August 29-Sept 7: Running & Cycling in Alabama, Florida, & Texas

Yep, I have been traveling a bit. The family and I went to Seagrove Beach, Florida for Labor Day. It was a very relaxing good time. Our five year old son fully appreciates the beach and doing things together now. It was awesome to spend time with him. He just finished mastering riding his bicycle without training wheels and we did a 3.2 mile ride with him. He did great. We swam, played games, and found shells. Despite Gustav's threatening arrival, we had great weather until Monday, September 1, 2008 when the beach basically disappeared.

I spend nearly all of the work week in Dallas, Texas with colleagues from all around the world. I met some really smart people with gregarious personalities that were heavily into technology, a situation made for me. We are working on some exciting stuff touching on social networking, cloud computing, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). Definitely, cool.

I listened to these podcasts:

• This American Life: #362: Got You Pegged
  This show is about how our perceptions of folks is sometimes wrong and how that impacts our interactions and our lives. A good listen with a strong human touch, as usual.
  
• Phedippidations: Running for the Bases
  Steve talks about baseball and how important running is within it. A good entertaining listen during a run.
  
• Fitness Rocks 110: Is Overweight or Obesity a Health Risk
  Good data and discussion, but the conclusions are somewhat obvious.
  

Despite traveling a bit, I didn't listen to many podcasts. I am in the middle of reading some architectural treatises on object orientation; Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John M. Vlissides; and Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide by Amy Shuen. That plus 60-70+ hour work weeks just ain't leaving any time.

Data

September 7, 2008: Birmingham, AL Brownell-Shades Creek Running
Distance:	13.1 Miles
Time:	2:07:21
Heart Rate:	138
Pace:	9:42
Weather:	Overcast Temperature-66° Humidity-94%
Route

September 6, 2008: Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain State Park Cycling
Distance:	23.85 Miles
Time:	1:19:41
Heart Rate:	136
Speed:	17.96
Weather:	Raining Temperature-74° Humidity-91%
Route

September 5, 2008: Dallas, TX Near the DFW airport Running
Distance:	6.14 Miles
Time:	56:54
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	9:16
Weather:	Clear Temperature-69° Humidity-81%
Route

September 3, 2008: Dallas, TX Near the DFW airport Running
Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	56:32
Heart Rate:	141
Pace:	9:24
Weather:	Overcast Temperature-73° Humidity-87%
Route

August 31, 2008: Seagrove Beach, FL Seagrove to Seaside Beaches Running
Distance:	13 Miles
Time:	2:02:04
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:23
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-77° Humidity-89%
Route

August 29, 2008: Birmingham, AL Neighborhood Running
Distance:	6.21 Miles
Time:	58:10
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:21
Weather:	Clear Temperature-70° Humidity-90%