Short Treo Antenna

I know, I know, the Apple iPhone announcement is all the rage this week. Yea, yea, yea. Interesting. Lots of potential. But I'm still not convinced, and I still love my Treo and PalmOS.

So, if you have a Treo 650 or 700 and, like me, are jealous of the "look ma, no external antenna" look of the Treo 680, then TreoAntenna.com has just what you need:

I have one of these on my Treo 650, and love it. I notice an ever-so-slight decrease in signal strength in weak signal areas, but not enough of a decrease to go back to the stock antenna. Installation is a breeze.

There is a very long thread on the short antenna over at TreoCentral, with participation by the guy making and selling them. There is also a very nice review that was just posted to MyTreo.net that is worth a read - much more detail than here in this post.

There! Now the iPhone feeding frenzy can resume. I feel better

65 Degrees Fahrenheit in New Hampshire in January!?!?

WTF? Now I'm not complaining, but it was 65 degrees F here in southern New Hampshire today. I hate winter, but this is a little unsettling. It's January, and winter just has NOT arrived yet.

I'm fond of saying that no two winters in New England are alike, and I truly believe that. But in twenty five years of living in New England, I have never seen any winter even remotely like this one.

I did take advantage of today's weather via a nice and easy 10 mile run. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will bring a motorcycle ride!

The 26th Annual Hangover Classic

I love running the Winner's Circle Running Club's Hangover Classic 10K every January 1st. It's a very satifsying way to start a new year, even if getting out of bed to go run 6 miles on New Year's Day isn't easy.

This year was a clear indication of how a little weather will thin out the crowd - if perhaps only to the truly insane - or dedicated? In 2005 we had blue skies and 40 degree F temperatures, and there were 347 finishers in the 10K. In 2006 it was in the 30s, but it had snowed a little the day before (traction was lacking in the first mile of snow and slush), and the result was 299 10K finishers. This year we had temps in the 40s again, but a steady rain! You guessed it -- just 234 finishers.

The rain wasn't so bad. The worst part really was the flooded road just 100 yards from the start line. There were 2 to 3 inches of water from one side of the road to the other. The shock wasn't so much getting our feet wet, but how COLD the water felt.

Nevertheless, I'm quite happy with my race. I finished in 43:25 (6:59 average pace). I was the 45th finisher overall, and 16th out of 66 in my age division.

My 2006 Running Year in Review

I'm pleased with my running in 2006. I seem to have honed in on a pace between 6:55 to 7:05 for 8K and 10K races; my 7:11 pace for last year's Hangover Classic is an anomaly due to the inch of fresh snow and slush that covered much of the first half of the course.

My highlight of the year was the 20:05 I ran in the Pelham 5K. I know that on the right day, on the right course, I have a sub-20 in me. But I didn't expect to come that close in this race. I owe my great time completely to a fellow named Dan Houston, who came in fifth place right behind me. I led Dan by about 40 or 50 feet for most of the race, but out of the blue at about the two and a half mile mark he blew by me. I was shocked, demoralized at first, and then just pissed. I knew the course well and planned my counter attack. I passed Dan at a full sprint with about 200 yards to go, and I didn't look back or let off the gas until the finish line. I don't know whether I'm happier about my finish time, or by not letting Dan's late race move take the fight out of me. Either way, my hat is off to Dan for a great race.

Race	Date	Overall Place/Finishers	Division Place/Finishers	Time	Pace
Hangover 10K	01/01/06	95/299	33/70	44:40	7:11
Cigna 5K	08/10/06	426/4260	53/272	21:36	6:57
Lundgren 5K	08/19/06	30/287	4/45	20:58	6:45
Union Leader 8K	09/09/06	72/299	28/60	35:01	7:03
Pelham 5K	10/07/06	4/90	2/7	20:05	6:28
Bridges 10K	10/14/06	25/181	8/24	44:01	7:06
Feaster Five 8K	11/23/06	144/2334	39/384	34:19	6:55

I managed to stay (relatively) injury free all year. Here's to repeating that in 2007!