If It's October...It Must be MCM Time

October 27, 2008. This year I talked Jane into running the Marine Corps Marathon with me. We largely trained together throughout the summer and planned on being able to complete the marathon somewhere between 4:45 and 5:00 hours. Although I would have been happier had our times been closer to 4:45 we both finished at 04:53 (Jane) and 04:55 (George). The day before the race was cold and rainy. However, the rain stopped overnight and the morning was mostly clear skies but still quite humid early in the morning. The starting temperature was okay (probably somewhere in the upper 40s) and went into the mid-60s as the race unfolded. A tad warmish for me but overall not bad. Early in the race I got a nice picture of Jane running with the mascot of the Washington Nationals baseball team.....none other than Teddy Roosevelt (see picture at left). As we crossed the Key Bridge into Georgetown there was a lot of ground fog that was enveloping the buildings on the Maryland side of the bridge that looked neat but reminded me of the humidity that would sap the strength out of me if I started to sweat too much. I saw many bigger guys perspiring very heavily and this kept me focused on drinking water and taking a Succeed electrolyte caplet every hour.

The course this year was different that in past years. Of course the start was the same crush of runners slowing moving toward the starting line which took approximately 10 minutes. Later we ran by the Capital building around mile 18...right when you start feeling the Wall. However, we handled this section well enough taking a few short walk breaks. However, after I passed over the 14th street bridge I developed some unpleasant nausea around mile 21 and around mile 23 told Jane to just push on without me to the finish while I tried to manage my finish. Luckily, I met up with Jane a few yards beyond the finish line and was able to get a quick kiss before we headed-off to the finisher's area. Job well done....ooraah.

Gettyburg Trip

October 27, 2008. Earlier this month Jane and I went to a scientific meeting that was held in a hotel/convention center near the Gettysburg Battlefield. We had visited Gettysburg several times over the years but it still is interesting coming and looking over the battlefield. The last morning of the meeting Jane and I did an early morning run through the battlefield. Beginning around 6:15 am at the High water mark we ran toward and over Little Roundtop, down to Devil's Den and continue through to the peach orchard. By the time we reached the Peach orchard the sun was coming-up over Little Roundtop leading to beautiful sunrise over the battlefield. We continued the run over to the Southern side and ran the last mile over the pastured ground that was Pickett's Charge back to the High water mark. Here are some other pictures I took during the previous day when we drove and hiked around the battlefield.

Loco for Moko

October 20, 2008. Last Friday Jane and I went down to the National Geographic Society to attend a seminar entitled: Tā Moko: The Art of Māori Tattoo. The speaker, Derek Lardelli, was a very elegant and engaging speaker and took the audience throught the historical origins of Maori tatooing, or Moko as it is referred to. Unlike the tatoos we're more familiar with in America, the Maori tatoos signify one's genealogy and play important roles in their culture. Whereas the tattoos appearing in pictures of 19th century New Zealanders were etched into the skin to create scarification ridges and grooves (representing the upheavals of the earth during volcanic events in New Zealand) current Moko is similar to modern-day skin tatooing. The highlight of the seminar was when a native Maori disrobed down to his underwear to point out the various tatoos on his body, including his buttocks, and their meaning. The NG Explorer's Hall museum was supposed to be open late so that guests coming to see the seminar could view a new exhibit, Whales Tohorā, but evidently someone didn't tell the them that and the exhibit was unfortunately closed. so Jane I spent a half hour walking around the area and unexpectedly saw the White House (see picture below) which was neat....especially when we saw snipers walking around on the roof. That's called turning lemons into lemonade.