Genius Bar -- I like Apple!

Earlier this year, I bought an Apple iPod touch and am still amazed with what I can do with it. The five iPod touch applications Apple released in January made the toy more powerful. On Saturday, the home button stopped working. I would select the Safari icon and do some surfing and hit the home button expecting it to return to the home screen but nothing happened. It would stubbornly stay on the safari screen. The only way to return to the home screen was to turn it off and then on. I checked the discussion groups on the Apple site and didn’t find any hints as what to do. I had two choice drive to Montreal (2 hours) or head down to Toronto (5 hours). I signed up for a 3:00 pm appointment at the Genius bar on Monday in Laval, Quebec. The web interface for the Genius bar is fun to use. I headed to Montreal on Monday morning and took the subway north and tried to follow the directions on the Apple retail store web page but made an attempt to speak in broken French to the subway conductor who said to keep heading north. I jumped on the subway again and headed underneath the St. Lawrence River and took the subway/metro to the last stop on the line known as Montmorency. I was now in a different city with a different bus system and rules. There were a couple of buses that would take you to La Carrefour shopping center. I caught the first bus apparently destined for the mall and ended in north Laval miles from anywhere. After talking to the driver in broken French he suggested an express bus and I headed back to the bus hub. The second bus took me to the shopping center.

The Apple store was a hive of activity with a lot of people receiving 1-on-1 Apple training. I spoke to one of the “blue” shirts girls would confirmed that my appointment was still good. In the meantime, I explored the fun on display and imagined what it would be like to use a Macbook. It was sort of like being in a toy store for adult with all this neat gear. A little while later I met with the genius “black” shirt and we tried to do an iPod restore which didn’t work. The iPod was sicker than we thought. Apple replaced the iPod touch as it was still on warranty (Thanks Apple). It was a fun experience and my first visit to an Apple store and hopefully not my last as it was a fun place.

Mundane jobs

I was at a wine and cheese last night and as we drank more wine the topics of the conversations started to get more interesting. We all started to describe some of the more boring and mundane summer jobs we had when we were younger. One of my friends Jessica talked about spending the summer filing forms in folders. All day long she would file forms for the city. The discussion eventually came around to me and I describe how I was part of a team that sorted 10 tons of pears for a local cannery. Each pear had to be measured. If it was larger than 2.25" it would be sent to the fresh fruit market and if it was smaller it went to a cannery to become part of a fruit cocktail. We would sort the pears that had been picked during the day in a large barn just after dusk. During the day I would pick a ton of pears or 60 bushels. It was hard work at the same time it was fun and rewarding work as you could see your progress at the end of each day.

Shoveling with an ice scraper

Over the last little while the Ottawa area has been getting a record amount of snow. On the weekend, I saw something that caused me to stop and have a good laugh as a parent was trying to shovel snow in their driveway using an ice scraper. They were I think on their way to a son's hockey practice didn't have enough time to clear the driveway so they were clearing a path for the tires to drive down with an ice scraper. Meanwhile, I could hear the son in the car beckoning the father to hurry up otherwise they were going to be late. It was funny as I've never seen an ice scraper used this way.

wo -- 8 hill repeats -- warm legs, sore and tired

Lindy Hop

In less than a month, I hope to achieve one of my New Year's resolutions which is to dance the Lindy Hop. I've been spending the last little while watching teaching videos on Youtube, but watching is the same as actually doing the moves. The basic steps are a little different, as you do a rock-step/triple-step/step/step/triple-step all on an eight count. My swing dancing current does a rock-step/step-hold/step-hold on a six-count. Charm City swing in Baltimore is having a lindy hop workshop weekend at the end of February. As well, one of my favorite jazz band, The Boilermakers will be in Baltimore for one of the nights which will be great. I'll be heading down to take in the workshop as well as to spend some time chilling.

Workout tonight -- 30 minute warmup/7x400 m hills/ 10 minute warmdown

Phoenix half-marathon -- part 2

The Race

I awoke at 5:15 am and started the processing of fueling for the race. It would take the form of four bowels of Kellog’s Vector cereal and hot tea. At 6:00, I headed down to the lobby and was able to catch the race shuttle a couple of minute early. The start area was a haven of activity as there were 30,000 runners milling around the downtown core of Phoenix. I had brought along the daily babble puzzle and worked on it while watching the sunrise. As it was getting brighter, I checked out the senate building and took some pictures of nearby statues 1 2 . At 7:30 am the marathon race started which much fanfare. Of note, the organizers had set aside 27 corrals. I started munching on a Clif bar. At a little before 8:00, I stripped off my layers of warm clothing and dropped then off at the UPS depot and headed for the start line. It was a cool 4C/39F. After the playing of the national anthem we were off on our 13.1 mile journey. My first two miles were done at a brisk pace of 6.55 and 6.59. At around mile 8, I started to feel my energy level drop, so I pushed back a Clif Gel with 25 mg of caffeine. This would stabilize me for a little while but I was running faster than my energy intake could keep up. At mile 9, they had a volunteers handing out Powergel so I grabbed two. These would act as a lifeline for the final three miles. I had run the first half of the race too quickly and was starting to pay the price. I could still rely on one advantage and that was, I knew the race course and could run towards familiar landmarks. At the start of the Tempe Town Bridge with 1.5 miles to go, I opened up and sprinted for as long as I could and held on until just over the finish line. I would finish in position 456 while 21,000 participants were still out on the course. The finish was special as I was greeted with flowers and two beauty women. After cooling down for a while and sucking on multiple popsicles it was time to see how JB’s race was coming along. With ten minutes to spare, I was able to watch him cross his finish line. JB was excited by his finish as he ran a 3:28 marathon which was two minutes faster than he had expected to finish.

A little while later I headed over to buy some tea. It is special tea and much sought after. I bought multiple boxes of Revolution tea and walked ever so slowly back to the hotel. We closed out the day with a celebratory dinner at the Cheesecake factory.
1:36 -- 13.1 miles/21 km
Mile splits time heart rate date
1 6.55 162/131
2 6.59 13.54 164/165
3 7.21 21.16 168/166
4 7.07 28.23 168/167
5 7.15 35.38 168/169
6 7.11 42.49 168/170
7 7.23 50.13
8 7.23 57.6 168/169
9 7.24 1.05.01 171/173
10/11 15.40 1.20.42
12 7.20 1.28.20 173/175
13 7.23 1.35.25 173/178
13.1 1.36

The Road Trip

On Monday morning, I was up early as we had to pick up the rental car at 7:30 am. JB’s dad took us out for breakfast before we started our trek north. Our first stop was Montezuma Castle in Camp Verde. It was an impressive sight. The Hopi Indians had built their homes into the side of a rock face 15,000 years ago. During the summer heat the thick wall would keep the folks living their cool. We continued our journey north and stopped in at Bell Rock (N34 47.506 W111 45.697) in Sedona. All around us the soil and rocks were red. It was like driving through a Martian landscape. Throughout the drive I let my mind wander as I envisioned John Wayne riding ahead through the desert and through the large rock outcrops. Continuing north we stopped at the Chapel in the Rocks (N34 49.920 W111 45.988) which is a church built in the 1950s in a rock ledge which is an architectural marvel. The next part came as a surprise, snow and cold. Flagstaff had received about a foot of snow in early December and it was still on the ground. We stopped in at North Arizona University and took a tour of the campus. The university’s crest contains a snowflake and the mascot is a lumberjack. Flagstaff is also the site of the US Olympic training center as it has an elevation of 7,000 feet. We threw snowballs and built a snowman. Our journey would take us next in an easterly direction to the Meteor Crater (N35 01.934 W111 01.298) which is the largest well preserved crater. It was huge and could hold 20 football fields at the bottom. We arrived a little late and missed the hiking tour around the perimeter. A couple of facts about the crater: As the sun was setting we started our journey in a south-westerly direction back to Phoenix. We closed off the day with a steak dinner.

Tuesday’s adventure would involve a fair amount of driving as we headed south just as the sun was rising. We headed in a southerly direction and were within earshot of the Mexican border. Our destination was Tombstone, AZ (N31 42.837 W110 04.018). The drive south started out flat as a pancake and ripe for speed traps. Tombstone is an old Wild West cowboy town frozen in time. There was the famous OK Corral, the general store, the post office and the saloon. The saloon was just as one would expect a great bar, cheap drinks and scantly clad women. JB opted for a whisky on the rocks and I a local Merlot. Drinking the booze on an empty stomach gave me a bit of a buzz. We visited the world’s largest rose bush and the attached museum. We stopped in at the OK Corral to watch an enactment of the famous Wyatt Earp shootout which was fun. The Tombstone Epitaph, the local paper, has a museum so we checked out the offerings. As the sun was setting we visited the Tombstone graveyard which is home where the remains of 50 of the famous western heroes. Back then justice was severe as the ceremony was riddled which folks that experienced really gruesome deaths. On our journey north we stopped in at the University of Arizona campus and eyed some weird signs. They have a pedestrian crossing for both deaf and blind folks next to a performing arts center. Visiting the UoA would mean that I had visited all three of the universities in the state of Arizona during my stay. Early Wednesday morning I caught early flight back to Ottawa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Phoenix_Jan2008

Hills and more hills

Tonight, I did my first hill workout of the year. It was six repeats of 400 yards up a gradual incline. The rest of the team did eight but I opted to slack off a bit as my legs are still recovering from the race. Over the next couple of weeks, the number of intervals with increase as well as the length of each intervals. It felt good to be running with the team again.

Phoenix Half-marathon parthttp://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Phoenix_Jan2008/photo#5158142882052942002 1

Getting there

Friday January 11

My adventure started at 5:00 am when I caught the taxi to the airport. I arrived at the airport a little later than expected and was whisked through security and customs with the stern warning that if I did hurry I might miss my flight. This had the unintended affect of boosting my blood pressure needlessly, as once I was in the departure lounge it was announced that the 6:30 am departure would be delayed due to light bulb issues. There was some talk in the lounge about how long it could take to replace a light bulb. As time went on the airline staff called up more and more folks rebooked them on other flights. After a five hour delay our flight took off and we landed in Philadelphia an hour later. My new flight to Phoenix would leave late afternoon so I had lunch and spent much of the afternoon surfing the web with my laptop. I had packed a Robert Ludlum thriller novel helped in passing away the time. The flight to Phoenix was uneventful and JB met me at the airport. In keep with tradition, we had supper at PF Chang’s and started off the meal with lettuce wraps. The main course was Chicken Chow mien. JB dropped me back at the hotel and I bedded down after a 21 hour day.

Saturday January 12

I awoke at 7:00 am local time which is 9:00 am Ottawa time and headed down for breakfast. My first stop would be Arizona State University (ASU) which is the location of the half- and full-marathon finish lines as well as the shuttles to the start line. My goal was to see how much time I would need on Sunday morning to walk/jog to the shuttle buses. The further they were away to earlier I would have to leave. The distance was 1.5 miles. While on the campus, I tried my hand at some geocaching but couldn’t find a single geocaches but found a petrified log instead. As I was heading back to the hotel, JB texted me and we set up a rendezvous time. Once back at the hotel, I checked with the front desk and they confirmed that there were still some seats available for the 6:15 am shuttle to the start line. This was a relief. I took the last available seat. My legs would be grateful on Sunday morning.

Early afternoon JB arrived and we headed over to REI to pick-up an order that I had placed over the Christmas holidays. It was a relief to find that the down jacket I had ordered fit. While trying on the jacket we starting talking to a staff member originally from Michigan and she was able to give me a good overview of the features of the jacket. From REI, we headed to downtown Phoenix to the race expo which was twice as large as last year. I quickly picked up my race package and we checked out the rows and rows of exhibitors. We next headed out for lunch at a local burritos chain. The next part was cool as we drove up to one of the highest part in the Tempe/Scottsdale/Phoenix area, South Mountain, having an elevation of 2200 feet. It is a long a windy road without any guard rails. The trash cans are elevated and set at an angle because of the coyote threat. The panoramic view from the top was awesome.

It was then onto JB’s place where I met his folks and watched and listened as he played a variety of pieces of music on his piano. It was great listening to him play his concerto. Our plans of eating at the Spaghetti Factory were scuttled when we learned the wait time was 90 minutes. We opted to have a pasta dinner at a nearby fast food place. Before heading back we stopped at Kroger’s to get some bananas, fig newtons and pretzel goldfish. Before calling it a night I laid out my running gear for the morning.