To reflect on the accomplishments of Steve J, who hammered out mile #500 during a 6.2 mile run in Titan Park yesterday. Wooo Whooo!
Some stats for the first 500 miles of 2007:
Number of countries included in the 500 miles: 3 (Romania, Austria, Belgium)
Number of dog bites: 0 (Thankfully only a few close calls)
Number of pairs of shoes used: 5 (Yes, I am a "shoe junkie" and have promised myself not to buy any more until 3 of those pairs are "retired)
Avg miles per day in 2007: 3.3 (or 23.1 miles per week).
Number of times kissed by the old gypsy lady: 1 (enough said - 1 is plenty)
It was fitting to get mile 500 on my run yesterday. It was one of those days that I just didn't feel like running. I was tired and just a little moody (might have something to do with Dana and Maria heading off to the states tomorrow). Let's face it, I wouldn't be sitting at 500 miles right now if I only ran when I "felt like it". Substitute that 500 miles for one of your goals, and you'll get the little life lesson here. What genius, eh? I should become a "life coach" or something.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
The Contest Episode II - We have a winner!
Well folks, the contest is over already. Seemingly out of nowhere, faithful reader Allison nailed it after Clue #2. She avoided a nearly fatal mistake on Clue #1, when she made a 2nd guess that had the answer. However, thanks to my dwindling pool of readers, it wasn't caught.
So Allison gets to chose from our prize list (1) Budapest mystery prize (2) Romanian Chocolate or (3) red bull.
Allison corrected guessed:
22nd Nike Budapest International Halfmarathon, Sept 2, 2007
This is a huge race that had around 6000 runners last year. Maria and I will run a 5k together on Saturday Sept 1, and Sunday Sept 2 will be the race. I'm expecting to leave Romania in September so this should be my Euro road-race finale. Also, the Bucur family, who joined us in Vienna is expected to make the trip also.
So Allison gets to chose from our prize list (1) Budapest mystery prize (2) Romanian Chocolate or (3) red bull.
Allison corrected guessed:
22nd Nike Budapest International Halfmarathon, Sept 2, 2007
This is a huge race that had around 6000 runners last year. Maria and I will run a 5k together on Saturday Sept 1, and Sunday Sept 2 will be the race. I'm expecting to leave Romania in September so this should be my Euro road-race finale. Also, the Bucur family, who joined us in Vienna is expected to make the trip also.
The Contest, CLUE #2
Guessing on CLUE #1 is now closed, so on with Clue #2
Clue #3 will be out on Thursday.
This one's a little tricky.
This guy was born in Steve J's race city, but spent nearly all his life in the good old USA and became a legend (and arguably the greatest ever) in his profession.
Rule Reminder ----for those (cough...Allison...cough) who need it:
You only get one guess per post and the name of the race must be right.
You only get one guess per post and the name of the race must be right.
Clue #3 will be out on Thursday.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Contest Episode II, Where in the world is....
Steve gonna race next?
Background (This is Clue #1)
Once again, my challenge to you is guess (1) the city I will race in (2) the exact name of the race (It's publicized in English, so this won't be as difficult).
(3) A 12 pack of Red Bull Energy Drink - endorsed by half marathon legend..Steve J. Yes, you can have the same drink that powered Steve J to 566th place in the Vienna Energie Halfbmarathon. This despite missing a flight and completing a 24 hr bus ride (including being slept-on by some Romanian kid) with no sleep right before the race. Steve J asks "Is it in you?"
The Rules
Place your guess by commenting to the blog. Starting today, you get 1 guess per comment. If you are "blogger challenged" and are unable to leave a comment, email your guess to me at sjutton@yahoo.com. Make sure you name is in the comment, especially if you post as "anonymous" on blogger.
Note: You snooze you lose. You can only guess to the current post. You cannot go back and add a guess to an old post.
The first person to correctly guess the city and race wins!
Let the guessing begin!
(Clue #2 will be posted Monday - yes I am dragging this out).
Background (This is Clue #1)
Time to see who is still reading my blog! Although this blog is not dead yet, then end is near with my return to the USA looming in early fall. However, there is still time to squeeze in a cool late summer Euro race (and the trip that goes with it). Needless to say, this cool race (and race city) meets all the requirements of last Spring's Vienna race. The requirements: We have not yet been to this city, the airfare was cheap and the August-Sept time frame is perfect for our last weekend get-away before heading back across the pond for good.
How to win
How to win
Once again, my challenge to you is guess (1) the city I will race in (2) the exact name of the race (It's publicized in English, so this won't be as difficult).
The first one to post a comment with the answer will win...(drum roll)
The Prize
Take your pick of (1) or (2) or (3).
(1) A mystery prize from the race city (even I don't know what it's going to be)
(2) A collection of good chocolate from here in Romania. (Ask Ashley if it's worth it)
The Prize
Take your pick of (1) or (2) or (3).
(1) A mystery prize from the race city (even I don't know what it's going to be)
(2) A collection of good chocolate from here in Romania. (Ask Ashley if it's worth it)
(3) A 12 pack of Red Bull Energy Drink - endorsed by half marathon legend..Steve J. Yes, you can have the same drink that powered Steve J to 566th place in the Vienna Energie Halfbmarathon. This despite missing a flight and completing a 24 hr bus ride (including being slept-on by some Romanian kid) with no sleep right before the race. Steve J asks "Is it in you?"The Rules
Place your guess by commenting to the blog. Starting today, you get 1 guess per comment. If you are "blogger challenged" and are unable to leave a comment, email your guess to me at sjutton@yahoo.com. Make sure you name is in the comment, especially if you post as "anonymous" on blogger.
Note: You snooze you lose. You can only guess to the current post. You cannot go back and add a guess to an old post.
The first person to correctly guess the city and race wins!
Let the guessing begin!
(Clue #2 will be posted Monday - yes I am dragging this out).
Sunday, May 20, 2007
No Surprise here!
I had my long run Saturday and had to detour around the Formula 3 race that was going on. While I was running, I missed a great show put on by a stray dog that nearly disrupted the race.
He definitely disrupted the commentator as you can see and hear if you have the ability to play video. What is shocking is that he actually says "This is not normal for Bucharest" (YEAH RIGHT!). I'll try to check my translation at work tomorrow to be sure. He also says later "This is not OK" in Romanian.
If you don't have video, I snapped a pic from the video on the left that is priceless. As you can see, the pooch had a good lead on the yellow car before the caution flag came out...too bad.
If this picture doesn't sum up what it's like to live and run in Bucharest, then I don't know what does. Of course, I have some competition for the best Bucharest photo - just check the family blog's post for Sunday.
He definitely disrupted the commentator as you can see and hear if you have the ability to play video. What is shocking is that he actually says "This is not normal for Bucharest" (YEAH RIGHT!). I'll try to check my translation at work tomorrow to be sure. He also says later "This is not OK" in Romanian.
If you don't have video, I snapped a pic from the video on the left that is priceless. As you can see, the pooch had a good lead on the yellow car before the caution flag came out...too bad.If this picture doesn't sum up what it's like to live and run in Bucharest, then I don't know what does. Of course, I have some competition for the best Bucharest photo - just check the family blog's post for Sunday.
Monday, May 14, 2007
This girl's got "ups"!
Cool photo of year. Check out my daughter going airborne while practicing her floor exercise for Romanian Nationals:
Good jumping ability runs in the family as both myself (back in the day) and especially my not-so-little brother Dan can grab the rim on standard basketball goal. Height, however, does not - (thanks ma) so we won't switch Maria to B-ball anytime soon.
Good jumping ability runs in the family as both myself (back in the day) and especially my not-so-little brother Dan can grab the rim on standard basketball goal. Height, however, does not - (thanks ma) so we won't switch Maria to B-ball anytime soon.Friday, May 11, 2007
Environmental NON-stewardship in Bucharest
Remember my recent post about all the tree-planting at Titan Park? Well, some areas of Bucharest are going in the opposite direction. For my last two long runs (today and last Saturday), I've ran to the huge Parliament Building which we talked about in earlier posts on my blog and the family blog last year.
These past two weeks however, the scenery at the Parliament building has taken a turn for the worse due to a Formula 3 car race that is to be held on May 18-20. Right now, they are building this huge (and I really mean huge, no pictures will do it justice) conglomeration of temporary bleachers all around the building. It's basically a temporary NASCAR track that is completely built over the course of several weeks (for a 3 day event) and taken down over the course of several weeks every year. Of course this completely shuts off several major streets for traffic making the normal nightmare-ish commute even worse for a large section of the city. Ah yes, sounds efficient doesn't it? Unfortunately it gets worse.
The bleachers are only temporary and will be gone in June - so that's tolerable I suppose. However, according to news reports, the mayor of Bucharest Sector 4 (Vanghelie) came up with a stroke of genius to improve the view of once-per-year race spectators. (FYI, the city of Bucharest is divided into 6 sectors that look like pie pieces and has no less than 6 different mayors - the efficiency of big government never ceases to amaze me).
Anti-Arbor day in Sector 4
So what was Vanghelie's great idea to improve the view of these spectators for 3 day once-per-year event? Yep, you guessed it...Let's just cut down all the 20-30+ year old trees which grow along the sidewalks around the race route!
From HotNews.ro: "The Cultura magazine claims Bucharest District 4 mayor Vanghelie is the one to have ordered all trees along the racing route cut down in order to improve the view of the spectators. He allegedly promised to replace them as soon as possible, but that is unlikely as such events will start all over again next year."
Fantastic! Forget about the 3 million other people who live in Bucharest for the other 362 days of the year. You know, the ones that actually inhabit the dustiest capital city in Europe and one with some of the smallest amounts of green space - we have a car race to put on and 40-800 Euro seats to sell!
"The amount of dust in Bucharest is over ten times larger than in other European capital cities, one of the reasons being the disappearance of around 60 per cent of the green spaces over the past 16 years, ....‘The quantity of dust in Bucharest is 260-280 tons per square kilometre. No such situation can be found in any other capital in Europe where there is under 20 tons per square kilometre’....The representative of the Association of Environmental Experts mentioned that the life expectancy in Romania is among the shortest in Europe, pollution being one of the factors influencing that" (Source article)
Yes, I know I'm on the "soapbox" and you guys really want another race-guessing contest. All I can say is "soon".
End of rant - back to running
Running has been great. I had two good Saturday AM long runs in row of 9.5 and 11 miles and I'm getting my shorter weekday runs done too and the crazy gypsy lady who lives under our building has been cheering me on (she calls me something in Romanian that I think means "sporty guy"). In additon, the weather has been nearly perfect for running as much of Europe is facing drought conditions this Spring.
Last Saturday's long run was memorable for the lack of stray dog activity, but today's run made up for it. This morning I saw literally dozens of strays and had to stop and face-down a particularly nasty one near Parcul National. The face-down strategy is working well. Even when they are showing the teeth, these dogs are actually really scared. They are mainly looking to attack you from behind and I haven't let them do that. Besides, I'm not afraid - I'm still rabies proof from December.
These past two weeks however, the scenery at the Parliament building has taken a turn for the worse due to a Formula 3 car race that is to be held on May 18-20. Right now, they are building this huge (and I really mean huge, no pictures will do it justice) conglomeration of temporary bleachers all around the building. It's basically a temporary NASCAR track that is completely built over the course of several weeks (for a 3 day event) and taken down over the course of several weeks every year. Of course this completely shuts off several major streets for traffic making the normal nightmare-ish commute even worse for a large section of the city. Ah yes, sounds efficient doesn't it? Unfortunately it gets worse.The bleachers are only temporary and will be gone in June - so that's tolerable I suppose. However, according to news reports, the mayor of Bucharest Sector 4 (Vanghelie) came up with a stroke of genius to improve the view of once-per-year race spectators. (FYI, the city of Bucharest is divided into 6 sectors that look like pie pieces and has no less than 6 different mayors - the efficiency of big government never ceases to amaze me).
Anti-Arbor day in Sector 4
So what was Vanghelie's great idea to improve the view of these spectators for 3 day once-per-year event? Yep, you guessed it...Let's just cut down all the 20-30+ year old trees which grow along the sidewalks around the race route!From HotNews.ro: "The Cultura magazine claims Bucharest District 4 mayor Vanghelie is the one to have ordered all trees along the racing route cut down in order to improve the view of the spectators. He allegedly promised to replace them as soon as possible, but that is unlikely as such events will start all over again next year."
Fantastic! Forget about the 3 million other people who live in Bucharest for the other 362 days of the year. You know, the ones that actually inhabit the dustiest capital city in Europe and one with some of the smallest amounts of green space - we have a car race to put on and 40-800 Euro seats to sell!
"The amount of dust in Bucharest is over ten times larger than in other European capital cities, one of the reasons being the disappearance of around 60 per cent of the green spaces over the past 16 years, ....‘The quantity of dust in Bucharest is 260-280 tons per square kilometre. No such situation can be found in any other capital in Europe where there is under 20 tons per square kilometre’....The representative of the Association of Environmental Experts mentioned that the life expectancy in Romania is among the shortest in Europe, pollution being one of the factors influencing that" (Source article)
Yes, I know I'm on the "soapbox" and you guys really want another race-guessing contest. All I can say is "soon".
End of rant - back to running
Running has been great. I had two good Saturday AM long runs in row of 9.5 and 11 miles and I'm getting my shorter weekday runs done too and the crazy gypsy lady who lives under our building has been cheering me on (she calls me something in Romanian that I think means "sporty guy"). In additon, the weather has been nearly perfect for running as much of Europe is facing drought conditions this Spring.
Last Saturday's long run was memorable for the lack of stray dog activity, but today's run made up for it. This morning I saw literally dozens of strays and had to stop and face-down a particularly nasty one near Parcul National. The face-down strategy is working well. Even when they are showing the teeth, these dogs are actually really scared. They are mainly looking to attack you from behind and I haven't let them do that. Besides, I'm not afraid - I'm still rabies proof from December.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Perspective
On the final mile of this morning's run, I went by a blind man trying to make his way on the sidewalk that runs along the sides of Titan Park. I just shook my head as he poked around with his stick, trying to negotiate the poor quality Romanian sidewalk. Knowing the tendency of cars to actually use the sidewalks as a parking lot (or sometimes a passing lane!), it is a miracle that he even stays alive in this city. In a place with such ridiculous amounts of government regulation (it practically takes an act of congress to get a drivers license, get a visa, or sell a car here), it's absolutely criminal that more facilities aren't provided for the disabled. With my departure from Bucharest looming this fall, I seem to be more frustrated than normal at certain aspects of life here. The important thing though is not to waste time complaining about the failings of Bucharest, but to take stock and be thankful for the many, many blessings I've been given. In about 6 months, I will likely be back running in the greatest country in the world while that same blind guy will still be trying to negotiate the bumpy sidewalks of Bucharest. A little perspective can be pretty useful, eh?
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