Back on the road for me....

It's been several months since I last posted on Sharad's blog. After getting routinely asked "Why I haven't posted anything?", I finally succumbed to the friendly peer pressure and agreed to post something again. Not that I have anything interesting to write about, however, I agreed to give it a go.

My last post was about how to finish a marathon in under 5 hours. Since then, I have been trying to run 3 times a week just to stay in good running condition. I haven't run any more races, but I'd like to try and get one more half marathon in before the end of the year. If anyone is interested in running and has a suggestion for a race, feel free to email me at morriswt@gmail.com.

One of the interesting things that I did this summer was spend a week in one of my favorite cities, New York City. I had a few objectives with this trip, namely, relax with friends, see the Billy Joel concert at Shea stadium, and hang out with my brother and sister-in-law. Because this is my 4th or 5th time in the city, I skipped all the touristy parts of the city and just relax. Even though I had seen the natural history museum and museum of modern art, I enjoyed seeing these again because the museums had changed things up since I had last been there. I tried getting tickets to David Letterman but didn't get in, however, my brother and sister-in-law did. I guess I am just unlucky in that department.

Each time I have visited NYC, I have made it a point to do some sort of crazy walk - even though I like riding the subway and getting to places quickly in the city. The crazy walk this time was somewhere in mid-town (sorry don't remember start of the location) all the way down to Battery Park in southern Manhattan. This was not just walking straight down one of the streets. It was a more of a zig-zag down to the park. In the end the total distance was slightly disappointing at about 5 miles, but I still enjoyed the walk and seeing the city.

I did get to see two new things in NYC that I hadn't previously seen in my other visits to the city. I decided that since both Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium were being torn down after the baseball seasons ends, I better try to get to a game. I got to cross off my list the visit to Shea Stadium by going to the Billy Joel concert. The concert was absolutely fantastic. I am a huge Billy Joel fan and really enjoyed seeing him play live. The concert also had a number of guest performers because of the significance of it being the last concert at Shea stadium. These included Tony Bennett, Don Henley, and John Mayer.

I took in a Yankees game and enjoyed the sounds and sights of the game. One thing I did find interesting is that in the bleacher seat sections alcohol wasn't allowed, so I couldn't enjoy a beer at the game. I survived. I told my friends that the next visit to Yankees and Shea stadium would be when they decide to tear down the new parks since I waited so long to see the old parks.

So now to the title of my post…"Back on the road"….It's been nearly 24 months (September 2006) since I last traveled an extended period of time for business. I have enjoyed my time off the road - it has allowed me to train for a marathon and have a routine in Minneapolis. I guess I wasn't planning on spending nearly 24 months off the road, but hey that's the nature of the consulting business.

Two weeks ago I started traveling for an extended project in Seattle. Although my part on the project will only be a total of about 6 weeks, I must say it feels kind of weird being back on the road. I guess I have gotten used to my routine in Minneapolis. I have found it is a little harder to go running due to the project and team outings after work. I also have noticed that my alcohol consumption has greatly increased. - Yeah I am back on the road again. I am trying to get back on track and have run twice during the holiday weekend and am going to run at least 2 - 3 times a week for the rest of the time I am in Seattle.

I was kind of hoping that getting back out on the road for business would re-energize me. So far I have mixed feelings if I really feel re-energized or not, but that is a whole different post for a different day.

A quick note about my impressions of Seattle - this is a very clean town. Breathing the fresh air and the lack of trash in the downtown area is great. The downtown area is also somewhat hilly. It reminds me of downtown San Francisco in this way. I am staying downtown near the pier. I have gone on several 3-5 mile runs along the pier. I have also run by the space needle. I must say that I was under-whelmed by what I saw. You aren't missing much if you haven't seen it. (Sorry to all the space needle fans). I don't know if I could actually live in Seattle, although I am very much a city person. It has rained here quite a bit, but also there have been days where it hasn't rained. So it isn't quite as non-stop as some people would have you believe.

The public transportation system seems to be very favorable here, although I haven't used it yet. There is an extensive bus system and also several free ride zones in which you can ride the bus for - you guessed it - free. Maybe it's my liking to trains and subways, but I wish there were some sort of light rail system. I've heard there are trolleys but haven't found them yet. I do like the fact that I can walk and get exercise that way.

Well hopefully you've reached the end of this post, learned a little bit about Seattle, and had a relaxing holiday weekend.

Tim