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%