Where’s the peanut butter?!

I think Index Server has been discontinued in Vista in favor of something shiny and new but that doesn’t stop me from using it and running into things like this:

You can’t configure it to ignore a set of directories that follow some path.

This becomes an issue if you’re using a revision control system like subversion, which facilitates offline use by creating .svn directories throughout your tree with a copy of the server’s files (so you can do offline diffs and probably reverts and so forth).  The problem is now if you wanted to create an index of a project that had a structure something like this:

c:\src
c:\src\shared
c:\src\make
c:\src\module1
c:\src\module2

You can’t simply create an index over “c:\src” because searches into the index will get all the hits doubled (on, say, c:\src\file.txt and c:\src\.svn\file.txt).  Index server has a feature to exclude directories, but I’d need N exclude records for every directory in my project. And if the project structure changes, I’d have extra (or need new) entries in my list of exclusions to get everything working again.
My hacky workaround is to run an xcopy command on computer idle that copies “src” to “mirror” with an exclude file telling it to ignoe all “\.svn\” hits and then changed my index to look at that.  I hope this is better in Vista’s new desktop search (or that it’s possible with Google Desktop or something).

I Feist.

The past couple days have been busy with a mix of interesting and just busy.

I felt great heading out to Saturday’s long run and asked Chuck what I should do.  He suggested 13 miles so that’s what I did.  Finally. I haven’t done a straightforward easy pace 13 miler on a Saturday in over a month and that time it was the longest run I’d ever done in my life.  And it felt hard a month ago. But Saturday it really didn’t feel like enough. We did the Shilshole route and back up Stone Way and I had to cruise up Stone Way to feel like I was getting my work in for the day. So I asked Chuck if I could run again Sunday, which is kind of dumb. I think I’m starting to finally get that the answer to “Hey, I’m feeling pretty good and want to work more, is that OK with you?” is always “Yes.”  So Sunday I went around the lake and did a 20 minute tempo run. And that’s totally, totally different now than it was a month ago, which was the last time I had a tempo run in my schedule and when I had way different expectations of my abilities. I’d done the Firecracker at about 6:50 minute miles so I was doing tempo runs at 7:10 minute miles. Now I don’t know what my 5K time should be but I know it’s way faster than I did the Firecracker so I aimed for 6:30 minute miles in the tempo and wound up doing it at 6:24. And THAT felt good.

Tegan and Sara came with me on the run - The Con is awesome.

I spent the rest of the weekend priming, painting, and hanging doors on the new shed on the back of our house.  It’s coming along nicely and almost done!  I just need to decide - blueish like the house, or yellow? My samples should be dry by the afternoon. Sunday was cookout and frisbee golf in the H-district.

Yesterday I started work again!  Very exciting and fun. The environment seems great and I’ve had a totally good vibe about all the guys each time I’ve been in. However I came home and found Io not adjusting to being left home that well. He left a monumental turd next to the computer and, I later discovered, wet the floor at the bottom of the stairs.  Thanks, buddy! But more importantly, I’ll say again that the Bissell SpotBot should come standard with every puppy.

This morning I took Io on a jog for the first time in well over a month, since I upped the mileage.  A short run in the park in the morning isn’t too much to add on to my schedule and it’s just right for him so I figured I’d go for it even though I’ve got track work later tonight. It was awesome. I really miss running with him and he totally loves it, too.

The rest of the morning I’ve spent consolidating my google accounts.  This is just a bunch of stupidness but basically I had my “home” account as a google account, but then I started using google domain hosting for psoul.com and re-created the “home” account there. This resulted in google knowing about two home’s at psoul.com, which confused it. It seems like it *should* be easy to say “take all the mojo from the old account and consolidate it into the new one” but it’s not. So I had to modify the old account so it looked distinct from the new account. Then from the old account change all of its sharing settings (calendar, documents, etc.) so that nothing was shared with “home” and then re-share with “home”.  Now I think it’s all basically moved over and I’m close to being able to retire the old account.

During this time, the new Weakerthans album and some Feist have accompanied me. I’m totally on a Canadian kick.

Good times!

Mounted tool cabinet, originally uploaded by Peru Tha Damaja.

New project is almost done! I love power tools. This one will replace an outdoor tool organizer we’ve used for years since tearing out our back shed. That organizer has gotten the job done but only barely and it’s really not that hot long-term.

After about 15 years of faithful service on my runs, I think my yellow Sony headphones have finally given out. These came with an ancient Walkman my parents got me for Christmas some time in high school and they’ve probably accompanied me on a thousand miles of running and come with me to the three continents I’ve visited. They aren’t the only headphones I’ve worn while running but they are the set I’ve come back to time and again. Like everything with running that I’ve started to appreciate this summer, there are a number of characteristics that go into creating a good set of headphones but mostly in terms of non-desirable characteristics you want to avoid. Good headphones don’t move around too much. Screwing around with headphones to put them back in your ear or adjusting them because the sound is really uneven is a pain. They also shouldn’t completely insulate you from external noises but, if you’re stoopid like me, you definitely want them to get loud. And you don’t want an absurdly long cord. I used to carry my walkman (then various MP3 players) in my right hand and could wrap the cord around my hand so there was just enough slack for my running motion. Now I can wrap it around my armband holster thingy (which is way better because it lets me shadowbox like Rocky), but still the cord length is just right. Now I need a new pair. I’ve been eying a pair I read about on the cooltools blog but maybe I’ll just find another pair like what I’d had.

Today’s going to be a sort of busy day.  I’ve got 12×800’s on the track and then Wilco playing tonight.

Last week I wasn’t sure what I should do with my running workout. I did the ~2 mile run to the track to warm up and then most of the people were headed out to do hills but I was changing schedules. So I asked the coach if I should go do hills or start track work with the other fellas. “Go ahead and do track - 12 800’s.”  “Yay!” I thought.

Good christ was I wrong.

Track work, it turns out, is very, very hard. The other guys (plus Rose) have a bunch of advantages on me. First, they started track work three or four weeks earlier. I don’t know how much of a difference this makes, but not having any track work under my belt and jumping into the 12x repeat instead of ramping up from 6 like I think they had set me back at least a little psychologically. Also, I think most people in the club have a much more solid base than I do of foundation running. As I’ve read and learned more about the running pyramid leading up to a marathon and the types of running to do and what my target paces should be, I’ve realized I just don’t have the background of early, solid running that I really feel like I should. This is mostly OK, it’s just making me realize that I’m possibly more at risk for injury and probably won’t have my peak performance in Portland (and if I don’t qualify for Boston with my first marathon, I should feel OK about that).

But I’d originally been doing tempo runs (which I should have a huge base of) simply as “pretty hard runs” without really paying a ton of attention to pace.  Then I found out my 5K pace at the Firecracker and realized I should be doing tempo runs at a pace of about 7:10 minute miles and I’d probably been doing 7:30 or 7:45. Then I found out from more running that I could really do a 5K way faster than I did the firecracker and my tempo pace should probably have been closer to 6:40’s.

…

But I’ve clearly learned next to nothing from my sister’s advice that she “couldn’t pretend to be intereste” in my blog, so for a change from my recent posts about running and more running - tonight Wilco are playing at Marymoor in Redmond. I’m really excited for this show. Every time I’ve seen Wilco they’ve been terrific. I missed Jeff Tweedy on his solo tour in the northwest and regretted that since they came out with the DVD of that tour which just looked incredible. I’m sort of excited that the new album has Wilco exploring yet another musical direction, but less excited about the actual direction. But I know they still put on a consistently awesome live show, so as long as the weather holds out I’m really excited about the show.

Now it’s time to get to those 800’s, though…

It’s hard to believe it’s been this long but one year ago yesterday we brought you home. You so tiny we had to section off your crate so that you fit without too much space. You walked clumsily around the house - learning the boundaries of your growing body and its intersections with your new home. You threw yourself into the nooks, looking for what felt most comfortable. In front of the stove? The corner near the wine rack? Snuggled between the couch and ottoman?

The first week was a little traumatic for your big brother, Jupiter. He wasn’t happy at all to share the house or yard with your kind and you didn’t yet understand the pain his claws can inflict. I should have warned you about this. I’ve spent enough mornings engrossed in catching up on news on the computer when he would sneak up on me, too, issuing his brief, dorsal warning - “mgnraoooo!!!” - before sinking his sharp claws deep in my most fleshy parts. But you learned this lesson yourself and continue with remedial lessons every so often through to today.

You also took your first trips to the neighborhood park where you would cultivate a refined palate for sticks and where we explored the wreckage of the fall 2006 Seattle storms . You were quick to identify (and best ) your key adversaries at home. You also had your first taste of flesh and would never, ever allow me to keep the house meat-free from that day forward.

That fall we took our first trip out in the snow, bathed in the midnight wash of the streetlights . You expanded your wardrobe and came with me and Tanya to Twin Falls and leapt for treats on the KVI park beach, now fully grown . You and Jupiter have become famous friends - you, the only dog he comes to visit outdoors; he, the only cat whose ears you will groom. And sometimes you still act like the puppy you were when you first came home, still unsure of exactly where your body fits and where it does not.

So though your real birthday is some time in February, observing it now feels right.

Heart rock, originally uploaded by Peru Tha Damaja.

A few people have asked me about pictures of my trip to Alaska. I’m pretty sure none of them read my blog but I still want to try out the new flickr posting template I just switched to. So I have pictures organized two ways for your viewing pleasure. First, a bunch of collections which I think tends to be the best way to see them since they’re collected by subject and you can watch slideshows of some (like this sequence of part of the Holgate glacier calving or this humpback whale surfacing). Or if you just want the highlights, I tagged about 50 of my favorites from Alaska. Enjoy!

Two weeks ago I had a 17 mile run on my schedule. In spite of reading all the advice and understanding nutrition during runs at least superficially, I still hadn’t gotten into the habit of eating a Gu at hour intervals to replenish carbohydrate levels. That Saturday I didn’t have any. This was especially sucky because there were only four of us were out in the fast pace group that day - Joe is almost definitely the fastest guy in the club, Andy is right up there and targeting a sub-3 hour pace for Victoria, and Chris is generally just stronger and faster than me. And that’s all OK, which is one great thing about the club - if I want to push myself and I’m not obviously holding back the group, everybody’s OK with it.

Anyway, this day we got to the arboretum and everybody else was getting their Gu on and I’m just thinking “OK, this is going to be a hard day and I will be very sore tomorrow.” But Andy came through since he had an extra Chocolate Outrage. Which doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it really was helpful and nice.

So Andy is one of the fastest runners in the club and he’s a great person to run with because he’s just a machine. He’s fast, he sets a pace and goes, he’s responsive if you let him know you need a break or as you’re coming up to intersections, AND he’s well stocked with Gu Andy’s also autistic and a Special Olympian and in the Special Olympics he’s never lost a 5K or 10K. He was also pictured and featured in the August 2007 issue of Runner’s World - and representing the club with his shirt! The Seattle PI wrote a really nice story about Andy in April when he ran the Boston Marathon and there’s an accompanying audio slideshow about Andy that’s really, really great.

At the following 2 mile time trial (which Andy did at 11:24!) I was going to return the Gu but our schedules didn’t work and I committed to never going to another ChuckIt run where I couldn’t pay him back - but this morning our coach told us that Andy is unfortunately out with a stress fracture.

I know this is only a setback for his target to run Victoria in October and I’ll see him in the future, but it’s still really sad to lose him from that part of the pack and I’ll miss him. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

So I’m moving my webhost and this will be my last post on my old blog. Depending on how you read my blog, you might want to do something differently…

• If you read this by going to http://www.psoul.com then you can either start going to masivp.com/wordpress or in a couple days you’ll just start seeing the new blog
• If you read this with the RSS feed, then that, too, will be updated pretty soon so that the same link works, but if you want to get on the bleeding edge, the new address is here.

I’m working on migrating all my old blog posts to the new server (which is why, when you go to psoul.com it takes even longer to load and shows hundreds of posts instead of just the ten most recent).