SAN PEDRO, CA -- Well, only two more days until I am off and at 'em once again! I know, I know, not all that surprising or impressive at this point, but I am finally wrapping up an incredibly busy week of work and starting to get excited about this trip!
I will be traveling with People to People Student Ambassador Programs, as is usually the case when I am not traveling for work or personal vacation, and I am thrilled for all of the students I will be traveling with for a couple of weeks! For most of them, they have never left the United States - indeed, most of the passports are so new you can hardly open them. Many of them have never left their home states of California (half of the group is from the LA-area) or Pennsylvania (the other half is from PA). Needless to say, jumping on a 14-hour flight from LAX to BNE (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is not something anybody does everyday, and for an 11 or 12-year old, it is a truly life-changing experience to do this with your peers and in an academic setting.
I will save most of the preview for the trip for now, since I will be blogging as much as possible from the trip itself and it will be more fun to read "live" and with pictures, but in short, our itinerary takes us to Brisbane, up to Rockhampton, MacKay, the Great Barrier Reef via Daydream Island (yes, that is the actual name of the place), Toowoomba (yes, another real name, and the second-largest inland city in Australia), back to Brisbane, Sydney, and then back to LAX. My next post should be from Queensland!
Since my last post, I have actually stuck around the LA area for a change. Had a nice Independence Day in Santa Monica with some Penguin Highway members and other friends. Mainly, I have been RUNNING the past few weeks, and I am currently halfway through week six of 18 for my Chicago Marathon training. This week's schedule: Monday was a rest day, Tuesday I ran 3 miles in Burbank in 95F heat, yesterday I ran 6 miles in Burbank in 91F heat, today I'm running 3 miles down here in San Pedro in much cooler weather, tomorrow is off, and then Saturday morning I am doing a whopping 14 miles in Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Marina del Rey, and Malibu first thing in the morning before our Australia trip! Saturday's run will actually be my longest pure running run ever (I've done more distance, but with significant walking involved). A couple more stats... June was my second-best running month ever, at 79.2 miles, and as of last night, I have now crossed the 800-mile running mark since I started tracking and seriously running in August 2010!
Beyond that, work has been going really well, but as I mentioned earlier, I have been insanely busy - mostly a good thing though. Roger Federer smoked then-#1 Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals and then dispatched hometown favorite and world #4 Andy Murray in the finals for his record 17th career Grand Slam win, tying him with 7 career Wimbledon wins, and restoring him to his rightful place as the #1 tennis player in the world. On Monday he will set a new record for 287 career weeks at #1... do the math and think about how insane that is. Oh, and he's 30. No big deal. Check out this excellent article on Roger that was posted today. Also, check out another excellent article focusing on Novak Djokovic, who was the world #1 for the past year, posted yesterday. I'll tease you with a couple quotes:
Article 1:
Article 2:
I will be traveling with People to People Student Ambassador Programs, as is usually the case when I am not traveling for work or personal vacation, and I am thrilled for all of the students I will be traveling with for a couple of weeks! For most of them, they have never left the United States - indeed, most of the passports are so new you can hardly open them. Many of them have never left their home states of California (half of the group is from the LA-area) or Pennsylvania (the other half is from PA). Needless to say, jumping on a 14-hour flight from LAX to BNE (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is not something anybody does everyday, and for an 11 or 12-year old, it is a truly life-changing experience to do this with your peers and in an academic setting.
I will save most of the preview for the trip for now, since I will be blogging as much as possible from the trip itself and it will be more fun to read "live" and with pictures, but in short, our itinerary takes us to Brisbane, up to Rockhampton, MacKay, the Great Barrier Reef via Daydream Island (yes, that is the actual name of the place), Toowoomba (yes, another real name, and the second-largest inland city in Australia), back to Brisbane, Sydney, and then back to LAX. My next post should be from Queensland!
Since my last post, I have actually stuck around the LA area for a change. Had a nice Independence Day in Santa Monica with some Penguin Highway members and other friends. Mainly, I have been RUNNING the past few weeks, and I am currently halfway through week six of 18 for my Chicago Marathon training. This week's schedule: Monday was a rest day, Tuesday I ran 3 miles in Burbank in 95F heat, yesterday I ran 6 miles in Burbank in 91F heat, today I'm running 3 miles down here in San Pedro in much cooler weather, tomorrow is off, and then Saturday morning I am doing a whopping 14 miles in Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Marina del Rey, and Malibu first thing in the morning before our Australia trip! Saturday's run will actually be my longest pure running run ever (I've done more distance, but with significant walking involved). A couple more stats... June was my second-best running month ever, at 79.2 miles, and as of last night, I have now crossed the 800-mile running mark since I started tracking and seriously running in August 2010!
Beyond that, work has been going really well, but as I mentioned earlier, I have been insanely busy - mostly a good thing though. Roger Federer smoked then-#1 Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals and then dispatched hometown favorite and world #4 Andy Murray in the finals for his record 17th career Grand Slam win, tying him with 7 career Wimbledon wins, and restoring him to his rightful place as the #1 tennis player in the world. On Monday he will set a new record for 287 career weeks at #1... do the math and think about how insane that is. Oh, and he's 30. No big deal. Check out this excellent article on Roger that was posted today. Also, check out another excellent article focusing on Novak Djokovic, who was the world #1 for the past year, posted yesterday. I'll tease you with a couple quotes:
Article 1:
For me, the separation of Federer from everyone else comes in what he's done when he hasn't won. True, the 17 Grand Slams are bananas, but it's the 33 consecutive quarterfinal appearances in those Grand Slams that remain beyond comprehension and -- to me it is this fact that trumps almost all others' feats in all other sports -- that seven-year period in which Federer reached at least the semifinals in 23 straight Grand Slams. That is like Woods going seven years straight and never coming in worse than fourth in a major. Just let that marinate for a minute. Finished?
Monumental and epic, even. It really affirms the one element that characterizes greatness more than anything: Consistency. That separates Federer from sports icons and transcends into non-sports categories when trying to universally determine precisely what greatness is.
Article 2:
"My ass would get kicked so fast and so hard," says Ivan Lendl, the No. 1-ranked player through much of the 1980s.
"The level of play is mind-boggling," says John McEnroe, commentating for NBC during a recent match. "I'm still trying to figure out how these guys do it."
Here's how: In his rise to the top of his sport, Djokovic has turned himself into a case study of what it now requires to be No. 1. Every detail is crucial. Every angle is considered. Every moment a chance to gain an incremental edge.
His food is gluten-free. His drinks are a combination of half a dozen vitamins and minerals. His sleep sometimes comes in a hyperbaric chamber. His reading material is about body awareness and mindfulness. His stress is tested using a biofeedback device. His water is lukewarm during matches because cold fluid idles too long in the stomach. His free time is, in fact, "recovery time," arranged by a professional scheduler. His celebratory beer in the locker room after winning a tournament is just that -- a single beer, a reward meant to entice performance.
On that note, I am off for my next run. Have a great couple of days everybody, and I will post next from Australia!!!
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