Shakier Than Britney's Live Show Performances

Indonesia has been hit by a series of earthquakes since Wednesday night. Jakarta was about 400 miles from the epicenter, but we still felt the tremors. No major damage in Jakarta, and nobody I know was hurt. Those in high-rise buildings, like my apartment and including Iren, were frightened by extensive swaying.

Not as much as you you see, but I still love technology

Lots of geek news to report. First, I got a new Polar watch that has a neat feature for keeping track of total calories burned per week - so that will be one of the quantified measurements that I will be reporting on here. The week of August 29th I burned 4829 calories. The week of September 3rd another 6636 calories. My goal for this week is to hit 10,000. I got a good start with over 2300 calories tonight with two spin classes.

In other nerdy news, Dale and I have started a NikePlus online racing challenge for who can put in the most kilometers in 80 days. If you are beginner and would like to join our challenge to motivate yourself to start running, just send me an email and I will invite you (you'll need to get the gear also). No veterans allowed though, you'll bust the curve. As it is, I am going to have to log some serious hours to keep up with the more-fleet-of-foot Barron.

Next week I start the "Around the World in a Month" trek. Stay tuned for some pics from the trip and updates as I get start much more roadwork to prepare for Singapore.

My First 5K!

In Jakarta on Sunday, September 2nd, I completed my first ever road race as part of the the 2007 Jakarta Race Against Cancer Everyone (RACE), the annual Terry Fox Run. I didn't plan it that way - I had intended to bike the event (thinking that my legs probably weren't ready for the running yet). The fun-run allows the participants to run, walk, cycle, roller skate or use a wheel chair to cover a distance of 5 or 10 kilometers. But, on the morning of the race day, I had a problem with my bike. I thought to myself, "The guy this race is named for did marathons across Canada with one leg and lung cancer; I can do this." And, sure enough, I could and did.

The top photo shows the racers getting underway. The second picture is an image that too few people saw; it took me nearly an hour to cover the 5K, a time I hope to improve greatly with further training and weight-loss. The third picture gives a sense of the crowded conditions and nasty smog even though the race was early Sunday morning. And the last photo shows me cruising down the streets of Jakarta, jamming to Nike+iPod tunes.

In case you are wondering about the background, the Terry Fox Run events have raised more than $400 million worldwide to fight cancer through research since 1981, following the inspiration of Terry’s Marathon of Hope.

The next step is the Singapore 10K in December. Much work to be done before then, so I better get on it. Off to the gym.