berlin: day two

after all the activity of the first day here, i looked forward to a more relaxed pace on my second day. i had a late breakfast w/marc and peter, then set off on the m45 bus to spandau where i was met by my very old friend, phil. i spent the afternoon w/him and his family (his lovely wife, maria, and daughter, frances).

back in the summer of 1984 i spent just over a week w/phil in berlin. those were some good times. when he took me to the reichstag, it was on the opposite side of the wall from the brandenberg gate (which i gazed at from an observation platform at the time). so it was with a mild sense of awe that i walk from one to the to the other the day before i visited with him.

maria made a great dinner for us and, aferwards, phil drove me back to my hotel. i got in my first run - albeit in the hotel gym - of 10k later that night. hopefully, my next run will be outside, at the teirgarten...

death of a friend and colleague :(

for a trust and estates lawyer (and erstwhile professor) who deals with death and dying on a regular basis, it got very up close and personal yesterday when i learned that my good friend and colleague died early that morning. i had gone to visit him at the hospice last week and, despite the grim prognosis, he was in good spirits. the brain cancer was terminal, but i had no idea it would take him this quickly.

in fact, it all happened too quickly - from the diagnosis on st. patricks day to the tragic conclusion yesterday. he was only 55 years old. we met on opposite sides of a real estate transaction in the late 1990's and in the years that followed, became good friends. we shared mutual clients and interests. it's hard to believe he's no longer a phone call away to help with a real estate issue - or that i won't get a call from him with a probate question.

he had many interests outside his legal practice - and blogging was one of them. he not only had a successful blog, but he also lectured and consulted on blogging and internet connected media. beyond cyberspace, he was also into crafting (and sold his stuff at shows), gardening (especially landscaping), poetry (not many people i know can successful talk about ovid and dante during a closing), and he was especially keen on digging up bushels of clams during the summer.

we're really going to miss you :(

catching up with david at wo hop

this afternoon i walked over to chinatown and met up with my old friend david at wo hop. lunch there was a trip down memory lane - put in motion a few weeks ago when the ny times had a brief write up of wo hop! i emailed the story to david with a "remember this place" tag line. in the late 1970's we'd drive into the city late at night to eat there! not only did he "remember" it, but david had actually gone there two weeks earlier!

it's been almost 30 years since i ate at wo hop (either upstairs or down) - going back to my college days! in high school we always ate at the downstairs locale (but later it didn't really matter which one it was). as if to reprise old habits, david kicked off with a bowl of roast pork congee (something i've never seen listed, much less eaten, at any other chinese restaurant i've ever been at).

the place hasn't changed a bit - even down to the jockeying to secure a table. some of the staff looked as if they'd been waiting tables there since the 70's. as we headed out, the line stretched up the stairs and spilled onto the street. not sure if that's because of the food (good, but not spectacular) or the ambiance ;p

unexpected travel day

this morning i kicked off the day with a trip on the staten island ferry! at the ferry terminal i met up with my friend john and we drove to washington crossing, pa, to visit our friend joe. the trip had a business element since i had a last will and testament in my briefcase for joe to sign. aside from that little detail, we socialized for a while and then drove back to the city (this time via the holland tunnel).

while i had rescheduled a lunch meeting with my old friend dave, i still had class to teach at 6 - and that typically runs until 9. after class, and now at home, i have no energy or desire to log a few running miles - so it's an unscheduled rest day. in light of all the travel miles, it seems like a mandatory rest day :D

catching up with jose at rattle 'n' hum

this afternoon i left work early and met my friend jose at rattle 'n' hum for a couple of beers. he was in town, just back from a trip to china, japan, and korea, on his way home to puerto rico. it's been almost a year since he was last in new york - last summer, in fact. that time around we headed over to puffy's tavern with our friend danny for catching up.

a southern tier brewery event was scheduled for that night, but we were too early for the special selections. but i kicked off with southern tier "hop sun" which was already on tap. it was an excellent summer selection. then, for something completely different i opted for some sour beer, a van honsebrouck "bacchus." while i had a nice tart kick, it was too thin for my taste.

ducking into a craft beer bar for a couple in the middle of a hot summer afternoon beats sitting in the office any day :D

puffy's tavern and sushi at zutto: a few pictures

last night i spent a few hours with a couple of my oldest friends, danny and jose, at a puffy's tavern in tribeca. i couldn't possible overstate the number of hours we spent hanging out in that bar during the early 80s!

afterwards, we didn't have far to walk (next door, literally) for dinner at zuttos. given the stark change in venue, we traded in our beers and bourbon for sake :D

here are some pictures (mainly taken by jose, and his high powered camera):

arthur manor association independence day parade celebration!

katie, first in 100 yard dash!
_____________________________________

i rushed home from the putnam county classic so i wouldn't miss the parent-child relay at davis park. i did miss the parade, and watching katie win the 100 yard dash, but we did run the relay together. plus i did get to see her do the 3-legged race and the egg toss!


katie and fellow girl scouts volunteering at the bake sale


katie running the parent-child relay


despite the horrible form, i never felt happier :D


annalise and katie line up for 3-legged race


one tough event!


getting unhitched!


start of the egg toss


first round was pretty tame


expanding the distance


expanding it further!


close call! but they're still in it!


the final volley!


the girls at the end of the morning!

welcome ultrabrit to the blogosphere!

the last time i cued up the lead in to "sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band," was to introduce to you ctmarathoner and her, then, brand new blog!

now there is an actual british connection, as we welcome our good friend ultrabrit to the blogoshere!!

so please take a minute and visit her blog!

friday the 13th: a birthday!

thank goodness "paraskevidekatriaphobia," a ridiculously unpronounceable word supposedly meaning fear of friday the 13th doesn't apply to emmy!

but, to be on the safe side, knock on wood, i'll pass over the black cats in favor of a more friendly-looking pair to wish her a happy birthday!

not only is it emmy's birthday today - but it's a birthday which moves her into a new age group!
WOO HOO!

so i hope everyone who follows this blog will join me in wishing her HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

heartland brewery south street seaport

last night i went to heartland brewery at the south street seaport with my good friend, jose. i thought it might turn into a long day and, with little desire to get in mileage when i got home, took the unusual step (for me) of getting in a 6 mile run before heading into the office.

heartland brewery has a number of locations scattered across new york city. this location was a 5 minute walk from by office. i planned to try their beer sampler, a 5 oz. glass of each of the six regular beers they offer. but, to my very pleasant surprise - one of the two seasonal offering happened to be "grateful red lager!"

with something as colorful as this - what's any right thinking deadhead to do??

the easy answer is to skip the samples and order a pint of grateful red! one good pint deserved another, so after the grateful red, i opted to try the other seasonal offering, heartland empire state premium.

an interesting thing about this brewery is that its beer, formerly brewed on premises, has been outsourced to the greenpoint beer works/ kelso of BROOKLYN (bold was my idea). how cool is that??

photos from captain lawrence brewery tour and tasting

me, anthony and emmy


me and the beer poster gallery


scott, gary and emmy


scott, gary and me

captain lawrence brewery visit and tour

this afternoon, anthony, emmy and i took a drive to pleasantville and visited the captain lawrence brewery for some exceptional beer tasting and socializing. this is the description of the event we attended:
_________________________________________________

Slow Food Westchester Beer, Cheese and Sausage Pairing:

Belly up to the bar at Westchester's own award-winning Captain Lawrence Brewery in Pleasantville. On Sunday, April 13 from 2-5 p.m., Brewmaster Scott Vaccaro will host Slow Westchester with a brewery tour and a tasting of his wonderful, “region-specific flavor, locally produced” ales... The brews will be accompanied by local bread and cheese pairings and local cured sausages.

_________________________________________________

i had no idea what "slow food" was - i still don't, actually. but the three word definition we got when asked about it - "the opposite of fast-food" - had to suffice. besides, anthony and i were more interested in tasting the beer.

here are the 5 beers that were tasted,this afternoon; in the order which we tasted them:

sun-block wheat
liquid gold
brown bird ale
pale ale,
and pleasantville smoked porter

in addition to the beer tasting in the main room, the food was set out on two tables in the brewery. it was a very atmospheric set-up. midway thru the afternoon, scott vaccaro, the owner/brewer gave a tour of the facilities which included an informative discussion on the actual brewing process employed on-site to produce the beer. to answer the question on a lot of minds, scott said that "captain lawrence" was the name of the street he grew up on.

after the tour, emmy spoke to gary - a fellow taconic road runner and the individual kind enough to pour samples at the st. patrick's day races last month. it may come to pass that captain lawrence samples may be available for post-race tasting at the putnam county classic this 4th of july in mahopac! we each then purchased a bottle of the just released "smoked from the oak, wine barrel aged" beer (aged in merlot wine barrels), took a few pictures, and headed home.

what a great time we had there. on the ride home we were already planning a return visit!

here are some photos from our visit.

check out this prior post on captain lawrence.

one month later...

rundangerously, the blog, one month later...

my blog is one month old! it's hard to believe that on march 1, after a brief introduction, this blog got underway. i'm not sure what's more amazing to me, that i wrote on a daily basis, or i had enough to say to write on a daily basis ;) while i envisioned it mainly as a vehicle to post training related data and race reports, it's become much more.

training-wise, march was a major recovery from the low mileage of february. i averaged 69.18 miles a week in march, up from 42.10 miles a week in february, and just below the 70.13 miles a week that i averaged in january.

my six march races were a big rebound from the one race in february. the month began with the caumsett park 50k on long island, and ended with the queens 60k. in between those two, i ran the colon cancer 15k in central park, the wurtsboro mountain 30k in sullivan county, the st. patrick's day 10k at fdr park, and the bunny boogie 3 miler in darien, connecticut.

each of those events was fun because i got to see old friends before and after the race. also, i got to meet and become friends with some runners from the runners world and kickrunners forums - finally getting to put faces to the screen names. the bunny boogie was especially enjoyable because i got to spend that time with my daughter!

aside from races and training, a couple of non-running events managed to slip in. i finally went to see the jack kerouac exhibit at the new york public library. it was something i had wanted to do for months. and, in somewhat of a lark, i went to see a british romantic comedy, "run fatboy run," that featured, what else, running.

but the biggest surprise of this medium has been finding other blogs, learning things from other bloggers, and interacting with those bloggers via comments and emails. so, as month two gets underway - i can only hope it'll be as much fun as the first one was!

welcome ctmarathoner to the blogosphere!!

okay, cue up the lead in to "sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band," ----

so may i introduce to you, the runner you've know all these years... and her brand new blog!

running around ct

it's in it's infancy, but check it out. a work in progess to enjoy!