Boulder to London

A good friend of mine recommended a book a few months ago that I just got around to buying before my recent flight from Chicago to Helena.  The book is called ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall and if you’re a runner, it is a must read.  The premise of the book is that humans have evolved to be superior distance runners and that a lot of what we (or at least I) have been told by doctors, shoe sales people and other runners could be completely wrong.  We’ll see if it works for me, but I gave it my first try today by taking the custom $350 orthotics out of my $100 running shoes to see if I could get the persistent pain in my left foot / ankle to go away.  No I didn’t replace the orthotics with the factory footbed…instead I ran my 5 miles with the least support possible!  I wouldn’t have never believed it, but it’s worth a try…nothing else has worked and there are enough examples in the book to make me believe that this is more fact than theory including some from personal experience.  For example, when I was marathon training, I was never injured until I bought a pair of $120 Asics Gel Kayano.  Prior to that I had always run on the $45 cheaper models.  Anyway, give the book a read.  It’s a good story either way and has roots in Boulder, CO!

It’s been quite a while since my last post and let’s just say it has been an interesting couple of months.  On the home front, there are really two big things worth mention.  First, I’ve moved again in London.  The 6 month break clause was exercised on my last place forcing a move last April.  My new place is pretty cool, centrally located and set up well with a wonderful roof top terrace in a great part of town.  The bad news is that it happens to be over a dance club so I get the dulled sound of euro-tech disco in my bedroom into the early hours of Saturday and Sunday.  This hasn’t really been a problem as the majority of nights I’ve been here I’ve been so tired it doesn’t matter, or so jet lagged I couldn’t sleep anyway.  The second big thing on the home front is that after 3.5 years, Melisse and I have gone our separate ways and she is enjoying life in the S. of Spain where she can focus on her art, language and love of life in Europe.

On the work front, I’ve been staffed on a project for the last 4 months in the US.  The experience has been great as we’ve been based in and around Chicago which is a fabulous city in the summer.  The bad news is that I haven’t spent much time in London and the new flat is largely unused and I heard the summer here has been fabulous.  I’m now due for a couple weeks of holiday which I’m going to spend hanging out with the family in Washington and Montana and then mix in a trip to Fort Collins for Tour de Fat over Labor day!  I can’t wait.

Hopefully I can be a bit better about updating the blog from here on out.  Special thanks to Julie Penner for keeping the blog live.

I’m also scheduled for my first cross-channel sailing trip in 3 weeks!  Can’t wait!

Well, the Austria trip was canceled as it was getting a bit complicated and expensive to reschedule the flights after the BA crew went on strike.  It’s  total bummer as I was really looking forward to the trip.  I’ve never been skiing in Europe and actually haven’t strapped on the boards since leaving Colorado so I was really looking forward to it.  Oh well…

On the flat hunting front, I think I have found a new place.  If all goes well, the documents will show up this week and we can get the process rolling and finished before I leave for Spokane next weekend.  Yesterday, Melisse and I did a bit of reconnaissance in the neighborhood to check out the local pubs and all looks good.  I won’t go thirsty!  We also stumbled upon what looks like a great Argentinian steak house about 200 yards from the flat that needs too be properly tested after the move.

BA is killing me…I’m headed to Austria this week for a short ski holiday and am not sure if I’ll be able to get home as the BA crew has planned a strike for the coming weekend. As I’ve never worked in a unionized environment, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to stop going to work because I felt I was being mistreated or thought that I was owed more. In the world I come from, when you feel like you can do better elsewhere, you go and do it. I understand that there are all sorts of sides to this discussion and I am sure some of them are even valid. However, the bottom line is that BA has an uncompetitive cost structure and service levels that lag other carriers. As a frequent traveler, the cabin crew is biting the hand that feeds them as I will certainly take my business to other airlines to ensure that I can get to where I booked as planned.

See article here

As you may recall, we moved into an awesome place a few months ago and are still learning the ins and outs of the London housing market. When we first moved over here, we were advised to get a ‘6-month break clause’ put into the lease. Apparently this is quite standard and it gives the tenant the option to move out after 6 months and the landlord the option to kick you out. When we proposed it in our first lease, the landlord did not accept it and we were stuck 12 months in a place that was too small and had a pack of screaming kids upstairs.

When we found our current place in Islington, the clause was not included in the standard lease, so we asked that it be put in based on our first experience. About 1 week into the lease, we realised that we loved the place and that we had successfully negotiated in the right to be kicked out after just 6 months. Well, our fears came true last week as we received the dreaded letter from KFH saying that our landlord would like to move back into her flat and so we start the process all over again…

I have two appointments today and I’ll let you know how it goes. If the last two experiences are any indication, I will soon be educated on some new obscure feature of the London property market.

You may recall that I’ve been having problems with my ankle / foot for the past year.  One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get this looked at so that I could start running again and maybe do a half marathon or two this year.  I asked around and was recommended to a place called Phyio4life down in Putney.  Whilst the place isn’t exactly close to where I live or work. I was told that it is the best place in London and that they will fix me up.  So far I have been down 3 or 4 times.  The first time was an initial consultation where Mark ran a few tests and checked out the ankle.  He wasn’t sure what was wrong with it at this point so he gave me a few exercises to try out and scheduled a bio-mechanical assessment the next week.  When I came back for the bio-mechanical assessment, I was absolutely amazed by the use of technology.  He filmed me on a treadmill to check my stride, how I land when running and the alignment of my feet, legs and body when running.  He then had my walk across something called a ‘Gaitscan’ which checks how my foot lands and pushes off when walking.  I was surprised how different my right and left foot were.  After the bio-mechanical assessment it was recommended that I get orthotics to put in my running shoes.  They weren’t cheap, but hopefully worth it.

The third and fourth visits were used for acupuncture.  I had never had this done before, but Mark explained that it is a way to create a micro injury on the site of the pain to stimulate the healing process.  His thought is that I either have arthritis or an impingement that is the result of a ankle sprain that I suffered almost 10 years ago.  After two sessions of acupuncture and the new set of orthotics, my ankle is feeling much better.  He’s also given me some exercises to do in the gym to build stability.  I definitely recommend Mark and the team at Physi04Life and if all goes well, I’ll be running full time again shortly.

It’s about 6AM now, but I’ve already been up for a half an hour after 30 minutes of tossing and turning in bed.  I was pretty tired at the end of the week and went to  bed early after watching a bit of the exhibition performances for the Winter Olympics.  Today I have my third and final weekend of sailing theory that culminates with a test.  I haven’t really done any of the homework, but it all appears pretty straightforward so wish me luck.

Our project in Rome seems to be dragging on a bit, but I think we’re 95% there.  Just need to update the report early next week and share our finding with the client.  If all goes well, we’ll be wrapped up by Wednesday.

While in Rome this last week, I finished a book that I had started a month or two ago called ‘The Ascent of Money’ by Niall Ferguson.  It’s a very informative book, and an interesting read if you’re ever wondering the roots of modern finance.  I really appreciated the fact that it was just updated to provide commentary on the current economic situation.

Anyway, off to get some coffee…will update after my test!

So I leave tomorrow for my third consecutive week in Rome and while that sounds nice, I wouldn’t mind being home for a week or two.  Unfortunately I have another project starting immediately after this one so it looks like it will be a busy first quarter.  Rome looks like an amazing city.  I really need to return when I have some time to explore as the history is apparent everywhere you look.  The other day we were trying to find a pizzeria (not tough in Rome) and ended up driving right by the Vatican.  Absolutely amazing!

Today I’m off to day 4 of my Day Skipper Theory course.  You may recall I took the practical course last spring, but I thought I’d go back and actually learn a bit about navigation, weather, passage planning and the like.  It’s been a good course and First Class Sailing has done a great job in putting it on.