These guys take pairs of the Nike Free Run and modify them to make sounds. First video below is behind the scenes of how they did it. Watch that before the second video of the actual performance. Had I not seen what they did, I would have thought the video was faked. Enjoy.
As our family started making smarter choices with regards to food, we often find ourselves choosing organic items over a similar non-organic one. Being somewhat of a cynic, I wondered if the items labeled as “organic” truly were.
First, a bit of information on the process a business must go through in order to put that little sticker on their product:
A grower or handler seeking organic certification submits an Organic Farm Plan or an Organic Handling Plan to a USDA-accredited private or state certification program. The Organic Plan must detail all current growing or handling methods and any materials that will be used. The Plan also covers future intentions and improvements to all areas of production.
Even growers or harvesters of organic wild crops, such as fiddlehead ferns, must develop a Plan showing that harvesting practices will not be destructive to the environment or to the future productivity of the crop.
Five-year records must be kept of all management practices and materials used in organic production.
In addition to assessing the Organic Plan, the certification agency performs annual on-site inspections of each farm or handling operation participating in its program. Certification is then either awarded or denied. User fees are collected from each grower or handler to cover the cost of the certification program. Source
Ok, so it looks like a “pay to play” scenario for some of the larger producers of organic fare. What I don’t know is how much that fee is. According to owners of smaller farms (those that you would typically find in a local farmers market) the organic certification often costs too much money. This helps explain why organic is almost always more expensive..someone has to pay for the certification and re-certification process each year. More often than not these smaller growers will label their items as “chemical free” or “pesticide free” since they don’t have the legal rights to call themselves organic under the current regulation. On one hand I agree with charging a fee so that funds are collected to employ inspectors to keep growers honest. On the other hand, if having that organic label helps small growers sell, they need to be able to afford it. Continue reading
Next week is the official start of my marathon program. This will be a 16 week endeavor that ends with running The San Francisco Marathon. Ended this week with a couple laps around the lake.
Finished up the week with a nice 6 mile run (Garmin Connect link below). A couple of those miles were too quick but I’m gonna blame my friends Oscar and Helen. Talk about timing.. I was running on the riverbed trail in Irvine about to go under a street and they were out walking their dog across the bridge above me. Perfect timing. Even though I had just started out on my run, seeing friends gave me that boost of energy you normally get during a race. Good seeing you guys, thanks for the sub 8:30 miles 
Next week I bump up the mid-week run mileage in preparation for the 4-day training session that is soon approaching. The start of the 4-day sessions puts me at week 1 of 16 for my marathon ramp up. Everything I’ve done to date has been to prepare me for the 16-week marathon training schedule.
Garmin Connect – Activity Details for Irvine Riverbed.
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When you first start a running program it’s more important to focus on how long you are running vs how far you’ve gone. After running for specific time periods during early January, I graduated to distance. This meant that instead of setting out on a 15, 20, or 30 minute run – I needed to run 2, 3, 4, miles etc. etc. There are a few websites that you can look up pre-measured distances and then run them in order to get your mileage in. The problem with some of these “pre mapped” runs is that you don’t know how far you have gone while you are running. For example, there is a great 5 mile run right by my house. But at the time I found it I only needed to run 4 miles. Short of driving the route with my car, the only way to know (for this example) where the 2 mile turn-around is – would be to use a small GPS device or an app for my iPhone that tracks distance. Continue reading
As most of you are now aware, I have started running again. It has been about five years since I actually took it seriously and felt I needed a change in lifestyle. In 2005 I finished the Long Beach Half Marathon. When I crossed the finish line I felt fantastic. I felt like I could have done the full marathon that day but knew I had not put the mileage in and would most likely have collapsed several miles down the road. So here it is, 2010. Larger family..bigger goal.
On New Years Day 2010 I was asked if I had any resolutions. My answer was simply “No. Resolutions almost never work out.” Instead of calling this a resolution, I referred to it as a lifestyle change. The entire family started eating healthier..much healthier. And for the first time in about five years, I started actively running again. My running goals for this year are to finish the OC Half Marathon on May 2 then finish The San Francisco Marathon in July. This will be the first marathon I have ever attempted and have heard nothing but how hilly the course is. Bring it SF.
Of course, behind every out of shape husband looking to get back into it is a supportive wife. I’m fortunate enough to be married to one who knows “how” to run the marathon. Besides finishing two Ironman competitions, she has run in enough marathons (including Boston) to be considered a good distance runner. Lately I’m not sure if she appreciates all my questions or wishes I would just shut-up and go run already. Either way, her answers and/or demands to just go run are welcome motivation as I try to find my stride again.
I’ll keep you all posted as I go through training and ultimately, my showdown with the hills of San Francisco. There’s even a new category on the site called ‘Running’ where you can see a list of all the running related posts I hope to add over the coming months.
The following link contains information about my latest run that has been updated to Garmin Connect.
Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Church to Back Bay.