Now I don’t know what to do.  The Japanese Grand Prix is this weekend, and qualifying was on late last night.  Like midnight.  So, as usual I TiVo’ed it planning to watch it tonight either before or after the Red Sox game, depending on my mood later this evening. 

One little quirk of mine:  if I have recorded a race or other sporting event to watch later, I do not like to find out the results before I watch it.  Because at that point, why bother watching?  This is something most people who know me know about me. 

So, this afternoon I inadvertently, through no fault of my own found out who is on pole.

My conundrum is this.  Should I just go ahead and look at the results or not?  I guess I am especially annoyed because

**Spoiler alert - don’t read the rest of this if you don’t know who’s on pole and you don’t want to know yet**

that Lewis Hamilton is on pole.  That Lewis Hamilton I hate.  So I'm not super excited about watching that. But I don’t know where anybody else ended up, or if there were any penalties handed down after the fact. 

 **End spoiler alert**

If I look at the results I may not want to watch it at all.  I am already almost at that point.  And there are only 3 races left this season.  I should savor them and watch every moment.  But if I peek and don’t bother watching I won’t have to stay up so late tonight, and would maybe even have time to watch the review show of the Singapore Grand Prix.  A race I enjoyed tremendously.

But I really wanted to watch qualifying.  I am not a happy camper.

Guido Cappellini

Here Guido is on the way to meet his crew after qualifying sessions, where they will discuss strategy for the shootout stage.  Cappellini will start fourth in tomorrow's race.  There is no doubt in his mind that he can win this week and still rally to reclaim the Champion's crown for 2008.  Reigning World Champ Sami Selio , from Finland, has the poll.

Guido

Unfortunately, the turnout was about what I expected.  Now understand, you can not buy a ticket to the event anywhere in Liuzhou, yet there were plenty of seats available in the stands.  I kid you not, there were more media, volunteers, soldiers and policemen than there were spectators.  Far more.  Maybe everyone is waiting for tomorrow.  Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.  Maybe pigs will fly out of my butt.

Whoa!

Security today was overwhelming.  It's always tricky shooting photographing policemen and soldiers in China.  Some days nobody says anything when I lift the camera, others, it's all hands up and waiving me off with a glare.  Today I often got both reactions within mere feet.  I'll try and upload some of those shots in the next couple of days.

So the answer is 51.  It was October 11th, 1957 in Bremerhaven, Germany when I took my first breath.  I am thankful to still be breathing today.  The best part of my day, without a doubt, was talking to my kids Natalie and Nick, who stayed up late to call me from the US.  If there is any serious downside to my Chinese adventure, it's the time spent away from them.

Peace to you all, until next time...

At least for now, the stars are aligning in my favor. The weather report is near-perfect (although I'd prefer overcast to full sun, but whatever): cool, dry and with a 1-3mph wind tops. I had a great night's sleep last night thanks to Lunesta. I am carboloading and drinking water to beat the band and have gained 2 lbs. -- bad for my ego, but an excellent sign of good hydration and glycogen storage. I have no aches, pains or other niggles. And, despite lots of exposure to public places (and, hence, germs) in the past two weeks, I have made it to marathon weekend without having caught a cold or other bug.

I'll go out for a little 2-3 mile run in a few minutes. Then I pack up my running gear and pre- and post-race food and libations. I was buying post-race treats at Trader Joe's yesterday and the woman at the register said, "Are you having company this weekend?" I lied: "Yes! How did you ever guess?" It seemed freakish to say, "No, I'm running a marathon on Sunday, after which I plan to lie on a bed in a hotel room Scranton, Pennsylvania, consuming all this food along with lots of wine, ideally while watching a mindless three hour Lifetime movie starring Melissa Gilbert, Cheryl Ladd or Meredith Baxter-Birney."

I have so much to do. So I'd better get to it.

We're going to try to drive the course so I can see what I'm in for. If I'm not in a state of catatonic shock as a result, I'll post again pre-race.

Of course, there's an equally long list on inconsiderate pedestrians too ("WHAT?! YOUR GRANDFATHER'S ROAD ARH?!!"), but today, we're talking about drivers.
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Thankfully, my boyfriend is one of those good drivers. He doesn't go too fast nor too slow, uses the signal often, and stuff like that. Sitting beside him when he drives isn't scary at all. xP
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Unfortunately, on some days you can't help but to get one of those crazy drivers.
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He did, yesterday.
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It was the last day of my extra holiday class, and so, it being Friday, my boyfriend came to pick me up so we go return to my house. It was a fine late afternoon, about 3pm, so there were no rush hour jams.
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Then, it began.
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This random car (a low-cost car that was modified to have a spoiler on the back, a loud "VROOM!" and tinted windows to imitate a racing car. Egoistic, much?) came up behind us and tailgated us, while we were 10 minutes away from my house (it takes 15 minutes from my university to my house).
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At first, we didn't mind; after all, who cares about people tailgating you?
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The road we were on had two lanes, but at the time, we met lots of people who were slow, pausing to turn (and took one a whole lane), stopping at a one-lane traffic light, and stuff. My boyfriend switched lanes a lot, as to continue at our normal pace along the road.
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Then we began noticing it.
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Each time my boyfriend switched lanes, the joker behind would follow suit, and continue to tailgate us.
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We switched left.
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He switched left.
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We switched right.
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We switched right.
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What the heck? It's terribly fishy.
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But fine. We ignored it.
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We turned from the main road and into the housing area, on the one-lane main road of the housing area.
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The joker followed suit.
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At the time, we still didn't think much of it (except that we felt the guy was showing off), because it was normal for us to drive and meet cars that happen to go the same way. I met at least one when I drive.
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But when we turned into a road next to a field that led to where I live and he followed, we knew that the guy behind us was stalking us.
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Never mind. When we are stalked, we never show them where we live.
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And so we made one big round around the housing area, just to throw the guy off.
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He still followed us.
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Then, on a road wide enough for two cars to go past (two-way road, mind you), suddenly...
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"ZOOOM!!"
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There he goes, overtaking us.
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Silence.
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Then I started laughing.
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It felt so funny seeing the guy trying to imitate the "EAT MY DUST!!" fashion. It's like, the guy's ego is so blown up that he thinks he's so cool doing that, but in reality, seeing that low cost car (the exact same brand and type my boyfriend uses) imitating a racing car... so funny. xP
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This is the exact image in my head:

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So funny. That joker would've felt so angry if he knew, huh?
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We thought it was over, so we just went on our merry way.
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Then we came across this Y junction. One of the roads, the one that joker took, was a dead end. So we took the one that wasn't a dead end.
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And... round 2!
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"ZOOOOOOM!"
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There he goes again.
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Like earlier, I ended up laughing. He just tries so hard, he deserves marks for effort! You know, like when you failed in a school paper, where the teacher gives some "markah kesihan" (marks out of pity)?
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Man, it's so funny.
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At least, this time, the guy took the turning out back to the housing area's main road, out of the area we were at.
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Well, at least it was over.
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After all, in this day and age when crime rates are running high, who knows maybe that joker had criminal intent and followed us for that? But from the two "EAT MY DUST!!" sessions, most likely it's some nobleman's son that's too rich and had nothing better to do.
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Still, it can't hurt to be more careful.
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Throughout the day, we checked on my boyfriend's car parked outside my house, just to see if anything happened to it. Nothing did, no worries.
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But you never know, right?
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Next time, if we were being tailgated and stalked, we have a retaliation plan.
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What the plan is, you ask?
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Just go round and round the roundabout, and see who gives up first.
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Yep, not unlike Mr. Bean.

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~Estrelita Farr, still laughing from the memory. xP

 Capshun by Melinda

I think HMS has booster seat. ;-)

Zandvoort kreeg bijgevolg de seizoensopener maar daar regende het pijpestelen én afzeggingen. Gevolg: een gereduceerd startveld met slechts zeventien deelnemers, en een verdere reductie door de talrijke crashes tijdens de natte sprint en feature races.

Ondertussen duiken opnieuw geruchten op over de benarde financiële situatie waarin A1GP zou verkeren. De serie heeft in de voorbije drie jaar een enorme schuldenberg opgebouwd. Er is sprake van een reddingsplan maar door de internationale financiële crisis zijn geen nieuwe investeerders te vinden. 

A1GP probeert intussen het blazoen wat op te smukken. Vorige week werd aangekondigd dat Andretti Green Racing het Team USA zal gaan runnen. Geen toeval: A1GP heeft dringend nood aan ronkende namen. Als straks Marco Andretti en Danica Patrick op de grid verschijnen, zal dit een pak extra publiciteit opleveren voor A1GP.

Download Ferrari Wallpaper

I had originally planned to run the KOTR as part of a 33km long run but I ended up racing it. After my easy run last Tuesday I was downed by a really bad cold and sore throat. The cold had started out as an allergy with the violent changes in weather and it was exacerbated when I drove home from the Hope in Motion 3 race in my sweaty clothes with the car's aircon full blast. I could not get proper rest as I had dinner with a client Wednesday night and lots of work which meant skipping my Thursday and Friday workouts. The night before I was entertaining thoughts of not running and even with my gear ready I went to sleep not knowing what I was going to do the next morning.

I woke up at 3:24 a.m. and I couold not go back to sleep. I decided to let the US markets decide my next course of action. If the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down then I won't run but if it was up then I would get ready to go. I turned on the TV and switched the channel to Bloomberg - lo and behold! - the Dow was down a whopping 400 points! However, in the next few minutes the market rallied and suddenly it was up by 120 points. OK! Let's go! Since my weekly schedule had been thrown out the window anyway I decided to just race today rather than to do a long run. I turned off the TV (luckily because the Dow crashed again to close 128 points lower) and went back to bed to snooze.

I go back up at 4:15 a.m.. I ate, showered and put on the 2008 Adidas KOTR singlet, New Balance Lightning Dry shorts, my ever reliable ASICS Nimbus 9 and my Adidas Clima365 cap, collected my gear and was off before 5 a.m.. The race starts at 5:30 a.m. and I knew I was cutting it close. When I saw the parking situation at the Fort I knew I was in trouble if I insisted on parking near the starting line. I ended up parking at the Fort as they had the shortest line getting in and jogged to the starters area as my warm up. I made it with 7 minutes to go before the start!

I scanned the crowd for familiar faces and I saw the Baldrunner and Dindo. Vener Roldan of Run Unltd. came up to say hello and wish me luck. The starting gun went off and I told them we would just see each other after the race!

Mile 1 : 8:49

My plan for the 21k was to run the first 10k at my easy run pace around 9:20/ mi then increase the pace onwards for a negative split in the second half. The crowd was fast as even with the roads descent. I had to talk to someone to make sure I did not go out too quickly. I chatted up Emil who was doing his first 21K just like me.

I saw Fernando Zobel de Ayala pass me by and I remembered the PSE 10K Bull Run last year where he passed my by at the 7km mark of Bayani Road and poured it on til he was out of sight. With added training this year he would probably disappear from my view soon.

Mile 2 : 9:17

We climbed up the Kalayaan flyover at this point. I focused on maintaining my form uphill and letting gravity take its course downhill. It would be a flat course on Sen. Gil Puyat and it would be easy to bring up the pace but the toughest part of the race would come later and it would require spare energy.

Mile 3 : 8:37

I ended up chatting with another runner. It was his second 21k and he knew he had to pace himself. since I was going at a 9:00 / mi clip he decided to hang around with me.

Mile 4 : 9:02

We see Coach Rio pass us and we wonder whether he was late or if he was running after one of his students. We see the first groups of runners on the way back to the Kalayaan flyover. I see Ben Chan and Lester on the way back already. At the turn around,  I also see George from last week's HIM race and he passes me by.

Mile 5 : 8:54

It must be very difficult for the traffic aides and policemen to hold off traffic specially at major intersections and I find myself speeding up a little just to cross them. I need to hold it in a little more until after the Kalayaan flyover.

Mile 6 : 9:04

Going up the Kalyaan flyover the second time I remember my long run from BHS to MOA then back. The flyover has 2 uphill segments on the way back to the Fort and when I was able to do both with minimal exertion I knew I still had plenty of gas left in the tank.

Mile 7 : 8:57

I picked up my pace at this point but heading towards Lawton Ave. is an uphill climb.

Mile 8 : 8:53

At Lawton Avenue, I see George again and this time I pass him.

Mile 9 : 8:40

As we turned into Bayani Road, I could see more runners who had passed me earlier ahead. Of course I could also see the runners, including the Baldrunner who had made the turn around on the way back already.

Mile 10 :  8:44

I was surprised to find the turn around point so soon! I thought we would go all the way down to C-5. Here I passed Fernando Zobel de Ayala at the turn around point. Sweet revenge! Although he does not know it. I sped up a little just in case he decides to pick up the pace, but he never does and so I am now free to move on to other targets.

Mile 11 : 8:32

I was now passing more runners. I got some water from the station at the corner of Bayani Road and Lawton Avenue and wasted a few seconds waiting for my cup to be filled but it was worth it as the cold water refreshed me specially when I poured it on my head.

Mile 12 : 8:24

On 5th Avenue, after the last uphill climb at the intersection of Mckinley, I tried to make a final burst. However, I had no idea where the finish line was and I might have given it my all too soon.

Mile 13 : 6:40

The heat is terrible. My nose has been continuously running. I am tired. I shut it all out when I finally see the finish line and I suddenly had renewed energy. I finished with an unofficial time of 1:52:38 for a distance of 20.7km!

After I am handed my certificate, I get a drink and dragged myself back to the car. I felt like throwing up but I forced myself to keep walking. I got another drink and continued walking inside the shaded areas of the Fort. I proceeded to do my stretching and after a while I felt better. I wiped myself off, changed my shirt, and headed back down to the Finisher's Area to look for friends.

I saw my old classmates from Ateneo, Don and Dorothy together with Dido (3 D's!) with Jonel. From out of nowhere I see Marga super ecstatic about.... her 10K PR best of 53 minutes! I managed to catch Coach Rio for minute. I also said hello to Wilbert and met Mark and Tiffin of Happy Feet. I heard someone call me out and it turns out to be Ting and Johnny Sy of Johnny's Run.

All in all, KOTR was a well organized race by Mr. Rudy Biscocho and RACE. The race started on time. The distance was credible. The route was problem free as lanes were freed from traffic and oncoming runners. There were a lot of water stations ( although I heard the water ran out a little later on) with cold water. Congratulations for a good job!

As for my 21K, I have found a new distance to love. It tests my endurance without putting my body through too much stress. It also requires careful execution of a race strategy and mixes strength with patience. While my goal is still to make it to Boston, I have a feeling I will be running a lot of 21K's along the way.

I like being in the shape I'm currently in.  When I started the semester at school, the 1,001 stairs I take two days a week (Fridays I drive) were hard - now they're nothing.  My pants have got looser around the waist (although tighter in the thighs, sigh).  Five miles is a regular day, instead of three.  Three is kind of like, why bother?

So I think I should give myself a week, tops, of slow and short (it coincides with a two-midterm week, so that's probably a good thing) and then start something else.  But what?  Starting in on training for a half sounds crazy in the winter - it's dark and cold enough at the times I'm getting up without moving them even earlier.  But otoh I want to build on the distances I'm doing now (20+ per week), not go back down to 15 or less  a week and restart a 10K training.  Maybe try to build speed with 10K advanced training?

Or, what?

In the $1 million Guineas the two best backed horses have been Whobegotyou and All American. Whobegotyou was $6 in all in betting last month but has steadily been backed in and is currently showing $3.20. The Mark Kavanagh trained runner has been brought back to the field due to drawing barrier 12 but he still possesses the class to come home strong over 1600m. Barrier draws have historically played a big part in the Guineas as only five of the past 20 winners have drawn double-figure alleys, while barriers one to four have been pure gold.

The other best backed horse, All American, has drawn gate four. The David Hayes runner opened betting at $17 for the Guineas in our early all in market and has been consistently backed. He was $10 after drawing a good barrier and is now $8.50 as money keeps coming in.

Dreamscape is the only other horse showing single figure odds. We've barely written a ticket on him as he has drifted from $6 to $6.50 but Gai Waterhouse and Nash Rawiller have said publicly that they are very impressed by his trackwork and give him a good show out of barrier 11.

In the Yalumba the only one they've backed is Pompeii Ruler who has gone from $2.40 to $2.20. Mick Price's horse has had a pretty good prep this Spring but just hasn't quite got over the line. In an eight horse field and out of barrier two, Pompeii Ruler looks hard to beat. Damien Oliver on Sirmione ($6.50) and Craig Williams on Guillotine ($5.50) look the main dangers.

The Toorak is one of the most open races of the day and it's hard to pick one winner from the eighteen horse field. Damien Oliver is on board the $5.50 favourite, Orange County, but he is coming from barrier 16. Bon Hoffa at $7 may get an investment from me coming out of alley two with Alamosa ($8), Raheeb ($9), Turffontein ($9) and Sea Battle ($9) also chances. Nash Rawiller's ride, Confectioner, has been the best backed roughy in here with one client betting $400 on the nose at $151 to win $60,000. He didn't even bother going each way.

The Bank of America 500 is this weekend and as the haulers, campers, souvenir trailers, fan adorned cars and "Welcome Race Fans" banners moved into Cabarrus County, so to did the rain.

This won't be the first time rain has descended on the fans...and won't be the last. While the idea of racing at 200 mph in the pouring rain and the melee that would occur is certainly an entertaining thought. One that does bring a smile to many, it probably isn't the safest way to race. So, the racing activities are delayed and the rain pours down.

Last night I made my way down the newly named Bruton Smith Boulevard to Lowe's Motor Speedway.  It was drizzling and had been raining on and off since Wednesday.  At the stop light right in front of the speedway I waited for two race fans, quite possibly a husband and wife team, cross the traffic lanes on their bikes.  My first impression was to feel horribly for them, "bless their hearts" as my new southern friends have taught me and contemplate for the briefest of seconds if their bikes would fit in the back of my Aspen.  The obvious first impression when you see someone on a bike in the rain is to feel sorry for them and think they have to be miserable.  That's exactly how I felt as I watched them peddle across and make their way down highway 29.  Presumably peddling their blessed little hearts back to their campsite.  Then I realized they were actually turning onto the gravel lot of souvenir alley.  It was then I noticed the bag swinging from the handle bars of the woman's bike.  They weren't peddling back to the campsite. Nor were they miserable. Wet - yes but miserable - no.  They were shopping! These bike riding NASCAR fans were making their way to a souvenir hauler.  Rain or not, they had a mission that may have been planned out weeks before arriving in our county and they were following through.

As I stood in our suite last night and watched the rain mist up the windows and the stands sit empty I felt bad. Not for the money lost on ticket sales, money lost on concessions or the countless other losses us business minded people think of when an event is canceled.  I felt bad for the father that was bringing his son out to qualifying for the first time, the fan who drove down from Pennsylvania on a three day weekend who was looking forward to this for months and the teams who were still working away in the garages who wouldn't have the chance to take the track that night.

Looking out over the stands I thought about the two I had seen earlier on their bikes, souvenir bag swinging away from the bike handle and thought - if there was some way NASCAR could figure out how to drive in the rain...these stands would be full.

Guys,Saturday September 20th Lukasz, my wife Debby and me finally hosted our long planned cyclo cross race called: GP Champion City, and we had a total number of 99 racers racing plus 12 kids participating in their first ever cross race! Thanks to all our volunteers and event sponsors it turned out to be a solid event with some really positive feedback.

After paying the bills I am happy to announce I will donate $350 to the Kids with Cancer Society and the remainder of all proceedings will go the the "Canada House in Holland" by BONK Cardio Adventures project, supporting a few Canadian cross racers racing in Holland and Europe by joining a Dutch team and being fully supported.

-Tim.

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Some of the pages are pretty rough, right now I am just trying to get them into the right format and mapped correctly then I will finish working on the content. Thanks to everyone that does read them though I appreciate it!

The race course is laid out on the Liujiang River, between Wen Hui Bridge and The First Bridge, right in the middle of downtown.  The course is relatively short for F1 standards.  At only 1.5 kilometers in length, it will be what the drivers call a “bull ring”.  That should make the show exciting not only for the spectators but for the drivers as well.  The event is supposed to be sold out, and while I am sure all the tickets have been "allocated", it will be interesting to see if the locals do indeed turn out.  You only have to look back at the sold out Beijing Olympics to know that the Chinese are a notoriously fickle lot when it comes to watching sporting competitions.  The tickets are steep for most folks here, 380 RMB, which is about $55 US.  I am hoping the spectacular weather holds.  Viewing the races from either of the bridges is prohibited and most of the riverbank viewing area is only for ticket holders.  These guys got a bit of a free show today as they watched the Swedish team work on their boat from behind the paddock fence.

Watching The Swedes

I'll be doing a feature on the Qatar Team and American driver Jay Price.  Price is a Louisiana native and the current points leader through the first four races of the season.  The head of the Qatar Team is Kahlid Bin Arhama Al Kuwari.  Kahlid is one of those people you sometimes meet in life that you are immediately drawn to.  He is a Board Member of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation. as well as the current leader of the Formula team.  I got the distinct impression he was rolling in it.  Still, he was approachable and kind and an interesting guy to talk to.  I'll have more about him tomorrow as well.

Kahlid Bin Arhama Al Kuwari

So, more to come on the F1 China Grand Prix.  Let's see, what else for today?  I may be going to Shenzhen to see my friend Bob Lio next week.  I hope to spend a few days with Bob and hit Hong Kong for the first time while I am there.  I also hope to hit a Burger King, a Wendy's and I am really Jonesin' for some Mexican food.  I haven't had as much as a tortilla in more than 14 months.  Those of you who know me well know just how difficult that was for me to type.  I am not sure I'll be able to pull everything together in time to go but man I really want to have a Western experience for a few days.  I also desperately need shoes and buying size 13 kicks most anywhere in China is impossible.

In related news, I understand that Krispy Kreme is coming to China.  Franchises will be open soon in Beijing, Shanghai and Tian Jin.  Another reason for me to see Beijing.  The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and Krispy Kreme.  Not necessarily in that order.

I ran with my sis yesterday around the lake, and it was so peaceful. We stopped every so often to break up the run with crunches, lunges, or plank holds. I get bored just running non stop and I've not done it in a while, so I was sure I wouldn't be able to keep up.

Today I feel so good and am glad I have my sis to partner with in my running endeavors. We're going to do it twice a week. So now if only I can stay motivated. I'll let you in on a secret ... I'm lazy. I'm very lazy when it comes to exercise and staying healthy. I know I should do better, and want to ... but don't. So I've got to make myself do it ... if not for me, than my little boy.

He told me today that he gets lots of good exercise on the playground at recess everrry day! He drove the point home to me, that my exercising is influencing good choices for his life too.

I've made very good tips this week, but not enough to sustain our family. I know God will bless the fact that I'm working hard, but know that there is something else out there for me other than waiting tables. This I feel is a temporary fix, to be able to work around my son's school schedule. There has to be something that will allow me to work around his schedule, and still be able to make a living. What I'm doing now is not supporting our dual income needs. The blessing is that I have faith God is going to reveal it all to me in His time. I just have to keep pluggin along.

And lastly, my new sister-in-law is pregnant! I guess they got pregnant in Maui on the honeymoon, in July. They've been keeping it a secret, and just told us this week. I'm very happy for them and can't wait to meet my new little nephew or niece. I have a feeling it's going to be a boy! Dark skinned, long eyelashed, brown eyed beautiful boy ... can't wait to meet you little one!

I hope you all have had a great week, and have had the chance to recognize your blessings.
Have a wonderful weekend!

;-)

Alex Hughes's blog is only 400 views away from reaching 10,000 total views. From such humble beginnings its amazing to think that that many people have visited the site over the time it has been online.