Saturday, March 29, 2008

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

Saturday, March 22, 2008

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%

Sunday, March 16, 2008

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

Sunday, March 09, 2008

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%

Sunday, March 02, 2008

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

Saturday, March 01, 2008

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%