (other than Clint Eastwood) was terrible, but a great story line and clever writing can make up for actor shortcomings in a movie quite easily. I would recommend it.

Another great weekend is winding down. :(

I think I will head out for an easy run (8-10 miles) here shortly. Maybe it is time I start running some double digit runs if I am going to run marathon in a month...no?!

Dad, me, and Jennie outside our apartment.

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Feb.23: If I could turn back time..

2009-02-23T22:05:00.002+01:00

Today I was out running and with a big smile on my face. I was remembering some great times with my two main Drukens. So, do not ask me why, but the video below is a special shoutout, or toast if you will to my boyz. And if you do not understand consider yourself normal!

I ended up running 8 miles today as follows:
7:34, 7:15, 7:16, 7:10, 7:06, 6:30, 7:16 (going into recovery mode), 6:35 (because recovery mode suddenly seemed really boring) min/mile

On other news I recently found out that I will be moving to Nigeria by the end of this summer. What does that mean for me and my running and this running blog? Well, 2 things for sure:

1. Please bookmark this blog and check it periodically after I move. I will use it as my outlet to drop clues and subtle hints as to where I am and how my captors are treating me once I am kidnapped. I will use the next few months to start developing clever codes so that my captors will not get wise to me! Here is my first clever code: WHAT WAS I THINKING WHEN I AGREED TO MOVE TO NIGERIA?!!! Will mean, of course, life is great, please come and visit!

2. My 6 mile running routes will now be 12 mile running routes as I will be running in a zig-zag or serpentine pattern to avoid getting caught in the sniper's scope for any extended period of time. Army rolls will be executed every 100m's....just because.

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Feb.22: No More Vacancy

2009-02-22T21:36:00.003+01:00

For the past week I have been providing free room and board to Slimer and his offspring in my nasal cavity. I tried to capture him with multiple attempts with my proton pack but he has remained pretty much elusive. So I have pretty much spent all of last week living in a fog while working, then coming home to sleep and do nothing.

On a less pathetic note, as luck would have it I started to feel better on Friday afternoon, just around 4pm (you do not suppose that there was any mental component in my illness, do you?!) So the wife met me for dinner and we went to see The Wrestler. It is a fairly slow moving story, but it is very real and powerful about a washed-up pro-wrestler who is still living in the past amongst his old glory days. (Yeah, whoever thought that I would ever say "real" and "pro-wrestler" in the same sentence!). But I can certainly see why Mickey Rourke is up for Best Actor...very compelling indeed!

On Saturday I actually decided to run! Wow...miracles do happen! I ran 8 miles sans Garmin. I felt like I was running with only 1/2 of my normal lung capacity. It was almost embarrasing because I felt like I was breathing extremely heavy for the effort that I was exerting. Nothing like sounding like a wounded water buffalo giving birth to siamese twins just to jog across the street. But I was just happy to be moving and finally had the energy to run.

We finished the day by seeing Walkerie (or Valkerie I believe it is called in the states) with Tom Cruise. I quite enjoyed the movie - I did not think that there was any WOW factor, but I enjoy movies that show me a different perspective of things that I never really gave any consideration to before.

Today I did another 8 miles and felt much better. I averaged ~ 7:15 min/mile and felt much less labored than yesterday. The exercise is definitely helping clear things up. This week I should be back to normal!

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Feb. 15: New (annoying?) interval technique...

2009-02-15T20:13:00.002+01:00

Although I am still not feeling "nickel" (as the french would say, pronounced "knee-cal") I have been able to slug my way through this day all right. Despite feeling light-headed, phlemy, very lethargic, and achy I was feeling "tip-top".

To get the body in motion and, hopefully, flush out the sickness I went for what was (surprisingly) an awesome 8 mile run. Along the way I discovered a new, and totally rewarding way to do intervals (actually more like fartleks) that can totally screw with people - in this case, cyclists. Here is the step-by-step training program (patent pending):

1. While running, look for cyclists that are going roughly the same speed as you (plus or minus).
2. Sneak up on cyclist - get just a few paces behind their rear wheel.
3. Accelerate and take the left lane
4. When running abreast with the cyclist, hold your breath for 5-10 seconds (or at least until you pass) so it looks like you are not even working all that hard. If you can, try to whistle a few lines of a catchy tune too.
5. Keep accelerating - listen for a quickened pace from the cyclist. This is a usual result since no cyclist can really be all that serious if he is getting passed by a runner!
6. If the cyclist takes the bait, keep your legs moving and body accelerating. Do NOT look back - you are the one in control of the situation - that WILL be lost if show weakness now! Another useful technique, when the lighting is right, is to look for shadow movement of things behind you. Once you see a shadow croaching up on you, you can time your acceleration perfectly...this also earns you additional frustration points.
7. Keep your accelerated pace until the cyclist finally passes you (remember step #4, just to remind him that he is the only one really working right now).
8. Slow back to easy pace until you are recovered
9. Look for next cyclist - if you are truely lucky, it will be the same guy!

Using this technique you will be on the lips of every man and woman wearing padded spandex in no time! Happy running!

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Valentines Weekend

2009-02-14T22:55:00.006+01:00

After another intense spinning session on Thursday, and a long day at work on Friday I was ready for the weekend! The Mrs. joined me up at La Defense for dinner and a movie. Dinner was average, which is really disappointing because we have gone there before with great experiences. What cracked me up when the waiter came and asked me if it was ok? I responded by saying "no, the fries were cold and the chicken was cold and rubbery." His reply was, "oh, ok" as he walked away...and that was that! Ah yes, the world-renowned French service! If I was back in the states I am sure I could have scored a sweet oversized, deep-fried, sugar-coated, topped with whip cream desert of some sort for free out the deal. But here in lovely, "service-oriented" Paris I just got an awkward look and an uncomfortable smile. I was very careful in timing my complaint as I waited until we had everything that we needed first!

After we went to see Slum Dog Millionaire. This is the BEST movie I have seen in YEARS. Let me repeat to make myself clear - YEARS. Absolutley awesome!

It is funny, while we were waiting in line I heard some American voices talking behind me (they sounded like the voices of angels...but I digress). It was funny because we were able to predict how they were going to sit once inside the theatre. By that I mean, when Jennie and I saw our first movie in Paris we thought it a little funny that when people come into the theatre, no matter how empty, they will walk in and take the seat immediately next to you. In the states everyone is accustomed to leaving a "buffer seat" between them and the next person along the row. So, sure enough, they walk into the theatre and left a buffer seat right beside us! It is the little things that are different between the 2 cultures that make me chuckle!

Then after the movie we came home, drank some wine, and played Agricola. This is, perhaps, one of the best boardgames I have ever played. It is a very dense game that took us a few plays to sort out, but now that we have it sorted we have been playing it over dinner pretty regularily! As you can tell, it is also quite a big game!

So, that was the good part of my weekend - Saturday morning I got up with plans for a longer run. As the day progressed I got sicker, and sicker, and sicker...So, Valentine's was been spent with me shivering on the couch for the best part of the day. But before I started to suck, we did manage to find a cupcake store in Paris and we made it our project to go get some cupcakes. I was inspired by my sister telling me that "it is a cupcake kind of day", so it was fun to have a different mission to work towards today!

Mission accomplished: Cupcakes and Co. could be found on what could have been the most isolated street in all of Paris.

Me digging into a Red Velvet. And yes Koza, I was rockin' the hoodie all day long!

So far today I feel a lot better so I do not plan on sucking nearly as much, mais on verra.

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ps - Best wishes are with the Sugga Land boyz today as they go for a BQ!

Feb.11: Coccyx to the front...

2009-02-11T22:22:00.002+01:00

Call me dumb, but every time I do certain exercises during pilates with my man-trainer he is always ordering me, very intensely and in his french accent, "That's good Daav-eed, Cock-zis to da fron', Cock-zis to da fron'....yeeeeaaaaah Daav-eed, that's a goooood wan!"

I have always been a little embarrased to ask my man-trainer what my cock-zis was because I was scared what the answer might be. Moreover, my suspicion of what it might be led me to the conclusion that it was already in my front. I finally asked the wife what it was tonight. She responded by asking me what I thought it was. I responded that I was not sure. So she asked back, "well what do you do when he tells you to put your cock-zis to da fron'?" I responded that I just sort of flop around until finally he says, "yeeeeaaaaah Daav-eed, that's a goooood wan!"

After much giggling at me, I finally learned that he, infact, wants my "coccyx" to the front, which is infact the remnant of my vestigial tail. Now just saying "vestigial tail" makes me giggle...

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Feb. 10: Excusez moi?

2009-02-10T21:10:00.006+01:00

First, for those that are interested here is my physical fitness update (I've been up in the gym just workin' on my fitness, fergilicious...wooooo-eeeeee):

Sunday: Ran 8 miles at a chill pace

Monday: Ran 6+ miles with extended "strides" before work.

This is a part of a whole resolution thing to free up my time in the evenings. Jennie told me that the first day of exercising before work would be easy because I would still be in the Honeymoon phase. Well, I not only skipped the honeymoon phase, but I think I also skipped the next 50 years right up until the part where we are sleeping in separate beds using each other's farts as our alarm clock phase. I really dislike morning workouts. It is interesting because it really reflects on my first couple miles' pace - they are always 30-40 seconds/mile slower than a similar run done AFTER work. I think the explanation is simple - my muscles after work have had all day to warm up and stretch out whereas in the morning they are still fighting to get horizontal again just for one more "snooze".

Tuesday (Today): 45 minute spin class after work.

Although I did wake up early this morning for another morning glory, the wind was absolutely blasting. In fact, all 3 of Paris airports were closed last night and this morning due to wind. Seriously - read more here. I had not heard wind like that since sleeping through Hurricane Rita a few years ago.

It is going to take me a little while to recalibrate my HR with cycling. When it comes to running I am usually quite aware of what my various limits are, effects of caffeine, sleeping, etc. But for cycling my HRs and my percieved exertion are different (lower). I will have to keep doing all different types of workouts to re-calibrate...looking forward to it! Generally, I am pleased with my overall intensity tonight - If I recall from my past cycling days, maximum HR is 175-180...not sure though.

Secondly, I have gotten pretty used to the definition of "personal space" here in France...meaning that you do not have any. But one place where you are usually gauranteed to get some of your own space is in the bathroom, or in the shower. In the places that I like to frequent there, generally, is not a lot of interaction in these environments. But after spinning when I was taking a shower as normal, minding my own business, keeping my eyes on the wall and, of course, at all times above shoulder level (but still avoiding eye contact). Things were going fine until I had to look down to get some more body gel out of the bottle when I saw a mop scrubbing away down by my feet! I turn around to see the janitor, no more than a foot and a half away from me, happily scrubbing my stall. Hmmmm, for those of you who like to carry your towel over your shoulder when you are in the locker room and prefer to air dry, this may not bother you...but for the rest of us, JC! When I got home I contemplated taking another shower because I still felt dirty...

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Jan.31-Feb.3: Extended Long Weekend

2009-02-05T21:23:00.005+01:00

Although this post is exactly 1 weekend too late, I have been completely swamped this past week with work and travel (both planned and unplanned due to weather). Anyhow, last weekend The Boss and I headed to London to watch Les Miserables in the Queen's Theatre on London's West End and to watch the Superbowl and the Other Boss perform for halftime. As most trips that end with a final destination in an english speaking country I felt an instant pressure release as soon as the EuroStar pulled out of the station in Paris en route to London...this was going to be a great weekend!

Les Miserable is a theatre show that I have had on my "must see" list for a long time. I was so excited to finally check this puppy off my bucket list in none other than London's West End. In just 3 short hours in went from a "must see" to "my favorite". Amazing! If you have not seen this, at the very least go rent the movie (which is also awesome with Liam Neisson).

After the show we walked through Chinatown a little bit, which was fun with the Chinese New Year's celebrations going on...I am feeling good so far about the year of the Ox!

One thing I have noticed in London is that there seems to be a fairly significant French influence within the streets. There are a lot of patisseries and boulangeries, and of course the "wonderful patisserie"...

The next day was Game Day but kickoff was not until 11pm local time! So we took a little walk, browsed a little open air market where I found the homemade muffins too good to resist.

Hopefully this will not influence my next dental bill too much...

Finally it was game time and Jennie and I were raring to go. I was cheering for the Arizona Cars In Stalls and she was cheering for the Pennsylvania Steal Hers. (Or something like that...I really do not keep up on this type of thing).

Unfortunately, a late kick-off means a late (or early) finish. Goooo (yawn) team....yeeeaaaahhhh!

The next day we woke up, ready to go back to Paris, but saw this instead

which meant that schools and businesses all across London were closed. This also meant that we would be staying in London for one more day! Although I would regret this for the rest of the working week, it was an excellent day! The neighbour kids made some impressive snowmen

while my brother-in-law and I managed to create this (hmmmm, looks like something a little different, but I promise we started with the intention of building a snow MAN).

After some fun in the snow we played several games of Ticket to Ride: Europe. If you have not played this game, and you like boardgames, go buy it...it is really fun!

After all this, we finally returned to Paris the next day where I immediately caught another flight to Pau for work. So, needless to say, my running took a bit of a back seat to work and life this week but I did manage a sweet spinning class and 8 miles today in the snow...yep - snow. They say that spring in Paris is the best time...although I have nothing to complain about (compared to other readers on here or my Canadian childhood), I am really looking forward to that time again!

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Feb.2: Snowed In

2009-02-02T14:47:00.001+01:00

So today we were supposed to leave London and go back to Paris. As it turns out, London is seeing its biggest snow day in over 20 years. It looks like my long weekend has just been extended into (another week?) a longer vacation!! I am supposed to be back in Paris tomorrow to go to Pau, but Mother Nature has other ideas it seems! Here are some pics around Wimbledon.

Looks like we are not going anywhere...where are the trains?!!

Might as well enjoy it!!

Cheers!

Jan.29: Off the Fence

2009-01-29T22:29:00.002+01:00

For the last 2 months I have been sitting on the fence as to what kind of marathon I want Prague to be. By that I mean I have been debating in my mind whether or not I want "to go for it" and try to PR again, or if I want treat it as a destination marathon and just be "happy for the experience" in a new city. I have finally decided NOT to pursue a PR at Prague, opting instead to devote some of my would-be training time back to my first love - cycling. Now running has certainly been a home-wrecker the last 3 years but perhaps now I can have all my fantasies come true with a menage a trois...no?!

I have booked off 1.5 weeks to cycle in the Alps and watch the Tour de France in July. I am a huge fan of the tour and I am so excited to get the opportunity to see it as a cyclist, up close and in person! Also, we are quite keen to take a lot of little weekend getaways when the spring rolls around that would really interfer with the heavy and intense training schedule that a goal marathon demands. These getaways will still be very active, but they will be no match for the intensity level of a solid Jack Daniel's track-long-track workout that is for sure! I plan to keep running, but I will be incorporating more cross-training, spinning, and actual cycling in the weeks ahead.

That being said, I ran 5.5 miles tonight at a 7:31 min/mile pace. I am quite sure that Jennie inserted 10 pound lead inserts into my running shoes as it felt like my feet were just dragging.

After my last post, my main man The Koz sent me the following link. I completely forgot about it until he sent it. Hilarious!! Thanks man!

Tomorrow we are off to London to see Les Miserables and for a Super Bowl party! "Super bowl," you ask, "in London?" Why yes, my sister and brother-in-law got a feed for the game - I believe kick-off is 11pm on Sunday night! I am not really a football fan and, infact, I just had to google who was actually playing in the game (Steelers vs. the Cardinals (but aren't they a baseball team?!)), but the novelty of having a Superbowl party in London at midnight is just too good to pass up!

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Jan.27: Coffee Breath

2009-01-27T22:19:00.005+01:00

I have decided not to join the Frenchies for their standard espresso after lunch anymore. Lately I have found the espresso's taste so bitter and just leave a nasty taste in my mouth. It tastes like a gang of oompa loompas have crawled into my mouth and took a big dump. On the bright side, they sing a catchy little tune about morals while they are down there...

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The Rest of Houston...

2009-01-26T19:42:00.002+01:00

So, basically I spend the rest of my week in Houston visiting family and friends, shopping (arrived with 1.5 bags and left with 5 full bags), and managed just a few 6-8 mile runs around my ol' stomping grounds of the Buffalo Bayou. It is funny - when I was driving around Houston it seemed like YEARS ago since I lived there. It felt like I must have lived there in another life - it was almost like it never happened - everything seemed quite distant and unfamiliar. But as soon as my feet hit that familiar pavement of the Bayou it seemed like only yesterday that I was running this path in the heat and humidity of Houston.

What was NOT distant and unfamiliar were the friends and family that we had the pleasure of seeing. We (regrettably) never took our new camera around with us so we only managed a few pictures outside of the marathon.

Mom, Jennie, and Dad (making sure that his head is not exploding!!)

Jennie and "newly" weds Alex and Jaws

Me and my main man - at our traditional Panera Bread after a cold Saturday morning run. Although it was cold, it is never too cold for the short-shorts!

How lame - despite having the chance to catch up with a lot of our friends, those are the only pictures we have :(

Since returning to Paris (last night) I have managed to do nothing. Tomorrow I will head out to the Bois to get some more Paris miles under my belt.

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