I Joined the Social

Most everyone who knows me, knows I am a bit of an electronics addict.  I always have some gadget that I am pining for; some future purchase or soon to be released item that I want.  I try to be as rational as possible.  I try to wait when buying a new Windows Mobile device at least 2 product cycles.  A new computer purchase must wait 4 years.  And MP3 players anything over a year will do.  While this is more often than many people, this is considered a late adopter in the Tech world.

This is why I surprised myself by buying a Zune.  There were many reasons that I shouldn't buy it.  I already had an MP3 player that was less than a year old.  The Zune followed the same closed system that I had admonished iPod fans for buying into.  I also had avoided Hard Drive players in favor of flash based systems that made for better running companions.  Not to mention, the Zune was a first release of a new product line; one that may or may not even succeed.

But after Christmas I found myself with some Best Buy gift cards and an irrational desire to own a Zune.  My 6 Gig flash player worked great, but my music collection had grown beyond capacity.  I loved the Senza for running, but I missed having every song that I owned with me.  I missed not being able to play just the right song for an occasion because that one that I wanted to hear right now didn't make the sync.  Also, I was a little surprised by the accessories already offered with the Zune.  I mean it was no iPod, but I had waited 6 months for a docking station for my Senza and it still didn't work.  Microsoft worked hard to get accessories released, and if anyone can come close to rivaling the ipod in this regard, they can.

 Am I happy with the purchase?  Absolutely.  It does everything I wanted and more.  I was always cautious about what songs I added to my player due to it's limited size.  Not to mention now I have size for video clips, TV shows and every picture I own.  The interface is unbeleavable.  Many complain that it doesn't have a real scroll wheel, trust me these people have not played with it to form a real opinion.  It is so much easer to find a song by holding your finger down than by going around in circles.  Not to mention the screens are much more intuitive than the ipod's interface.  The twist menus allow you to navigate in two directions making it easy to get where you want to go.

Is the Zune going to beat the ipod?  Not in the near future.  As slick as it is, the interface is not enough for people to want to switch.  And the added WiFi is more of a ' watch this space' feature.  There are not enough Zunes out to let you share songs, and Microsoft themselves have stated that the WiFi will do more soon.  So we wait.  Not to mention Microsoft does not have Apple's cachet.  Nowadays, if you don't have an ipod, you have some sort of cheap knockoff in the eyes of the Apple fanboys.  And everyone and their dog have lined up to criticize the Zune simply because it is not an ipod.

But what the ipod crowd does not realize is that Apple has stagnated.  The ipod, while it is great in it's simplicity, releases some small new feature every year with no real leap.  Competition from the Zune is just what the ipod, and all MP3 players in general, need:  Someone to force a leap.  Remember the days of Netscape and Internet Explorer.  The competition forced each to release a new version, with new features often.  When IE faced no competition it stagnated with little innovation.  Then along comes Firefox and low-and-behold we get a new version of IE with tons of new features.

And for those who say that the Zune will never win out over the ipod...be carefull.  Remember when Microsoft entered the game console market which was dominated by Sony.  They spent years as a distant third behind even Nintendo.  Now they have changed the market and forced all the competitors to innovate with High Def and off-the-wall controllers.  Also remember how everyone had a Palm, much like everyone has an ipod today.  Palm, like Apple had stagnated.  Now Blackberry and Windows Mobile dominate the landscape and you are hard-pressed to find a Palm outside of someone's junk drawer.

So while there were many reasons for me not to choose a Zune, I am very happy with the decision.  Will I still be happy a year or two from now...only time will tell.

A Perfect Flip

Do you ever wonder what you look like when you fall? I never really thought about it, but for the third time I fell while running again (not counting the sort of flop to the ground I did in my last marathon), and I wonder what it looked like.

Well the story was, I went running while traveling in Tennessee and therefore I was unfamiliar with the terrain (the excuses start). Also, since I had meetings that day I went out pretty early especially considering the time change, so there was very little light for the first part of the run (excuse number two). So, off I go on a 7 miler dodging traffic and plodding through the hills (excuse three and four) until I get almost 2 miles into the run (see map of the run on the right with the marker on the approximate incident).

So, I sort of hop up a curb and misjudge an uneven part of the sidewalk. Bam, down I go on my hands, then shoulder, then upright on my feet again. I mean as falls go, this one felt like a perfect roll. I could have continued to run in a, "I meant to do that," sort of way. I sure would have looked cooler if I had. Except I was so stunned by the incident that I stopped to check out my hands ( a little scraped), shoulder (fine except my music players case got a little scraped) and of course the sidewalk ("see everyone, there really is a bump here"). Only there was no one around to see me (unlike last time), so I just started to run again. I probably looked like a dead fish flopping around, but it sure felt like a perfectly executed roll. I always said that one of the reasons I like running as a sport is because it requires very little coordination. Looks like it requires more coordination than I have, unless I continue to execute these perfect rolls.

ING Georgia

Yes, it is official, I am doing another marathon at the end of March.  I didn't tell a lot of people that I was because most already think I am a little obsessive not to mention that little cramping problem I had last marathon.  But plans for this one are a lot different.  It is a hilly course, not to mention I have 11 weeks between the two marathons.  So this time I plan to take it easy.  I want to finish in around 3:50 or 3:45.  No obsessive checking of the watch, no worry about pace, no fear of a bad time.  I will run the speed that the terrain lets me.

I think doing the ING is a good idea for a number of reasons.  First of all, I think doing more than one marathon a year will put less pressure on each event.  I want to finally get a time I think I am capable of, but I keep going for it and crashing and burning.  That might have more to do with the weather and my hydration than my skill, but then again maybe it doesn't.  I need to make some progressively better times rather than going for one huge improvement.  Also, I enjoy the structure of training.  I know I am healthier and thinner then when I am not running and having a plan keeps me running.  Do I want some time off from serious training?  Sure.  Is the timing a little close for comfort?  Sure.  But then again, everyone else is getting active still fresh off of their New Years resolutions; so why not now.

So with that said, I am following a plan tailor made for my situation (so obviously others are this obsessive), Pete Pfitzingers' 2 marathons with 10 weeks between them.  I actually had 11, but I took the first week off; see I can rest.  I'm in week 2 and I'm a little less motivated than I was in week 2 last time, but that fits with my plan too.  The biggest difference for this marathon is that I am going to have to run some hills.  I have such a great place to run near my house that it is hard to want to go elsewhere.  The problem with that is, nearly everywhere in Atlanta has hills, except where I run.  Sure there are a few on the way to and from the trail, but not enough to consider it hill training.  So, I will have to run some hilly areas in the next few weeks and maybe the variety will help spice things up.

So soon everyone will begging to hear about my running again as I complain or brag.  But the difference is, I will hopefully talk less about times.  Let's see if this plan works a little better.

DLF not DNF

There is an old saying says something about the hardest fought victories being the sweetest.  Well yes and no.

This picture is of me doing the death march through EPCOT.  What went wrong?  Well many things, but mostly my pride.  You see I trained for this marathon for about 6 months.  In my first marathon I had to walk the last 2 miles turning probably a 3:45 finish into a 4:02.  It was a bitter end to a great start in my mind.  Although it was not bad for my first time, I was unhappy about having to walk the finish.  So I vowed that I would finish the next one strong.  I started a Pfitzinger marathon training program that upped my mileage and build up my speed.  It built my speed up so much that I turned in a 1:44 half marathon and felt so strong at the finish that I knew I could have turned in a much better time.  So I started dreaming of a 3:36 and trained for an 8:15 per min. pace.  Everything was going well, all my training runs went great and were on pace...then came race day.

On Race Day it was HOT.  85 F with 98% humidity.  I knew it was going to be hot the day before and I even played lip service to adjusting my pace accordingly.  But it was just that, lip service.  When the start sounded I felt great, the first mile was a little slow due to the crowd but I quickly got on my 8:15 pace and felt great.  I was cruising, but somewhere around mile 14 I began to feel weaker.  My legs were getting tired, something that had never happened to me before.  At this point I made the decision to reduce my speed to an 8:30, but it was too little too late.  By mile 18 I knew I wasn't going to make it but I continued to delay the inevitable.  I knew I was going to have to walk, but I didn't want to walk 7 miles.  I made deals with myself to try to make it to 22 then to 20, but finally my body made the decision for me.  My legs cramped up beyond hope and just short of mile 20, I hobbled to the med tent and crumpled to the grass.  I was so cramped up even my tongue hurt.  I sat there on the ground convincing the medical people that I was fine.  I was not.  I made the decision to wait for the bus because I knew I couldn't walk 6 miles.

But a funny thing happened while trying to stop my legs from cramping, I got pissed.  Pissed that all my training ended up this way.  Pissed that I didn't start out slower.  Pissed that after all my talk about a sub 3:40 I was going to DNF.  So I grabbed a Poweraid and a banana from the med tent and walked away.  It was more like a hobble.  That first mile was really painfully and I felt like it took me an hour and I stopped at one point to stretch and again crumpled to the ground.  It was at this point I met the nicest medical worker.  He sprinted over to me to make sure I was alright and I assured him it was just cramps.  He brought me to the med tent (my second stop) and said, "I'll have a cute girl rub some bio freeze on you and you'll be as good as new."  Well the girl was cute and the bio freeze worked for about 10 min., but I did learn one lesson, stopping was BAD.  So I kept going.  It was slow and painful and I talked to a few people in a similar state as me which helped pass the time.  Every now and then I would cramp up bad, but I just kept walking.  I tried to drink constantly, but I was full.  I had asked at both med tents for salt (that worked for me last time) but they didn't have any and I didn't think to bring my salt tablets from home.

Eventually I was closer to the finish and I could feel it's gravity pulling me.  I wanted to finish, I wanted to be able to wear the shirt with pride, because even though this was not going to be a great finish by any means at least I didn't quit.  I saw Sheryl and the Barbee's at EPCOT and I felt bad that they had waited for 2 hours past when they expected to see me.  Then it was just a blur to the finish where I saw my parents and sister and I told them, "I can't stop."  I got my medal and stopped again at the med tent on my quest for salt...again no luck.

Things after that were just a mess, when I finally sat down in the car I cramped up beyond belief, then we took a wrong turn, then the car broke down, then I was throwing up from dehydration.  That story in itself makes for a bad day.  But at least I finished.  I. Finished.

Am I capable of running a 3:36, I think so, but I need ideal conditions.  Right now I want to finish one marathon running strong.  I still don't know what time I am going to try to run ING Georgia in, but I do know it will be slow with lots of hills and I am going to finish.