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Yeah, that’s right, weeks 19 through 25. When I started writing this running log, I had exactly 26 weeks to get ready for the Army Ten Miler. Time has flown by, and this time I wasn’t nearly as disciplined in training as I was last year. The training this time around has been pretty pathetic. I’ve had moments this past week where I thought I’d just give my bib to a friend to run, but after three good runs this past week, I’m just going to suck it up and run. It’s really going to suck, and I’ll want to quit at the 2 mile mark, the five mile mark, and every mile until I’m done, but it should be an interesting mental and physical challenge. I’m really going to be relying on a rare spike in adrenalin from the excitement of running with 26,000 other people around DC. A couple more runs during the week, and then the big race on Sunday. Wish me luck!

[week 19-25 of 26]

• Runs: 8
• Distance: 30.1 miles
• Time: 307 minutes (10.2 minutes/mile)

Total Stats (25 weeks total):

• Total Runs: 38
• Total Distance: 121.6 miles
• Total Time: 19.9 hours (9.8 minutes/mile)

I have been working on compiling all my short video clips from my India trip, but it’s not quite ready yet. I’m not really one to get all creative with movies, but it goes to show how hard it can be to make an entertaining and engaging short video. Dave just uploaded this one, and it’s just about bluebirds, but I can’t stop watching it.

Speaking of uploading, I’m considering converting BACK to Vimeo. About two years ago, I was looking for a place to upload my videos, and it came down to Vimeo or YouTube. Vimeo won somehow, but now compared to YouTube, the quality is better (but what isn’t?), the player controls are less intrusive, unique integration with Flickr, and you get that small niche community feeling of using Vimeo. If you have a Vimeo account, add me as a contact - my profile page is here.

The one problem with using WordPress.com to host my site, is that their security is pretty strict. One restriction is that you can only embed videos from YouTube or Google Video, until recently. If you’re a WordPress.com blogger - you can now use VodPod to embed video from just about any service (as long as it finds the <embed> tags - nerdy)

Hopefully I’ll be finishing up the India video by this weekend, and I’ll post it here and on Vimeo. Until then, enjoy me beating Don in Mariokart with a “Valet”.

Vimeo

The rate of pictures taken per day definitely waned off towards the end of the week of my trip to India, but head on over for the last few pictures that I took.

Bangalore India Trip Set on Flickr.

It’s been five days here in Bangalore, India and I think I’m starting to get in the swing of things. Getting to work each day has been an adventure with the traffic patterns being much different than back in the US. Driving a vehicle on the streets of Bangalore is much like walking in a crowd. There are lines on the streets, but it means nothing. Cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians pass each other inches apart. At first I thought it was much like China, but now that I’ve commuted for five days - I realize that it’s much more chaotic. Thankfully, Chris and I have a driver that comes to pick us up from our hotel each morning at 9am and we get to work at Ecospace Campus (which is 3-4 miles away) in about 45 minutes. He also takes us back to the hotel, or to a restaurant or shopping if we want to.

I’ve never been on a business trip, but I think I like it. Other than missing the comforts of my home, friends and family - I get to experience a country for free. I’ve eaten at very interesting restaurants (Bombay Post, BBQ Nation), drank Kingfisher beer, witness a wedding, play a Sitar, and meet my Indian AOL colleagues. It took much less time to adjust to being in India than I thought. Possibly because Bangalore is a city of technology. If you’re company isn’t represented here already, you’re already late to the game.

This weekend marks the start of Ganesh Chaturthi, or Ganesh Festival, celebrating the birthday of Hindu God Ganesh, which lasts for an odd number of days (usually 1 to 11). Walking around yesterday, there were statues of Ganesh prepared to be displayed this weekend. We still haven’t hit tourist market central, MG Road, but definitely plan on hitting that this weekend.

I have 3.5 days left. Unfortunately we won’t get to travel up to Agra to see the Taj Mahal but there is so much more to see here in Bangalore. Other than that, the training sessions that Chris and I are conducting have been very productive and well received. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of all this city has to offer.

As always, keep checking out the constantly updated set on Flickr: India Trip.

Hey everyone, quick update here because I can’t really fall asleep yet, but I’m here in Bangalore India on a business trip. I’ve been taking some pictures of the business class amenities on the plane, the Frankfurt Germany airport, and a few of the Bangalore airport. I haven’t seen much, so these might be a little boring, but keep checking on this set because I’ll be uploading pictures to the set all week long.

Update 9/13 - Added more pictures!

Update 9/14 - Added even more pictures! 

Bangalore India Trip Set on Flickr

It’s the last day at the beach here for me and for the first time in a few years, I had my fantasy football drafts the week before going to the beach.  This is especially nice, because I got to pick my team rather than using the pre-set autodraft.  (I’ll post my two lineups in a later post.)  Unfortunately, I have to head back a little earlier than usual this year because of school, but I’m glad to sneak in one more relaxing vacation before I’m inundated with homework and reading.

Also when I get back to work, I will be frantically prepare some training material for my trip over to Bangalore, India to train a few new analysts.  I’m really excited to get a free trip to a place that I never thought I’d visit to experience new cultures and food.  I’ll be heading over with my co-worker, Chris, and we’re going to try to chase down some NFL games in a bar.  Not sure if they get the games over there though.  You’ll definitely see a slew of pictures posted/linked from in in about two weeks, so keep checkin’ back in.