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.
www.kaftoun.com
Share this
Digg
Del.icio.us
StumbleUpon
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Googlize this
Blinklist
Facebook
Wikio
Print
E-mail
Friday Morning Run - December 9, 2011
This week I ran six times, covering a total distance of 21.3 miles in a 4:03:00 hours and an average pace of 5.26 miles per hour.
Sat Dec 3 – Ran with the group to AAA and back to parking lot. It was the first time I do the full loop. From AAA up the hill and back to the parking lot, I ran with Sulaiman Bin Malik and we challenged each other. He is the one to watch for golden ones...
Sun Dec 4 – I loved the 1:30 on, :30 jog pattern and I was challenged by everyone in pack.
Mon Dec 5 – Did not run, only aqua running.
Tue Sec 6, Regular 6x800m session, I was getting slower as time went on, 4.36, 5.02, 5.11, 5.23, 5.42, 5.47.
Wed Dec 7 - Ran down peninsula to Hobby Farm and up Riyadh Blvd with Sulaiman. Good pace and good run in 32:55 minutes.
Thur Dec 8 – Did the fitness mile at 7:00 am with Sulaiman, Shiraz and Joey (all colleagues of mine). I came forth completing the mile in 8:53 min. Sulaiman and Shiraz got medals. Joey put in a great effort!
Fri Dec 9 – Ran with Tanner, Mike and George. Goerge and I completed 6 mile, although George is suffering from an injury. He pushed me so hard, I felt that he was St George slaying the JAYMAN dragon. I will get him for this sometime in the future....
On Thursday after the Wellness Mile race at 7:00 am, I had to go on a bus trip to Al Hassa hosted by the department I used to work in about 16 months ago. It was good to see everyone, and they all noticed my transformation into a fit individual, for they had not seen me in a long time. I told them about our group. It was exciting for them to listen to my story and those of them that were on the heavy side wanted to know how they can start in the program.
I felt guilty however leaving the group on an important day such as the “Wellness Mile” day and not helping. Next time I hope to be with all of you and do a better job at helping. The TOD helped me get stronger and made me realize how important it is to have support. Three cheers to all of you guys who stood in the rain and the cold weather to light the road for us and to cheer us on.
Thank you coaches Ian, Teresa, and Mark (pool)! Welcome to all the new group members!
I love running! Stay fit!
Data for this run is at the URL: http://connect.garmin.com/player/133455144
