July11--Good run-4.5 miles

Woke up with a headache today..weather was good, but did not run during lunch. Instead, treated myself to a good lunch-good old taco truck’s naked burrito (no tortilla!).

Anyhoo…I hit the streets at 8.30pm…no sun, was pleasant in fact. I ran on Tully, all the way to Standiford St. and back, 2 miles each way. I felt real energy the first 20 min..I almost ran 0.6miles without a walking break…I had to stop because of the lights at Briggsmore. Well, I was NOT tired the whole 2 miles. Barely took walking breaks. I kept going strong. I forgot to bring my water along, but wasn’t parched or anything. When I hit Standiford, I sort of wanted to walk, but kept running slow. After about 0.5 mile back, I walk for 0.25 miles or so. Then I had this surge of energy and actually ran faster for 0.5miles or so! It was amazing… This energy lasted all the way home. I actually ran till my doorstep! I usually walk home, about 0.5miles. This time I ran, making the total distance 4.5miles. My longest till day…Good times!

Another disappointing run today...sniff, sniff

The weather, surprisingly was great in the morning…I decided to run in the dry creek at 11 or so…my luck, as soon as I hit the creek, the sun came out, shining bright in all her glory...hate her…anyhoo…ran nevertheless…I was EXHAUSTED in about 1.5 miles….only things kept me going was Paul Wall…loveee him and his music of course…
Apart from the heat, I had to pee as well…which I did at the end of 1.5 mile mark…
I walked back the other 1.5miles to the car…could not make myself run…..other factor for the bad run may be food. I had nothing except a 100cal yogurt in the morning….Stomach was growling all thru….
Lesson learnt…eat good breakfast and don’t run in the sun.

Who murdered Alexander Litvinenko?

Ive been reading and following the Sasha Litvinenko story....he was radioactively poisoned by polonium 210 in London last Nov....Apparently, Andrei Lugovoi an ex-KGB officer is the suspect...heres some facts on Po from my beloved WIKI....
By mass, polonium is around 250 billion times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide .The main hazard is its intense radioactivity (as an alpha emitter), which makes it very difficult to handle safely - one gram of Po will self-heat to a temperature of around 500°C. Even in microgram amounts, handling 210Po is extremely dangerous, requiring specialized equipment and strict handling procedures. Alpha particles emitted by polonium will damage organic tissue easily if polonium is ingested, inhaled, or absorbed (though they do not penetrate the epidermis and hence are not hazardous if the polonium is outside the body).
One gram of 210Po could thus in theory poison 100 million people of whom 50 million would die. The actual toxicity of 210Po is lower than these estimates, because radiation exposure that is spread out over several weeks (the biological half-life of polonium in humans is 30 to 50 days[27]) is somewhat less damaging than an instantaneous dose. It has been estimated that a minimal lethal dose of 210Po for an 80 kg person is 4 millicuries, or 0.89 micrograms, still an extremely small amount (28).

well, Russia is not extraditing Andrei Lugovoi to London, where he will be tried. Apparently, it is non-existent in the Russian constituition to exrtradite a citizen!
Will update on Sasha.....

SFO R.O.C.K.S

It was a superrrr day...I went to SFO, with Arvind (friend)…the day actually started out dull, like every other countless Sunday…I forced myself to get my rear off the bed, shower and drive to SFO…We first hit the GG Bridge…my second time. It was chilling! Cloudy and gloomy, just how I like it. Walked about a bit, next stop the wharf….walked about a bit….enjoyed the weather immensely…(photos coming up ppl)…In the process opf ‘getting’ to the bridge and wharf, we drove around the entire city, seemed like…the buildings and apartments reminded me of Sex and the City…New York style! Absolutely no space anywhere, buildings crammed into the smallest space…actually depressing to look at…
Well...dinner was at this Ethiopian place, ‘Axum Café’ on Haight St.. The food was barely ok, really watered down and NOT spicy at all. We had a veggie platter, with 5 side dish and injera, of course…Tasted like badly cooked Indian food! We had Veggie Alecha, lentil puree, chick pea puree, chopped mushroom curry and a spinach dish as well…The platter for 2 ppl was $15, quite nominal I though.
There was absolutely no parking, I had to circle the block thrice before I found one!
That was an amazinggg Sunday for me…
Already planning next weekend!

Mark Mardell, Santorini

So I read this BBC reporter Mark Mardell's blog all the time..yday, he commented on polish inclusion in the EU...how Germans feel they were generous in allowing Poland into the EU and that Poland must shove it up their ass for all the wrong being done to them! Well, I dont feel strongly about either sides...(but I do hate the holocaust deniers though)...anyhoo, I guess the unspoken and agreed rule in the EU is "not to mention the WWII", and the polish doesnt seem to get it, hence german attitude of forgetting and forgiving..well...it amused me and here I mention it...


Moving on, I saw this greatttttt episode on Food TV on Greek Island, Santorini...Giada de Laurentis travels to Santorini and samples the food and all.....that place is heavennnnnn
....loadssssssssss of goat and feta cheese...She visits this vinyard owned by a woman, who shows us, the viewers to make a 'dolma' looking thing out of zucchini flowers! Never knew zucchini had flowers...It was stuffed with rice and feta and few spices...yumm-oo
The island, the water, the food is fantastic...Another place to visit in my travel log now!

July 6...hot today...

there was drama at home yday due to this extreme heat...105F...I was flustered and Kaya was salivating and almost palpitating.I hosed her down a bit...then took my lazy ass out and fixed and nailed up the AC unit I apparently had in the garage! My room feels heavennnnnnnnnnly now...Kaya calmed down.and I did as well...

July 4, Wednesday

I had the day off today....accomplished NOTHING. Lazed around in bed all day, trying to read 'Nostradamus-'Visions of Future'...Temp. was about 105F, terribly hot and uncomfy...Kaya, my black labrador mix, felt the heat real bad...
As evening rolled by, decided to run with Kaya...Went to Dry creek, the 6 mile course that runs thru Modesto...I did about 3 miles....atleast taht what gmap says...Boy was the run good! Tried hill-running , a short one though...was outta breath in an instant...and I dared to roll down the hill at full speed, 100% heart rate...my brain literally spun!
Glad I ran..feel wayyyyyyy better now...