Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS"

30 Weeks to Ironman NYC

2012-01-17T22:00:00.001-05:00

So I an 30 weeks out from my first Ironman. I am following the "Be Iron Fit" intermediate program which is you guessed it a 30 week program. My "Pre program" has been, well honestly a failure. When I signed up for this race back on June 15, 2011 I was 280 pounds. I lost a quick 20 pounds in two months then went to Disney with the family. Since then I have been hoovering around 270 pounds. I am going to do my best to stick to this program and although I don't want to commit to a number I really don't want to do this race anywhere near this weight.

2012 Ironman US Championship IMNYC

2011-06-30T15:53:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update. More to come.

It is official I have signed up for my 1st Ironman. I have entered the inaugural 2012 Ironman US Championship in New York City and New Jersey.

This means two things will happen, I will be training more and I will be blogging more.

October Timex Global Trainer Giveaway

2010-10-08T21:57:00.001-04:00

Contest is over HERE

DC Rainmaker September Garmin 310 XT Giveaway

2010-09-02T09:05:00.000-04:00

For a chance to win a Garmin 310 XT go

HERE

Good luck but I hope I wim.

Garmin Connect - Details 12 miler

2010-08-07T15:28:00.000-04:00

Untitled by obrats at Garmin Connect - Details

DC RAINMAKER Garmin Giveaway

2010-08-05T11:18:00.001-04:00

For a chance to win a Garmin 310XT please visit this awesome Blogger.

Click Here

Good luck but really I hope I win.

Dan

Updates

2010-07-07T22:01:00.003-04:00

Well I think I am going to "try" and get back to blogging. I know I failed at this in the past but I guess I have to start somewhere.

I kind of assume that anyone who reads this blog is facebook friends with me. That being said I assume anyone reading this blog has heard the news of my parents car accident and the passing of my mom. This accident occurred June 24 at 8:15pm. They were heading home from my nephew's 8th grade graduation and my father lost control of the car and that's all it took. As mentioned my mom didn't survivor the accident but my father did. He is getting better, after an operation on his right ankle and left knee. He has two screws in his ankle and 15 screws and two plates in his knee. I am guessing the emotional healing is going to be harder than the physical. Maybe in a future post I will go into more details. But right now the pain of losing my mom is too great to continue to write about.

As of Monday July 5th ING NYC Marathon training has begun. I am going to use the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training plan. I used this plan last year for the Marine Corps Marathon. Well I said I used it but I really didn't follow as well as I should of. I choose to go with this plan as opposed to the intermediate 1 plan because I am really enjoying cycling and want to get in at least two days a week. I will do a weekly post of my scheduled workouts and actual workouts.

I have competed in 2 sprint tri's this year. Only goal was to finish and I succeeded in that. I may try to squeeze one or two more tri's in this year but with the marathon training it will be hard.

Weight - Well since this blog started a few years back as a weight loss blog I guess I should update that. I ran the marathon last year at about 255 pounds. Then I started this year at 270 pounds. I am currently around 257 pounds, been as low as 251 a few weeks ago. I am going to try and run the marathon this year at around 225 or lighter. There is no reason I can't get down to that. I have been there before and I can get there again.

That's all for now.

Check out DC Rainmaker

2010-06-02T06:27:00.004-04:00

Be sure to check out DC Rainmaker for a chance to win a Withings WIFI Scale.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/06/withings-wifi-scale-giveaway.html

What I learned training for and finishing my first marathon.

2009-10-26T12:08:00.003-04:00

I am still working on a full race report but wanted to share this post.

In no particular order.

• I couldn’t have done the training if not for a very supportive wife.
• I couldn’t have done the training if not for a great running partner (Lou).
• The half marathon may be the perfect running distance.
• I will do more marathons and get better at it.
• Don’t forget to put vaseline on your nipples. Ouch.
• Running a marathon at 6 feet tall 255 pounds is not ideal.
• Especially when I went from 330 pounds to 217 pounds over the last few years.
• Marathon training alone will not cause weight loss.
• The plan that got me to lose the weight in the first place still holds true – Diet AND Exercise. Calories in vs. Calories out. It is that simple.
• The half marathon may be the perfect running distance.
• Avoiding hill training is NOT a good idea.
• Avoiding speed training is NOT a good idea.
• Walking about 6 miles with the family the day before a marathon is NOT a good idea.
• Don’t try anything new on race day. I have been told/read this over 100 times and I didn’t listen.
• I never felt like I wouldn’t finish the race.
• I never had thoughts it would be my last marathon. Even after crossing the finish line.
• The half marathon may be the perfect running distance.
• Thinking I didn’t need to take in electrolytes was a bad idea.
• I thought I handled the mental aspect OK. But there is plenty of room for improvement.
• HTFU.
• It was a great experience running this race with Lou.
• Lou could have ran under 5 hours but stuck with me the whole way.
• I look forward to training with and running with him in many more races.
• If I can do this so can YOU.
• It’s not easy but it is worth the sacrifice.
• I have great supportive friends and family.
• And I thought of you all throughout the day.
• The half marathon may be the perfect running distance.
• Having my name on my shirt was great.
• Marine Corps Marathon is a great marathon. I highly recommend it.
• Follow your marathon training plan as best you can.
• Regardless of what time you finish, as long as you finish you are a marathoner in my mind.
• My GPS had the course at 26.6 miles and Lou's GPS had 26.75 miles.
• Lou did make more pit stops to the woods then I did.
• Did I mention that the half marathon may be the perfect running distance?
• I have muscle pains in my legs today.
• It hurts SO good.

The 20 miler Run/Bike/Run version

2009-10-04T07:07:00.009-04:00

I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. Thomas A. Edison

So yesterdays 20 miler didn't go as planned. Lou and I meet at our normal spot at our normal time. What I didn't do so normal is what I think did me in at about mile 10. As I was driving to meet Lou I stopped at Dunkin Donuts and got 2 plain bagels and proceeded to devour them in about 5 minutes. The run was starting just 10 minutes later. We started out fine, the first 6 miles went as planned, then the miles started slowing. Slow would have been fine but then around mile 10 I was starting to bonk (I assume it was a bonk - never happened).

Our long runs have been we run about 12 miles and end up at my house to refuel. Then head back to our cars which are parked about 6.5 miles from my house. Yesterdays plan was to be at my house at 13.5 miles so we could refuel and just head back to the cars (no loops to make sure we get the miles in). But I told Lou I was not feeling good so maybe we should get to my house earlier and see how I feel for the rest of the run. Told Lou to go ahead and we would meet at my house. He got to my house with 11.2 miles done and I was at 10.8 done.

At this point I knew if I continued with the run it would be a run walk for me. Now I wouldn't mind but Lou just got a transfer and is now doing MCM with me so I didn't think it was fair to him. So I decided at that point I was going to just jump on my mountain bike and ride with him until he finished. We did this for the next 3-4 miles. Now I start to feel better and I can see he is starting to slow and the expression on his face told me he was in trouble. At this point we are on the bike path that goes through my town Williamstown NJ. So I decide I was going to drop the bike in the woods (hope that it was still there when I came back for it later). Found a spot, dropped the bike, and started running again with Lou. I felt great at this point but he was hurting. Lou had some oral surgery on Thursday so his diet and hydration was not the best the few days leading up to the run.

So for the next 5-6 miles we did some run/walking to get this run over with. Bottom line we didn't have a successful 20 miler. The reason I am not too worried is we had a great 19 miler two weeks ago. So the plan calls for 12 next weekend, 8 miles the next weekend and then the MCM. But I am either going to attempt 20 again this Saturday with Lou (not sure he wants to do it), or jump into the LBI 18 miler on Sunday without Lou.

So I guess I have officially un-retired from blogging.

I think this blog has run its course.

2009-06-16T13:14:00.003-04:00

Not really sure if I will resume blogging or not. Started this blog to document training and share my life altering experience (weight loss and being active). Would love to think that I have inspired a person or two to change their life but honestly this blog has not been real inspiring in a long, long time (if ever at all).

I will take a few days to figure out what I want to do but the once a month post really is not doing myself or anyone else for that matter any good. I can be found on twitter and facebook. I think I liked the fact that when I started this blog no one knew me. Now I feel like I have to be more careful of what I say to not offend others (family and friends). And my wife took a new position in Sept. as an administrator in a local school district so I have to be mindful of what I write about her as well.

I for sure will continue to follow all the blogs I currently follow (and add new ones). I don't comment that much any more but I do read them.

5/14/2009 Food Diary

2009-05-14T22:46:00.004-04:00

Total Calories: 1596 kcal
	Fat(g)	Carbs(g)	Prot(g)	KCals
	35.47	239.29	86.9	1596


Breakfast

110 g Egg White	0.19	0.8	11.99	57
28 g weight watchers cheese	8.39	0.54	6.62	104
1 serving weight watchers rye	1.5	19	5	90


Lunch

Cafe Steamers Sesame Chicken	6.00	50.00	17.00	330


Dinner

3 FF Sweet Onion Sauce	-	27.00	-	120
1 serving Footlong Roast Beef	10.00	90.00	38.00	580


Other

1 Uncrustables 10am	9.00	25.00	7.00	210
1 medium banana 8:45 pm	0.39	26.95	1.29	105

Workout was 3 mile run on treadmill at 9pm.. Was not feeling it tonight. Not sure if it is the major calorie cut or just too late to start running. I was not tracking before this week but I was eating between 2500 - 3500 (bad calories, cookies and such).

5/13/2009 Food Diary

2009-05-14T06:06:00.002-04:00

Total Calories: 1570 kcal	Fat(g)	Carbs(g)	Prot(g)	KCals
	36.43	224.71	103.53	1570

Breakfast

1 serving kashi go lean crunch	3	37	9	190
1/2 cup milk 2%	2.4	5.71	4.03	61
1 small box raisins	0.2	34.05	1.32	129


Lunch

1 serving Cafe Steamers chicken red pepper	5.00	30.00	20.00	250


Dinner

5 oz , boneless, cooked Chicken Breast	10.94	-	41.89	276
1 serving Rotini Pasta	1.00	42.00	7.00	200
2 servings Simply Steam Garden Vegetable Medley	1.00	22.00	4.00	100


Other

1 medium Bananas 4pm	0.39	26.95	1.29	105

1 serving Peanut Butter 9:30pm after walk	11.00	8.00	10.00	169

1 serving weight watchers rye 9:30pm after walk	1.50	19.00	5.00	90

As far as exercise for yesterday. I walked on the treadmill for one hour. I did this with the treadmill set to a 7% incline and covered 3.25 miles.

My Biggest Loser Finale Recap

2009-05-13T13:14:00.004-04:00

My Biggest Loser Finale Thoughts. I will try to be quick and to the point.

I was really looking forward to this seasons finale. More so then any of the other seasons.

Knowing this was going to be a 3 hour episode with MANY commercials I chose to utilize the DVR. I ran on my treadmill until about 9pm. Took a quick shower and started watching at about 9:15. This worked out great going through the commercials and I will admit I didn’t watch the stuff about the last contestant for the next season (shot me). While you are at it you can shot me for fast forwarding through the Pounds for Pounds segment.

Mike and Ron came out and Mike was voted America’s choice to be in the top 3 joining Helen and Tara. So Ron will be competing for the $100K. The eliminated contestants then came out to compete for $100,000.

The first group trying for $100K was Jerry, Estella, Nicole, and Damien. They all put up great numbers. I personally thought Jerry, and Estella looked older than there real age. However they are much healthier now. Nicole looked incredible, Damien is well on his way, and hopefully he will continue his weight loss.

Next up was Carla, Joelle, Filipe and Sione. Again they all looked great (from where they were). The ladies have some work to do still. The guys put up some great numbers, I hope their “culture” (their word not mine) doesn’t bring them back to where they were.

To be honest I am very fuzzy as to the order of the next 11 people to get on the scale. Ron was last that I do remember. But quickly on the 11 (in reverse order of % of weight loss).

· David – What can you say he is obviously not into it.
· Aubrey – Probably doing the best she can with her work load. I am not a big fan of the no time excuse but with 5 kids it must be hard. Not sure how much support he gets from her husband.
· Laura – I actually thought she looked better than the scale said she did.
· Daniel – Love this kid. I hope he continues to do well. Lost 142 pounds so far and is going in the right direction.
· Blaine – Looked good, fellow Clydesdale runner and triathlete. Sounds like he and his cousin are working hard.
· Cathy – To be honest nothing stood out to me.
· Shannon – See Cathy notes.
· Mandi – Is doing a great job. Hopefully she can inspire her sister and other family members.
· Dane – See Blaine notes.
· Ron – Lost a ton of weight (192 pounds) but it was not enough to over take Jerry for the 100K.
· Kristin – Is doing a phenomenal job but I really didn’t care for her choice of outfit and hair. Lost to Jerry by 6 pounds.

And now for the BIG 3. No pun intended (ok pun intended).

They all looked incredible. But although I was hoping Tara would win, I knew when I saw the 3 that Helen would win. You can just tell that she worked her ass off. I am sure the other 2 worked out like crazy also but Helen just look amazingly fit. I can't recall from past seasons what the top 3 contestants lost percentage wise but these 3 seemed to be very high. Helen lost 54.47% of her body weight, followed by Mike at 53.35% and Tara 52.72% (slacker). I wouldn't be surprised if Helen put on 10 pounds from last night just from drinking water over the last few hours.

All and all I really enjoyed the show. I find it very inspirational and I hope it inspires me to re-lose about 30 pounds and then an additional 20 or so.

The only problem with watching on DVR was that I had my lap top and was following past contestants and others from the East Coast on Twitter. Like passing an accident while driving I didn't want to look but I had to keep checking the Twitter updates. Even Ali was posting during commercial breaks. I think I ended about 15 minutes after the show ended. So it took me about 2 hours to watch the 3 hour finale.

Here is my post with the final percentages of all the contestants.

Yesterday's food journal

2009-05-13T07:55:00.003-04:00

Not sure how this will copy and paste, but I will try it. I am using http://www.fatsecret.com/. I found the application for my Blackberry and liked it so much I decided to also use the website. It is a free site and if you are looking to track your food and exercise it looks like a great site so far.

This was from 5/12/2009

Total Calories: 1501

	Fat(g)	Carbs(g)	Prot(g)	KCals
Daily Totals	38.93	208.71	93.53	1501
Breakfast
1 serving kashi go lean crunch	3.00	37.00	9.00	190.00

1/2 cup milk 2%	2.40	5.71	4.03	61.00

1 small box raisins	0.20	34.05	1.32	129.00

Lunch
1 serving cafe steamers chicken	5.00	30.00	20.00	250

Dinner

5 oz boneless, cooked Chicken Breast	10.94	-	41.89	276

1 serving Rotini Pasta	1.00	42.00	7.00	200

Snacks / Other

1 medium Bananas	0.39	26.95	1.29	105

1 serving life savers	-	15.00	-	60

1 serving Lightly Salted Dry Roasted Peanuts	14.00	5.00	7.00	160

1 serving Sugar Free Creme Brulee Rice Pudding	2.00	13.00	2.00	70

On the exercise side I ran 4 miles on the treadmill last night.

Biggest Loser Final Numbers - Spoiler Alert

2009-05-12T23:19:00.001-04:00

	Starting Weight	Ending Weight	Weight Loss	Percent Weight Loss

Helen	257	117	140	54.47%
Mike	388	181	207	53.35%
Tara	294	139	155	52.72%



Jerry	369	192	177	47.97%
Kristin	360	193	167	46.39%
Nicole	269	146	123	45.72%
Ron	430	238	192	44.65%
Sione	372	226	146	39.25%
Dane	412	258	154	37.38%
Filipe	364	229	135	37.09%
Damien	381	245	136	35.70%
Mandi	263	171	92	34.98%
Estella	242	159	83	34.30%
Carla	379	251	128	33.77%
Shanon	283	191	92	32.51%
Cathy	293	198	95	32.42%
Blaine	365	249	116	31.78%
Daniel	454	312	142	31.28%
Laura	285	199	86	30.18%
Joelle	309	229	80	25.89%
Aubrey	249	194	55	22.09%
David	393	350	43	10.94%

Proud - Heather Small

2009-05-12T13:48:00.001-04:00

Biggest Loser final tonight.

My 3rd leg of the American Odyssey Relay.

2009-05-05T22:09:00.002-04:00

Finally getting to my 3rd leg of the AOR. So this leg came after a night of about a half hour of sleep. I woke up feeling like shit. Thought I was going to puke and actually thought if I did I would feel better. I didn't.

So my leg called for 6.5 miles on the C&O canal. Very flat and shaded. I started off good running the first 11 minutes or so. Then I went to run 5 minutes and walk 1 minute. Then I quickly went to 1 minute run and 1 minute walk. I was very happy to see that my leg turned out to be only 6.25.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	221 ft
Location:	Point Of Rocks, MD	Elev. Gain:	-13 ft
Date:	04/25/09	Up/Downhill:	[+101/-114]
Time:	10:43 AM	Difficulty:	2.5 / 5.0

Weather:	Fair
	88 F temp; 31% humidity
	86 F heat index; winds W 3

Performance

Distance:	6.26 miles
Time:	1:16:52
Speed:	4.9 mph
Pace:	12' 17 /mi
Calories:	1120

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	10' 31	-1' 46	5.7	+0.8	0 ft
2	11' 48	-0' 29	5.1	+0.2	-10 ft
3	11' 47	-0' 30	5.1	+0.2	0 ft
4	13' 00	+0' 43	4.6	-0.3	-3 ft
5	13' 02	+0' 45	4.6	-0.3	+3 ft
6	13' 20	+1' 03	4.5	-0.4	0 ft
end	11' 23	-0' 54	5.3	+0.4	-3 ft
Versus average of 12' 17 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

My 2nd leg at the AOR.

2009-04-30T21:46:00.004-04:00

This was the 2nd of 3 legs at AOR this past weekend.

As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words. Well just take a look at the info below.

In bullets
- Run started at 10:40 pm.
- I ran earlier in the day.
- I was up from 5 am (slept 4 hours that night). OK I am whining now.

Again as the charts show. First two miles were great. I felt very good. Then as you see the elevation chart go up my pace goes up as well. I had to walk about 5 times. Mile 3 to 4 was possible my slowest mile ever ran. After that hill it was all down hill (one hill towards the end). I was never happier to finish a run.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	607 ft
Location:	Boonsboro, MD	Elev. Gain:	-13 ft
Date:	04/24/09	Up/Downhill:	[+541/-554]
Time:	10:42 PM	Difficulty:	3.0 / 5.0

Weather:	Fair
	67 F temp; 48% humidity
	67 F heat index; winds SE 6

Performance

Distance:	6.33 miles
Time:	1:14:02
Speed:	5.1 mph
Pace:	11' 42 /mi
Calories:	1180

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	10' 28	-1' 14	5.7	+0.6	-49 ft
2	10' 47	-0' 55	5.6	+0.4	-30 ft
3	11' 45	+0' 03	5.1	-0.0	+62 ft
4	14' 15	+2' 33	4.2	-0.9	+213 ft
5	11' 52	+0' 10	5.0	-0.1	-115 ft
6	10' 56	-0' 46	5.5	+0.4	-122 ft
end	11' 52	+0' 10	5.0	-0.1	+29 ft
Versus average of 11' 42 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

My 1st leg of the American Odyssey Relay.

2009-04-26T22:38:00.003-04:00

American Odyssey Relay Run and Adventure.

My first leg was a 4.62 mile run. I took the hand off from Matt who just kicked ass on a very hilly portion of the course. To be honest up until we hit the C&O Canal the whole course was hilly to a certain extent. I got to run under a covered bridge. Right after the bridge was a ridiculous hill. But I checked my map and my turn was right after the bridge before the hill. I was so happy for that. My teammates pulled up next to me in the van and gave me a nice cold water. Then I saw a St. Bernard behind a fence that I had the van take pictures of for me. Then the van asked if I needed anything and since I didn't I told them to go ahead to the next transition. I did have a hill around mile 2 and I ran the hill and then walked for a quick drink. Rest of the run was pretty uneventful and pretty flat, to down hill. I go to transition and handed off to Taryn for a leg that I didn't know at the time but soon found out while driving to the next transition was filled with crazy hills.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	639 ft
Location:	Fairfield, PA	Elev. Gain:	+13 ft
Date:	04/24/09	Up/Downhill:	[+226/-213]
Time:	11:41 AM	Difficulty:	2.4 / 5.0

Performance

Distance:	4.62 miles
Time:	0:50:05
Speed:	5.5 mph
Pace:	10' 50 /mi
Calories:	896

Notes

My 1st. Leg of the AOR.

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	9' 56	-0' 54	6.0	+0.5	+66 ft
2	11' 16	+0' 26	5.3	-0.2	+26 ft
3	11' 17	+0' 27	5.3	-0.2	-30 ft
4	10' 58	+0' 08	5.5	-0.1	-42 ft
end	10' 47	-0' 03	5.6	+0.0	-7 ft
Versus average of 10' 50 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

LSD with Lou at Rowan University

2009-04-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

Test from bimactive. The blog link hasn't been working.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	129 ft
Location:	Glassboro, NJ	Elev. Gain:	-3 ft
Date:	04/19/09	Up/Downhill:	[+462/-465]
Time:	08:23 AM	Difficulty:	2.8 / 5.0

Weather:	Overcast
	59 F temp; 49% humidity
	59 F heat index; winds E 10

Performance

Distance:	6.84 miles
Time:	1:23:09
Speed:	4.9 mph
Pace:	12' 09 /mi	Heart Rate:	142 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	1294		156 bpm (Peak)

Notes

LSD run with buddy Lou at Rowan University.

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	0h 49m	58%	4.05 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 35m	42%	2.97 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 05m	6%	0.41 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 00m	0%	0.03 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.01 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	11' 55	-0' 14	5.0	+0.1	129	+13 ft
2	11' 43	-0' 26	5.1	+0.2	136	-39 ft
3	12' 36	+0' 27	4.8	-0.2	142	+26 ft
4	12' 04	-0' 05	5.0	+0.0	148	+7 ft
5	11' 50	-0' 19	5.1	+0.1	147	+19 ft
6	12' 20	+0' 11	4.9	-0.1	147	-16 ft
end	12' 01	-0' 08	5.0	+0.1	147	-13 ft
Versus average of 12' 09 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

2nd annual NBD 5K

2009-04-18T18:20:00.000-04:00

Looks like bimactive fixed the blogger error.

www.bimactive.com is great if you dnot' use it you should.

Activity

Route:	NBD 5K	Elev. Avg:	154 ft
Location:	Williamstown, PA	Elev. Gain:	-4 ft
Date:	04/18/09	Up/Downhill:	[+55/-59]
Time:	09:05 AM	Difficulty:	1.5 / 5.0

Weather:	A Few Clouds
	62 F temp; 24% humidity
	62 F heat index; winds W 5

Performance

Distance:	3.08 miles
Time:	0:31:25
Speed:	5.9 mph
Pace:	10' 12 /mi	Heart Rate:	154 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	603		171 bpm (Peak)

Notes

2nd annual NBD 5K to benefit S.I.D.S.

Map

Williamstown, New Jersey

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 01m	3%	0.11 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	0h 29m	93%	2.87 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 01m	2%	0.09 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 00m	0%	0.01 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 00m	1%	0.04 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	9' 55	-0' 17	6.0	+0.2	148	0 ft
2	10' 23	+0' 11	5.8	-0.1	154	+4 ft
3	10' 21	+0' 09	5.8	-0.1	158	-10 ft
end	8' 20	-1' 52	7.2	+1.3	168	+3 ft
Versus average of 10' 12 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

2009-04-15T17:38:00.001-04:00

A reminder not to judge a book by its cover.

Cleaning up my BIM active site.

2009-04-13T18:22:00.000-04:00

More in the bimactive.com back log.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	46 ft
Location:	Swedesboro, PA	Elev. Gain:	-3 ft
Date:	04/13/09	Up/Downhill:	[+305/-308]
Time:	08:00 AM	Difficulty:	2.6 / 5.0

Weather:	Partly Cloudy
	42 F temp; 32% humidity
	42 F heat index; winds NW 12

Performance

Distance:	7.51 miles
Time:	1:25:32
Speed:	5.3 mph
Pace:	11' 23 /mi	Heart Rate:	150 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	1461		163 bpm (Peak)

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 00m	0%	0.03 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	1h 12m	84%	5.96 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 18m	20%	1.64 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 04m	5%	0.06 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 04m	4%	0.03 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	10' 42	-0' 41	5.6	+0.3	139	-6 ft
2	10' 55	-0' 28	5.5	+0.2	146	-6 ft
3	11' 30	+0' 07	5.2	-0.1	148	-23 ft
4	11' 55	+0' 32	5.0	-0.2	154	+19 ft
5	11' 40	+0' 17	5.1	-0.1	147	+30 ft
6	11' 48	+0' 25	5.1	-0.2	155	+46 ft
7	11' 07	-0' 16	5.4	+0.1	156	-62 ft
end	11' 24	+0' 01	5.3	-0.0	158	-3 ft
Versus average of 11' 23 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

LSD with Lou at Rowan University

2009-04-12T23:19:00.000-04:00

Just logging some miles in.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	129 ft
Location:	Glassboro, NJ	Elev. Gain:	+0 ft
Date:	04/12/09	Up/Downhill:	[+154/-154]
Time:	09:27 AM	Difficulty:	1.9 / 5.0

Weather:	Fair
	43 F temp; 33% humidity
	43 F heat index; winds N 18 G 25

Performance

Distance:	5.22 miles
Time:	1:01:21
Speed:	5.1 mph
Pace:	11' 45 /mi	Heart Rate:	146 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	1008		166 bpm (Peak)

Notes

Just trying to get the miles under my belt.

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 00m	0%	0.01 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	0h 41m	67%	3.52 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 21m	33%	1.77 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.02 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	11' 48	+0' 03	5.1	-0.0	138	+3 ft
2	11' 43	-0' 02	5.1	+0.0	141	+10 ft
3	11' 40	-0' 05	5.1	+0.0	147	0 ft
4	11' 47	+0' 02	5.1	-0.0	150	-16 ft
5	11' 48	+0' 03	5.1	-0.0	152	+6 ft
end	11' 17	-0' 28	5.3	+0.2	151	-3 ft
Versus average of 11' 45 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Longest run in a year.

2009-04-05T23:20:00.000-04:00

Longest run in about a year.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	144 ft
Location:	Williamstown, NJ	Elev. Gain:	-4 ft
Date:	04/05/09	Up/Downhill:	[+104/-108]
Time:	08:22 AM	Difficulty:	2.0 / 5.0

Performance

Distance:	8.00 miles
Time:	1:34:10
Speed:	5.1 mph
Pace:	11' 46 /mi	Heart Rate:	146 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	1540		172 bpm (Peak)

Notes

Longest run in a year.

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 02m	1%	0.17 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	0h 54m	57%	4.60 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 43m	45%	3.66 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 00m	0%	0.01 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 00m	0%	0.02 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	11' 15	-0' 31	5.3	+0.2	142	-4 ft
2	11' 33	-0' 13	5.2	+0.1	139	0 ft
3	11' 54	+0' 08	5.0	-0.1	140	-29 ft
4	11' 33	-0' 13	5.2	+0.1	146	+19 ft
5	12' 07	+0' 21	5.0	-0.1	145	-13 ft
6	11' 50	+0' 04	5.1	-0.0	149	+7 ft
7	11' 45	-0' 01	5.1	+0.0	150	-3 ft
8	11' 27	-0' 19	5.2	+0.1	156	+20 ft
end	10' 50	-0' 56	5.5	+0.4	159	0 ft
Versus average of 11' 46 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

LSD run with Lou

2009-03-29T23:21:00.000-04:00

Long Run with Lou.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	142 ft
Location:	Williamstown, NJ	Elev. Gain:	+0 ft
Date:	03/29/09	Up/Downhill:	[+95/-95]
Time:	08:34 AM	Difficulty:	2.0 / 5.0

Performance

Distance:	7.00 miles
Time:	1:23:13
Speed:	5.0 mph
Pace:	11' 53 /mi	Heart Rate:	144 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	1368		153 bpm (Peak)

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	0h 47m	57%	4.07 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 41m	49%	3.44 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 00m	0%	0.07 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 00m	0%	0.04 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.01 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	11' 36	-0' 17	5.2	+0.1	133	-4 ft
2	11' 33	-0' 20	5.2	+0.1	137	-26 ft
3	11' 47	-0' 06	5.1	+0.0	143	+6 ft
4	12' 23	+0' 30	4.8	-0.2	145	0 ft
5	11' 30	-0' 23	5.2	+0.2	148	-10 ft
6	11' 37	-0' 16	5.2	+0.1	149	+19 ft
7	11' 33	-0' 20	5.2	+0.1	150	+10 ft
end	12' 25	+0' 32	4.8	-0.2	151	+3 ft
Versus average of 11' 53 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

2009 HADDONFIELD ADRENALINE 5K RUN

2009-03-26T15:32:00.002-04:00

Haddonfield NJ where the race takes place is a very nice small little town in South Jersey. Beautiful town I might add. It is a nice setting for a race.
.
No this is not a race report because I didn't run this race this year. I didn't even get to go watch the race. But I wanted to report on this race because it is quickly becoming a major event. We are just getting out of the winter here in New Jersey so some people may have said sure I will go run that race why not.
.
But this race brings out all the local and not so local fast runners. I have raced in some (not many) races where a 20 minute 5K would land you a top 5 finish. Well this race 20 minutes would have landed you 144th place. The top 8 finishers were SUB 15 minutes. The 1st place female (26th overall) Erin Donohue went 16:09, now grant it she spent her summer in Beijing running for the USA in the 1500 meters.

I did the race two years ago when it was a much smaller field. I think I will try to hit it again next year. Maybe some of the speed will rub off on me. I doubt it.

Here are the official results.

Blaine Cotter and Dane Patterson

2009-03-23T10:04:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to the cousins for completing the Olympic Distance Triathlon this past weekend. The results can be found here of the Lake Havasu Triathlon. I assume it is safe to say that Dane was listed as Dave as an error (since the bib numbers were one off). After the whole "Finishing a Marathon" debacle, it was nice seeing that they finished this race.

Assuming they did of course. And I will take the side that they did. Keep up the great work guys.

BIM active update

2009-03-22T23:22:00.000-04:00

Logging miles.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	151 ft
Location:	Williamstown, NJ	Elev. Gain:	-3 ft
Date:	03/22/09	Up/Downhill:	[+85/-88]
Time:	08:14 AM	Difficulty:	1.8 / 5.0

Performance

Distance:	5.55 miles
Time:	1:02:29
Speed:	5.3 mph
Pace:	11' 15 /mi	Heart Rate:	148 bpm (Avg)
Calories:	988		168 bpm (Peak)

Map

Elevation (ft)

Pace (min/mile)

Heart Rate (bpm)

Heart Rate Zones

Zone	Range (bpm)	Time In Zone		Distance In Zone
Zone 5	163 - 181	0h 00m	0%	0.04 mi
Zone 4	145 - 163	0h 48m	77%	4.34 mi
Zone 3	127 - 145	0h 17m	27%	1.54 mi
Zone 2	109 - 127	0h 01m	2%	0.10 mi
Zone 1	91 - 109	0h 00m	0%	0.00 mi
(none)	out of range	0h 00m	0%	0.01 mi

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Heart Rate	Elev Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Heart Rate	Elev Gain
1	10' 44	-0' 31	5.6	+0.3	145	+22 ft
2	11' 15	+0' 00	5.3	-0.0	144	-3 ft
3	11' 07	-0' 08	5.4	+0.1	148	-10 ft
4	11' 44	+0' 29	5.1	-0.2	148	+9 ft
5	11' 19	+0' 04	5.3	-0.0	154	-10 ft
end	11' 25	+0' 10	5.2	-0.1	155	-13 ft
Versus average of 11' 15 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Did you vote yet???

2009-03-20T11:22:00.002-04:00

If you haven't yet voted in the "Tales of a Virgin Athlete" contest yet please rush over and do so now. Click the above link or HERE. Of course you are free to vote for who you want but if you allow me to help you I will ask that you vote for Big Mike Wimmer. Mike's story is "From Half Dead to Half Ironman". Just check out the pictures below to see the amazing transformation him and Jenny have made. So go do the right thing and Vote for Mike.

Thank You.

Biggest Loser Season 7 Week 11 Update

2009-03-20T10:40:00.001-04:00

To anyone that is addicted to The Biggest loser (as I am). You should check out and subscribe to Pete Thomas's weekly video recaping the show. He gives great insight and behind the scene info as well.

Erin Go Bragh

2009-03-17T11:16:00.003-04:00

Wishing everyone a very Happy St. Patrick's Day today. I will be getting some Corned Beef and Cabbage for lunch today. I especially miss the days of working in NYC on days like today. It was always a great time heading up to the Parade and stopping at the Blarney Stone for lunch.

Picture borrowed from http://www.theonion.com/

The meaning of Erin Go Bragh

The Biggest Loser

2009-03-10T22:19:00.002-04:00

When the show first aired back in 2004 I refused to watch it. I couldn't watch a show that was calling fat people losers. I guess I shouldn't have judged the book by the cover. Then when season 2 started in 2005 friends convinced me that I should check it out, that they think I might like it.

They were right I immediately fell in love with the show. I was at the time 330 pounds and the show brought me hope that I could get off the sofa, change my eating habits and really change my life. I've mentioned it before that it was specifically the episode that Pete Thomas was voted off that got me off the sofa. I credit that episode (and you Pete) with giving me the motivation to lose 113 pounds (I have put a few back on - but I am working on that).

But in all the seasons I have watched, and no I have not missed an episode since I started watching, tonight's episode was the best episode I think I have ever seen. Note, that I didn't say I agreed with everything on the show tonight. But as a whole I thought the show was great.

iPhone Apps for Runners

2009-03-06T09:16:00.004-05:00

Consider this my one good deed for the day.

I received an email last night (early morning) that may apply to some of you.

We just posted an article, “50 Awesome iPhone Apps for Runners” (http://www.rncentral.com/nursing-library/careplans/50_iphone_apps_for_runners). I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

So there you go, go get your apps. I do not own a iPhone, nor do I have any idea what an app is for an iPhone. But go take a look and I hope it helps you.

The Joys of Fatherhood

2009-03-05T09:12:00.008-05:00

In another life many, many years ago I was a high school wrestler, all be it, not a very good one. I was on the team but was strictly there as a back-up, and to be a workout partner for my friend who was the starter. Although I was not very good, I did go on after high school to become a wrestling coach in my town. I was the co-head coach for the Old Bridge Mat Rats (this is where OBRATS came from). And if I do say so myself I was actually a pretty good coach, I guess it is true what they say - those who can't do teach (I am going to be in so much trouble for that line). After getting married and leaving Old Bridge I thought I would get into coaching some day down the line when my son (who wasn't born yet) got into wrestling.

To make a long story short, Liam was born and as he got old enough to wrestle I would ask Liam do you want to do wrestling this year? And every year was a NO! But I keep asking and hoping someday he may change his mind. Wrestling is very big in New Jersey and kids start at 4 years old around these parts. I was just at a tournament last weekend watching my 5 year old nephew and his 13 year old brother wrestle.

So you could imagine the joy on my face when I came home from work last night and saw this book last night waiting for me on the kitchen table. I go back to work one night a week and I get home when the kids are already in bed. And last night Kim had them at the Library while I was at work. I had a smile from ear to ear thinking Liam has finally come around. O.K. wrestling season is ending for this year but ok next year is good. I had a great night of sleep, had nice dreams of my son learning wrestling from his dad.

Then I woke up and as I was making breakfast for the kids (Liam still sleeping at this point) CAITLYN comes in and says to me "DAD DID YOU SEE THE BOOK I GOT FROM THE LIBRARY LAST NIGHT?" Yes Caitlyn is one of my 6 year old twin daughters. I am all for equal rights and all but I really hope she doesn't want to wrestle with the boys. Well come to think of it she might be tougher than Liam (I hope Liam never reads this).

Well on that note I wish all the New Jersey High School Kids that qualified for the New Jersey Wrestling Championships in Atlantic City this weekend the best of luck.

btw.... yes I staged the picture with the fruit so you think I am eating healthy.

Dane Patterson Marathoner Continued...

2009-02-26T06:42:00.005-05:00

Last night when I should have been sleeping I threw up a post about Dane and his marathon. I hope to do a better post at this time.

To be honest Pat's does a really good job of covering the story. Or you could go to the link that I linked to last night and read the comment from Dane's wife. Melancholy Smile: WE DID IT! Also I think the race did the right thing in not listing Dane as a finisher of the race RACE RESULTS.

But let me just state this. Anyone that knows me knows that I love the Biggest Loser. I actually credit Pete Thomas (season 2 $100,000 winner) with inspiring me to get off the couch. I had to do the work, but not sure I would have if I didn't find inspiration from Pete.

I don't want anyone to take this post or last nights post as me coming down on Dane. That could not be further from the truth. I find Dane incredibly inspiring and I am sure he has inspired MANY people as Pete did. The guy lost 100 pounds in 8 weeks. Did you read that correctly? 100 POUNDS IN 8 WEEKS. That is just insane.

NBC on the other hand, and as Pat said, the Producers of the show I do have a problem with. You can't get on national TV and say this man just ran a sub 4 hour marathon. Do they realize the amount of training that it takes to run sub 4 hours? So when I saw that they said that, I as a runner/triathlete, immediately thought something did not sound right. Again no offense to Dane it just didn't add up at this point. I hope Dane does train and go out and run a sub 4 hour marathon, Lord knows I will never be able to run a sub 4 hour marathon.

So just want to make sure I cleared a few points up.

I don't in anyway think that Dane is dis-honest, this is TV people doing what they do best.
I think Dane is amazing. And more importantly I think he has inspired numerous amounts of people in his journey.
NBC Producers should really think about what they are putting out for the general public. They did the same thing with Blaine's tape.

OK time to get off my soap box. OK it's not night but after I have my coffee and re-read this I may change if it is not clear to me.

"What have you done today to make you feel proud?"

Dane Patterson - Marathoner?

2009-02-25T23:38:00.002-05:00

Well I was very happy to see that Dane from the Biggest Loser finished a marathon after getting voted out of the Biggest Loser house. So I did some searching on-line (boy I love the Internet). And it turns out I am not so sure he did finish a marathon. Not without the help of a CAR. In my searches I came across this blog, check out her last paragraph from her post. She did finish the marathon.

Why does NBC feel the need to lie to us?

2009 ING NYC Marathon

2009-02-19T21:38:00.006-05:00

Guess what? ING NYC Marathon lottery entry is now open. So if you were waiting like I was to get into the lottery go throw your hat in the ring. HERE IS THE LINK.

This is my 3rd year in the lottery so if I don't get in this year I will automatically be accepted next year. The funny thing about this year is, if I get accepted I can't run. We booked a week cruise this year which leaves from Baltimore on November 1st, the same day as the marathon. But should I get in this year I am allowed to defer it one year. So looks like 2010 will be my first NYC Marathon. But to be eligible for the automatic entry you have to have applied and denied for 3 consecutive years. So I had no choice but to enter even though I couldn't run anyway.

Is it me or did they really jack up the price this year? I thought it was something like $100.00 the past two years and this year is $170.00. I am sure it will not deter too many from entering.

So if you are entering the lottery best of luck to you this year. But if not maybe we can run it together in 2010.

Swimming 101.

2009-02-18T16:50:00.011-05:00

Let me first get a few things out of the way.

First these are not my words. I only wish I could provide this much info on any one subject. I do plan on using the below information along with the Total Immersion video I just purchased.

More importantly the below information was taken from Doug Bernstein at Beginner Triathlete. And here is Doug's disclaimer.

I am not a professional swimming coach. I do not take credit for discovering or formulating these swimming tips. This is simply a collected collaboration of other people's work, condensed into a single article/post. I do not take credit for works that Terry Laughlin and others have created. These are just free tips for beginners and newbies and many people quickly grow beyond this advice. Again, this is not advice for MOP or advanced swimmers. This article/post is not meant to take the place of an actual coach, video, book or training program, all of which are probably better.

So here it is enjoy. If you really think you would benefit from this I would be happy to email you the PDF file for easier use.

The key to swimming is reducing drag, not endurance or powering through the water. This is not just my opinion; it is the law of physics. I’ll explain it in a simple way: When you bike, you have to push air in front of you out of the way. The bigger the frontal section of your body and bike, the more air you have to move. What’s worse is that it’s not a one to one relationship. An increase in speed requires the square of increase in power to move that air! The faster you want to go, small increases in speed requires exponentially more power to do it. That’s why we’re all so big on getting “aero” for cycling. If we can reduce that amount of air we have to push out of the way, it makes cycling drastically easier. While it might take Lance Armstrong 300 watts of power to bicycle at 30mph, it would take big, broad-shouldered, me, 500 watts of power to maintain that same speed. And while Lance can still ride 10mph faster, I’m pretty much at my aerodynamic limit.

Now here’s the bad news. Since water is much denser than air, it requires THE CUBE to overcome hydrodynamic drag as you go faster! There is a massive difference between the power output while swimming at 1.5 mph and 2 mph. As you get faster, it gets (X times X times X) more difficult! Approaching 4 mph is close to the maximum and very few humans can sustain swimming at 5 mph. Beyond that, it’s virtually impossible. Our bodies are just not hydro dynamically shaped to do it. The current World Record (in the 50m freestyle) is 5.37mph by Duje Draganja (2.4m/sec, 50 meters in 20. 81 seconds). No matter how strong a swimmer’s muscles and how aerobically fit they are, it is theoretically impossible for a human to power-swim at speeds beyond this. I highly doubt any human will ever be able to swim faster than a mere 6mph. We just don’t posses the wattage required to overcome the drag. Nature just didn't design us to go fast in the water like say, dolphins that can do it at more than five times faster than us... good hydrodynamic shape to them!

So rather than focusing on power and endurance, the first step is to minimize that drag. This is the most crucial part in learning how to swim! So let’s get to those ten tips:

1.) Abandon any and all thoughts of pride and image. When you go to the pool and see other swimmers seemingly doing effortless lap after lap, do not get caught up the idea that you need to be doing the same. You have to do your exercises and not care about what anyone else may be thinking when they see you. Everyone practices drills, even the pro’s! So if you’re just going to be doing balance drills, so be it. In order to do flip turns, you have to practice the steps in turn and in order. If you ever see someone in the pool just doing forward somersaults from a standing position, they’re not weird – they’re practicing their flip turns! So just do your thing and don’t worry about what other people think. More than likely, the truly experienced swimmers will recognize what you’re doing and respect you for the drills you're doing.

2.) I would recommend that you get the book or video Total Immersion's "Swimming Made Easy" or "Triathlon Swimming". If you do, practice those balance drills. Practice! Practice! Practice! I've been swimming for years and I still do them all the time! I practice my balance before every swim session. IN ORDER TO SWIM, YOU MUST BE BALANCED AND COMFORTABLE!

These are the basic balance principles:

Master the side-balance drill. When you do it, do it with your hands in FISTS! This will take away a 'feeling' of support. You'll only have your core to balance on. Stretch long, bottom arm stretched out, nose in your armpit (YES!), top arm on your hip and your legs as straight as they can be. Point your toes! Close your eyes and RELAX! Gently exhale and let the water support you. You should feel your top hand on your hip out of the water. If you want to, you may kick a little, but keep your toes pointed and DON'T BEND YOUR KNEES! Kick very lightly from your butt. If you move backwards, that's OK. Forward or backwards motion isn't the goal here. Also, if your legs start to sink, that's only natural. Drive your head down and put your ear against your armpit. This will bring your legs up a bit. Let's not kid ourselves here - having strong abs, obliques and back (a strong core) is paramount here! Strong core muscles will help to keep you straight. The off-season is the perfect time to get into Pilates. It is without a doubt, the best "strength training" you can do for your swimming!

So how do you breathe? It's easy, and yet, rather hard. SLOWLY rotate your head up (AND ONLY YOUR HEAD), by the neck alone, and take a breath of air. Then SLOWLY rotate back down again. NOTHING ELSE SHOULD MOVE! Keep your hands in fists (FistGlove trainers really help). The temptation will be to use your hands to press down to support you as you rotate your head up. But this is exactly the thing we are trying to avoid and correct here! And what happens if you don't get the balance right? You'll probably sink. SO SINK! It's better to go under in the shallow end of the pool while maintaining the side-balance position than to lose it and use your hands to breathe. If you have to drown, THEN DROWN! You won't actually drown; you'll just stand up, breathe, say "damn!" and try again. Proper balance form under water is far better than poor form above it. Keep practicing (on each side) until you can maintain the side-balance position with NO BODY MOVEMENT for about 2 minutes. This is the foundation for all swimming.

3.) “Displacement bodies in the water go faster with a longer hull.” This means that the longer you make your body (tips of your fingers all the way to your toes) the less drag your body will create. Long skinny sailboats are faster than shorter ones. How do I know this? I’m also a sailor! You are not a motorboat which goes so fast that it can plane up and above the water’s surface. You are a displacement boat and you need to move water out of the way in order to swim forward. SO LENGTHEN YOUR BODY! How? First, make your reach as far as it can go. Think of getting something off of the very top shelf of the kitchen cabinet. Do you face it shoulder square and reach up? No. You twist your body to one side and extend your shoulder. There you go - now you can reach it. Swimming is the exact same way. It's that twist (or roll) and the extension from you shoulders and lats. For an extra inch or two of reach, twist your hips in much the same way that a belly dancer would, one hip higher than the other. It’s from this ‘core’ that comes great swimming. So don’t ignore that Pilates class at the gym! Swimmers don't have huge arm muscles or triceps; they have great back, abdominal and oblique muscles! So makes sure that each and every reach is as far out in front of you as you can. It's a good stretch to. Go into the weight room before your swim and go to the chin-up bar. Grab it with one hand, twist, and let your body hang for 20-seconds. Do your belly dancer hip twist and see how far down you can go. It’s a great pre-swim stretch.

4.) “Torpedoes move faster than oil tankers.” You have to try and maintain a slim, sleek, torpedo shape. Back and legs straight as a board. Think of your body swimming through a narrow two foot-wide-tube. Most swimmers legs tend to sink. You need to overcome this by two things: First, improve your back, abs and oblique core muscles. I can’t stress enough how good exercise like Pilates are for swimming! And second, “press your buoy.” By lowering your head and pressing your chest down, you raise your legs. This is known as “downhill swimming”.
Unusual Training Tip: Try to look at your feet! That's right. As you swim, I want you to try and look under and behind you. This is going to drive your head down, get your feet up and make you more streamlined in the water. Your chin should be against your chest. Not so tightly that you can't breathe or that it's uncomfortable, just so that you're leading with the top of your head, not your forehead and driving your head down. Again, the goal is to raise your legs and look like a flat, horizontal torpedo in the water.

Throughout this article I'll have some "Unusual Training Tips" that over-exaggerate body motions. Why? BECAUSE YOUR SENSE OF BODY POSITION IN THE WATER IS WAY OFF FROM WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS!!! The only way to know for sure is to underwater video yourself and then watch it. The initial reaction is always the same, "THAT'S how I look?! I thought I was flatter/longer/better than that?!” Sometimes you have to over-exaggerate a position in feel to get it to where it's really supposed to be. Once you achieve the correct position and repeatedly do it and then get the feel for the proper positioning, then it becomes second nature. But in the beginning you'll have to accept that how you think it feels right, more than likely isn't right.

5.) “Be a front-quadrant swimmer”. So if a longer displacement body is faster in the water, always be a long body. Always have one arm full extended out in front of you. If one arm is out of the water in recovery and the other is under you pulling back, then you are only as long as you are tall. You will slow down as compared to always being 3 feet longer with one arm always extended. How do you do this? A good drill is called the "thumb to hip drill". Before you bring one hand back in a stroke, make your thumbs touch in front of you. Feel the water flowing past your body. Then as you do your stroke, bring your hand ALL THE WAY back; make it touch your hip. This practice technique forces you to always be fully extended in the water. Later, as your swimming improves, the drill is called the “catch-up drill”. My personal style of swimming says to NOT move your arms like a kayak paddle. One arm is always fully extended. In order to do this, the recovering arm (out of the water, coming forward) moves twice as fast as the arm in the water pulling. The recovering arm has to “catch up” in order to keep one arm always fully extended out in front of you. Yes, your arms do not move at the same speed. The key is to think, “as soon as my thumb hits my thigh, get it fully extended in front of me as fast as possible and touch my thumbs.” But keep my pulling arm at the proper pace. Don’t pull too fast or too hard. You’ll waste more energy trying to pull yourself faster through the water than you will efficiently overcoming the drag of going through the water.

Take a look at these time pictures of World Champion Ian Thorpe, the “Thorpedo”: http://www.cruciblefitness.com/images/thorpe400.jpg

Look at his LEFT hand in pics 5 through 12. The leading hand (right) is extending WHILE the pulling hand (left) is moving back. Only in #6 does he not have an extended arm. It takes 8 whole picture frames for the pull. Now look at his RIGHT hand in pics 5 through 7. It only takes 3 picture frames for the recovery hand to go from full back, to fully extended! His arms move at different speeds. 8 frames for the pull and ONLY 3 for the recovery!!! In fact, his recovery is more than twice as fast as his pull. In every single picture except for #6 and #15, he has an arm fully extended in front of him. Catch-up, front quadrant swimming – long displacement body!

6.) Breathing – Oh boy! The tough one. When you swim, you roll to breathe. When you breathe, your chin should be up against your shoulder and your eyes looking back at your shoulder. Keep that chin in! Don't lift your head. The moment you lift your head, you create a massive drag wave that slows you down. You might as well tow a parachute! If you keep your chin in tight to your shoulder, you'll have to roll your body to breathe. Your mouth will be right at the surface of the water and yes, you may get a little water in your mouth - so just get used to it. You'll find that you can breathe just fine with a little water in your mouth. When you roll down again, just spit out with the exhale. Be an ambidextrous swimmer. Practice breathing from both sides. That's how you see where you are going and how you can see the people swimming on both sides of you. In an open-water triathlon with waves or sighting buoys, it's ok to occasionally lift your head to sight your bearing. Just don't do it too often - just enough to swim straight. If the water is choppy and has waves, your form won’t matter as much and you’ll have to lift some in order to site and breathe. But this is OK. But swimming and breathing from just one side usually makes people swim in a circle in open water without a big black line on the bottom of a crystal clear pool to help guide them. Practice bilateral breathing and learn to swim straight.

Unusual Training Tip: At the pool, count how many strokes it take to get from one side of the pool to the other. When you have that number, swim the next length with your EYES CLOSED! Open your eyes when you're 5 strokes before that strokes-per-length number. Can you do it without hitting any lane lines? Do you continually hit the same side lane line? Does your balance tend to drive you off-line in the same direction all the time?
Some more on breathing:

In order to maintain that head-in position, as your roll to breathe, your chin has to stay in tight towards your armpit. Baseball players often have a big problem of pulling their heads up and away during their swing. This pulls their eyes away from the ball at the last moment and they often miss. They have a classic training technique to keep their heads in throughout a swing to keep their eye on the ball. They put a tennis ball under their chin and hold it during the swing. If the ball falls out, they're pulling their head. We can't swim with a tennis ball under our chin, but we can think about it and use the imagery to keep our heads tucked in tight. You have to think about keeping your chin in tight as if to hold a tennis ball in place.

The stroke: Let's do the breathing as an example from the RIGHT side. You can do this right now, sitting at your desk. Both arms are extended in front with your thumbs touching. As you start the right side pull, you begin to roll towards the right (left shoulder down). Now your left arm is fully extended with your shoulder extended (as if reaching for the mug in the back of the very top shelf) never flat to the bottom with your arm out. As your right thumb touches your thigh, your right elbow bends and begins to rise out of the water. Since you are rolled to the right and your head is down with your chin towards your chest, the only place for your chin to go is towards your armpit. As your right elbow comes up high out of the water you find your face looking almost behind you. This is how you sight the swimmers BEHIND you trying to catch you! You'll also find with a good roll, a high elbow and your chin in your armpit, that a big space of air at your mouth has been created. Now you breathe in! Make sure you've been exhaling through your nose while your face is under water. Do not waste any time exhaling with your mouth in the air. This is for intake only!

Now for the most important part! Remember, you’re not a planning motorboat. You can't rise up and plane over the water, so don't try to! We talked about the right arm during the pull, so what do you do with the left? IT STAYS FULLY EXTENDED OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR BODY! The most common thing beginner swimmers (and even experienced swimmers) do during the breathing stroke is to begin the pull on the other side too early. They do this not to pull water back and propel them forward, but rather, to push water DOWN to push them up and out of the water to breathe. It's a natural instinct to want to push yourself up higher out of the water to breathe, but don't do it! That's what will slow you down and ruin your rhythm. Not pulling during the breathing stroke with the extended arm is a very difficult thing to do. In order to do it - you have to have balance in the water. That's where your drills come in. You have to do those side-balance drills so that you can breathe with that left arm fully extended and not pushing down to raise you up. Achieving this one thing is the most important and dramatic portion of your swimming stroke that will make you go faster. We'll address this again in #9. It's THAT important!

7.) Never hold your breath! As soon as your face goes back under water, start exhaling and continue until you empty your lungs. This does two things - It allows you to completely blow off the carbon dioxide in your lungs, thereby preventing the build-up of lactic acid in your muscles and keeping you from getting tired. And it makes breathing faster and easier because you're not wasting time exhaling with your mouth out of the water when you should be inhaling. See if you can practice swimming with this pattern: breathe in on the left, left stroke, right stroke, left stroke, breathe in on the right. If it's close to your normal breathing rate, great! Those two strokes with your head down and streamlined is what will really make you go farther and faster.
Here's a little experiment you can do right now. Take in a deep breath and hold it. How long can you hold your breath? What does it feel like? Now, hold your breath again but this time, take in a deep breath and blow it all out, entirely. Then hold on and see how long you can go until you have to take in the next breath? What does it feel like? It feels easier the second time because your lungs autonomically feel the urge to take a breath when there is a build up of CO2 in your lungs. If you exhale all of that CO2 out, you can trick your body into going longer.

8.) "SWIM SLOWER TO GO FASTER!” You don't push the water back towards your feet; you grab the water and pull your body through the hole in the water that you made. The slower you try to swim, the more you have to concentrate on your form. There's a reason that those early morning Tai Chi people move very slowly. Spiritual enlightenment comes through proper form, not speed. When you try to swim faster, your form and stamina will fall apart. I guarantee it! If you can swim slowly and feel the "underwater glide", you've got it! When it happens, you'll know it and it feels really cool. You're like, "Am I coated in Vaseline? I'm just slipping through so easily and fast! Awesome! “It only happens when you swim smooth and SLOWLY.

9.) Swim forward, not up. Your swimming stroke is not meant to push yourself up and out of the water. It is meant to propel you forward. Keep saying to yourself "forward forward forward". This is why the pull-phase of the stroke does NOT HAVE YOUR ARMS STRAIGHT! You're not taking straight arms down and back from your shoulder. Because the entire beginning part of THAT pull has you pushing water down, not back. If you bend your elbows and immediately pull water back towards your feet (the same motion as climbing up a ladder)... Let's practice that right now.

Hold your arms straight over your head and with your elbows locked, bring an arm down and rotate from the shoulder until your hands touch your thigh. Now do it again, but this time pretend you're climbing up a ladder. Bend your elbow (hand a little away from your body) and your hand goes straight down to your thigh. The second way has all the energy going straight down - nothing wasted - everything to power - very efficient. And that's what triathletes are all about, EFFICIENCY!

The most common mistake by amateur swimmers (me not excluded) is that they convert their breathing stroke into a vertical support stroke to push their heads up and out of the water further. It doesn't work and it's wasted energy. It slows you down (dramatically) and creates bad habits. Keep that chin in tight to your shoulder and use that stroke to go FORWARD! Why? Again, I have to go back and talk again about displacement bodies in water and how length of waterline/wetted surface affects speed. Unless a boat can plane above the waters surface and eliminate drag all together, it has to push water the water out of the way to move through it. That's YOU! Going through the water and pushing it out of the way. You have no choice, you're displacing that water. The fastest sailboats are those that are very long, 100-feet, and very narrow, less than 15-feet. That's a long, thin, displacement body.

The moment that length is decreased, you create "wake turbulence" behind you which is like little whirlpools. These areas of twisting, turbulent water act like suction and hold you back. So it is imperative to maintain the maximum length possible at ALL times while in the water and displacing that water. That's why the thumb-to-thigh or catch-up drill is so important. It forces you to always have an arm fully extended. This actually allows you to glide through the water longer and easier making it easier and faster to swim. Most professional swimmers will have a blazingly fast catch-up phase to their stroke. Their recovery arm comes forward to meet their extended arm to where they always have an arm up front. The actual pull can be slower. It doesn't need to be that much faster than the moving water because you can't use raw power to go that much faster. Now go back and take a second look at that picture sequence of Ian Thorpe.

Most people suffer in that as they're recovering an arm, turning up, getting their mouth out of the water to take a breath, they begin the next pull to push down and keep their head up to breathe. They've immediately decreased their length of waterline by two feet or more and this immediately creates wake drag. You have to be able to put your ear on your bicep with a fully extended arm and keep it their throughout the entire breath. Recovery arm meets the extended one, rotate back down and THEN begin the next pull.

… A simple thing to write. A considerably more difficult thing to do practice and perfect in the water! For me as well. THIS more than anything else, will probably improve your swimming distance and speed by a huge amount!

10.) Aids and Tools:
My favorite is FistGloves: Swimming with your hand in a fist feels really strange! It forces you to have good balance because you can't use your hands to push yourself up out of the water. I usually do 5 warm-up laps with the gloves on and then take them off to do my training. Wow! It feels like someone has glued dinner plates to my hands! You'll feel like you're going as fast as a dolphin! I then do my 5 cool-down laps with the gloves on to make sure my body remembers proper balance in the water until the next swim.
Hip fins: These are fins on a belt that you wear around your waist. They do two things; they force you to roll. If you’re not rolling, your hands will hit them on each stroke. And they also provide some resistance during that roll and twist which will strengthen your core.
Pull buoy: This is the buoy that you hold between your knees to help keep your legs up. This helps to isolate your arm-stroke to work on perfecting it. While I find that a pull buoy is good for isolating the arms for correcting issues, I think swimming with a pull buoy too much can be bad because it gives you a false sense of balance.

Fins: The same with fins. They are good for helping to isolate the arms, but using them too much gives you a false sense of speed and balance. Use them until the issue is corrected and then stop.

Hand Paddles: Meant to create resistance during the pull to improve lat strength. I say, forget them and concentrate on form and balance. Spend some non-swimming-day time in the weight room on the lat bench to work on building strength. We're all about balance and form here.
Kick board: While a kickboard is a good tool for getting the feel of forward kicking power, I prefer to do “vertical kicking”. Go into the deep end of the pool, keep your arms around your chest and using only your legs, and try to maintain a vertical position by kicking alone. This will quickly let you feel what is the optimum way to kick.

Speaking of kicking: While sprinters may use a strong kick, we are triathletes. Our goal is to get through the water as quickly as possible, while saving enough energy (especially in our legs) for the upcoming bike and run. I believe in a small kick which keeps the legs within that two-foot-tube that I wrote about earlier. Once your legs go outside that tube, they increase drag and slow you down. So your kick comes from your butt, not your knees. Try to keep your knees relatively straight and use your glutes, quads and hamstrings to do the kick. Don’t worry so much about a strong kick or the rhythm; it will naturally fall into place. Just concentrate on not bending your knees too much and keeping your ankles within 18 inches of each other.
Unusual Training Tip: If you're really brave, tie your ankles together (leaving about 10-inches of slack between them) with a short piece of cloth. This will force your kick to be small! If you choose to do this - please don't panic and drown!

BONUS Extra on Endurance: Why do I get so tired and can only do 2-4 lengths before stopping from exhaustion?

Everyone has an initial plateau from a mind-body connection when it comes to beginning exercise. Let me explain. When you begin running or biking, your muscles send a signal to your brain saying, "we need more oxygen and glucose fuel!” Your brain's first and foremost reaction is to want to conserve as much energy as possible and not burn it, so it says in your subconscious, "then we should stop.” But since most people have biked and run much more than they have swam, they can push that initial subconscious thought to the side and keep going. Also, while biking and running, we have a constant and endless supply of air to always breathe. After a few minutes the body establishes a working exercise rhythm, the brain & the subconscious accept it and you establish your "pace". I can bike at an average 21mph for six straight hours. I can run a 9-min/mile pace for three hours (yeah- pretty slow). The point is that I have trained my body and mind to break through that initial plateau and establish an efficient and do-able exercise pace. The same thing happens when you swim. Except for two differences; you haven't been swimming as much and as regularly as you have biking and running. And you don't have that constant and endless supply of air. You need to pace your breathing and roll up to the air to get it. But that's just a function of form. You still have the same subconscious plateau to get over. And there's no other way to do it, other than to just do it.

Go to the lifeguard and tell him/her that you're going to do an endurance set of 15 laps (endurance for you that is) and to please keep a close eye on the lane you are in. Then SWIM 15 LAPS NON-STOP! Keep your pace slow and steady and remain as relaxed as possible. At some point in the first 3 laps, you will feel tired and begin to get nervous. That nervousness may even become anxiety or fear. Stay slow and steady and KEEP GOING! DON'T PANIC - YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! You have to keep going! You can not stop! It is not an option! The lifeguard is watching you and they won't let you drown. Just keep swimming. You're forcing your body to establish a swimming pace and teaching your subconscious to release the anxiety and fear.
You'll begin to notice something around the 6th to 10th lap. IT STARTS TO GET EASIER! Your heart rate will lower, you'll smooth out and the swimming will even begin to get boring. That's the goal! You may want to instead of counting laps, just keep mindlessly swimming for 15 minutes and glance at the clock every once in a while. Sing a song in your head. Think of something else other than swimming. Transport yourself to another place. Your body will adapt and your mind will relax and accept it. Lots of competitive swimmers here often complain about doing endless, boring laps. They're constantly doing different drills to put some fun back into the training and they're the ones posting, "How do you keep track of your laps? After 50, I lose track. “These people have trained their bodies and minds to swim past that plateau and establish a swimming pace. And you can too!

One final note: Nobody EVER got better at swimming by practicing once or twice a week. If you want to get better, you've got to get wet! So be in the pool 4-6 times per week! 5+ hours a week is a MINIMUM to get anywhere. Be consistent and practice practice PRACTICE! You practiced walking and running for three YEARS before you got truly good at it. It took you two whole summers before you could comfortably ride a bike. So don't think that two days a week is going to get you through an Olympic swim that's four months away. Sorry. There's just no other way of doing other that to get doing it.

Some great additional FREE swim training videos can be found here: http://www.goswim.tv/pages/5/videos.html

I hope you found this free advice helpful.

Total Immersion

2009-02-13T11:57:00.004-05:00

Lets hope it's true to it's name. I have heard a bunch of good things about TI so I took the plunge (yes pun intended). I just purchased from Ebay (I love Ebay) a brand new still in box copy of the TI Easy Freestyle for $25.00 (it lists for 39.95 on the TI site).

I will let you know how it goes.

Testing failed

2009-02-03T12:54:00.002-05:00

I was trying to get my blogger blog to post at www.obrats.com (which I own). I must just be too incompetent because I got nothing. Well time to get back to blogging, working out, and most important to losing weight again.

If anyone knows how to do that blogging thing (getting it over to my web site) please let me know.

still testing

2009-02-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

Pretty sure no one is reading this. I have to figure this out.

This is a test

2009-02-01T22:19:00.000-05:00

Trying to figure out how to use Blogger to post to www.obrats.com

First change for 2009

2009-01-05T06:10:00.004-05:00

I have to start going to bed earlier than I had been getting to bed in 2008. I sometimes don't get to bed until after midnight. Then the alarm goes off for Kim at 5am. Sure I fall back to sleep but it's not a sound sleep if you know what I mean. So I am making the effort to go to bed between 9 an 10 pm. What makes this hard is I am a local news junkie. I usually watch the local Fox broadcast at 10pm, and then at 11pm turn on the local CBS news. I will just have to catch the local news in the morning.

Here is just one of many articles out there about the benefits of a good night sleep. This one is from www.medicalnewstoday.com

Adequate sleep helps you lose weight

11 Jan 2004

Do you need to lose weight? Then, turn off the television or computer an hour earlier and go to bed. We're sleeping too little, experts warn.

Too much sitting instead of being active is clearly part of why overweight is now common.

But studies suggest that a lack of sleep may make weight loss and weight control more of a challenge by altering our metabolism, as well as our eating and activity patterns.

Some research has directly tested the idea that sleep deprivation leads to weight problems. For instance, in a Japanese study of six-and seven-year olds, children who slept nine to ten hours a night were compared to those who only slept eight to nine hours.

The latter group was almost twice as likely to be overweight. Children sleeping less than eight hours a night were almost three times as likely to be overweight.

Changes in hormone levels have been linked to sleep deprivation in several studies. One hormone, cortisol, regulates metabolism of sugar, protein, fat, minerals and water. Physical or emotional stress raises cortisol levels. Lack of sleep may also raise levels at certain times of the day.

Second, higher levels of insulin, a condition known as insulin resistance, have also been linked to a shortage of sleep in several studies. Excess cortisol could be the link. Since insulin not only controls blood sugar, but also promotes fat storage, extra insulin makes weight loss more difficult.

Sleep affects behavior (UK - Behaviour. USA - Behavior)

Further research needs to validate the hormonal changes observed. But even without any hormonal impact, sleep deprivation can promote weight gain by affecting our behavior.

When people low on sleep find their energy dropping throughout the day, many turn to food for a pickup. The short-term rise in blood sugar gives a more energetic feeling, but often the extra calories are not needed by the body and must be stored as body fat.

Furthermore, the most appealing foods when we feel low on energy are often sweets or refined carbohydrates with low nutrient density. If sleep deprivation causes insulin resistance, overconsuming these types of carbohydrates may be especially problematic.

Not only is it easy to take in excess calories when sleep deprived. For many people, calorie burning decreases. If your extra waking hours are spent in sedentary activities at a desk or computer or in front of the TV, you're not burning many more calories than when asleep.

And when sleep deprived, people are often too tired to exercise. Or if they do manage to exercise, they work out less intensely than usual. For example, a rested person may walk two miles in a half-hour, while someone more fatigued may go much less. The tired person would burn fewer calories, despite walking just as long.

Sleep experts recommend at least eight hours of sleep a night for most adults. Yet Americans average just under seven hours during the workweek, according to the National Sleep Foundation. In fact, a third of adults reportedly sleep no more than six-and-a-half hours nightly.

Shutting off the TV an hour earlier means an hour less munching time. It could also shift your metabolism to make weight control easier. It could even leave you with more energy to exercise. Definitely, these are propositions to sleep on.

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5276.php

Main News Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia

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2008 - Not my best year.

2009-01-03T13:02:00.005-05:00

I came in to the year with a lot of big plans for 2008. I came off 2007 with having ran 1000 miles. I completed my first half marathon in September of 2007. I followed that up with doing my first triathlon a week later with only two pool workouts under my belt. My weight was down to about 217 pounds which gave me a loss of 113 pounds since starting the journey. I also got my 5k time down to 26:30 (a year earlier I ran my first 5k in a little over 32 minutes.

I even started out 2008 on a pretty good note. I had a plan for what races I would do. I was training for my first 1/2 ironman. Looking back now I realize planning your first 1/2 iron June 1st (too early in the Tri season for me). I was training for this race but then I went up with some members of my Tri team to preview the course and realized real fast that I was not ready for those hills.

From that point on I think my year went down hill. I never really got behind a training plan like I should have. I did a handful of 5k races, and a few local sprint tri's. And throw in one Olympic distance Tri and that was my 2008 training and races. Then September came and I knew about a Tri class that takes place at a local University (about 8 miles from my house). I signed up and that really helped me get to the end of the year. I had a steady schedule of taking the class Tues, Thurs. and Saturday morning. So at the very least I was working out 3 days a week. I opted to not do any races in the fall and just take the tri class.

Now we get to my eating. Basically my eating this year has been horrible. I am snacking late at night. I am eating all day long on the weekends. I would have a week stretch here and there but then I would fall back to the bad habits. And it has shown on the scale. I ended the year at about 250 pounds. And I know at one point during the year even hit 255 pounds. I have to get this under control because I know if I do not it will not take long for me to be back to where I was. I am not ready to give up on this fight so I can't look back and must look forward.

On blogging, I feel like I was starting to have nothing to talk about so just posted a few times a month. Funny though when I am working out well, eating well, I feel like I blog better. So for now I will bring closure to 2008 and look forward to a better 2009.

Faking it.

2008-12-01T07:22:00.004-05:00

This year we made the decision to go with a artificial Christmas Tree. This was a hard decision for me as I have had a real tree for as long as I could remember. That's not entirely true as I can remember when we lived in an apartment in Jersey City when I was a real young boy having a artificial tree. But then when my parents bought a house in Old Bridge we went with the real deal.

We have noticed in the past few years the quality of the real trees going way down in New Jersey. And then when Christmas is over we just discard it to the street. Doesn't seem like the "greenest" thing to do. So as I went kicking and screaming I went and bought this tree yesterday. We got it up and the kids had just as much fun decorating this one as any other in the past. And we even got the one with the lights already on it.

Now I just have to go out and buy some real tree spray to have the full effect.

Kids Art Show at Rowan University

2008-11-22T20:21:00.001-05:00

This is kind of a test, but I took pictures from the kids art show today and thought I could post them all using Picasa. Looks like only the first 4 are going to upload. Oh well I will keep playing with it.

Any how the kids started an Art Class at Rowan University about 6 weeks ago. They had a great time and it got them doing something on Saturday mornings. Oddly enough I am also at Rowan University on Saturday Mornings taking part in a triathlon class. Today was the kids last class and they had a very nice art show at the end. These 4 pictures that are posted are all from Liam.

If I don't get all the pictures up you could click this link or just click the link on the left sidebar.

Philadelphia Marathon

2008-11-19T13:13:00.007-05:00

No I am not running the Philadelphia Marathon but I did want to wish all you that are running this year the best in your race. Whether you are doing the 8k, 1/2 marathon, or the full marathon good luck to you. I know the weather is going to be cold so be prepared. I may try to sneak over the bridge at some point Sunday to watch.

These 2 pictures were taking when I did the 8K in 2006 (at packet pick up the day before). This is Liam after he "ran" up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. If you are not from the area this is the famous Rocky spot.

On any given day you will see 100's of people doing the "Rocky Run".

Happy Birthday to ME.

2008-11-04T06:25:00.003-05:00

So the day is finally here, I turn 40 today. Since we did our celebrating back in September with friends in Atlantic City, tonight will just be our local Applebee's. And then I will head to my Triathlon Class. I went Saturday to cast my vote so I don't have to wait on the long lines today.

One thought about turning 40. Since making changes 3 years ago I can honestly say I am a much healthier person at 40 then I was at 30 and probably even 20.

Enjoy, and get out to vote.

PHINALLY

2008-10-30T07:07:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies and to the fans of the Phillies. Yes, I am a Yankee fan but I live in South Jersey right outside of Philadelphia, so since the Phillies were not playing the Yankees I was pulling for the Phillies this year. Of the 13 major markets with 4 profesional teams Philadelphia has gone the longest without a championship. It's been 25 years (100 seasons - 4 teams) since the City of Brotherly love has crowned a champ. Looks like the curse of Billy Penn has been lifted.

Political

2008-10-17T14:44:00.003-04:00

I know a few posts ago I said I don't get too political but a friend sent me this link that was pretty interesting. Turns out the candidate I am leaning towards (still have not made up my mind) came out way ahead when I took the quiz. It will take you less than 5 minutes to complete if you chose to take it.

Here is the link CLICK ME

New Blogger

2008-10-05T14:13:00.003-04:00

Just want to take a second to introduce a new blogger. His name is Matt and his blog is here. I met Matt at the local pool about 9 months ago (give or take a month). He has probably lurked your blog so stop by and say hello to him if you get a minute. He is currently training for his first Marathon in November (Philly). And after that he will start his training for IMKY 09. Yes Matt is tackling an Ironman next year. I will do my best to help him when I can with his workouts. He is younger and faster than me so like I said I will do my best.

Good luck Matt.

VP Debate

2008-10-03T07:02:00.004-04:00

I don't get too political on this blog or in my daily life for that matter. But this is my guess for today. If you are a Republican you think Palin won the debate. And if you are a Democrat you think Biden won the debate. One thing I like doing right after the debate is turning on Fox News to hear all their "experts" tell us how the Republican did so great. And then I turn to MSNBC to hear their "expert" tell us how the Democrat kicked ass.

For the record I don't vote party lines, I try to do my best to decide for myself who will do the best job for the country. This year I am still undecided, however NJ is a huge Democratic State and although I will vote, the Democrat's will most likely win NJ running away.

Back to the 40th birthday.

2008-09-22T21:44:00.007-04:00

Like my training, my blog post's have been very sporadic. So let me go back to last weekend when I was celebrating my 40th birthday (actual birthday is Nov. 4th). So as previously mentioned we were celebrating with friends in Atlantic City. The plan was to meet everyone at Bobby Flay's restaurant for dinner and then after dinner maybe some drinks and/or gambling.

Including myself and Kim there were to be 12 of us for the night. In-laws were watching the kids so we were crashing at The Villa (Sea View Marriott) with two friends of mine, Lu Anne and Mari. I have known Lu and Mari for almost 20 years now, 7 years longer than I know Kim. So apparently there is a great spa where we were staying, and since we were getting there early all the girls were going to the spa for one thing or another.

Now you really have to understand something here. I have never even had a massage in my 39+ years. But since this was a special day/weekend I agreed to get the massage. And this is where it gets a little crazy, trust me I agreed to this part kicking and screaming (the girls see it differently but guess what they don't have a blog). I agreed to get a SPORTS pedicure. Hey what can I tell you, these feet take a pounding and they needed some love and the bottom line is it had SPORTS in its name. I am not going to lie to you it felt great. Got the feet done first and then finished with my first massage. Again that felt great as well. This picture was pre service.

After all the pampering we got car service to drive us the 8 miles to the Borgata for the night. Everyone meet at Bobby Flay's (one friend called that he was running way late and would miss dinner - his loss). We had great food, drinks, and conversation. It was great to catch up with great friends. As we mature and our families grow, time with friends seem to be the time that suffers the most. So I was very happy to celebrate this way with good people. If I do this right I will try to post just some more pictures from the night.

I have told her already, but I really have to thank Kim for making this night possible.

This is me and my friend Tom. We have been friends for 30 years now.

Friend Eric and I. Friends for about 28 years.

Me and my Baked Alaskan. Yes it was good.

Kim and I after dinner.

Me and Luanne

Me and Mari (Lu and Mari are twins)

Me, Matt (more on him in future post), and his girl friend.

Amy and Mike, friends from our old neighborhood.

Amy, Mary Lou (Tom's wife), and Kim

Me the next morning at breakfast.

Yankee Stadium

2008-09-17T10:22:00.009-04:00

Wow that really came fast. I can hardly believe as I type this, there are only 5 home games left in "The Cathedral of Baseball".

Being originally from North Jersey and have had worked in New York City for a few years I have been to the "House that Ruth Built" more times than I can remember. My father used to take us as a family when we were younger. My Uncles used to take me when they had tickets. I would go with friends families as well. And then as an adult and working in the city tickets just were thrown at you, maybe not so much for a weekend series vs. the Red Sox. But on any given Monday thru Thursday if the Yankees were playing a home game you could probably fine a way.

I probably took it for granted how accessible The Stadium was to me. Now I live down in South Jersey, in Philadelphia Philly territory. Going into the season I didn't give much thought, I just assumed I would get to a game this year. Only problem is, I should have gave it a lot of thought. Tickets as you can imagine are few and far between. And until just a few minutes ago when I checked how many Home Games are left I figured I still had time.

You want to know the real killer here? A good friend of mind (who knows how bad I want to get to the stadium) called me Monday with a ticket if I wanted it for a game that night. Mondays don't work for me as Kim has her Doctorate class on Mondays so I just said thanks but no thanks. Had I realized we were in the last week of home games I might have tried to work something out (close In-Laws are great). For the heck of it I just checked Stub Hub and I see tickets are as high (you can get some for a couple of hundred) as $15,000. Remember when I said Kim knows if I want something I usually get it. Well this would be a time where that doesn't work.

Its OK I have quickly come to terms with the fact that I will have to just hold my memories of the "Greatest Stadium Ever". If you have never been you would not understand how I can say that. There is just a certain allure (not sure if that is the word I am looking for or not) to Yankee Stadium. Yes it is old and really is not up to the standards of the new Stadiums in MLB but there was just a feeling that you got when you walked into the stadium that I don't think will be duplicated ever. But again it is OK and at least I have had that feeling numerous time over.

Lastly I will tell you the greatest game I ever saw at Yankee Stadium. I hate that as time goes on when I tell people I was at this game they usually say "yeah you and about a million others that say they were there". But that being said I was at the Dave Righetti no hitter on July 4, 1983. Spur of the moment, I was 14 years old and a friend of mines brother who was a few years older (and drove) asked me and the friend if we wanted to go to the game. We said sure, my parents had no problem with it so we went. It was a Monday we (he) scalped 3 tickets and we were in the ballpark. Cutting to the chase if you are a baseball fan you can image the atmosphere as the game got into the late innings - it was electric to say the least. The last out was just magical as he struck out Wade Boggs who was batting .361 at the time (I looked up the avg. - I'm not that good). Simply the best game I have ever seen. I really need to dig through my old bedroom as I bet the stub is somewhere in there. Box score from the game.

So to Yankee Stadium I say "Goodbye for now old friend, you will be gone but not forgotten"

The Treadmill review - Horizon T1200

2008-09-15T22:31:00.003-04:00

Kim and I decided that we needed a treadmill with our schedules (Kim's very busy schedule). We decided that $1,000 would be our limit. I went to Dicks Sporting Goods and saw one I liked. Yes it was the Horizon T1200. After tax it would be about $1,200 and I didn't know it I would be be able to get it home (this box was huge). So I came home and checked Dicks on line to see how much with shipping. Looking at about $1,300 at this point. More than we talked about, but as Kim knows when I see what I want it usually ends up in our house (have I ever mentioned how great Kim is?).

I decided to check E-Bay to see if any were being sold, before shelling out the $1,300. I find that Horizon is selling reconditioned ones. These are being shipped directly from Horizon and they have a great E-Bay rating. So I thought, yeah I can trust this. I lost one in the last minute of bidding, so decided to just do the buy it now option. And since it was less than $900 (shipping including in this price) I decided to take the extended warranty and still got it all for less than $1,000.

I used paypal and it was being shipped a day later. Got a call a few days later that they would deliver the next day. I dreaded putting this beast together but Jeff told me he has a Horizon and putting it together was not that bad but that it weights a ton. So I put it together right in the garage which was where it was going to stay (since Kim vetoed the family room - in her defense I currently have the bike trainer in the family room.

Jeff was right it really was not hard to put together at all.

Today I took my first run on it and I love it. Very sturdy, and quiet. Love the built in Ipod player also.

So if anyone is looking for a very good treadmill and is not worried about a reconditioned one I would highly recommend E-Bay, they are constatnly selling them on there.

Turning 40 - Well sort of.

2008-09-13T09:37:00.005-04:00

Birthday is not until November but Kim has planned my celebration today. I will blog more about it tomorrow evening but at 11 am we will be dropping off the kids with the Mother in Law and headed to Atlantic City (only a 45 minute drive). Massage is planned first and then dinner at the Borgata (Bobby Flay's restaurant). And then I am sure some (a lot) of drinking will transpire.

Will be about 12 of us including Kim and I. Hope I remember the night well enough to blog about it. Have a great day all.

Our new addition

2008-09-09T11:45:00.007-04:00

To be delivered today. Hope it is not too hard to put together.

The Horizon Performance Series T1200 Treadmill features a 375 lb weight capacity and has a 2.75 continuous duty motor that offers powerful performance for users at all training levels. This high-quality treadmill has premium speakers and unique console buttons that allow you to control your iPod®, which conveniently fits in the iPod® Docking Station that charges your battery during use. iPod® is NOT included. (duh)

Horizon Fitness, Inc is known worldwide for its quality and quietness.
The T1200 retails for $1,999. This treadmill has been fully refurbished using all Horizon manufactured parts. FREE SHIPPING...Directly from Horizon Fitness!

Details
Running Area: 20x55"
Speed: .5-12 mph (Quickspeed Keys)
Power Incline 1-12%
Horsepower: 2.75 chp
Programs: 6 Pre-Set Programs & 2 User & 2 Heart Rate (10 total)
iPod® plugs into console. There are buttons on console for controlling your iPod
Frame: Heavy Gauge Steel Fold-Up
Max User Weight: 375 lbs

Warranty * (We went for the extended warranty)
Frame: Lifetime
Motor: 5 Years
Parts: 90 Days
Labor: 90 Days

Ironman Louisville

2008-09-03T09:42:00.004-04:00

I certainly want to update you on my Team Triumph members who competed at IMKY this past weekend. I thought we had 4 going but it turns out we had 5 participants from our little South Jersey club.

I told you "here" about Brian, who was hit by a car a week before the race on his last bike ride before the bike was to be shipped. Well Brian contacted IM and let them know about his situation. And in typical IM fashion they denied him the opportunity to transfer his entry to another race. So it was either do the race or you lose your entry. More later on Brian.

As for Team Triumph's entries.

Roy #892 finished in 11:02:23 (yeah he's fast).
Dave #1694 finished in 12:37:07
Bill #206 finished in 13:09:57
Christ #1635 finished in 15:53:53 (no Christ didn't walk on water).

And as for Brian. He did decide to do the race. I was spending the whole day between doing things with the family. So here were his numbers.

Swim 1.2 miles 1:53:36
Bike 112 miles 7:26:31 (I think he must have been hurting as I know Brian to be much faster than this).
Run 26.2 miles 5:54:56 (I would imagine there was a whole lot of walking going on here).

So yes BRIAN IS AN IRONMAN. 15:42:54

Marlton Lakes Sprint Tri - Report

2008-08-30T22:00:00.007-04:00

Total Time = 1h 24m 53s
Overall Rank = 290/363
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 19/25

Official Results are here (look at the sick time the 53 year old winner put up).

Pre-race routine:

I try to pack as much as possible the night before. So I woke up at 5:30 had water and bagel with peanut butter. Loaded up the car, kissed the wife (semi sleeping) and stopped by to pick up Matt for the race. Got to race and racked the bike and got ready.

Event warmup:

I don't warm up.

Swim ¼ mile 11:23 (313 out of 363)

Comments:

Elected not to wear the wet suit. Point to point, so we walked to the start and I was first wave so off we went. Very shallow, I think you can walk the whole way. As a matter of fact I saw 2 guys in my wave run the whole way. Pissed me off because the race director told everyone that if you have to stop you can stand but "don't" walk or run forward. Oh well who are you really cheating.