It is done! I really wanted to post this entry yesterday but didn’t really have time to sit down and think much about what I wanted to blog about the race. Thoughts are still going through my head and I continue to look back into the experience but know that it really is an emotional experience. These are some quick-facts but if you want to get all of the details use the continue link below. We took some photos during race day but we used a disposable camera and need to develop the film. I will upload them as soon as they are available.

• 10,400 people registered for the marathon, 8,031 runners finished the race. 4,176 were male and 3,855 were female.
• 21,500 people registered for the 1/2 marathon and 18,536 finished. 6,858 were male and 11,678 were female.
• The winning time for the men’s marathon was 2:13:08 or a pace of 5:05 minutes per mile.
• New world records were set for the 20k (55:48) and 1/2 marathon (58:55) by 2-time Olympic gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia.
• I finished with a time of 3:49:52 (8:46 pace), good enough for 130th in my age division.
• Sarah completed her 1/2 marathon in 2:12:59, running through heavy pain on her back — awesome job honey!
• It was a fantastic experience for both of us and we were lucky to share it with our friends. Now we are planning the next race!

Read more…

It has not rained in Phoenix in 80+ days and look at the forecast for Sunday morning. The only reason it is going to rain Sunday morning is because 30,000 people will be out on the streets exactly at that time.

Steve Jobs is doing the keynote address at MacWorld this very moment. Some good updates on the software side of Apple and now getting ready to talk about the hardware updates. In the mean time, the Apple store is closed for updates and the iTunes store is also part of the buzz machine.

update: regarding the Apple hardware, Jobs indeed anounced the availability of the iMac powered by the Inter Code Duo processor as well as the Macbook Pro line which is the Intel-powered replacement for the Powerbook line. The new laptops can be ordered today and available in February. More details through Google

Our last long-run was this last Saturday and it was a short 8 mile run just to get out there one last time before race-day. This week’s training is down to a minimum and getting rest is more important. We made plans to have a nice pasta dinner next Saturday with Glen & Co. and probably some friends of ours. We are making our final plans to get to the start line with plenty of time to relax, stretch, and get a little bite to eat before heading over to our starting corral. Things are going to be slow with regards to training but will get a little crazy once the end of the week gets here. We’ll pick up our numbers either friday or saturday at the event’s expo which I will take some pictures and post them online.

Not that it matters much but for the sake of keeping a complete record, our time for Saturday’s 8 miles was 1:03:08 or 7:53 pace.

We bought our first Tivo in September after we found an deal that made it very affordable – free – and although we did no fall in love with it as much as some other people seem to have, we do appreciate its features. It is great to have the guide once again (we lost the guide when we dropped our DirectTV service) and of course a simpler interface for recording our favorite shows is also a welcome benefit.

However, sometime in early December, right around the time a new version of the Tivo software was announced, the image in our TV lost its quality to the point that we had to remove the Tivo. We tried to place it in a different room and with a different TV without any better results. I followed just about every technical tip I found online but nothing worked. All of the symptoms pointed to a blown hard-drive or a problem with the real-time encoding since the cable signal was being corrupted somewhere within the Tivo itself.

I usually don’t buy the product insurance most retailers offer you while you are checking out. Most of the times I think it is lost money but given we were getting a good deal on it and the fact that I knew of hard-drive problems in some units (remember the hard-drive is doing something almost 24-7, that’s hard on any electronic component) we decided to buy the insurance. That decision payed off this past weekend when we had to replace our unit, we walked to the cashier and asked for a replacement. The cashier printed out a copy of our receipt and excused herself while she went to get a new one. Five minutes later we were walking out with our new Tivo!

The setup process was much smoother compared to last time since this unit had the latest service pack installed. The updated version meant I could use our home wireless network without any tricks or hacks. The whole process still takes a few minutes and the guide information downloaded overnight but it was a very pleasant experience. The latest service packs allow you to download your recorded shows to your iPod or PSP and brings other online services to your TV. I hope to check these out over the next few days and get more out of our Tivo