Swiss City Marathon 5 Mile Run

My race bib!

Well, I finally did it!  Today I ran my first (and probably last) 5 Mile Run at the Swiss City Marathon in Lucerne.  As a non-jogger, I am quite proud of having accomplished this feat–from zero to 5 miles–all within the space of a single month.  Let me tell you my story.  

A new Schnügel has been discovered!

OLINGUITO UNVEILED: A new mammal was revealed as the first discovered animal species of its kind in 35 years. The olinguito weighs 2 lbs. and looks like “a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat.”

—NBC LA, August 23, 2013

A new Schnügel has been discovered!  😀  Well…  I’m a little behind in my blog posts, so technically, it was discovered back in August, but I didn’t get a chance to blog about it until now.  😛

I ♥ Schnügels.  It’s my favorite Swiss word.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, let me backtrack a bit and give you a brief history on my introduction to the origin of this word. 

The 4th Dimension

Last week, I was having drinks after work with my friend A-, and I dunno how the topic turned to this, but at one point, I brought up how I once learned that there were 3 ways to love someone:  mental, emotional, and physical.  And of course, while you point these out, there are the requisite accompanying hand gestures pointing to your head, heart, and crotch, respectively.  😛

I forgot where I first heard this, but I think the description is apt.  You DO love with your mind, body, and soul.

But then A- twisted one on me and mentioned that these 3 aspects could also be applied to health…  but with the addition of a 4th dimension:  spirituality.

Hmm…  I’d never thought of that one before.  Interesting.  I pondered that thought for a moment.

But I’m not religious, I told him.  I dunno if I consider myself spiritual.  What does that even mean, anyway?  A- mentioned that he’s not deeply religious either, but he IS spiritual.  

Run 4 Kids 2013

Got a company T-shirt with an official bib!

Today I participated in the run4kids 2013, a charity run of the Swiss Finance Forum.  I’d never heard of this organization or this event prior to this, but apparently the Swiss Finance Forum is one of the most important platforms for the financial and IT industry in Switzerland, and they sponsor this run every year.  My friend J- told me some of his team at work was going to run for charity, so I figured I might as well take part, too.  After all, I needed to get some training in for the Swiss City Marathon 5 Mile Run next Sunday anyway, and run4kids is for a good cause, so I might as well join if my company was already sponsoring a team.  Win-win all around, right?

So this morning–despite a miserable night’s sleep–I dragged myself out of bed and made my way down to Rentenwiese park.  It was kind of exciting to check in at the tent and get my personalized bib with race number.  Gosh, my first race bib!  I felt so official.  😉  

Smoked Salmon Buttered Toast

Smoked Salmon Buttered Toast

I love to eat.  Unfortunately, I’m not exactly the world’s best cook.  In a way, I suppose that’s a good thing…  or else I would probably be a fat cow from eating all my cooking.  I try to dabble a bit here and there, but mostly my food obsession is limited to staring at recipes and photos online while shoveling whatever grub I can get my hands on into my mouth…

But when I am in the presence of someone making good eats, I do try to watch and learn…  so I can possibly recreate the masterpiece at home.  Usually I never bother to attempt my version, but today I was recalling a summer barbecue at my friend J-‘s place, where I had helped him prep some smoked salmon buttered toast.  As I recall, they were simple enough to put together, and the result was delish!  

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

As I mentioned when I started blogging again, I just started jogging a week and a half ago to train for the Swiss City Marathon 5 Mile Run.  I think I’ve been overly enthusiastic about my ability to run 5 miles and have run 9 times out of the past 12 days.

On Saturday, I felt a twinge in my left thigh, which was probably a sign that I was overdoing it in my attempt to go from ground zero to Speedy Gonzalez.  I was quite disappointed when my friend A- told me I really need to take a break before I seriously injure myself, but it’s probably for the best.  😦  

The International Comedy Club

Woot, woot, I finally went to my first Funny Laundry show this past Friday!  Of course, they’ve now changed names to The International Comedy Club, but still…

I first heard about this gig via English Forum a couple of years ago.  At the time, I was mildly curious but never actually got around to going because:

1. I wasn’t sure about my tolerance for British comedy (ya know, it’s still not the same as American humor),
2. I was a bit cheap back in day (still not quite over the sticker shock of moving to Switzerland), and
3. I wasn’t sure who to go with (I wasn’t brave enough to attend on my own).

So I put this thought on the back burner and promptly forgot about it.  

Howdy folks, I’m baaack!

Howdy folks, I’m baaack! Yup, after two months of falling off the blogging bandwagon, I’m finally ready to write again. I was getting worried that I was turning into one of those bloggers that started off strong and then fizzled off over time.

So what’s happened in the meantime?  I guess life happened, that’s what.