an early arctic blast arrives just in time for the weekend

i just can't believe each day this week was colder than the previous one! on the bright side, even though i broke out the running tights monday, last year i wore them by thanksgiving. that was a very early start to a long, cold winter last year. despite the arctic conditions that seem to have settled in this week - january weather in december - the brutal cold will be temporary. in fact, i don't mind the cold - but the wind makes for nasty running conditions.

after work today, i bundled up and went out for an easy 4 miler. the congestion from my head cold is gone, thankfully. the plan is to head up to roxbury tomorrow morning for the marathon. there is a half marathon option, so if i'm not up to the mental challenge of a 4 hour battle with more arctic conditions, i may just drop down to the half marathon distance. will make that decision on the drive up there.

other news: today is katie's first track meet! it's across the bridge, in rockland county. she's running 55 and 300 meters (and probably a team relay as well). i can't wait to hear how it went!

cold or no cold, got in an easy 6 mile run today

after two days of inactivity (albeit i normally take tuesdays off because running when i get home from my night class can be a drag), i headed out for an easy 6 miles when i got home from the office today. while it was touch and go for the first couple of miles, i managed to shake off the feeling of dread that accompanied me. i was worried that i hadn't given my body enough time to recover from the congestion doldrums that haunted me for most of the week.

the 46:47, 7:47 pace, was okay under the circumstance. i started off with an 8:25 first mile, managed a pair of 7:22's and was pretty much content to listen to tom petty's "live anthology" for the duration of the run. for those interested, here are the splits:

8:25
7:54 16;20
7:22 23:42
7:22 31:04
8:03 39:08
7:39 46:47

7:47 pace

my other motive for getting out and logging a few miles today was to re-engage my running mindset. last week i barely logged 40 miles. even with today's 6 miler, just eeked above 10 miles for the 4 days. on saturday, common sense aside, i plan to run the roxbury marathon. the last thing i want is to show up in a stale and rusty state (physically and mentally)!

stay tuned...

an inconvenient cold :(

well it's probably some sort of cosmic scale balancing karma thing. spent last week in the sun, return home to a 50 degree drop in temperature - and snow on the ground! then i catch a nasty cold within 48 hours - argh!

it came on strong yesterday morning - but i had to be at the office and then teach my last class before the final exam next week. when got home last night, i went straight to bed - and woke up this morning totally congested for a straight second day. i didn't even consider going to the office (and the nasty rainstorm outside made that decision even easier).

not sure if a day's rest has cured me - it definitely has me on the verge of going stir crazy! i do feel a lot better - more so than i have at any point over the previous two day! back to work, back to the daily grind, tomorrow...

jimmy buffett "buffet hotel" review

shades of the doors and "morrison hotel" with jimmy buffett's new album, "buffet hotel" - a self titled hotel inspired album :D the spelling of the east african hotel (bamaki, mali) is short one letter - but it's close enough. the "buffet hotel de la gare" (its full name) was the site of some late into the night jams that buffett played during his trip to the "festival in the desert" in timbuktu during 2007. while the hotel may have been in africa, and inspired the title, the music is all margaritaville.

in fact, "surfing in a hurricane," set in alabama of all places, is buffett's first surfer song - complete with the dick dale rifts - and serves to revs up the album's 12 cuts. then there's the uptempo rift on "summerzcool" and the chatty "a lot to drink about," in line with traditional buffett numbers. and "big top" is all parrotheads and the circus-like concert experience. but buffet adds slide guitar and third world tones to the title cut, "hotel buffet" - and it works. there's a lot of sound and ambiance on that 6 minute train station tune!

i must say, the new album release was perfectly timed for me. i picked it up less than 2 days back from cancun - and 10 days removed from having finished his old chestnut "tales from margaritaville." not only was i in a perfect jimmy buffet state of mind, but holiday-wise, the dylan cover of "christmas island" off his newest album (seriously) had been rattling around my head for weeks. now if the warm weather would oblige and stick around...

aside from the good music, the release includes a 24 page booklet with song by song commentaries from buffett. that's a startling contrast to the non-existent liner notes tom petty's 4 cd "live anthology" (petty included extensive material in the box set version). the booklet is a great perk for fans. i find it interesting to read the back stories to the creative process. just the genesis of the title cut adds a new dimension to the album! it's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since buffett's last studio material!

it goes without saying that "hotel buffet" is a must get for parrotheads. but even for the the occasional fan, there's plenty on the album worth listening to - so don't pass it up.

for a guy born on christmas day, here's an early "happy birthday" to you. and thanks jimmy, for the early christmas present for us.

goodbye dell, hello hp probook!

after 15+ years using dell computers and products, time for a change. the last 3 weeks trying to get dell to repair and/or replace my vostro 1400 laptop have been a long and unpleasant nightmare. for the first time in a very long time i took a business trip sans laptop - thanks to my malfunctioning vostro.

hopefully, those days are in the past. today i unpacked my hp probook 4415s and worked on getting across the learning curve. so far, so good! i was a little hesitant to pass up an intel processor for an amd - but it looks like the amd chip is well up to the task.

welcome hp!!

last run, last day, in cancun - time to head home!

i can't resist posting the above photo of the "margarita y marijuana" restaurant directly adjacent to the convention center! not sure about the food - but probably great take out :D

but seriously, today is my last day here - flying back on a last afternoon flight. this morning did my last run (w/my friend jack) along the boulevard kukulcan. this time we ran toward downtown cancun instead of my typical route along the hotel strip. will be sad to leave, especially having learned that it snowed in new york yesterday - yikes!!

also, on the drive back from the chichen itza ruins yesterday, we just happened upon the run portion of a triathlon - in progress!!

visit to the chichen itza ruins, yucatan

went sightseeing today, which involved a 2+ hour drive from cancun. the chichen itza ruins are an incredible archeaolgical site. just wanted to post a couple of pictures since we just got back from the trip. will add to this post later - stay tuned "D