Endurance Turtle A journey through this turtles triathlon adventures

So bright and early Sunday morning George and I headed over to the Rose Bowl to help volunteer. We got at our water station at 7:30AM and the race started at 8AM. I was a little worried we might not get to see too many runners because George and I had to head over to church around 9:15AM. Ultimately, we got to see a great deal of runners and it was a lot of fun. More on that later. Here are some pictures:

It was pretty cold out, so we were wearing a lot of layers…Specifically my tre cool mittens…

George and I don’t have many opportunities to volunteer, because most races are on Sunday’s and unless we are racing, we don’t want to not go to church. The nice thing about local races, is that we can volunteer early in the morning and still make it in time to church. But I have to say, volunteering is a blast! Almost better than racing itself, mostly because you can drink beer the night before (like we did) and all you have to do is hand water to sweaty runners! I can deal with that….So I would highly recommend volunteering at a race, it is so much fun and you really get to give back to a sport that we really enjoy.

Now, about our very cool water station. We were on top of a steep hill that the runners had to come up. Where the group picture is, is right a the top. We had a boombox playing some music and we had a ton of noisemakers, as evidenced by the purple “hand clappers” on the far right. Most of the time, I was standing there cheering on the runner. Then they said they need a few people to hand out water, so I ran back to the water station (top picture) and gave out Gatorade and water. Everyone was really nice and George and I got to church with time to spare!

I think this year, George and I will be volunteering more. We have our races that we want to do, but honestly…we need to save some money so that I don’t walk down the aisle in a potato sack for our wedding. So I deem this year “The Year of Volunteering”, so stay tuned for more to come!

I was really good the first half of the day and made myself a nice salad with all kinds of goodies in there, including some delicious mango:

Not sure why I have been into posting pictures of my salads…I guess I am really proud of my creations!

Then in the afternoon I failed and the chocolate was easier to get to than the fruit. Which resulted in this:

That’s right, Valentines Day chocolate! I don’t usually get a cravings for chocolate…but today was bad

If I could have one wish in the world, it would be the ability to eat anything I wanted and never have to worry about weight or health. It would be nice…

Have you seen those weight watcher commercials? With that little orange beast called “Hunger” that follows people around?

Well, he is like one of those friends of mine that you know you shouldn’t hang out with but it feels so good! mmm, doughnuts…

I always am hungry, I am not sure why…I don’t think it is because I have a fast metabolism…or else I would be a lot skinnier! But whatever the reason, I am always hungry. And if I don’t eat, my blood sugar levels drop and I end up with a horrible headache. So in an effort to conquer this little beast, I am trying to eat a little better and more frequently. For one thing, I made myself this nice salad for lunch: (just keep me away from the Lean Pockets later)

Those little white things are brie cheese. I lie to myself and say that it is good protein. When really it is just creamy cheese that is like 1,000 calories per little square… oh well, I like cheese damn it!

Then there are some blackberries, tomatoes and of course, lettuce. Then I put this really nice  vinaigrette on it and I love it! I actually liked it so much that when I finished my salad I tried to take a little sip of it and I choked. Have to do things once to learn, ya know?

I am also trying to eat more fruit, especially when I get those cravings. It works best when it is arms length away, and so far I have been doing ok.

Then, last night I also went after the rest of my water bottles with the denture cleaner:

I found this plastic thing under the counter, I think it is meant for putting wallpaper up…but I used it to put all the lids in. And that orange/white box is the denture cleaner. It says on there that it is antibacterial and does some other stuff…so that is good to know. There was one nasty bottle that I put two denture cleaners in…and it sort of worked but I think the science project was too severe and I think the bottle is done Here is the bottle before I cleaned it:

YUMMY!!!

You can even see some stuff at the bottom, ya…that came out when I dumped out the bottle…ya…it was gross…

Then here is the bottle a little bit into the cleaning process. You can see there is something floating on the top of the foam:

Then when I dumped it out, the inside walls weren’t very clean. I suppose if I were to put some elbow grease into it, it might work. But just the thought of how gross the bottle was, makes me just want to throw it away.

So my conclusion on the denture cleaner: Works great! Unless your water bottle has reached the point of no return…then you should just recycle it and buy a new one!

It has been a while since I have had a good solid Saturday ride. One where my lungs feel like they are going to be ripped out and my legs are heavy walking up the stairs when I get home. I also enjoyed it because I slept in till 10, then casually got ready for my ride. I ate breakfast and grabbed some coffee and even cleaned my water bottles. I read in Bicycling that if you drop a denture cleaner into your water bottle that it does a really good job at cleaning it, so I tried it…and it totally worked! Here are my bottles being magically cleaned:

The bowl has the lids in it….The denture cleaner says to drop in the tablet and then wait 15 minutes until the blue turns clear. Now, I have a serious problem with leaving fluids in my water bottles…and then they become a science project. Then I can never quite get them as clean as I would like. Both of these bottles were in pretty good condition, and the denture cleaner did a GREAT job. Now I have to put it to the test with my bottles that need serious help. By the way, denture cleaner is super cheap and comes in a huge box for like $2 at Target. Great solution to a bad habit!

Having all that extra time was really nice and I was able to remember all the things I would need for the ride. It was also nicer getting started later in the day because I knew that it would only get warmer. By the time I actually got on the bike it was about 65 degrees and it was perfect riding weather. Here is the data from my ride:

If you click on it, you can see it larger.

Basically, I headed out from my house and headed up toward Montrose which is about a 3 mile steady climb. Then had a nice decent past Descanso Gardens and over to Pasadena. I did a 3/4 lap around the Rose Bowl and then headed up for my second climb. I went up Lida, which is a pretty difficult climb, and I swear it got steeper from the last time I rode it. I had to power talk myself up to the top, here is a quick photo I took when I got there:

As you can see, a very sunny day….just a little hazy (we haven’t had much wind lately)…

Across the street was a little park, so I stopped and took a little break. I drank some water, ate a Luna bar and stretched a bit. Going up that hill had really killed my legs, I definitely need to climb some more hills!

I layered up to go down the hill, the thing about winter riding here is that you can feel nice and warm in the sun, but once you drop down into the canyons it gets REALLY cold. So down Chevy Chase I went and got home, and my legs were pooped. All in all I rode about 20 miles and felt like I kept a good pace. I think if I can get out on my bike more like this, and do more hills, I might see some improvements….maybe…

I think I will try to clean some more of my bottles now!

I have been interested in Chi Running for a while. I bought the book and I actually won a free training session (which I have yet to actually do) with a Chi Running Coach. I think that there are a lot of positive and logical points and here is a video that has a lot of great information:

Thing is, you don’t really have to run BAREFOOT. A few shoe companies have adopted some alternative running shoes.

First there is Newton Running, they have developed a shoe that is pretty clever and focuses on a forefoot strike. Behold:

There are actually little air pockets in the front that help with impact. Biggest problem with these….the price tag! The babies can cost you upwards of $175. I just have a really hard time separating with that level of money for running shoes, $60 is hard for me to spend on running shoes… I actually would love to own a pair, but I guess I am not that serious about running.

Another option is Vibram Five Fingers:

These are priced more reasonably at $80. As you can see, they basically just protect your feet from the elements but is consistent with the barefoot running.  I have considered buying these and running around the park just to start. Then actually upgrade to running on pavement. These seem the most in line with the barefoot running concept but you definitely have to retrain your feet to run without a HUGE cushion! And, if I were to buy these, I would probably go through REI because of their excellent return policy. Basically, I can wear them all I want and if I hate it I can always take it back, doesn’t matter the condition!

Then there is the option that I already own and have tried in the past….Nike Free’s

Ultimately, Nike figured out there could be a market for this barefoot running stuff…so they started making these:

I have a pair in size 9, and I am actually a 9 1/2 in running shoes. So I mostly use these for life style shoes. I do however have these:

And they are in a 9 1/2 and I have run in them before on the beach and they worked out well. I actually put my eSoles in them to give them a tad more support. Biggest complaint on these is that those little black rubber things on the bottom fall off and then when you run it feels weird.

In conclusion, if I had my choice, I would go with the Vibram Five Fingers. I just feel like that would be useful for more than running. I.e. yoga )because I do that all the time….barf)

Even bigger picture conclusion….just more shit to buy! meh :-/

Being a cyclist/runner, you notice when people don’t stop at stop signs or drive poorly. The other night I was waiting in the car for a few minutes outside of the market. As I was spacing out, I started to notice that people were not stopping at this stop sign that was in front of me. I realized it would make for a good short video, and happened to have my camera…so I made a video

Enjoy!

Just goes to show you that when you are out there exercising, you need to watch out for cars because they can’t even follow the simple rule of a stop sign.

I was at the mall/outdoor extravaganza known as The Americana at Brand last weekend I went into a store. The owner had all of the coats at 40% off, he was from Ireland (obvious accent) and said he had put them on sale because winter was over for good ‘ol SoCal…Well, this week is going to break his little theory since we are expected to get a weeks worth of rain. Today alone we got about 3 inches.

That’s a lot of freakin rain for this area!

I also had today off, thanks MLK, and wanted to get a ride in…but that didn’t happen because for a majority of the day it was pouring rain. It finally cleared up around 4pm and I headed home and grabbed my running gear and decided to go on a quick run. I managed to get in about 3 miles and it felt good to get out, grabbed this pic of the sidewalk where I was running/speedwalking:

The streets were still a bit damp and there was a lot of debris from the trees, but other than that it was ok. I also saw a lot of other runners out there and they seemed to be enjoying the break in the weather.

I also had a chance to try out the new LuLu Lemon Reverse Groove Shorts that I bought a while ago (obviously haven’t run in a while):

Mine have a slighty different design on the top, but for the most part are the same. So here are a few things I really like about these shorts:

• They are fairly long and are not booty shorts
• They fit tight, therefore there is no chaffing
• Super cute and comfy!

I also have the Run: Speed Short:

These are okay, but with my fat thighs they do a really good job of chaffing! bleh :-/

I am one of those people that continually shop for things to make me more comfortable when I am training/working out. I hate being miserable with my clothing, be it the way they ride up or if it just doesn’t feel right, I hate being uncomfortable. Today, I didn’t think at all about my shorts, therefore…I think I may have found the jackpot! Now I just need to take out a loan on my 401(k) in order for me to buy more things from LuLu Lemon.

Anyway, hope you had a great Martin Luther King day….even if you didn’t have the day off at least the traffic was probably better!

A while ago, I had a post about how I love bikes. One of the bikes on my list was a light weight single speed bike that would be nice for getting coffee or just cruising around. The bike I wanted was over $5oo so we didn’t really go with that one. I did, however, find an alternative.

You see, I have a beach cruiser….which is nice…but it is a single speed, heavy ass bike that is impossible to ride on anything with a hill. I wanted something that I could get around Glendale on that wouldn’t weigh me down and I also didn’t want to be one of those people on a “fixie” and look like this:

Hmmmm, pass…sorry fixie guy….

I also am not one to buy a bike frame and put together a bike, seeing as I can barely move my seat successfully….

Then it dawned on me, my mom had a bike in the garage from when she was in her 20’s. It was already in pretty good shape, so I took that into the bike shop and had them do a tune up. They replaced some cables, cleaned her up, I had them order some skinny white wall tires and I replaced the seat and grips. It is a 1975 10-speed Free Spirit from Sears and it used to be white, but now it’s this cool creme color, I quite like it:

And here is a picture of my mom when she got it for her 25th birthday:

Pretty mommy

So this will be my coffee ride, I would like to get a basket for it…my mom said she added a basket back in the day to the front but I will add that later. I am really looking forward to my maiden voyage on this bike, I think it will do well on the slight hills of Glendale.

Coincidentally, I was reading through Bicycling magazine (after i dropped my bike off) I saw this in one of the articles:

It looks a lot like my bike, doesn’t it? You know what isn’t anything like my bike? THE PRICE!!!!! $2k for a cruiser bike is absolutely ridiculous! So thanks mom for being a hoarder and never giving up your old bike Save myself $1,900! Not to mention that I think it is pretty awesome that my mom used to ride this bike, it has a story behind it and I like that. I also think I might be ahead of a trend here….

I’ll be back at some point with a review on my maiden voyage.

Thats right, I’m bringing this back 80’s style!

Okay, not really… You see, I was on vacation last week and my plans were to go for a few rides, maybe do some painting in the house…you know….all that fun vacation stuff. Not to mention that it has been around 75-80 degrees here the past week and it would have been beautiful riding weather! But no, what happens last Monday? The first day of my vacation? I get sick. Which means my entire week was spent in bed trying to rest and get better. We are now a little over a week later and I am still dealing with constant mucus spewing out of my nose (don’t act like you don’t know what I am talking about).

But we move on, it wasn’t meant to be! I will say, being home right after the new year and getting to watch all the infomercials, it takes every ounce of me to not give in and buy some of this stuff, they are very convincing. The ones I seriously considered buying were:

P90X

X-Factor Door Gym

Marie Osmond can be very convincing….

Not to mention she actually looks really good! I think she looks better now than back in the day when she was singing her little heart out with her brother-

Just sayin….she looks pretty darn good! (and I know she is photo shopped in the Nutrisystem photo….)

But that Nutrisystem is expensive! For 4 weeks it is $300, when really….you could get the same results from just eating right and not gorging yourself on everything you see.

So I found it interesting that all these companies are boosting their marketing spend right now, I guess they are trying to capitalize on all the people that made that new years resolution to get fit. I have to admit, I have told myself to get moving in the new year, but I don’t think I am going to go to extreme measures. I am going to start to eat a little better, and start to work fitness back into my routine. I felt like I was doing okay over the summer (could have done better), so I just need to get back into that groove.

I also have my first triathlon planned for 2010, it will be the Pasadena Triathlon. This one is a fun one and probably one of the only sprints I will do this year. My 2010 goal is to do longer races. Mind you, it will take me FOR-EV-ER to get through the race, but I would like to challenge myself on those longer distances.  The Pasadena Triathlon is a reverse sprint starting with a 3+ mile run, 10 mile bike and a 150 meter swim. It is a really good triathlon for people just starting out in triathlons and want to get their feet wet, but our club usually makes a big showing at this race so I will suit up in my PTC gear and really try to podium this year in Athena. I probably would have been close last year if I hadn’t gotten a cramp when I came off the bike into the swim. I seriously lost about 5 minutes there because my entire calf was in a knot…yuck….

Happy New Year!

Literally, I actually remembered how to ride a bike after being off of it for almost 2 months!

Yesterday, George and I FORCED ourselves to just get out and ride for an hour. It ended up being about 40 minutes, but we got out there and cleared out the ‘ol lungs. We actually decided to check out the new sharrows on Grandview, here they are in all their glory in front of Brand Park:

I actually had to reboot my phone in order to take this photo, so after George screamed up the hill he turned around and came back to where I had stopped for the photo op, here he is on his two wheeled man powered mechanism:

He was a little worried that he would forget how to balance on his bike, I found that it was hard to point out objects and such because my balance wasn’t that great….You will also note that George is pointing his finger, it is because he thinks he is #1 and I tend to agree with him.

And here is a self portrait of ME! Note the number on my helmet, didn’t realize that was there until halfway through the ride and it is from when we did the Solvang Prelude. I took it off immediately because I think it is stupid to ride around with a number on my head.

Santa also brought me what I wanted, a brand new keyboard!

I have already learned a few tunes and have been playing with it the past few days. It has all these cool settings and sounds and I know I haven’t even tapped into the possibilities that it has. But I really love it and I just need to get a bench for it.

I am off of work this week, so I would like to get some rides in before Saturday. Saturday is the Pasadena Triathlon Club “Resolution Ride”. I did this ride last year and had a lot of fun and I would like to do it again this year. I know the route so if I get left behind I can just make the most of it…which will probably happen

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Looking forward to a great New Year!