Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Walkman


Recently, I bought a neat Sony walkman—the Zappin NWZ-W252. The above is how it would appear when attached to the USB stand. But when in operation, only that green portion (mine is black) will be attached to the ears. There are no wires hanging around, so I kinda like it.

I tried my walkman a couple of times, and ended up running with it during the recent Penang Bridge International Marathon. I was worried that I would be struck by lightning on the bridge during the thunder storm, but luckily that did not happen. And yes, it is also water resistant.

Dr Peter saw the walkman on my ears during the race, fascinated. After the race, he bought one too, saying that he wanted to "reward himself for his efforts", referring to his success in beating me! He chose a white-coloured walkman.

Today I went running again at the Likas jogging track. It was already quite dark when I arrived at the track. Dr Peter was also there. So I ran together with him. Both of us had our walkmans on. But because of habit, we were still talking to each other as we were running.

I wonder what did the rest of the runners think about these two old men shouting to each other about the Hong Kong Marathon.

By the way, I clocked my fastest 10-lap (approximately 10km) workout today, finishing in 52:35. I'm thinking if I tried hard enough, I might be able to achieve even better times. But for now I'm very happy to reach this new frontier.


10 comments:

Khadeeja Shah said...

Corny, I've started running sans music for the last 4 races, it made me more focus..else I'll be shuffling thru the playlist, or concentrating too much on the songs...

Unless u running with classical music?

Cornelius said...

KD,

I guess things like these work differently on different people. When I have the walkman on, I don't really listen to the songs. Rather, I would be listening to the beats of those songs. After all, you know how it is with the modern-day songs. They are not meant to be comprehensible anyway. Lots of shouting... mumbling and some jerky pronunciations.

Even without the walkman, I will arrive at a point in a long distance run when my legs are tired and I will start counting my steps to a certain rythm. It's psychological, of course, much the same way many runners would try to follow the rythm of the pacers in the marathon. But if I had the walkman playing, then I can follow the beats of the music, not so much the lyrics of the songs.

And therefore, classical music can't work for my purpose!

unsettledsoul said...

Nice they let you use walkmans! We are not allowed to have walkmans or music of any sort when we run marathons. No cell phones either. Very strict here.

Cornelius said...

Ah! that's something new to me, Sarah! No, as far as that is concerned, the organisers in this region are not really strict. I see so many walkmans, cell phones and even digital cameras in races. No disqualification because of those.

teo said...

Corny, you will regret it. I got that bloody thing in Penang too just b4 i did the half marathon PBIM 2009. Guess what, after just 6 mths, the metal connector rusted. Now it is still in my drawer awaiting for me to dump it. Poor thing....I hope yours n Dr Peter's are anti-rust, or else you will end up like mine pretty soon.

Cornelius said...

Ah! Teo, thanks for sharing this important information! I've been running with it a couple of times, including the PBIM, but somehow have been lazy to clean it. I suppose the salty sweat (and I sweat a hell lot during my runs) can cause rust.

So this morning after my run, I actually took the trouble to use a wet cloth to clean my walkman thoroughly. Hopefully, it can at least last up to 7 months?... hehehe

Unknown said...

The first version W250 released had some waterproofing issues and hence the new release W252 this year was to address all the problems so hopefully there will be no rusting problems.
Btw, did you finally get the Walkman to work or you went back to the store to change a new one?

Cornelius said...

Tekko,

When I SMSed you the other day, actually there was nothing wrong with my walkman. I think I must have improperly connected it to my pc, so its battery couldn't be charged. I have since tried again and it's working just fine now!

If indeed they have solved the rusting problem, then that's great. But even if not, I hope to at least be able to use it for a year - with proper care, of course.

Unknown said...

Hi Cornelius,

Wishing you and your family a healthy and prosperous 2011.
Btw, the screw on my player rusted already. So looks like they haven't fix the problem. Probably used inferior quality screw from China. But good thing is it is still working.

Cornelius said...

Tekko,

Thanks for the wishes. And same to you and your family too!

BTW, it's quite a coincidence that you brought up the rusty screw. Just recently, when I was running with Dr Peter, he told me about the rust on the screw. Upon reaching home, I checked my walkman and was disappointed to find there was rust on mine too. I said to Peter perhaps that was intentional; that the walkman was supposed to last perhaps a year or two at the most? If not, there is no repeat business for the manufacturer?