Sweet Victory

There are many ways to log your workouts online and though I've played around , I've been a RunningAHEAD guy for some time. RunningAHEAD works for me but - until now - I've never pushed it because we all have our quirks. Members of RunningAHEAD have been whining about Garmin integration for - seemingly - years, and I've never joined the bandwagon, simply because EVERY Garmin upload tool I've seen (including Garmin's) sucks. They've been pitifully slow. So slow I stopped using them. Keep in mind, I NEVER run without my Garmin, but it was just easier and simpler to upload the workouts manually. Meanwhile over at RA, people have been asking for it forever, and even though there were a few posts about beta tests, I didn't pay them any attention. Wow - sometimes I love being wrong. RunningAHEAD now has Garmin integration. It's seamless, simple and as fast as you'd expect it to be (I uploaded my last three workouts in about five seconds). If you have ...

Erika lets the cat out of the bag on a not so well kept secret: diabetics don't get used to needles. Jerry explains with visual aids . As for me, I've got two thoughts on needles: 1. I fear the ones I don't do myself, meaning the A1C bloodwork. I stare at the clock on the wall or the guy getting stuck in the next chair. I never look at my own arm. 2. RE: all the self-inflicted pricks, I've come to the conclusion that if you hit a nerve it hurts. If you don't, it doesn't. Problem is, there's no way to know without doing it. So I just ask myself one question, ala Dirty Harry, "Do I feel lucky today?" Well do you, punk?

The title of this post is what running legend Bart Yasso inscribed in my copy of his book when I met him at yesterday's Ugly Mudder race in Reading. Ironically, where running had taken me yesterday was to that very race. I'd run the mudder in 2007 and was one of the people to run the abbreviated course in 2008. With last year's course mistake and what I thought was a particularly bad shirt, I'd planned on not running the Mudder again this year. And then on Friday an e-mail came saying that Bart Yasso would be signing free autographs at this year's race. I sent a quick e-mail to the race director confirming there were a couple extra shirts available and decided to make the Mudder my plan. Unlike other years, though, I wasn't even a little tapered for the race. I'd done a hard interval workout on Thursday and went out for a medium longish nine miles on Saturday. The plan called for a marathon pace-ish workout for Sunday and a good trail race can serve that p...

Titles like that really aren't very SEO friendly, but such is the buffet that is my life. Europe, Part II - I'm home. It was a great trip. Though London's a little different than a US city, and Manchester's more different, Edinburgh was very different enough to know I really went someplace I hadn't been before. The architecture of the castle coupled with the experience of running up Arthur's seat were very cool, indeed, and I was grateful for the opportunity to go. When you travel for business, there's always this nagging feeling: is what I'm doing worth the company dollar? Is the tradeshow worthwhile? Is there enough to learn and enough to teach? This time, I can easily say it was, so it was a success. Our UK team is doing a dynamite job and it's fun to watch them grow in experience. Running-wise, I managed 3 runs throughout the week, which isn't great. After getting back on US time, I did bang out a nice 14 miler, but - as I knew going into t...

It's a shame I'm a bad blogger, because I have a lot to say. In the past week, I've run up this mountain in Edinburgh and twice have run by Princess Di's house in London. I've learned that while London still doesn't thrill me, I'm a certified fan of Scotland. I bought a very touristy Scotland shirt and will wear it with pride. Alas, I'm not a millionaire playboy, so what that also means is that I'm traveling for business, which means: 1) I get up early in the mornings to run. 2) I work all day. This week, it's here . 3) The team and I visit awesome restaurants and rustic pubs all night. That's why it's 12:30am right now and I've got no time for this sort of thing. However, of all my trips to the UK, this has been my favorite and - for once - I've taken pictures. Here's hoping I have time to get them uploaded upon my return.