The new mp3 player is here!

Since we started running again, I have been using Mike’s old iPod, and it has served me well enough.  Unfortunately, I don’t have pockets in any of my running clothes, and the arm-band iPod holder thingy is uncomfortable.  That has left me holding the iPod in my hand throughout the entire run.  We’ve been considering picking up a couple of Shuffles, but cash is tight, plus the lack of a screen is a big detractor for me.  Enter woot.com and their random daily deals on all sorts of gizmos.  A couple of weeks ago they had a special on 2 gig Sansa Clips.  The price ($15) was right, the hands-free clip was tight, and the built in screen was plenty bright, allowing me to scroll through songs while running at night. (Sorry…I was on a roll, and it went a little too far.)

Order placed.  Item received.  Battery charged.  Now, for the music.

I keep trying to add new music to the playlist I listen to while running, but I pretty much fall back on the songs that I put on my first running mix.  There’s something comforting about the drumsticks setting my pace at the beginning of Vertigo, and I can always count on Because We Can to carry me through the last stretch of an otherwise impossible run.  I remember the first time I did the Couch to 5K program, I scoured the internet for other people’s playlists, so I might as well toss mine out there for anyone else looking for suggestions.  Here you go, in no particular order:

• Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal
• CAKE – The Distance
• CAKE – I Will Survive
• CAKE – Sheep Go To Heaven
• Jane’s Addiction – Stop
• New Order – Blue Monday
• Ben Folds – Zak And Sara
• Ben Folds Five – Army
• Ben Folds Five – One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces
• Ben Kweller – Penny on the Train Track
• U2 – Vertigo
• Will Smith – Switch
• Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
• Beck – The Information
• Presidents of the United States of America – Kitty
• Black Eyed Peas – Let’s Get It Started
• Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend
• No Doubt – Spiderwebs
• Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night
• War – Low Rider
• LEN – Steal My Sunshine
• The Ohio Players – Love Rollercoaster
• RENT Soundtrack – What You Own
• Team America Soundtrack – Montage
• Fatboy Slim – Because We Can

There are a bunch of songs on that playlist that I would listen to in my free time, but there are a few that are “running only” tracks.  I’m not even sure how they wound up in the mix, but when it comes to keeping my feet moving, they do the trick.

I’m always willing to give a new song a test run, so feel free to share your playlist suggestions.

Six Years of Writing Utensils

Today I’ve been clearing out some of my personal belongings from the print shop, making way for the new typesetter.  I guess I’ve always been a bit of a pen hoarder, but until today I never bothered to quantify it.  Here are the contents of my pen caddy:

• 16 standard pencils (including 1 red and 1 blue)
• 9 mechanical pencils
• 2 permanent markers
• 16 felt tip markers (5 black + many other assorted colors)
• 6 highlighters (4 erasable)
• 17 pens (only on black, ranging in color from standard blue to fluorescent with glitter)

66 writing utensils after 6 years. (67, if  you count the Tide To Go stain erasing pen, which might do for written communication in a pinch.)  Also, 8 different tubes of lip-balm, a bamboo flute, a cat’s-eye marble, a bead shaped like a football, $1.87 in loose change, an enough case screws to secure three and a half computer towers.

I’m gonna miss this place.

Not exactly a marathon

It’s running night again tonight.  Running, only in the sense that both of my feet are off the ground at the same time, I’m moving forward, and I run out of breath way sooner than when I’m just walking fast.  I’m working on the Couch to 5K again, and am in week 6.  I finished the program once, but stopped running after my mom died.  I tried picking it up again after I got married, but my lack of motivation, coupled with my excess of ankle injuries got the best of me.

Now I’m back at it, and as slooooow as ever.  My running speed is a lot closer to most people’s walking speeds, but at my size (the “not 100s” side of 200 lbs.) it’s nothing of which to be ashamed.  I figure I’ll be ready to run a 5K sometime in August, as long as it’s a big race with lots of casual participants.   Now that a lot of the races are timed by computer, I can look at last year’s results for any given race and decide if I can run it without being dead last by about 20 minutes.

Mike (my husband) has been doing the C25K right along with me, and has really made a ton of progress.  He’s running a perfectly respectable 10.5 minute mile, and seems really motivated to keep going.  As jealous as I am of his ability to run faster, I’m quite proud of how far he has come.

For anyone interested in running, I can’t recommend the Couch to 5K program enough.  Of course you should talk to your doctor first, but once you have the greenlight, there really isn’t anything else out there to ease you into running with as little pain or frustration.  If the week to week progress isn’t enough to keep you motivated, then the forums at coolrunning.com will fill in any gaps in your willpower.  Poke around the internet a bit, and you’ll find everything from podcasts to running logs designed with the C25K runner in mind.

I doubt I’ll ever run a marathon, but I still get a kick out of the skeptical looks I get when I tell someone I run.  It’s nice to do something that exceeds everyone’s expectations.  It’s better when it’s something that’s good for you.  It’s even sweeter when it’s something you enjoy doing.