Well, I fell off the face of the earth. Ok, not literally but my free time has all been sunk into my iPhone App project the past 2 months.
Am I running? Barely ever, as in never.
Am I riding? Nope.
What am I doing? Writing code, setting up a business to track expenses/earnings, setting up a web site, installing software to help me write software, reading about writing software, learning new software languages, and the list goes on.
I made the decision to put all my time into this App about 2 months ago when I figured it would be about 2 months. That time has come and gone and I have had to do a lot of things I never expected to move this project along. It has all been fun and a learning experience but it has taken a lot of energy and time.
I need to bring some balance back into my life and spend a little less time working on the App and a little more on everything else. I took a break tonight as you can probably tell and it has been good. I still read a ton but not thinking about the App has been good.
I call it the App (maybe it should be The App) since it is such a huge thing in my life right now. I miss running though and I want to get back. Running makes me push my physical limitations and writing this App is pushing my technical limitations. Some day soon though, the sneakers need some loving.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Commuting to Work as Cross Training
As runners, we look for other forms of exercise to fit into a hectic schedule which will help improve our performance. For me this takes the form of biking.
In the spring/summer/fall I bike outside (winter's in Ottawa are a little crazy so I stick to the indoor bike at the gym). To fit in my rides I commute to work so I can shave off some cross-training on the way to/from work.
As part of my commuting I need to carry my gear. Some days this can be, lunch, work outfit, and on days I am running or swimming I need those sport specific items and shower gear. Where to fit it all?
I have bike panniers but they are your usual bike specific panniers. How to stick out a little and have a little fun with the bags that transport all my gear each day? I just completed a recycling project to modify two old leather briefcases into bike panniers. They look cool and are very neat as they float behind me.
You can read more at RecycleMyiPod.com:Turn a Leather Briefcase into a Bike Pannier.
In the spring/summer/fall I bike outside (winter's in Ottawa are a little crazy so I stick to the indoor bike at the gym). To fit in my rides I commute to work so I can shave off some cross-training on the way to/from work.
As part of my commuting I need to carry my gear. Some days this can be, lunch, work outfit, and on days I am running or swimming I need those sport specific items and shower gear. Where to fit it all?
I have bike panniers but they are your usual bike specific panniers. How to stick out a little and have a little fun with the bags that transport all my gear each day? I just completed a recycling project to modify two old leather briefcases into bike panniers. They look cool and are very neat as they float behind me.
You can read more at RecycleMyiPod.com:Turn a Leather Briefcase into a Bike Pannier.
Monday, June 22, 2009
10 Km Race Training
I'm back on the wagon and running again. I've started training with a coworker who is trying to improve his 10km time. If I can keep up with him (4 runs so far and today was the closest I stayed which was only about 10 seconds behind him on the sprints) I/we will be aiming to achieve a 47 min 10km race time in early August.
After the August race the plan is to continue the hard training into the Fall to try for a 45 min 10km in late October. Both of those times would be Personal Bests (PB) for me so it should be a fun summer of slogging it out as we push ourselves.
As cross training I have my self setup pretty good. I ride about 35 mins each morning to work and take a shorter route in the evening which is about 21 mins. I am riding each day unless I have some errand to run which I will need the car for. So far 8 days back and I have ridden 6; 1 day I had a dentist appointment and the other I had to drop off my son to Pre-School late in the morning.
This week, June 25, the outdoor pool near work opens for noon hour lane swimming. So I will begin swimming later this week. Then next week I plan to continue running 3 days a week, commuting by bike 5 days a week, and swimming 3 days a week. By the end of the summer I should be in smashing shape and have a decent tan (hard to avoid when swimming laps for an hour).
Anyone want to join me? ;-)
After the August race the plan is to continue the hard training into the Fall to try for a 45 min 10km in late October. Both of those times would be Personal Bests (PB) for me so it should be a fun summer of slogging it out as we push ourselves.
As cross training I have my self setup pretty good. I ride about 35 mins each morning to work and take a shorter route in the evening which is about 21 mins. I am riding each day unless I have some errand to run which I will need the car for. So far 8 days back and I have ridden 6; 1 day I had a dentist appointment and the other I had to drop off my son to Pre-School late in the morning.
This week, June 25, the outdoor pool near work opens for noon hour lane swimming. So I will begin swimming later this week. Then next week I plan to continue running 3 days a week, commuting by bike 5 days a week, and swimming 3 days a week. By the end of the summer I should be in smashing shape and have a decent tan (hard to avoid when swimming laps for an hour).
Anyone want to join me? ;-)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Don't Banana and Ride
I hit the road this past weekend at the Montreal Tour De I'Ile. The bike ride was a 52 km ride through the streets of Montreal with a lot of the ride in the 'burbs.
The night before we were picking up some supplies. The guys mostly beer but also something to eat for breakfast. I ended up with bananas and pop-tarts...the breakfast of champions.
Come Sunday morning, it was a healthy diet of 2 pop tarts and a banana. We arrived on time just before 9 at the start. Then proceeded to wait about 1.5 hours as we slowly rolled our bikes up the hill to the start line. With a tour size of 33,000, it took a while.
So around 9:30 I had another banana. Then put the last 3 on the back of the bike.
Once the bike tour began for real (as in riding) I learned I did not secure those bananas well enough. About 4 km into the ride, lots of bumps and I hear a kinda wet thump behind me after some commotion around my back tire (as the bananas went free).
Needless to say I heard lots of laughing behind me as the bananas attempted to land gracefully after jettisoning themselves from my rear bike rack. Oh well, easy come easy go.
The replacement coffee + croissant at Starbucks I had tied me over until the rest stops (rest stop equals food stop). The ice cream at around 40 km did not hurt either ;-)
The night before we were picking up some supplies. The guys mostly beer but also something to eat for breakfast. I ended up with bananas and pop-tarts...the breakfast of champions.
Come Sunday morning, it was a healthy diet of 2 pop tarts and a banana. We arrived on time just before 9 at the start. Then proceeded to wait about 1.5 hours as we slowly rolled our bikes up the hill to the start line. With a tour size of 33,000, it took a while.
So around 9:30 I had another banana. Then put the last 3 on the back of the bike.Once the bike tour began for real (as in riding) I learned I did not secure those bananas well enough. About 4 km into the ride, lots of bumps and I hear a kinda wet thump behind me after some commotion around my back tire (as the bananas went free).
Needless to say I heard lots of laughing behind me as the bananas attempted to land gracefully after jettisoning themselves from my rear bike rack. Oh well, easy come easy go.The replacement coffee + croissant at Starbucks I had tied me over until the rest stops (rest stop equals food stop). The ice cream at around 40 km did not hurt either ;-)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Not Much Running But A Little Biking
Not much running these days.
Not much motivation (need to set a goal).
Not much time (busy enjoying my last few weeks on Parental Leave with my family).
Only real exercise (besides carrying a 10 month old around) has been some biking (dropping son off at Pre-School in the morning via bike/chariot, biking with my wife and our 10 month old, a little mountain biking, and this weekend the Montreal Tour D'Isle).
I expect running to pick up once I am back to work and need something as a break at lunch times. I plan to ride most days but may alternate that with some days where I run to/from work. At 8km that will only take me about 40 mins going easy.
Not much motivation (need to set a goal).
Not much time (busy enjoying my last few weeks on Parental Leave with my family).
Only real exercise (besides carrying a 10 month old around) has been some biking (dropping son off at Pre-School in the morning via bike/chariot, biking with my wife and our 10 month old, a little mountain biking, and this weekend the Montreal Tour D'Isle).
I expect running to pick up once I am back to work and need something as a break at lunch times. I plan to ride most days but may alternate that with some days where I run to/from work. At 8km that will only take me about 40 mins going easy.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
2009 Paris Marathon Detailed Update
Well, it has been too long in getting to this but here I am. Shamed into it, I must admit that I have been not touching my computer much since we got back from France. I have been doing some Faces updating in the new iLife 09 iPhoto, I've been playing a lot of iPhone games, and I have been doing a whole heck of a lot of gardening, playing with the boys, and general chores around the house.
So, first off, if you are not hooked in with me on Facebook I have shared the race photos in my Paris Marathon Photos Album. Check them out for some cool photos of the beginning when you can see almost the entire 31,000(ish) racers.
How was the race I get asked. Well, it was awesome. It was a ton of fun, I set PB (Personal Best) of 4:14:30 which is 14 minutes faster than my first (an only other Marathon) last year. You can get detailed stats from here if you are really that interested in times and such. If that does not work search the Paris Marathon site results page, my bib was 22002.
Here were some highlights from the race.
First, I was standing at the start and wondering why all these guys were lined up in a star (4 lineups converging) formation. I figured they were getting some freebie since there were lots of stuff being given out. Nope, they were standing in line for the open air (as in no doors) mens urinals. Open air urinals became a theme throughout France on the trip.
Filed under the Pay Attention Department. While running the streets of an unfamiliar city (well at least Paris) you need to keep you wits about you and your eyes scanning ahead of you for racers veering around obstacles. I watched one guy do a head of heels (literally) and face plant (a technical biking term for using you face as a brake) as he ran into a mid-thigh high traffic pillar, meant to direct traffic around a mid-road traffic light. Can you say ouch? He actually got up and continued running. Man, that's guts, determination, or stupidity if you ever saw it.
Again, from the Pay Attention Department, there are cat-eyes on the road in France. What are they? They are little reflective caps about a half inch high in the middle of the road which are along the white dividing line. They are there to help drivers in the night time to see the dividing line (in rain these must be a godsend, I wonder when we will ever see this type of thing here in Canada) and they also act to jolt you into realizing that you started to wander across the lane into oncoming traffic (again we could use that). OK, so this guy is running along by the Louvre about 10 feet in front of me and to the left of me. Admittedly everyone is rubber necking all over the place checking out the sites this early, maybe 3 km, into the race. All of a sudden, he hits one of the cat-eyes and one, then the second of his sneakers just launch off his foot, heading in our general direction. He is tripped by this and does a remarkable slow motion attempt to catch himself, but nope, flippety flip he goes. I passed him, as did the crowd of cattle we were, while he was grabbing his recovering and grabbing his shoes. To continue? Hell who knows, but this is why the numbers I saw showed about 37,000 starting and only about 31,000 finishing.
Under the, "Did you read the small print, hell the large print even" Department, yes, I heard someone saying to their friend, "I ran a couple 10 km runs, this should be no problem right?" Ya, sure a Marathon is only 42.195 km, that is only like 4 times my 10km practices. No problem? I think she may have joined the other 6000 that DNF (Did Not Finish).
This just in from the Unpleasant Spaces Organization, when in a city where a Marathon is being run, avoid the sub-way and public transit for a couple hours around the end of the Marathon. Trust me, a sub-way car full of runners is a high "like gym-bag stinky" zone. Move along by foot please, nothing you want to smell here.
While running a Marathon there are many decisions that might weigh on your mind and these will be tougher than the physical aspect of the event. That is until the physical and mental start to work in tandem, like when you feel your pulse racing, your heart feels like it is ready to pound out of your chest, and you take a quick pulse + watch check. Only to go, "Holy Heart Attack waiting to happen, Batman! SLOW THE HELL DOWN!" That was about the 32km mark. I slowed it down a bit since I was thinking, finish and be happy I ran this, or blow up and drop dead? I will take happy I finished. Beating my PB (Personal Best) was a bonus.
When traveling with family, be realistic. You are going to be touring, you are going to be walking, and you are going to be carrying kids around. I decided to have fun, not be a strain on my family by leaving them to sit on the couch and relax before the big day (thereby driving them nuts, mostly my loving wife who would have had to wander around Paris with a 3yr and a 9 month old). Instead I prepped before I left by trying to get in a couple days of touring/walking at home with our youngest in the child carrier and backpack. This way I would at least be used to that before I left. I also said the hell with style and just brought my current 2 pairs of running runners. I used though alternating so that I spent the day on the best platform for my feet while we toured Paris.
Would I run Paris again? Yes, but not for like 30 years. There are so many other places to run, Paris was an awesome experience, the sights were amazing, the atmosphere was electric, and there were lots of little things that make it stand out in my mind. But, we are on this Earth such a short time, I want to see new places and as such I got the idea from someone to run a Marathon in a city for each letter of the alphabet. So far I have completed O(ttawa) and P(aris). So, I have not committed to this yet, but it is an idea I will be revisiting. Heck, come to think of it M(ontreal) and T(oronto) are so close ;-)
So, first off, if you are not hooked in with me on Facebook I have shared the race photos in my Paris Marathon Photos Album. Check them out for some cool photos of the beginning when you can see almost the entire 31,000(ish) racers.
How was the race I get asked. Well, it was awesome. It was a ton of fun, I set PB (Personal Best) of 4:14:30 which is 14 minutes faster than my first (an only other Marathon) last year. You can get detailed stats from here if you are really that interested in times and such. If that does not work search the Paris Marathon site results page, my bib was 22002.
Here were some highlights from the race.
First, I was standing at the start and wondering why all these guys were lined up in a star (4 lineups converging) formation. I figured they were getting some freebie since there were lots of stuff being given out. Nope, they were standing in line for the open air (as in no doors) mens urinals. Open air urinals became a theme throughout France on the trip.
Filed under the Pay Attention Department. While running the streets of an unfamiliar city (well at least Paris) you need to keep you wits about you and your eyes scanning ahead of you for racers veering around obstacles. I watched one guy do a head of heels (literally) and face plant (a technical biking term for using you face as a brake) as he ran into a mid-thigh high traffic pillar, meant to direct traffic around a mid-road traffic light. Can you say ouch? He actually got up and continued running. Man, that's guts, determination, or stupidity if you ever saw it.
Again, from the Pay Attention Department, there are cat-eyes on the road in France. What are they? They are little reflective caps about a half inch high in the middle of the road which are along the white dividing line. They are there to help drivers in the night time to see the dividing line (in rain these must be a godsend, I wonder when we will ever see this type of thing here in Canada) and they also act to jolt you into realizing that you started to wander across the lane into oncoming traffic (again we could use that). OK, so this guy is running along by the Louvre about 10 feet in front of me and to the left of me. Admittedly everyone is rubber necking all over the place checking out the sites this early, maybe 3 km, into the race. All of a sudden, he hits one of the cat-eyes and one, then the second of his sneakers just launch off his foot, heading in our general direction. He is tripped by this and does a remarkable slow motion attempt to catch himself, but nope, flippety flip he goes. I passed him, as did the crowd of cattle we were, while he was grabbing his recovering and grabbing his shoes. To continue? Hell who knows, but this is why the numbers I saw showed about 37,000 starting and only about 31,000 finishing.
Under the, "Did you read the small print, hell the large print even" Department, yes, I heard someone saying to their friend, "I ran a couple 10 km runs, this should be no problem right?" Ya, sure a Marathon is only 42.195 km, that is only like 4 times my 10km practices. No problem? I think she may have joined the other 6000 that DNF (Did Not Finish).
This just in from the Unpleasant Spaces Organization, when in a city where a Marathon is being run, avoid the sub-way and public transit for a couple hours around the end of the Marathon. Trust me, a sub-way car full of runners is a high "like gym-bag stinky" zone. Move along by foot please, nothing you want to smell here.
While running a Marathon there are many decisions that might weigh on your mind and these will be tougher than the physical aspect of the event. That is until the physical and mental start to work in tandem, like when you feel your pulse racing, your heart feels like it is ready to pound out of your chest, and you take a quick pulse + watch check. Only to go, "Holy Heart Attack waiting to happen, Batman! SLOW THE HELL DOWN!" That was about the 32km mark. I slowed it down a bit since I was thinking, finish and be happy I ran this, or blow up and drop dead? I will take happy I finished. Beating my PB (Personal Best) was a bonus.
When traveling with family, be realistic. You are going to be touring, you are going to be walking, and you are going to be carrying kids around. I decided to have fun, not be a strain on my family by leaving them to sit on the couch and relax before the big day (thereby driving them nuts, mostly my loving wife who would have had to wander around Paris with a 3yr and a 9 month old). Instead I prepped before I left by trying to get in a couple days of touring/walking at home with our youngest in the child carrier and backpack. This way I would at least be used to that before I left. I also said the hell with style and just brought my current 2 pairs of running runners. I used though alternating so that I spent the day on the best platform for my feet while we toured Paris.
Would I run Paris again? Yes, but not for like 30 years. There are so many other places to run, Paris was an awesome experience, the sights were amazing, the atmosphere was electric, and there were lots of little things that make it stand out in my mind. But, we are on this Earth such a short time, I want to see new places and as such I got the idea from someone to run a Marathon in a city for each letter of the alphabet. So far I have completed O(ttawa) and P(aris). So, I have not committed to this yet, but it is an idea I will be revisiting. Heck, come to think of it M(ontreal) and T(oronto) are so close ;-)
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Fwd: Paris Update
>>
>> Photo below is at about the 10k mark.
>>
>> Overall it was a good race though I really dropped off in speed
>> after 35k. I was happy with the race, the route was excellent and
>> I will post more details once I get to a real keyboard (the iPod is
>> a bit tough to type on).
>>
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