I have always loved running but it's been more of a casual thing until now. This year I plan on kicking up my running game and just last night I recorded my longest non stop run ever of 8 Miles. I have some short term goals and some long term goals that I want to accomplish and to do so I need to start running more often and longer.

• Run a sub 20 5K - My personal best is a 21:30 but that was a couple of years ago. I ran a 14:30 2 miler about a month ago so I think this goal can be accomplished with some work.
• Run a half Mararthon - I am going to sign up for the Akron half marathon in September. I am fairly confident I can do this but i would like to get my pace under 9
• Olympic Triathlon 1 Mile Swim / 24 Mile Bike / 6.2 Mile Run in August
• Marathon - My ultimate fitness goal is to run a marathon and right now i am shooting for the Cleveland Marathon in 2013.

Right now I run around Lakewood but its apparent after my 8 mile run last night that I may need to find new places for longer runs. I also use my iPod with the Nike+ connector and the chip in my shoe. I love this because it constantly gives me feedback on miles,time and pace. I usually just drop my iPod in my pocket and go. I used to have an arm band but it had a plastic cover and it was really hard to use the buttons on it when I started sweating so I gave up on it.

Now that you know my story this is what I need from you. I will be mixing in a combination of swimming, strength training and biking with my runs so I am curious what type of schedule I should get on. I don't mind working out 2x a day but somehow I need to get all of this training in. I also want to find a way to use Spotify. I use it on my iPhone while I am in the gym but its just too bulky to run with. I could get an arm band but does anyone have a recommendation of one that fits good and doesn't have a plastic cover? The other problem with this is the Nike+ app on the iPhone asks you to choose a playlist on your phone and I would like to use Spotify. Does this mean I will need to move to the Nike+ watch instead of using the app on the phone?

Thank you to all the runners out there who constantly give me tips and tricks and I look forward to your advice. I think with some hard work I can accomplish these goals and I look forward to the next year of training / events.

This entry was posted on April 20, 2012 at 1:24 PM and has received 746 views. Comments 3 | Print this entry.

PowerShell is a pretty useful shell when you start learning what it can do. I have been using it a lot more lately and I want to show you a couple of tips for reading in files. The Get-Content cmdlet allows us to read in the contents of a file. Get-Content "path-to-file" You can also use the alias gc and just the file name if you are already in that directory. In this example I am already in the ColdFusion logs directory and I want to output the feed log file. gc feed.log

What about larger files? You probably wouldn't want to output every single line of a very large file. When you read in a file using get content it will actually store it as an array so you could use the array notation below to return the first two lines. (gc feed.log)[0..1] An easier way to do this though is using the total count parameter. gc feed.log -totalcount 2 Because get content returns an object you can use the Select-Object cmdlet to grab the last n number of records. gc feed.log | Select-Object -last 1

So these are a couple of useful things we can do while reading in files in PowerShell. The point of this post was to show you how to Tail a file so let's get back on track. The tail command is a useful Unix command that allows you to watch a file in real time. This is especially useful when you are monitoring log files. You can accomplish this using PowerShell pretty easily using the Wait parameter. gc feed.log -Wait Now PowerShell will display the lines of this file as they get added. Pretty useful and easy to do!

This entry was posted on April 17, 2012 at 9:10 AM and has received 702 views. Comments 0 | Print this entry.

About two and half months ago a friend told me about this event called the Tough Mudder. I was intrigued and intimidated so I decided to look into it. The Tough Mudder website describes the event as

Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses, half a million inspiring participants, and more than $2 million dollars raised for the Wounded Warrior Project, Tough Mudder is the premier adventure challenge series in the world.

My initial thoughts were are you freaking nuts, there is no way I am doing that. Then I got to talking to more people and watching some videos and finishing became a real possibility. I was already working out a lot but with no running races in sight I needed something to motivate my workouts. I like to set goals because they help push me in my everyday workouts. I couldn't think of a bigger goal then finishing this event so I took the plunge and signed up.

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This entry was posted on April 16, 2012 at 9:41 AM and has received 1063 views. Comments 5 | Print this entry.

Yesterday I announced my plans to join First Comp. Today I would like to help my current employer fill my position. I really like the people here and the company is doing some great things. This is why I want to help them as much as I can to find my replacement. If you are in the Cleveland area and have the following skill set please contact me.

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript - Strong front end development skillset
• ColdFusion
• jQuery

It really is a great place to work for an individual who wants the freedom to take a project from start to finish as they see fit. If you have any questions about the position please let me know.

This entry was posted on April 13, 2012 at 9:06 AM and has received 922 views. Comments 0 | Print this entry.

Today is one of those life changing days that are few and far between. This morning I am sad to announce that I will be leaving my current position of Senior Web Developer at STERIS, effective April 27, 2012. This position was a great learning experience for me and I am grateful for the opportunities I had here. I have made some really great friends here and I am going to miss them more than anything. In the end I really wish things could of been different here.

As one road ends, another begins. I am happy to announce that I am joining First Comp, based out of Omaha NE. This is an amazing opportunity for me and one in the end that was just too good to pass up. First off I get the chance to remain in Cleveland and work remote. I know anyone outside of Cleveland doesn't really get it but I love my city. Cleveland is home and some big things are happening here and I am excited for my future here. If you're ever in town please hit me up so I can show you why it's so great.

The main reason I took this leap is for the incredible opportunity to grow as a developer. I was never the smartest guy but what I lacked in education I made up for with hard work. I know this sounds strange but when I got a hold of a computer and started looking at code, it's all I could think of. I told myself that I will be a programmer one day and I like to think I have done pretty well for myself. In all of that though I lost site of the bigger picture. I don't want this to just be a means to end, I want to become a superstar developer and to do that I have a long road ahead of me. This is why this move made perfect sense for me. I get a chance to work with some really amazing people. Our team will consist of 16 developers, 5 Q&A testers and my bosses boss is former ColdFusion Product Manager, Jason Delmore. Jason and I have become friends over the years but to have him as a resource at work is just going to be awesome.

In closing I just want to say absolutely blessed I am. We tend to worry about what we don't have in life to much and today this amazing opportunity has been placed in front of me and I plan on taking full advantage of it. As soon as I get up and running at First Comp I will try and blog about the experience there. We are still looking for more developers so if you want to join one heck of a team visit our careers page.

This entry was posted on April 12, 2012 at 11:54 AM and has received 1039 views. Comments 16 | Print this entry.