Run 12/30/2008 2.7mi@21:23

This was another quick run just to get me enough miles to get over the 60-miles-for-the-month hurdle. It is busy around here with friends and family visiting, so the hard core training will have to wait until next week when things return to normal (at least as normal as things get around here!) I picked up a new book yesterday called "Run Less Run Faster" that details a specific running plan for getting faster. I plan on using that plan for the next 12 weeks to see what kind of improvements I can make. I'll post the specifics of my plan later. I have to combine the scheduled workouts with paces based on my best 5K time. Something else that will probably have to wait until next week.

Run 12/28/2008 2.5 mi@20:20

Nothing fancy here, just 5 times around the block. All I need is 2.5 more miles this month, and I will have achieved my first 60 mile month! What a way to close out 2008. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going in 2009.

Run 12/27/2008 4.66 mi@37:44

Another perfect morning to run the Melbourne Causeway! The temperature was about 70 with a pretty steady wind coming out of the south. Guess that is why it has been so humid here the last few days. I'll take that over winds coming out the north this time of year any day! A few of us ran to the beach to look at the waves, but they were pretty chopped up. It doesn't matter, because I'm not going in the water anyway. Too cold for me. I have a friend coming to visit this week, and I'm sure he will want to get in. I'll do it just to say that I did it, but I won't enjoy it. I know what warm water feels like and I prefer it!

Run 12/25/2008 4.12 mi@36:07

Merry Christmas! It's been a busy day and I almost talked myself out of running tonight, but after the HUGE dinner that I ate, I had to do something. So I put my gear on and headed out the door with a goal of running an easy 4 miles. I felt that dinner most of the way, but now I feel a little more settled (mentally and physically). Time for another slice of Shoo-fly pie!

2009 Planned Races

Here is the list of planned races for the first half of 2009:

Circle of Life 5K
January 9th, 2009

Harris Family Medical Center 5K
January 24th, 2009

Run for the Light 5K
January 31st, 2009

Tiger Dash 10K
February 7th, 2009

ESPN The Weekend 5K
February 28th, 2009

Brevard Zoo 3K
March 7th, 2009

Eye of the Dragon 10K
March 14th, 2009

Downtown Melbourne 5K
April 4th, 2009

Space Walk of Fame 8K
April 11th, 2009

Melbourne Art Festival 5K
April 25th, 2009

Run for the Gecko 5K
May 9th, 2009

Run 12/23/2008 3.50 mi@29:31

I was supposed to meet a friend in the neighborhood for a run this morning, but we missed each other at the start and ended up chasing each other through the neighborhood. I dressed warm since I headed out before 6:00 AM, but it was warmer than I expected and I ended up being over dressed. Strike 2! But it was a nice run and even nicer to get it out of the way first thing in the morning. I've decided to do the Set Goals Not Limits camp again in January, and since we meet in the evenings, I'll save my morning runs for the weekends.

Run 12/21/2008 5.0ish mi@42:15ish

This was an unplanned run. A friend and I took our boys to the skatepark this morning, but I didn't really come prepared to run - no GPS watch, no $120 running shoes, no coordinated running outfit, etc. But, since I was there with nothing else to do, and I did want to run sometime today, I decided to give it a go. I was still tired from the 2 mile race last night, but I took it slow and enjoyed the beautiful Florida morning. The time and distance are approximate, but close enough.

Jingle Bell 2 Miler

The last official race of 2008 and the 3rd race in the Running Zone Race Series. I finished in 14:06, good enough for 113th out of 927 overall and 10th out of 52 in my age group. The start was really congested and that slowed me down in the first quarter mile or so. I was hoping to finish in under 14 minutes and the slow start might have been the difference. I did manage to pass several people in this race that usually beat me in 5Ks though. I think if I start mixing in more speed work during my workouts I can move up a little in the standings, but some of the times in my age group (40-44) are really fast. Winning isn't everything and this past year of running has been a great experience. I now look forward to every race that I can participate in. Next up is the Circle of Life 5K at Animal Kingdom in early January. I'm looking for 22:45 at that one!

Here is the link to the official results.

Run 12/19/2008 2.51 mi@22:45

Run 12/17/2008 3.65 mi@33:27

Run 12/14/2008 7.16 mi@1:01:36

2008 5K Race Time Chart

Reindeer Run 5K (Cape Canaveral, FL)

This was my first race under 23 minutes. My final time was 22:56 which was only good enough for 10th place in my age group, but I will take it! Usually the 40-44 group isn't this competitive. It was cold at the start (less than 50 degrees) and a little windy. Turned out the winds were straight out of the north again, and the finish had us running straight into the wind for the last mile or so. I wanted to slow down somewhere around 2.5 miles, but when I finally saw the finish line I could see that I had a chance to come in under 23 minutes. I didn't leave much room to spare, but I made it. My next 5K will be at Animal Kingdom in January, and I'm hoping for another PR then. We'll see. It can only get harder from here.



Here is a video of the race. I made a small cameo at about the 4 minute mark.

After the run, a group of us enjoyed breakfast at the Omelet Station in Cocoa Beach.

Here is a link to the official results and below is the data from my watch.

Run 12/10/2008 3.0 mi@26:38

Run 12/7/2008 5.00 mi@44:47

Beta 5K

The event that started it all! One year ago we held the 1st Annual Beta 5K and today we had the second installment in the series. What a difference a year makes. Last year I walked quite a bit and finished in about 35 minutes. After a year of running, I'm able to complete a 5K without walking and I finished this year in 23:30. Not bad. Nobody thought we would keep this up, but we have and I think most are looking forward to another year of running.

Run 12/5/2008 2.52mi@21:38

Run 12/3/2008 5.59 mi@52:05

Vacation is over! After not running since Saturday in TN, I decided to go for a longer run this evening. I bundled up for a chilly run, but discovered about half way that it wasn't very chilly tonight. I hate being cold, but being over dressed on a run isn't all that great either. Anyway, I pushed through and ended up doing about 5.6 miles. I'm a little sore now, but hopefully in the morning I'll feel better. At least tomorrow is the end of the work week.

Run 11/29/2008 3.11 mi@29:11

This was a short easy run the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Piney Flats, TN. There were several large hills on this route and it was cold, but it was a nice run. Lots of country side and barking dogs, but none chased me, so that was OK!

Up & At 'Em Turkey Trot 5K (Johnson City, TN)

After driving Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning up to the Johnson City, TN area, I went into this race on Thanksgiving morning with no expectations. On top of the driving, the last time that I ran was Sunday at the Lighfest 5K, the race time temperature was 25 degrees, the race location was at about 1700 feet elevation, the course was full of hills, and I slept the night before with my 9 year old's knees and elbows in my back (we shared a bed at my in-laws house)! Plenty of excuses for a bad time.

When I picked up my race packet, they said they were expecting 3000 people for the race. In the end they about 2200 register and 1725 or so finish. This was the biggest race that I have run in so far, but somehow I ended up starting the race at about the same spot I usually do - not at the front, but not too far back either. When the race started, the front group went out really fast! By the time I looked at my watch we had gone about a half mile and at a 6:43 pace! I knew that was way too fast, so I backed off a little. I ended up doing the first mile in 7:22, which was pretty good, but I couldn't hold that pace. The next mile was 25 seconds slower and the third mile I just ran out of gas. People were passing me left and right (literally), but I couldn't do anything about it. I pretty much coasted over the finish line and I recovered very quickly, which means I could have gone faster. The race finished inside Steve Spurrier Field and everyone received a medal. I finished at 24:34, which wasn't my best 5K time, but it wasn't my worst either, and given all of the variables I encountered, I'm pleased with my time.

Here is a link to the official results.

And here is the info from my watch. The watch is consistently reporting that the courses are longer than 5K. I'm sure the courses are measured accurately, so it looks like the watch is off. The time was the same as the official time (within 1 second), so at least it has that going for it.

Lightfest 5K (Melbourne, FL)

Another 5K, another personal record! This time my watch had me at 22:58, but the official time was more like 23:15. For the second race in a row my watch has me completing the 5K quite a bit before the official finish line. I tried to start the watch as I crossed the starting line (since I have to start back in the pack a little ways), so it shouldn't be that far off. I'll have to do some research to see what I can find. Either time I use, it was better than the last 5K that I ran in October, so I am happy. At the October race I thought I had a little more in my tank. For this race I didn't feel the same way, I gave it pretty much all I had. Improvements from here might come a little harder, but I'm going to keep plugging away.

UPDATE: The race results are in and I finished at 23:18, good enough for 3rd in my age group! I didn't stick around for the whole trophy presentation, but I guess I should have. Actually, both times I won a trophy this year I missed the presentation. Looking at the results I finished 81st overall out of 469 finishers and 62nd out of the males.

Here is the link to the results: http://www.runningzone.com/results.html?id=519

I forgot to hit the stop button on my watch at the finish line, so this entry runs past the end of the race.

Run 11/22/2008 2.55 mi@22:33

Well the cold weather is still here and it is really windy this morning. Going over the causeway the first time was more difficult than usual since we were running straight into the wind. I wanted to take it easy today since I have a race tomorrow night, so I cut the distance down to about 2.5 miles. Coming back over the causeway with the wind was much easier, and with the bright sunshine I actually felt warm. The group enjoyed a "Box O Joe" from Dunkin Donuts after we finished. Cedric was there taking pictures, so hopefully I can get a few of them to post.

UPDATE: Here are some pictures from this morning:


The group that battled the weather and showed up (minus Cedric since he was taking the picture)!


Going up the causeway the first time, straight into the wind. Motionbased shows that the winds were averaging 14 miles an hour at that time.


Just after the turning point.

Circle of Life 5K

I just snagged this off of the Disney Sports website. It is the route we will be running for the Circle of Life 5K in January 2009. Looks like we start in the parking lot, and then wind our way through Animal Kingdom before finishing back in the parking lot. I'm not sure how fast the course is going to be, since the paths through the park might be kind of tight.

Run 11/20/2008 2.17 mi@18:28

Still cold outside (I can't wait for Spring!) and I'm a little tired/sickly/worn out from a long week (not just running, but work and life in general), so tonight was a short run. Besides, I'm running the causeway on Saturday morning and I'll be running in the Lighfest 5K on Sunday evening, so this was enough. Hopefully I'll feel better for the weekend.

Run 11/18/2008 5.29 mi@46:38

Boy was it chilly tonight. It is about 52 degrees with a steady wind coming straight out of the north. On my way out I was mostly running south, so the wind was at my back and all was good. At the turning point (2.6 miles or so) I had to run straight into the wind. This not only made it harder to run, but it was darn cold too! I was glad I put on that old hat and a pair of gardening gloves as I headed out the door. I guess I need to stock up on a few cold weather items for the winter. My knees are a little sore after the run, but my foot feels good, so I guess I'm even. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

Run 11/16/2008 4.19 mi@36:23

After taking three days off to go to the beach, play disc golf, go kayaking, and play Tiger Woods 09 on the Wii with an old friend, it was time for a run. I set out to do 6 miles this evening, but I didn't wear the right kind of shirt, so I got cold after I soaked my shirt from sweating. It is chilly here this evening, and I wanted to wear long sleeves, but I don't have a wicking long sleeve shirt. So I wore cotton and paid for it. I made it a little over 4 miles before I called it a night. I'll try again to get a long run in early this week. Next Sunday is the Lightfest 5K, so I'll try to take it easy toward the end of the week. Here is the link to the run tonight.

Run 11/12/2008 4.0 mi@35:56

Tonight was easy run night. 4 miles at 9 min/mile pace was the easiest I have run in a while. My right foot is bothering me a little bit right behind the heal and running slow seems to make me land harder on it. I have read this is common and the condition is called plantar fasciitis. I need to read more about how I should treat the problem, but I plan on taking the next couple of days off to rest it. The next run should be Saturday over the causeway. Until then, here are the details for tonights run.

Run 11/11/2008 3.75 mi@33:03

The summary doesn't tell the whole story about the run tonight. This run include 4 - 1/4 mile intervals at faster than normal pace. I didn't set the watch up correctly to save the individual interval times, but the run went like this:

1 mile warmup
1/4 mile fast pace followed by 1/4 mile jog
repeat 3 more times
finish up with 3/4 mile cool down

Intervals are not a whole lot of fun, but they are like strength training for runners. Doing this type of run regularly will help me learn how to run faster during races (hopefully). We did do quite a few interval days during the Set Goals Not Limits running camp this past summer, and my race times did improve, so I have to think that it works.

Run 11/9/2008 4.26 mi@36:46

A friend and I took our sons to the skate board park this morning, but instead of sitting around and chit chatting like we normally do, we decided to go for a run. We really didn't have a good plan for where we should run, so we just ran around the immediate area around the park. The scenery wasn't that nice, but we had a good run.

Run 11/8/2008 4.66 mi@38:57

This was my first causeway run in a few weeks and we had a good group show up today. I'm hoping as the temperatures continue to drop more people will participate. I went out much faster than I usually do, and made it to the beach running pretty strong. After turning around I kept up the pace until about 5K and then I backed off a bit. I have lots to do today around the house, and if I had kept up that pace I would have been useless the rest of the day. It is really pretty here today, so outside is the place to be!

Post Election Observations

The Republicans still don't get it! All I hear and read from the true right wing partisans is that they think they lost the election because they didn't attack enough! They feel they needed more talk of Democratic Socialism, more Joe the Plumber, more "Drill Baby Drill", etc. It wasn't the lack of specifics on the issues, it wasn't the choice of Sarah Palin for VP candidate (honestly, what were they thinking?), it wasn't the lack of a clear message to the American people, it wasn't the constant reminder that the Republicans focus their energy on the wealthy among us. If this is the mentality of the Republican party, it is my opinion that we will see Democrats in power for a while.

It seems obvious to me that both of the parties should be pandering to the middle, not the far right or far left. There are many among us that are one issue voters and they will almost always vote with the party that supports their position. Why spend time and political capital on this group? I understand you have to keep the bases of the parties engaged, but why is it that the issues alone can't keep the Republican base energized? There are many more among us, I believe, that are concerned with the bigger picture. It is my observation that these people fall somewhere in the middle. Maybe they lean a little left or right, but they hang around in that gray area between the hard core Democrats and Republicans. The more of these people that I talk to, the more I hear how turned off they are by the mud slinging and hate that always seems to rear it's ugly head in a Presidential campaign. We need calm, determined, and focused leadership at the top and in this election the Democrats and Barack Obama brought these attributes to the table.

Only time will tell if the Republicans can find someone like this that the masses can rally behind. If they think this person is Sarah Palin in 2012, they are sadly mistaken. We need problem solvers and consensus builders in the White House, not idealogues that divide the country. And they need to turn their attention to the 95% of people that don't make $250,000 a year! Corporations don't vote and there aren't enough people making that kind of money to elect a President on their own. I still can't figure out why hard core Republicans are so protective of the rich and how much they pay in taxes. The money has to come from somewhere and if the people that are most able to pay a little bit more don't, then it comes out of the pockets of the people that can least afford it.

As a long time Republican voter, I was embarrassed by the Republican effort and strategy (or lack thereof) in this election. It will be interesting to see if the party clings to these scorched earth tactics or changes to be more moderate and inclusive.

Run 11/7/2008 3.34mi@28:45

After a couple of days off, I hit the pavement for a run this morning. I felt realllllly slow, so I just took it easy. My overall pace turned out to be 8:36/mile which is about what I run when I don't feel realllllly slow! I did a little research, and it looks like I am running my easy runs too fast. I used an online pace calculator and it says I should be doing my easy runs at a 9:24/mile pace. That just seems really slow, but it wasn't too long ago that 10:00/mile was all I could maintain for 3 miles. I guess I'm getting stronger, but I do want to start mixing in more interval and tempo run training. It will be interesting to see how low I can get my 5K time over the next 6 months or so. It is cooler here in Central Florida, so in theory my times should continue to get better. I just have to take it easy enough to avoid injury. I don't want to sit on the sidelines and lose everything that I have gained this year.

Anyway, here are the details on this mornings run:

Run 11/4/2008 3.15 mi@27:07

Run 11/2/2008 5.4mi@47:25

Running Zone Fun Run 3.29mi@27:37

This was the final Running Zone Fun Run for 2008. Pizza, beer, and plenty of giveaways were enjoyed by all after the run. I can't wait for the new season to start next spring!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 30 ft Location: Satellite Beach, FL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/30/08 Up/Downhill: [+9/-9] Time: 06:35 PM Difficulty: 1.6 / 5.0   Weather: Mostly Cloudy   68 F temp; 65% humidity   68 F heat index; winds N 6 Performance Distance: 3.30 miles Time: 0:29:06 Speed: 6.8 mph Pace: 8' 48 /mi Calories: 347 Map   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 43 +0' 55 6.2 -0.6 -3 ft 2 8' 18 -0' 30 7.2 +0.4 0 ft 3 8' 27 -0' 21 7.1 +0.3 +3 ft end 8' 40 -0' 08 6.9 +0.1 0 ft Versus average of 8' 48 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Run 10/28/2008 3.09mi@25:23

It's freezing in Central Florida! It was somewhere around 60 degrees and I can't believe how cold that feels. Guess my blood really has thinned out over the years. I think I need to buy some long sleeve running shirts for the long winter ahead!

Activity Route: The Hood Elev. Avg: 32 ft Location: Satellite Beach, FL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/28/08 Up/Downhill: [+3/-3] Time: 06:47 PM Difficulty: 1.6 / 5.0   Weather: Clear   61 F temp; 28% humidity   61 F heat index; winds N 12 Performance Distance: 3.09 miles Time: 0:25:23 Speed: 7.3 mph Pace: 8' 14 /mi Calories: 324 Map   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 27 +0' 13 7.1 -0.2 +3 ft 2 8' 15 +0' 01 7.3 -0.0 0 ft 3 8' 02 -0' 12 7.5 +0.2 -3 ft end 7' 23 -0' 51 8.1 +0.8 0 ft Versus average of 8' 14 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Run 10/26/2008 5.06 mi@0:45:17

Performance Distance: 5.06 miles Time: 0:45:17 Speed: 6.7 mph Pace: 8' 57 /mi Calories: 533 Map   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 03 +0' 06 6.6 -0.1 +3 ft 2 9' 07 +0' 10 6.6 -0.1 -3 ft 3 8' 56 -0' 01 6.7 +0.0 +3 ft 4 8' 51 -0' 06 6.8 +0.1 -3 ft 5 8' 48 -0' 09 6.8 +0.1 0 ft end 9' 00 +0' 03 6.7 -0.0 0 ft Versus average of 8' 57 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Pumpkins in the Park 5K (Cocoa Village, FL)

What a great race! This is the first 5K that I have done in the evening and I think it really helped me. It has been raining off and on all day, and the closer we got to the start at 6:30 PM the steadier it rained. At the start of the race it was raining pretty good, but other than not being able to see out of my glasses it didn't really bother me. At about the half way point as we headed towards the river, I looked up and saw a rainbow. By the end of the race the rain had finished which made it much easier to stand around and tell stories about what was and what could have been. Most members of the Beta Running Team improved on their PRs and I did too. This was the fastest 5K for me so far and I took off 1 minute and 20 seconds from my previous best time. Maybe the training is paying off. I still have further to go to meet my goal, but I'm getting there. Overall I have taken 5 minutes and 56 seconds off of my 5K time since the Harris Family Medical Center 5K back in January.

Here are the official race results. You may notice that my official time differs from my GPS watch time. As I was finishing the race, my watch indicated that I had completed 5K prior to crossing the finish line. It looked to be about 75-100 yards early and that would probably account for the additional 14 seconds in the official time. Since I didn't cross the starting line when the starting gun fired (due to the size of the crowd I was not able to start at the front) I expected the times to be off by 3 or 4 seconds. I like the GPS watch time in this case, so I'm sticking with it as my "official time"!

Pumpkins in the Park 5K Race Results

Activity Route: Pumpkins in the Park 5K Elev. Avg: 10 ft Location: Cocoa, FL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/24/08 Up/Downhill: [+88/-88] Time: 06:33 PM Difficulty: 1.9 / 5.0   Weather: Light Rain Fog/Mist   75 F temp; 93% humidity   79 F heat index; winds S 20 G 25 Performance Distance: 3.12 miles Time: 0:23:30 Speed: 8.0 mph Pace: 7' 32 /mi Calories: 334 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 7' 11 -0' 21 8.3 +0.4 +3 ft 2 7' 39 +0' 07 7.8 -0.1 -13 ft 3 7' 48 +0' 16 7.7 -0.3 +3 ft end 7' 07 -0' 25 8.4 +0.5 +6 ft Versus average of 7' 32 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Run 10/22/2008 2.0 mi@17:01

Last run before the Pumpkins in the Park 5K on Friday evening.



View Activity Run 10/22/2008

Run 10/21/2008 2.12 mi@19:09

Just a short run tonight. I have been under the weather since returning from my business trip last week, so I thought I would take it easy. Besides, the Pumpkins in the Park 5K is this Friday evening and I want to be as fresh as I can be. I was hoping for a good time at the race, but I don't know what to expect now. Maybe that will work out better. Anyways, here are the details on the run tonight.



View Activity Run 10/21/2008

Run 10/16/2008 2.75 mi 0:26:06

View Activity Run 10/16/2008

Run 10/14/2008 3.26 mi 0:28:51

Location: Melbourne, Brevard, Florida, United States
Activity: Run
Distance: 3.26 (mi )
View Activity Run 10/14/2008

Run 10/11/2008 3.45 mi 0:29:52

Run 10/10/2008 3.12 mi 0:27:58

Run 10/8/2008 3.65 mi 0:32:11

For now I have settled on Trimble Outdoors for my online run tracking. It has basically everything I need. BiM Active is my second choice and that is only because it lacks direct upload from my Garmin Forerunner. The BiM Active forum states that this capability is planned, so I'll take a look again once that feature has been added. RunningAHEAD logs the most details about my runs, but the input is strictly manual for now.

Online running logs

I'm obsessed with viewing my run data from my Garmin Forerunner 205! Problem is I can't find the one killer web app that has enough features to keep me from looking for a better place to store my run data. I have found a couple of sites that will extract and upload run data directly from the watch using the Garmin Communicator Plugin. Several others out there will allow a manual upload of GPS derived data files (e.g. pgx, tcx). Still others are strictly manual entry. Below is what I have found so far. If you know of others, let me know:

Sites that support Garmin Communicator Plugin

Run Saturday
http://www.runsaturday.com

Run Saturday is the most complete site I have found to date. It allows uploads straight from my Garmin Forerunner or SportTracks and displays plenty of lap and chart data for runs. It also has a nice collection of blog sharing capabilities.

Trimble Outdoors
http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com

Running Charts
http://www.runningcharts.com

MotionBased
http://www.motionbased.com

Garmin Connect
http://connect.garmin.com

Beginner Triathlete
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com

MapMyRun
http://mapmyrun.com

Cyclogz (cycling)
http://www.cyclogz.com

MTBGuru (cycling)
http://www.mtbguru.com

GPSies
http://www.gpsies.com

Sites that allow manual upload of GPS files

BiM Active
http://www.bimactive.com

Nokia Sports Tracker
http://sportstracker.nokia.com

Trip Tracker SPORTSMATE
http://www.ttsm.com

LogYourRun
http://www.logyourrun.com

Sites that allow manual entry of run data

RunningAHEAD
http://www.runningahead.com

Dailymile
http://www.dailymile.com

Buckeye Outdoors
http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com

Gyminee
http://www.gyminee.com

We Endure
http://www.weendure.com

Breaking The Tape
http://www.breakingthetape.com

Fetcheveryone
http://www.fetcheveryone.com

Active
http://training.active.com

That's what I have found so far. I'm still looking and I haven't been looking for long, so maybe the killer app is out there hiding somewhere.

Run 10/5/2008 3.02 mi 0:27:47

I got a late start, but managed to get in 3 miles just around the neighborhood. Check out the blog links under "Training Blogs" for maps and details. I have to settle on one of these at some point! RunningAHEAD is my favorite, and it has all of my runs since the beginning of July, but it doesn't have GPS support yet.

2008 (mostly) 5Ks

Here is a consolidated list of all "official" road races that I have participated in during 2008:

Harris Family Medical Center 5K
January 19th, 2008
29:26.5 (9:28/mile)
Show Results

Tiger Dash 5K
February 9th, 2008
27:51.0 (8:57/mile)
Show Results

Brevard Zoo's Dino Dash 3K
March 8th, 2008
16:27.9 (8:52/mile)
Show Results

Space Coast Sports Festival 5K
May 24th, 2008
27:40 (8:54/mile)
Show Results

Set Goals, Not Limits 5K
July 5th, 2008
24:51.3 (8:00/mile)
Show Results

I Run for Pizza 5K
August 16th, 2008
25:10.1 (8:08/mile)
Show Results

Fall Into Winter 5K
September 20th, 2008
26:13 (8:26/mile)
Show Results

Pumpkins in the Park 5K
October 24th, 2008
23:46.7 (7:41/mile)
Show Results

Space Coast Lightfest 5K
November 23rd, 2008
23:18 (7:31/mile)
Show Results

Up & At 'Em Turkey Trot 5K
November 27th, 2008
24:34 (7:54/mile)
Show Results

Beta 5K
December 6th, 2008
23:30 (7:33/mile)

Reindeer Run 5K
December 13th, 2008
22:56 (7:22/mile)
Show Results

Jingle Bell 2 Miler
December 20th, 2008
14:06 (7:03/mile)
Show Results

Up and ... running

Finally. I have been planning on starting my own blog for some time. Cross another thing off of my endless things to accomplish! Now what to do with it. For starters I'm going to use it as a place to share my run info. I'm on this running kick, and with my new Garmin Forerunner watch I can capture all of the gory details of my runs and post the info online for all to see. Check out the "Training Blogs" section for some links to running blogs that I have started. I'm still looking for the best way to share this info, and I'm actually disappointed in the quality of the sites out there, so if you have suggestions on better ones, let me know.

I'm an avid Linux user (openSUSE 11.0 currently), so I dabble in finding suitable substitutions for Windows software that run under Linux. I'll use this blog to track my findings in the areas of Linux, virtual machines, software development, open source, etc. In my current configuration I use VirtualBox to run Windows XP in a virtual machine under openSUSE Linux for those software applications that I just can't live without (e.g. Microsoft Money, SportTracks). While this works OK, I would really like to be able to run all applications natively in Linux someday.

Well enough intro, time to get outside and clean the pool and pull some weeds. I'll post my Sunday evening run info later.