Friday Morning Run - December 16, 2011
This week I ran six times covering a total of 21.51 miles in 4:08 hours at an average pace of 5.19 miles per hour. The "Feel the Burn" event held in collaboration with the firemen, was certainly the highlight of this week. It was great running with the community! My colleague and next door neighbor in the office, Shiraz Mushtaq, a 39 year old man, ran the 3K in 16:09, a very respectable time for someone who is a casual runner. As for me, just before reaching the finish line I could hear the loud shouts of "Jayman" from the group members gathered around. This made me feel so special! Thank you all very much for without your encouragement I would have never come as far as I have in this short time.
I always loved in people the extreme, never tolerating the in-between. Unfortunately, presently I am one of these in-between people. I am in-between the starter pack and the next level one. When I run on the track the starter pack is starting to reject me. They say: you are faster than us, go on to the second pack. The second pack is not aware of what is happening and they go on their merry way without noticing me. I tried one time to run with them, but could barely keep up. The same happed to Sulaiman when he was promoted by the coach. We told him to buss off and go with the other pack. Most probably he felt rejected. He ended up running in-between the two packs on his own. As I improve, I am having difficulty leaving my pack. I love my pack; I grew up with them. What am I to do?
I am heading on the 20th to Virginia to have Christmas with my family. I will run with my eldest son who is training for the Austin TX half marathon. I can't wait to run with him. My running is starting to influence my family, they are all starting to exercise more and get fitter. I never tell them anymore to lose weight and get fit, I just do it myself and they follow my example.
I love this group! I love running! Thank you coach!
Data for this Friday morning run is at the URL: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134728937
This lovely mountain resort town is perched above the eastern end of
the beautiful Kadisha Gorge and at the foothills of the Cedars of Lebanon.
It is the brith place of Lebanon's most famous author
Khalil Gibran. It has a small museum which pays tribute to him.
Beiteddine palace was built over a period of thirty years by Emir Bechir Chehab II.
It's architecture reflects the typical oriental architecture of the 19th century Ottoman Era.
It is remarkable for its glamorous
arcades, multicolored mosaic floors, reception rooms, harems, hammams
and even by its guest house "Diyafa" where passing guests were lodged
(French poet Lamartine stayed once there).
Detail of the Sarcophagus of Ahiram, king of Byblos, seated
on a cherub throne, before an offering table, 13th century B.C (National Museum of Beirut).
Around 1200 B.C. the scribes of Byblos developed an alphabetic phonetic script, the precursor of our modern
alphabet. By 800 B.C., it had traveled to Greece, changing forever the way man communicated.
Located in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, Baalbek is an ancient city
that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Originally
Canaanite (3rd century BC), the Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines,
and Arabs successively occupied Ba'albek and left their imprints on the
place, often modifying what existed previously.



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