Running Journal, Friday, 2007-05-11

Running Journal, Friday, 2007-05-11
Resting heart rate: n/a
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2)) 22.323
Weather: sunny
Temp: 29.4 C (85 F), 30% humidity
Time: 13:56-14:51
Terrain: flat

Comments: We saw male and female wild turkeys, male and female black-tailed deer, a great egret, ground squirrels, a male lesser goldfinch, northern fence lizards, pipevine-swallowtail caterpillars, and pipevine-swallowtail butterflies today at the American River Parkway between miles 20 and 18.5. We also saw the Fair Oaks chickens along Bridge Street. The weather was hot, so we took walk breaks and drank plenty of water. We passed about ten rafts floating downstream.
Exercise Time: 55 minutes

Goal Time: n/a
Distance (running): 5.23 km (3.25 mi), http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=945916
Total Running Distance For Year: 628.67 km (401.65 mi)
Weight (after exercise): 76.4 kg (168.46 lbs), 16% body fat
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: None
Foods eaten today: honey-nut shredded wheat with soy milk, orange juice

Bugbear Cake!

It's so cute!

More photos: http://tinyurl.com/yuvzyb

Sources:
http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Bugbear_Costume
http://kingdomofloathing.com

Running Journal, Wednesday, 2007-05-09

Running Journal, Wednesday, 2007-05-09
Resting heart rate: 64 bpm (60-second test, afternoon)
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2)) 22.615
Weather: sunny
Temp: 29.4 C (85 F), 26% humidity
Time: 14:20-15:05
Terrain: flat

Comments:
Exercise Time: 40 minutes

Goal Time: n/a
Distance (running): 4.83 km (3.00 mi), http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=939931
Total Running Distance For Year: 623.44 km (398.40 mi)
Weight (after exercise):
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: Hot!
Foods eaten today: raspberry yogurt, cheesy mac, non-fat cottage cheese, fresh-squeezed lemonade, whole wheat bread, strawberries

My 32 Bit Integer

The story here is that the AACS LA attempted to say that they owned a specific number. So I'm ensuring that this number, since it now belongs to me, may never fall into their hands for nefarious purposes. ;)

9B 9B 94 81 89 E7 B5 17 81 1E A3 32 E9 9F EE D1

Link: http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1155

KoL Bugbear Cake

We discussed birthday cakes for Dawn's birthday this year, and the idea of a bugbear came up. These cute resin bugbears come from the KoL store.

Unfortunately, with the Big Sur marathon and mid-terms (and buying a DS Lite) we spaced on baking a cake. Never too late to bake a cake though. ;)

We're thinking chocolate frosting with black frosting. I've never made a creative cake before. Hoping they look as good as the Drupal cookies Dries made. :)

Running Journal, Tuesday, 2007-05-08

Running Journal, Tuesday, 2007-05-08
Resting heart rate: n/a (forgot)
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2)) 22.615
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Time: 21:30-22:25
Terrain: hill intervals

Comments: I've exercised with interval training tonight and Monday evening. The interval training I chose tonight interspersed hill training segments into a 6.0-mph flat run. So for ~2:45 minutes I ran at 6.0-mph on a flat surface, then the treadmill elevated itself for ~2:45 minutes of 6.0-mph hill running, then it dropped back to a flat surface, and so forth. It repeated this about ten times over the course of 55 minutes. For the first 25 minutes, I maintained the 6.0-mph pace. After the second 8.0-elevation (out of ? max elevation) I realized I didn't have it in me to finish the remaining 30 minutes at that pace. I dropped back to 5.0-mph and finished the remaining hill climbs. I checked my heart rate once or twice and saw it in the 150-165 range. I'm thinking that's good. I burned about 800 calories. x_x Afterward I felt exhilerated--tired but strong. The stiffness I had from the interval-training went away after a soak in the hot tub. I think it helped a lot to have the barn fan blowing on me during the run, and to hydrate myself properly. I felt really satisfied with the exercise tonight--I'm thinking about reserving such a hard workout for the non-long run weekends though, since Galloway specifies light weekday maintenance workouts.
Exercise Time: 55 minutes

Goal Time: n/a
Distance (running): 8.05 km (5.00 mi)
Total Running Distance For Year: 618.61 km (395.40 mi)
Weight (after exercise): 77.4 kg (170.67 lbs)
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: None
Foods eaten today: Special K strawberry cereal with soy milk, orange juice, raspberry yogurt, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, fig newtons, egg-cheese-english muffin sandwiches, bing cherries, fresh-squeezed lemonade

Duff's Device

While in class this evening someone mentioned Duff's Device. It still blows my mind but after reading this walkthrough I understand how it works.

From the article:

Duff's device is still considered to be the fastest code to copy memory to a device for over 22 years.

Running Journal, Sunday, 2007-05-06

Running Journal, Sunday, 2007-05-06
Resting heart rate: n/a (forgot)
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2)) 22.498
Weather: clear
Temp: 21 C (68 F)
Time: 21:15-21:35
Terrain: flat

Comments: Exercised at American River College's stadium track this evening. Warmed up for five minutes, then mentally calculated out what I thought was a 3.1 mile course--nine laps, at three laps per mile. After finishing, my right abs ached from the run and I gasped for air. On my cool down the realization struck me that what I had run most likely represented less than a 5,000-meter run--since I ran loops on a 400-meter track, 12.5 laps in lane one represent 5,000 meters (I ran in lane five). My reasoning for three laps per mile came from the old sign on the retaining wall next to the track by the west bleachers (now removed). I believe it said four laps per mile for lane one, and three laps per mile for lanes five and six. When I got home I used gmap-pedometer.com to map out one lap in lane five, and discovered it amounts to 427 meters (0.2655 miles) (assuming gmap-pedometer's correct--and a rough trace of lane one comes out to 0.4004 km!). x_x So 9.1 laps * 0.2655 equals only 2.41 miles! It's a disappointment, but means I ran the miles in ~8:23.
Exercise Time: 20:33

Goal Time: n/a
Distance (running): 3.88 km (2.41 mi)
Total Running Distance For Year: 610.56 km (390.40 mi)
Weight (after exercise): 77.0 kg (169.79 lbs)
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: ab muscles cramping
Foods eaten today: Total cranberry cereal with soy milk, crumpet with strawberry jam, orange juice, blueberry toaster waffle with maple syrup, veggie pot sticker and fried rice, cheesy mac, mixed vegetables, strawberries

Radio Song

East London-based Bloc Party's "The Pioneers" from their 2005 album "Silent Alarm" on the Vice label. Video.

Cookie Monster

Brilliant!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdAKgJDahzw

Xeni Jardin: Video Link. SPOILER: The machine dies at the end. (Thanks, Gram) Reader comment: Edward West says, The Muppet character that devours the computer in this video is not Cookie Monster, but a character that predates cookie monster, that later evolved into cookie monster. The computer-eating skit was initially made for an IBM training video, and later was redone for the Ed Sullivan Show. The most accurate name for this Muppet at the time would be "Wheel-Stealer," a character created for a never-aired commercial Jim Henson made for General Foods. See wikipedia entry for Cookie Monster for more details.

Raining Milk

I set up breakfast this morning for Dawn before she came downstairs--cereal, soy milk, orange juice, crumpets, jam. I was well into my bowl of Special K Strawberries when Dawn came into the kitchen, sat down, and reached for the milk. With soy milk in aseptic packaging, one shakes it first to ensure its mixed. Well, either I hadn't closed the top lid, or Dawn pushed the sides of the nearly full container in during the shake, because as she did so, an eruption of soy milk came out of the 64 ounce container and covered us both in white liquid. I'm not talking about a few drops, I'm talking about enough soy milk to saturate a shirt and pant. We both paused for a moment or two, then burst into laughter. I gave Dawn a hug and a kiss and we continued, soggily, with our breakfast.

Has this happened to you?

Time for new shorts

After 12 months, six marathons, and nearly one thousand miles of running, my shorts need replacement. Dawn pointed out after last Sunday's Big Sur Marathon that the shorts had a large hole in them. x_x I've been happy with this pair, so I'm getting the same pair again from RaceReady. Another happy customer.

Running Journal, Friday, 2007-05-04

Running Journal, Friday, 2007-05-04
Resting heart rate: n/a (forgot)
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2))
Weather: partly sunny, humid
Temp: 20 C (68 F)
Time: 13:49-14:33
Terrain: flat

Comments: Dawn and I ventured to the American River Parkway today for a maintenance run. The air felt humid and cool from Thursday's soft rain. As we left our car to walk across the pedestrian bridge, we passed a van of teenagers talking with two other teens. Dawn remarked after we passed that she thought she smelled marijuana (I hadn't noticed). A father helped a small child throw bread to the ducks from the bridge. We noticed a pigeon carrying twigs to build a nest in the bridge girders. Along the run, bird's chirped, a great egret stood in the tall grass hunting for food, squirrels scampered to and fro, and dense patches of grey clouds slowly moved eastward. At the end of the run, we came upon two female wild turkeys on the embankment to the pedestrian bridge, eating wild oats and other plant matter. Near our car, two wild chickens called out to us (perhaps expecting food). The blackberry plants that will be ready to eat in July have flowered, and I noticed a few trees today that I haven't identified yet, including one with <1" green fruit hanging from it's branches.
Exercise Time: 45 minutes

Goal Time: n/a
Distance (running): 4.83 km (3.00 mi)
Total Running Distance For Year: 606.68 km (387.99 mi)
Weight (after exercise):
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: neck muscles sore
Foods eaten today: Special K Strawberry and soy milk, orange juice, banana, crumpet with strawberry jam

Running Journal, Thursday, 2007-05-03

Running Journal, Thursday, 2007-05-03
Resting heart rate: n/a (forgot)
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2)) 22.907
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Time: 22:00-22:30
Terrain: flat

Comments: Tonight represents my first run since Sunday. I felt tired today, but not as bad as Tuesday, which most likely represents the worst post-marathon day to date. I ran with Dawn this evening, her first time on the treadmill after getting clearance from her doctor. I ended up watching the NHL recap on the Versus channel. It's softly raining this evening, a pleasant, calming sound to my ears.
Exercise Time: 30 minutes

Goal Time: n/a
Distance (running): 4.02 km (2.50 mi)
Total Running Distance For Year: 601.85 km (384.99 mi)
Weight (after exercise): 78.4 kg (172.87 lbs), 16% body fat
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: none
Foods eaten today: Special K Strawberry and soy milk, orange juice, split pea soup, veggie burger, chocolate malt, fried rice, veggie pot stickers

Big Sur-vivor

On Sunday, April 29, I ran the Big Sur Marathon. This year, the course ran from Big Sur Station in the south to Carmel.

While in Monterey Dawn and I stayed at the Del Monte Beach Inn. The night before the race, we met several other runners in the lobby and made plans to journey to the start together.

At 03:00, my watch alarm woke me from a three-hour sleep. After getting ready, I walked downstairs, greeted everyone, and helped myself to Shawn's home-made creation-of-the-day, a hot strawberry dessert cake and orange juice. We left the Inn at 03:45 to catch our 04:15 bus, into heavily humid air, fog, and a slight wind. Walking down Del Monte Avenue we heard the crackling of power lines above us. We found a long line waiting ahead of us to board the fleet of yellow school buses at the East Garage. The line moved quickly, and we discussed running while we waited.

I felt awful on the bus ride to the start of the race. The layers of clothing felt stiflingly hot, the pitch blackness outside the bus made it impossible to stabilize against the rocking and bouncing of the coastal Highway 1, and the seats--designed for schoolchildren--made it impossible to sit comfortably. Combined with three hours of sleep, nervousness, and discomfort from hydration, and it was a long one-hour ride to the start. About 20 minutes in, I removed two of my three upper layers and focused on the lights on the inside of the bus to keep myself stabilized.

After arriving, I felt happy to see a large number of bathrooms available. I met up with another person from the Inn and we drank complimentary hot liquid. We found a quiet place to relax behind the sweats return truck. A few minutes later, we walked out onto Highway 1 to begin.

notes until I finish the entry:

cows running in adjacent field at mile 6.5
coastal flowers
tar sealant markings
marine pollution studies lab-19
paintings for sale-12
Point Sur Lighthouse-8
angle of road
logistics
homes appear-16
artichokes
little Portugal (Hwy 130 and 101)
bus: lights, seats, line, breakfast, black, clothing
pastoral
plants, flowers
bands-it's cold
slow going out
clothing
tired
hills-hard on legs
army barking
bottle and GU-pants
talk to me race director
out of Iraq now (just do it)
headgear (bee)
rivers and forests
relay teams
fog
footprints on shirt
beef cattle running
horse watching
speakers
hurri-pain point
achilles hill
Sur-vival
Surge ahead
Phidippides almost died...
leap-frogging
headphones
silent
birds, windy
cold and gloves
hawks
surf and fog until 14
NYC shirt
downhills tough
overtake in last two miles
convoys of vehicles
piano
hot and cold temps
stone formations and erosions
bridges of ? county
pushing body
Carmel Highlands
strong uphills
belly dancers
samba group-tudo bem
finishing time reports
three runs per mile
mentally tired
Dawn at the finish line
Art the photographer at mile 20
bananas, fruit cup, apple, water
Ibuprofin versus ?
on television?
Marine Pollution Studies Lab at mile 19
Paintings for sale
Point Sur Lighthouse
Logistics excellent
Homes began at mile 16
Artichoke Festival on way home
Little Portugal on Highway 130 and 107

Radio Song

New York-based Sonic Youth's "Shadow of a Doubt," from their 1986 album EVOL on the SST Records label. Video.

ZipCar

Wishing they had this in my area. It makes sense, since an automobile represents one of the largest expenses to most households--car payment, insurance, tires and maintenance, gas, licence/registration/taxes, parking, and so forth.

Strangely, I saw a ZipCar while at the Rocklin DMV on April 13.

Link: http://www.zipcar.com

UPDATE: Another one seems to be Flexcar

Smoothie Recipe

This is the recipe we've used these past three weeks:

• 2 c frozen mixed berries
• 1 c strawberry yogurt
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 c milk
• 1/2 t sugar

Blend, pour, drink. ^_^

Dawn's Nintendo DS Lite Wish List

1. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
2. Age of Empires: Age of Kings
3. Pokemon Rangers
4. Pokemon Blue Rescue Team

Big Sur Marathon Result

Name	City	State	Zip	Country
SCHULTZ, KEVIN	CITRUS HEIGHTS	CA	95610	USA
Overall Bib Final Time Class Age Gender 2963 2921 5:37:58 M25-29 29 M
classrank sexrank final ag_pct ag_place 213 1822 5:35:40 37.5% 3096

If I subtract the 20+ minutes the event organizers claim the course adds to the time of a normal marathon, this easily represents my personal best marathon. I'll have a full write-up in the near future.