Apr 20-May 3, 2008: 9 Runs in 2 Countries

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. Adam Curry keeps going on, show after show, about how everyone gets the government they deserve. Because, after all, no matter where you live you can protest and act. It matters not where as long as you are willing to sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. It is an interesting conversation and I enjoy listening to the variety of viewpoints. But, it strikes me that Adam is another millionaire telling poorer people to be prepared to die for his mission. OK, he is not really going that far, but it seems to me that he is logically very close.

I have been very busy. Thus, the long time since the last blog. I did finish The God Delusion. A good book and it does make you think. You may need to be careful where you talk about it though. It came up a few times over dinner with some folks I work with. Several had read it. Some of the group made comments that a religious person might find distasteful. And at one point, one person said "I think I should tell you I am religious...." Richard would likely treat this with less accommodation, but this group shut down the conversation. Sex, religion, and politics eh!

Data

05/03/2008: 3 Miles in the Gym in Birmingham, AL

Distance:	3 Miles (estimated)
Time:	27:00
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	9:00
Weather:	Raining outside

05/02/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	3.2 Miles
Time:	26:35
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	8:18
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-52° Humidity-67%
Route

04/30/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	6.04 Miles
Time:	55:34
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:11
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-59° Humidity-88%
Route

04/29/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	3.06 Miles
Time:	27:31
Heart Rate:	140
Pace:	8:59
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-55° Humidity-82%
Route

04/26/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	11.13 Miles
Time:	1:43:13
Heart Rate:	147
Pace:	9:16
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-64° Humidity-88%

04/24/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	57:00
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:30
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-78° Humidity-44%

04/23/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	46:45
Heart Rate:	140
Pace:	9:20
Weather:	Clear Temperature-65° Humidity-56%

04/22/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:27
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:09
Weather:	Clear Temperature-54° Humidity-44%

04/20/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	31:44
Heart Rate:	136
Pace:	10:34
Weather:	Clear Temperature-49° Humidity-86%
I pushed my 5 year old in a stroller, thus the longer time. Yes, I felt compelled to point that out!

Apr 16-19, 2008: 4 Runs in AL: 3, 6, 3, & 9.3 (Statue-to-Statue Race)

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. Steve, host of Phedippidations, is about to run Boston. So, that last few shows have been about the course, Steve's preparation, and some historical stuff about Boston. Good shows.

Gear Rants:

• The Motorola S9 bluetooth headset has lot its ability to manage volume again. So, I will be sending it back for the fourth time.
• iTunes continues to sporadically delete the physical file for a podcast. This forces me to download the file manually and tell iTunes where the file is located so I can manage this in iTunes. I first logged this in the Apple discussion forum on March 25, 2007 (Yes, over a year ago!). Apple archived this discussion, so I added it again (After a Year, Podcasts file STILL disappear from harddrive during sync). I would have to say that as a podcatcher, iTunes f**king sucks! I still have ghost listings of podcasts that are not on my harddrive, not in my iTunes library, not in my iTunes Podcasts library, but show up in iTunes playlists (Stranded Podcasts and Playlists That Have "Non-Existent" Podcast episodes on Apple's Discussion Forum).
• Finally, the Garmin 305's battery was died during my 3 mile run on April 16. I don't know if I accidentally left it on, its button got pushed in the special carry case I bought, or what. I am assuming user error at this point.
  

My running is going well. I just finished the Statue-to-Statue run yesterday and look at my history:

• 2008 - 1:17:39
  
• 2007 - 1:20:48
• 2006 - 1:25:55

I sure can't complain about that. This is a very tough run with some serious hills.

A friend of mine sent me this humorous picture since I am reading The God Delusion:

What a hoot!

Data

04/19/2008: Statue-to-Statue Run, Birmingham, AL

	Distance:	9.38 Miles
	Time:	1:17:39
	Heart Rate:	165
	Pace:	8:16
	Weather:	Few clouds Temperature-55° Humidity-77%
	Route

04/18/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:28
Heart Rate:	157
Pace:	9:09
Weather:	Clear Temperature-52° Humidity-83%

04/17/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	54:54
Heart Rate:	156
Pace:	9:09
Weather:	Clear Temperature-47° Humidity-80%

04/16/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:36
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Clear Temperature-39° Humidity-82%

Apr 6-13, 2008: 6 Runs in SC & AL: 9, 3, 5, 3, 3 & 13 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. The Motorola S9 died on Tuesday because I let the battery get too low. iTunes died on Friday because it thought its library got corrupted. That led to hours of recovery work for me. It appears that in such a circumstance, it can rebuild the music library. But, it loses track of downloaded podcast episodes. The podcast episodes show up in playlists, but not in Podcasts or Music (as show in the library part of iTunes). Thus, they can't be deleted, don't really exists, and appear to be stranded on the iPod and iPhone. I discovered that I could get them off of the iPod and iPhone, but unchecking them in bogus playlists I created just for this purpose. What a pain in the ass. I do wish Apple would make these lists a little more transparent and powerful. For example, let me delete from the playlist and ask if I want it removed from the library. And, if I say yes, delete from the real and the ghost library. Further, let me delete directly from the iPod and iPhone. Oh, and while you are at it, Apple, let me build playlists on the device too. I'm sure they are listening to me rant and tomorrow it will be released. Yeah right!

I had a stressful week of work during which I cranked out lots of hours, but I managed to run on plan for the most part. Work will be this way for awhile. Goes with making money, I reckon. All you can do is buck up and go on.

Judy came out to run this Sunday for the first time in awhile. We didn't chat too much, but it was good to see her. I believe she had some plantar fasciitis pain towards the end. She has been battling this injury for awhile :(. I hope all turns out well. Prince and I rode together and he convinced me to run 13 instead of the planned 11. He ran 15.

Geoff Smith created a cool Bohemian Financial Rhapsody (obvious parody of a Queen song), follow this link to Podsafe Music Network and listen to a theme about the current financial woes.

Data

04/13/2008: Brownell, Shades Creek, Crestline

Distance:	13 Miles
Time:	2:01:07
Heart Rate:	139
Pace:	9:11
Weather:	Clear Temperature-45° Humidity-58%
Route

04/12/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:42
Heart Rate:	146
Pace:	8:54
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-56° Humidity-64%

04/11/2008: Blythewood, SC

Distance:	3.14 Miles
Time:	26:36
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	8:28
Weather:	Overcast Temperature-64° Humidity-83%
Route

04/10/2008: Blythewood, SC

Distance:	5.09 Miles
Time:	45:09
Heart Rate:	147
Pace:	8:52
Weather:	Hazy Temperature-54° Humidity-83%
Route

04/08/2008: Blythewood, SC

Distance:	3.18 Miles
Time:	27:26
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	8:37
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-55° Humidity-77%
Route

04/06/2008: Lake Wateree, SC

Distance:	8.9 Miles
Time:	1:23:33
Heart Rate:	151
Pace:	9:23
Weather:	Overcast Temperature-64° Humidity-88%
Route

Apr 1-5, 2008: 2 Runs at Home & Cooper River Bridge Run: 3, 6 & 6.2 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code and This American Life. A good week of running and a hard week or working. Wednesday's run was in a pouring rain. Prince was out in it too. Good run though. Then, I knocked off the longest mid-week run and skipped the Friday run to put in a little taper to prepare for the Cooper River Bridge Run on Saturday. I was hoping to PR (run a personal record), but I missed by 33 seconds. However, a 48:39 is very good for me regardless. I was 2 minutes behind pace at the top of the bridge, so to end only 33 secs off is not bad. I can say that I am confident that I did not feel as strong after the peak of the bridge like I did last year.

Data

04/05/2008: Cooper River Bridge Run

	Distance:	6.2 Miles
	Time:	48:39
	Heart Rate:	170
	Pace:	7:46
	Weather:	Overcast Temperature-69° Humidity-90%
	Route

04/02/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	55:15
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Clear Temperature-55° Humidity-86%

04/01/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:00
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:20
Weather:	Raining Temperature-57° Humidity-93%

Mar 23 - 29, 2008: 5 Runs in Birmingham & Demopolis, AL: 9, 3, 5, 3, & 3 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. Vista SP1 does seem to be a little zippier than the original. Still nothing to shout about if you ask me. Adam Curry has been digging into content around multiculturalism and judging by comment entries (well, at least one of them), he may be stepping into controversial territory. I did find the references to Pat Condell rants and Pat's videos interesting. This led me down one of those meanderings on the Internet that including viewing a couple of videos of Richard Dawkins and a funny about How to Piss Off an Atheist. What a hoot! As soon as the color of one's skin, the nationality of one's origin, one's religion or culture become the topic of a rant by someone of a different background, the air gets murky. It is hard to be appropriately focused on that which is simply appropriate or wrong regardless of such attributes, and that which should be respected as a cultural difference that is "harmless" (not sure what word to put here). Let's all try to share the planet in peace and harmony, please!

I am reading Richard's book, The God Delusion, now. So, I found these videos particularly interesting and that the experience enhances the reading. I don't equate all of this together. I find it hard to find the truth in all of this as I am sure most genuine truth seekers do. I don't want to be judgmental about anyone or their culture. But, I also don't wish to continue worrying about the safety of my family or the planet as powerful men wield their military, religion, and other tools to force others to behave and think as they see fit when it isn't benevolence that is motivating them. For me, I can see guilt for the likes of George Bush and Bin Laden. I do wish to see religion leave politics PERIOD.

I also bumped into videos by BettyPumpkin (YouTube nick) that are disturbing and thought provoking. I am not sure what to think of them. They are clearly intended to disturb and they are effective. It is hard to imagine living in a place where stoning, public beatings, and such are practiced. I am disgusted by the notion of beating women for running in athletic clothing that is intended to aid the performance of the sport.

What a world!

Data

03/29/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:56
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	8:58
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-57° Humidity-100%
Route

03/28/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:38
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-62° Humidity-84%

03/26/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	46:57
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:23
Weather:	Clear Temperature-31° Humidity-69%

03/25/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:14
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	9:24
Weather:	Clear Temperature-31° Humidity-69%

03/23/2008: Demopolis, AL

Distance:	9.13 Miles
Time:	1:22:07
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	8:59
Weather:	Clear Temperature-48° Humidity-54%
Route

Mar 18 - 22, 2008: 4 Runs in Birmingham & Demopolis, AL: 3, 6, 3, & 4.4 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. All the runs went well. I upgraded to Vista SP1 this week. My Toshiba Portege M200, which I loaded with Vista myself, would not restart at the end as was expected by the installation program. I had to hold the power switch to off and hope it would reboot correctly. It rebooted and loaded SP1 as it should. The presentation on to my 24 inch flatscreen took a little tweaking as well. So, scary, but it worked. It loaded on my home built tower just fine.

The latest This American Life episode, The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar, was extremely interesting. It is about a boy that disappeared around 1912 and was reportedly found 8 months later. After being found, 2 mothers claimed the boy. Many years later, his granddaughter was given 400 newspaper clippings about the incident. She started a multi-year research effort and discovered some startling information. I found this episode extremely engaging and emotional.

I checked my cholesterol on March 20th and it was 159. Yeppee!

Data

03/22/2008: Demopolis, AL

Distance:	4.46 Miles
Time:	39:38
Heart Rate:	146
Pace:	8:53
Weather:	Clear Temperature-48° Humidity-93%
Route

03/21/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:51
Heart Rate:	144
Pace:	9:16
Weather:	Clear Temperature-48° Humidity-48%

03/20/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	55:48
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:17
Weather:	Clear Temperature-40° Humidity-70%

03/18/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:36
Heart Rate:	150
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	cloudy Temperature-61° Humidity-72%

Mar 11 - 16, 2008: 5 Runs in Barcelona, Spain & Birmingham, AL: 3, 6, 3, 3, & 11 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. I got a few more runs in Barcelona, but have returned home and have already completed a few more here. Barcelona was cool, but I worked a lot and didn't get to see much really. I wouldn't mind returning as a tourist with the family. Betsy, my wife, is a great trip planner and touring is so much more fun with her than alone. I did have some good meals and thoroughly enjoyed the cuisine.

I have received my race packet for Cooper River and I hope to PR there by beating 48 minutes for 10K. The usual crowd will not totally be there as Teresa and Ernie can't make it, :(. But, I don't want to miss it. The one year I missed in the past was something I always regretted. I do have to be to work in Columbia the Monday following the race which will be a damper on the weekend too. But, that's the price of earning a living.

Data

03/16/2008: Birmingham, AL

Distance:	11.22 Miles
Time:	1:39:10
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	8:50
Weather:	Clear Temperature-45° Humidity-80%
Route

03/15/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:34
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:11
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-57° Humidity-93%

03/14/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:51
Heart Rate:	150
Pace:	8:57
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-56° Humidity-80%

03/12/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	5.95 Miles
Time:	54:55
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:13
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-52° Humidity-88%
Route

03/11/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	3.15 Miles
Time:	28:55
Heart Rate:	141
Pace:	9:10
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-52° Humidity-62%
Route

Mar 4 - 9, 2008: 5 Runs in the Birmingham, AL & Barcelona, Spain: 3, 6, 3, 3, & 9 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, caught up with This American Life, and Phedippidations. I am currently in Barcelona, Spain. So, my last 2 runs have been from a place a little more exotic than my usual neighborhood runs. I have been extremely busy, so not a lot of time to put into thoughts about what to blog. I am still enjoying the Garmin Forerunner 305. I did have to set the desktop application from Garmin it to run as Administrator on Vista.

Added March 16, 2008: I forgot to mention that I checked my cholesterol on March 4th and it was good at 174!

Data

03/09/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	9.56 Miles
Time:	1:26:23
Heart Rate:	144
Pace:	9:02
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-52° Humidity-46%
Route

03/08/2008: Barcelona, Spain

Distance:	3.39 Miles
Time:	30:01
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	8:51
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-55° Humidity-42%
Route

03/07/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:22
Heart Rate:	151
Pace:	8:47
Weather:	Pouring rain (treadmill)

03/05/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	6.12 Miles
Time:	54:02
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	8:49
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-34° Humidity-76%

03/04/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:51
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	9:16
Weather:	Light rain Temperature-64° Humidity-90%

03/02/08: 11 Mile Run: Brownell - Jemison, AL

I ran with the group again. Prince ran the first 7 with some of this faster friends (7:30 pace or better) and caught up with the rest of us just after we finished 7 miles at Brownell. I met a friendly runner named Cliff this morning. Nice sounding fellow that was gregarious. I didn't spend much time listening to any thing on the iPod. I mainly chatted with various runners and briefly with a fellow that I met last Sunday and damn if I forgot his name despite talking to him twice now and hearing his name both time. Gees!

Data

Distance:	11.2 Miles
Time:	1:44:09
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:14
Weather:	Clear Temperature-50° Humidity-59%
Brownell 7 Miler + Jemison/Mountainbrook 4 Miler

Feb 27-Mar 1, 2008: 4 Runs in the Birmingham, AL: 3, 5, 3 & 3 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, and I am catching up on This American Life. A new Phedippidations has been posted and I should get through it tomorrow. I received my Garwin Forerunner 305, with heart rate monitor. At first, it seemed to disrupt the interaction between my Motorola S9 bluetooth headset and the Ten Technology bluetooth adapter on my iPod, but I re-paired them and all seems well. So, now I can get distance, time, and heart rate all with 1 device. I am extremely pleased. I choose to buy the 305 instead of the 405 purely on price. The 305 is a big time advance over what I had and the price was right.

I had another cholesterol reading above 200, 212. The price of Mexico, I guess. I will be checking it again soon.

Data

03/01/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:47
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:15
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-52° Humidity-93%

02/29/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:32
Heart Rate:	159
Pace:	8:50
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-55° Humidity-51%

02/28/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	46:56
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	9:23
Weather:	Clear Temperature-25° Humidity-78%

02/27/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:53
Heart Rate:	150
Pace:	9:37
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-38° Humidity-82%

Playa Del Carmen Vacation Pictures

More ...

• Having fun at Bad Boys (a bar on the beach). I am in blue.
• Our group on the beach at our table
• Check out the videos from Feb. 16, my friends and I are in there...

Feb 17-24, 2008: 5 Runs in Playa Del Carmen, MX & Birmingham, AL: 3, 3, 6, 3 & 8.5 Miles

I have not kept up with the Daily Source Code, This American Life, and Phedippidations. But, I did hear the episode where Steve indicated that he will no longer be committed to weekly podcasts. Sounds like he has sort of burned out on put out so many which requires a significant time and financial investment on his part. I certainly understand, but will definitely miss the weekly shows.

I have been on vacation in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. What a blast! We snorkled in a cenote that led into a cave. It was totally awesome. We swam with sea turtles. We almost rented scooters for a day on Cozumel. Well, we did until one of our group wrecked with 1/2 block of the rental place. They simply switched us to jeeps and we were off again. My wife didn't want to do scooters in the first place and all of the other women lost their nerve after seeing the wreck. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the guy that crashed lost nearly $800 to cover damages. Hint: buy the insurance. Better yet, don't rent scooters! We also visited Chichén Itzá. This place was awesome and huge. What a walk through history and majesty. I will be posting the pictures to flickr later and will post a link on this blog when I am done.

I ran several times in Playa Del Carmen as indicated below. It was nice to run in shorts and no shirt in nice warm weather. Today's run was steady and felt great despite the cool temperature. I rode with Prince and say the usual lot at Brownell. The Timex Time & Distance watch died again. So, I think it is simply time to upgrade. Nearly all of the runs in Playa Del Carmen are based on my initial run where I got a measure of a 3.4 mile loop. The run listed as 4 miles is due to my missing a turn and running a bit further. I estimated the distance to 4 miles for this run.

I finished reading Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner. It was a interesting read that consisted predominantly of Tim Weiner whining (pun intended) about the incompetence of the CIA. But, the read was good and it offered a very interesting perspective on America history for the last 60 years or so. I especially liked the insight it provided into the policy and personalities of the presidents during these years. Good reading.

Data

02/24/2008: Shades Creek

Distance:	8.5 Miles
Time:	1:15:07
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	8:50
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-38° Humidity-82%
Route

02/23/2008: Playa Del Carmen

Distance:	3.4 Miles
Time:	32:00
Pace:	9:24
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-72° Humidity-88%

02/20/2008: Playa Del Carmen

Distance:	6.8 Miles
Time:	1:01:00
Pace:	8:58
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-72° Humidity-88%

02/19/2008: Playa Del Carmen

Distance:	4 Miles
Time:	38:00
Pace:	9:30
Weather:	Scattered clouds Temperature-68° Humidity-100%

02/17/2008: Playa Del Carmen

Distance:	3.4 Miles
Time:	31:00
Pace:	9:07
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-72° Humidity-94%

2/10/08: Mercedes Marathon: Personal Record

I ran the Mercedes Marathon today. I ran with the 4:15 pacer, Marie Bartoletti, up through about mile 21. At that point, I picked it up and gained about 4 minutes on the pace in the last 5 miles. I was feeling strong. I never walked! Clearly, running a well paced, slower start race pays off for me. This is my third marathon and the first time I ran the whole thing and I gained 19 minutes on my previous best for a new PR. Yeppee. The weather was perfect. I saw a lot of my friends including Judy who ran in the relay. Prince paced the 4:00 minute group. And, Dan ran well too.

Data

	Distance:	26.2
	Time:	4:11:07 (Results, Bob Evans in the 50-54 Male group)
	Heart Rate:	156
	Pace:	9:35
	Weather:	Clear Temperature-32-60° Humidity-82-24%

Splits

Distance	Time	Pace	Leg Distance	Leg Time	Leg Pace
6.2	1:00:47	9:49	6.2	1:00:47	9:49
9.3	1:29:44	9:39	3.1	28:57	9:20
15.5	2:26:18	9:27	6.2	56:34	9:07
18.6	2:56:45	9:31	3.1	30:27	9:49
26.2	4:11:07	9:36	7.6	1:14:22	9:47

Some Pictures (Larger pictures on Flickr)

I just finished

I'm feeling good.

Marie, the pacer

Prince in green, Larry in white

Feb 5 - 9, 2008: 3 Runs in the Birmingham, AL: 3, 6, & 3 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, This American Life, and Phedippidations. It was a light week of running and tomorrow is the big day, The Mercedes Marathon and I'm running. I have not missed a single run; I have had no injuries; and I have had no illness. How lucky I have been. I did get a good lesson this week. To Illustrate the point, I will show you an email thread.

Today's Lesson: When a Planned Aggressive Response Backfires
To a Friend in My Neighborhood

The intent of this email is two fold: 1) Gain your forgiveness if I am right 2) Amuse you if I am wrong About what you might ask? Well, as I finished up my run this morning coming up the road after entering the back gate to the neighborhood, a car approached honking and waving. My mind said, "here's that fool that keeps honking and pointing to the side of the road again". I had decided last time he passed me that I was not going to just passively go about my run as I had in the past. In the past, I didn't realize he was being mean until after he passed and regretted that I didn't let him know that he was being rude and unappreciated. So, I have been on a hair trigger to get him next time I had the opportunity. Well..... I think this morning I pulled the trigger and IT WASN'T HIM. Worse the driver was being friendly. And, I think it was you. I am embarrassed and ashamed. If it was you, please forgive my stupidity. If it wasn't you, you have my blessing for laughing at my silliness. And, gees I hope I didn't push someone over the fence to hate all runners. Gees, I can do some silly things.

The Response

Bob, That WAS me. I laughed at your response because I thought it was in jest, just like my rapid fire birdies as we passed running earlier. After I passed I thought that you had been pretty convincing. Now I know why. You have succeeded with both intentions listed below [above].

I heard from Dan today and he and I are going to run with the 4:15 pace group. He his hoping to do something closer to 4:00, but I will be way satisfied at 4:15 which would be a PR of 15 minutes better than either of my previous 2 marathons. Judy is running a 10K portion of the race as part of a relay. She is struggling with Plantar fasciitis, so I am not sure she should run. But, she's a big girl (as in grown up). I hope it goes well as I know she wants to run.

Oh, and I voted for Obama

Data

02/09/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:51
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:16
Weather:	Clear Temperature-47° Humidity-74%

02/07/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	56:05
Heart Rate:	147
Pace:	9:20
Weather:	Clear Temperature-33° Humidity-82%

02/05/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:27
Heart Rate:	143
Pace:	9:28
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-64° Humidity-90%

Jan 30-Feb 3, 2008: 4 Runs in the Birmingham, AL: 7, 3, 3 & 11 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, This American Life, and Phedippidations. I am still thinking about politics a bit since our primary election is this coming Tuesday. I am updating my del.icio.us 2008 Campaign links as I spot things that are most influential on my thinking. A perusal there will show that I have settled on Obama as my choice. I shared this switch in my thinking with the person that challenged me to think about what my Iraq war stance was last week. He, too, is leaning towards Obama. At this point, I say "cool beans" to that.

Today's run was steady and felt great. I did not see Dan today. I noticed his absence and hope that it doesn't mean anything that he didn't come out for the last group run before the marathon next week. Prince was there as were quite a few others. There weren't many of the Mercedes Marathon runners though.

Data

02/03/2008: Shades Creek + Jemison Park-Mountain Brook Loop

Distance:	11.2 Miles
Time:	1:51:04
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:54
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-44° Humidity-83%
Brownell 7 Miler + Jemison/Mountainbrook 4 Miler

02/02/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:36
Heart Rate:	146
Pace:	9:31
Weather:	Clear Temperature-31° Humidity-85%

02/01/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:10
Heart Rate:	146
Pace:	9:23
Weather:	Clear Temperature-46° Humidity-54%

01/30/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	7 Miles
Time:	1:04:11
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	9:10
Weather:	Clear Temperature-41° Humidity-32%

01/29/08: 4 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I finished off show 714 of the Daily Source Code, the latest Phedippidations, and started an Accident Hash during this early morning run.

I have not been able to shake the criticism I got during Sunday's run from my mind. I think the main thing that keeps bugging me is that knowledge that I was opposed to the Iraq invasion from the beginning with the firm belief that we were being fed a line (and we were). I also believe that our arrogant manner of dealing with the rest of the world under the current administration on top of others ills of the past, have created a climate where we don't seem to stand up to the ideals that most of us really hold dear. So, I have reflected and reflected. I have read a few editorials by Thomas Friedman, NY Times, whose view I respect and read the websites of several presidential candidates. The result? I have decided that perhaps an orderly, and timed withdrawal from Iraq is in order. That, we need a change in style that acknowledges our current conditions and directly seeks to alter and right them. So, I am beginning to lean back to my liberal roots and most specifically towards Obama. I do hope I settle on something before the primary vote gets here on Feb. 5th.

Data

January Total:	155 Miles
2008 Total:	155 Miles

Distance:	4 Miles
Time:	36:38
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	9:09
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-52° Humidity-77%

01/27/08: 13 Mile Run: Shades Creek + Jemsion/Crestline in Birmingham, AL

I'm still in taper mode for the big on, the Mercedes Marathon, in 2 weeks. I ran with the group again. Although, Dan and I ran a bit in front for the first 7 miles. We rejoined the group at Brownell as we took off for the last 6 miles. I got on a rant about politics and how we need to stay the course in Irag and that it will take a long time. This rubbed at least one of the folks in the group the wrong way and I was reminded that moms and dads of soldiers may feel different. Of course, I made a stupid remark about how they voted George W. in twice. And, there was some mention about how "they" have been fighting for 2000 years and nothing we do in the next 10 will make any difference.

I still think we Americans went into Iraq uninvited and violently. We shook up the balance of power and created a situation where fundamentalists and various factions brought murder, suicide bombs, and all kinds of evil to bear on those that may have not been directly exposed to such violence under Sadaam. And, no I am certainly not playing that jerk up as some kind of nice guy. My point is we may have created an environment that is not just reflective of some 2000 year old battle that was underway when we showed up with our "Shock and Awe". We made a mess. I was totally opposed to going in the first place. I was totally opposed to voting yes for George W. Bush, both times. But, my country (and by extension me) is responsible for the current street climate in Baghdad. I hate it. I hate that anybody is dying . And, everyone who dies, American and otherwise, has parents that likely wish they hadn't. I still believe we have an obligation to make what we created at least as good as what we found. That ain't saying much for Iraq, but I do believe it is worse than when we got there. To simply leave feels so wrong. Knowing American kids (the young soldiers) are dying does also feel so wrong. Hell, knowing that any human anywhere is intentionally causing harm to another human feels so wrong. War sucks! Mean people suck!

The "they have been fighting for 2000 years" feels like lumping 1.6 billion muslims into one group and saying "stick 'em behind a wall and let 'em fight it out". I have a hard time with that too. One need only hear about female runners being beaten with sticks in Pakistan because they dare wear something closer to running apparel than a burka to feel a morale obligation to right such wrongs. I sure don't know the right answers or definitively how to change the tide in such places. But, I don't think isolationism is one of them. At some level, what is wrong is wrong and it is not a theological question. Somebody has to stand up and say "stop it". "They", those that are willing to kill, beat, and maim in the name of theology are not going to say "ok". It will take a fight and some will get hurt.

And last, but not least, if we leave, "they" will regroup and we will hear from them again. Of that, I'm sure. Our leaving would be their victory. Their victory will be their rallying cry. It must end, not continue. But, it is also true that there is probably no easy way to be rational about the right thing to do when regardless of what option is selected somebody, somewhere will die. We will have Americans dying if we stay. We will likely see more Iraqis die if we leave.

:(

Data

January Total:	151 Miles
2008 Total:	151 Miles

Distance:	13 Miles
Time:	2:01:15
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:19
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-35° Humidity-85%
Route:	Brownell 7 Miler + Brownell/Crestline 6 Miler

Jan 22-26, 2008: 4 Runs in the Birmingham, AL: 5, 8, 5 & 3 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, This American Life, and Phedippidations. Adam keeps going on what the heck are we doing in Afghanistan and Irag. For Afghanistan, I believe we were absolutely just in going in. Iraq, we were not, but we did. Given the tactics and the quite apparent evilness of the Taliban, we simply can't abandon Afghanistan and let them resume the hellish control they had before. Not to mention their welcoming stance to Bin Laden. For Iraq, we created the mess, we have to make sure civility is achieved before we leave.

Which reminds me, a friend of mine sent me a link to a website where you can answer some questions and they score your answers against the Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. Presidency race in 2008. Thanks to my Iraq position, I come out favoring several Republican candidates. I haven't made up my mind how I'm voting yet, but this quiz is helping me shape my investigation and thoughts. I do wish McCain was younger.

And, IBM did not release the Notes client for the iPhone as some had predicted. :( Add to that, an idiot analyst apparently said:

However, Kevin McIsaac, an analyst at research firm IBRS, said he's not sure Lotus Notes will have a large impact on enterprise adoption of the device. "I can't really imagine someone who's really hip and cool--like an iPhone user--wanting to use Lotus Notes," he said.

Like no cool person happens to work for a company who has choosen Notes as the corporate email system. Give me a break. Note to self=>Upon noticing any analyst report authored by Kevin McIsaac, execute skeptic reception.

Data

January Total:	138 Miles
2008 Total:	138 Miles

01/26/2008: Local YMCA Gym (Inside track)

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	26:16
Heart Rate:	157
Pace:	8:45
Weather:	Cloudy, Light fog Temperature-34° Humidity-89%

01/25/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	45:40
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:07
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-39° Humidity-31%

01/23/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	8 Miles
Time:	1:13:09
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	9:08
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-38° Humidity-76%

01/22/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	47:00
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	9:24
Weather:	Clear Temperature-39° Humidity-65%

01/20/08: 15 Mile Run: Birmingham, AL

Well, last night I felt like crap with a headache and some congestion. I took an Alieve and laid around. I was afraid I would not be able to go out to run today, but I felt fine when I work up.

Yeppee! I ran with the group again. This could become a habit as I have to admit the camaraderie is good. I took the headset off and interacted with the group as we ran. We were accosted by man that ran his car straight at us as he has made it his mission to force runners on to sidewalks. Prince approached him and asked what Church he attends. The man claimed to be a lawyer and that he would see to it that a warrant for Prince's arrest was imminent. This guy is near 60 years old, I guess, and he gets so riled at runners on the side of the road that he gets angry and wants to have them arrested. Is this the biggest legal issue he needs to solve in his life, give me a break! Not to mention he was clearly angry. He needs help! We had a much smaller group this week.

I wore a sleeveless, high tech shirt, a turtleneck high tech shirt, and a light windbreaker for my upper layers. Tights and 2 pair of socks for the lower level. I also wore a light pair of gloves under my running glove/mitten hybrids and an ear cover. These layesrs were about right for the condition. I did occasionally feel as if I was overdressed.

Data

January Total:	117 Miles
2008 Total:	117 Miles

Distance:	15.22 Miles
Time:	2:19:54
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:11
Weather:	Clear Temperature-17° Humidity-51%
Route:	Brownell 7 Miler + Brownell/Crestline 8 Miler

Jan 15-19, 2008: 4 Runs in Birmingham, AL: 3, 10, 5, & 3 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, This American Life, and Phedippidations. I also listened to an excellent podcast about the Google Web Toolkit from ITConversations. The speaker was Bruce Johnson who spoke with Phil and Scott of the regular program call Technometria. The ideal of editing Java to generate JavaScript is quite interesting. It offers opportunities for clean code and optimizations that can be managed by the computer. Further, it offers opportunities to enrich the experience for multiple mediums with less worry about browser variance. Very cool.

I've now run the last mid-week 10 miler before the marathon. I have entered the taper phase for the training. Yeppee! Almost there and so far no problem. I am very pleased.

Data

January Total:	102 Miles
2008 Total:	102 Miles

01/19/2008: Local YMCA Gym (Inside track)

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:24
Heart Rate:	151
Pace:	9:07
Weather:	Cloudy (Snow threatening) Temperature-34° Humidity-70%

01/18/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	45:54
Heart Rate:	145
Pace:	9:10
Weather:	Clear Temperature-51° Humidity-31%

01/16/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	10 Miles
Time:	1:33:58
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:23
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-37° Humidity-85%

01/15/2008: Detroit, MI

Distance:	3 Miles - Treadmill
Time:	27:00
Pace:	9:00

Jan 9-13, 2008: 4 Runs in the Birmingham, AL: 10, 5, 3 & 20 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, This American Life. I ran the 20 miler with the group of folks that run with Al DiMicco, one of our local TNT coaches. I decided that running with the group would help motivate me and keep me on pace for this longest training run for Mercedes. I would have listened to the latest Phedippidations episode, but it would have created too much difficulty to get the iPod out of the case I use on long runs while running with a crowd. And, my Motorola Motorokr S9 is messing up AGAIN. I will be sending it back for my 3rd replacement. This time the volume buttons have stopped working and the rewind button occasionally just spontaneously decides to go to the previous track. Freaking technology, eh! I love this bluetooth wireless headset stuff including the controls that are so easily available and accessible. I just wished it would last.

The episode of This American Life was quite moving. It contained a story about a Muslim family whose children were tormented at school after 9/11. Especially, after a teacher and some materials implied that ALL Muslims hate Christians and that all non-Christians go to hell. Gees, I should wish we could do better as people. I had a hard time not crying listening to the suffering the young girl in this family experienced at the hands of God fearing Christians. I don't care what one's religion is. If it doesn't teach love and tolerance, I have no use for it. PERIOD. The number of people that have died and killed in the name of God over the years is just shameful. Let's just be nice to one another and respect the right of others to worship as they see fit (assuming of course they don't start killing or tormenting those who disagree).

A great week of running, by the way. Dan was with the group for the Sunday 20 miler. So, we had a long chat. Which was made more difficult thanks to the broken controls on the headset. I did get a cramp in my left hamstring at about 17 miles when we stopped for water. I stretched and rubbed it out and all seemed well thereafter. Dan felt strong at the end and indicated he was going to add another 2 miles. Not me, I was spent. I did run hard for the last 3 miles though. There was a woman running strong at the head of the pack. I thought her pace was perfect so I stayed with her for the last 4 1/2 miles. Well, I took off for the last mile since I was feeling strong. But, she didn't lag much. It was nice to run with the group.

Data

January Total:	81 Miles
2008 Total:	81 Miles

01/09/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	10 Miles
Time:	1:30:16
Heart Rate:	150
Pace:	9:01
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-59° Humidity-72%

01/11/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	44:57
Heart Rate:	147
Pace:	8:59
Weather:	Clear Temperature-42° Humidity-76%

01/12/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	27:40
Heart Rate:	147
Pace:	9:13
Weather:	Clear Temperature-34° Humidity-89%

01/13/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	20 Miles
Time:	3:09:57
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	9:29
Weather:	Start of run: Partly cloudy Temperature-38° Humidity-83% End of run: Clear Temperature-49° Humidity-56%
Al's 7 Miler + 13 Mile Montclair Run

01/08/08: 5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

The bluetooth adapter, TEN Technology naviPlay Bluetooth Stereo Adapter for iPod, worked fine today. So, maybe Sunday's woes were just the result of a low charge. The weather was wonderfully warm, but sure does seem like it should be cooler. Is global warming looming and I'm just a frog in a gradually but ever increasing hot pot? Let's hope not, eh.

I did another home check of my cholesterol and it is still good at 159 mg/dl. So, naturally I celebrated by having pizza for supper!

Data

January Total:	43 Miles
2008 Total:	43 Miles

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	46:02
Heart Rate:	151
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-60° Humidity-75%

01/06/08: 15 Mile Run: Birmingham, AL

I got off to a rough start today. I got to Brownell and started my rituals for getting ready and just didn't quite feel right. So, I got back in the car, put a towel over my legs and slept for about 30 minutes. Then, got up drove to a service station, went to the bathroom, and returned. Now, I was ready. And, running would have likely been a burden given what I left at the station (TMI, I'm sure). I put the iPod on shuffle through my huge running favorites collection and got to it. The run went well.

At about 9 miles the bluetooth headset stopped providing tunes. The bluetooth adapter, TEN Technology naviPlay Bluetooth Stereo Adapter for iPod, had spontaneously shutdown. I started it up again and after a few minutes, it did it again. So, I put the wired headset on. I am hoping it was just that I had drained the charge and the adapter is fine. I, however, am fairly confident that the charge should have been fine. Dang technology.

Data

January Total:	38 Miles
2008 Total:	38 Miles

Distance:	15.21 Miles (as measured with GPS earlier this year)
Time:	2:18:12
Heart Rate:	150
Pace:	9:12
Weather:	Partly cloudy Temperature-52° Humidity-83%
Route:	Al's 15 Miler

Jan 1-5, 2008: 4 Runs in the Neighborhood: 5,10,5 & 3 Miles

I kept up with the Daily Source Code, Phedippidations, and the This American Life. The 10 miler was VERY cold. I had 3 layers on my upper torso (a singlet, long sleeve coolmax, and a runner vest). I also wore 2 pair of gloves. I wore a underlayer of regular running gloves with my gloves that have the finger cut off with a mitten flap that can be pulled on or folded back. I was NOT over dressed, it was that cold with the wind chill. The runs were all good, but I was feeling a bit tired during the last 2.

The Iowa caucuses had interesting results. I guess I need to start checking out Obama and Huckabee more. I haven't been paying that much attention since it is still so early. I have been concerned that Obama is too much of a peace nick to take seriously. But, I need to check out his positions more deeply to formulate a sound opinion. My current opinion is based on the media's coverage and that is not much to rely on. I guess the same could be said of Huckabee as I am concerned. Honestly, I have been leaning to Ron Paul, McCain, and Hillary in that order. Ron doesn't have a chance. I like his authentiveness and libertarian views. Huckabee seems equally authentic. I would less religion in politics, so I tend to think I would ultimately rule him out. The bottom line, of course, is that I have to get busy get my self educated on these folks. Right now, I am way to biased by the the press's coverage.

Data

January Total:	23 Miles
2008 Total:	23 Miles

01/01/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	41:41
Heart Rate:	159
Pace:	8:20
Weather:	Clear Temperature-38° Humidity-62%
Ran with Prince and Chad (met him on this run)

01/02/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	10 Miles
Time:	1:30:08
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:00
Weather:	Clear Temperature-24° Humidity-48%

01/04/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	46:46
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	9:21
Weather:	Clear Temperature-46° Humidity-29%

01/05/2008: Neighborhood

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	29:10
Heart Rate:	142
Pace:	9:43
Weather:	Mostly cloudy Temperature-41° Humidity-47%