The end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time to take a few minutes out of your day to reflect on where you've been and where you want to go. You can't change the past, but you can exercise control of your future. An annual 'personal inventory' check is not a bad thing if you believe in ideas like self-actualization and personal improvement.
I like to view these things through a couple of lenses - primarily through the spiritual or emotional growth we experience as life offers us new circumstances and how we interact with these circumstances - including new friendships and personal relationships. Secondary to me is the physical via the creation of new products or services that provide value to strangers, and the general acquisition of material goods like a shiny new bicycle or a gold coin or a prize in a contest.
Focusing too much on either will leave you out of balance - being a great spiritual guide is all well and good except for the living barefoot under a bridge somewhere part. The same truth holds for being a hedonistic jetsetter always flashing the bling-bling while being a soulless ratfink bastard. If you live under a bridge no one can hear your message. If you ride high in the sky you can't hear anyone else.
2010 was a good year for me (and I hope, my wife), and I hope to make 2011 even better.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
2011 triathlon schedule
Right now my 2011 triathlon race plans are:
April 16 - Belews Lake sprint
Apr 23 - Centennial Campus sprint
May 7 - White Lake Half
May 21 - Battle at Buckhorn sprint
June 4 - Gary Kirby maybe
June 26 - Kure Beach double sprint
July 10 - Triangle sprint
July 23 - Mission Man sprint
Aug 13 - Mayo Lake sprint
Aug 21 - Rex Wellness maybe
Sep 17 - Wilmington Y sprint
Oct 29 - B2B half
No olympic distance racing on the radar unless we do Lake Logan, where the temperatures are always cooler since it is in the mountains. Those hot 10ks are no longer my cup of tea.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas
We're going to spend a couple days with my wife's family in Virginia. We enjoy watching our nieces open presents and Bri is not a slouch in the rending and tearing of the wrapping paper, either.
We'll get a run in somewhere around here as well.
That is all.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Tron - a movie review without seeing the movie
Tron: Legacy will be awesome. I don't care that my local paper just panned it as visually stunning yet having a $5 plot. That's not true. It will be the best movie released the weekend of December 17, 2010. No doubt about it.
The USATF level I exam has 200 questions on it. Arrgh!
Join our US Master swimming team. We will have seven weekly practices starting in February, 2011.
Upcoming runs:
Little River 10 miler - January 15
Gasparilla half-marathon - February 28
Tobacco Road marathon - March 20
That is all.
The USATF level I exam has 200 questions on it. Arrgh!
Join our US Master swimming team. We will have seven weekly practices starting in February, 2011.
Upcoming runs:
Little River 10 miler - January 15
Gasparilla half-marathon - February 28
Tobacco Road marathon - March 20
That is all.
Monday, December 13, 2010
keeping busy
The November December time frame usually allows me a bit more free time as athletes go on a break or maintenance schedule and there are fewer races to travel to and worry about. This year we have managed to keep these months filled with various other endeavors.
Last weekend I dragged my wife to the USATF level 1 clinic in Charlotte. The certification and education will prove useful to me as I am coaching high school track and field in the spring. On top of that, it counts as 10 of the 15 continuing education units (CEUs) we need as USA Triathlon coaches. Onto my favorite subject for a second: me.
1) This was the first weekend in a couple years where I did zero training. Not even a sit up.
2) I am amazed I was able to pay attention for the entire clinic. I absorbed a lot of information and was able to make connections via existing mental schema. Good stuff.
Equally amazing to me, however, is that of the 50 or so other people in attendance, 45 of them stayed for every session, were respectful of the instructors, and paid attention as well. If this was representative of the world at large, we would have no problems. I have to surmise that our group consisted of motivated and dedicated individuals. If our class had been representative of the world at large, we would have had:
I will actually be presenting (swim training for triathlon) at the Triangle Winter Clinic for the Multi Sport Coach and Athlete clinic at their Athletic Lab facility in mid-February.
Onto the next subject - media blackout. Starting in January I am not going to watch or read the news for at least one month. This will be difficult but it is also the beginning of my busy season and I need to improve my time management skills. Watching or reading about the talking heads pontificate about things that have very little direct effect on my life and well-being is a fruitless and mostly frustrating endeavor. I'll make time for my wife, Tosh.O, 30 Rock, and the occasional Jon Stewart show. Everything else is work, reading for work, or reading for pleasure. And some training.
The next Powerstroke clinic is on January 8.
I will run 15 miles this weekend on the build up to the Tobacco Road Marathon and hope to hit 40 for the week. If you are curious, my general schedule right now is:
Das ist alles.
Last weekend I dragged my wife to the USATF level 1 clinic in Charlotte. The certification and education will prove useful to me as I am coaching high school track and field in the spring. On top of that, it counts as 10 of the 15 continuing education units (CEUs) we need as USA Triathlon coaches. Onto my favorite subject for a second: me.
1) This was the first weekend in a couple years where I did zero training. Not even a sit up.
2) I am amazed I was able to pay attention for the entire clinic. I absorbed a lot of information and was able to make connections via existing mental schema. Good stuff.
Equally amazing to me, however, is that of the 50 or so other people in attendance, 45 of them stayed for every session, were respectful of the instructors, and paid attention as well. If this was representative of the world at large, we would have no problems. I have to surmise that our group consisted of motivated and dedicated individuals. If our class had been representative of the world at large, we would have had:
- 5 no show no work
- 15 shows no work
- 10 combative and disruptive
- 5 paid attention & learned
- 5 paid attention but not equipped to learn
- 5 paid attention for less than half the clinic (their particular sport) then leave
- 3 work on personal projects while in class (like the guy in your building who builds websites at work)
- 2 arrested for stealing copper pipe from the facility
I will actually be presenting (swim training for triathlon) at the Triangle Winter Clinic for the Multi Sport Coach and Athlete clinic at their Athletic Lab facility in mid-February.
Onto the next subject - media blackout. Starting in January I am not going to watch or read the news for at least one month. This will be difficult but it is also the beginning of my busy season and I need to improve my time management skills. Watching or reading about the talking heads pontificate about things that have very little direct effect on my life and well-being is a fruitless and mostly frustrating endeavor. I'll make time for my wife, Tosh.O, 30 Rock, and the occasional Jon Stewart show. Everything else is work, reading for work, or reading for pleasure. And some training.
The next Powerstroke clinic is on January 8.
I will run 15 miles this weekend on the build up to the Tobacco Road Marathon and hope to hit 40 for the week. If you are curious, my general schedule right now is:
- Monday: distance swim, easy run
- Tuesday: easy run and threshold interval run
- Wednesday: easy swim, easy bike, core strength
- Thursday: easy run and tempo run
- Friday: short fast swim, core strength
- Saturday: long run
- Sunday: easy bike
Das ist alles.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Family photos
A couple of our new family photographs for your fridge:
Now every time you open up the freezer for some ice cream, I will be there to remind you to go burn it off with a swim/run/bike.
Now every time you open up the freezer for some ice cream, I will be there to remind you to go burn it off with a swim/run/bike.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Picture day
Today is picture day so we can send cute Christmas emails to all our family and friends and frenemies. I will post them when they are ready.
Having a fun weekend - yesterday we had the Delta Triathlon team party with quite a turnout, and then a smaller get together to throw a going away party to a couple we are good friends with who are moving to Boulder, CO.
Boulder is one of the triathlon/running training meccas in the US if you did not know that.
They also have the Boulder Brewing Company and Avery Brewing which are good enough reasons to relocate, in my opinion.
Bri and I are quite happy here in the Raleigh / Cary area and we're not going anywhere. We have good friends, excellent training grounds, good races, good restaurants, and four excellent local breweries.
Today I went through the somewhat time consuming process of finishing all my paperwork for USAT coaching re-certification. Next week Bri and I are attending the USATF level I certification in Charlotte to complete our education units, plus that will be good for the x-country and track&field coaching I am doing with Raleigh Charter HS.
Marathon training is going well, this week I hit 40 miles for the first time in who knows how long. Most of it was slow but I did get in 5 x 1000 at sub-10k pace on Tuesday.
Our next Powerstroke clinic is January 8 if you are interested.
The end.
Having a fun weekend - yesterday we had the Delta Triathlon team party with quite a turnout, and then a smaller get together to throw a going away party to a couple we are good friends with who are moving to Boulder, CO.
Boulder is one of the triathlon/running training meccas in the US if you did not know that.
They also have the Boulder Brewing Company and Avery Brewing which are good enough reasons to relocate, in my opinion.
Bri and I are quite happy here in the Raleigh / Cary area and we're not going anywhere. We have good friends, excellent training grounds, good races, good restaurants, and four excellent local breweries.
Today I went through the somewhat time consuming process of finishing all my paperwork for USAT coaching re-certification. Next week Bri and I are attending the USATF level I certification in Charlotte to complete our education units, plus that will be good for the x-country and track&field coaching I am doing with Raleigh Charter HS.
Marathon training is going well, this week I hit 40 miles for the first time in who knows how long. Most of it was slow but I did get in 5 x 1000 at sub-10k pace on Tuesday.
Our next Powerstroke clinic is January 8 if you are interested.
The end.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Old School Aquathon Series
I was sitting around a couple of months ago with some free time on my hands, and had an idea to keep myself gainfully employed: Mid-week training races. There are a few of these around in different areas of the country, but none here.
Thus the Old School Aquathon Series was born. This will consist of three swim-run races on the first Wednesday of each month in June, July, and August.
We're still determining the location of one #2 but they all take place in the Triangle area.
These will be low key and low cost - meant to be fun training/racing events to break up the week with something different.
Read all the details here: www.oldschoolaquathon.com.
Let me know if you'd like to be a part of it as a sponsor or volunteer.
Thus the Old School Aquathon Series was born. This will consist of three swim-run races on the first Wednesday of each month in June, July, and August.
We're still determining the location of one #2 but they all take place in the Triangle area.
These will be low key and low cost - meant to be fun training/racing events to break up the week with something different.
Read all the details here: www.oldschoolaquathon.com.
Let me know if you'd like to be a part of it as a sponsor or volunteer.
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