Well, my Mac quit again... but then it came back! Then it quit again... but that last time it did not come back. I let it sit and let it sit. Nothing. Bummed.
Made an appointment at my local Apple store, took it in, told the nice young man my sad story.
He said the water probably finally got to it. And since the warranty does not cover damage from spilling liquid on your computer, it would cost me $1,240 to get it repaired. But... he said... they were going to waive the repair fee. They would repair it at no cost!
This was this past Sunday, December 26, at 5 pm. He said he would send it in and have it shipped back to my home within seven days.. no cost to me!
Wednesday, December 29, I got a package. It was my Mac! All fixed up and ready to go!
Amazing! Apple is the best!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Runner's World, December 2010 Issue
Look on p. 40 of the December 2010 issue of Runner's World... that's me! Just a little blurb, but hey..
Look on p.61... the whole page! Steven is the guy I got my huaraches from.
Pretty neat!
Look on p.61... the whole page! Steven is the guy I got my huaraches from.
Pretty neat!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Two Tales of "Survival, Resiliance, and Redemption"
Over the weekend I started reading a fascinating book - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resiliance, and Redemption, written by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit.
It follows the life of Louie Zamperini who, it was said, should have been the first to break the four minute mile. Zamperini started out his childhood in California as a juvenile delinquent, but found that he had distance running talent and eventually became an unbeatable high school miler. Circumstances were such that, though he had virtually no training for the event he raced the 5000-meter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He set his goals on breaking the four-minute-mile barrier and running the 1600-meter at the 1940 Olympics, but war broke out (WWII), Louie was drafted and became an AAF bombardier stationed in the South Pacific. Crashing into the Pacific, 47 days lost at sea on a small life raft, captured by the Japanese and tortured in a POW camp... (that's where I am now) ...a truly incredible story of "survival, resiliance, and redemption."
Louie Zamperini:
Another story of "survival, resiliance, and redemption," this past weekend John and I saw the move, 127 Hours, the story of adventurer Aron Ralston. In 2003, Ralston went out alone for a weekend of outdoor fun in the Utah canyons, telling no one where he was going. A freak fall left him with his arm pinned against a canyon wall by a boulder. The movie goes through the next 127 hours (how long Aron was pinned to the wall in the canyon) with Aron (played by James Franco), trying to get his arm out, move the boulder, chipping away at it with his cheap pocket knife... his emotions, thoughts... until he eventually cuts his arm off below the elbow with the dull pocket knife in order to save his life.
Here is an interview with Aron Ralston:
And another:
You must read this book and you must see this movie!!
It follows the life of Louie Zamperini who, it was said, should have been the first to break the four minute mile. Zamperini started out his childhood in California as a juvenile delinquent, but found that he had distance running talent and eventually became an unbeatable high school miler. Circumstances were such that, though he had virtually no training for the event he raced the 5000-meter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He set his goals on breaking the four-minute-mile barrier and running the 1600-meter at the 1940 Olympics, but war broke out (WWII), Louie was drafted and became an AAF bombardier stationed in the South Pacific. Crashing into the Pacific, 47 days lost at sea on a small life raft, captured by the Japanese and tortured in a POW camp... (that's where I am now) ...a truly incredible story of "survival, resiliance, and redemption."
Louie Zamperini:
Another story of "survival, resiliance, and redemption," this past weekend John and I saw the move, 127 Hours, the story of adventurer Aron Ralston. In 2003, Ralston went out alone for a weekend of outdoor fun in the Utah canyons, telling no one where he was going. A freak fall left him with his arm pinned against a canyon wall by a boulder. The movie goes through the next 127 hours (how long Aron was pinned to the wall in the canyon) with Aron (played by James Franco), trying to get his arm out, move the boulder, chipping away at it with his cheap pocket knife... his emotions, thoughts... until he eventually cuts his arm off below the elbow with the dull pocket knife in order to save his life.
Here is an interview with Aron Ralston:
And another:
You must read this book and you must see this movie!!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Interesting Study Shows How Body Changes With Endurance Running
I like to read the online Science Daily. A couple days ago they reported a study done by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) to determine changes in body composition (whole body volume, body fat, visceral fat, and muscle volume) during an ultra-distance transcontinental footrace (Science Daily article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101129101910.htm; RSNA paper here: http://rsna2010.rsna.org/program/event_display.cfm?em_id=9014632 ).
The research team followed ultrarunners in the TransEurope-FootRace in 2009, which started in southern Italy and traveled north approximately 4,488 kilometers (about 2,789 miles) ending in Norway at the North Cape, over 64 days, running 60-90 km per stage. Forty-four runners participated in the study (66% of the total number of entrants). Daily urine and blood samples were taken, and ECG's and other tests were administered over the course of the race. Using a mobile MRI unit, the researchers took full-body MRI's of twenty-two of the runners every three or four days.
Results: During the race the runners lost an average of 5.4% of body volume, most of which happened in the first 2000 km. 40% of body fat was lost during that first 2000 km, with 50% lost by the end of the race. Muscle volume loss averaged 7%.
A significant finding for the regular runner is that the greatest amount of both visceral fat loss (the kind of fat found deep in the body around organs as opposed to subcutaneous fat underneath the skin) and overall fat loss happened much sooner in the running process than was thought before. And one of the more interesting conclusions they came to was that running through some types of leg injury is safe. They say that, "if a runner has intermuscular inflammation in the upper or lower legs, it is usually possible to continue running without risk of further tissue damage. Other overuse injuries, such as joint inflammation, carry more risk of progression, but not always with persistent damage."
This provides support for running on tired, sore legs. According to Matt Fitzgerald (can't remember offhand which book of his I read this in, but I'll look for it), a short easy run within twelve hours of a hard workout helps in muscle recovery. Most elite runners will do a morning hard speed session and an easy afternoon run. When Jane and I were in marathon training mode, we would do our hard speed workout at 5:30 on Tuesday mornings with a total of around twelve miles, work all day, then meet up again for a short easy run that evening after work. I try to have my runners do a very easy-paced recovery run the day after a hard or long run, if they feel like it, if not the evening of the workout.
The research team followed ultrarunners in the TransEurope-FootRace in 2009, which started in southern Italy and traveled north approximately 4,488 kilometers (about 2,789 miles) ending in Norway at the North Cape, over 64 days, running 60-90 km per stage. Forty-four runners participated in the study (66% of the total number of entrants). Daily urine and blood samples were taken, and ECG's and other tests were administered over the course of the race. Using a mobile MRI unit, the researchers took full-body MRI's of twenty-two of the runners every three or four days.
Results: During the race the runners lost an average of 5.4% of body volume, most of which happened in the first 2000 km. 40% of body fat was lost during that first 2000 km, with 50% lost by the end of the race. Muscle volume loss averaged 7%.A significant finding for the regular runner is that the greatest amount of both visceral fat loss (the kind of fat found deep in the body around organs as opposed to subcutaneous fat underneath the skin) and overall fat loss happened much sooner in the running process than was thought before. And one of the more interesting conclusions they came to was that running through some types of leg injury is safe. They say that, "if a runner has intermuscular inflammation in the upper or lower legs, it is usually possible to continue running without risk of further tissue damage. Other overuse injuries, such as joint inflammation, carry more risk of progression, but not always with persistent damage."
This provides support for running on tired, sore legs. According to Matt Fitzgerald (can't remember offhand which book of his I read this in, but I'll look for it), a short easy run within twelve hours of a hard workout helps in muscle recovery. Most elite runners will do a morning hard speed session and an easy afternoon run. When Jane and I were in marathon training mode, we would do our hard speed workout at 5:30 on Tuesday mornings with a total of around twelve miles, work all day, then meet up again for a short easy run that evening after work. I try to have my runners do a very easy-paced recovery run the day after a hard or long run, if they feel like it, if not the evening of the workout.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
My Mac
I cannot believe what I did.. I knocked a glass of water over onto my Mac laptop. Zst, and it went blank. I cried out in anguish. I could not, could not, believe I did that!
That was two weeks ago.
After the initial shock of what I had just done, I called the Apple store. They said, "Let it sit for five days then bring it in." I guess they had heard this before; I guess I wasn't the only one stupid enough to put a glass of water next to my Mac.
The next day, I got on a plane to Wisconsin for the weekend, then on Monday on another plane to L.A. to visit my daughter, her hubby, and my three-month-old grandson.
So my Mac sat for almost two weeks.
A few hours after returning to SoFL I was at the Apple store with my Mac. We turned it on and...
it worked!!
Could not believe it!
Jeff, the kid helping me, took it in the back and opened it up--no corrosion. He ran some tests on it--seemed okay!
Boy, did I luck out!
That was two weeks ago.
After the initial shock of what I had just done, I called the Apple store. They said, "Let it sit for five days then bring it in." I guess they had heard this before; I guess I wasn't the only one stupid enough to put a glass of water next to my Mac.
The next day, I got on a plane to Wisconsin for the weekend, then on Monday on another plane to L.A. to visit my daughter, her hubby, and my three-month-old grandson.
So my Mac sat for almost two weeks.
A few hours after returning to SoFL I was at the Apple store with my Mac. We turned it on and...
it worked!!
Could not believe it!
Jeff, the kid helping me, took it in the back and opened it up--no corrosion. He ran some tests on it--seemed okay!
Boy, did I luck out!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
New York City Marathon - Have Fun, Runners!
To all who are running New York tomorrow - HAVE A GREAT TIME!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
I Knew It! Running in SoFL Has Its Benefits
Reading health fitness articles yesterday, I came across an article in the online Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101025161144.htm) describing a study showing that exercising in the heat could improve athletic performance, not just in hot weather, but also in cooler conditions.
I found the abstract at the online Journal of Applied Physiology. Researchers at the Dept of Human Physiology, University of Oregon; and the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine studied the effects of heat acclimation on cyclists' performances in both hot and cool environments. Twelve trained cyclists performed VO2max, lactate threshold, and time-trials in cool (55 degrees F) and hot (100 degrees F!) (both 30% humidity), before and after a 10-day heat acclimation program (exercising at approx. 50% of VO2max in 100 degrees F). Eight control cyclists performed the same tests before and after 10 days of the same exercise in cool conditions (55 degrees F).
Result for the heat-acclimated cyclists:
VO2max increased by 5% in cool environment, and by 8% in hot environment.
Time-trial performance increased by 6% in cool environment, and by 8% in hot environment.
Power output at lactate threshold increased by 5% in cool environment, and by 5% in hot environment.
The control cyclists had no changes in VO2max, time-trial performance, lactate threshold, or any other physiological measure.
The Science Daily article reports how heat acclimation "improves the body's ability ot control body temperature, improves sweating and increases blood flow through the skin, and expands blood volume allowing the heart to pump more blood to muscles, organs and the skin as needed." It brings up how presently many competitive athletes use high altitude training to improve performance, and that according to one of the researchers, Santiago Lorenzo, "heat acclimation is more practical, easier to apply and may yield more robust physiological adaptations."
Cool! Does that mean we will be seeing more elite endurance athletes training here in South Florida?
I found the abstract at the online Journal of Applied Physiology. Researchers at the Dept of Human Physiology, University of Oregon; and the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine studied the effects of heat acclimation on cyclists' performances in both hot and cool environments. Twelve trained cyclists performed VO2max, lactate threshold, and time-trials in cool (55 degrees F) and hot (100 degrees F!) (both 30% humidity), before and after a 10-day heat acclimation program (exercising at approx. 50% of VO2max in 100 degrees F). Eight control cyclists performed the same tests before and after 10 days of the same exercise in cool conditions (55 degrees F).
Result for the heat-acclimated cyclists:VO2max increased by 5% in cool environment, and by 8% in hot environment.
Time-trial performance increased by 6% in cool environment, and by 8% in hot environment.
Power output at lactate threshold increased by 5% in cool environment, and by 5% in hot environment.
The control cyclists had no changes in VO2max, time-trial performance, lactate threshold, or any other physiological measure.
The Science Daily article reports how heat acclimation "improves the body's ability ot control body temperature, improves sweating and increases blood flow through the skin, and expands blood volume allowing the heart to pump more blood to muscles, organs and the skin as needed." It brings up how presently many competitive athletes use high altitude training to improve performance, and that according to one of the researchers, Santiago Lorenzo, "heat acclimation is more practical, easier to apply and may yield more robust physiological adaptations."
Cool! Does that mean we will be seeing more elite endurance athletes training here in South Florida?
Monday, October 18, 2010
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