+ 5

= 41

59 more

today was a warm and sandy one. it is 93 degrees out right now and it is almost 8 at night.

finished the week working. Just 20 more teaching days. This weekend I have a cinco de drinko party at the US embassy. Tequila and corona here I come.

+ 8

= 30

70 more and 21 days to go.

I would have run yesterday ,but a sandstorm blew in just as I got home. Not one of those little ones either. This thing blotted out the world. I darkened the earth. I could not see the street lights across the street. It was impressive. Needless to say I could not go and run through it. Thus I fell a day behind on my schedule and I have to make up distance if I am going to finish this challenge. So today was 8 miles.

On an unrelated note I found out that the college I work at, which is supposed to be a good school in the middle east, found out that the mid-term exam was leaked for one of the lower English levels. It was actually posted on the student side of the school website. It was for sale in the copy center. It is in my opinion inexcusable. However I am not the administration. They decided that there would be no retake, nor would there be any recourse taken against those that posted/stole/distributed the exam. I can understand why, the kid who first got hold of the exam is apparently a prince. As in actually in line for the throne. As in of the house of Saud. So you know the whole equality and harsh retribution for theft/lawlessness seems not to apply for those that rule. Fair is fair after all and in front of allah we all stand equal. or so i am told.

+5

= 22

78 more and 23 days to go.

almost to may. this year has really flown. it seems like i just arrived here in ksa in some ways other ways it seems like this place has had me long enough to strip my soul bare. i can surely say that i will be glad to get on the plane and fly off into the sunset. 8 weeks more and the contract is over. we shall see what happens after that.

+5 @ 88 F

=17
83 more and 25 days to go.
Yesterday was squash and thus no measured runs. I am still holding up well though today it was windy and I had eaten a big dinner with friends so I was still feeling full but as I must run a few miles everyday or it will build up to unmanageable level i forced myself to run the 5 today.

Another week down and the weekend ahead. will be boring as usual but at least i have somewhere to run.

+4

=7
93 more to go and a full 28 days to do it. this one should be no problem. i think i will throw in a day of squash every week and not count the runs I do in the desert.I have no realistic idea as to how far those are. Which means i really have 20 days left if i dont take any days off. awe christ that means i need to run at least 5 miles every day.
tomorrow will be a fun one. it is getting hotter every day. today it is 90 F right now outside and I just got back in. it is just after 9 pm it never cools down here.

day 1

just three short miles this afternoon.(5K) I actually have a bit of a cold and wanted to get started as I have taken my vitals. weight is at 189 lbs. or 86 kilos. resting pulse is 72 beats per minute. body feels fine (the usual aches and pains) see how this bit of fun goes.

challenge

two out of three of my challenges were completed last month. I failed at the push up challenge. it is much tougher to do them than I expected. my next month challenge will be to run for 100 miles in the next 30 days. I start tomorrow. I will go for a quick 6 miles to start and see how I feel the following day. probably I should look into a training program but those just end up taking the fun out of it. The one challenge I did not complete was the one where I had a training routine from another source. I will just go at this 100 miles by my own way. Other than that I have put in for my flight back to the US and I am counting the days until I get to stop working. If there was something here that I actually enjoyed I would consider returning, but every aspect of the life here is about half as fun as it could be. Ah well. just a few months more. then i can go back to enjoying life. I will keep the running log up to date. I am fairly sure I can do this.

better

My foot has healed well enough for me to go out and run again. There has been a dust-storm in the city for the last few days and running was made difficult because of this. On a related note the gym where i play squash is being renovated. I think that aside from myself and the other teachers that use it to play I have seen a total of about 10 other people there. Mind you this is the main gym for a university of thousands of students. In any western nation it would be full of students. Here no one goes and yet they throw money into it. I am certainly not complaining as it will benefit me, but it does seem strange that the monetary resources are not utilized in a more generally productive way. The gym will be closed for about 4 days and then partially reopened as parts are finished. Until then I will be out in the dust running from boredom, wasting time and watching the world pass by.

hey hey

So I went for a nice little run just now. The weather is divine and the flowers are all about. The lilacs the cherry's the willows are that perfectly new green, I am really happy when it is like this. Then I got home from the 5 mile jaunt and ate a super juicy mango. I am not sure how many of you are privileged enough to be able to get mangoes right now but my god they are good. I was still sweating with the juice dribbling down my chin. Pure bliss. Now I have to finish a bit of lesson planning and the perhaps go out for a drink with friends. Life is kind, and fair I think. There was some potential bad news today the school is going to have a massive renovation over the summer which means next year I may have to work at another school I wont mind if it is less than 30 minutes by bike but if it is farther well I wont be too excited about that. Wait and see I guess. By and by there is an awesome bike trail that runs from davis square to lexington green called the minuteman trail. If you are in the boston area and have a bike it is certainly worth the time. If I remember correctly there is a bar about 1/2 way a nice place to pop in for a cold one. Enjoy the ride.

Hey wait I gotta new complaint

Not really I just had nirvana in my head and wanted it out. So I got my bike back from the dudes and it is slammin now I am so happy that it is just what i wanted. And to make my life here in beijing even better I went for a run yesterday and I had been running in the park across from my house but it only goes for about 1 kilometer before you have to cross the street the first street is ok but the next one is a big street and it is a pain in the ass. So yesterday I went to the other corner and ran along the canal along a path that is a walking path, it goes on for about 2.5 kilometers without any interruption. So nice, just run and tune the world out and run. I will be going there for my runs from now on I think. But there is some bad news. I have tried twice in the last two days to go and play football(soccer) on the small field my school has and both times the thing has been locked. I must find out how to get it opened and when the hours are. As you probably noticed I have a bit more free time as I get into my groove at planning the lessons. I still have a few powerpoints to make so I gotta run.