Fat Tire Beer

Vegas has one redeeming factor, and I discovered it today. I was sitting at dinner with some clients and noticed a certain bottle pass by on a waiter's tray. Oh, could it be? It was. I spied a bottle of Fat Tire Beer. Oooh, the sweet nectar of the gods. It was a little too late in the dinner to order a beer. So after I made my exit, another connoisseur and I found a shop inside the hotel selling this particular brew. We bought two each and sat down and enjoyed every drop. If you've never tried Fat Tire or other beers by New Belgium, you're missing out. Make your way west of the Mississippi and find a bottle. I'm waiting patiently for New Belgium to start sending their beer east, but until then, I'll have to just enjoy these few times I'm out west.

I did get a good run in this morning. I ran down the Vegas strip. Even at 6:45 in the morning the city was full of exhaust fumes. I don't know if it's the lack of wind or the excessive amount of buses and taxis, but the fumes were disgusting. I saw a guy drinking a 40 ounce beer as he walked down the street. Was he starting his day or ending it? Way to early to be downing beer.

Ready to get back to B'ham to see my bride. She means everything to me.

Stuck in Vegas

So I find myself in Vegas for work for a few days. I'm sitting here itching to get some work in, not my 9-5 type work, but some actual exercise. I'm at a fairly nice hotel/casino so I'm thinking, "oh, they'll have a pool and a maybe a treadmill." So I stroll out to the pool area, which I can see from my 15th floor room, and make my way around the 5 different pools. They even have a "wave pool" and a "easy river" for the kiddos. Guess what, no lap pool! I head over to the Spa Royale to see if they have a lap pool. No pool!! Oh and guess what, to use the bikes and treadmills, they will gladly take a cool $27 a day from you for this priveledge. Ouch. I pay $70 a month for a family membership back home. So no work out for me today. Going to count this as a rest day and hit the pavement early in the morning before the real work starts. Bummer.

Brick Work

Saturday morning, I set out with BGillis to conduct a little brick work out. Short and sweet, we biked 8.5 miles and ran a little over 2 miles. Yeah, it wasn't much, but we do our best to push ourselves and treat this as a sprint more than anything else. With only one more sprint Tri left in my season, I'm focusing my training on being quick.

I absolutely love brick work outs. They kick my butt, and humble me to the core. My buddy BGillis is still new to Triathlons, but he's coming on strong. I know it won't be long before he's pushing me and threatening to pass me by. He's a good athlete, and a great friend. Training with a friend is hands down better than going solo. There's no way I'm going to let up with someone watching.

Saturday was also the first day in some new Tri Shorts. I'm going to have to say, while they fit fine and felt great during the race, they did a little damage that left me walk a little tender the rest of the way. Can you put body glide on your "boys"? Going to have to consider it.

Two weeks until Frantic Frog in Scottsboro. Feeling good and ready to see what I'm made of.

Coach Found?

Today was a great day. What a begining right? I went back to work today after a four day stint at the beach. My wife's parents have a condo in Perdido, FL (Orange Beach for those from Alabama). Played some golf, ate some fish, caught some fish, and took plenty of naps. I only exercised (a four mile run) one day which is a low amount for me, but I was enjoying my naps too much. Well, as I mentioned, I had to go back to work today, but not before I hit the pool for some pre-work laps. Enjoyed every chlorine filled moment. There's something envigorating about swimming prior to work. I feel loose, stretched out, and alive. I believe I'm more productive too. Is it just swimming or just any workout. Don't really know as I usually bike and run after hours. After work, I boogied out to Oak Mtn State Park with BGillis and put a few miles in on the bike. Two disciplines in one day! Always a good thing, but not even the best thing of the day (that is outside of waking up and going to bed with my bride - in case she's reading this). I think I found a coach to help me train for Triathlons. Thus far, my idea of training for races consisted of getting the miles in or seeing how long I can endure a certain torture test. I've read about lactate thresholds and tapering, but it was all just to boring and more info than I had time to divulge into. So, with this guy, I'm looking for a training program that'll not only help me improve on my times, but will help me train smarter and more efficiently. I'm even toying with the idea of a half ironman next year. I've got a bunch of sprint and olympic distance races under my belt and it's time to move on to the next level. So, I'm pretty encouraged by the idea of it all. I've been a little depressed that tri season is winding down, but this will give me something to look forward to other than the winter months. 11 days until my Auburn Tigers kick off by the way.

Mountain Lakes Triathlon and sleeping in a camper

This past weekend I competed in the Mountain Lakes Triathlon in Guntersville, AL. As I have mentioned before, this was to be a redeeming race for me. Believe it or not, it was. I finished quicker than my expectations. Top third. I have to admit, it came down to nutrition. I ate more before the race and was actually able to down a Gu packet during the bike. I have a renewed belief in myself and am ready to meet the next challenge. I'm definitely not satisfied with my time. The next race is in less than a month. I've got time to work on a few things, but I probably won't improve dramatically. I know I'll be prepared and have plenty of calories to push me through. Hopefully, this time I'll beat my 3 mile time from the last race. It's still the slowest leg of the race for me. So, Scottsboro's Frantic Frog, get ready.

Oh yeah, we stayed in my family's camper up at the lake. If you've never had the pleasure, count yourself as lucky. While it has all the aminities of a home, they're all crammed together in a small space. Lauren and I slept on a sleeper sofa each night. Not just a regular sleeper sofa, but a camper sleeper sofa. It's a little smaller and a little thinner. Cramped quarters and too many people make for a restless weekend. The redeeming factor was that I was with my family which is always fun. I just may have to enjoy their company while staying in a hotel next time.

Life Coach - striving to be better

I think I realized today that I need to be motivated. Not just in work or sports, but in all aspects of my life. I would really like to see what I could do if I was pushed. I'm a fairly motivated person as it is, but there is no real reason for me to push myself for any other reason than to please myself. In sports, I've noticed that among my friends it's usually me going "let's go, let's go". There's really no one to push me or ask me to train or work out harder. It's a simple reality. If you have someone relying on you, you tend to work harder to hit the goal. Whether it's getting up in the morning to meet someone rather than sleeping in because no one is there waiting on you, or running harder on the last mile because someone's on your tail about how slow you're going. As for work, I feel that I have to motivate myself. While we have company goals to meet, it's not a big deal to me (financially) if we hit them or not. There are other projects that I can work on to earn more money. There are no other co-workers that compete with me for #'s, so there's no competion to urge me on. What I'm getting at, it that I think I'd really benefit from a life coach. I need some direction and someone to motivate. I'm interested in seeing what I can do with a little push and encouragement. Setting goals isn't the problem, I need someone on my ass if I don't hit them.