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| 1 Year Ago: |  Tuesday, August 28, 2007 | | Monday, August 27, 2007 | | 2 Years Ago: | | Monday, August 28, 2006 - Coffee with Stewbeef, American Chopper with Sr. | | 3 Years Ago: | | Hurricane Katrina a Category 5 | | 80 Mile Bike Ride, 25 Min Run | | 4 Years Ago: | | 112 Mile Bike, 5 Mile Run. Heat. Suck. | | Camera Phone Action For Sat, Aug 28, 2004 | | 5 Years Ago: | | java.lang.reflect is Godlike | | 6 Years Ago: | | Collegehumor.com Claims Self-Absorbtion | | Burgers with Kendra and Joe |
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Random Stuff
15 Hours Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
I know I've said it a number of times recently. But I think I have a saddle winner. Marc Crouch gets credit for this one if it does in fact work. His shiny new Cervelo has a custom version similar to this saddle.
It's the Selle Italia SLR T1. I know, how crazy of me to go with a triathlon-specific saddle, right?
A few things I like about it: 1) Sitting on it doesn't feel like sitting on broken glass rods from high school chemistry class. 2) The nose has an incredible amount of gel padding... it's squishy... check out the pic. 3) The main material is Lorica, a very slippery plastic-leather material that's used in top-end Sidi shoes... very durable... but also less friction for the sides of the saddle when jammed up into my junk. 4) It's light... at 205g it's the lightest of the four saddles I've tried... I just didn't expect this much padding at that weight. 5) It's got a big honkin' nose... which I tend to ride when pushing it hard. 6) The center of the saddle is a sticky rubber to keep me on the thing... we'll see how this works out but I like it in theory.
All of this after just a few minutes on the trainer but the difference between this and all the other saddles is pretty obvious. Tri-specific... duh.
Also put the Fizik Gel Pads onto the aerobars... maybe my forearms won't hurt after long rides. Was a little concerned that they'd be slippery when covered in sweat but last night's trainer session proved that it's not an issue... they hold nicely and feel better than the stock pads.
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Yesterday | Posted to: Random Stuff
Tropical storm Fay's been dumping rain on Atlanta. An impromptu The Shawshank Redemption reenactment, minus the raw sewage.
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3 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
As I type this the closing ceremonies are just starting.
This is the first Olympics that I've ever really paid attention to. And remember, I lived in Atlanta during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. But I wasn't into the sport side of things. In 2004 I watched the tri, gymnastics and marathon events but that was about it. This was the first time that I was swept up in Olympic mania!
I got hooked by chance. I had no plans to watch any of it. I was working and saw something online about the opening ceremonies and turned on the tv. It was so spectacular that I Tivoed the next night. And I was hooked, often staying up waaaay too late!
Part of it is the fact that I'm now more into athletics with the triathlon stuff. I can better appreciate the work that these athletes go through and the raw talent they must possess to compete on the ultimate stage.
But a bigger part of it is perspective. More than the sports side, I saw dreams in the Olympians. People who worked from a young age, often for little or no money, to reach their event. All had obstacles in their way.
I'm struggling hard to make my little entrepreneurial dream happen. Summarizing my progress to date: five years of kicks to the groin, no pay. I'm at a very hard point in my business' history... a completely unique and new product being launched into a stale economy. It's putting massive strain on my extended and nuclear families. Seeing things so bleak every day, it's incredibly uplifting to see these Olympians get "there"... get to within arm's reach of their dreams.
To hear about Lolo Jones, the tough life she's had. The doubters that said she couldn't make the team. The doubters that said she couldn't win. But she persevered. And she was winning with two hurdles left. She could see her dream, a few steps away. But a stumble took it away from her as she clipped a hurdle. What struck me wasn't that she lost, it was the reach she made towards the line just after she lost her dream. In slow motion you could see her dream being lost through every fiber of her body. Like Edward Munch's The Scream painting, but on a track. And in that moment you could see how very much she wanted it. In fact, only in that moment could you really see so clearly how much it meant to her. A second or two of her life. But it touched me.
I truly wanted Lolo to win. Because that would prove to me that people can achieve their dreams if they just stick to it and work hard. But I think that the way she lost... the way she reached for her dream as it slipped away... gave me, and the world, a glimpse of something even bigger... her dream itself. Lolo holding gold wouldn't have shown us that dream nearly as clearly.
One shot that I'll never forget was of Lolo under the stadium after leaving the track, after giving a positive matter-of-fact interview for the cameras. Standing under the stadium she didn't know that the telephoto lens could reach her. She was leaning up against the wall with her hands on her hips, clearly trying to hold the emotion in. Again, I was touched. I saw a small video clip today of a tear streaming down her cheek... I'd like to know the context... I suspect it's another glimpse at the dream.
In 2004, by luck, I watched the men's all-around gymnastics finals where Paul Haam (sp?) had his amazing night and achieved his dream with a come-from-behind performance. It was inspiring but I assumed it was a fluke. I don't watch gymnastics! So when gymnastics came on during these Olympics I assumed I'd just fast forward through them. But I watched a little. And really enjoyed it!
Gymnastics amazes me for two reasons. The physical attributes required to compete are just incredible. Strength, balance, flexibility. These are almost superhuman athletes. But above the physicality you have a sport with incredibly slim margins for error and huge pressure. One shot at a six second vault to determine whether your team wins a medal. One extra step after a flippy jumpy thing and you're out of contention. Bend your arm a little bit? Bye bye.
The women's team event was a good watch. The men's team event was better. Fueled by Jonathan Horton's infectious "Go USA" rallying, the US team put themselves into medal contention. And Jonathan had one of those spectacular nights, hitting all the hard stuff. I jumped out of bed pumping a fist at least twice watching the men's team finals.
But dreams are somewhat hidden behind the team in the team competition. In the individual all-around you see the real dream. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, two American gymnasts, both had the same dream... gold. Only one could win, of course and Shawn Johnson was favored.
I had picked Nastia as my favorite in the previous days. It's always fun to root for somebody's dream. She performed spectacularly and won the gold. Unlike Lolo who taught us about dreams through her loss, Nastia taught us about dreams by winning.
The most touching part of the event was, of course, right near the end. When the main contenders are doing their final performances. When tenths of a point make all the difference. After Nastia did her final floor routine she was likely to achieve her dream. But Shawn still had her floor routine to do. What was amazing was to see the dream so close. After watching the coverage for hours you got to know Nastia a little and you could now see small differences in her demeanor. Hard to describe but fascinating to watch. As the final scores hit the board and she knew she'd won she let some emotion out.
And then we got a repeat of the buildup as she walked out to accept her medal. Trying to hold back the emotion, eventually letting the dream shine through. Touching. Lolo showed us that a dream can be seen in failure. Nastia showed us that a dream can be seen in success.
Also touching was the fact that her father and coach was standing with her through the whole thing. As a father myself I know that watching your daughter achieve her dreams is even more spectacular than achieving your own. I am truly jealous that he was standing so close, on such a massive stage, while his daughter won one of the most prestigious gold medals of the Olympics.
And then there was Phelps. What can you say? The dude dominated. The best swim of the event was the 4x100 where Jason Lezak pulled out an heroic and amazing come-from-behind final leg to secure the win. I was yelling and screaming, jumping up and down. And moments later got a text message from Heather who was sleeping with the kids in the other room: "please be quiet." The build-up to that race was perfect. The commentators had been saying for hours that the Americans wouldn't win. They were down going into the last 50 meters. They were down going into the last 25 meters. Lezak pulled it out. Amazing Olympic moment.
Another amazing moment was the 1/100th of a second win in the 100m butterfly. A mere fingertip. But what was more amazing was how close his competitor was when he was still a full meter away.
I caught every one of Phelps' medal swims. Didn't plan to. But glad it turned out that way. He's an amazing athlete. Eight golds.
What we learn from Phelps isn't about the struggle leading up to your dream. He dominated in seemingly effortless fashion. No, Phelps isn't motivation for guys like me, hacking to get to the dance. He's leadership for those who've achieved something in their lives.
What we learn from Phelps is modesty and respect. At the Olympic trials he was careful to always say "if I qualify." Of course he would. Everybody knew it. But he was respectful of his competitors and the process. In interviews he was always modest. He acknowledged the strength of his competitors and the huge contribution of his team. He brought his family into the coverage.
Some people are destined to achieve their dreams. It just comes effortlessly to them. And most then abuse their standing, mock their rivals and assume it will all continue. Not Phelps. Class act.
Which brings us to Usain Bolt. Amazing athlete. Huge personality. Two world records. When he broke the 100m record I blogged instantly that I felt disrespected. The next day I heard similar reports from NBC and the IOC.
Usain, like Phelps, has incredible natural talent and is destined to achieve his dream so we won't learn about the touching struggle to achieve. And his personality means that we also won't learn about modesty and respect. What we learn from Usain Bolt is this: dreams are awesome! Chest-thumping, crazy-dancing, finger-wagging and trash-talkingly awesome!
Usain expresses in vivid detail the elation that a person experiences when they achieve their dream. As much as I was turned off by his disrespect for the other competitors and the sport, I truly appreciated the glimpse at the result of achieving the dream. Whether I'll dance around the board room when I achieve my dream remains to be seen, but I do hope to feel some of Bolt's emotional high.
Beach volleyball on the women's side rocked. I didn't learn a terrible amount about the dream, but I enjoyed watching hot chicks chase balls in skimpy bathing suits. I got into it, watching about half of May/Walsh's matches. It was nice to see them win... in the rain... in white bathing suits... through telephoto lenses... in HD.
In men's water polo the US team defied all expectations and took silver. Their funding had been dropped by the US Olympic Committee and they were working out in a high school pool for years. They brought in Terry Schroeder, silver medalist from the 1984 Olys, to turn the program around. And he obviously did just that. What we learned from this is that dreams don't require resources. Sure, maybe they would have won gold if they had a travel budget and could train against top competition. But they accomplished their dream of putting the US back onto the podium with no resources. Or, with the most important resource of all, hard work.
I caught the men's marathon, of course. Ryan Hall took 10th. A Kenyan took gold. Despite the Kenyan nation's incredible success in distance running, this was their first marathon gold. What strikes me is that the marathon is one of the more physically demanding events. You might think that in such an event you'd see dreams popping out all over the place. But you don't. Despite watching a sweat-level profile shot of five super-fast dudes working as hard as they can to achieve their goal for two hours, you really don't see much of the dream. You can infer that the dream is in there via the anguished looks on their faces. You can intellectually conclude that anybody willing to hurt themselves that much is working very, very hard for the dream. But it's hard to see it. And I think this is an important lesson. Dreams aren't about how much you show people that you're working hard. They're often internal. They're often closely-guarded and worth putting yourself through hell to achieve. Sometimes not seeing a dream is seeing the power of dreams.
I watched fencing, diving, BMX, track... even some crazy stuff I didn't even know was a sport. I didn't catch a single second of triathlon coverage. And only a little of the road race. Sometimes I saw the dreams. Sometimes I didn't. But I always knew they were there.
In the opening ceremonies we saw the dream of the Chinese people. They want to be appreciated for their history and their people. I thought the show was incredible and the theme of putting so many people, working together, was powerful. The artistry, graphical presentation and scale were inspirational. I would not want to be the guy or girl in charge of the London opening ceremonies.
I'll miss the Olympics. But what I'll miss I also know that I'll get again in four years. This will certainly be a lifetime thing for me.
Whatever your dream is, be sure of a few things. First, be sure you know what it is so you'll know when you get there. Second, be sure you know why you want it so you don't implode from a lack of internal motivation when things get tough. Third, be sure you're working towards it... you, like me, may not get there... but you'll learn a lot trying. Of all of the Olympic stories that touched me only one (Usain Bolt's) was directly about achieving the dream.
What's my dream? Well, I'll save that for another day. But I've got a business dream, a triathlon dream and a family/relationship dream. Pretty far away from each of them right now. Gotta get to work!
The closing ceremonies have been spectacular. The square symbolism from the opening ceremonies is now circular. People are still pixels in a grand piece of moving art.
The Olympic flame was just extinguished, closing the games of the 29th Olympiad.
See you in London, dreams!
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3 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
11:00:22 AM: Intently watching some IronmanLive.com coverage of the Canada race! Go Kindzia!
01:49:10 PM: Supermarket for some healthy food. Found some probiotic with 7 billion bacteria/capsule. Lots of fruits/vegs. Sr watched the little ones.
07:25:10 PM: Gutter down from a strong but quick thunderstorm. Not as dramatic as MetaMarshall's Fay damage, but a pain nonetheless.
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4 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Got together with a group of about fifteen triathletes and support posses headed to Louisville for next week's Ironman race. Good group. Great to see Keith, Danielle, Hunter, Dave, Olga, Tat & Steven, Bob & Sue and Misty. And great to meet Jim, Kimberly, Mark, that other guy, that woman across from me, the guy with Kimberly, Jim's wife... yeah, I know it's spooky, I'm like a name dictionary... sorry guys... I'll get your names down. Should be a great trip and I look forward to seeing everybody at the finish line.
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5 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Had to dump the new saddle for tomorrow's ride. Two trainer rides with many adjustments up, down, fore, aft, etc. and I don't think it'll work. Sorry Mark. I said I'd give it two weeks and I was committed to that until I put the 12 year old mountain bike saddle back on and it felt 100x better than the Selle SMP. Marc C said something today... he can't ride saddles with the slit in the middle. Maybe I'm in that crowd... the one the Pauls ride has one and these last two that've killed me had slits. The problem with the mountain bike saddle is that it's cheap and after two rides is already falling apart.
Brakes were my next concern. Rear brake wasn't working. Had to debug the issue. Turns out the back 1/3 of the cable had rusted. Something that isn't supposed to happen with Nokon cables because they have a very snug cable housing. And when it does happen the brake cable won't move. So I reluctantly slipped out the cable and started fishing the new one in. I got super lucky with the initial fish into the first portion of the cable which made things seem easy. Teflon lubed the heck out of the cable on the way in.
Next issue was the bad end tape. I use electrical tape and it was sliding and getting sticky/gunky on rides. Really annoying. So I put my last bit of bar end tape on. And I unwrapped and re-used the wrap on the actual handlebars.
Cleaned the chain, lubed everything. I think the bike'll work tomorrow. With the winds and possible rain I knew I didn't want any little annoyances to give me an excuse to abandon the workout.
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5 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
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5 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Outlook somehow managed to hose my RSS feed list. Annoying. I've been out of the loop for a week or more. I back up the list to OPML every now and then but hadn't done so since last December. Luckily I keep my favorite sites list fairly up to date so I could quickly find those new blogs.
Four or five years ago I was following hundreds of feeds. Business stuff. Technical stuff. Skydiving stuff. Triathlon stuff. Friends. Now I've pared it down to 65 or so feeds. Mostly friends. One or two key blogs in the industries I follow. A couple athletic coaches I like. That's about it.
Over time it's become very clear that the voices of those I know in real life are more important than the voices of those I don't know.
Update: Man, you guys put out some great stuff! Now I need some time on the deck with the lappy to get all caught up with the 350+ insightful (mostly) posts you've made!
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5 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Paul Kindzia's in Penticton for Ironman Canada to set a PR and kick some butt! His travel arrangements are completely whacked out but I know he's in the zone and ready to roll. I'll be watching and wish him nothing but good luck and strong legs!
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6 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
As I peered from the upstairs landing I saw a branch that had clearly defied physics and landed on the small window frame ledge on the second story window. What's this? It's moving?
It's a snake. Time to grab the camera.
Took a few shots from inside and then went outside. Poked at it with a stick a bit. Not really sure how it got up there but I'm guessing it used the cable wire and came down from that.
As I poked at him he was rather docile. He stretched out... about five or six feet. Then he climbed to a 3/4 inch ledge one set of windows lower. At which point he fell. Almost onto me as I was taking his picture.
And he scurried off into the woods. I wasn't hungry so didn't Bear Grylls his arse.
Update: I think he was a gray rat snake, unlike the banded water snake I find in the stream out back periodically. In one description they say that gray rat snakes are good climbers, and this dude certainly qualifies. Here are other Georgia snakes.
1 Comments | 21 Images
7 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Let's see if this thing trashes my junk. In stationary trainer testing it felt pretty good. Certainly fine in the upright position but when I go to the aerobars on any saddle I feel the dread undernut pressure. We'll see. I'll probably do an extended trainer ride tomorrow and then hit the Comet over the weekend.
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10 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Headed out to Lake Oconee for Knox's second birthday. Dead rattlesnake.
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13 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
My own recipe, if you can even call it that. Lots of sesame seeds. Some brown sugar. A little olive oil. Some barbecue sauce. Soy sauce. Dead simple to make, just throw the olive oil and chicken into a pan and start adding stuff until the meat's cooked and the sauce is glazed. Lots of protein.
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17 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
A belated congratulations to Heather and her man on the birth of Angeline!
1 Comments | 0 Images
17 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Congrats to the Poons on the apparently-imminent arrival of the new addition to their family!
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17 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Amy always Brings It via the email race report. Now we'll have it all in one place... amykloner.com!
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18 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Had Marc over to watch UFC. Got some chips and sodas, put the wife and kiddies to sleep and watched grown men beat the crap out of each other. We did not reenact any of the action. Rogan's hilarious with blinding glimpses of the obvious and attitude to boot. Carlos has a great summary of the action. Next UFC is here in Atlanta but I'll be watching from a couch somewhere.
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18 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Up at 4:30am. Had a few things against me. A headache, fairly severe but I thought maybe I could over-the-counter it out of existence. It was about 60 degrees out and with my lack of body fat I get chilly on the bike under about 65 without extra clothing... clothing I didn't want to truck around for the final four hours of the ride.
I made it to Kendy and Matt's outside pool. Got in. Swam for a little bit. Arms were chilly every time I pulled them out of the water. Head was throbbing.
And.... scene.
Headed back home, crawled into bed. I'll give it a go tomorrow. Stupid headaches.
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30 Days Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Aves eating some morning watermelon outside on the deck. This is the baby watermelon that she carried home last night.
04:41:09 PM: Nice photo recap of the Tour de France... lots of great photos. And even more over here.
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1 Month Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Frickin' Justin Daerr.
Today's mega workout overcooked the leg sticks. You see, another triathlete, dressed in black and yellow, antagonized me (meaning this triathlete rode on the comet near me) and I wailed on the pedals for the final 20 miles. rTarded.
But fun. But not "on plan." But I don't care. But I do need to recover.
Enter Justin's ice bath recommendation: "Not entirely pleasant, " as he describes it. Understatement of the year.
However, just fifteen short minutes later and my legs do feel refreshed. Surprisingly so, in fact. This may become part of the regimen for mega workouts and long runs. I'll need to get more ice though (not that I'm looking forward to the even more frigid temps.) A couple bags from the supermarket on the way home should do the trick.
And if I stick with it for a while... who knows... ice machine next to the bath tub? A man's gotta have his dreams people. A man's gotta have his dreams.
P.S. There was shrinkage.
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1 Month Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
11:12:54 AM: Frackin' Audi R8 parked at King Plow.
01:35:20 PM: Just saw Anna! We were meeting at the restaurant under her office with Jessica, Gena and Eric. My bison burger was the best ever! And the appetizers were huge and great!
02:08:11 PM: Mmmmmm.... TMG bison burger! Low fat protein.
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1 Month Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Kate Parker's rocking a baby out today! Congrats to the entire Parker fam!
Update: Alice Elizabeth is here! Congrats!
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1 Month Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Whenever we have sudden rain I get debris time, a five minute period when the stream out back rises 18 inches, becomes a raging torrent and sends all the debris on the sides of the stream down. It's amazing to watch and it happens about two hours after heavy rains. First the water level rises. Then cups and small trash come screaming by. Then balls that kids have left too close to the swelling water. Then branches. And finally logs.
Tonight I saw a 30 foot long 1.5 foot wide log. In the past I've seen 40-50 foot by 3 foot wide monsters. For a few minutes it looks like a logging river, stuffed with broken wood.
I caught it early tonight and was able to stand on the side and watch the water rise. I enjoy debris time on the stream. The power of nature... it's fantastic.
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1 Month Ago | Posted to: Random Stuff
Matt and Lisa had us over to celebrate Lily's | | |
