My wife, God Bless her, dug out my old non-smart phone, charged it up, and activated it. Now, it still needs to be plugged in 23 hours per day, but at least I can make a call while at a client or in the car.
The best part about using this old phone is seeing some old pictures I had left on it, including the first pics I had of my first-born son. Seeing those brought back a flood of memories, all wonderful.
There is also the last pic I have of my Godfather/Uncle before he died of cancer a little over 4 years ago.
I had stopped by the hospital after work to visit. He had just been admitted and was in a lot of pain due to the tumors that were ravaging his body. Little did we know at the time that he would never leave that hospital alive and would die 3 weeks later.
That night, he gave me the "thumbs up" sign as I snapped the pic.
The memory of his tragically early death is not wonderful, but seeing him again and seeing his sense of humor come through brings a smile to my lips while also bringing a tear to my eye.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Dumb phone gives me a headache
So my alleged "smartphone" crapped out on me 2 weeks before the end of my 2 year contract.
Sprint, in their infinite wisdom, will not allow me to "upgrade" my phone for the same price today as I could 2 weeks from now.
If it wasn't for the unlimited data plan, I'd love to jump ship. Sprint is a moronic company to deal with.
I'm an old school fuddy duddy. I'm still using a phone with a physical keypad, my formerly trusty HTC Evo Shift. Going to have to adapt to the onscreen keyboard.
Right now, unless somebody persuades me otherwise, I'm debating between the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy 3. Both are $100 with a new 2 year plan once I'm eligible.
Anybody have any input?
It pains me to no end that I need a new phone. I resisted getting a dumb phone as long as I possibly could, but the convenience just for being able to get my work email is too great to go backwards.
Today, driving around without a phone, alternated between being peaceful and nerve-racking. I must have been missing something, right?
How does this tie into running? I listen to Pandora while I run, streaming on my phone. I haven't been able to find the cord to charge my old MP3 player.
This has turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I've been running w/o the music to distract me. It's really allowed me to stay present and focused on what I'm doing. And, I pay more attention to the scenery around me.
So, I'm going to get a new phone, but I think for the shorter distances, I'll stick with going out w/o music.
Sprint, in their infinite wisdom, will not allow me to "upgrade" my phone for the same price today as I could 2 weeks from now.
If it wasn't for the unlimited data plan, I'd love to jump ship. Sprint is a moronic company to deal with.
I'm an old school fuddy duddy. I'm still using a phone with a physical keypad, my formerly trusty HTC Evo Shift. Going to have to adapt to the onscreen keyboard.
Right now, unless somebody persuades me otherwise, I'm debating between the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy 3. Both are $100 with a new 2 year plan once I'm eligible.
Anybody have any input?
It pains me to no end that I need a new phone. I resisted getting a dumb phone as long as I possibly could, but the convenience just for being able to get my work email is too great to go backwards.
Today, driving around without a phone, alternated between being peaceful and nerve-racking. I must have been missing something, right?
How does this tie into running? I listen to Pandora while I run, streaming on my phone. I haven't been able to find the cord to charge my old MP3 player.
This has turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I've been running w/o the music to distract me. It's really allowed me to stay present and focused on what I'm doing. And, I pay more attention to the scenery around me.
So, I'm going to get a new phone, but I think for the shorter distances, I'll stick with going out w/o music.
Popping My Blogging Cherry
OK, a little about me:
Despite being a pretty athletic kid - playing organized baseball, basketball, a bit of wrestling in high school, and rec sports in college - I sucked at running. I don't think I ever ran more than a mile without stopping.
Then, in 2004, at 27 years of age, I set a goal of running a 5k. I was tipping the scale somewhere around 210 and thought that I couldn't possibly be a fat person if I could run a 5K since fat people don't run 5K.
So, in an effort to lose weight, I made some dietary changes and started running on the treadmill at Lifetime Fitness in Canton, MI.
My first race as the Solstice Run in Northville, MI in June 2004. Leading up to that race, I had 3 goals:
2. I do not remember my exact time, but I think it was around 28 minutes. DONE!
3. OOPS - The 2nd mile of this race used to have a pretty tough hill for about a third of a mile. Being new, I really didn't understand how to adjust my pace or watch my breathing. As a result, I blew myself up and had to walk for bit to catch my breath. Still, since I accomplished Goal #2, Goal #3 was kind of irrelevant.
I even beat a guy dribbling 3 basketballs at the same time, mostly because he dribbled one of the balls off his foot which sent the ball flying. Kicked his arse!
This was life changing for me. Not beating the basketball guy, the running the race part. Never in my life had I ever considered the notion that I could be a runner. That was something skinny weirdos did and weird as I might be, I wasn't skinny.
But, now I was a runner.
Over the next 3 years, I ran quite a few 5Ks. That was enough for me. Pay $30, get a shitty t-shirt, and run a 5K in around 27 minutes.
In 2007, I amped it up a bit. My weight hit an all-time high of 228, so I got motivated, dropped 40 lbs and started running longer races and even did a sprint triathalon on Belle Isle.
That fall, I ran my first half marathon, the Detroit Free Press - www.freepmarathon.com - in 1:58. And then one of my big toe nails turned black and fell off.
In 2008, my wife and I were trying to get pregnant with our first kid. I decided this would probably be the last time I could spend the time to train for a marathon (I was right so far, by the way). That fall, I finished all 26.2 of the Freep in 4:59: 23.
And, I got some crazy plantar fasciitis.
7 weeks and 4 cortisone shots in the bottom of my foot later, I ran a Half in Las Vegas in 2:20. Swallowed half a bottle of advil to get through that. Between the Freep and Vegas, I hadn't run more than 3 miles.
And that was it.
My foot was F'd up. I didn't run for nearly 6 months.
My weight ballooned again. Then, I started to get back in the gym and on the treadmill. I was starting to feel good and planned to resume my running, but then I tore some cartilidge in my knee and had surgery. That knocked me out for a little while longer.
In the meantime, we had two kids, TheBoy and TheGirl.
And, I used that an excuse to stop racing. And going out. And doing a lot of things. Maybe we'll get more into that psychology later.
A few years ago, I lost 50 lbs and have kept 40 of it off for over 2 years. I've been running in the gym about once per week. Somewhere between 3 and 6 miles. PR on the treadmill is 23:32 for a 5k. I've ran a few 5K's, even setting my outdoor PR at the Plymouth Father's Day Run, 24:50, in 2011. Even did the Warrior Dash in 2011, but that really wasn't my cup of tea.
That bring us to now.
I'm trying to do more for me. Get back to some recreational things I used to love. Including running.
So, I've signed up for the Heroes on Hines half marathon on October 5 (heroesonhines.com). It's close to my house, for a good cause, and only $50. And it's only 9 weeks away.
I'm in decent shape, but not half marathon shape. The longest I've run in 5 years was 8 miles, but that was over a year ago. Recently, I've run 6 miles a couple times.
I started this blog so that I could create a record of my thoughts and feelings while training and eventually running the race. Hopefully, it will also motivate me to get out and run so I have something to write about.
Hope you find it interesting:)
Despite being a pretty athletic kid - playing organized baseball, basketball, a bit of wrestling in high school, and rec sports in college - I sucked at running. I don't think I ever ran more than a mile without stopping.
Then, in 2004, at 27 years of age, I set a goal of running a 5k. I was tipping the scale somewhere around 210 and thought that I couldn't possibly be a fat person if I could run a 5K since fat people don't run 5K.
So, in an effort to lose weight, I made some dietary changes and started running on the treadmill at Lifetime Fitness in Canton, MI.
My first race as the Solstice Run in Northville, MI in June 2004. Leading up to that race, I had 3 goals:
- Don't come in last.
- Finish in under 30 minutes.
- Run the whole thing without stopping.
2. I do not remember my exact time, but I think it was around 28 minutes. DONE!
3. OOPS - The 2nd mile of this race used to have a pretty tough hill for about a third of a mile. Being new, I really didn't understand how to adjust my pace or watch my breathing. As a result, I blew myself up and had to walk for bit to catch my breath. Still, since I accomplished Goal #2, Goal #3 was kind of irrelevant.
I even beat a guy dribbling 3 basketballs at the same time, mostly because he dribbled one of the balls off his foot which sent the ball flying. Kicked his arse!
This was life changing for me. Not beating the basketball guy, the running the race part. Never in my life had I ever considered the notion that I could be a runner. That was something skinny weirdos did and weird as I might be, I wasn't skinny.
But, now I was a runner.
Over the next 3 years, I ran quite a few 5Ks. That was enough for me. Pay $30, get a shitty t-shirt, and run a 5K in around 27 minutes.
In 2007, I amped it up a bit. My weight hit an all-time high of 228, so I got motivated, dropped 40 lbs and started running longer races and even did a sprint triathalon on Belle Isle.
That fall, I ran my first half marathon, the Detroit Free Press - www.freepmarathon.com - in 1:58. And then one of my big toe nails turned black and fell off.
In 2008, my wife and I were trying to get pregnant with our first kid. I decided this would probably be the last time I could spend the time to train for a marathon (I was right so far, by the way). That fall, I finished all 26.2 of the Freep in 4:59: 23.
And, I got some crazy plantar fasciitis.
7 weeks and 4 cortisone shots in the bottom of my foot later, I ran a Half in Las Vegas in 2:20. Swallowed half a bottle of advil to get through that. Between the Freep and Vegas, I hadn't run more than 3 miles.
And that was it.
My foot was F'd up. I didn't run for nearly 6 months.
My weight ballooned again. Then, I started to get back in the gym and on the treadmill. I was starting to feel good and planned to resume my running, but then I tore some cartilidge in my knee and had surgery. That knocked me out for a little while longer.
In the meantime, we had two kids, TheBoy and TheGirl.
And, I used that an excuse to stop racing. And going out. And doing a lot of things. Maybe we'll get more into that psychology later.
A few years ago, I lost 50 lbs and have kept 40 of it off for over 2 years. I've been running in the gym about once per week. Somewhere between 3 and 6 miles. PR on the treadmill is 23:32 for a 5k. I've ran a few 5K's, even setting my outdoor PR at the Plymouth Father's Day Run, 24:50, in 2011. Even did the Warrior Dash in 2011, but that really wasn't my cup of tea.
That bring us to now.
I'm trying to do more for me. Get back to some recreational things I used to love. Including running.
So, I've signed up for the Heroes on Hines half marathon on October 5 (heroesonhines.com). It's close to my house, for a good cause, and only $50. And it's only 9 weeks away.
I'm in decent shape, but not half marathon shape. The longest I've run in 5 years was 8 miles, but that was over a year ago. Recently, I've run 6 miles a couple times.
I started this blog so that I could create a record of my thoughts and feelings while training and eventually running the race. Hopefully, it will also motivate me to get out and run so I have something to write about.
Hope you find it interesting:)
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