Slip sliding away.

I realised I never posted anything about my ski holiday to La Plagne, France. So here goes...

I obviously survived with out major injury and we had a fantastic week. The hotel was excellently situated right on the slopes and next to a chairlift which meant we could be out of the room and on the slopes with in 5 minutes in the morning and apart form a couple of ropey days the weather was good and the snow was great.

We had gone half-board and considering the cost of the holiday the food was very good and due to it being a mainly buffet style arrangement I ate far too much in the morning and at night. Morning was a battle to restrict my croissant/toast/egg/yogurt/fruit eating to one go at each, a battle I frequently lost and in the evening my main nemesis was the desert section. Each night they had a selection of options with flan bases dominating the scene with various toppings but the main problem was the ice cream chest. That is right we had open access to 10+ flavours of ice cream. Mint-choc chip, vanilla, lemon sorbet and raspberry were regularly features with an open guest spot each night for the various other flavours. Suddenly my time at LA might have a much more obvious cause.

The skiing at La Plagne was very good with the options of many changeling blue, red and black runs. We all pushed ourselves to try higher levels than we are used to and I think it is fairly safe to say that by the end of the week most of us had taken a good number of falls, which is what a skiing holiday is all about. The highlights for me though were the Glacier and the snow parks they had available. It took us most of the week to get to the Glacier as wind higher up kept closing the one lift you could use to get there but when we did it was well worth the effort. The snow was great for off-pisting for Martin and I and Gayle and Andy had some great slopes to work down as well.

Also on the Glacier was the Ice-Grotto. This was a huge caveren that had been carved into the glacier and wher lots of very large ice sculptures were created. When we had to pay 3 euro for the priledge of entering I was unsure but I have to say it was amazing. Very well done and lighted nicely and more than a little scarry thinking that you were underneath so much ice. It was very cool to see different layers of ice and earth in the walls of the grotto as over the years the glacier had melted and frozen over again.

The snow parks were very well laid out and kitted out, with lots of jumps and course to test our 'mad' skills on. After seeing the ski-cross at the Olympics we had to have a go on those courses, not as crazy as the Olympic one but still great fun and for me the main aim of the holiday was to improve my jumping ability. There was a beginners set of jumps which actually scared be half to death but somehow we all managed to survive, if you haven't noticed yet, survival was the key word of this holiday. There were three jumps in a row all pretty tame looking until you went over them and all though the video show that only a few inches of air were achieved it felt like you were flying.

The main event though was a big adult sized jump they had set up, it was over 6ft high and at about at 45 degree angle, and what made it irresistible was the big ass air cushion they had positioned after it. What could possibly go wrong? We had been looking at this obstacle all week trying to find the nerve and then on the last day we thought sod it, lets give it a go. As I vowed to keep these blogs short and to the point I won't break down the full story but the key points are as follows, Martin and I decided to go first and after paying our nominal fee for use of the cushion we lined up with a couple of snowboarders in front of us. First person we see go down was a girl on her board who appeared quite nervous, she should have trusted her instincts. She was so nervous that when she got half way up the jump she decided to shave some speed off, big mistake. Her board dug in and as her face bounced off the top of the jump and she fell over the other side, not making the air bag we all had time to reconsider how wise this really was while the first aid team picked her and her teeth up. Her friend was next and learnt the lesson and cut speed before the jump and made a nervous little jump which I have to say I don't blame her.

Me next, now I seem to have something slightly mis-wired in my head because all I can see is an image of me acing a triple tuck mid-air spin with a graceful landing. As soon as the cushion was clear I point my skis and go, briefly hearing the guy at the start of the jump mumble something at me. No slowing down for me, I admit to great trepidation as I near what seem a wall of ice that forms the jump and I hit the jump at full whack and gracefully fly through the air arse first until I land on my back with skis in the air about one third of the way into the cushion. Not quite what I had in my head. Martin follows suit and successfully make sit to the cushion with a lot more height in his jump. When he gets off he explains to me that what the guy at the top was saying was you had to start further down the ramp where the big start flags were, not just hammer it from the get go, oopps.

Next jump Andy decides to join me, now please remember that Andy has only been skiing once before this holiday and I have never been so impressed with some ones lack of regard for life and limb as Andy. His skiing is still at the beginners stages but his willingness to have a go at what ever run we are doing is brilliant. Andy goes first on the jump this time and after having got his very long skis wedged into the start gate he makes a great effort and lands safely on the air bag. So far so good, the problem here is that now I have my ego kicking in, the male part of the brain that says "you da' man!" and "you can do it!". We had seen a few skiers go down and do some nice flips and twists and you know what, I thought "I CAN do that".

Well as it turns out, I can't. I had a good run up, launch was great, started to spin into a back flip, in my head the cheers has already started for awesome display of athleticism, that is when I landed on my head and got a ski in my face. After a second of being quite stunned, I managed to crawl off the air bag and was quite convinced I had cut my head up and was bleeding. It turns out the only damage apart from to my pride was that I had bit my tongue but hey it hurt at the time.

To be honest after the adrenaline had worn off several other aches and pains kicked in, especially my right shoulder which had taken a bump earlier in the week (cough, Gayle, cough). All in all though a well worth it experience, not something you get to do every day.

And with that it was over and so unfortunately was the holiday as well.

Well apart from a very early morning high altitude hill workout by running up through La Plagne town centre which resulted in a near asthmatic David and an iced up beard. Odd feeling that.

Brilliant ski holiday location and great company. Next year I get them to come to Canada.

Heat, Hills, Hydration and no Hollywood ending

This weekend I took part in the 25th LA Marathon. I shall cut away any suspense and tell you that my finishing time was 3:25:06. Which give or take a few seconds is 15 minutes slower than my last marathon and about 25 minutes slower than my goal for this race.

Am I disappointed? Errrrmmm, the answer is I'm not sure.

With Chicago when I got my 3:10:54 I felt and said at the time that it was one of those perfect races where everything comes together perfectly. This was payback for that race. I don't want anyone out there thinking I'm making excuses for my performance with what is to follow, I'm not, I ran the time on the day that I was capable of, there is no need for excuses just reasons that I didn't do better, which most of them were under my ability to control. 3:25 is still a good time and one I'm honestly happy with, just at the same time disappointed too :)

It was the 25th anniversary of the race and the first time that they have used the new Stadium to Sea course, running from Dodger Stadium through Downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and into Santa Monica.

I initially had intended to try for a sub 3 hour race in LA and had whinged at, moaned at and generally annoyed most people at PRR in my attempts to achieve this, for which I do apologise for. They are an amazing source of tips, help and most importantly encouragement and I do feel that if I let anyone down it was them. By the time race morning cam round I had already re-evaluated by goal to be around 3:05 with the intention of at least beating by Chicago time.

I headed out at around 4:20 per kilometre thinking of staying ahead of the 3:10 pace group. Unfortunately I had been in the starting corral for quite a while before the race started and with in the first 500 metres of the uphill start I need to make a visit behind a tree to relieve myself, I was not the only by the way. Having got that out the way I sprinted off up the hill to catch up with the 3:10 group and tried to get into a pace I was comfortable with.

My first major mistake in all of this was not giving the elevation profile enough respect. The overall profile of the race is downhill and it was far to easy for me right off any bumps in that line as just that, bumps, they weren't. Hills are not my strength and from the starting line we tackled a few respectable inclines and my sympathy goes out to the wheel chair racers as several were really struggling early on and one even got out and pushed their chair up the hill (I kid you not!).

I took the early up and down hills to hard and basically drained myself before the race really got going. At mile 7 I was still a little way ahead of the 3:10 pack when I was passed by a man in a Minnie Mouse costume. I have to say while I do respect the runners out there that can do it in costume and help buoy the spirits of flagging runners, it does nothing good for me.

Mile 9 I felt everything come apart. I have hit "The Wall" in previous races but always after Mile 20. When it happened so early in this race it completely demoralised me. My legs were feeling heavy, my breathing was not even and was a little raspy, I was soaked with sweat already and I had another 17 miles to go. The 3:10 group sailed by and at that point it was the first time I have considered dropping out of a race.

Mile 9 to 10 was a very low point for me. But I have hit hard point in races before and I know you can come back from them and I really did not want to drop out. So I readjusted my goal from time related to survival. I decided that if I wanted to finish the race I was going to have to cut the pace and just get through the miles.

The course I think was great, we went through or past many famous landmarks and for a change I do actually remember seeing them. The Hollywood sign, Capitol Records, Sunset strip, The Chinese Theatre, Rodeo Drive, The Beverly Wiltshire Hotel, Echo Park (a high point for me) and many others and I would recommend this race as the organisation was fantastic, water and powerade were plentiful, volunteers were great and spectator support was good. It was just not the course for me to run a good race.

From Mile 10 the heat of the day had started to build and it became about me making to the next mile marker and water stop. I always walk when I grab a drink as I think the seconds it costs me to make sure I drink plenty with out choking on it are made up for by keeping properly hydrated. This time I was walking most of the length of the water stop and probably drinking too much.

Mile 13 came and went and normally I feel good at the halfway point as I know it is at least half done. No such feelings this time as I just saw another 13 miles in front of me. I think one of my biggest failings in this race was the lack of mental preparation I had done. I normally from a couple of weeks out start picturing different parts of the race and how I'll feel and how I'll deal with things if they are not going to plan and to have little mantras to keep me going (it might sound stupid but it works for me) I had done none of that this time and my brain was working against me.

One plus I could take while I was running, was that everyone else seemed to be struggling too. I have never heard so much swearing from a group of runners. So many times when I was passed or passed some one I could hear them cursing under the breath about the course, their personal god of choice, their decision to run anywhere let alone 26.2 miles. Also I have never before seen so many people taking walking breaks in the sub 3:30 crowd.

At mile 22 the 3:20 pace group came on by which surprised me as I thought I had seen them earlier on and this gave me hope that I could still finish in under 3:30. I know how silly it might sound but my major concern about finishing was getting back to the hotel before checkout time. They would not give me a late checkout and with the race starting a little late and me being a little slower it was going to be cutting it close. Another tip for future runs, don't have that sort of thing hanging over you, it does not help your concentration.

From that point the course was pretty much all downhill to the beach. I am a big lover of palm trees and to be running along the sea front with huge palm trees lining the road and crowds cheering you in was brilliant. I had developed a tunnel vision a little towards the end, seeing the finishing line from a mile away focused my attention, but I tried to wave at kids cheering us on and to enjoy the moment.

Crossing the line was emotional. Not everyone feels this way but a lot do. It is the accumulation of 4 months of training and a lot of effort and you see many people just break down in tears or laugh hysterically. I did neither but I it was one of the strongest feelings I have had at a finish, happy to be done but disappointed at the same time and I still haven't resolved it in myself.

The biggest factors I believe that played apart were I went travelling 5 weeks before the race and I didn't maintain my training properly during that time. I went skiing a few weeks ago took it's toll on my body, I had a few spectacular falls and I'm still feeling them now:) Not mental preparing myself for the challenge. All things that are my responsibility and under my control, so bad Davey! But still things I can improve upon for my next time.

The heat and humidity on the day were more than I like and if you have read previous blog entries you will notice my aversion to heat, I'm a sweaty runner and my body has just not adapted to running in warmer weather. To be fair though, there was a very nice breeze through out the course and I can't place any blame on bad weather.

I want to thank all the people that listen to me go on about running and always encourage me and show patience no matter how trivial my issues are, so thank you, it is noticed and greatly appreciated!

One for the money, two for the show. three to get ready, let's go, go, go...

I'm off, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, ta ta for now. At silly o'clock in the morning I leave for a week of skiing with my friends which WILL be accident free and a fantastic time. We are going to La Plagne in France and the weather looks good for us at the moment. I have a spare few moments while the washing machine is on so I'm taking this moment to say that I will probably be going dark for the week. Not that I don;t want to brag and blog about how great my holiday is but I sent an email to our hotel and the Wi-Fi costs are crazy expensive.

Today has been a general mad rush to get things done before the morning and I had some interesting moments with work as our Internet Host decided to relocate our server last night and this morning our online payments weren't working. Some very tense phone calls in which I said all the usual stupid stuff you say to a support helpline like 'This is really important and urgent' like I would be calling and suffering the support charges if it wasn't. All sorted now though and even cleared a few outstanding jobs this afternoon too, so I can go on holiday with a clear conscience.

To treat myself for all my hard work I decided that I really needed to get in one last long run before the holiday and I begin my taper for the LA Marathon on my return. As the wind was howling I took the highly unusual decision to run on a treadmill, I know, you're shocked, but still. Having no car and missing the bus by a few lousy seconds I walked the couple of miles to the gym (honestly, no more complaining about the one in my apartment building).

My fear from yesterday was realised as I started off on the mill as the ambient room temperature was just as high and humid and with in the first few miles I was soaked and to be slightly indelicate, even having lubed my nipples they were already chaffing on my soaked singlet. I had to use every mental trick in the book to get anywhere near completing today's run. It was just a plain slog. I ticked off 5k then 10k then counted down until I had been running an hour, working in both km and miles to what ever provided the most interesting target at the time and then converting it in my head anyway to take my mind of the puddle I had become.

One ting that did work quite well was when Countdown came on. For those who are unaware of this afternoon British institution, a very quick description would be a quiz show where contestant pick 9 letters, choosing from either vowels or constants and then have 30 seconds to make the longest word they can. Everyone who watches it secretly want the god of chance to spell out a naughty word as the letters are chosen. there is also a number game as well to keep the math head people happy. Since I have left they have retooled the show as the Americans call it and I have to say Carol Vorderman's replacement is non to shabby. That took my mind of the run for a while.

Anyway, the target had been for a 22 mile run, all I could coax out of my body was 20 but to be honest given everything I'll happily take it.

After the gym I headed off to a local pub where I meet up with some good friends and had a good meal and drink while catching up with all the goings on. I even learnt about a chap in the bars girlfriend called Angela who is was being extremely vocal about.

Now I'm home and need to get my stuff stowed away for tomorrow, with only my skis and poles packed I really should get a move on but packing has always been a bit of an issue for me, hence the distraction of doing the blog to put off the inevitable.

I do hope to get on-line at some point during the week and catch you up on my goings on and to report no serious injuries but if not a week Saturday is when I'll be back blogging again.

As always, thanks for reading.

Time on my hands, errr... I mean feet

It is another late night entry into my blog so yet again I will try (I really do try) and be brief.

Tuesday I went north, well north for me at any rate, and visited Andrew, my boss, to get some work done that I couldn't do remotely like install some new computers and hook up printers etc. It was an early start considering I had not yet been in the country for 24 hours and I struggled to get up, especially as my alarm didn't go off due to my mobile phone not auto changing the time to the new zone.

After getting on my way my I had to stop after a mile to fill up with petrol (gas), and while Canadian gas is expensive, British petrol has you beat cold, I think a credit check was run on me before even pulling to the pump. £1.12 per litre (about $1.80 Canadian).

A few quick differences between my journey across North America and driving in England. First off, advertisement free radio is great, Radio 2 oh how I missed you. Secondly, I love 70 mph speed limits after being restricted in Canada and most of the I-90 it was great to be allowed to get up to a nice speed, in fact I almost felt naughty going at that pace. Next even with a 70 mph limit, it does not mean you can do 70, roadworks massive congestion and variable speed limits with average speed enforcements cameras make life a real hassle. I covered over 3,200 miles in 4 days yet going 130 miles took most of my morning. That being said there was some great scenery as I got closer to my destination with rolling hills and farms dotting the landscapes with some lambs in the field made it seem a worthwhile experience.

One last thing on driving, my mantra for the last few days has been clutch, clutch, clutch and also left damn it, drive on the left!

Work was good and I got a lot done and with Andrew converting a lot of his barns into housing and offices for the company it was great to look around the site and see all the developments.

I got treated to some great food and company and even thought my idea of going out for a run in the evening was dashed by some heavy snowfall I still had some fun watching the women's ski cross.

The morning saw too much snow and ice on the ground to run again and after all the good food I keep getting treated too I was starting to get a little worried about the race which is less than 4 weeks away now.

I got all the work assigned for the first visit done and then some and headed off back down to Wellingborough in the early evening. I made better time back and as soon as I arrived I decided to get out for a run even with some crappy weather outside. Martin laced up his shoes too and we headed out for a steady 10 miles (16k). After a few days off it was hard to begin with and the undulating hills took some getting into but I enjoyed the run and was happy at least to cover some ground.

Today has been hectic with getting some of the actually programming work done that Andrew I highlighted during my visit and with the hire car going back it has left me again with out transport which is a real bug bear. I was due to run with the local running club tonight Wellingborough District Athletics Club (WADC) but I really need to get some of my own plan done so instead headed for the old reliable treadmill. I used to do a lot of my work outs in the Waendal Gym but going back in after being away I noticed how incredible hot it was in there. It could be that it is busier than I ever remember but it made for a tough run, which in some ways I really needed but I was absolutely soaked when I finished.

I'm going to try and get a long run in tomorrow before heading off skiing on Saturday, but I am now nervous about trying that in the gym if it is going to be that warm but I will probably end up there as running long outside makes hydration a nightmare for me.

After the run and some food it was getting quite late but I did have time to catch up with some great British TV. I'm a big fan of last man standing where a group of men travel around the world and compete against local tribes in there own fighting techniques and endurance events. Now they have done Last Woman Standing and it is a great show too, although I must say that I don;t think that it was an accident that wrestling was the first show, hair pulling and angry women make good television that's for sure.

On a connected note I caught the opening of the Canada Vs. USA Women's Hockey match, 2-0 when I left it, GO CANADA!

Right off to bed before a ramble on any further.

Back in the Homeland

Since jet lag is hitting hard with another 5 hours disappearing from my day, I will try to keep it brief today.

After gate changes, delays and false starts I finally arrived back in to the UK at 10:30am this morning a little over an hour late but all in all not a bad journey. All bags accounted for and they even came off the carousel early on so no complaints. A big thank you to Andy for turning out and fighting snow, roadworks and traffic to pick me up.

The temperature was about what it was when I left Boston but with the rain and sleet I knew I was home.

The snow on the ground in Wellingborough was already melting when we got there by midday and has continued to disappear during the afternoon. I'm hoping that it will stay gone whilst I'm back, I have a fair amount of travelling to do and could do with it honestly, no matter how pretty it might make the countryside.


After settling back in at Martin's and opening some post that has been building up since I left, with a few nasty surprises to boot, I sorted out a rental car for this week so I can get around whilst I'm back. Strange, I actually miss the Skytrain.

The car has proved to be a little bit of fun for me, twice getting into the wrong door then revving very loudly and trying to ram it into first gear with out using the clutch, but these issues got quickly sorted out under the very worried looking gaze of the rental agent. The thing that I am really having to concentrate on is which side of the road to be on. The Brits may not want to hear this but it just feels more natural to drive on the right. The main problem is when you first start of each time, I just tend to head off on instinct and have to make a quick adjustment under the glare of oncoming drivers. It's all good honestly.

With car sorted and under control I headed over to my sister's house for a fantastic roast dinner where I was able to catch up on gossip and to get up to date with my Mum's latest quiz questions she is stuck on. unfortunately tiredness was taking its toll and I had to leave too soon. With a quick trip to Tesco (Equiv. Safeway) for some essentials I was back to the house where I was greeted with the awesome smell of fresh baked biscuits that Martin had decided to make. not to be ungracious I quickly ate my fair share / body weight to show my enthusiasm for them.

Tomorrow I'm off up North (it's grim there) to visit my bosses farm and to get on with one of the major reasons for coming back, work. I don't think I will be posting tomorrow night as I'm staying over there and it seems rude to disappear halfway through the night to my blog but I will do an update on Wednesday.

A side note, anyone who has seen me recently may have noticed my attempt to grow facial hair. I have been in Beardwars with Martin, with neither of us shaving since January 1st. Those that know us will quickly realise that I was the underdog in this race and getting back to day quickly revealed that there would be no surprise victor. Pictures will be posted and even a Facebook page will be created to vote for Beardwar winner which I will post a link for once it has been sorted. All of this does mean though that as as of Wednesday I will be resuming normal grooming habits but not before I think that I shall have some fun coming up with designs for my face as I shave off the excess. I was thinking handle bar style mustache but November is the month for that I would quite like to keep my goatee as I tend to look about 12 with out it. Again if anything interesting emerges I will post some pics.

Night all, I will sleep deeply tonight.

Heartbreak Hill Preview

I'm sitting in Boston's Logan airport and have found a plug a free WiFi so I thought I would try to get a post in today.

At the minute my flight is showing as 10 minutes late but I'm hoping this shouldn't effect my connecting flight as I have a hour or so spare that end. Fingers crossed. Checking in was a bit nail biting anyway, my main bag felt a little heavy and when I put it on the scales I had a whole half pound to play with, so all good.

After a week of basically no running I got up this morning and thought I really had to get something done before flying to the UK. So I looked up the Boston Marathon course and worked out that I could run most of the last quarter backwards and then double back on myself and run it to the finish line. The main thing I have heard about the course is something called Heartbreak Hill which is at about mile 18 just when energy is running low. I though now was a good opportunity to scope out this obstacle so if and when I get to race the course I will have at least some idea of what I'm in for.

I set off and after getting far too hot yesterday I was dressed more appropriately for today's effort i.e. shorts not running tights, still had the gloves on though. After negotiating a few back streets around the apartment I found the tail end of the course and proceeded to work backwards. The wind was even higher today and I was heading straight into and when it blew, gee it was cold. One good thing (kind of) is that the tale end of the course is mostly downhill but as I was going at it backwards the first 4 miles was all uphill into the wind. If I thought I was the only one to think of running part of the course I was very, very wrong. I have never seen more runners other than during a race. There were individuals and training groups out doing hill repeats, long runs, sprints and every other kind of training going. With a couple of months to go it seemed that people are taking the race very seriously. It actually made for a good atmosphere and I was offered water by some of the groups who had tables set up for there runners.

I hit my turn around point and started up the series of hills just outside of Newton that make up the Heartbreak Hills. I would say that they aren't much but even after just doing 7 miles before facing them they were certainly an unwelcome addition to the run so after 18 miles at a faster pace I can see them being a real pain.

I ran back into downtown Boston to where I thought the finish line is supposed to be but I have a sneaking suspicion that I was slightly off as it seemed to be a bit of a back street but will check when I get a second. I completed the run by finding my way back to the apartment which really is very close to the finish (maybe).

After a quick shower we headed off for my Target fix (best shop in the world ever) and found a great restaurant near Carolyn's for lunch.

I've just heard I have a gate change so I'm going to head off and hope to be back in Britain by the morning.

Boston Warm-Up

Waking up today at well passed 9 o'clock and not having any driving to do what so ever was fantastic! After lounging around for most of the morning I decided to get us out of the house and to see a bit of Boston. I have been here before back in 2003 but I didn't take any photos on that holiday so I decided to correct that a little today.

The weather in Boston has warmed up a little over the last week and today it was showing at least a couple of degrees above freezing before the wind chill factor was added. I'm not overly bad about running in the cold (expect gloves, I need gloves even if there is a breeze) but the thought of going at a recreational pace and stopping to take photos meant that I dressed up in what I reserve for the coldest runs, mainly running tights. Few have seen me in running tights and never in daylight but needs must and all. So with me in hat, tights, two top layers and thick, thick gloves and Carolyn in a running skirt and long sleeve-tee we headed out. One block later I had removed the hat, two and the sleeves got rolled up, three and I was sweating, the gloves stayed on.

I must say it was actually cold if you stood still and the wind was nasty but the sun was out and when it was on you it felt great. I had intended to take us to Boston Common and back, a gentle 4 mile (6K) run, but after we got to the park and I had stopped a few times for some shots I pleaded my case to go on a little further and much to my surprise Carolyn easily agreed, I did say it was a nice day.

From the park we followed the red line on the ground the indicates the Freedom Trail that travels through Boston to highlight most of the historical places to do with the American Revolution. The line is a little bit worse for wear these days and we lost track of it several times but managed to pick it up at the key points, mainly the site of the Boston Massacre (a whole 5 people died) and the North End Church where they hung a lantern to let people know if the British forces were coming by land or sea. There are lots more we saw and the trail is well worth the time exploring if you are ever in Boston.


By the time we had got to the church the wind had picked up a little more and we both decided that hunger had won out and we should head back to the apartment. I have to say even though I had sort of lost track of the directions we had turned to get there, looking at the GPS route later, I think I did a pretty good ob of getting us back in a fairly straight line. I will say thought that is was no accident that we ended up going past the location where the Cheers bar was set for the popular TV series and I had to get a shot of me with the sign. The run ended up being more like 8 miles (12K) but well worth the extra distance.

After having this taster of running around Boston, I look forward even more to coming back for the marathon in the next couple of years. Boston has some great history and architecture and should be a great setting for keeping my mind of the 26.2 miles (42.2K).

The afternoon saw a bit more tourist stuff with us walking past the Christian Scientology Church and Copley Square with Trinity Church to name a couple. Also a trip to the Cheesecake Factory happened to fit into the schedule too.

After a day of running and walking, this evening seemed like a good time to take it easy so with a cinema only a couple of blocks away we went to see the Rom-Com 'When in Rome'. This was never going to be Oscar worthy stuff and the plot if not obvious from the trailer was blatant from the beginning but my tastes have never been that high and I enjoyed it for what it was and it passed the evening nicely.

I have now checked in for my flight back to the UK tomorrow evening via New York so I doubt I will post tomorrow but will be back hopefully on-line on Monday. I have been told to expect cold and snow when I land so I am interested to see what I'll find.