The Google Android goes for a run

Thanks to Google we have been given the opportunity to test out the Android powered Google G1 Smartphone. I’ll be taking the G1 with me on some of my training runs and will be using the application "My Tracks" to track my runs and upload the information to Google Maps. I took it out and tested it for the first time on our weekly team run in central park. Matt Seybert and Jenny Hamann joined me on the run.

The Android mapped our route while recording very useful information about our run including pace, elevation, and distance. More information about our run was uploaded and saved in Google Docs. With the built in camera I stopped and took a photo looking out over the reservoir. The blue pin on the map indicates where the photo was taken. In addition to using it on training runs we also hope to see how the Android powered phone can benefit the projects we work on. I'd like to thank Karin Tuxen at Google for giving us the opportunity to test out the Anroid powered phone.



View The Resevoir Run in a larger map

If you would like to hear more about the capabilities of "My Tracks" click on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBmjJrgUGdE

New York, a small city?

Well Not exactly. Not in terms of the people that live or the density and the scale of the buildings that tower above the city streets. But from a runners point of view. A runner training for a marathon and needs to plan out a 20 mile training run. So what does a 20 run look in Manhattan. The loop in red is what I call the double out in back. I leave my apartment at the South St. Seaport head north to 34th along the east river and then back down around battery park and then up the Hudson and turn around at 72nd. I try to avoid out in backs when possible but sometimes they are most convenient. Also the run is along the water the entire time so there is a nice freshness in the air compared to the interior of the city. The route in blue is also a 20 mile run but a loop. I have never attempted this route before but will check it out for my next long run.

I completed the red route this past Sunday and decided to throw in an extra mile at the end to test my limits to make it 21. Felt good. Well good for someone that just ran 21 miles.

bfield

Predicament

I’m in Las Vegas, NV for one of my best bud’s bachelor party(Louie Northern). It falls right in line with a 20-mile training run, the longest run yet. I decide to take it easy the night before and go for it.

Friday, September 14th, 10:00am. The sun was screaming through a sliver in the hotel room curtain. Groggy I slip on my running shoes and go through my routine making sure I don’t forget anything. I check the outside temperature on my phone. It currently reads 95 with a high of 101. Having not run in this kind of heat before I don’t know what to expect so I make sure I have some cash, ID, debit card, powergels, sunglasses, and lather on plenty of sunscreen. I strap on a Garmin GPS watch and head out. Slipping past the slots, craps tables and dodging some early morning partiers I slip out the front door into the desert.

Trying to make a 20-mile on the Las Vegas strip was challenging but entertaining to say the least. First I headed south towards the airport. Within the first 2 miles I feel my mouth start to dry out from the intense dry heat. I quickly pull into a convenience store and grab a bottle of water to carry with me. I head on. I pass the Luxor, MGM grand, The Bellagio, all the wonders of the Vegas strip! Then the airport. “Only 4 miles!!” I keep going the sidewalk disappears and I’m now running on crushed rock and sand. I start to wonder what it’s like in Kenya for the Maasai to train in their “Michelin Thousand Milers” and the intense heat they run in.

I run five miles out and really start to notice the heat beating down on my head. I come across a commercial area with some stores and jog through the parking lot hopeing to find a hat. After some searching I came across a perfect white Nike running hat. With the sun off my face I already notice a difference and think about Dean Karnazes (http://www.ultramarathonman.com/flash/) and his ultra marathons through Death Valley in his all white running suit.

I make my way back through the strip to old Vegas followed by a loop back to the hotel. 3 ½ hours, five bottles of water, 3 Gatorades and 3 powergels later. The odometer on the Garmin hits 20.01 mi. I’ve done it. This was the most difficult run I have ever done and quite possibly harder than the marathon will be. Now it is time to let loose and celebrate the bachelor.