Wikileaks

Okay I'm in two minds about this.  On the one hand I'm all for open government....on the other releasing upwards of 250,000 documents whose contents can hardly come as a surprise to anyone seems......reckless, distracting and sucks up a whole lot of media/political time when important things are actually happening today, right now.  Honestly how startling is it to hear the US Secretary of State wanted detailed profiles on all diplomatic representatives around the world?  Seriously?  And that people are nervous about North Korea (duh).....and that everyone is watching everyone.  Not to mention that information like this may have some very real consequences on individual and collective safety for a whole lot of folk.  It's craziness.  I am also much more interested in how these folk got this stuff.....now that's a matter of national security, for everyone - that's something people could focus on, IF they can't keep this stuff secret why should I trust that a scan of my tush taken by TSA at the airport is even vaguely secure?  250,000 pages is so much more manageable when I personalize it......
Update:  took my own advice (suddenly got paranoid I'd just sent you all off to watch/read bad porn) and hit next blog and got "Addicted to Pavement: Searching for Marathon Redemption".  Dude runs like a mad thing.....I am redeemed (at least in my mind!).

The accidental tourist....16 miles/25 km later

So I did get myself out of bed, dressed and, with Lotte and Irene, headed down to the Embarcadero to start my run with the two of them before heading off on a longer run.  Embarcadero was as lovely as ever, Fisherman's Wharf not as crazed as usual and the Marina peaceful enough as I headed to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I've mentioned this before, but the turn around point for this run really is at the base of the bridge.  Looking at the photo on the left you can see a car park with a flag flying, that's the turn around.  Today there were surfers making the most of the swells generated by the tide hitting the bridge pylons.  Usually I'd just run around and head back the way I came but I was bored with the thought of it so decided to detour.Detouring can lead to some unexpected and lovely moments it does, however, also inevitably lead to my being lost.  I have no sense of direction so relied totally on my "general sense" of how the city is laid out.  So off I went, heading off the beaten track onto a trail of sorts, heading for the Presideo, which I've mentioned before.

At some point I hit a "no pedestrians, no bikes" sign - ignored that and kept going (not being a native American speaker and all...).  Well of course I did eventually hit the reason why (some construction going on) BUT didn't much matter as a short bush hop and I jumped the wall into the Military Cemetery.  This place is very lovely and peaceful  As you can (maybe) see from the picture, it looks out onto the GG Bridge and also has lovely views of the harbour.  Given I had ventured in here before I knew at the top of the hill there was an exit point that would put me back on another trail.  This then lead me to a lovely run through a stand of Eucalyptus trees.  Lovely for the lungs!  Popping out the other side I really wasn't sure where I was but did recognize some of the street names......I am still a long way from home at this point, that much I knew.  I stopped someone on the street to ask how I get to the Mission - she was a little startled, noting that I had "quite a long run ahead of me".  I had my Big Sur Marathon hat on, so once she had noted that she was a little less concerned.  Anyway, she pointed me into Golden Gate Park, I needed to get to the other side of that and keep going.  GG Park is BIG and, as we know, I have no sense of direction and haven't spent alot of time in the Park to date.  That said it did turn out that I popped into the Park at possibily the only point I had seen in recent times......yuh right near where we had walked on Thanks Giving Day.  Delightfully too they close down all the roads during the weekends so I no longer had to think about traffic.  As I continued on my way I tried to vaguely keep on track, heading in the general direction of home.  Finally though I had to concede......wasn't exactly sure which way to go next.  Stopped in at a gas station and advised to head up a road whose name I did recognize.  HA!  Here's the thing to know when you are asking directions of a non-runner, they don't think about hills.....I was confident the road I was on would lead me into the Mission and home BUT I was also sure I didn't actually have to go up and over the hill. I managed to find a bus stop with a map in it and realized that if I swung left a little I'd hit the Castro.  Castro being the famous gay part of San Fran.......rainbow flags abound.  Right I definitely knew I was closer to home than not at this point.  Irene and I had walked here a few weeks back so I totally knew I did not have to climb any hills!  Finally found the street I needed to follow (17th as it turns out, so as you can see from the photo, it wasn't exactly hard).
Eventually arrived home 16 miles later and feeling more than a little like the accidental tourist.....

Lazy long weekends

 Mostly I have done nothing of note with the long weekend......it's been bliss!  I do plan a long run today, once I get myself out of bed.  Thanks Giving dinner was great fun.  As always some connection with NZ.  A friend of Pete and Amy's, who is an American, but lives in Wellington (having lived in Otago and loves Middlemarch) was also there.  And yes, predictably, we did have some folk in common (she is a Prof at Victoria University so I dredged up some memories of under grad days).  She loves NZ and wouldn't move back to the US.
Photo of her to the right (Annemarie on the left and Amy's mum on the right).  Amy is pictured below, she is Pete's wife and was our co-host for the day.  The drink she is sipping on is a Pomegranate martini - yum, nice way to start the day.
Irene (below) played bartender for the first round of drinks. While Pete was our cook - see the shot of the HUGE turkey being basted.  Needless to say too, Pete got a little bit of a ribbing about his very festive shirt!  He's been living in the US for 12 years now, having done his undergrad (and I think Masters) at Otago University before heading to the US to complete his PHd.  He now lectures in the same department as Irene at the University of California Santa Cruz.
Amy is a lawyer and they have two very sweet kids.  As an added bonus they live right next to Golden Gate Park so in-between courses we headed out for a walk.

Also at the dinner was Amy's sister Nancy (in the blue shirt below) and Sharon, another colleague of Irene and Pete's.  I have met her before, she is currently on a sabbatical and preparing for an art show.  All very interesting people - Thanks Giving is such a sweet holiday here.  Always makes me very happy.

I've also added a couple of "arty" shots that Julia took while Rose was visiting.  We were down on the beach walking the dogs.  We like to think of the one on the right as "The Band".....this would be the cover to our album of course.  Irene clearly the lead singer, Rose the all rounder - you know can play everything and can sing as well....Rose decided I was definitely the bass player as I was all in black!  Below, a different view but you get the idea!

Miners

It's sad.....it really is.....but how about being sad about this: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/concern-over-domestic-violence-statistics-3384919.
Yeah parliament didn't stop when this stat came out, nobody took any notice.
Just saying.

Thanks Giving

Woken to a lovely vintage San Fran day.  Not a cloud in the sky and perfect day for running.  Irene, Lotte and I have just come back from a run along the Embarcadero.  Whenever I run along this stretch of waterfront I am always struck by how like Wellington's water front it is.  The views out to the harbour are spectacular and there is alot of public art along the way, as well as some iconic buildings.  The Trams give it a uniquely San Francisco feel.

Much like Wellington too, the locals come out in all weather but particularly on sunny days like today.  Tourists abound as the Embarcadero turns into Fisherman's Wharf and, for those that recall, my longer runs along this route lead into the Marina district and, ultimately, to the base of Golden Gate Bridge.  There are days when I am quite startled to find myself living here.  Even more startling to think that this afternoon I will most likely be walking in Golden Gate Park!
With Pauline and Bernice visiting in January I am prompted to think about some of the things they might like to see and do.  One of the loveliest things about San Francisco is that strolling around can be an adventure in itself!
Having two days off is a delight as I have been planning all the upcoming adventures.  I'll share some more next posting, for now off to shower and get ready to head out for Thanks Giving dinner.  Pete is, by all accounts, a fab cook so, yet again, I land on my feet with the foodies (me being a lover of food but not the most adventurous cook in the world!).....I've purchased the wine and Irene has made "our" food contribution!

That marathon

I'm a little bit out from the marathon now.........but gee, running a marathon changes something.  It's not just that I committed to it and did it.  I've committed to a lot of very grand things in my life and done them (graduating from Officer Cadet School and completing my Masters.....these were no small things for me.....jeeezus surviving working at Treasury was bigger than most people might realize).  Running the marathon was an incredibly peaceful experience.  For sure there was a science, a way to go about it but I was inspired by the people along the way, other runners, spectators the whole thing.  Intellectually marathons are entirely stupid, they serve no real purpose (okay I did raise money for a charity) but really they are entirely ridiculous as a concept in the context of the world I live in.  Except maybe not.....for me.  I don't really know, nor how to explain it, except THAT marathon has inspired me to other things.  I didn't hate it, I loved it.  It was hard, it really was.....at the end, but not so hard that I didn't think "I'd do that again".  Some things I"ve done in my life I'd never repeat; some jobs, some relationships, some physical moments.......but that marathon, I'd do that again (and plan to, although not that exact marathon).  Why?  Just because I can, I described it to a friend "So my goal....in that last 2 miles some folk flew past me with ease....they'd run a clever race.... not only had something in the tank but a brightness that I wanna have in that last mile!"  So it's easy now I think about it -  always to be bright in that last mile.....simple dream really, question is, how many miles come before that last mile?

Dinner parties

Riotous - last night we went to dinner at the landlords who live above "us".  They are hospo folk and entirely lovely and fab fun. BUT they think/assume Irene and I are a couple (or at  least we think they do), which is just riotous.  There were 10 of us all up at dinner, it was a "straight" affair and all couples.  Nobody actually asked us outright but it was most definitely implied!  It had the two of us in hysterics as it has been a long time since either of us have felt "coupled".  Irene, of course, couldn't resist a couple of moments of implied coupledom, noting that I really should be taking her to visit NZ etc.

It was a very personable crowd with another kiwi there as well (who has this hybrid Aussie/kiwi accent going as she did her degree and post grad education in Australia).  Turns out she does body work so I am going to book a session with her to keep myself on track to be able to run the three marathons I have planned for next year (what was that about outrageous goals.....).  The wine was nothing short of fantastic as two of the guests are the wine suppliers to Mohamad and Marmee's restaurant.  I was (as often happens) accosted by the child.......I don't know, it's a height size thing, so spent sometime in her bedroom with the toys.  They also have the cutest little baby boy, who Irene spent time entertaining.

Interesting insight from Irene "OMG you are so exotic, these people so want to engage you about NZ".........after my having to go through several rounds of "NZ is just the most wonderful place".   The notion of my being exotic is even more hilarious as I am the white colonizer with not an ounce of exotic in me.  

Thanks Giving

Thanks Giving week is here again.  I love this week because Americans are so excited about it.....and my experience to date is that there is always some place to go!  This year Pete and his wife invited Irene and I to their house.  This is very sweet (well Irene is a long time friend, so sweet for me as they invited me too!).  Thanks Giving also means a short week with Thursday/Friday a holiday.
NY and Dublin were grand adventures and it's also nice to be home.  It is Saturday and I am lounging in bed.  It feels like the first time in a long while that I've been able to just start my day at leisure without feeling driven to do "something".  All helped by having woken to rain - although the day has now cleared up.  Irene and I are going for a run later today in preparation for her race the first weekend in December.  Irene's not usually a runner but took on the idea a few months back so we registered for a 4 miler (she is a gun cyclist - I am not taking that on).
Work is busy as the boss is on two weeks leave (really I arrived home Saturday and the working week kicked off Sunday with a hand over conference call and then clearing some emails).  I have had several 630am starts with my days ending around 8pm a couple of days this week.  Concurrently with that I have been talking to a few folk about my next project (I roll off this one the first week of December).  There is one I am really interested in (still at Cisco but not a tool change, now that would be a welcome change of pace).....this one is about Voice of the Customer i.e. streamlining how Services communicates/engages with partners who sell their products and services.  I would be a good fit for it as I know all the players already and it's building something from nothing....anyway, I won't know for another week I don't think.  This is the way my world rolls these days, project to project and learning something new at every turn.  Makes me very happy.
I feel incredibly settled and happy here as I feel my working life is affording me huge opportunities and, at last, personally I have found an easier place in the world.  The marathon has given me a huge sense of personal achievement and feeling fitter brings with it all the very positive endorphins that come with exercise.  I am continuing to focus on keeping my life simple while knowing myself well enough to know that if I don't set one or two outlandish goals I will become bored and unsettled.
The longer I am here the more I see or feel that the US does itself no favours in how it is reported in the global press.  I am overwhelming surrounded by people who work incredibly hard, care hugely about the world they live in and are not, by any means, indifferent to the plight of others.  Americans are not entirely crazed, although it may appear that way.  This is a HUGE continent and remarkably diverse.  Corralling the views of 4 million people and gaining alignment is a walk in the park by comparison (e.g. about 1 million folk live in Manhattan, 3 million commute in everyday.....).  Yeah, get that, the entire population of NZ lands in one city here every day.  My world view has changed hugely since I arrived four years ago.  There is a video of me crossing the finish line in NY....I sent a link to a friend and she commented that there were actually three finishing lanes.  It struck me that I had got conditioned to BIG.  Can you imagine 44,000 people running a race in NZ?  There were 30,000 in Nashville and 12,000 in San Jose.  An event of 10,000 (Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge) is iconic in NZ - I don't mean to make flippant comparisons so much as recognize how the benchmark for "normal" has shifted for me. It is simply a different world and one I have adjusted to and enjoy.

Of feral cats, iconic buildings and famous shootings

A while back I mentioned Irene was making a documentary film about how we choose to kill some animals and not others.  Turns out that part of that involves some of the most entertaining, intriguing and oddest of encounters with folk!
A couple of weeks ago she took me off to drive around one of San Francisco's "Projects" - you know, those big ugly housing estates largely populated by people living on or close to the breadline and not the safest of places to be at night.  She was scouting her next filming location where she was following a crazed and committed group of (primarily) women who catch feral cats to take them to be spade and neutered then release them back into the community.  Turns out there is quite a number of folks entirely passionate about feral cats in general.

As a follow-up last night she took me off to City Hall (the iconic building referenced in the title) to attend the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare to listen to some very impassioned pleas from the feral cat crowd asking the Commission to work towards legislation to make SF a no kill city i.e. not killing animals that get picked up off the street etc etc.  This followed by some other controversy around Golden Gate Park clearing land that feral cats were living in.  Anyway, it was all very fascinating and a long way from my day job!  As a side bar to all that I was a total tourist.  City Hall is an awesomely beautiful building....very English/European architecture.  While we waited for the meeting to kick off I took a couple of shots, including the obligatory tourist shot of me!

Of famous shootings?  This was where Harvey Milk (the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the US) was assassinated.
Only other interesting thing of note this week......check out the links to the right - Berlin marathon September 2011......woohoo!

NY and Dublin Part 2

Arrived at Dublin airport to run into yet another passport check!  Bernice and Pauline were waiting and it was great to see them and very exciting to finally be in Ireland.  The adventure just got better and better.  Turns out they had a little pad right near the center of town and within in easy walking/cycling distance of most everything we wanted to see.  Delightfully too Joyce, Irish friend who lives in Auckland and who I also worked with at Fletchers, was visiting (she now runs her own wine importing business and visits twice a year).  Yippee, total bonus we all ended up going out to dinner, starting out at a traditional irish pub before moving onto a very stylie lovely restaurant with gorgeous food and a very impressive wine selection (thanks to Joyce).  So weird to suddenly be surrounded by folks from NZ, also very easy.  Chatter flowed easily and it was a delightful night.  The body was still weary I have to say and I fell into bed relaxed, happy and ready for a good nights sleep.

The next morning we headed out on a bus tour around the town.  This was an excellent way to get our bearings as we travelled past all the landmarks, including the Guinness factory.  As always these trips have lots of interesting little tidbits about the town and, while they can sometimes be a little contrived, the easy Irish lilt of the bus driver made his terrible jokes almost funny (okay a couple of them were, even if a little obvious).  After the bus we decided to hire some bikes.  They are public bikes, you use your credit card to unlock them and they are yours to ride around and lock up anywhere you choose.  I think a measure of a city's character has to be whether or not they can sustain this type of thing.  Dublin surely can and people are hugely tolerant of the cyclists on footpaths (there are also bike paths) and the bikes are well cared for.  As you can see in the picture - they aren't glamours but they are functional and the very best way to get around.

After biking for a few hours we wandered around the shops some and then, finally, committed to having a Guinness.  Bars in Ireland are great places - always humming and always something to look at.  One of the highlights had to be Temple Bar, which is everything you would want and imagine in an Irish pub!  For those that have been to Dublin you will already know it as a famous destination.....the place hummed and we had some live music as well (most everywhere seemed to have live music).  I'm not really a big Guinness drinker but Guinness in Ireland was hugely nicer than any Guinness I've had anywhere else - it wasn't as bitter or strong tasting as I usually find Guinness.  Could have just been the romance of the thing (well and post marathon everything tastes good!).
The next day we headed to Howth on the train.  This is a sweet little fishing village that has working boats and great seafood restaurants.  Bernice didn't come along on this adventure but the three of us arrived to a very blustery day with impressive seas and a very cool breeze.  After wondering around a little (I'd confess to feeling quite weary on this day, the body was definitely looking for some down time) we found a nice little seafood restaurant beside the harbor, complete with something resembling a fire.  Afterwards and before catching the train back into Dublin we went into a local fish shop where Rose charmed them all and we bought some fish for dinner, having decided that this night was a stay at home kind of night.
Our final day (or morning) was spent shopping and enjoying the most yummy Guinness Beef Stew.....everything and more you would hope for in a stew.  All washed down with a Guinness and, yet again, accompanied by live music.  Irelands a grand wee place and Dublin and grand wee town - with a total population of 4 million I couldn't actually imagine living there as it does seem a little small.  That said, lovely to visit and with delightful company.

Dublin to Heathrow where Rose and I parted company as she met a friend and stayed an additional two days.  Meanwhile I headed off to my little "pod" Hotel in Terminal 4 and was more than delighted to hole up in the cutest little room I've ever seen!  I was "sitting" in the bathroom taking this shot.  Might not be big but it was all very functional, clean and relatively cheap given I had to be at Terminal 1 by 8am it was a fine option.
My 11 hour flight home turned into 16 as we ended up with someone on board getting ill so had to divert to some place in Canada to drop them off.  Upside though, Virgin Atlantic crew are very pleasant, they happened to have three pilots on board so we could continue on and the movie selection is excellent.  I figured if it was me that was ill I'd like to be dropped off too so was happy enough to surf movies, doze and reflect on the whirlwind of SFO - JFK - 26.2 miles - JFK - Heathrow - Dublin - Guinness - Heathrow - SFO, all in a mere 8 days!

NY and Dublin Part 1

Back home having had a grand time, both in NY and Dublin.  As promised, posting some photos, didn't take a lot but Rose is sending more so will post those when they arrive too. On the left the post race shot, on the right the glamourous attire I wore for the mile walk home - heat sheets may not be the warmest thing in the world but they do, at least, keep the wind off! Bottom left.....yummiest glass of wine ever!  Also included a shot of the first bridge at the start of the race (1 mile up hill, didn't feel a thing.....and yep, seriously it's that crowded and then some!).
Rose and I didn't really do a lot of sight seeing in NY, it was all about the marathon.  But the one thing we did do was the entire route on a bus as part of the Friends and Family tour.  The great thing about this was it allowed Rose to see exactly where I would be running.  The weirdness being spectators have to be very selective about where they are on the route as it's really challenging to traverse the crowds.  The bus trip was totally fascinating, taking us past some well known landmarks and introducing us to new ones.  Both of us really enjoyed it.

The night before the race we also stumbled across this really fab Japanese restaurant.  A second floor venue we noticed it from across the street.  Gyu-Kaku is Japanese BBQ.  We sat at our table with a little BBQ inset and watched as food was rolled out to us (chose a set menu) with a range of delicious meats and fish and mushrooms, we then BBQ then one slice at a time.  Totally fab and the perfect pre.race meal for me.  I didn't have the wine but Rose certainly enjoyed it!
Monday morning I woke up feeling a little stiff but we had a leisurely start.  We set off to go and look at the marathon store post race but when we got there it was crazed so we both shrugged it off and started walking down 5th avenue.  While I did get my medal and my tee shirt I'd confess to indulging in something a little more glamorous as my remembrance.  Tiffany offer a line of commemorative items around the race. The whole collection is here, but I opted for the oval ring tag that you can get engraved.  Made me very happy I have to say.
Rose and I spent the day wandering the streets, good for my aching muscles and weary body, but I did, perhaps, over extend a little and we ended up needing to get a cab back to the hotel so we could catch (what turned out to be) our stretch limo to the airport!  Before you all groan we had ordered a town car (which isn't much more than a taxi cost wise BUT, for whatever reason a limo turned up).  Needless to say Rose and I giggled liked fools about the whole thing - it was a lovely ride though!!!!
Security done we settled in for the flight to Heathrow.  While we had a four hour layover most of it was sucked up being sent to the wrong terminal, all of which involved numerous security checkpoints....it was tedious and I was struggling a little with the amount of walking required (turns out marathons are quite wearying on the body).  Enough to say that bloody mary's at 10am in the morning ease many pains (well technically it was more like 1am NY time).  Of course that also meant that we were both asleep for wheels up and woke as wheels came down.
Meeting Pauline and Bernice at the airport was the start of our Dublin adventures.

Crossing my line

Back from adventuring so will keep telling the marathon story.
Running across the finish line brought a mixture of total relief, elation and aching legs! I felt overwhelmed at the thought that I'd actually done it. August 2009 I could hardly run 3 miles. In December I decided to run the marathon, it was craziness. Running with 44000 people is....big. Parts of the course are really congested and the water stations crazed and a little dangerous as it's easy to run into someone or slip on the thousands of discarded cups. Along the way people have also dropped kit so at times it's all pretty treacherous. Crazily at times spectators would cross in front of runners, really dangerous for both runners and spectator. Despite all of that people were amazingly good natured. You see some remarkable courage from other runners; people with disabilities hanging in there, exhausted folk determined to finish, friends and strangers supporting one another.
Crossing the line everyone is out of it and crowded into a small space as we get channeled through to pick up our medals,get our heat sheets and our bags with food and water. I quickly cooled down and had to figure how the hell to get out of Central Park. Took me a little while and it was with no small amount of horror I realized that I had to walk up and down some stairs OMG. Navigated that and worked my way through the crowd to meet up with Rose who had warm clothes and chocolate milk. Got to our meeting point, no Rose. In the end I had to leave and would confess to it taking me an hour to walk a mile. I just wrapped up in the heat sheet and concentrated on taking the shortest route possible back to the hotel. I felt bad for not seeing Rose but had to keep moving or risk seizing up entirely. Real highpoint had to be random strangers congratulating me!

Done done done

Can't load photos here yet (not until after Ireland) but had to capture the buzz that is running the NY Marathon. This was a totally awesome experience beginning to end! Fortunately the TFKs pick up was just around the corner from the hotel. Rose walked with me at 530am and I boarded one of the 10 buses on hand. People were friendly but we were all a little wound up. 45min trip to Staten Island. Rose and I had gone on the marathon bus tour on Saturday so I had some insight into what to expect once we arrived. With around 45000 people running and all the volunteers Fort Wadsworth had turned into a little village. TFKs had a separate tent space while most others had to find a place on the ground. I sat in a sunny patch and tried to keep warm. I had new "throw away" sweats so was reasonably warm. While we were there around 730 I wasn't due to run until 1010.....three waves starting from 940.....wheelchairs and the professionals had gone out already. 45mins before the start we did a warm up and in the end all went into one corral to run as a team. The place was jam packed. As we moved toward our start people shed clothing, which is then collected and given to charity. As we prepared to start they played New York New York over the speakers and everyone sung! Then we were off. Course starts at the Verrazano Bridge and all up hill for the first mile. Honestly you feel so high you don't even notice. I just tried to not go out too fast and keep a steady pace. As we ran through the various boroughs the crowds were totally amazing cheering yelling encourage place just hummed. I never even put my I-pod on. The only area with no spectators was the orthodox jewish area in Brooklyn. These folk wear traditional garb and live very strictly by religious laws. It was very surreal as the suburbs on either side were crazed. Definitely to big highlights....turning onto 1st ave in Manhatten and seeing the sea of heads bobbing along for miles ahead and turning into Harlem coming over the bridge from the Bronx (which as a hard section.....people starting to lose it as we were coming up on mile 22....if you had gone out too hard this was where it hit you). Rose and I had preset some meeting places but we totally missed each other. A bummer for rose....looking for her kept me distracted though. I really started to feel the pain with two miles to go (no matter what distance always at 2 miles to go). Turning into Central Park for those last 400 feet was crazed and I determinedly attempted a little sprint at the end - crossed the line grinning from ear to ear, legs aching and close to happy tears....more later, in Dublin now and about to go out adventuring.

NYC and the marathon expo

We landed in NY at 730am having taken the redeye overnight from SF. A good way to travel as it turns out.It's a 5 and a half hour flight overnight so we basically slept all the way. Checked into the hotel in midtown Manhatten and headed off to the expose. Gave up on the free shuttle when we realized it was only going to be 10 bucks to catch a cab. Expo was totally full on. Rose went in search of coffee and I joined the que to get my race number and goodie bag. Met a really nice doctor who was running NY for his 8th time. Really nice guy who had been to NZ. Got my stuff and checked in with Team for Kids to get more stuff and confirm the shuttle to the start line. Turns out pick up is 630am and just around the corner from our hotel. We also get a special tent to wait in as we don't run until 10:10. Rose and I wandered around the expo....it was mega busy today, going to be crazed tomorrow as the next wave of runners arrives in town. Afterwards headed of to Times Square to eat and have a look around. Back at the hotel now. Me taking it easy, Rose going out sightseeing. It's all amazing and very excited to be here.

SFO - NY - 26.2miles - Dublin - SFO

Let the games begin.......

Days to go and Rose has landed!

Counting down single digit days now......wow!  A lot of logistics involved in this thing.  Fly out of SFO late Thursday night, land NY 7am Friday.  Got to go to the expo and pick up my race packet (number, timing chip, teeshirt....and whatever goodies are included).  Also got to go to the Team for Kids desk and confirm my ride to the race start - special bus leaving at 630am from Manhatten.  They have a TFKs tent we can hang out in then we go to our start corrals.  I'm not due to start running until 10:10am.  There are three waves with a bunch of corrals.  TFKs have cheering stations along the way so going to see if I can get Rose into one of them so we are at least guaranteed to see each other once on the run.  My butt is finally coming right - ouch, that was quite a moment!
Post NY we fly to Dublin for four days then back to London overnight.  Because of the way my flights work I am go to stay at the airport in this cool little Yotel.  Tiny little PODs which suit me perfectly and they do have a bathroom.

Rose arrived Friday - yippee, lovely to see her.  Friday night we headed to the local Japanese restaurant and had a mega feast.  Photo on right shows the very impressive sashimi dish we ordered, complete with dried ice....made for quite and impressive feast.
Also had her shopping at Cosco for party goodies (this is a mega mega sized warehouse type place, everything comes in supersize).  Saturday we went dog walking with Irene and her pal Julia, beautiful dog park on the coast, little bit of wandering around the Mission (including Mexican food) and then parrrrrtay.  It was fab!  Around 30 people showed in the end and the whole thing just took off.  Some were meant to head off to other places and they just stayed around.  It was a very eclectic mix of folk so could have gone either way I guess.  As it turned out, went our way and there were lots of laughs and chatting.  House now totally warmed.  Sent Rose off to Santa Cruz with Michelle and Marcia so she could see the ole hometown.  She arrived back today and has dutifully headed off to the gym.  I've had to work throughout but still getting some nice time together.

My very cool artwork is now in residence and looks very fine hanging above my bed.  Love my room, this completes it.
Also got a little extra added bonus gift on the right, so little tastes of kiwi have landed (well not to mention all the kiwi lollies now sitting in my cupboard!).