A surprise for me at National Harbor, MD

A Sunday outing on Aug 18 to National Harbor in Prince George's County, MD turned into a surprise for me. Located to the south of Washington DC and east of Alexandria, VA, it was a new 300-acre waterfront destination where one can work, live and play.

For example, the interior of Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, the largest non-gaming hotel and convention center on the Eastern Seaboard, was impressive. There was a village-like setting of shops and restaurants inside the huge center foyer, enclosed by an arc glass roof and wall which allowed a temperature-controlled environment to beat any harsh season, e.g. a hot and humid summer Sunday afternoon.

Every building or street looked new. It looked like Singapore to me, clean and modern. While strolling along the waterfront, many yachts were docked at the marina.

One could also hitch a water taxi to Alexandria, VA which was located across the 95/495 Capital beltway bridge.

The surprise was this art sculpture called The Awakening which I had seen photographs of it at Baltimore photographic booths. I had always wanted to take pictures of it but did not know where was it. The work of J. Seward Johnson, Jr. comprised of five different aluminum pieces, a head and four limbs, buried in the ground. The facial expression and positions of his limbs gave me the impression of a buried man gasping for air. It is so intriguing and fascinating to display an artwork in this captivating manner!

Atlas, visitors to National Harbor were as excited as me, especially children who climbed on his face. I had to wait patiently or tried out angle shots to keep my background free of people. Anyway, I was satisfied that I had a few good pictures of him without people. Further, I must commend on a group of well-behave children who waited for me to finish taking pictures before they rushed over to climb on his face.

National Harbor album.

Cool internet tool for tracking distance

Shuzhen introduced me to this website, called Gmaps Pedometer which allows runners, cyclists or anyone interested to measure the distance of their favorite routes.

It offers versatility of metric and English units. Interested in elevation of route, no problem. For those who count their calories, just enter your weight in the "calories burned" box. The mile markers can be toggle on or off. It even allows you to manually calculate dirt track which is not possible in Google maps.

Now, I can know exactly the distance I covered.

Spotting a new look

I have been growing a beard for fun. It took me a week for it to be fully grown and grows around my mouth and chin. My sides are not dense enough to complete a full beard.

I had to ask people with beard how do they keep theirs tidy. Scissors, of course. Ahem, I was thinking of hair clipper.

Six personal friends had commented that I look good with it. Others had asked me for the reason behind it. One said that I still had not shaved after she met me one week later. I am trying to get used to it and I think it makes me look older. The upside is that I do not have to shave everyday. Just every other day to shave at my lower lip and sides.

Well, let's see how long this beard can survive.

My first baseball game at The Camden Yards, home of The Orioles

There are two major sports which Americans love, football and baseball. Can you believe that in my almost 4-year stint here, I have not been to either.

My chance to experience a baseball match came when I saw an article in Inside Hopkins Newsletter about watching a baseball game and donating to The Baltimore Heart Walk. It was a win-win situation where I bought two tickets. The other ticket was for Tom, my American friend who could explain the rules of baseball.

On Sep 6, I wore an orange t-shirt to show my support of the Baltimore Orioles. We took the light rail down to Oriole Park at Camden Yards since we did not have to find parking space and deal with city and game traffic. You can see that Baltimore is proud of its baseball team, even the light rail train had advertisement of Orioles. For your information, Baltimore is a.k.a. Birdland.

Besides the Camden Yards is The Sports Legend Museum which used to be a train station, actually the country's first commercial railroad in 1865. Exhibits include Orioles related news and Babe Ruth, a famous American baseball player of whom I first heard of by watching an animation called "Everyone's Hero."

Having some spare time, we visited the Orioles merchandise shops. Personally, I found the selling prices were steep e.g. a jersey could go for $100. I was tempted to buy a mini baseball bat or a foam glove as a memento, those which you see on televised matches with fans waving in support of their favorite team. Fortunately, a long line at the cash registers prevented me from getting them. Bottled water cost $4 and beer was $5.75 and do not mention food prices.

Before the game between Orioles and Texas Ranger, there were some entertaining gigs involving Oriole's mascot, none other than the orange-and-black oriole bird, pitching to kids. You can also see relief pitchers of both teams warming up in the pen or bullpen.

Luckily, our seats in Section 67 were shaded and breezy. One could tell an Oriole fan by the color he was wearing. The match started immediately after the national anthem and that was when Tom started explaining to me about balls, strikes, outs, innings etc.

I got better at determining whether it was a ball or a strike as the game proceeded. Spectators around the home base could scramble for foul balls which flew into the stands.

Between games, there were entertainment such as Fan of The Game where fans at various locations of the stadium were shown on the large screen and race among mustard, ketchup and I-forgot-the-last-condiment hot dog race. Playing at home ground had its advantage of support from fans, demonstrated by their clapping, cheering, and shouting, "Charge."

We left the game around 7th inning when Orioles was leading 7-0 to take the light rail so as to beat the crowd.

Next on my list is the other American favorite sport, a football match at M&T Stadium.

Orioles at Camden Yard pictures.

Learning more with longer distance

Last weekend, I completed my first 21 km/13.1 mi run while yesterday, I barely survived 25 km/ 15 mi. As I was wearing a lose t-shirt, my nipples were sore from constant rubbing of the t-shirt during the 21 km run. So, for yesterday's run, I donned a tight-fitting Under Armour shirt which extirpated the abrasion. However, my inner thighs suffered from abrasion as my heavy legs began to rub against each other. I would need to wear running thighs.

Running the last 5 km/ 3.1 mi was hot since the sun was climbing to its peak height and I had ran out of water. Wearing a shade did not helped much with the 12 o'clock sun. I would have to wear a cap. The marathon on Oct 10 will start at 8am. Projecting that I will take at least 5 hours plus, I would still be running around 1 pm. So, I am thinking of running faster in the morning to cover as much as I can before the heat drain me of my energy.

After a long run, that whole day would be gone as I was exhausted and aching. Marathon day is drawing closer and I have to keep up with the grueling training. My knees are aching and complaining at the 10 km/ 6.2 mi run on weekdays. Sometimes, my knees buckled at going down steps. I will have to see how far I can beat up this tired body of mine.