How often does this happen to you, you buy a new gadget, go home and 'play' with it and it actually does everything exactly the way you expect. No small print, no compromise. I just had one of these moments today. My trusted Blackberry World Edition lost a shift key during one of my construction escapades. Nothing serious that couldn't be fixed with tape. That was 3 days ago.

So I go to my Bell Store and check what upgrade options I have. They tell me that I'm entitled to a credit towards a new phone on the 21st, that's today. After checking out the models at the Blackberry website, my mind was set for the Blackberry Tour. The reason is that this phone is unlocked and uses a Sim card where I can plug in my Swisscom Sim card when in Switzerland, same as the Blackberry World Edition. After some discussions with the Bell representative at the Winstongate Bell World store, I got the Blackberry Bold 9700. Even so this phone is locked now, I can actually get it unlocked by Bell so it will work with the Swisscom Sim as well.

But that's not all. I also found out that I can use this Sim card in the Turbo Stick, so no need to get another plan just to get access to the Internet. This is something I need about twice a year and a $50/month plan is difficult to justify. I didn't get the Stick yet, but it's on the list.
When they added up the charges for the new Blackberry, the representative incorrectly quoted me $149 verbally for the upgrade - it was only $99.
The decision to buy the Bold instead of the Tour was the result of a longer discussion. The representative was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I must say, the best service I received for a long time. Actually, the Bell World store at Winstongate always served us very well.
But wait there is more. Phone is working, time to reconfigure and move all the stuff and my ring tone settings to the new phone. First thing I do is add the device to the Blackberry Server, then I send the Enterprise Activation Password from the server. On the Blackberry Bold, I enable Enterprise Activation and it starts almost immediately to synchronize. A few minutes later, I have all my email, appointments, addresses, memos and browser bookmarks on my new device. The ring tones are also changed to my previous choice. It took me about 2 minutes work to get the stuff from the old Blackberry to the new - now that was unexpected. I still spent 10 minutes (or more) to play with the new features such as the camera. Google Maps is already loaded and Facebook is next on the list. I think I leave this for tomorrow.

Another year, another race - time for my favourite race, the Guelph Lake Triathlon. Weather was perfect, maybe a bit too perfect.

My time was 1:48:06 and I improved in the swim and bike portion. Running was another story, too hot for my old body. There is always next year.

Just a beautiful morning today for the start of the Mississauga Marathon. Lots of participants at the start that need to park the car. And lots of finishers to lineup for water, banana and all the other goodies. I finished with 2:02:52 which is within my expectation of 2 hours (plus/minus 2 minutes). I blame the 52 seconds on the Power Gel at km 17, that stuff is sooo sticky, it took 52 seconds of my momentum.

Now starts the countdown for Guelph, bike is ready and the weather seems to get warmer.
Get some Marathon pictures here

We are in Mississauga, Ontario, just north of Dundas and east of Winston Churchill. So, if you are looking for an alternative to Cable or Satellite and you live in the neighborhood, this may interest you.
We were Cable customers for too many years, paying $60 every month. The only show we watched on specialty channel was Daily Planet on Discovery Channel. When you add up the few TV series plus Daily Planet, that's tops two shows per day ... @ $60 a month ... so we paid about $1 for every TV show we watched. The often bad signal quality eventually made us reconsider the options. So from this here

to a really top quality, uncompressed high definition image it was a matter of a $100 investment for the antenna. And we never had to look at the pixel blocks anymore.
The Olympic games in Vancouver just finished and the picture quality was just outstanding. We could actually see the ice pebbles on the curling ice surface. We watched CTV most of the time and only once was the signal distorted due to a weak signal from the CN Tower.

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I reached my goal - 1000km running in one year. And the conversion for my non-metric friends 1000 km = 621.371 miles. The 1000km/year is on my list since 2007 when I missed it by less then 50km. Last year in June and July, no running after surgery. So my 2008 total was 755km.
Now in 2009 it's done ... and getting ready to set a new goal. I'm still undecided if it will be a Olympic Triathlon or full Marathon. Both are double the distance from the races I'm doing now. I know that I have to finish a full Marathon one of these days, but my final decision will be early next year. It all depends when the trails are ice and snow free. I will run the Mississauga Half Marathon, but this event is mid May already. Training starts about 3 month before that, and February is not very appealing for long runs.

It is obvious that the running season is winding down. The trails are quiet and soon will be covered in snow and ice. I hope to catch a few more runs over the next days and then it's time to hibernate.
December 30th Update: The weather over the last few weeks favoured my running. Just finished my last run for this year, the 7km loop through the park and Sawmill Valley trail. The picture above is from the trail. This brings my total for this year to 1075km.

It's Saturday and I'm getting all the gear ready for tomorrows run. I picked up my race kit yesterday over lunch. I expected a bigger crowed and lineups, but all went without any waiting. I got my race number by email, so no need to find my name on the long list of runners.
It's raining now ... but according to the Weather Network, this should change at 7am, half an hour before the start. We'll find out soon. Anyway, it's time to go to sleep. I have to get up early.

The run course went west on Lakeshore, then a u-turn and all the way back. This gave us the chance to see and cheer the elite runners. About 10 runners, then ... a big gap ... until the next group of runners. Three of the elite runners finished in less then 2:10 for the full 42km, that is a speed of almost 20km/h.
I finished just under 2:14 and crossed the finished line about 30 seconds after Toronto's Mayor David Miller. And the 'scary' part, I crossed the finish line several minutes after the winner of the full 42.2km marathon. Keneth Mungara of Kenya who also broke the Canadian record by finishing in 2:08:32.
The event was well organized, but 20,000 participants plus 30,000 spectators (according to the radio station), everything takes a long time.

The summer comes to an end and it's time for the Guelph Lake Triathlon. A sunny day, a bit on the warm side for the running part. Water temperature didn't really require a wetsuit, but I feel more comfortable with the extra buoyancy.
Both the Sprint Triathlon and the Try-a-Tri were sold out. Like the previous events, I was in the last wave. Now I have a white cap in my collection as well.

I finished the race in 2:18:59. I was hoping for less then 2:15 and not sure where I lost my time. It took me 2 minutes more for the 30km bike ride, but both the swim and run were faster then last year. My guess is that the transition needs lots of improvement.
After the race it was time for the goodies from the sponsors. The top prices were a new wetsuit, watches and sunglasses. They pulled our names out of a box and very unexpected, my name was one of the first five. I won Bollé sunglasses, perfect for my runs. A big thank you to Bollé and all the other sponsors.

Five days in Las Vegas and no running? ... I don't think so. Before we even went there, I was looking for places to run in Las Vegas. Staying at the New York New York Hotel, my options were limited. Las Vegas in July is hot and no consideration is given to outdoor activities beyond a pool with an average depth of 4 feet. After all, you can't swim with a drink in your hand. Anyway, my search pointed to Red Rock Canyon, a 40 minutes drive from the Hotel - perfect. With temperatures close to 40 degrees (over 100 F ) during the day, I had to be there as early as possible.
Alarm went off at 5am, and we were on the road by 5:30. The Red Rock Canyon is a national conservation area and you can find some information here. We arrived around 6:15am and the park was already open (they open at sun rise). The sun didn't yet make it over the mountains. Starting at the visitor center running north, the road was still in the shade. A perfect combination of weather and nature and the road ahead of me. From the start to about mile 5, there is over 100 meter height difference. So I appreciated the shade on my uphill stretch.

I was not alone, the Red Rock Canyon seems to be favored by many runners and cyclist - and not too many cars so early in the morning. The one-way loop in the park has several parking areas to view the breathtaking rock formations and colors.
I had to be back at the hotel by 9am, I jumped into the car at mile 7. We made it just in time for the meeting start at 9am.

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