New tattoo

Life goes on

I know life in NZ is very focused on CHC and I am watching the coverage.  The one or two degrees of separation comes into play so I am not entirely distant from the obsession.
That said life here, and in other parts of NZ if truth be told, keep moving.
The working week has been big for me.  Last week was stressful as I had to do a dive and catch on some work and this week found out if I'd actually pulled it off.....so far it seems so.  Still, BIG learning curve for me.  The project is complex and it's a new organization.  I'm still very delighted to be involved and totally focused on doing a good job.....but some days are long and challenging.  My team is great, although very different from my old team.....which was awesome.  I'm happy enough though and the challenges keep me engaged (if not freaked out).
I'm still very committed to the marathon training (although the terrible weather is leading to some compromises).  I am feeling good for getting back out there in a more structured way and, as I said last post, grateful for the privilege.
Been going out a little bit too.  For the first time in "forever" I went out to the movies and watched Somewhere.  Definitely an art house movie, I really enjoyed it and it was shown in this sweet little theater in the Mission.  Nice company along the way too!
Discovered a local german restaurant.  Seriously good food.  Although I would confess that the trout really was the pick of the meal (I am not sure how germanic that is?).  Definitely going back as it proved to be a delight on many levels.
Weekend: training and going to a very fab looking photo exhibition at MOMA.
As I said, life goes on....


Oh, and for those that remember, here's the shot of the band.....after we went platinum:

Christchurch

Just back from a 5 mile run; day 3 of marathon training for Big Sur....11 weeks and about 300 training miles to go.  After the shock of Christchurch it suddenly didn't seem like such a big ask (and maybe more of a privilege) to come home and run the SF hills.
Really can't believe the tragedy of Christchurch, the place just looks devastated and the loss of life unbelievable.  Not really the sort of thing that happens in NZ....people here are shocked as well and lots of messages asking if family/friends are effected.  NZ is so small I expect most everyone has only one or two degrees of separation knowing someone who knows someone who is directly affected.  I hope it's true but from here it looks like the Civil Defense system came into play quickly and mobilizing help been relatively quick.  Still the first 24hrs, the most important and the most chaotic.  I just can't imagine that anyone will want to live in CHC after this, but it's not like people can just pack up and move to another city.  One day at a time from here I guess and I'm more than horrified that some people are already taking advantage and running donation scams and or stealing stuff!

Post marathon life

Been a busy week!  My body has recovered remarkably well and by day three I only had some minor twinges.  After NY and flying to Dublin my gimpy ankle blew up like a balloon….lesson learned, this time I wore a pressure bandage flying and Tuesday/Wednesday at work, seems to have worked.  I’ve also now downloaded a full on training program to prepare me for Big Sur in May.  The program should ensure that I am at or close to peak fitness (at least for me) for May 1.  Well that’s contingent on my following the plan of course but I’m not at all keen to re-run the New Orleans experience (that last six miles was tougher than it needed to be).  I took some random shots around New Orlean's, not much as the marathon was a little distracting.  One high point was the D-Day Museum.  This was really excellent I have to say.  And I learnt a couple of new things....the landing boats they used on the beach were originally designed by a NO's boatbuilder - the flat bottom being most suited to the swamps.  Also I learnt about "Rupert" - The Paradummy.  Used during WWII and on D-Day, when the allies "faked" attacking the French coast so they could land at Normandy, 100s of Ruperts were launched out of planes so the Germans would think the allies were attacking.  I'd never even heard of Rupert before, so kind of cool to see him.   

Photo above, on the left is of this amazing brunch I had at a local restaurant I found on Yelp.  It is a lump crab omelet with biscuit (read scone).  Although it looks kind of insipid it was really yum.  On the right a very typical NO's house (well in the slightly wealthier areas).  The marathon took us through quite a lot of these areas so it was lovely to actually see some of the sights along the way.

Getting back to work is full on.  I’ve had to be in the office by 7am a couple of days this last week and not leaving until after 7pm, so the day job goes on.  Presidents day this Monday, public holiday for some but not Accenture…….it seems that companies get to pick and choose which holidays they take.  It is a holiday for NetApp though so while I would like to take PTO I have to much work to do....so working but not able to bill it.....sigh.  Still better than using up my PTO.

Irene's pal Julia is here for the long weekend.  A couple of shots below from our adventures walking Lotte.....who loves to find the largest stick possible and parade around with it.

Totally obvious of course, but weather here is atrocious at the moment....sooooo much rain!

Who Knew?

Apparently a kiw just blitzed the Mardi Gras Half Marathon.......go her.

MSY>DEN>SFO

At the airport again, adventure done. I woke this morning feeling very stiff and a little full of myself (of course). Actually that's not strictly true, I am very happy to have done my second marathon but a little shamed at how poorly I prepared for it. Tough ask of the body so I've recommitted to following a training plan in prep for Big Sur.....which is a very hilly, scenic run (including a legendary 2 mile uphill followed by at least a mile down). Ironically enough most injuries occur on the downhill. It's not known for folk delivering personal bests but I do need to be better prepared, it will be tough on the body and Berlin follows four months later. Berlin is flat but will be cold and back to 40,000+ people, so not to be taken lightly.
Irene and I are going to check out the SF runners club. They do weekend runs of various distances so will be good to be around other runners (this I tell myself as often I am inclined to do it alone).
Back to a big two weeks at work but ignoring that for now!

Marathon done

She was tough going at the end (no good Xmas goes unpunished) but I toughed it out and finished with a sprint (suitably rewarded by crowd cheering....nice). Route was mostly very pretty going through various NO suburbs. Afterwards I got my free lite beer (which they market heavily as only 65 calories) and I sat in the sun listening to the bands and people watching. The morning started cold (3 degrees) but warmed up. Around 16000 ran so not huge. I did think it was going to be bigger but it was nice to have the space and folk were friendly. I am now scouting for some place to eat.....close, lil stiff I gotta say.

Landed

Have arrived in one piece. 2hrs wait time wasn't too bad and I did sleep some on the plane....although slept the entire 2.45hr flight to NO. Met another runner at the airport who is staying at the same hotel so shared a cab and had a nice chat along the way. Staying at the Marriott - quite lovely and right on the edge of the French Quarter and walking distance to the start line. Settled in and headed off to the expo and laughed when I noticed all these folk with badges at a conference housed in a different part of the building the expo was in "American Physical Therapy Association".....ironic.
Expo itself was pretty low key. I did buy a gizmo tho, a Power Balance band. Sounds odd I know but I need all the help I can get! I've also been putting together a little sightseeing schedule. Planning to go see the WWII Museum and the Gothic Cemeteries among them. Along the way a few other scenic sights as well. I need to keep walking low tomorrow and not sure how I will feel Sunday/Monday but the whole point of this is to use running as a tourism opportunity. Also I think I will be running through some of the areas so can take some sights off the list. I did treat myself to gumbo in some random restaurant but have now downloaded Yelp so can search a little more selectively.

Charlotte airport 6am Friday

It's a not so balmy -5 degrees outside and I am sitting in a surprisingly busy airport waiting for my flight to New Orleans. It seems like several flights have landed at once so, having only just woken, I am confronted with hoards of folk all on a bleary eyed mission. I have found a Starbucks having left Peets behind in California. Too early for food I am thinking. Southern accents abound and the politeness of the south is evident. My flight here was full, much to my surprise, Thursday night red eyes to Charlotte are much more popular than I would have thought. Nothing much to do but read the news and play Angry Birds.....

San Francisco > New Orleans.....

I fly out on the redeye at 10:20pm tonight, go via Charlotte so arrive in NO around 10:30am.  Yep, this thing is really happening!  The plan - survive first and foremost, no personal records (well I only have one to beat and that would be NY), slooooooow and steady, no getting caught in the hype.  There, that's it, because I really really don't think I've quite done the miles I should have leading into this thing.  But I made a commitment, know I can run 26.2 miles and, well that's it, it's gotta be done so going to do it.
Work is insanely busy as we are running a whole lot of sessions with teams to validate some of the work we have been doing.  It's intense and focused.  Two days away isn't ideal but then not having a life outside work is even less than ideal.
Most happy this week, my i-phone arrived and she is lovely....all the sweeter for my having waited two years for my provider to be able to run i-phones on their network!
Nothing much else to report.....the marathon seems enough at this point.

Cat Power

This is a little more mellow than a lot of the stuff she played last night (given she has a band behind her at live performances) but you get how her voice is, totally fab to listen too (you might have to click through to YouTube to watch). The concert was in the Fillmore, which is this old historic theater in San Fran, complete with chandeliers. It was standing room only and I've woken this morning feeling like I've smoked a packet of cigarettes (which is remarkable given I don't smoke and never have). While you could buy drinks from the bar it's also

fair to say that there was ALOT of recreational smoking going on! The concert was fun and Irene's friend Connie came along with a friend of hers that lives in Santa Fe, so we had alot of laughs about life in New Mexico and she even knew where Stanley was (near where I stayed on the ranch). She is a film set designer - alot of movies are made in NM because of the tax breaks, I even knew some of the sets she had worked on. Anyway all that aside Cat Power stayed on stage for an incredibly long time so in the end we didn't get home until around 1am (I don't much stay out that late these days).

Nothing much planned this weekend. I am going to have to do some work as I have Friday/Monday off this coming week. While I seem to have taken New Orleans a little too casually I'm also going to hunt down a training program for my next marathon. If I can put in a really solid training regime for Big Sur in May (lots of hills, albeit scenic) I will be well set up to run Berlin in a descent time (although I will be back to upwards of 40,000 runners.....as opposed to Big Sur that is 4,000, not sure how big New Orleans will be, Nashville was 30,000 so I am imagining something like that again).

I kind of wish I hadn't looked....

This is the weather forecast for New Orleans for next weekend.....I run on the Sunday.  So now that I've looked I am not only psyching myself up to tough it out but will most likely be doing it in the rain AND none to warm either!  In the interests of sanity I am focusing on cold beer and gumbo as my reward.

I've been working from home today and just got back from a short run.....hills so will add credits for that.  It was nice to hit the roads but I must have chosen the smelliest route on offer.....bleech.  Although have been hugely rewarded by a very gorgeous sunset!

Ooooh, and high point of the week (so far).....finally my teleco service provider has the i-phone!!!! Yippee, have just ordered it and will have a new toy next week.  

Cat Power to night.....awesome.

Change.....

Don't panic, I'm not making any....well nothing substantive nor worth commenting on here!  I got an email from a friend noting how much my life had changed in the last year (well truth be told over the last four years).  Got me thinking about how change works in my life (and the irony of my being a management consultant who specializes in change management is not at all lost on me).  I seem to have a remarkable ability and drive to change things up....constantly.  I've never really understood those folk who arrive at a place and stay there, for years and years, maybe tweaking a little here and there but essentially their lives fall into a pattern and they pretty much remain in steady state.  Mostly they seem happy with it (although I have met some notable exceptions and candidly some who hang on to a certain misery because it's familiar and offers some warped sense of security - I am entirely confused by those folk).  It doesn't seem to be in my psyche nor emotional make up to simply arrive some place and stop.  And it's not like I haven't made some wrong turns along the way (wrong job, wrong relationship, wrong town).  I used to (as in in my early 30s) worry that I wouldn't live life's adventures, that I'd "miss out".  I worry less about that these days - although never feel complacent about the current privilege I enjoy.  I think I could do better, live a little more on a day to day basis, but I do get caught up on working towards the bigger goals.  I'd also confess that I really do like my job (and loved my last job too).  I get huge satisfaction out of it, and I know not everyone can say that about their day job.  But it does take up energy and time (of course it brings it's rewards so I get to enjoy some luxurious play time).  Anyway, some naval gazing going on - this reflective of the current work status that requires eye bleeding attention to detail , oh and the joy of mini-me  having plenty of time to ponder life's mysteries while listening to two of my fav country music stations (I hear the groans, I am ignoring them, country DJs can be very very funny and there is only so much "news" a girl can take!).

Buzzzy

My life at the moment seems to be being measured in project milestones (coming at me thick and fast) and marathon mania (read, not ready, running anyway).
I am working long days and most likely this weekend so that I can actually have the four days off for New Orleans.  I am really looking forward to visiting, although hope that all the weather drama doesn't screw it up.  On a Thursday redeye so, in theory at least, I have a little bit of space to wiggle with if airports do close.  Once I am there I don't care so much ...... although probably should given I do need to come back for work.
This Friday Irene and I (and "our" hairdresser) are off to see Cat Power again (this time in town).  I suspect the groupies will be even more entertaining this time, given SF is already full of slightly off the wall folk.  Will try and sneak some video!