The Marathon Season officially begins

My marathon awaits in the fall, but the traditional marathon season of baseball is now under way. It has been incredible so far, and not a whole lot of sleep. We had our traditional Opening Day ceremony at the MLBAM HQ in Manhattan, including the ceremonial first pitch in the cafeteria, and I really do think I have one of the best jobs in the universe. I think a lot of people around the world are still dazzled by the MLB.TV Mosaic product that we unveiled yesterday. It has to be seen to be believed, a total game-changer for a baseball fan and technology lover. It's your own TV control room, drag-and-drop thumbs to switch from one live game view to another, with fantasy player tracker, live everything, just unbelievable. The whole Opening Day was unbelievable, from Edgar Renteria's game-tying and game-winning homers in Philly to all that pageantry and finally that Angels bullpen at 1 a.m. ET. Here is my story on the MLB.com homepage to see how everything unfolded across the Majors on the greatest day on the calendar.

One more game is on the Opening Day docket today: Padres vs. Giants. The chase resumes for the all-time home run record (Barry hit seven homers this spring and will pass Hank pretty quickly) and it's a chance to see Barry Zito across the Bay in a Giants uni. It also will be interesting to see Bruce Bochy now managing against his longtime former Padres club. Then, of course, there are 15 more home openers coming up in the next week when the teams now on the road return home. Opening Day is no longer just Opening Day. It's Opening Night, then Opening Day and Opening Week. Lots more pomp and circumstance to come. I'll head out to Yankee Stadium sometime in the next few days, and then out to Shea Stadium next week to see the Mets. I am going to wander up to Fenway Park and down to Citizens Bank Park sometime in the next month or two, but one other priority that I will be playing with today and tomorrow is finding a tropical beach for 3-4-5 days, maybe end of April. Perhaps Dominicana...I added this to my Travel Photographers group as well and anyone there who wants to throw out a good, easy, white-sand-relaxation, tropical-getaway suggestion, feel free!

Off to run Central Park. My next run is the New York Road Runners Half-Marathon: Brooklyn, on April 14, 13.1 miles. The NYRR stages five Half-Marathons during the course of a year, one in each borough, as a build-up toward the ING New York City Marathon that goes through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan in November. I ran the Manhattan half in January and might do one or two more. Feeling great. I hope this is a strong week. I have been amazed at how there are just times when you will feel like total crap out there...and times where you look down at your legs and ask them, "How are you still moving?" Also of special note, someone in our offices yesterday said, "Wow, your face is a lot thinner." It's funny being a runner.