Friday, July 18, 2008

Computer wait time

So I sit in front of the computer a lot, just like most of the rest of you. I've figured that I spend about 30 minutes a day sitting around waiting for my computer to finish a process or get off a hang up. I try not to scream and shake my fist but don't always succeed. Really annoying. The worst is McAfee / Norton Antivirus. That program eats up all my RAM. But it's a necessary evil.


Anyway, onto funner and sunnier things. We're off to Duck, NC in a little bit to check out the Outer Banks (OBX). I'm looking forward to a mini vaca, though I'll be working quite a bit as usual.

In other other news, we received our Macbook yesterday. Step 2 in the DVD creative process. Now all I need to do is teach myself how to use an advanced moviemaking & editing program. No sweat right? Rome wasn't built in a daze.

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Blue Ridge Mountain Triathlon camp

We're hosting a triathlon camp over in the Maggie Valley area of North Carolina from August 18 thru August 24. We're staying at the Lake Logan Episcopal Center.

Coach Jeff Cuddeback (IM Hawaii record holder in 35-39, 40-44, and 45-49) has confirmed that he's coming to get in some big miles in prep for Ironman Hawaii. So if you'd like to roll a few miles in the mountains with a legend while getting ready for a late season long distance race, you might want to check this camp out. Camp fees include lodging and three meals a day. ($900 for six days, or $600 for four days)

Blue Ridge Mountain Triathlon Training Camp

Labels: ,

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

current events

The more I know about the state of our economic union and the reality of world politics, environment, and the like, the more I'm inclined to bury my head in the sand and make the most of what I can in my little corner of the world. There's not a whole lot meself can do about saber rattling in who knows where, right? I'm done. Cooked. Fed up. Turned on tuned in and dropped out. No more worries. Gonna keep putting our pennies in a jar, make some gizmos that people want to buy, do things we enjoy, and ignore everything else. Total tunnel vision. You can spend 30+ years working your way up to a corner office and a big retirement party, or you could do a lot of this:



Bri and I are headed down to the Outer Banks this weekend to visit with a couple of her old college friends. I'm going to pick up a NSP 7'6 surfboard and visit a couple of the ocean rescue departments to talk about next year.

Labels:

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Triangle tri results

Bri and I both raced in the Triangle Triathlon this morning. We rode our bikes over to the site since it is just a few miles from our house. I had a good swim, coming in first out of the elite wave. My bike and run were OK but there is a big difference between racing this course when you're fit and when you're not. My bike split was about five minutes slower and my run 3+ minutes slower than last year. If I was trying to be competitive this would upset me, but right now I'm just training to stay in reasonable shape. Have been ramping up the run distances in prep for a fall marathon. Just haven't had the urge to ride 200+ weeks this season!

Bri almost caught me on the run but I totally kicked her *ss.

Labels:

Saturday, July 12, 2008

weekend update

Today I'm co-running an open water swim clinic with Dave Williams over at Crabtree County Park. The rest of the day will be spent working. Tomorrow we're racing in the Triangle Triathlon, which is just down the road from our house. After that we get to BBQ at one of our teammate's houses. Should be a fun weekend.

I set up a Feedburner account where you can now get these updates emailed to you if that's your thing. It's on the right.

Labels: ,

Friday, July 11, 2008

swim workouts



If you swim on your own quite a bit and have trouble coming up with workouts, I'm taking my swim workout distribution list public. I've been sending this for three years to athletes who've had a swim session with me or trained with one of my swim groups. For the fee of $5 per month or $25 every 6 months you will receive:

- Weekly email/ezine with three detailed swim workouts and a tip of the week
- Access to password protected section of the website with videos, webinars, other cool stuff
- Discount on the upcoming Powerstroke DVD (in development, should be done by Xmas)

You can sign up here via Paypal. We have a developer working on a more streamlined process.

Current OSB athletes will get all of the above at no additional charge.

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Tassie-antics

So, our doggy is sweet and mostly well-behaved. But occasionally she'll do something that leaves you breathless, bloody, and shaken to the core. Like yesterday. Tassie and I went to the vet to get her nails done. Neither Bri nor I are willing to cut them since she'd wind up with bloody paws after nipping the cuticles. On our way back home, I thought, what a great idea, I'll have breakfast at the Food Factory and sit outside with Tassie.

So I go and order my food, then walk back outside and get Tassie from the car. We sit, and I tie her leash to my chair. Make a couple phone calls, the breakfast comes, I eat, talk, pet Tassie, give Tassie water, worship she who is Tassie, and finish breakfast.

So I get up to take my plate inside to leave it in the busbin (this is a semi-self service joint). As I walk outside I stop to talk to a man who is asking me about our new Honda Fit. How much mileage does it get, nice car, etcetera. Tassie sees me and starts to walk towards me. The chair moves. The chair makes a funny squeak noise. Tassie tries to get away from the squeaky noise. The noise follows her! She bolts!

"TASSIE!" I scream as she breaks into full panic mode, and begins to dash into the street. A car is coming but they/see hear us and stop. "TASSSIEE!!" I scream sprinting to catch her. She is going full blast. Across the street. Down the embankment. Through some scrub and some trees. Almost have her. "TASSSIEE!!!" She veers left. I veer left. I turn but there's gravel. I wipe out; she is running back into the street. "TASSSIIEE!" I spring up and chase her. Thank God, no cars are coming. She veers right, almost just in front of me. I leap out and grab her leash, roll to a stop. Her pupils are pinpricks. She's scared to death. I am the same. "Oh dear lord, Tassie," I sigh.

Untie her from the chair. It is broken. Her paws are bloody; wind sprints after a nail clipping is not a good idea. But she's OK.

I on the other hand, have lost another two years of life.

Labels: