Monday, January 31, 2011

Arrow Head 135

For all of you out there that don't know what the arrow head 135 is. It's a 135 mile snow bike race up by international falls! Yeah, freeze your ass off cold and it's snowing! Good luck to all those riders, I wish you safe journeys, God's Speed! My boy Ben Doom is holding his own, he is out of the second check point and I believe he's in 7th place out of 59 riders, it appears to me that only 10 or maybe 12 riders are still in the race. That is a huge drop rate! Yikes, I guess that just tells you how tough this race actually is! I'll keep you posted with the final results tomorrow if you don't want to check it out yourself.
Today was another boring but quick day at work. I think that the stuff would be pretty easy for me to pick up but I just can't pay attention for the whole lesson. I usually start surfing the net and dreaming of riding my bike but some how I do well enough to still be one of the first people to finish our assignments. I have my review tomorrow, I'm a little nervous to see if I'll be getting a bonus and a raise. I got a copy of my review today so I could review it and get any questions ready. Overall it's what I was expecting. I know that I wasn't the most responsive to change or the most positive about somethings but seriously I gave it a extra special go the second half of the year. The first half of the year I hated my job and didn't really think I could make it another month but shit I'm still there. Over all I got decent scores. Our scores go from 1 being amazing to 5 being shitty and I got all 3's and one 4 but I'm going to protest that a little bit. I don't know if it's negotiable or not but I'll give it my best!
After work I went to the gym and had a great work out. I'm really feeling good, hips feeling great and I can't wait to get my mtn bike so I can't get crankin'!
Keep it real!

The weekend

Ok, I don't usually like to start the week with rants but seriously, 3 inches of snow and it took me 15-20mins just go get on to hwy 77 and I know it took Kelly way longer then that. Seriously people we have almost made it through the entire winter and we get some snow and everyone has to drive like idiots and that isn't even my rant. My rant is about the assholes that think they are better then everyone else and think that their time is more important then everyone else's! Seriously look in the mirror you're not! So stop flying up in the line and trying to budge in. Que up and wait your GD turn! and the car pool lane is for cars with more then one person, douche bag! I gave a least 3 douches the finger this morning and they looked at me like what, what did I do wrong and then I made sure this idiot didn't get in front of me and gave him the finger. I am all about the MinDot zipper idea when it comes to merging on to a freeway or when lanes get cut down, but not when assholes thing they are better and need to take the car pool by pass to get to work quicker, F U!

Well enough with that. Friday was alright work went quick. Took a quiz on medical terminology and practiced in the new system I'll be working in. After work I did a pretty good work out and the hip was feeling pretty good. I've decided to start rating my hip pain, so a 1 is can't walk and a 10 is no pain. Recap from last week. Mon=5, Tues= 2, Wed= 4, Thur 6-7, Fri= 7-8, Sat= 8, Sun =8 and I'll even give today, a 9. I'm feeling great today, but we'll see what all the sitting brings. After the work out we were going to order pizza and play board games at Kelly's parents but her sister bailed out so we didn't have enough people so we went out for pizza and ate at DeLeo Bro's, it's in Woodburry. Probably the best pizza I've had in a long time. I love New York still hand tossed pizza.
Saturday was pretty chill. Stu came over and we went to the hockey rink for a couple hours then he had to bail but I decided to stay and play and ended up playing pond puck for at least 2 more hours. What a great work out that was, and the hip felt great. That evening Kelly and I went to No Strings Attached. It was pretty good, kind of funny. Definitely a date movie chick flick but there were some pretty hot sex scenes and Natalie Portman was smokin'!
Sunday Kelly had to coach so I spend the morning at the gym, working out sauna and hot tub. I left there feeling like a champ. After that I got gas and a car wash for, I think, the first time this winter. It was so nice out! When I was leaving my windows were fogging up so I cranked the heater and it smelt like something was really hot so I shut it off and checked out the blower fan sounded like something was in it. I went home redid the wiring, as I had just put that fan in like a month or so ago. There was nothing in the fan it's self so I took the motor apart, there were some leaf parts in there, cleaned those out but I might have bit off more then I could chew. I didn't have the right tools to put it back together, so it took my all of an hour to get it back together. It makes less noise but still makes some noise and doesn't sound like it's burning. After that I ate and headed to the bike shop, where I spent a good hour or so comparing the medium and large frame of the Giant Reign, it's going to be a tough choice. I'll have to weight the pros and cons. That evening we watched Takers. It was a pretty good movie but it wasn't quite as actioned packed as I would have liked.
Over all the weekend was good, not too much stress. I got in some good exercise, but now I'm back at work or training. Good luck to Ben, I hope he does well at the arrow head 135 (you can check his progress there). He should have started his race just a couple hours ago! Can't wait to hear/ read about his stories! Wish you all the best on this weeks journey and hope you had a great weekend!
Keep it real!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

good bye monday hello friday!

Well today was a good day. Work went quickly. Training is definitely very dry and I do get a bit annoyed with my trainer talking to the class like we are 4th graders. I hope next week is a bit more interesting. This week is definitely a repeat of all the crap I learned in my first training class 16 months ago, but anyways enough of that junk. Work sucks plain and simple. It is simply a means to my end, aka outdoor adventure activities! Holla! Right now is ice climbing and hockey. Soon it will be Mtn biking and hiking.  I hope that this change of jobs does add a bit of new spice to my boring work life, at least for a few months, then who knows maybe I'll try a different position and then after that hopefully move out west and so on and so forth!
After work I went to the gym since my hip was probably an 8 out of 10 which is really good since Tuesday was like a 2 out of 10! I did my DB combos work out! Which is awesome, definitely feeling the results even though it's only been 2 or 3 weeks but really on again off again due to the hip. I had a bit of extra time because Kelly went to a movie with her mom since yesterday the movie was canceled because of technical difficulty. I also was feeling pretty fresh due to the added rest, so I added some Turkish Get ups and a round of the night mare before christmas work out  and topped it off with a quick row. It felt great and the hip isn't yelling at me so that's good. Hopefully the doc can put an end to that for good here in a week or two. Only one more day of work to get through and then the weekend!
Keep it real!
PS
For all of you out there that still doubt me and even my boy James about the clipless vs. flats you have to check out this pod cast, it is a road racing coach that talks about the perfect pedal stroke and how the pedal doesn't help you achieve that and backs James 100%, click here

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Visit to the doctor

Well it seems like this is the time of the year to go to the doctor for my family. Kelly has been there twice in the last week and my car is going in for surgery on 2/4, getting his clutch replaced. I've had enough of this hip holding me back during training so it's time to break down and have it looked out. So this morning I made an appointment with Summit Orthopedic to have it looked at. I'm hoping best case scenario, the doc is going to tell me it's an over use injury like bursitis or something and take an x-ray tell me nothing is broken and I don't have any bone spurs and give me a steroid shot and maybe some oral meds and send me on my way. Worse case he thinks it's worse and has an MRI ordered and wants surgery, let's hope not! That might get spendy!
Today I woke up and my hip felt pretty well, which is awesome since Tuesday night was rough. My hip was brutally painful, sharp and constant. I had to throw in the towel for my work out and I went to the hot tub which helped a bit but I went home popped the Alive and a iced the shit out of it! Thankfully it's better today but it is disappointing in general, it's keeping from getting the most out of my work outs. The plan for Wednesday evening will be taking it easy as Kelly is going to a movie, I'll be on my own watching TV and hanging out on the couch.
Work today was pretty easy, more of the same. We did start learning the new system and did a little job shadowing which kept things slightly interesting. This week is flying by, I guess that's good but soon training will be over and I'll be back out there doing real work, haha, yuck! I like the chill school atmosphere. After work I figured it would be good to let the hip rest so I went home used the foam roller and surfed the net, ate dinner and iced my hip while I watched some more TV. Can't wait to get my car and my hip fixed. Not looking forward to spending that cash, just hope there is enough left to buy my bike! Well it will happen, I'll make it!
Keep it real!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

day 2

Alright, I have survived day two. It has been a long and treacherous day today, haha jk. Today was pretty boring to say the least. We were learning the system the I currently worked in so as to allow the newbies to get some information that maybe left off the forms and so forth for the department I'm now assigned to. I didn't do a whole lot, looked at bikes on line, checked out different stem and handle bar options. I think I'm going to go with the Large frame with a 40-50mm stem and 725-750mm handle bars. Seems like a good combination for all around riding. I also cut out a lot of flash cards for information that I mostly know already, so hopefully the medical terminology quizzes will be a breeze.
As I get to know the people in the class it is apparent the certain people click better then others even in this small group but not saying that I don't enjoy all their company. They all have their quarks as do I. The other guy in the class is all about bacon, I mean who can blame him I love bacon too, but he is taking it a bit far I think. He has bacon salt and he likes chocolate covered bacon, can't really knock it till you try it but doesn't sound appetizing and he is going tonight to pick up a bottle of Bakon Vodka. That's right bacon flavored vodka, not so sure about that. I noticed that the butch had on some sweet wingtip shoes on with her guy clothing and the trainer has hairy legs, I mean I knew she was kind of a hippie. All in to her blue grass and other festivals but I didn't know she took it to that extent. Who knows, it might be a winter thing but her kid is a boy and he has long hair as well....?.... This training session is a lot more dry than my last training class. I guess I miss the good old days. Most of those people have moved on to bigger and better things or have transferred departments like myself.
Hips still a little sore, but not as bad as yesterday afternoon. It seems like the clutch is getting worse, don't know how much longer can milk that, where the F is my W2! So many interesting things to look forward to! Springs coming, tax return= new bike, new clutch, bonus is coming= fix my hip,annual raise in April, start my new position, get a puppy, mountain biking, cycling, I did just sent in my post card for the Almonzo, I might have sent two. I couldn't remember if I mailed the one I took to work to drop off and I couldn't find it so I sent another one tonight, oh well I guess if I did I'll be registered twice. We are also going to TN for vacation this year as far as I understand. Don't know all the details with that yet, but I looks sweet. So all in all things look to be lookin' up and hell the days are slowly getting longer!
Keep it real!

Monday, January 24, 2011

back to school!

Back to school, Back to school got to prove i'm not a fool, haha. We'll the first day of training was a breeze. I got to sleep in since I didn't have to be there till 830 and we didn't do shit, I helped the others set up their computers and told them about the call center. There are 4 other people besides myself in the class. Only one other guy. He said he served in Qatar so I'm assuming he was in the military. He's a little shy but nice. There is this butch chick, kind of scared me a bit when I first walked in. She had what looked like combat/hiking boots a guy hair cut and basically guy clothes on, but she was pretty nice and she is volunteer dog rescuer! One of the other ladies use to work there about 10 years ago and already had worked there for 16 years so she gets to start at 29 days of PT0! Holly shit what would I do with that much time off? Who knows but y'all know I'd use it! The last person, she sits in front of my. She is recent college grad, pretty cute about 5'3", little brunette and she rides horses. Seems like a nice girl.
In class we spent most of the day chatting, you know the get to know you chat. Had to list some interesting facts and share them with the class. Of course they didn't really know what to say when I told them I rode across the US.
In the afternoon we did a little walk around tour, haha, introducing the other to all the other important people. Pretty sure it was a waste of my time but heck it was a stress free day of work, plus we got out at 4pm! Word! I was going to go rip the gym up but I forgot my gym clothes! Damn it! Oh well my hip was starting to bug me towards the end of the day so I just went home and did some mobility drills, foam rolling and stretching. I just want to get this damn thing straightened out so hopefully after I get my car fixed and have my new mtn bike in my basement I'll have a little cash left to go to the doctor and probably get a shot in my hip so I can rip all summer and get this hip issue out of my way. Spent the rest of my night watching American Pickers and Pawn Stars, haha I love those shows!
Keep your heads up boys and girls, I can smell spring and to all you crazies that you still ride your bikes in the winter especially my buddy Ben, Good luck Doomer! I know you got 135miles of cold ass riding in ya!
Keep it real!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

The weekend in a nut shell

Hmmm.... Friday is kind of a blur I know I did paper work all day at work and quite a bit of dickin' off since it was my last day in that position and with that manager. My manager is pretty cool and she loves me so I spent a lot of time shootin' the shit with her. After work on Friday I hurried home to pick up a bit and get the place ready for a couple friends to come over. The plan was to go bowling but when we went there, there was huge line so we said forget it and headed to the liquor store. Went back home and played some good old drinking games. Yeah I got shwaisted! I actually passed out about 12:30, haha. Yeah I kind of feel like I let myself down but at the same time you just need to let loose from time to time and it was a blast. Felt like I was back in college, riding the bus!
Surprisingly I didn't feel like shit on Saturday but I didn't do much. I made my normal weekend breakfast of bacon and eggs. Watched TV and took a nap. We went to Kelly's parents house a little later to hang with her brother who was in town for the day, played a little pool and gave the cat some kitty weed, haha I love that stuff. It makes him go nuts! Then we went to eat at Chilli's and then watched the town. It was a pretty bad ass movie. Based loosely on a true story, recommend it to you all.
Sunday there was a lot more going on. Kelly had to go to the Trollhaugen ski area for a ski race so I was all alone. Woke about 9 ate breakfast and went to the gym. I had all day so I thought I would feel out the full DB combos work out. It was great, I really enjoyed the warm up. The work out was definitely challenging but I had the time so I did a couple rounds of bike james' nightmare before christmas work out at the end and then sat in the hot tub, a little sauna action and a short swim. After the gym I went home did some laundry ate and then went to the rink to shoot the puck around.  Great way to spend a cold day!
This weekend I did begin my serious looking for a new mountain bike. I checked out a couple variations of the Specialized Stumpjumper, the FSR Comp and the Elite, both technically out of my said price range but possibly negotiable. I also went and checked out the giant reign 2. It is going be discounted next week when the owner gets back to town but I will also try to negotiate with them as well. I will be making another trip back down there probably next weekend. They are suppose to be building a large so I can check out the difference. That brings me to my new dilemma.
My inseam is 32inch which fits well on a medium but my torso is longer and my shoulders are wide and my arms are pretty long too so I'm right in the middle of the Medium and large. Most of the bikes have small enough stand over heights that I can go either way. I wouldn't have hesitated a month a go to go with the medium because I've always favored the compact cockpit with my BMX background but after reading an article form Lee McCormack where he talks about the pros moving towards larger bikes when they are in the middle, the whole article isn't about it so I took and excerpt to save you all the time.
"Yeah man, the pendulum is swinging toward longer bikes. Lopes Himself is on a medium Tranny for DJ/pump.
Advantages of longer bikes:
- More stable.
- Easier balance.
- Fit more like “real” bikes.
Possible disadvantages of longer bikes:
- Harder to whip around. But barely.
- Take more body English to change the balance point.
- Harder to fit into tight troughs.
I think a decent rider can overcome any downsides while enjoying the upsides. I think. We’ll see.
Data point: I’ve been riding my Stumpy like crazy. 44-inch wheelbase. Very stable. Extremely flick able. Pumps and manuals just fine."
So it got me thinking. I might try to ride a large and run a shorter stem which should help me with handling to begin with and I will slap on some 725 or 750 handle bars. Let me know if you have any suggestions!  I'll keep y'all in the loop as the purchase comes closer!
Keep it real!

Friday, January 21, 2011

hello weekend!

Hey y'all the weekend is here. It is officially my last day in the call center. So I'm no longer a dead beat phone operator and will now be a dead beat paper pusher in a different department, but I get to listen to my iPod while doing it, haha. So lets see. Wednesday, not a lot going on just did some paper work at work and went to the gym. I'm starting to dabble with the MTB DB combos. There is a lot to go over and learn. I also have to figure out the starting weight for my dumbbells. That's another reason I wont officially start the 12 week program till February. Thursday was another day of doing paper work. Interesting story here, one of my supervisors sits pretty close to me and if you've never actually met me, I have a fairly deep voice and tend to talk kind of loud sometimes. Anyways, my cube mate was done taking a call and he said something about the persons last name and it was hyphenated. So I commented back something along the lines of, I think it's so stupid when people hyphenate there last names especially when they have long names. If you don't like your spouses name keep your own. I mean I guess I don't really care because I would only have to type it occasionally and I'm sure the adults don't care because they only have to update there email signature once but think about the kids! Are you really going to do that to your kid? Make that 1st grader stand up at the front of the class and look like an idiot while they are trying to scratch out some giant Italian/Hispanic combo name across the black board in front of all his/her friends? Damn I struggled with my last name and its only 8 letters long! Anyways long story short, that supervisor heard me and she is kind of.... well no comment, and she emailed me and my direct supervisor on how I shouldn't make comments like that because my voice caries and other people could here it through the head set mics and get offended. Whatever! I'm over it and I wont have to deal with her anymore. After work I went and did a work out but had to cut it short do to my back starting to hurt so I went and stretched, foam rolled and sat in the hot tub and today it feels great as well as my hip. It totally goes from day to day!
My clutch in my car is now officially on it's last leg and I am currently waiting on some quotes to get it repaired. I hope it isn't too much. I don't want to use my credit card if I don't have to but I also don't want to spend all my money so I can't get my new bike! I wont make it through the summer with out it! Lets hope the tax return is big! and I get a nice bonus and a decent raise! I hope you all have some memorable adventures planned for the weekend. Nothing planned for me yet. I guess I'll just fly by the seat of my pants. I'm pretty good at that. Tonight is bowling and we're going to have a couple friends over for some beers!
Keep it real!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

check check, check it out!

Alright I know that you guys probably get sick of me referring and praising Bikejames.com, but seriously if you haven't already caught the bug like me and check this out daily. You really need to check out the last few blogs out for sure there are a couple work outs and a QA session from his Team Yeti 3 day mini camp. This is also an important blog that I think you should all read and it will benefit MTB Performance Wheel. I know these 6 things can help us all no mater which type of riding you do, xc, dh or trail, clips or flats! So don't be bias even if you don't believe everything he says about riding flats or xc basically being road riding on dirt and give it a look. He is spot on when it comes to health and nutrition and 99.9% of the people that comment on his site will back that.
As for my life. Tuesday was same old same old. Only 3 more days in my current position and then a few weeks of training and on to a new position. I hope the newness stays with the position for a few months. So work isn't so monotonous. After work I went to the gym ripped out a solid work out. After that ran some errands and watched NCIS, probably my favorite TV show.
Keep it real!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Back to the Grind

Hello everyone, the weekend has come and gone. I hope that you all had a great weekend. I will apologize ahead of time as this might turn out to be a novel since I haven't wrote since last week. So I will try to recap.
Where did I leave off? Oh yes Friday. Friday went well at work, mostly paper work again, I really could get use to this! After work was another quick work out, the row machine, light lift and then to the hot tub. It was snowing after work which kind of sucked. I grabbed Panchero's for dinner. I know not really the best thing to be eating and to be perfectly honest I haven't been doing that well with the strict eating habits of the past couple months. I definitely have to get back with the program. With snow it took me a little long to get home so we didn't make it to the Green Hornet, instead we went to the Dilemma with Kevin James and Vince Vaughn, definitely funny and worth seeing.
Saturday was a good day. I met up with my buddy Stu to do a little ice climbing. We went to Homers Odyssey but the ice looked pretty sketchy so we headed over to the Franklin Bridge. We were the only people there the whole time. It was bomb! We set up two ropes on the two best pillars and went to town! We climbed from 10 till about 2 or so. It was a beautiful day out, sun shining and about 20 degrees. It is really nice having places to climb that close to home. After climbing I was pretty wiped out but mustered up enough energy to go to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings with Kelly's parents, again not the best food, but what can you do.
Sunday, Kelly is busy all day doing her ski coaching so I went ice climbing again with Stu and one of Stu's friends Mitch. We went up to Sandstone, the ice was looking amazing! They had been farming and unfortunately they were still farming so the ice was pretty wet for the most part but we set up a couple ropes on the areas that weren't being farmed at that time. The climbing was great, the weather was pretty good but a little cold. I had a couple great climbs, but it's always a learning experience watching Stu climb. He is very talented and skilled at ice climbing. I have to make up for my lack of skill with physical ability to try and hang with him.  Thanks to Mitch not wanting to climb we had a permanent belayer. Thanks Mitch!
I had never met Mitch before Sunday but man he was pretty damn interesting. He's middle aged but you couldn't tell it by his physic and resume of adventures. He is currently training to compete in the Arrow head 135 on foot! It will be his 4th attempt to complete the event. He is an ultra marathon runner and cyclist. He has climbed multiple mountains and completed a multitude of other adventures. I had a great time simply listing to his stories and getting the chance to discuss his views on competing in these types of event and his training methods and nutrition habits. He seemed a little old school but it's definitely working for him! He said put the miles on and eat lots of carbs to fuel the body. I can't wait for the chance to have more adventures with Mitch and to hear some more of his stories and absorb some more of his knowledge.
Sunday night Kelly and I just hung out and watched the A-Team, for sure a bad ass movie. I loved it and it was actually really funny too. I highly recommend going to red box and spending the dollar to rent it.
Monday was a holiday, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day! He was a great man and to celebrate his life, I went skiing. I had a blast, it was the first time on the skis for the season. I only crashed a couple times. One I was a little scared but came out unscathed, you know that feeling when you're riding a wheelie and you went past the point of no return. Yeah I had that feeling and I've never had that feeling on skis before. I guess that goes to show the it pays to be in good shape! The funniest crash was when I tried to go over some of the stuff the snowboarders built and didn't see one of the jumps and went flying and landed on the tips of my skis and got a face full of snow! haha. I rolled up on Kelly and her dad and they were like what the heck happened to you! oh I crashed, haha just covered in snow form head to toe! I did get a little frustrated with the large crowds of people that really didn't know what they were doing or look were they were going but I didn't run into any of them and none of them hit me so I'll chalk it up as a successful trip!
That evening we watched Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio, wow one of the best movies I've seen in a long time! Totally worth the hype. I was a little lost at the beginning but it had me hooked the whole time not knowing what was going to come next. Definitely recommend you all check it out.
On the biking front. I just picked up the MTB DB combos work and it looks sweet. I am still trying to digest it all. You definitely get a lot of information for $27. You get a 12 week work out plan and multiple nutritional guide to help you reach your goals. On top of that you have video demos to show you how to use the program and you can contact James directly and he is pretty quick to respond. Definitely excited to give this a go and I'll let you know how it goes. I will most likely start this work out the beginning of February as I have a work out that I need to finish up right now and starting then will let me end right at the beginning of the MTB season.
Keep it real!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Well we are approaching the weekend!

First off, Thank you dear 8lbs 9 oz baby Jesus in your golden swaddling diapers for allowing us to make it through another week and bring us to the holy land we call the weekend! and this weekend is extra special, it's a three day weekend as we celebrate the life of Dr Martin Luther King Jr! He was a great man with a great vision, God Bless!
Well this weekend should be a great weekend, ice climbing at Homers Odyssey in Lilydale Park on Saturday, up to Sandstone to climb on Sunday, and on Dr King's day we will be skiing at Afton Alps! Pretty much the ultimate Minnesota winter weekend! Plus I'll try to squeeze in a little of the state sport, hockey, sometime in there.
Thursday was a pretty sweet day at work, I got off the phones for most of the day processing paper work. Which I know to most of you sounds super boring but I enjoy it and I get to jam out to my iPod. So work went quickly and after work my back was pretty sore so I cut the work out short. Only 15 mins on the row machine and then hit up the hot tub to loosen, I think it really worked. My back feels pretty good, I might do another quick work out and hot tub session tonight. I think Kelly and I will hit up a movie tonight, maybe the Green Hornet, that looks bad ass!
I am excited about us getting a puppy the end of March or beginning of April and I will hopefully have my new bike in the next month or so!
Have a great weekend everyone! Enjoy, be safe and remember if you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space!
Keep it real!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The get to know me questions

Ok so it was a bit longer then I thought it would be but I still think you might find it inetesting.....
1. Top 3 Favorite outdoor activities
            - Biking, all types
            - ice climbing/ rock climbing
            - hiking/ backpacking
2. Top 3 favorite places visited
            - all of Colorado but to be specific crested butte
            - Kauai, Hawaii           
            - Amsterdam
3. Top 3 most desired places to visit
            - BC, canada
            - Glacier national park
            - New Zealand
4. Favorite team sport to watch
            - Hockey
5. Favorite sport to play
            - Team sport Hockey, individual bike racing
6. Favorite color
            - blue
7. Favorite shape
            - circle
8. Favorite animal
            - turtle
9. Number of siblings ___1___
            -Brothers___1__   - sisters ___0___
10. Place of Birth
            - Aberdeen SD
11. Favorite Possession
            - wow tough one, does Kelly count? Jk, probably my bike or climbing gear
12. Name of first significant (first name) other
            - Well if 6 grade counts it was Natalie but real girlfriend was Anna
13. What college did you attend?
            - Northern state in Aberdeen, then Uni at Luenenburg, Germany, then St Cloud State
14. First job
            - Subway
15. Favorite subject in school
            - History
16. Favorite sports team
            - Colorado Avalanche
17. Favorite food
            - Pizza
18. Nick name
            - Chancer, Glasford, Glasface
19. Dream vacation (brief synopsis)
            - I would love to take a couple week long trip to northwest US/Canada, I’d go to Banff, BC and the Vancouver Islands, mountain biking, hiking and climbing, see Seattle
20. Where do you see you’re self in 5 years?
            - I hope to be in Colorado, someplace, preferably on the west slop up in the mountains. Maybe a little ski town with a mountain view out my window, and either living on a little lake or close to one. I will be married to my girlfriend Kelly with at least 1 dog, with a job that involves being out doors or doing something with the outdoors. Riding my bike on some of the most epic trails in the US in the summer and skiing amazing powder in the winter, with climbing mixed in there through out the year!
21. Major and minor in college?
            - International business, emphasis in Econ, minor in German Language
22. What did you want to be when you were in college?
            - I wanted to work for a global company and travel all over the world for business
23. How many tats do you have?
            - 0
24. Your best traits? (list as many as you’d like)
            - fun, easy going, adventures, out going, open to new ideas
25. Your worst traits? (list as many as you’d like)         
            - can be quick to judge, short temper
26. What’s the first thing you remember you wanted to be when you were young?
            -stunt man
27. Highest wall you’ve climbed?
            - 80 foot walls at Taylor’s Falls- rock, 80-100 ft sandstone ice climbing
28. Biggest accomplishment in high school?
            - sd state champ for hockey JV
29. Instruments you can play?
            - guitar but not very well
30. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
            - make my hip not hurt all the time
31. Characteristics you don’t like?
             - one uppers, and brown nosers
32. Favorite smells:
            - mountain air, the smell right after it rains and pizza
33.Favorite non-alcoholic drink?
            - mt dew
34. Favorite alcoholic drink?
            - Beer, anything from the new Belgium brewing company, I love hoppy beer
35. Favorite holiday?
            - any one that I get off work
36. Favorite article of clothing?
            - jeans
37. Do you pray and if so, what do you pray for?
            - ya, sometimes, usually before dangerous things or trips and for safety and health
38. Favorite movie?
            - grandma’s boy
39. Surgeries?
            - tonsillectomy at 12, appendectomy at 15 and left shoulder reconstruction at 20
40. Favorite toy as a child?
            - probably my bike or sports equipment in generally, really young my tractors my g-ma gave me
41. What do you do to relax?
            - work out, ride my bike, I use to drink!
42. Ever loved someone so much you felt like you couldn’t live w/o them?
            - yes, still do
43. Who is your best friend in the whole world?
            - probably Kelly or Doug
44. If you could be anything at all, what would you be?
            - pro mtn biker
45. Dream house?
            - Log cabin in the mountains on a lake
46. Perfect breakfast?
            - Bacon and eggs, over easy, wheat toast, hash browns and oj
47. If you had a day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?
            - Ride an epic mtn bike trail out west someplace, or go on an adventure with Kelly
48. First thing you notice about people?
            - eyes and smile, and curves on women
49. Ever wonder???
            - what I would do if I one the lottery
50. Favorite season and why?
            - late spring early fall, the temperature is perfect for everything

It's a war zone out there!

Well yesterday was pretty much the same old same old, nothing interesting going on. Work was long but simple. Atl opened 2 hours late and then closed 2 hours early because of travel conditions I guess and only about half the people made it in, haha. Wow we should offer a winter driving course or something and I hope the city realized how dumb it is to have only 9 plow trucks, maybe they will up it to like 25 or something so it doesn't take 3 days to dig out. There are some new tenants moving into the building at work and there is construction going on. It sounds like a war zone above my desk at work, haha. It's kind of distracting.
After work I went to the gym, pretty good work out. It wasn't busy but it seemed like everyone was trying to do the same work out so it took a little longer then expected. Got to love those days! After work just went home made spaghetti and watched some TV with Kelly. I'm so ready for the weekend. Since there wasn't anything interesting today I will post my get to know you questions from work stay tuned for those!
Keep it real!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Half way there

We have reach the half way point of the week, almost made it to the summit and it's about time for the decent to the weekend! Tuesday was pretty much uneventful. Atl hub was closed again so it was busy and the day went quick. After work Kelly and I went to her parents for dinner and then went with her mom, I guess for moral support, to pick up a truck they just bought for Kelly's brother Tommy. It was a nice 2000 Dodge Dakota, single cab 2 wheel drive. Pretty much lacking the two things I would be looking for in a truck, but it looks really clean. I also did one of  bikejames.com 's 15min work outs, just so I could get a quick cardio in, best 15min work out ever, and if you have the time and energy to do it twice it is a great work out in general!
Looks like the east is getting that intense winter weather again. I'd say we're about do for another sweet storm, what do ya think? It definitely has been cold enough and I guess it's going to be colder next week. I'm hoping to get out and do some ice climbing this weekend, probably head north to Robinson quarry park at sandstone mn. Keep your head up we're almost there! Be positive!
Keep it real!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Welcome to Winter Deep South

I'm sure many of you have heard about the winter storm in the south shutting down a good portion of the south and most notably Atlanta and the amazingly large ATL airport. Most of you don't really care and probably feel like I do, "welcome to winter, suck it up and get over yourself!" Well most notably this is the second "pretty good" storm, basically about 2-7 inches with some freezing sleet causing their roads to be shit and now they have declared a state of emergency and a no travel advisory! haha, wow and the news stated they only have 9, count um 9 plow trucks for the entire greater Atlanta metro area! wow, no comment. Normally I wouldn't care but our main hub is in Atl and has the most employees that work in my department, the call center! and they are closed due to the weather! Yeah that's right they get paid to sit at home right now, free day off, 2 free days off. We never get day's off and I feel like we should get some type of compensation, either added PTO hours or a small bonus, something for having to pick up the slack! It has been non stop phone calls and a lot of angry people to deal with! Not a good situation oh well what can you do. Only 8 more days in the call center and then on to bigger and better things! I'm sure no job is perfect but it can't get much more monotonous then this job!
Well Monday, besides being hella busy, went well. The good thing about being busy is it goes super fast! After work, as promised, I got my ass into the gym and worked out. It was a great work out. I was feeling pretty strong and the gym wasn't too busy, but for some reason the parking lot was really full. Which isn't a big deal to walk since you're already going to the gym to work out so what's a little more exercise. I do love to laugh at the people that will circle the 20 close spots for like 10mins till they can park. They just wasted 10mins of work out, I guess time doesn't matter to them and they're lazy.
For dinner we had spaghetti with Alfredo and bread sticks! yum! The evening was spent watching pawn stars and American pickers, two of our favorite shows.
I have decided to start sleeping in compression short to try to help my legs recover faster, and last night I even used muscle rub and wrapped my right quad and hip after I went to town on it with the foam roller last night. I woke up this morning feeling great so I will continue that treatment through the week!
Remember, with the winter weather allow more time and drive safe!
Keep it real!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Another Week in the Books

Hey Hey Hey! Made it through another week in the mindless call center and even have something to look forward to in the weeks to come, so maybe things are looking up! The parents made it into town on Friday afternoon about 3:30pm, after what they said was a pretty white knuckle drive through the open flats of western MN. I guess it was windy causing some white out conditions. That evening we finally were able to do Christmas. I already knew part of what I was getting, my shoes and pedals. I also got some odds and ends and a sweet Marmot soft shell. The rents also hooked us up with a 154 piece tool kit. Now I can add  mechanic to my cycling hats or at least I have the tools to attempt it. After "Christmas" we went to Shamrock's for some delicious burgers. I had a nookie supreme, no idea how anyone could do the nookie challenge and eat two! Took my dad to REI, pretty sure he loves that store as much as I do, haha.
Saturday started off with my favorite breakfast, bacon and eggs! Alright I'll have to be honest with y'all. My caffeine free streak came to an end. My parents might be a slightly bad influence. There was definitely some coffee drank, even a Mt. Dew and definitely some dream pie and chocolate cake but you know what, fuck it! I enjoyed every damn second of it and I will get back on the horse on Monday and hit the gym to burn off those calories. The day was spent running around to stores that my parents aren't blessed with back home, like Gander Mountain, some Jesus store, Marshall's and I can't remember the others. We ate at Dino's which I think was a hit. I know that I enjoyed it. After all the running around I made a ham dinner, which was superb if I must say so myself. Spent a good portion of my evening watching a very intense football game saints vs. sea hawks, congrats sea hawks. Fuck the saints, I don't even really like football but they beat the Queens last year so there might be some hard feelings, haha. The other game wasn't as favorable of an out come, I don't really care for Rex Ryan and I love Payton Mannings Commercials. Now that he's done maybe he'll have some more time to make some more now. There was also a little board game action going on. Like it or Lump it, it was pretty funny playing with my parents. My dad was a little reluctant to play but I could tell he had a good time.
Sunday was pretty good. I made my favorite breakfast again and helped my parents load the truck and bid them eau du. When they left I went to Buck Hill and watched Kelly coach her DH team. It was pretty cool, some of those kids are real rippers! When I got too cold to stand there any more I went to Home Depot to get plastic to seal the windows. I hope it will help the basement stay warmer and stop the deck door from being so drafty! Feels warmer already, but it might be in my head. Spent the rest of the afternoon playing hockey with some little kids at the rink just down the road. It was a blast. There was this really little kid there named adam and he was adorable and really good! He'll be a ripper when he grows up for sure. Over all great weekend! Hope you all had a great weekend! Remember seize the day! and make every day memorable!
Keep it real!

Friday, January 7, 2011

TIGIF

It is Friday, congratulation to all of you fellow 9-5ers, you have done it, only a few more hours then you have 2 days two yourself. Not to rub it in but I only have 6hrs of work today! woo whoo!
Yesterday was pretty good, got good news. I excepted a new position, day went pretty quickly and no real complaints. After work, went right to the gym. Had a pretty solid work out. It took a little longer then normal but I think I've figured out my plan of attack so that I don't have to move around as often and that should speed things up. This work out seems to be a lot more well rounded compared to my last couple that seem to be more focused on the lower body and core. Not as much direct core or legs. More integrated total body and upper body activities. Can't wait to get on a bike and see if and how this will impact my riding!! Only a couple more months. The plan is to get my tax return back and begin the serious bike shopping.
I wouldn't call this next section a rant but more of a suggestion. I know there are a lot of people out there that go to the gym completely "blind." By that I mean with out any direction. You know who you are and you can easily spot those people at the gym. They just wander around. Basically my rule of thumb is if you are not a physical trainer or have gone to school to be one, use one! They are your best resource to the best work out for you and your goals and they can help you save time by putting together lifts and activities that work best together and progress off each lift. If you don't believe me try it. Next best thing is to have a trainer, either in person or an online coach, make you a plan to follow so you have guidance. I recommend Bikejames.com but there are others out there. Finally if don't have or want to spend a little extra change, and I understand, at least grab a fitness mag. They have tons of work outs that you can give a try or at the very minimum write down your work out plan. It will help you stay on task and get more accomplished in less time! Good luck with your off season training, keep you eye on the prize. Riding season draws closer everyday!
Keep it real!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Press Release

Breaking news! I have just accepted a new position. It is the position that I just interviewed for on Tuesday. Unfortunately it is considered a lateral movement with in the same company so there will be no raise to celebrate, but I am very excited and optimistic about the new opportunity for growth and a nice change of pace. Plus I get to listen to my iPod while I work over there, can't be that and I keep my same hours so that's cool. I start that position 1/24/11. More to come in the future....
Keep it real!

Thirsty Thursday

Oh how the title brings back fond memories, like my cube mate Tyler and I were saying how we longed for the good old days. I would have to say it was one of the best times of my life and would definitely do it again, if that were possible, but I am totally looking forward to new and exciting things! Who knows what the future has to hold?
Wednesday was a pretty good day over all, definitely needed to give the legs a day off. The hip feels better this morning, so that makes me feel that I am making progress in the right direction. The pain is there most days but now it acts and feels like a sore muscle pain, definitely not holding me back too much. I didn't work out yesterday as the evening was filled with eating at Champs and wishing Bob a happy birthday. Then some well deserved couch time with Kelly.
Man it is sure getting cold out these days. It sucks in the morning that's for sure, I know my old car doesn't like it very much but it should make for some damn good ice climbing for the weeks to come.
Tonight I will be going to the gym and giving my new work out another try. I hope the gym isn't too full. They always have these damn team training classes that get president, I'm guessing because they pay more or some crap like that. I get it but I just don't like how they can kick me off when I was on the machine first. After the work out I will go home and tidy up the house for the arrival of the parentals tomorrow!
Keep it real!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Hump day already!

Man this week is flying! and that is a good thing! Parents will be here on Friday, I get off early on Friday! awesome! Yesterday was a pretty good day. I had an interview for a different department at the same place I currently work. I'd say it went pretty well. It had a weird vibe, the lady that was suppose to interview me was sick and the people that interviewed me didn't seem all the confident in what they were doing or maybe didn't know what they were doing. I don't know maybe I'm over analyzing things but I'd say they don't do many interviews. That could be a good thing for me... who knows? Besides work I had a pretty good day. I had my monthly meeting with my trainer to get my new work out. I can definitely tell I'm stronger and in better shape as in the past I would have struggled quite a bit with her work out the first time and I felt like a champ after this one. The only bummer about this work out is I kind of have to run all over the gym which can cause issues if the gym is busy, but over all I like it. My hip is a little sore, probably over did it a bit the last couple days. Today will be an off day. We are going to dinner for Kelly's dad's birthday! Happy birthday Bob! Plus I should rest the hip.
The rest of the night was spent watching TV and using my foam roll, love that thing!
Keep it real!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

oh damn wish it were sunday!

Well back to the ever long 5 day work weeks, it was 3 weeks in a row that I had Friday off! So anyways, the work day was hellishly long. I worked from 8 to 630p so that I could get off 2hrs early on Friday as my parents are going to attempt to travel here for the weekend, weather permitting. The forecast looks promising. Nothing exciting yesterday at work, that's both good and bad I guess. With the late departure from work I didn't have much time to do anything extensive last night. Did a quick cardio work out in my living room. Kelly was down stairs watching tv and said she felt like chicken little, just waiting for the sky to fall, haha. It felt solid to me and didn't make any noise. After that just hung out with Kelly watching tv. I know pretty boring, but it looks like it's going to be getting cold and staying that way for a bit. Time to get some kicking and swinging in, ice climbing season has arrived!
Keep it real!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Sunday was a nice cap of the easy relaxed weekend. Woke up and went to the gym, put in a solid work out. I felt great the work out went smooth. We now live like 5 mins from the Eagan lifetime and it's pretty nice. It is recently been remodeled but it's kind of small and very popular which equals no room to do a damn thing. Thankfully I don't really use too many pieces of equipment so it doesn't effect me too much, just have to find some space to jump around. I felt super strong and flew through the work out that normally takes me 55-60 mins in 45mins! After the work out Kelly and I went to 127hours, it's an independent film staring James Franco as Aron Ralston, the climber that had his arm trapped in a slot canyon in Utah by a boulder. There is a great book about his story as well. It's called Between a Rock and a Hard Place, very fitting! The movie was absolutely amazing cinematography! They really get into his head and what's going through his head for those 5 days! Definitely go and see it. You might have to close your eyes like me when he cuts his arm off, they don't spare any details or sound affects! Yuck! I actually got kind of queasy and had to get up and walk for a minute. The rest of the night was pretty slack hanging out watching tv. Have a great week everyone!
Keep it real!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Hello 2011!

Alright only 4 months till mtn bike season! For now I will get back on the off season work out band wagon and stay OFF the bike! and ice climb as much as I can. My hip has really been doing well, less aches and pains through out the days. Unfortunately like said I have been slacking the last couple weeks simply because of time. The last two work outs were great and on Sunday I will pound out a solid work out and try to work out as many days I can this week. The parents have rescheduled and will be coming Friday afternoon so I will try to get off 2 hours early to make the most of the weekend!
The new year celebration was pretty much as I planned, pretty chill. Kelly and I just grabbed a movie from red box and a 6er. We watched Salt, with Angelina Jolie, I don't really care much for her movies but I do have to say this movie was bad ass. It kept me on my toes and trying to figure out the next turn right to the end. After the movie we watched the ball drop and went to bed but weren't able to get to sleep as I got to hear about my friends crazy ass night via text message. What has this world come to? I could have just had a two minute phone call but I guess 45mins of going back and forth texting and I'm sure he was drunk, haha. Basically he didn't have good start to the new year, but could have depends on how you look at it! haha
The first day of the new year was pretty laid back. We slept till 11am!! I know what a waste of the day, haha but it felt really good. Then we clean up a little bit and put most of the rest of the stuff away. Then just lounged around till about 3 when we went over to Kelly's parent's for a little get together. It was pretty fun, and her grandma says the damnedest things.... haha. Quote of the day. We played this game where you had to write down an answer to a question and one person has to guess what everyone else wrote. So the question was name something you like to play with in your hands. Ok could go either way but mind is out of the gutter since Kelly's parents and Grandma is there but Grandma thought the question was about Bob so she wrote boobs. Yeah pretty funny by it's self but then we were like haha it was suppose to be about you and she was like " oh I thought it was what Bob liked to play with I sure know that Ronnie (Grandpa) liked to play with them!" haha omg! I never laughed so hard in my life, probably will have nightmares tonight, haha! Go to the happy place, happy thoughts!
Well hope you all had a great first day of the new year!
Keep it real!