I felt what turned out to be an earthquake last night.  If I've ever felt any other earthquakes, I haven't noticed.  This one came during dinner.  It was basically just like heavy artillery going off in Fort Hood.  There was just one boom accompanied by a slight rattle.  We saw on the news that it was the second of two 3.0 earthquakes yesterday east of Santa Monica.  No reports of damage or injury.

Scheduled Distance: 8miles
Actual Distance: 8 miles
Time: 1:41:58
Gmaps Route (4 mile route twice)
RPE: 5

While some of my recent blog entries have been on the day after my scheduled runs, I've actually managed to do all the runs on the scheduled day.  This run followed the same pattern of all of them.  I ran the second half considerably faster than the first half.

Scheduled Distance: 3 miles
Actual Distance: 3 miles
Time: 34:35
Gmaps Route
RPE: 4

Good run for a Thursday.  I now take one Advil about a half-hour before I run, which helps me get through that first mile or two better.  Is that bad?

Scheduled Distance: 5 miles
Actual Distance: 5 miles
Time: 1:01:36
Gmaps Route
RPE: 4

Today's run went well.  The temp outside was pretty chilly.  It actually took me a half-mile just to warm myself.  I didn't hit a rhythm today until after 2 miles or so.  My 5th mile was actually my best.  I wish I could figure out how to get into a rhythm quicker.  Overall, I was pleased, but I've got to get up earlier to start this, since I need to be at my desk at 9:00 a.m.

Every now and then I hear somebody tell a story about their hard drive crashing, and I'm reminded of my own loss back in college.  While I'm probably glad that I lost the lame songs that I wrote back then, there are a lot of things that I would love to still have around.  All of this reminds me that I need to back up my files.  Important business files and personal photos would be a disaster to lose at this point.  I looked a little bit at online backup storage, but current broadband transfer speeds, plus the cost of online storage, makes that a bit impractical at this point.  Then I read this article from MSNBC this morning, and I discovered exactly the type of solution that I would like to have--a networked external hard drive system.  Here's links to three of the solutions that I found via the article.

Mirra Personal Server - http://www.mirra.com/buy/index.html
$399.99 for 160 GB
At first perusal, this one seems to offer the most in the way of software features.

NetGear Storage Central - http://www.netgear.com/products/details/SC101.php
~$110
The upside is that it's expandable.  The downside is that IDE hard drives are sold separately.

LaCie Ethernet Disk mini - http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10594
$229-$599 for 250GB, 300GB, 400GB, or 500GB

While the Mirra solution looks pretty cool, the sheer affordability of the LaCie solution will probably win out for me.  Does anyone have any experience with Mirra or LaCie worth sharing?

For those who haven't heard already, I started a new job today with a company called MRM Worldwide.  I am going to be a Senior Software Developer.  (I can't wait to haze the Freshman Software Developers.)  I'll be telecommuting exclusively until I bring my new car back from Texas in December.  After that, I'll still work most of the time from home.  Exciting times as I enter a new chapter in my career...

Scheduled Distance: 3 miles
Actual Distance: 3 miles
Time: 33:20
Gmaps Route
RPE: 5

My best time yet for the short run.  I ran it pretty hard, and my left ankle only bothered me a little bit.  I was really crunched for time today, but made sure to get my run in early.

Scheduled Distance: 7 miles
Actual Distance: 7 miles
Time: 1:37:58
Gmaps Route
RPE: 5

The first mile started off rough.  My right shin was hurting in a different way than either leg had hurt before.  Once I got past the first mile and a half or so and I stretched again, my legs stopped bothering me.  I started out doing the steepest climb of the run, so I wouldn't have to do that at the end.  Since it's my longest run to date, I paced myself just to finish.  I still had plenty left by the time I finished, so I definitely could have hit a faster pace.  The problem is that the pain from the first mile lingers in my mind, and I worry about pushing myself too fast.  Ah well, I made it.

Scheduled Distance: 3 miles
Actual Distance: 3 miles
Time: 41:24
Gmaps Route
RPE: 1

Today started out great.  After the first two miles, I was on pace to have my best 3 miles yet.  Then, both shins started slowing me down.  After another half mile, I was reduced to walking, and even that hurt.  I managed to get back into a jog for the last quarter mile or so, but it was rough.  Notice the RPE is just 1 though.  Every other part of me was rarin' to go, so I was pretty disappointed.  I'm going to speculate some more on this later.  Expect an update on this post.

Scheduled Distance: 4 miles
Actual Distance: 4 miles
Time: 48:36
Gmaps Route
RPE: 5

I thought that I started out pretty slowly, so I was surprised I finished the whole distance so quickly.  My legs hurt for the first 2 miles or so, but didn't bother me the rest of the time, and I turned it up a notch.

I shaved my face on Sunday.  Jamie got a few shots of the progression for your viewing pleasure.

   

Scheduled Distance: 3 miles
Actual Distance: 3 miles
Time: 35:19
Gmaps Route
RPE: 4

I ran without my headphones today.  My book suggests it, and my right arm and shoulder were tense after the 6-mile run on Saturday.  I don't think I'll do that again, because I need something to fill in the gaps between things that my thoughts wander off towards.  Otherwise, I think too much about breathing or hurting or sweating.  Instead, I just need to find a portable audio device that I can strap to my arm.

Scheduled Distance: 6 miles
Actual Distance: 6 miles
Time: 1:20:00
Gmaps Route (3 mile route doubled)
RPE: 5

I kept it pretty slow to make sure that I would finish, and I stopped to stretch out my calves a couple of times.  Fortunately, my legs didn't hurt as badly as they did on Wednesday and Thursday.  After the 3 mile mark, I was in a pretty good rhythm, and my legs were feeling great, so hopefully my stretching has paid off.  So, I ran a total of 16 miles this week, and tonight's run was the longest run I've ever done.  At least until next week...

Baylor beat Iowa State today 23-13 on the road!  Sic 'em, bears!

I think this is for real, but it's hard to believe:

http://www.chessboxing.com/

This is really just me testing out blogging from within flickr. After Jamie took a picture of me and Heath, he took one of me and Jamie and Jamie's hat.

UPDATE: This doesn't work for me, for that same reason I had trouble with aligned images along time ago.

The band was in town for a show at the LA Convention Center last weekend.  Jamie and I made our way down there in the early afternoon, and eventually found our way to the bus in the freight area.  We had a good time catching up on the bus, while the band enjoyed Jamie's butterscotch chip oatmeal cookies.  Wow, they're good.  They were only in town for a few hours, so there was no time for the usual trip to Trader Vic's, so Jamie and I picked up some of their bread and peanut butter and brought it back to the bus, where thankfully, they had a toaster.

Around 8:00 p.m., we headed inside for the concert.  The band was great, as per usual.  Dave busted out a keytar; I did not see that coming.  The audience was made up of predominantly of asians.  And why not?  Asians love David Crowder.  The security lining the front of the stage were a real comfort, as they were singing along, instead of keeping the crowd at bay.  If you get a chance to see the band perform, do it.  I enjoy the CD so much more when I've seen it performed in context.  And if you haven't bought the CD yet, don't wait.  They actually made it to #1 on ITunes the week the album came out.

After the show, the band was off to sign autographs for hours.  I spotted Robbie Seay, who had opened the show, and went over to introduce Jamie to him.  As we were talking to him, some young asian girls came over to get Robbie to sign something, so I backed away with Jamie while we talked with some other friends of Robbie's.  But then one of the young asian girls came over and asked if they could get a picture with me and Robbie.  Apparently, since I wasn't asian, I must have been on stage that night.  Before I could make things awkward by trying to explain that I wasn't in any of the bands, Robbie said "Sure he will", and put his arm around me to pose for the photo.  Robbie, you are one class act to your fans, my friend.

We only took a few pics that night, but here they are:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcoulter/sets/1090811/

This is a little belated, but I just got around to uploading the picture to Flickr.  Heath was in town for Microsoft's PDC a couple of weeks ago.  We got to have him over for dinner and catch up on each other's lives.  No visit, however, would be complete without a picture of the two of us and our favorite Ameriprise Financial commercial.  Great to see you, Heath!  (Clicking the image will take you to the Flickr image page.)

Scheduled Distance: 3 miles
Actual Distance: 3 miles
Time: 37:21
Gmaps Route
RPE: 6

Well, the pain came back at about the same point in today's run, which slowed me down.  I'm going to do a lot of stretching today and tomorrow before I attempt my six mile run.  It's frustrating, because it had gotten to the point of not hurting any more on Monday, and now I'm back to square one.

Thought those interested in up and coming stuff on the web might find this article interesting.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9598708/

UPDATE: Here's the link to Flock.  http://www.flock.com/home/

Scheduled Distance: 4 miles
Actual Distance: 4 miles
Time: 55:40
Gmaps Route
RPE: 8

Apart from covering the necessary distance, today's run was a bust.  After fifteen minutes, my legs were in some serious pain, and I slowed to a crawl.  I thought maybe I'd started out too fast or that Monday's run had been too aggressive.  Then, I realized that I had neglected to do a very important stretch before setting out.  I hadn't stretched out my calfs and shins (if you can stretch a shin).  It was really hot again today, which didn't help matters.  So, I stopped, drank a little water and stretched.  After that, I walked a bit and then got up to a jog, but about as slow a jog as you can get.  I was never able to get into a rhythm, though, and I expected that it would take me over an hour to complete the miles.  I was actually pleasantly surprised that my time wasn't much past last Wednesday's run.  Hopefully, tomorrow will go better though, because I'm going to stretch, and because I purchased a new running shirt today.

Scheduled Distance: 3 miles
Actual Distance: 3 miles
Time: 34:40
Gmaps Route
RPE: 4

Well, I ran late today, but not because of laziness or busyness or business, but because of illness.  I laid low today, doing minimal work, trying to get better.  I decided not to miss my run though, and I even ran pretty hard, as my time improved quite a bit.  I'm getting to the point now where I can envision keeping up my faster pace through the entire 3 miles.  As for my left ankle, it has been bothering me less and less, so I think the new shoes are doing the trick.

Scheduled Distance: 5 miles
Actual Distance: 5.2 miles
Time: 1:08:26
Gmaps Route
RPE: 4

It's hard for me to believe that I ran for more than an hour.  The temperature was mercifully back in the 70's and there was a heavy marine layer, so I occasionally felt like I was running through little pieces of mist.  Basically, perfect running weather.  TQ was in my legs for the first couple of miles, and then I settled in and just kept going.  The reason I ended up going past the 5 miles was because I couldn't remember how I had routed my last mile, so I ran another lap around our block just to make sure.  I was feeling so good still that I would have kicked myself if I had come in and checked and seen that I only ran 4.8.  I got back in time to watch the last minute of regulation for the Baylor game.