1.79 mi at 140bpm is too slow...

oh well. this was almost too hard to jog to, but I still felt my stride length shorten as I tired.

back to 150bpm tomorrow...

1.5mi at 150bpm

trying to lengthen my stride.

the 1st 0.5 mile in the run was at 12:30/mile, then I dropped to 13:15mi, then other than about
50 yards of walk near the end, I hel at 13:00/mile to finish.

Next run will be slightly less bpm (145) to try to get longer stride again.

6 weeks off. 2 mi at 155 bpm

ran this evening at boling park. finished 2 mi, had to walk about 50 yds during last 1/4 mi.
really high humidity, and rather warm. yuck.

missed running since May 30th as wife had a couple of medical procedures that kept her from exercising. I found I do not seem to go by myself.

fewer, but better runs

due to a short hospital stay for my wife, I missed 1 full week of running. Was able to get back on it however, and had my best 5k time thus far. wanted to break below 40 mins, but 40:25 was all I could do.

I have run this week at 160 bpm. I plan to jump to 164 this week to see how I do.

My goal is 168 bpm.

updated 5 k times

Polar Bear 1-24-09 (moderate terrain)
Bill 49:37
Carol 1:02:59

Cherokee County Animal Shelter Scurry 1-31-09 (flat terrain)
Bill 44:21

Guns & Hoses 2-28-09 (hilly terrain)
Bill 49:46
Carol 1:01:36

Run for the Children 3-14-09 (hilly terrain)
Bill 46:31

Ole' Cotton Mill Classic 4-11-09 (hilly terrain)
Bill 43:30

GT Pi Mile 5k 4-18-09
Bill 41:35

Canton Historical Society Derby Dash 5-2-09
Bill 40:25 (flat, boling park)

Ga Tech pi mile 5k 41:35 156 bpm

great race. ate nothing, drank some homemade sport drink on the drive down, and felt really good the entire course.

Some rolling hills, but nothing nasty like other races. Was able to really stay focused
and keep a decent pace with the podcast.

Wed & Fri 3.6 mi, 156 bpm

actually, Friday was a bit short at 3.34 miles.

Wed run was hard after missing Monday.. Friday was GREAT. awesome weather, too.

1st domino again, but I recovered Wed and Friday

Was a bit sick and am on anti-biotic now. Really was not able to run Monday due to working on network at buddies new office. Was able to get back Wed and Friday. Oddly, I felt GREAT the entire run. That is od because today I have a sausage biscuit and diet coke for breakfast, 2 coffees at office, and water all afternoon. How can that be better for running than having lunch?

the GT Pi mile race is Saturday. I think when I get up, nothing but water. Maybe some homebrew sports drink. nothing to eat. we'll see.

ol cotton mill 5k in Lindale Ga

VERY hilly course. not big hills, just several.
being sick hurt my time as well. 44:20

3.6 mi 156 bpm 49.75 mins

Easier to run today. MUCH warmer, and no snow.

adjusted my run distance to the actual course. Had to run around the library parking lot
a couple times to finish, but it worked out fine.

was able to finish stronger as well.

after about 1 mile, I am warmed up and it feels much better. After that, I feel a more "running" feel than older runs. I am also able to correlate speed dips to course features, like the 1st long hil is just after the 1 mile mark, and I can identify other features as well. That certainly indicated that I am getting stronger since I can maintain a more steady pace and my speed on the hill is improving.

3.6 miles at 156 bpm, 50.5 mins!

COLD today and WINDY!! It is in the low 40' and damp and windy.
might even get some snow... in April...


Went back over to the Old Canton Rd from Library to 515 past 2 Brothers BBQ. First mile continues to be very hard, but after that very nice pace.

Old Dawson Rd was less traffic, but more hills. Tried to find a place near the Airport, but also very hilly, plus unpaved road as well. Still looking for a flatish stretch near home.

I have also determined that I get better feedback if I run a specific custom distance.

From now, I will run 3.6 mi on Mon Wed Fri and 3.15 on Sat morning. I was a bit disappointed that when I ran a 5k Saturday, the Nike+iPod gae feedback in km rather than miles. the web tools were miles but the active feedback and end of run summary were in mins/km. oh well.

5k time on flat terrain is below 40 mins!! 158bpm

told ipod to run 5k today. completed in 39'27" wow.

weight at new low of 255 as well. wow maybe it will start to continue to come off a bit more consistently.

While running, felt better than most runs. was a bit chilly (high 40's)

Due to family death last weekend, only got 3 runs this week not 4 like most, but oh well.

Still looking for a new road. Thought I had a couple, but more terrain than the maps indicated. I need more granular maps!

new course, worse than others. 3.2 mi at 156 bpm

moved to a different road, Old Dawsonville Rd from downtown Ball Ground and to the north. Smaller hills, but more of them and steeper. still looking for a 2-3 mile gentle stretch of road...
Might have something on the other side of I-575 behind the airport.

back to Boling Sat for a 5k with the ipod. I think I'll push to 160 bpm. On the flatter track, I should be able to power through.

weight was about 255 this morning. that would be ~ 15 lbs off.

3.4 mi at 158bpm

found that my run from the library to the stop sign at 515 is > 3 miles. No wonder it s tough. It is closer to 3.4 miles. I have also added almost another 0.1 by tweaking how I enter and exit the run area. good to know.

a new dream of a new run?

oddest 5k ever. it was in Canton, GA, BUT the terrain was so not Canton.

some cheesy fire engine ladder and slide to start (1 runner at a time... imagine the start of the race.) there was actually no crowd when I finally started. I had to kind of u-turn from about 25feet out to see what the time was that I actually started the race. I think the lock said something more than 20 mins. very oddly/poorly marked course. had to correct several times. Also, there were about 8 other festivals in progress simultaneously with the race. one asked who our leader was in a very sarcastic tone. I told her my leader was Jesus and she got a really out there expression on her face. for some reason, there were race people hiding things along the course DURING the race. I knew several from way past time in my life. The item being hidden was a small mini-dvd case with 3 mini dvd's of last year's race. They were very cagey about were these prizes we were supposed to find. I finally just grabbed one. I was trying to help a couple of friends find the case but they were not having much success. I never actually finished the race in this dream. When I woke, I was about 2/3 done, and had a bulky but light bag of stuff...

missed Monday. running this evening.

missed Monday due to death in brother's in-laws.

large family at funeral home last night.

rain and even faster 159 bpm

ran 3 miles i steady rain (was able to wring out my micro weave shirt...) and at 169 bpm. Did not mean to go 169 bpm, but accidentally hit the next track button. Had planned to go 168 since this was my flat track at the park. Oh well. I was able to keep pace fairly well.

60's tiny rain, 157 bpm

shorter run due to utility line down in my path. Tried to estimate and do some extra to make up, but still was a bit short.

was nice. Trying to breathe using nose. My nostrils are too small. maybe a breathe right strip? I bet I sweat it off.

tough run today. 50F and sprinkling rain

and I felt far less than 100% at the beginning as well.

I still decided to push to the 3 mile mark. first domino and all.

was drenched when I finished.

ran my entire course even the kinda hard hill today at 157 bpm

added a bit more by going down to the other stop sign in town as well.

had no pain, only dry throat. need to solve that. was really our of gas, but the low cost fluid we made really helps quickly.

can I do this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46VoSA-9Xd8&feature=player_embedded
I'd LOVE to add this. let's see what happens.

sensor cal & 3 miles at 157 bpm

Calibrated the Nike+Pod sensor today on a high school 400m rack. I walked 1 lap, then jogged 1 lap, and then did 3 more miles on gravel track. measured 3.1. close enough. my mile pace was 13.5min/mi and I did not walk ANY in the 3 miles. Maybe on Monday, I can jog the whole thing including the nasty hill. The park has a small rise which is much smaller than the 2 hills on the 3 mile path we are on during the week.

not bad. I think I'll stay at 157 a bit. that seems to be a natural pace for me right now.

It was a bit chilly this morning. I did not think to wear gloves, but my long sleeve moisture shirt has longish stretchy sleeves, so I pulled them into my hands for some help. I am finding the 3 mile length to be OK but getting to e a bit boring into the 1.5-2.5 mile portion. Hopefully as I continue to progress in fitness and improve speed, this will become less of an issue.

same course, 157 bpm

2nd half felt REALLY great. 1st half was a bit of struggle. I wonder when this 3 mile stretch will become too short? (not to worry, as I have already found a nice 5 mile loo along this stretch as well. I bet the hills on the rest of the loop are deadly.) Today's run included a really good mile time of about 10.5 mins for mile 3.

HARD run today. 156 bpm

man, this was tough. I think I was REALLY dehydrated. We found a homemade sports drink at lifehacker.com that seems to really help. But, apparently, today I as really dry. my throat was parched and hurting and I had to walk 2 times. I still got the full run, but it was slower and more painful.

Found that someone else has begun the c25k journey. I pointed her toward the podrunner.com page for podcasts.

Still liking the 3 mile path from the Ball Ground library to the end of Old Canton Rd.

decent run in the wet. no rain 155 bpm

ran at 155 bpm today. gonna need one of the lawyer shirts. one schmuck kind of swerved away kind of close and pointed like 'get off the road!' not cool. wonder how good his lawyer is... this is NOT a main road of any kind.

Did see a buddy from church this afternoon. Hey James!! Had seen Ashley a couple times on the old course. Wish I was still over on that road, but too short, and, actually, I kind of like the added terrain even though it is tougher to jog.

till later.

5k times (continuing updates...)

Polar Bear 1-24-09 (moderate terrain)
Bill 49:37
Carol 1:02:59

Cherokee County Animal Shelter Scurry 1-31-09 (flat terrain)
Bill 44:21

Guns & Hoses 2-28-09 (hilly terrain)
Bill 49:46
Carol 1:01:36

Run for the Children 3-14-09 (hilly terrain)
Bill 46:31

Ole' Cotton Mill Classic 4-11-09 (hilly terrain)
Bill 43:30

GT Pi Mile 5k 4-18-09
Bill 41:35

tough 5k, but good overall time. 3rd place in old man group

Man, off Main St in downtown Canton are some killer hills. I understand there is 1 hill in the Peachtree Road Race called Heart Attack hill. I think we have 2 on the Run for the Children 5k course tat would be called massive stoke hill A and B. I got 3rd place in my age group of 45-49 with a time of 46:31 for the 5k. had to walk about 200 yards up the final part of massive stroke hill B near the Methodist Church. wow, what a rise...

Of course, like our other 5k races, it was raining. and 39F.

a bit wet today 3 mi @ 154 bpm

rained earlier, and was a bit colder. Had a HUGE issue on the beginning of the run. Started a bit too strong in the strides, and it hurt me. Actually had thoughts of stopping the run. Once I got about 1/3 through, it went REALLY well. Had a couple of cars that did not seem to want to give me any space. I wonder how good their liability insurance is? Maybe I need a T-shirt that says on the front that I am sponsored by some aw firm.

same course @ 154bpm

MUCH easier run today. comfortable pace. actually felt like I was jogging instead of shuffling. Carol noticed that I had a more consistent pace and stride as well.

we have a 5k run on Saturday. I think as soon as I can 5k in < 40 mins, I will announce my 'graduation' of the couch to 5k plan.

Nike+iPod shows 3.77 mi in 47'11", which is 2 mins faster than Monday. The course measures 3.1 mi on car odo. this gives me a about 15'13" per mi

over 3 miles!! @153bpm

ran at 153bpm today. I think my goal now will be to build slowly from 153 bpm where I am now to 168 bpm. I'll have to find it again, but I recently read about running at 21 strides/15 seconds. this seems to translate to 168 bpm. Who uses strides/15 sec as a measure??!!?? seems cumbersome. maybe to someone it sounds better than 168 bpm.

Nike+iPod says it was 3.8 mi at 12:50/mile. I find the Nike+iPod to be abou 10% too long. I wanted to cal it this past weekend, but the time change beat me up badly. Maps show this to be pi miles. (3.14) Seems sort of cool.

after 1 week off, not too bad today

jogged over 3 miles this morning in just over 50 mins.
I was very concerned about how much ground I had lost over the week of getting over head cold and not being fit to go out to jog.
I tried to do 155 bpm, but was not able, so I went back to 150 bpm. that is still faster than the 145 bpm I had been doing with the C25K tracks.

ticked at being sick

well, 1st domino has fallen. I am rather sick with either a nasty head cold or the flu. so , no running. which sucks. I'll probably lose a *lot* of progress. oh well.

dr appt this morning to get a flu test. till then, OJ, dayquil, C, ibuprofen.

might try to walk tonight to calibrate the nike+ipod sensor. then at least I get to move a bit.

Guns & Hoses

same time as Polar Bear, BUT I jogged nearly the entire course this time.

not much rain, even thought lot was predicted. That was nice.

ran with 145bpm track, too. the hills on this track killed me. Most of my running has been more flat. I'll get there, but it will take a bit longer...

Well, the Couch to 5k plan has been pwned.

In Florida this week, running week 8, I noticed that not only was I NOT out of gas at the end, the pace was seeming to be a bit slow. So, on a test, I decided to try the week 10 graduation mix of the PodRunner Intervals podcast. This was 35 minute at 145 beats per minute. The rate prior to this was 140 bpm. I DID IT!!

So, now I am really ready for Guns & Hoses this morning.

running out of track...

need to increase the road distance. not sure how.

our route begins at the new Ball Ground city hall, goes around that block, the south on Valley St
to the end near the Chevron at exit 27 on I575. This was fine for several weeks. Now that I am in Week 6, I find that I warm up around the block, and get back from the turn-around point before the run is complete. I guess we need to find a new area. I am just not sure where. This one was very nice. flat, low traffic, somewhat lit. oh well.

I just hate driving some distance to get to a place to run.

week 5 complete

ran *more than* 20 minutes today. Sometimes the podcast does not have all the warm-up time built in, so I was concerned that since today was just warm-up, run, cool down, there might be less warm-up music. So I started to run sooner. (Turns out there was indeed a arm up to run cue... Oh well.) The run was scheduled for 20 minutes. I think I ran about 22 minutes. some interesting pain in my shins and outer portion of my calves. probably due to the punishment they take from the body above them.

I need to plan a time to calibrate the Nike+iPod so I can get accurate numbers. However, I am not certain that will be time well spent since I am still developing my pace, and things should change. I suspect the Nike+iPod system sort of assumes how fast your pace is based on how long your foot is in the air, and since I still shuffle so much as I extend time rather than speed, the calibration might still drift as I improve. not sure. I guess I'll try and calbrate at some point and see.

what a way to start the week

well, February started with a bang. John calls at 12:30AM Monday morning complaining that it hurts severely to breathe. Carol and Hannah spent all night with him at ER while they pump him with pain and anti-anxiety meds, 2 bags of fluids, draw 6 vials of blood, and finally determine that due to sinus infection antibiotic, plus overexertion playing Sunday afternoon, he had some muscle damage. He was discharged at 7am with vicodin script and finally Carol gets to go home and sleep. On my way to office, and corner of Douglas Rd and Jones Bridge Rd, I see an SUV turn left in front of sedan and get flipped. "Missed me by that much" as it went past. mom and daughter in sedan, 1 man in suv. I had already gien 911 operator the sedan details, and when I told 911 op that the SUV driver was alone in SUV and was out, no major injuries and talking with us, she brilliantly asked if he was breathing. You just have got to love call center scripts. Carol joked my guardian angel probably wet his pants. I know I nearly did. no one hurt. so, due to these, plus the normal crazy of our weekends, we had a nap and decided couch to 5k can be Tu Th Sat this week.

bad idea #2 (I sense a pattern...) & the Animal Shelter Scurry

So, if you have the chance to get up early, take morning blood pressure and vitamins, eat nothing, then go run/walk a 5k, this might not be a great idea. I had a plan. I was gonna interval this bad boy and wrestle it to the ground. Well, I finished it, and in a better time than last time, but did not pin the sucker. sort of just kept it in submission. This was the Cherokee Animal Shelter Scurry. 27F. Carol took photos of my frozen sweat.

I was about 100yards into the 5k when I realized how bad it was that I had nothing to eat. dry heaves will make you walk. but, like I said, I finished the distance. time was 46:something. they are supposed to post results.

Later, I plan to visit the t-shirt place near us and see what warm-ups they have. I hope to find some dark colors in fleece or thin sweatshirt material.

bad idea #1

so, if you have the chance to attend a business partner chili cook-off, you know, the kind where you sample about 15 varieties of chili with names like "Chernobyl," "brimstone," "slap yo momma" or "no crybabies" try to do it on a non-running day. (nahhh, I did not barf, but thought I might 2 times)

Finished Couch to 5k week 4. Ready for week 5. it was really rather cool to her Lance Armstrong n the Nike+iPod with congratulations, you just recorded a new personal best for the mile. We sort of tweaked our route. Part of the road was a bit slanted (hey, this is a rural area...) and was sort of bothering Carol's knee. We now, warm up around 1 block, then go linearly out a road to were it tee into another road, then return. Same distance, just not a loop.

running in 44F and wet? yep

very motivated to do this. no end. have not missed yet, and still looking forward to going.
I am very excited to see the podrunner intervals first day to 5k, gateway to 8k, and roadway to 10k. lovin' Nike+iPod to really geek out on the runs and data.

I wonder if we will be ready for Peachtree Road Race in July?

looking like the Revolution Runners will be doing regular5k race. Really great since that provides us with 4 runs/week rather than just the 3 couch to 5k runs.

started week 4

ran ALL segments of 1st week 4 run. 3 mins, 5min, 3min, 5min.

1st 5 k ever - Johnson Ferry Polar Bear Run

Well, it arrived faster than I wanted since we have not finished the Couch to 5k training at all (we are in week 4 starting Monday,) but we tried. I think I might have run about 1/3 of the 5k. Plus, it was raining. We had 6 revolution runners entered, and 2 more planned to walk, but since it was raining they decided to cheer instead. my time: 49:44. I t was *really* cool to have them cheering as we finished. We had several other folk drive over jut to see us. That was neat.

Next week, we have another 5k. This one is close to home.

Week 3

well, this set is
walk 5 min warm-up
run 90 sec, walk 90 sec,
run 3 min, walk 3 min,
run 90 sec, walk 90sec,
run 3 min
5 min cool down.

able to finish each run. 
we bravely signed up for a 5k Saturday in Marietta.  we will probably walk more than run it.

when it rains

Pastor Gary comments that WNL bring WND. That is Whole 'Nother Level brings Whole New Devils. Man if that ain't happening now! People getting involved in places they do not belong and lying about it, wife gets murdered, family loses precious 14 month old. youth crying out to God and getting their own WNL.

We all want to thing that God does approve "my sin." NOT. sin is sin. speeding on I-75 is sin. rolling through a stop sign, yep, you guessed it. we are way too forgiving of ourselves when we should see ourselves differently. Man, do I have sin. some big, some small. secret sin? well, to other people, but not my wife. She knows the real me. as does God.

My heart breaks for the family that lost mom today. my heart cries out to demand comfort from the only one who can comfort the family and friends. I am very impressed to see my church go WNL when a 20yo who is here with friends and away from family cries out.

maybe its time to skip a L or 2 and really go WNL^2.

Frozen Sweat? Oh Yeah!

Running in sub freezing weather is, as the phrase at Revolution Church goes, a "Whole 'Nuther Level" (WNL) so it was little surprise finding frozen sweat in my hair Saturday morning after I completed the 2.5 miles of Couch to 5K week2 plus walking another 0.5 miles for an even 3 miles. I was wearing long sleeve under armor, long sleeve t-shirt, short sleeve under armor, sweatshirt, lined warm-up pants, gloves, and a 'boggin for my head. I took off the sweathshirt during the 2nd mile to stay cooler. When we arrived at park, temp was 14F then when we left the temp had risen to 24F.

It worked out rather well to have 4 week 2 workouts (Sunday Tuesday Thursday and Saturday) during the week to help prepare for week 3 even though we have missed some days off. (Well, we only walked the Saturday between last Week 1 repeat run and 1st week 2 run so that should not have been too bad. We felt it was important to join up with the revolution Runners. Some of them are insane.)

Week3:
5 min warm-up
90 sec run then 90 sec walk
3 min run then 3 min walk
90 sec run then 90 sec walk
3 min run then 5 min cool-down.

I think I might die this week.

I am still looking for a nice stretching type podcast we can listen to before and after the C25K portion. found a couple, but not quite what I need. These were video podcasts and just need descriptive audio tracks. Still looking. What I'd like to do is to make a play list with a 5 or so minutes of stretching followed by the couch to 5k running podcast or later podrunner intervals or podrunner podcast then another or a repeat of the stretching podcast. That would allow focus on thinking about life, and just 'doing' the instructions rather than having to focus on the exercise so much that is all we are able to think about.

Amber

Wife just called. Vet says kitty cat has even more problems, her temperature dropped, liver failed, etc. so with all this, she is being put down. sad afternoon, and rough week.

Couch to 5k goes down again plus a sad thing

I thought last time was the closest I have come to barfing while running, but today was closer.  Weather currently shows 26F with wind chill 20F.  I guess I really am insane.  This week is 5 min warm-up, then 90s ec run with 2 min walk.  I am still 'running' the segments, although I feel a bit like George Burns shuffling along.  Going to geek it up a bit.  The shoes we got are Nike+iPod compatible, so I got an iPod Nano and Nike+iPod kit.  We will see how we progress along.  I need to calibrate the adapter.  My car odometer showed a path of 2.15 miles while Nike+iPod showed 2.37. looks like about 10% error.

Going tonight for viewing of 15 month old daughter of great couple at church.  terrible accdent at home.  everyone is simply torn up about it, but since we have chosen to believe that Jesus was not a liar, we have the wonderful hope that provides an amazing peace.

What a Sunday

wow. this was an amazing day. Closest I have EVER been to not being ready with the tech stuff for 1st service. Convention Center had wired their wall outlets 'incorrectly.' They had 26 circuits places along the wall where our stage is, in a twist lock, quad plate, and twist lock. They had used 3 prong twist lock sockets, but the sockets they used were actually 120v sockets AND THEY WIRED THEM AS 240v, with no neutral. So, we adapted our system to use this. Then the conf center figured this out. So, they changed in a way that placed a duplex outlet with the bridge clipped to install the sockets on individual circuits which replaced 1 twist lock. This was mostly fine, except we had to replace twist plugs with standard plugs. A headache, but not too bad. BUT on the other twist socket, they e-wired it to be correct as 120v. This we lost 5 circuits. Not a deal-breaker, but since we use 17 o more, going from 26 to 21 is a bit of a risk. So today, on the fly, we had to re-wire our twist plugs to standard plugs with little fore-warning. (We had been told a) the change was to be phased and b) the change was to start 2 weeks from today. So I was ready to re-wire 2 circuits per week in a mostly casual way, but NOT all 12 in one day.) Buy my brother and his cousin pulled a MAJOR rabbit out of heir butts and with some guidance on what was which, they were able to get the wiring done. We were even able to make a few extra twist lock to standard extension cords.

to top it off: AWESOME message, and I am told that we had about 40 people decide to accept Christ. Makes the headache and pressure (Which I secretly love, please don't tell Pastor Gary) worthwhile.


I simply LOVE the small references that tie series together. Today he comments on 'all-in' which was our poker series.

Couch to 5k week 2

Ran.walked 2 miles with Revolution Runners Saturday.  Great group with lots of challenge since several are training for 1/2 marathon.  Of course, they are insane, but great motivation.  This group runs at park in Canton.

Today we ran week 2 of the couch to 5k.  this is 1.5 min run 2 min walk.  same course in downtown Ball Ground.  Carol travels to South Florida for the week, so we will be working out separately.

Revolution Runers Rule!

well, 11 folks from church including with Carol and I went to Boling Park near Cherokee High School in Canton for the 1st Revolution Runners group which meets at 8:30AM Saturday morning. More should join up with us later. I know several others are interested in joining to walk as well, which will be great. 2 runners are training for 1/2 marathon. The rest of us are at various stages of trying not to die. Fortunately, another runner is a paramedic, and had O2 with him.

The track at Boling is nice crushed gravel and has 2 courses of 1/2 and 1 mile. Carol walked 2 miles and I walked 1.5 miles and ran most of the remaining 0.5 miles.

now for the sad part...

the Persian may have to be put down tomorrow. She has some issue that the Dr cannot identify. losing hair, skin tender and cuts forming, losing weight, kidney issues, and stays dehydrated even though she eats and drinks. She was found abandoned several years ago and has always been a bit off.

oh well, sad night.

Well, the medicine might finally be working. She has been far more active, but the skin still looks really bad. Carol will discuss with the vet, and will likely board the idiot cat for the next week while she travels. Hopefully, this will allow some better analysis at the vet to find out what is happening.

2 weeks complete!!

well, we repeated week 1 since we are old ad very out of shape, but each sessions seems to go better.  This week, Carol travels to Florida so we wil work out separately.  We will be doing week 2 of the "Couch to 5k" program from c25k.com and trying to work up toward a 5 k or longer race.  I was very impressed with podrunner.com podcasts that progress through the couch to 5k, then to 8k and finally 10k.

I hope we can keep this up.  I am really enjoying the flat an looking forward to being able to do some real road work with hills here in North GA.  Maybe Carol and I can make a quilt of road race T-shirts we collect.

We got our nice new Nike Air Pegasus+ shoes, and they are great.  We are waiting now for the iPod Nano and Nike+iPod to be able to really geek out our workouts.  I cannot wait to see just how slow we really are.  But this should be a great starting point.

how's this for insane

OK. I have a customer in AL using a part, and having trouble determining the registers to interface to the memory chip. So, I decide to use some time over the Christmas break and go through the memory chip data sheet and the memory controller section of the processor to help him with the controller settings for his design. I print the memory data sheet and the memory controller section from my processor. (Apparently, I printed 2 copies, but that gets important later.)

So, during my time off over Christmas vacation, I sit and make lots of notes about processor speed, clock cycles, memory setup and hold, etc. Then I translate these to the memory controller register settings that will be required to allow the processor to read and write the memory chip. After I complete this, I put the papers with the notes aside until I get back at work at which time I plan to send email to the engineer providing him the data he will need. Days later, as I get ready to compose the email, I grab the papers, BUT, unbeknown to me, I get the OTHER copy. So I sit down to go over the notes to review and send the info to the engineer, and my notes are not there. My first thought: Am I insane? Did I DREAM this? I know I have some VIVID dreams, but I can recall with almost photographic memory the notes I took to determine the register settings and values, and the memory timing that I analyzed. I had added some timing notations to the memory timing diagrams, and transferred these to the memory controller timing diagrams to compute the math. I had also made notes on each register of the settings it needed. There we NO notes of any kind in these papers. This is completely nuts. Or I am. No kidding, it took almost 15 minutes to find the original papers with my notes. Wow.

workout #8

it was 44F tonight. Beautiful clear sky with near full moon. My fingers were a bit cold in the warm-up but after the 1st run it was all good. I even sweated (like THAT is a surprise...) as each run ended, I circle back to walk long with Carol. This was the first run with our new shoes. very nice. Nike Air Pegasus+ for him and her. And the iPod Nano is shipped, ad the Nike+iPod is shipped. How much of a geek am I? G++ should give you an idea...

Predicted to be MUCH colder by next week, but Carol will run in sunny South Florida while I freeze here.

ran in rain

repeating week 1 to help us get a bit more conditioned. very muggy and about 60F in JANUARY... had been raining most of the day. Fortunately, it did not rain much in our running window.

3rd workout

Well, closest yet to stopping (and barfing) but we completed week 1.  I think we are old enough that we will do week 1 again.

the podcasts are very helpful.  the area we found is very nice, not much traffic, and flat.

awesome. it is raining

and 39F

so we will probably look like Michelin men tonight.
I do not know which is worse, bundled up and drenched from sweating, or less bundled up and wet from rain. either way, cold and wet....

this will be 3rd session of week 1 couch to 5k.

walked the circuit

how lame is this?
with 130 bpm soundtrack (http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html), it took 32:05 to walk what we did in intervals with 8 runs of 60 sec each in 30:00 mins...

I would seriously think that the runs would make the walking take a bit longer...

but then, we are mostly dead due to advanced age of mid-40's.