Broken bricks and sweaty days

Bri talked me into doing a 3 x 10 mile bike / 2 mile run this morning. A couple friends joined us for the session and we had a great workout. It was hotter then heck but we all toughed it out and really pushed the final round. Afterwards, Bri's sister and boyfriend cooked us breakfast.

Now I'm working on the couch. Later we'll head out to have some holiday weekend fun of one sort or another.

Tomorrow (Labor Day) I'm working a half day at Inside-Out Sports.

I have no other random things to say.

Holee Mackeral!!

I am tired (pronounced tarr'd). Bri and I hosted a Powerstroke® triathlon clinic today. It was a good crew and a good day, but talking and being animated for six hours straight is pretty draining. We decided to videotape everyone and we'll be burning DVDs shortly.

I finally sat down yesterday and started figuring out how to edit video on the Mac, they make it pretty easy to get the basics done at least. The more advanced stuff is going to require a learning curve.

I was supposed to do a long run yesterday or today, but it ain't happening. I am tarr'd.

Last night we had a team social/happy hour for the masters swim crew; it was a solid turnout and a lot of fun. Tassie chased everyone around and then collapsed in exhaustion before the end of the party.

Next week we start evening practices. Come on out and swim with us!

College football is back.

That is all.

Google

So on the business side of things, I've doubled our Google Adwords budget. There are certain key phrases that cost a bit more per click then what I had set as our daily limit default. They have an amazing program going on there (obviously). Word of mouth is still the best advertising for our coaching business, but a number of folks do find us through the search engines.

On the other side, for every $1 you spend on Adwords per month, Google waives fees on Checkout transactions up to $10. For example, if you spend $100 on Adwords in a month, you get the first $1,000 of Checkout transactions without the 2% transaction fee. The transaction fees take a chunk of change over time as I'm sure many of you with merchant accounts have realized.

The clinic this weekend has nearly filled up! We're going to record a lot of it and use some of the material in the upcoming DVD.

weekend update

It was a pleasant weekend and a good week of training for me in my quest to beat Bri at the Sandman Triathlon in Virginia. Feeling decent again. Tassie and I watched Bri race at the Triangle Sportsplex triathlon on Saturday morning. Tassie was really excited. We watched Bri forget to take her Blue 70 Point Zero3 off but didn't get to record that part. Shoot. After the race and a nap, Bri was kind enough to accompany me on my first 10 mile trail run in a long time. We did the Turkey Creek loop in Umstead. Quick happy hour at the Flying Saucer then off to bed.

On Sunday we rode a couple hours then enjoyed the rest of the day.

This week I'll be back at it with group rides, trail runs, massive swim sets, and other kooky stuff.

BTW, OSB decided to be a minor sponsor of the Pier 2 Pier swim in Wrightsville Beach.

Fed to bailout Marty Gaal

In a closed emergency session, the Federal Reserve has decided to bail out individual investor Marty Gaal. Rumors of the bailout have been circling for months, leading to a precipitous decline in Marty Gaal's dinner offers and weekend getaway excursions.

"Marty Gaal is an important US institution that cannot be allowed to fail," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said, at a hastily convened news conference on Marty Gaal's front doorstep.

Gaal, 36, has run up in excess of $10 billion dollars in debt and IOUs over the last four years through multiple credit cards, home improvement loans, home equity loans, bad checks, flimflam, and general chicanery.

"Damn that guy!" Said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson from his morning breakfast conference. "I knew we should have done something when his debt level surpassed the five billion mark in January."

"The markets are acting like a bailout is inevitable," said Tom Tucker, managing director of Tom Tucker Ratings, an independent credit ratings firm.

Tucker said he believed the federal government would need to help pump about $8 billion into Marty Gaal's multiple bank accounts, possibly through a government guarantee rather than through a direct injection of capital.

"We believe Treasury is going to be forced to act within the next couple of weeks," he added. "Probably some time after Labor Day, when investors are back from vacations so that the bailout has the biggest possible positive impact."

"Without government support, important companies like Citibank, Visa, American Express, Lowe's, Victoria's Secret, Paulie the Loanshark, Boston Beer Company, and Gap may fail. The fallout would be horrendous."

Gaal, who recently laid off his entire domestic staff of ten and sold six of his ten Porsches, said he would be happy to get onto some sort of payment plan.

"If they can lock me in at 3% for forty years or something like that, sure, I'll pay it all back," he said, while munching on a candy bar. "It's not like I'm not good for it."

open water swims

Since we've got the master's team building up and a swim DVD in the works, I'm slowly becoming more interested in promoting and entering (not particularly racing just yet) open water swims. Here are a couple upcoming that I may do:

Pier 2 Pier swim in Wrightsville Beach, NC on September 13
Daiquiri Deck Tropical Splash 5k, 3k, 1k on October 4

A couple in Virginia that look good but I won't make it to:
Lake Montclair open water swim on September 6
Smith Mountain Lake Open Water Swim on September 20-21

Today's scientific training graph

To keep this blog thematic on the topic of training and triathlon, I occasionally have my crack team or researchers, scientists, doctors, exercise physiologists, and professional athletes get together for a technical conference to discuss and disseminate the latest information on scientific training principles. Here is what they came up this week.



I hope this helps.

The daily gruel

Rather than take the time to make a sandwich and a side dish I find myself more inclined to throw stuff together, stir it up, and dive right in. It takes less time, tastes just as good, and is better for me than heading out to Taco Bell. I call it gruel. Today's gruel consists of:

mashed potatoes
spinach leaves
canned chicken
queso dip
hot sauce

IOUSA

I read an article in our local paper today about a new documentary coming out this weekend, called IOUSA. Turns out a local fellow who is running for Congress is sponsoring a showing at a theatre in Raleigh for the Thursday night premiere. I went ahead and called their office today and left a message that I'd like a couple tickets. It should be interesting. There's supposed to be a live conference with Warren Buffett after the movie.

4 week crash course

I've got four weeks to go from slob to not-quite-a-slob. Bri has laid down the smack for our showdown at the Virginia Sandman triathlon or whatever the name is. She poked me in the belly and said she was gonna kick my you know what. So it's go-time. I'm going to experiment with myself and see how 3.5 weeks of serious training works out. It'll be my last triathlon for the season so I may as well finish on a high note. There is also some prize money but that might be stretching it. I'm currently weighing in at a doughy 167 lbs, while my svelt racing weight is closer to 153. I'm not a fan of crash diets but cutting back a few empty calories shouldn't be too difficult.

Busy week and random thoughts

It was a busy week here at OSB headquarters. Traveled a bit, swim lessons, schedules, video work, webwork, and so on.

Random thoughts:

Are Billary still running for office?
Is there something in the water at the olympic swimming competition?
What is the chicken monster?
Where is Michael Jackson?

in-and-out of Orlando

It was a very quick trip to Orlando. I flew in yesterday at noon, picked up my car, drove the the dermatologist to get my spots checked out, then to the Y to give a swim lesson. Had a short break at Panera to do some work, then back to the Y to run with the Downtown YMCA runner group, which Bri and I used to be regulars at. Saw a bunch of my buddies and did 8 x 400 at 1:30 pace, which is gut-busting for me at the moment. Then dinner at Anthonys, a few more beers at some pub down the street, and crashed on the couch at Bill Payne's place. Today up at 8, off to the Y to meet with a Premium Steps client at 9. Ran-swam with him then did a 1,200 easy afterwards. Cleaned up, breakfast at the Daybreak Diner (a great diner near Bri and my old condo). Now in the airport waiting to board my plane to head back to RDU.

The Macbook is a lot easier to carry around then my old heavy laptop.

That is all.

Back from NJ

Returning from the shore this weekend was an exercise in frustration. There was a huge storm so everyone left at once. Combined heavy traffic with flooded streets and you get massive delays everywhere you go. It normally takes about one hour to get from South Jersey shore spots to Philadelphia and a bit more to get to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. On Sunday it took us nearly four hours. That put me way behind since I had met up with John (the 40th b-day guy) in Baltimore. We made it back to Baltimore by 7PM, then I drove a couple hours south before calling it a day and checking into a Quality Inn outside Fredericksburg, VA. Woke up at 5:30 to finish the drive and got home with just a few minutes to spare before heading into Inside Out Sports for my half-day shift (I am working there 2x a week).

It was a fun weekend. The STP concert was great and I caught up with some old buddies. Talked to the beach patrol chief about possibly returning. Would need to try out in mid June of next year, so we'll see if Bri and I can pull off a couple months on the beach next year. The Outer Banks is nice but it is the sort of place you go for a week-long family vacation, not for two months of work and play.

Back to the grind this week - tomorrow I fly down to Orlando for a couple meetings with new clients. I'll run with the YMCA track group tomorrow evening then head out for drinks with a few of the gang. Return on Thursday evening. I think Bri and I will be staying local this weekend, I need a break. Feel like I am coming down with a cold, which sucks.

I have more to say but am tired of typing.

Jersey lingo

Having some fun here in South Jersey. Just finished up my work for the day and gonna go head up to the Trump Marina to relax a bit before we go to see Stone Temple Pilots tonight. For your amusement here is a typical conversation in Jersey.

"Hey &^&^&@ G@&(@#$! *@&*@ @(&@*!"

"&*&#N SS@&&@ Sam @&^#*"

"No &^#)!"

"&*@*##!"

weekend update

I'm going to head up to da Joisey Shore this weekend to meet up with an old buddy for his 40th birthday. We're going to watch the South Jersey Lifeguard Championships on Friday night in Ventnor City. This competition has been around since 1924 and is one of the longest running mixed-sport competitions in the country. It includes a 1.5 mile two-man row, a 3/4 mile swim, and a sprint singles row. There are fifteen patrols in the South Jersey Chief's Association and each patrol sends a team. It's usually a four-person team, but sometimes an exceptional athlete will row and then swim, or do both the singles and doubles row. It's always fun to watch and a good time to catch up with old buddies.


In the early 1990s I was the swimmer for Ocean City at four of the championships. At the time I was probably swimming close to 20-25 miles a week (30-40,000 yards) and my best place was 3rd in 1992, which should tell you about the level of competition. I was also 5th twice, and 7th once (in my rookie year).

On Saturday we'll go see Stone Temple Pilots at the Borgota Casino. I'll sit in a few hands of before or afterwards.

On Sunday I'll go for a long run on the boardwalk!

Duke half

So at about mile 15 of the race this past weekend, my legs were already getting that worn out feeling. I had tentatively planned to do a crash course of training for the Duke half, but have decided to scrap that and just focus on running until Philly in November. Have a nice Monday!

545 people

An interesting article from somebody named Charlie Reese. http://www.apfn.org/APFN/woes.htm

Bri wins!

Today is a day that will live in infamy. Bri has taken me down in an Olympic distance triathlon. The world rumbles and shakes. Children cry. Small dogs run in circles while buzzards circle overhead. An old woman screams.


3 minutes and 10 seconds. I left it all on the swim. I was sick. I was tired. I got a flat. I had rocks in my shoes. There was a fire. Earthquakes. Martians.

That's what happens when you detrain for several months.

I am, however, getting more fired up to take on some running races. There is a series around here called the Second Empire Running Series that puts on several runs. And I've decided to run the Philly Marathon on November 23. Might qualify for Boston, might not. 'Tis OK. Just keep moving is the thing.

I missed the swim prime by about 30 seconds. Kevin Lisska from Fletcher took all three primes and won the race.

Lake Logan

Tomorrow morning we're racing in the Lake Logan Triathlon. Bri is also competing so I won't be allowed to sleep in / skip this one. That's OK. I am feeling mighty fired up!! Raarr! No, seriously. It's supposed to be one of the more scenic races around North Carolina. They have a $100 swim preme that Bri wants me to win. So my strategy is going to be bust a gut in the swim and see if it's good enough. I haven't looked at the start list but am sure there are a couple decent athletes racing.

In other news, OSB Cary Masters will be adding evening swim times starting in September. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights from 7:30-8:45PM. Come on out.