Completed Full Rev3!

Well... I guess I might as well do a write-up on the actual race.. We arrived in Sandusky on Friday, September 5th for the Sunday race. I met up with my friend Scott and his wife shortly after I got there.. We checked out the water.. Lake Erie was warm and pretty smooth that day.. I was starting to get a little confident.. We then headed to the expo to pick up our race packets. My friend was disappointed with the expo, but I haven't had quite the experience that he has had so I didn't know what to expect.. It did seem rather small and not too well attended on Friday. We picked up our swag, which I didn't think was really that exciting and picked up some souvenirs. Then off to the camp site I went to meet up with my sister and her boyfriend. We were planning on staying all weekend and hitting Cedar Point on Friday night. I was going by the athlete's guide from the previous year as this year's wasn't released too long before the race. And last year, you could go to the park on Friday for like $15. So my sister came up planning on joining me on Friday at the park. I didn't think that I should do the park on Saturday so I was really hoping to go on Friday. But this year it was closed on Friday! Argh.. So we had planned to camp out on Friday, and then I was going to move to the more comfortable settings of the Breakers hotel. But alas... our plans didn't work out.. It rained Friday night.. and I mean.. RAINED! POURED! STORMED! It was crazy.. the tents quickly filled up with water and we were left trying to sleep in our cars.. and it was loud. .and thundering and lightning.. I kept getting up at all hours of the night.. not good.. But then after a few hours of sleep, we woke up to more rain.. I had planned to get to the beach and check out the swimming clinic that was put on, but we did a late breakfast that took too long, and went to get tickets for my sister and boyfriend to go to Cedar Point on Saturday. Again, previously these were listed as $20 the year before but this year they were $40, with the promise of smaller lines due to a private party renting out the park. I think I heard it was Honda Days, or something like that. The line was much.. much longer at the expo this time, and it took forever to get the tickets. So I sadly missed the swimming clinic.. though I don't think tips at the very last moment would really have helped me.. ha.. but the water definitely looked rough.. Everyone promised that it would be much smoother on Sunday.. This is much more detail that anyone wants I suppose... Anyway.. mom arrived as I was headed back to the hotel and I scrapped thoughts of jumping in the water.. Wanted to hang out with her.. and get settled in.. So we did get an early checkin to the hotel and then I pretty much headed to the mandatory meeting.. It was informative.. I should shorten this.. ha.. long story.. shortened.. Saturday I had hoped to sit around and do pretty much nothing! but.. I don't know where the time went.. Running back and forth unnecessarily is one reason.. for instance.. my friend had some anti-glare for the goggles.. and I searched my suitcase and bags and ran to the car.. but couldn't find them.. started freaking out.. maybe I lost them in the rain the night before as I was digging in the suitcase.. maybe they were in a mud puddle now.. it was late.. how was I going to get goggles before 7am?? argh.. and then I found them on top of my wetsuit in the room.. a wasted trip to the car.. and I went to check the bike in around 5:45.. the cutoff was 6:30.. so I drove the bike to the check point.. and then realized that I left the handlebar plugs (not sure the correct name) back at the hotel.. so I booked it across the sand to get the pieces for the bike. .and screwdrivers and hex wrench in case they wanted me to tighten anything when I checked the bike in.. but.. nobody looked at the bike at all. They just confirmed that the name/id on the bike matched my all access write band.. so that was a waste.. ha.. and I turned in the bike around 6:15.. plenty of time to spare! For the race, they gave us 4 bags.. a bag for the transition to bike.. one for the transition to run.. One special needs bag for halfway through the bike and a special needs bag for halfway through the run.. So I was up kinda late putting stuff in each bag. And my brain was going crazy.. I really wanted to get some sleep close to 8pm or 9pm.. and I think I laid down around 9:30.. but my mind was racing.. I kept thinking of the swim.. kept thinking of the turns.. and transitions.. and the race.. and the bike.. and the run.. ha.. I have no idea what time I finally went to bed.. but it was rough.. So.. woke up at 5am. I set 3 different alarms but I didn't need them.. woke right up.. I ate some cliff bars and some energy bloks. I also filled up my water bottle with some Heed. I was feeling pretty ready.. though I didn't put on the tattoos on my body yet.. I went with Scott to the transition area to check on the bikes, and fill up the tires. We also had to bring the 4 bags and get those in their proper places.. so.. to the warm up swim.. well.. my sister and boyfriend arrived.. so we met them.. took photos.. mom and scott's wife came down.. took more pictures.. and took more pictures.. ha.. so.. we went to the water and jumped in.. got a little swim going.. I immediately lost Scott. He took off.. I was hacking and coughing.. I have been fighting off a cold and apparently it hadn't left. anyway.. I couldn't hear the man speaking on the bullhorn and apparently I was the last guy out in the water and holding up the start of the race! so.. I swam in.. only to really turn around and walk back out, past the start gate that initialized our timing chip.. and.. we were off! I started out toward the left side.. this was a mass start, but there were really less than 300 people.. my swimming pretty much sucks.. I was somewhat optimistic before the start.. I had bought new goggles. and used my friend's anti-fog on them.. so I was feeling confident! until we started the swim.. I immediately lost 90% of the participants.. I did swim over some girl though initially.. but then lost her. the waves were brutal out there. I couldn't find the buoy's that were used for spotting.. I thought I had gotten better at sighting, but every time I tried a big wave would hit me in the face.. so I was getting pretty lonely out there.. and I was just treading water looking for buoys. At one time, a guy in a kayak told me I was turning too far left and heading toward canada.. and at one point, I'm pretty sure that I did a 180 as I started seeing the rides on my left as I was breathing (and they REALLY should've been on my right side!).. so.. I finally got back into shore after an hour and a half.. Sadly the cutoff for the first lap (1.2 hour) was an hour and 10 minutes. I thought I might have been late but I really lost track of time.. so I was turning the corner to go back out there and a kayaker told me to go in and check with the race director.. man.. this couldn't be good! and the race director radio'd in to someone and reported my number as a DNF (the dreaded Did Not Finish!).. so.. that sucked.. though for the record, I would've done another 1.2 mile lap! He did give me the option to continue, so I gratefully accepted.. I had been training too long to just quit after 90 minutes! so I headed to transition... feeling happy and sad at the same time.. I hadn't packed up my transition bags well.. I was concentrating so hard on putting in my correct running socks, and my spare running socks for the special needs bag.. but I hadn't even considered socks for my bike at all.. argh.. so.. I went back to the bags and grabbed some socks.. and then i saw my running shorts in my biking bag.. oops.. I think I might need those for the run! so back out I went to the bags.. man.. this was a slow transition time! but..I was not in any real rush.. I didn't think I would fail at the bike.. so might as well make sure I was as comfortable as possible.. but sadly, when I went back out to put the shorts away, I forgot to put on the sun screen! argh.. so..I headed out on the bike.. fairly uneventful.. People were flying by me.. You can really hear when someone comes up behind you with a full disk on.. sounds like a train! I was passing a couple of people.. but mostly getting passed like I was standing still. Around mile 40 I got in a groove and did start passing a bunch of people.. Felt good.. though I was still getting passed of course.. I was holding 20 mph for a bit, but then people were still flying by me.. it was crazy.. but nothing really happened.. I passed a few people that had flats.. and some that had crashed.. a lot of the roads were on gravel.. it was basically a flat course, but there were a few hills.. As I did approach the halfway point, I was confused with the volunteers passing out the special needs bags.. I did have some tissues in there, but that was about it.. so I didn't want to go back and retrieve the bag. but later I definitely regretted not getting those tissues.. the cold was kicking in.. the ride was basically pretty good.. the last 6 miles of the 112 were tough though.. I was surprised by how much I tanked at the very end.. I was trying to get some gu in during the ride.. and had some energy bloks.. but I think the nutrition was really lacking.. And then we went in for the transition.. nothing too exciting here.. except that I decided to put on sunblock.. and it killed! I was almost screaming! apparently putting sunscreen on a already burnt neck is quite painful.. as I ran out to hit the port-a-john, my sister called out to me. It was the first I've seen of them since I started the swim.. I was worried that the only thing that would be displayed on the tracking website would be DNF next to my name. but apparently it was still tracking me! I felt good! I thought some people might be tracking me and I didn't want them to just think I had a DNF after the swim and didn't continue.. It was really refreshing to see them.. So I went to the restroom for a much needed stop.. And then as I took off on the run, I saw them again and Scott's wife Stephanie.. It definitely helped.. SO I started running and held up a good pace until i passed most of the people and the volunteers! and then I got into a walk.. ha.. I was hoping to do a 5 mile run and then a 1 mile walk and alternate.. this was during the last week of training of course.. I had injured my calf playing soccer and kept reinjuring it, so I really didn't run the last 3 weeks.. my max run was 10 miles a few months ago! I did an easy 8 mile run like 3 weeks before the race. so I like that plan.. but during the race.. the lack of nutrition and really the lack of brick training hindered that plan.. I was running at a good pace.. for a very short time.. and then walking.. and then running.. I would convince myself to run from a certain car to the next aid station.. or run from an intersection to another intersection. I really didn't walk a mile without running a bit.. I was pretty happy to see that mile 8 was done.. Made me think that if I was doing a half ironman, I'd be almost done! but .. I was doing the full.. so I kept chugging along.. At the halfway point, I did grab my bag.. Had some fresh tissues.. these were a blessing! so nice on the nose! ha.. and then I had to run into the turnaround so the family could see me running! :) at the turnaround, my mom, sister and her boyfriend were there! It was great to see them again! gave me a boost! which I needed. my feet were starting to hurt! just after the halfway point, I met up with a threesome that I had been tailing all day.. I'd catch up with them, and then they'd run.. I didn't ever pass them.. I could've really. but never bothered.. and then after the turnaround, 2 of the group went to the restroom, so I caught up with the third guy and started talking to him.. and then the other 2 caught up and we did most of the back 13 miles together.. At around mile 18, the 2 guys wanted to run more and so they said their goodbyes and left me and the girl (Caroline).. They had all met during the run portion.. so I finished the race with Caroline.. We'd keep spuring each other on to do a more frequent run/walk. During the back 13, some nice supporters came out and brought us some Yuengling in dixie cups.. and some guys came out of a bar and brought us some pepperoni pizza! I think we all had a slice (the small squares). and on the athlete's guide they said they would have some chicken broth, and no booth actually had it.. and each station the new group I met up with was begging for it.. so finally some race organizers (or supporters..) drove off to get us some! they were awesome! and at that time, sometime warm in our stomachs was good... Each mile we knocked off, we kept getting more and more excited! We were really going to do this! As I turned in to the final tunnel my sister came out to join me on the run and it was awesome! The race was awesome! Even if I technically did get a DNF, I'm still pretty happy with the results.. My hats are off to all those that did finish that swim. My mom said that there were a few people that turned around after swimming for a bit.. and I know that someone was pulled out of the water ahead of me (guessing they threw in the towel and nothing serious happened).. and it sounds like there were plenty that missed the cutoff.. so.. I'm happy to have survived and continued on! Thanks to everyone!!

Full Rev3 This coming Sunday! (9/7/14)

All my hard work.. and not so hard work.. will finally show this Sunday! I'm getting excited. This is the full ironman distance race, put on by Rev3 up in Cedar Point. I however have a decent cold that is wrecking havoc. This week and last week have not been good for training! But the 3 previous weeks were excellent.. so.. we will see how this goes.. I am definitely worried about the swim. My last attempt at the 2.4 mile swim ended horribly after 2/3rd of a mile.. I was hoping to get in some light training this week, but I'm mostly drinking fluids.. taking coldeeze, OJ.. and Dayquil.. so I hope all of this works.. and soon! My max distances in training are.. 2 mile swim, 85 mile bike and 10 mile run.. yep.. the run is slackin.. I had way too many calf and hamstring pulls this year while playing soccer.. In hindsight, I should not have played soccer while training for this race... oh well.. if I do it again, perhaps I might try to not play soccer! It will be good to get this race done with!

Getting closer to Ironman (distance)!

The Full Rev3 in Cedar Point is September 7th! That's 39 days away! And the past few weeks have been... um. good? ha.. I've been battling with some shoulder/arm pains.. This is my left shoulder.. I can't pinpoint it really.. I don't think it is a rotator injury.. but as I swim, the arm throbs.. and when I finish swimming (or try to take a break), it throbs even more.. So I've been trying to rest it.. trying to stretch it and use softballs.. tennis balls.. and the foam roller.. and.. Advil! So I finally hit the pool this morning after a lengthy break and did manage to swim a whole mile! (ok.. 40 laps in a 20 meter pool.. just a very few minor stops)! I was very happy with the results.. Took me about 55 minutes.. which I'm estatic about! As long as I can finish the swim within the 2:20 limit I'll be happy! My max's so far are: Swim: 1 mile Bike: 50 miles Run: 9 miles This might not sound too impressive really with 39 days left, but.. I have hope.. Not swimming tomorrow.. Maybe swim 1.2 miles or so on Friday.. Running 10 miles tomorrow (Thursday, 7/31/14) Hoping to bike 60 bikes and possibly run 3 or 4 miles on Saturday.. and then .. maybe running 13 miles next week. so.. I'm getting there!

more injuries...

well.. things haven't gone according to plan.. I played 2 games of indoor soccer on sunday and during the 2nd game, I reinjured my right hamstring.. argh! today is Wednesday and this happened on Sunday.. The last couple days have been really rough! very painful and hard to walk down stairs.. I did go swimming today though.. I was hoping to do many freestyle laps, but my leg was hurting on the kick.. but I used the pull buoy and did get in 30 minutes of good swimming.. This is just depressing since I finally started running last week from the last injury... I'm definitely not going to be able to run for a few more weeks.. argh! but I'll continue to swim, and should be able to get in some decent biking mileage soon (I think!)..

Worked out five days in a row now....

I'm definitely psyched.. Good training in last week.. not a lot of long, strenuous workouts, but my swim felt good, I'm ramping up on the bike, and I finally started to get back into running after hurting my leg.. Feeling optimistic about the ironman in September! I'm taking today off, though I do play 2 games of indoor soccer later.. This will be a good test for the leg.. Wish me luck! Looking forward to swimming tomorrow morning, and possibly running in the evening.. though that will depend on how the leg feels after playing 2 games of soccer.. might need to take tomorrow off from running, but I'll play that by ear..

Continuing my Ironman training...

Man, I'm behind on this blog! As the few know that read this, I was hoping to do the full Rev3 race in Cedar Point last year. In my rush to training last year, I injured my back in February (I believe). I was trying to up my running miles to run the Cincinnati Heart Mini Half Marathon in March. After running 7 miles one day, the next day my back was killing me.. I think i was not following the 10% rule and increased my mileage too quickly. So after seeing the doctor and trying everything, I was in pain, and out of training for like 2 and a half months. After finally giving in, and getting my steroid shots, it finally got better. But by then, I didn't think I'd have enough time to properly train for the September race. So the Rev3 gives one deferment and I decided to take it. So I'm hoping to do the Full Rev3 this September (2014)! So far training has gone fairly well. I did have one obstacle though already. A little over 3 weeks ago, I pulled something in my leg while playing soccer.. in my right thigh. So this has thrown me off my training a bit. I tried to play soccer last Sunday, after 3 weeks, and it felt about 85%. Though the following day the leg was hurting in a different place (toward my MCL on the same leg). I recently moved into a house, and have let the leg, and house get in the way of my training, but I'm back on track now (as of last week). I've been putting some miles in on the trainer, now that I have a house, and have also been working on my swimming form at the gym. I cannot wait for it to get warm out so that I can bike outside! I'm really concentrating on not putting too many miles in too quickly. I know that once it gets warmer out I'll definitely put in the miles on the bike outside so I'm not too concerned about the biking portion.. I did my first century last year without much training, so I need to obviously make sure that I can do it at a decent pace, and have enough energy and conditioning to run many miles afterwards. I'm worried about beating the time requirement for the swim (2:20) so I'll definitely put in the training for the swimming. I'd hate to put in all of this training and not be able to complete it due to missing the swim cutoff. So... just hoping to continue this blog with the hope to track my training. I'm way off of it (even though it is really coming up in 6 quick months.. EEK!).. I'm trying hard to do more core strength training this time around (as opposed to the half ironman training). I really need to start living at the gym though.. Writing down that it is 6 months away is pretty frightening! But I do have a plan! well... I'm really just 'winging it' honestly.. I've put down certain milestones that I want to meet every week, and I should be up to six miles running this weekend, but clearly, I'm not up to that. I might try a slow jog tomorrow and see how it feels. I will need to slowly work back up to it, and I know realistically I don't need to run 26 miles continuously during the actual race, but I need to get the mileage in and make sure that I can actually finish the race in the required time.. So... wish me luck.. I'll need some! :)

Riding..

Earlier in September I completed my first century bike ride. It was a slow ride since I really didn't put in much training. The ride was in Findlay Ohio and was the Horizontal Hundred. This is a relatively flat ride that is known to be good for first timers. It actually had more hills than I anticipated but it was well organized and a good ride. The wind was really crazy the last 30 miles.. It felt good to complete it even though it wasn't really a "good" ride. It's been on my to do list for a number of years. My friend prompted me to do this with him, but then an injury kept him out of the actual race.

I also completed a 59 mile bike ride in Georgia at the end of September. It had 6k feet of climbing! It was crazy.. I again didn't train, and was passed by old ladies, crippled men and little people.. Ok. Just kidding.. But it was a slow, painful ride. I'm happy that I completed it. I would highly suggest training for this ride and the century ride too if you ever want to do these rides.

I did receive my code to register for the Full Rev 3 race next September. This was due to the deferment that I took this year. I'm looking forward to continuing my training for it..

Postponing my ironman attempt...

With sadness, I must admit that I am postponing my attempt at the ironman until next year. The back injury and my fear of re-injuring the back has set me back a lot, and I still feel like I could have put forth the effort to complete the ironman, but it would be close and next year will give me more time to train properly and ensure success. It was a hard decision.. I feel like I was really getting my training on, and had a plan laid out, but in the end, I would've had to add a lot of miles to my run quickly and it just made me too nervous about re-injuring the back, or other body parts. Rev3 does allow you one deferment, so I am using that and will compete next September. Now I need to stay motivated to continue to put on good miles in this off season.. Instead, I am concentrating on doing a full century ride in September. That will be my longest bike ride. My longest to date is 60 miles, so I'm excited to get this done. I still need to add some miles to my training but I'm confident that it will go well. Thanks!

Photography News...

I will be taking senior photos of my niece Abby! I'm getting a new lens just for the occasion, and hopefully will have some amazing results, which hopefully will lead to more work through her friends. I'm getting a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G.. probably on Monday. It will be good to get a prime lens and I've heard such great things about this lens! I love photography, and hope to expand my opportunities and knowledge. But I'm also getting excited to continue some of my glass classes. I've made a somewhat sad tumbler and a pretty sweet paper weight. I'll be taking a 5 week hot class when I get time to take 5 weeks in a row. Probably not the summer courses, but hopefully Glass Axis offers a fall class.

Ironman training is back on!

My ironman training is now back in high gear! Last week was my most productive in a long time 58 total miles, though most of that was on the bike. I still need to get better at swimming in the morning and biking/running in the evening or at lunch. I also regret not getting a training plan. I've reviewed a few, and am following the principals laid out, but I'm just kinda winging it. Oh well. Increasing my mileage in each discipline each week, throwing in some core workouts (a little.. when I can get time) and trying to rest enough, but not too much. ha.. We will see how this goes..

Getting back on track...

Ran a slow 2 miles today! This was my first run since injuring my back on Feb 16th. It felt great to get back into it. I gained confidence by playing 3.5 hours of volleyball on Sunday and not having any bad reactions concerning my back! I'm still naïve enough to believe I can actually finish the ironman in Sept. That is probably wishful thinking.. But if I take 2 hours to swim.. maybe 8 hours to bike.. That'll leave 7 hours to run/walk.. Using a calculator that I found, that would mean I'd have to run/walk at a 16:02 pace. That _sounds_ doable.. Or am I dreaming?? The calculator is found here: http://www.runnersworld.com/tools/pace-calculator Though if I average 16 mph (which SHOULD be doable on a flat course in Cedar Point), then I should finish the bike in 7 hours.. (calculator found here: http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/speed_distance_time_calc.html). That would give me a needed pace of 18:19 or better. That should definitely be doable! This will happen! On a side note, I'm splitting my free time with training, taking glass classes, trying to get better at my photography and possibly starting to whittle some more.. Also, attempting to develop a card game for Windows 8. Oh.. and seeing my amazing artistic girlfriend! :) btw, I just re-did her website.. take a look at http://www.klmorrisstudios.com. Just released last week!

Injured... training slacking..

I have plans to run half marathon on March 17. For training, I'd like to get up to mile 10 by March 11th or 12th and then taper.. Training was looking good. On Feb 16th, I ran 7 miles and it felt pretty good. Around mile 4 I felt pretty strong but around mile 5.5 I was ready to be done. Not injured, but just.. kinda bored.. but I continued on until mile 7. But then the next day, my back started hurting around noon as I was headed to soccer. And then I played an injury plagued game that was probably unwise. Then... I remained injured since then. The back gets better each day and I'm close to running again, but.. clearly not quite on schedule for the run and then the full ironman later this year. I should be swimming more than I have though. I need to get back into that and possibly some other cross training..

Update on training for Cincinnati's Heart Mini Half Marathon..

Felt great! After mile 4 I really thought I could put in the full 13 miles today! But then after 5.5 miles, reality hit me and I was ready to be done! ha. and it really wasn't that I was exhausted then.. Just... mentally was kinda done.. But I powered through.. Just trying to get ready for the half marathon on March 17th, and I'm making good progress on that! It was my first time using Heed in my bottle in a very long time, and I think that helped.. Also, it was the first time using my new run belt, so I actually ran more than normal, and didn't sneak in any stops for drinks.. So that helped my overall pace. I think I'm done with my experiment with compression underwear.. (i know you all want to know that!) But.. I don't really see the point, and everytime, they HURT! Not so much this time when I was running.. a little, but I powered through.. but then in the shower afterwards, once that water hit.. OUCH! I think the guys in the shower room must have been wondering what was happening!! Maybe I just need better ones? but.. really don't think I see the point.. Definitely can't see wearing these for long runs.. I'm fairly happy with the training. I haven't put too many miles in this past week, so I was a bit worried today. But it went well.. Not the fastest time, but I am improving.. I will be nervous though about the run in Cinci. I haven't trained on any hills. I've been running with the treadmill set at 0.5 incline.. But.. I guess I'll wing it.. :) My swim training has stalled though.. I will definitely hit the pool this week in prep for the ironman in Sept! Now.. if only I had time to bike.. ha..

Ironman Training..

I signed up for a half marathon March 17th (although I should be drinking and celebrating my Irish heritage). I'm running the 2013 Mercy Health Heart Mini. This will be my 3rd year doing this event, though I started with a 5k and then last year did a 15k. So i'm now progressing to a half marathon. I really (really!) wish that I just kept running all year.. i keep getting in shape and then lose it for a months.. and then I have to rebuild it back again. so.. i'm back up to 5 miles! i'm pretty excited, as I'm on pace to get up to 10 miles before the half marathon. Since the ironman is in September, I really should be ready to do a half ironman distance sometime in April. That is scary though, since for my half ironman, I trained from January until August.. And now.. pretty much training from January until April. Eek! So now I'm concentrating on the running, and getting my swim in as well (up to a half mile, with some stopping.. ok.. a lot of stopping).. but I feel pretty good about that.. I sadly haven't done much biking yet, but that is my strongest event so I'm hoping it comes back quickly... I'm still a bit "nervous" since my longest bike ride is like 60 miles, and of course, I need to get up to 112 miles.. but.. I'm making progress finally! Thanks for reading!

Full Rev3 is this year!

This is the year of the Ironman! (well Full Rev3)! Must Start Training!!

Still struggling with training...

It is just way too cold out there!! argh.. Joining the gym again in December. It will be good to have a place to swim, and I am tempted to join a spinning class as well. Gotta get into it though! The ironman will be here before I know it!! Argh...

ironman training..

well,I've decided to officially start my training for the Ironman. Officially I will be competing in a Full Rev 3 event at Cedar Point next September (2013). I know there I'd some debate if I can call myself an Ironman after hopefully it and I don't really care. If the distance is the same then I'm okay with calling myself an ironman..

I have a long road ahead of me though.. And for some reason, I haven't really started training yet, which scares me a bit. But I can't find the motivation yet. I'm not sure if it is just the fact that it is next year or what my issue is. When I trained for the half ironman 2 years ago, I started running mid December and had the half ironman the following August. But I was worse off with my running back then. I actually thought I had horrible shin splints for the last 10 years, so I went to the doctor who suggested physical therapy. And after spending many hours and many dollars on physical therapy (and shoe inserts), I realized that it wasn't helping. I almost gave up that dream. But some of my runner friends suggested that go to an actual running shoe store to have my shoes properly fit. So as a last resort, I tried that. I went to New Balance and they suggested some specific shoes and they fit! So the race was back on! And really, that was my first year really biking long distances. 20 miles seemed like a lot back then! And I was horrible at swimming. Again, endurance swimming was very new to me and it had been forever since I actually went swimming. That first year, I hired a swimming coach just to help me get the basics. Before the coach, I was just going too quickly. I wasn't gliding... I was going too hard and my heart was racing while just doing 1 lap.

So from that first half ironman, I really started off badly at all three elements. So maybe that is why I'm not going crazy yet. I have never biked 100 miles, but I did manage 60 a couple of months ago, without much training. I don't think I could've run a full marathon after that, but I could probably have struggled through 5 miles.. well.. at least 3. So I'm already in better shape starting off. I swam a 1/3^rd a couple of months ago as well. But I know that there is a huge difference between the 1/2 ironman and a full one (well I'm assuming). It took me 7.5 hours to complete the half and I'd assume that I'm looking at 16 or 16.5 hours for the full ironman. (cutoff is 17!)

I have been running once in the last 2 months before I started back up yesterday. So my 2 mile run was quite painful. I had to stop for just a bit as well. So I went again today and did another 2 miles. It is amazing how tired my legs were after only the short 2 mile run. I was planning on running another 2 or 2.5 miles today but work was crazy. So I need to run at least 2.5 miles tomorrow (Friday) since I have a 5k planned for Sunday. It's the Hot Chocolate 5k in Columbus. Now that's the motivation that i need! Ha..

One of my problems is that I have too many hobbies and interests. I'm still trying to do a lot of photography, to get better at it. I'd like to enter some competitions this coming year, just to get critiqued. And I'd also like to take some glass classes, but I might have to put this off some more. I can only do so much!

Well, I'll try to keep this more updated with Ironman training. It should be an interesting year!

Catching up...

Just an update on life... It's busy! Surprise Surprise! I really want to do a full ironman next year, but Ijust don't know how I will put in the time to train properly. Last week, I was wanted to get out and run, but then decided to spend lunch hour taking some photos to enter some fall photography contests. Same thing happened this week. I have taken some photos of my niece's Homecoming and my other niece's 3 month year old, and needed to finalize them in post-production. So my photography hobby is getting in the way. It is great and all; I do love photography, but definitely need to put in some crazy training if I want to do a full ironman.. I mean.. that is a crazy amount of training needed.. I'd also love to get into some glass classes.. I'd love to do some cold glass sculpting.. or even some fused glass, but I need to work that into my schedule. On my first attempt at taking classes, I had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict with the Columbus Crew.. And then the following weekend, I had a scheduling conflict with the Bengals - Browns game. Just hanging with some friends to watch the game, but hard to pass that game up. So.. soon my glass career will begin! So then.. how do I fit in glass classes with the photo classes.. with the ironman training?? Argh.. and seeing the girlfriend and all that.. man.. going to be a busy year! Maybe I have too many hobbies?? hmmm... Besides that. I have my eye on some Android development, and some website businesses that I'd like to get into.. So cross your fingers and keep me in your prayers that I can complete all of my goals. Thanks!

Final thoughts on Cincinnati Heart Mini

As you might know, I've been training to run the Heart Mini in Cincinnati's 15k. This is a 9.3 mile run in very hilly Cincinnati. My training for this brought me up to 7 miles, but that was all on the treadmill and without any hills or incline. Needless to say, I was nervous about running on hills during the actual run.

The timing of the run wasn't ideal either, being that it was the day after St. Patrick's Day! But I still managed to drink 4 or 5 beers on Saturday. That's probably not the best pre-race beverage to drink. Ha.. But I did hydrate as well so that helped out, and finished drinking around 4pm.

The run started at 7:45am in Cincinnati on Sunday, and I was staying at my sister's who lives 50 minutes away. So we woke up early and were aiming to get down there around 7:05 or so and probably got there around 7:10 - 7:15. Sadly, it was at that time that I realized that I didn't bring the Gu or sports beans that I had planned on carrying, for that needed boost midway through the race.

As we walked to the start of the race, I also realized that I did absolutely 0 minutes of stretching! Normally I would love to get in a stretch, especially since my calves sometimes are tight when I start to run and I've had a lot of issues with shin splints over the years. But nevertheless, we started walking to the starting line until we crossed and the crowd spread out ahead of us. It was also at this time that I realized that I really should've used the restroom! Man, I did not plan enough for this I guess. Thinking that I might be able to make it through the race, I skipped a couple of port-a-johns but around the 1.5 marker, I really had to stop and wait in a small line. This was not the best start! It was also about this time (probably a little before) that I realized that for some reason, my Garmin had stopped tracking me. I am not quite sure what had happened, but I restarted the Garmin and it worked after that. After the emergency bathroom break, I sprinted to catch up with my friends which were walking up the hill so I could catch up.

From then on, it did get easier. We pushed up the hills and only stopped to take in fluids. I'm not quite good enough to run and drink. My friends both had race belts and my friend was nice enough to give me shots of Gatorade when I was in need. I definitely need to look into getting one of those belts as I plan to run further than 9 miles, and it would probably help out. There were many hills, but the worst was probably at mile 6. It was a street called Torrence Pkwy and was just a huge hill. But we were actually passing many people. It felt really good and inspired me to finish the race strong. After that hill, my friends kicked it up a notch and I had trouble keeping up but I did manage. There was one more crazy hill at the very end that I had forgotten about, but I kept telling myself that I was almost finished and too close to stop at that point.

It was definitely a great experience. The bands playing as we ran were awesome, the run was well organized and I feel ready to tackle a half marathon in the coming up months! I really want to thank my sister for waking up early to come down and cheer me on. Waking up crazy early on a Sunday after St. Patrick's Day must've been hard when you aren't actually running the race yourself. So thank you sooo much! Also, thank you Christa and Renee for making it an awesome run (and providing needed nourishment and encouragement during the run!) And a special thank you to my girlfriend Kristin who showed awesome support during my training and everyone that had faith and supported during the last couple of months!


Thanks for all of the support!

Crap! I'm 38!

Happy Birthday to me! :) Yep, March 6th I turned 38. It is ... odd. I never really thought about being 38 (or this close to 40). As a kid, I thought I'd be this muscle bound trombone player in a jazz band. Or.. something like that. Ha. I couldn't really fathom the 40's. But my plan has been to live to 120, so I'm almost 1/3rd of the way there! :)

I have no idea what I was doing last year at this time but this year I am really thankful for all of my great friends, family and my awesome girlfriend. I mean, I have some really great friends, and I love all of you!

I think I only have one somewhat regular reader of this blog so I'm giving a shoutout to you1 (And I love you MW! :) ) And oddly I only met you once I think. Ha.. But I'm very glad that we are friends, and you mean a lot to me. :) And whoever else is reading this.. THANK YOU! :)

I have a wonderful girlfriend. Really, she is amazing! And it's been 5 months! Now, I'm not some sopping teenager, who proclaims their love every couple of months, but.. I love where this relationship is. She is an amazing woman, and we just seem to ... click. Who knows what the future holds, but I'm definitely loving every minute that I'm with her now and excited about our future.


Two years ago I proved to myself that I could do a half Ironman. It was great. Growing up, I had watched many, many Ironman's. I watched Dave Scott win his 6th Ironman, and I was really hooked. Oddly, I never ever thought about competing in an ironman as I grew up. It wasn't until I heard that a good friend was doing the half ironman that I actually considered it. Don't know why, but I really never thought that I could do it. It just seemed like something that people on tv did. Ha. I mean, they always have the tear jerker, where the 80 year old complete her first one, or the one legged man completes the ironman, but I just never figured that that person could be me. So I did the training and completed the half for my own personal reasons, and also for the purpose of bonding with my friend. This was my best friend since 8th grade. I have had many great moments with him, but we weren't as close as we used to be, due to life.. He was in the military and traveling a lot.. living in different states.. had a wife and kids and.. life takes over.. Hard to remain the same as it was in high school. So.. I wanted a common activity to bring us closer.. to help us have common goals.. and I did want to get one half ironman under my belt. After finishing the race, I thought that would be the end of it.. But I want to do the full ironman someday, and the sooner the better. So I plan on doing that in 2013, so to train for it, I will do the half ironman this year and try to do a lot of other races this year. Should be an exciting year!



I know there were some out there that didn't think I could do it and that was extra motivation, but I put in the training and ended up doing fairly well (and by that, I mean I finished and didn't finish last in my age group!). Unfortunately I didn't keep up the same training regiment the year after. I mean, that was a lot of training for the HIM! I did do a lot of 5K's last year. My most ever, but.. I've decided that this year, I need the extra motivation. I have to stay young somehow! :) So I'm doing a 15K this year, and a half marathon, as well as a half ironman and some other odd races.

I am also loving my new love.. photography! I've really had this interest for six years or so. But I finally purchased the camera and took a class and am really loving all of the practice that I've done. I have a couple more high priced purchases (flash, fisheye, micro lense) and have found that photography is a fairly expensive hobby. But I do love it and am still learning a lot. I can't wait to see how my skills at photography progress over this next year.


Well.. that's deep enough for tonight! I'm loving life and have 80 years left, God willing! :) Hope to see a lot of my friends this year! Miss you all! Thank you!

Fun with Knives..

Just trying to be creative with some household items, while gaining practice with the camera. I was trying to play with the focus to see if I could show the striations of the knife. My lighting wasn't the best so I had moved a candle close to get some decent lighting, and then noticed that it actually made some nice affects with the reflection off of the wooden table. Then before my battery died, I blew out the candle and really liked the smoke that came off the candle. So I made many attempts with relighting and blowing out the candle and played a lot with the shutter speed and aperture and finally came out with some photos that I like.

Training and Goals..

This year I hope to compete in the following races in 2012..

Heart Mini in Cincinnati, March 18th - 15k run
Warrior Dash in Logan,OH June 2nd
Giant Eagle Triathlon at Alum Creek - July 29 - Sprint or Olympic distance
Columbus 1/2 Marathon, Columbus OH, Oct 21st
Butter's Beer and Burrito Bash (run a mile, chug a PBR beer and eat a Chipolte burrito and run another mile to the finish!) - no date set yet

And one (or both?) of these half ironman events...
Deer Field Creek, Mt. Sterling OH - September 23rd
Great Buckeye Challenge, Springfield, OH - Aug26th




I am not sure what to say about training. I joined the gym in early November and I wish I could say that I have utilized it to be in great shape, but.. I'm not. I'm trying to figure out if I'm in better shape than I was in November and I guess I can say Yes, I am. So that's probably worth the $183 dollars that I have put into it by now, right? Hmm.. maybe... I ran 5.25 miles today! I'm not quite sure where that puts me, compared to my previous half ironman training. When I do 9 miles next month, that will be huge though. In training for my previous (and only) half ironman, I only reached 9 miles once in training. So to get to 9 miles this early will be awesome! Sadly, I'm not nearly where I wanted to be on the bike, but since I committed to the March 18th race, I've concentrated more on the running obviously. And I will definitely be out there on the bike this summer for sure. It will just be more interesting working everything into my schedule as I am seeing someone currently, where during my previous training, I wasn't. So I need to make sure I can work in the training and commit enough time to the relationship ('cause I really do enjoy the relationship!). So we will see how it goes.. For now, I'm happy that I had a great run today (the best run in a very long time!) and think that the 9 miles in March might actually be a possibility.

Recovered Photos from Pensacola

I made an earlier post in December where I admitted to waking up early to drive 45 minutes to Pensacola Beach to take some shots, only to find out that the camera battery was practically dead. So then I went back on the last morning and it was cold and very wet. I didn't really think any of my photos that I took on that rainy day would turn out, but due to the magic of Photoshop I was able to recover some of those photos. I was able to play with the exposure and levels and produced these 3 photos, which I though were fairly interesting. I was trying to capture the bird to add some additional elements to the photo, and was happy to see that you could actually make out the bird. Enjoy!

More Photography..

These photos are from when I was visiting Lake Tahoe last August. I had purchased my camera just for the trip, so this is the start of the photography journey. The first photo is of San Francisco Bay and the second is actually of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains. We did not take the boat ride, but I loved the sky and the mountains. Actually, the sky in both photos are amazing, so that's why I like both of the photos.

Love this shot...

Reflection of the Moon

I think this might be one of my better photos.. Still learning and having fun with the camera!

I'm trying to update some photos I like here as well: http://ersdev.com/pics/photos/. These aren't actually finalized but have made it through photoshop at least once. I might touch these up though as I learn more.

Happy New Years!

Ok, I'm a bit behind.. but it is still January, so not too bad. :)

I'm still depressed from the Bengals loss yesterday. I really thought they had a decent chance to win that game, but.. I guess it wasn't to be. They did do much better than anyone expected though. That loss, coupled with Ohio State's loss made it a rough football season. However, I am excited for both teams next year. Both have rookie quarterbacks that should only get better during the offseason. Can't wait!




I'm enjoying my new love of photography. I will be taking some photography classes in the near future, but so far, I'm having fun reading booking, getting tips from photographers that I follow on Google+ and just practicing whenever I can. I'm currently uploading the photos that I like to http://www.ersdev.com/pics/photos/index.html, as well as my Flickr account.

Hope everyone is doing well and has an awesome 2012!

Pics from Bengals-Browns 2011

I took these photos from decent seats using my Nikon D5000.

More Photography...

I regret my previous issue with the battery even more. I went back to the beach on my last day to continue my photography but it was a cold, rainy morning. Nothing turned out.  I woke up at 5am just to get to the beach and be ready fire at "golden hour" and sunrise. I knew it was suppose to rain at 5 but the forecast just called for clouds at 6 and I was optimistic that is see some color, or possible some birds. But it continued to rain and the lens grew foggy and water was running off of it. Not good. I still took a lot and need to see if any are salvageable using Photoshop but I am not too optimistic. We will see...

Photography Lesson...

I am vacationing in Pace, FL and went to Pensacola this morning at sunrise to get some great shots of the beach. Sadly my battery was almost dead as I had taken lots of soccer and band photos while visiting a close friend. so my lesson... Charge the battery! Or get an additional battery! :-(  I will try to get out Monday to get some more sunrise photos.

Bengals game was awesome!

Bengals beat the Browns! What a great game! I expected the Bengals to win by more but I will take the win! We had some great seats and I was able to take some great photos (I think). I'll see when they come off the camera. I hope to post some decent ones soon.

Who Dey!

(here is one with the Samsung Galaxy S2 though)

Joined a gym!

I broke down and joined a gym. Since I have a full ironman on my mind I figured I best get busy with the training. I was really looking for a swimming pool that nobody used, and Urban Active was apparently just that place. It is 10 minutes away so it is convenient (so I shouldn't be able to convince myself not to go.. haha). It is cheaper than the YMCA and Lifetime Fitness and closer, so I took the plunge.

After signing up they set up a fitness evaluation (so they can sell you their personal trainer service). I believe that most do it this way; I know Lifetime does as well. I've usually been good at saying NO to the Personal Trainers but this time, i was unable to. Argh. They had the speech down. Almost as good as the timeshare speeches that I've heard a couple of times. I did talk them into dropping the price from $180 to $90, so I should feel happy right? Well.. I'm still undecided. My plan to be debt-free by next July is taking some hits! I need to switch to Ramon noodles! But the personal trainer probably wouldn't like that.. Hmm... well, we will see. I might stick it out a month and see. It would be good to get set up with the nutrition information and basic workouts and then go from there.

Last year, in training for my half ironman, it took 8 months to lose 20 lbs. Then I put most of it back on in the 2 months of offseason. argh! So hopefully this time, I can lose the 20 at a faster pace. I'm kinda looking forward to having a trainer really. It will keep me coming back in, and give me some more motivation.

I know there were some that doubted that I could complete the half ironman last year. I'm assuming that those people will not have those same doubts about me completing the full ironman but.. you never know. Hopefully this will put me in a better position to actually do fairly well in the ironman though. Not just finish (which would be awesome in itself), but to have a decent time. We will see.. But I have started the process officially now!

UPDATED! I read the contract and realized that I could get out of the contract if I canceled in 3 days, so.. I canceled! They put up a good fight and offered cheaper packages. But then he was getting desperate and basically said that I was in really bad shape and there was no way I could complete the ironman without their help! That pretty much angered me enough that I was really set on canceling after that! I mean, I did train for a 1/2 ironman and lost 20 lbs! I am going to use my knowledge on that previous training and add to it. I have NO DOUBT that I will finish the full ironman, and I will not finish last in my age group! I feel good about the decision. I mean, it would've been nice, but I am really serious about being debt free next year and have that as my main priority. I do need to stop buying toys (like camera's and such!) but... I'm on pace to be debt free next year and will work hard to make sure that happens! So the PT I consider "extra". Maybe next year, when I am debt free, I can look at the training as a possibility. But right now, I'm still excited to have a pool close by, and will certainly look to do the biking and running during the winter to give me a jump on the training.

Beer Club -WOB

From WOB

World of Beer opened in the Brewery District in Columbus this past Monday for Facebook friends and Tuesday to the public. Our Columbus Beer Club stopped by there on Wednesday and had a great time. The place was pretty packed as expected but the service was awesome and the staff was friendly. And the beer was awesome as well! With 50 beers on tap we had had quite the selection. Though there are other places that offer at least 50 beers on tap (Bodega and Studio 62 to name a couple), I don't think any will promise 500 bottled beers. We didn't make too much of a dent in the beer selection, so we will have to go back! We were the first to try a couple of the unique bottles though and signed the bottles that will be on display somewhere in the building. And a photographer from drinkupcolumbus.com was taking photos of the building and took some shots of our Beer Club so that's pretty cool as well.

Next month, we will head back to Barley's for the tapping of the Christmas Ale!

New phone is amazing...

As most of my readers know, I finally switched away from the iPhone. My first smartphone was the original iPhone and I loved it. The app catalog came out and I was downloading everything I could. There were a few wants, such as easier access to shut off wifi, gps and turn on airplane mode and jailbreaking solved a lot of those issues. Plus, with jailbreaking, I could get a customizable background and other cool things I totally forget now. However, every time there was a firmware update I'd have to start over and pretty much redo everything. Then I purchased the 3GS when it came out and loved that one as well. Much faster!! Better apps! At one point I had jailbroken the phone and when Apple made a change to their security after one firmware update, I was unable to upgrade the firmware and was unable to downgrade either. I was stuck with the jailbroken version of the OS. Luckily the phone had some other issues shortly after that (I promise, I didn't intentionally break the phone!). The volume up button stopped working and headphones no longer fit in the headphone jack. So I took it into Apple, and even though the phone was jailbroken, Apple just gave me a new 3GS phone! That is what I will miss I think. Apple has great customer service! Another time, my phone was in a plastic bag in a cooler and the bag wasn't sealed properly so it was really submerged in water. I took it to Apple and after verifying that the water switch was set (or something like that) they gave me a new one (even though they said my warranty had expired a week previously).

I really should've updated to the 4 but for some reason didn't. I missed getting the better camera with more pixels and a flash. But during that time, my friends were purchasing Androids and I was getting a bit envious. I wanted the widgets, bigger screens and live backgrounds. So I waited in anticipation of the iPhone being released in June, 2011. And waited.. Not that Apple had promised a June release or anything. I was just going by the iPhone hype since January, and history had shown that it would be released in June/July. I had my doubts though, as the white iPhone finally showed up in 2011 and the iPhone 4 was released to another carrier in the early part of the year. So I waited.. and when it finally came out, I was all excited and followed any live blog that actually would load (they all had way more traffic than expected apparently) for the iPhone announcement. After all of the rumors that I had been following, including larger screen, 4G and NFC, I was certainly a bit disappointed in what was announced. I mean, sure, the iPhone 4S would be much better than the current 3GS that I had. It is much faster, has a much better camera, has a much better screen and resolution and has Siri (which I had used as an iphone app and loved it).

But.. I think I was just tired of the same layout after 4 years. After having the same form factor for so long, I really wanted a change. And honestly, I wanted widgets, live backgrounds, 4G and NFC (not that I can actually USE at this time). Also, I did like the notification system that Android has (that the iPhone OS5 now has), the ability to add new keyboards and the ease to switch off GPS, wifi, etc. Lastly, I like the way that the Android phones integrate with twitter, facebook, evernote, etc. I know the iPhone finally is integrated with twitter, but the Android has a lot more social integration.

Anyways.. I spent a lot more time on that background than I wanted to... After much debate, I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S II. I've had it for 2 weeks now and love it. It is lighter than the iPhone is and has a great screen. The colors are over-saturated but I love it. It doesn't have quite the resolution as the retina display but it is much better than I had and probably the best on the Android phones (currently).

I was worried about the apps in the marketplace but I've been able to download almost everything that I had used on the iPhone. The only complaint concerning apps is that the Major League Soccer app MatchDay doesn't show live games on the Android! What's up with that??? I just don't understand the difference and why they wouldn't have live video on both. Hopefully that gets fixed before the next season. That makes me nervous about NBC's Tour de France app. I was able to watch live video on the iPhone and really hope I'm able to on the Galaxy. It is nice to have the larger screen when I need to use it to watch Netflix movies so I'd love to watch soccer on it! :)

The one glitch that I've discovered so far is that when I call one friend who has a Marion phone number, I get an error saying "com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly" and there is a dialog box that opens up to force it to close. Now when I call him, we can still talk until I push that 'force close' button. Then it dies and I really need to reboot the phone. If he calls me, I get that same error and dialogue button but the phone doesn't ring and I cannot speak to him. But that is it.. Only one person. Very odd and I haven't figured out what is causing that yet. Luckily we can still text though. Whew..


Siri did inspire me to find an assistant for the Android though. I really like Speaktoit. She has some great personality as well. Here is an example of her dialogue:

Me:
"You are cute".

Sam (virtual assistant):
"Aww, thanks. You're a smooth talker".

Me:
"What are you doing tonight?"

Sam:
"Not much, Eric. Can I do something for you?"

Me:
"Send to facebook what is the best haunted house in Columbus"

Sam:
"All right. I'm about to change your Facebook status to 'what is the best haunted house in Columbus'. Is this correct?"

Me:
"Yes"

Sam:
"Your Facebook status has been updated."


Me:
"Thank you"

Sam:
"You're Welcome"

Me:
"Please open the TV Guide"

Sam:
"Looks like you don't have 'the tv guide' installed on your phone yet. Want to see if the Market has it available"

Me:
"No thanks. Please open tv guide".

Sam:
"tv guide mobile should be open." as she opens the tv guide app.

So it is pretty slick and getting better all of the time.


The battery seems pretty good. I did have to take off the awesome live background though as that was a battery killer.

So, not to start any smartphone wars but.. I'm really loving the phone. That might change after awhile of course. I still need to figure out why I'm getting that one error, and am hoping that doesn't occur with other contacts. So far it is a minor inconvenience but I could see that becoming really annoying soon.

If you have the iPhone and love it, then I'm definitely happy for you. I'm not here to change people's opinions. Just letting the world know that I was a bit nervous, after hearing some bad things about Androids and having an iPhone for so long, but.. I'm adjusting well.

:D

Lake Tahoe

Vacation is going well but is coming to an end. We fly out of here tomorrow afternoon. We have had a great time so far. Plenty of hiking, drinking and site seeing. I've taken a lot of photos with the new camera and I can't wait to load them on the computer and get a better look at them.

Beer Club - Lounge 62

For beer club we went to Lounge 62 in Gahanna. It is located on Route 62. Clever, eh? Also, they have 62 beers on tap! They were actually out of a few beers so they actually only had like 57 last night. I tried my best but did not get through them!

Lounge 62 was a nice place. Large and clean. It was unfortunately a male review show that night so we didn't stay too late. But plenty of great choices in beer. My favorite was the Southern Tier's Creme Brûlée and Pumking.

New Camera!

I just bought my first "real" camera. It is a Nikon D5000. For the last 3 years I really wanted a good camera. It seems a little odd since so many of the phones nowadays have great camera's. I have had the iPhone 3GS for many years now and will most likely get a new phone in Oct/Nov of this year. And maybe if I had the iPhone 4 I would be less interested in buying a quality camera. After all, the 3GS only has a 3.2 megapixel camera and no flash. I don't really care too much about the megapixels to be honest. The 3.2 works pretty well and I think most of my shots are good enough. However, the lack of flash has bugged me many times and I know the iPhone 4 has a flash. I'm assuming the iPhone 5 or my next phone will have flash and like 8 megapixels. But still, I want more. I want a telephoto lens and I want really good photos! With my vacation to Lake Tahoe coming up, I figured now was the perfect time to actually purchase the camera. So I did! And I love it so far! I have the standard lens that came with it and some other non-VR 55mm - 300mm lens. It isn't handy at the moment so I won't give you the details, but I'm not sure if the non-VR was the right way to go. I'm just starting into all of this and the Best Buy salesman said that with a 55mm - 200mm, I shouldn't have to worry about the VR. Since I've purchased it though I've read some articles that have suggested that one should always go with the VR. Oh well.. I guess I will see how it goes. I'm pretty excited at this point and need to fit some training time into my schedule for the camera.

Committed to complete a full ironman...

After taking some time off, I decided to attempt a full ironman in 2013! I'm not sure where it will be yet but will decide that in the next year. I can't wait to get back into training mode. I have been running occasionally and biking somewhat, but not at the level that I did for the half ironman training.

I've swam three times this year and definitely lost what I had at the end of last year. At least my form was good but it was hard to get a lot of distance. I don't doubt that I will get up to the required 2.4 miles needed. I also have no doubt that I will get the 110 mike bike in (assuming I can beat the swim cutoff). My biggest fear is definitely the run. After the swim and bike I will need to run 26 miles! That scares me a lot right now! I do somewhat regret not running a half marathon this year but will make that a priority next year for sure.

Ideally I'd like to do a mass start and I believe most full ironmans are. It would be easier to finish the swim portion without it being a mass start (more time allowed to finish swim) but I think it would be awesome.

Well, here's to another year of training, but I'm sure the effort will be worth it! Can't wait! :)

Columbus Beer Club

I was meaning to update the blog with all of the Columbus Beer Club outings but haven't done so since the very first one.. :(


Tonight we hit The Elevator. I'm not really sure why. My understanding was that Beer Club would allow us to try new bars around Columbus and for the most part, The Elevator is one of our favorite, most frequented bars. A bit about the history (http://www.elevatorbrewing.com/about.php): "The building, rich in history, is on the national registry of historic landmarks and has been restored to much of its original grandeur". It is a beautiful building with great beer. And a kick ass happy hour. Inquire about their MBA or PHD programs! (Masters of Beer Appreciation and Professor of Hearty Drinking!) $2.50 Happy Hours and once you are in the MBA program you get a monster mug (and still filled for $2.50 for happy hour, which is fro 3 - 7 (or something like that).

Previously, we went to Barley's Smokehouse. Another odd choice as most in beer club have been there previously. Maybe that is an assumption. We currently have 14 people in Beer Club and maybe a lot have been there, but a lot haven't. Anyways, Barley's is a good bar. Especially Smokehouse, in Dublin, on the patio during the summer. Their Russian Imperial Stout is amazing!


Before that, we all brought beer to a member's house that we wanted the club to try out. There were so many options there. I tried to get a taste of everything, and think I almost did.

Here are some of those beers (I brought the Vanilla Porter):










And prior to that Bodega, which has 50 drafts on tap. They have soooo many good ones it is hard to list a favorite... So there you go.. all places we have tried so far:

Hal & Al's
Bodega
Member's Home
Barley's Smokeyhouse
Elevator Brewery.

Our choices in the future:
Matt the Miller
World of Beer
Mellow Mushroom
Studio 62

Let me know if there are any great Columbus establishments we should try out. The only criteria is really good beer (but good food helps as well!)

Well that sucked!

The HP TouchPad that is. Actually, the device itself was very nice IMHO, and the software was very good as well.

So what sucked? My timing of purchasing the HP TouchPad sucked, and combining that with the fact that HP has given up the fight so much earlier than I anticipated. Well, maybe just the fact that HP gave in.



Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group, was quoted as saying "We’re going to fight everybody. This is not an Apple and HP scenario" and "I'm telling you, this is not the end of the sprint (NYSE:S), but the beginning of a marathon," he said. I've taken this from http://www.crn.com/news/client-devices/229400612/hp-exec-says-tablet-battle-a-marathon-not-a-sprint.htm?itc=refresh.

Reading this just makes me fume. Some fight! Some marathon! When you hear this talk while you are deciding on which product to buy, it is inspiring and builds confidence. When you read it after the company decides to stop selling the product (that you purchased) after 2 months it is nauseating and sounds like a big fat lie!

I really liked the product as I've mentioned in my previous post. It had promise, especially for the $300 that I paid for it. With the latest updates to the OS and the Homebrew stuff it was performing well. I was watching movies on Hulu using Flash and it worked smoothly. If I was watching Flash, I couldn't have too many cards opened at the same time, but that didn't really matter.

I think it would've made more sense to come into the market a little lower in price than the iPad was selling for. With it priced the same as the iPad, and having quite a smaller repository of apps, nobody but the die hard WebOS fans were really going to purchase it, in my opinion. The initial reviews were based off of the initial operating system and I hear that was pretty slow and clunky. When I purchased the TouchPad I immediately updated the OS and it was running much smoother, but sadly the initial reviews were all based on the slow OS for the most part. That didn't help sell the tablet either.

So.. I guess I can stop my WebOS training for now and concentrate on so many things are my list (Ruby, Rails, C#, etc). The list goes on and on really, so I won't get bored. :) But I had an idea already for the TouchPad and I suppose there is no harm telling you all (my 1 or 2 followers that will read this. ;) ). So there goes that dream. ha..


I really do like the following article.. Well written, and I feel for those people that have put so much time into developing for WebOS, keeping up websites and creating the homebrew stuff. http://www.precentral.net/hp-has-neither-balls-nor-brains-1.

According to the PreCentral website the HP TouchPad 16GB will go down to $99 this weekend. Now that really hurts.. not that it is unexpected of course.

Clearly I don't know what the numbers needed to be, or what was the actual expectation. Everyone now seems to be saying that HP will align themselves to be more competitive with IBM. Maybe 10 years down the road we will all look back and see this as a turning point that led HP to greatness. Time will tell but for now, I will ponder what to do with this tablet that I have.


Oh well.. Just thought I'd do a little venting.

HP TouchPad Review

First off, I am actually an employee of HP but will try to be unbiased. :)

I've only had the TouchPad for 2 days and LOVE it so far. I don't really have a good comparison though honestly. I've played with my friends' and family's iPad's and have picked up some competitors at the store, but have definitely not delved deep into the ins and outs of the device. But so far, I can't put the TouchPad down.

Right when it arrived (well, 2 days before it arrived actually) I googled 'best HP TouchPad' apps and read all of the sites that listed the top 10 most have apps. On most of the lists, the top 8 or 9 were the same (WordPress, Spaz HD (twitter), Mosaic, Glimpse, TuneIn, Box, Angry Birds, Kindle to name a few). My excitement was building. It is odd I think truthfully. I had no desire to buy the iPad or iPad 2. I'm not anti-Apple as so many seem to be. In fact, I own the iPhone 3GS. I did own the original and will most likely own the iPhone 5 when it ever comes out(though it does depend on the specs and features). But in my mind, which I admit isn't always right, the iPad seemed like a large iPhone and I just couldn't justify the purchase. In fact, it was hard for me to actually purchase the TouchPad. I mean, I use my iPhone for EVERYTHING as it is. And usually have 2 laptops within reach. So I was a bit hesitant.

My mother, and others, have complained that reading a book on the iPhone or mobile phone was hard on the eyes and not a pleasant experience. I have never agreed with that and have read a couple of books on the iPhone without issue. But.. it is SO much easier reading it on the Touchpad Of course that would be the same for any tablet I'd assume. But.. definitely nice to be able to now have a portable device to read books on.

So I decided to pick up the TouchPad when HP offered $100 off their base price. I figured it was new, exciting and I could actually develop for it if I wanted to without having to purchase a Mac). And really, I've been pretty amazed.

The skype interface works well. I tested it by doing a video call with my mom. It worked well. There was a little glitch when I tried to see what would happen with the call when I multitasked. I minimized the window and switched to my mail while doing the video call. I could still hear mom but she could no longer see me. When I switched back to the call there was a box where my face used to be, but no image showed up and she couldn't see me. I could still see her though. But the sound was fairly good. It had a few glitches and of course that really is dependent on the network.

I think another positive note for the TouchPad is the Flash. I tested it with Hulu and was able to watch some shows using it. I know everyone (the Apple fan boys) say that Flash isn't a big thing and the world is going to HTML 5 anyways but.. if I am able to watch Hulu videos and iPad users aren't able to, I think I'm the winner!). :) It actually worked well. The video was smooth. If I switched to check my mail the video still ran and I could listen to the show. Was pretty cool.

Before I purchased the TouchPad I looked at my iPhone apps to see which apps I really wanted to have as a tablet app. I didn't think I really had too many "must have's" and I was pretty confident that even though I had heard of TouchPad's lack of applications I wouldn't really miss too many. And for the most part that is correct, but there are certainly some that I miss. I would love a tv guide and am surprised that I don't see any in the App Catalog. Maybe I am missing it. I also miss Evernote on the TouchPad. You can certainly launch the original WebOS Evernote, but all of the non-specific TouchPad apps are smaller and centered in the middle of the tablet. This is true for the iPad as well. So it would be nice if the Evernote app could take advantage of the big screen. And besides that, Netflix would of course be nice. I hear that is in the works though so I'm hopeful. Pandora is missing from the TouchPad as well, but again you can access the previous WebOS version so that works. QuickOffice is currently loaded but it is read only at this time, even though I had read they had promised it would be able to edit documents at go live. But QuickOffice has said they are working on a version to allow the editing of docs, so that should come at some point.


There are some great apps though. The iheartradio application is awesome for the TouchPad. TuneIn Radio is also another streaming readio app and works very well. The Spaz HD twitter client reminds me of Tweet Deck (though sadly I don't think I can access my lists strangely enough) and the Facebook app is also sweet (though I wish it had the ability to chat in it).

I really think the apps will come. Maybe not all that I want. I mean, I paid $15 to watch the Tour de France on my phone and paid $20 to watch the MLS season on my phone. I would love those apps to come to the TouchPad but am not really holding my breath. But hey, I need some reason to buy the iPhone 5 right?


One last thing for now, I'm appreciating how the notification system is working. And it does have the handy drop down to turn on bluetooth, wifi, airplane mode, etc. that I always wished that the iPhone had. Hate having to go to the home screen, settings, wifi and switch it off on the iPhone. Ridiculous how much longer it takes on the iPhone (that isn't jailbroken that is).

Getting the HP TouchPad on Tuesday

Yep, I finally decided on buying the TouchPad and it will come in on August 9th, 2011. I was a bit nervous when I purchased it yesterday, as I wasn't sure if I really "needed" it. I mean, I do own an iPhone and have 2 laptops within reach almost at all times. So I didn't know if it was wise to make this purchase. Also, as everyone knows, the TouchPad is coming into the tablet game kind of late, so chances are it won't really be as polished as some of the other tablets and they will have to work out some of the kinks as they go along. I know that HP has already released an update on the software that corrected a lot of the issues that customers have already complained about so it is great to see them quickly working on updating it and smoothing out the issues.

I looked more into the system after I purchased it and I'm getting really excited now. WebOS seems pretty awesome and the TouchPad does seem to integrate a lot of the social networks into the OS pretty well.

Also, I'm looking forward to working with WebOS. I've always have been interested in web technologies. I haven't been able to do as much with he web technologies as I'd like to but it certainly has always been an interest. So we will see how much extra time I can put into WebOS.

I will post my review of the TouchPad when I get it and can play around with it.

Crazy Dreams..

Man, last night I definitely had a crazy dream. It was pretty much the end of the world. I remember playing cards with the family, knowing it was pretty much the last night on earth. By the end of it, I was outside the house (somebody's house that I didn't recognize). The gravitational pull was really weak. At the very end of the dream, I was forcibly yanking big trees back toward Earth as they were starting to float away. It ended with me floating away. Very odd. I remember being a little depressed waking up but strangely, not too depressed. I initially was with the family, but oddly at the end, I was not with them. And I remember thinking that if this was the way life ended, so be it.. but then toward the end, when the end was clearly upon us, I wanted to live more than anything and kinda fought to keep life as it is.. Odd..

Beer Club...

My friend started a "beer club".. The premise is to "..get together once a month or so, to taste different beers.
Sometimes we’ll go to a tavern, sometimes a local microbrewery and maybe
other times at someone’s humble abode."

Today was the first day. We hit Hal and Al’s. The bar has over a hundred microbrew selections from around Columbus and elsewhere. The have plenty of live music at the pub also, and offer a vegetarian menu which was actually really good.

Awesome food and a very cute bartender. You can't go wrong. :D Definitely had tons of awesome beer. The hightlight of my night (besides Michelle, the cute waitress) was the Young's double chocolate stout. Very awesome. :)

Looks like this will be a fun new tradition, and should be educational on the different Columbus microbreweries. BTW, my favorite is still the Elevator's Doppelbock. :) I also had the Elevator's Dark Horse, a Cincinnati Oatmeal Stout and Irish Car Bomb, so it was a good night. :)

Had a fun night! Hope you all did as well.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

I don't usually look forward to any PS3 game really, but I'm getting pretty excited abou this game!

More Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception Videos

Another Dream...

It's been a little while since I've had a memorable dream (pretty much since I said I was going to write them down). I was having a lot but it has been awhile. Usually I wonder what the dreams means and where they were inspired from but I believe the current concerns about the government shutdown, SB5 and other financial concerns led to my latest dream.

It was a strange dream, and I know I don't remember all of it. I do remember that I was in the kitchen of a house talking with family members. I'm not 100% sure which house it was but I believe it might have been my grandmothers. So we were talking and I look out the window see this massive canoe headed toward us (apparently the house was in the water.. and floating toward some island). I yell out for everyone to watch out and the canoe hits the house. Immediately water starts leaking in (really just into the sink but I get the feeling it might be leaking other places). As I look closer at the canoe, there is some sort of military commander in the canoe and he's yelling "You can't get away!" I then open the window and grab a bucket and start emptying the water that is in the sink out the window with the family talking about jumping out and swimming to the island.

That's all there was, that I remember. Hmm.. makes you wonder. :)

I'm getting old...

My birthday is fast approaching.. this Sunday.. and this is one of the few years that I couldn't think of anything really to ask the family. That has to be a sign of old age, right? Ha.. It is hard since it is relatively close to Christmas, but.. I seriously had a hard time thinking of gift ideas. Just doesn't seem right.. :)

Visit Sweet Memories' new website..

I spent a fair amount of time redesigning the website for my friend's ice cream shop. Please visit http://sweetmemoriesicecream.com/index.asp and take a look. I'm happy to say that I think this is one of my best designs. :) I did have to borrow the code for the animation, but left in the copywright info in the code. I need to look into jquery myself so that I can learn some more of this powerful javascript framework. And if you are near Pensacolo/Pace Florida, please visit this shop for some great ice cream, as well as brownies and other great desserts.

Now hopefully I can figure the best way to update my own site...

Thanks!

Crazy Dreams...

I had an amazingly vivid dream last night.. I had purchased a house but it seemed like it was a last minute decision and wasn't thoroughly looked into. The day after I bought the house a group of people knocked on the door and said that along with the house was a shopping spree to upgrade the house. So they took me shopping and the team was helping me decide on what to purchase. The dream really went into detail as I was looking into the hardware, showers, lighting,etc. Very odd. I woke before I finished the shopping spree. :(

Happy New Year & Merry Belated Christmas!

Hope all out there had a great Christmas and an awesome New Year's!

I've signed up for the Warrior Dash and am committed to working on my fitness more, cutting down my debt and possibly buying a house this year (which might contradict!). SO.. Here's hoping we all have a great 2011!

I'd really love to redo this site...

but I have no motivation. But... I really _should_... argh...

Sweet Memories Ice Cream

Hey, Just a quick note.. My friends have opened an ice cream shop in Pace, Florida. This is like 20 minutes outside of Pensacola, so if you get down to the area, stop by and check them out.

The store is called Sweet Memories Ice Cream, and I just created the website for them:

http://www.sweetmemoriesicecream.com

It is almost a finalized version. I like the look of it in Chrome and Firefox,but am not crazy about the IE look. I need to get a little better with my CSS skills.

Post Timberman.. What to do now...

It's been a little while since I finished my first half ironman. I was pretty happy with the results, as it was my first one. Now I'm starting to wonder if I should do one next year to try to beat my time. It is a hard decision. This is my first year biking a lot, and as I've mentioned before, it is what I really like to do. But I can't find the time to cycle as much as my friends if I'm training for all 3 events, and my friends are cycling 3 or 4 times a week. So, at the end of the season, they are averaging 21mph while I am struggling to hang on to 18mph. And so the biking isn't as fun, 'cause I know I'm holding them back when we ride, and I don't like that feeling. But their 21mph is slightly inflated, as my 18mph is. We are usually doing a paceline, where we take turns leading, and do a lot of drafting. So when I drop off the back of the group, I really am doing a ton of work all by myself, and miss out on the benefits of the peloton. So.. I don't know.. I've done 1300 miles of biking this year, which is 1250 miles more than last year. I'd like to up my average next year to something around the 19 - 20 range but I don't know how realistic that is if I can't find the time to ride more often. Guess we will see..

I do know that I'm running the 5k Flying Pig race with some family members next year, and hopefully doing the Warrior Dash. I'd also like to do a half marathon with a couple of my runner friends so I guess I will stay active!

Timberman Thoughts... (my first half ironman)

Yeah, I completed it! It was about as painful as I figured it would be. :)



We woke up at 4am on race day and got in line for the parking at about 4:40. The staff told us that the parking lots would fill up around 5am, so we wanted to get a spot so we didn't have to be dependent on a shuttle bus. I was really excited at 4am honestly. But by 5:30, I wanted to go back to sleep. We stayed in the warm truck for awhile though and waited for it to warm up. There wasn't too much to do as our bikes were already in the transition area the night before. But when it got closer to the start we went to the transition area and put air in the tires, and organized the transition area like we wanted. Man, there were soooo many bikes squeezed into such a small area. It was pretty crazy..


In prep, I had only swam 1 mile twice, and the timing of those swims was about an hour. So I finished the 1.2 mile swim in 1:09 which is not too bad. True, I was dead last in my age group in the swim, but it just gives me something to shoot for next time. I am happy that I didn't finish last overall. I spotted the field 9 minutes once the swim was complete, and did better on the bike and run than a few so I am happy. It was fun.. I actually passed a bunch of people on the bike (and got passed by a bunch).. But.. It was a good experience. It was definitely the most climbing that I've done. Some of those hills were amazing.. Take a look at it: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/45882336



We started the race in waves based on age. There were 2 groups in my age group (35 - 39 as there were so many of us). The cutoff for the swim was an hour and 30 minutes after the last wave started (and there were about 4 waves after I started I think), so I wasn't too worried about missing the cutoff, but I was a little. In a normal start though (non-wave start), the cutoff would be 1:10, so I would've beaten it by 1 minute! Whew!



The running was horrible. Right away, it started uphill and that really killed me. I think if it was a flatter course initially, I would've done better. But it was definitely a hard course (for me). The description was "rolling hills" and I didn't really know what to expect, but there were definitely some long climbs on the run. Also, it was 2 loops.. And that SUCKED because once I completed my first 6.6 miles many people were finishing up their race, and I had to keep on going for another lap. But I kept thinking "free beer, free beer".. We received one free beer after the race, so it was great motivation (although 2/3 of the way through the run I thought I could really stop and buy myself beer without any problem). I'm fairly sure I ran more than I walked.. :)



I honestly could've done a little better on the run, but during the last third of the run I joined up with 2 other people who were awesome and we did a group run/walk thing. A couple of times I thought about leaving them, but we were really having too much fun as a group. And I wasn't really going to win or anything.. :)



Right after the race, I really thought I had done my last half ironman, but now.. I don't know.. I could probably do another.. or contemplate trying the full.. We'll see. I really do love biking, and hate to tell my friends I can't bike with them because I need to run. So.. I'm not sure yet what my future plans will be concerning endurance races. I know I will do a couple of small triathlons next year (I own a wetsuit now; I HAVE to use it, right?? :) )



We were really concerned about the weather. My friend kept checking the weather like every half hour and we thought it would definitely rain pretty hard on us. But we lucked out really. It rained somewhat lightly when I was on miles 20 - 23 on the bike. It was an out and back course, and when I came back to that same area the roads were wet, which made some of the turns slower than they normally would've been. But that really was it. On the run, it was a slight drizzle most of my run, but that really helped me overall. If it would've been very hot, I would definitely have suffered a lot more.



The race was organized very well. SO many great volunteers. There were actually 16 water/food stations for the 13.1 mile run. And there were enough for the biking portion as well. It is amazing how much it helps to have complete strangers ringing the cowbells and telling you that you are doing a great job! Really, everytime I heard that I kicked it up a notch and kept on going on... SO thank you to everyone, even though they aren't ever going to read this. :) But remember that in the future.. all of the audience's cheers do help (at least to me).



Thanks again for all of the support!

The End



:)