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Showing posts from February, 2008

Best or worst song ever?

In an earlier post I mentioned that one of the reasons I'm writing this blog is that I'm interested in having a better understanding of the technologies that are playing a larger and larger role in our everyday life. In the spirit of a conversation with our friend Sarah earlier today about 'blog bling', I'm pleased to try embedding music into a blog post. To make the post extra-blingy, I've set up a quick survey I hope you'll take. For those of you using feed readers, I think you'll have to look at the actual blog web site to hear the song and/or take the survey. Here's the link . Have fun!

Elizabeth, Sarah, and Jo-Ann

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Elizabeth, Sarah, and Jo-Ann Originally uploaded by aweber9 On Elizabeth's birthday yesterday, we ran into her teacher Jo-Ann in front of school. On the training front, things are going well. I had a good speed workout yesterday and did four easy miles today. I have to say the runs after the speed workouts are not a whole lot of fun.....

Birthday wishes from Sarah

Our friend Sarah has written a lovely post on her blog about Elizabeth on the occasion of Elizabeth's birthday. Have any of your own thoughts to share about Elizabeth? Feel free to post them in the comments!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

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Turning 8 Today , originally uploaded by aweber9 . Elizabeth turns 8 today. Wow.

Thoughts on an off day

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Since today is an off day from training, I thought it would be appropriate to write about something which has nothing to do with running. Earlier today I read this article ( link ) from New York Magazine; it's a review of a book recently published by Random House that is a print anthology of blog writing. I also checked out a blog written by another blogging colleague (perhaps there are a lot of those....) named Kempton Mooney. The article and Kempton's blog reinforced some things I've been thinking about lately as an avid consumer of media products (books, music, movies, blogs, web sites, etc.), as an employee of a media company who thinks a lot about the future of our business, and as a person with a lot of hobbies. The first thing is that I'm constantly amazed by the incredible depth of content and information we all now have access to - typically from the comfort of our home or office. In just the past two days I've seen several examples of this: someone watch

Something to look forward to.....

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2008 Chicago Marathon Map Is it just me or does it seem like this run takes the participants ALL OVER CHICAGO?!?!?!?

The Snowman

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The Snowman , originally uploaded by aweber9 . Elizabeth specifically asked that I blog this photo....so here it is. Elizabeth and Sarah made the snowman with our neighbor Evelyn. I can confidently say I've never seen a snowman with brussels sprouts eyes!

Scott's Oriole in New York City

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Nice article in today's New York Times about nature and birding in New York City: Lemon Zest . Photo courtesy of Cal Vornberger/New York Times.

Birthday Celebration

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Birthday Cake Originally uploaded by aweber9 We're in the middle of birthday week; yesterday was Sarah's 6th birthday, and Elizabeth's 8th birthday is on Wednesday. We enjoyed a great chocolate cake - check out the recipe: Double Chocolate Layer Cake . We did change the recipe to use a white buttercream icing rather than chocolate ganache. Special guests for dinner included Katherine's mom and our neighbor Ann and her daughter Evelyn.

A long run, and notes on training

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Phyllis has been watching the blog carefully, and wondered out loud why the pace for my run on February 21 (according to the data on the tracking widget at the very bottom of the page) was slower than the day before; she thought it might be a function of having had too much wine at my birthday dinner the night before. I'm pleased to report that the pace on the 21st was just about what I'd planned on, and I'm sorry to report the target was not influenced by a hangover! That said, the whole issue of pace is a tricky one. Take yesterday's run, for example. According to the training schedule, I needed to do a long slow run - something like 7 to 10 miles at a pace of 10+ minutes per mile. Given the snowstorm on Friday, we'd delayed our departure for Connecticut to Sunday, giving me a chance to do the long run in Central Park (pictured above during Friday's snowfall). The roads were clear and the temperature was very comfortable - about 31 degrees. I ended up running

Social Media Will Change Your Business

Apropos of yesterday's post on why I blog, I came across this article - it's a great primer on the increasingly important world of blogs..... Social Media Will Change Your Business

Why I'm Blogging

A recent post by a friend of mine from work ( Matt & Amanda Get Married: Why I Blog ) inspired me to write a post about why I'm blogging. I didn't have the chance to post on the topic before friends at dinner last night asked me the same question, so our conversation helped me to further refine my thoughts. I've started blogging for a few different reasons, some of which will change and evolve over time. In no particular order: * Blogs have been an important factor at work over the past year. I've found a number of blogs which have some great perspectives on the major changes under way in media businesses, which has been really helpful for developing my own perspective. In addition, blogs and online activities in general are becoming an increasingly important part of the way books are marketed and discovered. Given those factors, I have a professional interest in the blogging world and figure writing my own blog will help me have a better grasp on what blogs are all

A Special Greeting

Much to report......

We've moved on from Philadelphia to Connecticut to continue our extended weekend. Sorry to disappoint you that I did not manage to get in a run which involved running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art while listening to Rocky - though it did cross my mind and I *do* have some songs from the movie on my ipod. We had a great time traveling with the kids, who enjoyed their first concert (George Strait) in spite of the fact that they slept through most of it. The opening act - Little Big Town - was pretty good. I really enjoyed this song: Bring it On Home Today is the official kickoff of training for the Brooklyn half-marathon, race number three in the NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix. Having finished the first two races without formally training, it will be interesting to see how I'll perform with a real training plan leading up to the race. After running my first half-marathon in just over two hours, I set a goal to get into the top 50% of finishers, whether overall, b

Breakfast

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Lazy Sunday morning here in Philadelphia. Elizabeth and I are at breakfast, enjoying cofee, newspapers, Nancy Drew, and each other's company. We'll spend the early part of the day in Philly and then head up to Connecticut.

The Liberty Bell

We are in Philadelphia today and doing an afternoon of history tourism - including the Liberty Bell, which the girls are super-excited to see. We're off now to Independence Hall and the Betsy Ross house.

Happy 10th Anniversary Simone!

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While this blog is *mostly* about the journey toward my first marathon, I will periodically write about other stuff that interests me. My mom called tonight to share the news that she'd reached her 10th service anniversary working in my father's medical practice as the financial manager. Congratulations Simone!

Back in the Saddle

Went for a run in the Park this morning. Here's the route: Home-77-CP South Small Loop -77-Home Find more Runs in New York, New York This was my first run since last Sunday's half-marathon, and I have to say I'm still feeling a bit dead-legged....

The Training Bible

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I've checked out a few books on running, and of all the ones I've looked at, Bob Glover's The Competitive Runner's Handbook: The Bestselling Guide to Running 5Ks through Marathons is my favorite so far. I plan to use it as my training bible.

Looking East Across the Jackie Onassis Reservoir, Daybreak

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IMG_4343 Originally uploaded by aweber9 This is a picture from an early morning run a few weeks back - January 25th, to be exact. Inspired by a long early-morning run I took with my friend Jordi in Houston at the beginning of January, I've come to love running in Central Park early in the morning - the park is totally quiet and shared only by animals, runners, and bikers. The picture feels like an appropriate place to start the story of my big challenge for the year - to complete the New York Road Runners club Half-marathon Grand Prix and to run the Chicago Marathon. The NYRR Grand Prix is a series of five half-marathons, one in each borough of New York City. So far I've completed Manhattan (in 2 hours and 2 minutes) and the Bronx (in 1 hour, 58 minutes); Brooklyn is up next at the end of April. I've signed up for Chicago - which takes place over Columbus Day weekend - with Chris Landgraff. The notion of running Chicago came up while we were visiting the Landgraf