Happy Birthday to me...

Last weekend I had a birthday party with friends.  It was kind strange for me because I generally don't like to do stuff before my birthday.  However, schedules are what they are and this was the most opportune time.

I got an awesome Batman cake.  It was homemade even better!  Sorry bakery cakes can't compete flavor wise with a good homemade cake.

I also got a couple of great running related gifts.  I will discuss them more later because I haven't been able to use them yet.

One is a Camelbak Mini Mule hydration pack.  This one was hand picked by my good friends Dave and Jess.  They are aware of my running and are accustomed to the insane summer heat and humidity in Arkansas so this is the perfect gift.  Besides the hydration bladder it also has enough room for cellphone, gels, a small camera, cash or whatever.  It even has the front chest strap for comfort.  As next January rolls around and I'm looking at 20 mile runs I think this might be my new best friend.  Sunday is my actual birthday so I'm going to run 9 miles on the 39th birthday.  I'm looking forward to trying the pack out.

                                       
The other amazingly thoughtful gift was a pair of Motorola SD-10 bluetooth headphones.

                                                               Like dees ones.                                     

I am planning a phone upgrade in the next couple of weeks.  Almost certainly a windows 7 Samsung Focus.  It integrates my Zune software with a smart phone ( I hope I'm smart enough to use it).  Anyhoo, Microsoft say they aren't making Zunes anymore so I figure upgrade the memory on the phone and use it  double duty music player and phone.  I realize I'm not the first to come up with this idea.  With the Bluetooth headphones shown above I can listen to music while running and make and receive calls as well.

My lovely wife loves the idea of being able to get a hold of me in case of emergency.  I like that aspect as well but I have to admit part of me like the thought of being in my own head a bit without the interruption.  It's a trade off accept the possibility of the unimportant interruption to be able to receive the important message.

Update on the Vibrams:  I've worn them on 3 runs so far.  Recapping- first run was a 2 miler on Wednesday.  After this first run my calves were pretty sore.  The second run was the following Sunday (much sooner than they recommend starting off) 2.25 miles.  After the second run my calves were fine so the third run was 1 week exactly to the first.  I ran 3 miles the following Wednesday (yesterday).  Today my calves are fine everything's groovy.  I intend to wear them for a 5k this Saturday.

I'll post on how that goes and family bday party we're having tonight.