Almost Ready for Vacation

Well, I spent the better part of today tying up loose ends on my travel plans. I leave Thursday, April 27 for Budapest, Hungary. For the next 17 days, I will be travelling through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, Bulgaria and Romania. I'm looking forward to visiting a part of Europe into which few tourists have ventured since the Yugoslavian Civil War of the mid-1990s. The south of Croatia (Dubrovnik) is about the only place tourists visit in the region these days. It will be amazing to see some of the most beautiful and historic sites in Europe, including a dozen or so UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The aftermath of the Civil War will also be apparent in the Serbia-Montenegro towns of Osijek, Vukovar and Belgrade. I hear the people are awfully friendly throughout the region, and many speak English. I found this to be the case 10 years ago in Prague as well. At the end of the trip, we're heading up to the Romanian town of Sinaia to tour Count Dracula's castle. I'll bring silver bullets, wooden stakes and garlic cloves just in case ;-).

I have invested more time researching this trip than any other because there are virtually no English-language travel guides for half the places we're visiting. I want to make sure I use my free time wisely, instead of doing something idiotic like going back to the ship or hotel to eat, sleep or watch TV. People on my trips often marvel at the amount of work I put into planning. I always make sure I don't miss anything I'll regret. The flip side is that people latch onto me and invite themselves to roam around with me, which I don't always like when time is short and there's lots of ground to cover. That's probably why I don't mind travelling alone. Fortunately my usual travel companions are like me. So when they come along, it's not a problem (well, maybe not completely like me, but close enough--we have an understanding).

I also found out there are a bunch of other Wisconsin people on the trip. So I did some Internet research on them, but didn't find out much more than where they live, how old they are, and how many speeding tickets they have. None of it was particularly noteworthy, but one couple spent January 2001 in Costa Rica on a humpback whale expedition and have a son who married a Turkish women in Istanbul in 2004.

My new digital camera finally arrived too. I waited over 11 days. Every time I went online to check the status of my order, it was always the same: "Order Sent to Warehouse to be Picked." So I called them up and let them have it. Seems they "forgot" to tell me the camera was out of stock and that the manufacturer stopped making it. They then upsold me a different Sony camera (7 mexapixels--just what I need). It arrived last night and I pretty much know everything I need to about it already, so have one less thing to worry about now.

Anyhow, I've got to get home and run.

I'll be posting daily blogs from the road, so check back daily.

Done and Home From Boston

Well, the Boston Marathon is over for another year and I'm back home in Milwaukee already. I ran an average race, finishing in 2:53:01 (6:36 per mile pace). It was a perfect day for running a marathon. My heel is a little sore and all the surfaces and crevices of my body that were not coated with Vaseline before the race are nicely chaffed today. It's odd, but it seems like everyone passed me this year. Must be getting old. Even in the 40-49 category I only came in 109. I caught the next flight home (2 hours after the race) and am now busy washing all my running clothes to get the sickening smell of Ben Ben-Gay out of them. During the race I saw a guy who shit all over himself. I also smelled lots of European BO, which is one of the rankest odors known to man. I also drank too much Gatorade and consumed too much Gu so my plumbing is a little screwed up but should be fine in a day or so.

Yeah Boston

It's noon. I just got back from the Sports & Fitness Expo where I picked up my race number and shopped for running clothes, Gu, socks and other running necessities. The Boston Marathon is tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be good for tomorrow. I slept fine last night. The night before the night before is the only time you can really sleep if you have performance anxiety. Otherwise you'll have a fitful night of sleep the night before the and be really tired if you didn't sleep well two nights beforehand. Anyway, it's Easter Sunday. The spring blossoms are on full bloom up Tremont Street, which makes the Boston Commons particularly nice. I'm going to stay off my feet today because my heels are still a little sore. I bought some padded, moisture wicking socks at the expo and I use my heel cushions tomorrow even though I have a new pair of shoes and shouldn't need them. Will go to the carb load pasta party tonight and then don't have to be to the buses until 9 am, which is an hour later than usual due to the new starting and staging procedures. I come home tomorrow night. Till tomorrow.

Basking in Boston

The weather is beautiful but it won't last. We're expected to have a nice day tomorrow and then it will get cool and windy for the Marathon on Monday. I met a bunch of first-time runners at the airport in Milwaukee while waiting to leave. Thank god I don't get nervous anymore. These guys were crawling the walls. I doubt they'll sleep at all until it's over. When you're in tune with your body, you just listen to it. If you're running too fast, it will tell you and you slow down for a little while till you feel like running faster. Diet is another thing. You need to carb load all week before the race and take salt tablets or eat pretzels the morning of the race so you have enough sodium in your system to avoid cramps. Ben-Gay works wonders too. Really warms up the muscles. After the starting gun goes off, you just start running until you reach the finish line. Trying to pyschye out other guys doesn't work. And don't let it pysyche you out. It's you, your mind and your body. One foot in front of the other to the end. Focus, focus, focus. That's all there is too it. Off to bed. I'm tired. I went out for pasta and a few beers. Nighty night.