Last Friday was a cool day for me.  The plan was simple for Brigit and I, get our stuff done by noon and dash out of the city up to Madison, WI to ride a couple loops of the IM Wisconsin bike course, then go out for a couple beers in Madison and crash.  Cool, right?

In order for this story to make a bit more sense, let’s back up a couple months.  I think it was the middle of March when we went to The Villages to visit Brigit’s parents.  One of the awesome things we did was go to this flea market in Ocala, FL.  Culturing experience, to say the least.  We did, however, buy some sunglasses.  $8/pair for some great Oakly M-Frames without the Oakley logo.  Let’s not get into that, just know they were great.  

Last month we raced in New Orleans and Brigit dropped her bike on the lens of hers and wrecked them.  Not a big deal since they were cheap, but she was out a pair of shades to run in.  So, my plan was to head out to Swap-o-Rama near O’hare Friday morning and surprise her with some new ones.  I thought that since we had bought them at a flea market originally, that this one would have them too.  Naive.  They did not.  Mission failed.  Time to leave.

Not so fast.

On my way out, I saw this older gentleman walking a bike in the opposite direction of me.  It was a white Giant road bike.  A white Giant OCR1-W with grey trim.  Just like the bike Brigit had up until last summer when it was stolen from a bike rack in front of the Sears Tower where she works.

I stopped the man and played dumb.

“Hey man, cool bike!  Can I take a look at it?”  I was looking for details I knew were on her bike.  Shimano SPD pedals? Check. 50/39/30 Compact Triple? Check. Shimano 105? Check.  Everything I looked for was there.  It was her bike.

“Whatchoo think bro? You like?”

“Yeah I do!  This would be a perfect bike for my girlfriend.  How much do you want for it?

“Oh, I pay 180, so how bout 220 cash and it’s yours?”

“How about zero and I don’t tell anyone that you stole this bike from the bike rack across the street from Sears Tower last summer?  We’ll call it even.”

“Oh. Its yours man.”

Before I even finished he was handing me the bike.  I made a beeline for the car and zoomed out of there as quickly as I could. Did he have friends following me? I didn’t want to find out, even with my newfound confidence and highly held chin.

Yesterday we dropped it off at Element Multisport to have it cleaned up and tuned.  Brigit will be back riding her road bike on Wednesday afternoon.

What are the chances of me showing up to a flea market the day this gentleman is trying to sell a stolen bicycle, almost a year after he originally stole it?  Doesn’t matter.  We win.

Bucket List:

47. Steal back a stolen bike.

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This morning I was out visiting a potential account/friend of mine, Eric Ott.  Eric is a killer runner and triathlete, but also the owner of Geneva Running Outfitters.  If you’re ever out that way, stop in.  Great shop, great people, and some seriously smart employees too.

Anyway, it’s no secret I’ve been crabbing about my knee a lot lately.  I don’t know what the cause was, but after today I have a good feeling it goes back to the bike crash I had over Labor Day.  I was talking with Eric about my bum knee and he suggested I get on the treadmill and look at my stride.  

Here’s what we learned: my left leg from hip to knee is operating at less than the ROM of my right leg.  What I mean is that my knee is bending less when my foot comes through, and my hip doesn’t drive my femur/knee as far forward as my right side does.  Makes sense, considering I smashed the pavement on my left side.  Basically, this was causing my knee to be almost locked out on impact, which gives a better chance of my knee guts grinding together uncomfortably.  You’d think I’d feel something as dopey as this, but I didn’t.  Woops.

How am I going to fix it?  Flexibility, strength, and practice.  Here’s the problem though.  Yoga is the best way for me to increase flexibility, but because of this damn crash, my shoulder may or may not be able to do a downie dog.  We shall see.  Regardless, I’ll get this thing figured out.

Long story short is this: If you’re running with pain, chances are you’re running like a moron.  Go see someone who knows how to run properly, and figure out what you’re doing wrong.  Then fix it.

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Wowzers.  Forgot I had this little “blog.”  Here’s a quick update of what’s been going on over the past 6 months since I had to whip ass on the Red Line P90X style.

We’ve done some traveling.  We went to Kona again for the IM world champs in October.  Spent Thanksgiving in Cabo again.  I was in Scottsdale and Florida over Christmas.  We’ve been stuck every weekend since.  Hopefully a quick trip to Bonaire is in order, a CA visit and maybe Europe in the spring.  I love United!

I finally got my act together and applied to business school.  I have apps in to Indiana (Kelley), Notre Dame (Mendoza), Georgetown (McDonough) and Colorado (Leeds).  I’ve interviewed at all but Colorado at this point, so that’s a good sign.  Hopefully I have some decisions to make in about a month.  But, bottom line is that I most likely won’t be in Chicago as of summer’s end. 

I didn’t race at all last year.  Had some untimely injuries, a slew of weddings and bachelor parties, and very few free weekends.  I was all set to race the 70.3 in Cancun when I had a bad crash on Sheridan Road just before the race.  The crash happened on Labor Day and 5 months later, I’m still not 100%.  I am Debbie Downer on that front.

This season though, I am for sure racing Ironman Wisconsin.  First of that distance.  I’m nervous already.  We’re also planning on some 70.3’s around the country to mix with some long vacation weekends.  Nothing is set in stone just yet.

I’m also happy to say I’ll be racing for the Wattie Ink Elite Team.  I don’t know my teammates yet, at least not personally, but we’re all good internet friends.  You’ll see a lot of #rocktheW on Twitter out of all of us, but I’ll do my best to keep things manageable on that front.  Wattie himself has lined up some huge sponsors for us: K-Swiss, Blue Seventy, Kestrel Bicycles, Speedfill, FuelBelt, Kask Helmets, and a whole slew of others.

I’ll also make an effort to write more….that is for all 6 of you that may read this!

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Last week, I started doing P90X in addition to the swimming, cycling and running I do.  I went through a 12 week training block for an Olympic distance triathlon, and just wasn’t feeling like I had gained any speed in any of the three sports, so I felt like I needed to change something up.  2 summers ago, while working an insane month of nights, I haphazardly ordered the P90X DVD’s.  Soon after, I lent them to my friend Dean so he could get in ripped shape for his wedding.  I don’t think he ever took them out of the box.  After 2 years, I finally got them back and did my first set of workouts last week.  I chose the “Lean” version because in the past I’ve packed on muscle quickly and easily when doing weight lifting programs, something I want to avoid if I’m going to race.

On Saturday, I had my first Kenpo X workout.  Kenpo is a form of Karate developed in Hawaii, according the manual with the DVD’s.  To me, it was a Taebo or Cardio Kickboxing type of thing for an hour.  I had never done one of those workouts, and for the first 20 minutes, I looked like an uncoordinated circus clown flailing my arms and legs in the air uncontrollably.  By the end, I was into the “punch, block, kick forward, kick backward” rhythm Mr. Horton was roaring at us from the TV.  When it was all over, I was an air punching machine!

Later that afternoon, I was on the Red Line to go swimming at Lincoln Park Athletic Club.  As always, I had my headphones on, listening to Pandora through my Blackberry.  Between Addison and Belmont, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye sitting in a crowded train, hawk a huge pile of spit in the middle of the floor.  I looked over to see what was going on and then went back to jamming away and reading Twitter.  The next thing I know, said spitter is shoving me into a corner by the exit doors and attempting to rip my Blackberry out of my hand.  In a split second, I couldn’t figure out if it was a man or a woman, and just said to hell with it, knocked away their right arm with a Kenpo style low block with my left arm, and immediately threw a right hook into their throat.  Ba-boom.  Spitter fell back into the opposite doors on the ground holding their throat, without my BB in their hand any longer.  Within seconds, we pulled into the Belmont station and I exited the train.  I couldn’t tell you what happened after I left, but I just kept walking, fists clenched, anticipating an attack from behind.  Nothing happened, and I went on my merry way to the gym***.

Summary:

I haven’t punched anyone in years.  It’s not really in my nature (anymore) to be a fighter, and I try to avoid it.  But, I’m wholly convinced that my Kenpo workout that morning played a role in my defense style.  I don’t know what I would have done otherwise.   So, thanks to P90X and Tony Horton for preventing another Twitter headline about a Red Line mugging.  I hope that it doesn’t happen to me again, and I really hope that it doesn’t happen to any of you who read this.  Stay safe out there.  But, if anyone threatens you physically, know that a hook to the throat works wonders.

***I ended up not going swimming.  I was too worked up and asked Brigit to go to Old Town Art Fair with me to have a beer instead. 

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If you read this, chances are you have an interest in triathlon, live in Chicago, or both.  Otherwise, you just REALLY like reading whatever bologna I choose to write about.

Triathletes in Chicago, I want you.  As of yesterday, I’m now heading up the Element Multisport Tri Club along with another guy named Mike Ronkoske.  Not familiar with Element?  It’s only the most awesome tri shop in the city.  Seriously, it is.  It’s in the shopping center with Costco, a triathletes favorite place for bulk shopping, on Clybourn and Diversey.

Why do I want you?  We’re interested in getting a group of people who love swimming, riding bikes and running around with friends.  We’re all shapes, sizes, ages, and competitive levels.  Some are top age groupers entering their umpteenth year in the sport, others are new and ready for the challenge.  We like to get together a few times a week for beach swims at Ohio St, bike rides to Highland Park and group runs on the lake, Roscoe Village and where ever else our feet feel like going.  We have team supported races and cheering sections.  We meet once a month to discuss topics important to all of us, most of which with guest speakers.  We do clinics about anything you can think of related to triathlon.  Best of all, as a member, you get a discount on all your gear at the shop, including bikes.

We’re having our first meeting of 2011 next Tuesday night, February 15^th, at The Southern in Bucktown.  Come out, have a beer or two, learn what we’re all about and see if it’s right for you.  Leave a comment here, send me a note on Twitter or email me if you want more information.  Peace out homies.

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This is the beginning of ‘crowded gym’ season.  Honestly, I don’t mind all the new people coming to MY gym.  I’m really happy for them.  I’m happy they’re trying to better themselves and make for a healthier life.  I only have one problem with new people coming; call it naivety, call it ignorance, call it what you want, but most new people to a gym just don’t know proper gym etiquette.  Totally understandable, but let’s get some education out in the open.

Weight Room:

1.       Breaking a sweat is great, just don’t leave it on the bench.  Wipe it up!

2.       Think of the dumbbell racks like your silverware drawer.  When you grab a 40 pounder, put it back with the 40 pounders.

3.       If someone is on a machine you’d like to use, politely ask “Do you mind if I work in with you?”  If they oblige (which they should), return the weights and settings to what they were when you’re done with your set and get up for your trade off.

4.       Please don’t scream, grunt, growl, or make any other loud or strange noise when doing your workouts.

5.       Breathing like you’re in labor is also weird.  Let’s refrain from that.

6.       No need to slam the dumbbells together, or throw them on the floor. 

Cardio Area

1.       See #1 above

2.       If it’s crowded and no machines are available, figure out where people are waiting and get in line.  Sorry, this happens.

3.       Please, don’t ever put the treadmill so fast you fall off the back.  You don’t want that attention.

4.       Unless you’re walking on an incline, keep your walking on the treadmill to a minimum.

5.       I promise, the elliptical is not the equivalent of running.

Clothing

1.       If Richard Simmons wears it, you should not.

2.       Tight spandex should only be worn by those built like fitness store mannequins.

3.       Under no circumstance is it ever appropriate to take your shirt off, unless your name is Heidi Klum.

4.       Denim is unacceptable.

5.       Flip flops at the gym is like wearing white to a funeral.

6.       You don’t need a weight belt unless you’re entering World’s Strongest Man.

7.       Girls, go easy on the makeup and perfume before entering.  Guys, easy on the cologne.  In fact, skip it altogether.

Locker Room

1.       You are not there alone, keep your naked walking to a minimum.

2.       Treat the locker room like your own bathroom. Clean up after yourself.  Throw your towel in the hamper.

3.       It’s a somewhat crowded place, keep your belongings close to you.

4.       “Excuse Me” is a good habit.

5.       Use a lock on your locker.  People will take your iPod.

6.       Shaving in the steam room is unacceptable.

7.       Wear a towel in the steam room.

Not so hard, right?  What’s missing?  Am I overboard?  Let me know your thoughts.

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It’s December 14^th and unless you’re a total whack job, running outside is probably out of the question for the next few months.  As with most runners and triathletes, I tend to stay away from the treadmill if I can run outside.  Lately, I’ve passed out treadmill workouts to people when they ask, but figured I’d share them with anyone who chooses to read this post.

Note:  If you enjoy running at the same speed, same flat incline, in place, for hours on end, then stop reading here and close this browser window.

Note 2:  If you live somewhere that is perpetually warm, F&^% Off and don’t read this.  Go run outside.

Workout 1:

This one is kind of a speed workout, but call it what you want.  I hope that you know what your 10K pace is.  This is the pace that you can hold for exactly 6.2 miles.  If the race were 7 miles, you wouldn’t make it.  Figure out what that pace is.  Also, I highly recommend a heart rate monitor.  Most treadmills nowadays ‘sense’ all the major brands out there and will display your info on the dashboard.  Here’s how it goes:

Do a 5 minute warm up jog, then start the treadmill over with a new workout.  Get the pace up to your 10K pace immediately.  Let’s say that’s 9.0.  you’re going to run 1.0 miles at this pace.  At 1.0, bring your speed down to a walk, like 4.0 and bring your heart rate back to 140.  As soon as you’re at 140 (usually a minute or two), bump the speed back up to 9.1 and run .9 miles.  Recover at a walk till 140 BPM, and then 9.2 and .8 miles.  Continue this pattern of bumping up .1 MPH for every .1 miles you decrease your distance until you’re doing your last .1 mile at 9.9.  Finish by a slow jog for a couple minutes into a walk for a few minutes.  Time and distance of this workout, completely depend on your base speed and recovery times, but figure in the neighborhood of 6.5-7.0 miles and 1 hour to complete.

Workout 2:

This one is definitely a hill workout.  Again, know your 10K pace.  Let’s say it’s 9.0 again.  Do your 5 minute warm up and start the treadmill over.  Bring the speed up to .5 MPH less than your 10K pace, in this case we’ll say it’s 8.5.  You’re going to start at 5:00 at 8.5 at 1% incline, this is set #1.  After the 5 minutes, bring it down to 0% incline for 1 minute.  After 1 minute, bring the incline up to 2.0% and go for 4 minutes.  Bring the incline down to 0% for 2 minutes.  Then 3 minutes at 3%, 3 minutes at 0%.  2 minutes at 4%, 4 minutes at 0%, 1 minute at 5%, 5 minutes at 0%.  After your last 5 minutes on flat ground, begin a 5 minute cool down that ends in a slow walk.  You’ll be gassed, I hope.

I hope you figured out the pattern on increasing incline, and decreasing time at incline while increasing flat time.  Adjust interval lengths and inclines to your comfort level, but this should be a challenging workout.

Workout 3:

Nothing really fancy here.  This is good for establishing your HR and thresholds.  Think of this as a 5 mile test.  Say your 10K pace comes out to 9.0 MPH, i.e. 41:20 is your 10K time.  Do your 5 minute warm up, and start over with a fresh workout.  Run 1 mile at 8.6, noting your average HR.  After a mile, bump it up to 8.8 and do another mile, noting your heart rate.  For mile 3, bump it up to 9.1, so a little faster than you’d normally run a 10K, and note your heart rate.  For mile 4, come back to 8.8, and mile 5 back to 8.6, noting your HR on each mile coming back down.  Keep a record of these numbers if you like, but see how the corresponding miles compare in HR.  As you get progressively stronger, this workout will do a couple of things.  You’ll see yourself able to go faster at a certain HR, and also you’ll see your trailing HR’s more closely match the beginning miles.  As always, end with a 5 minute cool down.

Workout 4:

This is my favorite one just because it’s so easy to track in my mind what I’ve done in the past.  The mental challenge is the best part, at least for me, because treadmills are so easy to control.  Forget your heart rate monitor here, it’s just unhealthy.  Start with your 5 minute warm up, and then start the treadmill over.  Again, using 9.0 as a base 10K pace for this example, start at 1.0 MPH under, so 8.0.  Run at 8.0 for a minute and bump it up to 8.1.  With each successive minute, bump your speed up .1 MPH.  You hear about going till failure in weight lifting all the time, so now it’s time to introduce it to the treadmill.  Keep adding pace every minute until you can’t go anymore.  I’m talking to the point of “Holy crap I’m going to pass out if I run any faster or any longer.”  I applaud you if you can make this one last for 20 minutes, you’re an insane human if you can go 25.  Any longer than 25 and your base pace is out of whack and you need to re-evaluate that pace.  End this with a 5 minute cool down jog and walk.

There you go.  Four different workouts to help you pass the time on the treadmill.  Get creative with them.  Alter times, intervals, distances, etc.  Do you have any you like to do?  For God’s sake, SHARE THEM!!!  We all hate passing the time on a treadmill!  Good luck this winter.

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I’m pretty active, and always have been.  I grew up playing mostly soccer and swimming, but also did baseball, basketball, cross country, track, and even tried my hand at football.  When I wasn’t at formal practice, you could usually find me in any one of our neighbors’ yards playing sports, kick the can, ghosts in the graveyard, etc.  That’s just how all of us were 15-20 years ago.  Apparently today is different.  Kids just aren’t getting the same exercise that they used to when I (we) was (were) growing up. 

Here’s some evidence of that last statement from MSNBC.

I know I’m going to have kids in the future.  I like to think I have too good of genes not to reproduce. (my attempt at comedic relief) Recently, I was with my best friend and her husband at a shopping mall and we were talking about the birth of their first child this coming March.  Somehow we got to the topic of what we thought the child’s interests may be, whether it’s art, music, numbers, sports, etc.  We came to a simple conclusion about how we’d each raise our children and it boils down to one statement.

“My kids can do whatever they want, or be interested in whatever they like, as soon as they get home from swim practice and soccer practice.”

We think that exercise, fitness, competing, and general sports are too important.  We think that if we show them early on that this is just a regular part of life then it will be generally accepted by them as second nature.  All three of us grew up playing soccer and swimming, among other things, and truly believe that those experiences shaped us better than anything else we could have done with our time.

What are your thoughts?  What about the article’s findings?  How can we be better?

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As my girlfriend constantly tells me, “You TRON a lot.”  That’s her way of saying I’m always on the internet.  Whether it’s on Twitter, reading the news, reading blogs, etc.  she thinks I’m constantly connected.  She’s probably right.

A lot of my readings are focused towards sports, specifically triathlon, running, cycling and other endurance sports.  I don’t know that it’s a trend, but a lot of elite athletes have written the gospel of going “Veg.”  I’ve decided I want to drop some weight and get in some super shape for next race season, so I figure one of the best ways to do that is to clean up my diet.  The question I keep getting is “Are you going VEGan or VEGetarian?”  Answer: “I don’t know.” 

I don’t know the rules of going either, but here’s where I’m at.  I haven’t eaten a piece of meat (red, poultry, fish) since last Saturday.  I’ve switched out my regular yogurt for soy yogurt.  It’s alright, but definitely doesn’t taste the same.  Most of my protein is coming from nuts, nut butter (insert bad dirty joke here), beans and high protein grains.  I still get my fair share of Mexican food, just like I always have.  I switched from the regular shredded beef EVOL burritos to the few that don’t have meat.  They’re great, and I still eat them with a ton of salsa.  Let’s put it this way, I eat a jar of salsa a week, just on my burritos.

I don’t really feel any different at this point.  I still like burgers and hot dogs and chicken quesadillas, but have decided to give them up for a while.  Am I going to go full on vegan?  Or 100% raw?  I don’t know.  We’ll see how this goes.  Has my weight changed at all?  Yeah, I’ve dropped a couple pounds in the past week.  I don’t know what to attribute it to.  But if it continues it’s probably due to a diet change.

Needless to say, I’m 100% confident I’m getting all my fruits and veggies each day and the Food Pyramid Gods would be quite happy with me.

Have you made this change in your diet?  Why?  How did it go?  Did you stick with it?  Any advice?

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I think I have informal OCD.  I go in streaks of what I’m obsessed with.  Here’s a few of them right now.

EVOL Burritos :  I eat one for lunch every day, and have for a few months now.  Every single day.  Don’t ask me what my favorite is.  I love all of them equally.  Seriously.

Frontera Salsa:  Heard of Rick Bayless?  Yeah, Top Chef Masters Rick Bayless. Frontera Grill Rick Bayless.  He makes a line of salsa that can be bought at Whole Foods.  I go through a jar or two each week.  Amazing on the burritos mentioned above.  Or just with a spoon.

K-Swiss Blade Lights: These are the best shoes I’ve ever run in.  I hear they’re supposed to be a racing flat, but the cushion and stability in these are second to none.  3 oz. lighter than other shoes on the market, i.e. they weigh almost 30% less than other shoes.  It’s really noticeable. 

The Fame Game: My buddy, DJ Ryan Pullano, just dropped his best mix yet.  An hour and 20 minutes of awesome beats sure to get you through a day typing on the computer or through a long run.  It’s on repeat right now, and has been for a few days now.

Many others, but not all of them need to be shared.

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