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February 20, 2009
New snowboard boots...I heart you.
So apparently, with lots of running also comes LARGER FEET.
Three years ago, when I bought my snowboard boots, they were a snug fit. Maybe could have gone a half size up, but overall, no issues. I got them on discount at SierraTradingPost, and they were awesome.
Fast forward three years later (after major running training), I went snowboarding for the first this season (around NYE), and my right big toe was in a ridiculous amount of pain. When I took of my boot...it took over 30 minutes for it to stop hurting (I wanted to cry some). And then later parts of it starting turning black, and it was just not a pretty sight.
So...I decided it was time for new boots (how does this keep happening to me?!)...and I went hunting for the same model as the boot I already had. And discovered that the cheapest I could find it for was around $200. Which was....unacceptable. But I *LOVE* this boot. So I went around trying to find the same brand...and found the Kiana for half off. But since I never tried them on...I wasn't sure.
So off to REI I went to try them on. And because REI was retardedly slow (and no customer rep person came by in the 20 minutes I was in the boot section), I finally peaked behind their display and found the F22. IN MY SIZE. And I tried it on, and it was BEAUTIFUL (fit that is, the actual look is pretty horrendous if you ask me). I also tried on the Kiana, and it just wasn't stiff enough. In my sheer excitement of finding the F22 (they had it online but not at REI online), I just had to ask how much it was. And it was 50% off. And MUCH cheaper than anywhere else I could find it online.
So I bought it. And I love it. And I had to try it on again this morning to bask in its glory.
Posted by szujin at 04:27 PM | Comments (1)
February 17, 2009
So cheap (dumb?) it hurts
So...this is me being stupid (and knowing I am stupid, but somehow cannot STOP self from being stupid):
Last year I ran a marathon. Because I was getting black toenails in the shoes I was running in, I went to a specialty running store where they fitted me up with some nice running shoes. They were not cheap. But black toes nails stopped, and life was wonderful (well, other than the ACTUAL running, but that's besides the point)
On the other hand, I have done step for a VERY long time. I love step. I heart step. I used to do step all the time, and when I was training for the marathon, I did step on my off days. In other words, I do A LOT of step.
People have said that running shoes should only be used for running. And since I paid quite a bit of money for my running shoes, I ONLY use those shoes for running (e.g., no step).
But the problem came when I needed to get new step shoes. Since I paid much moolah for the running shoes, I COULD NOT (mental road block or something) pay a lot for my step shoes. SO. I bought a pair of generic running shoes to do step in. And because of that, EVERY FREAKING DAY I DO STEP, I GET A NEW BLISTER.
I have at least 3-4 blisters on each foot. And they are big, sometimes red, most times filled, and really uncomfortable. And this has been happening for...oh...six (eight?) months or so. Maybe more. And somehow, every time I come out of step class wincing in pain, I tell myself I am an idiot (and that I should get new shoes), but somehow SOMEHOW, so many months later, I AM STILL FREAKING WEARING THE SAME SHOES.
Sometimes, my cheapness scares me.
Posted by szujin at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2009
Why hours are wasted at my workplace...
Slightly frustrated, so going to blog. :)
Sometimes, being the "oldest" (e.g., having been here the longest) member of a team SUCKS BALLS. Especially when any bug is filed for something that is "slightly older" code gets assigned to you.
I just spent the entire afternoon looking at a bug that was filed against a generated graph, of which the code was written over 4 years ago, the person who wrote it left, and we haven't touched that piece of code in like, 2 years. (So, likelihood of THAT being the problem are highly suspicious to me).
But anyway, there was a problem: the client looked at the graph, saw that "Hey, the XXX is really high and it shouldn't be" and so called tech support. Since XXX is a statistic generated by other engineers, those engineers were quick to say "oh, it looks ok from xxx log file" (of which the graph is not even generated from?). And then another engineer says, "I looked at this report and it shows the correct values (that xxx is not high), so it MUST be a graph problem!" So over to my side it went.
EXCEPT. I KNOW VERY LITTLE OF THIS GRAPH. I know very little about what the hell we are trying to plot, and how the heck we get this data. But believing what the engineers previously had said, I dug around through the graph code, figuring out what I needed to (to discover that engineer 1's statement about the log file was useless and that engineer 2's statement was a blatant LIE because the report he mentioned wasn't even valid for the time period the customer was talking about). And right when I had spent gobbles of time and was about to prove so (by pulling up the correct report), engineer 1 had apparently still been working on it, and finally disclosed that "Hey, it IS our problem and not the chart!"
FANTASTIC.
Posted by szujin at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2009
Run Log
Testing the results of the Treadmill 10K Workout:
Ran a "regular run" today:
3 miles at 8 min/mi pace (7.5 miles/hr)
2 miles at 8.32 min/mi pace (7.0 miles/hr)
1% incline all the way (I think that's just like, flat running)
Pretty good for me, I think. I've usually been able to sustain 6.8 - 7.3 miles/hr pace on the treadmill pretty easily (with 0% incline), so this is a big improvement I think. I don't usually stay at 7.5 miles/hr pace all that long usually (1 mile max), so I guess this is an improvement. Guess 1.5 weeks of hill intervals and speed intervals actually start to make a difference pretty quickly. I am impressed. Now I just have to keep it up...
Posted by szujin at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)