Most halloween stuff

Night of Halloween Sharene and I went out for the most amazon dinner at The Sea by Alexander's Steak House www.theseausa.com.
After oysters and tuna tartare:



Share had the yummiest Wagyu steak - OMG ....


I had Wolf Bass


This is banana bread dessert. The orange drops pop in your mouth. They also give you candy floss with brittle! Along the way we were comped yummy glasses of sparking Rose.


We went to a Halloween party and made this; spooky cheese dip!


The house for the party was all smoky and decorated.



Outside too.


Sharene was a leopard and I was a ring master!

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More Halloween cleverness

Did a double take on this one!



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Halloween gone too far?

Made me chuckle.



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Done

Up at 415am Sharene drove me to the start line.


Quite a crowd (photos courtesy of Nike's FB page!





Sad for those visiting though, the mist never lifted.





I got it done, more Marathon strong aka stubborn than marathon fit!
Sharene met me at the end to give me chocolate milk, warm clothes and drive me home!


And of course below is the "medal" that drives so many to run. Tiffany designs new one each year and this year happens to be the 10th anniversary.


Now to focus on actually being fit enough to run the next one.

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Marathon day

Tomorrow I am doing this:



I am not really marathon fit...so I am just going to plod it out; got 6hrs and 30mins to get it done. I am hoping it doesn't take that long.


I did buy some cool Nike limited edition shoes. This is also the race where the medal is a Tiffany necklace....


Expo was mega crowded.


Had some fab displays.


All hosted out of a big tent in Union Square.



At least the route is familiar to me, I know exactly how much pain to expect and when.....good times!

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Long time no post

Bunch of stuff. Work busy and I have new responsibilities which are taking me variously in and out of my comfort zone. Surprised to realize that I have been at ACN for over three years.
A few weekends back Sharene and I went to Roseville to see her dad, who isn't very well. We stayed over and spent time with her dad. Coming back we stopped on Treasure Island and saw some cool things.




Treasure Island is an old Navy base and, oddly enough there are a bunch of vintners there.




This guy makes sulphate free wine and is a riot. Has about 30 different wines and offers free wine tasting. He's also pretty free with his pours. His tasting room looks like a repurposed utility room but it was all riotously fun.




We crossed the new part of the Bay Bridge, very impressive.




Sharene took arty shots along the way.



Not so arty but enjoying yummy fresh oysters.
A few weekends back we went to Big Sur and ran a 5 miler. It was amazingly hot and all uphill. So really we did a walk run. We stayed in some sweet little B&B we found in Carmel and enjoyed the end if the summer at the beach.











Found a cool little wine bar and enjoyed a wine tasting flight.




House is painted! Irene and I very happy. Stairs are also painted now but gives you a sense of it; I'll post before and after next time.




Nike Women's Marathon next weekend and I am not marathon fit so will be having a very slow marathon. Employing every trick I know to get me through!!! This is a tough marathon because it is hilly - I guess we'll see how it goes on the day (she says bravely).
Added a pic of Brax and his art!








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Doing time

Running time that is! Ran to Sausalito, 15m/25k. It's a tough road back but I did it, albeit slower than I did this time last year. Saw some sights:



Midway on the Golden Gate Bridge, Team NZ getting ready for Race 9. Catching the ferry back from Sausalito I saw both boats up close rounding the bouys....very impressive.


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JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge

I joined the Accenture team for this. 11000 runners with approx 100 from ACN, not all pictured. At 3.5m/5.6km this is a very peppy fast run for me. It really was fun tho and nice to be able to identify the other ACN runners. Afterwards we went and had tacos and beer at a bar where a few other ACN folk who hadn't run joined us.



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Seven years- it's your lucky lucky day

Here we are again....anniversary time.  Every year on the day I arrived in the US I try to take time to reflect on where I am and where I have been. Well I am actually a day late, I arrived on Sept 7, 2006.
The last few years seem to have moved me in leaps and bounds.  I've been two years in my house; startled to think that I can actually own a house in San Francisco!
My job has taken me so far professionally I am equally startled to think I have it and I am rapidly heading into having this be the longest time I've spent working anywhere.  All going well I don't see anything changing so I might be celebrating another record.
Running.....it's not like I had never done this but never thought I would be a marathoner, let alone an ultra marathoner.  Today it's a journey back from the op and putting my back out but I am back on a training plan and working my way to the Nike Women's Marathon.  Iconic in San Francisco and fortunate to get in as it is a lottery, complete with Tiffany's necklace at the end (needless to say already claimed by someone).
Then the best, most surprising and delightfully happy making thing....Sharene and the kids.  Sharene because she is so kind, sweet, creative, smart and funny.  The kids, because they are equally smart, funny, creative and engaging.  I can't say I predicted this one.
I am happy in my world!

Nike Women's Marathon

As you can see, I have my next marathon on the calendar.....and Big Sur locked in as well (that one sold out in 59 minutes!).
The Nike Women's Marathon is a lottery and I got in via a team entry i.e. when you enter the lottery if you are attached to a "team" you enter a team number.  You then have two chances to get in, one as an individual and two, if anyone in your team gets in you all get in.  Of course I don't actually know anyone in the team but the team organizers, she was working for me on a project and invited me to join.  You don't run together or anything, it's just a way to have two chances to get in.
Given the op and my back troubles I am behind in my training.  It's a slow crawl back up the hills of San Fran for me but I am back on the training regime.  Usually at this point in the plan my long run would be 18 miles, as of today my longest is 9 miles (three days ago).  If I can get to a long run of 18 in the next 6 weeks before the marathon I'll tough out the rest (normally your longest is 22 as part of training).  I have to balance getting the miles with not getting injured.  I'm a little bit scared about the whole thing but it's the 10th anniversary of the run so I really really want to do it.  I've run various parts of the course before so I know the ups and downs really well. I'm just going to stay positive and get the job done.
Labour weekend here.  Low key getting lots of chores done and spending time with Sharene and the kids.  Also we gave away our koi a few weeks back ..... made me sad but the maintenance didn't fit with Irene and my schedule and they've gone to a really good home with a guy who loves them and has an awesome pool.  While we figure out the backyard I am making the tank into a plant pond....work in progress!  I will send pics when done.  Also we are getting the house painted so will send pics of that too!

Hot tubs

Sharene and I have been taking some nice time out to visit this place http://watercourseway.com/tub-rooms/. Watercourse Way is this very cool spa place in palo alto. It has several really cool spa rooms you can book for an hour at a time.



Each has a different theme and has a steam room or sauna included. It's easy relaxing and we are working our way through the rooms, the pic above is Six Dragon Flies.



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Pandering

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Stuff

Last week we had a change team event and went to the ball game.


We were high up but good views; mostly I people watched.
I left earlyish because the next day I had to drive to Roseville for work. It's about 2hrs from San Fran. My HP counterpart was giving a half hour presentation then in the evening I went to dinner with a bunch of HP folk before driving home. Needless to say I was tired.
I am very happily back into running after putting my back out three weeks ago. OMG quite possibly the most painful thing ever.
Rose and Jo came and stayed for a week as well.



As a yummy treat Rose and Jo took us to the NZ pop-up restaurant in the America's cup village. In that typical NZ way Jo knew the guy who set it up and he was the first person we met!









Work is changing and I am taking on new responsibilities. My first year as a senior manager is over and I am now getting more insights and opportunities to do other things. I get the sense the opportunity to keep moving up the chain is there; at a minimum it's a four year journey to partner. I am not sure this is what I aspire to as it is heavily weighted towards sales and I like my delivery role. But I am keeping an open mind as I am now three years at ACN and the time has flown by. I've learnt a lot and done some unexpected things. It has been a very good move for me. It is also intense, demanding and no time to sit back and be complacent. As always, we shall see!

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Ranch update

Sharene the kids and I went to New Mexico to visit Karen and Brice on the ranch. It was amazing to be back. None of the old ranch staff are there now but I did feel a little like I was coming home.



Karen and Brice in great form and the kids say on a baby bill.



We went into Santa Fe and checked out the shops, toured the ranch, watched movies on the big screen, swum in the pool and ate great food!

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Location:Hanover St,Palo Alto,United States

Arty stuff

Went to this awesome outdoor art tour today....in the Santa Cruz hills; private artists colony retreat. Booked months ago and went on the Directors tour....4 miles up and down the hills...very cool.

































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