Using Google Drive and FolderSync to automatically backup your photos and data from your phone and a (brief) review on Mail2Drive

Google Drive is Google’s (much needed) answer to iCloud, Dropbox, Skydrive and a million other options available for online storage. I’ve never bothered to explore it further until I decided to go on a mission to automate and sync my android, Shyamala’s iPhone, home PC calendars using GoogleCalendar as the base. I also managed to sync my facebook and tripit calendar to it too and now have our complete schedule on both Shyamala's and my phones.

Since I was on an automation spree, I decided to work on automatically backing up my photos on my phone. Dropbox did exactly that. Their phone app lets you choose a specific folder on your phone and automatically syncs it to your remote folder on your dropbox cloud drive. However, when Google Drive was released around May, I decided to switch teams and jump on the Google Drive bandwagon. There are many good reviews on Google Drive (including Google Drive vs Dropbox features) on the web that'll explain why I decided to switch to Google Drive.

Google drive has a great software you could download for your PC. It automatically creates a 'Google Drive' folder under 'My Documents'. Anything you move to this folder is automatically synced to your Google Drive as is accessible on the net from any PC (or phone).

I'll not be doing a complete review on Google drive, but in a nutshell, I'm very happy with the 5GB free space - That's far from sufficient to backup all of my photos and data, but more than enough to backup anything important including photos and documents from my phones. I've never bothered to back up anything from my phones for the last few years and risked losing it all if I lost it. Google Drive does have an Android app to view the files and manually upload files from your phone. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an auto-upload function like dropbox to upload all of my photos regularly (so I decided to uninstall the Google Drive app!).

Fortunately, I've found another way to automatically backup photos and documents from my phone to Google Drive - At least until, Google comes up with this feature in their mobile app. I've done this using the FolderSync app. As always, I was reluctant to enter the Google Drive password in this app (especially as Google has just one common password for gmail, calendar and blogger) but decided to give it a go as the app had good ratings. This app has all the options I wanted:

* Syncs to and from Google Drive (2-way sync)

* Lets you select the folder on your mobile and on Google Drive

* Select frequency of the sync - I have it set to sync on a weekly basis

* Allows you the connection type for the sync - WiFi or 3G

* Syncs sub-folders and has an option to disable hidden files syncing

* 2-way sync - this also has an option to delete the file from the origin (mobile) once it has been synced (I've not been daring enough to try this out yet)

It also has an encryption feature to secure the transfer. I'm not sure how secure the encryption is, but I've never really been too concerned about it.

The User Interface used to be much friendlier until it was upgraded few weeks ago. Nevertheless, it's still fairly manageable (considering you only need to configure it once). Following are brief steps to configure the sync :

1. Go to 'Accounts' menu and register Google Drive account

2. Go to 'Folderpairs' menu and configure the folders on both ends and configure the sync options

3. Go to 'Sync Status' to commence the sync

Overall, FolderSync is a great, handy app. Google will need to really convince me to move to it's upgraded Google Drive auto sync app if/when it decides to release it.

I also came across another handy app to use with Google Drive - Mail2Drive
This app creates a file from an email message. You receive a secret email address when you sign up. All you need to do is to forward an important email to that email address and a file is created on Google Drive with that email. Again, not a bad little app to help you with storing any important emails in a location other than your mailbox!

Google Drive has a lot of potential but hidden features already. Looking forward to exploring them and automating it as I wish!

Sundown Marathon 2012 Race Report - It's a 32KM warmup run for a 10KM race

I had no specific plan of attack for the build-up at the time of signing up. All signs pointed to my regular DIY training program which includes few good weeks of running, few bad weeks (to undo all the hard work from the good weeks), a couple of unjustifiable purchases of running gear (to make me go faster! – ofcourse), a ridiculously long or short taper. All in all, it was leading towards a race day plan to run 28-32km and switch the survival mode for the last 10KMs. I didn’t know what I could do differently..

ENTER “Operation Nighthawk” by Team FatBird. Some googling had got me to the Team FatBird and their link to the Sundown marathon training program – “Operation Nighthawk”. I registered and joined their weekend long runs. The group 3 (the 5hr marathon group) had runners of similar ability and fitness level ,which certainly made the Friday night and Sunday morning 30+km long runs much more enjoyable and bearable.

Race Day

After what seemed like a long wait, the gun finally went off at 12.30AM. I was with the sub 5hr pacers and we started in the second wave. I’ve never really cared about gun time and was going to base my race on my net/bib time. I was happy to avoid the initial rush and let all the sprinters go past in the first few KMs. I had the pacers in sight about 200-300 meters ahead of me and made the decision to not catch up with them yet.  After keeping them in sight for about 8KMs they continued to increase their lead on me and I eventually lost them. I thought I was running a steady sub 5hr equivalent pace. So I was surprised and saddened to see my sub-5hr dream vanish away so quickly... By then I knew how this story was going to unfold – A continuous battle to run upto about 32-35kms followed by long walks, hating yourself for repeatedly registering for marathons, promising yourself to train harder before you sign up for the next one, thinking of alternate passions and hobbies and then to forget it all for a few minutes and sprint to the finish line holding the world’s best running posture and enjoy another marathon finish despite the slow time. I’ve mastered this in the Singapore marathon 2011 and was already thinking of my list of excuses by the 12^th KM.. The sundown race organizers had done a tremendous job with the logistics, water stations, KM markers and the very enjoyable route for us to light up the city of Singapore at night – So all of that was ruled out from the usual excuse list! However, Singapore weather didn’t let me down.. a balmy 28 degree with 85% humidity at that time of the night seemed like a valid excuse for another slow race.

I decided to forego my sub 5hr goal and run my own race with the much wishful plan of “catching up with the pacers (and going under 5hrs) in the latter part of the race” – Ahh! This is runners’ answer to the pyramid scheme!! You agree to not see any results in the short term and expect to get all you wanted and more by running faster towards the end of the race! I’ve never even thought that’s possible in a marathon! This is always a trick I usually use to fool myself temporarily so I don’t run too fast too soon and to save enough energy to run as long as possible before the painful home stretch.

Few minutes before entering East Coast park, I saw the 35KM marker on the opposite side of the road for the return trip. I promised myself that I’d run until that before my first stop. That itself was going to be a battle in itself considering I was soaked in sweat already even before the half marathon point. I wasn’t even how that was possible but it certainly got even warmer and more humid! There was no breeze either.. It certainly seemed like it was going to be a very long night and if I ran all the way to the 35KM marker, I was going to be very satisfied and thought the last 7 Kms will be my victory walk/run!

I’ve been in Singapore for a year now.. I’ve had to adapt in many ways to suit the Singaporean lifestyle. Most changes, I love: About 15% max tax-rate (hell yes!)!!  $10 cab ride from town or to work! Quick 1-2 hr flight to some of the many exotic locations in Asia! 1% crime rate! And the list goes on..

Some, you struggle to adapt to - Durian (One day I will try it… no hurry though!)

And then there are others that you were never given an option but to accept – One of them was reclassifying what “perfect running weather” is.

In Sydney, a 18-20 degree sunny day is my perfect running weather – It’s nice, cool and the sun is out to keep you warm. You’ve done about 5 KMs before you break a sweat and you never bother carrying any water when you head out on a 10KM run. Singapore’s “perfect running weather” made an appearance about 2 hours after the marathon started. It was a nice cool breeze with a light drizzle and the temperature dropped a few degrees. That was the best any runner could ask for!

I crossed the half-way point (21.1kms) in 2hr25mins. In the past, I’ve faded quite badly in the second half of the marathon. Even in Sydney Marathon 2010 (My 4:34 PB), I was about 15 minutes slower in the second half. So I decided to be sensible and wanted to get to the finish line in less than 5hr 10mins. The 5 hour pacers were long gone and setting 5:10 as the goal with a 5 minute buffer will get me to the finish by 5:15 – Perfect logic! :)

..and so the return trip began..

About half an hour after “perfect running weather”, in true Singapore fashion, the weather decided to change again! – The cool breezes turned into very strong winds and the light drizzle was now a heavy downpour with thunder and lightning. Few minutes later I was running in water logged shoes and stepping on big puddles of water! I found out later that it was a Category 1 storm.

The quickest way to end all this was to get to the finish line, so I kept plodding along. Strangely, I was feeling very good even after 25Kms of running. About a KM later, I decided I was going to pick up my pace. It was a big gamble but I was ready for my mind to take over proceedings from my body for the rest of the race!

It is always a great feeling to be running strong and feeling good in the second half of the marathon. I was running and passing runners as if it was the first KM of the marathon! I knew this feeling may not last and things could turn ugly within few 100 meters but I was enjoying it too much to stop. The faster I ran, the more runners I was passing. I'd later find out that I passed about 175 runners in the last 10KMs and only 15 passed me. My goal of 35KM was in sight and I was still feeling good.

It was time to distract my body with a new game – chasing moving targets! The rule of the game is simple.. Pick the next street light, next turn, next KM marker, the water station or whatever you can see in the next 500-600meterss and plan to run that far.. When you are almost there, forget about that target and aim for the next one. Point of this game is to ‘eat the elephant, one chunk at a time’ and it worked well with distracting me from the throbbing legs and upper body pains!

By 40KMs my mind and body had enough of games and tricks.. Each step hurt much more than the previous one. I could’ve walked for a minute or two and still got to the finish line in well under 5 hours.. but I knew I would regret it forever if I stopped running, that close to the finish line. Couldn’t stop thinking of a quote I saw few days before and that kept me going :

I was determined to keep running despite my body running on an empty tank and every bit of it hurting. Running past 41KM market was a huge relief and excitement. There was no stopping now. I decided to pick up the pace and pass as many runners as possible and finally got to the finish line in 4hr:51mins!!

I had ran all the way in marathon for the first time ever! I’d run an almost even split and the last KM was my fastest KM of the whole race! I wasn't even close to breaking a PB (17 mins off) but this will be one I'll be proud of for a very long time to come...