A Christmas Day Run – 2014

The tradition is now five years strong! Despite having a bike work out set for later in the day, I could not let Christmas Day go by without getting some kind of a run in.

Once presents were opened and breakfast was settled, my sister-in-law and I headed out for an easy three miles down the Sulfur Gulch bike path. This was before the snow and colder weather blew in so while there were some icy spots on the trail, mostly it was like this:

Of course, I still had an hour and twenty-five minutes on the trainer later on, but alas, my tradition of running on Christmas day remains intact!

 

Thanks for reading and I hope you had a great holiday!

No Really, I’m Still Here!

It has been quite a while since I’ve posted anything. In truth, there has not been that much to discuss lately. Nevertheless, the passage of time gives me a few items so here they are in particular order of importance:

 

The 920 XT seems to be having an Inauspicious Start

There was a lot of buzz regarding the new Garmin Multisport watch. So far, I’m hearing more negative than positive. Personally, it seems like it’s trying to be everything to everyone; part multi-sport device, part activity tracker, part daily-use time piece. At something around $600, I think this would be the near gold-standard. Given the less than spectacular results and Garmin’s continuing problems with their Connect site and Express software, I think I’m going to stick to my 910 for at least another year. 

The Real Starky Podcast is Pretty Good

I’ve been familiar with TRS since it was just a parody Twitter account and followed him a little more closely during IM Lake Placid last year. I caught my first TRS podcast when he was interviewing Ray Maker a few weeks ago and have been a dedicated listener ever since. In addition to being very funny (and I’m sure offensive to some) I’ve found the interviews to be compelling. Don’t let the irreverence and antics fool you; he’s actually producing a quality show.

IM Boulder Bike Rumors

There was a small thread on Slowtwitch.comsuggesting that IM Boulder may see a change to its bike course. Like any race, I heard some complaining (most notably that no part of the course hit the mountains) but I did not hear anything to suggest that it was terrible either. I’ll be interested to see if this is just a tweak or radical change.

Without Limits launches another Race

Too bad it’s just another sprint. Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s a place for Sprints, but I also think a new race ought to offer something more. A festival event with say a Sprint, Oly and Half-Iron would be better. Personally, I’m not affected because I’m not doing any of their races this year (but I hope to do some in 2016).

Ironman Arizona Sold Out in Record Time

Huh. I have to say I’m a little surprise that an event that late in the season with a three loop bike course and an okay but not great location has sold out while Boulder remains open. That’s not to say that the Boulder event is the crown jewel of WTC but I’m a bit surprise that more people wouldn’t opt for that one. 

Off-Season is coming to an End!

Hard to believe, but my easier time is nearly over. I’ve done some running, some swimming and a crap-ton of cycling. I’ve done well over a thousand miles and sixty-three hours of riding since my regular season ended and I do truly hope it will position me to be a better rider next year. And of course, by better, I mean able to ride long distances and not feel terrible afterward. I could be wrong, but it seems like I ought to feel still reasonably strong before I go run a marathon. I have no doubt that I’ll still be logging a lot of riding miles but it will be nice to actually do some swimming and running during the week as well. Crazy as it sounds, my coached workouts resume on Monday!

 

Finally, I want to say thanks as always for reading. It’s humbling that anyone would ever read this self-indulgence I call a blog. Best of luck in your 2015 goals and Merry/Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, etc!