Let’s start with the SSR audio upgrade project which at this point I am considering to be finally finished.
Those of you that are familiar with the project know I had the radio in the car but there were a number of warts with the install such as very low voice guidance volume as well as low overall radio volume, fit issues where the faceplate of the radio was causing the dash to bulge out just enough to cause the HVAC controls to bind, sound that was bouncing back and forth between the speakers and I hadn’t done any of the work to mount the rear view camera.
In my research regarding the volume problem the first step recommended was to tweak the potentiometer on the GMOS-04 adapter to increase the signal fed to the amp. Of course to do this I had to rip the entire dash apart again. I actually went a step farther and removed the top dash cover. The reason I did that was to allow me better access to the back of the radio, hoping to be able to better place/organize the huge collection of wire/connectors/modules that are associated with the install.
Turning up the dial on the GMOS-04 did indeed appear to address my volume issue.
In addition to the top dash pad I had the “waterfall” removed as well. I read there was a fuse box behind there where I could splice in the reverse signal wire, the wire that flips the radio to rear camera view when the truck is put in reverse. At one point I had the interior of the truck so ripped apart that I was feeling a bit despondent, I questioned my ability to get everything back together in an acceptable manner.
I then turned my attention to getting the rear camera installed. I had scrapped my idea of getting my reverse signal from the waterfall fuse box. The location of the wire I was supposed to tap into was really in a bad spot. I instead decided to just tap into the back up light harness in the back of the truck and then just run that wire along with the camera wire back to the passenger compartment.
Based on a SSRFanatic’s advice I put both wires inside of a wire loom to protect them from the elements. Routing them up to the front of the truck was a bit challenging, it was tough finding a route that did not get close to the exhaust system. I used zip ties to hold the loom in place along the way.
Once I got up to the passenger compartment I needed a way to get into it. I didn’t see any easy way to do so, so I made my own, drilling a small hole in the floor of the SSR under the passenger side sill cover. I then fed the wire loom through that hole. The camera wire went to the control box I had behind the passenger seat, the reverse signal wire was routed up to the radio harness.
Originally I had ideas of maybe soldering my wire connections in the harness instead of just relying on wires twisted and then crimped in bell caps. I decided to not go that route, instead I used small wire ties around the wires to further provide stress relief.
So I finally thought I was in the home stretch, I had everything back together and was ready to call the job DONE. I took the SSR out for a quick road test and was immediately annoyed. I was annoyed by the distinctive sound of alternator whine coming through the speakers. The sound followed the rpm’s of the truck. I hadn’t heard this noise before because all of my testing was with the engine turned OFF. Well I knew this would drive me nuts so I had no choice but to rip the dash open AGAIN.
Upon reading on the internet about alternator whine it indicated this can often be caused by a faulty ground. Well I tested my ground, it appeared rock solid. I then took turns disconnecting one connection at a time on the harness to see if I could isolate one component causing the issue. I spent a TON of time screwing with it but got nowhere. I was really frustrated.
Well on a whim I decided to try backing the potentiometer on the GMOS-04 back down a bit. When I had the volume problem initially I could turn the radio to max volume and not have things all that loud. After my tweak at half volume it sounded like it was ready to blow the speakers. So I backed the dial back about halfway between where I started and where I finished.
That seemed to help, I heard a faint whine but hardly discernible, I could only guess the GMOS-04 was just adding too much gain. I put the damn thing back together one final time and called it good enough.
At one point when I was in the midst of installation hell I was mildly complaining to Ali about it. She said to me, and correctly so “Well this is what you got it for right?” I did indeed want a vehicle as my hobby. Part of that hobby is getting your hands dirty. This project certainly left me thoroughly cruddy.
Along with Ali’s lack of compassion for my plight she also seemed to lack any appreciation for what I navigated to get the truck back in one piece. I can’t blame her I guess, it would be like her telling me the complex calculations she had to do with a tube feed at work I guess.
Anyway, if you would like to see all of the pictures I took along the way you can see them here. I also shot some video of the mess I went through, the 24-25 minute adventure can be viewed below. Anyway, the moral of this story is in the big picture, although I learned a great deal about how to take my SSR interior apart, in a practical sense I would have been much better served just paying an installer to do the work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6x2qFblMh4
Saturday we timed a 5K, it went fine, let’s move along.
So the Hooters Half Marathon was Sunday morning. I was feeling upbeat about the weather forecast when I first saw it with predicted lows on Sunday in the low 50’s, great temps to run in. Those hopes were later dashed when I saw that low temp was not going to hit until Sunday NIGHT. Sunday morning the temperature at 7Am was supposed to be a balmy 75 degrees, shit.
When I woke up Sunday morning it was extremely windy. I saw there was actually a wind advisory for later in the day. Oh boy this is going to be fun.
We arrived at the race site a little after 6AM, the race started at 7. After getting our bib number and race packet we hooked up with some of our fellow GCR members to hang out. Most of the talk was about how tough the conditions were going to be with the wind. I had decided ahead of time I was going to run shirtless because of the higher temperatures. It would help keep me cooler and eliminate the painful nipple chafe I had last year.
As daylight increased we got a better look at the skies overhead, they looked quite menacing with low gray clouds zipping overhead at a rapid rate.
The race actually started about 10 minutes late which is pretty bad. They made some long winded announcements that no one could hear as well as playing both the national anthem and Gold Bless America. Ali and I wished each other luck and off we went.
So despite my severe lack of serious training and assorted nagging injuries leading up to the race I took off with the idea of still breaking the two hour goal I set as one of 2012’s to do’s. It didn’t take long until that goal seemed to be very much in question.
No more than a few minutes into the race the skies opened up, it started to rain very, very hard. The cold rain was wind blown and actually stung my exposed face and chest. In no time at all the roads were bodies of water. Everybody was thoroughly soaked from head to toe.
One of my first thoughts was “oh man, this is going to just crush the spirits of Ali & Christy”, both of whom were less than enthusiastic going into the event anyway. Ali generally hates getting wet I could only imagine what she was thinking as each stride splashed down beneath her.
I was quite surprised when I found out later that the rain really didn’t bother her at all. She said in fact she sort of enjoyed it.
The running with sopping wet sneakers immediately flashed me back to the Tough Mudder experience. Thinking of that race also helped me mentally, realizing that compared to what we went through in the TM, getting rained on wasn’t a big deal.
The rain continued for a good 15-20 minutes. In a way it was a good thing as it helped pull the humidity out of the air somewhat, helping to keep my body temp down.
Early on I was trying to find a run pacer target. The guy on the left was my first potential pacer. He looked like a serious runner and was checking his pace often on his watch. (something I didn’t do the entire race) He also appeared to be somewhere around my age.
For maybe a mile or so I stayed just off his back shoulder but then he started to slow down a bit and I felt like I needed to go faster if I was going to hit my goal so I passed him for good very early on.
A little later on I spotted another potential pacer, a younger muscle bound guy with a t-shirt that seemed to indicate he was part of a fire department. I wound up following him for even less distance before I determined his pace was also too slow.
During the downpour there were a few brave spectators that didn’t mind getting wet to cheer us on which was really appreciated. The most noticeable of all was the guy wailing on his bag pipes in the middle of the deluge with absolutely no cover overhead.
So since I couldn’t find what felt like an adequate pacer I spent most of the first half of the race just using rear ends as my “carrot”. I slowly but surely picked off one rear end at a time. In general I did almost exclusively passing for the race. I bet for every one person that passed me I passed 15 more.
So I was coming up on the most difficult part of the race, the up and back over the 1 mile long bridge. This was made exponentially more difficult by the very strong wind from the west that was smacking you in the face on the run out.
Usually when you get to the top of the bridge and begin the descent on the other side your speed picks up considerably. Well this was the hardest I ever worked running DOWNHILL in my life. The wind was so strong it resisted every step.
Of course the good news was on the way back across the bridge this wind was now helping to push you along. The wind also was at your back for a good portion of the remainder of the race.
Once I got off the bridge at around the 9 mile mark I knew my two hour goal was in reach. I also happened to finally pick up pace partner on the bridge. Once again like last year, it was a woman. I realized all I had to do was stick with her after she told me how she did two ultra-marathons last year as well as qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
Being able to carry an off and on conversation with her during the last third of the race really helped making those tough miles fall off pretty easily. I was physically uncomfortable of course but not dying. The skies had remained overcast the entire race so this really helped keep the temperatures reasonable.
Like I mentioned I hadn’t hardly looked at my watch other than to check my time at certain mileage markers. Patty was doing it for me, telling me that we were running a strong 8:30 pace and that hitting my two hour goal was basically assured.
With about a mile to go I ran into one of the other GCR board members who was taking it easy by running an easy for him 2 hour pace. I thanked Patty for helping me along and accelerated some more leaving her a little behind me.
At first I was having a bit of a hard time keeping up with Craig, I now was feeling pretty damn beat, that last half mile or so felt very long. Once the finish line was a few hundred yards away I kicked in what I had left, leaving Craig behind as well. I was very excited when I saw I could finish almost a full 5 minutes ahead of my what seemed to be ambitious 2 hour goal. I crossed in 1:55:17, more than 16 minutes faster than my time last year. Here are the official results.
After collecting my finisher medal from the good looking Hooters girl I leaned over on the railing and briefly took in my achievement. To smash my goal even with those type of race conditions was really something special to me. I have always preached that actions are much more impressive than words. It felt good to back that up.
So after downing a finish area Snickers bar and chugging a bottle of water I started looking for Ali. Like I said, with the weather conditions I had no idea when she would finish. I started walking back out on to the course, hoping to intersect with her and then help run her into the finish line.
I back tracked somewhere between a quarter and a half mile before I saw her. I turned around and started jogging in with her. Ali said nothing, I could tell by her heavy breathing she was really trying to finish hard. When we got close I saw we were actually close to her 1/2 marathon PR time. She wound up finishing just 21 seconds beyond her PR, a disappointment for her but based on the conditions and the course it was a really strong effort.
Like I said, before I saw her at the end I was almost positive the early rain and wind was going to suck the motivation right out of her. Surprisingly she said she felt quite good almost the entire race.
We then waited for Christy who finished about 12 minutes behind Ali, putting in a strong showing for her as well, again made more impressive by the elements.
Ali was stoked to hear how well I did. I told her that it was quite weird, when I woke up Sunday morning the number 1:55 literally was the first thing in my head. I kid you not. I thought it was odd I would even think about a finish time in that neighborhood. It was amazing it came to be. Visualization is powerful I guess huh?
So after the race we hung out for awhile. At this point the cold front was blowing in, temperatures had dropped a good 10 degrees from the start of the race. We stayed until maybe 10:30 before heading out, we were both cold and exhausted.
On the way home we both talked about various aspects of the race. We were both happy with the way things turned out although Ali wished she could have found a spare 22 seconds somewhere. It is hard to believe that I was not even going to do the race as late as last week and still managed to put in that showing. So much of endurance racing is in your head, although I still attribute my significantly higher overall fitness level compared to the year before as a major contributor to my final result.
As you can imagine the rest of our Sunday was pretty tame. I laid down for a couple hours with Ali but couldn’t get any real solid zzzz’s. I wound up spending the rest of the day mostly toiling on the SSR audio project.
When I woke up Monday my stomach was feeling pretty awful and I was limping around severely. My IT band felt like it was a foot too short. I called off work to give myself a recovery day. I feel much more human today.
The new IAC for the Tacoma showed up yesterday so it looks like I will get no break from my automotive upgrade/repair follies. I want to get the new IAC in ASAP. My hope is to be able to do it after work tonight. I am hoping since I have run through the process once I can do it quickly this time around.
Because I didn’t get a chance to install the new idle air control valve in the Tacoma yet I decided to take the SSR to work yesterday. It gave me a good opportunity to give my radio install it’s best test yet.
The SSR has some more needs, the first of which will be replacing the bent panhard bar, the end result of some carelessness when the vehicle was lowered. That actually is a potential hazard if I would try to corner hard.
My experience removing the original IAC for cleaning was a huge help in performing the swap this time around. I knew exactly what I had to do. I managed to have the job totally done in the span of 40 minutes. I also swapped out the PCV valve while I was in there, something I don’t think has ever been done. I read somewhere that could be another potential trouble spot.