Saturday, March 31, 2007

3/31/07: 6.2 Milie Run: Cooper River Bridge Run

My friends, Susan and Teresa, and I drove from Folly Beach, SC to the starting line of the Cooper River Bridge Run at 6:00 am. This is our 11th running in 12 years. First thing to note, is that the time to leave Folly is 6:00 am. We go through this ritual of "what time should we leave" every year. Here it is recorded to hopefully help us remember next year.

We started off awkwardly. Susan had her backpack with her in our starting line car. It was intended for the finish line car. Yes, the route is a 1-way, over the bridge. I, on the other hand, put my tune belt in the finish line car. So, no music for the run for me. But, judging by the pace I maintained, it was a good thing. The weather was perfect. I felt strong the entire way. I was very conscious of the pace and ran a negative split. Man, if only I had run this smart for the Mercedes Marathon. But, hey today was good. And, with the stress I have been under, this was just what I needed.

Data

Distance:6.2
Time:49:45
Heart Rate:Not measured
Pace:8:01
Weather:Overcast
Temperature-53°
Humidity-80%


Thursday, March 29, 2007

3/29/07: 6 Mile Run: Blythewood, SC

I listened to the Daily Source Code during this early morning run. On of the folks that calls in calls himself "Nylon" as in a New Yorker that works in London. He is a bit of a hard ass and is giving Adam the business. I was thinking someone should tell him to take his fingernail polish and fix his run. OK, not that clever, but it made me laugh while I was runing.


I used my regular belt to hold my iPod today. I should have thought about this last time. It worked just fine. I wouldn't want to do this regularly as I sure the belt would prefer less salty and wet conditions. But, it was better than silence. The run felt good and the weather was beautiful.


Data

Distance:6 Miles
Time:57:13
Heart Rate:Not measured
Pace:9:32
Weather:Partly Cloudy
61°
Humidity-87%
Route

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

03/27/07: 3 Mile Run: Blythewood, SC

Well, I forgot my tunebelt. So, no iPod for the run :( The weather was perfect; the sky was dark; the road was lonely. But, I was out there. I sure wish I could read the Timex "Speed + Distance" watch when it is dark with either the built in backlight or the light I carry without stopping. But, I can't. Very frustrating.

Heard some interesting quips in podcasts lately:

Adam Curry and the Daily Source Code, "If you can't cover it up, turn it up."
Tim O'Reilly, paraphrasing a quote, "Inventers need a long view as it is NOT when the time at which a invention is invented that matters, but when the invention will be used that matters."

Data

Distance:3.098 Miles
Time:28:36
Heart Rate:Not measured
Pace:9:13
Weather:Clear skies
58°
Humidity-90%
Route

Monday, March 26, 2007

03/25/07: 8.5 Mile Run: Shades Creek Greenway

Judy and I met at 6:30 am. The weather was beautiful enough to run in a singlet (think tank top) and shorts. We ran a pretty good pace and we chin wagged (talked alot) for the entire run. Next weekend is the Cooper River Bridge Run, so no long run in Birmingham.

Data

Distance: 8.5 Miles
Time: 1:18:44
Heart Rate: 156
Pace: 9:15
Weather: Clear
Temperature-61°
Humidity-78%
Route: The usual 8.5 Miler

Saturday, March 24, 2007

03/23/07: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest editions of the Daily Source Code. A lot of talk about the Bum Rush the Charts thing. It is amazing to see how some people get so worked on one side or another of a point of view. Some are slamming the campaign for assuming people are stupid. Some are slamming it for being commercial. No one seems to be just taking it at face value. I am taking it at face value. I participated just to be one of the minions and see what happens.


Distance: 3
Time: 27:17
Heart Rate: 153
Pace: 9:45
Weather: Few clouds
Temperature-77°
Humidity-33%

Friday, March 23, 2007

03/20-21/07: 3, 6 Mile Runs: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest editions of the Daily Source Code and Phedippidations. The Phedippidations episode was about Runner's Knee and was very interesting. If you have a any problems with your knee and you run, you should check it out. I am getting excited about Steve's upcoming quest epic as he prepares for and runs the Boston Marathon again. Good luck Steve. Your training seems to be going just exactly as you would have hoped. I hope the new program you tried proves to be the magic for the PR. Dare I say "Good luck". ;)

I am finding myself extremely challenged at work. It is nice to be considered a creative, out-of-the-box thinker, but for really hard problems it can be intimidating and stressful. Yes, exciting too. But, I am feeling the pressure these days. It is making relaxing and balancing life a bit difficult. But, what can one do. There are bills to pay and more on the way.

Data

03/20/07
Distance: 3
Time: 27:28
Heart Rate: 147
Pace: 9:49
Weather: Clear
Temperature-56°
Humidity-64%

03/21/07
Distance: 6
Time: 57:51
Heart Rate: 163
Pace: 9:38
Weather: Clear
Temperature-58°
Humidity-28%

iTunes Will Sell You a Song & Not Let You Play It

On March 22, 2007, I bum rushed the charts at iTunes like many other folks that listen to podcasts. Imagine my surprise after purchasing a song from my Toshiba when I got this message upon syncing up my iPod:



Hey Apple! How about warning me of useless purchases before you take my money? Novell concept, I'm sure. I am sure I can figure out how to authorize the computer, again. But, what a pain in the ass. Imagine thinking I would want to purchase from where I can't use.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

iTunes Deletes Podcast files from harddrive during sync

iTunes is doing something weird on my Toshiba. It seems to have started since the last update to version 7.1.0.59. Every so often I get a error message like the following:


Full size...

Sure enough,the files referenced have disappeared from the file system. But, they are still on the iPod. I seem to be able to listen and delete the reference in the library and all is well. However, I fear that some of my ripped music will disappear and I will have to start patching the local library. I posted a thread on iTunes. So, if you happen to know how I can resolve this, please let me know.

03/18/07: 10.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Loop

Judy and I met at 6:30 am. It was a bit chilly at the start, but I warmed up quickly. I do wish I had taken gloves. This run seemed to go faster than the last time we did it, but time was not that different. We saw a few runners take off at the beginning, but we didn't seem to see nearly as many as we normally do. We did see some juveniles take a shopping cart from the side of the road, off the road completely, and put it in the middle of the road. This was at Greensprings and Lakeshore. This is a major intersection in Birmingham. It is unbelievable that someone old enough to drive could so easily disregard the safety of others and intentionally set up such a dangerous situation. I ran over and took the cart off of the road.

Data

Distance: 10.5 Miles
Time: 1:41:49
Heart Rate: 156
Pace: 9:41
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature-44° (wind chill: 24°)
Humidity-40%
Route: 10.5 Mile Loop

03/16/07: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the Daily Source Code on this late afternoon run. I am actually logging this on Sunday and my poor old brain can't remember if anything interesting happened on the run, so I am just logging the data. I am too busy and stressed these days!

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 27:48
Heart Rate: 156
Pace: 9:16
Weather: Clear
Temperature-59°
Humidity-31%

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

3/14/07: 5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Today, I put the iPod on music and shuffle as I was caught up on the podcasts I normally listen to while running. It was warm and I enjoyed running in shorts and a singlet. The early daylight savings time has ensured that I am running in the dark.

Data

Distance: 5
Time: 47:35
Heart Rate: 155
Pace: 9:31
Weather: Few clouds
Temperature-63°
Humidity-54%

03/13/07: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the Daily Source Code during this morning run. I bumped, not literally, into Prince who lives in my neighborhood. He ran the marathon and we have run together a few times in the neighborhood. It was good to see him and it helped add some diversity to the end of the run. Adam and listeners are reacting to a television episode about the "Global Warming Swindle". This following search string on Google will get you some good hits if you want to see more: channel 4 global warming. I have not had a chance to watch yet and I do intend to. I am sure that since this discussion involves politics, big business, and lots of passion the truth will be hard to discern.

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 29:27
Heart Rate: 142
Pace: 9:48
Weather: Clear
Temperature-54°
Humidity-83%

Sunday, March 11, 2007

03/11/07: 8.5 Mile Run: Shades Creek Greenway

Judy and I met at 6:30 am (yes, on the new daylight savings time). So, we had 1 less hour of sleep, but we got out there and got to it by running. The weather was beautiful and there were lots of runners about. At one of the water stops, I overheard on female runner telling another "I would go 20 miles with you, but I didn't bring any Gu." Well, I handed her the pack of Gu in my water belt. I don't know if that gave her a chance to run 20 miles or forced a different excuse. I hope I didn't put her on the spot if her motivation was to simply not run that far without admitting she didn't want to do it.

Data
Distance: 8.5 Miles
Time: 1:21:08
Heart Rate: 151
Pace: 9:32
Weather: Clear
Temperature-51°
Humidity-83%
Route: The usual 8.5 Miler

Saturday, March 10, 2007

3/10/07:3 Mile Run Neighborhood

I drove back from Blythewood, SC last night, about 6 hour drive. I got tired near Augusta, Georgia so I slept in the car until 3:30 in the morning. Then, kicked it on home. I got here in time to get to my 8:00 am Muscleworks class at the gym. My son said "Daddy, I want to go to the gym too." So, I took him. They have a supervised little childcare area with toys and playground equipment. He had fun. Then, when we got home, I got dressed to run and he wanted to go on the run too. So, I got out the jogging stroller. You can see the impact on my time below. But, it was fun. He and I chatted the whole way. Very cool!

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 33:08
Heart Rate: 155
Pace: 11:02
Weather: Clear
Temperature-62°
Humidity-67%

03/07/07:6 Mile Run: Blythewood, SC

I was caught up on the podcasts I listen to while running, so I put the iPod on shuffle and selected my running favorites playlist. The run felt good and man did I need the stress release. Yes, the work stuff is still keeping my strings wound tight. Today, I get in front of customers and open a session to review software architecture. This will actually be fun though as this is one of my favorite subjects.

Data

Distance: 6.064
Time: 56:14
Heart Rate: Not measured
Pace: 9:16
Weather: Clear
Temperature-42°
Humidity-89%
Route

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

03/02/2007: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Phedippidations and Daily Source Code during this morning run. I had already completed most of the Phedippidations podcast and some of the Daily Source Code episode. And, the was a Phedippidations promo talking about Steve's upcoming attack of the Boston Marathon in the Daily Source Code. It was just odd as it rolled out, because nearly sounded like one long show with a simple transition.

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 28:44
Heart Rate: 154
Pace: 9:34
Weather: Clear
Temperature-51°
Humidity-41%

iTunes Install Failure on Vista-Sometimes

My Microsoft Vista expedition continues. I have 2 machines running it now. One is my Toshiba Portege M200 and the other is on an Ancient Gateway case in which I have install a Elitegroup KM400-M2 AMD-based motherboard. Both machines told me that iTunes had an update available. It downloaded and installed (after the Vista obligatory are you sure, are you really sure dialogs) fine on the Gateway/KM400. On the Toshiba, it complained about vbscript not registered or installed and the install of iTunes aborted. Well, sure enough I had to register vbscript.dll on the Toshiba. Thanks to MSDN for having the info available to learn from.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

03/04/07: 10.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Loop

Judy and I met at 6:30 am. It was very cold, but off we went. It took several miles to get any sense of comfort for the temperature. I would have been fine with heavier gloves. Judy simply underestimated the temperature. But, we hung in there and got through it. We were both glad to see it end though. I guess since it was our first long run since Mercedes, we had simply lost touch with what it feels like to run so long.

My wife, son, and I watched the lunar eclipse last night. It was very cool. I was driving around the neighborhood trying to find a good viewing spot and it turned out to be my front yard! I am glad we did it though, very cool.

Data

Distance: 10.5 Miles
Time: 1:42:24
Heart Rate: 155
Pace: 9:45
Weather: Clear
Temperature-32° (wind chill: 24°)
Humidity-52%
Route: 10.5 Mile Loop

Saturday, March 03, 2007

03/02/2007: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code during this afternoon run. An appropriate ending to another stressful week of work. Is it just me or is everyone, everywhere complaining about stress at work. It is too bad we all seem to think that we must drive ourselves to the point where work feels more like stress than energetic movement towards attractive goals. Yet, I have to admit sometimes the former seems to rule. :(

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 27:55
Heart Rate: 151
Pace: 9:18
Weather: Clear
Temperature-60°
Humidity-18%