Run, Turtle, Run!

The Turtle is Moving to WordPress!

2007-05-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

I'm migrating my blog to WordPress.com (a hosted version of the excellent open source blogging platform WordPress).

Why am I doing this? Mind your business, that's why.

So head over to the new digs at http://runturtlerun.wordpress.com. All future posts will be there.

And anyone who is reading this journal using a feedreader, please update your feeds. Thanks!

Run: Active "Rest" on the Rowing Machine & Equivalent Cross-Training Mileage

2007-05-16T16:07:00.000-04:00

Today I Erg'ed.

I'm trying to give my poor legs a break from the beating they're taking from all this running, so I hit the rowing machine today to get 30 minutes of cardio in.

I thought about trying to record the approximate equivalent mileage as running mileage, but I think I'd rather just consider this a "rest" day. Recording approximate equivalent mileage isn't really all that helpful, as far as I can tell, because the mileage one records in a running journal is to help determine overall fitness to run, which isn't just about cardio fitness, but also about your body's ability to take the specific physical stress on muscles and joints that running creates. So you couldn't try to do half of your mileage cycling and calculate the running equivalent and expect to run as well as someone who just runs all those miles. Cardio-wise, you might be as well-off, and you could probably bike circles around the runner, but your legs just wouldn't hold up to the punishment of running without actually running enough training miles. Just ask Lance Armstrong how he felt after running the NYC Marathon, and you'll see what I mean. Granted, Lance wasn't in the best shape of his life for the marathon, but this is a guy whose cardio-respiratory fitness will probably always be up there amongst the top 1-2% of people in the world no matter what.

Maybe if you're specifically cross-training as a strategy to save your joints, muscles and bones the wear and tear (or to alleviate the tediousness) of running it might make sense to try to figure out the equivalent mileage of various activities, but it's always going to be crap-shoot.

Anyway, after some research, here's some basic formulas for calculating equivalent running mileage for different activities. I can't cite any sources for any of this, so, um, you know, don't blame me if you follow these formulas and your training gets all funky and stuff.

Swimming
1 mile (pool) = 4 miles run
1 mile (sea) = 6 miles run

Cycling
4 miles = 1 mile run
(some would say 3 miles biked = 1 mile run... who knows?)

Rowing
2 miles = 1 mile run

Elliptical
I couldn't find anything on the elliptical, except that many runners swear by it because it more closely simulates the motion of running without the impact, while others question whether it's a good substitute for running because in some models (notably the Precor)the weighted flywheel that the pedals are connected to actually contributes a lot to the momentum of the movement, so you may not be getting as good a workout as the machine indicates. Ultimately, if you're using your heart rate to determine effectiveness of the exercise, then it doesn't matter. But if you're tracking calories burned, don't trust the machine. Actually, come to think of it, most machines are probably not very good at tracking calories burned.

A General Rule
If you're checking your heart rate, you can approximate your equivalent running mileage by taking your average heart rate during the exercise, figuring out what your normal running pace would be with that many miles run, and then divide the total time you exercised by that pace. So, if my heart rate is 170 for the 30 minutes I erg'ed today, and I normally run a 9-minute mile when my heart rate is at 170, then my equivalent miles run would be 30 divided by 9, or 3.33 miles. (This general rule courtesy of Bob Glover, one of the authors of the classic The Runner's Handbook.)

Run: Speedwork (and how to determine max heart rate)

2007-05-15T20:52:00.001-04:00

Run: Speedwork (and how to determine max heart rate)

Course: East 6th Street Track
Distance: 4.1875 miles
Realization: "Training = Improvement"

Speedwork was not so bad today. I actually felt stronger, and I could definitely maintain a good pace for an entire half-mile.

I also discovered that my maximum heart rate is probably a little higher than I previously believed. My heart rate monitor indicates that I hit my maximum heart rate at some point during my workout, but I definitely don't feel like I did. I put my max heart rate at 190 using the standard 220-AGE=MAX HEART RATE formula (or the newer and probably more accurate 205-(AGE*0.5)=MAX HEART RATE), but there are always going to be variations among people who are the same age given differences in genetics and physiology. So after today, I'm going to cautiously bump my max heart rate up to 192, putting the age of my heart at about 28 or 26 depending on which formula you use. I thank my farmer ancestors for their strong hearts and clean living. Who knows, maybe they could have been elite athletes if they had been given a different lot in life.

The Workout:
3 x 200m + 100m recovery
800m + 400m recovery
600m + 200m recovery
400m + 200m recovery
600m + 200m recovery
800m + 400m recovery
3 x 300m + 100m recovery

At pace: 4100m (2.0625 miles)
With warm-up and recovery: 6700m (4.1875 miles)

Today I Ran

2007-05-14T16:30:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill, manual setting, 1% grade
Distance: 4 miles
Biggest challenge: maintaining my pace despite the cloud of body odor coming from the guy 2 treadmills over

I just don't understand. Maybe it's my own bourgeois personal hygiene thing, but the thought of working out in a cloud of my own funk, much less subjecting everyone within a 10 yard radius to said funk, is not even an option. Then again, maybe that's why I'm doing laundry all the time. I guess it's not very eco-friendly to always want non-smelly exercise clothes. I don't wash my clothes after EVERY single time I wear things, but because I tend to sweat a lot, I wear a lot of moisture-wicking clothes that are made from polyester and things like that, and those tend to get smelly pretty quickly, so I'm always very conscious about making sure my clothes rate very low on the smell-o-meter. Most times I'll just hand-wash my running shirt and let it dry overnight.

But this guy today... WHEW! I seriously considered stopping my run and moving to a different machine. I guess that's definitely one disadvantage to treadmill running: no matter how fast you run, you can't just speed up and run away from offensive odors.

On a less olfactory note: anyone who is thinking about running on a treadmill should always consider setting the incline to at least 1% if you want to get a similar workout to actual running. This will compensate for the fact that the belt is moving under your feet - taking away some resistance - and it will also make up for the fact that there's no wind resistance. It's hardly noticeable, really, but your body will thank you for it when you hit the road and wonder why it seems so much harder than the treadmill.

Today I Ran

2007-05-13T21:19:00.001-04:00

Sunnyside!

Course: Sunnyside Out-and-Back
Distance: 3 miles
Thoughts: Sunnyside is really freakin' nice!
Pain: Shins, right arch

Trying to increase my running volume, but I'm a little worried about my shins. Hopefully if I can ease up on the pace my shins will get better and I won't have to sacrifice the miles.

I discovered today that Sunnyside is a really beautiful neighborhood to run through. There are a lot of gardens and trees, and not a whole lot of cars. I may have found my new favorite running route in Queens.

Today I Ran

2007-05-12T11:00:00.000-04:00

Course: Jackson Heights Salvation Army Loop
Distance: 5.5 miles

Felt really tired on this run. I'm wondering if I'm getting enough carbohydrates in my diet. All the Atkins low/no-carb propaganda has me consuming much fewer carbs than I used to, but now I'm learning that people engaged in endurance exercises like distance running should be getting at least 70% of their calories from carbohydrates, because most of of our calories are burned at an elevated heart rate which comes mostly from carbs stored in our muscles in the form of glycogen. So, if you don't replenish your glycogen store, then you get tired from physical exertion much more quickly.

Hooray! More carbs!

Today I Ran

2007-05-10T22:48:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill - Light Run
Distance: 4 miles

Did a light, slow run today, after doing a squats/legs/biceps workout. Before I ran I started to feel some aching in my left heel. I really hope it's not plantar fascitis. Yet another reason to drop some pounds. And while I feel like I'm generally eating healthier and leaner, and my weekly calories burned must be much higher than a month ago, the weight just doesn't seem to want to go away.

Nintendo Wii: Probably Not Great Exercise

2007-05-09T16:04:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to play a Nintendo Wii over the last couple of days, and while it's loads of fun, I was skeptical of my parents' claim that it was good exercise. So what's a fledgling runner with a geeky penchant for gadgets to do? Strap on a heart rate monitor while playing video games, of course.

My findings? Well, at times my heart rate did climb to about 50-60% of my max heart rate, but I couldn't sustain it. This was especially the case with games like bowling and golf, which almost require playing with a beer in one hand with all the downtime between activity. I'm also unsure whether my increase in heart rate was due to physical activity or frustration from losing while I played.

One interesting result I found was the soreness in certain muscles I felt this morning, which leads me to the conclusion that my Wii muscles are underdeveloped. My commitment to overall fitness requires me to exercise my Wii muscles to become a more well-rounded athlete.

Seriously, though, I think there's real potential for the Wii to make fitness more fun, especially if they could incorporate heart rate monitoring into the system somehow and create a game that would vary the intensity of activity to make sure you were staying in a good training zone. There must be folks out there working on developing games and accessories to make the Wii into an ideal exercise/entertainment machine.

Of course, it would probably be better to just encourage people to get fit the old-fashioned way so they don't become dependent on a game console to get their exercise, but given the choice between sitting around and mashing buttons with your thumbs or standing up, moving around, and waving your arms wildly to knock out your virtual Pops in the third round of a family grudge-match, I think the Wii is much better than no exercise.

Today I Ran

2007-05-08T09:30:00.000-04:00

Course: Streets of Villa Park/Orange, California
Distance: 4.6 miles

I ran around the neighborhood where I grew up today. Funny how it seems so much smaller running around the old neighborhood now than it did back in high school on the cross country team. That may have something to do with the fact that I didn't have the slightest bit of consciousness of my heart rate and what my optimal aerobic training zone was, so I'd always take off like a bat out of hell with the varsity crew and find myself fading quickly. I think it's a real shame that it isn't common knowledge that in order to improve aerobic fitness you only need to exercise at about 60-80% of your maximum heart rate, which is only hard enough that you should still be able to maintain a conversation with someone or hum a tune as you run. Maybe it is common knowledge, but no one ever told me. I always thought that unless I was gasping for breath, it can't possibly be very good exercise. Now I know why I always bonked so early and developed shin splints all the time: I was pushing too hard too quickly and my body just couldn't keep up.

Well, at least I know now.

Oh, and I had the distinct displeasure of being reunited with the brown haze that
hangs over Southern California. Now I don't feel quite so bad about New York air.

Today I Ran

2007-05-06T14:28:00.000-04:00

Course: Santa Monica/Venice Beach
Distance: 6.68 miles
Unusual Circumstance of the Run: "Mmm... I love the smell of marijuana in the morning."

It's so much easier to run in California than in New York. I didn't have to run under a freeway. In fact, I ran on the beach. It was amazing! I hope the elation I felt from running was from the beautiful scenery, the excellent weather, and my runner's high, and not a contact high from the huge cloud of ganja haze I ran through in Venice.

I wanted to take a picture to post, but I haven't figured out the best way to bring my phone along on a run without it getting soaked with sweat. I'll have to add yet another running doo-dad to my gear wishlist...

Today I Ellipticalled

2007-05-04T18:07:00.000-04:00

Course: Umm...
Distance: 2.5 miles
Recurring thought: "What the hell is this supposed to simulate?"

In my continuing effort to stave off shin splints, I decided to give the elliptical trainer another try. Having only used one a couple of times in my life, I was a little bit uncertain about it's aerobic benefits.

After spent 30 minutes on the thing, I found that I did indeed have a hard time elevating my heart-rate to where I wanted it to be, just as Luna mentioned. If I tried to go too fast, my feet - being unused to the weird pedals, would bounce out, (giving me nightmare flashbacks to the one time I took a spin class and was unused to the fact that I couldn't coast and promptly threw myself off my bike). If I increased the resistance, I'd find my leg muscles fatiguing too quickly. Anyway, it's better than not working out at all, and if it helps me keep my aerobic fitness up without adding to the pounding that my shins take from running, then it may become part of my regular rotation of exercises.

Watch My Virtual Progress Across the Country

2007-05-03T18:08:00.000-04:00

I just signed up with FitnessJournal.org to track all of my various exercise activities, and they have a cool feature which tallies up all of the distance you've traveled running, walking, swimming, biking, hiking, skipping, crawling, doing the caterpillar, moonwalking... and then displays your virtual progress across a map. Currently they only have Canada, the United States, and Australia (I'm hoping they add China, or the moon or something). So click on the image above to see how far I've come Since April 14, 2007. [Opens in new window.]

Today I Ran

2007-05-03T18:03:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill (again) HR Zone Intervals
Distance: 4 miles

Nothing special to note, except that I can definitely feel my endurance and speed improving. Come to think of it, I guess that's pretty noteworthy.

Been reading a little more about training, and I realize now that I need to be patient. As long as I put in the miles, I'll get stronger and faster.

Why everyone needs a Gmail account (even if you don't want to use it for email)

2007-05-02T23:59:00.000-04:00

It's come to my attention that there are a few people out there who don't have, or don't really use their Gmail accounts, which is kind of astounding to me considering how vastly superior (in my opinion at least) the Gmail interface is to every other web-mail offering I've seen. But beyond that, there are so many ways one can use a gmail account. How many, you ask? More than I can count, probably, but here are some ways that I use Gmail.

1. Online disk storage: These days, I rarely need to use a USB flash disk to transport files from one computer to another, because I can just email it to myself at my Gmail address. Why would I do this? Well I forget to bring my flash disk around with me sometimes. Also your Gmail account is protected with a password. How many of you out there can at the same about your flash disks? (Incidentally, if you DO want to protect your flash drive, you can encrypt your data, and I'm sure there are several password protection apps out there available for USB flash drives...). Also, you can't physically lose a gmail account, but I know people who have lost several flash drives. Plus Gmail is 2GB of free storage while 2GB flash drives cost a pretty penny. Working on a computer that's not connected to the internet? Well, fine, you still need a drive for that. But, honestly, how often does that happen? (Incidentally, Yahoo! recently announced that it was going to provide unlimited storage for Yahoo! Mail accounts, so in this regard, Yahoo! Mail edges out Gmail for pure storage.)

2. Email archive: [This idea came from Eric originally.] How often have you needed to refer back to one particular email, only to find that it's buried in the 457 emails you allow to ferment in your inbox? Or maybe you do try to keep your emails organized by putting them into different folders... now did I put that email about the Project X in the Project X folder, or the John Smith folder? With Gmail's search engine, finding that particular email is a easy as figuring out what search string to use. I usually just search for the person who sent it. No more digging around in folders or staring at a screenful of emails.

Many folks have email accounts that only allow for limited storage space. If you can poke around in your email settings and redirect (sometimes also called "forwarding," but it's different from the kind of forwarding you do when you pass an email on to someone else from within the email program) all of your email to Gmail, then you have an automatic backup of every email you ever received.

If you're really ambitious, you can also try to have all the emails that you send from non-Gmail accounts also sent to Gmail account, so your Gmail account becomes a complete record of all your email correspondence. You can do this manually for every email you send simply by adding your Gmail address in the BCC field of any email you send. However, some email programs will allow you to set it up so that it will automatically do it for you (if you need help with this, let me know in the comments or contact me directly).

3. BlackBerry Lite: Don't have a BlackBerry (or Treo), but you want to be able to check your email on your mobile phone? No problem! Scoff at Blackberry and Treo owners and their expensive gadgets by installing the Gmail Mobile application to your Java-enabled phone. It's actually been a long time since I've played around with a non-smartphone phone, so I don't know how prevalent phones with web browsers are, but I figure there a lot of people out there who don't have CrackBerries or Treos or some other smartphone device who could benefit from this little tidbit.

I actually use the Gmail Mobile application on my BlackBerry, even though I receive all of my emails in the native BlackBerry messaging application. "Why?" you ask? See #2 above. It's great. My entire email archive wherever I go.

* * *

Anyway, there are ton more uses for Gmail. I think I'll save them for now. Many of them are kind of involved and really more for hard-core Gmail users. If you really want to explore some more advanced uses for Gmail, check out Steve Rubel's article on how he uses Gmail as his Personal Nerve Center.

LOLTrek - For the Nerdiest of the Nerdy

2007-05-02T21:03:00.000-04:00

Found out about this via Alex King's blog. It made me laugh out loud. But I warn you, it can only really be appreciated by Star Trek fans (or at least people who know something about Star Trek and tribbles) who also know what LOLcats are.

See, I told you. Nerdy.

LOL Trek - Live Grenades

Today I Ran (Photo!)

2007-05-01T21:06:00.001-04:00

Today I Ran (Photo!),
originally uploaded by t.turtle.

Course: The Ellipse of Pain (W 6th Track) Intervals

Distance: Too much, too fast.

My Deepest Shame: Barely staying ahead of people nearly twice my age.

I finally decided to put a photo up. My photos aren't going to be of the best image quality for the most part, because I'm using my camera phone, but they're better than nothing.

This particular photo is dark, because once again I was in the least-fast group, and therefore finished well after the real runners had already cooled down and were just chit-chatting. It's poorly composed because towards the end of the workout I was running so deep into my anaerobic zone that I could barely walk. Maybe I should rename this blog "Run, Tortoise, Run!"

By the end of this summer, I'm going to get out of the least-fast group, I'm going to start running with people my age, and I'm going to finish early enough and with enough oxygen in my system to get a good shot.

It's good to have goals.

The Workout:
200m x 3 warmup, 100m recovery
1000m (5k race pace), 400m recovery
600m (5k race pace), 400m recovery
800m (3k race pace), 400m recovery
800m (3k race pace), 400m recovery
400m (3k race pace), 200m recovery
400m (3k race pace), 200m recovery
400m (3k race pace), 200m recovery
400m (3k race pace), cool down.

Distance at pace: 3 miles
Warmup: 600m
Recovery: 2500m
Total Distance: 100m shy of 5 miles

My Triathalon Training Gear Wishlist Pt. 1

2007-05-01T13:03:00.000-04:00

Home Swimmer: No olympic size pool to train in? No problem. Oh, wait. I don't even have a little pool. Which leads me to #2...
Swimming Pool.

Why am I not surprised that I am attracted to the idea of creating a cheap swimming treadmill so I don't have to actually go out there and, uh, you know, swim laps? Where does this desire to run, bike, and swim in place come from?

Yesterday I "Biked"

2007-04-30T12:19:00.000-04:00

Course: Tour de New York Sports Club (Stationary Bike)
Duration: 55 minutes
Realization: "stationary bike saddles hurt"

In an effort to give my poor shins a break before my weekly track workout beat down tomorrow, yesterday I hopped on to a stationary bike at the gym and pedaled furiously while watching the Heat/Bulls game. I discovered two things. 1) I can't maintain as a high a heart rate on a stationary bike as I can on the treadmill.. I think because it uses very different muscles, and 2) stationary bike saddles aren't anything like my bike saddle, and they hurt after a while. I felt a really deep achy pain right at the top of my hamstrings, where my leg/butt kept striking the edges of the saddle on the down-push. Maybe I'll try the recumbent stationary bike next time.

Or - here's an idea - maybe I can just get on my real bike and go for a ride. What a novel idea! Looking back on how many treadmill workouts I have, I seem to have an aversion to outdoor activity in New York City. I'll have to work on that.

Yesterday I Ran

2007-04-28T12:49:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill HR Zone Intervals
Distance: 5 miles
Biggest Source of Anxiety: Shin Splints?!

Did a treadmill run after lifting weights yesterday. I was supposed to do a 4-mile on Thursday, but my schedule didn't really permit, so I thought I'd do a five yesterday. Started out okay, but I noticed some soreness in my shins, so now I'm really worried about shin splints. Gotta ease up a little on the mileage I think.

My Life Post-Treo - First BlackBerry Impressions

2007-04-26T22:52:00.000-04:00

I made the switch from a Treo 650 to a BlackBerry Pearl this week. So far, my suspicions have proven to be true: the BlackBerry is a much more functional communications device than the Treo, but the Treo is more flexible in how it does things, and has a lot more software available to it.

What I Like About the BlackBerry

Email and web access is solid, stable and intuitive. My Treo was always crashing when I was trying to use it as an email device or surf the web.
The device itself is super small and light. It's so light and small, I'd even consider taking it on runs with me. The Treo is a brick compared to this thing. Now if only I could find a good running log for the BlackBerry...
Battery life is great compared to the Treo.
I use BlackBerry Enterprise Server with a hosted Microsoft Exchange service, so basically my setup is the same as the set up most big corporations that deploy BlackBerries use. This means that all my calendars, todos, contacts and notes are synchronized wirelessly and regularly, without me having to initiate the sync process.

What I miss about the Treo

A nice selection of third-party programs, like a good journaling application with a desktop component, a good eBook reader with a much better selection of books, a handheld version of Quicken that synced seamlessly, a good running log... the list is endless
My implementation of Getting Things Done seemed to flow much better on the Treo, but maybe that's just a function of how new the user interface of the BlackBerry is to me. The basic PIM apps on the BlackBerry (calendar, todo list, notes, contacts) have always seemed to be somewhat of an afterthought, and are much less polished than the Palm offering, not to mention all the third party PIMs available for Palm devices. On the BlackBerry, there's almost nothing available except what comes on the BlackBerry.
In general, I find that I have to work around the limitations of the BlackBerry operating system and software, whereas Treo software generally was much more customizable and flexible.
One email minor hiccup: I have this borderline-OCD thing about having a complete record of all my emails received and sent. On the Treo, I could set my email client of choice, Chattermail, to automatically blind carbon copy (bcc:) an email address I have set up as a receptacle for all the emails I send. On the BlackBerry, there is an inexplicable lack of an option to automatically bcc a particular email address on every email I send, so I have to remember to manually enter my sent-mail address in the bcc field when I send an email from the BlackBerry.

All in all, I'm pretty happy so far. I'm much more connected with the BlackBerry, and reliable mobile email access is great. Hopefully it won't become an addiction as it seems to have become for so many.

Turtle Race!

2007-04-25T00:12:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't run a race yet. But since this blog is called Run, Turtle, Run!, and even though it really doesn't have anything to do with turtles other than the fact that I somehow picked up that nickname (and used to have two turtles), I thought it would be appropriate to relay this cool website and conservation effort that Eric wrote about the other day. (Hope you don't mind, Eric, I assume your readership and my readership - stop laughing - are very different). It's called The Great Turtle Race. Please click on over, check it out. Cheer a turtle on as s/he races to find food. Maybe make a donation or vow to stop engaging in environmentally destructive consumption. Do it. The Turtle commands you.

Today I Ran... and got worked (Track Workout)

2007-04-24T23:17:00.000-04:00

Course: East River Park 6th Street Track
Distance: 4.5 miles (speed work)
Pain: Yes.
Mantra during the run: jel-ly-legs

Today, I was taken down a couple notches when I participated in my first track workout since high school. This ass-kicking, ego-bruising reality check was courtesy of the Central Park Track Club and a coach named Tony Ruiz. The weather being as nice as it was, the track was pretty crowded, but that didn't stop us from tearing around the track while completing the following workout: (400m = 1 full lap around the track)
- 300m, 100m recovery jog
- 300m, 100m recovery jog
- 300m, 100m recovery jog
- 800m, 400m recovery jog
- 600m, 200m recovery jog
- 400m, 200m recovery jog
- 400m, 200m recovery jog
- 600m, 200m recovery jog
- 800m, 200m recovery jog
- 300m, 100m recovery jog
- 300m, 100m recovery jog
- 300m, 100m recovery jog

Now, you might be thinking to yourself "Big deal, 800m is only two laps around the track, I can do that." Try doing each of those runs at about 70-80% of your full sprint speed, all the while dodging soccer balls, kids messing around, and walkers and joggers who've never learned that common track courtesy is to stay in the outer lanes if you're not the fastest one on the track. And those recovery jogs... they don't really help you recover all the way.

I was in Group D, which is the um... "least fast" of four groups. One of the guys training in the fast group had recently just won a 5k race with a time of under 17 minutes. That's 3.1 miles. That's sub-six minute miles (well under six minutes, actually). That's faster over the course of over three miles than I was running today, and the longest leg I ran today without stopping was only 1/2 a mile. And those half mile runs nearly killed me.

So it goes without saying I have a lot of improving to do if I want to get out of the least fast group. I'll have to take it slow, though. For now, I'll be happy if I can walk normally tomorrow.

Cats and Dogs

2007-04-24T11:15:00.000-04:00

I wish I knew who to credit this to; it's one of the more entertaining things I've seen in a while. I think you really have to be a pet owner (and especially a cat owner) to appreciate it. -thanks, Jee!-

DOG DIARY

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY
Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe.
For now...

Today I Ran

2007-04-24T00:31:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill HR Zone Intervals
Distance: 3.1

I can definitely sense some progress in my aerobic fitness. It's probably time to ramp up the mileage and work some speed-work and tempo runs into my regimen. I'm going to check out a running club and see if I'm tough enough to hang with the badass runners.

Today I Ran

2007-04-21T11:43:00.000-04:00

Course: Streets of Woodside - Cavalry Cemetery Loop
Distance: 4.6 miles

Nothing special about today, except that it was one of the most beautiful days yet this year. Sunny and pleasant. I'm still really concerned about running so near two major freeways, but all told, running through exhaust is probably better for me than not running. I hope.

RSS Readers - Feed Me!

2007-04-20T18:53:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how many of you guys read a bunch of different blogs, newspapers, and other sites with regularly updated content, but if you've tried you know that you can spend a huge amount of time just checking the sites to see if they've been updated.

I just wanted to suggest that everyone use an RSS reader to aggregate all the different media sources you check, so that you can have all your content in one place, regularly updated, for easy reading. Conceptually, think of how you can subscribe to Podcasts in iTunes, only instead of audio (and now I guess video) content, you do it with text. It's basically the same thing, and I think most aggregators also handle media files.

I personally use Google Reader to keep up with all the different blogs and news sites I try to follow. It saves me a ton of time. A lot of people like to use Bloglines. I believe Firefox even has an aggregator built into it, though I don't use it. If you want one that isn't web-based... well, there are just so many. I used to use Mozilla Thunderbird, which is also a pretty good email client. There are ton of different RSS feed aggregators out there, and I haven't really done much experimenting. Google Reader works for me, and it's nice because I can access it at any online computer, just like my beloved Gmail. So, sniff around for a good reader that you like. Start subscribing to content, and see how much time you save if you're already surfing around to several of the same sites regularly to check for updated news, sales, deals, gossip, reviews, essays... etc.

(Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, subscribe to my blog, too. The feed link is at the bottom of the page.)

Today I Ran, and I Ran Angry

2007-04-20T17:43:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill Heart Rate Zone Intervals
Distance: 2.9 miles
Mood: aggravated

Completed this run after lifting weights, so I wasn't 100%. I was aggravated because I was watching CNN as I ran and they had an Asian journalist and an Asian Virginia Tech student talking about how the Asian community in general and the Korean American community in particular all feel a collective sense of shame over what happened. "All my Korean friends, they all seem to be very unified and do lots of things together and are really tight with each other, so, yeah, they feel, like, ashamed that this happened."

Bravo guys. Way to go. Way to reduce this horrible incident to identity politics, and thank you so much for feeding the flames of ignorance and bigotry. I applaud you Mr. I'm Asian and a Journalist So Therefore I'm An Authority and Speak for All Asians, and you, Mr. I'm Asian and a Virginia Tech Student and I Know Lots of Other Asians Including Some Koreans (But I'm Not Korean) So Therefore I'm An Authority and Speak for All Asians (including the Koreans).

I can't even begin to understand what goes into making someone do what Cho did. I don't think anyone ever will, especially now that he's gone. All we're left with is a lot of pain and grief and "what if's" and disturbing writings and recordings by someone who clearly needed some help. I understand that our country grieves collectively through the media (we seem to do a lot through the media). For the most part, I've been very surprised by the integrity of the reporting - I haven't seen anything reported that gives undue focus to the fact that Cho was an Asian or an immigrant. Most of the coverage has been focused on trying to understand what happened and has rightfully given respectful air-time to the grieving students and families.

But then these two yahoos got their airtime.

/rant.

Ubiquitous Notetaking on the Treo and the Blackberry

2007-04-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

For anyone who has a Blackberry, or is thinking about switching to a Blackberry, I thought I'd share a recent discovery that convinced me to switch from my Palm Treo 650 to a Blackberry: ideaMatrix.

First a little background: I've been a Palm user since 2000. The Palm operating system was great for what I needed: a reliable calendar and contacts manager - and the games and other entertaining aspects of it didn't hurt either. But, since I launched my law practice, I'm finding that I need more reliable mobile access to my email, and the problem I'm having with the Treo is that it's constantly restarting or locking up.

So I recently I started thinking about switching to a Blackberry, but one thing was keeping me on the Treo: I've been using a journaling application called Daynotez as an all-purpose note-taking database. In fact, it's quite possibly the most used app I have on the Treo. The great thing about Daynotez is that on the Treo, you just launch the app and start typing and it creates a new note entry that is date- and time-stamped. I use the companion desktop app practically every day at work. It's perfect for transcribing voicemail messages, taking notes during calls with clients, writing down important info when I'm on the phone with customer service reps, and just jotting down random information like phone numbers and stuff that I might want to use again later. I rarely lose any information, because it's all in there (if I remember to put it in there), and searching for a particular entry is quick. For any Getting Things Done users, it's basically my Ubiquitous Capture Tool. (For anyone who is still using a Treo, I highly recommend Daynotez, if you couldn't tell already.)

So the thought of switching to a Blackberry and losing one of the most useful tools I have that keeps me sane really had me reconsidering. But after some diligent searching, I found ideaMatrix for the Blackberry, which looks to be a really excellent note-taking and information-organizing tool. It doesn't have a desktop companion (which would make it perfect) but it does have what some might consider to be a better alternative: it synchronizes over-the-air to a server, where your notes database is accessible via a web-based client. Now that web-based software (like Google Apps) seem to be taking over, I suppose this may be better than only being able to access my notes from a single computer that has the desktop software installed. My only concern is not having keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are very important to me.

So the switch to the Blackberry is imminent. I'll post any other discoveries that might be useful once I actually start using the new smart phone.

a quick aside on ubiquitous capture...

If you've bothered to read this far, I applaud your determination. (Bear with me, I'm a relative noob to blogging and brevity is not one of my strengths, but I'm working on it.) I also wanted to mention quickly the benefits of having a tool like Daynotez or Ideamatrix or a mini-notepad or even just a bunch of notecards clipped together with you all the time to jot down random thoughts and bits of information. Anyone who has read Getting Things Done by David Allen knows that one of the things he emphasizes is getting all the random thoughts out of your head, into a system that you trust you'll come back to later, so that you don't stress out about potentially forgetting things. This allows you to reach a state of mental clarity and focus on the task at hand. Some people already do this without having to read a book about it or spend countless hours reinforcing the habit. But for the rest of us who have at various times been really scattered, frazzled, overwhelmed by trying to keep everything in our heads, give it a try. For one week, try carrying around a notebook, or notecards, or anything that you can find to jot down any random thought in your head. Try not to hold anything in your head. At the end of each day, take all those thoughts and put them into whatever task-management system you have, and see if you don't maybe feel a little more in control and less like there might be some random commitment or task lurking in your brain somewhere that you've forgotten. When it works, it's like magic.

Today I Ran

2007-04-17T17:47:00.000-04:00

Course: Treadmill Heart-Rate Intervals
Distance: 5.9 miles (no, that's not a typo)
Mood: "was that really almost six miles?"

In a very surprising turn of events, I discover that by slowing down and actually staying in my target heart rate zone I can run for much longer and (hopefully) get a better workout in than I can by pretending I'm Michael Johnson at the Olympics and bonking after 2 miles. Will wonders never cease? So all those magazine articles and books about running and training were right. Who knew?

Note to self: listen to the experts, and not my own fragile, misguided ego.

Comments are now open

2007-04-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

I didn't realize before that I had comments limited to registered users. Now anyone should be able to comment, but you'll have to do that annoying letter-recognition thing. Sorry about that. Blame the spammers.

Today I Ran

2007-04-16T17:22:00.001-04:00

Course: Treadmill, 1% uphill grade
Distance: 2 miles
Obstacles: fumbling with my headphones, dropping my iPod onto the moving belt, horrible news on the TV

Not one of my better runs. My rhythm was totally interrupted in the middle of the run by my iPod becoming unclipped and clattering away behind me. After searching 3 different levels at the gym (the treadmill is inexplicably only a few feet away from an open stairwell - there's a lawsuit waiting to happen), I discovered that the damned thing was hiding underneath the treadmill.

Of course I couldn't really get into much of a groove anyway, because the madness happening at Virginia Tech was playing on the TV screen.

Gmail Advanced Searching - Use It!

2007-04-15T19:30:00.000-04:00

It's quite possible that I'm just a little bit slow, but it wasn't until recently that I decided to really try to start using the powerful search functionality in Gmail. One of the best things about Gmail, to me, is the fact that you don't have to sort anything, ever. You can just archive it away and through the power of Google's search engine, just search for whatever you need. But often, I want to see a specific email from somebody, but I don't remember enough about the email to put more than the person's name in the email the search field.

On my desktop I use Nelson Email Organizer, which groups all of my emails by date, or person who sent it, or by the label that I've applied to it. It basically works as a database that sits on top of my Outlook email database, and organizes my emails in ways that make it really easy to find the exact emails that I'm looking for.

Gmail can do almost exactly the same thing, and has the added benefit of being web-based so I can look up emails anywhere (even on my Treo).

So anyway, to cut to the chase, to find all the emails from a particular person, like me for example, all you need to do is type "from:tony" in the search bar, and Gmail will list all emails from anyone named tony or who has "tony" as part of their email address. I can't tell you how much this has boosted my productivity - being able to locate emails quickly in this day and age, when emails are flyin' back and forth constantly and the volume is only growing, has become a necessity.

For a complete list of Gmail advance search operators: Gmail Advance Search Operators

Today I Ran

2007-04-14T10:44:00.000-04:00

Course: Streets of Woodside
Distance: 2.17 miles
Pain: sort of. Arch of my right foot is a little sore.

Kind of cold today. Mid-40s and a little breezy. I ran right under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, next to the big cemetery by our house - that was a mistake. Truck exhaust does not make for a refreshing run.

Still, it was my first run in the neighborhood since we moved here (I've been running on treadmills up to now), and it was good to get out and see the neighborhood a bit.

So It Begins

2007-04-14T10:30:00.001-04:00

Last year in June when I was in San Antonio for a conference - and on the eve of my 30th birthday - I decided to go for a jog. Out of shape and heavy, I huffed and puffed my way through 3 miles of a torturous run along the famous Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. Looking at my watch, I quickly crashed head-first into a pre-midlife-crisis crisis when I realized that it had taken me over 30 minutes to run 3 miles. I know that may not sound like a big deal, but as someone who used to be able to run 3 miles in less than 20 minutes, it was a serious blow to my morale.

So, I did what any normal 30-something (or close to 30-something) person in our day and age would do. I made a Decision. I was going to lose weight, get in shape, get my life in order, become the captain of my ship, the master of my domain. I was going to get things done.

It all went fairly well for a few months. I was going to the gym, I lost 10 pounds, I was feeling pretty good about things.

Then through November, December and January, I sort of lost steam. A few of the pounds crept back, I lost a lot of my aerobic endurance, and I started to feel a little bit out of control again. I think maybe I started too fast out of the gate, saw some immediate results, and started to rest on my laurels a little bit. Plus I think I was trying to do it to much in isolation, without really any kind of support.

So fast forward to today: I've started working out again, started running. I'm getting back on top of my Getting Things Done system. (If you don't know what that is, do a google search for Getting Things Done. No, really.). My hope is keeping this journal will help me stay on top of things as I track my progress, not only in my fitness goals, but in my life goals. Also, I figure it's good place to write about all the gadgets and geekery I'm sort of known for.

So welcome to my online fitness journal/personal productivity tracker/gear-and-gadget log. Feel free to leave comments. And go ahead, throw some rotten tomatoes at me if you like. I've been training, so you can't hit me anyway.