I empathize with Lance

I can't believe I have posted here since November. Well, my scale has been trying to tell me to get back out on the road but I've just managed to focus this week when I realized that the All Star 5K is next Sunday at Angel Stadium. I only run for the T-Shirt... ;^)

So I did a short run on Saturday and felt pretty good. I decided to extend it today but I only reached a mile when I tried to jump up to the sidewalk from the road to avoid a car. I stumbled on the rough pavement and instead of slowing down, I continued to move at the same pace. That

is, my upper body continued to move and my feet slowed down. That caused me to fall face first into the curb. Bloody lip, knee and right pinkie finger. Blood in my mouth and just under my lower lip. It doesn't hurt that much but I'm sure it'll bother me later.

At least I don't look like Lance. He did a face-plant during the Tour of California and the road got the better of him. Today's stage in the Tour de France also brought some crashes. Early estimates claim that more than 50 riders crashed on a slippery descent, Lance being one of them. But professional bicyclists, being the gentlemen that they are, kept the peloton together while some of the favorites where able to catch up.

Cancellara, wearing the yellow today, kept the group together at the finish even though he could have narrowed the gap between himself and the leader, Chavanel, who will wear the yellow tomorrow. You can see Cancellara at the finish line, scolding an AG2R rider for straying out in front of the peloton.

You can see here, where I crashed. Just one mile into my run. Thank goodness I had my RoadID on my shoe. If I were to have passed out, someone could have called the toll free number and found my medical and emergency contact information. But I didn't have to use it this time. I did decide to stop my run early, just in case I became dizzy later and crashed and burned.

I wonder if I need to find another route or simply stay on the sidewalk?

Oh, my new Navy technical shirt I bought at Great Lakes Navel Station is a bit roughed up in front. No holes but something to remind me about being careful. And now that I'm eating some salty food, my sensitive lip is reminding me in a rather painful way. Maybe I need some alcohol in my mouth to numb the pain?

Battle of Wounded Knee

But I survived! A couple of Aleves and I was good to go.

Cell phone battery almost dead because I forgot to plug it in last night. It lasted longer than I did.

My problem: Being fat and lazy for the past few months. It's bad... very bad. It feels like I'm starting over. All the progress seems wasted. You can't let it go. You must continue striving for more. Set goals and keep them. Ugh. I need to stretch!

I discovered that I can guide my mouse over my run data at RoadRunnerGPS and see my speed and elevation over any part of my run. And I supposed I can use this all on a bike as well. Hmmmmm... Although the software has a rest number at the top. It doesn't seem to measure the rest. I wonder how I make that work? I stopped at the traffic signal and waited to cross. You can see the dip in the line but no rest data. Also, my free trial expires tomorrow so I guess I'll fork over $4.99 and continue using it.

But it feels good to run and I did a short jaunt uphill. I hate hills! Gotta remember to bring an ID with me for the paramedics...

Rest of the day: work, music, convo, discovery...

Technology Redeems Itself

A good run and a successful upload of data to the RoadRunnerGPS website. Rather than listening to Slacker radio during this run, I played media directly from the BlackBerry. I like the BlackBerry Desktop sync function that interfaces with my iTunes playlist. Who needs an iPhone!

Increased my distance by 33% today and 100% since I started running again. I need to find a scale so I can track my BMI.

Note to self: Either start earlier or wear light colored clothing. This is SoCal after all, it never cools down. Rain? What's that!

Discovered that I couldn't tweet and run at the same time but I could perfect a fast-walk tweet technique. I would hate to think of the danger if I was tweeting while on my bike. #FAIL

One more day of running tomorrow before my T-W-Th schedule dominates my life. Looking forward to Christmas break beginning on December 19. Or is it "Winter Break"? I'm not going to go there.

T-minus 5 days and counting to Christmas season. Where is that USB HDD with all my Christmas CDs. I may have to upgrade to a TB this year!

Off to Home Depot...

Technology is challenging

I felt much better during my run today and was looking forward to posting my results. However, RoadRunnerGPS was not able to upload the data for my run today and it appears that the info is lost forever. Reminds me of the problems I've had with the Nike+.

On a positive note, I sent an email to tech support and received a reply back within a couple of hours on Saturday. I suspect that the error was not caused by the RoadRunnerGPS app but probably by Verizon or the BlackBerry Storm crappy new OS upgrade! Man! What a piece of garbage! The new OS was supposed to be so much better but they've definitely taken a step back. Many steps back!

Another positive note, I increased today's distance by 50% and eliminated the rest stops.

Now, if I could just find an app to do my laundry...

Technology is Inspiring

All my foot problems and most of my schedule issues are gone so it's time to start training again. I'm not going to make the Turkey Trot nest week but once I check my training schedule I'll find something that fits in late December or January.

Thanks to @akaCowboyfan. I found an app for my BlackBerry Storm that uses GPS to track my runs. RoadRunnerGPS is very simple but it works so far after one run. Hopefully they will add features without breaking it.

I've been eating waaaaaay too much since I last ran and now it's time to settle it down and eat better. Let's see how it goes...

Thanks, Tiger!

A very good run today. I felt great. Was it the coffee I had before the run? Maybe. My running coach says that many people feel energized after having a cup of coffee before a run.

A mixed bag today...

I decided to recalibrate my Nike+ because when I use it during a 5K race, it never gives me the same distance as the race tells me. I went to local high school to use the track. As I was navigating through the iPod menu I discovered that the Nike+ wasn't calibrated. I guess it must of lost it's calibration when I had to reset the iPod awhile back. So I calibrated it and decided not to finish my run on the track. How boring! But the track had a very nice surface.

So I drove home and did my regular run and felt great. When I finished, Tiger Woods congratulated me on my fastest mile ever. What a great feature to have Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and other Nike athletes motivate you. Thanks, Tiger!

So here's a screen shot of my latest run. The area a circled in blue is where I walked a bit to warm up. And I still had my best average mins/mile run to date.

Hopefully I get my new shoes next week...

Milestone!

Too steep? Maybe. But I ate a lot yesterday and haven't weighed in yet. Doing on a 3 mile run in a minute. That should help.

I'm finally back on track to achieve "normal" BMI. Let's see if I can stick to it. Weekends are hell!