First training run complete

Tonight I went out for a run. The start of many over the next few months to gain the stamina and strength to compete in the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers on October 13, 2012.

What I looked like not long into my first run

Since knowing my area where I live, I had a good idea of the route that I would take and a semi-rough estimate of the distance. I thought this would be a good start to see how I can do. I have done this same type of route many times before but only walking with the dog. The route works out to be 2.65KM's, I know this does not sound like much, but for someone who has never done this before, it feels like death.

After this first run though, I have quickly learned a few different things:

1. Do not go for a run shortly after eating dinner. It causes food bouncing around your stomach and causing you to nearly barf multiple times;
2. Bring water. I did not and I really could have used some shortly into the run. It felt like I was breathing fire;
3. I will need to get a new good pair of running sneakers sometime soon, my older daily use ones are not the greatest.

I am using an Android app called Endomondo to track my training to give me route stats, time among other things. It seems to work fine and I love how it talks to you during your run to give you updates. On the right side of this page you can see my past runs and how I have been doing in my training. Click on any of the runs to see a map and more details of the run.

Remember I am doing this to raise money for kids cancer research and you can always donate. The more donations the better to keep me motivated. Read more about the run and visit the Sears page to sponsor me!

My new motto

Android app Review #2: Google Currents

Google Currents is a news reader with a twist. News organizations or anyone for that matter can create their own customized Currents portal that users can add to the Currents app, but users can also add their own RSS feeds. I have been using the Currents app for about 4 months now. It was first only available to the US but in recent weeks has opened up to a whole new list of countries including Canada. It is available on Android and Apple devices.

I am a news junkie and have been looking for a good useful news app for some time now. I have tried Pulse, News Republic and a few others but they all have been off the mark.

• Pulse seems to be pre-installed on a lot of devices but its layout is a bit lacking when trying to view the news you want.
• News Republic allows you to select topics and it will provide you with news results, not allowing you to add your own sources. 

 

Google Currents has mainly US news sources right now for you to pre-select, I think this is mainly that it has not been available in other countries for too long. But don’t fret, it is as easy as adding a RSS feed and the Currents app will create a nice looking edition for you. News, Sports and everyday users can just visit the Google Publisher and create their own custom Google Currents edition to publish on Google and their website. It took me 15 minutes to create a Google Currents edition for myself. You can use the Currents publisher and add different elements to it and it will all get updated when anything changes on your sites. I have added my blog, Google+ Feed, Twitter Feed, Picasa Photos and a few other things. Anytime the Adam Sooley Current edition is opened it syncs for the newest information. Since Google Currents is linked to your Google account, all devices you have will be synced with the same sources.

Add my Google Currents Edition or browse some editions online.

Overall the Google Currents app does everything I need it to do for a news app and in a clean, intuitive way. Download it now from Google Play for Android or iPad and iPhone.

Visit the Google Currents homepage.