Thinking...............

So I listened to a podcast today for the 1st time in quite a while. I listened to one of my fave's in The Devoted Runner. I really enjoy listening to Steven and have always foun his show to be entertaining.

Listening to his show kinda got me missing my own show. yes I did have a podcast for any of you (if there are still any of ya - LOL) that might remember it. I looked and I haven't had an episode released since Episode XIX came out back on March 11th. So, maybe I will have to pull out the recorder and mic and try another episode sometime soon.

What do you guys think? Would you like to hear a new episode of The Crazy Runner or should I just keep the show retired? Your thoughts and opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Til Next Time,

The Crazy Runner

We Have a Winner (or two)

After much anticipation we have winners announced for the contest! The 2 lucky winners for a FREE Sony Walkman W Series wireless MP3 Player are......................................

The Devoted Runner AKA stplatt

AND

Caitline AKA Gonnabehealthy

here is the screen shot of the list generator from random.org

Congrats to the winners. If you could please send me an email I will get the prize out to you as quickly as possible. Please send your email to thecrazyrunner@gmail.com

Congrats to you both! Everyone else, thanks for playing and I really enjoyed all of the quotes, emails, and voice mails I received.

Thank You EVERYONE!!

Addition to contest

Really want to win an MP3 player?

Well, this is just a short addition to the contest that will allow for entrants to gain an additional TWO entries. All that you need to do is call into the Crazy Runner message line and leave a short message. The message should NOT be about the contest. I would like for these calls to be a story, thoughts on show, a race recap, a training update, advice or thoughts on the show, etc. Nothing specific, just again NOT about the contest. Again, this will get each caller an additional TWO entries into the contest.

You can call in at - (206) 350-0462

Hope to hear from you all soon! :)

March Madness Contest - CrazyRunner style!

Hello all!

As I had mentioned before, I am having a contest!! In this contest 2 different people will win a FREE Sony Walkman W Series Music Player! If you want more information on this product, please see my product review HERE.

I have been debating on different ways to run this contest. I was considering opening my contest earlier and having each person fill out a NCAA bracket and the winner wins a free player, BUT, I decided that lots of people actually do NOT like basketball and it might turn them off of the contest (I know, shocking right!) Well, since I am not feeling super creative at the moment and really want to get this contest moving, I am going to use a more traditional style "blog contest" giveaway.

The rules should be simple -

1) Contest applies to US residents only (sorry everyone else, but I am shipping this on my own dime!)

2) You must "Follow" my blog so please click on the follow button here.

3) You can gain one entry by commenting on this post (Note, I will give a bonus entry if your comment tells me your favorite all time running quote).

4) You can gain another entry by commenting on my most recent episode post (Episode XIX) at my podcast page at Podbean -- http://thecrazyrunner.podbean.com/

5) For an additional entry, Go to Facebook and tag me (Matthew Swanson) in a post of yours mentioning the contest to others

6) Also for an entry, go to Twitter and tell people about the contest. Make sure to add #CRContest to your post along with an @Crazyrunner

7) I will give one last additional entry if you send me an email (thecrazyrunner@gmail.com) and tell me Which episode of my podcast was your favorite and why.

The contest winners will be chosen randomly from random.org on Champoionship Monday! (Monday, April 4, 2011) Do remember, the more entries you have the better your odds are of winning! Good luck to all of you and I hope that you enjoy the contest. If you have any questions, please do NOT hesitate to ask me. Remember there will be TWO lucky winners

Until next time, buh bye!

Sony Walkman W Series

REVIEW TIME!

I was recently contacted and given the opportunity to review the Sony Walkman W Series (NWZ-W252) Digital Music Player. This is a wireless, water resistant MP3 player. It is a behind the neck, headphone style player that eliminates the hassle of any headphone wires.

It comes in a nice little sealed package, and as you can see in the picture - the headphones are shaped like a heart. I would say opening it was not easy, but I can NEVER open anything in this style of packaging very easily. After getting it open, I realized how nice and flexible the entire device is - making for very easy storage. It essentially is a very bendable/flexible behind the neck cord attached to what looks like 2 Bluetooth headsets. Many people seem to have a problem with how it looks, but I personally found the look just fine. The package also comes with a USB cable that you hook up to your computer to charge it. This device is AWESOME as far as charging! When fully charged it will play for 11 hours continuously AND even better, you can get 90 minutes of playback time from as little as THREE MINUTES of charging time! With this feature you will never again have to worry about going out for your run and your MP3 player is dead. I think everyone can handle waiting another 3 minutes before they leave.

You can also use the USB cord to install the software on your computer (the software is already in the player, so no need for a CD to install it). It did take a little while for my computer to recognize the player the first time, but to Sony's credit - they tell you this on the instructions. After the first time though, my computer noticed the player instantly.

There are a few different ways in which you can load music onto the player. First off you can use a software such as iTunes (I myself use doubleTwist)along with the Content Transfer program software that you installed Also, you can use Windows Media Player and get music already on your computer or from CDs, etc. And finally you can simply drag and drop into Windows Explorer. They are all very simple to do, and it should not be to difficult for ANYBODY to figure out. This is a 2GB player so it allows for plenty of storage space on such a compact device (Anywhere from 2.5 hours to 83.5 hours depending on the bit rate of the songs you add).

After getting it loaded with some music (or podcasts) I was ready to give it a try! The headphone is an ear-bud style and comes with 3 different sizes to better help fit the ear size of all individuals and are very "rubbery like" (very similar to that of Skull Candy headphones). They seemed plenty comfortable while wearing them for a good hour or so while cleaning up around the house. Also, the sound quality I found to be VERY good with great highs and lows. As I am not used to using a "shuffle stlye" of player it took me a little bit of time to get used to the controls on the player. On the right ear there is a volume up and a volume down button along with what they call a jog lever. With this lever you can skip to the next song or go back to the previous song based on the direction you push the lever. Also, you can push in the lever and use a feature called "Zappin". In the Zappin mode the player will play short recognizable clips of the songs (such as most melodic or rhythmical sections). There is either a Zappin Short or a Zappin Long option (short plays about 4 seconds, while long plays about 15 seconds). On the left ear, there is 1 button. This button allows for you to play the songs in a random/shuffled order. Also, you can hold the button in for a second and play an already prepared playlist. Again, these features were all very nice and easy to use, though it did take a little bit of time for me to get the hang of as I am not used to a "shuffle" style of MP3 player. After having cleaned up for a while, it was time to give them the ultimate test as I needed to do a 6 mile run for the day! While wearing them on the run, they still felt very comfortable though I will say there was a slight slippage as I felt after about every mile I felt the need to re adjust the headphones to make sure that they were securely inside the ear. However, after about 4.5 miles, I started to get a LOT more sweaty - which was no problem on the sound or functioning as these headphones are water resistant. With me being sweatier, it felt like they were slipping out a lot more. I then felt the need to adjust them like every 0.25 miles. I will say though that the sounds quality and comfort remained good. I will say though before anyone gets to judgmental that I never can get ear buds to stay in very good. So I do not always know if it is the headphones or just my weird ears. LOL. I will add though that I do have a pair of headphones, which are ear buds, that I wear now that I absolutely LOVE! These are called YurBuds and they are AWESOME and it seems like no matter what you do they will not fall out unless you physically take them out. (and I normally HATE any type of ear buds) I will be honest enough also to note that if I had NOT ever found YurBuds, I probably would have like this player A LOT more then I do. I still find the player to be a very nice product with some awesome features. I also found it to be a lot better for regular use that doesn't get one as sweaty/wet. So overall I would say that these were very good headphones, just a little to much slippage for my personal taste.

If you are interested, here is a link that was provided to me from the company allowing all of you to purchase this wireless music player at a discounted price of $48.99 instead of the retail price of $60. www.sony.com/runningmate

Later today, or tomorrow I plan to release all of the information for my CONTEST available where 2 lucky people will both win one of these for FREE!

Overall grade - 3.5/5

TCR Episode XIX - It's Been A While

Welcome back everyone as I bring you Episode 19!

It sure has been a while! Do you remember who I am? LOL -- Join me today as I record once again for the first time since mid October! There is a lot to go over in this episode and I didn't want a 10 hour long episode, so this is more of a short summary/recap of the past 5 months of the life of the Crazy Runner.

I hope you enjoy the episode, and continue to come back, as I have full intentions of getting these out more regularly now and to NOT lose my recorder again!

Here are some links to some mentioned items from the show:

Central Florida 5Klub

Brooks ID

Team Mojo Loco - Independent Relay Team or our blog site

Disney Marathon - RunDisney

Check out and motivate Grant on the Daily Mile!

Follow Maddy on Twitter!

Baldwin Park Half Marathon Results

Disney Marathon Results - the picture there is NOT me - LOL

Tavares Orange Blossom Half Marathon Results

Earth Day 12k Page - Clermont, FL

Arbor Day Run for the Trees 5k - Ocklawaha, FL

This Running Life Podcast

The Devoted Runner

The Slow Runner's Club

Today's music was brought to you by Music Alley

"Company of Fools"/"Ordinary Day" Combo - Great Big Sea (Intro/Outro)
"End of the World" - Great Big Sea

Download this episode (right click and save)

Hello - I still exist!

Hey all!

Just a short note to say that I have not dropped off of the face of the Earth! (Especially to any of you who dont follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or DailyMile)

I plan to try REALLY hard to record a new episode of the podcast tomorrow (may have to be a 2 parter as it has been so long since I did one - LOL). SO, hopefully, in the next few days (maybe Sunday?) I hope to FINALLY have Episode XIX out for you all to enjoy (or hate - LOL)

Til next time,

Buh Bye!