Indoor Bike Trainer

I broke down today and bought me an indoor bike trainer so I could get in some good workouts when I couldn't ride outside. We have an old exercise bike but that is nothing like riding your own bike. With this I can even clip in, shift gears and change positions on the bars. About the only thing I can't do with it is balancing. Rollers would be the way to go for that but those just seem too risky inside. Maybe out in the middle of the garage or something. I did get a 30 minute hard workout in this afternoon while watching one of the bike races in Europe I had recorded on the DVR. I didn't want to do too much till I saw how my leg would feel but so far so good. The trainer will allow me to ride at night, rain, sleet or snow so I hope that I won't get too bored with it. Another thing I can do is make different adjustments on the bike and test them on the trainer. It beats an exercise bike for sure.


I don't think Annette will let me keep it in the living room though!

December 7th

So I wonder how many people out there know what significant event happened on December 7th? Probably not as many as there should be and if you don't, shame on you. Most of us know where we were and what we were doing on September 11th, 2001 and will never forget that. I know I won't. My dad is 90 years old and he can vividly tell me exactly where he was and what he was doing on December 7th, 1941. Ok, if you don't know, this was the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. This was a life changing event for our forefathers as 9/11 has been for a lot of us.

So today, take a minute and remember those that fought and those that gave their lives so that we could be a free country. Support our troops and most of all Never Forget!!!!

More on Ham Radio

I received this in an email today and thought it was fitting to add as part of my previous post.

Oregon emergency officials say ham radio operators the unsung heroes

12/4/2007, 5:39 p.m. PST By SARAH SKIDMORE The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — When parts of Oregon were overwhelmed by wind and water during the recent storm, vital communication often was lacking, with trees down and across phone lines and cell coverage limited.

Even the state police had difficulty in reaching some of their own troops.

But ham radio worked.

In fact, amateur radio operators were heralded by state emergency officials as heroes. Ham radio is more than just a hobby to some. It can set up networks for government and emergency officials to communicate when other communication services fail.

"One of the problems in this is always communication," Gov. Ted Kulongoski said after a visit Tuesday to Vernonia and a fly-over there and other affected areas. "I'm going to tell you who the heroes were from the very beginning of this...the ham radio operators. These people just came in and actually provided a tremendous communication link to us."

A network of at least 60 volunteer amateur radio operators working along the coast and inland helped from keep crucial systems such as 911 calls, American Red Cross and hospital services connected. They relayed information about patient care and relayed lists of supplies needed in areas cut off by water.

In addition to getting an FCC license to operate, certain groups of operators are cleared by the federal government to work as emergency responders.

"You are amateur in name only," said Steve Sanders, a spokesman for District One of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, which helped in several key counties hit by the storm.

The Oregon Office of Emergency Management said the radio operators were tireless in their efforts to keep the systems connected.

It was ham radio that kept New York City agencies in touch with each other after their command center was destroyed on 9-11, according to the National Association for Amateur Radio. When hurricanes like Katrina hit, amateur radio helped provide life-and-death communication services when everything else failed.

Amateur radio works on a set of radio frequencies known as "amateur bands" just above the AM broadcast band all the way up to high microwave frequencies. Operators use their own equipment to communicate with other operators, using different equipment and frequencies than emergency responders.

So when some services won't work, they can relay messages.

Sometimes it takes creativity and a lot of leg work, such as setting up a new link on the top of a mountain when no other options are available.

The only major limitation, Sanders said, is the number of volunteers.

"This was just the poster child storm for what we do," Sander said.

Something different

Since I really didn't have any running or firefighting excitement to report I thought I'd share something a little different. Below is a photo of my Amateur Radio Station or Ham Radio as some call it. For those that know nothing about Ham Radio, it has been used for probably over 100 years for communications throughout the world. During disasters, Ham Radio is sometimes the only means of communications. During Hurricane Katrina Ham Radio operators passed emergency traffic 24/7 while normal land line and cell phone service was out of commission. Hams were also embedded with emergency workers to help provide communications. This was just one of many disasters where Ham Radio was used. From wild fires in California to Tornadoes in the south, Ham Radio operators are there to assist in communications. This is all done as volunteers, with some often traveling and staying weeks in a disaster area using their own funds.

My Ham Shack - 2meter/440 radio, HF all band/all mode radio, power supplies, power amp, antenna tuner, computer

There are many bands, frequencies and modes that are used. A lot depends on the atmospheric conditions and also the type of license the operator has. You have to take a test and pass to becoome an operator. It's not like CB radio and a lot of it is very technical knowledge that must be learned. Operating rules are very strict. For more info on what Ham Radio is all about you can follow this link: http://www.arrl.org/ .

As far as my station, I run a 24/7 Voice over Internet Station through a system called "Echolink". Echolink allows licensed hams to communicate all over the world through computer links. Basically how it works is that the computer and internet are connected to a radio. The internet acts as an antenna allowing an operator to talk into a link through a radio or by computer. It's pretty cool what you can do with it. I once talked to a guy that was driving through the bush in South Africa while I was using a hand held radio. We were both connected to computer nodes in our areas that connected each other together. I have been able to communicate all over the world with this while walking around my house.

During non-emergency times, operators prepare and practice a lot for disasters by running local Nets, contests and just experimenting with different equipment, antennas, modes, etc. We build a lot of our own antennas and equipment. Also during severe weather, ham radio operators man the National Weather Service stations and do storm spotting while driving around. Ham Radio operators along with fire and police departments are the first line of defense when it comes to major storms.

With the advent of cell phones, Ham Radio has seen a decline in the number of operators but cell phone service is not reliable in times of disaster. Two-way radio is the ONLY reliable means of communications during these times. Recent changes in license requirements has allowed more people to get into ham radio so it is coming back some. A lot of it is really old school technology but it also is on the leading edge of digital communications throughout the world.

There is really too much to write about this in one post but I just thought I'd pass on a little of the info on the subject as something different.

Back to the Track

It was back to the track tonight with the Tuesday Night Flyers. We normally run in Magness Creek but tonight we were at the High School track. I didn't actually run any but I did walk 1.2 miles. That was the furthest I have walked since the marathon a little over 2 weeks ago. It may even be the most combined walking I have done since then. It was nice being out with the group again even though I wasn't running the work out with them. Coach Dennis assured me that I was being very smart and doing the right thing by not running too soon. He explained how my muscles will come back stronger than before by letting them rest more. I have been concerned about losing my level of fitness but he told me that after the first week running I'd be back at full speed and maybe then some.

The walking felt pretty good and I did try to walk at a pretty fast pace. It was so hard not to run though. I could sense the speed of the track just walking on it. I just kept telling myself that I was doing speed walk training for my next marathon. The down side to walking is you don't stay as warm. And it felt pretty cold out tonight. The best part was getting to talk to all my running buds. I will probably go back to the track on some week nights and get some more walking in or when the time is right, run a few laps. Soon. Soon we will run again.

Thoughts of 2008

I guess I should be looking back at accomplishments for 2007 but all I can think of is whats coming up in 2008. The 2007 racing season is basically over. I won't be running any more races this year. I would like to be able to run a few miles before the first of the year and hopefully I will be able to. The leg feels pretty good, not 100% but at least 80% right now.

So today I worked up a running/biking calendar for 2008. The Grand Prix season kicks off on January 27th with the One Hour Track Run at Russellville. Thats pretty much it for January. February comes in with the Valentines 5k on the 9th and then the River Trail 15K on the 16th. Last year the River Trail 15K was one of my training runs for the Little Rock 1/2. Not sure yet if I am doing the half or the full. It all depends on the injury and if I can con some other runners into doing the full. It's just so much easier training with a group or at least one or two people doing the same event. I really want that Little Rock medal. It is the biggest marathon medal in the world they say. And it is big!

March has the Little Rock Marathon on the 2nd and then the Chase Race 2 miler on the 8th. The Cabot Spring Fling 5K is on the 29th. April will be somewhat challenging. On the 5th there is the Capitol City Classic 10K and then the next day is the Hogeye 1/2 Marathon in Fayetteville. Then the big question in our running group is which full marathon to run. Several have run Little Rock before so they are not as interested as I am. Nashville has the Country Music Marathon on the 26th of April and Oklahoma City is the 27th. So for now these two are a toss up. I'm sure a decision will be made soon. I have plenty of time to train for either of these and I could do the full in Little Rock and then one of these since they are way over a month apart. Of course that all depends on so many factors. I can't even run right now and I'm planning almost back to back marathons. Oh well, its fun to dream anyway! I'll talk about other upcoming races later.

Saturdays best intentions

I started Saturday with a plan to go get in some bike miles around noon once it had warmed up a little. About 11:30am I get a call from the alarm company saying that we had an alarm going off at our West Little Rock shop. 99% of the time these are either malfunctions or false alarms so the lady told me she would dispatch the police to check it out anyway just in case. About 15 minutes later the phone rings again. I was in my office and the phone was in the kitchen so I knew it was the alarm company so I almost sprinted to get the phone. Bad move. I could feel it in my right leg. I didn't hurt it, but it just told me that I'm not ready to run yet.

So I get the phone and the lady tells me that evidently someone failed to lock the door properly and that the police wanted me there to check the building. So, I had to drive 35-40 minutes to West Little Rock to meet the police. Luckily no one had been in the building and nothing was missing. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper.

To make matters worse, people were just driving crazy. I almost had three people run into me and I was driving the big red 4x4 truck. What the heck was people thinking when they can't see me and try to cut in my lane?? By the time I got some lunch and got back home, loading the bike and heading back over to the River Trail was the last thing I wanted to do. I did manage to clean the leaves out of the pool a little then I aired the tires up on my comfort bike and rode it around the block just to see what it felt like. Well, it wouldn't be a good day for biking anyway, the wind was blowing about 20 miles an hour it felt like so I called it quits. The exercise bike upstairs is starting to look better and better. (yuck)

I am so ready to start running again but who knows when that will be. I was hoping I might get a short run in next week but thats looking doubtful. The Grand Prix season kicks off on January 27th so that will be my training goal for now so I still have some time.