Makes And Misses

Sunday is my 22-mile run. I've been trying not to think too much about it, but when I do I can feel my legs get all tense and I can feel the butterflies in my stomach.

Our pace leader told us last week to consider this as a dress rehearsal for the marathon, which includes some of the carbo-loading and midweek stuff. Well, I haven't laid off the running entirely this week but I'm trying to follow a carb-filled diet.

But I am taking the "dress rehearsal" part to heart. I am going to dress like I am going to at Surf City. That way, I can feel if the clothes I wear are proper or not, if they work for me or not. So, some things have made the cut for this weekend and others didn't. The ones that made the cut for Sunday's 22-miler may or may not reappear at Surf City. I'm testing things out after all.

Made the Cut:

my fabulous BlackBerry Bold in my running thing, whatever it's called

Doesn't my phone look so great in there? The only thing is the headset connects from the side so I have to kind of put it in there a bit off, but trust me that's nothing. I've ran with my phone twice already and it works great. I do have to figure some things out though because it kept pausing on me, well, like three times in about 40 minutes, but that's minor stuff that I'll figure out. The headset/hands-free kit is another issue. The things wouldn't stay in quite snug enough and the last thing I want to do at Surf City is hold an earpiece to my ear for 26 miles. That is up in the air.

Missed the Cut:

my old trusty iPod, beat up but still working

Perhaps as a reminder that it was not the best thing to take to Surf City, the iPod crapped out during the end of Wednesday's run. Well, not entirely crapped out but I could only hear out of ear for the last song. Not good.

Made the Cut:

light-as-air running shorts I got for Christmas

These are my No. 1 running shorts. The only issue, and this is a small issue in the overall scheme of things, is that they have no pockets. For Surf City, I'm planning on taking at least five packets of Gu with me, and I'm not sure if I can cram them all in my fuel belt pocket. I shall try that before Sunday's run. But I'm probably going to pin one or two of the packets on the belt and have three in the pocket.

By the way, you like my Dodgers blanket, don't you?

Missed the Cut:

great pair of shorts, very light as well

I'd like to wear these or another similar pair if my No. 1 pair doesn't work well for me on Sunday. I like the pockets on these as you can't really feel what's in the pockets when you run.

Made the Cut:

blood, sweat and tears have poured on this

Notice the stains by the word "Riverside" and the 2009? That, my friends, is blood. From my nipple. I will actually tape them up before Sunday's run, so I won't be adding any more fresh blood to this shirt. I actually haven't worn this shirt a lot lately. I wore it for every run through December or so, plus during the Mission Inn 10K and the Holiday Classic 15K. But that's the last time I wore it. I decided that I want to wear it for Surf City, so I'm going to wear it on Sunday.

Missed the Cut:

black Nike dri-fit shirt, veteran of the Mud Run and Ragnar Relay

This is probably my favorite running shirt and probably what I would wear for a race if I wasn't set on wearing pink.

Made the Cut:

warm gloves that stay dry as well

It's going to be cold on Sunday morning, probably in the high 40s if the previous weeks' temperatures repeat on Sunday. Surf City will also be cold at the start, so I need gloves. Well, right now I think I need gloves. We'll see if I change my mind because I'd just as soon not wear them, but for now the gloves stay.

Now, what's up with the gloves? Shouldn't I try and match the gloves with my shirt?

Missed the Cut:

Yvie's gloves, hearts galore

No.

Phoning It In

I inadvertently put Mrs. LB through a lot of anguish recently. I didn't mean to do it, but she struggled because of me.

See, she knew I needed a new phone and she knew I'd kinda been wanting an iPhone. But she also knew that I have enjoyed both of the BlackBerrys I've had. So when she decided to get me a phone for Christmas, it came down to the iPhone or a new BlackBerry. And she couldn't decide.

I'm actually glad I didn't have to decide because I'm not sure what I would have chosen. On the one hand, the iPhone sounds cool because it has so many gadgets and can do so much. But I've had great success with the BlackBerry so there really was no reason to change.

Ultimately Mrs. LB went with the BlackBerry Bold, and the more I figure out how it works, the more I love it.

Now, I realize some of these things may not be so new, but the last time I went phone shopping was 2007, and we all know how fast technology changes. Like my old phone, this new phone has a music feature so I can store songs on there. I never actually got a memory card for my old phone but this one came with one so I have two gigs of space on there. So I figured I'd play around with the music feature, and I was able to upload songs on there and listen to them. The sound quality is amazing - it sounds just as good as my iPod does.

Then I got to thinking. The phone is about the same size as the iPod, and I have one of those carrying cases that straps on my arm which I use when I run. So I tried my phone in there, and it fit perfectly. I made and uploaded a playlist and used it on Friday when I knocked out 6.5 miles. It worked great! Now, I used my regular headphones as they fit perfectly into the phone. I used them mostly because I'm comfortable with them and was unsure of the headphones that came with the phone.

But on Monday I played around with those headphones, and my love for my phone went higher. Not only do those headphones have a great sound quality, but they double as a hands-free kit. So basically I can be listening to music on the phone and when I get a call the music stops and all I need to do is push a button on the headset and I'm talking on the phone. When the call ends, the music resumes.

How awesome is that? Again, it might be old hat for some people but this is all new to me.

The best thing about that particular feature is that I can take my phone with me to Surf City, but not only will I take it but I'll be able to use it as a music player and not worry about it dying on me like my iPod has been known to do. Plus, I can recieve calls on it without having to take it out of my sleeve or pocket or fuel belt or wherever I'd planned on carrying my phone.

I hope I don't get random calls during the marathon, but I will have Mrs. LB call me while I'm on the course. Hopefully it's not too loud and hopefully she can hear me. Now, I don't plan on having lengthy conversations with her but it will be nice to be able to hear a voice on the other end, and possibly get some encouragement that way. Plus, it will be nice for her because she'll be able to tell exactly where I'm at.

Originally, I was worried about the iPod. For a while it's been acting up. Often times, the iPod will be so where I can only hear through one ear, and that's a pain. Also, as it did during the Cedar River Run, the iPod will just freeze and shut down for no good reason. It's so frustrating.

But now I don't have to worry about that, as I'll be taking my phone/music player on the race with me and it's going to work out great. The fact that it has a camera (3.2 megapixel) on it is simply icing on the cake.