I have to use the ! when writing about this place. There’s a reason it’s become the place to be. Here are annotated photos from my first full day in Auckland and running on Waiheke Island. 😭😭😭Her visa application was rejected. So, my beautiful girlfriend is in the Philippines right now. 我是一个人。 This tree is…
Category: Run
Shanghai Marathon
Sometimes it’s nice to be on the other side: handing tomatoes and cucumber pieces to marathoners, cheering countless 加油’s (“jia you!”), and supporting our friends and teammates. 加油！
Lessons Learned: Yokohama Marathon, November 10, 2019
Here’s the story, in short (in no particular order)… 1. Japanese volunteers, race officials and spectators are more vocal on the whole than perhaps any spectators I’ve encountered this side of Boston. 2. Japanese spectators outstretch their hands more for high-fives than anywhere else I’ve seen. 3. At 28k, there are gorgeous Carnivalesque dancers clad…
China: Marathon Training Weekend
Friday, October 25th: 10 x 1 mile “Square” relay around Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai. Our InterSport team up against 106 other corporate teams from around Shanghai. Leigh & I rushed in from work, way from the other side of the city. Very little time to warm up–enough stretching time but only about 3/4 mile…
This is the Chinese Dream
I’m living it… Saturday, October 19th on the East Bund Cruising, relaxed, from Rob’s Tower to within .8km of the East Bund’s terminal northern point. My longest training run in China. It’s one of the world’s nicest urban waterfronts. On Sunday, nothing like a trip to Disneyland with my wonderful girlfriend:
Philippines Adventure
Can’t forget that ladder is behind me, dark open water below. Bamboo scaffolding on each side of this boat, speeding out to Osbol. We’re searching for dolphins, will later swim with sea turtles…and, before that, the almighty whale shark. Guilin and I arrived in the Philippines five days ago. It’s been a grand adventure ever…
A Year in China, III
9/15: That was eerily rational. Chinese folks, at least 4 at once, stood fast as several of us exited the train at South Shaanxi. Wow. 9/16: Tired but less humidity, breezy, good air. I’m heading to InterSport. 4 classes today but felt like 2. 3 were 80 minute periods. But these sixth graders are great….
A Year In China, Dammit!
9/10: Well, thought computer saved my last week’s worth of entries. Maybe not. No time to check now. If not, I’ll have to recap later. “You’re face looks weird,” sixth grade Brian just told me bluntly. I think he meant well, maybe. I think he meant younger now than I shaved (??). Middle schoolers. Tonight’s…
A Year in China–Part I
8/18: LA to Shanghai. Am I the only one who enjoys 12-14 hour flights? Watched “blackish,” “Pet Sematary.” Read LA Times, New York Times. Studied Chinese. Did sets of squats. Looking forward somewhat to Shanghai but anxious about training being interrupted by bad air quality. I should be positive. In typical Chinese fashion, Guilin pops…
What if I Fall?
I could fall straight down Through to oblivion Crumpled, broken at the bottom Fuck that! I’m moving up! This thing is bigger than each of us Trashed, abandoned, hopeless (?) Never Catch yourself Allow yourself to be caught Never lose sight of the One… There is a passage ahead Get back into it Hold each…
I’ve (almost) Made It
XXXXVII days in the gym post-injury, pre-run. That first run did not go quite as I’d hoped. Naively, perhaps, I believed with all my might that I’d fly directly from air cast into running. “I’ll average about 5 miles a day by the time I come back into new year,” I told several folks. Hahahaha…
Healed, but…
Left—October 29th, nearly 4 days after fracturing left foot, fifth metatarsal: Right—December 11th, 6 weeks 5 days post-injury. New, thicker bone filling in the fracture line. I AM HEALED! Shouting from the rooftops!!!!! Alas, keeping boot on till next Thursday to help new bone transition through infancy. Then… Christmas run forthcoming!! My new life will…
Don't Let My Parents Read This 