heat wave

we have been having a bit of a heat wave here on the east coast.  naturally, the air conditioning for half of our house broke at the end of last week, and lucky for us, our room is on the 3rd floor of the house.  temperatures in our room were in the 90s for most of the weekend.  we slept in the empty basement room (which was at least 20 degrees cooler) on saturday night because it was too hot.  last night though the new housemate had moved in and we were confronted with a night in our room again.  i opened the door that leads out onto our small patio just to remind myself that it was hotter outside than in, but what i discovered was a very nice breeze.  in fact, it felt cooler outside than in our room.  so last night we opened the three large windows in the front of the house and the door in the back (our room with its bathroom and closet takes up the whole 3rd floor), let the ceiling fan run and discovered that, though warm, it was actually quite pleasant in our room.  the breeze and fresh air were lovely.

we move into our new (permanent) place on wednesday.  it will be nice to have everything out of storage and not be living out of a suitcase.  i am excited to play the piano (keyboard) and not have to fight for space in the refrigerator.  and the timing of the move is perfect to find anything i think i might use for leadville next month and take it with me this weekend.

saturday will be my last long training run before leadville--50 miles.  i hope to test some more nutrition ideas.  we had to fill out medical forms this weekend for the race which is bringing home how soon it really is.  i was perusing the leadville 100 website and discovered why i should be glad i did not go out for training camp this year...snow.  there was so much of it that it was not safe to run part of the course and on another section they had to "make" trail through the snow to be able to run it.  i am wondering what this bodes, if anything, for next month.  i wonder how high the water will be in the stream crossings, how cold the air temperature will be and if it will snow.  racing in the cold is a different animal from racing in the heat, so i know that no matter how much i train, there will probably still be some things i am learning or experimenting with while i'm racing.  i suspect this is why so many people tell me that "life" is training for these races--doing things when you're hungry, tired, cold, hot and sore while doing your best to keep your attitude positive and your body in forward motion.  i am excited though to say the least.

movement

"The body was designed to move and movement is the great elixir of life. Where there is lack of movement life becomes stagnant and stale. Human life is a mind/body event. Simply put, what you think affects your body and what you do with your body affects your thinking. So if you wish to improve or change the output of this continuum you are best served by addressing both."

~Author Unknown

I thought this was beautiful. Movement is a very powerful thing.

bonjour!

i decided that at least one of my pictures should have me in it to prove that i am in fact here in belgium and taking these pictures. we had a "light" day at the conference. i went to one of the keynote lectures and then, set off in search of food that didn't involve french fries, mussels or mayonaise (i wonder if belgians really do eat them all together as we're told or if they just tell the tourists they do and then laugh when said tourists are not looking).

no, i wanted something less heavy and something that my body was more used to digesting...so i went in search of belgian vegan food. about a block from the lovely arch above sits the little restaurant and store pictured below.

i grabbed a to-go lunch full of all sorts of different veggies with all sorts of spice combinations i had never had before. most were winners but i wasn't a fan of whatever was on the artichoke. i ate in the sun on a lovely little bench in the park on the other side of the arch.

when i finished lunching, i continued on my self-guided tour of brussels and happened upon this:

brussels is the captial of europe. i wandered around the streets checking out all the e.u. headquarters buildings. outside of one of them was the following story:

aside from the gender confusion, i think we need more teachers like him/her. that teacher makes me want to learn too.

that and my experiences reading the other signs about the history of the e.u. brought home needing to learn a bit more about world history (exercised my freedom of choice and elected to not take that course in high school!).

my tour then led me through the rain to central station and then to the grand place for a tasty late afternoon waffle break. i saw the palais, a church that appeared to be on the palais compound and then did a lot of window shopping as i wound my way back to my hotel.

i am happily sitting down now.

belgium

there are lots of lovely walkways in brussels. the weather here has been sunny and very pleasant given the heat of maryland at present.

i gave my talk, poster presentation and co-chaired a session at the conference today. late afternoon i decided that was enough work for one day and it was time to go play tourist. i headed towards the grand place and enroute stumbled upon st. michael's church. the stained glass was amazing. the above picture is the organ, which seemed to be floating in air and which sounded incredible echoing through the space.

i arrived in the grand place to discover that the square was being overtaken. the police informed us that a "medieval spectacle" was taking place that evening. there were grandstands set up and people walking around in tights and puffy hats looking like they just came from a graduation ceremony (they were in costume). hundreds of people filled the square as evening went on.

i was kind of stalking this guy when i realized what he was doing. when i walked into the square, there was music playing and a beautiful, but kind of eery? voice singing. it was perfect for the location. i stood there listening for awhile taking it all in with all of the other tourists milling about...and then i noticed someone who appeared to be wearing a microphone. this was the guy singing. they were testing his microphone settings and he was walking about the square amongst the tourists singing, but he would put his head down so unless you paid close attention he looked like everyone else. a few other people started noticing though and also stopped to listen. the square is all stone and surrounded by taller buildings. the acoustics are amazing. it was incredible to just stand and listen.

i have two more days left of conference time. i am thoroughly enjoying it but hoping i will be able to take some time to explore brussels a bit more while i'm here...and maybe eat more than just belgian dark chocolate and fresh baguettes!