Summer In The City
Ok, so this isn't the city, but I've had that Lovin' Spoonful song stuck in my head since yesterday.
Hot town, Summer in the city,
Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty,
Been down, isn't it a pity,
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city.
All around, people lookin' half dead,
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head...
There... now you can have it stuck in your head, also! :-)
It hit 90 degrees here yesterday and today. What's with that? We usually don't get hot temperatures until mid-August. I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come this summer. Hot and dry always means massive forest fires, water shortages and the fear of my wells running dry. I'm not even going to think about it!
On the good side, I LOVE summer! I love wearing shorts, and once I start wearing them in the spring, I don't put on a pair of long pants again until sometime in late September. And while I don't seem to be bothered too much by the heat, 90 degrees is way too hot to be out cycling or running. So the one drawback to the summer heat is that it is going to take away my flexibility and spontaneity to be able to finish the chores of the day and go for a run or ride. Getting all my workouts in, which I never seem to quite accomplish anyway, will now take even more planning. Mornings look to be the premium opportunity for exercise. I know, no one else in this world gets to sleep in every day... time to join the crowd. (This is where I insert "Suck it up, Buttercup!") :-)
Speaking of "sucking it up", this is three weeks without my computer. Short version: Battery wouldn't charge. Service center replaced the Mother Board. (Part of the charger is on the Mother Board) Didn't fix the problem. Service Center figured out that the original battery was totally dead and the new battery we bought directly from Toshiba, was the wrong one. So the SC orders a battery. Works great. Get it home, computer won't even turn on. Back to SC. In goes another Mother Board. Works great. Go to pick it up, won't turn on. We ask for them to put the original mother board back in, since it worked fine when we brought the computer in to them, and the problem was really just a bad battery. Original mother board had already been shipped back to Toshiba. So, third new mother board is going in it today. Each time they do this, the cost is $750 (covered by warranty) So far they have put $2350 into a computer that cost us something like $250 after rebates. At this point, I wish they would just give me a new one, since I have a feeling that even if they get it running, it will be problematic forever!
Update: SC claims my add on memory card is causing the new mother boards to short out. (Although it has worked fine for 8 months.) They removed the extra memory and claim everything works fine. Uhhh, ya right.
Also on the TU list is my40 gb Ipod. The little hard drive is starting to rebel over all the drops and running jars. It freezes up at least once on every run, which requires it to be rebooted. Urs is getting me a new Nano today. (She's such a dear!) Not only will it be much lighter to run with, but the little flash drive in it should be quite a bit more resilient to shocks.
Workout log for the day: I'm going to be doing a little triathlon in a couple of weeks based at the University up the road. (How can I not do this? It's right in my back yard!) Kind of cool, the bike course goes right by my property, so my 85 year old Aunt will be able to see me whiz past. (Although, she sees me ride all the time, so I guess it's not that big of a deal) Anyway, I got the directions for the bike and run course today. It cooled down somewhat after dinner, so I went out and hammered the short 10 mile bike course.
Besides one short, but steep hill near the start/finish, the course is flat and fast! Most of it has about a 1% grade, and I hoping to make good use of my gears and take advantage of these really minor grades to pick up speed. My top speed tonight was 22mph with my average speed being 17.4, average cadence 81. Going up the grade I dropped down around 16mph. Gotta work on that!
That reminds me... here is another triathlon tip. Always inspect the run and bike course before the race. It's optimum if you can actually train a little on it, so you know exactly what to expect. I was thinking about that tonight as I was riding and noticed the start of a little grade. "Here I can mash the gears a little bit and really pick up some speed." I'll be ready to do that come race day.
Tomorrow after I swim, I'm going to run the run course. It is a 5k, and the first mile is all downhill, half mile on the flat, then the turn around and a mile back up the hill. I've only ever had run down this hill, so now it's time to start turning around at the bottom and running back up it. Sounds like fun!
Catch ya'll later!
Hot town, Summer in the city,
Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty,
Been down, isn't it a pity,
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city.
All around, people lookin' half dead,
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head...
There... now you can have it stuck in your head, also! :-)
It hit 90 degrees here yesterday and today. What's with that? We usually don't get hot temperatures until mid-August. I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come this summer. Hot and dry always means massive forest fires, water shortages and the fear of my wells running dry. I'm not even going to think about it!
On the good side, I LOVE summer! I love wearing shorts, and once I start wearing them in the spring, I don't put on a pair of long pants again until sometime in late September. And while I don't seem to be bothered too much by the heat, 90 degrees is way too hot to be out cycling or running. So the one drawback to the summer heat is that it is going to take away my flexibility and spontaneity to be able to finish the chores of the day and go for a run or ride. Getting all my workouts in, which I never seem to quite accomplish anyway, will now take even more planning. Mornings look to be the premium opportunity for exercise. I know, no one else in this world gets to sleep in every day... time to join the crowd. (This is where I insert "Suck it up, Buttercup!") :-)
Speaking of "sucking it up", this is three weeks without my computer. Short version: Battery wouldn't charge. Service center replaced the Mother Board. (Part of the charger is on the Mother Board) Didn't fix the problem. Service Center figured out that the original battery was totally dead and the new battery we bought directly from Toshiba, was the wrong one. So the SC orders a battery. Works great. Get it home, computer won't even turn on. Back to SC. In goes another Mother Board. Works great. Go to pick it up, won't turn on. We ask for them to put the original mother board back in, since it worked fine when we brought the computer in to them, and the problem was really just a bad battery. Original mother board had already been shipped back to Toshiba. So, third new mother board is going in it today. Each time they do this, the cost is $750 (covered by warranty) So far they have put $2350 into a computer that cost us something like $250 after rebates. At this point, I wish they would just give me a new one, since I have a feeling that even if they get it running, it will be problematic forever!
Update: SC claims my add on memory card is causing the new mother boards to short out. (Although it has worked fine for 8 months.) They removed the extra memory and claim everything works fine. Uhhh, ya right.
Also on the TU list is my40 gb Ipod. The little hard drive is starting to rebel over all the drops and running jars. It freezes up at least once on every run, which requires it to be rebooted. Urs is getting me a new Nano today. (She's such a dear!) Not only will it be much lighter to run with, but the little flash drive in it should be quite a bit more resilient to shocks.
Workout log for the day: I'm going to be doing a little triathlon in a couple of weeks based at the University up the road. (How can I not do this? It's right in my back yard!) Kind of cool, the bike course goes right by my property, so my 85 year old Aunt will be able to see me whiz past. (Although, she sees me ride all the time, so I guess it's not that big of a deal) Anyway, I got the directions for the bike and run course today. It cooled down somewhat after dinner, so I went out and hammered the short 10 mile bike course.
Besides one short, but steep hill near the start/finish, the course is flat and fast! Most of it has about a 1% grade, and I hoping to make good use of my gears and take advantage of these really minor grades to pick up speed. My top speed tonight was 22mph with my average speed being 17.4, average cadence 81. Going up the grade I dropped down around 16mph. Gotta work on that!
That reminds me... here is another triathlon tip. Always inspect the run and bike course before the race. It's optimum if you can actually train a little on it, so you know exactly what to expect. I was thinking about that tonight as I was riding and noticed the start of a little grade. "Here I can mash the gears a little bit and really pick up some speed." I'll be ready to do that come race day.
Tomorrow after I swim, I'm going to run the run course. It is a 5k, and the first mile is all downhill, half mile on the flat, then the turn around and a mile back up the hill. I've only ever had run down this hill, so now it's time to start turning around at the bottom and running back up it. Sounds like fun!
Catch ya'll later!
posted by Barb at 10:53 AM
4 Comments:
Computer woes are the WORST!! Hope it gets worked out soon.
When you get your nano, you MUST get an Otter Box for it...I got one for my mini and although it's a little bit bigger and bulkier than the mini alone, I can run in the rain with it and drop it and I don't have to worry. It's WELL worth the investment...
http://www.otterbox.com/products/ipod_cases/ipod_nano_case/
And one other thing...although I am a believer that it's a good thing to check out the bike/run course prior to the race, don't let it make you complacent... read my post about my bike crash last summer during my "A" race here:
http://twothirdstheventure.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-do-you-expect.html
And train some in the heat!! you never know what conditions will be like on race day and you'll need to be ready!!!
Barb, the memory could totally mess up the laptop, believe it or not. I'd say its plausible. (as someone who builds and repairs the annoying little buggers). you could also replace the harddrive of the old iPod and turn around and sell it. Its pretty easy. I need to do that to mine. The hardest part is just getting the case open. Once thats all set, its easy. Just so you know.
and as for the suck it up buttercup... yeah. i sang a version of suck it up buttercup to buttercup last night. you got it in my head. but the 90 degree weather this soon just sounds painful. keep cool and stay hydrated!
Spence, you're right about needing to train in the heat. I thought my run this morning was on the warm side... it was only 71 degrees!
Got the computer back today. Seems to work ok. Now I have a reason for not getting any work done! (Besides it's too hot or too cold!)
Hey JC, I didn't know you worked on these stupid machines. I'll send it to you next time! HaHa!
My ipod case shouldn't be too hard to open. Already had it there after flying off the back of the treadmill for the 8th time! It still works, but I just didn't want to rely on it. It's got my whole library on it, so it's nice to take on vacation, etc.
by the way... it is 95degrees right now. Ouch!
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