HALLOWEEN 2012

The New York City Marathon will be on as scheduled this Sunday and Halloween was on as well, in New York City at least, minus the parade in Greenwich Village.  It is sad that many people continue to suffer the consequence of Hurricane Sandy, but we need to get back to our normal lives as much as possible.  I will donate some to charity and plan to donate some time by volunteering, as well.  For today, for a few hours, I took my son and other kids out trick-or-treating.

My son, with a big smile, is on the right with the Minecraft "Steve" boxy head.  I made it from, well, a box.  Most kids on the street recognized the costume and happily shouted "Minecraft".  On the other hand, most adults, ignorant as they were, saw the costume as "blockhead" or "box-head".

A kid with a bought Minecraft costume posed with my guy, with my less expensive home-brewn design.  I don't know how the bought costume fare, but mine has a helmet mounted inside and attached to the outer box so that son could move his head up and down without it dropping off.

It gets hot and itchy after a while so my son would take off the boxy head.  Holding it is somewhat awkward so after a while I just wore it.

Minecraft Steve and Little Mario.

I told my son to smile for the camera but he did not.

Minecraft Steve with his loot.  The house still did not have full power and my old camera's flash is not working so the photo is not bright enough.

Son with his loot.

HURRICANE SANDY, THE AFTERMATH

Hurricane Sandy has come and gone.  I am glad to report that my family and I made it out OK.  The worst for us was a trash-strewn front yard, some debris in the backyard, one night of no power, and, it appears, one day of partial power.  We lost power around 6 PM on Monday then it came back on around 9 AM Tuesday but shortly afterward power was gone for certain parts of the house.  Kitchen, with the refrigerator, has power, all living room lights have no power, but the main TV and its FiOS box have power.  Internet router did not have power but relocating its plug to a nearby wall outlet and all is well again.  I confirmed with some neighbors on the block and the same thing happened to them.  I suppose Con Edison cut back on power distribution so that everyone has some to use.

After a late lunch I ventured outside to see what happened to the neighborhood.  The wind had decreased much and it was only drizzling rain.  Not too far away at Benson and Bay 40 was the first uprooted tree I saw.  A few meters away an evergreen tree in someone's backyard was also tipped over.  Benson Avenue was not open to traffic.

A block away on Bath Avenue near the bus depot was another tree downed, also blocking the avenue. I continued my way toward Calvert Vaux Park then made it over the footbridge to Dreier Offerman Park.  Calvert Vaux Park did pretty well, only a few big branches broken here and there, no big trees were toppled.  But then again, the park is relatively new, whatever big trees, if there were any, would have been bulldozed to make room for the soccer fields etc.

Benson Avenue between Bay 40th Street and 25th Avenue was closed to traffic.

Uprooted tree blocking Benson Avenue in Bath Beach, Brooklyn.

On the same block a few meters away a tree in someone's yard tipped onto the street.

Bath Avenue between 25th Avenue and Bay 40th Street was also blocked.

On 26th Avenue near Harway Aveneu, a tree was ripped apart.

A small tree blocked part of Shore Parkway near Bay 44th Street.

Calvert Vaux Park fared pretty well.

There were a few broken branches in Calvert Vaux Park.

A white van with Jersey plate near Dreier Offerman Park was crushed by a tree that was snapped near its base.

See https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5805218577016790833?authkey=CLjFsI_VgOvN8wE for more photos of the devastation in the Bath Beach, Brooklyn area.

HoBOOken 5K 2012

Listen to the Hula Guy, runners, and turn right from Sinatra Drive!

Ah, the plans of mice and men.  Originally I was going to register to run in the HoBOOken 5K with my friend Johnny.  It would be his first race so I thought he could use the support.  Then I became unemployed so I did not register and saved the $27 fee.  I still want to be there for Johnny so volunteering for the event was the next best thing.

Knowing PATH train's annoying weekend routes, I gave myself plenty of time to make the trek from Brooklyn to Hoboken.  In the past, when I needed to go from 34th Street to Newport, there would be no direct train going that way.  You would have to go to Hoboken and wait five or more minutes then you would be transported to Newport.  Today I needed to be in Hoboken but made the mistake of trying to get there via the World Trade Center station.  You guessed it, no direct train to Hoboken.  I would have to go take the Newark train to Grove Street then change switch to the other direction.  I had plenty of time and wanted to log in some distance for Team Luau in Charity Miles, so I got off at Exchange Place instead and walked about 1.7 miles, mostly along the Jersey City waterfront, to get to Hoboken.  Us runners don't mind long walks.

I visited the volunteer sign-in booth to add my name to the list and got a green event T-shirt, supposedly same design as the runners' but theirs is white.  It was only 8ish and the race was scheduled for 10, so we had a little time to get to know each other over coffee and such in a Starbucks at 12th and Hudson Streets.  It was a Halloween/costumed race, everyone, runners and volunteers/staff were to dress up.  I didn't have anything on me and took a hula before leaving Starbucks to report to my post at Mile 2, which was also something like 3/4 Mile.  I checked Facebook regularly for news from Johnny but there was no indication he made it to the registration area, which was Pier A in Hoboken.  I gave him my cell phone but there was no calls from him either.

Before long the lead runners appeared.  Along with another volunteer, I directed the runners to turn right from Sinatra Drive into Maxwell Park.  Johnny or not, I also started snapping photos of the runners.  My volunteer partner told me that there were 1,500 or so runners but soon they all streamed past my post, with a police car bringing up the rear.  Silly me, I thought there would be a few waves of runners, but I guess 1,500 is not that big a number.  On the way out, my post is like 3/4 or 0.75 mile from the start.  The runners would run along the water in Maxwell Park and further north then eventually return to my post, Sinatra Drive, to reach Mile 2.  I only had to turn around to snap some more photos.  Again the runners ran past but no sign of Johnny anywhere.  Later on I found out he left his phone in the car and did run, with a good finish time, too.  Oh well, Johnny or not, it was a good day to be out volunteering and cheering the runners!  Check out their/your photos at

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5804102230185520353

TWENTY MILES TO CHARITY MILES

With two weeks to go until the New York City Marathon, everywhere I read the message is "taper off".  No more long-distance runs, just maintenance workouts to keep thing moving.  Don't race, don't risk getting yourself hurt.  But I haven't done my 20-mile run recently!  I am not really following any training plan anyway, so my plan, if it can be called as such, is to do a 20-mile run THEN taper off.  I really admire people who follow the various plans out there exactly.

My plan for today was to run 20 miles then join a Charity Miles group walk departing from Times Square.  In the past, my 20-mile run consisted of running from Brooklyn, in the Coney Island area, toward or into Manhattan.  The first time I carried out a 20-mile run, I didn't have a GPS watch and prepared for it by using the measuring tool on DailyMile.com.  I ran mostly along the D train's elevated tracks then along Fifth Avenue toward Manhattan Bridge.  I entered Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge, before the sun came up, and returned to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge, then traced my way back to Bath Beach.  More recently, in preparation for the Yonkers Marathon, I ran with a Garmin and went along the Belt Parkway waterfront then Second Avenue, followed by Third Avenue then along the BQE but on the waterfront, with Brooklyn Bridge Park being the turning-back point.  The duration for both occasions were a little over four hours.  I am a slow runner.

For today's run, by the time I got into Manhattan, I already covered more than ten miles and realized I was far less than ten miles from Times Square.  I was in Chinatown and planned to get to the West Side Highway to go uptown along the waterfront.  There are twenty Manhattan blocks to a mile, so Times Square, being around 42nd Street is at least two miles away.  Tack on the non-number streets from the Village to Chinatown, at most it would be another two miles.  Since I had to get from the Manhattan Bridge to the West Side Highway then cut cross-town to get to Times Square, surely there would be a few more miles?  Once I got to the West Side Highway, I didn't worry about the mileage.  The sun was out, the weather was beautiful, I shed the top outer layer and ran in shirt and shorts only.  At Chelsea Pier, I followed a runner and made a big loop around the golf driving range.  I don't get to run on the west side of Manhattan much.  The last time I did I ran south from 72nd Street and supposedly had to share the road with cyclists.  Today I followed other runners and was able to run mostly along the waterfront, where most cyclists did not venture to.  One of these days I must run all the way up past the George Washington Bridge and loop over to the east side.  For today, I ran cross-town at 45th Street, not 42nd Street, because I wanted to avoid all the tourists.  By the time I got to the Tasti D-Lite in Times Square to meet other Charity Miles participants, I got 25 km, or about 17 miles, covered.  If I had more time or were able to run faster, I probably could have included all the finger piers, i.e. those long piers that jutted out in the Hudson River, along the way to get to 20 miles, or more.

In today's social networks, most of the time we "meet" people online (in cyberspace) and not in real life, aka meatspace.  I got to know the Facebook friend M., denoted below as a caricature I drew last night, through a word game.  She got me into using Charity Miles to raise money for charities while out running/walking/cycling.  The app Charity Miles is available for iOS and Android.  I still haven't met M. but today I got to meet the founder of Charity Miles, Gene Gurkoff, and as a bonus, his mother Stevi.  Besides having a face to go with the names, we got to talk about a few topics to find out more about each other.  In the group of twenty or so walkers, there were visitors as well as NYC residents.  Among the visitors were AKStout and Deb Evans of the online radio show, Social Geek Radio.  Both AK and Deb love the apps and got Gene onto the show a few times and today they flew in from Texas and Baltimore to do walk.  They sure talk the talk and walk the walk, no?  The group went to Central Park and made stops at Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick Cathedral (which was covered by scaffolds), and the Plaza Hotel.  I had other matters to attend to and couldn't stay for the entire 6.5-mile walk and took off shortly after we entered the park.

By the time we got to Central Park, I got about 2 miles on my Android phone and decided to play safe and finished the workout.  Maybe it's just my FroYo Android phone, I always have troubles accepting sponsorship for the miles.  During the Staten Island Half-Marathon two weeks ago, I got about 6 miles recorded but then somehow the app died and I had to restart all over.  I only got a few Charity miles out of the 13.1-mile race. When it successfully records the workout, it rarely ever uploads the data without requiring me to power off the phone and turn it back on, sometimes with having WiFi enabled and then disabled.  The error message is that there was no Internet connection, although other 'Net-centric apps like Facebook and Mail would work just fine.  Gene told me that a new update is coming soon, so perhaps the issue will go away.

M recently got into running and dieting, which resulted in lots of weight loss.

Moi, Stevi, and Gene.  Colorful shirts we got, I must say!

BUGGY LICENSE...

I have heard of the car-counting game, to pass the time on long road trips, but only in recent years that I knew about the car game involving Volkswagen Bug.  The goal of the game is to spot the Volkswagen Bug on the street and quickly say "Buggy license, no punch back!" then punch a person near you in the arm.  Punch lightly, hopefully.  The "No punch back" clause supposedly prevents the victim from hitting back.  My tween son plays with his cousins regularly, not as often as before since some of the older cousins are, well, older now and don't play kiddie games as much.  I still play with my son, especially during trips home from swimming.  About a block from where I live there is a gray Volkswagen Bug that appears almost at the same corner every time we pass by.  As my car approaches the corner, I would drive slower and hum the two notes of the title tune for Inception, a favorite movie of my son's, and maneuver my hand to get ready to lightly punch him in the calf, or whichever body part I can reach.  He usually knows what's going to happen and avoids my deadly fist and ends up winning.

I often wonder what will happen if a teacher takes a class full of kids to a Volkswagen Bug factory or dealership...

FINGERS EXERCISE

And now for something completely different... a cartoon!  Lately, I've written mostly about my running routines.  I want to present a variety of topics so let's introduce something completely different.  At one time, I drew a new cartoon almost every week to entertain my co-workers.  There was a hiatus then I started drawing for ATPM.com, almost monthly.  Something else happened and I barely drew anything  for a long time... until this week.  Portrait/caricature is usually a challenge for me so I asked my Facebook friends to volunteer.  I got one and here's the end product.  It was drawn on a white board with wet-erase markers, then captured with a phone camera and cropped slightly to remove the easel border.

NYRR GRETE'S GREAT GALLOP HALF-MARATHON 2012

Is greed good?  I don't think so, but for today's Grete's Great Gallop Half-Marathon I wished that I would further break the new P.R. achieved in Staten Island just a week ago.  The route consisted of two big loops of NYC's crown jewel Central Park, clockwise.  Before the race, a friend from PPTC told me that the Central Park course was tougher than Staten Island Half's.  That didn't stop me from wanting to break the one-week old P.R. of 2:14:39.

The Great Gallop is probably one of the few, if not only one, NYRR races that does not start early, say 8 AM.  It was a family event with the Great Gallop being the third of three events so it started at 10:30 AM.  I still prepared everything the night before and left the house in the morning at 8ish.  Getting bagel and coffee for breakfast put me in the subway station near my house around 8:30.  In Manhattan, the D train ran on 8th Avenue instead of its usual 6th Avenue route.  I was going to get off at Columbus Circle anyway and walk the mile or so to the race area, us runners don't mind walking.  However, since the D ran on the A train's route, making all local stops, it dropped me right at 72nd Street and Central Park West, perfect.  Another good thing with having another race before the race I registered for is that there was a whole bank of portable johns with no lines.  To make sure I won't need to go during the race, I visited the much less crowded bank of johns on the West Drive a few times during the down time before the race.

At the Great Gallop in 2011, I had a compression pants and perhaps two layers of shirts.  I recall some runner remarked to me, somewhere between Mile 12 and 13.1, "You must be burning in all those clothes."  I already used bag check that day to shed a sweater but was still wearing more than necessary. After all the races in the past two years, it finally dawned on me that I get hot easily and don't need anything more than a singlet and a running shorts.  It helped in Staten Island and I hoped it would too in Central Park.

As usual, I was in the last corral, labeled 9000+.  I think the race was not sold-out so during the singing of the national anthem the runners in the back were able to move up to the 6000 corral.  It still took me about ten minutes to cross the starting line.  Funny thing is during the wait I found myself standing right next to a man I stood next to at the Bronx 10-Miler in early September.  We had a brief chat then and today, too.  Small world, eh?  Not only that, I also recognized two other people I photographed at the NYCRUNS.COM Narrows Half in late September.  One of them had the clever writing on his yellow shirt that read "Here's my number", right above his bib.  Admit it, you were thinking, "Call me, maybe", were you not?  The other person I recalled well because at check-in for the Narrows Half, he said loudly that he was never that late.  Sure enough, he was the few late-runners after most people already passed the start mat.  In these races with thousands of people, what's the chance of seeing three people I saw before, eh?  Actually, make that four, as I saw the 74-year-old Mr. James Lu while chatting with other PPTC members before the race, but he has his unique looks that cannot be missed.

So off we went round and round Central Park, which has only Harlem Hill and Cat Hill, no?  Or so I thought.  Even right off at the beginning, at Mile 1, which would be Miles 7 and 13 as well, there was a hill.  Then there was some other hills before we got to Harlem Hill.  I did take full advantage of the down-hills to speed up.  Around Mile 4, the lead runners started to pass us slow runners.  I think around that time I had my first Gu, too, without water.  I already had the urge to go early in the race so to be safe I only had a sip or two of water at two of the stations.  It worked out that I had two more Gu's, one at Mile 8 and another at Mile 11.  Having the third Gu helped me run faster for the finish line.  However, with the finish line in sight, I actually felt something in my chest and had to slow down.  Maybe I should have brought along the chest monitor that I rarely used.  I still resumed sprinting once the finish mat came into view and luckily didn't have any discomfort.  2:15:28.  Not better than Staten Island's 2:14:39, but certainly better than the 2:27:56 at last year's Great Gallop, same course, of course. 

STATEN ISLAND ON MY MIND

The biggest ferris wheel in the world.  The missing link of the Harbor Ring.  A half-marathon where I achieved a new personal record (PR).  Staten Island has been on my mind of late.  Like many New Yorkers, I don't spend much time on Staten Island.  It is expensive to get to.  It is not convenient to get to.  But I tried.  Years ago in high school I actually purposely signed up with WalkAmerica to walk in Staten Island, just to get a better perspective of this oft-ignored NYC borough.  I don't remember much about that walk, unfortunately.  But I came back to Staten Island again and again.  Not counting those times when I drive on the clogged I-278 to get to New Jersey.

This past Sunday, for the NYRR Staten Island Half-Marathon, I arrived in St. George ferry terminal early enough to snap a few photos of the nearby area.  It was my third or fourth time, in recent years, at St. George but I didn't have the time to look around, until Sunday.  Below are some photos from the visit, mostly of the 9/11 Memorial, but also one photo from another visit.  On that visit, I purposely went to Staten Island to visit Snug Harbor's Chinese Scholar Garden and South Beach.  If some day the Verrazano Bridge actually has a bike/walk lane, I will definitely visit Staten Island more often, or at least the South Beach area.

9/11 Memorial looking north.

Only when I took this photo did I realize the pieces are profiles of people's faces, perhaps in the likeness of the victims associated to the pieces.

From a summer visit to Staten Island.  I often saw South Beach across the water from Fort Hamilton and finally made a trip there.

BASED ON THIS PHOTO INSIDE ST. GEORGE FERRY TERMINAL, TRUE OR FALSE, STATE ISLAND IS THE ONLY NYC BOROUGH NOT SERVICED BY SUBWAY?

NYRR Staten Island Half-Marathon 2012

Somehow I had the feeling that I would achieve a personal record (P.R.) at the NYRR Staten Island Half-Marathon 2012.  It was the first race I ran after becoming unemployed.  I had some extra time to run more often and longer, usually in the morning, with the afternoons spent on tweaking resume, submitting it to job engines etc.  The cool weather, below 80° with no sun, helped, even if it was no where near the 9°F that helped me PR at the Manhattan Half-Marathon in 2011.  For that race, I dressed in layers, with gloves, and was soaked in sweat by the time I finished, in 2 hours and 23 minutes.  I had to run continuously, both to save time and also because I had not discovered on-the-run nutrition.  For today's race, by race time I only had one layer, a singlet and a running shorts, with the long-sleeved layers with baggage check.  Usually I don't eat at all before a race, but since there was much time available, while waiting for the ferry I had a bagel and coffee.  Better training, cool weather, fewer clothes to better dissipate the heat, and pre-race nutrition, all that combined to get me to have a P.R. of 2:14:39, nine minutes from my previous P.R.

The night before, I got everything ready.  D-tag wrapped around left shoelace, bib pinned to the Prospect Park Track Club singlet, cell phone and GPS watch fully charged, eyeglass case, home keys, some money, MetroCard, Gu packs etc stuffed into a fanny pack that I will wear across my chest.  For the pre-race down time in the cold, I set aside an outer layer of long-sleeved garments.

The day started early at 4:30 AM and I was out the door by 5.  I got to the ferry terminal before 6 and would catch a 6 AM ferry, per the schedule on the wall, but the P.A. said the next ferry would be at 6:30.  I had time to go grab an everything bagel, toasted with cream cheese, and a large coffee with milk and sugar.  By the time ferry-boarding was allowed, I was mostly done with breakfast.  In Staten Island, I had time to go the restroom then spent about an hour inside the warmer St. George Terminal.  Out on the waterfront, I had some time to take photos Manhattan Island then the 9/11 Memorial.  Last year I only had time to check the bag and jumped into the race some time after most runners were already left the corrals.  This year, I had time to remove the outer layer of clothes to check them and even went back to the ferry terminal to use the restroom a few more times.  During such a trip, I met Mr. James Lu, a local runner who is regularly seen at NYRR races and well-known for his handbells and for starting to run late in his 60s.

Mr. James Lu, the venerable late-stage runner.  Near his left hand are the hand-bells he is well-known for.

Early in the race, I saw that I was running at about 6:23 minute per kilometer.  That's a bit fast compared to the usual 7:xx I maintain during the almost-daily workout.  I didn't want to lose steam so I actually slowed down but somehow I was still going sub-6:xx min/km.  Probably the excitement of running in a big group.  At one point, the right knee felt weird, just briefly, while at some other point, in the first few miles, the left calf felt a little tinkling, so I had to slow even further, both to avoid any cramps and to avoid injury before the New York City Marathon mere weeks away (on November 4th)

I normally consume a Gu pack every hour, instead of the recommended 45 minutes.  I was going to go with the recommended time but still end up missing actually having a Gu at around 53 minutes into the race, around Mile #5.  Just before that I discovered my right shoelace was loose so I had to stop to re-tie it.  Since I already stopped and a water station was visible, I had the first Gu then, washed down with Gatorade and water.  On the way out to the turnaround mark, about 7 miles out, I looked for fellow PPTC runners to give them a shout-out.  I purposely stayed near the median of Frank Cappodono Boulevard to better spot any PPTC runners but without my glasses I probably missed a few.  Some I caught in time as we passed each other and I was able to greet them loudly, other times they recognized me first and we just waved.  The "game" helped me get to the turnaround mark quickly.  It was already past Mile 7!

I recall last year around Mile 8 the runners entered Fort Wadsworth  then exited onto Bay Street.  For whatever reason, this year we ran along the outside of the fort.  The hill at Mile 8 was brutal but after that it was mostly downhill.  I had another Gu after that hill, again with Gatorade and water from the fluid station.  Around Mile 10 all that Gatorade and water had to be expelled but I resisted the urge.  Knowing how fast I can go, given the distance left, I was sure I would P.R., only if I keep up the modest pace I was running at.  Best not to have any more Gu breaks, but I did grab a water after the bridge around Mile 12.  The last mile, as usual, felt pretty long, with one more hill to surmount.

Further back around Mile 11 I started to see finishers walking or running against the runners trying to finish.  None had a medal around their necks, so I thought there would be no medal.  It would be big slight to the borough of Staten Island if there was no medal for the half-marathon finishers, since even the Queens 10K gave out medals.  After Mile 12 I saw many finishers with medals so I had the extra incentive to finish even sooner.  I only have a handful of medals so they are big deals to me to have.  Perhaps this year the trip out was further than before, as the finish line seemed to be closer.  So ran faster I did, a lot faster than usual, even faster than my usual finish-line sprint, I think.  2:14:39 it was indeed, a P.R. indeed, by nine minutes!  Normally, shaving a minute or two from a P.R. is a big deal.  Almost ten minutes is a really big deal.  With better training and losing five pounds or so, perhaps some day I can reach the sub-2-hour mark for a half-marathon!

As a slow runner, I usually don't have my photos taken by the photographers along the route.  Them photographers usually just hang around for the first few thousand runners  By the time I make my way to the finish line, there would be no photographers along the route, just some at the finish line.  Today I decided to do a favor for the runners that came after me.  On the way to the ferry, I stopped to take a bunch of photos for these later finishers.  I would take more but the rain was getting heavier and there was a ferry to catch.  The photos don't appear as good as I wish, as the bib numbers don't show well, but hopefully the runners can recognize themselves.  Below are the photos but they are also shared at

https://plus.google.com/photos/109153989599275468311/albums/5796734866780894465

Bib #9829.

Bib #9605.

Bib #8032.

Bib #8089.

Bib #9599.

Bib #8514 etc.

Bib #9248.

Bib #9095.

CHARITY MILES, MEGA-HEADACHES

I love to walk and run, occasionally even ride the bicycle.  I record my workout with DailyMile.com and rely on my Garmin GPS watch for time and distance.  When a friend suggested that I earn some money for charity while running or walking, I heartily accepted the idea.  The app in question is Charity Miles, available for iOS and Android.  It got installed fine on my crummy Galaxy I Android phone.  I was so eager to try it I went out for a walk, after dinner, around 10 o'clock at night.  It seems easy enough to use.  You pick one of the three activities - Walk, Run, or Bike.  Runners and walkers earn 25¢ per mile while cyclists get 10¢ per mile.   After choosing an activity, swipe to choose a charity to earn money for.  There are just a few now but it's a good start.  So far I chose Feeding America, Habit for Humanity, Achilles International, and The Nature Conservancy.  Other options are World Food Programme, Pencils of Promise, The Michael J. Fox Foundations for Parkinson's Research, The Global Fund, Austism Speaks, and ASPCA.  Choose the charity that best suit your ideal, then off you!  One charity per activity, you can choose a different charity the next time you work-out.

You can pause the app then resume or end the activity.  You are then requested to accept sponsorship for your activity by posting to your Facebook account, and optionally to Twitter as well.  Many people hate the Facebook idea so much but I am fine with it.  Sure there are many issues with Facebook but flooding the news stream shouldn't be one of it.  I myself at most run once a day or walk at most twice a day, so that's just three posts per day.  Compared to people who go rapid-fire and post x number of YouTube videos within five minutes, my three posts are almost nothing.  Worst case scenario, you can set the FB app that does the posting to be visible only to yourself, but then you are not really doing the simple request Charity Miles expect you to help them with spreading the word about the program.  You also help advertise Charity Miles T-shirts but I don't think they make much money from the shirts.

I have a big problem with posting the results of my activities.  Remember my post-dinner walk at 10 PM?  I was so disappointed to find that at the end of the walk, it seemed my effort went nowhere.  The app constantly complained that there was no Internet access so it couldn't post my result.  The mail app and FB app did not have any issues.  I vaguely recalled that the app would not work over WiFi, so I turned off WiFi.  Still no dice.  Turned off GPS, too, nope, app still complained of no Net access!  Turned the whole phone off and then back on.  Kill the app and start over with accepting the sponsorship?  Turn WiFi on then off again?  That seems to do the job, I think.  Or is it turning on WiFi then off, then do some Internet activity, like checking email or logging into Facebook?  I suspect the app somehow not able to detect an Internet connection until some other app goes through first.

I still don't know the sequence of fiddling to get the app to submit its data, but I managed to have everything submitted, so far.  At first, I thought all my work went to naught since I couldn't send in my results.  Then I discovered the button in the lower left corner of the main screen.  It took me to all my logged workouts and a second chance at submitting the results.  It would be nice if there is a total of my mileage.  Or even better, for the few metric-centric amateur athletes out there like me, who prefer kilometers over miles, measurements in kilometers.  Of course, of utmost importance is that the app should just work, without me having to fiddle with the few settings.  Unlike the typical apps, I cannot just input data and try a different series of parameters.  Getting new data means walking another 30 minutes or whatever.  I love walking but not enough to walk again and again just to see how to fix an app.

Hopefully it is just a problem for old Android phones running Frozen Yogurt OS version.  Anyone want to buy me an iPhone 5?  {Cricket sounds...}  No one, eh?  How about just some feedback from users of Charity Miles on more modern phones and OS versions?