Memorial Day Weekend

As noted in my last post, I got a little sunburned on Saturday's 10-miler. But I was glad I went out, because it rained off and on much of Sunday. I managed to dodge the drops, but my friend's BBQ ended up an indoor affair. It was kind of strange and I only stayed about three hours, but it was nice enough.

I rested Sunday; my legs weren't sore, but my joints are beginning to feel the addition of these miles. Monday, while everyone else was out barbecuing again (and the weather was much improved), I did a short 1.25 miles up to the gym, then lifted weights. As you can imagine, it was VERY crowded at the gym, requiring a lot of cooperation and good timing to use the machines I was after. I foam rolled, stretched, lifted, did chin-ups, pushups, & crunches. I didn't quite complete two circuits of the Express Line - I was getting very tired and hungry. The Express Line is great - targeting the major muscle groups, but it does skip over some muscle groups I consider important for a balanced workout. Finding those machines (or using free weights) is not a problem. On the free weights floor were some guys who obviously work out a LOT - quite intimidating. But I guess I'm working as hard as they.

This morning, I did my along-the-cemetery route I've been doing lately, but extended it a bit more for a full two miles, with the entire second half continuous, no walking. This is good. I'm pleased with the way I've been keeping up with the workouts, whether short or long, and balancing all that. Sure, it helps that I have TIME to do that right now, but what I'm also doing is building a base: this base is what my marathon training will rest upon and going into full marathon training with a good base is something I have previously lacked. It should make a difference. It is also a mental base, something the books don't talk about much, but is important. The more consistently you work out, the easier it is to get out there, especially for people like me, for whom the first two or three miles just consistently suck.

Finally, an obituary. My trusted friend and companion of the last 21 months, my 1st generation iPhone, is dead. He passed away this morning of massive circuit board failure after a brief, but debilitating, period of decline. Attempts to revive him resulted in only sporadic screen flashes, but no brain activity. A memorial service will be held in which I'll extract his SIM card, then chuck him into the East River, or perhaps send his corpse back to Apple in a flaming bag of poop. He is survived by his much tougher older brother, my 3rd generation Nano, and by his younger sister, my MacBook Pro.

I'm working on a replacement. I'm NOT paying $199 under the Out-of-warranty program for a new phone, especially since I can get a new 3G for that. (Apple says corrosion is the problem and that's not covered under AppleCare.) So I'm looking for someone who can sell me a 1st gen iPhone for cheap, as a scratch-n-dent, or perhaps get an ultra-cheapo from AT&T to tide me over 'til late July, when the 3rd generation of iPhones should be released.
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Update:

I got an el cheapo phone at Radio Shack, one of those pre-pay dealies, only I don't have to pre-pay, since I could just put my old SIM card in the new phone. I will call AT&T to turn off the data plan, though. $20 isn't bad for a tide-me-over phone.

I may be switching gyms again. As in instructor at FIT, I can use their gym, which admittedly isn't near as nice as NYSC gyms are, but I'll be saving a boatload on gym fees. I'll have to try it out a couple of times first. I'm not sure how this will work in with my schedule - it means adding a 45-minute commute each way to go to the gym - tho once fall hits, I can just work out before my class. I need to go back there and really check it out, including shower facilities, which I didn't look at today.

Saturday 10 miler

I woke up and immediately wondered if I could put off the run until tomorrow. My phone was out of juice and needed a couple hours charge and by that time, it'd be getting warm...

But weather.com said the temperature would remain in the low 70s today and tomorrow is expected to be rain rain rain. So after a couple hours of slowly getting ready, I headed out at noon. I finally crossed the "long run" line, prepping by taking Tylenol and Endurolyte, and having a cup of the magic tea.

At no time during this run did I feel great, but it wasn't too bad. Lots of walking, but I knew it would be like that. It was fairly warm out, with nice breezes, and I ran shirtless. I brought a bottle of Sustained Energy and was listening to Pheddipidations on my iPhone. The run took about two hours total, as I figured it might, so I'm not disappointed about that. I ran up to the park, did a normal loop (counter-clockwise), reaching the Tree of Turning, and retraced my steps.

While I enjoy following other runners in the park - particularly the MILFy ones with the jog-strollers - I more enjoy running against the normal flow, so I can see everybody. More entertaining that way. And boy did I need entertainment! My iPhone - my trusty, constant companion, died the death mid-way through mile 4. I hadn't even heard the whole Pheddipidations episode! Nothing I could do would get it to work.

I was glad to wrap up the run - I was exhausted. I spent a lot of time outside stretching carefully, then headed in. I plopped the iphone in the charging cradle and drew an icebath. Now...I had forgotten what a shock getting into that ice water can be! This was far worse than anything during the run. I couldn't stand it for more than three minutes, but at least I did it. I got out, popped an Advil, then took a regular shower, which just felt great. A nap was next.

By the time I got up, my iPhone was going through constant power-up and reboot cycles. iTunes no longer sees the phone. While I did get it to calm down and stop constantly rebooting, I have to leave it sleeping. I can use if for short periods of time, but then the "this accessory is not built for iPhone; would you like to turn on Airplane mode?" message comes up and a few seconds later the phone reboots. So, it's off to Apple SoHo tomorrow to get it fixed. Hopefully they'll just replace it; it's still within the AppleCare extended warranty.

Tomorrow: rain and REST. I excercised in one way or another every single day this last week. Yay for me, but tomorrow is a day off. I have other tasks to attend to anyway, and then a dinner party in the evening - hopefully the rain will be gone by then.

Tonight: sushi!

Also: sunburned.

long, miserable day

This should have been a great day; a real out-of-the-park homer. Had a doctor's appointment, a run, and a refinance closing on the calendar. And while those things happened, it was not as I expected.

The doctor kept me waiting for half an hour. As usual, I saw him for two minutes. He wants me to see an ophthalmologist because of the diabetes; something my DIABETES DOCTOR has not yet mentioned. Then his nurse took blood, fine. He's checking for ureic acid levels and A1HC for the diabetes.

The nutritionist at Naomi Berrie once again emailed saying I should be on bolus insulin; but as yet I've received no instructions about GETTING ANY. No prescription, no communication from the diabetes doctor, nothing.

The run in Central Park was not a good one. Though I had plenty of energy and my legs felt good, I didn't get there until 1 and so it was pretty warm. Far warmer than I'd planned for. I ran shirtless, but didn't have any water - so I was walking a lot and a drinking from every fountain I could find. No more than 2.5 miles and it took 40 minutes. I thought I was doing OK, until I noticed I was passed for the third time by a woman WALKING.

After that I tried to rush downtown for the closing, but traffic and subways weren't having any of that! Oh, no. Doesn't matter that I was late, anyway, since the closer was, too. The closing took two and a half hours. My first closing only took 45 minutes or so - why should a refinancing take this long? There were errors that had to be corrected; the lawyer was dealing with THREE closings at once, the closer was a very slow-working man who seemed puzzled even by his calculator. And I'm sitting there, having signed everything I needed to sign in the first twenty minutes - and I notice that none of this is computerized. Sure, a lot of documents get transmitted via email, but that's it. What happened to the great shining future? We're still shuttling around 8.5 x 11 and 8.5 x 14 pieces of paper! AND when filing, the fees aren't calculated per document, but PER PAGE. *headdesk*

The upshot is that my refi cost me about eight grand, but I'm saving more than 1.5 points. I'll be saving about $500 per month in the long run over what I paid before, so it'll take 16 months to recap the refi costs. On the other hand, there's at leats a grand in fees that Wells Fargo simply waived. And I so appreciate that, especially from a company who, six months ago, wasn't letting hardly ANYBODY refinance. Wells Fargo is good people, as much as any bank can be said to be good people.

You'd think I'd be happy and relieved and feeling great, but I'm not. I'm miserable and tense.

Finally, I had my cable turned off yesterday. Can't really afford it right now and the shows I was watching, I can get all of them on Hulu.com the next day.

Beautiful day today. A little warm even. Tomorrow will head out earlier; try for five miles in the park. Went 2.5 today to Bagel Boy. Too much stopping for traffic, but the bagel was great.

Quick 1.5 today. Hard to get going; felt ok in the middle. Pain way down today. Coughing up less than this weekend, too. Longer workout tomorrow plus weights.