May 27 2004 Update - England, Sweden, New York & Triathlon Training

Welcome everyone to my new Blog. I think this is a fantastic way for me to keep you all up-to-date with what's going on in my life. You can log in whenever you feel like it and check up on me. And if you think it's been too long since I've written, then you can send me a whip-cracking email, or even dare to pick up the phone and call me.

Most of you should know by now that I am participating in the Ford New York Triathlon on June 27th, and that I am raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through the organisation Team in Training.

I am quite pleased to say that my training is going well, despite having been out of the country for two weeks for my brother's wedding, a holiday in Stockholm, Sweden and a work conference in London.

While I was in middle England (near Stratford Upon Avon, just outside of Birmingham), for my brother's wedding, I only managed one training run, but it was great. Steep hills, rolling meadows, sheep ba'aing at me along the way, and fresher air than New York can ever dream of. The only other training I managed during the wedding festivities was bending my elbow, in sure English style. The wedding was very stylish, but also a lot of fun. It was great to have all my family together again. I was the MC - Master of Ceremonies - and ran around ensuring things went off smoothly, which I must say they did. We danced the Hora, we boogied to a fabulous band, we toasted to lots of speeches, we posed for plenty of photots, we were 'wowed' by a fantastic troupe of young Irish dancers, we sighed romantically as we watched Mark and Karen dance their wedding dance to Always & Forever by Luther Van Dross. It was a long day and night, with perfect weather and a wonderful atmosphere.

Then I went to Sweden for four days to visit my good friends Sofia and Sven. The weather was perfect and I managed two good runs in warm weather. I managed to wind down and relax as well as hanging out in the city, going to see a jazz band, watching Sven perform in a Swedish folk choir, picnic at the King's palace, drive through the rich neighbourhoods to look at houses, attend the Stockholm Jewish Film Festival (saw the American film 'The Hebrew Hammer'), and have dinners and lunches with family and friends. Oh yeah, and do a little bit of shopping (as always!).

Then I flew back to London and worked at DB's London office and at my group's conference. It was held in the fancy Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge. Alas, the hotel didnt have a pool, so I ran around Hyde Park instead which was great. I managed to visit with Graeme Duffy one night, and with Nova Young and Simon for my last couple of days. On my day, Saturday, I did a 40km (26 miles) bike ride from central London out to Richmond Park with Nova and Simon. That was great, even though I had to contend with the London traffic on narrow roads and a mountain bike with clip pedals (and I do not have clip shoes). Never mind, coz it got my blood pumping before getting on the plane to return to New York.

This past week has been exciting with Rebecca Better and her daughter Zoe, and her mum Anita Wail, visiting from Melbourne. We've wandered Soho, Riverside Park, South Street Seaport and went to see the Lion King on Broadway (which has fabulous music, costumes and choreography).

I've been training now for 14 weeks and have about 4 weeks to go. My improvement is tremendous, but I am still really, really scared. I'm told that the adrenalin on the day will keep me going as well as the encouragement from the crowd. I think the fear of letting anyone (including myself) down will also be a factor that will keep me going for that finish line. My goal is to cross the finish line with some sort of dignity. At this stage, I am confident of just crossing the line - dignity? - well, we'll see about that!

I still haven't yet reached my fundraising goal, and many of you have told me that you would be happy to sponsor me. Please contact me if you want to sponsor me and need some more info.