Saturday, December 17, 2011
2012 race schedule
I started this post November 9th and have been so indecisive, I'm just now posting it (and I'm still not done......). I almost titled this post, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" since I can't find an early season 70.3 that really works for me. I also feel like a slug when I re-read my off season plans. Without a big race scheduled, I just don't have the motivation to get on the trainer (that is changing today!). I have been running 18-20 miles a week, shy of my 30 mpw goal, but way better than being a couch potato.
I'm struggling to get my 2012 race season scheduled. I would like to do a 70.3 or two and would really like to do a full Ironman. My cousin Len is doing IMC in late August. He has been a big inspiration for me getting in to triathlons, so it would be really cool to do IMC with him. The hitch is it's 2000+ miles away and sold out except for foundation slots, read $1200 entry fee (I need a sponsor :-)). There is another full Ironman that same day in Louisville Kentucky which is about 6 hours from my house. It isn't sold out, but the downside is the heat and humidity (and it's not as beautiful as BC). It's been in the mid-nineties many times making the marathon a death march. Yet another choice is Rev3 in Sandusky, OH which is about 9 hours from my house. I haven't given up on doing an IM this year yet. I'll decide by January 1st.
So here is my 2012 Race schedule so far (updated 1/2/2012)
January 28th - virtual 5k - check out Adam's blog. He's pretty funny.
April 15th - half marathon - St. Louis, MO - maybe ($80 seems steep for a hm)
May 5th - 52 mile ride - Mount Pleasant, MO - maybe ($85)
May 13th - Sprint - Effingham, IL - registered ($70)
May 20th - Oly - Carlyle, IL - registered ($65)
June 24th - Sprint - Cohassett, MA - registered ($90)
July 22th - Door County, WI HIM - registered ($190)
August - ??
September - ??
October 7th - Private HIM?
October 21st RnR half Marathon St. Louis - registered (half off 11/11/11 $55)
Time to start training......
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Product Review - Zippfizz
The folks at Zippfizz asked if I would do a product review of their energy drink. I've been getting tired in the afternoon after lunch wears off so after checking out their website and seeing it contained only 10 calories, 0 grams of sugar and a bunch of vitamins, I thought why not give it a try. I received the water bottle plus sampler pack last week while out of town and decided to try it this week. The product comes in a powder you mix with a 16 ounce bottle of water.
Today after lunch I tried the citrus flavor and the taste was pretty good. I didn't notice any huge changes (no racing heart beat or jitters), but I did notice I didn't run out of energy at all. I also felt slightly more alert. After 4-6 hours, I still felt just fine, no crash at all.
You can check them out on twitter, facebook, their blog, and their website. It's also available at Walmart and Target (according to presentation they sent me). If you are looking for a last minute unique gift idea for an athlete, check them out.
(Disclaimer: I was sent this product for free to review on my blog - courtesy of Zippfizz corporation. I did not pay for the item, receive payment for this review, or agree to give a positive review. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)
(Disclaimer #2, I borrowed the above disclaimer from Kovas's blog. He does a ton of product reviews)
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| Sampler pack and water bottle |
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| Six flavors to try |
Today after lunch I tried the citrus flavor and the taste was pretty good. I didn't notice any huge changes (no racing heart beat or jitters), but I did notice I didn't run out of energy at all. I also felt slightly more alert. After 4-6 hours, I still felt just fine, no crash at all.
You can check them out on twitter, facebook, their blog, and their website. It's also available at Walmart and Target (according to presentation they sent me). If you are looking for a last minute unique gift idea for an athlete, check them out.
(Disclaimer: I was sent this product for free to review on my blog - courtesy of Zippfizz corporation. I did not pay for the item, receive payment for this review, or agree to give a positive review. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)
(Disclaimer #2, I borrowed the above disclaimer from Kovas's blog. He does a ton of product reviews)
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Secret Santa
I signed up for a secret Santa gift exchange this year over at Jill's blog. Cheryl thinks it's strange that I have a secret Santa over the internet. Oh well, I don't get Pinterest either :-). Anyway, I received my gift today, the travel size version of "The Stick", thanks!
I was seriously considering ordering one of these for when I travel to help with a recurring knot in one of my calves, so it's perfect! I didn't get a note revealing the senders identity, so whoever sent it, thanks!
I'm still working on getting my package together to mail out to the lucky person that drew my name :-).
I'm still working on getting my package together to mail out to the lucky person that drew my name :-).
Saturday, December 3, 2011
South America part 3
As I write this post, I'm on my way back to Brazil. Door to door, it will take about 22 hours including a 5 hour layover in Miami. It's a long day/night to say the least.
They had a small ensemble playing music that was nice. They also had beer tasting. The beautiful young women handing out the beer didn't know any English and I don't know Portuguese, but I managed to get a couple samples.
I ended up just buying some water. I didn't have any small bills when I checked out and the cashier didn't have much change. I'm pretty sure she called me stupid in Portuguese :-)
Continuing on from my last post of South America, I walked into town after visiting the Hard Rock Cafe in Belo Horizonte.
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| The view looking back toward the Hard Rock |
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| cool looking house on the walk |
I came across a small Pizzeria with outdoor seating and decided to stop. It was a nice little restaurant and no one knew English so I pointed to something on the menu.
While waiting for the pizza I noticed the delivery vehicle. This is a dangerous job with the way people drive here.
Once my pizza arrived I was surprised to see corn on it, but it was delicious!
Walking back to the hotel I came across a little grocery store.
They had a small ensemble playing music that was nice. They also had beer tasting. The beautiful young women handing out the beer didn't know any English and I don't know Portuguese, but I managed to get a couple samples.
I ended up just buying some water. I didn't have any small bills when I checked out and the cashier didn't have much change. I'm pretty sure she called me stupid in Portuguese :-)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
South America part 2
I stayed over a weekend on one trip and decided to walk up a hill near the hotel to the Hard Rock Cafe in Belo Horizonte. The road up was desolate (so I worried about being kidnapped :-)). I wasn't and the view at the top was incredible. Here are some pics from my walk.
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| View from the hotel. The tower in the upper left corner is the Hard Rock Cafe, I walked up the road on the right. |
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| Right outside the hotel |
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| Left turn outside the hotel. It's safe, right? |
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| Walking up the dirt path |
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| It was a steep hill |
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| Belo Horizonte is a big city |
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| I think that two tone building about in the middle is my hotel |
After visiting the Hard Rock cafe I made a loop through part of town. I'll show those pictures in the next installment.
South America part 1
I'll be heading back to Brazil in the very near future. One reason I like to blog is so I can re-read old posts. I went to look for posts on going to Brazil and didn't find any. My previous trips were all before I started blogging I guess. I'll try to capture some of my thoughts and pictures here so I don't lose them.
I had a couple trips with other people and didn't really have to pay much attention to anything. I also traveled by myself a couple times and that's when things were interesting (and a little scary, at least in my mind). Flying through Sao Paulo, I had to switch planes on very little sleep, and had to figure out which bus to board (to get driven to the connecting flight) when all the announcements were in Portuguese and English with an accent so strong I couldn't understand it. I resorted to approaching the announcer, saying "no Portuguese", showing him my ticket and having him shake his head no. This repeated for many flight announcements until the announcer finally looked my way and gave me a nod.
Once I landed, I had a driver waiting for me. He didn't know English and I don't know Portuguese. He knew where to take me and I was so tired, I couldn't stay awake. After a quick nap on then ride, then a quick shower at the hotel, the driver took me to the company I was working with. Along the way, the driver drove like a bat out of hell (just like everyone else), weaving in and out of traffic, hoping off the highway and cutting through low income neighborhoods with bars on the windows, graffiti on the walls, and laundry hanging on the porch/roof. Then we would hop back on the next highway only to hop back off for another "short cut". On each short cut, I felt like I was being kidnapped. Probably because of watching too many movies (but also because my company gave me a phone number to call if something happened). Anyway, I made it to work, then had the same thing happen on the way back to the hotel. After three days of being "kidnapped", I finally got use to it.
At first I was too nervous to go walk around at night. After a couple days I thought it was crazy to stay in since I was staying in the safe part of the city so I went for a walk. I felt like everyone was watching me until someone stopped me to ask for directions in Portuguese. That is when I knew I was ok and ventured out a lot more and started running.
More when I find more pictures.
I had a couple trips with other people and didn't really have to pay much attention to anything. I also traveled by myself a couple times and that's when things were interesting (and a little scary, at least in my mind). Flying through Sao Paulo, I had to switch planes on very little sleep, and had to figure out which bus to board (to get driven to the connecting flight) when all the announcements were in Portuguese and English with an accent so strong I couldn't understand it. I resorted to approaching the announcer, saying "no Portuguese", showing him my ticket and having him shake his head no. This repeated for many flight announcements until the announcer finally looked my way and gave me a nod.
Once I landed, I had a driver waiting for me. He didn't know English and I don't know Portuguese. He knew where to take me and I was so tired, I couldn't stay awake. After a quick nap on then ride, then a quick shower at the hotel, the driver took me to the company I was working with. Along the way, the driver drove like a bat out of hell (just like everyone else), weaving in and out of traffic, hoping off the highway and cutting through low income neighborhoods with bars on the windows, graffiti on the walls, and laundry hanging on the porch/roof. Then we would hop back on the next highway only to hop back off for another "short cut". On each short cut, I felt like I was being kidnapped. Probably because of watching too many movies (but also because my company gave me a phone number to call if something happened). Anyway, I made it to work, then had the same thing happen on the way back to the hotel. After three days of being "kidnapped", I finally got use to it.
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| View on the highway |
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| same ramp |
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| short cut |
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| another short cut |
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| yep, I have no idea where I am |
At first I was too nervous to go walk around at night. After a couple days I thought it was crazy to stay in since I was staying in the safe part of the city so I went for a walk. I felt like everyone was watching me until someone stopped me to ask for directions in Portuguese. That is when I knew I was ok and ventured out a lot more and started running.
More when I find more pictures.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Visiting family, eating well, watching football. and relaxing. As someone pointed out on a blog I read (can't remember which one), there are no gifts involved which takes away some of the busyness and stress of Christmas leaving more time to relax.
The last few years we have had Thanksgiving at our house which has been nice not to have to travel. This year we traveled to Rockford since one of my brother-in-laws and his family flew in from Arizona. We hadn't seen them for quite a while so this was nice. When we come to Rockford and stay at my parents house, I get to sleep in my old room which is always nice. I grew up in a small neighborhood with only 13 houses and every time I come home, I think of my childhood friends and what house they use to live in. Back then, we didn't have Xbox, Ipods, cell phones or even cable TV, so we played outside, a lot. We would often be out all day and come home when we got hungry. The neighborhood has changed over the years. The corn field we used to play in across the street, and pick corn for the farmer in the summer, is now full of duplexes and small businesses. All my friend's parents have moved away except for three. The road leading to the neighbor hood is now four lanes instead of a two lane country road. My parents street even has a stop light! It's still nice to be home.
I'm in charge of grilling the bird. My dad taught me a super easy way to do it that turns out great every time. All you need is a Weber grill, side racks to hold the charcoal, a turkey rack, 12-14 pound turkey, olive oil and Lowrey season salt. Rub the oil on the bird then coat liberally with season salt. After the coals are hot, put the bird on the grill uncovered. Add 5-10 pieces of charcoal every 45 minutes or so and loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil when adding the first set of coals. Then cook until the thickest part is 165F (about 15-20 minutes per pound). Perfect every time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
The last few years we have had Thanksgiving at our house which has been nice not to have to travel. This year we traveled to Rockford since one of my brother-in-laws and his family flew in from Arizona. We hadn't seen them for quite a while so this was nice. When we come to Rockford and stay at my parents house, I get to sleep in my old room which is always nice. I grew up in a small neighborhood with only 13 houses and every time I come home, I think of my childhood friends and what house they use to live in. Back then, we didn't have Xbox, Ipods, cell phones or even cable TV, so we played outside, a lot. We would often be out all day and come home when we got hungry. The neighborhood has changed over the years. The corn field we used to play in across the street, and pick corn for the farmer in the summer, is now full of duplexes and small businesses. All my friend's parents have moved away except for three. The road leading to the neighbor hood is now four lanes instead of a two lane country road. My parents street even has a stop light! It's still nice to be home.
I'm in charge of grilling the bird. My dad taught me a super easy way to do it that turns out great every time. All you need is a Weber grill, side racks to hold the charcoal, a turkey rack, 12-14 pound turkey, olive oil and Lowrey season salt. Rub the oil on the bird then coat liberally with season salt. After the coals are hot, put the bird on the grill uncovered. Add 5-10 pieces of charcoal every 45 minutes or so and loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil when adding the first set of coals. Then cook until the thickest part is 165F (about 15-20 minutes per pound). Perfect every time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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