Life of Riley

Twitter me this...Twitter me that...

About a month or so ago I caved and signed up for a Twitter account. I signed up, not for my own use, but purely for work. I didn't get Twitter and I honestly thought it was a bad thing. I still don't really get it and am not really sure that it is as good as everyone makes it out to be...but I am thinking that I might give it a try.

I am trying to figure out what to use my Twitter account for, though. I use this blog as a personal history to track the going-ons in my life and to record accomplishments and whatnot that I would like to remember. I use Facebook to communicate with friends and keep track of what is going on. I am thinking that Twitter may be a good way to track my workouts while I continue to train for Iron Man 70.3 next year.

I am just not sure how I feel about joining the Twitter masses and supporting the service. Ultimately I still disagree with the premise of Twitter...I feel as though it is contributing to the degradation of communication skills. I get the value behind it, but I don't think that there is enough emphasis on getting our kids to understand that they need to speak as well as tweet. Texting and tweeting and other communication is almost creating a new language that we all must learn. But that is for another time...

For now, the debate continues...what to do with this Twitter account?

Bored, Bored, and more Bored

I have my next race in less than one week and I find myself sitting here on my butt! I haven't exercised at all since Thursday and I don't know if I'll get more than a couple of miles in prior to the race on Saturday. Most things were or are my choice, but I am going a little crazy at this point. I am hoping that I will be able to slip my sneaks on in the morning and be able to get at least a few miles in before work. The new piece on my foot may hamper those plans a bit, though, as I am still a little swollen and running may not be as easy as I would like. The real trick will be getting through the race this weekend. I am not sure what I was thinking...wait, yes I do...Johnny is an amazing artist, he had an opening, I knew what I wanted, sold. Mind over matter all, mind over matter.

I am working on a few things right now. Some on hold, some waiting for other's input, and some just waiting until I feel like getting there. Life is good and I'm happy...truly happy!

DQ Triathlon at King's Grant

This morning I competed in the DQ Triathlon at King's Grant. The course was comprised of a 1/4 mile swim, a 10 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run.

This was my second race organized by DQ Events and I was not all that impressed for a second straight week. The morning started with a lovely drive in a downpour to the race site, which was only about 20 minutes from the hotel I chose to stay at. Once I arrived at the race site, I realized that there was not designated race parking and, as such, was directed to park on the side of the road...about 1/2 mile out from the transition area. When I finally got to packet pick up, I was told that although I had registered (and paid) for a size medium t-shirt there were only large and XL left. I was not happy about this since I like wearing my race tees and a large is just too big for me.

The race finally started in the pouring rain (almost on time this week) with a standing start in the lake. The water was shallow enough that we were able to stand in the water while the horn blew. The lake was so murky that you couldn't see an inch and a half in front of your own face. This made it very difficult as many folks ended up zig-zagging across the pack they were with. After the swim came the 10 mile bike, which was flat and as fast as it could be washed over with the rain. The bike course was set up as three loops of one designated course. I don't like this at all! Finally came the run...which started out well, but quickly became tricky as they never altered the route to take into account the torrential rain. The run route made a very brief pass through a neighborhood en route to an off-road trail. With all of the rain the off road trail became flooded and we ended up having to navigate huge puddles, when possible, or just simply running through them. I ended up finishing the race in a time of 1:10:20...which ranked me 96th. MY FIRST TOP 100 FINISH!!

I am looking forward to having the next two weekends off with no races, but am eagerly looking forward to Crystal Lake on the 29th and Lake George on September 19th.

New Netbook

After a long period of back and forth between do I or don't I, I finally decided to get myself a new computer. The last time I purchased a new computer was prior to starting my MBA program...back in 2004. When that one kicked the bucket back in October...literally 3 days after moving to NYC...I purchased a used ibook off of ebay.

Since starting the new job I have become a real Mac fan. I think that Macs are much more intuitive to use and seem to not have as many issues. So, needless to say, I was bummed when my ibook stopped booting up about a month and a half ago. Since then I have been on the prowl for something new...I just wasn't sure what to get.

At this point I really only use my home computer to browse the web, read the news, check email, and chat with friends. No real need to write papers or compose presentations anymore. There is no need to huge screens for web design anymore. So I wasn't sure which way to go...Mac, PC, desktop, laptop, netbook.

After debating everything and doing quite a bit of research I settled on the Asus Eee PC, which is Asus' baseline netbook. I bought it at BestBuy and paid just over $300 after taxes. I would say that setup took less than 20 minutes total. The thing is tiny...which is taking some getting used to for me and my fat fingers, but it is also very light...something like 2.5 lbs. The screen is small, but bright and crisp. I figure I can hook it to my TV when I want to watch Hulu or NetFlix...I just need to remember to pick up that cord one of these days. The speeds online are also pretty impressive.

I am a bit disappointed to be running a Windows OS again. Hopefully this time I don't encounter all of the crashes and whatnot that have always plagued me and my computers. I think that I'll give the Google OS a try once that is released next year. At this point that is my only complaint...hopefully it remains that way.

If you are looking to get a new computer, want something light and fast, and don't want to spend too much money I would certainly recommend the Eee PC...I'm glad that I did.

Triathlon/Duathlon for Autism - presented by Belmar, Lake Como & Spring Lake

 So I am just back from triathlon #3 Triathlon for Autism that took place in Belmar, NJ. The race was my first with an ocean swim and I have to say that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it may be. In fact, I think that it was a bit (just a bit) easier than a flat/calm/lake water swim. In any event, it was a 1/4 mile swim, an 11.5 mile bike ride, and then a 3.1 mile (5k) run. My goal was to finish within an hour twenty minutes...and I did...by 4 seconds! At least I didn't blow it by 4 seconds!! The race would have been a complete success if it wasn't for the two blisters that I developed on the insole of my right foot. I am hoping that they go away as quick as possible!!

Now I look forward to race #4...next weekend back down in Jersey...I think it's called the King's Grant and each leg is the same as this weekend's race. As long as the blisters go away I think it should be fun.