Dec 3, 2009

Holiday Eating

Thanksgiving is typically about 2 things, being grateful for what you have and eating! The eating part didn't come at a great time for me with my new diet focus, but as I mentioned previously, I've been more interested in habit changes rather than fast progress. The immediate drop was tremendously gratifying, but it hasn't lasted. The good news is that even with the holiday I've been able to maintain some focus and keep my weight right were it was before.


I'm still at around 220-222 lbs, even with a bit more cheating as a result of Turkey day. I've been consistent with getting to Crossfit Relentless for a morning workout and have stayed pretty true to a Paleo type diet. Essentially, this means lots of protein and veggies and stay away from sugar and processed food or refined carbohydrates that turn into sugar. I've done a lot of reading on diet and have found some really good information at:

and

Its worth some time reading in my opinion, ultimately it's not about a "diet", it's about eating better food and using it as fuel for your body.

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Nov 12, 2009

Diet Update

I'm sure you've all been waiting... so, here's my promised update.


Down to 220 lbs, a loss of 3 lbs from last week! I feel good too, and it's been getting easier. I think my eating habits have just fundamentally changed, and I'm pretty happy about it. It hasn't even really become a sacrifice anymore which is pretty nice.

I've not even been real strict, allowing myself an occasional cheat but making sure that it doesn't snowball. Really looking forward to more progress in the next few weeks!

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Nov 5, 2009

New Diet...

Well, this isn't a particularly new theme for me... In fact, it seems to be pretty much an annual event where I set a goal of trying to lose some more weight. So, what's different this time? Well, I'm not sure exactly yet but things are definitely headed in the right direction.


A little background: I was 29 years old and Christmas was right around the corner in the Fall of 2002. I was staring at my 30th birthday in April and realizing that something needed to change... Fast approaching 300 lbs and feeling it every time I walked up the stairs. I distinctly remember walking out of my office building, and heading up the walkway which has 4 flights of 5 stairs to get to the parking lot and feeling totally out of breath. I'm not sure how or why I thought the Atkins diet would work, but I realized that I needed to try something. As I recall, it wasn't really all that hard after the first week or so... the removal of carbs from my diet totally killed the cravings. It really gave me a kick-start, and then my wife bought me a mountain bike for my birthday and I realized how much fun it was to start riding. About 50lbs later and a lot of triathlons, running races and biking and my diet had sort of stabilized of the last 6 years. I really didn't follow Atkins strictly after the first couple months, it was more the principles of removing carbs and sugar. Since then, I've fluctuated from 235 to as low as 208 (the morning after my Ironman!) but haven't really gotten to where I'd like to be.

For some reason this fall, I decided that I need to make a significant change again in order to bust through this plateau. Having read a lot of information about Atkins, South Beach, Zone, etc., I decided that cutting sugar was really the way for me to go. I remember the change in cravings after a week on Atkins and I decided that I needed to make the same sort of shift to kick-start my approach again.

It's now 2 weeks into my attempt to remove sugar from my diet. It's been a relatively positive experience so far with a couple slips (Hey, Halloween was smack in the middle of those 2 weeks!) At any rate, I've really seen a difference in cravings again, and have managed to change my diet significantly. Something has clearly clicked, and I'm just more interested in better food. As I've discussed with my wife, it's not a "diet" for me, more a change in mindset and realizing the impact to me when I put sugar into my body. I still have a craving to eat a lot of food, but it's not a danish or cookie! My next step is to start tuning the quantity, but I'm not really worried about that yet, just want to focus on more protein and better choices.

Results so far have been great, I'm at 223 lbs... probably down between 8 and 10 pounds from where I started, but more importantly I feel good. This morning when sitting at my kitchen table and bending over to tie my shoes I realized there wasn't as much pressure on my midsection (translation: my gut is smaller :). I've also kept up the weightlifting because I've enjoyed it and I think that I'm adding muscle while losing fat which is why I'm trying not to be fixated on the scale as much. I have to admit that I am a bit focused on the weight though, my goal is to get under 200 lbs by February. That's a little more than 5 lbs a month, and it will clearly be difficult over the holidays but for some reason I'm much more mentally into this time than I've been before.

Ideally, this will be my "secret" weapon going into next years triathlon season. What is the impact of carrying 25-30 less pounds up hills on my bike and run... I would think significant!

I'm going to try and hold myself accountable by posting every Thursday after a weigh in at the gym in the morning. Just one more reason to keep my motivation a bit higher...

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Oct 27, 2009

Moutain Biking in Utah?

Wow... I posted this on Twitter as well, but wow... this is worth a look. Man I would love to go ride out west a few times!


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Oct 8, 2009

Another Killington Weekend

Looking forward to this weekend when I head back up to Vermont and hit the downhill slopes at Killington...


Hopefully we have as much fun as we did last time.

I'm thinking of bringing my road bike and going for a long spin on the road as well... of course no matter which way I go it will ultimately result in a big climb.

Look forward to a recap, hopefully with some pictures....

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Sep 29, 2009

"Offseason"

I've taken a few weeks off to rejuvenate a bit and let my ankle heal. As most of you readers know, I've been whining about my sprained ankle for the last few months as I've struggled to get my form back and mostly failed. (One could argue that my form consists of struggling, but I digress...)


In any case, the time off seems to have helped as my ankle continues to feel better bit by bit. I have been able to still have fun, playing the occasionally Racquetball match and riding a bit, but it hasn't been very long or very intense...

That changed a bit a week ago on Sunday as I headed up to Boston for Hub on Wheels, and ultimately the 50 mile course. It turned out to be a really great course, basically they took what seemed like every park in Boston and connected them all together. Check it out here.

I'm still on my "Off Season" though!!

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Aug 21, 2009

Raced at Terramungus

Raced a sprint tri last night along with a bunch of folks from work... here's the results, not too bad a showing, I ultimately ended up running fairly well... couldn't recover from my poor swim though.



Here's my uncle finishing the run...

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Aug 18, 2009

Running results

Sorry... let me correct this, it was intended to be a link to the 2.6 mile Bolton Race results that my uncle and cousin did last week...

Cool Running- Bolton XC Race

While I'm at it, I should mention that I also did a 5k last week, my first in about 6 years and set a nice P.R.  25:56 for a 8:22 pace on a fairly hilly course.  The official results show over 26 minutes, but I'm going to go with my watch time (mostly because I like the results better!) since I think it's a bit more accurate in this case.

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Aug 15, 2009

Recovery Ride??

Morning bike ride with Eric

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Aug 12, 2009

Training Works!

The running I've been able to do in the last 2 weeks has started to pay off... I felt faster throughout the race and fresher once I hit the run. It was a bit of a struggle towards the end of the course, but I still hit a P.R. on this particular bike course... Fastest Swim time, fastest Bike time and fastest run time!


Swim: 9:26 Bike: 28:54 Run: 30:22
Total: 1:08:41

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Aug 8, 2009

Running with my new Toy


I've been wanting to try out the AllsportsGPS tracking software for my phone for a while. Essentially it uses the GPS in your phone to track your pace, elevation, distance, etc. while you're running and acts as a training log for your workouts. It has a running and biking option along with a few others like hiking that I can use to gauge how I'm performing.

I got to use it for the first time last evening when I ran from my house to my in-laws where my wife was spending the afternoon by the pool with the kids.

Distance:4.22 mi (Change units)
Calories:714
Average Speed:6.7 mph
0:09:00/mi
Duration:Total: 0:46:55
Active: 0:38:01
Resting: 0:08:53
Elevation:Total Gain: 299 ft
Total Loss: 299 ft
Net Change: 0 ft

It seemed to work pretty well, although I'm not sure how it figures the resting part and the elevation. I did stop twice, once to answer the phone and the second time when my mother was passing in her van and pulled over to say hi. I'll continue to use it and track my runs over the next month to see if I can get it dialed in pretty well. At the very least it will be a fun way to record my running as I get ready for the Hartford 1/2 Marathon which is back on the "probably" list after dropping off the list during my injury hiatus.

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Jul 28, 2009

It's Race Day!

Another Winding Trails Tri race day today... and it's not even raining!

I'm pretty stoked to be racing again, watching the Ironman this weekend has gotten me fired up! I'm all packed up and ready to go after work, hopefully the weather will stay just like it is now, cool but not raining.

It was really a great weekend, I'm planning to write up a report even though I didn't get to race.

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Ironman USA weekend

What a great weekend, I was able to hang out with my two older kids and watch a great race on Sunday...


We arrived on Friday night, but pretty late and crashed in the back yard in the tent my brother set up for us. His place is pretty small and there isn't much room, but the view and location are worth it.
On Saturday morning, we headed down to the town of Lake Placid on our bikes which was a bit of an adventure with a 9 and 11 year old. It's got a pretty steep downhill and some steep uphills and about 5 miles in total to get all the way to the Olympic oval. On the first downhill, my 9 year old looked back at me and went into a high speed wobble which raised my heart rate a bit. Fortunately she recovered quickly before I had a chance to try something stupid to catch her.
We went into the Oval where they have the expo set up to look around. It's kind of fun to walk around and look at the merchandise and all the crazy bikes as people are walking them into transition. We ran into my buddy Dave who was racing and a bit frantic at the moment with some bike issues. His wife and daughters were also there, and they know my kids so we hung around with them for a while as they got their faces painted, one of my daughters got the IM logo and the other got a butterfly... go figure :)
The girls had some questions about the race and what it was like for me 2 years ago when I competed and I showed them the transition area and where you entered and exited.

They both got to try on some aero helmets and play with some other cool stuff as you can see.

After hanging around for a bit, we were ready for the ride back out of town and up the hill to my brother's place. It was fun to ride with the kids, they were really excited to be out in town and you could tell a lot of people thought it was pretty cool to see kids riding. The vibe over the weekend is very much a biker and runner friendly atmosphere and there were calls of encouragement for my kids from lots of folks going past.
As we got close to the last big hill out of town, I told my brother to go ahead and grab the truck to pick up the kids. It was a bit easier for them, and then fun for me as I loaded up the kids and then took off after my uncle who had continued up the hill. I caught him, gave him a sneer and a challenged and promptly dropped as I accelerated past! He's going to need to work on his climbing before next year!
That afternoon, we met my sister-in-law at the Addirondak Loj where she works and went for a hike up Mount Jo.


The view was great and it was a perfect day for a hike... after a short stay, we headed back down and then had a nice dinner at my brother's place and watched the Mount Ventoux stage of the Tour de France.
Fun day all around!
Race Day - Sunday
We were scheduled to work the first bike aid station which was conveniently a 1/2 mile up the road from my brother's house. Our theme was funny hats, my uncle has the umbrella hat and my brother is the hombre...
Most of my day was spent running back and forth getting water and Gatorade to the folks handing them out to the bikers. My daughters were doing the same thing, and I think they really enjoyed their day.
Bikers came pretty fast and furious on the first lap as we were only 10 miles into the course and they hadn't spread out all that much by the time they reached us. It was hectic, but pretty smooth in general...
The second loop was where things got a bit more interesting. First, the leader went through and it was over 11 minutes until the second place competitor was seen. As we found out later, Mark Twelsiek was in the process of dominating the race. I didn't get a chance to catch the leading woman, as things quickly go busier. The second wave of bikes was definitely more spread out and we started to see some pretty tired riders. We also started holding some bikes as a people began getting off to use the toilet. I think this was the part my daughter enjoyed the most, holding the bike for the racers and then helping them with whatever fluids or foods that they needed before they started back up.
We also had a bit of excitement as an ambulance pulled up to the front section of our station. Since I was further down the road, I didn't really know what happened, but it turned out that a racer had experience some heat exhaustion and was in pretty rough shape. Fortunately it turned out fine for him health wise, but his race was over as he was pulled from the course. Slowly, the stream of riders slowed and we saw more and more of the folks that were struggling. It's a bit inspiring, but also tough to watch as I had to assume that some of these riders were not going to make the cutoff.
All told, a very good experience, we wrapped things up around 2:30 or so and then cleaned up and headed back to the house. We decided to chill for a bit, eat some dinner and then plan to head downtown again to watch some of the run.
We rode our bikes down again, a bit more controlled this time and slowly rolled through the run course. At this point it was about 7 PM and a lot of people had finished, but there were still a ton of competitors out on the course. I had expected Dave to be finished at this point, but it turns out he had a bit of a meltdown so we actually got to watch him finish. I also ran into my friend Sean's wife and she mentioned that he was also just about to finish and I was able to high five him on the way past. We hung out for a bit and watched a bunch of people finish up and then headed back up the hill out of town.
This time we decided to try the whole hill and it was fun to see the dynamics of my daughters working up the hill. The younger one is much more of a competitor and really pushed the whole time even though she was on a single speed bike. My oldest is much more laid back and she shifted way down and just moseyed along. A fun bike ride until my pedal fell off! I had switched out my clipless pedals with flats so that I could ride with my running shoes. They were old pedals though, and for some reason they weren't holding into the cranks. On the bright side, I did get to do a brick as I ended up running the last 1/4 mile trying to keep up with my daughters. A very good day indeed!
Monday morning I packed up while my uncle and brother waited in line to register for next years race... and then the long drive home. I'm looking forward to my next visit to the area again already!

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Jul 23, 2009

Tinman weekend!

Yeah, I'm a slacker for not posting this quickly...

I headed up to Lake Placid on Friday afternoon with my uncle for the weekend with bikes and gear in tow. We through the mountain bikes in the truck, thinking that perhaps on Sunday after our race we would get a chance to go for a spin either downhill on Whiteface or perhaps on some local trails. It was a relatively smooth ride, although we hit a wicked rainstorm coming through Keene just before going over the pass into LP.

We got to my brother's house just before he arrived home from work, and we thought about breaking in just as he arrived there. After heading down the road to pick up my sister-in-law, we decided to go to my uncle's place in Long Lake which would be only 15 minutes from the race in the morning. We had a nice dinner at the Lake Placid Brewery, (I love their UBU ale), and then headed to the race site to pick up our race packets! It was a little bit funny to see the operation in action, it was a couple of older ladies who clearly had no clue about racing. One of them asked which race I was doing since there was a sprint and 1/2 Iron. I answered "I'm doing the 1/2 Ironman race"... she looked at me blankly for a few seconds and then said "Do you mean the full Tinman?". A different perspective then the crazy good organization that is the Mooseman.
Race morning went pretty smooth as we got to the transition area in plenty of time to set up our stuff. It rained a little bit off and on, which turned out to be a pretty good barometer for the day. We had brought plastic garbage bags to keep things dry and it turned out to be a great help. I set up my spot as usual, but pulled the garbage bag over and around all of my stuff to be sure I at least started my bike ride dry once I got out of the water.

The swim started out fine, I was in the third wave, 10 minutes behind my brother and 10 minutes ahead of my uncle. It was a relatively smooth swim, probably a result of the fact that most of my training had been in the swim lately with the sprained ankle mostly keeping me off the roads and running.   Ran into a little bit of weeds here and there which was a bit freaky at first, but once I got used to it I was fine.  Got out of the water and noticed imediately that I felt good, but it was pouring!  Swim: 46:14 - A bit below expectations
T1 was fine, I had tucked my stuff under a plastic trash bag so it was relatively dry... which didn't last very long!  T1: 3:20
Biking was on an out and back course with very few turns.  Afterwards I recalled that I didn't need to touch my brakes except for the turn-around and then at the end of the bike.  So from that perspective it was a pretty good bike... but other than that, not so much!  I ended up getting very cold, it was pretty much pouring almost the entire time.  My legs felt pretty good and I managed to stay fairly aero for much of the ride.  I passed my brother coming the other way before the turn-around, and noticed that he was in front of my pace (he started 10 minutes ahead) but detailed math was a bit tough at that point.  Then, after the turnaround I noticed my uncle also ahead of my pace... making me a bit nervous :)  I sure didn't want him to catch me, so I pushed a bit more on the way back.  There was a pretty low point for me at about 45 miles as I got pretty cold and was really feeling poorly.  The good news was that Eric didn't catch me, and the sun came out when I was a few minutes out from transition. 
Bike: 3:21:51 - 16.6 mph
T2, no issues... I was very happy that I had my sneakers under the plastic and then were dry.  One decision that I had to make was to skip the socks, I pulled my wet ones off and decided to go without for the run.  T2: 3:48

Run... yeah, it got ugly... real ugly. Almost immediatly my ankle was sore and I could barely run.  The start was almost all uphill and that didn't help at all.  Much of the first couple miles I was walking and in quite a bit of pain.  There were a number of thoughts running through my head... "why the heck did I do this again?"...  "My uncle is definitely going to catch me"... "I can't do this"...   I certainly felt like quitting, and was struggling quite a bit.  Gradually, I could run a bit, mostly because my ankle and foot got numb, but there wasn't a whole lot left in my legs.  As I mentioned, not a lot of running lately, and it was coming back to haunt me.  The course was two loops that met in the middle close to the transition area with some hills and an interesting cut through the woods in a couple spots.  On my way back from the first loop I was feeling very poorly and really considering bailing entirely but fortunately ran into a cheerful lady who had me run with her for a couple miles and brought me past the turn for the transition area so I kept running fairly well.  Unfortunately, that didn't last very long and I started really suffering.  From this point forward, approximately at mile 7 it became a total slog... walk a few steps, job a few steps, pull up in pain and start walking more.   My body was really rebelling as I headed out over a sand path to the second of the two loops and the most hilly section.  The one good constant was the plethora of aid stations with oranges and water and gatorade which at least broke the monotony of the trudgery.
I'd long ago resigned myself to have Eric catch me which would ultimately mean pass since he only needed to finish within 10 minutes to beat me... but bit by bit it dawned on me that he must not have been having a very good day either.  Miles 8,9 and 10 seemed to take forever... I knew I needed to finish a loop and get back to the place where the run course split but it seemed every step was taking me further from where the road came together and I would have knowledge of the course to the finish.  Finally, I turned a corner and saw the intersection which was not where I expected but that was actually pretty buoying to my spirits.  At this point I knew the rest of the course and could gauge what I had left.  It still hurt a lot, but when I turned one of the last corners and headed downhill towards the finish I decided to see what I had left.  Coming into the park area I was stumbling and hurting but as I slowed a bit a spectator yelled at me and I pushed on.  I crossed the line gasping and choking... but another race done. Run - 3:01:51 Pace - 13:31

In retrospect I'm fairly happy with the results considering the amount of training I was able to put in.  The results were over an hour slower than my fastest 1/2 iron time, but at least my uncle didn't beat me :)  It also made me resolve to train a bit more for the next race, but bottom line is that I had fun again!
Overall - 7:12:02

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Jul 20, 2009

Back from Vacation

Tinman Race Report still coming...

Went to Hershey Park in PA for a week and didn't do too much else...

Ironman USA this weekend, looking forward to watching it with my brother and uncle.

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Jul 6, 2009

Photos from TinMan...

Yeah, I know I need to do a Race Report... it's coming I promise!

http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=47474&BIB=191&S=230&PWD=

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Jun 19, 2009

Pervasive Ads

I'm always amused by what ads pop up on my site... you may recall that I was losing focus at one point. This morning I saw the following after my recap post... wonder where the connection with looking for hot chicks and this blog come in??




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Jun 18, 2009

Winding Trails Race Recap - 2009 #1

The first race of the season went down this past Tuesday and I had a good time as usual. The family was represented by myself, uncle Eric and cousin Jason...

The usual butterflies were in place being the first race and all but I got through that before the start of the swim. I did a really quick warmup in the water and then had get out for the first wave to go off. I'll be in the second wave all year since I don't swim under 7 minutes and that was the cutoff that they chose for the first wave. I felt really good throughout the swim and managed to draft a bit more than usual. Came out of the swim right behind Eric but passed him on the run up the beach. Time for the swim was 9:47 and 45th place, which includes the longer run to transition. I'm guessing it's a minute and a half to two minutes for the run which means about an 8 minute swim, not too bad.

Transition went fairly well and I jumped on the bike. My biggest issue on the bike is that the middle ring in the front is shot and was dropping the chain every time I put a lot of power on while in the second ring. In retrospect, I really should have brought it up to my buddy at Tolland Bike to get it fixed (I have since dropped it off so I don't get this excuse next week). Finished the bike feeling really good and ready to run. Time was 32:13 for 62nd place. Clearly, I think I could have gone faster with a better middle ring, but we'll see next week.

Off on the run, and the usual results... not great. It was exacerbated a bit by the sore ankle, but mostly my lack of running conditioning hurt. I've been trying to strike a balance between letting my ankle sprain heal and getting some good run training in. The run was where the excitement came in though... I was walking on the last hill when my uncle came by moving pretty good. Immediately I took off after him, and actually felt pretty good about my chances because I had been able to catch my breath going up the hill. The other factor was that you can't coast down to the finish from that point anymore, the line has been moved out. That was the difference maker, as he couldn't hold the pace all the way to the finish and I caught him just after the old finish line but with 100 yards or so to go and pulled away. Run time was 31:38 and my total was 1:13:38 for 75th place out of 128.

Check out the full results here: http://thelastmileracing.com/results/results2009/09windingtrails1.html

Nice job to Tom Cornish by the way... #1 overall on the bike!!

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Jun 11, 2009

Sneak peak at Winding Trails 2009

Despite getting rained out on Tuesday night, I rode the new bike course and then followed it up last night with the official "Demo Day" at Winding Trails. The course has changed this year as the race has gotten much bigger, over 300 racers over the course of the year as opposed to 80 or so when I first started 5 years ago.

The swim course is the same, although I did find out that there will be 3-4 waves instead of the 1 or maybe 2 that we have had in the past. It appears that there will be an attempt to seed folks based on predicted swim times which would certainly be an important difference from the past. In order to support this they've moved to a chip system for tracking which will also give better split times and better accuracy. The other important difference is the location of the transition area which is going to result in a longer run out of the swim. It's close to a 300 meter run after getting out of the water on a sand covered road which has a couple interesting implications. First, coming out gassed and then running for that long will definitely slow down some folks and it will probably make sense to pace this run a bit more than the normal sprint. Secondly, your feet will be covered with sand so it may be worth having a water basin for your feet or even some shoes near the swim exit. Lastly, the question of where to take off the wetsuit will take some thought as well, I haven't entirely decided what my thoughts are on this yet.

I got a chance to ride the bike course twice and although I was originally disappointed because it seemed easy, I think it will be a decent course and definitely structured to not get congested. The main difference from last year is that the first mile or maybe even two is wide open trail and although it's a bit hilly it will be fast. Clearly the goal was to get the racers to spread out and I think that will be the case on this course. It gradually adds some single track and some hills as you get through the bike course. There is still very little technical demand to the course but cornering skills will be very helpful in making a difference to your race. It's definitely a twisty course with a lot of braking and accelerating where bike handling will help you a lot in addition to being in shape. The final touch of the course is where you ride on the deep sand that they laid down to protect the feet of swimmers running into transition... ug, really sucks your legs down just as you're ready to run!

The run course is the same as it was last year but shifted a couple hundred feet to the new transition area. Ultimately, this means a few less steps to warm up before the hill and then your finishing kick will obviously have to start at a different spot. I'm thinking just as you get to the bridge... but this will have to play out over the course of the season.

All in all, I'm really looking forward to next week and the start of the "real" season!

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Jun 10, 2009

Washout...

No race at WT last night, but it was postponed to today. Hoping to get back there tonight and bring my latest newbie along with me...

I did go for a bike ride on the course last night, it's changed from last year. It felt a bit longer, probably because there was no one else on it and we weren't pushing hard. Also, I have to admit to being a tad disappointed that it wasn't more technical. I have an advantage on tougher bike courses because riding skill becomes more important than fitness :) However, most of the single track sections are still in and the steep hill is still there but they've all been moved to the end of the course. I suspect the thinking is that this will allow racers to spread out a bit before the logjams.... we'll see how it plays out.

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Jun 8, 2009

Rec track at Soapstone

Took "our kids" to Soapstone Mtn to run for track on Saturday... one of the parents took some pictures, check them out...
http://smilebox.com/playEmail/4f5463774e7a51334e5877784f5467794e5451324e513d3d0d0a&sb=1

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Jun 2, 2009

Winding Trails!!

Free demo day next Tuesday!! http://65.75.50.50/announcement.php?id=29

Worth a trip out to check it out, then the weekly series starts the week after.

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Made the big time...

Sometimes it takes years, sometimes it takes months... we all dream about hitting it big and making it to the next level. When you get a break and it happens, you feel on top of the world. I've managed the feat once before when I won the Mr Average award at the Winding Trails race in 2007!

Yes, I was invited to play with the "A" team in Racquetball in the mornings!!


Note, while the above is a bit of sarcasm, I am indeed playing Racquetball tomorrow morning with the group of guys that have been playing for years. I'm really looking forward to it, it's been nice to have a regular game with Eric on Thursdays, and this will give me the chance to play even more.

The critical question??? Lefty or Righty?

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May 26, 2009

Couple snapshots from the past few days...

I did get in a nice long (56mi) bike ride yesterday up in Vermont, and then spent some time with the kids and my parents biking and hanging out in the hammock along the CT River in Vermont....

Here's some pics from the weekend, first my favorite sign during my bike ride!


Post ride recovery in the hammock with my youngest!




Took the two older ones one a rails to trails bike ride... lots of sand, so it was pretty tough actually. They also had some covered bridges, including this one here.




Here's my middle daughter, she's a trooper. She hung tough on the ride, struggling through the deep sand which took her down a few times. She's pretty determined though, and wouldn't quit!

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May 21, 2009

Essence of my trip to Virginia


Or at least the drive anyway....

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May 19, 2009

Crazy week planned

I'm headed to Virginia tonight with the family for a "vacation". The reality is that I will be spending the whole time in the hotel room working remotely for about 10 hours a day, but after that it will be fun!!

The good news is that once again I was able to find a Crossfit affiliate within driving distance and I'm hoping to get to work out a few times with them while I'm down there. My elbow goes back and forth, but the new strap that my uncle got me to brace it seems to be working much better. Hopefully it will hold up to a few workouts while I'm away and then I can be back at it.

To make the week crazier, once we get home this weekend we're supposed to go to my aunt's place in Vermont for the holiday weekend. Maybe I'll get a nice bike ride in though... hoping that Memorial Day is nice enough for me to head out for a few hours.

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May 12, 2009

More injury updates...

Wow, I can't even lift my arm up today without a lot of pain... guess I shouldn't have tried to play Racquetball last night!

It was a pretty frustrating day at work yesterday, so I wanted to get to the gym after watching my daughters Chorus concert. I was going to do a Crossfit workout, but most of the usual Monday night Racquetball crew was there so I decided to jump into a game. I ended up playing for a few hours and got to run around a lot which was good. The other good news is that even though I forgot my ankle brace I didn't really notice any issues with my left ankle. The sprain is almost entirely healed. It's still sore, but improving a bit everyday. It's still noticeable when pushing off, my power is reduced a bit when cutting or jumping off my left foot, but I can make do.

I'm rather anxious to get back on my bike, it's been a while, so it's good that my ankle has healed enough. It's probably better for my elbow to use the bike to get my exercise as well. The other good news is that I've gotten into the Lake for a Swim twice already have been at least running with the Track club so I'm not a total slug!

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May 5, 2009

Volleyball Season Ends...

Well... my volleyball season ended last night with a bit of a whimper. We lost the first 3 games in the playoffs and are out. It was a difficult match, we were shorthanded with 2 of our best players unavailable, and myself with a bum ankle.

Starting the game, we had 5 players with really only John and myself hitting... and I wasn't sure how much jumping I was going to be able to do. It turned out that I could move fairly well, but I didn't have much explosion at all in my legs and couldn't get up in the air very much. Then, halfway through the second game, one of our ladies took a spike directly to the nose and left the match... we were down to four players!

Still, we managed to keep every game close, we were within a few points on all three but when push came to shove we couldn't make enough plays. It was good to play again after 2 weeks resting my ankle, and I held up okay throughout. Every day the ankle feels a little bit better and today is no different so that's really encouraging.... hopefully I can get back to regular workouts again soon.

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Apr 27, 2009

Musings

Lots of thoughts...

Tough to get injured, especially since I don't seem to heal as fast as I used to. My volleyball season has potentially two more nights, tonight is round one of the playoffs and if we make it then the finals are next Monday. I clearly can't play tonight, but if we win I suppose next week would be a possibility. I've been mulling around heading down tonight to watch, and perhaps get some sort of a workout in...

Along those lines, I'm hopeful that I can back to at least some form of Crossfit workouts this week. If I get to the gym tonight I'll try some of the movements and work, but most of the Workouts have at least some portion of lower body involved. I'm not real stable with a weak ankle at the moment and don't want to have a setback, so I'm a bit mixed about trying too much.

Finally, it was nice to get track season started again. For the last few years I've been an assistant coach with our town's youth track program. Mike, the head coach, has made some interesting changes this year and I'm excited to see how it plays out. We had our first practice on Saturday and have about 70 kids signed up at this point. I suspect we'll get a few more, we've peaked out at 115 in the past. I couldn't do much with the group, but helped a little with some core exercises as a warmup and then stretching at the end. My two oldest daughters are participating, and I may get my youngest to come out occasionally.

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Apr 24, 2009

Injury Update

Since I know you care....


My ankle is feeling better, but looking worse. I've been walking close to normal on it now.
I'm not sure this picture shows the rich tones and delicate, subtle color overtones... but it's the best I can do!

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Apr 21, 2009

Big Ouch!

I think my Volleyball season came to a screetching halt last night... hopefully not my Triathlon season as well!


I rolled my ankle after landing on my cousins foot in an attempt to block his spike.  Considerable pain, and not much walking at the moment... we'll see how it goes, hopefully things will get better quickly.  The good news is that we won all 3 games and are the 3rd seed in the playoffs... the bad news is that the playoffs start next week, and I doubt I'll be able to play.

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Apr 7, 2009

Long Overdue

Lots has happened...


Less than thrilled with my Hockanum river race results, we were 5th.

Went 1-2 at Volleyball, not particularly good considering we weren't playing a very good team

Got a brace for my elbow, but it didn't completely help for Racquetball... I did get a new racquet though!

Leaving for Florida on Thursday! Hoping to get to a Crossfit affiliate near Naples.

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Mar 31, 2009

Quick Update

2-1 at Volleyball last night...

6th place in the Scantic Race on Saturday...

More details and hopefully pictures to come!

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Mar 25, 2009

Scantic Race in 3 Days!

I'll be doing the Scantic Spring Splash again this year, a 5 mile whitewater canoe race. Unfortunately, my brother won't be able to race with me this year, but I've found a good substitute in Greg, another veteran of the race. Looking forward to the run, it may be a little easier this year as the water is pretty low, but hopefully we can still finish in the money! It's a fun race to watch, the finish line is easily accessible and has rapids right there, check the post below from last year for details.

From last year, prep and where to watch
http://mangolds.blogspot.com/2008/03/canoe-dry-run.html

Here's my race report from last year
http://mangolds.blogspot.com/2008/03/scantic-race-report.html

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Mar 24, 2009

Volleyball 3/23

Decent result last night, we went 2-1 for the evening...

On a personal note, I played fairly well except for the fact that I can't set at all anymore without getting whistled for double hits. I need to work with Eric a bit this week perhaps on what I'm doing wrong. I did get my best spike of the season in, I had my legs under me and really timed it nicely.

I also have ended up playing over 4 hours of racquetball over the last couple days, and haven't gotten much better. It's been a lot of fun, but it's taken it's toll a bit on my right elbow as swinging hard as been bothering me more and more lately. I need to take it easy with it, and perhaps get a bit of support from an elbow band or something similar for during my games.

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Mar 23, 2009

Racquetball form et al...

I've been spending quite a bit of time playing Racquetball lately, and although I suspect it's at least partly to blame for my sore elbow, I can see it improving both my game and my fitness.

I was able to play for almost 2 1/2 hours yesterday, mostly with my uncle and cousin, but a bit of 2 on 2 with another gym member. Reading the ball of the wall correctly and maintaining footwork have become the keys for me. My tendency in the past was to overrun the ball a bit instead of reading the bounce and letting it come to me. That typically would result in not only a poor hit, without good extension on the swing, but likely putting me in a poor position to get to the next ball. This ties in directly with good footwork, reading the ball and getting set lets me set up the swing and take a smoother and harder swing. Focusing on footwork and good follow through really helps you take advantage of each shot and allows you to put the ball in the right area to make your opponents work.

The corollary to Crossfit or any other activity is clear: Form is critical to developing mastery. Reading Starting Strength lately, I've come to realize some of the form issues I have with Squats and Deadlifts. I suspect that I'm not going to be able to correct all of these issues without at least some coaching if only because I can't always "see" what I'm doing while I'm doing it. In any case, I need to continue to focus on form if I truly want to see some big performance gains.

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Mar 20, 2009

Quick week report...

It's been a crazy week, things have been pretty busy at work...

I didn't get a chance to play Volleyball on Monday night as we had plans for a family dinner. My team went 0-3 without me, which either means that I'm a better player than I thought, or we played a good team... I'm going to go with "they must have needed me"!

I've also been pretty good about doing Crossfit this week, although my elbow is killing me now at the end of the week. I did the Murph workout, which resulted in a whole lot of pullups, pushups and squats and about did me in. Still feeling pumped about the routine, and I'm disappointed that I couldn't do it today because of my elbow.

Hopefully, I'll be back on track tomorrow.

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Mar 16, 2009

Crossfit Perservere

I did my second workout at Crossfit Perservere, and my 6th crossfit workout overall this morning, and it was just as tough as the first!  


Went through the standard crossfit warm-up, then hit a main W.O.D of 5 rounds of 100 skips over a jump rope, 20 - 20kg kettleball swings, then 10 knees to elbows.  The toughest part was the jump roping, not a skill I'm particularly good at, and I quickly went anaerobic.  I became pretty fatigued, pretty fast, especially since I was starting with pretty sore arms after paddling down the Hockanum for a few hours yesterday...

Still, another good experience, and still wanting more!

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Mar 11, 2009

Crossfit

I've hesitated a bit to post about this, because I had starting and stopping stuff... but its been a whole week now.  I've been doing Crossfit which is a weight lifting and training philosophy that I could really identify with!  


It's most easily described as high-intensity weight training with gymnastics and other varied workouts mixed in.  The most important thing has been the fact that its constantly changing, and so you don't get bored and your body gets challenged all the time in new and different ways.  Every day, a WOD is posted, or workout of the day.  It's been challenging every time so far and I've had to scale back either the weight, or reps or both but I've tried to stay true.  For instance, today I did 7 rounds of 5 pull-ups, then 10 dips, and then 15 sit-ups, as fast I could and finished in 20 minutes.  Very, very tough workout, but I felt great when I got done... shelled, but great! 

Crazy thing is that after you add it all up, it comes out to 35 pull-ups, 70 dips and 105 sit-ups!!  It's been a long time since I've done that kind of workout.  Not sure how this will ultimately impact my triathlon season, at the very least I should be in general all around shape.  That's really the goal after all, to look and feel good... if I get faster in a Tri race, even better!

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Mar 5, 2009

My New Shoes Came!

My new Zoot running shoes arrived!!!  

I couldn't resist the clearance price of $59!






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House project

Couple people have asked about the house project that I've been working on with my Dad and Brother. I found a good shot of it using the Live Maps online, check it out here http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=qzjht88yn4p3&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=17071165&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1  It's the house on the triangle lot next to the railroad tracks, with the garage and pool in the backyard.  The pool is pretty interesting actually, a huge custom poured concrete pool.  It's something like 60' by 25' if I recall correctly, maybe I could even use if for training in the spring!

The idea is to rehab the house and sell it after we sub-divide the land. We're hoping to get 4 lots out of the property in addition to the house, but may have to settle for just 3 more. The house needs some work, but ultimately it's going to be pretty nice. Four bedrooms total with big closets, plus a downstairs laundry and Master bedroom. If anyone is looking for a nice house in a couple of months, let me know!

I've been helping with demo so far but just started doing a little painting. A couple rooms are going to pretty much stay how they are with the exception of paint, so we decided to get a head start on that part.

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Mar 3, 2009

Volleyball 3/2

The results were good, 3 wins, but my play wasn't especially sparkling. I think my morning workout left me a bit flat, I couldn't get any extension on my spikes and so I was hitting them long. Hard to play well when you don't have your legs under you completely, I could really feel the fatigue slowing me down just a bit.

Our team is really playing well together though, we have a pretty good mix of players and don't have any glaring weaknesses. Everyone moves well and has been enthused about getting to every ball which bodes well for the long-term. Hopefully I'll be back on my game next week and can contribute a little better.

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Feb 26, 2009

Racquetball is definitely a workout

I spent a little over an hour this morning playing racquetball with my uncle and at the end I could tell that I was working for sure! It's basically aerobic threshold work as you are constantly jumping in and out of an anaerobic state sprinting after returns. I forgot to wear my heart rate monitor this morning, but I'm curious to see how things would register over the whole workout. It's definitely more fun than a session at the track although clearly the track work is more specific training for triathlon. The good news is that I'm still far enough away from my first race that the workout will have some benefits for me.

We're signed up for next Thursday again, I'll report back then how my heart rate was affected.

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Feb 23, 2009

In for Tinman

It's official, I've signed up for the Tinman race in June!
http://www.tupperlakeinfo.com/tinman/index.htm

Hope I can remember how to swim, bike and run!

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Feb 21, 2009

Demo?

Worked at my new project house with my father, does demolition work count as aerobic exercise??  We did have to hump some old cast iron radiators down the stairs, I think those are leg presses at least!  The project is starting to come along pretty well, we have most of the upstairs gutted at this point and ready to start framing out the new partitions.  It's going to be pretty nice upstairs with some nice bedrooms with big closets and a really nice big bathroom.

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Feb 20, 2009

Spinfest!

Ouch, four days of spinning this week and all with Deb the instructor from Hades! She was subbing for the other teachers this week, I assume because of the school vacation week. You know that you are going to be working hard when Deb shows up because she yells at you the whole time, even by name if she has to :) She actually got off the bike on Thursday and walked around to give us grief. She stopped by my bike and accused me of not even breathing hard, pretty funny actually.

It's actually been a real good week, both exercise and diet have aligned enough that I can feel and see a difference after only 5 days. I guess I'm back to working on consistency, another couple weeks in a row like this and I'm sure I'll see a big difference in my riding again. Next week I'm going to try running after spin class on at least two days so that I can ease back into Triathlon mode.

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Feb 17, 2009

Volleyball Week 1

It's Volleyball season again!!
Starting off a new season with a new team and a lot of hope that it will be better than last session. To make it even better, I got to play my uncle's team right out of the gate. We had one new guy that no one knew, which always makes you a bit apprehensive, but it turned out that he was pretty decent.

We started off okay, they were short-handed, but it still took a bit for us to get coordinated. The first week it's always a bit of a challenge to get a feel for each others' playing style and how best to work together. I was a bit out of sync but managed to get going a bit as we won the first game. The second game, they had all their players and we lost a bunch of points when we had trouble returning serves and ultimately lost the game. Finally in the third game, we played very well, including my kill through my uncle's attempted block :)

So, we're off to a 2-1 start, or 1/2 the number of wins we had the entire last session!

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Feb 16, 2009

Triathlon Buyer's Guide

I've been promising to do this for a while as a couple friends have asked me about what they need to do a triathlon. So here's your official, yet completely unscientific, essential triathlon buyer's guide!



Shorts - First thing you need is to get dressed of course! There are a lot of different tri shorts and bike shorts and other combinations out there, but the best ones for me are from Titan Wear. They have a small chamois for a little padding, but most important it doesn't get in your way for swimming and running. They are also cheaper than most! Get the ones with the gripper legs so that they stay in place.

http://www.titanwear.com/


Tri tops - These come in many different shapes and sizes, so get what you want while considering two things. Friction is not your friend! Tight fitting is more aero. While bike jersey are tight and aero, they generally have short sleeves and are painful to run in. Swinging your arms back and forth across a seam on the sleeve leads to serious issues during your run leg.


Swim Leg

Goggles - Get some that don't leak and are comfortable, as long as they work for you.

Wetsuit - Wetsuits help in two ways, they keep you warm, and more importantly they help you swim faster by keeping your legs up higher in the water. Worth the cost in my opinion! For inexpensive budgets, Promotion wetsuits work, I've had one of these for a while. http://www.wetsuit.com/ Make sure you measure carefully and get one that fits. I've also had good luck with xterra suits, they are a bit pricier than promotion, but feel a little more flexible when you're swimming. http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/ (They have coupons a lot, so search the web before you purchase)

Bike Leg

Bike - You need one :) For most Olympic or shorter distance races in New England you don't really need a tri-specific race since there are usually a lot of hills. The geometry of a road bike will help you a lot when climbing and counteract the aero benefits of a tri bike on the flat sections for the most part.

Helmet - You need one of these too! I haven't used an aero helmet since I'm not really fast enough for it to make a huge difference (They help more at higher speeds).

Shoes / Socks - I use my typical bike shoes and socks for longer distance races, anything over a sprint. Most road shoes use Velcro which is easy enough, and I try to roll my socks off my feet and leave them ready to put on easily. Sprint distance, it's probably worth trying to skip socks for both the bike and run, PRACTICE this first though.

Race Belt - I use a race belt since it makes it a lot quicker to put your number on and switch it around. I actually have an extra or two, first person to ask gets one :)


Lots of extra training tools stuff for the bike of course, I use a combination of a heart rate monitor plus the GPS on my phone and a standard bike computer. I'd love to get a power meter sometime, but it's still a bit too pricey at this point.


I try to get in most of my nutrition needs during the bike, since I digest much better than when I'm running. Again, Olympic or longer needs a pretty specific plan and some solid food. Gels, and powerbar type options work pretty well, I tape them to my top tube which lets me rip them off and open in one step.


Run Leg
Running Shoes - Doesn't really matter which brand, whatever works best for you. Get some Yankz though to help you put them on quickly. http://www.yankz.com/ If you're real cool you could try some triathlon specific running shoes. http://www.zootsports.com/race/


Other Stuff
Sunglasses - Almost a must for on the bike, I usually wear them on the run too.
Bodyglide - Apply some of this before racing, helps reduce friction to get the wetsuit off quickly plus eliminates chafing. I usually put in on my ankles and neck. http://www.bodyglide.com/#/products/anti-chafe



I'll update if I think of more stuff, but that's it for now... questions or comments welcomed.

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Feb 12, 2009

LP Volunteer

I got an email about my volunteer station at Lake Placid, and it looks like my uncle, brother and sister-in-law are all at the same one.  Even more interesting, it is the Bike Aid station #1 which is about a 1/2 mile from my brother's new place!  At least it won't be hard getting back and forth...  


I'm really looking forward to being up there for the race again, it's such a fun and crazy atmosphere!  

Sign up for Ironman Lake Placid 2010 the day after anyone??

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Feb 9, 2009

Starting again??

I'm back in that mood again... I took a week or so off from the gym with the intermission of Volleyball league, but I was happy to be back again. I always feel better leaving the gym then I did entering it, although that's sometimes difficult to keep in mind at 4:30 AM!

I need to make up my mind about Mooseman vs Tinman... what do you think guys??

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Feb 4, 2009

School's Closed!

Is it just me or does it seem like they are closing / delaying / cancelling school for the least bit of bad weather? Don't we live in New England??

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Feb 3, 2009

Short trip to Lake Placid NY

As I've previously mentioned, my brother Matt has moved up to Lake Placid in upstate New York, and I took a quick trip up there this weekend. He's moving to a more long-term location instead of the temporary spot they are now. BTW, his house is still available if anyone is looking for a real nice home in Vernon, CT!!
I helped him pack up on Saturday, along with my Uncle Eric and we headed up Sunday for the roughly 4 1/2 hour trip. The drive is gorgeous after you pass Albany, lots of mountains and sweeping views.
His new apartment is really more of a cottage and is just outside the town of Lake Placid with outstanding views of the surrounding area. I took some pictures with my blackberry, and they don't really do it justice. The first one is out the back window, and it's a bit overcast but on a clear day you can see Mt Marcy and other High Peaks in the Adirondack Park.
The Second picture is out the front door and features the Olympic ski jumps in Lake Placid. This view is a rather iconic one, and one that I remember well from my Ironman race both on the run and the bike!
After spending a few hours unloading the truck and trailer we went to his current apparent to park the vehicles, and then to the brewery to watch the first half of the Super Bowl. The food and especially the beer was outstanding! http://www.ubuale.com/ I'm hoping my brother will hook me up with some of the ubu ale sometime!

Got up early and headed home Monday morning and got home at 10 AM for work... really not bad, I could do a few ski weekends this way.
Matt?? What do you say, downhill or cross-country touring would be good!





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Jan 31, 2009

Posting from gymnastics

Sitting upstairs watchings my kids fall all over the place!

It's going to be a busy weekend, headed to the UConn game this afternoon, then helping my brother pack up for his move to a new apartment. I'll head up to Lake Placid tomorrow with him to unload, watch the game and come back home Monday morning.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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Jan 28, 2009

So much for biking outside

This past weekend, I was thinking that it was getting close to rideable in the woods again with some of the snow melting, and a few weeks worth of other traffic. I'm guessing with the snow and ice we got today that riding point will be pushed back a couple weeks again. I'm in a bit of a lull with riding, spending time in the basement staring at the wall isn't all that entertaining even if I try a movie or training video... oh well.

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Jan 27, 2009

New projects

I have a couple new projects in the works, both sport and other...

First, I'm investing in some property with my father and brother. It involves a rehab of a house, plus some lots to build on. They are in the building business, I'm purely in as the cash man! I just like saying that, it's honestly not a lot from me. I'm mostly looking forward to spending a little time working on fixing up a house and maybe working more often with my father and brother.

Second item, I still haven't built up my old mountain bike turned fixed gear road machine. I have any number of options from building a wheel from scratch and every bit of work done myself to buying much of it. I've started assembling a list of items that I will need, and may order some of it soon so that I can get started. I'm thinking of it as more of a bike to play around with when riding with my kids, and occasionally taking it off road. Think mountain bike frame with semi-slick tires, flat pedals and flip-flop hub (single-speed & fixed gear)

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Jan 24, 2009

Brutal week at Work

Crazy time at work this week, I had 3 vendors for 2 different projects come in for a total of 8 days worth of presentations... all jammed into 4 days of work time. After the relaxing day off on Monday for a company holiday, the next four days were spent with overlapping presentations and sales pitches where sales weenies spend hours droning on about their company and how they can solve all your problems! Even worse... my normal job still continues on, so after 8 hours plus of presentations I go back to my desk and try to put out the fires that sprang up during the day. Bottom line, late days all week long!

It's definitely a relief to have the week over, and I chilling at home today. My workouts suffered for sure, but with Volleyball on hiatus for a couple weeks it should be easier to get to the gyms in the morning again. I also talked to a new triathlon convert today, a friend from here in town who has helped with track in the spring and he's anxious to do some riding together. Looking forward to it!

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Jan 21, 2009

Worth reading...

About the Ironman.... long, but a pretty interesting perspective from a past champion!

http://scotttinley.com/writtenword.htm

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Volleyball wrap

The season is over, none too soon. Not entirely successful from a competitive standpoint, but I did have fun for the most part. Our record was something like 5-25, so nothing to brag about.

I did improve my game though, my overhand serve is consistently in play and I can occasionally make it tough to return. Bumping, setting and spiking are better as well, I need to stay aggressive on my spiking and maintain good footwork on my bumping.

Looking forward to next session, hopefully our team will be a bit better.

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Jan 16, 2009

Gym follies

I hate it when I forget something... like I forgot my dress shoes for work this morning. Fortunately, I still have the pair that I stashed at work for when I bike commute, so I don't have to go back home and get my good ones.

This of course reminded me of that embarrassing day that I forgot my pants!

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Jan 14, 2009

Check out the new feature

I added a cool widget on the right that shows the latest blog posts that have come through my reader feed... a good way to get an idea about what I'm reading!

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Jan 13, 2009

Volleyball update

Another crummy result... it was strange, at one point it felt like we were playing some of our best volleys of the year and I looked up and we were down by 8 points! Just a really strange year.

We did get to play some pickup afterwards, and I tried to work on bumping specifically. I wasn't moving well at all, my knee was bothering me and I landed on my hip during our game. I ended up leaving early, and had a lot of trouble sleeping even after downing 4 Ibuprofen and icing my knee. Then, strangely I woke up this morning with almost no issues... just really strange.

Today is off, then hopefully an early morning run with my daughter tomorrow.

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Jan 12, 2009

Busy weekend

Busy weekend with my mountain biking buddy Josh getting married! What do you suppose the chances are that he's going biking with me anytime soon? Seriously though, congratulations to him and Carol.

Looking forward to tonight's volleyball game... or rather I should say that I'm looking forward to next session of volleyball since we're going nowhere with this team. I have a couple more weeks, and then probably a 3 week intermission as the playoffs happen, until I can start playing meaningful games again. Just going to use the time to have fun and practice what I need to do better.

More snow this weekend means that outdoor biking is probably delayed again... it was getting close to feasible, but it's pretty tough to ride in more than an inch of snow. I'm still game if someone is interested, but I tend to have trouble finding others crazy enough to go out with me in these conditions.

Lastly, I've settled on a style for the blog for now... subject to change of course!

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Jan 9, 2009

Playing with a new template....

Working on it... be patient.

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Jan 7, 2009

Sore

I got in a few games of Racquetball and Volleyball last night, as my wife was having a bridal shower for a family friend and I needed to get out of the house. It was nice to get to a second night of play in, but I'm paying for it a bit today.

I'm definitely a bit sore, so I think today is going to be a bit of a recovery day. I wasn't too disappointed that the storm and school closing put the kibosh on my morning run with Leah. We'll do it tomorrow morning instead.

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Jan 6, 2009

Ironman Volunteer

Signed up to volunteer for Ironman Lake Placid in July! It will be very interesting to be on that side of the race, and I'm very much looking forward to watching the other racers. I still have hopes of doing the race again, it's such a fantastic experience.

My uncle, brother and sister-in-law are also volunteering, hopefully we will get to work together. Not too late to sign up! https://www.ironmancenter.com/volunteer/imusa/index.php

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Losing Sucks

I hate losing, it really irritates me! My wife occasionally suggests that I may be a bit too competitive and she's probably right; losing at anything drives me nuts. What's even worse, is when I'm not even close to winning.... Yeah, we lost 3 games of volleyball last night.

It's very frustrating because I can't figure out how to fix it. I hate to keep whining about other people on my team, so I'll just continue to focus on improving myself. Eric reminding me again last night about better bumping technique, and I'll try to ingrain that a bit more next week. My Overhand serve has gotten pretty good, although I'm mixed about whether or not to keep employing it. Unless it puts pressure on the other team, it's no different than an underhand serve, but with a bit more risk. For the rest of this session, I suppose it's worth continuing to stay aggressive since there is not much to play for.

The other key factor for me is continuing to work back into shape. December was a bit of a blah month, and my legs were a bit affected. When I'm feeling poorly and a bit tight, I don't get as much of a jump and can do very little to block opposing spikes. Last night, I felt my legs under me a bit better and had some nice blocks as a result, a couple in the games and a few more during pickups. Of course this fits well with some of my other goals for the year, so better fitness would be good!

Only two more weeks left, time to sign up again for next session.

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Jan 5, 2009

Good break

I had close to two weeks off from work and really enjoyed the time I got to refresh and recharge. I didn't do anything too crazy or busy, but enjoyed the time with my family...

I went hiking with my daughters, running with one of them and mountain biking a few times. I also managed to help my father and brother roofing a house, complete 4 3-D puzzles, play endless numbers of Blokus 3-D and complete one game of Axis and Allies with my oldest daughter.

I'm all geared up and ready to be back at work!

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