Monday, November 10, 2014

Where did those two months go?

My time in New York has just whizzed by. At the end of this week I'm heading south for a fortnight with an old friend from our Hong Kong years and to meet up with Aussie friends for Thanksgiving. Di and Frannie, running pals from Albury, were here for the New York City Marathon. We did some fun things while they were here, including a run in Central Park with former Australian world champion marathoner Rob de Castella and his mob of young indigenous runners.


Me, Rob de Castella, Di and Frannie at the Beacon Hotel, Broadway

We also ran the 5K race that ends at the marathon finish line. I was 55 seconds slower than last year, and two places down in my age group (5th out of 106). Not too shabby, given I didn't run for the first half of the year while my arm healed. It was only my third race for the year; the half marathons in Kuching and Budapest were more like long runs, rather than races. Next year is looking like a more normal year, with a marathon in Pennsylvania in October instead of doing NYC for a second time.

I've gone to see films with Pat and Steve, whom I met last year; and caught up with Ingrid, who was visiting from Santiago; and with Josephine, whom I met at a bus stop last month and who has a Dachshund called Emma. I had a long talk over lunch with CY, who has been a friend since 1986 when we worked together in Hong Kong; and caught up with Selma and Murray, who are in their nineties and still very full of beans. We met in Chile in early 2012.

My Aussie drag queen/performer friend Glace Chase, whose mum's house was next-door to mine in Albury, previewed a new tour called "The Real Bitches of New York", for which I was happy to be a guinea pig. She was a sight to behold on Madison Avenue in heels higher than I would ever dare to wear.


Glace Chase

Runner friend Sun and I checked out the High Line on a gorgeous day just before she started her new job and had to give up being a lady who lunches.


Sun

Maria, as always, has been an absolutely reliable morning running partner; more reliable than I have been. It's taking me a little longer than I'd expected to get back in peak form. Next year is shaping up to be a focused one for training, so I'm hoping to achieve some new goals. Other (ir)regulars are Lissy, Sarah, Heather, Joe, Sun, Andrea, Stephen, John and (this year) Darleen. I don't get to see Joanne or Marie unless I run on Saturdays, which hasn't happened much during this visit. Maria organised a brunch yesterday, which was fun.

My film-going dropped off over the last few weeks as my workload increased. I expect to be juggling a very heavy workload while doing quite a bit of travelling over the next few months. I'm not complaining!!!


No comments:

Post a Comment