Headed to the Bluff

Posted on August 19, 2010 by admin

Sadly the UPS man wasnt as early as I needed him to be today to do today’s run in my new shoes. Despite that the run went pretty well. Got back up to 25 min and 2.5+ miles and the left foot feels fine. Overall the weather cooperated nicely with mostly overcast skies and temperatures in the low 80s albeit with 100% humidity.

Now also that I have a good reference base of a few runs around East Campus im planning on starting to switch up my routes a bit and work some stadium and track time into my training.

Right shin was tender after the run though not as bad as after tuesday, and while my left leg/foot has still be problematic with my longstanding numbness/fatigue, there were no acute problems during the run, and the sharp pain that sidelined me for a week at the end of July is completely gone.

This weekend at the Bluff will be nice to get in a run or two on some familiar flat ground, and to look back and compare it to some of my runs from last summer. This is one of the really, really nice things about running with a Garmin. Sure I could have a detailed log book, but capturing all the data at every moment from the run is something I really love, and it requires no effort to keep up.

Last thing on the running to do list is to go ahead and get at least a 5K race onto the schedule in the next month or two and a 10K planned for novemberish. This all with the ultimate goal of being ready for a half in February.

So roughly five and a half months. Probably a little too ambitious but not bad to shoot for.

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Tuesday Night

Posted on August 17, 2010 by admin

Braves win. Minor pitches well and Prado makes a really nice return off the DL. The Braves have been playing some really nice baseball for the past few weeks after a little bit of a post allstar break slump. Too bad the Phillies have also been playing pretty decent ball as well and also got an allstar infielder back today.

My run went pretty well today. Went a little later than usual and could really feel a difference without the sun beating down on me. Finished up two pretty easy miles and definitely felt that I had a good bit more left in the tank. Probably could have pushed through to three miles but im really trying to take it slow and easy at the moment. Also when I stopped running my right leg let me know that was a good idea as I did have a little trouble walking back to the house. Im pretty convinced that this pain is due to my shoes and I am looking forward to getting a new pair in the mail on thursday (Go Amazon Prime, free for students, and the recent $20 off basically any pair of shoes coupon)

My current shoes, the Saucony Progrid Guide 3, are a slight stability shoe that I think are really throwing me off as I land with more of a midfoot strike. The Saucony Kinvara Im getting on Thursday is a somewhat minimalist neutral shoe that encourages midfoot strikes. Really hope that this helps with some of the problems that I have been having. Im also aware though that some of this is just the to be expected pains from getting active again. Hopefully I can get back to the consistency that I had with my runs in July and as a result really work on getting my weekly mileage up.

The one really nice thing about being back in Durham, besides my bed, is access to the Duke gyms. Tomorrow is a cross training day for me and I hope to get in a swimming session and an upper body/core workout.

Schedule for the rest of the week:

Wed: Swimming, Upper Body, Core
Thurs: Run, Lower Body (Light), Travel to The Bluff
Friday: Run (Light), Upper Body, Core
Sat: Fishing, maybe a morning swim
Sun: Run, Travel To Durham

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50mm

Posted on April 19, 2010 by admin

So I was playing around with a 50mm lens this weekend and the more I use it the more I really love just how simple and fun the lens it. When you have it wide open at 1.8 you really have to watch your focus because the depth of field is so small. These were two of the shots that I really liked:

(bulldog was one that I was dogsitting for a friend for the weekend)

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Idol Thoughts

Posted on April 13, 2010 by admin

Idol Thoughts

So I didn’t know that it was Elvis till the show came on and my first thought was this is going to be really really awful.

And Adam Lambert really needs to tone down the eyeliner and eye shadow

Crystal
Remains the class of the competition. Bluesy and just spot on. What more is there to say.

Andrew
Awful. If he isn’t gone after this week then I weep for the whole show. He has been kept around far too long and it is clear now that he has a little niche that he can do well and that is it. Maybe he will find himself someday and break out of his little bubble.
The main thing that was wrong with this performance was that he made a raw bluesy song into some smooth soulless karaoke crap.

Tim
Wow. I really thought he should have been gone weeks ago and he just nailed it tonight. Compare and contrast him with Andrew and you see someone who isn’t evolving (Andrew) versus someone who is starting to show that he is more than just a little older version of Justin Beiber.

Lee
A Nice performance. And as much as I don’t want that to be an insult it is. He does a nice job up there and he is hitting all the notes that he should be but he just doesn’t have “it.” Definitely a guy that will make the top five but really would I buy his record? Probably not.

Aaron
Oh please how is this child still in this. Walking around the stage as your “Dance” or movement during “Blue Suede Shoes” = fail. And really Ellen, at this point we are giving A’s for effort?

Siobhan
Not her best. She is Adam Lambert. No doubt she has the pipes but really that was just all over the place. I like her but I really just don’t know where she really fits in terms of making records and she just doesn’t have enough to be just “Siobhan.” Judges were 100% spot on.

Mike
Absolutely the wrong song. Mike is big and has a huge stage presence and Elvis should be in his wheelhouse. Great vocals without a doubt. Definitely doesn’t deserve to go home this week though.

Katie
One of her better performances. Still wont be sad when she leaves. She really just need to be herself and stop listening to all the judges. Again while kids under 18 might have the pipes but they don’t have the experience to really match up with someone like Crystal who is an established performer with seasoned life experience.

Casey
Good. Pretty much exactly what should have been expected. Perfectly fit who he is as a performer an hence should have been better.

Top 3
Crystal
Tim (Wow)
Lee

Bottom 3
Andrew
Aaron
Mike

If Andrew and Aaron don’t go home it is a travesty.

Top Five
Crystal
Siobhan
Lee
Mike
Casey

In that order. Really though Crystal is the only one who I really think deserves to win. Not really sure if that is even the best think for her.

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Back

Posted on April 13, 2010 by admin

Not that anyone but spammers and robots are actually visiting this site anymore but in case someone had left it on their RSS feeds I thought that I should note that all the old content (aka all my Peace Corps stuff) has been moved from this site to A New WordPress.com blog

Hopefully this site will turn into something a little more relevant going forward from here.

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