A Runners Review: Timex Marathon GPS

I've been upping my mileage from a few laps on the local high school track to spending an hour or two running the neighborhood streets hoping the cardio would help lower my cholesterol, boast my endurance, and improve my overall health.  The problem was I had no idea how far I actually was running during these fartleks which would be helpful information when determining if I was strong enough to run a particular distance for a race.  Wouldn't be good to think you were in great shape for say a 10 mile race thinking your training runs were 5 - 8 miles long when it turns out you were only averaging 3 or 4 miles instead.  Especially when you aren't in "peak" shape it often seems you have run a "long distance" that sometimes just isn't as far as you thought.

As a "recreational" runner I didn't want to invest hundreds of dollars into a GPS watch but I did want to get one that would help me get an accurate grasp on my training.  I found the TIMEX MARATHON GPS WRIST WATCH priced at $99 but on sale for $79 and with my wife's Kohl's cash I walked out the door with it for around $50.  I thought that was too great of a deal to pass up when the only other equivalent GPS watch I could find was around $89.  I have to say while there have been some disappointments with the watch it has overall worked out well for how I use it - which is mainly to check my mileage and pace after I've wrapped up a run.

The TIMEX MARATHON has had great battery life, my run workouts normally last 1/2 hour to an hour on average and I only need to recharge the watch once a week for a couple hours by plugging it into my computer.  Based upon my use, I'm sure that if you wanted to use the Marathon for a marathon it's battery would get you through the race.  Another great feature has been the GPS, I have not had any problems picking up a strong signal anywhere I've run including along tree lined streets, downtown urban areas with tall buildings and on forest trails.  The GPS has been very accurate as well.  I went back and traced one of my first runs using the TIMEX MARATHON with my car and its pedometer matched the watch's results.  I was curious if the watch would work if I was just running circles and wore it over at the high school track and it accurately tracked the number of miles I ran on the track. So it works well for my primary need of tracking my mileage during a run.

Pace is a little different issue.  The watch works well for giving you a breakdown of your overall pace and pace by settable distances such as quarter mile, half mile, or mile marks.  It also has a feature that shows your pace while running.  I have found that it takes about a half mile of constant running before it provides an accurate pace speed and this is an estimate of your movement between GPS pings so it doesn't seem to be 100% accurate while you are running compared to the final info you are given when you wrap up your workout.

Unlike some other watches, this watch doesn't provide a computer program to allow you to map your routes and workout/race data on a pc or mac.  It does allow you to save some info of past workouts on the watch but I haven't found that very useful.  It is also not very user friendly in utilizing and flipping through its features, especially while on the run.  I've been a little stunned on how difficult they have made it to operate this watch when it could have been made a lot simpler to use.

A plus has been with this watch that it has been very light weight and comfortable to wear.  I hate to admit it but I've been genetically cursed with small wrists for being a guy and this wrist fit me real nice without looking like something built for the ladies.  So this watch would be functional for women as well as men looking for a GPS watch.  In fact the design of the watch makes it gender neutral so anyone can wear it and enjoy it.

If you are looking for a watch to help you with in race pacing or intensive training this isn't for you, but if you want something that is comfortable for the casual runner that will provide you with dependable information on exactly how many miles you have run, or maybe walked, during a workout or race based on the price this is a bargain that gets the job done.  So if you lose track of where you are on a road race course this watch will let you know that you are at the 3K point of a 5K race or if you've been jogging for a half hour it will let you know how many miles you've actually put in your workout.  For my purposes that has been extremely useful and I haven't needed the extra bells and whistles on other more expensive GPS watches.  The TIMEX MARATHON isn't a perfect watch but it gets the job done.

For more information, visit http://www.timex.com/watches/timex-marathon-gps-t5k639f5 

Roughing It on our First Camping Trip with our Kids

We bought a tent and decided it was time to indoctrinate our children to the age old ritual of going camping with your parents.  So a few weekends ago we packed up the kids and took a 2 hour drive to the wilderness of Waterloo State Recreation Area and pitched Fort Camp Geek Daddy.  It was the first time the twins had ever been camping and the first time I'd slept in a tent since the canoeing trips of my college years.  I have to say there was a level of anxiety in the air of three days with no internet, tv and air conditioning had by all as we ventured out but the excitement of doing something new pushed us to persevere with this family adventure.

Waterloo State Recreation Area is the largest state park in Michigan at over 20,000 acres.  The park has 47 miles of nature & hiking trails, 11 lakes, several beaches and playscapes, a disc golf course, and the Gerald Eddy Discovery Center. Our first task was deciding which camp ground to stay at.  We didn't want to be surrounded by RVs that had all the comforts of home while we were roughing it.  My wife suggested the tents only "rustic" camping ground until she discovered that "vault toilets" meant the bathroom was a hole in the ground.  So we went with Portage Lake a "semi-modern" campground that provided each camp site with electricity and had a bathhouse with toilets and showers.  It was nice that about half the campers at the campground were in tents and the rest were in pop ups or 5th wheels.  I don't believe there were any RVs, or an extensive number of 5th wheel trailers, because there weren't cement slabs to park on or water/sewage hookups at the individual camp sites.  It was a nice environment for tent camping.

Portage Lake has a "no alcohol" policy which I would have hated a few years ago but now that I'm a dad with preschoolers tagging along really made our trip more fun and peaceful than it could have been if we'd been situated with rowdy drinkers spending the weekend partying outdoors.  The campground was mostly populated by families with grade school age children and seniors which made for a relaxing laid back getaway.  I have to give the DNR kudos too because the bathrooms were really clean ... the showers might even have been cleaner than the one at our house.  There was a nice playscape walking distance from our tent plus a great beach just a little further down the trail.  Also the park has a volunteer family, some retired seniors, who stay there and keep an eye on things and provide people with a library of books or games like bean bag toss or checkers that you can borrow from them.  There are several volunteer families who each serve a month at a time at the campground.  The guy during our stay was very friendly and road his bike around the campground several times a day to keep tabs on things and introduce himself to everyone.  I really appreciated that extra personal touch as an effort to make sure people's visits were top notch.

The only incident we had during our trip was a raid one evening by some raccoons of our picnic table.  My wife woke me up around 1am in the morning saying she heard something outside the tent.  I went out to shoo them away but they pretty much just ignored me so I went back to bed (fortunately we had stored our food and garbage in the car so there was nothing for them to really get into, though one rubbed its ass all over our frying pan on the camping stove-yuck!) Here's a picture taken by my wife from INSIDE our tent while I was OUTSIDE fending off the great raccoon invasion of 2013:

We had a fun time and will definitely be going on another family camping adventure soon. If you are looking to go camping in southern Michigan I absolutely recommend you check out the campgrounds at the Waterloos State Recreation Area.

Is the Italian Stallion coming back for a 7th movie?

Word on the street is that Rocky Balboa ( aka Sylvester Stallone ) will be returning to the big screen for his 7th movie appearance.  The upcoming movie though won't be called ROCKY 7 but rather "CREED".  It appears the premise for the movie is that Rocky played by 67 year old Stallone will train Apollo Creed's grandson to be a "fighter".

If you recall Rocky & Apollo duked it out in Rocky 1 & 2, Creed trained Balboa in Rocky 3 to go against Mr T in the ring, and than Apollo was killed by the menacing cold war Russian boxer in Rocky 4 motivating the Italian Stallion to get back in the ring. Than there was the horrible Rocky 5 where the broke mentally impaired Rocky had a street fight with a punk he was training to be a contender followed by Rocky 6 which seems to forget about Rocky 5 ever being made and got  Stallone back in the ring to fight the current heavy weight champ who is mad that a video game ranks Rocky as a better fighter than him.  Balboa loses in Rocky 6 but everyone loves him for putting up a good fight that embarrasses his opponent.  So Rocky 6 made up for the horrible ending that Rocky 5 left the franchise with and most of us thought the Italian Stallion would be put to pasture.

Nope not just yet as Rocky 7 ( aka CREED ) moves forward with production which looks to be the movie Rocky 5 should have been.  What has caught by interest about this new movie is the actor the producers want to portray Apollo Creed's grandson, Michael B. Jordon.  I recognized the name from his role on the tv series "Friday Night Lights" where he did a nice job playing the role of high school quarterback Vince Howard, a troubled youth who becomes a blue chip prospect and state champion.  More recently he has received great reviews for his portrayal of Oscar Grant III in the movie Fruitvale Station. Could this young energetic and charismatic star reinvigorate the Rocky franchise?

What do you think should the Rocky story continue on the big screen or is it time to put it to rest?

Get a FREE book for your Child each Month from Birth to 5 Yrs Old - Courtesy of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

From the first month we brought our kids home from the hospital after being born to today we've received a FREE book each month delivered in our mail courtesy of .... Dolly Parton.

The Country signer's Imagination Library has selected 60 books that they provide through partnerships with local charitable groups across the country to encourage parents to read to their young children for 15 minutes every day over the course of 5 yrs. If your community has a participating program (rules vary from program to program in some cases you just have to sign up and in other cases their are income/need criteria or programs you need to participate in to qualify) your child will receive a different book each month (specifically selected for suitability for your child's particular age level each month throughout the program) from birth until they turn 5 years old for a total of 60 books in all during that time span.

We've received some great books through this program such as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "Where the Wild Things Are", Little Monkey Lost", "My Lucky Day", "The Little Engine That Could", and "If I Built a Car" among others.   The goal of the program is to encourage parents to regularly read to their children from newborns until they reach kindergarten for 15 minutes a day to promote early brain development and an appreciation of reading with children.

Why is reading to kids so important? According to the non-profit group Read Aloud: 15 MINUTES:

Forty million children will be born in the United States over the next decade. If something does not change, 15 million of those children will not be ready when kindergarten rolls around. The 15 MINUTES Movement aims to turn daily reading aloud for 15 minutes from a recommendation into a parenting must.
Why is reading aloud so important?

• Brain development – Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. From birth to age 3 are critical years for the development of language skills that are the foundation for future learning success.

• Language – The number of words that a child knows when he or she enters kindergarten is the most important predictor of a child’s success or failure. Reading aloud grows your child’s vocab and introduces many words and concepts that you might not use in everyday conversation.

• Literacy Skills – Vocabulary, phonics, familiarity with the printed word, storytelling, comprehension. Reading aloud is invaluable for building these skills.

• Bonding – Reading with a child in your lap is some primo bonding time.

• Love of Reading – Parents that read aloud are demonstrating that reading is important, pleasurable and valuable.

• Knowledge – Books have information! You and your child can learn something new when you read aloud.

Nearly half of America’s children are not read aloud to everyday. If your child is not reading at grade-level by the end of first grade, there is an 88 percent chance that they will still be behind in fourth grade. This can lead to a disheartened and frustrated child, who feels that they are constantly having to catch up.
By age 4, children who are read aloud to regularly have heard an average of 32 million more words than children who are not. 

Reading aloud 15 MINUTES is the simplest and most effective way to help our children be ready for a lifetime of learning.

For more information about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library or to to find a participating program serving your neighborhood, visit:  http://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/find_my_affiliate.php#.Ue6JAozD-M8

This has been a great program for our family to participate in courtesy of our local United Way & I'd encourage you to check it out if you have young children in your household.

It's Official - Angry Birds Star Wars 2 Game Launching on September 19, 2013!

Rovio, the publisher of Angry Birds games announced today that it is launching a brand new Star Wars featured one on September 19, 2013.  Angry Birds: Star Wars 2 will have a prequel trilogy theme with over 30 characters from Episodes I - III of the movies to choose from while playing the game.  This time around though, you don't necessarily have to be the good guys as you can choose sides ... you can join the "Pork Side" in this game!  There will be lots of new characters, powers and locations to crash in this sequel (or is it a prequel?) game to the popularly successful Angry Birds: Star Wars which has garnered more than 100 million downloads since in launched last year.

Also taking a cue from the successful Skylanders games by Activision this new Angry Bird game will also feature in partnership with Hasbro introducing a new element called Telepods.  Hasbro will create a line of 30 Star Wars Telepod toy figures that you can scan into the game through your phone or tablet camera so that you can select which characters to use based upon the figurines you have purchased.  My kids aren't into Skylanders but from talking to the parents of some of their friends these are a very popular mix of video games with toys with many children. Skylanders are toy action figures that you purchase and than can scan them into action adventure video games as characters in the game play. They give collectors some control over which characters they incorporate into their games. This element seems very interesting but a side of me also goes oh no cha ching more dough my kids are going to want to spend from my wallet.  Of course, I have to admit if the figures and game are cool enough it might be their geek dad pushing the purchase of a Telepod collection.

Check out this video for more information or visit the Rovio blog:

For those of us playing the current Angry Birds: Star Wars game, Rovio also announced that it will soon be coming out with  RETURN OF THE JEDI updates containing locations and characters from that movie for the existing app.  I foresee Jabba and Ewoks piggies & birdies crashing into the original game in the next few weeks.  Earlier this year Rovio expanded on the game by adding characters from Empire Strikes Back to those already in the game from A New Hope. Obviously a Return of the Jedi update had to be in the works at some point too going with the original trilogy theme of this game.

If you haven't played Angry Birds: Star Wars yet than you might want to download it now as it FREE  for a limited time for Iphone/Ipad & Android users.  I've posted the links in this previous article: http://ageekdaddy.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-angry-birds-star-wars-game-sequel.html

New Angry Birds STAR WARS game sequel (or is it a prequel?) is on its way!

I have to admit I was a skeptic when game developer ROVIO launched ANGRY BIRDS: STAR WARS that it was just a cheesy marketing gimmick to entice a new group of people to check out their product.  Despite that hesitancy, I paid .99 cents to download the game for my iPhone to check it out.  Wow was my initial view of the game wrong!  Rovio did an extraordinary job of creating a fun and challenging game that incorporated Star Wars locations and characters into the Angry Birds universe in a way that is humorous but not downgrading.  I find myself playing Angry Birds:Star Wars a lot when I have downtime and just want to sit back and relax for a moment.  What is nice about the game too is that I have no qualms about letting my young children play it - family friendly games are always a plus in our household.

Based on the success of ANGRY BIRDS: STAR WARS, Rovio will soon be launching a sequel (or will it be a prequel?) Star Wars game.  They posted this teaser on their blog on Saturday, July 13 and will be making an official announcement on Monday, July 15:

Based upon a movie poster from Star Wars Episode 1, you can only assume that the new game will be focused on the first 3 (or are they the last 3?) Star Wars movies.  Rovio in it's blog post states:

BIG news coming on Monday!

12.07.2013

Attention, Angry Birds fans! Stay tuned on Monday, July 15th, for big news about a brand new game! We’re talking the biggest character line-up ever, awesome new powers, and maybe even a few surprises! Intrigued? Stay tuned for more news on #July15!

Here's the original Star Wars poster that Rovio spoofed:

The original Angry Birds: Star Wars game has done a great job of introducing updates with extra locations and characters but have been all from A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back so far.  They do need to add some Return of the Jedi to the game though.  So while they have incorporated elements from these films they don't have the characters and locals from the "prequel" movies.  I thought they may do this as updates to the current game but instead it appears there will now be a brand new game.  We'll know more on #July15!

If you haven't played Angry Birds: Star Wars the game is now FREE for a limited time for Android and IOS users. Enjoy!!!

CLICK HERE for the iPad version.

CLICK HERE for the iPhone version.

CLICK HERE for the Android versions.

GI JOE - A REAL AMERICAN HERO

I remember being in elementary school and running home from the bus stop to make sure I didn't miss a minute of the GI JOE animated series on TV.  At that age I was playing with the toys, reading the comic books and watching every episode of a show were the majority of the dialogue was the phrase "yo joe!" ... and I loved every minute of it!  This was during the first few years of when the toy line was reintroduced in the 1980s (they had been sold in the 60s & 70s looking more like guy Barbie dolls with beards and guns before being turned into "action figures" in the 80s) when there was a focus on some level of military realism with the brand.  The GI JOE of my youth had an infantry man "Grunt", a radio operator "Breaker", a ranger "Striker", a bazooka soldier "Zap", and a Commando named "Snake Eyes" that wore traditional military uniforms and used weapons you'd think real soldiers might be using in combat at the time.  The GI JOE characters evolved over time so that the characters became more fantastic and scifi-ish.  Unfortunately, the toys I see at the store now don't resemble anything that I relate to when thinking of GI JOE.

I came across this video that provides a great overview of the "original 13" which are the characters I associate with GI JOE from my childhood.  Check this out:

I have some hope though for a renewed development of the GI JOE franchise after reading IDW Publishing's  new monthly comic book series that debuted this year.  The GI JOE of my youth was a clandestine force of the best soldiers in the U.S. military taking on the threat of a secret international terrorist organization called COBRA.  IDW has modernized GI JOE for today's times.  COBRA doesn't lurk in the shadows anymore in this new adaptation but is rather a household name for the atrocities it has committed.  GI JOE is public now too.  Everyone knows about GI JOE and the military uses them as a promotional tool to gain public support and recruits.  The leader of GI JOE actually says that they will be using their likenesses and stories for toys, comic books and movies to promote the military.  A fun nod to the toy line and this new comic book series.

The new comic book series keeps some of the classic cheesiness of GI JOE of old though.  For example, the only person to die when the Joes' helicopter is shot down is the soldier wearing a parachute.  One of the bad guys controls crocodiles who he sicks on people.  Cobra's vehicles look more like toys than realistic fighting machines.  That being said, the new comic books have great art work and nice scripting to make them a fun and enjoyable read for both kids today and their 40 year old dads who enjoyed GI JOE when they were kids.  The artwork provides the feel of watching the story as an animated tv show as you read through it enhancing the enjoyment of your reading experience.

There were some interesting takes on bringing GI JOE into modern times that caught my eye while reading the first 5 issues of this new series.  GI JOE is exposed to the public by a "wikipedia leak"; a blogger who heavily uses twitter is added to the GI JOE team as an embedded journalist; and the character ShipWreck has the real life parrot that used to accompany him replaced by a mini-drone called a parrot designed to provide surveillance, scouting and communications support.

If you've missed out on the first monthly issues of GI JOE from IDW PUBLISHING they have compiled the first five into a graphic novel titled GI JOE/VOLUME 1: HOMEFRONT that will be available for purchase soon. Here's the link to it on Amazon where it is available for pre-order:  http://www.amazon.com/G-I-JOE-Volume-1-Homefront/dp/1613777051/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

Here's a preview of some of the pages you'll find in GI JOE/VOLUME 1: HOMEFRONT.  On a final note I just feel the need to yell out "Yo Joe!"

DISCLAIMER:  I received a limited use digital pdf copy of GI JOE/VOLUME 1: HOMEFRONT to use for this review from the publisher.  I did not receive any compensation for this post and the thoughts/opinions in it are my own.