2008 Goals

2008 Goals

* Run a 1:30 half-marathon time
* Go on more OHOC outdoor adventures
* Do more hiking trips
* Climb more of the 46ers (46 highest peaks in the Adirondacks , NY)
* Loose 10 lbs by May 30 (race date –National Capital half-marathon)
* Hike the West Coast Trail/Shenandoah National Park/Old Smoky National Park
* Run a faster Baltimore half-marathon (< 1:34 ) in October 2008
* Visit Brent ( Algonquin Park ) by canoeing and portaging and bring along a digital camera
* Reach 500,000 Babble point (now 350,000) www.playbabble.com
* Do more cycling (road and mountain biking)
* Geocaching goal 900-1000 finds by Dec 31 2008
* Become more mobile
* Complete an Olympic Distance triathlon (1500m swum/40km cycle/10km run)
* Swing dancing – Learn the Lindy Hop
* Take the train to Baltimore

Phx-half-marathon in a couple of days....

In a little under a week, I head south-west for some helpfully warmer weather than I am experiencing in Ottawa. On the weekend, I’ll be running my second Pf Chang half-marathon (13.1 miles/42.2km). The goal is to improve my time over last year but I don’t have a specific target time, anything better than 1:33 would be great. After the race, JB and I will be going on a road trip exploring the areas in all four directions of Phoenix. I am debating whether to pack shorts as the recent temperatures have been in the high 50s. It will be great to complete my first race of the year as well as my first half-marathon of the racing season.

Computer Surgery

I did something of the Christmas holiday that I am proud of, computer surgery. A little before Christmas my parents bought a new HP desktop computer. At the time, my father was a little reluctant to decommission his old IBM Thinkpad laptop. This was a good decision in time. On Boxing Day, a little before I headed out for my 10 mile race the computer stopped responding. My initial thought was that it had gone into Windows stand-by or sleep mode or Windows was acting up. The problem would have to wait until after the race. I called HP technical support and we suspected it was a hard drive problem or the computer’s power supply. A couple of days, later a new hard drive came by UPS and the recovery DVDs came by FEDEX. We replaced the hard drive and the computer was unresponsive. I called HP again and they thought it was a problem with the power supply. The next day a new power supply arrived and we switched all the cables. With a new hard drive and power supply the computer started up and started to purr. It would take about an hour for the recovery DVDs to be processed. But it was a good feeling to head back to Ottawa knowing that my parent’s computer was working again.

Hamock

First off, I want to start off this entry by wishing everyone a Happy New Year. 2007 was a good year for me and I am looking forward to a better one in 2008. My Christmas holiday has been a good one this year. I was pleased with my Boxing Day 10 mile race which suggests that I will have a good half-marathon race laster this month in Arizona. I have cross-trained over Christmas, swimming every second day at my alma mater. The break from running will ensured my legs are well rested for the race. I was excited when I got a hammock as a Christmas/birthday present. Jason got one a couple of years ago and loves his so it was a must-have piece of hiking/outdoor gear. I want to thank Jason for his giftlistit website as it made the Christmas present buying process really easy and fun this year. As well, it was a lot of fun doing some end-user testing of giftlistit. My parents were able to purchase the hammock without me knowing using the wonders of giftlistit. My relatives were able to use the website as well, simplifying the process of buying 10 Christmas gifts.

Boxing Day Race

On Boxing Day, I ran my third Harold Webster 10 mile race in Hamilton, Ontario. It was the 87th time this race has been run. I decided to go out at my Sunday run pace which I knew would allow me to complete the race without burning myself out. It sucks running five miles hard only to find that you have to run the next five miles while suffering miserably. The course was familiar to me so I surged on the hills and opened up on the downhills. At mile eight, we were forced to run on a snow-laden road which was like running on a corduroy road, very slippery, undulating and rough. The final two miles were on city streets which flowed downwards to the finish in the city centre. It was a great race as I felt quite relaxed for most of the race while running briskly. At the finish line, I was pleased with my time of 1:14 for ten miles putting me in the top 100 out of 600 finishers.
1m -- 7.25 2m -- 7.08/14.33 3m -- 7.23/21.57 4m -- 7.22/29.19 5m 7.23/36.42 6m -- 7.38/44.20 7m -- 7.17/51.38 8m -- 8.11/59.50 9m 7.19/1.07.09 10m 7.14/1:14.23

Home for the holidays

Late last week, my holiday plans were uncertain. I had a couple of modes of transportation for getting home for the holidays. While surfing I was able to locate a cheap flight to Toronto at an incredibly low price. It bought the ticket as quickly as I could. The past couple of days at my folks place have been relaxing and given me chance to get some much needed rest. I've read two books over the last little while. The first, "Cold Mountain," by Charles Frazier and the other is "Replay," by Ken Grimwood. Both books are a good read. I am glad that I had a chance to read "Cold Mountain" as it answered many questions that remained unanswered when I saw the movie. Jason's father gave me a list of recommended books to read over the holidays and "Cold Mountain" and "Replay" were highly recommended.

Yesterday, I decided to check some of my local geocaches and will head back to them over the next couple of days with a camera. There are some bouldering faces that I want to get Jason's opinion on as they could be climbable once the weather improves.

Salt

A quick weather update -- Ottawa set a new record over the weekend. We received one foot of snow over a 24 hour period. Now we return to the topic of the day, salt. Tonight, I went for a 48 minute run along the Rideau Canal and the path was in good shape. While getting dressed for the workout I noticed something, my shoe laces have become more stiff and white. The road salt in becoming infused in my laces which is making them stiff and hard to tie. I'll have to give my shoes a bath in a couple of days. Over the Christmas holidays,I'll be doing a 10 mile race in Hamilton which will be a good workout as I do my final preparation for my second Phoenix half-marathon in early January. The goal for this race is to better my time last year, 1:33.