July 15-20: Running & Cycling in Birmingham

A friend of mine, Prince Whatley, crewed for Sarah Lowell at the Badwater Ultramarathon this week. The results tell the story of the distance, participants, and times without the details. But, Prince talked about his experience during this Sunday's long run. It sounded extremely interested and like he had an experience he will never forget and one that is rewarding. He is pictured behind her in several of the pictures (he is wearing the patriotic shorts).

I have taken on a new task at working looking into how to use social networking. This is an interesting phenomenon occurring on the web and within computer science. So, I am thrilled at the assignment and hope I can squeeze enough time into it to do it justice. It is rapidly changing and still emerging.

I tried Reformer Pilates after my ride on Saturday. I felt it in my core and legs on Sunday. I liked the class, but with so much time spent on running and cycling each week, I will be focusing on free weights for most gym workouts.

I listened to these podcasts to these week:

• This American Life: show #293: A Little Bit of Knowledge.
• Puppet: on Technometria with Phil Windley
• Science Friday
  
• How Mars And Mercury Are Shaping Up
• Why Americans Are Obsessed With Bottled Water

Data

July 20, 2008: Birmingham, AL Brownell-Shades Creek Running
Distance:	11 Miles
Time:	1:47:59
Heart Rate:	138
Pace:	9:49
Weather:	Haze Temperature-74° Humidity-76%
Route

July 19, 2008: Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain Park Cycling
Distance:	24.27 Miles
Time:	1:27:58
Heart Rate:	128
Speed:	16.55 mph
Weather:	Haze Temperature-72° Humidity-73%
Route

July 18, 2008: Birmingham, AL Neighborhood Running
Distance:	6.2 Miles
Time:	57:06
Heart Rate:	144
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Haze Temperature-69° Humidity-78%

July 16, 2008: Birmingham, AL Neighborhood Running
Distance:	6.21 Miles
Time:	58:16
Heart Rate:	141
Pace:	9:22
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-75° Humidity-58%

July 15, 2008: Birmingham, AL Neighborhood Running
Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:24
Heart Rate:	137
Pace:	9:07
Weather:	Clear Temperature-64° Humidity-84%

July 8-13: Running & Cycling in Birmingham

I got my first "real" bicycle ride this week with my friend Edd. Of course, I nearly caused him to crash. He said "we will turn left up ahead". He meant the next row in the parking lot; I thought the road passed it. He was on my right and started to the left. I kept going forward. Well, we both nearly went down, but didn't.

The Rev. Jackson quip caught on tape this week reminds me about how much it just rubs me wrong to hear such mean comments from those that portend to be a leader especially with a label like "reverend". There was nothing edifying in his comment. Gees whiz!

I listened to these podcasts to these week:

• This American Life: show #327, By Proxy.
• Phedippidations: Show 144, Moving to the Music
• Daily Source Code: Show 775 (Adam goes off deep end on conspiracy crap)
• Software Engineering Radio, Episode 24: Development Processes Pt.1
• IT Conversations, Episode 10: StackOverflow with Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky
  

In a world so small, I got an IM message from a friend that is in Iraq. We chatted for a bit and I mentioned that I have a cousin there as well. My friend is in the Air Force, and my cousin is in the Army. The branches of our service call the place where my friend is two different names. I didn't know precisely where my cousin was serving, only that he was in Iraq. Well, they are in fact in the same place and after I introduced them electronically, they have now had lunch together. What a small world!

Data

July 13, 2008: Birmingham, AL Brownell-Shades Creek-Crestline
Distance:	12.93 Miles
Time:	2:06:25
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:46
Weather:	Clear Temperature-77° Humidity-84%
Route

July 12, 2008: Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain Park Cycling
Distance:	19.78 Miles
Time:	1:10:37
Heart Rate:	132
Speed:	16.81 mph
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-79° Humidity-82%
Route

July 11, 2008: Birmingham, AL Neighborhood
Distance:	6.21 Miles
Time:	55:27
Heart Rate:	155
Pace:	8:55
Weather:	Overcast Temperature-74° Humidity-87%

July 9, 2008: Birmingham, AL Brownell-Shades Creek
Distance:	6.18 Miles
Time:	56:46
Heart Rate:	140
Pace:	9:11
Weather:	Clear Temperature-76° Humidity-82%

July 8, 2008: Birmingham, AL Brownell-Shades Creek
Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:38
Heart Rate:	138
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Clear Temperature-72° Humidity-84%

July 1-6: Running in AL & SC + Cycling in Demopolis, AL

I bought a bike! A Giant OCR1. Naturally, I had to get all kinds of accessories: gloves, shoes, helmet, shorts, shirt, tire repair kit, bag, and air pump. So, here I am after my first ride (see statistics below). I am extremely pleased with the ride and it was very fun. I rode an out-and-back course in Dempolis. I rode the first 1/2 with my cousin-in-law, Don. He has traditional roadster bike (read as heavy, big tires, very durable, etc.). So, the pace was leisurely and we had a good chin-way (conversation) on the way. I did forget to put on the GPS watch, so I don't have precise timings or mapping. I did ride more full out on the way back, but discovered very late in the last 1/2 that I had not put the front derailer such that the chain was on the largest sprocket which was my intent. I may not have been able to handle it! Boy, those bike outfits don't leave much to the imagination. I'm glad I don't have much of a stomach.

I listened to This American Life this week which included a story about a 12 year old kid losing his bike on his very first ride! He thought it had been stolen. After contemplating what to tell his father as he walked home, he discovered that it was his dad that stole it to teach him a lesson. He learned a lesson other than that which the father meant to teach and the father held regrets that... well, you should go listen. I don't want to give the story away. But, it was fitting given my new purchase.

I listened to several podcasts this week that I found particularly noteworthy.

• A robotic lawnmower (think Roomba). A toy I need!
• Amazon's web scale computing architecture. Learn more...
• I.M. Wright's blog via a podcast from .Net Rocks! I can't wait to read some entries from the blog after listening to this gem.

So, a great week. And, I am looking forward to working up my exercise schedule to include cycling now.

Data

July 6, 2008: Birmingham, AL Brownell-Shades Creek Running
Distance:	11.16 Miles
Time:	1:49:57
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	9:51
Weather:	Clear Temperature-74° Humidity-85%
Route

July 5, 2008: Demopolis, AL Camp House Cycling
Distance:	21.27 Miles
Time:	Not recorded
Heart Rate:	Not recorded
Speed:	Not recorded
Weather:	Clear Temperature-73° Humidity-78%
Route

July 4, 2008: Birmingham, AL Peavine Falls Run Running
	Distance:	8.44 Miles
	Time:	1:09:29
	Heart Rate:	164
	Pace:	8:13
	Weather:	Clear Temperature-77° Humidity-74%
	Route

July 2, 2008: Blythewood, SC Frontage Road Running
Distance:	6.11 Miles
Time:	54:51
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	8:58
Weather:	Clear Temperature-63° Humidity-90%
Route

July 1, 2008: Blythewood, SC Frontage Road Running
Distance:	3.07 Miles
Time:	26:58
Heart Rate:	140
Pace:	8:47
Weather:	Clear Temperature-68° Humidity-65%
Route