Longest run

This morning I completed my longest run. I can’t remember the longest run of my youth, but ever since I re-discovered running in November last year, this is my personal longest: 14.26 km. On my iPod+ Nike set I was congratulated by Lance Armstrong for completing my longest workout to date. But even more important than (pre-recorded) Lance’s congrats is the personal victory. About two years ago I suffered herniated disc which pinched a spinal nerve and numbed my left leg. For about a month the leg was numb and although I could walk, I could not control it when climbing the stairs or when getting out of the car, off the chair in the office, etc. More often than not, I ended up sitting on the floor, left leg balking under me. During the 2-month-long physiotherapy I re-gained the feeling in the leg, but it stayed weaker and prone to cramps. Jokingly, I told the physiotherapist that I supposed running marathon is out of question. He smiled and said I could do it if I set my mind to it. Well, judging by the run today, I am on the right path.

After that victorious run we visited our favorite dim sum restaurant Ruby’s in Scarborough. There I found the Ten Commandments for Drinking Tea, which I selflessly want to share with you here:

Maggie, my Asian doll, was in charge for ordering bite-sized delicacies from the passing carts. Sure, I could have done that too, but I’d need to resort to the sign language, because I don’t speak Chinese and the ladies pushing the carts don’t speak English. So I just leaned back and watched Maggie in her element. She asked me why I like looking at her? I could not explain that every move of hers is like a dance of a butterfly in mid-air, and all the pirouettes of her arms, all the nods, smiles and winks are so familiar, yet so new to me that I’ll never tire watching her. Instead, I just smiled.

Ahhhhh, Barcelona! Here we come!
It’s official—we booked the plane tickets, redeemed all the travel points collected on our Visa cards, and come September we’ll be enjoying the vacation in Spain. We’ll have 14 days to explore Barcelona, its Gaudi, Picasso and Dali, its food, life, culture and people. Maggie is busy compiling the list of the places we should see—I’m afraid it’ll grow quite long in the 4 months until the trip, but at least the countdown has begun. We squabble about the hotel booking; we want it cheap and in downtown, but “cheap”, “downtown” and “Barcelona” don’t go together in the same sentence.