Grass in my hair

What a week this has been! Finished it off with a 20 mile bike-ride - twice the entire length of Manhattan by the Hudson - a 16 mile run; a 1-year birthday party for the cutest baby in the entire world (pictures to come as soon as I figure out why my computer won't recognize my camera anymore); the fanciest dinner I have been to maybe my whole life, where the waiter called me "Madame" every time he refilled my wine glass, which was quite often; spending time with my wonderful host family, my family away from home, who are just the most generous and open-hearted people in the world; and finally, a lovely evening at Lincoln Center watching The Magic Flute in HD on a big screen in the New York night, with a couple thousand other New Yorkers sitting on horribly uncomfortable chairs and dropping sushi in my lap and then eating it anyway.

Speeding on my bike down the West Side Highway is like no other feeling in the world, for a moment can even feel like I am by the ocean, possibly somewhere in California and then I start looking for the palm trees only to realize that I am looking at New Jersey on the other side and it's still wonderful. There is also nothing like sitting on a bench by the river and watching the sun setting, the boats on the river gliding by, just listening, you really feel like anything is possible. Even seeing someone right there in front of you, who you wanted to see but thought was far away. Coincidence? I am not sure, but the older I get, the more I think not.

Running 16 miles after some carbo loading and about an hour of sleep was like a piece of cake. If it wasn't for the blisters on my pinky-toes, I could have maybe run the extra 4 miles with the group, but as soon as I stopped moving, I felt like I was just going to die. Wobbling to the subway station 3 blocks away seemed harder than the 2 and a half hours of running I had just finished. I suspect my energy that accumulated throughout the whole week got me through this long run. In any case, it's amazing what a little adrenaline and endorphins can do! I even heard that certain hormones (particularly those produced while having sex?) can enhance joint health: so be happy and have lots of sex and your running will get better!

Good news: I did steal some pictures from Janice from our picnic for Eliska's 1st Birthday! As you can see, I spent most of that afternoon lying in the grass :)