Lou Reed R.I.P.

And so another hero passes.

I can only say that he was a genius His music, especially that of The Velvet Underground, has become part of my life, my consciousness, I can't imagine my life without his music being in it. R.I.P. Lou.

Happy Ever After

The wedding was a really good family time. Lots of tears and real enjoyment of the day for the bride and groom.

Walking around Ware I didn't feel anything. Although it was familiar a lot had changed.It wasn't the town I grew up in.

Family Celebrations

I am off to a family wedding. The first of my nieces and nephews is getting married at the weekend. The wedding is back in what is for all intents and purposes my home town as I moved there when I was 18 months old from North London. I haven't been home for almost 20 years.

I didn't enjoy growing up in this sleepy market town 20 miles from London. I left there to go University at 18 and rarely went back. When my parent's moved to Norfolk I wasn't bothered.

It will be strange to go somewhere I lived for 18 years but have little feelings for. Maybe those feelings will come alive when I walk along the High Street.

Keeping On Running

I went for my first run since the Berlin marathon last night. I ran home from work so it was around a 5 mile run. It was wet and very windy and cold. As I ran I reflected on the long Sunday morning summer runs and how warm it was and how long ago that seemed already.

The run went well and this morning I have only minor aches.

After the Marathon I had planned on taking a month off but after 10 days I just had to go for a run. So I will run once a week or so until I start my training for the Sunderland Marathon in the New Year.

Berlin Marathon

I completed the Marathon on Sunday 29/09/2013 in 4:48:39,under my target time of 5 hours. I was pleased with my run and although I felt a bit sick at the end that soon passsed and I was walking around Potsdam the next day in little pain and generally feeling better than after some of the long training runs I have completed this year.

I now have my eye on another international marathon. I am considering Chicago, because I have always wanted to go and it would be a perfect excuse to combine that with running my fourth marathon of the 10 marathons I am aiming to complete by age 60.

I've said it before but Berlin is a magnificient city with great places to visit and things to do and is, for a capital city , remarkably cheap. We stayed for four nights in a studio appartment for less than than we paid for two in a studio appartment in London. Food, drink and travel are all good value for money.

We stayed on Wilhemstrasse only a fifteen to twenty minute walk to Unter Den Linden in a place rented from this company . It wasn't luxurious but it was clean and warm and good quality and our appartment was handily located around the corner from a Netto and bars and restaurants that were even cheaper than nearby Freidrichestrasse.