Piss off!

So I stopped by the office yesterday's afternoon to get some work done so I would be able to be "free" on Saturday. I noticed that the market next door was way too crowded with people who were just "chilling" out there. You know, talking on the phone, drinking tea, smoking cigarettes, etc.. And there from my office window, I notice that they have turned one of the walls across the street into a public urinal. People were just stopping, unzipping, pissing, and then moving on. Whats up with that?!!

Arrows over Doha

Two days ago I went and saw the Red Arrows of the Royal Air Force perform at the Doha Cornich. I was very impressed but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because my camera is still broken and I am too lazy to do research before buying a new one. I stole this picture from one of the online blogs out there, but yeah, you get the idea.

I will learn to fly one day. Mark my words.

Still Ticking

It has been a month since my last blog post, and ten days since Ramadan has ended. You can't imagine how tiring this Ramadan has been, or how miserable training has been during that month. I had to change my training hours to after midnight, I was limited to two running sessions a week, I was dehydrated in every run, I wasn't able to lift weights, and I lost seven kilograms in about thirty five days. To sum it up I was running on an empty tank 99% of the time.

Injuries were also a problem, I had some ankle issues, my left knee bothered me for a while and my back hurts every time I think about running. I feel that I am lacking the motivation to continue training, but I can't quit, because quitting is simply unacceptable.

Other than running, nothing noteworthy is going on in my life. I finally finished a project that my boss is happy with, I am still waiting to get my GRE scores, and I tried indoor rock climbing the other day.

Rock climbing was actually quite fun, I expected it to be a lot harder than it was, maybe the wall wasn't a hard one, but it was something I plan to do more off in the future. - Note, expect video of the climb to be posted soon.

One interesting note, after going through my library my mom made the suggestion that I should switch careers and consider going the military path, she even suggested that I go into the military intelligence field. Little that she know, that has been an idea going through my head for quite sometime. At least now, she won't be totally surprised when I do it, and she might even take credit for "leading me to that path"... Who knows?

Anyhow, I am on the clock. So back to work I go.

The benefits of living by the sea

It has been about three weeks since I've blogged about me, or what I have been doing. So I think yesterday was fun enough for me to blog about it.

The last time I swam was three days before leaving the States in September. It was in
the small hotel pool in the little town called Delta in the middle of no where, Utah. Yesterday was supposed to be my long run of the week day, but I decided to forfeit that after getting in touch with some of my high school friends and deciding to go to this beach club to spend the afternoon.

When we got there, the receptionist didn't want to let us in at beginning, as he said that the weekends are for families entry only and no singles were allowed. After ten minutes of persuasion, he decided that we were respectable human beings and decided to lets us in. Of course, each one of us had to pay about 50Qrs to get in...

Once we got in, the fun started. I checked out the gym over there and it was nice. It costs about 350Qrs a month for a membership which I think is ex termly over priced. Then we swam some laps in the pool, and then after some walking around. We got to the jacuzzi.

The most memorable part of the day was once we got into the open waters, my friend Fady just wanted chill and play around, but I saw something different. As I wasn't wearing my glasses my depth perception was quite messed up. I saw two boats that didn't seem that far away and I suggested we swim to them. Fady was a little bit skeptical and wasn't sure if we were going to make it. We decided to throw all the doubts aside went like "Fuck it, lets do it man".

Being the crappy swimmer I am - sorry Jon - this swim was the best thrill I had in a while. Midway I was getting tired, I was having doubts, I was cussing the idea, and I was about to freak out. As I continued with my crawl, I collected my thoughts, calmed down, got a hold of my breathing and before I knew it, my hands were touching the port. Getting there was great.


After the high fives, and a bunch of "Dude! That was nuts!", we swam back to the beach. Surprisingly, the swim back felt a lot shorter. I swam in the pool after that for another 40 minutes, grabbed a bite, and then took off home.

I woke up very tired today, and I am doing nothing. I've earned my weekend and I am ready for next week.

-Cheers!

March Madness!

Oh yeah! March is here, and comes with it this blog. Cheers to that!

In four days I would have completed six long months in Qatar. Not much has changed, I started a new job, started hanging out with some new friends, and lost some muscle weight. I can't complain that much, it could have been worse.

One of the norms in life over here is the huge exposure to movies. As there isn't much to be done over here I am averaging about two movies a week, plus my usual TV shows, The Unit, NCIS, and CSI: NY.

I just finished watching the DVD of the Departed, and it was really good. I didn't expect that a movie with Alec Baldwin would involve any real acting, but was I surprised. Everything about that movie rocked, and I think I am getting the special edition DVD if it comes out. Mark Wahlberg was really entertaining, just watch this clip.



Next week I start training for next year's marathons. My main goal is to qualify for the 2009 Boston Marathon. My plan is to train in two sixteen week cycles, the first cycle is to get comfortable with the idea of running 26 miles. The second cycle is to get my speed and endurance up. Hopefully, if I stay injury free, I will be able to run three marathons in 2008, or qualify for Boston, I'll take what ever comes first.

-CZ