I’ve been uploading my run data first to nikeplus.com and then to runnerplus.com because i heard that Runner+ was more accurate and detailed, and i wanted to compare. I wouldn’t say it’s more detailed, but i guess it’s slightly more accurate. Here’s a comparison of the exact same run – yesterday’s – graphed on both sites:
The graphs are completely different. Here’s what i actually did: jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 3 minutes, walk three minutes, jog 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes, jog 3 minutes. I’m sure that’s hard to follow, but there should be three low-lying bars on the graph representing the three times i walked. Nike+ only shows two.
So i guess Runner+ wins for accuracy, although it still looks wonky to me. I also appreciate the fact that Runner+ is not a flash-based site. I HATE flash-based sites, and i’m glad to say that Nike+ is the only one i have to use on a regular basis. I think it’s also possible to do challenges on Runner+. It’s not as pretty, and you can’t make a little mini of yourself like you can on Nike+, but still i’m starting to think it may be the more preferable site to use.
A few months ago i became the proud owner of a brand new iPod Touch 32gb, partly because i’d exceeded the capacity of my 20gb iPod classic, and partly just because the Touch is effing sweet and i had to have it. One of the coolest things about it is the built-in Nike + receiver, which, coupled with a little sensor that i attach to my running shoe, helps me track my performance as i begin running again this spring. Well, it tries to, anyway.
Above is a graph which tracks my third run of the season. When i connect my iPod to my computer, the information about my run is transferred to the computer and then to the Nike plus website, where i see this little graph. It’s pretty much useless, considering that the green line is drawn on an un-labeled graph with axes that don’t even make a lot of sense – “distance” and “faster.” It does, however, tell me how far i went, and when i roll over those little dots along the line it tells me what my pace was at that point. At that last dot i was going at about 8min/mile, for instance. That’s pretty sweet, but as you can see i’m not able to maintain that pace for very long yet.
Last year i followed a schedule that i found on a wikiHow article about how to start running. It listed a different workout to do each week, three times a week, and i gradually worked up to running three miles without stopping. Then i quit for the cold season, and was disappointed to realize when i first ran again this season that i’m pretty much back at square one for endurance. Thus, i’m back at the beginning of that wikiHow schedule. Actually i started out at week two, alternating 90 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. This week i’ll begin the “week 3″ schedule, alternating 90-second and 3-minute run/walks for a total of four.
The run i’ve posted here is pretty pathetic, but hopefully i’ll be progressing pretty quickly and you’ll all get to watch it and cheer me on. My goal is to run a 25 minute 5k within about three months.
Without further ado, i give you an abbreviated tour of the new loft. To see more photos, click on any one of them and you’ll be taken to my flickr photo stream. Enjoy!
This is what you see when you first step inside. Immediately to your right is the guest bathroom:
Nathan laid claim to this bathroom immediately, dubbing it the Man Space. Since it’s also the guest bathroom, i’m actually the only person who’s not allowed to use it. 
Down the hall a bit and on the right we have the washer & dryer:
This is one of my favorite things about living here. No quarters, no waiting for neighbors to move their shit, no embarrassment when i accidentally leave underwear in one of the machines. Our own washer & dryer – hallelujah!
Keep going down the small hallway opposite the w&d, and you’ll see the walk-in closet, the bedroom and the wash room & second bathroom.
The closet is nice and big, but a trifle messy.
Here you can see how the rooms flow together – and my Oregon rainbow.
The sink here has its own separate room, which i call the wash room
Exiting the bedroom area and continuing down the main hallway, we come upon the common area:
Which consists of the dining area, the kitchen, a small built-in granite desk just to the right of the view in the above photo, and these two sitting areas:
Then we head outside to the terrace:
We need some outdoor furniture. And maybe a few more plants.
We spent a lot of time cleaning the place up yesterday, and now just have a few things to hang on the walls before we will have completely put it together. I feel so much more at ease now – more so than i have in a good month or two, i’d say. Despite how lovely it is, though, the best thing about this place by far is that i’m here with the love of my life and get to share the space and my time with him.
Words that are one word:
meantime
earful
Words that are two words:
every day
Unless, that is, you’re using the word “everyday,” which is an adjective used to describe a daily activity/thing.
Examples:
For Steph, dry skin is an everyday problem.
She has to put lotion on her hands every day.
I’ve been calling people i don’t know EVERY DAY for the past week and a half trying to get this thing and that thing all figured out and hooked up and re-checked and working properly. The weird-flushing toilet. The non-operational door keys. The new cell phone line. Oh my god, the new cell phone line. The wireless internet. Everything is finally working, i think. We just need our window shades and couches to be delivered now. And we need to hang things on the walls.
One EVERYDAY annoyance is the fact that there’s some clattery noise coming from the radiator or the windows or something, which drives me NUTS. I’m about to start wearing headphones constantly. Sleeping is especially difficult, no thanks to the light pouring in through the window above our front door from the brilliant beams out in the hallway. Whose awesome idea was THAT?
The stress will fade away soon, and i’ll start bragging about what an amazing place i live in now. I promise.
I don’t have any pictures to post, for several reasons: 1. I’ve lost my cameraphone. 2. My CF card reader is still packed away somewhere, and 3. I haven’t taken any pictures this week, since my life is in utter chaos and really isn’t photogenic at the moment.
Okay, maybe “utter chaos” is a little strong. Here’s the story: i packed all my stuff up last week, and on Friday Nathan and i started taking SUV-loads of my crap from the old place at Franklin Court down to the new loft downtown. I lost count around six. I cannot understand how all of my stuff fit in three small sedan-loads and one U-Haul for the furniture just seven months ago. I suppose a U-Haul is pretty huge, but i swear i’d already moved most of the boxes by then. All i’ve acquired since is a dresser and bedside table. And some odds and ends – but honestly. It doesn’t add up in my mind.
Saturday we finished moving all the furniture with a little help from Nathan’s family and friends, and we cleaned the old apartment thoroughly, turned the lights off, shut the door and turned in the keys. It was far more emotional than we had anticipated. Perhaps it was just the finality of those fore-mentioned actions – i’ve never really done all of that. Last time i left my roommate to do all the cleaning and key-returning. The dorm rooms i had were never difficult to leave. The move out of our house a couple summers ago was a slow, transitional process and i was damn grateful to be done with it by the end. I haven’t cried about leaving a dwelling probably since we moved away from Eugene. And i was only in this place for seven months.
I guess it was partly the fact that it was my first and only place all to myself, and it was a symbol of my independence. But more importantly, some memories were made there that will probably have significance for the rest of my life. The rest of our lives.
I park my car now three blocks away from the loft at Nathan’s workplace, and when we were returning from it Saturday night we managed to be locked out of our new building. The hard keys don’t work in the outside doors and the key-cards they gave us also failed to work, due to some error in setting them up. The garage door opener is currently the only way for us to enter the building, and that, of course, was in the car. Luckily someone came to visit a friend, and we followed him as he was buzzed-in.
We spent some time yesterday putting things away, and the loft is slowly starting to feel like home. We have no blinds yet, so the giant window-wall exposes us to the inanimate brick wall across the alley. We’ve purchased a sofa-and-loveseat set which will be delivered next weekend. The cable and internet were not ready for us and won’t be until Wednesday, and we can’t yet use our washer and dryer since they require some bracket in order to be stacked, and will be hooked up upon the installation of that item. We don’t know when. Our stock of clean clothes is running dangerously low, but i refuse to go to a laundromat.
More updates to come in a few days. I’m going to be very difficult to reach until i get a replacement for my phone. 
I had just been thinking how grateful i was to have that thing, actually, since Nathan’s phone was damaged on Friday and he had to buy a replacement. I lost mine the next day, and really can’t figure out where it could be. It’s dead, of course. Phones only get lost when they’re desperately low on battery power.